Silicon Valley Free-Mo-N Passenger Station Module

Will be clamped, but there will also be guide pins for the center section to the wings. Most of the other multi-section modules do the same.

 

More progress this weekend. On Saturday, I got the fascia painted, the UTPs installed, and actually got the cork roadbed down on the desert module. (Silly me, as I uploaded the photos, realized I never took a picture of the nice wide curve on what will be a desert LOL)

Then came the "hard" part, which was actually putting the track down "in place" on the 3 section station module, to figure out exactly where to glue the cork road bed. Why put the track down first? I wanted to make sure everything would be ok based on the AnyRail drawing (and there were a few tweaks needed). So, here's the track "in place" (of course, only pinned down).



Nothing is cut, either, I simply overlapped the ends with rails aligned, for this part of the exercise. I used the Kato rerailers for the dual track spacing, there are notches in the sides which allow one to accurately align track on 33mm spacing.

 

Here is a closer view of one of the FastTrack #8 wyes which I am using



It looks like there is a discontinuity in the curve of the track, but that is because of my "stacking", and partially an optical illusion as it goes from wooden to cement ties.

 

This close up shows the notches in the Kato re-railer

 

Looking down the track into the wye, the curves are smooth



Yes, the side is "wavey" (not quite so bad as this foreshortened shot makes it look), but scenery will hide this construction flaw.

 

And, finally, the cork was cut and attached





I'll use anything for weights.

 

Now you tell me! LOL. Yep, learned the hard way. Spent the evening shimming in a few spots, but the hardest was where the foam was a bit below the end plate, leaving a large gap. I think I have that fixed, too. Hope to gorilla glue the pcb ties tomorrow after work, if all goes well.

 

I switched gears last night, and spent a little bit of time working on the depot for my ghost town on the desert module. This is the new Showcase Miniatures Frijoles Flats model. Took less than an hour to build, and very easy to paint and weather.

I still have to add signage, some old faded posters, etc. Even the track will be abandoned





There is no door for the back of the depot, and it comes with the whole blocked with resin. But, I cut it out, and boarded it up (these are 1ft x 8 ft scale planks, cut from 1/64" birch ply)

 

MC Fujiwara came over on Friday, and helped me start laying the track. Ran into two problems, both my fault. The first - I bought ME rail joiners instead of Atlas... big mistake! I don't know how you are supposed to get those to slip on, but, we're going to go get some Atlas for use this week. Second, need to rebuild two of my FastTrack switches, was a bit "tight" around the points with regards to gauge. Didn't get enough of the rail footings filed off, so even though my test trucks ran through fine, better to build new ones, in spec, than chance it.

We did get the track for the desert module on



And here we see a "pristine" module, with simple arc of track, with a nice flat surface



So, now to start the scenery on it!

 

First off, I wanted to have a dry wash in the desert, with the tracks crossing it. Nothing too deep, but something very typically seen. So, out came the foam forming tools.



I decided on an embankment through the wash, rather than a wooden trestle, for the modern line. There will be remnants of an old trestle, which will be the old tracks leading into the ghost town

 

Started building up a small mesa (the blocks in the center went away). The ghost town will be in the upper right section, where the tools are. Three culverts through the embankment, to handle the flash floods in the wash. I will line the embankments with rocks.



My helper got bored with it all

 

The mesa taking shape, as well as some other rock outcroppings, and a small ridge on the opposite side of the tracks from the ghost town.



Didn't get too much else done this weekend, though, except cleaning the train shed. I can now run trains again! Will have to rethink the storage of the modules. I can get all four sections under the bench, but not if I attach the "travelling" end plate connectors (we pair the modules together for transport by bolting them (scenery side to scenery side) in a "box"). Unfortunately, with the legs of the bench work, the bolted together modules cannot maneuver under the bench. Without the "boxes", the scenery is exposed. Hmmmm....

 

Got the rock mesa finished and a base coat of paint on the foam after the above photos, and, this afternoon, started the true terra-forming, as colors and texture added to the desert floor



Used the different WS earth-tone pigments to color the plaster-cloth / spackle / joint compound areas, and then used 5 different colors of sanded grout for the texture on the desert floor. Will need to add some more, as it isn't THAT flat.

 

Close up of the downstream portion of the wash. This is where I will have remnants of an old trestle, with some rusty rails.



The upstream portion of the wash. Still have to add the rock along the embankment, and paint the culverts a cement color (Tamiya Light Aircraft Grey).



A wide angle view, showing the area I got done this afternoon, and the "untouched" ghost town area.