Rustic bridge to my log pond dump

I finally added some sides to the bare bridge base spanning the HO mainline and carrying the narrow gauge logging road to the dump site for the log pond.  Many years ago I acquired a partially started SS Ltd Dinky Creek Bridge kit from an estate.  The bridge per the kit was too long for the span I needed to  fill so I redesigned the bridge leaving off two vertical post sections while maintaining the general look of the bridge.  The kit was based on an actual bridge in the Sierra National Forest of California.

The kit consisted of strip wood and a variety of white metal nut & bolt castings.  I did not have room to place the cross beams under the bridge due to low clearance with the mainline below so they project out from the longitudinal bridge beams that have been in place for several years.  I drilled lots of holes to insert the bolt castings.  I am generally pleased with the result and I finally have a completed bridge.

The above view shows the log pond and sawmill in the background.  The sawmill is scratch built and has a Fantasonics company steam sawmill sound CD installed below the mill to provide mill sounds.  The CDs from Fantasonics are scratchbuilt sounds  (not recorded) and provide an hour of various non-repetitive sounds.  The pond was made using Envirotex 2-part epoxy with the logs and a log boat pre-glued to the pond base.  The color of the "water" was made by coloring the pond base before pouring the epoxy.  The sawmill complex and adjoining lumber drying and storage area are the largest industry on my layout.  The log storage area is a lift-out for access to that area.

Views of my city

A few years ago I built a city for one corner of my layout.  I did it quickly using mostly kits on hand as I was trying to fill the corner for an upcoming open house.  I named the city "Uniontown".  There is such a city/town in Western Pennsylvania but mine bears no resemblance to it.  I have since made a few modifications but it is essentially what I put in place then.  The main street going from the station to the backdrop ends in a small mirror between the buildings to give the impression the street continues.

The station is to the right foregound on the other side of the tracks out of view.  Two of the rooftop signs at the back - White Fuel and H&C Coffee are lighted with motion simulated by the lights.  These signs are by Miller Engineering who has a wide variety of lighted signs.

There is a construction crane in the empty lot to the left of the bus.  The crane has been demolishing the structure that stood there and the lot had dirt piles and detritus.  I will eventually show additional photos of the city.

Wood products yard and equipment

In the 1800s and early 1900s trees were heavily harvested for wood to be used for a variety of products such as rosin, charcoal, turpentine, etc.  While this industry was mostly earlier than the era of my layout, these processes were still being used  to some extent in 1939.  Wood yards were extensive and required some form of transportation for the wood and wood products - frequently an in-plant railroad.  Below is  a photo of a typical wood yard with rail cars for moving the wood and products.

Below is a photo of a different style of wood buggies.

This would make a neat industry to model but I am running out of room for industries on my layout.

I had a layout tour for the NMRA MER convention yesterday.  The visitors apparently liked what they saw.  

Partially closed tunnel portal

I have been away at a funeral for the last week so finally here is a new post.  This is a tunnel on my layout that used to be a two track tunnel with the right track leading to a small staging yard under the layout.  It was too difficult to use and the lead was a tight curve so I removed the staging yard and lead track through the tunnel.  Since there was only one track remaining through a double track tunnel portal I decided to close off the side with no track.

The bridge above at the right is on my narrow gauge and leads to a coal dock.  Although the track I removed was flex track, I replaced it partially with distressed and aged wood ties.  Then I added grass and weeds.   It is different but I suspect some prototypes probably did this.

The MER convention is bearing down on me so I need to do more scenery work in preparation for the open house.  My layout is already about 95% sceniced but there is always more to do.

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.