Gulf, Atlanta & Eastern - into the second decade

[Barry Ten]

2 hours ago, LBRJ said:

A geographically appropriate industry for the branch line, surely you could have a Kaolin facility "somewhere up there"?

I think Atlas even make (or made) suitable tank cars for the stuff as used by the paper industry ....

 

Yes, I've got a couple of the Georgia Kaolin cars. I must admit I don't know much about the industry, but food for thought...

[stivesnick]

10 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

 

Yes, I've got a couple of the Georgia Kaolin cars. I must admit I don't know much about the industry, but food for thought...

 

 

Here is a link to a short video about kaolin production - there are some brief shots of the railway loading facility that shows both tank cars for liquid product and covered hoppers for dry product.

 

 

If you want more railway action check out videos of the Sandesville Railroad that is a short line that serves some of the kaolin facilities in Georgia.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Nick 

[Barry Ten]

I've started adding pavements (sidewalks!) etc to the new bit of the peninsula, as well as finalising the arrangement of buildings.

 

 

 

I've also cut away a bit of the fascia to create a small drop-down area hinting at a bit of riverside. I'm not a fan of the flat-earth school of baseboards - even a minor variation in terrain below the track level can look good, and help with photo angles.

 

 

Finally, here's a short clip of the Conrail train passing through the new scene.

 

 

Cheers and thanks for reading.

[Barry Ten]

Pushing on with the reworking of the peninsula, I've done a bit more on the drop-down water feature. Sounds a bit posher than what it is, just a few square inches of lowered scenery to hint at the edge of a river or harbour. Once I'd sealed and painted the base, I poured a couple of layers of water product over two evenings.

 

 

 

The stone retaining walls were recycled from elsewhere on the layout, hence the scruffy look. Ideally, one should cut off one of the columns of stone on one side of each casting, but I don't bother with that as it reduces the overall length of walling you get in one pack. I feel that, once weathered and blended, they look OK and I hate throwing good modelling stuff away!

 

 

A different angle on the peninsula. I'm pretty happy with the way these changes are falling into place. With the baseboard edge further away from the track, I think it all has a bit more room to breathe. It's not so long ago that I was considering removing the peninsula in its entirety (feeling it was taking up too much space in the room) but for now I'm rather happy not to have proceeded with that change.

 

Once again I have done a reshuffle of the buildings, trying to find a configuration which looks right and works with their varying depths. I think I'm nearly there.

 

 

This is another view which unavoidably brings the fascia and associated under-layout clutter into view. Funny how the eye doesn't really register this stuff when we're just looking directly at the model; we seem to be able to tune-out all the non-railway stuff quite happily, but the camera is much less forgiving.

 

This FT set has been running without its leading horns forever. I must get around to finding some spares as it just looks wrong without them.

 

Cheers and thanks for reading.

[benjy14]

6 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

 

A different angle on the peninsula. I'm pretty happy with the way these changes are falling into place. With the baseboard edge further away from the track, I think it all has a bit more room to breathe. It's not so long ago that I was considering removing the peninsula in its entirety (feeling it was taking up too much space in the room) but for now I'm rather happy not to have proceeded with that change.

 

That is brilliant modelling and a fabulous photo; I love the sweeeping flow of the track through the station and its environs, and it definitely does look much roomier.

[Barry Ten]

Many thanks, Benjy - I've been catching up on your fab UP layout with much enjoyment.

[Supaned]

I agree , the repositioned buildings look really good now - I particularly like the view looking along the street with the Cooke's shop in the foreground - at a glance it reminded me a bit of Jim Thorpe in Pennsylvania, more to do with the architecture and the hills and trees rather than anything else, but I'd certainly say you've got the US "look" to my eyes anyway..

[Barry Ten]

57 minutes ago, Supaned said:

I agree , the repositioned buildings look really good now - I particularly like the view looking along the street with the Cooke's shop in the foreground - at a glance it reminded me a bit of Jim Thorpe in Pennsylvania, more to do with the architecture and the hills and trees rather than anything else, but I'd certainly say you've got the US "look" to my eyes anyway..

 

Many thanks - I wasn't familiar with Jim Thorpe but looking at some pics just now, I can see where the similarity comes in. It looks like a lovely spot to spend some time in!

 

Edit - reading a bit further, I see that it's the basis for that Mauch Chunk layout which I very much enjoyed at Warley a while back.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Barry Ten

[Barry Ten]

Here's a link to the website for the Mauch Chunk model, if anyone's interested:

 

http://homauchchunk2.co.uk/modelling/

 

As I said above, I was really impressed with it at Warley. It hit that sweet spot for me, with a nice balance between

beautiful scenery, well-laid track and interesting CNJ stock.