The Dixie Central Railroad in HO

Reduce Price for Benchwork - $150

2012-01-01T18:41:00.002-05:00

Entire layout benchwork for $150, ready to go!

Dixie Central Layout Benchwork for Sale!

2011-12-22T16:43:00.000-05:00

Dixie Central Layout Benchwork for Sale

Price $240

Delivered in Salt Lake City Area only, or for pick up.

Contact:

Scott G. Perry

2142 DeBeers Drive

Sandy, UT 84093

801-930-5180 Home

801-349-5038 Cell (best)

scottgperry@comcast.net

Summary:

The Dixie Central is a rare donut-style layout designed for display. It is a four section layout designed to be very light weight and easy to assemble. Unfortunately it doesn’t really fit in my basement, so I need to part with it. The layout is being sold for what it cost me to build it, so the price is not negotiable.

Each section is built with Luan playwood in a waffle grid format which makes each section very lightweight, yet strong. Perfect for moving to a train show.

The trackplan was designed for HO standard gauge but it can easily be converted to On30, Hon3 or N and Z. Broad curves allow for any type of rolling stock. The layout comes with leg extensions that provide for track to be as high as 50 inches, but you can make it almost any height you want be reducing the legs with a saw. There are side boards that, when mounted, allow the layout sections to stack for storage.

The layout comes with only the benchwork and legs, along with the foam that is attached. No rolling stock, electronics or track is included. Photos of each section are below.

I’ll be glad to take cash or check, and will deliver in the immediate Salt Lake City area, Orem to Provo. Anything else will have to be discussed and will increase the price. My goal is to clear it out in the next 30 days so that I can design and build a new layout. The pier section is NOT included in the sale. If you want it we can discuss a price.

You can see descriptions and details on design and construction at the Dixie Central Blog located here: http://dixiecentralrailroad.blogspot.com/

Have a question? Give Scott a call at 801-329-5038

Moving the Layout Downstairs

2011-07-17T22:02:00.001-04:00

See the Model Railroader's Notebook for the latest update!

http://modelrailroadersnotebook.blogspot.com/

We're BAAACCCCKKKK!!!!!

2011-06-12T23:29:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to the Dixie Central! Its been a long time, but we're back to work. Tonight I reassembled the modules in the cleaned out garage (its finally warm again) and we'll start to work this week on construction. The goal is to get it ready for track laying before it gets cold again.

The wood changed shape after the move and storage, so we've got some work to do. I also kicked around changing it to an HOn3 layout, but I already have all the buildings, locos and rolling stock, so I'm going to stay with it as it is.

Plenty of room in the garage to work. Let's hope my daughter doesn't whack it with a bicycle before I get the sections locked down.

Lighting is poor, but normally I work with the garage door open. We'll just do heavy construction (foam, dividers, wood working) here and once it is ready for track, it will go to the workshop.

First, we need more foam!

#021 04 Tybee Pier - Flat Top

2011-01-31T21:46:00.008-05:00

Let's check on the patient tonight and see how she's doing...

We remove the Popsicle Rick Handy Cheap Weights and she is flat as a pancake! Perfect! The patient will live!

It will sit up straight again. But before we do any more work on her, let's leave her for 24 hours and check to see if the warping doesn't come back. Sometimes it does.

#020 04 Tybee Pier - Damage Control

2011-01-30T00:23:00.000-05:00

Yeah! We're finally back working on the Dixie Donut! Tonight dispare and repair!

The question is: rebuild or repair? This is for an AP award, so it must be good. Most of the structure looks ok so maybe we can just straighten it up. Its worth an evening's work to see.

We'll need some toothpicks and glue. I keep a supply of ketchup cups and a big bottle of round toothpicks in the supply drawer to my immediate right.

Upon further investigation, we find that the top of the pier is racked slightly, meaning that it twists from right to left and is warped. Not good.

I carefully removed all of the loose or almost loose boards and pilings.

The pier won't sit level on the table. We'll have to unwarp it. Mr. Sulu, unwarp factor 5.

I'm going to use my handy dandy weights that were given to me by the legendary Popsicle Rick as a birthday present. I can't tell you how often I use these things! There tin cans with Sakrete in them. Heavy and very cheap.

I'll also need the alcohol sprayer. You can't use water because the glue is water based. This penetrates the wood better.

I soak the pier in alcohol and get it really wet. This way the model gets flexible.

Then we'll take the weights and press the model down to flatten it out. I hope this works! If not, there will be a pier building party next weekend!

Working on Section #1 - Set Up

2011-01-26T00:36:00.000-05:00

It is time to get to work on the modules again. First thing I have to do is to get #1 set up.

It has been sitting in the corner like a big pink lump. I want to set it up and begin the trackwork.

The leg extensions slide on easily.

I rest the module on its side while the legs go on, and then I tilt it up and set it on the spare legs.

The spare leg is held in place with very strong pinch clamps. It is pretty stable.

The pier takes its place on the module. Next step is to put Module 2 up and get the track started.

Back to Work on the Pier

2010-12-20T00:02:00.000-05:00

If you follow along with my Model Railroader's Notebook Blog you'll know that I just unpacked the Pier. It has some damage and needs repair. We'll be working on it in the next few days. Welcome back, Dixie Donut!

Working on the New Workshop

2010-11-27T00:56:00.001-05:00

We'll be working again on the Dixie Central soon! I'm getting the workshop in order now.

http://modelrailroadersnotebook.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-workshop-part-3.html

Take a look!

Dixie in the Desert

2010-09-18T08:23:00.000-04:00

It's official. I'm moving my family from Atlanta to Utah. I've taken a new job in Salt Lake City and will be relocating soon.

Please don't be surprised if I don't blog between now and December, but look forward to new things happening in January!

The Dixie Central will be moving with me. I'll not have a room for it so it will have to be set up either in the downstairs family room or the garage. Paring down my tools in the shop will be the biggest issue.

Look for some post on how I accomplish this amazing feet!

#019 04 Tybee Pier - Installing NBW's

2010-04-18T21:25:00.000-04:00

Hey! I'm back. Well, sort of. The baby is keeping us up nights and I'm doing laundry, cooking and cleaning most of the day. But over the past few days I have had the chance to do some modeling.

This weekend's project (took three days due to interruptions) was to put nbw's in the pier. To do this I used tweezers, white glue, hobby knife, Floquil Roof Brown spray paint, pin vise drill, #70 drill bit and Grandt Line HO scale 3" nut and 4 1/2" washer nut/bolt/washer castings #5099.

First I sprayed all the nbw's with Floquil Roof Brown from a spray can. For the extra buck or two it was easier than cleaning up the airbrush for just this little bit of painting.

Actually, I sprayed some nbw's for my Howe Truss Bridge in O-scale. I put painted or partially assembled parts in this handy cabinet so that they aren't in my raw details drawers and I can find them easily.

I have this small drill keeper and fished out a #70 bit. There is another case that I have full of #70's as they break very easily.

These small bits are easy to mix up so I often check them with my drill bit gauge.

There are tons of pin vise styles out there. I am using this heavy one with the moving top so that I get even downward pressure without pushing the bit.

As recommended by a few MMR's I cut the nbw's off at an angle making them easier to insert into the hole. They tend to bounce everywhere, so I keep my finger over them when I cut.

I carefully drill a hole just deep enough to take the nbw. Then using some sharp and curved tweezers I dab a little white glue on the end and place them in the hole, then push them down with the tweezers. Actually, this goes rather quickly. The look of the nbw's is amazing.

I tried a close up shot but didn't have enough light.

A bit blurry, and a blurry bit. Normally I do this right handed.

Here is the first squadron of nbw's in the planks. This extra little touch is AMAZING! More to come this week! If the baby cooperates!

#018 04 Tybee Pier - The Nuts & Bolts of Nuts & Bolts

2010-03-20T17:17:00.002-04:00

Here, live in the Dixie Central Blog, two modeling geniuses explain the fine art of NBW castings...which I've got to mount hundreds of very soon.

From the legendary Jack Burgess, MMR

Regarding nut, bolt & washer castings

Plastic ones are much better than metal for most applications (metal castings are much more expensive and more difficult to bond in place.) I generally use Grandt Line N-B-W casting since they have such a large selection of sizes and washer types. (Note that wood trestles generally use

those with large washers.) However, Grandt's dies are getting worn out for some sizes and the resulting parts are sometimes mismatched. Some of the smallest HO N-B-W castings should work for N scale size a 1" nut in HO would represent a 2" nut in N scale.

Some of my tips for using them on wood trestles:

Stain the wood and assemble all of the bents first and then drill the holes.

It is much faster to use a drill press to drill the holes...while I have a precision drill press, Micro-Mark and Dremel ones should work since you are drilling into wood.

Drill all of the way through the wood; you need to represent the bolt head and washer on one side and the nut and washer on the other.

Of course, paint the castings while still on the sprue. The prototype bolts and hardware I've seen start out a dark brown/black and eventually start picking up rust. Air brush a couple packages of castings a brown/black color and then go back and add a very light dusting of rust to some of the sprues.

Measure the sprue shaft diameter and use a drill one size larger. This will

make it easier to insert the casting into the hole.

Cut the sprue on the casting so that the sprue is just short of 1/2 the thickness of the wood you are inserting them into. You can cut all of the castings off of the sprue at the same time if you are careful and don't let them shatter. This makes the work go much faster.

Put a spot of regular white glue on a scrap of paper/wood/styrene, pick up a casting with tweezers by the shaft, dap the end of the casting into the white glue, and insert the shaft in the hole. Once started, push the casting the rest of the way into the hole with the side of the tweezers. The white glue doesn't actually stick to the styrene but fills the hole enough so that the casting won't come out accidentally.

Repeat...repeat....repeat....etc.

One the modelers in my club scratched a 30 inch long trestle on a 33" dia curve Double track. He claimed the only pieces of wood all the same length were the ties. 1500 pieces or so. He told me later that putting the NBW's in it weakened the structure. All redwood.

If the timber sizes were prototype and he wasn't drilling oversize holes, there shouldn't have been any weakening of the structure...the prototype timbers had holes drilled in them! Assuming he was using prototypically-sized timbers, I suspect that the problem was actually the choice of wood since redwood is not a strong wood but really a softwood. The prototype (in the West) tended to use Douglas Fir which, although not classified as a hardwood, is a very strong wood, good for house building, freight cars, etc.

Note that not all bridges used bolts and nuts for every joint. Many bridges, especially driven pile bridges, used spikes (not railroad spikes but extremely large-diameter "nails") rather than bolts and nuts for attaching the sway bracing. So, the lack of N-B-W castings should not automatically result in lost points for the Prototype score. However, you those cases, you should represent the head of the spikes. The problem is that, except for very large wood trestles, there isn't a lot of places to gain points for Detail. But there are also other details that can typically be added. For

example, most bridges use multiple stringers in pairs and those stringers should have an air gap between them. These stringers would therefore be bolted together with special large washers between the stringers to provide that air gap. The washers I have from YV bridges are in an "hourglass" shape and are 4" in diameter on the ends, 1.5" in diameter in the middle, and 4" "thick". Larger trestles also need fire protection items such as drums of sand to extinguish fires. If running coal, the tops of the bents might need to be protected from dropped cinders with tin sheets.

Jack Burgess, MMR

AP Chairman, Pacific Coast Region

And from Martin Pequod…

Pretty much the same way that I apply nbw's although a few variations and additonal tips.

When you're cutting the "bolt" free from the sprue, cut at an angle to put a bevel on the

tip -- makes them a little easier to insert into the hole.

Tichy makes a decent selction of nbw's and rivets, in a rust-brown which looks pretty decent in many uses with just some stain on them. Been buying them as much as Grandt line now for that very reason.

I prefer ACC over white glue for just about all materials; having some nbw's magically some back out at the most inconvenient time can be truly irritating.

Plastic vs. metal; plastic is far cheaper, but sometimes the brass parts are better particualrly if soldering things together, and sometimes I've used brass ones for their strength.

Small variable speed drill press is a tool worth investing in and beats a day with a pin vise for this and lots of other chores.

Martin

#006 02 Four Way Cotton Gin - Rust Bucket

2010-03-20T17:01:00.001-04:00

How to Use Archer Etchant by Alaska's Wisest Man

I am about to build the cotton gin, and Darryl Huffman's post on using Archer Etchant is brilliant...

I started using this stuff decades ago and love it.

I keep one of my small plastic drawers in my parts cabinet labelled ETCHANT
and I use it for nothing else.

When I am done with the etchant, I wash the drawer out and put it back in
it's place.

I know you should use gloves and glasses with this stuff but I never have.

But I do spread out newspaper under the little tray as this stuff platters
everywhere.

I have one tip for newcomers.

Pour some of the etching into a plastic tray so that it is about 1/4 inch to
3/8 inch deep.

If you are using Campbell's Corrugated Siding, cut the siding into the right
sizes and put one piece into your tray containing the etchant and go away
for 15 minutes.

When you get back the piece of siding will be completely dissolved.

But, by doing this, you speed up the action of the etchant.

And, as you continue using it, it works faster and faster.

In addition to just sticking the sheets of siding into the etchant, you
should also try spraying one side of the siding with gray primer first.

Let it dry and then put the siding into the etchant.

With just a little bit of practice, you will be able to turn out great
looking, weathered siding in no time at all.

After removing the siding from the etchant, I just drop it into a bowl of
water.

So people recommend adding some baking soda to the water first but I have
never found a need to do that.

I let all the pieces sit in the water for about 30 minutes and then spread
them out on a paper towel to dry.

The stuff I did 30 years ago still looks great.

I demonstrate my methods on my Easy Weathering DVD:

http://darrylhuffman.50megs.com/custom3.html

Darryl Huffman
12020 Old Seward Highway
Anchorage, AK 99515
dlhuffman@alaska.com

#002 The Great Turnout Project - Details, Details

2010-03-16T10:16:00.000-04:00

I got some good coaching from Frank Koch, HLM and Executive Assistant Manager of the NMRA AP Program...

Scott

Some members of the chat group may give you grief for two reasons - requirements say operational as defined by powered locomotive able to negotiate all routes while under power with an assumption you will use an NMRA gauge to establish clearances, but some will say you need to build to all the track standards (not the requirement). Second, some may ask where your plates, tie rods, point braces, NBW, and all the other minor elements are - they are details that add to your score. Lastly, paint and weather the rail and ties, and add the little details that are around a turnout (switch stand, control boxes, etc. Talk to your local AP manager and ask how they judge trackwork. Then build and include their comments. Good luck.

Frank Koch

I had not planned to highly detail the track items, but may change my mind. First, I'll do as Frank recommends and will reach out to our Division AP Manager Bob McIntire to see what they look for. Since the items must go on my layout, they have to operate flawlessly so that is the priority. Detailing is second.

I've bought Proto 87 parts before for turnouts and will probably do so again. They are readily available at http://www.proto87.com/turnout-details.html in a variety of different types. The site also has printable diagrams:

http://www.proto87.com/handlaid_track_templates.html

Number 6 Turnout RH diagram

Ok, well maybe we won't be added store bought details. I added up what I needed at the Proto 87 store and it came up to $81. Forget that. I'll make my own details like I usually do.

Being an MMR cost a lot of money, that's for sure. It is probably something you should take into account.

Scott Perry’s Blogs

2010-03-15T21:04:00.001-04:00

The Model Railroader’s Notebook

A guide to hints, tips, techniques and products related to the hobby

The Dixie Central Railroad in HO

A portable sectional layout designed for benchwork, scenery and trackwork skill development

Building The Okefenokee Swamp Model Railroad in On30

Exciting coverage of the On30 Okefenokee Swamp Railroad, a model train layout constructed in On30. This unusual layout is based on the prototype Hebard Cypress Company and the Waycross & Southern Railroad that occupied this large

Georgia

swamp in the 1920's.

North County Interchange Operating Group

The NCIOG is a Model Train Building and Operating Club Located in the North East Atlanta Suburbs. This is a Round Robin Club with Limited Membership.

The Heart of Georgia HOG Layout in HO Scale

My Better Beginner's Layout that features operations and simple construction to help new modelers get the most out of their layout!

Layout Design Service

Follow Along With Me as I Designs Model Train Layouts!

Traintools - Model Train Tools Digest

Descriptions, Ratings and Demonstrations of Modeling Tools

The Georgia Northeastern in HO Scale

Watch as I design I. D. Jackson's version of the Georgia Northeastern, a modern 3rd class railroad that runs in north east Georgia.

Baltimore & Ohio II in HO Scale

Layout Design Event Featuring the B&O's Cumberland and Mountain Divisions

Modeling Water on Train Layouts

Join us as I test techniques, tools and products while building water scenes.

The Georgia Southern Railroad in HO Scale

Look at Dan Berman’s Layout, Designed by Me Just For Dan

White Pass & Yukon in On30

Welcome to Scott Perry's next On30 adventure! A small layout in On30 based on Alaska's White Pass & Yukon Railroad.

Peñoles Mining Company in On30

This is a small mining layout based on a real 30" railroad. Follow along as we design the layout.

#001 The Great Turnout Project - Civil Engineering

2010-03-15T11:23:00.004-04:00

My coach and mentor Larry Smith, MMR says that I need to work on my NMRA Achievement Program Civil Engineering Certification next. For Civil one key element is the construction of three types of track elements and have them judged.

http://www.nmra.org/education/achievement/ap_civil.html

I've outlined the three elements that I want to build (see Trackwork) and they are:

Turnout RH #5
Turnout Building Guide

Three Way Turnout
Building a 3-Way Turnout Guide

Crossing 30 degree

Assembly help:

Fast Track Turnout Assembly Video

Fast Tracks Assembly Videos

My first step is to start gathering materials. Luckily at the train show this weekend I was able to buy an HO 3-way turnout by Shinohara (Walthers) to use as a model. For $20 I'll take that! The next thing was to purchase some HO pc board tie strips. There were none at the show so I had to order them.

The first place I tried was Fastracks as they have really nice punched pc board ties that don't twist. However the cost to ship them was as much as the ties themselves! Ouch! They are based in Canada which probably has something to do with it. So I went back to my old stand by The Clover House and bought them. They are hard to buy from as they are internet averse, but I was able to get $20 worth shipped to me for $5.00. They will get here quicker, as well. I did ping my buddies in the NCI Group to see if they had a few to loan me in order to get me started, but as it looks it will be about two weeks before I can start laying the track.

I have unweathered code 83 rail available, which is what I prefer when soldering to pc board ties. Next I'll dig out some cross ties (I have tons of them as I used to have a company that sold crossties) and will start staining them this week. Micro Spikes from Micro Engineering are here, and I'll need some stock basswood for the longer ties.

One thing I'm not sure of is what kind of roadbed I want to use. Since there isn't a low profile cork roadbed for sidings and yards, I'll probably just use cork sheet, and I think I have some of that.

To me the crossing is the hardest of the two to build as I've built a dual gauge crossing before. The wiring of the Three Way turnout might kill me.

We'll start with the plain Jane turnout first!

NMRA Achievement Program Yahoo Group

2010-03-02T20:45:00.001-05:00

NMRA Achievement Program Yahoo Group is a new way to find information, guidance and the sometime necessary kick-in-the-pants to help you earn your Achievement Program Certificates and become a MASTER MODEL RAILROADER.

If you are an NMRA member and would like to join, just go here…

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NMRAAP/

I’m Scott Perry, long time Yahoo Group host and found of several groups such as…

Traintools

Trainbooks

HOGRR

And others!

So come join the fun, make new friends and make a plan to Achieve!

Scott Perry

http://modelrailroadersnotebook.blogspot.com/

#005 02 Four Way Cotton Gin - Photos of Homer Cotton Gin

2010-02-28T14:46:00.002-05:00

My wife has a cold and is still very pregnant. About six weeks left to go. So, she through my daughter an me out of the house. Oh goody! Time for a spontaneous trip to Homer, Georgia! Its only about 30 minutes north of me. More on Homer, GA in my Model Railroader's Notebook as I hit a gold mine when I went there. I promised Popsicle Rick that I'd take him, but we left before Church was over. We'll go back, for sure!

Click on Photos to Enlarge

The cotton gin sits on the side of the road just like the old timer at the gas station told me, between spits of tobacco and lookin' at me funny. Naturally there is a !@$#^% telephone pole in front.

The cars on the front loading dock are quite amusing. Since this is a used car lot and that I'm known to be shot at, I kept my distance and shot with a telephoto lens from the Post Office across the street.

The large vent pipe is still in place and most of the building is in great shape. While I didn't get to go in, it is obvious that some of the machinery is still inside. It is quite large compared to other gins I've seen.

Continental Ginning Systems were quite common at one time in the south.

This is a rough looking shot, but you can see the unloading machinery still in place.

Amidst the junk you can make out the really worn looking cotton storage building, still connected by a seed pipe.

There is a road behind the building but I still couldn't get a clear shot of the gin. Here is the back of the cotton storage building which is outside braced and very interesting.

Here is the back side of the gin and the seed pipe going to the storage building.

This building is also on the property but I'm not sure if it is part of the gin or not. It has a very long overhang on the roof which leads me to believe that it is.

Yes, this is the one that I'll build and I'll get started on the drawings right away. It is much easier to build a prototype that you can go see again if you need to.

I shot over 150 photos of the building, many of them detail shots. Let me know if you want to build your own and I'll send you the photos. They will come in handy when I begin drawing.

Idiots that Rate Hobby Shops

2010-02-27T19:55:00.005-05:00

PLEASE NOTE: The article in question was pulled from the internet at 9:31 pm est. and is no longer an issue. Mr. Truett's reply is in the comments section. We appreciate his quick response on this matter.

I love the fact that anyone can prove they are stupid just by logging on to the web. Take this latest Rocket Scientist...

The Top 10 Model Train Shops in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia by Larry Truett

It's obvious that he's not a model railroader because he missed the one of the largest model train stores in the Southeast! How does Mr. Truett do-it? Well, he says he bases his rankings on on-line chatter. So he ranks Kennesaw Trains & Hobbies as number one!

Larry, did it ever occur to you that chatter is just what it means? Chatter! Worthless talk about nothing. The reason that Kennesaw Trains is getting chatted about is because we are all watching (sadly) for when they might have to close their doors and we'll lose another hobby store. Not because it is great, bigger or sells a lot of stuff. Trainmaster Models, one of the finest hobby shops in the Southeast didn't even make the list! Absurd!

Let's compare...

Click on Table to Expand

How can a small store with no traffic and nothing much on the shelves beat out the largest model train shop in Georgia? How can a hobby shop with one employee beat out a hobby shop that has seven folks and gives free clinics in a huge clinic room built just for that purpose? Why is a cat lover that lives in San Diego, California rating hobby shops that he's never been to? Simple! He's hoping you'll hit one of the advertisers on his website. Yup, posting bad info to drive you to his website so he can favor his advertisers.

So please...take a minute to leave a comment on his site telling him that we aren't fools and that he's way off base by providing this garbage on the internet. Our goals (no, not just me) is to get Larry to pull his bogus Ezine article off the web.

LEAVE COMMENT

Please note that I'm not disparaging Kennesaw Trains. I think the owner is a great guy and I shop there when I'm nearby. Its just that this information on Ezine is far from accurate and I think Model Railroaders should hold their feet to the fire. Meanwhile, visit every hobby shop you can including:

Trainmaster Models

Kennesaw Trains & Hobbies

Support your local hobby shops!

Shop Clean Up Night

2010-02-23T20:30:00.000-05:00

The shop is getting messy now that I have so many projects going on at once. They guys are coming over from the NCI group next week so I thought I'd straighten up a bit. Found the coffee pot!

Quick Trip to the Hobby Shop

2010-02-18T19:43:00.000-05:00

My wife was running late tonight so I got to swing by the hobby shop. We got caught up on the latest gossip and I bought two 1940's stake trucks for hauling cotton, some HO scale structure doors and some 3" nbw castings.

I may go down and start rusting the trucks. Or at least make them muddy!

Vacation Contruction

2010-02-16T14:49:00.001-05:00

I took today off so that Marie and I could do new baby stuff and so my testicles could heal some more. So I've been taking it easy today. Should have been healed up by now. Let's go to the basement!

Where did I leave off? I've been working on a top secret project for Dr. Ben's so I haven't worked on construction lately. Oh yes! I need to put the top layer on Section 1. Ok, let's get to work.

We've cut the outside supports and now we need to cut the three inside supports. These will be a little more tricky.

First we'll lay out the radials with a Sharpee marker and a yard stick. This is where the supports will go, but they won't go the full length of the section since the front is sloped and may have rock formations.

This is how the supports will look, although they will vary a bit. After I started cutting I did ad a back support to the pieces and may cut them out later if they are in the way.

Using scrap luan plywood I draw out each piece and cut it with a jig saw.

Here are the three new pieces. The square cut out is where the train goes and the large area is where the DCC systems will go.

The will have to rest flat on the top board, so we'll need to cut some gaps in the foam.

Using the hot wire cutter we'll cut out the gaps.

The holes are cut wide enough so that the support and a piece of quarter round can fit. The quarter round piece will help hold the support upright and reinforce it.

Next I draw the outline of the foam with a marker so that I don't put glue where we don't need it.

Then we lather on the wood glue.

Ouch! Blurry! Sorry about that. The pain meds are still working... Pretend you see small paint cans and wood blocks weighing down the foam so that it sticks to the glue.

I went upstairs and got a drink of water and feel a little better. We're back in focus. I put a light coat of white paint on one side of each of the supports and let them dry. The reason I painted them is that they will be in an area with no light and the white makes a good light reflector.

While the paint is drying I cut out the places where the track alignment blocks will go. This was done with the hot knife.

I did all three.

Time for a second coat. The paint job is sloppy, but it really doesn't matter. Only I will see it.

That's it for now. I may come back and work on it later, but for now I have to go pick up my daughter.

#004 02 Four Way Cotton Gin - Changed my Mind

2010-02-14T15:36:00.003-05:00

Actually, I'm going back to the wood sided prototype, the Augusta Gin.

Really, I like the look of the wood sided gin. This one is old so the wood would have been nice and silver-gray by 1945 if it was standing at all. There is no information that I can find on this mill so I'll build it as a freelanced model and use what I can from this one photograph.

Here is the plan overview with the rough dimensions that I was able to decipher. Not a hard structure to build, but will take some time. Just what I needed for the SER convention, though I probably won't be able to make it with the new baby. Maybe I'll send it by courier.

One change that I'll make is that the cotton storage shed will have a railside loading dock. I don't want to put the nice side of the gin toward the back so I'm not sure how it will look yet.

Here is the warehouse, which is slightly enlarged from the above drawing.

It is a simple structure, building on wood blocks to keep it off the ground. Identical on both sides unless I put in a rail side dock. I've shrunk it down a bit for the space I have.

#003 02 Four Way Cotton Gin - Burton's Cotton Gin - Texas

2010-02-11T23:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the prototype or at least one of the prototypes that I'll use for the gin.

Gin Picture

The Burton Cotton Gin

This is a historical landmark and there are tons of photos of this magnificent place. The angles on the roof are VERY interesting and it invites your eye to walk around.

They have a FAQ about cotton processing.

I've got a Powerpoint on the gin and a ton of photos in the file. I'll print these and start drawing. It's a very interesting building.

Another Round Layout

2010-02-11T20:04:00.000-05:00

Here is another 'Bronx' inspired layout.

http://www.55n3.org/yerina/

LOL...keep in mind, I was round before they were! My plan is almost 9 years old. Just never got around to building it.

New Rolling Stock!

2010-02-10T20:22:00.002-05:00

Well, my L&N single sheathed box car didn't make it. Heck, I didn't even get a chance to finish it. My buddy Rick just HAD to have it for his smelly old L&N railroad, so I gave it to him.

Of course, he couldn't take it as a gift...so he went browsing...

This Seaboard Silver Meteor boxcar is on its way over to my house for the Dixie Central. I'm glad to have a fine Seaboard car on the line and Rick's being more kind than me and even putting the metal wheels on it. Now I'm ashamed...

We are done with rolling stock! Now, to get it built and running!

#002 02 Four Way Cotton Gin - Hell's Bales

2010-02-08T21:42:00.000-05:00

Its funny, but the size and shape of a bale of cotton has not changed much since the 20's. It's still 500 lbs and 33" wide at the "bulge".

Here is a link to the dimension.
http://www.cotton.org/tech/bale/bale-description.cfm

I'm going to need a lot of bales of cotton. I figure somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 or more. They will be needed for the gin, for the dock, for loads in cars and some for the mill. Maybe a few others here and there.

For this many we'll need to mass produce them. Probably resin or hyrdocal castings.

Model Tech Studios has some, but they don't look very real.
http://www.modeltechstudios.com/merchant.ihtml?pid=768&lastcatid=6&step=4

Cotton bale dimensions are 500 lbs, 55 inches long, 20 inches wide, 33 inches or less thick.

Bale pictures...

Also!

I forgot to check Model Railroader Magazine but E. L. Moore actually did an article on building a ginnery. I ordered a copy of the plans from the NMRA Kalmbach Library today, so I should have it by Friday. They are VERY good!
http://www.carendt.us/microplans/pages/switches0/oper/index.html

Working on Section #4 - Foam and Elevated Platform

2010-02-07T21:05:00.000-05:00

I've had a little time today to play, so I made the best of it. I want to get the track supporting parts of Section #4 which has the mill and the waterfalls.

First I cut a 3/4" foam slab for the top of the section, then marked and arch where the lower level trackage will go.

The forman was being her usualy self today.

Here you can see the semi circle where the lower level track will be. Using a #5 right hand turnout I marked where the track will go. I also marked the tunnel opening. Everything that is not foam will be a work space and room for the DCC system.

Here you can see the #5 turnout. This might become a #4 turnout as it is a bit too close to the edge. Using some flex track I made sure the curve that leaves the table would work well.

There will be a tunnel portal and a small section of track here so that if I add a yard or expand the layout, there will be a place to connect it.

See? Just a little too close. Normally I like 4" of tangent track at a connection between sections.

Before I install the upper deck I wanted to see how the mill was going to fit. Its a bit tight with the lower level trackage below.

The mill is also too low. We'll have to boost it up.

It will look great on the layout, though it is a bit too close to the aisl. One of its purposes is to hide the joint between the two sections.

When I put it on a slabl of 2" foam it comes up to the right height.

I hope it is not too wide. This is not a structure I want to scratchbuild as my June deadline is approaching rapidly and a baby is going to show up in April.

Speaking of too wide.

The next step is to cut a luan upper deck. Just like other patterns I used the previous section to mark this one. I went ahead and put in the waffle marks, but I'm not sure that I'll remove them.

Nice fit. Now we'll cut away everything that doesn't look like a layout. Mostly about 3-4" on the front.

Next I'll make some side boards to lift the upper deck. The square is a hole for the lower level train and the circles are just for lightweighting.

Here is the right side board.

Here is the left side board. I'll need to cut boards for the middle as well. But we'll do that tomorrow.

I put the upper deck on the work table and will make three more risers tomorrow. A stop by Home Depot tomorrow will get me a stick of quarter round which I'll need to help fasten the sides to the upper deck.

Meanwhile, I'll just enjoy the pretty wood!

Goodnight!

Sketch of Fascia Board Design

2010-02-07T14:33:00.000-05:00

#001 02 Four Way Cotton Gin - Scratchbuilding Project

2010-02-07T13:37:00.001-05:00

Click on Picture to Enlarge

I finally found the prototype for the cotton gin! Someone gave me a really neat book called "From Abbeville to Zebulon: Early Post Card Views of Georgia". Normally I'd have just shoved this one on the shelf. But this book contains the best collection of structure and railroad pictures I've every seen for Southern modeling. In its pages I've found a southern rail car manufacturing plant, the Hebard Cypress Saw Mill, and this fantastic cotton gin. Yes, I'm building this one. Notice the rail car on the right.

Here are a few more sent in by readers...

#1 Armstrong and Dobbs Cotton Gin on Oconee St., Athens ca. 1912-1918 Note railcar.

#2 "The Quitman Oil Co's Long and Short Cotton Binnery", Boston, Ga. Thomas County ca. 1897-1898. Note the ventilated railcar on the side.

#3 Arnold Mill Rd., north Fulton County 1920. A new steam engine just installed to power mill.

Boxcar Blues

2010-02-01T22:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, so maybe there is a reason I get Accurail (Inaccurail) cars so cheap!

Let's start by using some glue!

First I want to mount some of the clamping pads. Here is one drying.

Bob's right. The bright color is easily seen from underneath the layout where there is no light. It also gives a good contact point for the clamp and can be replaced if needed.

Here is the book full of pier pictures.

I like the loose leaf notebooks so I can take the pictures out. Each photo is in a plastic sleeve to protect it. I've also been know to put samples of the weathering materials on the back of the photos and slide them back in the sleeve for reference later.

The Monon gondola needs to go back on the shelf so that I can work on the L&N boxcar tonight, so I'll take a sticky note and write on it the next steps. This way I don't forget and can match up like paint jobs when I fire up the airbrush this weekend. Flat black, rust and oxide red.

I'm a fan of the L&N, but this kit has some really bad flash on the plastic.

All of the kit parts are here. The brake wheels look terrible and if I can find a spare they will go in the trash. Horn hook couplers are tossed as well. I have friends with billions of horn hooks. They just can't make themselves throw them away for some reason. The wheels (plastic) went into a drawer.

I cleaned up the running boards and mounted them. They aren't really level so I pressed down on the flat workbench to straighten them out. My glue stand is missing so I'll have to build another. Actually I could use a couple of them.

Next we'll work on the frame. I'd like to run this car with the doors open so that you can see the cotton inside. So we'll paint the floor area by the door.

The Dr. Ben's Aged Driftwood is in reach so I'll use that. One coat goes on easy.

Next I'll test fit the weights. The pins are much smaller than the mounting holes!

To keep the weights from banging around I put some silicone bathtub caulk down and will press the weights into the calk.

A quick check of the scale and the NMRA RP guidelines shows the car will be just a bit heavy when I add the metal wheels, which is ok for a small train.

Next we'll trim and mount the doors and the door guides. This step goes easy. I left the doors loose in case I ever want to shut them. This is a single sheathed boxcar with roof walks and a high brake wheel.

The underframe is test fit into the body and we are ready for painting. I put the steel wheels in the box and sealed it up for the night.

Again I made a note to myself about the paint colors. That's it for tonight!

Building a Turnout

2010-02-01T20:23:00.002-05:00

It appears that I might need to scratchbuild a turnout for the pier area. Really it needs a little bit of a curve to it to work.

I pulled a #5 turnout template off of Fastracks...

http://www.handlaidtrack.com/ho-5-turnout-printable-track-template-free-download-pi-2223.php

So we'll print it and get started.

Subscribe Via Email

2010-01-31T20:33:00.001-05:00

You can now subscribe to this blog via email....which I think is easier. Take a look to your right to sign up.

#017 04 Tybee Pier - Momma Don't Take My Kodachrome Away

2010-01-31T20:32:00.000-05:00

My daughter will never know what that song is about... shame.

I printed out a bunch of photos of piers today and put them in a binder. This binder will go to the shop with me as I start adding the details. This will include mussels, seawater darkening, salt rings, moss and other nifty details.

The internet is so valuable for photos. I find that if I print them out and put them in a book, it is easy for me to refer to them. This also comes in handy for validating my model to the NMRA judges.

It won't be long before the pier is done and I'll write it up for the NMRA contest and have the NCIOG guys pre-judge it for me. Then I'll make corrections and take it to Alabama...baby willing.

Long Legged Module and Rolling Stock Assembly

2010-01-30T21:51:00.002-05:00

Today has been an on and off day. Work a little, play trains a little. Rainy, cold, nasty day.

The leg has to go. It's just not stable enough. Bob suggested I go with a double leg, and we'll do that today. But last night I had a dream...

Every railroad needs a foreman. Safety glasses, check. Warm coat for the cold basement, check. Lollipop rink, big check. We're ready to go!

My dream was that the temporary set up leg would also be the carrier of the plastic section legs. Brilliant! I have the best nightmares.

First we'll take some plywood strips and make an L-girder.

Taylor wanted to know why the clock doesn't work. Now that she and the other 14 emails I've gotten about the clock have pissed me off, I sent her upstairs for a AA battery. Meanwhile I'll knock the dust off.

There! It's ticking. Now are you happy?

I marked each of the leg board at 44". This may be a bit long, but I'll adjust it later.

I'm out of 1 1/4" screws again. You have to remember to get some, Scott. Ask the guys if they want to all go in on a pail.

Using glue and 1 1/4" drywall screws I've made to 44" long l-girders for legs.

I'll make two 12" long 2x2's and use them for the spacers.

Then I cut some 3" long 2x2 pieces for the adjustable feet.

Using scrap plywood I built a small tray to hold the bottom part of the plastic pipe leg extensions.

I finished the bottom tray and built a top tray, leaving one side off. I'll get some bungy cord and use it to hold the legs tightly in place. After digging through the hardware box I was unable to find a cheap handle, so I'll pick up one and add it later.

There! Now I have a more sturdy leg set with a built in leg extenison carrier! This kind of thinking is important in portable layout design.

The leg is just a bit longer than I'd like, so I'll cut another inch off the bottom and remount the adjustable feet.

Now that the first section is so much more stable than it was, I mounted the second section to the first and will get it ready to add foam and risers. Keep in mind that we still need to put in the scenic dividers, but I want the risers in first.

I kept wondering why my clamps were always fastened so tightly to the bench. Normally I leave them loose so that I can grab them quickly. Then I caught this photo of Cinderella tightening them up. Oh well. Having a four year old running around is tough work.

The web on the sections doesn't allow for easy clamping, so I'll cut some 2" x 2" plywood clamping blocks and glue them in place.

Taylor (4 years old) is a great painter so I put some acrylic orange paint in an old ashtray (glass) and got her to paint the tops of the clamping pads orange. She does amazingly well. The Cinderalla dress is a bit over the top, though.

Painting with the grain helps the paint flow. Keep your brush full but not overloaded is the key to smooth strokes. These unimportant pieces are very good learning tools. There are 14 of them and the repetive nature of the task teaches patience and allows for the skill to develop. I'm talking to GROWN UPS here!

14 clamp pads. The bright orange is a tip I picked up from Bob Wheeler who sprays his joints and clamping points bright orange so that you can see them easily under the layout.

Now that I have the wheelsets its time to start working on the rolling stock. We'll start with the locomotive and electronics work station, a foam cradle and the Monon gondola.

When you open up a kit the first thing you do is check the parts to make sure that everything is there and in good shape. Unfold the instructions and READ THEM. Hey you....(smack). READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. You'll be suprised how much you learn about model building. This kit is complete and it has a very nasty frame casting that is full of flash (extra metal from the casting process) that must be filed away.

After a great deal of filing I got the casting to fit in the well of the car casting. Still, there is a lot flash left. I spent an extra amount of time making sure the coupler pockets were clean and free of metal, and that the bolsters (where the trucks go) were smooth and polished. I'm too worried about the rest as you won't see it on the layout. We'll put it aside for painting.

I swapped out the plastic tired wheelsets for Kadee metal 33" wheels. They will need a coat of paint as will some of the detail parts in the kit. I'll take them upstairs tonight and wash them in Greenworks Dish Detergent. I use this product because it is all natural, easy on the plastic and dries clean. Dawn dishwashing detergent pulls vital oils out of the plastic. Besides it is always better to use all natural products when you can.

The truck sideframes had some flash so I removed it with a hobby knife. There was a sprue gate on the gondoal that I removed with a hobby knife and a sanding block. There! All ready to paint. I'll dig through the models and get two more that require black paint and do them all at once.

That's all for today!

Cotton Links

2010-01-30T21:27:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of Mr. Rhett Graves, a gentleman and a scholar...

Scott,

Here's a few links I ran across today while perusing the Mississippi Department of Archives and History website:

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/cooper/index.php?itemno=2860

You don't have to model the steamboat details so long as you have it fully loaded with cotton!

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/cooper/index.php?itemno=2880

I'm guessing there weren't many height restrictions along this portion of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley RR.

Speaking of the Y&MV (which got swallowed up by the IC in 1899 on paper, but lasted until 1949 in paint), your car roster has the chance to feature some little-known railroads that eventually got swallowed up into the Southern, SAL or ACL. Here's a few that come to mind:

Georgia Southern & Florida - Southern controlled, but still independent in 1920. Though part of NS, it's still independent in paint today!
Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic - reorganized as the Atlanta Birmingham & Coast in 1926 (you could conceivably have both the AB&A and AB&C). Ultimately absorbed into ACL in 1946.
Macon, Dublin & Savannah - absorbed into SAL in 1958.

And being in Georgia, you've got a plethora of shortline carriers whose rolling stock would make excellent modeling fodder. Here's the complete list: http://railga.com/railhistlist.html

I notice the "Savannah, Tybee & Atlantic." Could that be your prototype?

Rhett

Wiring Diagram for the Three Way (Lap) Turnout (3-way)

2010-01-30T05:08:00.000-05:00

I'm about ready to start building the three way (lap) turnout and was curious as to how to wire it. They are not very common in the prototype, but you can find them on layouts. I especially want to make sure that it is DCC friendly. Here are some links.

Gap cutting diagram is on the template
http://www.handlaidtrack.com/document_general_info.php?products_id=2228

Detailed DCC Friendly Wiring Diagram
http://www.wiringfordcc.com/switches_walthers.htm

Routing Power on a 3-Way
https://www.handlaidtrack.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=844&view=previous

#016 04 Tybee Pier - Need a Lift?

2010-01-29T20:43:00.000-05:00

I left the office a bit early today since I have to work on Sunday and I stopped by the old train store. Everyone else was out buying milk and bread for the ice storm of the century. Yeah, right. Today I purchased some Kadee 33" steel wheelsets for some cars I want to work on.

I also bought a pile of used Railroad Model Craftsmen and a Wayne Wesolowski book to read the week after next when I'm laid up recovering from a vasectomy. What fun. I told my wife not to take it out of my train budget but to charge it against medical. Smart me!

Repair time! Time to fix the section that my daughter knocked down so that I can start laying track tomorrow.

First I mark where the foam isn't so that I don't put glue where it is not needed. The handy kerosene heater in the back knocks the chill off pretty well when the ice starts to fall.

I double check the surface for smoothness and then add a bead of glue around the web.

The guilty party is glued to the chair and not allowed to move while the repairs are done. I'm out of duct tape or we'd be using that around the always-running motor mouth. Why, why, why, why, why, daddy!

There! Glued and stable. Ok, maybe not so stable.

This area was lifting up, so I clamped her down.

I re-glued all of the uprights and will screw them in tomorrow when the glue dries.

My wife takes pictures while I repair the broken foam section that was knocked out from the fall. Daughter got loose and I panic.

I don't see her so I figure she went upstairs. I carefully glue the broken piece back in place.

Now let's test fit the pier into its home. Nice fit and it really looks good.

Not bad for an old fat guy!

We'll let the section dry and start on another project. I want to put this hoist assembly on the dock. Let's study the parts and see if it can be used. The piece was set on the pier and it fits nicely.

The base is really nice. I don't know what kit this came from but it is perfect for hauling cotton.

Before I get too far I take out the handy notebook and a handful of Sharpee pens and quickly sketch the derrick and its three cables. One rotates the boom. The other raises and lowers the boom and the third raises and lowers the hook. There are tie downs to anchor the top to keep it stable (guylines). Always make notes when you disassemble things, and don't forget to photograph it as well.

Meanwhile the Popsicle Bandit practices making models beside me. She is taking after some of the guys in the NCI group that she adores. She has glue everywhere (Bob), Popsicle sticks glued to the table (Rick) and keeps spilling stuff on the floor (Ken). At least it is not tie stain.

After careful consideration I've decided that the metal hoist operator shack has got to be replaced with a wooden one. It is just too modern and already assembled, so I'll throw it in the salvage parts box and scratchbuild one. I'm in need of a pile of Grandt Line windows and doors, so I'll add that to my shopping list for the show coming up.

The more I play with this the less I like it. It is VERY tall and a bit unruly. My guess is that every time I move the layout I'll be unscrambling cables. I'll set it aside and pray about it for a while. Maybe I'll not use it.

Just Back From a Road Trip

2010-01-27T22:20:00.000-05:00

I didn't have my computer with me so not much got done over the past few nights. Mostly I was thinking about getting some trackwork down. Also, I made a Powerpoint deck of pier photos that I plan to use for detailing.

Other than that...crickets!

#015 04 Tybee Pier - This is Taking Forever

2010-01-24T22:24:00.000-05:00

Man, this pier is taking up huge amounts of time. I've got speed it up. Tonight we start making shortcuts. A friend of mine Richard visited today and since he is a very good model builder I figured I'd get some negative comments, but he didn't let me have it, so it must not be too bad.

First we need to do some chores...

I got some more Aged Driftwood, so I put it away.

Last night at the auction I both this older baggage car for $5. Thought I might modify it for something on the Dixie. Its in HO.

This L&N single sheathed car is very nice. I'm a sucker for L&N. $6 is not bad.

Actually I don't understand why more people don't attend the auction. The deals are steals.

A Monon gondola. Another favorite railroad of mine, and for $5 it is worth it.

I also bought a huge pack of wheels and coupler parts for $5. There isn't a drawer for these, so I'll make one. In the grab bag of parts was a full set of ribbed back wheels from NWSL. Nice!

Using the labeler I labeled the drawers. The toy is my daughters and is in for repair.

My camer lens is dirty so I better clean it before I start.

First chore tonight is to work on the piling that is too far apart. I'll just reinforce it. This will give it something to break up the long symmetrical wall.

There. The addition of some more pilings made it look better and it appears to be reinforced.

Next we'll keep working down the wall where we left off.

When Richard was over he did notice that I build things in sub assemblies. Actually I didn't think that this was so special as I've always done it. But he pointed out that many people don't do this normally. So, if you don't build things in sub assemblies here is why I do it that way.

Mainly it is easier to build things in small pieces. This model is over three feet long and barely fits on most modeler's workbenches. Normally I keep a one foot rule. The subassembly must fit in a one foot square area. This makes it easy to handle and to turn around. Secondly I do it because if Imake a mistake, I just start over on the sub assembly and don't have to rebuild the whole model.

This goes very quickly now that I've got the rythym down. Repetitive tasks develop a rythym and its bad to stop when you have tempo.

Here are the pier walls and piers. Looking good!

Richard and I talked about nut-bolt-washer (nbw) castings on the pier. Yes, they do have them. No, I'm not going to put over 500 nbw castings on this model. It's not for a championship contest, it is for a layout. A good friend and legendary modeler Allen McClelland has a philosphy of "good enough" modeling. It is where you do just enough to make it acceptable. Now, if this was to be an NMRA contest project, I would and can add all those nbw's. But for this model I just need to hint that they are there.

The shocker! I'm going to paint them on.

First of all, I'm only going to paint the nbw's that would show to the viewer. The others will be ignored. We'll do this with rust colored paint and a toothpick.

There are lots of colors to use but I'm going to try RUST and OXIDE RED.

Using a scrap piece of stained wood I try a drop of each. The RUST looks the best, so we'll go with that.

The paint is old and has separated. No problem! We'll just put the bottle on the mixer. This handy lab mixer uses a controllable rotating magnet to stir the bottle.

I place a small steel screw in the bottle and stir the tough pigment in the bottle with a toothpick. Once the screw moves freely I put it on the lab mixer and crank up the magnet.

A few minutes later the paint is thorughly mixed and I didn't have to shake it. This device is priceless. It also is a controllable hot plate and good for many things in the shop.

Here I have painted on the nbw's. They look great from a distance. Let's see how many judges really notice!

Have a great evening!

#014 04 Tybee Pier - the Postman Always Rings 300 Times

2010-01-23T15:51:00.000-05:00

Another rainy and cold Saturday. My daughter is at Grandma's and the wife is asleep, so I'm headed to the basement. Today we'll get the retaining wall posts installed, or at least some of them. I have to go to the Train Auction tonight, so I don't have a lot of time. Guess you can just call me the Postman as we have about 70 of them to install.

First I need to trim the length off of the back wall.

I'll turn the model around and take a large Zona saw to it.

Zona saws are VERY sharp and it makes quick work of the sawing job.

A quick hit with the 3M Sanding Sponge and it's nice and level. Why did this go more quickly and easily than the other side? Simple! I didn't put too much glue on the boards when I was mounting them this time.

Using an HO rule, I marked off 5 foot indicators to help me position the posts.

After setting the fence I began to cut the post out of stained 1/8" wood dowels. There are only three left, so I'll probably have to make some more. I got 11 cuts out of this one...so I'll need 5 more to make 70 and have some spare guard posts.

I cut up the three stained dowels and put them in the cup.

All together there are about 30, so I need 40 more and about 10 guard posts.

I've tried distressing and painting these en masse, but it is just not working. So I put in a new video tape and did them one at a time the proper way.

Each one is scored all around with an old saw blade, and then lightly sanded with a sanding sponge.

After scoring and sanding, I put on a coat of Dr. Ben's Aged Driftwood Stain on all sides, doing one stick at a time and setting it aside to dry (the stain dries very fast.)

Then using the Dr. Ben's Weathered Black Pigment and some alcohol I weathered each of the sticks, going from light to dark shades and being rather sloppy about it.

After painting and staining I use my handy scraper and a fresh single edge razor blade (I finally got to home depot) and scraped up the waste from the glass surface. Now I have a fresh, new surface!

Tape over. Time for some Virginia & Ohio with Allen McLelland.

All the posts have been stained and cut. Now I fish out any bad ones (two of them have red dye on the tops which is use to indicate size) and throw them away.

No more bulk sanding. I sanded each and every one of them on both ends.

Nicely sanded...but nice and bright! Got to dull it down a bit.

Using some of the black weathering I gave them a coat of darkness.

Using my right angle with a heavy base I start mounting the poles. The first three will be shorter because I don't want them to interfere with the trackage.

Using the angle and some white glue I carefully position the post and check it for straightness.

Not bad. A little too much glue perhaps, but you won't see these. Always work in the least visible area when you start something that way if you screw it up, its no big deal.

Now we'll start working our way down the wall. I switched to a flatter angle and got rid of the one with the heavy base as the base was in the way. I put three posts in the corner. The dark black one is to stop your eye from looking past it when viewing the model.

I need to replace another of my lights as it has turned yellow, too. Here is a length of the wall.

The long wall is done! I still need to put the caps on it and will have to wait until it all dries. Looking at the photo it looks like one of the posts moved out of place, so I'll fix it. Cameras are handy tools!

I'm done for the day. Off to the auction. This thing is over three feet long, so it will take some time.

#013 04 Tybee Pier - Pier to Pier Networking

2010-01-23T00:01:00.000-05:00

"The craft of the good modeler is not shown in what he builds but in how he covers up his mistakes."

- Scott Perry

My wife and I got a suprise! A rare moment alone as the daughter went over to grandma's for the weekend. I had to skip train night over at Steve's but Marie and I enjoyed our night out. We got home and she was tired, so I went to the basement to finish up the decking on the pier.

On the large pier I have just a little decking left so this won't take long.

See? Didn't take 10 minutes. I did notice that my boards started getting crooked as I got close to the end. The square was a little heavy and hard to use, so next time I'll get one that is lighter. The edges of the boards are still a little ragged. I'm going to sand them down and touch up the paint to make them even.

Here you can see a few gaps up top where I offset the boards a little in order to straigten them out. So to cover up my mistake, the office will sit here or some cargo to cover it up.

The little pier is next. This one just gets one row of decking, so it will go quickly as well.

I take a little more time with this one to make sure the deck boards are perpendicular to the sides. Still, I have issues with the ragged board ends even though I snnded them. There must be a better way to cut the boards. Probably need to use the chop saw.

There! All done. Next time we're going to put the pilings on. I won't detail the top until after the water is poured.

In and out in thirty minutes.

Night all!

Latest Layout Photo

2010-01-20T22:30:00.001-05:00

#012 04 Tybee Pier - Pier-ce The Night

2010-01-20T22:09:00.000-05:00

Its a very quiet night tonight. The daughter is sleeping and the pregnant wife is tired from a busy day. The shop is quiet except for the coffee pot heating water.

Tonight's project is to cut the rest of the deck board and paint/weather them for application tomorrow.

The chopper was already set up, so I whacked a few more of the 14 foot boards from distressed stock. There is a funny bruise on the tip of my left index finger from holding the wood down so that I can rake it with the saw. As you probably figured out from the photos I am ambidexterous and can build with either hand, so I've switched to the right finger for holding wood for a few days.

If you don't have one of these, they are handy. This is a STEEL tape dispenser. It must weigh 3 pounts at least and is old as the hills. I use the tape to hold the small pieces of wood to the table for painting. Tape comes in handy for tons of things and I always keep it handy.

The boards on the left are the 14' boards for the larger pier section. The 16 foot boards on the right are for the small pier section. These I carefully counted and made a few extra so that I don't have to paint again.

I forgot to lightly sand the ends. The Chopper breaks the board as much as it cuts, so you get some "fuzz" or splinters on the end. Normally I sand these off, but I forgot this time. So I let them dry and sanded them, then touched up the edges.

There! In an hour I had all the boards I needed!

Enjoy the evening.....

#011 04 Tybee Pier - Em-pier-acle Error

2010-01-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited! My daughter read her first pages out of a book today at four and a half years old! That's not all she's doing. We are starting to build models together. Like my father and his father before him, I'm starting her out with Popsicle sticks. She'll be a MMR in no time!

She is learning fine motor skills, leveling, how to glue (go away, Bob) and perspective. Taylor is a natural and has inherited my family's artistic skills.

Rex the Wonder Stegosaurus was the first to give the decking a weight test. Coming in a 10 tons he managed to stay out of the drink.

Actually that shot was just to test the new light out. Some of my magnifying lamps have old bulbs. The one I replaced today has been working since I was 15 years old without replacement! These new daylight deluxe bulbs don't give the yellow light that is screwing up my pictures. They are about $7.00 each, so I'll replace the other two shortly.

A few friends have asked "why do you blog since you don't get paid for it?" I do it for me. For many years I've recorded everything I've done in composition notebooks. It is great for words and drawings, but not for photos. Blogs are easy and searchable note pads and I'm finding this is a fabulous way to keep track of what I'm doing (example in a few minutes) and to share it with friends. I learn a ton from the comments that friends send or post. Post some of your own!

Tonight we are decking the pier. Its very simple, though a bit tedious. We'll use Elmer's glue VERY sparingly and put the boards down as square as possible. Each board will be monitored for color and shape. Warped boards will be thrown out if they can't be made to give the pier appeal.

Using a steel square, we get started. I put a few boards down and while the glue was wet I squared them up. Notice that I use lighter and darker boards together and try not to use too many of the same kind in a row. My wife came down and in her loving way said "boardwalks don't have a joint down the middle!" After I picked her up off the floor I explained to her that this was a dock and since it was so wide (32 feet) the boards, only being 16 feet long, would need a seem. I could alternate them, but since track will be laid directly on them they needed the extra strength under the track of the solid board. Then I said something to the effect of "it's my !@#$!# railroad!" She left.

(this is a joke...my wife is VERY supportive of the hobby)

A note to myself. Scott, you need a thin one of these. This one is TOO heavy.

Here we are well into the planking. I just put barely enough glue so that it doesn't seep through the boards. Then, using a very sharp pair of curved end tweezers, I drop the boards into place and push them with the tweezers points to a tight fit. I only fell off the pier and into the water once. Damn. I forgot to put a ladder on this thing.

In my drawer full of gauges and rules I have these handy aluminum containers with glass tops. In these I keep scale things the I use for perspective. Bill the traveling salesman was removed (he's HO scale) and he was assigned to walk the pier.

Here you can get a feel for the size of the pier. Bill is standing where the track will be. In my drawer I keep scale cars, people and other common items to use as a reference or a photo prop.

Crap! I ran out of planks! But I cut for an hour! Looks like I have an empirical issue in my ciphering. Not the first time. Ok, we'll stop for tonight and make some more (a lot more) planks tomorrow. This project is moving along fast and I can't wait to see it done!

Here is the planking from the canopy of my Sopwith Camel fighter plane....

(sputter, sputter....cough....cough)....uh oh...low on fuel.

...back into the ocean again!

#010 04 Tybee Pier - Pier-amid Scheme

2010-01-17T23:39:00.000-05:00

After home-made chilli and some fun with the family (my daughter flushed something still unidentified down the toilet and stopped it up) I headed back down to the dungeon. Tonight: Clint Eastwood in For A Few Dollars More.

We need to put the sway braces on the short side of the pier...time to make some sawdust.

The same sway braces are used for the sides, so I cut a bunch of them on the chopper which was still set up from the last cut.

Here is how the pier is looking. My wife had no comment when I showed it to her.

A little closer view.

Here is a section of track (no ties will be on the model) just to see how it looks. Just what I wanted.

After distressing and cutting I taped them with Scotch tape to the glass for painting and weathering.

While the braces are drying I double checked the measurements for the decking, which is the same as the sway braces, but will be weathered a little more heavily. To do this PERFECTLY the top should be weathered more than the bottom. These are 14' planks.

I started cutting deck planks. The chopper makes this job go quickly! Indio just shot the guy that put him in jail.

A quick reminder to find some Scotch Tape. I've used up two rolls. There used to be a lot on a roll, so I guess the economy has struck 3M. Hmmmm...

Here is a shot with the sway bracing.

Now for the decking. After distressing 13 sticks of 1" x 9" board I cut out 150 planks and started taping them down. They just blew up the bank in El Paso.

Here are some finished deck planks. Excellent look! I love board by board construction, especially when Clint Eastwood just shot three of Indio's men for breakfast.

The decking is all painted and weathered. Tomorrow I'll try to get about an hour and put them down.

It takes a while to do this but the pier is looking great!

Not a Leg to Stand On

2010-01-17T20:09:00.001-05:00

A discussion with the NCI guys about the three legged module.

(snip)

Taylor hit it with such force that it would have gone over no matter how many legs it had.

I'm thinking 2 legs instead of one and get it off the tripod, then spread them out like Bob says to widen the stance.

I'll wait until the 29th and we'll fix it then.

Thanks for the coaching!

Scott G. Perry, CPM

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Wheeler"
To: NCIOG@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 7:21:27 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: RE: [NCIOG] 3 legged module crash

Scott, you asked what shall you do?

Not sure as I have not seen the assembly yet on site. But if my memory serves me right the purpose of the 3^rd leg was to support each quarter module for assembly (a third hand) while you join the 4 quarters together, not as a support for permanently working on the modules. I’m thinking the problem is not the 3^rd leg in this spill; it is the distance between the permanent table legs being to short when one module stands on its own.

Solutions? (for working on each module as stand alones)

- assemble all 4 quarter modules together.

- fasten the single leg end of a module to a rigid 2 x 4 screwed to one of your walls or a bench

- make a wide stance saw house to support a single module at the single leg end when working on it

- ask the NCI guys

- when we are at you house in 2 weeks (29^th) look at it

Poor Taylor, she must have been frightened

Bob

From: NCIOG@yahoogroups.com [mailto:NCIOG@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of scottgperry@comcast.net
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 5:54 PM
To: NCI Operation Group
Subject: [NCIOG] More Pier Work...may finish it by tomorrow!

http://dixiecentralrailroad.blogspot.com/

Scott G. Perry, CPM

#009 04 Tybee Pier - Pier-adigm Shift

2010-01-17T17:52:00.001-05:00

Hello and welcome to the I'm With Stupid Show! Again, your genius blogger has freaked up the model. Not bad for two days in a row! Next time you feel that you've done something wrong, just read my blog and you'll feel better. I'm here for you, man!

Early this morning I snuck down to the train shop and put together another bent and left it to dry.

Later I came back and flipped it over so that I could but the sway braces on.

Using my handy glass top I squeezed Elmer's directly on to the surface.

Carefully I dip both ends of the sway brace into the glue being carful to only get a very small amount onto the board's ends.

Using a very good pair of tweezers (slightly curved points, sharp, precision stainless steel) I lower the brace into place.

...and then I shove the final parts into the assembly jig.

Great! Right after breakfast the last bent is dry.

They are coming out straight and with the mottled color that I wanted.

Here are the magnificent seven! The one on the left is Uyl Brenner.

Referencing my drawings I double check the measurements of the small bent against my jig just to make sure they match. Good! The left hand side of the jig will be used for making the smaller bents.

Back on the chopper I set up the fence for the dimension and start making sawdust. We'll only need four of the caps and eight of the sway braces. All of the pilings are cut and stained.

Here are the small bend top caps. I'll distress them with the saw on all sides.

After cutting the sway braces with the Northwest Shortline Chopper, I stick them to some Scotch Magic Tapic and paint/stain them CAREFULLY. I'm using a dry brush technique here to avoid warping.

Here is the test bent. The boards look off center, but that is just the odd camera angle. It is amazing how strong these guys are.

With the caps and braces stained we start to assemble the four bents. This will go quickly.

In about 7 minutes it is braced on both sides and dry.

I put another one together in the jig and while it is drying I'll work on the Pier Wall. These boards are overhanging and need to be cut off flush. Normally I use my jeweler's saw, but there is not enough room.

The Zona Saw is very sharp and makes quick work of it. You have to watch the Zona Saw because it has a top cap along the blade for support. As you cut something long the cap starts to defect the blade. That is why I like the jeweler's saw better.

Here we have a nice cut along the end of the wall. I'll hit it with the palm sander and flatten it out.

I cut this end with the Zona and got the deflection that I talked about. It leans a bit, so I'll hit it with the sander to level it out.

It is more uneven than the sander can handle, so I'll have to cut some more off. This time I used a rule to keep the blade straight. When you do this use a STEEL rule, not an aluminum one as the saw will cut into the aluminum.

Once sanded it is now flush. I'll come back and touch up the color later.

On the small inside wall, which is hidden by the pier somewhat, I quickly install the boards which were cut on the chop saw. I was careful not to use too much glue. Get used to using less and less Elmer's glue. It is very strong and a little goes a long way, while a lot will ruin the surface of the model.

There! All done. Now, while still building bents, we'll finish the long back wall.

All four small bents are now done. That went quickly!

Since I'm through with the bents I put the jig, the test bents, left over pilings and pieces into a Glad Brand Zipper Bag and labeled it. This way I know what the jig is, what it can make, some pieces to used to set up saws and a couple of samples.

Good Thing: My daughter stops by to steal an animal cracker and give me a kiss.

Bad Thing: energetic daughter doesn't watch where she is walking and knocks the module over with a CRASH. All of the track supports were destroyed and will have to be replaced. The luan is damaged as well, so we'll need to do some repairs. Actually I'm amazed that it took such a shock and didn't explode. I had not screwed the risers in yet, otherwise it would not have broken at all. This shows me that the single leg "kick leg" is not enough for the stand along module.

Hey Bob....what should I do?

Since I'm through benting...I'll clean up the work space and prepare for the final assembly stops.

Here is the back pier wall drying with the use of clamps and Rick's Popsicle Sticks. I still have some glue sneaking out and promise to use even less next time.

WARNING: DON'T USE THE DRAWING SHOWN HERE AS IT IS INCORRECT. IT SHOULD BE REVERESED WHEN YOU GLUE THE BENTS ON. ERROR NUMBER TWO FOR THE GENIUS AT THE WORK BENCH.

Using two print outs (it all won't fit on one page) I pieced the top view drawing on the glass and then covered it with wax paper using some Scotch Tape.

I cut the remaining stained boards (some are only partially stained) and then distressed, painted and stained the untreated sides. Be sure to get the ends!

Using just a very tiny bit of glue here and there I lightly glued the runners in place just to hold them steady. We'll need to lift them off the wax paper later.

Using a steel right angle with a soem weight on the bottom I put glue where the bent and runner intersect and glued them into place giving each bent time to dry before placing the others. If you don't they will fall over like dominoes if you bump them.

It is here that I began thinking about how the bents would look on the front and noticed I HAD BUILD IT BACKWARDS! Shit.

You have to flip the drawing when you build it upside down. Now I'm in a pickle. The bents won't come off.

I took the Zona Saw and cut through the runners. We'll go ahead and assemble it, then move the smaller pier to the other side. Crap. That is not going to look good.

Here is the upside down pier with all the bents installed. I'll come back tonight and make some sway braces for the sides. These board by board structures, while very simple to make (when you aren't making mistakes) are VERY impressive and make people go "Wow! You scratcbuilt that?" A kit for a piere like this would cost you $70. As it sits it probably cost me $24.

Edited 01-20-10 The Blogger was smoking weed, per the Blogger's wife. My cost for this (Miss Slavedriver keeps all the receipts) is more like $60. I forgot that I paid for the deck boards a long time ago, and forgot a side trip to Hobby Lobby. Next time, I'll buy a kit! :)

The bents are nicely colored.

Here you can see the cut.

Almost done! Just need another hour to put the sway braces on the side, and then another two hours or so for planking the top and adding details (which I won't put on yet.)

We'll keep the top flat for now until we mount it in the water. You can get some warpage when you pour water around an object so we want a flat surface for the weights we'll need on top.

Ok, not a disaster, but not a contest winner either. But I'm not after big contest wins, just the 87.5 points I need for a structure in the NMRA AP program.

RIP Track: Working on the Accurail Cars - Couplers and Wheelsets

2010-01-17T00:06:00.002-05:00

I'll need to assemble some Accurail cars for the layout. This also means coupler and wheelset swap outs. Several post suggest I replace the wheels with Intermountain or Proto 2000 wheelsets for 33" wheels.

Here is a good article on Accurail car assembly.
http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/article.php?article=4145

NMRA Car Weighting Specs
http://www.nmra.org/standards/sandrp/rp-20_1.html

Replacement Wheelsets
http://www.branchline-trains.com/blueprint/parts/wheelsets.htm

Kadee Wheelsets
http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/truck.htm

Wheelset Evaluation
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,463166

It appears that Intermountain Wheelsets have become the most preferred.

#008 04 Tybee Pier - Pier-severance Pays Off

2010-01-16T23:31:00.002-05:00

I've spoken to many of the top modelers in the US about projects they have worked on and all of them will tell you that the made mistakes or things didn't work out as plan and they ripped it out and did it once or twice more. I'm like that. The hobby to me is about learning, not about being perfect. A mistake breeds experience and knowledge. And usually words that I can't say in front of my daughter. So I roll up my sleeves and try again. This time, success!

With a correctly printed drawing (the drawing did not have any errors) I began the large pier bent jig using the same procedure as before.

The drawing was cut out and mounted to a styrene sheet.

On the top of the jig I wrote the critical information about the jig using a fine point Sharpee marker. It says what the jig is for, the layout it is associated with (actually the drawing) and the stock that is used to make the pier. The color strip to the right is the height guage for scenicking the piling. It shows where the hi and low tides are, the extent of moss and mussles and the like. More on that later.

The jig was replicated quickly since I have already built one. I'll keep the old one for an N scale layout one day. Now, we test the jig. Here I'm cutting the test sway braces.

This cup holds the long pier caps. I'll use cups to keep the cut parts separate.

Here is the test bent in the new jig. The measurments and the square of the pilings all are in spec. Good! Let's make some sawdust!

Here is the previous jig. Any fool could have sene that it didn't fit as the top of the pilings should have been close to the top of the pier. Here is where being a rubber guager is a problem. Because I work in N, HO, S and O I don't always put things into the right perspective. A person that just models HO would have probably caught this early on. Oh well. Lesson learned.

Here si the new bent which is much larger. The old bent would be perfect for N scle. I'll see if Coalfinger wants a doc on his new layout.

The wood has dried and is nice and straight. Perfect! Let's build a pier!

We'll need over 75 pilings, so I won't have enough stained wood. I'll rough up these and get a coat of paint on them. My daughter has come to visit so we'll chat and watch a video together.

I'll need seven long caps. These have to be paitned/weathered on all sides so I'll be carefull to dry brush these and not load them up with alcohol which could warp them. These HAVE to be level. These will need time to dry, so I'll work on the other pieces.

Using the Chopper I cut 28 sway braces and painted/stained them using the same technique I've used on the other wood. These 1" x 9" boards are VERY thin and will warp quickly if they get too wet, so I dry brushed them.

My camera LOVES to change colors! I used Scotch Tape to fasten them down to the counter and hit them with light coats of paints/stains. Be sure to hit the ends!

Now for the pilings. In all I need about 70 pilings so I set up the saw (dowels are too hard for razor blades to cut) and began to chop. The TV helps when a monontanous task like this one needs to be done. The chop saw made quick work of it.

Done! The sway braces, the caps and the pilings are all cut. Let's build some bents.

The pieces fit nicely and using just a little Elemer's Glue I begin to assemble the seven large bents. While the jig dries, I go over to the pier wall and begin laying timber.

I put in about 10-12 more timbers and have built the wall up to the caps. Those won't go on until the very last. The clamps are helping to hold the timbers in place while they dry as they want to slide around a bit.

I finished three bents tonight (only two shown) and the look great and are very square. With a jig the job goes amazingly quick! I guess there is about 10 more hours of work in the water pier scene.

The shop is a bit of a mess, but I don't mind as long as it not too cluttered. A clean workspace makes for a clean model. There are a lot of contradictions to that, however. I did pick up and sweep up the sawdust tonight. There is still a fourth assembly in the jig drying. The good thing is that my shop has four workbench spaces to mess up! Tomorrow I'll get up and finish the bents before church.

Ok, there is the third one.

Number four is drying. I'll have to pull it out of the jig and put the sway braces on the back. It is VERY strong!

Crap. This one came out blurry. I wanted to see how the timbers looked to the camera. The camera is the BEST way to tell the quality of your model. It won't lie and it shows every little blemish. On long boards like this I had a hard time keeping glue from squeezing through the timbers. My hopes were that it won't show and the picture would tell me. Oh well...try again tomorrow.

Night all!

Rolling Stock Aquisition Roster - Updated

2010-01-16T20:50:00.002-05:00

#007 04 Tybee Pier - Pier Madness

2010-01-16T17:27:00.000-05:00

WARNING: DO NOT BUILD A PIER WITH THESE INSTRUCTIONS. READ TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG ENTRY AND WAIT FOR THE CORRECTIONS. SORRY!

Well, that should tell you how my afternoon went today in the shop! After about an hour's worth of work building a jig for making pier bents I realized that the drawing (which I did check vertically) was not correct horizontally. I will redo it tonight. Everything was right but the piling dimensions. The pilings must fall under the rail or it won't hold the heavy rolling stock. Crap.

And now...blog o mania.

My wife bought these really nice 1 oz stainless steel condiment cups. I use them for painting because the are easy to clean and heavy so you don't knock them over.

Here is the lumber that I ordered from Trainmaster Models in Buford, GA, USA.

Today I went to the Train Show at the North Atlanta Dump...er North Atlanta Trade Center. They should trade it in on a new building. There was a ton of used equipment and since we're still on the Bleach Budget for the rest of the month, I'm paying in cash. Here is a spiffy Georgia Railroad boxcar. That makes one too many boxcars, but I can swap one out.

You have to have something that says Cotton on it, so I'll add this double door Cotton Belt boxcar. Ok, now I'm two boxcars over the limit. I never did find a shorty combine.

Wow! A Southern caboose. It is probably about as prototype as a Steisel (steam or diesel locomotive) but it is of the type that I'd like for the railroad and better than the bobber. With new couplers and wheels, and a good coat of weathering this one will be excellent.

Back to the Pier. Let's continue working on the Pier Wall. Its about 1:00 pm so if I can get all the wood painted/stained in an hour it will be dry for later tonight. I'll do 10 strips at a time.

Before starting, always check your timber for accuracy. I'll check five spots on two sides of the board to ensure that it is 1/8" all the way down. I don't care about the length so much. Also we'll check a few for knots and weak spots. Buying in bulk gives you much better wood than that which has sat in the hobby shop for a year standing on its end and warping.

I check the wood for warpage, too. This wood is super nice and sanded to perfection.

I stack the 10 pieces close together so they support each other....

...and then I distress them with three passes of the saw blade. I change my angle on the saw, and the pressure that I put down so that the scoring doesn't look uniform. Believe me, it WILL show up in a photo and looks like a Ruffle's Potato Chip.

We will give the boards a lite sanding, about three passes.

A light coat of Dr. Ben's Aged Driftwood Weathering Stain. Keep it light or the wood will warp. Don't paint it, stain it. If you miss a spot it will be ok as we'll give the whole pier a coat of blackening solution.

Then we'll darken and age the wood with Dr. Ben's Weathered Black Paint Pigments and a little alcohol. Again, don't paint it. Sloppy is good here and precision is not what we are after. Dark spots here and there are great and a few non-covered spots will help.

Here you can see me feathering out the black using as little alcohol as possible. Alcohol = warpage, just like in college.

While it looks like a spot here, once the boards are mixed up and 50% are turned around, the spotting will look natural.

I'll take the boards and make sure to separate them as they tend to get painted together. We'll sit these under a sheet of glass to dry and prevent warpage.

When my desk top glass gets too much paint on it, I'll scrap it off with this hand scraper. We're out of razor blades again, btw.

After we finish 24 more boards on one side, we need some cap boards to go on top of the pier. They need color on three sides so we'll take three more sticks and weather them.

I printed off the drawing of the pier and the bents and checked them for accuracy with a rule. First, we'll make the large bent where the track goes.

I'll make a jig to produce the 7 long bents. Use a jig when you have to make several of the same pieces and especially when they need to be fairly precise. Usually it doesn't take that long and the results are worth it.

** One thing to note. The pilings on the bents are NOT UNIFORM in spacing. The rail on the trackage has to be over a piling, so there will be a facing direction on the bents. Be sure to check the assembly for gluing.

Using a sheet of .080 styrene and a pack of 1/16 x 1/8 styrene strips we'll build the jig.

The first step is to change the blade in your hobby knife. Get in the habit of this!

Using my drawing I cut off part of the thick sheet of styrene which I'll used for the base of the jig.

Be sure to keep the plastic bag and put the styrene in a flat storage box. This will protect your investment. I've got TONS of strips and keep them in this box in the shop.

Using the straight edge I cut out the long bent. We'll use this as the template on the jig.

Now we'll glue the template on to the plastic base. Use VERY THIN applications of Elmer's Glue and try to avoid any bumps. It will dry quickly.

First I glue a 1/8 x 1/16 styrene strip across the top where the cap timber will go. The trick to making jigs is to keep the board straight and provide for accuracy, but plan for being able to remove the piece out of the jig. Often I've made jigs that were too tight or had braces that prevent the removal of the piece.

Using the Northwest Shortline Chopper (mine is ancient) I'll set up a cutting system to make several of the piling guides.

I ran out of blades so I'll have to use this dull one.

I cut a strip of the 1/8 x 1/16 strip and put it on either side of the pier piling. There are 14 of these.

There! Now I can mass cut the pilings and caps and assemble them quickly and accurately!

Using some 1" x 9" boards (they were S scale board left over from a project) I cut out the sway braces.

There! A nice pier piling bent. This is just a test, so I'm not going to paint it. I'll just use it to test the dimensions.

CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP!

Well, I checked the drawing vertically, but something happened horizontally!!! The rails MUST go over the pilings, but now it is too narrow. I'll have to start over and build a new jig.

I reprinted the plans and check them for accuracy. After dinner I'll have another go at it.

#006 04 Tybee Pier - Pier One Imports

2010-01-15T20:59:00.000-05:00

Yeah! My good buddy Iron Mike called me from the hobby shop today and told me the lumber was in for the pier. Taylor and I by-passed dinner and went over to pick it up. It was after hours, but he let me in anyway. Looks like he was packing up for the train show tomorrow.

The wood was straight and shrink wrapped. Excellent! Just what I needed and right on time.

Trainmaster Models is a great hobby shop!

We'll start to work on the wall again tomorrow. I was going to work on it tonight but I have a house full of drunk and crazy women playing Bunco. My wife is getting out of hand.

The Look of Things to Come - Carving Foam

2010-01-13T22:19:00.000-05:00

Often when I go to the shop it is VERY quiet. Too quiet. Music is sometimes a distraction but often I'll pop in an Allen Keller Great Model Railroads tape. This is a VHS tape because my player is old and I've not switched it to DVD. Actually, I may not. I've got tons of tapes and Allen has them on sale for $15 each. They work fine and they keep me company when I'm downstairs. You can learn and listen!

I hope that doesn't sound like an advertisement. My blogs do not sell advertising. I only mention things that I like and know that they work. Allen is a good friend and a fantastic modeler. His products are of the highest quality and have brought me a lot of enjoyment over the years. One day I'll be on the DVD!

The first project of the night is to clean up the rail car testing center. I keep losing my little Kadee coupler height gauge, so let's fix that. I have a powerful magnet here and am going to screw it to the base.

There! This magnet is VERY powerful so it will serve as a gauge keeper and tool caddy.

Tonight's I'M WITH STUPID award goes to ....me! Did you know that the metal NMRA standards gauge is NOT MAGNETIC? Dang! I wonder why. Must be aluminum. I took a metal back clip and now I have the two gauges attached. Not the best, but will do for now.

And we'll shove the board under the workbench for now. Yes, that is a Sherline Milling Machine. Get's a whole lot of use around here...not.

It takes to long to heat up the basement part where I work on these cold days, so I just decided to drag the whole section into the shop where it is warm and the coffee pot is close! I can work in good hear and light with all my tools close by!

The goal tonight is to give the foam its first trimming. I wanted this area to be tight against the track so that it can serve as a view block. This was done using the monostick hot knife.

I have both hot knives warming up.

Yes, this is a switch panel. The reason I'm showing you this is because this panel has a special function. The first switch turns off the overhead lights. The middle switch kills all the power to the right side of the room. The last switch kills all the power to the left hand side of the room. Why? Well, when you have hot knives, soldering irons and other eletronic equipment that makes fire, it is smart to make sure you turn it all off at night. I think it is an important safety tool.

I'm going to leave the run off area alone since it is a water project and I've not thought it all out yet.

Next, to give the right side a little flatter look, I'll pull off part of the 1" foam.

Here we have the basic shape. Plaster cloth and plaster will fill in the gaps.

I'm going to put a block retaining wall here mad of Dr. Ben's Baby Building Blocs. I've used these several times and the affect is astounding. It will work as a view block to separate the two levels.

This hot knife cuts better than all the rest. It really gets hot and doesn't cool down as fast. You can shape the tip to any shape you want!

I start sketching a little road here. Not sure what I'm going to do with it but it must help keep your eye away from the tunnel.

Since I'm not quite sure what I want the foam to look like from here, I'll put it away and come back to it tomorrow. For years I've lost every car weight I've bought so this time we're giving them a special cabinet drawer. Labeling each drawer is CRITICAL or you won't find it again. I label things mostly so my friends can find things. Even the drawers in my cabinets are labeled.

When handling lead weights you will get lead dust on your fingers. Wash this off immediately as it is poison. Some items say "lead" but really aren't. Still, wash your hands.

This hand printer will let me type in what I want and print a peel and stick label in any color I want. They are not cheap, but I've gotten my money's worth.

A little off center, but acceptable.

And the drawer will be given a special place in the drawer cabinet. I've got five of these handy cabinets and really need two more. If you buy these get the ones with different sized drawers.

I'm beat, man...headed to bed.

Fascianitis - Designing the Fascia for the Dixie Central

2010-01-11T20:57:00.001-05:00

I hate most layout fascia boards. Dull, boring, don't add anything to the layout. Hey! Let's paint it green or black. Yuck.

I've got a great idea for the fascia on the Dixie Central but I'm not going to share it with you. I know, I know, I always share everything. This time, its a surprise.

But I have been looking at other ideas. The presentation of the layout is important. See this example.

http://www.bronx-terminal.com/?p=1124

A good fascia should add to the layout, but not detract from it. Likewise it should be of a color that enhances the layout and blends in with it. Fascia should have texture of some sort, not perfectly flat. The fascia is also a tool in that it holds buttons, switches and your throttle. Still, I think the fascia can be a work of art in and of itself to help portray the layout it holds up.

Case in point, the Statue of Liberty. In and of itself the statue is magnificent. But what about the pedestal she stands on? It portrays strength and power, ascension, and probably some Masonic ritual of one kind or another like the dollar bill.

Let's find some other fascia-nating fasicas!

Allen McClelland hung ribbed outdoor carpeting as fascia. It looked very elegant, absorbed sound and was a match for anything with velcro on it. Can't find a picture.

C W Howell's Fascia with drink and throttle holders

Interesting Cast Metal Look Plate
Here's how he made it!

Gloss Black

Olive Drab

Wood Stained

Big fascia

The fascia on my swamp layout http://swamplayout.blogspot.com/ is going to be corrugated tin roof that has rusted. It will be fiberglass panels cut to shape and painted/weathered. This will give the Southern tin-roof feel of the shacks in the swamp.

Got ideas? We'd love to hear them!

You can always write me at scottgperry@comcast.net.

Mini Chop Saw

2010-01-11T15:36:00.000-05:00

Per an email request

Hi Randy...

It came from Harbor Freight. Not the most robust thing in the world, but it will do until I find something better. Several of us in the NCI group have them.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42307

They are $28 and I've cut over 1,000 pieces of wood with mine. Kind of hard to see underneath the saw. I reviewed in in the TRAINTOOLS egroup on Yahoo.

Had to fix Bob's as his switch wore out. He's cut over 10,000 ties with his (HO scale)

I'd buy another one!

Scott G. Perry, CPM

Russian Tea Recipe

2010-01-10T20:03:00.002-05:00

Russian Tea Recipe

01-11-10

This was a recipe my mom Denette Perry made for me when I was growing up. When I got older I started sneaking a shot of Gin into it when I had a cold. Works great!

½ cup Lipton Instant Ice Tea with lemon & sugar added
2 cups Tang Orange Instant Breakfast Drink
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon Kool-Aid Lemonade Mix w/out sugar (1 package)
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice

Blend all dry ingredients together. Makes 4 cups of mix. Use two tablespoons of mix per cup of boiling water.

Keep in a very dry container.

Industry & Structure Requirements - Updated

2010-01-10T19:56:00.002-05:00

Rolling Stock Aquisition Roster - Updated

2010-01-10T19:27:00.000-05:00

#005 04 Tybee Pier - Pier Pressure

2010-01-10T18:17:00.002-05:00

Greetings from the Procurement Department here at the Dixie Central. Diamond Jim Berkheimer sent me and email and said that he was having a sale in the basement today. Steve sells used trains on Ebay and ran into a large collection of used equipment that fits my era. So I kindly took him up on it. Then I hustled the collection downstairs so the Foreman wouldn't see it.

This is my new personal heater that Marie gave me. It is fantastic! Blows just the right amount of heat and has a thermostat system. The shop has central heat but when it gets to 17 degrees this little unit adds some extra comfort to my fingers trying to pick up small parts. This shot was taken just before my four year old spilled hot chocolate on it. !@$!@#@

Speaking of hot chocolate it has started to get a little old. So I dug out my mother's recipe for Russian Tea. I'll pot it at the end of the blog today. It is tangy and hot, but not so heavy as hot chocolate.

Here is the cocoa monster who was promptly banished from the shop earlier this evening.

Here are today's acquisitions from Steve-Mart, The Best in Basement Bargains! This about raps it up for the Procurement Department as I think I have everything but a few turnouts.

Perfect! A chlorine car. One, because I work for Clorox and I think it is cool. Two, because knitting mills use chlorine for bleaching things white. It is unusual and will weather up great.

This tank car will be used for cotton seed oil transportation. A bit of a stretch, but we'll take it.

This Southern flat was a must have! I'll loose the loads and put on something that works for my railroad.

An L&N flat car, too! Yeah! I love L&N.

Another fine Southern box car with a different roadname. The doors open, which was a parameter.

The Head of Engineering for Structures went with me an bought a few things, too.

Not sure where it will go, but you can't have too many of these small buildings laying around. They are great for a lot of things.

This crossing shanty will be at the 30 dgree crossing at the cotton gin.

This may go on the pier unless I scratchbuild one.

Or this one may go on the pier. The extra doors make more sense for it than the big door.

I'm not sure if I'll use this as the cotton siding or not, but it looked great and is much easier than scratchbuilding.

This is awesome! A derrick! The booms are a bit long for what I'm doing but the base and pulleys are fantastic. I'll get great use from this.

Paul Voelker powers his layout with Stegosaurs so I bought this older Mark II unit for local switching.

The next chore was to work on the pier. I finished adding the 1/8" x 1/8" strips to the long wall untill they were all gone. I'll put her aside until next weekend.

My daughter has been coming down to visit more so I'm trying to be more carefully with blades. I'll start keep them in a tray instead of laying around.

With a fleet of used cars in the yard I had better get to getting them ready. This is a test board that I built years ago for a clinic. It has nine stations for testing a car or locomotive and is small so you can take it upstairs and watch TV or whatever while checking out your fleet. Let's take a look at it...

The first thing is to clean it. The track is dirty from sitting under the workbench. A "Brite Boy" type block is used to clean the tops of the rail. Clean is not the right word. Grind might be better. All it does is remove corrosion and soil by abrasion.

The cleaning part happens when you put alcohol on a towel and wipe the rail down after scrubbing. Yuck! Some folks use Wahl Clipper oil or White oil to clean the track, but I've not had much luck with either. Love to hear how YOU clean track! Post a comment below.

Station One is a test track for code 83 rail. This demonstrates how old this test board is because when I built it many rail cars had thick flanges that wouldn't roll on Code 83. Now most all cars are ready for it. If I was to rebuild this test board I'd use code 70.

Station Two is free rolling. There is a slight incline here and I push the car to see it go up the incline on its own without stalling.

Station Three is the grade test. I sit the car on this 2% grade and it should roll off the other end of the track. Yes, I catch it!

Station Four is code 100 track. This track is carefully gauged and checked. The test here is to see if the trucks are working correctly. My next test board will have a sharp curve in it instead of a tangent track.

Station Five is flange depth and balance. I used to put rerailers on hidden track all the time to help keep the train wheels in alignment and railed. However, you can't get these for Code 83. Hey Walthers or somebody, its still a good idea to have these! If the weight in the car is not balanced this rerailer will make it wobble.

Station Six is the coupler height and hose gauge test. I sit the gauge here and test the coupler, the coupler's height, the hose height and the basic operation of both couplers. The rerailler just to the left is helpful for putting the car back on the track repeatedly during adjustments.

Here is the Kadee coupler height gauge. It is not mounted because I have an On30 gauge and use the same board for testing.

Station Seven is the DC/DCC test and programming track. This is mostly for locomotives, but can be used for cabooses or passenger cars with lighting.

Station Eight is for testing engine lights and sound and is a flat spot of track.

Station Nine is the last station and is for cleaning locomotive drivers. The track has cuts in it that grab dirt and clean the wheels.

Other equipment I use for car testing and maintenance are...

Gram Scale. This is actually an ounce scale and is very old. I'm saving up to buy a nice digital gram scale. This is for the precision weighing of cars per NMRA guidelines.

Loco Caddy or Car Caddy. This is a foam block that has grooves for holding the rail car upside down for truck repair or coupler installation.

HO Standards Gauge. This is used for checking the gauge or the distance between the wheels and is critical for good performance. I keep a lot of these laying around for track installation, too.

At the bottom of the gauge near my thumb are two small grooves. The flanges of a car's wheels should fit in the grooves. You can buy these at any hobby shop or directly from the NMRA.

I started with the N&W car. It failed right off the bat on rolling as it has plastic wheels and the railroad mandates metal wheels. I continued to check the couplers and make adjustments.

Using a special set up curved-jaw pliers I adjusted the coupler "hoses" or trip pins upward so they would clear the gauge.

As I make adjustments I make notes. This is too time consuming so I'm going to make a print out for this and just fill it out. I ONLY do this when there are repairs and parts to be ordered and installed.