D&RGW narrow gauge: Back to scenics.

[JZ]

Main roof done. Well, apart from trimming the ridge pieces, putting on the chimney, some form of ridge tile, bay window roof. Took two hours in the cool of the morning to put the shingles on, then another two fettling and fitting the roof panels

 

Will be giving it a wash of thin, dirty brown, Molly Brown from Wild West Models. Outside it's been too hot to do much, even lounging on the deck. The roof is just resting on the building at the moment while I decide whether to put partitions in on the upstairs.

 

A bit of reflected heat here, but it was in the shade.

[JZ]

A wash of WWM Molly Brown over the roof ahs toned it down.

That's it for today. Off to Taunton now for the cricket.

[JZ]

Main structure complete. Still to add signage. The downstairs of the main building also saw use as a grocery store.

The ridge was made of 3mm walnut strip, the same as I use for decking.

[Oldddudders]

5 hours ago, JZ said:

The downstairs of the main building also saw use as a grocery store.

Vera Belisle, Station Agent, probably unpaid, was the proprietor until after closure. Husband Randy (no, not randy husband) worked at one the mines over the top of the mountain. 

[JZ]

2 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Vera Belisle, Station Agent, probably unpaid, was the proprietor until after closure. Husband Randy (no, not randy husband) worked at one the mines over the top of the mountain. 

The decals are for it are included with the kit. But as it's not Ophir depot, I won't be using them.

 

Here is the finished article. All signed up as Lucyville.

 Next thing to build will be the Kitwood Hills turntable that arrived on Monday. Once this is done, the pit at least, I can get on with the layout, or getting a complete loop done at the very least. Might give it a bit of time tomorrow, but Saturday is LarkRail in Bath and Sunday, I'm off to the Night Sky Show in Southampton.

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by JZ

[JZ]

A few details added to bring it to life. Also a some powders dusted onto roof.

[Nick C]

Wouldn't elevation be shortened to elev rather than elav? Or is that one of the many things the Americans spell differently? 

[JZ]

7 hours ago, Nick C said:

Wouldn't elevation be shortened to elev rather than elav? Or is that one of the many things the Americans spell differently? 

Correct. I have this habit when typing, of hitting an e for a and vice versa. Don't know why. Never mind, new ones will be made. Thanks for pointing it out.

Section house at Cumbres. The depot was demolished for road widening.

Edited July 23, 2022 by JZ

[JZ]

Last few days has seen me working on this.

HOn3 Turntable from Kitwood Hills Models. Based on the one in Durango, I have used upright handrails, rather than the angled ones on the prototype. I have only just fitted the stanchions in place, once set, I will get the railings in. The deck needs some oil stains and the pit some gravel and weeds. Yet to decide how many roads out I will have, maybe none, in which case, I will not need a reversing switch, as it only needs to rotate in one direction. A Gaugemaster DCC40 auto reverse module is attached underside for polarity reversal. Powered by a 12v 2RMP motor, I'll just be using a 6v power supply via a variable resistor. The second one of these I have built, the first is in Lucyville depot. It is available for HO and HOn30 as well. 65' in HO, it would make a good 55' tt in 4mm. However. This was the first run of them since 2019, all 50 of these were pre-ordered back in April and sold out in an hour. They may do another run next year.

[JZ]

August picture of the month.

Damaged 30ft flatcar 1293 is loaded aboard 40ft flatcar 6308 at Durango. The notes state this was August 1964, but K-27 464 was recorded as being retired and put on static display in 1962.

[JZ]

After the turntable, I decided to reduce the mountain of kits I have to build.

This is the free kit from Fos Scale Models.

Magnus Root Beer stand.. These free kits come without instructions, but are straighforward to put together. One man and his dog, the trash can and the salesman inside are all Woodland Scenics figures.

On a smaler scale, this is a Dr Pepper's stand from the 1940s.

[JZ]

Next kit in 'clearing the backlog',

Need to add some weathering to the signs and roof. I have some trashcans in the post. Figures are Preiser and WS, phone booth is from Shapeways, soda bottles are Faller. This is another of Fos Scales free kits.

[JZ]

Another Fos Scale kit. This is from their 'Kit of the Month' series and purchased from another member of the Slim Gauge Circle.

Railway Express agency depot. Only just finished and still to weather.

[JZ]

A dusting of powders and figure added.

 

In the meantime, I am waiting for some turnouts to arrive from Peco, via my local model shop. So now looking through what to build next. Probably something simple and quick, rather than getting into a more complex and time consuming kit, which will distract from the layout.

[JZ]

Next structure is Palmer Ice, another from Fos Scale.

Not decided where to locate this yet. I have another ice house, with loading platform, from JL Innovative. So maybe this one in Ava City and the larger one for Lucyville.

Still waiting for the turnouts.

[JZ]

After reducing the pile of unbuilt kits, I have increased it again. I regularly have a browse through Hatton's second-hand section for HO buildings and the other day three more caught my eye.

First is this, from Fos Scale.

Rankin's Steakhouse. Came as opened, but the parts bags were still sealed. Love the look of it and a bit different from other kits. The 'flat iron' shape also adds a bit of variety. The posters are printed on paper, so I scan and reprint them on 50gm paper so they follow the pattern on the clapboarding better.

 

Next is this.

Rickert, Locksmith. A now discontinued kit from Fos Scale. I immediately though of Father Ted, though it is (The Holy stone of) Clonrickard. 

Finally and from Blair Line, just in case you thought I had a thing about Fos Scale.

A Company house. I felt I needed more living accommodation. I have some two storey dwellings from City Classics and Walthers. I feel this could also double up as a Village cricket or bowls pavilion in OO.

All were well below list price and of course, not exorbitant postal charges.

Also this week, I had a delivery of scale lumber from Mount Albert. Clapboard, scribed and board & batten sheets and some of the sizes just not available over here. Had to make a largish order to make the delivery charge more acceptable, but as it came from Canada, even the cheap option with UPS was cheaper than USPS from the States and, what's more, it only took 4 days from placing the order. Now just waiting for Tichy Trains to sort out my order for windows, doors and other structural parts and I can get on with scratch building.

Edited August 14, 2022 by JZ

[Keith Addenbrooke]

8 hours ago, JZ said:

After reducing the pile of unbuilt kits, I have increased it again. I regularly have a browse through Hatton's second-hand section for HO buildings and the other day three more caught my eye.

First is this, from Fos Scale.

Rankin's Steakhouse. Came as opened, but the parts bags were still sealed. Love the look of it and a bit different from other kits. The 'flat iron' shape also adds a bit of variety. The posters are printed on paper, so I scan and reprint them on 50gm paper so they follow the pattern on the clapboarding better.

 

Next is this.

Rickert, Locksmith. A now discontinued kit from Fos Scale. I immediately though of Father Ted, though it is (The Holy stone of) Clonrickard. 

Finally and from Blair Line, just in case you thought I had a thing about Fos Scale.

A Company house. I felt I needed more living accommodation. I have some two storey dwellings from City Classics and Walthers. I feel this could also double up as a Village cricket or bowls pavilion in OO.

All were well below list price and of course, not exorbitant postal charges.

Also this week, I had a delivery of scale lumber from Mount Albert. Clapboard, scribed and board & batten sheets and some of the sizes just not available over here. Had to make a largish order to make the delivery charge more acceptable, but as it came from Canada, even the cheap option with UPS was cheaper than USPS from the States and, what's more, it only took 4 days from placing the order. Now just waiting for Tichy Trains to sort out my order for windows, doors and other structural parts and I can get on with scratch building.

Do you order direct from Tichy?  Mech models in Burton-on-Trent show quite a range of Tichy on their website as a UK supplier.  I’ve not ordered from them myself, but my Dad has often made in-store purchases through them for his American HO.  
 

Quite a production line of building kits: very impressive.  I may have missed something, but did you get a chance to join up the baseboards to complete the circuit around the shed?  Just wondered, Keith.

Keith.

[JZ]

1 minute ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Do you order direct from Tichy?  Mech models in Burton-on-Trent show quite a range of Tichy on their website as a UK supplier.  I’ve not ordered from them myself, but my Dad has often made in-store purchases through them for his American HO.  Keith.

Not heard of Mech Models, but will check them out.

 

2 minutes ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Quite a production line of building kits: very impressive.  I may have missed something, but did you get a chance to join up the baseboards to complete the circuit around the shed?  Just wondered, Keith.

Keith.

Not yet, waiting on some more turnouts to see how it will all fit.

[JZ]

41 minutes ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Do you order direct from Tichy?  Mech models in Burton-on-Trent show quite a range of Tichy on their website as a UK supplier.  I’ve not ordered from them myself, but my Dad has often made in-store purchases through them for his American HO.  Keith.

Just had a browse through what they have. Not all items I have ordered from Tichy are in stock, and strangely, while all item are $4 direct, at Mech, some are £4, some £4.50 and other £5.  The order I have in at Tichy is quite large and the difference in exchange rate and what Mech are charging means it's about the same cost on this. However, I will be looking at them for smaller orders in future, so thanks for the info Keith.

[JZ]

Okay. So. This post may be controversial. The layout is set in from mid 1950s to 1960. At this time racism was rife in the US. Colorado is, by my observation, still quite 'white'. The company house from Blair Line will house a coloured family, while the two storey ones I have will be for white families.  Therefore it will be given a more run down appearance.

Likewise I have posters with doctors and dentists advocating the merits of various cigarette brands.

While these are things I wholeheartedly disagree with, it was a fact of the time. You cannot whitewash history, even on a model railway.

[JZ]

Less controversial.

Great news coming in. Micro Engineering has new owners.

[Nick C]

4 hours ago, JZ said:

Okay. So. This post may be controversial. The layout is set in from mid 1950s to 1960. At this time racism was rife in the US. Colorado is, by my observation, still quite 'white'. The company house from Blair Line will house a coloured family, while the two storey ones I have will be for white families.  Therefore it will be given a more run down appearance.

Likewise I have posters with doctors and dentists advocating the merits of various cigarette brands.

While these are things I wholeheartedly disagree with, it was a fact of the time. You cannot whitewash history, even on a model railway.

Agreed - you're attempting to portray a period of history, and one that is well documented at that. You should be able to portray it as it was, not how we might wish it were, however unsavoury that might be. 

[JZ]

Bit of a dilemma. To fit in some of the thing I want in Ava City probably requires a crossing and a ready made one isn't available in HOn3. I am hoping to juggle my way out of it with Peco points, as Micro Engineering one, that I already have, don't have the right geometry. The other option is to build one. While I have made hand made pointwork before, I have not made a crossing. Free templates are available from Fast Tracks and a laser cut 14º crossing is also available. Mmm..... Then there is the electrical connection. Points are easy, this will take a bit more thought.

[cnw6847]

Scalelink have some of the Shinohara crossings in stock, Would they be of any use?

 

https://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatalog/Shinohara_Track___Pointwork_HOn3-p1.html

[JZ]

8 hours ago, cnw6847 said:

Scalelink have some of the Shinohara crossings in stock, Would they be of any use?

 

https://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatalog/Shinohara_Track___Pointwork_HOn3-p1.html

I visited in 2019 and bought the last of the Shinohara track, or so I believed, and was told they wouldn't be getting any more. That's why I didn't look. I have placed an order for two crossings. Let's see if they turn up, as it's been almost 2 years since stock level was updated.

Edited August 19, 2022 by JZ