Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The ROCK 3.0: Progress Report 11.13.13

This morning, I worked on installing some telephone poles to get an idea of their overall appearance.  I'm using Showcase Miniatures telephone poles.  I purchased a few a while back to test.  I like them much better than the Atlas ones.  The crossbeams on the Atlas telephone poles are as wide as a freight car.  These look more prototypical in size and style.

I googled how far to space the telephone poles and found this article.
http://cs.trains.com/mobile/forums/thread.aspx?ThreadID=90146

I decided to space mine at a scale 100 feet apart or roughly every 7.5".  Between this morning and evening, I installed 15 poles (mostly along the mainline behind Ottawa Yard).  They look great (and not even painted yet)!

Ottawa Ave sanded and ready for paint.

A fresh load of frac sand out of Ottawa Silica in a Trainworx RI gon.

The test loading building at Ottawa Silica.  Note, this will be raised up above the track using concrete arch supports that come down.  The sand hoppers move under the structure to be loaded.

Another view of the loading building

Showcase Miniatures telephone poles spaced a scale 100ft apart (7.5")

Telephone poles added along Ottawa Avenue

A comparison of Atlas and Showcase Miniatures telephone poles.

What the fascia?
Inspired by reports of fascia installation progress on my friend Marcus' Charleston, Roanoke & Eastern (CR&E) layout, I thought maybe I should get busy too.  I had all the fascia panels from the old layout.  I would simply need to trim them down and install.  I only had about 15 to 20 minutes to work this evening, but I managed to install all the fascia in front of Ottawa Yard.  1/3rd of the layout is done.  






3 comments:

  1. Hi layout looking good. I love sand loads. A little information the silica sand from Ottawa and Utica is almost pure white. Its definitely an added touch laying between rails of yards or mains any place trains sit for a while as many of the covered hopper have slight leaks. If so interested u can buy white silca sand in bags where ever there are sandblasting materials are found

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    1. Hi Ron! Thanks for the comments! I've read that the sand is nearly pure white as well. I got that sand load from Hays Brothers. I thought about painting it with a thin white wash.

      I actually have a bucket of sand blasting sand upstairs. I haven't got it out yet to see if it would work the layout (size), but I know the color is good.

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  2. http://www.flickr.com/photos/31349456@N07/4218286997/in/set-72157618756280966
    Here is shot of the feel of Ottawa yard

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