My youngest, Drew, running the Black Mountain Local at Kemmergem
It’s been a little while since a progress update, and there’s been a lot of progress. As you can see from the picture above, a portion of the upper deck is now finished to essentially the same state as the lower level with the basic scenery (covered in dirt), painted backdrop, fusee circuits for unprotected road crossings, and ballast. I also installed a few more ISE “Squealers”… five more to be exact, including two on the Gin Creek Branch (finished portion of the upper deck). Its’ so cool running a long train that crosses multiple Squealers and hearing the sounds from multiple spots in the train!
I’ve also had a couple mini operating sessions to work out the kinks on the Gin Creek Branch. The first was with regular operator Patrick, and the second was a treat with my youngest son, Drew. Drew did a great job running the Black Mountain Local and figured out a few different moves than the ones I’ve been using. When he was done, he paid me a great compliment: “that was fun… you’re such a nerd.” Guilty as charged!
Here are some pics of the progress.
Kemmergem mock-up on top of basic red rosin paper scenery
The scene between Turners Siding and Kemmergem getting some spackling compound to hide the paper seams
First section of backdrop painting on the upper deck
Basic scenery is finished at the end of the Gin Creek Branch
A pair of Fs, run by Patrick, is bringing empties up the Gin Creek Branch past Kemmergem tipple
A pair of L&N hoppers cross the ISE Squealer sensor
Last week I picked up a “Squealer” from Iowa Scaled Engineering at the Colorado RPM meet. I’ve been eyeing one of these for a while, and I’m so glad I finally took the plunge! If you’re not familiar with it, the Squealer is a static system installed at a curve on the track that detects the motion of a passing train and emanates recordings of high-pitched flange squeal sounds. While this may strike some like the torture of nails-on-a-chalkboard, I find the sound to be very prototypical and not annoying at all. In fact, now that I can hear my train going over a Squealer, when it’s not going over it, things sound a little empty which tells me this is a GREAT product!
Installation was very simple and took me about an hour from start to finish, to include testing. The basic Squealer consists of a sensor (about the diameter of a pencil and around 2″ long), a speaker with a ~1″ cubed souknd enclosure, and a circuit board with terminals for connecting power and sensors, a spot for a micro SD card (in case you want to load your own sounds… I find the built-in sounds to be great), and two buttons for volume control. It supports multiple sensors, so I also picked-up an extra “TrainSpotter – Motion Detector” for an adjacent track. The trickiest thing about my installation is it was into finished track with no way to drill a hole from underneath as the instructions recommend. Instead, I had to drill downward through the ties. The instructions recommend a 3/8″ drill bit–I used this on my first sensor install and found it to be overly large. For the second sensor install, I used an 11/32″ bit and found it to be just right. I wrapped my sensors in a couple layers of electrical tape to help them fit snugly and to mitigate moisture from ballasting getting to the circuit board. Per the instructions, I lined the sensor up in the correct orientation and set it about even with the ties.
The Squealer box and the first over-sized hole… it was a little painful to drill through finished trackwork
I hooked up the sensors per the instructions. Since the white and blue wires each go to a common terminal on the board for all sensors, I found soldering the two white wires together and blues together made it much easier to install them (and keep them) in their respective slots. ISE recommends cutting a 3/8″ hole into the scenery for the speaker sound to escape. It was easy to cut a hole into my red-rosin-paper scenery and install the speaker to the adjacent sub-roadbed using a piece of 3M double-sided foam tape. I covered the speaker hole with a little piece of green clump foliage. For power, the Squealer can take a wide range of DC, so I hooked it up to my 14V DC accessory bus which works just fine. That was it for installation, and it worked as advertised right off the bat. The only adjustment I made were dropping the volume to a level that sounded right in comparison to my locomotives. I was able to carefully add and glue some ballast over the top plate of the sensor to hide all but the silver portion on top, and I noticed no decrease in performance.
I wrapped my sensors in electrical tape to make them fit snug and water resistant for the re-ballastingThe speaker hole can be pretty small, but it helps and should be close to the sensors
My only complaints (a very strong word for it) are very minor regarding the sensors: 1) they’re pretty big, so if you can’t drill the hole from underneath, you’re tearing up some ties, and 2) the sensors are very reflective and create a bright glint when viewed from certain angles. It’s a pretty complicated sensor for its size, so I don’t anticipate this can be easily fixed at a reasonable price point, and the benefit is far greater than these drawbacks.
Here’s the second sensor hole drilled with an 11/32″ bit which fit more snugly
If you haven’t already, you should check out the video to hear what it sounds like with a train. To me, it now makes it sound like all my cars have sound decoders… at least in that one spot. That means I’m now plotting to put a series of Squealers all around the layout on all major curves (probably 3-5 per deck) so you can enjoy the extra ambiance no matter where you’re working. It’s not cheap, but now that I’ve experienced, I am a huge fan, and it would sound flat to go back, just like I could never go back to locomotives without sound. Install these at your own risk… if you install one, you’re likely to want several!
A small clump of foliage covers the speaker hole nicely
Newly completed Kemmerer Gem No.2 tipple mock-up on the Gin Creek Branch
I’ve been working feverishly on the Gin Creek Branch which served the distinctive two-track loader at Kemmergem, VA. This branch occupies about 1/3 of my upper deck and is the first piece of the upper deck to be operational. I went out of my way to make the trackwork look like a well-used and minimally maintained branch with some crooked ties and rail. This branch is also laid out on an S-curve where you can look all the way down the straight portion where the loader will lie between the curves, and because of this curve, I think this might become the “signature scene” for the layout.
Here’s the first train on the upper deck rolling through the junction onto the Gin Creek Branch at Turners Siding
The tail track just barely holds two GP38s and two triple hoppers
To get things operational, I had to run the DCC bus wires and install manual switch mechanisms. At this point, I was able to run the first train to the upper deck and make sure everything worked. It’s a cool arrangement with double-ended loader tracks but a short tail track that barely holds two GP38s and two triple hoppers. I’ve also installed a stub track alongside the tail track for the Ralph Baker coal company that built a truck dump here in the late ’70s / early ’80s. Since I’m currently running the ’60s, I decided to use the track to house a small ramp-style loader (which will be replaced by Ralph Baker in late ’70s ops sessions). Switching the track arrangement is a lot of fun and requires some extra thinking since the spur to Ralph Baker is a facing-point stub track, and the only run-around is under the Kemmerer Gem No.2 tipple. You’ve got to place the cars for Ralph Baker and the cab behind the empties for the big tipple and then push them into the right tracks using the loads and empties under the big tipple.
View of the south end of the loader at Kemmergem
While it was “operational,” there was still no tipple, and the switches had to be thrown by reaching far under the layout. With an upcoming ops session, I was motivated to give it a bit more finish, so I cut and painted the fascia and put in the switch controls. I also took the opportunity to install my fast-clock controls in their permanent place, a little cut-out in the fascia. What’s a mine run without a loader, so I created another temporary “paper doll” mock-up from cardstock prints and foamcore for the Kemmerer Gem No.2 tipple. This is a really cool looking loader that has two loading points with a long covered conveyor between them making the thing look a bit like a corrugated diplodocus dinosaur. I created some drawings of a slightly compressed version based on a series of photos from the ’50s-’90s (it didn’t change too much) including some great detail shots by Robby Vaughn. While I was at it, I created a little temporary dock for the Ralph Baker spur (which I’m calling “Darbyville Dock” for the ’60s sessions). A couple of paint brush handbrakes on the steeper spotting locations, and the branch was ready for an ops session!
The prototype Kemmergem tipple shot by Robby Vaughn in the late ’90s
Gluing the prints onto foamcore for the tipple
Mock-up for one of the two loading points waiting for a paper roof
Mock-up of “Darbyville Dock” at the end of the Gin Creek Branch–note the gnarly trackwork on the tail track to the right
Here’s the finished fast-clock control panel recessed into the upper deck fascia.
Rails for the Kemmergem Loader are almost complete
Progress on the upper deck is now in full swing! I’ve got the ties, some of the rail, and the backdrop for the Gin Creek Branch (Kemmergem) in place. This is the first rail I’ve laid on the upper deck, so it’s been good to knock the rust off. It’s been a good reminder that I really enjoy hand-laying track and find it relaxing. I’ve also finally followed through on a promise I made to my wife nearly 5 years ago to add some storage above the layout. It is nice being able to get some things off the floor and out of the way. Next step is finishing the rails and adding the wiring for the track.
My son recently got married, and his wife’s father came over to run some trains
On another note, my oldest son got married this month! His wife’s dad likes model trains, so it was fun having him over for a little impromptu ops session running the mine run to Mayflower.
Ties in for the Kemmergem loader
The upper deck backdrop is 24″ tall to create some distance from the lighting valance benchwork
The end of the Gin Creek Branch goes under the stairs and an air duct–this was by far the most challenging piece of backdrop to install!
Amazing what a lick of paint will do!
First rail laid on the upper deck! This is the junction of the Black Mountain main (left) and the Gin Creek Branch to Kemmergem (right)
The grungy, little used spur for the lumber yard and mining supply at Turners Siding–this is the only piece of code 55 rail so far, and I plan to bury it in dirt, so why bother with ties
My wife is very happy that after nearly 5 years I’ve delivered on the promise of adding some storage above the layout
View showing the upper deck lighting and lighting benchwork. A 12″ valance will cover the lights
Passed a big milestone this last week, the completion of all benchwork! The last layer of benchwork was the lighting valance above the upper level. It was made from 1×4″ boards for the valance and 1×2″ supports ripped from 1x4s for the rest of the structure. This allowed me to place the light fixtures for the upper level, 22 total fixtures spread out about every 2 feet. Like the lower deck, the lights are multi-color, dimmable, LED smart bulbs controlled by an app on my phone. I’ve got them grouped to work as a whole either by deck or the whole layout including overheads.
Here’s the very last piece of benchwork ready to be installed
While the bulbs only draw 9W, they’re 60W equivalents… 47 60W-equivalent lightbulbs in a 12×16′ room!… Let’s just say it’s about as bright as daylight which is the idea, right? Even with all these lights, I’m still only drawing around 420W total, so I’m nowhere near the max capacity of the circuit. Technology is pretty cool! Next step, track for the upper level.
Overview of the layout room showing most of the 47 LED lightbulbs
A wide-angle view of the layout showing how the lighting benchwork follows the shape of the lower levels
No, that’s not a typo! I’m about halfway through my fourth level of benchwork for this layout. The first level is staging, the second is the lower deck, the third is the upper deck, and the fourth is for the lighting valance. I decided to go ahead and knock this out before putting any track on the upper level so I can install the lighting before I start hand-laying track (which will be most helpful). The good news is once I complete this level, it will complete my benchwork for the layout!… at least phase 1… if there are future phases.
My basement ceilings are 9 feet high, so I’m putting the lighting benchwork around 7.5 feet. The backdrops for the upper deck will be a lot taller than the lower deck, but this is necessary because you’re looking up at them. There will be a 1-foot tall fascia on the front of this level to constrain the view a bit and to hide the lights. I’m making it strong enough to hold some thin plywood so I can use the top to store some lighter things–a requirement from “building management” to compensate for me taking over the storage room.
Here’s the first piece of lighting shelf benchwork–you can see the backdrop will be taller on the upper deck
Part of the layout is under the stairs, and there’s an air duct in the way requiring some creative construction
A shot from the door of the completed upper-deck benchwork
The layout passed another milestone this past weekend–the upper-deck benchwork is now complete! Most of it was pretty straightforward, and the average deck height (top of benchwork) is 60″. A few sections required some creative engineering and some non-90 and 45 degree cuts. One tricky section was the top of the helix where the tracks transition through the upper deck benchwork. I used a piece of elevated benchwork and a plywood bridge to make this transition.
This was a challenging section to engineer–the track comes off the helix, ducks under a piece of elevated benchwork, then runs on top of the upper deck
Another tricky section was the last piece which holds the tail track for the switchback to Benedict at the end of the line. This piece goes in front of the basement breaker panel, so I had to engineer it so the door can be easily and fully opened and accessed, and I designed this section to be removable in case any major work is required someday. As you can see from the first photo, the lighting is in but very visible–these will be hidden behind fascia once the upper-deck trackwork is in.
This was the last piece of benchwork for the upper level. This piece allows the breaker box to be opened, and it’s removable in case there are bigger issues
Here’s a representative CV Local with an RS3, 11 hoppers, and a cab nearing the top of the grade
With a portion of the upper-deck benchwork in place, I was able to complete the connector track from the top of the helix to the top of the grade along the back of the layout. The moment of truth had arrived where I would figure out if a key assumption I had made would hold true. My helix is aggressive: 24″ radius and 3% grade! At the top of the helix is an S-curve into another 24″ curve in the opposite direction and a short straight section to reach the top of the grade. Based on experience with the first helix (also 24″ radius and 3% grade), I estimated my lightest engine could pull about a dozen empty hopper cars and a caboose up the helix. The lightest engine is an Athearn RS3 used on the CV Local, and in the 1960s and early ’70s, this job only hauled a handful of cars onto the St. Charles Branch, perhaps 6-10 on a given day.
Here’s the track where it exits the helix and continues up-grade to the right through the upper-deck benchwork
I loaded up an RS3 with 12 cars (including 3 really heavy Tangent cars) and headed for the first helix. With the Tangent cars, the RS3 stalled out on the grade–uh oh! I removed one hopper and tried again. Thankfully it was able to climb the first hill, albeit with the throttle at 1/4 speed and the Tsunami2 howling at run 8! After a brief respite of relatively level track in St. Charles, the train attacked the second helix to the upper deck. Three-and-a-half turns and 20″ higher, the train exited the helix and entered the S-curve, coming to the crest of the grade without stalling. So, 11 cars is my current limit, and while it’s slightly less margin than I had hoped, it’s good enough that it won’t restrict my operating scheme.
Two Southern F-units have no trouble pulling 33 cars to the top of the 3% grade
Just to be sure, I latched a pair of Intermountain F7s to 33 Southern hoppers and tried the same thing. No problem! Two locomotives have plenty of power to haul more than enough cars up the grade. It was cool to see trains actually running on the upper deck, even if the section they’re currently in will be hidden by hills.
The first layout lights are in! Here’s the “cool white” that I like for daytime
While my light is nowhere near as impressive as God’s light in Genesis, it still makes me glad to see a little more light on the trains in the basement. Now that I’ve got some upper-deck benchwork in, it opened the way to try out the layout lighting I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I’ve looked into LED strings and other bundled lights, but in the end, I’ve settled on using individual multi-color LED “smart lights” I can control with my phone. It’s not the cheapest solution (about $7 a bulb, and my layout needs 40), but it’s bright, and they’re customizable for a dizzying array of colors and brightness!
This is a more modern evolution of the lighting on my last layout which used cheap plastic fixtures and compact 40W lightbulbs. I was able to recycle the fixtures and wiring for this project, but the technology is so much better than my previous little analog dimmer. Not only are the LEDs brighter, but they run cooler, only use 9W each, and I can get a nice “cool white” that looks a lot more like sunlight than incandescent lights. I was also able to play around with the colors and dimmer, and a wide range of effects are possible including a nice moonlit night and a warm sunrise/sunset. It’s also easy to “group” them so one command changes all the bulbs simultaneously.
The dimmable, multi-color LEDs can give a lot of different moods like this “moonlit night”
I’ll keep playing with them to try to mitigate the glare spots and shadows. I’m also going to figure out a way to automate going from nighttime to sunrise to day–I’m sure it’s possible with all the Smart Home controls out there now. One thing I hadn’t counted on is the lit portion of the bulb is about 2″ further out from the fixture than the old incandescents. For now that’s creating more shadow along the front of the layout than I’d like. When I put the valance in for the upper deck, I’m inclined to move it out over the aisle a few inches to try to improve this, and I might mount a few of these in the overhead fixtures as well. For now, I’m calling this experiment with 8 bulbs a success, so now I’ve ordered more to keep working around the rest of the layout.
The fixtures for the lighting are simple plastic screw-in basesHere’s what I’m using, TreatLife 60W equivalent (9W actual) multi-color LED smart lights
Yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of the first piece of benchwork for the St. Charles Branch. I’m certainly not moving at any blistering pace, but it’s fun to look back and see the progress! Here’s a look at how one corner of the layout has progressed over those years. Mayflower is at the end of the Bailey’s Creek Branch and is the largest loader on the lower deck. I really like how the scene is shaping up!
Here’s the first piece of benchwork installed for the staging area under Mayflower on October 26th, 2019.
The next year was lockdown year, so by October 2020 the staging level was complete and the DCC system was up-and-running. I finished the last piece of the lower-level benchwork with this final piece that would ultimately support the scene at Mayflower.
By the middle of 2021, I was making good progress on the handlaid track. The track at Mayflower was the first to be completed, and by October of 2023, I had run up the helix from staging and was on my way to connecting the line from St Charles to Mayflower by the end of the year.
2022 was a productive year, and by October, I had finished the fascia, installed the backdrops, and was working on the scenery base. Mayflower was the first area to get its “paper shell” covering.
Here’s the scene at Mayflower today in 2023. Vegetation is still sparse, but in the past year, I’ve learned how to paint backdrops, finish the scenery base, and ballast track. I’ve also added some fun features like working crossing signals for major grade crossings and fusees for smaller grade crossings like this one at Potts Branch Road. It’s getting there!
For comparison, here’s a view of the prototype scene at Mayflower as it awaited the scrapper’s torch (photographer unknown).
Here’s what the layout looks like from the door as of October 2023–this is from eye-level, so you can see where the upper deck will sit
Just a quick progress update. This week I passed a major milestone by completing the scenery base on the lower level to the “dirt base” level. This is the minimum I wanted to complete before moving to the upper level, so now nothing stands in the way. I’m debating doing a little track ballasting and a couple more mock-up tipples, but it’s exciting to finally be at a point where I can start putting in upper-level benchwork! I found a pic from three years ago to show the progress over time. I’m sure not moving fast, but there’s definitely been a lot of progress!
Looking back toward the door and the Mayflower Tipple. If you follow the tracks back from Mayflower on the right, you’ll pop out at the far end of the aisle on the left
Looking along the St Charles yard with the wye ahead on the left–compare the progress in Oct 2023 to a similar shot from Oct 2020
Similar view as above from three years prior in Oct 2020
Here’s a look at last Saturday’s progress including finishing most of the lower level scenery base and painting the rest of the backdrop
I had a happy aligning of the stars on Saturday where my wife was gone for the day, I didn’t have any big “chores” to do, and I had just learned how to paint backdrops! All that combined into a day spent furiously trying to finish up the lower-level scenery forms so I could paint the rest of the lower-level backdrop. It was a good day, and I’m pretty happy with the results. I learned that the painting is my favorite part, roughing in the scenery with cardboard strips is my second favorite, and papering over the cardboard with section after section of red rosin paper is a distant third. Round 2 of backdrop painting went a little smoother than round 1 as I think I had a better grasp of the techniques, and the paint brushes seemed to work better on their second use. I liked the results of round 2 so much I went back and redid some sections of round 1.
The St Charles Local traverses the wye with the newly painted backdrop. It will soon descend through the backdrop in the corner, a hole much tougher to spot now
The scenery covers over the hidden track along the back wall that joins St Charles and the Mayflower section, so I decided to do a test run… I can now verify that I can indeed – by twisting at odd angles, reaching into small gaps, and fishing it out the last couple feet with a long string of hoppers – free a stuck train from the most remote part of my hidden track! Lesson learned–when you use hot glue for scenery, it tends to leave a lot of strings hanging down, and go figure, locomotives don’t pick up electricity so well when their wheels are covered in bits of glue string! A little wheel cleaning and some extra sweeps of the hand through the area (again at odd angles via small gaps), and trains now traverse this area nicely.
Where the two lower-level scenes transition–the backdrop on the right is lower than the left, hence less blue sky
I’ve only got one section left that still needs a backdrop and scenery forms, over the helix from staging. Painting the backdrop in the corner was the big barrier to adding this, so that will likely be the next step, and the LAST step before building upper-level benchwork… it’s getting pretty real.
Here’s where trains will leave the lower level and enter the helix to the upper level–I think the backdrop painting along with a few trees will hide the transition well
The finished scene showing the brighter foreground trees painted with yellow and mars black mix–what a difference the painted backdrop makes for the scene!
I collected art supplies to paint my backdrops many months ago, but like any project that intimidates me, they sat around in a drawer until I could get up the nerve to pull the trigger. I’ve done one painting my entire life about 30 years ago for an art class, so my experience level with this is just a hair above zero. I’d like to thank Jeff Kraker who sent me a link to a video series by Chris Lyon he followed on how to paint backdrops using a few basic acrylic colors and an impressionistic “blob” method. I learned a TON from this five-part series including the fact that you shouldn’t actually use green paint–how counter-intuitive is that? Having watched the series twice and armed with supplies, I finally jumped in! As you can see in the pictures, I’m no Michelangelo, but I’m happy with them for now, and I’m sure I’ll make some adjustments and touch-ups as I gain more experience.
Step 1 is to outline the distant ridges in chalk, and step 2 is to paint the distant ridges a bluish gray
My first step is to outline the top of the distant ridges. I actually used a low angle view from Google Earth to do this, so the basic contours are actually what you’d see standing in the actual scene. Kid’s sidewalk chalk is a good medium for this as it can be easily erased with a wet wash cloth. Next I painted my distant ridges–this was something the series didn’t cover as all their scenery was closer. One thing I wanted to do was to nail the color of distant hills. I live in the mountains, so every day I get to see that distant hills covered in trees are not green at all–they’re a shade of gray-blue, almost purple. To get a color close to this, I mixed some of my sky blue backdrop color with a little mars black, and a little cerulean blue which looks about right to me, though if anything, they’re not purple enough. I applied the paint using the techniques in the videos, just wet the brush (A No 10 round in this case) and dab, dab, dab, blob, blob, blob. I didn’t want distinct trees in the distance, so I mixed the paint pretty good, leaving just a little variation and shading.
Once the distant ridge is in, step 3 is to paint the next nearest ridge a little darker but still not bright green
Next, I added some primary yellow to the palette and started moving to the second ridgeline, still using a good bit of the sky blue but now adding more yellow which makes a nice Woodland Scenics-ish green when mixed with the mars black. Once the second ridge was in, I felt it didn’t have enough definition, so I dabbed the brush in some mars black and touched the base color without mixing it in and “blobbed” in some shadows. Finally I transitioned to the larger trees near the bottom. No sky blue, just a lot of yellow and a little mars black barely mixed and blob, blob, blob, again adding some areas of shadow with a little more black in the mix.
This is the one hard corner of backdrop on the layout–I think once I play with the lighting it will be a little less stark
The result is what you see here. It’s certainly no real art, and it doesn’t look nearly as nice as the backdrops in the video. Still, I think it gives a decent impression of a deciduous forest and Appalachian ridges that doesn’t distract from the foreground. I also think the color will blend pretty well with common light and medium green ground foam and foliage. I did about 15′ of linear backdrop in under 2 hours… not a bad return on time invested. I love what it does to the layout feel, as well. For the first time since I started building the layout, when you walk into the layout room it feels Appalachian. Looking forward to painting more and improving on my bare-bones techniques!
Part of the backdrop under the stairs involves a piece of the “sky” that sticks out
This is the first section I did. It’s amazing how much less noticeable the steps are with the mountains painted
Step 1 is to outline the distant ridges in chalk, and step 2 is to paint the distant ridges a bluish gray
Once the distant ridge is in, step 3 is to paint the next nearest ridge a little darker but still not bright green
The finished scene showing the brighter foreground trees painted with yellow and mars black mix–what a difference the painted backdrop makes for the scene!
This is the one hard corner of backdrop on the layout–I think once I play with the lighting it will be a little less stark
The 16 hoppers of the April 2022 class finished and ready for the next session
The St Charles Branch would like to welcome the Southern Hopper Class of April 2022 to the roster! The 16 cars in this graduating class are the largest group of cars I’ve ever finished at one time (and probably the largest group I’ll EVER attempt at one time). The 16 hoppers, including a foreign exchange student from the Clinchfield, represent cars across the layout’s range of ops session eras from mid ’60s (cars still in roman font) to the mid ’70s (brand new 100T hoppers). Consequently, all were weathered a bit differently from a 55T twin with dents and lots of grunge to brand new with just a little grime on the trucks and underside.
A Tangent 70T PS3 clone next to an upgraded Atlas Trainman car
A few of the cars (CRR 70T and 50T extended-height war-emergency rebuild) have been complete and just awaiting weathering for several years. Some of the cars have been running on the layout for a while but didn’t yet have their full set of details or weathering. The bulk of the cars are Atlas 70T Trainman hoppers, which I love because they’re relatively cheap but have good wheels and trucks and great paint for budget cars. Some Trainman hoppers got a full set of new grabs (did this a while ago). Most Trainman hoppers (along with a pair of Bowser/Stewart 12 panel hoppers) got the standard treatment of getting the grabs shaved down to a more reasonable thickness front-to-back using an X-Acto blade. Other added details include Kadee #5s, plastic bits for tack boards and door bars, wire grabs adjacent to the couplers, homemade tow loops, homemade train lines (copper wire from Cat 5 cable), and homemade coupler cut bars (bent from .012″ brass wire on a homemade jig). A few got dents added in the top sill by softening them with a 100W lightbulb. A few of the cars came with heap shields (correct only for a small number of ex Central of Georgia cars) that got removed as well. I also swapped out the trucks on the Tangent 100T cars–I decided I wanted cars that roll well more than neat spinning roller bearings.
Two of the more heavily weathered hoppers of the batch–note the dents in the top sill of 70439
All but one of these cars is factory painted which saves a TON of time. I changed some of the numbers by scraping them off gently with an X-Acto chisel blade (along with the later round “O”s on some of the Atlas cars) and replaced them with decals. Most cars received ACI labels (1967+) and a couple got lube plates (1974+). Before weathering, I covered some of the weight and shop stencils with rectangles of masking tape to represent re-stenciled cars. I ran them through a weathering assembly line that included coats of various thickness of airbrushed flat black followed by light tan. I then painted out a few more weight panels with fresh oxide red and added some stencil data in a different font to a couple cars. A few of the cars got some drybrushed rust marks too. Finally, most of the cars got a wash of flat black inside and out. Overall I’m really happy with how they turned out, but I don’t think I’ll ever assembly line 16 cars again… do you know how many wheel faces that is to paint? 16 cars x 8 wheels x 2 faces per wheel = a ton of wheels (that’s 128 wheels and 256 faces… don’t hurt yourself doing the math)! Still, it will be worth it to see coal trains with a lot fewer shiny cars in the mix.
The Tangent hoppers represent cars built in 1975 so weathering is minimal
