Botno-NoDak Grain Project

[RCH]

Here's the latest progress in the saga that is building a model of Bottineau, North Dakota ca. summer 1991. Some of this is old progress, some new but all is part of the obsession that's 13 years strong! I may have posted some of this before, so forgive me if that's the case.

Click on any of the following thumbnails to enlarge them

 

[RCH]

Click on any of the following thumbnails to enlarge them





And let's not forget the trucks that haul the grain to the elevators (two Athearn RTR Freightliners dressed up and one Lonestar Wilson grain trailer):



Some more stuff related to this train can be seen at my Yahoo! Geocities site, Bottineau Farmers Elevator

 

[modelbob]

Great photos!

For those of you who are interested in weathering, you'd do well to study his photos. It's very nicely done, obvious but not overblown. Weathering is a bit of an art, and doing it well takes skill and practice. This is an excellent example of how nice cars can look with a fairly subtle weathering job.

 

[CBCNSfan]

I may have posted some of this before, so forgive me if that's the case.

Well if I have seen them before, I don't mind seeing them again, and echo modelbob's post. I'm fascinated by the effects you produce in your work.
Cheers Willis

 

[abcraghead]

Gorgeous stuff. Have you any photos of the elevator itself, in either model or 1:1 form?

 

[RCH]

Thanks for the response, fellas!

I've been developing the weathering techniques for as many years as I've been modeling. It was one of the first facets of the hobby I dabbled in. It took me many years to learn to hold back and try not to overdo it. Weathering from photos is something I got into a couple years ago and I've not looked back since.

I have loads of photos of both the railcars and the elevators, but they're all photos I took back in '91 and none of them have been scanned. My first attempt at the number 3 elevator (there are four in Bottineau) ended up getting scrapped and my only attempt at the fertilizer bulk blend plant has been destroyed moving from Colorado to Texas. But, I do have a couple photos that I took on the diorama I made for the bulk blend plant.

They're not the best photos, and your only real clue as to the detail is looking at the shadows, but unfortunately, they are all that survived. I did my own drawings for scratchbuilding this thing, so it can easily be done again. Next time I won't use photocopied brick sheet for shingles ;D

http://www.geocities.com/norfolksouthernhinose/BN-SD40-2B-7500a.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/norfolksouthernhinose/BN-SD40-2B-7501a.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/norfolksouthernhinose/BN-SD40-2Ball.JPG

I'm in the process of revamping the Bottineau Farmers Elevator website, but until I learn some basic database commands, I won't make many updates to it. I'd like to get another scanner (last one also destroyed in the move) one day, then I can really show the comparison of model to prototype.

I'll see about getting more photos up to this thread.