Southern Pacific's Jefferson Branch
#31
Moving forward

Not much in the way “Ohh and Ahh” progress but things are still moving forward.   Trains are running to find any hidden bugs and the track is still rock solid.  The rolling stock is the weak link but I'm still fixing that as I go with Kadee #148 couplers, Walther's metal wheels, trucks get tuned, and I've started adding some weight to the cars that need it most.  I did add a few cars to the fleet and culled a few stand ins.

Currently doing a lot of testing of techniques, colors, etc.  so when the time comes I can just plug away at the tasks. I made a big bag of saw dust using some of the left over 1x3 from the fascia support and made a few woodchip loads.  I just used some left over pink foam, painted it a yellow/white and the saw dust is glued like ballast in 2 layers.  A lite final layer is sprinkled over glue and then a couple of passes from the tree build hair spray is used.

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I'm working on some scrap for the gons at Big Foot Salvage.  I think I'm on the right track.   Sprayed painted some aluminum foil with brown black rust and a hint of white on both sides.  Tore that up, put it in the blender with some water and blended it until I was happy with the final result.   I painted some scrap foam core pieces mostly brown with some rust and black for the load base. Again treated it like ballast to secure it to the foam.   I did a second application to fill in the bare spots.

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Both types of loads have washers on the top under the loads so a magnet can be used to help pull them up to transition from a loaded car to an unloaded car.  The wood chip loads have washers on the bottom on the load to keep them from being top heavy when not in the car.

Started working on the wooden trestle that will cross Placer Creek.  It's inspired by these 2 bridges on the CORP. I found these pictures on brain894x4 site

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The bents have already been started
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Just trying to plug away on it bit by bit......
Modleing the Jefferson Branch in HO  on the Southern Pacific
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#32
Plugging away a little more

I finished up my load projects with the 53' gons for Bigfoot Salvage. I'm liking how they came out. It is so nice having so many open load cars and actually have loads on them... no more exchanging empties for empties! Here is a close up of the final load.  You can see one bare spot in the close up but with the painted bottom its hard to tell on the layout

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Both the gons and the woodchip cars have some bar stock added to the inside bottom to get them some weight.  Made a big improvement in handling   Its functional for now and I will dress them up down the road

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I have also been working on some weights for the other cars. This has been my biggest issue that needed to be addressed. The little 2 bay hoppers for Seiad Cement were the worst offenders. Since I just shook the box on these cars for now the roofs are not glued on and makes this easy. I used about 20 quarter/20 nuts in each car since I had a big supply of them on hand...... much Much MUCH better now!

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I did whip up this little aid and taped it to the work bench. I can just take a car place it up against it and see what the weight should be in an instant. It is set for the NMRA recommended practice but I'm going to switch it out as I adjusted to 75% of the NMRA recommendation. I know there have been some lively discussions on this but this is what I'm going with.

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Finally finished up adding weight to the last of the trouble cars with open loads with the last being the bulkhead flat cars. Man, these things are light coming in at about 25% of the NMRA recommendations. After adding some #7.5 lead shot in almost all of the nooks and crannies of the underside I was able to get them close to 50%. Not ideal but there is a notable improvement in performance. I hit the undercarriage with the Dremel to knock down the molded in detail for the shot. The #7.5 shot is as large as you can fit under there and not be seen when on the track. Clear silicone holds in place.

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Almost caught up, there was more than I thought!
Modleing the Jefferson Branch in HO  on the Southern Pacific
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#33
I made up a little tool (well, it's about 2 feet long). It has a length of track, a Kadee height gauge and a rerailer. Along the side is one of the rulers that IKEA supplies, glued on as much as possible. And the NMRA weight formula.

I have a feeling that the weight formula was developed in the days of cast metal ends and very solid wood floors and roofs. It may need trimming down.

My second tool has something the same, but there's a hole under the track at one end with a bit of metal soldered across it. I use the tail of my vernier calipers to see how high the bottom of the car floor is above the rail. I bought a neat caliper on sale that is electronic and can switch among metric, decimal inches and fractional inches.
David
Moderato ma non troppo
Perth & Exeter Railway Company
Esquesing & Chinguacousy Radial Railway
In model railroading, there are between six and two hundred ways of performing a given task.
Most modellers can get two of them to work.
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#34
Well here is a little surprise
I pulled out my old PK2 SD9s that I haven't seen in well over 10 years to see about getting them up and running again.  Once I got the decoders sorted out I was surprised it ran at all.  I tore it all down to give it a good cleaning and lube and found the original factory "peanut butter" in the gears.  I was amazed it was even pliable enough to allow the gears to move.  This must have been a new in the box unit to still have that in there so it's probably 15 - 20 years old now!     Its all soaking in IPA bath for the night………..

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I added a small portable AC unit to the layout room.  While the layout room is fully insulated in the summer months we can easily get over a 100 (the winter highs of 30).  I installed a 5” dryer style through the wall vent for the portable AC unit. The upside is it will do double duty for the spray booth using a PVC step down adapter for the 4” spray booth hose.  

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The other day I used up a can ground black pepper and remembered from wayyyyyy back a DIY Throttle Holder version 1.0 using ground pepper cans so I played off that and used it for the AC remote. 
It will also hold my old cell phone that is only used as a throttle.

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I mocked up a tunnel portal that leads to the rest of the world. The mock up gives me a nice idea of scale and perspective. It also shows the turnout that was supposed to be just in front of the tunnel doesn't work. That's ok as it is just the wrong execution of a good idea, or at least a good consideration.

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I also started painting the track now that the spray booth fully running. Not that the track will go in the booth but I'll use the booth to help circulate air out the layout room.  Going with the popular Rust-Oleum camo dark earth brown from a rattle can.  One thing new to me I tried this time is instead of taping off the points on the turnouts I just blocked the open side really well.  Worked like a champ and I will use this if I ever have to paint turnouts again.   I painted the track with 2 lite coats and while the paint was still wet I used left over cork roadbed to clean the top of the rails.

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Prior to painting, the track was cleaned well using mineral spirits (MS) and a shop towel wrapped around a piece of cork.  I used a small airbrush bottle to dispense the MS

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The little bridge for Placer Creek is built. I still need to give it a coat of creosote to get closer to the two tone look in the picture. I'll give it a little weathering too but it's the first thing on the layout that isn't a place holder or mock up.

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I started playing around with colors for the backdrop. John on his Cascade Sub ( Cascade Sub YT chan ) was doing stunning work a while ago on his backdrops and was kind enough to share his paint colors with me.

I used these as a starting point to see what works on my layout. I wanted to see a few samples based off of those colors and put this little chart together. I really liked the green so I used that in all of my samples. I did the first one (left) using my sky blue color, the last one (right) is John's blue and the middle is a 50/50 mix of the two blues.

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I'm closing in on what ballast is going to be used and should have that finalized soon.... but that will be for later
Modleing the Jefferson Branch in HO  on the Southern Pacific
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#35
You should check those proto gears closely. they crack on the axle shaft and allow the wheels to slip in the axle. I have had to repace every one of my units as well as all the ones my son has. It isn'ta badjob and the ones from the athearn sd40s are the same.  

You are making great headway and thanks again for the light tip. I got 3 boxes and like them so well I ordered some more for me and some for my sons layout (one I started in 1982.) I sold him the layout and included the house with it  Icon_e_biggrin

Great thread. 
Thanks for posting
Charlie
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#36
@ Charlie I'm glad you like them as much as I do.   looking forward to seeing how they came out.

First year review!

and what a year it has been!  From 3 blank walls to a fully operational MRR.   I’m very pleased with the progress and there is still plenty to do - years and years in fact.

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The layout is more than I ever expected from when I first started on it.  It is so nice to be able to walk out a run a train anytime I want.   Some of the more notable things I am really very happy with on this layout are:

The light weight bench work from readily available shelf brackets

The upper storage valances - it is what makes the truly nice shadow box affect possible

The LED layout lighting via T5 fixtures

The track plan  - it provides plenty of operational interest without a repetition feeling and the developing operational scheme is coming together nicely.

Finger flickable turnouts

Wireless phone throttles

In fact there are only 2 things I would consider doing differently IF I ever have do it again.  The first is the Atlas CL turnouts, they work fine but the geometry looks funny to me.  I would consider something like Fast Tracks #5.  The other is I would consider N scale cork roadbed instead of the HO; it looks too big for my liking.

Whats next?   The bridge at Placer Creek is ready to go in - first terrain work!   There is a CVT 150’ truss bridge to be built for the Oro River, need to start to make some better detailed mock ups to replace the rough shapes that are there as building stand ins, and, and ………….

Lastly, here is a quick little around video to show how it all comes together and to document the progress of the first tear.

Modleing the Jefferson Branch in HO  on the Southern Pacific
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#37
Applause Thumbsup 2285_
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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#38
Thanks Mike!

Proof of concept

Started playing around with some background ideas.    This is a Google Earth street view I grabbed of the west side of I5 right around Hornbrook/ Hilt, CA.

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I ran it through a photo to paint site to get the painted look to it.   I printed 2 copies of that, did a horizontal flip and printed 2 copies again and then stitched it all together to get the feel of it I think I’m on the right track but I’ll  let it marinate for a few days and see.  Then I have to learn how to paint it!   I have been looking at these 2 how to paint the backdrops for the interface zone of the high desert and the tree line.

I think I’m on the right track but I’ll  let it marinate for a few days and see.  Then I have to learn how to paint it!   I have been looking at these 2 how to paint the backdrops for the interface zone of the high desert and the tree line.

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#39
Have to post the second video to comply with the TOS is a separate post


Modleing the Jefferson Branch in HO  on the Southern Pacific
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#40
I admire those with that kind of artistic ability, wayyyyyyyyyyy beyond my skills!
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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#41
Happy New Year!!!!  

@ Mike No kidding!   Here is screen grab from the Alberta video for those who didn't see it ...... remember it's in N Scale

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Tunnel #5

I just realized that I never talked about the tunnel #5 build.  It serves as the gateway to the “rest of the world” on the layout. 
It’s based on this photo I took 12 years ago of an old SP tunnel just north of Reading CA off I 5.

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I did a mock up and that was posted a few updates ago.  For the actual tunnel build I used some 3/4” stock I had laying around and
drew out the opening based off of one my reference books.   A 2” hole saw bit was used to drill out the top of the tunnel and a table
saw to make the sides of the opening.    

The tunnel portal sides are from strip basswood glued to form the steps.   Some scraps in the wood box made the reliefs at the top of
the portal.  The whole thing received a good sanding and 2 coats of Kilz sealer.

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I gave it a couple of quick coats of gray craft paint to give it color.   The tunnel liner is from a yard sale sign, 50 cents at Walmart.  Since I had made a couple of
the tunnel portals I used those to help form the shape.  It’s glued in place and track nails make sure it stays there.    The back of the portal
was reinforced The inside got 2 coats of a gray primer and the outside got black primer.   

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It still needs a little work and some weathering.   I have the relay box ready to go and I will add the wire too.

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All in all I liked the way it came out…….

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Modleing the Jefferson Branch in HO  on the Southern Pacific
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#42
All caught up!

With the last post the old blog has been officially transferred to here.  Everything, staring with this post, is all new.  I still have a few things in the hopper but it has never been posted.


Miscellaneous updates…….

Just a few things to keep current.  I added a couple of hall runners to the main isles from the orange box store.  The “helper” measured wrong and screwed up the cuts but I made it work.   Nice to have something over the concrete to walk on.  Not much padding to it but it is something.  It looks good too.

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Started playing with the  backdrops and paint.  I made up a couple of panels  about 3’ long and painted both sides to match the basic blue backdrop.  I can try a few things out, practice to develop skills good enough, etc before I start on the layout.   Just trying out some different colors and tones on the first panel to get the feel of things  Way more to go but you have to take the first step.

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A recent Siskiyou Turn came in with a 50/50 mix of 50’ & 60’ cars and it JUST fit on the A/D track.  10 cars and the caboose

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Lastly I have stopped using the Digitrax LNWI.  I loved the plug and play aspect of it and at first it worked great.  I started to have issues with it to keep communicating with the cell phone as a throttle.  The longer I used it the worst it got.  When I couldn’t even get a train out of the yard I was done with it.   


I spent some time on the Ditrax and JMRI users groups , as well as talking with Digitrax too. The best answer I got was I needed to “change the broadcast channel”… not the right term but gets to point across.  It can be done with a laptop tied into the system to make it work.

At that time my laptop, from 2011, died and died good.    The new one came with OS Catalina and that didn’t play well at all with the system.  I spent a bit of time back and forth with RR Cirkits and the driver company trying to make work… also went back to the user groups.  The best I could come up with Catalina doesn’t play well with many things and and this is one of them, there is no fix at this time.

I got the cheapest laptop from Bestbuy, which is HORRIBLE!.  The upside it only has to do 2 things - run decoder pro for the locos and panel  pro for the wifi throttle.   It actually does these well but I wouldn’t want to ask it do anything else.   It wasn’t much more than the LNWI and I can sell that on E Bay to offset the cost.    I could have looked at better used computer but with all work from home and school from home used anything is several hundred dollars.
Modleing the Jefferson Branch in HO  on the Southern Pacific
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#43
Now that the blog is caught up posts will start to slow down.

From place holders to mock ups…….

Empty boxes and 2x4s worked fine when I was laying out the basic concept but as the layout develops it needs more.  This is especially true as
I start working out things like the final footprint and some of the basic buildings details in preparations for the final model builds.

One of the things I just realized is that ALL of my structures are going to be either white or yellow.  Vegely De Find and Siead Cement are white.  
Vegely De Find will stay white and Seiad Cement will be a light gray.  I really need to mix things up somehow as they are “next” to each other on the layout.  

SP buildings will be yellow and brown to stay true to the prototype.  Siskiyou Lumber will stay yellow like it’s inspiration, The Pacfic Lumber Co, but I’m
going to try varying the shades of yellow on the different buildings.  Arcata Plywood will not be yellow but the final color has not been determined. 
Maybe a beat up green like this shot from the Roseburg Mill in Weed CA.

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All of the structures in the Humboldt yard don’t even have place holders.   Rather than figure that out I cobbled out few mock ups for Humboldt to
get a rough idea of what I’m looking at. First up is the yard office in Eureka.  The mock up isn’t too bad. It needs a foundation and the roof needs a
little more pitch to it.  The building is a cut up cereal box painted rattle can yellow and the roof is “tuxedo black” scrapbook paper I took when the mrs when she wasn’t looking.  
You can see the 1961 pictures of the real thing tacked up behind the mock up.

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This small yard office, while not in Eureka, has always caught my eye.  (photo credit to Bruce Petty)

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I thought it would work well at the far end of the yard near tunnel #5

It still needs a little work and a foundation still but should work nicely.

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The only other structure in Humboldt will be the car shop in Eureka.   This mock up needs a do over.  The roof slope is too low, it’s too wide compared
to the photo and its’ too close to the main.  The building is from a cereal box, the roof is poster board, and the supports are from the wood scrap box. 
Although I’m not happy with it does give proof of concept.   You can see the real car shop in the picture right above the mock up.

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Although it’s just bits and pieces, and far from the finished models, it does give it a nicer overall look.   Still, I will probably do the car shop over
before the final model.

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Modleing the Jefferson Branch in HO  on the Southern Pacific
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#44
Changes at the Siskiyou mill……

If you remember when I was laying out the Siskiyou mill back in spot #1 was going to be a set out track for log cars.

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This was never supposed to be for long pulls of cars that would feed the hungry appetite of the mill but more for the odd log car that came in from points beyond.  
The more I worked on this concept the more it felt like a forced fit.  It got to the point I stopped worrying about it and started to treat as abandon track.  For a bit I even
thought about modeling as abandoned track.   

Whenever possible I like to have an alternative plan just be sure I’m on the right track.  I started to look through all the Pacific Lumber pictures I have and found this one.   

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What caught my eye to this one was the odd shift in the middle of the building.  After a little while I realized this was a screen grab from Google Earth street view I did a while
back and the shift was where GE stitched 2 photos together.  Although it’s not rail served I thought  it might make a nice addition and balance the iconic mill building at the other
end of the scene.    It couldn’t upstage the main building but would have to be large enough for rail service.  I did a “what if” in my head based on the picture using where GE did
the picture shift and that might make a nice sized building for the spot.  The exterior bracing would add some visual interest.  There is similar outside bracing on the Roseburg Mill in Weed,CA
I had in the last post. A building such as this would keep all the buildings from looking the same and keep the scene from seeming repetitious.  With all the buildings being yellow, the
challenge I’m trying to over come by varying the shades of yellow, and if I am able vary the buildings as well, It might just come together nicely.

I then remembered a Rouge Valley club’s Medco building that is similar that might work.  If you have never seen the Rouge Vally club’s layout it’s worth your time for a visit if you can swing it.     
Rouge Valley Club

(Photo credit to the Rouge Valley club)
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I did a quick test for proof of concept using a cereal box (I have 2 teenagers and we go through a lot of cereal!)


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While it wasn’t “it” I was on to something. I remember some mega layout on one of Allen Keller’s old videos, yes video, where most of his structures were foam core with basic
details.  He used larger sheets and used the back of a  butter knife on the inside of the corners to make folds for the corners - no seams.   A little paint and they looked good.  
Foam core should be good enough for mock ups too.  Walmart has foam core board that is 24” x 30” for 88 cents a sheet.


Armed with a sheet of foam core, some wood scraps & leftovers, and gray poster board I went to work.  I also had a rattle can of dusty yellow and a basic yellow.

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And here is the completed mock up.  I’ll put more detail into the final structure but it works for now.   I had to add 3 more boxcars to the inventory for it.   I have been
putting it through the paces the last few days and it is working out well.  The warm and fuzzy I’m getting from it justifies replacing the log set out track … though it would have
been a really good scene......

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Modleing the Jefferson Branch in HO  on the Southern Pacific
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#45
Nice progress! I know you probably said somewhere what scale this is but I can't find it, is it HO?
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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