Upgrade to the NP Interchange

The new Northern Pacific interchange track

I had the Meadville Model Railroad Club (MMRC) over last week as part of our new round-robin approach. Eight people did fit (barely) into the train attic, and we painted ties! Apparently though, it is becoming a tradition that with a visit from MMRC members, I make changes to the 4th Subdivision.

Nick Ozorak, the originator of the MMRC, suggested a change in location of the NP interchange track. Originally I planned the interchange to flow into the backdrop at ninety degrees and be reflected with a mirror as seen in the photo from the beginnings of the 4th subdivision. He suggested that it curve into the front corner instead, avoiding all the problems with the use of a mirror as well as following a curve more typical of an interchange into an interlocking connected with a crossing at grade.


Deciding to go ahead with the suggested change, the first step was to pry up the interchange track. One complication was that the interchange track is also my DCC programing track. Between having constructed a "dead zone" area in the programing track and soldering the feeders to the underside of the rails, I decided to keep the existing wiring, rather than clipping and resoldering. This meant that I would need to chisel out a channel for the red and black feeders, thinking it would be easier than rewiring. It worked, and it was easier than rewiring.

Like I had with the original interchange, I carved a scrap piece of cedar shingle/shim to the proper width to make the transition from cork roadbed to the plywood. Then, I smoothed and beveled the edges and any gaps with putty. After the putty dried, I sanded it before applying a quick coat of my brown earth latex paint. After finally dropping and tacking the relocated track in place with a couple of track nails as well as double checking that the electrical connections were still working, I could call the new location as finished as the nearby track work.

However, I was in "a zone" and decided to go further, starting some scenery for this new and improved scene. I glued a scrap of pink foam shaped to create a slope at the edge of the backdrop. I placed several furnace filter trees in place temporarily, and noticed that they cast shadows on the painted "sky." The solution for that problem is to hide the shadows of trees with (wait for it) trees. So, after protecting the track with blue painter's tape and removing the three-dimensional trees, I mixed up some craft paints (a medium green, a gray, and raw umber) and roughed in some background trees. Then I applied some ground goop to create some undulations and hide the former roadbed.

Remembering that one advantage of using ground goop is the ability to apply ground cover while the goop is still wet, I went ahead and applied real dirt and several colors and textures of ground foam. After saturating it with 70% isopropyl alcohol as a wetting agent and applying scenic cement with an eye dropper, I  added a few conifers at the edge of the backdrop.

Now that some basic scenery is in place, I could go ahead and start ballasting. The next steps would be to add some bushes and lower foliage to the scene. Also, the vertical trim at the edge of the scene needs screwed in place and painted with my Andiron green fascia color. Finally, my plan is to have one signal located along the mainline here, representing the entrance to the virtual interlocking. Whether to move along to another area with the basic scenery or to keep building on the start here is a question for another day. Either way, I am quite happy with the relocated interchange track and the nudge into getting some scenery under way.