Mid March Update

This update is long over due... some significant progress has been made on the Dragonfly Sub in recent months.  I have focused on many things including building structures, scenery, operational changes, and adding/modifying industrial tracks.  Some on-going projects worth noting:

•  Eliminated towns, in favor of modeling two towns (Walnut, Illinois and Prophetstown, Illinois).  This major change will require modification to the Operating Plan.  It appears now that two local turns will leave Mendota (staging) with one traveling to Prophetstown and the other traveling to Walnut.  The turns will switch the respective towns and return to Mendota.  This scheme would work if multiple operators are available... if not...  then a single turn could be run to handle all of the work.
• Removed the Green River in favor of more Midwest style flatland.  My initial thought in including the Green River was to provide a visual barrier between towns (switching areas).  In the end, this was not effective and was more of a stumbling block, trying to tie two industrial areas into a "country scene".   It has been removed and replaced with flatland.
• Started to build structures and place them on the railroad.  This is a trial and error process.  A building can look very different if placed at various locations on the railroad.  With that in mind, some time has been spent moving structures around and determining if 1) Does the building look believable in that location, does if fit (both physically and conceptually) and 2) Can rail be used to serve it?  This has been a fun process and the moving about of the buildings seems to be about done.
• Added a coal unloading dock in Walnut.  This will add some coal hopper traffic from both the Q at Mendota and the CNW at Walnut.
• Added two additional industrial sidings in Prophetstown to generate more traffic.  The tracks will serve a grain company, warehouse, bulk oil dealer, and lumber yard.

As time allows, pictures of the various projects will be posted.
Happy Railroading!
Scott

Structures Update

I have been focusing on building some structures I received for Christmas.  This is my first experience in building structures for many years.  I have identified several Walthers kits for the downtown area of Walnut, Illinois and it is those structures that I am constructing.  A few pictures of the progress so far.

The last photo shows a small piece of styrene I added to the model to fill the gap left between the door and the building walls.

That's it for now.
Scott

Layout Update

I have developed the building/street layout for Walnut, Illinois.  Below are two photos showing the paper templates that represent the various buildings and streets that will make up the town.

 The long and narrow rectangular shapes represent the state highway (Illinois Route 92) and various side streets.  The highway will cross the mainline from the top left of the picture and turn west (down in the photo) to follow the tracks toward Prophetstown.  The larger rectangles to the right represent buildings.  The buildings are multiple story store fronts with the exception of the one closet to the foreground.  At this location a gas station is proposed. 

This is another view from "the air" showing the track arrangement relative to the town.  The track with the three cars is the interchange track between the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad (CNW) and the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad.  The track from the lower right to the upper left (through the diamond) is the CNW mainline from Nelson, Illinois to Peoria, Illinois.  Although this at-grade crossing did exist, I cannot find any evidence that there was an interchange track located at this location.  But, since this is, my railroad and I wanted some additional industries to serve by rail (and an interchange track is a great industry because it can handle any type of car) I decided to use some modeler’s license and include it.

More updates coming!  Stay tuned for updates on building the structures that will become part of downtown Walnut!
 Thanks,
Scott

Scenery Progress

I have made substantial progress on the scenery around the Green River area.  For the most part I am pleased with the look, understanding that it is really just the base scenery and that a lot more detail will be added.  Items like trees, bushes, rock outcroppings, and other things will help make the scene look more realistic.  It is wonderful to watch the "fields of blue" foam slowly disappear!  I will post updated pictures soon.

On another portion of the railroad, I am laying out Walnut, Illinois.  So far, I have identified several structures that I will use and have cut paper to the size of each buildings footprint.  Using these footprints, along with 24' wide (HO Scale) paper roadway, I am developing the city around the railroad.  I will snap a couple of pictures of this process to include in the next update as well.

Happy Railroading!

Scott

Scenery Work Continues

I had extra help yesterday working on the second layer of plaster for the hill in Walnut, Illiniois.  Our son, Carter, was having fun playing in the plaster and getting dirty! 

More pictures as the progress continues!
Scott

Scenery Work has Started!

I have started the next step in construction of the model railroad.  The scenery construction is underway in the Walnut, Illinois area.  I am currently working on the base scenery.  I am tired of seeing the blue insulation board!  My goal is to work in small areas and move progressively around the layout.  I decided that I am going to take my time and enjoy learning this new part of the hobby.  I will post additional photos of "finished" areas (at least the scenery base) as I have time.  As a primer I will update the slide show to the right of this page with some current photos of work in progress.  (Ya, I know I should have removed the tape from the rails!) 
Thanks for visiting,
Scott

Intermediate Photos...

I took several photos of the track painting progress, mainly because I was in the train room with the camera taking pictures of another project for a future post.  The photos are not too exciting other than to document some progress!  

The basic equipment I am using: a variety of brushes of varying sizes, flat black paint, and a working surface to keep things in order and to protect the layout.

After painting and a day of drying time, I go back over the painted track with a Bright Boy to clean the top of the rails being careful not to clean the guide rails in the turnouts.

This photos shows the mainline and passing siding at Walnut, Illinois.  In the foreground is the spur to Standard Oil and L.D. Spaulding Grain.

Check back for future updates and more pictures!

Happy Railroading,

Scott