All posts by bsullivan

April 2020: Winter/Spring Layout and Modeling Update, PART 1

Model RR, News, Uncategorized

I figured it’s been a long time since an update on my layout & modeling progress, so here goes, in two parts. Like so many right now, I have been productive with my hobbies. I’ve chosen to spend time in the basement getting back into the layout construction and finishing up some old projects. It’s been a lot of fun, and hard work. Here’s a [long] report of what I’ve been up to:

Rock Creek Trestle

I got the plans to place I was satisfied with and decided to start doing some work. *A quick note about this – I ended up spending another few days modifying the plans because I wasn’t pleased with them. More on this later!

Plans for the Rock Creek Trestle.
I trimmed the mockup to the hill contours and pinned it to the roadbed to give a better idea of the scale of the trestle.

I ordered the lumber a few months back from Mt. Albert Scale Lumber (FastTracks) and Northeastern Scale Lumber and decided to laser cut some jigs for the bridge ties. I even picked up some tie plates, spikes and joint bars from the folks at Proto:87, which I will use to detail the bridge track.

The lumber yard.
The two laser-cut jigs for the bridge ties, rail and stringers.
Closeup on the escape platform area.
The B&O ties are a bit shorter than any commercially available ties out there, so I had to shorten them just a bit.
Testing some cuts and fitting in the jig.
Chop chop. Love this tool.

Next up was the stain. I did some testing with about 5-6 different Hunterline Weathering Mix stains and eventually settled on Tie Brown with a bit of Driftwood mixed in.

Staining the ties with the Tie Brown color. I opted to paint these individually instead of dipping them.
Staining all done.

Fast forward a couple months and I’m picking back up where I left off with this project. I was doing a mental and physical inventory of the trestle project to get back on track. As I started to go through my notes and compare them with what lumber I purchased last Winter, I realized I screwed up. I missed a few things in my order. Oops! A quick trip to FastTracks’ website and the order was in.

Laying out plans, drawings and materials. Wood to the left, plans and jigs in the middle and blueprints on the right.

So now that I am waiting for that material to show up, let’s get busy staining the wood we DO have! But how do you stain 2′ long x 1/8″ pieces of wood? I had to figure out a solution, so I designed a trough out of foil, but that failed catastrophically. (Cleaning up stain is NO FUN.) I cut a rigid paper tube in half, lined it with foil and used some old clay to create ends that are adjustable. I then laid a sheet of plastic wrap in and held it in place with clay blobs. The whole thing was rubber-banded to a piece of wood to keep it steady. This gave me a nice place to hold the stain while I dipped wood in and set to dry on drying racks I made from old Snap-Track. In the future, I may try to get some Flex Seal to spray on the tin foil and make it a bit more robust, as I worried the tweezers or the wood itself could poke a hole in the saran wrap and cause a leak.

My staining setup. The stained pieces were put on racks made from old Snap-Track. I would place a piece into the stain, let it sit, put another piece in, pull the first one out and lay it down to dry.
The stain trough. Worked quite well!
Here are all of the 1/8″ dowels which will make up the pilings of the trestle.

Tichy makes a 40′ plate girder bridge flatcar kit load, that is a very close approximation of the same sort of bridge span across Rock Creek. The major difference is that this one is 1’6″ taller than the B&O prototype.

A VERY nice kit! The details are very crisp. Assembly not to bad when I took my time. I had to re-read a few of the steps to really wrap my head around what the directions were saying, but it went together quickly. I used Tamiya Extra Fine cement.
Completed kit.
With a 50′ box car atop, for perspective.

Story time. I spent a good while putting this post together, and when I got to this point, I stopped and realized there was a problem. I sat looking at the open deck girder bridge model and realized it looked a bit tall to me. I quickly opened up my drawings and reference materials and looked a the B&O plans. They clearly indicate that the trestle is to be 40′ long, 6′ 6″ wide (girder to girder) and 4′ 6″ high. This Tichy kit is 6′ tall. I then went down the rabbit hole for several hours while I tried to figure out what to do.

I opened up the plans I had drawn and started to modify the sections where this 6′ tall center span would sit. I had to lower the bents and adjust all the cross bracing in those areas. I did not like it. Some of it looked a bit odd and threw the whole thing off. I was not happy. I decided to keep digging.

Months ago, when searching for a deck girder bridge for my model, I had a very hard time finding a nice 40′ long kit in HO scale. The Tichy kit really fit the bill, but I didn’t pay close attention to the height of the girders. Micro Engineering makes a 30′, and a 50′ bridge, but not a 40′ one. The 50′ bridge is just over 6 scale feet tall. Just like the 40′ Tichy model I already have. The 30′ bridge, albeit too short, is a scale 4′ tall. I have decided that this will be my way forward. I feel that a scale 6″ is easier to forgive and blend versus a scale 1’6″ which is quite a bit more and really changes the characteristics of an iconic part of the structure. Now, some will say “there are only a small handful of people in the world who will know the difference. Who cares!?” Well, being that I’m making this model for me, and I care, I am going to spend the time to do the best job I can. I’m already knee deep!

So I then set out to RE-adjust the plans for the trestle, now with this 4′ high girder. I will have to kitbash two kits into a 40′ span, but that shouldn’t be too difficult. I’m going to add slightly taller blocks under the bridge to add to the height just a couple more inches, to hide the disparity between the prototype and my model. In the end, we’re talking a few inches difference. As I went through the plans, I realized some other errors I had made, and I cleaned them all up. I also reformatted the plans to fit on 8.5×11 paper, so I can print at home, since I think I will be in it for the long haul. I will share my progress on the plans soon in a future post.

So, phew! This was a doozy. In a long period of time, not a lot has happened, but such is my life. I have been busy with other projects… *ahem*

Springfield! Always wanted to go to “the big show.” It was FANTASTIC. I hope to go again next year!
They had a STEAM ENGINE THERE. And it was OPERATING. Incredible.
Upgrades for the Fiesta ST…
New front-mount intercooler & an intake kit allowing for a stage 2 tune.
Took the FiST to Summit Point with the Audi Club and had a fantastic weekend, just before the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home rules came into effect.
Headed home for the weekend. The FiST is fantastic!

So, yeah. Been a lot going on. Second update coming SOON!

B-Roll Footage of the Georgetown Branch from 2002

History, News, Prototype

Back in 2002 my then-fiancee, now wife, and I went for an adventure to explore and film remnants of the GB between Georgetown Junction and Rock Creek. We managed to capture several scenes along the way, much of which is atmospheric in nature. I was just starting to get interested in the history of the Branch and figured doing a short documentary for my video editing class would be a perfect way to dig in. Unfortunately the documentary was never completed, but I am thankful that I have this footage from eighteen years ago to reflect on how the right of way has changed and what was there. This is very much uncut footage and is presented as such. Enjoy!

B-Roll footage of the Georgetown Branch from the spring of 2002. Shot on a Canon XL-1 MiniDV camera by me.

Video: My 2002 Georgetown Branch “Tour”

Georgetown Branch related links, History, Prototype

A bit of a misnomer, in 2002 I went out and shot b-roll video footage of the Branch between Georgetown Jct. and Rock Creek. My then-fiancee, now wife, Kristin, accompanied me on the adventure. At the time, I was taking a video editing class at the Corcoran in Georgetown, back when it was still around. I had intended to do an entire tour of the Branch, highlighting what was left of it. Well, life happened; I was engaged, we bought a house not a month earlier, and the wedding was planned for June. The GB Tour video was never made. The tapes were dumped in a box and only recently uncovered as I go through old belongings.

I captured all the footage from the old MiniDV tapes (originally shot on a Canon XL-1) and assembled them into a long, uncut timeline. This is not meant to be a compelling documentary of any kind; it’s merely a way for me to share some rare footage of the remnants of my favorite branch line. Some of what you see is long gone. Some is recently gone. For example, the Rock Creek trestle is still standing, in its pre-2000s facelift form! We even climbed atop the trestle to capture footage of the tracks. (if only I’d had the foresight to bring a measuring tape!) With all the Purple Line construction, you’ll notice much of the original right of way, which is now nearly obliterated. Enjoy this time capsule from 2002!

Bethesda Freight Station Laser-Cut Update/Teaser

Model RR, News

This is another long-overdue update on a project. This time I’m going to show off progress on the Bethesda freight station as a laser-cut model that I created. As long-time followers will know, I drew up blueprints for the station as a basis for a laser-cut model. I am still working on some details but after a few major revisions I’ve arrived with what I feel is a good design. The first version was incorrectly scaled horizontally, but was close. The second version is right on the money, as far as I can tell. The third version is largely just a change in textures and layout to allow cutting to work better. I am hoping that with this pandemic lockdown I will have time to give a go to putting this together.

This was a first attempt at cutting the parts using design v2. I didn’t include tabs on the walls and the brickwork and concrete textures were a bit aggressive so the wood bowed quite a bit. Overall, I wasn’t too pleased with the walls. The windows and doors came out PERFECTLY!
On the left is the Garage Door. To the right is the large window in the South end of the building. The other small frames are for the smaller windows throughout the building.
A close-up of the textures in my first attempt. As you can see, the brickwork got to be a bit coarse. I am planning on doing some testing on this to see how it looks, but I am imagining the texture is a bit too gritty to look like brickwork on a station that was only 5-10 years old in my era.
Here is my second attempt at cutting v.2, with some improvements/changes. I added tabs to the design to keep it secured to the plywood frame. The textures were simplified and brickwork more defined. Otherwise, the design stayed the same. Now I need to source a few detail parts (I-beams, wood, brick, doors, etc.) and get building!

Jones Mill Rd – Two New Photos

News, Prototype

These two photos showing the current state of Jones Mill Rd and the Rock Creek Trestle approach are incredible. There is an underpass going in at Jones Mill and the new bridge crossing Rock Creek will be significantly lower than the old historic trestle (now gone).

For reference…..

Chevy Chase Lake & Kensington Electric Ry. & B&O Diamond

History, Prototype

For some time, the Chevy Chase Lake & Kensington Electric Ry. crossed the B&O at grade at Chevy Chase, MD. The line was built ca 1894 and operated until September 15, 1935. At some point, the tracks were removed and the right of way converted to a road. (its legacy lives on; see Kensington Parkway.) I’ve found several images over the years, but a recent post on Facebook got me thinking back. Here are some interesting shots I’ve found over the years.

Getty Images photo. Ca 1/1/1922. I believe this photo was taken just north of the Rock Creek Ry./Capital Traction Co. Chevy Chase Lake station; the Northern terminus of the RCRy and Southern terminus of the Chevy Chase Lake & Kensington Electric Ry. (CCL&KERy.) The B&O Georgetown Branch would be in the background, to the left. The large 9-stall car barn of the RCRy is to the right. Note the gravel denoting the “end of the line.”
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/one-man-trolley-line-from-chevy-chase-maryland-to-news-photo/516524702
Ca 1938: Facing South, Conn. Ave to the left. Rock Creek Ry. station to the right. Photographer is standing on CCL&KERy tracks which cross the B&O Georgetown Branch a few feet away. Photo from Chevy Chase Historic Society.
https://chevychasehistory.pastperfectonline.com/photo/954619CC-3346-40AC-9626-015526331185
Ca 1915. Capital Traction Co map showing the track arrangement at Chevy Chase Lake. You can see the Georgetown Branch crossing from left to right at the top of the map. The CCL&KERy tracks approach from the north, cross the B&O and terminate next to the station, which is where the “A” is in “CHASE”. I have oft wondered what the purpose was of the siding which ran to the East side of the Capital Traction car barn/power plant and proceeded under the B&O. There was a bridge there, right next to T.W.Perry. I imagine it was for expansion, but it has always seemed odd to me. Photo from Chevy Chase Historic Society.
https://chevychasehistory.pastperfectonline.com/archive/4CD13617-4571-460D-93D5-854822565230

Early Aerial Photos of DC

Georgetown Branch related links, History, Prototype

These aerial photo mosaics shot over DC in the early 20th century are incredible.

Aerial photographic mosaic map of Washington, D.C., Sept 13, 1922
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3851a.ct004537/?r=0.132,0.313,0.095,0.079,0

Aerial photographic mosaic, Washington, D.C., 1918
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3851a.ct004536/?r=0.047,0.534,0.27,0.225,0

It is striking to me just how built-up the city has become over the last one hundred years. Looking at the mosaic from 1922, I’m not certain there is a bridge across Canal Rd. at the future site of Arizona Ave. It appears there is only the bridge across the Canal. Perhaps there was a smaller bridge there? My sources are not clear. More research is in order!

Georgetown Barges and Tug Boat Considerations

Georgetown Branch related links, History, Model RR, News, Prototype

Went to the big Railroad Hobby Show in Springfield, MA this past weekend and wow, it was a doozy. The show was massive and loaded with great stuff. I picked up a few cool things for the Georgetown Branch, including a Sylvan Scale Models HO Barge with Coal resin kit. I also checked out the Sea Port Model Works tables and took a good hard look at some of their models. Just lovely. I have my eye on one of the harbor tugs for my own layout.

But, the whole thing got me thinking about what the barges looked like in Georgetown in the heyday of production down at the waterfront, by Smoot Sand & Gravel. Here are some cropped aerial images to get the juices flowing and get some ideas going. Enjoy!

Note what appears to be a tug, nestled among the barges.

Unfortunately I don’t have dates for these images. They are part of a book that was loaned to me by H. Smith and now resides at the B&O RR Historical Society Archives in Eldersburg, MD. The images seem to date from the late 1940s to the early/mid 1960s. You can view these and more images from this collection, in full size, in my Gallery.

A Side Project: MD Tower

History, Uncategorized

I’m playing catch-up on a few things and this is one of them. Better late than never, and all that. A friend is building a spectacular HO scale layout focusing on operations around Clarksburg, WV as the centerpiece. He asked if I could assist with building a laser cut model from some similar plans published in Model Railroader some years ago. I scanned in the drawings and went about trying to scale everything to fit. A bit of tweaking and I had a version 1.0 ready to go. This was laser cut and engraved into mat board, which is a great prototyping tool for making laser kits. Actually, I think it would be a great material overall for making inexpensive laser cut kits, but I digress. Here is a photo of the completed structure:

MD Tower in HO scale, version 1.0

The roof is made with strips of masking tape over the mat board, to give the look of shingles. This was a quick-and-dirty job. Just to get it done. Obviously, all of the windows, doors and other pieces are missing. This is to get the fitting correct.

I gave this version 1.0 structure to Matt and his buddy Brian couldn’t wait to paint & weather this stand-in model and get it situated on the layout with a few small modifications. I think it looks pretty awesome for a few minutes of work! 🙂

More is to come on this project. I am in the process of trying to develop the aluminum window frames, doors and other final pieces. Should be a neat model when it’s complete! Stay tuned…

New Photo Of Rock Creek Trestle

Georgetown Branch related links, History, News, Prototype

As you all know, the Rock Creek trestle was torn down last Winter/Spring. I was able to take some photos before the final blow was struck and thankfully captured some crucial images of the structure. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take measurements, as the deck had closed before I had a chance to get up there, although a crane operator mentioned that the girder bridge section was slated to be preserved, as it was deemed historic. (dates back to early 1900s)

Montgomery County Parks Dep’t. posted this on Twitter today:

Site of the B&O Rock Creek trestle.

The view is from the hiker-biker path and is facing to the North. To the left, you can see the old abutment built by the B&O in 1972, which held the rebuilt section of the trestle. (steel) In the foreground, if you look very closely, you will see the old wooden pilings, cut down and about to be entombed in concrete. Here is a photo I took about one year ago today:

Jan 16, 2019: B&O Rock Creek Trestle
Jan 16, 2019: B&O Rock Creek Trestle

I am currently in the process of building a model of this trestle. More updates soon.