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nhguy
Fireman
USA
3689 Posts |
 Posted - 05/12/2012 : 3:28:23 PM
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| Thanks guys. Beaver dams. I don't know if I can put one here or not but I will look into the suggestion Espen. I to remember them all over the place, and in places you wouldn't think, as I grew up next to the beaver brook. We used to go ice skating in the winter off of Church street. I'd have to go around them when skating down the brook to the 'big' pond'. We use to play hockey there a lot. |
Bill Shanaman
Superintendent, New Haven RR in the 1948 to 1952 era
PMRA President 2013-14, OpSIG Member
NCE User Since 1999
Sugar City, Colorado |
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nhguy
Fireman
USA
3689 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2012 : 12:20:02 AM
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This is my medium of choice this time. With weight being a factor I wanted to keep the weight down as much as possible. For this I am using what I have on hand which is some blue 1.5" extruded foam insulation board. Very dense and strong. Extruded foam acts just like plastic. You score it and it will break along the score line just like plastic does. I cut in with my knife half way through then use pressure at the score to break it. It breaks pretty cleanly.
Here I am marking out the piece I need. It is roughly 16" by 10" which I will trim around the risers inside the space. This will support the scenery, water and culvert.
This is the piece installed with the cut out for the riser I needed to go around on the left. It is a snug fit being held by itself for the moment.
The pressure fit is strong enough to hold the torpedo level. Here is where you make your piece level front to back and side to side so when you pour the water in it won't flow out of the area one way or the other. It gives you a level base to start from. It is installed slightly below the cut out in the fascia for scenery.
Pressure alone could have held it in place while it was glued in. I wanted to make sure it was supported at both ends. Here are a couple of scrap pieces from the piece I cut out, a hot glue gun with low temp melt glue and the knife I used to cut them. These are the only two tools I used here.
I glued the supports into place by putting hot glue on the two surfaces I wanted to hold. I put hot glue on the wood side and on the top of the support piece to secure the level piece above it. Repeat this step for the other side. Once that has set, about one minute, I glued the top piece to the risers on each side with hot glue just to help anchor it.
Here is a stand in culvert in place just to see how things are going to go. I will use something similar to this or this one. A larger one would let me see through to the other side better. I will either build one out of styrene or use one I find will suit the scene. Quite a lot of locally mined brownstone was used for these culverts and bridge supports along the Valley Branch with some interesting geometry. I am going to try and replicate that. They varied in design by the masons that built them. Most of them are still in place and in use.
Unfortunately, there is no room for a beaver dam on this side. You have to account for the roadbed width and grading. It sticks out a bit too far towards the isle. I have maybe an inch between the fascia and the culvert to add the water. Maybe I can get on in on the other side. We'll see. More to come so stay tuned. |
Bill Shanaman
Superintendent, New Haven RR in the 1948 to 1952 era
PMRA President 2013-14, OpSIG Member
NCE User Since 1999
Sugar City, Colorado |
Edited by - nhguy on 05/13/2012 12:26:43 AM |
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MarkF
Engineer
USA
9329 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2012 : 11:42:15 AM
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Well, you don't have to model the damn itself, but if memory serves me correctly, weren't there a group of beavers making their way to various layouts north of the border? [:-idea] Maybe you could have a couple of them along the shore line pondering their upcoming project!  |
Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
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nhguy
Fireman
USA
3689 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2012 : 2:01:12 PM
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| Mark, I don't know I have room for a Canadian Pacific box car wreck scene there......yuck, yuck. |
Bill Shanaman
Superintendent, New Haven RR in the 1948 to 1952 era
PMRA President 2013-14, OpSIG Member
NCE User Since 1999
Sugar City, Colorado |
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jbvb
Fireman
USA
1911 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2012 : 11:12:15 AM
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| Beaver abundance varies a lot with your era and location. Back when no laws protected them and there was more of a market for their fur (say, through about 1970), you only saw them way up-country, in the hills and mountains. I don't know how this played out in Connecticut, but I wouldn't have expected to see them south of Waterbury or Willamantic. |
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nhguy
Fireman
USA
3689 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2012 : 1:20:58 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by jbvb
Beaver abundance varies a lot with your era and location. Back when no laws protected them and there was more of a market for their fur (say, through about 1970), you only saw them way up-country, in the hills and mountains. I don't know how this played out in Connecticut, but I wouldn't have expected to see them south of Waterbury or Willamantic.
Oh we had them in Wethersfield alright. There were two dams on the Beaver Brook. One up by Wethersfield lumber which really didn't bother the railroad and up by Jordan Lane in the marsh to the right of the tracks heading north. The one in the marsh had a lodge. There were more spread out across Wethersfield up by Mill Woods Park. This was 'protected' by the city as school kids used to take field trips there. That and we used to watch them as kids walking, swimming and diving in the brook. We also had more than our fair share of muskrats. I am not modeling the marsh area but the railroad had a long fill across the marsh for the roadbed. |
Bill Shanaman
Superintendent, New Haven RR in the 1948 to 1952 era
PMRA President 2013-14, OpSIG Member
NCE User Since 1999
Sugar City, Colorado |
Edited by - nhguy on 05/14/2012 1:27:38 PM |
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nhguy
Fireman
USA
3689 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2012 : 01:14:53 AM
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| I have decided to go with a NE Brownstone double culvert with liners. I have them coming. Stay tuned because this thread may be a thread within a thread just for the culverts. |
Bill Shanaman
Superintendent, New Haven RR in the 1948 to 1952 era
PMRA President 2013-14, OpSIG Member
NCE User Since 1999
Sugar City, Colorado |
Edited by - nhguy on 05/15/2012 1:17:30 PM |
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nhguy
Fireman
USA
3689 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2012 : 01:38:57 AM
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Sorry guys, this project has unexpectedly ground to a halt. I will pick it up later when life doesn't get in the way.
I have to make way for 'central air' after 19 years of just window air conditioning! Yea!! Should be installed by mid June. This will be a relief for my crews.
It is also outdoor 'band' season. I didn't realize my band was playing so soon. Next is the Bands, Boats & Bar-b-Que festival in Pueblo CO on June 9th. A lot of bar-b-Que chefs show up from around the country for these competitions. The BBQ is awesome! |
Bill Shanaman
Superintendent, New Haven RR in the 1948 to 1952 era
PMRA President 2013-14, OpSIG Member
NCE User Since 1999
Sugar City, Colorado |
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nhguy
Fireman
USA
3689 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2012 : 03:19:10 AM
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I took the wife out for our anniversary Saturday. Although we have been together 10 years we've only been married for 1. She was sick with a virus last week which was our real anniversary. She's fully recovered and fine now.
While she was sick last week, and in between the time I could take care of her when she was awake, I took advantage of her resting time after I got home from work to work on a more 'quiet' project.
The parts that have arrived from New England Brownstone but I can't start on that until next week.
I got a spray can of Rustolium Cammo Brown paint, two Floquil rail brown and tie brown pens and brown acrylic paints out. Rustolium Cammo Brown is Floquil Roof Brown in a large can. They are owned by the same company-RPS. The Floquil Rust pen was used for the rail color applied over the brown. It makes it a little darker then just painting the Rust over bare rail.
It took a few days to do this but here are some of the results.
I cleaned up with a rag and Lacquer thinner. Use fans, open windows and a pair of rubber gloves on your hands while using thinner or it will dry out your skin very fast. I put a little on a t-shirt rag and wiped the rail tops and inside of the rail.
There is no weathering on the track and ties yet. I will hit it with my India ink solution first. Then maybe some dust after the ballast is applied.
For what it's worth I can only do this about an hour at a time because my eyes start going 'wonkey' looking at rail after a while and that's about all I can stand working on painting rails at one sitting. It can be done faster if you've got an afternoon after the brown dries for 24 hours and you have better eyes and more patience than me. |
Bill Shanaman
Superintendent, New Haven RR in the 1948 to 1952 era
PMRA President 2013-14, OpSIG Member
NCE User Since 1999
Sugar City, Colorado |
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Harsco
Fireman
USA
1107 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2012 : 05:52:13 AM
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| Looking good, Bill...and I like your Rust color over the Camo Brown technique, since the Rust alone looks a bit too orange for my taste. I tried airbrushing my track, but the resulting plume of paint got me in trouble with the wife, so I've resorted to hand-painting mine.....have fun ballasting! |
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jbvb
Fireman
USA
1911 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2012 : 10:15:33 AM
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| In your era (mine too), there were a lot of cinders on the RoW, even if the ballast was nominally stone. On the B&M Western Route east of Lowell Junction, frequent heavy freights accelerated away from the wye's speed restriction for 50 years; you can still see a solid layer of black cinders 30 feet from the track in places. |
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MarkF
Engineer
USA
9329 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2012 : 11:37:14 AM
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| Ah, weathering track, not one of the more enjoyable aspects of the hobby, but well worth it. I haven't gotten to that point yet, but on my old layout, I spraypainted the tracks a dark roof brown, then went over the rails with a wash of rust, handing painting it on. The wash went on a little more subtly and took on a real neat appearance. I like what you've done Bill. I can't wait to see the ballast, another fun aspect of the hobby! [:-boggled] |
Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
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nhguy
Fireman
USA
3689 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2012 : 2:04:43 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Harsco
Looking good, Bill...and I like your Rust color over the Camo Brown technique, since the Rust alone looks a bit too orange for my taste. I tried airbrushing my track, but the resulting plume of paint got me in trouble with the wife, so I've resorted to hand-painting mine.....have fun ballasting!
The 'trick' to doing this Rick is to do it when they are sleeping or not home. An advantage I take because I don't get home from work until 10:30 PM or so. She's already in bed sleeping for work the next day. |
Bill Shanaman
Superintendent, New Haven RR in the 1948 to 1952 era
PMRA President 2013-14, OpSIG Member
NCE User Since 1999
Sugar City, Colorado |
Edited by - nhguy on 06/04/2012 12:44:25 AM |
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nhguy
Fireman
USA
3689 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2012 : 2:11:53 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by jbvb
In your era (mine too), there were a lot of cinders on the RoW, even if the ballast was nominally stone. On the B&M Western Route east of Lowell Junction, frequent heavy freights accelerated away from the wye's speed restriction for 50 years; you can still see a solid layer of black cinders 30 feet from the track in places.
You are correct. I have not painted in the black cinders undercoat yet. Cinders generally were not removed from mainline ballast until the late 60's. On branch line they are still there along side the tracks. Just dig down. They are covered with dirt now. I have found that NH used mostly cinders with a mix of some ballast rock on it branch lines up until 1965 when NH started using grey lime stone on the branches. They used reddish tan granite on the main lines. The cinder 'line' along side the right of way is a feature I will be doing. |
Bill Shanaman
Superintendent, New Haven RR in the 1948 to 1952 era
PMRA President 2013-14, OpSIG Member
NCE User Since 1999
Sugar City, Colorado |
Edited by - nhguy on 06/04/2012 12:43:12 AM |
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nhguy
Fireman
USA
3689 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2012 : 2:44:25 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by MarkF
Ah, weathering track, not one of the more enjoyable aspects of the hobby, but well worth it. I haven't gotten to that point yet, but on my old layout, I spray painted the tracks a dark roof brown, then went over the rails with a wash of rust, handing painting it on. The wash went on a little more subtly and took on a real neat appearance. I like what you've done Bill. I can't wait to see the ballast, another fun aspect of the hobby! [:-boggled]
Thanks Mark. Ballasting is usually the last thing I do after scenery. I also don't have the ballast to do it yet. I work backwards from the hand laid track guys. |
Bill Shanaman
Superintendent, New Haven RR in the 1948 to 1952 era
PMRA President 2013-14, OpSIG Member
NCE User Since 1999
Sugar City, Colorado |
Edited by - nhguy on 06/04/2012 12:42:06 AM |
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New Haven RR Constuction
