Quick Update: Canadian Visit, NYHRR Ops Session & Prep for NER Convention

Wow - I just realized I haven't done a substantive modeling update since October 23. Unfortunately, work got especially busy during that time and whatever hobby time I had I've mostly spent working on layout & backdrop photography. Thanks to some great help from Brooks Stover, I've been improving - though still nowhere near where I want to be. Fortunately, "backdrop photography" consisted of something I am actually proficient at - taking pictures outdoors. So I took advantage of the teeny tiny foliage season to get some more shots I can (hopefully) use for backdrops.

Not a "backdrop photo" but something I saw while out shooting landscapes for same.
Housatonic Railroad local freight, North Canaan, CT 10/27/2017

I also had a visit from Don Janes and Greg Stubbings and was able to host a quick ops session with Greg, while Don took photos (unfortunately, I didn't get any photos myself - but hope to be seeing Don's pics soon!). They were down from Canada visiting New England and were in the neighborhood - click here for Don's report on their visit to the Valley RR.

Speaking of Ops Sessions, I was able to make it down to Dave Ramos' and was able to meet Tim Harrison and Stuart Chirls in person, which was an unexpected treat. It was amazing how long it took us (a 3-man crew) to switch a yard, a few industries, and a car float. But it's always a blast to visit the NYHRR. (sorry guys - next time I promise to relinquish the throttle...)

As for modeling, unfortunately, the B&O flatcar and Rt. 15 bridge are still in primer, ready for the next step. But I did get some layout work done, thanks VERY much to DaveM for some additional Valley Coal structures, thanks to scenery help from Bill and sadly-blogless-Pete, and thanks to a looming scheduled ops session hosting folks from the NMRA/New England Region Convention in Newport, RI.

The photos tell the story . . .

In addition to the Valley Coal office and oil tanks, Dave also sent models of the coal bins and garage - built according to what prototype photos I had available and a plot plan I'd sent him. They all arrived recently and I started doing a final mock-up of the scene.

Once I got everything in a good place - and as close to prototype arrangement as practicable - I decided to raise the terrain with foam core so that it would be more in line with the tops of the rails (thereby "sinking" the siding) and cut some openings to accommodate the masonite structure bases.

Then it was a matter of adding Ground Goop to feather everything in (hiding the edges of the foam core, primarily) and painting the foam base to make things look a little nicer (and to prep for further scenery materials.

The road will definitely get additional treatment - this was just a quick paint job to hide the foam. There's much scenery to be done here...

Meanwhile, Bill worked on modifying/sizing/printing a photo backdrop for where Middlesex Turnpike hits the masonite in the Goff Brook scene. Here he's creating a fillet of paintable caulk to feather the edge between the 3D road and 2D road on the backdrop.

Trucks sitting in front of Gra-Rock, on the site of the old passing siding across from the Wethersfield station.

Just because you need to move details and such out to keep them out of harm's way doesn't mean you can't set up a little mini-scene in the meantime... And it's a great way to keep motivation high.

Pete and I also got back to the East Berlin scene to add Ground Goop and get it ready for further scenery. Turns out, we worked so fast that this is the only shot I got of the progress - I promise more pics later.

While it's always nice to show some additional layout progress to my regular operators, I have to remember that the NER guests will not have seen the layout in person yet - so everything will be "new" to them at least. That realization kept me from getting too stressed about getting a lot more accomplished - but knowing they were coming still gave me a timely kick-in-the motivation to press ahead a little further at least.

So what's next? Ah - there is SO much to do. I'd like to finish up the B&O flatcar, as well as teach myself resin casting so I can copy the girder parts for the Rt. 15 overpass (thanks to Don Janes for the encouragement to try casting...) and get that done. And I really want to maintain my motivation to do scenery - something that's always been a major hurdle for me. Thanks to Bill and Pete, I've got a good start - I just have to keep pressing forward (and finally try out that static grass applicator myself - are you listening Ted?). Steam decoderization is waiting for decoders, and I still need to dial-in the installs I did recently.

But all in good time - they don't call this The World's Greatest Hobby for nuthin' - it certainly is all-consuming with an amazing variety of different things to do and skills to learn. Hope you'll continue to enjoy following along as the Valley Line continues to evolve - or at least learn what not to do along the way... %^)

A Few Words about Wordless Wednesday #190: Valley Oil(?) Kit(?)

Long-time readers know that the major rail-served industry at the south end of Wethersfield during the late 1940s is Valley Coal, located at Wells Road and the Silas Deane Highway.

This is a view of the Sanborn map, oriented as you'll see it on the layout (the aisle would be at the bottom of the image).

And here's an admittedly poor aerial view of the prototype, shot looking east/northeast. This is a zoomed-in view of a photo taken after the 1938 hurricane. These damage photos are actually great resources in that they're often the only perspective view you ever get of a particular area. In the photo above, you can barely make out the Valley Line near the top of the pic, going from upper left corner down toward the right. The siding is located between the oil tanks and the mainline. You can also barely make out the vertical coal hoist, and assorted sheds and bins.

Like many retail home heating fuel companies during this era, Valley Coal offered both coal and oil for local customers - but as far as I know, despite eventually being 100% an oil dealer (and even selling gasoline), it was always known as "Valley Coal."

I've posted separately about the amazing model of the Valley Coal office, just outside the picture on the right, that Dave Messer built. For all my posts related to modeling Valley Coal, click here.

Well, Dave's participation in the Valley Coal project continues with the construction of the oil tanks - and I just got the completed model last Saturday. Unfortunately, despite prominent labels marked FRAGILE the USPS did it's level best to destroy it. Fortunately, they didn't succeed - but there was still a little work to do.

Once I unpacked the box, the above is what I had to work with. I later found a few more details (I'm glad I saved the box!). So it was like receiving a really amazing kit - that was already 98% finished!

All I had to do was confirm with Dave where everything was supposed to go, then I used my new favorite glue (Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue), applied with a toothpick, to attach all the pieces. It took a couple of consecutive evenings since I couldn't glue everything back together at the same time - I had to go in substeps, letting some things cure before being able to attach additional things to it (e.g. installing a tank before attaching the platform).

But I really enjoyed being able to "participate" in the construction, even if only incidentally and in a very minor way. The best part was being able to appreciate all the fine detail Dave included in this scratchbuilt industry.

Yesterday's Wordless Wednesday showed some of that process and what was necessary to weigh down some of the parts while they dried. But after all that, here's the finished product:

Looks amazing and another example of Dave's craftsmanship. Sharp eyes will note that the "tank farm" is selectively compressed - 3x2 tanks rather than 5x2 - but I bet if I hadn't pointed that out you wouldn't have noticed. Bottom line is that it's going to be perfect in the Valley Coal scene I'm building.

One last thing I decided to go ahead and add was hoses to the ends of the pipes. I'd been using 3/64" heat shrink tubing during my recent decoder installs, so I got the idea to use those to represent hoses.

Fun Fact: 3/64" tubing slips nicely over the end of the wire that Dave used to represent the pipes. I only needed a daub of tacky glue to make sure they wouldn't slip off.

But first, I dipped the ends into some silver/gray paint to represent nozzles at the end of the hoses. Turns out that the hoses will mostly be on the back side - facing the backdrop and away from the aisle - so I didn't have to worry too much about superdetailing the hoses. Just having them at all will do the trick I think.

And here it is placed temporarily on the layout:

Compare to the prototype map and photo and I think you'll agree that Dave nailed it! Can't wait to get this scene finished and continue progress north into Wethersfield proper. Hope you'll continue coming along for the ride!

Wordless Wednesday #190

A Thankful Thursday on Tuesday: Valley Coal Company Office & Details

One of the joys of prototype modeling is that there are probably some folks that are familiar with your prototype. You don't really have to explain what you're doing - they automatically "get it." If you're modeling some time in the past, you're even more blessed if those folks remember the time as well as the place you're modeling.

I've often mentioned John Wallace as a great source of inspiration for this layout project. His articles on the Valley Line in the NHRHTA's Shoreliner magazine, based on his personal memories, were the initial impetus for modeling the Valley Local. He even grew up in one of the towns I'm modeling.

Unfortunately, while he's been an avid railfan since his teen years (and his photos of the line from the late 1940s are priceless references), he's not a modeler. Fortunately, there's another fella that grew up in Wethersfield - just a few years after John - who IS a modeler. I've mentioned Dave Messer before and he's been contributing some amazing models and details to help this project.

This past weekend, the postman delivered his latest contributions - and they've hit a new level. . .

Pictured above are a billboard for a builder whose houses were prolific in Wethersfield during my era, some additional details for the Wethersfield station, and assorted other details, including mailboxes, crates, barrels, a gas pump, car, and forklift.

But that building in the background is the office and scale for the Valley Coal Company. Dave's an excellent modeler, so I knew his model of the office would be spot-on.

The only known photo of the Valley Coal Co. office (that's not an aerial photo)

And as you can tell from the prototype photo above, it is. But nothing really prepared me for what else is going on in the model . . .

I'd seen through the main window that there was a little bit of an interior - a desk with a lamp on it. But it wasn't until I turned on the lights that I saw all the other cool things inside!

You can see the desk and lamp pretty easily, but check out the beadboard wall and the delivery schedule board!

There's also a full closet and door inside, and above you can see a wall calendar hanging on the side of the partition wall.

Here's a better view of the closet - and a wall clock on the far wall(?!)

Better view of the clock. All of these pics were shot with my iPhone peeking through the windows. The roof isn't removable and I couldn't even see these things with my glasses on (too far away - I couldn't get close enough to look inside!) So it wasn't until I went "exploring" with the phone that I could fully appreciate all the amazing interior detail.

Looks like I'll be installing a lighting bus soon :^) - but in the meantime, like with the tower that Bill made (click here for photos of that interior!), I'll take temporary power off the track bus. And I'll be turning down the room lights too - there's no way I'm going to keep folks from seeing this incredible work.

It's so cool to have folks that not only get what I'm trying to accomplish, but are enthusiastic about contributing their own time and talent to help it along in such an amazing way. Most of the time, that happens on-site, but Dave's two states away and - with a little help from the postal service - can participate as well. Thanks again Dave!

Monday Mail Call: Mockup, Mini-Scene, 1948 Calendar

Turned out to be a fun day in Valley Local land today, but first, a quick progress photo of mocking -up Valley Coal in Wethersfield:

PeteL graciously loaned back to me the mockups that BillS made for Chapman's in Old Saybrook and they turned out to be nice stand-ins for the bins, shed and tanks at Valley Coal. Unlike Chapman's, though, these mockups are nowhere close to or as extensive as what was actually at Valley Coal, but something along these lines may be all I have room for. And I don't even have the rear of the Webb Theater in the scene yet (it'll be right behind the office/scale house).

Since I've been working in Wethersfield (and the progress is, admittedly, painfully slow...), DaveM has been encouraging me and firing my motivation by supplying exactly the sort of detail I want to be sure to include as the scene finally finishes...

This crew - along with their truck - came in today's mail and will be placed near the Gra-Rock siding just south of the Wethersfield station (freight house). They're unloading onion seeds for Hart Seed Co. Just need to get an appropriate reefer (or boxcar?) from a RR that serves onion producers and spot it at the bulk track just south of Church Street in Wethersfield. Thanks Dave!!

Also in today's mail, my latest "prototype" acquisition arrived - an authentic, complete 1948 calendar!

Since I won't be all-steam any time soon (brass locos still need to be painted and decoder-ized), my "official" era of the moment is October, 1948 - right after the PAs arrived on the Shore Line, RS-1 0669 is on the Haddam Local (PDX-2), and RS-2 0510 is brand-new (and plausibly being tested on the Air Line). So, of course, I needed an era-appropriate calendar! The graphic actually has a story as well. I've often mentioned to the Missus that my dream house is a Cape on the Cape (Cape Cod) coast with a picket fence and rose trellises (don't tell anyone). Well, when I found this on eBay - and saw that the caption was "My Dream Cottage" (really! zoom in to see), I just HAD to get it.

And, let's just say, it's a just a bit less - ahem - risque than all the other 1948 calendars I saw and considered purchasing. Suffice it to say, while what I have now is an authentic 1948 calendar, an Esquire calendar would probably be more era-appropriate in a RR Agent/Operator's office!

ANYway.... speaking of the RS-1 and RS-2, here they are in Saybrook going through some testing yesterday (Chapman's Coal & Oil is there back left)....

I've been trying to dial-in the Loksound decoders and have the RS-1 pretty well there. But the Proto 1000 RS-2 still has a pretty low top speed, no matter where I set the trim and momentum. The DL-109s in the background need no adjustments at all - they're dialed in pretty nicely already (though I do plan to change the pitch of each of the prime movers slightly so that they don't sound exactly alike).

There's just So Much To Do - but all good and all fun. I guess that's why it's called The World's Greatest Hobby!

Wordless Wednesday #165 - Valley Coal & Webb Theater

Former Valley Coal & Webb Theater, Wethersfield

Wordless Wednesday #161

Valley Coal, South Wethersfield, CT Sept. 1938.
Coal hoist is the dark vertical thing left of the tanks and behind the sheds.
You can click to embiggen

Weekend Progress - Valley Coal, Goff Brook

This past weekend started early Friday morning, before work. I'd planned on doing a workout (really, I did!) but decided instead to do some plaster-cloth-ing at Valley Coal. Last time, I (re)did all the cork roadbed and cardboard lattice, so getting that area covered was the next logical step - and it could be drying/curing while I was at work.

After the Christmas module/layout project, doing quickie plastercloth is certainly no biggie.

And certainly looks better than cardboard lattice - or, worse, a gaping hole

With the coal hoist in place (click here for how I modeled it), it's starting to look more like the prototype scene below...

John Wallace photo - c. 1943

With what little time I had on Saturday, I actually got back to the DERS-1b a little bit. I really would like to get the detailing on this engine done so I can get it out of the shop and back into service. Hopefully soon.

On Sunday, Bill was able to come over to help out a bit just south of Valley Coal, just over the line in Rocky Hill at Goff Brook.

As you can see, Bill always dives right into whatever he's doing with unbridled enthusiasm. But I had him beat - I used a saber saw and created an even BIGGER earthquake in Rocky Hill than he did with his piddly little hand saw. But even I'm mellowing - last time I was here (over 3 years ago?! Yikes!), I used a SawzAll...

The foam stand-ins for the abutments - ably and beautifully hand-crafted by Pieter and installed by him and Roman - have been replaced by more permanent stone abutments.

RR bridge put back in place temporarily - and roadway narrowed (not to mention old wood abutments and cardboard wingwall stand-ins removed)

There's still a LONG way to go in this scene - and recent efforts have been more like 3 steps back for 1-2 steps forward. But now that we're focusing more closely on this area, I'm hoping we can finally get it finished. Who knows - maybe next time we'll be able to start pouring some water into Goff Brook . . .

(Re)Working on Valley Coal

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I mentioned BillS and I had started to rework the south end of Wethersfield, around the Valley Coal siding. Such is my life this time of year. Between work and either recovering from work (late nights) or catching up on stuff (deferred chores and "life" stuff), there's precious little time for the layout. But yesterday I was able to help out my friend Bruce with his layout - made all the better because it started out as Bill's layout - and Bill and Randy were able to join us to help too. Made for a really fun day.

Today, I got my I-5 tender repaired (thanks to Pete's loaner and the fact that my local hardware store actually had the right teeny, tiny screws in stock), I puzzled over why a certain pair of DL-109s keep losing their consisting (and addresses), and I used said I-5 to diagnose - and then spent an inordinate amount of time trying to repair (without success) - some faulty trackwork that's causing it to derail.

But after giving that up, I was finally able to get back to Wethersfield - and Valley Coal.

Here's where we were last time we were here:

Plaster cloth starting to be removed, but Valley Coal siding still there.

All plaster cloth and cardboard lattice gone - and siding cut away as well.

After ripping out the cardboard lattice and plaster cloth that was there, it was time to backfill with foam. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of my ingenious (well, not really) splice. At first, I'd planned on keeping the siding, including the plywood subroadbed, so I cut the foam to fit around that. Then I decided that it would be MUCH easier to cut the coal dump pit out of foam, rather than plywood (not to mention, the cut would have totally severed the plywood and require new and additional bracing/support). So I had to replace the foam I'd cut out - but now it had to be spliced. You can just make it out in the photos I took.

It took me a while to level everything up (yes, I know that the world ain't level - and the terrain in this part of Wethersfield actually slopes up - but it's always good to start with a good foundation for track), but then it was just a matter of applying some foam-friendly adhesive to the tops of the supports, fitting the foam, pressing it in place, and weighing it down - as above. I even glued down some more cork roadbed for the siding.

After taking so long to get back to Wethersfield, and still having some time left, I didn't want to leave - so I went ahead and cut out the pit for the coal dump. It was a little tricky, since the glue under the cork was still wet(!)

I even got the glue guns heated up and (re)did some cardboard lattice to fill in the big gap. This will be a low-lying area, just like on the prototype. And yes - glue gunS. I use an industrial strength gun for construction points (e.g. cardboard to wood), but a low-temp Woodland Scenics gun for attaching anything to foam (the glue from the other gun just melts the foam!).

While that was all curing, I thought it'd be fun to take a seldom-seen view of the layout. Here we see the supports for the foam board (just scraps of 1x4, indicated by the yellow arrows), how I attach the cardboard lattice strips (blue arrows), and the splice (green arrow).

I couldn't wait to see how things would eventually look, so I placed the coal dump in place (see here for how I modeled it - yikes, over 2yrs ago!).

Valley Coal, just north of Wells Road, Wethersfield, CT c. 1943 - John Wallace photo

Not quite what you see here in the prototype photo, but it's on its way . . .