After my last
layout (Rosa, Illinois, based on the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio
- see CM October 2006), I really thought it was time for
a break from trains. Space at home is always a problem and
I could keep up my interest in American railroads through
books, magazines, and the occasional exhibition visit. Although
there is not an active group near where I live, I joined
the NMRA which meant I could keep in touch with US-outline
modelling. I took the opportunity to dispose of large quantities
of stuff accumulated over the years via a sale table at last
year's British region convention, which conveniently happened
to be quite local. I could use the time to think about doing
something completely different, etc, etc. But then I found
that I missed not actually doing a bit of hands-on modelling
for an hour or two each week and the space Rosa had occupied
in the utility room was still there. Also I had not quite
sold everything - I found a couple of Rock Island locomotives
that had missed the clearance sale, some resin kits I had
not made up, some small structure kits ... and I began thinking.
It would be nice to have a small project to work on - there
were even some unused bags of Woodlands Scenics ground cover
- and to have something that might get invited to the odd
exhibition.
At this point an e-mail
arrived reminding me that I had promised a layout for the
2008 Nottingham Bulwell MRS show. So I began to plan. Nothing
larger than 5' by 3'6" - in and out of the trusty
Kangoo in one piece. Set in the mid-1950s. No hidden sidings
board as such - why not a simple structure that followed
the track contours with minimum support? In plywood so
it would not be heavy, and an integral backscene and legs
so that set-up was quick and easy.
A quick discussion with
the owner of the sadly now closed model railway shop in
Diss and the boards were delivered a month or so later.
So what did I aim to put on them?
In terms of track, with
the space available it was not going to be complicated
and with the Rock Island for a prototype it was going to
be relatively flat. For those not familiar with the railroad,
the Rock spread west from Chicago to create a spider's
web of branch lines over the prairies which, aside from
harvest time, saw very thin traffic - some of the more
remote routes were finally dismantled in the late 20th
century with original rails still in place! After the Second
World War it became quite clear that the Midwest had one
railroad too many and it was the Rock Island that got squeezed
out despite gallant attempts to keep going. This created
an approach that has been described as standard gauge trains
with narrow gauge atmosphere. Weedy and uneven track, under-maintained
and over-worked, habitually dirty locomotives in colour
schemes that did not match; if there was a corner to be
cut, the Rock was around it promptly to save money and
survive a bit longer. The struggle ended in 1980 but I
have always been fascinated by the pictures of single units
creaking along rackety track between forlorn prairie towns
where everything needed a fresh coat of paint.
I looked at what I had in
terms of track. Peco Setrack for the hidden sidings was
not a problem and I had some spare lengths of Precision
Scale and Micro Engineering plain track in three different
sizes - codes 55, 70, and 83. Points added up to a curved
Shinohara No.6 and a No.4 in code 70 plus a 45¼ diamond
crossing. So I came up with a plan for a continuous run
with a spur to a grain elevator that branched across the
main track to the local farm store.
Track laying began and test
runs shortly after. I quickly found I had got things badly
wrong. Relying on my elderly eyes alone, I thought I had
got the radius right. Wrong. To work in the crossing across
the main track, the curves had become just too tight even
for an F-7 proceeding at a crawl. There was no alternative
but to take out the diamond, but rather than remove the
spur track altogether I removed the switch and left the
plain track in place, rusting back in the weeds and the
concrete hard standing by the elevator office. This also
explains the switch stand left isolated in the middle of
a patch of undergrowth by the grade crossing.
So I was back to a simple
spur to the elevator, but even that became complicated.
In a careless moment I damaged the blades of the curved
point beyond repair shortly before the layout was due to
make its appearance at the Nottingham show. Some rapid
work with a chisel through the scenery and underlay and
some realignment enabled me to install a new Peco 83 Line
No.5 point which has since performed flawlessly. This exercise
explains the rather wavery and uncertain (in most directions,
including up and down) path of the spur to the elevator.
On the main track, following
my earlier disasters, I did make sure that the curves were
not less than 15" radius and superelevated with some
80thou styrene strip glued underneath the outer rail.
For ballast I used Woodland
Scenics fine grey in a 50/50 mix with earth 'soil' and
burnt grass with a drop of Floquil dirt in the dilute white
glue holding everything together.
Before laying track I try
to give each tie (sleeper) a coat of a variety of greys
- I keep patches of four or five different shades on a
postcard - and also give the rail sides a coat of a grey/rust
mixture. Acrylic paints are wonderful and cheap enough
now to experiment with - and if it does not look right,
you can wash them off and start again.
Given the bits I had, the
spur is code 55 and the main track ranges from 55 up to
83.
As usual, I planned to use
DCC for the layout - I had some loco and accessory decoders
left over from Rosa plus a couple of Soundtraxx DSX sound
generators, fortunately both for EMD first generation diesels.
To work it all, I decided to use one of the new entry-level
DCC systems and quickly chose the North Coast Engineering
offering. Performance was equal to the more expensive systems
I have used in the past and I liked the idea of not having
to worry about a base station. Transformer included seemed
good value too, but one tip: although the transformer has
an automatic selection system that accepts either US or
UK mains voltage, you need a UK shaver plug adaptor. These
plugs are usually supplied with a 1-amp fuse which needs
changing to 3-amp before using the NCE system.
I do think there is a tendency
to labour the 'difficulties' of DCC. At the Nottingham
show I had several anxious enquiries about the necessity
for multiple feeds to the track and types of wire to be
used. Over the years I have tried to remember three simple
rules: read the instructions carefully, use wire that matches
the output of the system you are using, and check the method
of reverting to factory defaults so you can start again
if you do get into trouble.
On feeds (this is probably
Rock Island thinking) much of the work will be done anyway
if points are wired with a live frog. Converting an existing
layout to DCC is no effort at all, aside from fitting loco
decoders. Points can continue to be worked by a separate
analogue system and re-routing existing wiring to accessory
decoders is much less of a task than installing either
control system from scratch.
For loco sound, given the
size of Godinez and for simplicity's sake once again the
decoders are 'shore based' and drive a speaker under the
table, which until recently has been the best way to achieve
a nice bass rumble. I linked the two boards with mono phono
plugs and sockets - useful if you catch the wire by accident
as they pull out without harm.
Notwithstanding the small
size of the layout, I wanted to be able to put on a reasonable
performance at an exhibition. The best way I have found
to do this is through sound, replicating real life operations
and wherever possible making things along the track work.
This means, for example, using the locomotive whistle and
bell correctly - such as three long calls on the horn before
backing up the spur and bell on during the manoeuvre.
Heading east from the depot
at Godinez the main track enters CTC territory and I had
a Tomar single head signal but lacked the decoder to drive
it. I then recalled a similar location I had seen in South
Carolina. Here if the signal was not lit, the train stopped;
permission to proceed was a clear white light. I drilled
out the Tomar LED, put in a white replacement and by using
a diode to block one output I was able to make it work
by using a decoder designed to operate Tortoise switch
machines which I had handy.
In addition, for me part
of the ritual of watching the train go by is the insistent
clang of the gong and the flashing lights at grade crossings.
A clumsy movement decapitated the ready-made crossbuck
I had available which meant I had to make up a Detail Associates
kit that which I had vowed never to touch - it looked far
too difficult - but I was surprised how easily it went
and the result in the end looked more authentic because
the design could be varied.
I do have to admit my efforts
so far to motorise the train order signal at the depot
have not been successful - during the Nottingham show I
resorted to a sly tweak of the semaphore arms when no-one
was watching!
The Peco point made installation
of a rotating switch stand very straightforward and for
the first time ever I managed to get the full 90¼ rotation
required without installing a separate motor.
I also decided to have a
smashboard at the depot. I am still not quite sure where
these were used, but I had seen several photographs of
brakemen descending from trains to open the gate before
proceeding. I had a switch stand rotation mechanism left
over that cried out to be used and the gate was very simple
to make. Like the Rock, I used a bent piece of pipe and
a vertical wooden post held together loosely with nickel-silver
wire hinges. Hole punched styrene provided two red discs
to mount on the gate with superglue.
Rolling stock
Stock is limited to two locomotives, two cabooses, and less than a dozen
freight cars.
No.435 is a General Motors GP-7, the
(increasingly arthritic) backbone of the Rock Island locomotive
fleet, which seemed to include at least one of everything
built in the 1940s and 1950s, including GMs disastrous
'Aero Train' - but it was cheap. The first batch of Geeps,
including 435, did not carry the distinctive white 'wings'
at each end of the car body and before they could be applied
the livery changed to a less expensive maroon with pinstripes.
No.118 is an F-7 cab unit - not ideal
for branch line work and switching but commercial logic
meant that if that was what you had and you could not afford
anything else, it was used.
Both engines have been distressed and
weathered and kitted out with decoders and the electronic
flywheel device from Lenz, which helps on the rough track.
Cabooses are both Overland brass models
which I had forgotten to take to my clear-out sale; one
is a 1942 war emergency box car conversion that were still
in use when the Rock folded.
Freight cars are a mixture of some resin
and plastic kits I had not built plus a couple of ready-made
items from Tichy, Intermountain, Ertl, and others and a
rather flashy NYC box car from Trix. The latter has run
very well after replacing the rather clumsy Talgo-type
coupler arrangement with Kadee™ No.58s to match the
rest of the stock.
It is worth mentioning that freight trains
in the 1950s were pretty drab looking. Lots of older outside
braced cars were still running, the Korean conflict had
interrupted maintenance work and recovery from the effort
of the Second World War, and paint technology had yet to
produce the bright, stable colours we take for granted
today. So weathering seems a must. With ready-made cars
I begin with some lights strokes with sandpaper to take
the shine off the lettering. I then mask off the car body
and spray a weathered black on any appropriate black surface
- I actually use an acrylic car spray, Rover 'Hurricane
Grey'. I then highlight areas likely to show wear, such
as door runners, the coupler area, and the brake gear,
with acrylic Indian ink diluted in isopropyl alcohol -
I always do this on a table in the garden to avoid fumes.
Rustall provides additional highlights, and when I am satisfied
I apply control coats of Floquil 'Grime and Dirt'. I finish
off with chalk mark decals and a couple of coats of Dullcote.
I use similar methods on kits but begin with a primer coat
of Humbrol 'Light Grey' spray which helps particularly
in distressing wooden sided cars and also seems to turn
something that looks like an untidy collection of brass,
resin, plastic and other bits almost magically into a model
that might look acceptable in the end. |