The D&J Railroad -- From Scratch

[D&J RailRoad]

I picked up an order of the new BLI H32 hoppers. They're in serve already on the D&J Railroad.

 

[logandsawman]

Ken--Back to the loads, are there hooks on the ends of the chains?

Nice job on the models!!! lasm

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Ken--Back to the loads, are there hooks on the ends of the chains?

Nice job on the models!!! lasm

I threaded a very thin strand of wire through the last link of the chain on each end then used that to pull the chain into the stake pocket on the side of the flatcar.

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Still taking a break from the mountain range and installed some foam border along the mainline. I have always been a bit concerned of a derailed train taking the plunge to the floor. This is the base layer. Screen will be laid over it and wall plaster applied for the ground texture. This 30 some feet of foam took about 45 minutes to mark and cut then glue into place. The shaping will be done with a tool sorta like a cheese grater.

 

[logandsawman]

easy way to add some foreground, too. Good idea!!

 

[montanan]

That's a good addition. Locomotives and rolling stock don't bounce well on a concrete floor. No derailments needed.

Looks real good. After seeing the wide open spaces during construction, it's nice to see scenery starting. Looking good.

 

[tootnkumin]

That's what the Auto makers call a "crumple zone". Air bags next?

 

[Lynnb]

This is getting exciting, love seeing scenery come to life.

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Did some more work on the parameter area to keep trains from falling to the floor. Never have had a derailment along here, but it needed to be worked on anyway. The foam is in place. I roughed up the foam surface to give the wall plaster a better surface to bite into. This is instead of putting screen down first. There aren't steep areas on this like over on the mountain range. I'll let this dry and then put some color onto it tomorrow.

 

[D&J RailRoad]

I borrowed a hot wire to cut the foam board down and sculpt it. It seems slow but actually, its faster than using the cheese grater and it's not a messy. I can let my mind wander while I'm working or just put a few trains in motion. Two in one direction and two in the opposite direction and watch them pass by every few minutes.

 

[Bruette]

Now that is what I call multi-tasking!

 

[wombat457]

Ken,

I don't know what I would have done without a hot wire cutter. You may not use them all the time but when needed they save a hell of a lot of time and work.

 

[Pacodutaco]

Ken,

I don't know what I would have done without a hot wire cutter. You may not use them all the time but when needed they save a hell of a lot of time and work.

...and mess.

 

[Motley]

Are you using concrete ties track on that outside track there?

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Are you using concrete ties track on that outside track there?

Yes, I'm modeling the transition period of wood to concrete as the roads would only put concrete on one track but not the other.

 

[jwb]

I borrowed a hot wire to cut the foam board down and sculpt it. It seems slow but actually, its faster than using the cheese grater and it's not a messy. I can let my mind wander while I'm working or just put a few trains in motion. Two in one direction and two in the opposite direction and watch them pass by every few minutes.

There's a new show on cable called Museum Men, where guys build museum exhibits largely from white Styrofoam. So far, these have included King Tut's sarcophagus and a German mini U-boat. They work from enormous blocks of it, but they seem to use hot wire cutters for basic shaping, and then get down to cheese graters for final finish. Cheese graters (I actually use something called Dragon Skin, more like a plastic cheese grater sandpaper) are still very useful.

And despite the bad rep white foam has gotten among modelers, it's interesting to see the pros have no problems with it.

 

[ianc]

Yes, I'm modeling the transition period of wood to concrete as the roads would only put concrete on one track but not the other.

That period must have differed from one locale to another, depending ( I assume) on the availability of wooden ties. Here in B.C. all the roads still use wood, mostly Doug Fir but I think they use concrete on the prairies.

 

[jwb]

The policy of individual railroads also made a difference. In the 1990s, both BNSF and UP used concrete ties (as did Amtrak), but Conrail simply didn't use them as a matter of policy. NS and CSX appear to be going slowly toward concrete.

 

[D&J RailRoad]

I would think the gradual transition was to use up the stockpiled wood ties while still transitioning to the concrete ties.

 

[ianc]

I would think the gradual transition was to use up the stockpiled wood ties while still transitioning to the concrete ties.

There was one other consideration - noise. I worked for the CPR as vacation relief weighmaster in the N yard in Vancouver when I was going to university in the 1960's and they experimented with concrete ties on a couple of sidings. My recollection is that they produced about three times the noise that wooden ties did, and that was one of the reasons they didn't switch over. They figured that everyone living within a mile of the line would be writing their MP.