More pier details...

Some more wood details added this morning. Next step is to complete the pontoon and secure it in place permanently. After, the last weathering will be done before adding the acrylic gloss medium.

Detailing Concrete Piers

I did some work yesterday, mainly painting and weathering the concrete piers and making wooden pilings. I did another bunch of pilings today. I use wooden stick used to light candlelight in churches. Many years ago, when I worked at a shrine, a brother gave me quite a bunch of them for modelling purpose. They are about 2.5mm diameter, so they are useful for many things (utility poles, etc.).

 
To weather the wood, I tried a technic called ebonizing. You apply tea to wood, let it dry, them apply a solution of steel wool/peroxide. Most people use vinegar, but peroxide dissolve the steel wool faster (in a matter of minutes instead of days). It reacts with wood (and tea) tannings by oxidizing them in a nice grey color. If you add too much, it will turn almost black. I made two application and drybrushed a buff color paint to make wood grain pop up. This was also a good way to replicate real wooden pilings color gradient. The famous CPR carfloat in Rosebery, BC was used as prototype to make sure the weathering pattern was realistic.

Next step is to paint water. It was supposed to be done today, but weather was quite nice and I decided it was the best time to replace my veranda's wood planking. Lots of rain in the upcoming days, so it will be perfect for modelling. For the water, I'm thinking using a greenish/brown - kind of varech color - then apply several layers of acrylic gloss medium to add ripples.

Reaching Your Goals

I gave myself two weeks to complete this project. The deadline was my own vacations. I'm glad to tell you I reach this step in a week. At a rate of 8 to 12 hours per day, it moved at a steady pace.

I consider I have now completed all the messy basic stuff including painting track and roads in basic colors. To me, this is a true achievement. Thought I started to build many layouts in my life - probably over 20 - this is the second time I reach that point where only building structures, scenery and detail cars remain. The first time was when I was 7 years old and I built my first 4' x 4' train layout with my father, sister and brother. Good to be back on track after a 25 years hiatus! Seriously, never reaching some level of achievement can be quite distressing at some point.

I've learned a few things bout myself while doing this project. I didn't over design the project, but took a decent amount of time to plan carefully the project. When I started to rip wood, I knew there was no turning point and decided to address issues as they appeared. I didn't let small things stop the project and thought about alternate way to get the job done in due time. I was ready to sacrifice my obsession for perfection which had always been my most major pitfall. Funnily, I can't say I cut corners on quality as the final product is quite good. Finally, I didn't set a real schedule but each time I started a job, I made a point I would complete it on the same day if possible. That was particularly important to get over boring or painstaking work.

So, what has been achieved today? Well, all the roads were painted. I became lazy and decided to give a try at Lance Mindheim spray can technic using grey primer. I didn't try to get a solid color but instead tried to keep some transparencies here and there to get color variation. The cardboard I used had a very nice color from the start. With what remained of my last can of Krylon Satin River Rock, I highlighted the concrete curbs and some other spots. It was merely a mist but it did improve the general look.

Next, I spray a good coat of Dullcote before airbrushing a mix of India ink and isopropyl alcohol to give some wear and depth. When dry, I draw the concrete slab lines with a black color pencil. It may sound childish, but it really gave a lot of details with too much effort. It was also a good way to hide the unsightly real seams in my roads. Concrete slabs follow a rough 12 feet x 12 feet grid. I followed U.S. Highway practices from the 20s and 30s.

Finally, the last step was to add cracks here and there to represent old concrete slabs. I particularly detailed the grade crossing where a lot of stress is exerted by trucks and trains.

The most rewarding moment was when all the masking tape was removed and american cars were added to the scene. We can already have a good idea of the final product. Better, some scenes are instantly recognizable from old prototype pictures of Harlem Station. Oh, I didn't remember I had so much old U.S. cars. Lots of fun detailing projects in sight!

 
The most urgent matter is to build a battery powered locomotives and operate the layout!

And now  a few railfan shots!

Concrete pads and curbs

Harlem Station had a tremendous amount of paved surfaces. According to prototype pictures, it was all concrete and no asphalt. I tried to localize joints in pictures but couldn't The paved area date back to the late 20s. I find it odd there's no joint. I would at least expect one at each 12 feet increments.

Paved area are done with 2 mm thick cardboard, curb with 1.5mm styrene strips cemented with CA glue. It was time consuming, but I like the result a lot.

The next big challenge is painting the concrete. It will take a lot of masking tape to protect the tracks from the spray. I'm still evaluating my options.

Track painted and more

An image is worth a thousand words. Since this blog ain't about chitchat but about modelism, let's take a look at progress so far.


Yesterday, I painted the track with Krylon excellent camouflage brown. This is really a nice basic color to paint both rails and ties. Some washes and subtle colors will be added later to weather the track closer to prototype.

I also completed the carfloat apron with some details scavenged from Walthers' apron and with bits of styrene. I'd say the apron is about 90% complete. Need to get some parts and prepare wood for the deck planking.

Today, I cut and installed the concrete pads. These were made with 2mm cardboard. Quite thick, but cutting was far easier than I expected. It took me all day to prepare them. Next steps is to add the concrete curbs per prototype and paint them. It's going to be tiresome... but once done, the most annoying model railroading activities will be behind me as I'll venture in real scenery works, which I rarely do.

Laying Track in a Day

I've never been that much fast while laying track.

Today I started to lay track at 7AM and ended at 7PM, including about 1 hour break for lunch & diner.

Track was glued with latex caulk. It went surprising fast.

I'm glad to have bought a long aluminium straight edge. So far, it's been my best purchase of the year. Can't believe I lived without one for such a long time.

In some spot, mainly near the carfloat apron, I used 5-minutes epoxy because radius is very very tight. Small brass pins were inserted into the concrete wall to make sure rails would stay aligned.

I'm quite proud of the final result. It took me about 5 years to "complete" this project since my first attempt was kindly published by the late Carl Arendt, but I'm glad I started over. The actual layout is probably among the most accurate rendition of this small terminal and it's fun to see it taking shape. I did some operation and was happy to find out my trusty Atlas S2 was able to navigate the very tight radius, some less than 12 inches.

I took some minutes to test and operate the layout. I can already say it will be a very fun small layout to operate.  Next step is to spray paint the track before moving to scenery.

Kitbashing a Carfloat Apron - Part 1

I completed the benchwork this morning, primed and painted everything that was repaired with flat brown latex.

Then, I switched my attention to the carfloat apron as it is a key element when laying track. I came to the conclusion Walthers' apron is far to be great. In fact, it doesn't make sense as the bridge doesn't have any structural member under the decking. I decided I would be better off doing something myself.

The carfloat apron is made from 3 Central Valley 72" plate girder bridge. Harlem Station used a 100 feet pontoon type brige thus I had to enlarge substantially the CV bridges. It was an easy kitbashing that took an afternoon. Later, I'll had some Frenchman River Models details on the sloped parts. The rounded corners were also traded for square ones according to prototype. The track is Atlas Code 100 and the turnout is a PECO long turnout cut to length to fit Walthers barge. Later, everything will be planked with real wood decking. I'm not sure if I'll reuse some details from the Walthers apron. I'm eager to keep it intact in case I was to use it for some other projects one day. Who knows! Tomorrow, I'll add the second track and complete the pontoon which I already started to build. I'm quite lucky to have a blueprint from the prototype. Make things easier. Hope to start laying track maybe in the afternoon.

Structural members were cut using a band saw. My goal was to glue the parts by splicing together a beam for a stronger bond. Don't mind the horrible zigzag cut, it was sanded down smooth before gluing parts together.

Using template is the only way to get reproductible results. It made this job as easy as 1-2-3. The slope is the same as Frenchman River Models apron kit so I'll be able to use their jacking apparatus.