All posts by bsullivan

Layout Update: May 4, 2020 – Demolition and Planning

Model RR

I have spent a good amount of time over the last week working on some new and some old projects. I made another revision to the Rock Creek Trestle plans after discovering a new photo showing how the top of the bents appeared. I adjusted one of the beams and shortened the ties, as I realized I used the wrong length in my plans. That is all corrected. I also stained all of the new wood I received a few days ago and have that drying.

Stained with a mix of about 85% Tie Brown and 15% Driftwood.

The biggest change to the layout is the removal of the temporary bridge across Rock Creek in preparation for scenery construction as I begin building the trestle. I also installed two plywood panels below what will be T.W. Perry (on the left) and some scenery support on the right.

Even them Duke boys couldn’t make this jump. Removed the temporary bridge in preparation for scenery and the trestle itself.

Installation of the trestle has been a real conundrum for me. If it was a frame structure, or made of iron, it would be a lot easier. I could build the scenery, carve away some plaster, install some “concrete” bases for the bents of the trestle and let it sit in place. Adjusting the height of the footers would be pretty straightforward. But this is a pile trestle, meaning that the round piles were driven into the ground. There is no “base.” The base is dirt. How do I install the trestle into the ground with the hope that some day I could remove it from the layout and preserve it? I have settled on building “steps” made of high density expanded foam board cut to specific thicknesses for the trestle bents to rest on. This will all be glued together and will be about as wide as the trestle and will span the gap of the layout. Once I build this base, I can carefully build up the scenery around it. I will use Howard Zane’s method of rosin paper and white glue with cardboard strip supports and then Sculptamold and plaster on top. If I need to remove the trestle, I can trim the hard shell and extract it. I experimented with foam for the base, but decided against it as I don’t have a good way to cut it and maintain a strict landscape profile that I want.

Remember those MRServo units I mentioned in the last update? Well I kinda went down the rabbit hole on those, too. I purchased eight of the now-discontinued MRServo-1 units. I believe they started using the board from the MR-Servo-2 and -3 units for the -1 toward the end, because that’s what I have. In reading documentation for these units, I learned that all they are missing are a couple of relays and terminals to convert them to MRServo-3 units. So after quite a bit of hunting and comparing specs and photos, I dug up the correct relays and terminals and ordered a handful from eBay. Will attempt to convert them later this Spring when the parts come in. The conversion will add power routing for turnouts and power routing for accessories.

I spent some time talking to Greg C. about structures in Bethesda. I want to model a few key structures and Greg is an expert in structure building. He has been helping me push through the mind block that is planning what to model and how to do it. Right now, I am studying photos and mocking things up to start to get proportions and ideas.

Maloney Concrete on the left, Frito-Lay in the middle.

These are meant to be super rough ideas. I just cut apart some mat board scraps I had laying around and taped them up. It’s to get the brain going on where I will eventually place things. Also gives me an idea for any drawings I can start working on for structure walls. Some of them will likely be custom jobs. That’s all for now!

Layout Update 4/27/2020: Bethesda Nearly Complete

Model RR, News

After another marathon weekend of working on the layout, I’ve made some great progress. Nearly all of the tracks in Bethesda are in. All of the drops are wired and nearly all of the turnouts have Blue Point manual switch machines installed. I cleaned off the table to get a look at the overall layout:

To orient you, the view is from the south end of Bethesda, looking Northeast. At the top are three turnouts with sidings going to Griffith Coal & Consumers, assorted warehouses, and the long passing siding. From the passing siding, the first turnout goes to Maloney Concrete & Frito-Lay. The second track which extends through the yard is the team track as well as a siding servicing Devlin lumber. On the right is a short siding serving Einsinger Mill & Lumber Co.
A B&O track chart to assist. Note: some tracks don’t appear here, as they had been removed as they were taken out of service. You can see their “ghost” if you look closely, though!

I couldn’t resist doing a bit of operating. Man, this felt good!

Additional Projects

One thing that has really struck me is that over the span of eight years working on this project I have accumulated a lot of stuff to put this layout together. Much of it is piled beneath and around the layout itself. As I work, stuff gets shifted around. I’m at a point now where I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone to try new things. Some of these things include simple things like soldering feeders to the bottom of the rails instead of the sides up to more complex things like hand-building complex curved turnouts. I couldn’t do this without help and encouragement from friends and family who push me forward and answer all my stupid questions.

Lately I’ve been learning how to install turnout machines. I mentioned above that I used Blue Point switch machines in Bethesda. This decision was primarily based on the fact that I owned five already (that I had in a box of turnout stuff) and I realized a fascia would be nigh impossible with the way this section of the upper deck of my layout is built. There is no real room above or below it for toggle switches, I don’t want to cut big holes in the benchwork, and I don’t want to protrude out. Solution? Blue Point turnout machines. They use a push-pull rod/handle and can sit right on the fascia with minimal intrusion. Perfect. I’m quite happy with how they have been working for me. Bonus, I can wire the turnout frogs right to the machine.

Another project that has been in the hopper for a while are eight Iowa Scaled Engineering MRServo-1 units I purchased a couple years ago. (unfortunately, this product has been discontinued!) These nifty little things use a board that controls a micro servo mounted to a 3D printed chassis. Wiring up a DPDT switch and attaching to a power bus gives you a nifty little slow-mo turnout controller. They have a few different bases including a slim profile one to allow for remote installation in tight spaces. The MRServo units came in three types with additional features. This is the most basic of the three, featuring only turnout motor control. For now, it’s all I need. I plan on adding a Frog Juicer eventually to handle the frogs. These MRServo-1 units will be used on the upper deck from Chevy Chase all the way up to Georgetown Junction, as there is ample space below the track to install a fascia with toggle switches.

Power bus wires were run throughout the upper deck, both sides. I picked up a bag of inexpensive terminal blocks via eBay a few years ago and they are tremendously useful for projects like this. They can easily be trimmed to fit whatever size you need and held in place with a screw.
I made a temporary fascia panel for the switch mount.

I am progressing my way through projects that have loomed over me for years. It feels great to burst through and make real progress on this layout and I’m learning so much along the way. I ran a train all the way from one end to the other with no issues whatsoever. Like so many things, when you break a project into smaller pieces it takes away some of the mystical difficulty, making it a bit more manageable. I have been crushing these small hurdles left and right. I am hoping to have a video in the next few weeks showing off the progress.

And then, once the upper deck is done… it’s on to the lower deck! Woah!! But first, I gotta do something about all that JUNK! (ha)

Pic from January but it looks virtually the same. The price of progress. Some day that will be Georgetown!

Layout Update: April 25, 2020 – Tracks To Bethesda

News

It has been a busy last week of working on the layout. Last weekend I spent much of the time getting the three curved turnouts that lead into Bethesda in place and working properly. This involved quite a bit of work; test fitting, cutting ties, staining them, painting the turnouts, installing tie templates, installing ties, sanding, laying in the turnouts, fitting them, cutting them to length, attaching feeders and drilling holes for them along with holes for the switch machines. Once in place, lots of sighting and adjusting was done with the tracks in Bethesda before spiking things down and testing some cars on the track. A bit of filing here and there and we are in business.

First step was to align the turnouts and mark their locations on the roadbed. I had to really tweak these to get them where I wanted. There is limited space, and having the turnouts end and begin in logical places to allow for operations was a challenge.
More fitting. Tracks were laid loosely in place to get a feel for where sidings would lie.
Preparing to paint the turnouts.
Painted the turnouts with Rustoleum Camoflage Earth Brown paint. Overall, a nice effect.

Beginning to install ties. Each bay in that box holds a set of ties for a turnout. I cut them all on the workbench using The Chopper, stained and dried them. I then laid them out in order (seen here) and installed with wood glue, one by one. Ties were weighted down as I went along.

The three turnouts are sized as follows from top to bottom: #8 50″ outside radius, 35″ inside radius, #8 60″/40″, and #10 60″/46″.

And here we are with all three turnouts finally laid in place. Rails have been trimmed and now I will fit the rail joiners and solder feeder wires where needed. Getting there!
I just love the way these look. I left the last few long ties off because I wanted to see where I would need to join the adjacent tracks to the turnout and wasn’t sure if I would need to trim the rail back.

Soldering Feeder Wires

Some folks have asked me how I do feeder wires, so here is a quick illustration. A good friend, Matt R., convinced me to solder feeder wires to the bottom of the rails instead of the sides. This method leaves a clean look with no unsightly wires poking out, globbed onto the rails. It does take a bit of extra work, but once you get into a rhythm it goes fast. Here is my setup:

From right to left: My soldering station, a red Sharpie for marking drop locations on the rails and hole locations on the layout (for drlling), small needle-nose pliers, an X-Acto knife, “Helping Hands” vice for holding wires in place, flux, Irwin self-adjusting wire strippers and 22 AWG stranded or 20 AWG solid feeder wires. In the foreground is a small piece of solder.

I will typically mark the locations on the roadbed where I want the feeders to drop. This is done by marking each side of the rail and then the tops of the rail. Remove the piece of rail and drill a hole for each feeder. Flip the rail over. With the X-Acto, snip the small plastic spacers between the ties where you will solder the feeder. Strip about 1/8″ of insulation from the end of a feeder and bend it 90°. Using a micro-applicator, put a tiny bit of flux on the wire and the bottom of the rails. Straighten the wire and clip it in the helping-hands, positioning it so that the bare end is just barely pressed onto the rail. Now, using your soldering iron, place a tiny bit of solder onto the end of it. Then, press the iron and your solder into the joint and release after it flows onto the rail itself. This should only take a few seconds, most. You don’t want to melt the ties!

Once done, they should look like this. Ready for feeding through the roadbed.
A close up. This is Walthers/Shinohara Code 83 rail. Also note, the feeder on top is stranded wire, and the feeder on the bottom is solid. Some days you just gotta run with what ya got!
Here is what Bethesda looked like in the middle of this past week. The mainline was in place and the siding was tacked down.
Trains in Bethesda. By Friday night here is the progress that has been made. The mainline and passing siding are complete. The lift-out bridge is operational. I installed a small spring switch on one end that kills power to the short length of track at the edge to prevent locos from creeping off the end if the bridge is not in place.
It felt great to finally be able to bring a train around the bend into Bethesda! Hoping to complete the rest of the yard this weekend.
One other project I took on was in Chevy Chase. The team track siding originally swung to parallel the mainline. This caused it to have a really sharp curve and I didn’t like the way it looked or caused trains to flow awkwardly. I widened the curve a bit and gave it a bit more room.

Welcome Home; New Slide Purchase: B&O S2 9035 in Georgetown

History, Prototype
B&O S2 9035 in Georgetown, DC, Jan 1965. Photographer unknown.

Long-time readers may recognize this train, as it’s been posted before. After some last-minute, heart-pounding eBay action, I am now the proud owner of a slide showing another view of the same train stationed in Georgetown in the winter of 1965. Decent views of trains on the Georgetown Branch are so rare, I will leap at any opportunity to own a small piece of this history. Unfortunately the photographer is unknown. B&O 9035 was an Alco S-2, built between 1943-1948. Three years later the Capitol Traction Co. power plant would be razed. Here is the matching photo:

B&O S2 9035 in Georgetown, DC, Jan 1965. Photographer unknown.

Whitehurst Freeway footage from 1986: No Way Out

History, Prototype

An astute viewer on YouTube, Bill D, clued me in to a film starring Kevin Costner called No Way Out which was partially shot in Washington, DC on and under the iconic Whitehurst Freeway. Now, as we all know, the Georgetown Branch had seen its last train in the summer of 1985 so being that this film was filmed in the summer of 1986, it was only a year later and the line still hadn’t been officially abandoned.

EDIT: BUMMER – the film clip has been removed from YouTube, probably for Copyright. Oh well. If you do catch this thriller, you’ll get a glimpse of the Whitehurst just after GB abandonment.

A few fun notes: the Whitehurst is seen in its original configuration, as-built. A few years later, in 1993, the freeway would be rebuilt topside, adding reinforcements and additional safety enhancements. The large brick plant that is seen when Costner jumps from the Freeway is the old DC Incinerator which is now the Ritz-Carlton. (you can eat dinner inside the chimney!) I got a real laugh when Costner runs along the C&O Canal and then heads into the Georgetown Mall, which is disguised as the “Georgetown” Metro station. Also, they obviously couldn’t get permission to film in Metro, as they used some non-DC subway cars. Nice find!

Updated Version of the Rock Creek Trestle Plans

History, Model RR, Prototype

Here is a link to the latest version of the plans I created for my model of the Rock Creek Trestle. I spent tens of hours over a few days refining the last version. This new version was carefully corrected (there were many small errors) and updated to include a new girder height and lots more hardware and correct lumber sizes. I also developed a side view, which took tremendous effort, as the photos just do not exist.

Remember that these are not perfect; since there is so little information available about the trestle in the era I am interested in (early 1940s) I had to use educated guesses and the few reference photos and drawings I have to make the best attempt. The plans were drawn in Adobe Illustrator. Each of the first 20 pages is a separate bent. The last few pages show a side view. I am gearing up to begin building the model and will share my progress as it is made. Comments and questions are welcome!

EDIT May 22, 2020: I have updated the plans once more: File is now available on Dropbox.

2017 Visit to the B&O RR Historical Society Archives

History, News, Prototype

Back in 2017 Matt R. and I took a trip to the B&O RR Historical Society Archives in their wonderful new home in Eldersburg, MD. I used to frequent the Archives about 15 years ago when I was really getting into researching the Branch, but once my kids were born, things changed and I was unable to make time to get out there. Matt wanted to check it out, so we hoofed it out there to check it out.

We were rewarded with some awesome finds. Me, well I snapped a bunch of photos for reference and wanted to share them now, since my intentions to write articles and updates for the blog never really materialized nearly two and a half years later. So here they are:

http://gallery.sluggyjunx.com/railroad_and_industrial/georgetownbranch/gb_prototype_photos/Oct-21-2017-BORRHS-Archives-Visit

Some of the highlights include plans for the original freight house in Georgetown (ca 1910), track arrangement in the “old yard” ca 1940, some modern Rock Creek trestle drawings and the best finds of all, some dispatcher sheets showing train movements in 1959. Now, if only I could find some waybills and rosters! Enjoy!

April 2020: Winter/Spring Layout and Modeling Update, PART 2

Model RR, News, Uncategorized

OK FOLKS, here is Part deux of my update on what’s new in with my model RR progress, and more! Who else is finding lots of spare time to work on your layout and hobbies?

Being socially distant in the layout room.

C&O Canal Bridges

I scaled and printed some blueprints of the three bridges across the C&O Canal on the Georgetown Branch. These were printed and had been laying around for the last couple years. I finally got some time and made mock ups using foam core and 3M spray adhesive. The goal is to get as prototypically accurate as possible when recreating the bridges, but I know some selective compression will be necessary, as I simply do not have the space. I have already done a virtual mock-up, and in the near future I hope to do a physical one.

Scale mockups of the 3 C&O Canal bridges.

Bethesda Update

A lot going on in this area of the layout as I completed the backdrop, painted it and removed tracks to do mock-ups.

This was the state of the Bethesda area prior to the latest work.
I cut a piece of Masonite to fit the gap. I mounted the short pieces of lath wood to the wall to match the other panel, which sits about 1/4″ proud due to the shelf brackets.
New sheet installed, spackling done.
Overall view.
Covered the remaining two tracks with painters tape (the only ones left that were spiked down, and funny enough, would be ripped out later that day.) and painted the wall with ceiling flat and wall flat paint. (using what I had laying around.) In the future I will paint the sky color and clouds on.
As you will recall, I built four custom curved turnouts to facilitate the East end of Bethesda. I had never finished these so I set about cutting the gaps and cleaning the turnouts of the oxidation with a wire brush. This was tricky and eventually I used a cut-off disk in a Dremel tool, as it worked a treat. Next, I will solder feeder wires for the frog and other rails.

The three turnouts are sized as follows from right to left: #8 40″ outside radius, 30″ inside radius, #8 50″/35″, #8 60″/40″, and #10 60″/46″.

Now that the backdrop is in, I can get back to mocking up the track arrangement. Overall I am pleased with how it’s looking but I will need to tweak a few things. Feedback is welcome.
East end of Bethesda. The bridge on the right is Wisconsin Ave. The Griffith Coal Co. trestle is in the center.
I think I am going to build a small bump-out for the Bethesda Freight station. I want this to be a centerpiece of the scene and without the extension it will be stuffed in an awkward spot. I really want to give it a bit more space, so a small shelf will be in order here. There is plenty of space.
A higher perspective view of the three turnouts all lined up. The templates will be glued down allowing me to glue ties in place which I can then spike the turnouts to.

Modeling Update

I have also been busy with various modeling tasks. A couple years ago I bought a large lot of HO scale vehicles, mostly die cast, some resin. In retrospect, I think I bit off more than I can chew and what I purchased are models that are going to take a lot of work to get where I want them for the layout. I’ve been prototype research on the vehicles in the hopes I can do some better paint jobs than the previous owner did. Here is one example:

The paint is all wrong, details are a bit coarse. It could be better. I set out to make this happen.

After consulting with my model RR Club, the consensus is they are Wiseman Model Services (ex Walker Motor Works) International KB-11 trucks. These models were made back in the 70s, I believe, and have gone through various iterations over the years. They are made up of several parts, are really fragile and don’t have a ton of detail. I did some research and decided to try some Super Clean for stripping these metal frames. The results were fantastic. Not only did the cleaner strip the paint, it also dissolves the glue after a few days, which allows me to get the models back into their parts form for reassembly and detailing.

For reassembly, I’ve been using the ZAP PT-36 Z-Poxy Quick-Shot 5-Minute Epoxy. This stuff is fantastic, old-school epoxy. Squirt out a bit from both tubes, mix and apply. The VERY nice thing, for this application, is that being 5-min epoxy means that it’s just enough and it gets just tacky enough to allow for me to put the truck cab parts together and rearrange them carefully as I go, until I’m satisfied, at which point it hardens. Once set, it’s rock-hard. I find that with CA, you kind of set it and forget it, with little room for adjustment as you fit things together. I ordered some BSI Insta-Set to help with getting the CA to cure quicker where I need it to.

Workstation.
Here is one of the chassis being reassembled. Here I’m mounting the rear axle/wheels and driveshaft. FIDDLY BITS.
Parts bins. You can see just how many pieces are in each kit.
That truck does not go with this bed, but both are in process of reassembly. The shorter bed truck will hold a small tank. The wooden bed was originally painted brown. I primed it with the intention of painting it. But, when I drew a file across it, the weathering effect was fantastic! I decided to use coarse sandpaper and a file to scrape and scratch the paint away. A bit of dust and grime will finish it. I think I will use it as a barrel-hauling rig for the Waring Barrel House in Georgetown!
This is a long flatbed trailer. I sanded it down and repaired the side rails by replacing the styrene strips. I am masking it so I can paint the metal and then weather the nice wood deck. Unfortunately the model is missing its axles so I will need to figure out a replacement.

Airbrush Tune-Up – About a year ago I did an overhaul on my old Badger airbrush. I took it apart and checked all of the parts. Cleaned everything carefully and reassembled it. I decided to add a regulator to the compressor. I noticed a bit of a clunk when operating the compressor under load, so I took it apart. Inspected all of the gaskets and parts and found no issues. I reassembled it and adjusted the bleed valve. A friend from my model RR club, Greg (who you have seen here before) gave me his old air tank which I will press into service soon. I need to figure out what piping/tubing I will need. I have also been upgrading my paint supply with some proper thinners, new paint and other goodies.

Testors 1:72 Stuka Model Wrap-Up – Another interest I have is military aircraft and armor modeling. I have many unfinished projects, but this one has been floating around my workbench for about 12 years. I decided it was time to wrap it up.

Masking complete, gloss coat on, now it’s time for decals.
But first, let’s airbrush that yellow stripe that you forgot to paint! The airbrush worked well, but I noticed the brush “dried up” rather quickly, that is to say the paint stopped spraying after a short while. This may be [VERY]old paint (Tamiya) or improper mixing/technique. Probably all three! HA
The 20-some year old decals did not play nice. I had to be very careful with them to not break them, and they were extremely cloudy. I picked up some Micro-SET and Micro-SOL recently and gave that a go. Not only did it get the decals to lay flat, but after a few applications of the SOL solution, the cloudiness disappeared. REALLY amazing results.
Sealed with dullcote and a tiny bit of chipping. I am waiting for some panel wash to arrive and I will then do some light weathering and finish this out!
You can see just how well the decals laid flat. Really pleased. Also, the flat coat did a great job as well. I used Tamiya flat clear out of a rattle can.
Next up! Dad got me an incredible birthday gift last month. WOAH. I just got paint delivered today. This is going to be a project with my son and I and I really can’t wait!

Hope you enjoyed these updates. I know it’s just a lot of rambling, but it feels great to make some progress on all these things. There are so many other items I’ve checked off lately, and really the layout room is coming back alive after being dormant for about a year. I am reinvigorated to get moving and hope to have more updates later this month. Anyone else out there getting stuff done these days? Sound off in the comments.