Today I started the installation of the lighting system from Woodland Scenics. I have installed five lights out of nine when unfortunately the time ran out, plus troubleshooting the wires as only two lights are currently working. I think the other three just need a bit more insulation stripped off and they’ll be fine. For now here are several more shots of the layout at night 👍
B&O 9409 is a Walther’s Proto 2000 series SW8/9 with DCC and sound I acquired off eBay. This unit is a pretty good detailed runner that the previous owner had some momentum added to the programming. The only drawback with this unit is that the cab end headlight does not function, but I’ll have a friend who works with DCC locomotives eventually take a look at it. Hard to tell in the above photo but I lightly weathered the trucks, pilot, and frame sill plus the top of the hood….
Today finds B&O SW8 9409 switching out part of the huge Proctor and Gamble complex. Below we see him going about his work switching the loading/unloading platform tracks:
It’s early morning in the Cincinnati area during late summer and although the air temperature is only in the mid-sixties, the humidity is already a bit high. At Armitage Furniture an employee and the first shift foreman are both out on the loading dock getting some fresh air and enjoying a little quiet time. Soon the quiet air will be broken by the sound of diesel horns on the Penn Central local rolling by…..
Here is a great spot for model railroaders when you’re out in Colorado, a museum I highly recommend! The Colorado Model Railroad Museum in Greeley, Colorado, right next to the Greeley sub of Union Pacific plus right across the street from the former UP depot.
If you like railroad artifacts plus seeing trains run on a 5,000 ft plus model layout, this is the place to see. The museum also houses the last wooden caboose used by the Colorado and Southern plus one of the memorial busts made of Dirt the Cat from the Nevada Museum….
Coming soon will be more operations on the modules plus the installation of the lighting system by Woodland Scenics. Stay tuned….
Here is the story behind Armitage Furniture. When I was building the original Hitop layout, I knew I wanted some type of industry that took lumber and other boxcar loads, but had a bit of limited space for the industry. The Sicken Tire Company from Woodland Scenics solved the problem.
I loved that this kit had all this great detail on it but didn’t like the awful glossy red molding. First priority was to repaint the building and weather it which I think turned out quite well. As for the name of the company, well that’s a simple answer!
On the prototype NYC/PC line from New Lexington, Ohio that ran down through the Kanawha valley, there is a town in southeast Ohio named Armitage. To me Armitage sounded like a great name for a small furniture manufacturer! In the photo below, you’ll notice this detail from a Woodland Scenics set of a couple of large boxes of freight including this chair, not to mention several barrels of DuPont paint and stain!
The following is the story behind Paxton-Sullivan scrapyard. When enlarging the original Hitop layout and doing research there must have been a Paxton scrapyard in the Nitro, West Virginia area, as almost all my industries were named for actual locations.
I decided to add the name Sullivan to the company name in memory of a good friend I knew for twenty years who I used to work with at the original Caboose Hobbies in Denver. Paul was a good friend and good man who passed away in public transportation from a massive heart attack while going to the store in December 2020. This an hour after talking to me on the phone. A good friend who I still miss today….
Today we caught the local working some of the loading platforms at the sprawling Proctor and Gamble plant plus Paxton-Sullivan scrapyard, then worked the nearby team track. We first caught 5628 shoving a well worn PC gondola into the scrapyard as seen below:
After that work was completed we watched 5628 switch out tank cars inside part of P&G. We were able to watch this from one of their parking lots, as P&G has many different lots and gates. The local to switch out these tracks must always pull out past this parking lot to clear the switches. Photos below:
Finally, we caught the local bringing over an L&N waffle sided boxcar to the team track to be unloaded next:
This concluded the time we had to railfan. More next time…
Obviously since I primarily model the Penn Central there is a historical society of which I belong to that I recommend if you’re a follower of the railroad and that’s the Penn Central Railroad Historical Society at: https://www.pcrrhs.org/
Also coming soon to the layout are at least two to start background flat buildings from PTF Designs on eBay, both about 1/2” deep. One is a set of 5 weathered tanks that will go behind the fuel oil/gasoline dealer while the other is a 15” long industrial building that will go next to it behind the trees between the fuel dealer and railroad yard office. Look for an update when these arrive….
Coming in the next day or two will be several blog posts on operating the layout recently so hopefully stay tuned…!
Coming soon to the layout are these excellent looking HO scale figures, which I’ll have custom painted: https://ymw-modelu.com/product-category/modern-era/page/3/
Recent layout work included painting and weathering the previous limestone colored ballast with the addition of replicating some brand new ties here and there. I painted all of this with three different Vallejo paint colors to try to closely match the color of Arizona Rock & Minerals yard mix ballast. More photos below:
Please be sure to head over to my website for my weathering services at: https://theweatheringdepot.com/ . I’ve done commission work for modelers around the country, and weather models for my eBay store by the same name. Some examples below of my work:
It’s the details! Details make a layout I believe. Details abound in the real world around us, signs, weeds, trash, junk, light and utility poles, fire hydrants, etc., etc. All of these can be found on my layout along with dirty, full dumpsters to weathered vehicles to the people who populate the area. Here’s a few more of those little details:
Just a shout out to all those looking at this website for my layout for the fact it just turned over 10,000 views yesterday! So a BIG thank...
