A Scene in Fifteen Steps -- Step 6, a Photo Backdrop

A photo backdrop has been under consideration all along

In my previous post, I noted my notion of trying Bob Frankron's approach to completing a scene in fifteen steps. There, I listed fifteen steps to completing the Nooksack Valley produce complex spur scene. In that list, the sixth step was to add a photo backdrop a la Paul Dolkos. As I was preparing a clinic to present for my NMRA division, my focus for the last couple of weeks was on this step.

Early in my planning for this scene, I researched packing plant images, both for structures and entire scene images. In my Google image searches, I came across this site that included a photo that included the section seen to the left. This scene is fairly modern and includes modern semi-trailers, but it was the best starting point I found.

After living with the original image leaning in place, I decided to make some changes. I took a fairly analog approach. I printed out the original image and resized it to what seemed appropriate on my inkjet printer/copier/scanner. Then I printed several copies to create a collaged version of what I thought I wanted. Using a sharp number 11 blade and glue stick I made several changes by covering the trailer, removing the large fruit boxes, and extending the building to the left in my final collaged image.

I photocopied the collaged image, and after printing it out went ahead and cut out the image I planned to use, again with a sharp hobby knife. As I was working down in the train room this time, I cut on the tempered glass on my workbench.  As inkjet printed images are subject to bleeding if they get wet, I sprayed the image with several layers of Testors Dullcoat. After that protective layer dried, I used a sepia Prismacolor marker to color the white paper along the cut edges. My recommendation would be to use a light gray or sepia colored Prismacolor rather than black or a Sharpie of any color.

For this experiment I used Scotch Super 77 as the adhesive. It is a very aggressive adhesive, so make sure to protect whatever surface you are working on. I used some old packing papers and a paper towel, but still managed to get one spot on the benchwork. I had to go back with lacquer thinner to remove it. The point of using this glue is to avoid the photo peeling off later. 

Before applying the spray adhesive, I marked the location of the where I wanted the photo on the benchwork and experimented with coving the bottom of the photo onto the benchwork. After I applied the spray adhesive and let it dry to tacky, I placed the top in place. After smoothing the top edge down, I carefully smoothed down the bottom on the benchwork leaving a coved or rounded gap between the top and bottom edges. The photo to the left shows the photo glued in place, hopefully hiding the right angle between the backdrop and the benchwork with a coved image. 

The most recent step I have taken was to do some painting on the brown plywood bench top. The goal is to further hide the joint between the photo and the bench top surface. I used grimy black and a slate gray acrylic paint to blend from the ground into the photo. I blended the two colors, wet on wet, as I applied them. I am not entirely happy with the results, but the paint is just the first layer. I will be adding sanded grout, which I may apply up into the photo. Although I don't always follow my own advice, in general it is best to stop before I go too far. I remember Gerry Leone saying in a video that he "tries to stop when he thinks to himself, 'just a little more'."

 

Updates and Goals

I have updates and goals for both the train room (aka the basement) and for the railroad. 

As I left off my last post with wet basement issues, I will start with that. My wife helped me last week on one of our continuing rainy days, and we made a good start on removing the scabbed-in bar. As you can see in the photo, I still have some framework to remove. The damp floor in what I was calling "the floodplain" can also be seen. Not labeled, but suggested is the approximately one inch wide "French Drain Canal" between the green concrete floor and the yellow wall. Judging from the existing rot, the floodplain has been an ongoing issue, exacerbated by our wettest May on record. A steady stream of water was flowing into the "canal" until about ten days ago. I will need to build a lip along the floor (a levee) to prevent the canal from overflowing here in the future. 

In addition to the wet basement abatement, another goal for this summer consists of more electrical work. The sump pump and water conditioner are currently powered through a gnarly extension cord draped across the ceiling. They need a direct line. Renee wants some general lighting in the basement with a switch. I want a line to outlets for the railroad lighting (current and future) also switched. Plus our three season room's outlets need to be reconnected and a few more receptacles added in the basement. This really should be done before any significant  additions to the railroad are contemplated! We need a firm plan and easy access before we call in the professional. 

I want to continue with this area around the fruit and produce spur. I am giving a clinic soon, and I would like to try using the photo that I have propped up against the backdrop in this image and share the results. It actually isn't a straight photo; I collaged parts of the photo to make changes. The other experiment is to cove or curve the photo from mounted to the backdrop to glued to the benchtop. I will need to remember to coat the photo (printed on my inkjet printer) with a fixative so that water based scenery doesn't make the colors bleed or otherwise destroy the image.  Then I can experiment with first layers of scenery and weathering to blend the road surface onto the benchwork. 

Several years ago I attended a clinic by Bob Frankrone about completing a scene in fifteen steps, and thought I might try that approach to the fruit and produce spur area. Here is a to do list of my fifteen:

1. Last steps on brick building
2. Warehouse a la Bill Schopf (multiple steps)
3. Sand the cork edge
4. Sand the painted sky 
5. White wash for atmospheric haze
6. Photo backdrop a la Paul Dolkos
7. Sculptamold for texture
8. Paint and first layer of scenery
9. More layers of scenery 
10. Fence
11. Tie pile 
    
12. 12 volt DC lighting bus
13. Connect lights
14. Ballast spur
15. Details

In this prototype photo of the Interbay Yard in Seattle, I really like the area between the tracks in the bottom right area: a little uneven terrain, some tall grass and shrubs, and a pile of ties. This photo is from the digital library at the Cornell University. 

U.S. President's Railroad Commission Photographs

Experiments with Lighting

About a week ago, during our sump pump failure*, I started my experiments with lighting the brick building that I have been working on for the fruit and produce company. 

As I mentioned in my last post, I planned to have interior lighting on one side of the building. I found a photograph from a Google search for warehouse interior images to use. I decided to cut and paste parts of two print outs of the photo to form a collaged image without the people in the original image. I  resized, photocopied, and colored the resulting black and white image with colored pencils. 

I created the shadowbox by hot glueing some black foam core sides and a top together. One cutting trick that I learned from this experiment involves the surface on which it is best to cut foam core. My tempered glass base on the workbench is much superior to using the self healing cutting mat. The hard glass provides for a smooth cut on the bottom paper surface, while the softer cutting mat allows the bottom paper layer to tear. I found the difference to be remarkable. After the shadowbox joints were set, I glued the paper image to the top of the back of the box, leaving it loose to roll into place. 

The next step was to mount the two LEDs. I had decided to order the Pico Z mini lights from Evan Design and try them. I drilled a hole through the wall above the window between the garage doors on the right hand side of the building. Then I glued the LED in place on the underside of the dock roof with canopy glue. For the shadowbox, I poked a hole in the roof of the box and reamed it out so a straw would fit. After placing the straw through the hole and extending into the shadowbox about a quarter of an inch, I snipped it off flush with the top of the foam core roof. Next, I glued the LED wires to the roof with canopy glue, with the LED chip in the straw but not exposed below it. 

Today, I checked the two LEDs and they worked, so I went ahead and started figuring out the wiring. It is not that tricky at all, but I don't have much experience. The LEDs come with resistors wired in on red and black wires. My plan is to wire the two LEDs in parallel and extend the length with some 28 gauge twisted red and black wire. I have a scrap piece of wood on my workbench, and I have it set up so that I can tape the wire in place for soldering. I stripped the end of the extension wire and slipped some shrink tubing over it. I have the first connection in place, so in my next session I can get out the soldering equipment and make some connections. 

*Wet Basement Issues

We have had a really wet May here in the Poconos and our infrastructure failed. While the French drain and associated "dry well(?)" that it flows into have worked, the sump pump burned out with water spreading into the basement/train room on the opposite end of the basement last week. Luckily, we found a company that came out the next day to replace the pump, and most of that flood has since dried up. We do, however, have two apparent artesian well or heightened water table "faucets" from the base of the wall into the exposed French drain . They are both still flowing steadily, and along one section of "French Drain Canal  (FDC)" we need to fashion some kind of levee once this situation dries out. The flow of water is greater than the depth of FDC there creating a floodplain on one section of the basement floor. This is located where TOMA phase two of the railroad will be located.  The Nooksack or TOMA phase one section and my workbench area floors have remained dry. Having managed water flowing around the edge of the basement in FDC is one thing, accepting a potential floodplain is problematic. Theme song for the last week or so: Levee's Gonna Break
 

Fruit and Produce Company -- Part 4?

In my last post, several weeks ago, I left off with a punch list for the main building. During the past rainy week, I have tried to return to working for a little while on the model most days, and it has led to some progress.

One of the first steps from last weekend was to clear off the plate glass on my workbench so that I could make clean cuts in clear acetate. I found some clear stock in my plastics drawer, and after measuring started cutting pieces for the windows. I used Formula 560 canopy glue, applied to the back of the window and door inserts with a micro-brush, to mount the window "glass." Knowing that I was planning on adding interior lighting later, the smart move would have been to paint the interior walls with black acrylic while the building was upside down. I did not make the smart move. 

Having checked off one task from the list, I moved on to the roof. I cut some strips of three scale feet from black construction paper. Before returning the canopy glue to its shelf, I coated the styrene roof with the glue and applied the black paper to represent tar paper on the roof. After the glue dried I tried painting with roof brown acrylic paint, but didn't really like the look. I later painted the tar paper roof with flat grimy black. After two coats of that, I was happier with it. 

While it was not on my original punch list, I decided to add the medium air conditioner from the Walthers Roof Details kit in my stash. I cut the appropriate pieces from the sprue and sanded the edges to remove any tiny nubs left by my nippers. I assembled the detail kit with liquid solvent cement, managing to only have one slightly crooked wall with my shaky hands. After the air conditioner dried overnight, I filled the small open joint at the top of that wall with Tamiya putty. While assembling the air conditioner, I sprayed the sprue with the tile coping from the original grocery distributor kit with a red primer rattle can. After that had dried, I pieced together the tile coping on the brick walls. 

Over just the past couple of days, I continued to make my way through a few more items from the punch list. I struggled to add the roof over the loading dock. In hind sight, I should have not used the plastic hangers from the kit, but instead fabricated new ones from wire. But I went ahead, using the kit supplied ones. First of all, my shaky hands exacerbated my apparent need for three hands to hold and glue the hangers, roof, and structure wall together all at the same time. Thank goodness no one was watching or listening to me during that ordeal. Because one of the hangers was missing, I also had to deal with the extra holes. I planned to hide the hole in the wall with the building's sign. I filled the hole in the roof with putty. That meant that the roof needed to be painted after it was installed. I had sprayed it a gray color previously, but now I brush painted it a darker gray Vallejo color. While it looked kind of awful wet, after drying overnight the color and brush marks both flattened out. Today, before taking the photos, I applied some weathering with chalks and pigments as well as finally cutting out and gluing on the paper sign that I had designed and printed out on my inkjet printer weeks ago.

I still have a couple of items from the punch list. Looking at this photo from an observer's point of view, some kind of lighting is definitely needed. My plan is to fashion a light under the dock roof on one side and to place an interior light on the other side. I have some LED lights and supplies from Evan Designs to experiment with, so I might as well get on the ball. Along with lighting, I plan to add some simple interior details: window shades and black paper view blocks if nothing else. 

Looking at this scene from this angle, two things spring to mind. One is that I should attempt a more accurate mockup of the adjacent building than the blue scrap wall flat. The other idea is the possibility of starting some first layer of scenery around this scene. 

Before starting any of that, I will work out the lighting for this building in order to wrap it up. Seeing the progress I have made recently should keep me motivated. Beyond scenery here, I have a photo/collage in the works to experiment with on the backdrop that goes to the right of the green-roofed warehouse in the photo. I want to include that in a presentation that I am giving in June, so I have a goal/deadline for scenery along the backdrop here after this major building for the Nooksack Fruit and Produce Company is completed.  

Slowing Down, but Still Moving Forward

 

The Nooksack Valley Fruit and Produce Company Co. project is moving forward in fits and starts, but at not much above glacial speed. As a total aside, you can follow my wife and me on our garden project here, which helps explain my slowing down on the railroad. The lead photo here shows the current state of the building. Its wall color has been finalized, the basic roof is in place, and the loading dock is finished. In this post I will discuss some of these steps and list the remaining steps to finally wrap up this project. 

I left off my last post on this project with the walls built, but unsure of the color to paint the bricks. It took a couple of attempts. First I sprayed the completed walls with a rattle-can primer in a khaki color. After that had dried I started to sponge on some acrylic craft paint off-white and tan colors. As I was really unhappy with the look, I stopped part way through and cleaned off as much of it as I could with a damp paper towel before it had a chance to set up. The next day I masked the concrete foundation with painter's tape and sprayed with a white rattle-can lightly over the walls. I stopped short of complete or even thorough coverage to allow some subtle variation. While out in the garage with spray paints, I sprayed the doors and windows with a dark green primer. After yet another overnight drying session, I applied several light applicatiions of Vallejo Wash colors; I just touched the saturated brush tip to the wall allowing the wash to flow through the mortar lines. I finally had something close to the subtly worn white, painted brick look I had envisioned. 

While I had been using the scratchbuilt loading dock from another building for my planning, I wanted to build one specific to this building. After taking some measurements, I drew up plans for this one and created a cut list for the strip wood needed.  I cut the pieces to length with either my Zona razor saw or on the Chopper. (Something happened while cutting the deck boards on the Chopper as later I found them to have length variations.) After they were cut, I stained them with Hunterline Cordovan Brown weathering mix. Later when I started assembling the dock, I tried a new technique that I picked up from a Thunder Mesa Studio video by Dave Meek. Instead of building on the drawing covered by wax paper, add another layer to allow for a fixture technique. Tape the drawing to a piece of foamcore before covering it with wax paper, so that a starting piece can be pegged into place with pins. That provides a rigid piece to fit and glue the other pieces to. This photo shows this technique in use as I glued up the frame for the dock. While gluing on the deck boards, I used a metal block lined up with one of the long deck frame boards to keep the decking boards even on that side. After the glue dried, I went back and turned the deck upside down and trimmed some of the longer decking back with a chisel-bladed hobby knife. That, some sanding, and gouging with a hobby knife, turned inaccurate cutting into part of the weathering of a well-worn loading dock!

To wrap up this slow moving building project I need to:

• Finalize the roof; maybe paint, maybe tar paper.
• Decide on coping for the top of the walls, then apply and paint
• Window glazing and any interior
• Roof over loading dock
• Lighting
• Signage

Golden Spike Award Clinic

The Golden Spike Award can be seen as an entry into the NMRA's Achievement Program or as a guide into improving one's model railroad skill set (or both). On Saturday, I will be giving a short presentation on the NMRA Golden Spike at a virtual meeting of the Susquehanna Division. This is an updated version of a clinic prepared for the Alleghany Western Division a number of years ago. 

Below, I will provide links to a downloadable version of my clinic. In addition to a PDF of the presentation, I want to also provide a link to an NMRA web page that doesn't have an obvious link from the Achievement page on the NMRA website. For registered NMRA members, the Edutrain clinics include a useful one by Bruce DeYoung, MMR for which I will provide a link. His clinic is geared towards both someone hoping to achieve the award as well as giving guidance for evaluating others. 

1. Download a PDF of the presentation here: Golden Spike V.3
2. Open the "hidden" NMRA page explaining the Golden Spike 
3. Open the NMRA "Edutrain" clinic on the Golden Spike Award

Initial Operations Update

 

Just in the last few days, I created a new, freelanced piece of operations paperwork in Pages (one could use Word or any word process application). A recent blog post by Tony Thompson in Modeling the SP discussed using Train Line-ups for operating. He shared a Southern Pacific standard form. After a brief search online, I didn't find a GN form so I adapted the Clearance Form A that I had reproduced as part of my collection of somewhat prototype paperwork. 

As I continue to work on the first phase of my 4th Subdivision branch line railroad, I plan to start with very simple operations approach: sequence of trains. This Daily Train Line-up form provides a basis for using train sequence somewhat prototypically. In Tony's earlier post here, particularly in the comments, he discusses the use of a train line-ups form as a paperwork foundation for outlining an operating scheme. 

In this earlier post, Thompson also mentioned the "On Operation" column by Jerry Dziedzic in the February 2019 Model Railroader. While the train line-ups described in the article were targeting the safety of track gangs, they also could be thought of as a snapshot of a schedule. With my one-town initial TOMA approach, using the Train Line-ups form could substitute until I later develop a timetable and fast clock system. 

Fruit and Produce Company -- Part 2

Main building started

Back in December I introduced the idea of the Nooksack Valley Fruit and Produce Co. as a fruit packing complex to be located in the town of Nooksack. Having drafted a revision (or actually a new version) of one of my clinics for an upcoming Susquehanna Division meeting a few days ago, I have returned to working on the packing house complex. 

For this low relief building kitbashed from parts from the Walthers Grocery Distributor kit, I first returned to the photocopies of the wall sections to determine where I would need to make cuts to fashion the brick walls. I gathered the molded plastic pieces and tools that I would need before marking and cutting the brick wall sections to match my paper mockup. I scored the cuts in the wall with a hobby knife and then used a fine-bladed Zona saw to finish the cuts. I also sanded the edges and any sprue tabs. I trimmed the door and window castings off their sprues and sanded any little tabs left before collecting them all in a plastic bowl, so they won't get lost on my workbench. 

Yesterday I assembled the wall sections. As seen in the photo, I used some Evergreen styrene strip that I have on hand as foundation and bracing. Years ago, when I was still in Seattle, I was able to pick up a large bundle of various styrene strips for pennies as a hobby shop went out of business. I used .125 x .125 to extend the foundation and corner bracing. I also used .060 x .060 and .030 x .100 to fit around the molded-in ridges to even the corners and supports. Having learned one lesson on the kitbashed structure I built for the Ingleton plank, I paid close attention to making sure the corners were square and plumb. The Plastruct solvent worked fine, but using the brush-in-the-bottle made for extremely sloppy glue joints. Here on the interior, they will not be visible. As I plan to scratchbuild another low relief building for this complex, I will need to come up with another technique if I build it from styrene. In the current (March 2025) NMRA Magazine, Jack Hamilton MMR discusses glue/solvent application tools. Perhaps it is time for me to invest in a "Touch-N-Flow" device. At the very least, I should use a much smaller natural bristle brush for trim joints that will be visible. 

Staying focused on this building, the next step is painting. A few months ago, while shopping in Stroudsburg, PA, I took this quick snapshot of the back of some older industrial buildings. It has some nice prototype weathering of bricks and adjoining wooden siding to use. However, I am still thinking that the brick building in my packing house complex should be painted white. I spent some time yesterday looking online for packing house images and many of them are white. I just haven't found an image to use as a model for a paint scheme that I am happy with yet. I once saw a video with Gerry Leone using hairspray to create worn/chipped white paint effects on bricks, but that might be too dilapidated of a look. This is not an abandoned packing house, just a hard working one.  I think I will do a little more online "research" and see what rattle can primer colors I have in stock. Maybe a red primer with a white wash/dry brush over it? I just don't want to inflict analysis paralysis on myself!

 

Wrapping Up a Quick Build for Nooksack

Having repaired the buckled track work here in Nooksack, I returned to the workbench to finish a small craftsman kit that I started a few weeks ago. This is the Juniper Freight House, a Fos Scale Models kit. When I first ordered it I intended to use it as part of the Curtis Cannery complex. Now, I am thinking that I will use it, at least temporarily, here in the front of the benchwork where I have thought I would have a fuel supply company. It may become a lumber and fuel supply company. This little freight house fits nicely here, between the fascia and the spur track. Signage and details will have to wait until I determine the structure's use. 

This was the first kit that I have built from Fos Scale Models. The instructions were complete and relatively clear. The drawings showing the location of bracing were particularly helpful. By bracing the walls, they did not warp with staining or painting. I did let them dry under weight which may have helped prevent warping too. I used Hunterline Driftwood stain on the walls and for unpainted wood. I drybrushed Americana Buttermilk on the walls after the stain had dried to give the appearance of worn and weathered paint. For the plastic windows, I used a rattle can dark green, while I brush painted the wood trim and freight doors with Vallejo's Camo Olive Green. 

The only complaint I have with this kit is with the rolled roofing material. It is packaged folded and I couldn't figure out how to completely remove the fold. In the future, I would use the Jason Jensen technique of using black construction paper. Another step I would take in the future is to more carefully sand the glueing edges along the top and bottom of the walls, so the trim boards line up exactly with the laser cut walls. This was operator error, not the fault of the kit. Overall the quality of the kit is quite good. Both Jason Jensen and Fos Scale have some excellent You Tube videos on craftsman kit construction, painting, and weathering. They both are modeling really run down urban areas, so I am not attempting to weather as drastically as they do. Their techniques are worth emulating though.

I have another of the Fos Scale Models kits to build, but I think that I should focus on the buildings of the two complexes that I have already started here in Nooksack: the cannery and the packing house, seen here behind the recently completed freight house.  I felt a sense of accomplishment from actually completing something before moving on to something new. I hope to build on that feeling and make some progress on the kitbashed and scratchbuilt industries already under way here in Nooksack.  

Buckled Track Repair

 

Although I thought that track work (and track wiring) was complete here on the first phase, it turns out that I was mistaken. Gremlins appeared. In my last post, just a few days ago, I mentioned that the track had buckled on the passing track at Nooksack. After further review I suspect that the cause is not exclusively rail expansion, but at least partially benchwork wood shrinking with the low humidity of our house with the furnace blasting this winter. In addition, the turnout to the left of the buckled track has twisted and no longer lies flat causing derailments. 

At first I considered what I thought to be the easiest solution: unsolder the rail joiners, cut off a bit of each rail, and resolder the joiners. I wouldn't have to make any changes to the wiring; the existing feeders would still be adequate. However, what might happen in the summer when the wood expands? I decided to take a different approach.

I got out my Dremel and using the cutting disk, cut a new gap in the buckled track. After filing the ends of the rail flat, the flex track straightened and the turnout flattened down. The cutting disk left an appropriate gap. I removed some of the ties, filed the rail ends, and slid rail joiners onto the rails. With everything back in place after gapping the rails, both the track and the turnout were realigned. By not soldering the new joiners, the rails can move with the changes in humidity/temperature through the seasons. But. . . now we have a possible electrical gap, as loose rail joiners are notoriously untrustworthy.  

Needing to add a set of feeders to ensure connectivity, I fetched my electrical toolbox. Knowing that this approach entailed dropping feeders, I had plugged in my soldering iron as an early step.  A hot iron, having all materials gathered (yes, literally in a toolbox), and tinning the rail and feeders before soldering the feeders in place made for quick work. I tested continuity between the feeder ends under the benchwork and the rails with my multimeter before joining the feeders to the DCC bus wires with suitcase connectors. Cleaning up and putting the track tub and wiring toolbox away left only a repeat of replacing several ties as tasks in the basement. 

While writing this post, I remembered that I needed to add the new gap and feeders to my "Propulsion Circuitry Diagram" in the three ring binder that I have started towards the Electrical Achievement Program should I chose to attempt it in the future. It is good practice to document what is going on down under the model railroad in any event, NMRA AP or not.

Moving Forward With Nooksack -- Continued

Revised distant hills line

I mentioned in my last post that I was not satisfied with the distant hills that I had painted. I thought that they were too dark. Renee, my wife, noted that the pencil lines that I had sketched in to guide the painting were visible in places, and she thought that they distracted from the illusion. I was also unhappy with the bushes or trees that I had painted in the foreground. They appeared to accentuate rather than hide the right angle joint between the benchwork and the backdrop.

I decided to repaint, basically changing my approach while applying a second coat. First of all, I added some more white primer to the small tub of paint that I had mixed up and saved. Using a #6 round brush I painted over the first coat and any foreground that I had attempted. With a bristle #2 flat, I carefully applied a subtle tree texture to the top of the hill line by dragging the brush up into the sky. In this in-progress photo, the difference in apparent value of the hill and dirt colors between whether they are on the flat plywood or the vertical backdrop is quite noticeable. This phenomenon is probably caused by the reflective quality of the paints on the flat tabletop with the LED lights directly overhead. This will be a complication to work around as I add any painted foreground details or work to hide the right angle joint. 

With buildings and rolling stock cleared off for backdrop painting, I noticed that ties are missing at a number of the rail joints here in Nooksack. So, while thinking about it I found a tub of ties and got to work. Apparently saving little bits of everything is planning ahead rather than hoarding! Using a chisel blade in the hobby knife, I sliced off the tie plates and spikes. This is a technique where it is important to pay attention to the relationship between finger location and blade direction. After the replacement ties were prepared, I painted them with a random mix of rail tie brown and Americana Slate Grey craft paint. In slipping the replacement ties in today, I noticed a section of flex track and a turnout that are buckled from rail expansion: another task to take care of while moving forward with Nooksack. 

Over the last few days I did some thinking and decided that with my desire for one lighting system for structures on the model railroad that I would go with a 12 volt system. I ordered a regulated 2 amp 12 volt power supply and some of the LEDs from Evan Design. With that I will be able to include the couple of buildings that have incandescent bulbs built in already in one lighting system. Having made a decision, I can return to the structure building projects new and old. 

Moving forward towards the goal of visitors in April with a rough to-do list:

• Repair buckled track (trains must run smoothly)
• Steady progress on structures and mockups:
• Cannery complex
• Packing house complex
• GN Station
• Others?
• Big picture of roads and terrain
• First layers of scenery on several mini scenes:
• Team track area
• River and trestle scene
• Declutter the basement and continue train-room and presentation prep.

Is turning this into SMART goal format going too far into the weeds? Would it help or hinder progress?

 

Moving Forward with Nooksack

NMRA Scenery AP

I set a goal for myself of prepping the first phase (Nooksack and East Branch) for visitors aka "holding an open house" in April. As Nooksack is intended as a finished section of the 4th Subdivision I want it to meet some high standards. One set of guidelines for high standards would be the NMRA Achievement Program, in particular the Scenery AP which is made up of five categories: terrain, structures, background, lighting, and realism or conformity. The three that I will really be focusing on next here in the town of Nooksack are background, structures, and lighting. My intention is not to have phase one ready for evaluation, but to build a foundation ready to build upon. Earlier this month I posted about setting this goal as a motivational factor for myself. 

As I mentioned earlier, Nooksack is intended as a permanent part of my long range plan. The intended permanent backdrops have been in place with the sky painted for some time. After looking at some real estate photos online from Everson and Nooksack, I did a screen grab of a corner of one to use as a guide for painting a distant hill line. I mixed a color using my standard latex paints (primer white, my sky blue, and my earth brown) along with the addition of a little bit of a craft acrylic green. I am still debating whether it is a bit too dark; I may add some white to the saved batch and repaint.

I have also been exploring structure placement and future structure builds. Along with the possible buildings for the Nooksack packing house complex, I started fooling around with another screen grab, this one from one of the packing house sites from this earlier post. I have it printed out, resized, and flipped horizontally. I am considering either using the Paul Dolkos small photo with visual foils technique or a collage and mini theatre flat technique (or both?). In either case, I will need to deal with the issue of conflicting horizon lines created by using the photo which creates its own horizon line with its one-point perspective vanishing point. 

At the workbench, I started building a Fos Scale Model kit: the Juniper Freight House. I am not sure exactly where it will go, although originally I ordered it to be part of the cannery complex. On the one hand, it is a small and fairly simple build, but it is also giving me some practice with wood craftsman kit techniques that can also be applied to the scratchbuilt portions of the two industrial complexes in Nooksack. I am trying to do a little bit on the kit most days, while also working towards organizing the train room/basement. 

Lights on Ingleton

I want to actually finish the kit on my workbench rather than getting hung up on sonething and putting it aside so I don't mess it up. Classic fear of failure gumtion trap behavior! The one thing that I need to decide is how I will incorporate building lights in Nooksack. I used Woodland Scenics' Just-Plug over on the Ingleton plank, but they are quite expensive and not ideal in some ways. See my bail on interior lighting here. I definitely want to incorporate one system, not a mishmash. I am considering the system from Evan Designs that Doug Fos explored in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p17ODvYHKOM

  

It is relatively simple, not as expensive as the Just-Plug, and expandable. I'd better decide and if it is a go, place an order! 

Initial Operations -- Possible Infrastructure Solution

 

New role for the rolling cart

In one recent post I mentioned finding that I used the railroad surface itself as part of the operations work. Tools such as switchlists and pencils ended up on the scenery. Car cards were leaned up against cars on the railroad as part of the sorting procedure. In addition to impinging on the scenery, my initial operations scheme was not working with the agent desk scenario that I had originally set up. So much walking across the messy basement, only to forget exactly what car was where. I am not giving up on the agent desk, but with solo operations it wasn't really filling the role it was designed for.  

In my last post I discussed organizing and prepping the first phase of the railroad and the train room for visitors in April. I have started tackling the organizing, but I am finding it a bit daunting. While accomplishing some of the tasks, often one step forward leads to two steps back. However, over the last few days I did accomplish a bit of organizing that possibly solved a couple of issues. The orangish pink rolling work cart seen in that last post now serves a vital role in the initial operations on the 4th Subdivision.

This rolling work cart has a long history with me. Decades ago I built it as a chop saw stand while restoring our house in Seattle. Later I added the wheels and painted it to use in an art studio. In Meadville, I added another shelf and it became a work station in my model railroad attic. Now, after painting with my fascia color, it has become the "operations bench" with bill boxes, a desk top, and storage for paperwork, off-layout rolling stock, and kits to be built to complete the planned initial roster. When I am filling the role of engineer and conductor, it rolls under the East Branch staging. When I am taking on the role of industry clerk/agent the rolling cart can swing out and provide a place and tools to work. 

As part of the organization associated with repurposing the "operations bench" I updated my roster chart, adding a column locating the rolling stock on the railroad, in a storage box (now located on the cart), or on a shelf (now the lower shelf of the bench). I also added the reefer cars mentioned in the post discussing the produce packing plant. While the thirty-six cars are more than can be used at one time, having a variety of appropriate pieces of rolling stock provides variety within a role as Byron Henderson suggests in his discussion of Fun Ops on a small layout. This online article of his is one major influence for my approach to the operations here on the initial phase. By using the "operations bench" the conundrum appears at least temporarily solved of how to sort car cards and fill out paperwork without sprawling over the model railroad surface and cluttering up the fascia frame. A few details remain to be worked out, such as labels for the bill boxes, how to hold the small tools, and making the various rolling stock kits and holders secure. How I will operate the first phase of the railroad seems more settled and a few steps are underway for organizing the train room as well as presenting it to visitors. 

Resolutions versus Goal Setting

My New Year's resolution for the railroad, finish up a number of the projects that are already started before starting new ones, did not make it past New Years!

Planning for Port Gulick, Phase Five of TOMA

So, I went down a rabbit hole between Christmas and New Years. I have an MR flyer about 4' X 8' model railroads on my iPad which includes several by Iain Rice, One of them has always fascinated me: "Loleta & Mad River." It is a handsome, yet quite impractical harbor scene, designed for turn of the 20th century logging type railroading--too tight curves and too steep grades. Other issues with his plan included impossible reach in distances and the inner harbor being too small for much beyond a row boat to turn around. On the other hand, so charming, so evocative, so not finishing an ongoing project! Deep in this forum thread about the search for this plan, is a reproduction of the plan. Readers can view it with someone other than me breaking copyright laws.

But, what if I opened it up as an L-shaped plan instead and stretched it out a bit? One task was to get an accurate notion of the space that it might occupy. Somehow, in my long range planning drawings the space on this side of the stairs is a void. Beyond it is the laundry and utilities, but where exactly the wall might be was empty white space. Taking some measurements and doing some sketches, it turns out that stretching out the plan and still having a four foot pathway to the laundry was possible. Instead of a fixed bridge, what about a bascule bridge? Instead of a 16.5" radius curve, what about a 22" curve? It is still smaller than my minimum, but maybe possible? by stretching the length of the S-curve out to ten feet, the four percent incline might be reduced to something more doable closer to three percent. Using this plan for my Port Gulick harbor scene would potentially add to the mainline run and add lots of atmosphere, but come on, this is phase five of the plan. This armchair modeling is not finishing any of my many uncompleted projects or making actual progress on phase one. 

Instead of resolutions that are already broken, what if I focused on goal setting with a deadline? In my NMRA division, we have been planning our schedule for the year, and it includes a virtual meeting on Zoom in April where we are thinking of having modelers open their railroads for live visitors around the region afterwards. My goal would be to have the "train room" and phase one complete enough for visitors. 

The other side of the main basement is currently a disaster and a gumption trap. It needs serious organization and clean up. I still have half-unpacked train stuff and general basement clutter piled in the middle of the space. While the area around Nooksack and East Branch have been painted and had electrical upgrades, this part is in serious need of work. Beyond the pile of clutter is a "bar" scabbed in by previous owners of the house. I have removed the electrical line to it, but need to get help from my wife to tear out that section of wall. Maybe having a deadline will help me get motivated.

In looking back over the blog for 2024, I am somewhat disheartened at my slow progress on phase one. Beyond feeling behind with scenery and operations planning which obviously need additional work, I would like to improve the surroundings before opening up to visitors. A valance to hide the light tubes and create the shadow box look I prefer would be an excellent step. Again, a deadline might just be the motivation I need. 

I hope that my next post can focus on one area of actual progress.