Steel mill hot metal car model

I have had this 80-ton brass hot metal car model sitting on my layout for many years.  Non model railroad visitors often commented on the "gold" model car.  I finally decided to paint and weather it.

I spray painted it dark gray then added a light overspray of rail brown.  I glued some gray-brown cinders around the opening at the top to simulate leftover skull from pours.  After that  I added some selective rust wash and a dusting of chalk.  Looks good to me, and much better than an unpainted brass model.  The only components to this model are the body, the two ends, and the trucks.

Steam engine terminal overhead steam line

I have had several Diamond Scale Construction company steam engine terminal overhead steam line pole kits for a long time and decided to construct them and install them in my small engine facility, which consists of a turntable and three tracks - no roundhouse or engine house. The prototype used these overhead steam lines for engines with their fires out to keep them warm and save time when placing the engines in service.  The kit parts are nicely done and consist of two "poles" per kit.  They are mostly cast white metal parts but no steam line is supplied.  They recommend using #14 insulated electrical wire which is what I used.  The instructions are sketchy but adequate.

Below is a photo of the four posts I constructed before they were painted.

I built the first one using ACC cement which was a pain, so I used small amounts of contact cement as well as ACC on the other three. There were a lot of small pipe fittings that needed to be drilled out to fit on the brass wire pipes - that was ever so much fun.

The steam line (insulated wire) runs from a boiler house in the background across each of the poles with a fitting on the line over each track that has a tee fitting that hold a Z shaped extensible line to connect to each boiler.  Installing those was the biggest pain of all.  Fortunately my layout is only 3 feet deep at that point so the reach to install was only about 2 feet.  I may go back later and add some more details but I have had enough of this for now.

You can see a bit of the turntable on the left.  Above the boiler house is an elevated track.  The small rail car this side of the engine is an old Kemtron railcar with added detail.  While it will run, it has two speeds - really fast and stop, thus it is for scenery only.

I am polishing up my layout for the MER convention next month so will pretty much only be doing scenery during that time.

Rustic grocery installed on my layout

The grocery store previously presented has been installed at the edge of the layout next to the railroad station of the small town of Elder.  It fills a bare area between the station and the tannery, and is right next to the railroad tracks.

I included three figures - the one holding the screen door is a modified cheap plastic figure that had been a street vendor holding a vending box - I removed the box which consequently removed his left arm so I had to create a new left arm.  I also created a hat for his head giving me a decent figure that looks very different from the original.  I placed a bench near where one could be seen in the photo of the prototype and placed a small jug and a seated figure.  The seated figure is holding a small can in his hand.  I made a hat for his head also.  The standing figure with the cane is mostly unmodified and represents an older bearded man.  The truck in front of the grocery is one I just made.

Above is a rear view of the installed grocery store.  I placed an outhouse behind the store and an old discarded wagon.

I got a question about the figure that I modified and which is holding open the screen door.  A duplicate of the original figure can be seen below.

As you can see it was a cheap plastic figure of I guess a hotdog vendor.  I removed the hotdog, the box and pole and his box belt.  I had to add a new left arm and I put a brimmed hat on his head.  It is fun and easy to modify these cheap plastic figures and you can get exactly what you need and something a little different than what might be available commercially.  I usually glue their feet to a small piece of glass with white glue for ease of painting.

Some HO vehicle models

I pulled two old HO vehicles out of a drawer of vehicles and parts and did some work on them.  They are from an estate and were built somewhat poorly with garish paint jobs.  I  repaired and repainted them, and added some additional details.  They are better now and will be placed on my layout.

The auto is cast metal and somewhat crude.  I made it into a chauffeur driven car with the lady in the back seat.  I added bumpers and an enclosed spare wheel made from the end of a popcicle stick.

The truck is from a plastic kit.  I repaired, painted and weathered it.  I added some boxes and a barrel in the back of the truck.  I plan to place the truck beside my rustic grocery store.

These were quick projects but something to build.