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The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch


M Graff

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My entry in the 2010 Challenge. It´s a shelf layout that is 300 x 42 cm.

post-6867-069175100 1287795224_thumb.jpg

It is to represent a US eastcoast city´s harbour with a car-float operation. The time period is

supposed to be the late 40´s, early 50´s.

It is replacing my old layout that is now sold.....so....

Now it's serious! :D

I have made the framework (300x42 cm) and had the electric work done, I opted for a built-in switch so I can turn on and off optional features.

A picture of the basic construction

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The framework is built using 90x20 mm pine with 9mm MDF as a top.

I glued 20 mm pink-foam as a sound-dampener on top of the MDF.

Everything is glued with "No-Nails" from Pattex, which I think is a really good glue.

I used Pelly-consoles to attach the layout on the wall, it does it´s job well.

It was very easy to mount the background and the shelf above the layout.

The backdrop is 3 mm masonite with wooden stiffeners glued to the backside:

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The shelf serves as the holder for the flourescent tubes and the light-valance.

The background is plain 1/8:th masonite glued with 18 x 18 mm strips on the back for stiffening it up.

I have also started painting the background and primed it with a blue color fading down to a light, almost white color:

post-6867-066510700 1287795519_thumb.jpg

 

I prefer to let the "chaos theory" rule when I paint my backgrounds, it gives me a bit to play with when I start with the detail painting (the clouds, etc.).

I want to get a framed effect when looking at the layout, and as it is in our living room,

I want it to have a certain "elegance furniture", which is difficult because I'm not a carpenter [;)].

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I have painted the front of the valance a neutral gray color (NCS 6000 N), it provides a rather neat appearance.

I have also primed the foam in an earth color to make it a little nicer in appearance than the original pink color.

I had some luck when the local "cheapy store" in the city sold matte latex paint in last years fashion-colors for $5 quart [:-bigeyes2].

On top of it all it was the colors that was great to use as "earth" that was on sale [:D].

I wanted to see how the buildings look "in situ", so I've placed them temporarily before commencing with track laying:

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Now I'll just have to nail and glue the masonite on the fascia and cut it to match the landscape contours, then I´m ready to make some trackwork and landscaping.

I don´t want to do one thing at a time and running the risk to get "blind" ;).

This is the mockup of buildings I made before tracklaying:

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I have also started the tracklaying, I really enjoy this.

I use Peco code 75 track and turnouts as I think it is a very good looking and well functioning track system.

I opted for all Electrofrog turnouts (& crossings),

as I hate it when short wheelbase loco´s stall on the turnouts.

I glued the tracks directly on the foam using No Nails glue.

After that I painted the track:

post-6867-048814600 1287795753_thumb.jpg

 

I decided after some pondering that I wanted manual turnout controls,

and as I use Electrofrog turnouts,

I needed some way to switch the frog polarity.

After some searching on the web and in my old mags,

I found that the most usual way was this:

post-6867-053336600 1287795802_thumb.jpg

 

A DPDT switch coupled to the switchbar with a 1 mm piano wire.

I used a 2 mm pianowire as a pushrod from the front of the layout,

where I use a 20 mm wooden ball as a knob:

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As can be seen I have also started ballasting.

I wanted the look of the rails almost buried in fine gravel,

so I thought that some fine sand would be fine,

but as ordinary sand contains quartz here,

making it shimmer, it is a no go.

I decided to try something else.

As Woodland scenics ballast is made of colored nutshells,

I started to think about some alternatives.

I have a history as a zookeeper for tropical animals,

and we had some Chinchillas that we used a special soft sand for.

I bought a bag and tried it. BINGO!

It is irregular in size and has sound dampening qualities as well.

I use Diluted Matte medium to glue it and it works a charm.

I have also started on the roads,

and as an experiment I tried to use a wall repair compound.

It doesn´t shrink and is easily sanded,

so I had to try it :) .

Here is the first attempt:

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Here it is just primed to get rid of the white:

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Really fun stuff this!

I have finished ballasting all the tracks with "Chinchillasand", which worked very well.

I would however like to have some tracks embedded in the road, so I decided to use brick between the rails, as it makes it more interesting visually.

Here I have made some "finger-joints" in the brick sheet (from Will's):

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I painted the bricks before I plastered up the road surface:

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I painted the surface with a gray-beige hue, I used the same paint but diluted to paint the joints in the brick surface:

post-6867-074979300 1287796588_thumb.jpg

 

This is the result after a wash with the "India-ink":

post-6867-093706700 1287796644_thumb.jpg

It also shows the Quay wall, that I built using brick-sheets and some dark wood strips that were left over after a boat-build.

 

I've also started on parts of the city. I want some different elevations, because it makes the layout look less "static". I've used a 20 mm styrofoam which I´ve primed and embossed with the texture:

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I have also built me an old Model-Power kit (Burned townhouse), but with some modifications:

post-6867-036279700 1287796941_thumb.jpg

 

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As can be seen, I have gotten a little bit farther; but much remains before I can devote myself to the infinite detailing [:D].

I got a package with "Basket-liner" from Mr Bob "Blackcloud" Hughes (from the AMR forum), it was not without a certain curiosity I opened it:

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It is impossible to get "Basket-liner" in Sweden, so I´m very glad that Bob gave me a package.

After an initial visual inspection, my curiosity to try it out was on top. I cut out a piece and trimmed it lightly to get rid of they longest straws. The liner has a distinctive backside that is smooth and takes glue well. I glued it on with ordinary wood glue, and this is the initial result:

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I'm very pleased with the result so far, and with a little extra detailing, it may be quite good I think.

Hope you like my progress this far.

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The barge ramp at the harbor is built :),

I had planned to build it from the drawings I had from Sylvan but I had mislaid them .....

On the good side I had the good fortune to find a portal crane on eBay that could be a good starting point:

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After a little searching of the web for inspiration I built the ramp.

I used plasticard and some parts from the scrap box:

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So here is how it looks after painting:

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It´s "only" a barge to build as well...;).

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Oh yes they are indeed flywheels. I will replace them with "concrete" ones when I finish the lines up in the building. I have made a mold for them and will try to cast them using a repair compound, it has the same colour and "feel" of the real stuff.

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I have now started building the rest of the port including the car float, the first thing I had to do was to raise up the waterlevel 1 cm, because I thought that it was a bit too low.

I used 10 mm balsa sheets that I cut to fit, I then glued them to the bottom with wood glue. When that was dry, I primed the balsa with artists gesso in two rounds, once to saturate the wood, and once to create the "waves":

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When it had dried, I painted it with Tamiya Dark Sea Blue, afterwards I dry-brushed the waves with white.

After that was completed, I painted the whole surface again with a transparent sea-blue:

post-6867-028882400 1287797774_thumb.jpg

 

I then painted pure white on the wave tips:

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Here is what it looks like in process.

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I then clear-coated the water surface with "Johnson Clear Polish" [:O], which is so easy to work with!

The fact that it is very glossy and dries fast does not hurt either:

post-6867-084036400 1287797948_thumb.jpg

Almost done.

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While I was waiting for the water to dry I took the opportunity to begin building the Car-float as well.

I took two sturdy pieces of balsa (it´s good sometimes to have been building model airplanes as well), I glued them together and sawed them to shape so they took the form of a barge. After "some" sanding, I primed it with ordinary spray-primer and then let it dry for a few hours before sanding it.

There were a lot of pores remaining after sanding, so with a little elbow grease and some carpentry putty later, it was smooth:

post-6867-044197400 1287798065_thumb.jpg

 

To get some "metal" effect on the sides of the Barge, I took the opportunity to test something new, namely aluminum tape (the plumbing kind). I cut it into small squares and I applied them with about 1 mm overlap. Then I cut strips of it to use in the corners. In order to get a bit more detailed look, I made "rivets" by pressing into the seams with a 0.8 mm brass tube.

To complete the hull, I put two strips of wood on the sides as fenders.

The tracks on the deck (code 75) is fastened with CA glue, I removed the sleepers because they was not needed as it would be a wooden deck on the barge.

The deck is made by glueing 2mm balsa sheets, that I scribed lines into to simulate boards in, after they were put in place:

post-6867-043425900 1287798131_thumb.jpg

 

Now I´m just waiting for the primer to dry, I painted it an hour ago. I can´t wait to continue ...

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The Barge is now finished to the point that it can be put on the water with a couple of boxcars on it:

post-6867-075761200 1287798366_thumb.jpg

 

I´m quite happy with how the deck turned out:

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As can be seen, neither the detailing nor weathering is finished.

 

The cars looks rather well on the barge, or what do you think?

post-6867-090330900 1287798537_thumb.jpg

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Again, Wow!!!

The barge looks excellent indeed and as for the stock...............Phew! Simply gorgeous!!

Very very nice water too the only thing is.................Is it not a little too much like oceanic water rather than dockside water?????

I'm only thinking that perhaps, the dockside water may be a little "muddier" or dirty, perhaps with a bit of flotsam and jetsam floating in it. BTW, what is flotsam & jetsam?

I've seen it refered to many times and sort of know that it is referring to waste, both natural and man-made!

Cheers,

John E.

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More progress :D, I had one of the old Lindberg diesel-tugs lying around and decided that I wanted to use it in some form on the layout.

My plan was to use the Sylvan tug I already had built, but I didn´t really "like" it´s style.....

After I made some research on the Web I found some very interesting Tugs.

The most likely candidate that could be modeled with the Lindberg kit as a starting point was the "BEDT" steam tug "Invincible".

 

invincibledrawing2.jpg

 

"Eads Johnson, Johnson's Steam Vessels of the United States - 1929"

 

 

 

 

This is the plans and pic´s from the BEDT website (

http://www.trainweb....DTTugboats.html).

The general appearance of this Tug is quite appealing in my opinion:

invincible4.jpg

"Invincible" - June 9, 1962



(note stack is covered)

C. Milster photo

 

 



I had to build everything above the lower deckhouse completely new as the Lindberg kit was a diesel tug with a low steering cabin.


Here is a picture of how it looks like built as standard:

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This is what I came up with however:

post-6867-053192900 1287798686_thumb.jpg

 

Not really finished yet, it still needs some details and some weathering.

It isn´t an exact replica of "Invincible", but I think it captures the feel of it quite well:

post-6867-027012800 1287798727_thumb.jpg

 

I used Plasticard for the superstructure and brass tubing for the Funnel and pipings.

The railing is brass as well with etched stanchions.

It was a real fun project, and a small diversion from the regular "landbased" builds that is usually associated with model railroading :D.

 

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A very nicely done layout. Great atmosphere! And I'm a sucker for car floats and the like.

 

Now, I'm an adherent to Rule #1 and Rule #2 of model railroading. (Rule #1: It's my layout. Rule #2: If you're a nit-picker, see Rule #1). So I say this knowing I might come off as a bit of a hypocrite. But the Rock Island 50-foot boxcar sans roofwalk in the last photo is a bit of out place era-wise. Only by 10 years or so, though.

 

Now stepping down off my soapbox so I may again take the opportunity to look at this layout again!

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No problem with that :), I am just in the progress of buying a bunch of more appropriate cars for the layout. I will sell the newer stuff (the 50 footers and some other stuff that also is out of place).

I will also need a lot of automobiles with mostly late 30´s to late 40´s models.

Anyone know where to find those without breaking the Bank?

I have seen some "cheap" resin kits on Ebay, but then there is the problem with the windows.....

I´ll be back B).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Now there is a little bit more that has happened on the layout :).

I have mostly been building Boxcars and I have also started some new projects on the layout (more on that later).

However, the harbor has begun to look presentable now that I have built the barge to a 90% finished state and the same with the tug.

Now they are not so "shabby" looking, I think:

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It is already some activities happening around the port, the loading and unloading is in full swing.

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The little boathouse is a new addition on the Pier.

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The MK & E's little 0-6-0 port switcher puts out a couple of Boxcars to be passed on to their destinations in the harbor.

 

Now I will continue with one of my new projects: Switching to warm white LEDs 5600 mcd into my locomotives, I will just have to check the table so that I put the right value resistors in them :D.

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I´m afraid that I got the pink foam here at the local builders supplier, I think most larger suppliers carries it as it is used for ground insulation. I have seen both blue green and brown foam as well as pink. It differs in the density however, and I wouldn´t use the hardest variety.

 

Most of my buildings are scratchbuilt, the few that aren´t are kitbashes. I like to build them myself as it´s easier that way to make them fit at the location.

It´s almost against my religion to build a kit as is :D.

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I had an old Atlas locomotive on the shelf,

a S-1 diesel which I bought for at least 12-13 years ago (oh how time flies :D).

It was factory-painted in the Western Pacific's colors,

silver and orange, but since my own company; The MK & Eastern RR has embraced the same colors as the Minneapolis and StLouis RR

(green, yellow and gray),

it was so decided after the M-K & E "received" a consignment of M & StL locomotives,

and it became "easier" to just paint the new company name over the original

(or however it was, M & StL is still looking for its locomotives B)).

I decided that now was the time to do something about the locomotive in question.

Thus, the locomotive was dismantled and I dumped the shell in some denaturated alcohol overnight.

The following day, I only had to brush the paint off the shell with an old toothbrush, much easier than having to mess around with brake fluid and such.

I took the opportunity to install warm white LEDs while the shell dried.

After some painting and weathering it looked like this:

post-6867-087649200 1287799294_thumb.jpg

 

Here is the "Port Fleet" gathered:

post-6867-048012500 1287799327_thumb.jpg

 

post-6867-027540700 1287799364_thumb.jpg

It is, by judging the position of the photographer,

quite evident that these last two images was taken from one of the ships in the harbor ;).

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post-6867-027237300 1287799507_thumb.jpg

Just an update, I have been busy arranging my city, I will soon show some pics of how it is progressing.

I am also making a master for a industry that I will make some molds off of.

There is so much fun stuff now to do on this layout!

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Guest 30-something

This is a great layout, I've been following the thread with much interest

 

Keep up the good work!!!

 

Cheers

 

Joe

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  • 3 months later...

Time for a update :rolleyes:, I have had a summer break but I have still made some modelling.

I felt that I needed some mode of personal transportation on my freelanced layout. As it is situated somewhere in the Maine/New England region in the late 40:s early 50:s, and not more than a shortline served by a IC and a bargejob, I thought it was feasible that they had made a bus in their own backshops.

 

I had bought a LaBelle 1905 coach a good while back and when cleaning the workbench last Sunday, I decided that this could work as a good starting point for a railbus conversion!

I then looked for some kind of trucks to use. I had some older Atlas trucks that was in good shape, I also had some old Roco motor that worked good (I think it is Roco at least). A set of Mantua driveshafts and sockets was at hand as well [:D].

I laid all parts on the table and went to work.

DSC00113.JPG

I started on the chassis, so I knew that that would work. I settled for drive on the forward truck only.

This is how the chassis looked like after about an hours work:

DSC00114.JPG

I then assembled the body of the bus, wich is quite straightforward:

DSC00126.JPG

I then made some ventilations on the sides, using some old cut down grills from a scrapped GP 18:

DSC00128.JPG

The roof on this kit is a piece of work to make good, here is my result of the roof ends and the beginning of the front with the pilot, I also had to make a new middle section with window in the front as well:

DSC00142.JPG

The underside is taking shape as well, I know that the truck sideframes aren´t really correct for a railbus, but I will replace them later if I get some better looking Brill-type sideframes:

DSC00143.JPG

I covered the roof in Alu-tape that I cut in smaller pieces to fit in the rounded areas:

DSC00151.JPG

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I then added some lights and roof vents that I had in the parts box, the exhaust is an old Kato one I had:

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I painted the whole bus in Mahogany paint and the roof and chassis in a black grey color:

DSC00172.JPG

I added some couplers and the diaphragm on the back and here is the result as it stands today:

DSC00194.JPG

I have some small finish work left to do and the weathering and decals. but I´m quite happy as it ended up.

I have a Loksound decoder in it as well [:D],

So it can be heard as it rumbles in to the stop.

It runs really well and I added almost 8 ounces of lead into it to increase its traction and power pickup.

For a 4 day project it isn´t too bad I hope...

I will also add some radiators on the roof, but I haven´t found some nice prototype yet.

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Micheal...that is AWESOME!!! I love this layout..its really great modelling,a great trackplan and wonderful atmosphere. The little 0-6-0 tank loco..if thats the Bachmann one its a great runner and one of my favorites locos..I have 2. How do you do the fantastic signs on the sides of the buildings...are they your own decals?

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