Building the Potomac Line

[Puddlejumper]

I have to take a break from tracklaying, since I am out of track. I need to order code 83 flex, and some turnouts. In the meantime, I decided to start work on the trestles at Metropolitan Fuel & Aggregate. One of the trestles will be double track with a catwalk in between. The other trestle will be located up against a masonry wall next door to Capital Cold Storage. This will be a single track trestle with a catwalk on the front side. All spots are spaced for 2 bay hoppers. Shown in the pics are the beginnings of the trestles. The main beams are 18"x 18" beams, the crossmembers are approximately 9"x 9". I am not using drawings, just going off of what looks and feels right to me. I have on order some scale lumber and crossties...







The short piece of track and the hopper are only sat on there to give an idea of what it will look like.

[sailormatlac]

First time I see a double track coal trestle. Very interesting and busy setting...

Matt

[Puddlejumper]

Matt,

The double trestle is very loosely based on a prototype coal dealer in Southeast Washington D.C. in the early part of the century. Here is an overhead view...



I have not yet been able to find any good photos of the facility, though here are some photos of other coal dealers in D.C. around the same time...

http://www.shorpy.com/node/5605

http://www.shorpy.com/node/5611

http://www.shorpy.com/node/5606

Also of interest, an article about a derailed PRR loco on a collapsed coal trestle in Southeast D.C....

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Dave

[sailormatlac]

Dave,

Thanks for the info. That's a very fine prototype. I too often think of coal trestle as a small business, but there's definetely a lot of potential from what I can see. You changed my opinion on that subject. I'm far too young to have known any coal dealer or system using it.

Matt

[jglfan]

Man, I just love the industrial area, what a great eye you have, it is going to look sweet!

[Puddlejumper]

Man, I just love the industrial area, what a great eye you have, it is going to look sweet!

Thanks! Building the trestles is going to be fun. Still have to plan the warehouse and trestle for Capital Cold Storage, and all of the low relief buildings against the backdrop. The spurs were made intentionally tight to add operational challenges.

I wish I had like 6x10 feet for the industrial area. The prototype area in Southeast D.C had multiple team tracks, a loop track, a scrapyard, and a branch that ran through the streets for several blocks to a Military base.

I thought the article on the B6 0-6-0 falling through the coal trestle onto the street below was very interesting.

Thanks for the feedback!

Dave

[Puddlejumper]

Today I made a jig for building 8 identical trestle bents.





Here are some completed bents...



And here I have begun some of the retaining wall. This is the self adhesive stone wall from... Woodland Scenics? I think.



I plan on extending the entire Metropolitan Fuel and Capital Cold Storage area by about 9" wide and 3" deep. I realized just the other day that the coal yard didn't have enough space between the trestles for a trucker to get a dump truck in there without completely blocking up the whole coal yard. Since I'm pretty sure the owner will want to load more than one truck at a time, I was forced to move a couple of turnouts and expand the coal yard. Pics to follow in a few days.

dave

[Puddlejumper]

Crews have been steady at work at Metro Fuel. Here is the progress on the double track trestle. The single track trestle sits approximately in it's new location. You can see it's old location marked in purple. There was definitely not enough room before. Now I have moved things over and expanded the coal yard.



The open bents were stick built with balsa and/or stripwood using my home made jig, the wall bents are flat balsa scribed to simulate board on board sheathing. the first bent and last bent are not built yet because they are not the same as the rest. The last one will have a bumping post built into it, whereas the first bent will be wider due to the curvature of the tracks.


Here you can see the walls dividing the bins for different aggregates. The end bin has no center wall as it will be fore heating coal, the aggregate I expect to sell the largest quantity of, and so is a double wide bin accessed from either side of the trestle.


Here is an overview of where Metropolitan fuel is right now. You can see I write notes for myself everywhere. I have to write things down as I brainstorm, or else I will forget what I'm doing...


Dave

[Ralph]

That's really shaping up nicely!

[Puddlejumper]

Thanks Ralph! Today I manufactured the 2 remaining bents, and got some rail laid.

Here is the end bent. The 2 wooden beams are leaning up approximately where they will be located. They will be the brace for the bumper beams, which are already in place. I am very pleased with the board on board look, I almost wish I had done that for the intermediate bents as well rather than scribing the boards like I did.



Close up of the double bin for heating coal. The rail is code 70 and code 83 from Micro Engineering.


The other end of the trestle and my other board on board trestle bent. The open area beyond the last bin is the drive to get to the other side of this trestle, to get to the other trestle and to the woodpile.


An overview with 3 spotted hoppers. I did not use any exact measurement from any prototype, basically I just built what looked right to my eye. This is my very first model of this magnitude, and my first scratchbuild, having barely even assembled kits (other than freight cars) prior to now. I am very pleased with the way this is going.

[jwb]

You should be pleased -- your work looks so good I was surprised to see how new you say you are to it!

[MrBill]

That looks really cool Dave. Your starting to motivate me here to get my coal drop finished. Nice shorpy links too.

[faraway]

You colored the wood prior to mounting in many different shades. That was very wise and looks very impressive

[Puddlejumper]

Thanks for the kind words fellas!

You colored the wood prior to mounting in many different shades. That was very wise and looks very impressive

Yes, I used several stains, the most prominent being Dark Walnut and Ebony. I thought the darker colors would represent the creosote that the timbers were treated with. Soon I will learn how to use my airbrush and artist's charcoal and/or black chalk to weather the structure with years of coal dust. The bins with sand and road salt will be weathered accordingly with lighter colors.

As always, comments or suggestions are welcome!

Dave

[Puddlejumper]

When I began construction I ordered a bunch of nut-bolt-washer castings to apply to all the areas that nbws would be appropriate. I decided I did not want to use them, that it was a lot of effort. At this point I think I will end up applying them to very visible areas, as they will likely add quite a bit of visual appeal. On the other trestle I will apply them as I build.

In this photo you can see in the backround an area with green foam, no track, and a bunch of locos and cars sitting there. This area was previously unplanned, I basically was just going to lay the main line through and put some houses, etc. I have since decided to expand Spring Hill Industrial park into this area. I am really enjoying this aspect of the layout and have decided to roll with it. Today I removed the green foam from the area and plan on extending the industry lead around the corner and placing several more industries there.



The main line will go through this area on an elevated span which will add visual appeal and make it challenging to lay track and switch cars into and out of industries. I will have to make sure to pay attention to spots and industries, as I don't want to make it too hard to reach in with a skewer and uncouple cars, or to align couplers to pick up cars.

More in a few days.

Dave