Thursday, December 12, 2013

Fall-Winter Update

The weather has turned cold and the model railroading bug has bitten me!  I have been working on some major changes to the Dragonfly Sub. 
  • The preliminary scenery at the Green River has been removed in favor of a different method.
  • A Masonite backdrop has been installed along the perimeter of the railroad.   In the corners, the Masonite is curved providing a smooth transition between the walls.  (I have always thought that was cool, but in the all years of building have never done it)
  • A "sky" backdrop is being installed on the Masonite.  (More on  that in a later post)
  • The siding at Ohio has been removed by Maintenance of Way crews to make room for the curved backdrop.  The Engineering Department is now on site conducting topographic surveys in order to design a new siding for the Ohio Elevator Co.  The notion of cost sharing for the improvement with the elevator company has been suggested by Q management... but no final agreement has been reached.
  • New industry is planned for Prophetstown- an oil/bulk fuel dealer and a lumber yard.  Typical mainstays for Midwest towns.  The fuel dealer will receive tank cars and the lumber yard will receive boxcars and flatcars.  
  • A possible tunnel will be added to help mask/hide some trackage and give more scenic relief.  The area under consideration is the former location of La Moille.  The plan is to place the new industries mentioned above close to the front edge of the benchwork with the mountain/tunnel providing a backdrop.
The list above is a quick run-down.  I plan to post pictures of the various projects, starting with the Masonite backdrop.
Thanks for visiting!
Scott