Train Room Safety

Alright, I'm about to sound like a nagging mother but, raise your hand if you've done any of the following: used spray paint or Dulcote inside without a respirator, cut Styrofoam with a hot knife or wire without adequate ventilation, used acetone to clean your hands after a messy painting project, used solder and flux in a confined space, used a Dremel without eye protection and the list goes on. My hand went up for all of them.

Where am I going with this? Well, last march (2017) I attended the wedding of a very dear friend from college. Two years prior this friend was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, a very rare, but treatable, cancer. Thankfully, my friend beat it and is now cancer free. However, without going into too much detail, there were lingering effects of the treatment, which as I write this, she is currently in surgery to help correct.

Seeing her at her wedding was a bit of a wake up all for me. For a while one of my guilty pleasures was taking my copy of Model Railroader out to the back porch and reading it while enjoying a cold beer and a cigar. I knew it wasn't the best thing for my health, but when I got home from the wedding, I opened my humidor and dumped all my cigars into the trash. I haven't smoked one since.

Then I started thinking about all the things I mentioned in the top paragraph, and how they weren't the smartest things to be doing. So I instituted a few new safety rules for the train room.

To whit:

1. All spray painting and Dulcote is done in the garage with the door open.

2. The same goes for cutting foam with hot knives and such.

3. If doing the above in the train room can't be helped, then I open the window and get a few fans blowing first.

4. I'm trying to limit my use solvent-based Floquil and Polyscale paints. Not only because of the fumes, but because as we all know, they're no longer made and when they're gone, they're gone.

5. Eye protection when using the Dremel.

6. I've also decided not to use dangerous tools when my wife isn't home. Somebody has to be able to call EMS you know.

So anyway, here's hoping my friend makes a speedy recovery.

Johnstown Industrial Track is finished

I guess the picture really sums it up, doesn't it? I laid the last section of the Johnstown Industrial Track leading to Superior Paper. Nothing unusual to report here, squirt the glue, pin down the roadbed and repeat with the track. The glue of course cooperated by drying. Now I just have to get all this track wired up.

As you can see, I've started taping out where the roads and parking lots will go.With the exception of the ice house, which has a gravel parking lot, all the rest will be asphalt or concrete. The will be one road that starts at Superior Paper and wends its way past all the industries before crossing the main line near the wall. I have a pair of NJ International crossing flashers I plan on hooking up at the main line crossing.

In other news, the Central Railroad Model and Historical Association is holding their annual train show in Easley, SC on February 9 & 10. As to whether or not I'll go, that's still undecided. The past few years, the show has been a bit of a disappointment with only a handful of vendors with N Scale.  Mostly it's just tables and tables of insanely junky old postwar Lionel. What's more, the sellers of said Lionel stuff more often than not, refuse to budge on their prices, usually citing some kind of price guide.

But Easley has always sort of marked the final push for the season before winter turns to spring and life's distractions start popping up. So, maybe I will go, if for no other reason than to get out of the house. I've learned a long time ago that sometimes the best deal at a train show is leaving with your money in your pocket.

Looking Back...

 

It's 2018 and the layout is in the midst of its fifth year of construction. A lot has changed to say the least. It's hard to believe most of the layout is sceniced already. But there's still a ways to go.

Let's start with motive power. Five years ago, there wasn't a lot in the way of road specific power available. In terms of steam, all you had were the Minitrix K4, B6 and 2-10-0 (which needed some bashing to become an I1). All of them required a lot of tinkering to get them to run well. You also had the GHQ L1 conversion kit for the Kato Mikado. They weren't great, but unless you wanted to spend plutocrat money on brass, that was all you had. Of course Broadway Limited was taking preorders for their M1, but it appeared destined to be vaporware forever.

But then, in 2015, Bachmann came out with their K4 with DCC and sound. It was the first piece of road-specific PRR steam released since the 1970s. Of course, they did it right after I'd dropped a few Benjamins to have Max Magliaro remotor my Minitirx K4!

If that weren't enough, a few months after the Bachmann K4's debut, Broadway Limited finally delivered their long-awaited Centipede and M1 models. If that's not enough, they've announced a T1. I preordered one and hopefully I get it before my 3-year-old leaves for college. So in terms of motive power, we're getting there. What I'd really love to see are some H class 2-8-0s and maybe an E6 Atlantic.

Speaking of E6 Atlantics, one was produced way back in the early 1990s by Black River Locomotive works. According to Spookshow (link) only a few hundred were ever produced and in five years of modeling the Pennsy, I've yet to see one on eBay.

That's enough about motive power, now let's talk about DCC. When I started, I was using an MRC Tech 4 to run the layout. I kidded myself about using DC cab control to operate the layout. But then, one night, I had some friends over to run some trains and the shortcomings of this idea were laid bare. I bought an MRC Tech 6, which allows one to run both DCC and analog. Honestly I don't think I've run an analog locomotive on the layout since 2015!

Looking back at Horseshoe Curve, I have to say I'm not all that happy with how it turned out. Here's the deal, I had gotten the layout to the point of being operational back in February of 2014 and started on the scenery. But that summer, my wife said "honey, I'm pregnant!" Knowing that once the baby arrived, time for modeling would be nonexistent, I plowed full throttle into scenery. Through the fall of 2014 and into the winter of 2015, I spent every spare moment working on the layout. I wanted to at least have the curve finished before my son was born.

Ultimately, I fell short of this goal. And to top it off, the sense of "beat the clock" over-urgency caused the scenery to look a bit slapdash. I slowed down and took my time on the rest of the layout. But that only makes this section look even worse.  So, if you're wondering what I'm going to do when the layout is finished, I'll tell you: rip out and redo the scenery at the Curve. Specifically, the lake and the road. I may even remove these entirely, which brings me to my next point.

Through the eyes of 20/20 hindsight, I realize I made the center peninsula far too wide. While it gives amazing depths to both the Curve and Gallitzin, it makes them both really, really hard to access. This is especially true of the curve. There is an access hatch, but even still parts of the track are out of reach. This makes cleaning and/or rescuing stalled trains a very difficult proposition. So, I'm torn between redoing the scenery or simply removing the lake and road to create an aisle. Either way, this is a few years off.

The Altoona Shop complex was another victim of my pre-baby modeling scramble. And the more I look at it, the less I like it. The real PRR Juniata Shop complex was (and still is) massive. As a result, I would probably need the entire train room to recreate it accurately. The whole thing looks really kluged in where it is. I think the shops ultimately belong inside the Altoona yard loop. And the cheap-looking Atlas turntable? Yeah, that has to go.

The space where the shops currently sit could be better used for a few more rail-served industries. There should be enough space there to keep a local crew busy for a while.

So yeah, a whole lot of blather. In fact, I'm kind of impressed you read all the way to the bottom. But, when you get this far into a layout, you start to realize what you like and don't like about it. The good news is there's a lot more of the former than the latter. The better news is the things that fall into the latter category are correctable. That's certainly good news as I aven't the time, money or energy to start over at this point.

Finished Model Power's City Substation Kit, Again

I already built this kit, or more correctly, half of it, back in 2015 (link). I figured the other half would be a good fit for Johnstown. In order to differentiate it from its sibling in Gallitzin, I decided to paint this one. After Supperior Paper, this kit was blessedly simple and went together in about ten minutes.

For the base, I used Testor's Flat Light Aircraft Grey and for the transformer and other stuff, I use Tamiya Metallic Silver. After assembly, I hit the entire structure with a coat of weather wash and sprayed it with Dulcote. I opted not to bother with chalks this time around.

Since the kit doesn't include enough fencing to enclose both sub stations, I used some Gold Medal Models barbed wire fencing to do the job. Frankly it looks a lot better than the supplied fencing and the barbed wire should deter any N Scale copper thieves.

While I was at it, I also assembled a pair of Rix Early Highway Overpass kits. They carry Main Street in Gallitzin over the eastbound tracks just before the west portal of Portage Tunnel. Now Gallitzin's business district has a more direct rout to the great beyond past the edge of the layout.

The bridge ended up being longer than needed and hangs off the edge of the layout. Originally, I thought I would cut it down to end at the peir, which sits at the edge. But I think it actually looks better this way. I guess all I need now are some N Scale models of a red Ford Pinto and the Bluesmobile.

Finished Cornerstone's Superior Paper

Wow, it took me nearly a month, but Superior Paper is finally finished. If you've been following along on Facebook, you'll know this kit had become something of a knock-down drag-out fight to complete. Truth be told, this is a kit I've been wanting to include on a layout for a long time. When the box from Trainworld finally arrived on my doorstep back in December, I could hardly contain my excitement. Then opened up the box and had one hell of an "oh shit" moment. I thought this would be a simple four walls and a roof-type kit and boy was I every wrong, because there most have been over a million pieces in that box!

Not only were there lots and lots of little pieces, but they all required paint! I ended up studying the instructions a bit and opted to paint some parts before assembly and some parts after. For main mail (the brick building) I used Floquil Boxcar Red for the walls and Testors Flat Light Aircraft Grey for the foundations, Floquil Grimy Black for the roof, either Tamiya or Testors Silver for the roof details and doors and some cheap Wal Mart spray paint for the tanks.

The Kraft Mill (The tall Yellow Structure) is where things started getting hairy. The walls looked good in there stock colors but the foundation needed paint. So I carefully masked the bottom of each wall and sprayed on some Flat Light Aircraft Grey, which unfortunately bled under the tape. I tired to clean up the mess but soon realized I would have to paint the entire building. Frustrating for sure, but I carried on. I used Floquil Depot Buff, which was close enough to original color of the walls. Again, it was Grimy Black for the roofs.

Things took a turn for the worse when it came time to paint the Kraft Mill smoke stacks. The box shows them painted white with red strips to warn aircraft. I also remembered reading on Spookshow's web site (Link) of his experience building this particular kit. His advice on painting the smoke stacks was to spray on your base color, allow it to dry for 24 hours, apply the masking tape and spray on another coat of base color to seal the tape. You then wait another 24 hours to apply the top coat.

So I started by spraying the smoke stacks with some red Wal Mart spray paint, and allowed it to dry over night before applying the tape. I put on another coat, waited another 24 hours and sprayed on a coat of white Wal Mart spray paint. And that's when the trouble started. The white paint started crackling and flaking off! I had to set the stacks aside I was was headed down to my parent's house near Hilton Head for Christmas. When I got back, I decided to take the cowards' way out and paint the stacks black.

I sanded off most of the white and red paint and sprayed on a coat of black. That ended up crackling even worse!  By now I was ready to throw the smoke stacks on the ground and spend a good long time stomping on them whilst laughing psychotically enough to make Bellatrix Lestrange back away slowly! But instead I threw them into some 91% isopropyl alcohol and stipped off all the paint and started over again.

The second time around, the red paint kept bleeding through. so I bought me some white automotive primer. I strayed the stacks from top to bottom. Since the primer was already the right color, I didn't bother with another coat and called it done.

With the building finally assembled, I turned my attention to weathering. I coated everything with weather wash, applied the decals and then a coat of Dulcote. Next came the chalks and another round of Dulcote.

I have one more building to assemble for the Johnstown area, an electrical substation and then I can move on to the roads and other scenery. Since I already modeled one town, Gallitzin, in it's entirety,  Johnstown will largely focus on the industrial areas with a bit of Main Street creeping in around the periphery.