Iron Belt layout - track laid (plan w/photos)

[CSX_road_slug]

To prove that my private pike really exists (well...almost), I am posting a track plan and a few photos of the 'raw' trackage in its current state of existence [under construction and horribly messy]. Please note, the track has not yet been permanently attached so it may look a little bit 'squiggly' in some views. I hope to start leveling and fastening the track shortly, after which I'll do the initial covering of raw wood/styrofoam surfaces with latex paint - the actual scenery itself will probablt take years. After the latex is applied, I'll put on the steel mill structures and start running some trains! :cool:

One more disclaimer: What I've laid is not 100% identical to the track plan of one year ago. But my beloved prototype B&O didn't always stick to her original plans either, so I don't feel too guilty! :p And none of my non-industrial structures [houses, stores etc.] are shown on the map.


Latest track plan (as of October 2005):
http://trainweb.org/ironbelt/layout_sm_20051105_w_access.gif


Southern end staging yard, looking West, with mill spur and slag pit in foreground.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/afg.jpg


Southeast corner, facing north: Mill throat trackage.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/afh.jpg


Panoramic view of steel mill trackage, facing West.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/afi.jpg


Southeast corner, looking South, with staging yard spur merging into main line.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/afj.jpg


Eastern length, looking North: Main line on left, passing siding on right.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/afk.jpg


Northeast corner, facing north, with coal mine spur branching off to the left.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/afl.jpg


Coal mine trackage, looking West.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/afm.jpg


Northern length, facing West, with convergence of passing siding into main line.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/afn.jpg


Northern length, with single-track main line snaking Westward into the distance.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/afo.jpg

[dthurman]

Ken

Very nice, are you doing this all by yourself?

[CSX_road_slug]

Ken

Very nice, are you doing this all by yourself?

Thanx Dave! Yep, I can't afford to hire Dave Frary & Co. :D

[dthurman]

Thanx Dave! Yep, I can't afford to hire Dave Frary & Co. :D


Why hire them when you can use all the resources on the web ;) I did all mine by myself, it actually went pretty quick once I got focused. Well not done but enough to run trains without bluegrass :)

[NWR #200]

Like your big iron boat there. You best listen to Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" when you build that! Always happy to see photos of industrial railroads. Keep up the good work and keep us informed :)

[CSX_road_slug]

Like your big iron boat there. You best listen to Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" when you build that! Always happy to see photos of industrial railroads. Keep up the good work and keep us informed :)
Thanx Seth, I know all about the "Fitz", and how Lightfoot made that wreck a legend among all shipwrecks [and there have been an awful lot of them, sadly to say]. A friend of mine in Ontario is building a model of the Fitz, mine is a Cleveland Cliffs vessel.

[dthurman]

Can't wait to see the play by play photo's as you start building more. Sure hope you will record the progress for us in digital :) For sure the Cleveland Cliff.

[CSX_road_slug]

Can't wait to see the play by play photo's as you start building more. ... For sure the Cleveland Cliff.
"Ask and ye shall receive..." ;) :D

http://trainweb.org/ironbelt/ore_bridge/finished_model.jpg

[SpaceMouse]

Nice layout and that crane is way cool!

[SpaceMouse]

Nice layout and that crane is way cool!

[CSX_road_slug]

Nice layout and that crane is way cool!
Thanx Chip! (make it a double ;) )

[dthurman]

I remember as a kid, must have been 5 or 6 my dad had a model boat, not like yours, but it had all the rigging and sails and stuff, I have thought about it from time to time and wondered what scale it would have been.

Is that an HO scale or smaller? I imagine you have to use a lot of selective compression for a boat that size to even fit in the room for HO.

[CSX_road_slug]

Is that an HO scale or smaller? I imagine you have to use a lot of selective compression for a boat that size to even fit in the room for HO.
That's right it's HO. The ship is compressed to ~75% width-wise, 65% lengthwise; the ore bridge is compressed to ~60% lengthwise, but full HO scale for the height and width.

[jbaakko]

Thats a beautiful ship, do I see "Marquette" written on her!? Funny, if so, cause I've seen many pics of her, docked loading, in Marquette, lol...

[CSX_road_slug]

Thats a beautiful ship, do I see "Marquette" written on her!? Funny, if so, cause I've seen many pics of her, docked loading, in Marquette, lol...
Thanx! That isn't an exact prototype, I never saw any references to the actual Marquette on boatnerd.com or any of those other GL-shipping web sites. But I knew that Cleveland-Cliffs named their boats for the various port towns where they had docks, and I knew Marquette, MI was one of them, so I figured that would be a good name. Then a week after I had her painted, a friend of mine with a huge personal library of rail/marine history material faxes me a picture of the [i]real one! :rolleyes: Oh well, I'm not gonna change anything at this point...

[grande man]

Ken, the RR is looking good! Have fun. I'm waiting for some more pics... :)

[CSX_road_slug]

Ken, the RR is looking good! Have fun. I'm waiting for some more pics... :)
Thanx Eric, I'm 'latexing' all the wide-open bare spots right now. When I have the first layer on I'll post some photos of that.

[NZRMac]

Looks great Ken, I'm looking forward to more pics too.
Your making more changes to track or this is the final plan?

Ken.

[CSX_road_slug]

Looks great Ken, I'm looking forward to more pics too.
Your making more changes to track or this is the final plan?
Funny you should mention that Ken [did you see my latest post on your thread?] :D I was remembering all the fun I had when SpaceMouse had me run a 'local' on his club's layout last month, and decided I just had to add some more trackside industries of my own. That's what I've been working on during free time over the last 24 hours.

The track plan in the diagram is two 'generations' old - I've simply been too lazy to reinstall the AbraCAData software on my PC and update it. The benchwork came out a foot longer than I planned it :o , so that gave me some extra real estate between the East side of the steel mill and the main line [visible in the 5th photo] - just enough for a few more sidings and some "false front" buildings. More pics are in the pipeline!

[RexHea]

Outstanding layout design, Ken. I don't know how I managed to miss this thread until now. You are going to have a world of fun with this. Now, I wish that I had put more thought in my steel making complex. Gads! I am envious.:)
How about posting the steel mill area over on the steel making thread so I can find it easily (I'm getting forgetful:o)

[zeis96]

Ken,
What are the dimensions of your layout?
It looks outstanding!

[CSX_road_slug]

Ken,
What are the dimensions of your layout?
It looks outstanding!Well thanx Aaron!:)

My train room is a two-car garage with 22'x19' open floor space; the outermost benchwork dimensions are 17'x15'. Here's a link to the diagram, each square on the grid is 1 foot, the dark gray areas are the aisles/walkways:
http://trainweb.org/ironbelt/layout_sm_20051105_w_access.gif

[grande man]

Are you planning to do different eras? Maybe run B&O at times and CSX at other times? I love the steel theme, but was wondering what you plan to run.

[CSX_road_slug]

Are you planning to do different eras? Maybe run B&O at times and CSX at other times? I love the steel theme, but was wondering what you plan to run.
I have some structures for the late-1960's theme, and others for contemporary. They'll be easily interchangeable depending on whether I decide to run B&O or CSX.

[grande man]

I have some structures for the late-1960's theme, and others for contemporary. They'll be easily interchangeable depending on whether I decide to run B&O or CSX.

An early CSX theme would allow some cool stuff to be run. Have you considered 1986 for "CSX night"? You've got many great options. I can't wait to see where you go with it.

[CSX_road_slug]

An early CSX theme would allow some cool stuff to be run. Have you considered 1986 for "CSX night"? You've got many great options. I can't wait to see where you go with it.
As a C&O derivative, they always have a wide mishmash of schemes - always experimenting. My pike will have lots of vintage B&O/C&O, a pinch of Chessie, some "stealth", and a whole lotta "bright future".

...
Hmmm...shouldn't you be helping the missus prepare for the Turkey Fest?:p

(Yeah I got a lot of room to talk, I know...)

[modelbob]

Duplicate image for featured photos promo

[enjineerbill]

Ken just found this thread. OMG!!! that crane is Friggin' awesome. Sorry about the language. Wow. Makes me want to do one, but I'll leave that up to you. Very nice indeed:) :cool: .

In your photo of the southeast portion where the leads and main converge, there is what looks to be styrofoam with kerfs. Is this a commercially made product or did you do that? When I build that would come in handy.

Johnny

[Steve B]

Hey guys check out Kens web site, you think the cran and ships are awsome check out the blast furnace and BOF, awsome stuff Ken, it will look superb on the layout

http://trainweb.org/ironbelt/

[CSX_road_slug]

Thanx Johnny for the kind words!:) I'll need to go back and re-examine the photo you're asking about, before I can give an "intelligent" answer...

[CSX_road_slug]

Hey guys check out Kens web site, you think the cran and ships are awsome check out the blast furnace and BOF, awsome stuff Ken, it will look superb on the layout

Thanx Steve for the "plug" for my old website, I stopped advertising it because my photography skills back then were sub-par, plus alot of the images with simulated hot metal were...digitally doctored:o. I didn't realize in those days of blissful ignorance, how much that practice is despised in the model railroading community!

[RexHea]

Digitally Doctored? Oh My!

Hahaha! Ken, you have heard it before... it is really looking good.

[CSX_road_slug]

Hi yall,

With all of the pre-Christmas activity going on, I aven't really had much time to make any dramatic changes to the Iron Belt layout recently. As some of the photos indicate, my track is still not all permanently leveled and/or secured. Before I put all the rolling stock back on, I want to get an initial layer of latex on all the unfinished areas so they won't have that ugly "plywood pacific" appearance. Just as important, I need to get all the tracks painted and the roadbed ballasted - that would be extremely difficult for me (psychologically at least) to do once I have trains sitting all over it!:D

Anyway, I figured I could post a few pics of what I've been doing a little bit each day over the past 40 days. Don't be alarmed when you see paint glopped all over the track in some areas - I've test-run trains over all of it since then and they did not hesitate anywhere.

Here is what the staging yard currently looks like:
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/ahf.jpg

These are the tools and supplies I needed. Note the label on the top of the paint can, always save that so you can get more of exactly the same blend when you inevitably run out.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/ahg.jpg

Since I wanted to avoid splashing any paint on the moving parts of turnouts, I used a micro-fine brush to apply paint to the ties and ground beneath them...
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/ahh.jpg

...and for everything else, a 1-inch diameter stiff-bristle brush for glopping and shoving paint onto, and completely around, the track and ties:
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/ahi.jpg

When the paint was semi-dried, I used a 1-inch scrap of roadbed cork to wipe, or scrape [if dried] the paint from the tops of the rails. Cork is the optimum material for this job, since it is firm enough to avoid sagging and wiping the ties, yet soft enough not to scratch the nickel silver rails.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/ahj.jpg

...and thats "the way it is" as of Saturday, December 3, 2005! :D

[RexHea]

I knew you had to be getting something done and it looks like a lot. ;) You are wise to get as much done as you can before you attempt any serious operating. It is very hard to have operatius interruptus once you get ops fever. Sometimes I have to tell my self...'only a test run'...'only a test run'... and finally an hour or so later I will get back to work.:o :D

[Steve B]

Ken, that looks a bit drastic with the big brush but it's a good way of doing it, my paint's on order so i can try it for my self, Never mind the [b]Digitally Doctored pictures on your web site, They are GREAT

[CSX_road_slug]

[b]Ken, that looks a bit drastic with the big brush but it's a good way of doing it, my paint's on order so i can try it for my self
Steve - and anybody else thinking of trying this approach - please make sure your tracks are soldered either (1) directly to feeder wires or (2) to an adjoining section that is hard-wired. Don't glop paint on tracks connected ONLY by unsoldered joiners.:eek: Trust me, I made that mistake the first time I tried this on my old layout 10 years ago and paid dearly for it...:o

[lginc]

OMG!:eek: OMG!:eek: i JUST found this thread, and i JUST came back from your website.:eek: i seen the crane, the ship, etc.:eek: CRIPES Ken, YOU are one heck of an AWESOME modeler!!:eek::D;) oh man Ken, i feel about this big(reduces the space between my fingers to the size of a spec of dust). i wish i had known this thread existed long before tonight. i had NO idea, just happened to LUCK out and find it.:eek::o:D this forum is so big, and i just quickly scan through half of it, heck, there are sections i haven't even been in yet.:o GLAD i found this thread tonight, cant wait to see more progress.;) GREAT WORK! Ken,:D -Dean

[ak-milw]

Ken,
Looks like you should be able to get a few cars in that yard!! By the way ,I love the monster brush.:eek:
:cool:

[CSX_road_slug]

Dean, thanx for the compliments...but gosh you're embarassing me!:o The 'hidden cost' of my obsession with those large structures is that I allowed other critical skills (esp. tracklaying and electrical) to atrophy, that's part of the reason it took almost 5 years for me to get off my hindquarters and build a layout for those things to live on. If it wasn't for people here and on the "other forum" guiding me along the way, I'd never have gotten to this point!

Andy - that's my staging yard toward the left of the picture, I haven't quite decided what I want to do with those 'dead-end' [not yet painted] tracks on the right - probably a small diesel service facility, since one of them is my DCC programming track. As for the 'monster brush', I needed that to be able to shove the latex paint under- and between the ties; the dispoable sponge brushes I had been using simply didn't 'cut it' for covering those hard-to-reach bare spots.

[enjineerbill]

For cryin' out loud man, Youve been kickin' butt and takin' names!! Ken it looks awesome!. I forgot about this thread. Sure am glad I stumbled back into it. How many cars that yard gonna hold?

I couldn't resist the Toby Keith thing, seen the video? It's a hoot!

I really like what your doing and the way it's all designed. I'm sure, just by the size of it, you must be proud with the way it's looking so far. Incredible. Keep up the great work.

Merry Christmas,
Johnny

[CSX_road_slug]

Thanx for the kinds words Johnny, and a MERRY CHRISTMAS to you too!


I couldn't resist the Toby Keith thing, seen the video? It's a hoot!
I hardly ever get to those music sites, but if you want to send me a link to it I'd sure like to see it.:D

I really like what your doing and the way it's all designed. I'm sure, just by the size of it, you must be proud with the way it's looking so far. Incredible... Interesting, I've never thought of it as being particularly 'huge' (probably because of the time I've spent at Jim Brewer's), guess it depends on one's frame of reference.

[CSX_road_slug]

12-31-05:
I'm now at the point where I can begin de-mothballing my steel mill structures and placing them back on the layout. I never expected 100% smooth sailing to begin with, so I wasn't surprised to discover that - after laying all of the trackwork associated with the blast furnace, highline and ore unloading dock - the ore bridge was approximately 2 inches too long to fully clear the skip hoist (see 1st photo below). However, after examining several prototype photos of ore bridges, I learned that I could gain the necessary clearance by cutting off the rectangular section of the span point farthest inland. Luckily I had my trusty Dremel and exactly one unused fiberglas cutting wheel left. I've included both a "before" and "after" image of the ore bridge and partially-assembled blast furnace.

In the first preliminary mockup photo, it is obvious that the ore bridge will never clear the skip hoist (see green-circled area). Relocating the blast furnace casthouse and highline is NOT an option. Proposed solution: Eliminate the leftmost recangular section of the ore bridge span.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/aib.jpg

Here is the ore bridge after undergoing its corrective 'surgery'. It still resembles a prototype ore bridge, while fully covering both highline tracks.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kenlarsen/aic.jpg

My next task is to finish re-assembling the blast furnace. I'll probably have to repair or, in some cases, fully rebuild some of the components - especially if rodent families have taken up residence in any of the storage boxes during these last 3 years :rolleyes: ...

[dthurman]

Ken

You are a very brave man to attack that work with a Dremmel. I would be choking back tears the whole time.

Impressive stuff.

[CSX_road_slug]

You are a very brave man to attack that work with a Dremmel. Actually David, a Dremel was my only option because the span is made of brass. The job wasn't too difficult though since I was only trimming off an end piece and didn't need to re-attach anything.

[dthurman]

I have a Dremmel though I have yet to use it, sort of like that darn airbrush I have, I have used it 2 X's. Call me chicken.

Looks like your coming along nicely with the railroad. How long before I can start shipping you all our scrap steel?

[CSX_road_slug]

I'd guesstimate early spring - perhaps April 1?:D

Hopefully sooner than that actually, but the way these 'issues' (both MRR and non-MRR-related) keep coming up, I need to give myself plenty of wiggle-room...

At the very least, if Grande Man makes the February photo contest theme 'Industrial Switching', I want to be ready for that.

[jbaakko]

Cool, can I get some run through steel coils headed to LA? :P

[dthurman]

Well I also do need some steel coils for the vending machines at one of our plants, I even have a CSX Steel Coil only gondola I bought just so I can use that quality steel from Ken's customer ;)

http://www.mgsharp.com/images/Microtrains_2005/105-00-120_500px.jpg

[RexHea]

Hey KenL! I hate to be a dumb butt, but as I have said I have much to learn about the steel making. Does the ore come in by ship...up the bridge...and over to the blast furnace skip hoist? How does it get to the skip hoist?

Heck! Guess you need to explain it from the beginning to me in 500 words or less.:confused: :confused:

[lginc]

Ken, i read the post with the new pics this morning. sadly, for some odd reason i couldn't get the pics up. when i read you had to use the dremel tool to take off part of the bridge, i cringed. seeing the pics now, looks like that did the trick quite well. if i wouldn't have seen the first pic, i never would have noticed;). looks like you are coming along GREAT!:D cant wait to see more progress! THANKS:), -Dean

[CSX_road_slug]

Hey KenL! I ... have much to learn about the steel making. Does the ore come in by ship...up the bridge...and over to the blast furnace skip hoist? How does it get to the skip hoist? :confused:

An understandable question, from anybody who's never lived around the Great Lakes!:D Here's the deal:

An ore bridge is actually a travelling overhead crane. The entire structure can be moved sideways in either direction (see image #1). Hanging from the span is a trolley with a large [~12-15 tons capacity] clamshell bucket. First, the bucket gets lowered into the ship to scoop-up a load of ore (see image #2); then it deposits its load into the stockpiling bin (see image #3). Later, it scoops up ore from the stockpile and dumps it into a transfer car [a sort of self-propelled hopper car] on an elevated track known as the highline (see image #4), which in turn loads the ore in measured amounts into buckets on the skip hoist.

...Any further questions?

[CSX_road_slug]

Dean - thanx for stopping by!:)

Josh and David - I'd love to do the virtual interchange thing but I'm not sure I can keep up with it - unless there's some sort of 'autopilot' mode...:D

[jbaakko]

I say autopilot would work the best, I.E. every saturday 2x loads shipped out for... LA, and 3x for, say NYC?

[CSX_road_slug]

OK Josh, 2 coil loads for L.A. and 3 for New York, every Saturday? I'll have my traffic manager set you right up!:D

[dthurman]

Well Ken, if you could schedule 1 coil car load every 2 weeks, I would be most greatful, just tell me the name of the company that we are getting the coils from, and what you feel will work for routing, we connect with the UP in Villa Grove IL, that's about as far east a connection as we have, or CSX also owns some trackage in Henry IL that would connect with Iowa Interstate, then interchange with P&PU in Peoria IL and we would pickup from their yard in East Peoria, or if others have a better route, we could use them to get it here. We would dedicate the CSXT 497017 to captive service, as well as maybe get a Railgon to send a carload of baled steel your way ;)

Let Dave our Traffic Manager know. He has to write up the waybills:rolleyes:

[CSX_road_slug]

OK David, the company is United States Steel - Haughschnaegel* Rolled Products Division near Conneaut, OH. CSX has trackage rights on the Iron Belt from that city to Cleveland, where your gon can be routed to the closest CSX-served city for your convenience! I'll hand this off to my traffic manager and let him work out the details with your TM...:D

* 'Hock' for shorthand...

[dthurman]

Thanks, I will look at the system maps tomorrow and get a route lined up, I can send you what it is, that way if you are using car cards and waybills or whatever method to track your cars we can be in sync :)

Donka shane (sp)

[CSX_road_slug]

Donka shane (sp)Vilkommen!:D

[RexHea]

Thanks Ken for the info. Now I know what the heck your talking about. I somehow thought it was a converyor. The bridge crane/clamshell operations is how they unload coal barges on the river. Man, that thing is going to look really good when you get it done.

This is a picture I took at the Wrecking Crews layout of an unloading crane at work on the Warrior River. Although not exactly the same type, it does a similar job. The crane was scratchbuilt by one of the members. If Carey sees this he can add some details to this post.

[jbaakko]

So, Ken, how does this process change with the Self Unloaders? Or do they just unload through the hatches with the clamshell, and turn the unloader away?

Thanks on the interchange, I think we can dig up scrap, or, well hey I can get ANYTHING pretty much. I think I found some boxcars for my RR's fleet of custom cars... Does your RR own Steel Cars?

[CSX_road_slug]

This is a picture I took at the Wrecking Crews layout of an unloading crane at work on the Warrior River. Although not exactly the same type, it does a similar job. The crane was scratchbuilt by one of the members. If Carey sees this he can add some details to this post.
You got it Rex - smaller size, same concept. Some of my fellow mill modelers were using that type of crane on their layouts before Walthers introduced their own ore bridge (http://walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2906).

So, Ken, how does this process change with the Self Unloaders?
It eliminates Step 1 of the process, but the clamshell is still necessary to move the ore from the stockpile to the transfer car. The drawbridge-like extensions on the Great Lakes ore bridges have been continuosly in the 'up' position for probably the past 10 years at least.

... I think I found some boxcars for my RR's fleet of custom cars... Does your RR own Steel Cars?Yeah Josh it does (~10), except people might not know it yet because they are painted for other roads (not Iron Belt) ;) .

[CSX_road_slug]

This is a picture I took at the Wrecking Crews layout of an unloading crane at work on the Warrior River. Although not exactly the same type, it does a similar job. The crane was scratchbuilt by one of the members. If Carey sees this he can add some details to this post.
You got it Rex - smaller size, same concept. Some of my fellow mill modelers were using that type of crane on their layouts before Walthers introduced their own ore bridge (http://walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2906).

So, Ken, how does this process change with the Self Unloaders?
It eliminates Step 1 of the process, but the clamshell is still necessary to move the ore from the stockpile to the transfer car. The drawbridge-like extensions on the Great Lakes ore bridges have been continuosly in the 'up' position for probably the past 10 years at least.

... I think I found some boxcars for my RR's fleet of custom cars... Does your RR own Steel Cars?Yeah Josh it does (~10), except people might not know it yet because they are painted for other roads (not Iron Belt) ;) .

[jbaakko]

It eliminates Step 1 of the process, but the clamshell is still necessary to move the ore from the stockpile to the transfer car. The drawbridge-like extensions on the Great Lakes ore bridges have been continuosly in the 'up' position for probably the past 10 years at least.
I see... Sounds intreresting! I miss those big ships, when they'd either do one of a few things in my hometown:
1. Stop over for a storm
2. Pass through the canal because of a storm
3. Pass through cause they were late
4. the annual salt unloading...

Yeah Josh it does (~10), except people might not know it yet because they are painted for other roads (not Iron Belt) ;) .
Ahh, so, I *could* make one or two myself later on... :-P

[shorty]

thats so cool i want a layout like that

[CSX_road_slug]

thats so cool i want a layout like that
Thanx Nick, but if you actually saw it in real life you'd probably not be that impressed...:D

[CSX_road_slug]

I've finally installed the trio of structures that unmistakably identify my Iron Belt layout as being steel mill-centered:
a blast furnace, an ore bridge [a.k.a. traveling overhead crane] and a Great Lakes ore boat.
Even though the layout is still far from "complete" - i.e., ready to accept locos and rolling stock - I still consider the
setup of these structures a major milestone, due to all the tweaking that was necessary to make them fit in their limited space.
[NOTE: The MDF boards used as backgrounds in the photos are only there temporarily
for the duration of the photo shoot.]

We'll start wih a panoramic view of the forward end of the SS Marquette, with the open clamshell bucket silhouetted against
the 'blue sky' MDF backdrop hovering over the ore stockpile. At left is the rotary dumper, which receives unit trains of bituminous coal
for the coke ovens (not yet installed). The ore and limestone are received by water from mines in Minnesota and northern Michigan.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/IronBeltBlastFurnace01/bf_boat_and_bridge_01.jpg



Next, we have a close-up view of the outbound staging track for emptied coal hoppers.
Each individual car, after being dumped, glides down the exit track via gravity and onto the dock track.
As soon as ten (10) empty hopper cars have accumulated on the dock, they must be cleared - moved to an outbound staging yard -
to make room for more.
In the beginning of operations, and for the forseeable future, the rotary dumper will be powered by the Hand Of Providence -
dumping live coal loads into a bucket under the layout. [Some years from now if I feel really ambitious then I'll motorize it.]
20-car unit trains of coal hoppers will be run point-to-point between here and a kitbashed New River mine,
where the recycled coal will be reloaded.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/IronBeltBlastFurnace01/bf_bridge_and_boat_02.jpg



Panning toward the right, we have a view of the forward house of the SS Marquette,
named after an ore-mining town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Back in 1962, I saw a color photo in Colliers Encyclopidia of the Cleveland-Cliffs vessel Ishpeming
being gently pulled away from dockside by a tugboat on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH; ever since
then I have always dreamed of replicating that scene (still need to find a decent scale model of a Great Lakes harbor tug though!).
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/IronBeltBlastFurnace01/marquette_fwd_closeup.jpg



Moving toward the aft end of the Marquette, we have a full panoramic view of her looking forward. Since I lacked
an adequate supply of sky-blue MDF for a backdrop, I needed to digitally superimpose some light-blue
coloring in the upper left-hand corner to cover up cluttered shelves and other eyesores.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/IronBeltBlastFurnace01/marquette_aft_three_qtr_view.jpg



Zooming in, this aft-end view emphasizes the ore bridge and the blast furnace with her three stoves.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/IronBeltBlastFurnace01/marquette_aft_closeup.jpg



Finally, in this close-up view of Marquette's stern, we see Ol' Glory flying the colors that never run!
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/IronBeltBlastFurnace01/ole_glory_flyin.jpg

How the Photos Were Staged

Getting views such as these required serious 'manipulation' of the surroundings as one might imagine. Sky-blue-colored insulating foam board
(MDF) had to be positioned immediately behind the larger structures not only to provide a contrasting background, but also
to hide the various tools and debris that still litter the under-construction layout. Furthermore, that murky-green river occupies
an aisle that is kept open at all other times. So this layout will have two possible ways to exist: 'operation' mode or 'photo' mode.

Once I finished installing the structures, I needed to get some triangular shelf brackets.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/harbor_support_brackets.jpg

These had to be loosely attached to the benchwork via wood screws, at a level that would leave the top edge of a
sheet of painted MDF flush with the shelf supporting the Marquette.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/harbor_support_brackets02.jpg



Next, the MDF painted in the same color of river-bottom silt was laid upon the shelf brackets...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/silt_colored_MDF.jpg



...then covered with the dark-green cellophane to create a murky freshwater harbor like
those typically found on the shores of the lower Great Lakes.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/aisle_under_water.jpg

Now it's time to install to remaining steel mill structures: coke ovens, basic
oxygen furnace, etc.

[jbaakko]

Simply BEAUTIFUL KEN! I love the draw of Great Lakes shipping, RR'ing and Mining. IIRC there was a site, that described 2 good examples of Great lakes tug boats, but heck if I could find it. I'd direct you to check out Resin Unlimited, but if seems their domain expired!!!! I think they have a tugboat. I KNOW they had some NICE Ore Frighters, more modern though, like the Fitz...

Keep it up! I gotta get this ITC gondola weathered so that it can haul scap...

[CSX_road_slug]

Simply BEAUTIFUL KEN! I love the draw of Great Lakes shipping, RR'ing and Mining. IIRC there was a site, that described 2 good examples of Great lakes tug boats, but heck if I could find it. I'd direct you to check out Resin Unlimited, but if seems their domain expired!!!! I think they have a tugboat. I KNOW they had some NICE Ore Frighters, more modern though, like the Fitz...

Keep it up! I gotta get this ITC gondola weathered so that it can haul scap...
Interesting that you should mention about Resin Unlimited, Josh - I have an interesting story to tell about that :D , but I don't have time to type it right this moment (gotta put my youngest one to bed)...I'll come back to it later, remind me if I forget...

[dthurman]

I gotta get this ITC gondola weathered so that it can haul scap...

I want to see the Illinois Terminal gondola. They ran threw Morton IL when I was a kid, they are my second love for a railroad. Too bad they got borged by N&W/NS :(

[CSX_road_slug]

Interesting that you should mention about Resin Unlimited, Josh - I have an interesting story to tell about that :D , but I don't have time to type it right this moment (gotta put my youngest one to bed)...I'll come back to it later, remind me if I forget...

OK where was I at? Oh yeah, Resin Unlimited...When I sold my previous home I made a nice profit on it, so I had a little spending money. I figured I would buy a model of the Fitz so I could have a Great Lakes steel mill like I had always wanted. So I placed an order for one thru Peach Creek Shops. RUI kept pushing back the release date of when they would start shipping their Fitz models, so I eventually got frustrated and went with Sylvan instead.

Anyway, what apparently had happened with RUI was, they never realized how extremely difficult it is to mass-produce large resin castings and have them all fit together perfectly - this had never been obvious to them while they were individually casting the different sections of their "pilot" model. Now there was no way they could charge the advertised price for their Fitz model and make a profit if they did the castings the same way they did for the "show" model, so they quietly withdrew it - what a shame!:(

It worked out better for me in the end though, since this smaller Sylvan hull barely fits on my layout as it is - and it's 30 inches shorter than the Fitz!

[jbaakko]

Yeah, I'm begining to wonder if something happened to them? They had a few things I wanted. Oh well I guess I'll just track down that Resin UP Turbine, and then a Lionel one, and the Tower 55 one when they release it.

[RexHea]

Outstanding KenL!
All this good work you are accomplishing is putting a little fire under me to get more done instead of standing around thinking about it.;) :)

[CSX_road_slug]

Outstanding KenL!
All this good work you are accomplishing is putting a little fire under me to get more done instead of standing around thinking about it.;) :)
Ah but you HAVE indeed accomplished a lot, mon ami... Tsunamies, signal wiring, etc. - I'm not even anywhere close to that point yet!

[CSX_road_slug]

In spite of all the hoopla over the blast furnace/Lakeboat photos, that was stuff I did two weeks ago. Here's what I did today - added another spur in the town of East Minister to be used as an interchange track for surplus coal hoppers. Some of you may have seen another thread I posted about whether I could simultaneously have unit trains passing thru it, and park a handful of empty hoppers there. The feedback I got from other forum members, was that it would not be something seen in any prototype mine, it is either all of one or all of the other. But the other day, a solution jumped out at me: I could use the empty space where a second track had formerly occupied my mainline right-of-way, to install an interchange track capable of holding 8-10 hopper cars. Between op sessions, the empty hoppers would travel over an off-layout shortline to various small family-owned coal mines, and full hoppers from these mines would in turn be spotted for pickup on the interchange track. Problem solved - I could once again include a string of coal hoppers in my way freight's switch list as I originally wanted!

Here are two photos looking at the sleepy little town of East Minister. (Please ignore the piles of disassembled industrial architecture in the background... :o ) In the 'before' shot, you can see [on the right] where some leftover cork roadbed sits unused - this used to be a convergence of two mainline tracks when this piece of my layout was a standalone module:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/East_Minister_before_interchange_tr.jpg

So I picked up an Atlas Custom-Line #6 left-hand turnout and installed that directly upon the spot where the previous junction had been, attached ~54 linear inches of FlexTrack onto the right, and - voila! - there was my interchange!
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/East_Minister__after_interchange_tr.jpg

[jbaakko]

Beautiful Ken, can't wait to see it sceniced!

[HaggisKennedy]

Purty neat. I guess that's how the real RRs do it also, find some use for the track that's already there....

PS. Commenting on the Lake Boat...., What? You didn't go with a Hulett?

http://web.ulib.csuohio.edu/SpecColl/glihc/hulett/
http://www.citizensvision.org/home-hm/

:D

Kennedy

[CSX_road_slug]

...PS. Commenting on the Lake Boat...., What? You didn't go with a Hulett?http://web.ulib.csuohio.edu/SpecColl/glihc/hulett/
http://www.citizensvision.org/home-hm/
:D
I agree a pair of Huletts (they're like Lays potato chips, can't have only one) would look much better, and maybe someday I'll build them. But as for today I need to get some trains running to keep my interest alive!;)

[grande man]

In spite of all the hoopla over the blast furnace/Lakeboat photos, that was stuff I did two weeks ago. Here's what I did today - added another spur in the town of East Minister to be used as an interchange track for surplus coal hoppers. Some of you may have seen another thread I posted about whether I could simultaneously have unit trains passing thru it, and park a handful of empty hoppers there. The feedback I got from other forum members, was that it would not be something seen in any prototype mine, it is either all of one or all of the other. But the other day, a solution jumped out at me: I could use the empty space where a second track had formerly occupied my mainline right-of-way, to install an interchange track capable of holding 8-10 hopper cars. Between op sessions, the empty hoppers would travel over an off-layout shortline to various small family-owned coal mines, and full hoppers from these mines would in turn be spotted for pickup on the interchange track. Problem solved - I could once again include a string of coal hoppers in my way freight's switch list as I originally wanted!

Here are two photos looking at the sleepy little town of East Minister. (Please ignore the piles of disassembled industrial architecture in the background... :o ) In the 'before' shot, you can see [on the right] where some leftover cork roadbed sits unused - this used to be a convergence of two mainline tracks when this piece of my layout was a standalone module:

So I picked up an Atlas Custom-Line #6 left-hand turnout and installed that directly upon the spot where the previous junction had been, attached ~54 linear inches of FlexTrack onto the right, and - voila! - there was my interchange!

Great idea Ken. I like the looks of it. The extra track also adds visual appeal to the scene. Good work!

[CSX_road_slug]

Great idea Ken. I like the looks of it. The extra track also adds visual appeal to the scene. Good work! Thanx Eric, I guess that's an unplanned "side benefit" (no pun intended) of a track that is really nothing more than a parking lot for excess hopper cars;)

[CSX_road_slug]

[LATER EDIT - the following text and pictures were inserted on February 12, 2006:]

BOF Buildings Described

The following paragraphs attempt to explain how a rectangular plexiglas box, combined with two Walther Eleltric Arc Furnace building shells, morphed into an HO scale Basic Oxygen Furnace melt shop. A friend of mine asked me for measurements and under-construction photos, so I partially disassembled the mill to allow for some shots of the rectangular section and the modified EAF buildings. [The ingot teeming area, which is merely covered by a Walthers Rolling Mill building, will not be discussed at this time.]

Rectangular Building

To help create an illusion of enormous size, a rectangular addition had to be added to the pair of EAF buildings that housed the charging area. Obviously standard Evergreen styrene sheet wouldn't have the required rigidity for such a large area (24"Lx10"Wx20"H), so I used 0.25"-thick plexiglas instead. A friend of mine, who owned a table saw with a blade specially-suited for cutting this type of material, was kind enough to cut the desired shapes for me.

The following GIF image attempts to show the shapes and measurements of the plexiglas pieces that were used to form the rectanglar building section. [NOTE: Due to space limitations, I needed to cut a 3" high, 16" long opening along the bottom of the rear wall to allow passage of trains - you may not need to do that with your own structure.] Since I was able to use Evergreen 0.125"-thick styrene for the roof, I ommitted that 9.5" by 23.5" sheet from the measurement diagram to save space.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/BOF_rect_box_diagrams.gif


The next JPEG image shows a view of the front with the twin EAF buildings removed. I coated the interior walls generously with flat black paint to create the illusion of a large, caverous interior - I could not allow the reflected light from the 40watt BOF light bulb to spoil that effect. I later discovered that I would need to drape a layer of aluminum foil (also painted black) over the BOF vessel enclosure to prevent 'stray' light from escaping.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/BOF_rect_box_front_view.jpg


Here is a view of the rear wall, rarely seen by visitors, so I have not yet gotten around to "beautifying" this area. The tiny supporting "column" in the lower right-hand corner was cemented on, since attempting to make a right-angle cut on a sheet of quarter-inch plexiglas would be not only impractical, but dangerous as well!
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/BOF_rect_box_rear_view.jpg


This view of one of the ends was the best I could hope to get without totally dismantling the entire structure. If I would have had the foresight to completely cover the raw plexiglas with a layer of flat black paint before applying the zinc-chromate red, that unwanted "fiber-optic" effect visible in the left corner would not be a problem!:o
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/BOF_rect_box_side_view.jpg

Modified Walthers EAF Buildings

Now let's have a look at the two Walthers EAF buildings, which house the area "where the action is." The first image shows a 3/4-angle view into the side that sits adjacent to the furnace vessel, with the overhead crane and charging ladle still in position:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/BOF_EAF_bldg_furn_side_view1.jpg

Here is another view of the rear of the same structure, showing the cutout area [to allow access to the furnace] and the covering of painted aluminum foil to contain stray light:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/BOF_EAF_bldg_furn_side_view2.jpg


Next, we have a 3/4-angle view into the second of the two modified EAF structures. This covers what I call the "receiving" area, where the bottle cars discharge their hot pig iron into the charging ladle in a pit, and scrap metal is unloaded from gondola cars into a special charging bucket. Unlike the furnace-side structure, the rear wall has been left intact - but the front wall has been cut open to allow easier viewing of the BOF vessel and charging platform.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/BOF_EAF_bldg_rcvg_side_view1.jpg


As with the first modified Walthers building, the rear has been shrouded in aluminum foil to prevent the bright light the the 40watt BOF bulb from shining thru:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/BOF_EAF_bldg_rcvg_side_view2.jpg


################################################## ######################


OK gang, here are the pictures to tell the story of what I've been working on since last Sunday.

The next major structure I'll be putting on the layout is the Basic Oxygen Furnace mill; the word 'basic' refers to the type of chemicals used in the refining process, i.e. "base" as opposed to "acid". One thing I wanted to do is portray the top opening of the vessel, where scrap metal, and liquid 'pig' iron are dumped in. At 2700 degrees F., that baby's gonna [b]glow - really bright! So what I did first, was to make a BOF vessel out of self-hardening clay since that material can endure the heat from continuous exposure to a 40watt light bulb. The bulb fits right up inside the vessel (see below); the black painted foil captures and absorbs stray light, it will NOT be visible once the building has been fully assembled.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/01_BOF_clay_vessel_in_place.jpg


Of course, a glowing light bulb by itself is not going to look right; liquid metal lies flat on the top, not hemisherical! Luckily there is a workaround:
Flames often emanate from the opening, so I can tear off a little swatch of yellow fiberglas insulation batting (below)...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/02_fiberglas_insulation_batting.jpg


...and prop it over the vessel opening, thusly... (Can't see the light bulb as easily now, can you?)
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/03_BOF_w_fiberglas.jpg


Flick the switch, and presto... we've got FIRE!
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/04_BOF_lit_up.jpg


OK, what's wrong with this picture [aside from the fact that the crane is straddling a pair of paint cans)? Answer: The second trolley that controls the tipper hook is missing! I was ready to reassemble the entire building at 6:30pm on Sunday (Jan 20), but that missing trolley stopped me dead in my tracks; I spent the next 3 hours turning that trainroom upside-down hunting for the missing pieces.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/05_missing_tipper_hook.jpg


I never did turn up the missing tipper-hook trolley, but I found these two gems that I had totally forgotten about: a cast-resin charging
ladle and scrap metal box, manufactured by a fellow steel modeler named Brandon Wehe in central Illinois.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/06_resin_ladle_and_scrap_box.jpg


I bought these items during an annual RRI/SIG meet in Pittsburgh 3 years ago, but wasn't sure I could use them. Now, since I had to scratchbuild my own replacement tram and tipper hook...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/07_new_tipper_hook_and_tram.jpg


...I may as well install a larger, wider set of J-hooks to accommodate the new ladle and scrap box:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/08_wider_J_hooks_and_new_tram.jpg


Once they were painted by Tuesday night, I was back at the point I should've been at on 6:30pm Sunday...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/09_the_way_it_shoulda_been.jpg


Here is how I plan to position the charging ladle in front of the flaming BOF:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/10_newly_painted_charging_ladle.jpg


...and here's what the scrap box looks like when ready for dumping:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/11_newly_painted_scrap_charging_box.jpg

I'm waiting until I have the trains back on the layout before snapping any more pics of the BOF shop, that's all for now...thanks for dropping by!:D

[jbaakko]

Got my interest Ken!!! Loving every bit of your layout!!

[RexHea]

KenL, the thing I hate about your steelmill posting is it makes me want to come by and see it in person, but too far away:( . I enjoy watching your progress and look forward to every photo post.

[NoSpaceOreCashRR]

Awesome ken, any steel fan would want your work:D

[CSX_road_slug]

Josh/Rex/Bob, thank you all for the encouraging feedback :o - makes the work "worth the pain" as Rex mentioned in the WPF.

BTW Rex - are you going to the National Show in Philly this year? If so, you'll be driving past my neighborhood...

[RexHea]

Don't think that I will make it to Philly, but I may take the CFO to Memphis for the SER show in June. I guess that you will just have to post more and more photos (w/sound narration, of course):D .

[dthurman]

And Ken thinks his modeling skills aren't that good. I say bull, those steel plant buildings and details, and your ideas for lighting are excellent!!!

[CSX_road_slug]

And Ken thinks his modeling skills aren't that good. I say bull, ... Thats kind of you to say David but I am comparing myself to the likes of Dean Freytag, Mike Rabbitt and Jeff Borne - all of them steel modeling legends. They were doing this kind of stuff long before Walthers ever released their series of steel mill kits that got me started.

[CSX_road_slug]

Last weekend (01-20-06) I was preparing o reinstall the building for my Basic Oxygen Furnace mill, when I ran into some last-minute "issues" (which were discussed in a previous post here). Well, this picks up where I left off back then.

In the first image, I've placed the West end covering of the charging area on the layout. I test-rolled some hot-metal "submarine" cars as far in as I could to check clearances BEFORE reinstalling all the rest of the building!
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/12_checking_clearances.jpg

The clearances were verified to be OK, so everything else went on, and out came the ol' camera! For starters, here's an overall view of the East end of the BOF shop (that's my 7yr-old daughter Stephanie in the lower-right corner)...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/13_broad_view_east.jpg

...and a view of the West end, including the ingot teeming area:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/14_broad_view_west.jpg

A closeup view of the "charging" area:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/15_hot_metal_charge.jpg

An even closer-upper view of a hot iron charge:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/16_hot_metal_charge_closeup.jpg

Next: The coke ovens...

[ghost59]

WOW ,,, Ken, I just found this thread and I'm totally blown away by what you are doing. It looks fantastic. keep up the great work and keep the photos comming

rick

[Steve B]

I am very impressed Ken

[CSX_road_slug]

February 4, 2006:

The past 7 days have had me adding a few of the less-interesting 'support' facilities to the Iron Belt from the previous layout: the coke ovens and the ingot-stripping facility. Each installation required some adaptive scratchbuilding for a proper fit.

First, a little blast-from-the-past - an ancient (1998) photo of the standalone stripper crane as it appeared on the old layout:
http://trainweb.org/ironbelt/images/stripper.jpg


As the photo shows, the rails had to be raised a scale 3 feet in order for it to be able to hoist the moulds completely over the stripped ingots - not big deal, when there were no paved surfaces to accommodate. Unfortunately this was not the case on the new layout, and the rail slabs just didn't look "right"...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/overhead_crane_support_dilemma.jpg


...so, in order to make the work area under the stripper crane seem more 'open', a crane support frame had to be constructed:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/ohd_crane_support_frame.jpg


Since the crane would be elevated by the support frame, the legs were no longer needed so they had to be removed. The wheel housings were re-attached directly to each end of the crane itself:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/ohd_crane_legs_chopped_off.jpg


Here is a preliminary "ground level" view of the modified stripper crane with a sample payload:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/ohd_crane_after_rebuild.jpg


Another view, looking up up from underneath:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/ohd_crane_underview.jpg


...and a top view looking downward:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/ohd_crane_topview.jpg


In addition to the ingot stripper facility, I also restored the coke ovens to the layout. Since they now receive all of their coal via a rotary dumper, the conveyor configuration had to be modified to reflect the dumper's location. The conveyor would now need to enter the receiving bunker on a perpendicular plane, not parallel as in the original Walthers kit. This required me to scratchbuild a small junction house to be attached onto the bunker roof:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/coke_conveyor_jct_house.jpg


In order for trains on the spur below to clear the repositioned conveyor, a semi-underground loading house had to be built to support the bottom at an adequate height:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/coke_conveyor_bottom.jpg


By now you've seen numerous images of the rotary coal dumper sitting oasis-like in front of the ore unloading area. Here is a view of it along with the facility it is supposed to serve:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/coke_rotary_dumper.jpg


At this point, it's probably time to start building some of those unassembled Walthers Cornerstone kits and place them on the layout in their planned locations. See you next week [hopefully]!

[dthurman]

Looking really good Ken. I need to tell a friend of mine about the pictures. He's modeling Keystone Steel & Wire in Bartonville IL. He would really like the way you have setup the plant.

[jbaakko]

Looking good Ken!!! I look farward to the days of looking at your layout!

[CSX_road_slug]

Thanx for the feedback Josh and David!

Dave, it appears that Keystone is a modern "mini-mill" - where their raw material consists solely of scrap metal, melted in an electric arc furnace (EAF) - at least that is what Keystone's process website (http://www.keystonesteel.com/process/step1.asp) indicates. I didn't have the space to fit an EAF mill on my layout [hmmm, I wonder why?:rolleyes: ] but they make pretty exciting models in their own right.

[Steve B]

Looking good Ken, i'll be glad when i get more time to do MR ing

[CSX_road_slug]

[February 14, 2006]

Another two weeks, and another two structures have appeared on the Iron Belt. Both of them are essentially "vanilla" Walthers Cornerstone kits, but their uses are a bit different from what Walthers' design engineers had in mind. I bought each of them 5 years ago and I'm glad I did, because they have been out of production for awhile now.

Coke Flood Loader

I discovered early-on that trying to connect my blast furnace highline to the rest to the layout would complicate access to the interior of the northern half - I had to nix the plan. To minimize the pain of this loss, I decided to setup some type of mechanism for coke to be delivered to the blast furnace independently of the railroad. The concept was simple enough: An overhead bin at the end of the highline, fed by a conveyor coming directly from the coke wharf, would feed coke into the transfer car.

Luckily I had just the structure to play the part: a small Walthers coal "flood" loader that I had originally planned to use along the main line before my last major track plan revision. Assembling the kit was easy enough, but I did have to relocate the conveyor feed hole on a different side, at a 90-degree angle from its original spot. I also had to scratchbuild an extension for the structure to sit on, since the high line was already too short to accommodate the entire raw materials pit.

Here is a view of the completed floodloader at its new home, with the conveyor rising up from beside the coke wharf:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/bf_coke_bunker01.jpg

I used a painted clapboard 'vent' to cover up the original conveyor opening:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/bf_coke_bunker02.jpg

Now there is no mystery as to how the coke chips find their way to the blast furnace from the coke ovens!

All Things Must Come To An End...

...especially BOF downcomers! When I first erected the BOF building on my previous layout, the far end of the downcomer pipe was against a brick wall - literally! Actually it was my basement wall...and on that tiny piece of real estate, there was no place for me to fit a bag house! [Bag houses are so named because their function is similar to the bag in a vacuum cleaner, trapping dust particles to be emptied later.] Since my new mill is now visible from both sides, I felt compelled to put in something - and the Walthers Tri-State Power Authority seemed to fit like a glove. It is the same general size and shape of the baghouse I saw at Gulf States Steel Corporation's BOP facility in Gadsden, Alabama (http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1740&d=1128797990), except for the Venturi stack [which I plan to add later].

First, an overall view:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/BOF_baghouse01.jpg

Here's what the downcomer looks like from the front of the BOF building as it "disappears" into the baghouse:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/BOF_baghouse02.jpg

...and a perpendicular view from the rear of the BOF building, looking down along the utility spur:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/BOF_Under_Construction/BOF_baghouse03.jpg

...and that's about it for now.

[NZRMac]

About it!!!??? Geeze that's some big industry going on there!! I really need to start building something.

Well done Ken looks fantastic.

Ken.

Love those wobbly tracks in the last pic, really prototypical.

[CSX_road_slug]

... Well done Ken looks fantastic...Love those wobbly tracks in the last pic, really prototypical.
Thanx Ken, actually the tracks always come out that way [squiggley] whether I want them to or not - that's how flex track is for me anyway. I suppose that somewhere, somebody has written a technique for ensuring perfectly-straight mainline tracks, but I haven't seen it yet!:o [Luckily the track in the photo is only for parking coal cars.]

[Steve B]

Nice work again Ken, i was reading about the bag house in our company book "Paccar the persuit of quallity" there is allsorts of information about when they made steel in Seattle and the process involved including how much waste the Bag house collected per hour.

[CSX_road_slug]

Nice work again Ken, i was reading about the bag house in our company book "Paccar the persuit of quallity" there is allsorts of information about when they made steel in Seattle and the process involved including how much waste the Bag house collected per hour.
Thats interesting Steve, so your company [Paccar] has facilities in the U.S. also? I never would've even imagined a steelmaking facility existing in Seattle...

[dthurman]

Looking better everyday Ken! I am getting pretty mad at myself, I haven't done any type of scenery/building work in eons, just operating the layout.

[Steve B]

Unfortunatly not any more. Pacific Car and Foundry produced steel castings from the instlation of it's first furnace in 1911 till it's closure in 1988, the structural steel division closed it's door's in 1973 due to foreign imports from the far east. The biggest single contract for Paccar was for the supply of the steel spandrels that became the "world trade center" in NY, they manufactured and supplied the steel from the 9th to 107th floor's of the WTC. in total 5668 sections ranging from 5 to 23 tons each were produced and required 1,600 flat cars to transport them to NY from Seattle, originally the company had quoted a price for barge shipment, there was a $10,000 a day penalty for late delivery so they had to go by rail which cost an additional 1.16million dollars, this combined with a three month strike at the steel plant and cheaper Japanese imports forced the closure of Paccar's last steel facillity. By 1988 it closed it's doors on railcar manufacture after 70 odd years making railcars, did you know they produced the first true connected log truck for the logging industry, they were trading as Seattle Car Mfg Co back in 1909,,,i'll be blown if i can find the Bag house article in the 328 pages, oh well

[jbaakko]

WOW KEN!!! I just saw this, I guess I should have logged on one more time last night! These long hours of work are killing me. Looking more and more complex every post Ken, but I gotta say I'm also learning quite a bit.

[RexHea]

Hey Ken, where did you get all the piping and steel work that are not parts of a kit?

[CSX_road_slug]

Guys,

Thatnks alot for all the positive feedback, that makes all the effort truly worthwhile!:o

Dave, at least you are able to operate - more than what I can do at the moment (and my 7yr-old has lately been begging me to run some trains with her...:( )

... Looking more and more complex every post Ken, but I gotta say I'm also learning quite a bit.
It's working both ways Josh - I'm hoping to try your gondola-denting technique this weekend!

Hey Ken, where did you get all the piping and steel work that are not parts of a kit?
Rex, the big 'pipe' is a type of Plastruct (http://www.plastruct.com/) tubing that most hobby stores don't stock on their shelves, it has to be ordered directly from Plastruct. The support towers were made from Evergreen (http://evergreenscalemodels.com/) styrene strip and 'H' columns.

[RexHea]

Thanks Ken for the info. You know, the further you move along the better the idea of the ARG stealing a jet to visit you sounds.:) Really good work going on at your place.

[Little Grande Man]

Nice work, Ken. That's going to be quite a layout. ;) What is the tightest curve radius, maximum grade, etc.?

LGM

[CSX_road_slug]

Nice work, Ken. That's going to be quite a layout. ;) What is the tightest curve radius, maximum grade, etc.?LGM
Thanks LG! The tightest main line radius is 31" (to accommodate 89-foot auto racks), while the tightest mill curve [AFIK] is 18". I don't believe any of the grades are over 1%, excluding the leads to the rotary dumper.

[CSX_road_slug]

3/04/2006

OK now I'm finally at a point where I once again have something to actually show pics of!

A few months ago I got a half-dozen sheets of blue extruded foam insulation (a.k.a. Dow Board) to have a more natural-looking background to hide the ugly garage shelves and all their clutter. Well, over the past week I've been painting-on 'trees' - or should I say, splotches of green paint that resemble the edge of a forest. I saw a fellow modeler "cheese3" on another forum do this on his layout, said he got the idea from watching a TV artist named Bob Ross. As for me, I used to do landscape oil paintings this way during my college days. In any case, this was a cheaper solution than buying several hundred dollar$ worth of Woodland Scenics foilage clumps - especially since I had a leftover $60 gift certificate for my local hardware store, might as well put that to good use!:D

Here are some of the materials and tools I used: Medium and light shades of green latex paint (also black which isn't pictured), a round 1" brush, a natural sea sponge to apply paint for the 'foliage' effect, and a disposable paint roller tray for pre-squeezing excess paint from the sponge.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/FoamBackdropPaint00_tools_matl.jpg

The next three photos illustrate my forest-painting technique on a sample chunk of MDF.

First, apply a base coat of black to simulate the lower, shadowy areas...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/FoamBackdropPaint01.jpg

Using the sea sponge after the black paint dries, apply liberal splotches of meduim green paint, making sure to cover the top edge of the black undercoat:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/FoamBackdropPaint02.jpg

Again using the sea sponge, apply thin 'sprinkles' of light green paint to resemble the outermost leaves catching the sunlight:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/FoamBackdropPaint03.jpg

One of the reasons I chose to paint my own backgrounds instead of buying the pre-printed variety, was so I could position where I wanted to have any openings. In the following image of the model town of East Minister, I needed a gap where the highway disappears into the backdrop. I added a bluish-green-gray treeline on the distant horizon to finish off the scene:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/FoamBackdropEastMinister.jpg

I truly wish I could have shown more photos of the finished, installed MDF backdrops - but since the layout is cluttered with all manner of tools and paint cans, I didn't think that would make for worthwhile viewing. One of these weeks the messy work will be completed and trains will populate the trackwork. Really.

[Steve B]

Hello Gent's,,,Nice work Ken, that's a great job which add's miles to the scene.
just to show you don't have to spend a million dollars to get a good result on the backdrop this is one i did 3 years ago in a spare hour, i used flat black spray and two shades of green i had lying around, the highlights were added at the same time by mixing some lighter colours to the green's. i did mine on 1/8" masonite
http://pic17.picturetrail.com/VOL859/3311461/7194129/97301857.jpg

[CSX_road_slug]

Thanx Steve!

That scene you posted is one of my favorites from your old Yarrow Valley. Is that a kitbashed Pikestuff building in the foreground? I'll be doing a number of false-front buildings on the outside perimeter resembling that, but most likely I'll just use Evergreen corrugated sheet styrene.

My next mini-project is to assemble the New River kit. It'll only be a 'vanilla' Walthers structure, except it won't be the familiar aluminum color - I plan to paint it something like THIS

[Steve B]

No, the building is totally scratch built from scrap styrene from out of the bin at work, unfortunatlly we don't get it any more, BUT the local DIY superstore has started to make temporary sign's from it which hopefully i can intercept from the trash, if they'l let me

[CSX_road_slug]

03/12/2006:

Here are some pics of the latest large structure I’ve added to the Iron Belt: an old favorite, the Walthers Cornerstone™ New River Coal Mine. This provides the origin of point-to-point coal traffic on my pike, which [of course] ends at the rotary dumper for the coke ovens.

I didn’t want this to be just another ‘vanilla’ out-of-the-box New River complex, so I did a few minor alterations. First, I painted the building sides ‘industrial’ green and the roofs black; also, I placed the truck tipple on the opposite side from the standard location. But most important, I installed tubes in the loading section to allow the pouring of granulated coal directly into the hopper cars below.

The Construction Process

As with all my styrene structure kits, I spray-painted the pieces in advance while still on the sprues [to make them easier to find at assembly time]. I some cases, roof pieces and wall sections were attached to the same sprue and were not easy to distinguish, so they wound up getting an undercoat of green which was later covered by flat black.

The first two photos show where I needed to widen the rectangular floor openings over the tracks to make room for the Plastruct tubes, and the round opening in the roof.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/FunnelTubes03.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/FunnelTubes02.jpg


The next image gives you a general idea of what the tubes are designed for: Positioning a funnel for pouring-in powdered coal.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/FunnelTubesInPlace.jpg


At this point, I figured I probably ought to verify that the tracks I had laid 6 months ago would line up correctly the building. As I expected, they did not; but what I hadn’t realized was how the latex covering I had applied would act like glue and make the tracks nearly impossible to loosen and reposition. As the next two photos show, I had to slide a thin metal ruler underneath the ties to pry the track loose from the Styrofoam sub-roadbed without any damage. The track survived OK, but the Styrofoam got chewed-up:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/RippedUpTrack01.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/RippedUpTrack02.jpg



One additional discovery I made: You can’t always trust the little ‘footprint’ diagram that Walthers prints on the boxes of some of their kits. I had to move my ‘loose’ backdrop walls back an extra inch, because the finished mine building is actually 13 inches deep, NOT 12 as the diagram led me to believe!

[u]The Finished Model

Originally I didn’t even want to include the truck tipple, because as I mentioned before, I prefer to have my structures NOT resemble the Walthers catalogue/box pictures if I can avoid that. Then I decided, the auxiliary tipple with its conveyor added some nice complexity to the facility and it seemed a shame to let that go to waste. So I installed it on the opposite side from where Walthers designed for it:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/CoalMineEast01.jpg


I covered the original conveyor opening with a 1-inch square of Evergreen™ slatted-board sheet, to make it resemble the intake for a large fan.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/CoalMineWest01.jpg


I still need to apply some ‘cinder’ ballast to the tracks, but the is the very last thing on my installation checklist.

”Pay No Attention to that Hand Behind the Curtain…”

As I mentioned earlier, this structure provides a point of origin for running live coal loads to my coke ovens. Much as I would have loved to make everything animated and remote-controlled, I lack both the skill and the patience to do it that way at present. So I opted to use detachable, hand-loaded funnels instead.

limestone quarry instead of a coal mine – the coal I ordered hasn’t arrived yet.] Looking up close, the operator doesn’t even see the funnel…
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/HopperGettingLoaded.jpg

…until stepping farther back:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/LoadingByFunnel02.jpg

The coal will be prepared in pre-measured amounts of approximately 1.5oz., enough to pile it in a single mound (3 for a 40-foot hopper, 4 for 50-footers).
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/MeasuredCup.jpg


Three ‘scoops’ yielded 3 mounds in this sample 40-foot B&O hopper car:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/LoadedHopper.jpg

I don’t want to pile it too high, since the motion of the train will cause settling and I need to allow space for that.


Here is what happens when the loaded hopper reaches its destination: The car empties its load [via rotary dumper] into a waiting bucket below, and the coal is made available for another round trip:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/RotaryDumpUnderside.jpg


This is the last of the large structures I plan to install on the layout in the near future, though I do plan to assemble some Kibri heavy machinery for the slag pit scene. Next on the list is to get the mainline track ballasted, then unpack the remainder of my mothballed rolling stock and put that on its new home.

[jbaakko]

Looking great Ken, get working on that Scenery now!! Can't wait to see more.

[4Starcstms]

Man thats ALOT of time, effort and even more talent thats gone into your models, and your layout. I'm very impressed, keep going back thru the photos, trying to let all the awesome ideas soak in, never know when they might be useful in the future.

Great job! Look forward to more updates

[RexHea]

Hi Ken! What a fun idea!
If your salaried, the UMWA is going to be all over you by loading yourself. Better hire some Preisler guys.

[CSX_road_slug]

...Great job! Look forward to more updatesWell thank you for the kind words 4-Star, and welcome to the Forum!:)


Hi Ken! What a fun idea!
If your salaried, the UMWA is going to be all over you by loading yourself. Better hire some Preisler guys.Actually Rex, my contract with the UMW doesn't go into effect until construction on the mine is completely finished.:D Gotta take measures to control all that coal dust otherwise I'll be nailed by OSHA...!

[CSX_road_slug]

03-22-2006

This has been a busy 10 days since my last update, but I'll try to get caught up on what I've done since then.

I had just installed my Walthers New River mine after modifying it to allow operators to pour live coal loads thru a funnel into waiting hopper car below. Well, the following Tuesday, some 'Black Beauty' brand coal slag [from Abrasives Depot] arrived. It is the perfect size for HO, and it looks great when loaded:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/FirstLiveCoalLoad.jpg


...only problem is, the loading process generates huge amounts of dust and spillage. So, while maintaining the capability to use the 'live' stuff, I want to pursue my Plan B of making homegrown chooch-style solid loads. These will have to fit very loosely inside the carbodies so they can fall out freely when the car is flipped in the rotary dumper. But I discovered another design flaw that had to be remedied: The retaining arms that hold the hopper in place, also prevent a solid load from falling out. I needed some way to secure the coal car without obstructing the fall path of the solid load.

First, I severed all 8 retaining arms (see photo diagram below); then I cemented on some 0.250"x0.250" styrene strip and drilled and tapped holes for some size 2-56 Hob-bits [Woodland Scenics] screws in them. The screws will exert a 'pinching' pressure on the upper side of the coal car to keep it from sliding out of the dumper.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/altered_rotary_dump01.jpg


To allow adequate clearance for a car to roll into place, the screws are twisted all the way back until the ends are flush with the dumper's inner wall:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/altered_rotary_dump02.jpg


...and when a car is in place, the screws are tightened:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/RotaryDumpLookingDown.jpg


I decided to use hex-head screws instead of the standard flat head type, since an operator can simply 'feel' for them with the hex wrench and not have to worry about trying to line the screwdriver up with the slot:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/RotaryDumpHexHeadScrewdriver.jpg


This end view shows how the screws really do keep the coal car from falling:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/RotaryDumpUpsideDown.jpg


The BethGon stays in, but the load falls out:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/RotaryDumpLoadsFallOut.jpg


Obviously, I'll paint the white styrene posts and severed retainer stubs Grimy Black to match the rest of the dumper!


Due to a few unexpected changes of plans this past weekend, I haven’t yet gotten around to making up all of the solid coal loads. Furthermore, painting and decaling three BethGons in the CSX ‘Confederate gray’ scheme took quite a bit longer than thought it would. (I’ll save those for Weekend Photo Fun.;) )

[jbaakko]

Sweet Ken, seems like alot of work, but whatcha gotta do, is whatcha gotta do, I guess! Like the hoppers too, and I can't wait to see more this weekend...

[Steve B]

10/10 Ken, nice work

[PilbaraRail]

Looking good Ken. Cant wait to see the final product of all this.
Mitchell

[CSX_road_slug]

Here are the 'fruits' of my most recent effort: A collection of coal loads to fill a unit train. Spent a few hours Saturday, plus all day Sunday, making these guys: http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/SolidLoadsPlanB.jpg

The LHS owner wasn't joking when he said they are labor-intensive [I had just politely declined his suggestion to special-order a bunch of Chooch's]. Even if I had could afford the commercial ones, I still would have needed to grind them down slightly so they would fit loosely enough to fall out of their respective cars when flipped on the rotary dumper.

I still have the infrastructure and more than enough Black Beauty to run live loads, but that approach makes a huge amount of dust - so I prefer to save that type of operating for special occasions only.


Looking good Ken. Cant wait to see the final product of all this...Hello Mitchell, haven't seen you in a long while - thanx for stopping in!

[PilbaraRail]

No problem Ken. forgot my password for a while and havent been able to post but i've been keeping up with the blog. Impressive i must say.
Mitchell

[CSX_road_slug]

04/04/06

I hadn't really expected to have any new pix to display this week, since my original goal on Friday was to clear all the layout track areas so I can start placing all my rolling stock on the rails. But as it often happens, when I cleared the tools and paint cans away from certain areas I was reminded of 'little' tasks that should probably be performed ASAP. One of these was to decorate the slag canyon, where my thimble cars supposedly dump their loads. It hadn't been on my radar screen because it is not on the center peninsula and didn't involve assembling/kitbashing a structure.

What had been obvious to me since the time I had glued down the MDF, was that those perfectly straight lines and corners did not belong - they made the pit look too much like a basement excavation for a large building. Luckily I had my Hot Wire foam knife (http://www.aboyd.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HWF+035P) that I had bought at the February train show in Timonium, so I made quick work of putting in those sloping sides:

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Slag_Dump/CutAway01.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Slag_Dump/CutAway02.jpg

I knew there would have to be an underlying surface of light-colored dirt and grass/weeds, so I glopped down a layer of yellowish-brown latex with Woodland Scenics 'burnt grass' green powder. Then I covered the dumping slope and the pit floor with extra-fine textured WS 'cinders' ballast.

I still needed some way to represent slag that been been poured over the slope, and solidified. The dilemma was that Elmers glue hardened too slowly and shrank from its original wet volume. Epoxy cement would have done the job nicely except it was way too expensive - this seemed like an awful waste of such a material. Then I remembered the several dozen 'hot glue' sticks I had leftover from my early layout construction - voila!

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Slag_Dump/HotGlueSlag.jpg

However, painting them in PollyScale Grimy Black did not hide a major weakness in the glue globs' appearance: The surfaces were too smooth and shiny to look like cooled slag.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Slag_Dump/SemiFinished20060402.jpg

So on Monday I dashed to my LHS and picked up a bag of WS coarse-grained cinder ballast and some more Elmers white glue. I added just enough water to make the Elmers a bit more fluid, then mixed in enough coarse cinders to make a slurry:

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Slag_Dump/slurry_slop.jpg

I spread a layer of this concoction over all the hot-glue globs, making larger clumps at the bottom; the leftover mixture [shown in the disposable plate below] was used to make free-sitting chunks for placement in my Kibri machines.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Slag_Dump/BigChunks.jpg

I found the coarse slurry hardened in place on the following day. This time I decided not to have my heavy equipment models appear in the pit while the thimble cars were in the 'pouring' position:

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Slag_Dump/ThimbleCars.jpg

The machines are moved into the dump area when the slag begins to solidify, oftentimes it is still glowing hot - that is why the loaders have chain mesh covering their tires for protection from the heat. The crane [toward the left] is equipped with a wrecking ball which gets dropped onto the solidified slag, to break it into manageable-sized chunks.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Slag_Dump/HeavyEquipment.jpg

Believe it or not, that loader is truly HO-scale - it is huge, like a prototype I had the privilege to see operating at the USS Great Lakes works on Zug Island near Detroit, MI.

This might have been one of the more fun of my modeling projects, if I hadn't learned on Monday that my electric bill is about to increase by ~$600/month. That's 4 times my monthly MRR budget!:eek: This has been hanging over my head like a black cloud ever since I learned of it. Hope another 15-year sabbatical from the Hobby will not be necessary...:(

[grande man]

Things are looking great Ken! I love those coal loads. They should make for a great looking coal drag.

[CSX_road_slug]

Things are looking great Ken! I love those coal loads. They should make for a great looking coal drag.Thanx Eric, that coal drag will be the 'flagship' train of the pike, a point-to-pointer [New River mine to rotary dump].

[jbaakko]

Why's the Elec bill going up so much?

[CSX_road_slug]

Why's the Elec bill going up so much?

Two reasons:

(1) My family's been on "budget billing", where the electric company (BGE) does a once-a-year recalculation of the monthly bill based on average usage. They apparently had just done the annual recalc at the beginning of March 2005 - right before I installed my garage heat pump. So I've been in blissful ignorance of the fact that apparently our usage doubled - until they just sent us a bill that was double what we previously paid. It jumped from $265 to $475.

(2) BGE has been under a rate freeze since the year 2000 - which happens to be the year we moved into this house. When that rate freeze expires in July, the rate per KWhr will increase by 72%. This means our monthly bill will jump to $817.

I can't pull that money out of my hat!

[jbaakko]

Holy COW! Yeah, I can see that!

Oh one more thing, minor concern with the foam inserts, how are they on taking damage? Like when you dump and they drop into that bucket how are they goign to handle the fall? Otherwise once again, awsome...

[RexHea]

Ken, that is a very real looking slag dump. Like your idea in making slag. It sure is fun watching your mill operations progress. (I wanta play! I wanta play!):D

Plus $$$600/mon $$$$!! Gads! That is horrible and totally unreasonable. I have to wonder how much longer the public is going to allow being screwed by the utility and petroleum companies. Neither of the political parties seem to give a rats a**!

[Steve B]

That's a great scene Ken, i watched a tv show about the machines that remove the slag, they had a Komatsu dozer with a ripper made from scrap rail track with hardening welded on, even these had to be changed every two hours due to the severe work environment.

[NZRMac]

Great work Ken, love that slag!!

That's terrible about the power bill, geeze I thought ours was big $200 a month.

Ken.

[malcolm g smith]

great layout,a bit bigger than mine, only 8'x4'feet

[don_csx]

Any updates on your layout??


Don

[CSX_road_slug]

Any updates on your layout?? Yes Don, there have been a few - but none of them were steel mill-related.

Maybe I should append some of my latest projects here for consistency...

For the week preceeding 04/23/06: A propane gas distribution center built totally from Plastruct and Evergreen (except the Ford C-series trucks, which are Athearn's). I'll start with an overall view:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Propane_Facility/OverallView.jpg

Here is a closeup of the tank car unloading platform with 2 propane trucks parked in front:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Propane_Facility/platform_and_tankers.jpg

The next image shows the warehouse/office building. The propane tank trucks started as stake trucks like the one shown.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Propane_Facility/SmallTankWarehouse.jpg

---------------------------------
For the week preceeding 05/01/06:

Here is a secondhand already-assembled 7-Eleven store a that friend gave me. I still haven't thought up a name for this area yet...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/scenery_and_water/nameless_junction_01.jpg

A broader view of the above scene. I wanted to emphasize the highway "disappearing" behind the trees via forced perspective:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/scenery_and_water/nameless_junction_02.jpg

I also spent some time experimenting with WS EZ-water. I'm naming this little body of water Bethel Creek, I wanted to setup a "perspective" view to make it appear as if the riverbed curves off to the left under the bridge, and on into the distance:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/scenery_and_water/bethel_creek_03.jpg


For the week preceeding 05/08/06:

First, I added a fallen tree and some ripples to Bethel Creek -
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/scenery_and_water/bethel_creek_ripples.jpg

Next, I upgraded a standard LifeLike Kentucky Fried Chicken eatery to match today's prototypes.
First, a "BEFORE" view:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/East_Minister/KFC_retro_02.jpg

...now, an "AFTER" view:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/East_Minister/KFC_modern_01.jpg

A view from the rear, looking up the road:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/East_Minister/KFC_modern_02.jpg

HINT: The KFC is not the only thing that has changed. Aside from the automobiles and the paint schemes on the locos, can anybody identify another object in the 2000 photo that is radically different from the way it looked in the 1970 photo? :D


For the week preceeding 05/12/06:

Had to take a temporary [albeit unwanted] break from modeling and scenery, to prevent a potentially unpleasant scenario. After reading yet another horror story in the Model Railroader forum (http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=64943) about a train going over the edge, I figured I better stop procrastinating and cover my edges pronto!:eek: So, here is what I did to keep my engines and rolling stock from taking the 48-inch swan dive during a derailment - while still getting decent views for layout photography [my excuse for not doing anything so far]:

First, I went to my local Home Depot and bought two sheets of thin plexiglas, 48"x36", then sliced these into 4"x48" strips:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/edge_plexiglas_strips01.jpg

[NOTE: Since plexiglas is such a tough material, I had to scratch-over each scoring line about 12-15 times to get a straight break - even then they didn't always break smoothly. But I wasn't too overly worried about physical beauty as long as they kept my DCC-and-sound-equipped locos from being turned into paperweights.]

I wanted to be able to quickly hang and/or remove the plexiglas sections easily, so I drilled several slip-over holes along the bottom edge of each strip:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/edge_plexiglas_strips02.jpg

Here's a close-up view:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/edge_plexiglas_strips03.jpg

Next, I put some drywall screws [wide head, narrow shaft] into the border area benchwork, with the head sticking out ~one-eighth of an inch. Then I slipped the plexiglas over the head thru the wide part of the hole, hanging it on the narrow part:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/edge_plexiglas_installation.jpg

Here is a view of one of the pieces installed. Doesn't offer a very good view for taking pictures though does it...?
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/edge_plexiglas_in_place.jpg

...but hey, nada problem! We'll just slip it off while we park the train[s], snap a photo or two, then stick it back on!;)
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/edge_plexiglas_removed.jpg

Hopefully this will save a train or two...:)

.

[CSX_road_slug]

05/22/06

Hi,

Betcha thought I made the 48-inch drop off the face of the earth huh? Well, truth is I've been awfully busy trying to finalize the layout for a presentation I'll be doing in Philly at the National, as part of the "Steel" track. I want to have as many areas scenicized as possible, since I know people don't want to come all the way across the country to see just another Plywood Pacific.

I had hoped to have all layout surface areas de-cluttered, and all trains re-installed, on Saturday - so I could begin shooting photos on Sunday. As luck [a-k-a Murphy's Law] would have it, I discovered that I was missing some so-called "process elements" that I consider critical; so I wound up spending lots of time doing additional hard-core work (the wet, messy kind) and falling behind another 12 hours :rolleyes:! Life is tough when you're a model railroader with ADHD...

The main distraction of this weekend was the large coal stockpile that is located near the coke ovens. And the reason I considered it "critical" was so I could show where the excess coal goes after being dumped from the hoppers, when the coke ovens are operating at full capacity.

Tuna salad, anyone?:D :p
I know that's what the mixture below resembles <LOL>!
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/coal_stockpile_sawdust_mush.jpg

...but what it really is, is a mixture of sawdust and watered-down Elmers Glue:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/coal_stockpile_base_ingredients.jpg

I needed to make a base that had the general shape of a coal stockpile, and I figured sawdust would be the cheapest if not the most effective means to that end. I had 6 lbs. of Abrasives Depot "Black Beauty" coal granules (http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/Coal_Mine/BlackBeauty6Lbs.jpg), but that by itself wouldn't make nearly a large enough pile.

First, I cut-up a few chunks of leftover MDF as a 'core' base and positioned them accordingly:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/coal_stockpile_foam_core.jpg

Next, I began trowelling-on the "tuna salad" sawdust mush for the bottom slope...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/coal_stockpile_bottom_slope.jpg

...continuing with the second layer...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/coal_stockpile_second_slope.jpg

...until the whole base was formed:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/coal_stockpile_whole_base2.jpg

While the Elmers was still wet, I took the opportunity to sprinkle-on the first layer of Black Beauty:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/coal_stockpile_sprinkle_on_coal.jpg

While it was drying, I finalized the scenery on other areas of the layout. When I came back to the coal pile, I realized that I needed some way to "explain" how the pile was formed since the ore bridge doesn't reach that area. I remembered seeing some type of combination "conveyor/silo"-type mechanism at some regional electric power plants, where the coal - after being transported by conveyor - gets dumped from the top of a series of tall cylindrical towers, where it keeps piling up higher and higher until bulldozers rearrange the material. My model is a "quick-n-dirty" placeholder that vaguely suggests the concept; I'll go back and superdetail it later. BTW, since I didn't have time to setup my tripod, I had to use the flash - so the 'silo' at the center of the stockpile looks white, but it is actually aged concrete with a thin film of grimy-black "coal dust" on it. You'll see that when I take the "quality" photo later on...
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e182/CSX_road_slug/LayoutUnderConstruction/coal_stockpile_finito.jpg

...and that's all I'm posting for today. I'll post the entire collection of Philly photos on my website after the Show in July [see you there?]

[Steve B]

nice job Ken, i like the time warp pics in the last post

[jbaakko]

Awsome there Ken! Love it when you update us on your progress!

[enjineerbill]

Nice work Ken. Love the KFC update, BTW, what was the "other" radical update? :confused: I'm not very good at these kinda things:o .

Johnny

[SpaceMouse]

Dang it Ken, every time I think I am doing good, I learn that I have a long way to go.

[CSX_road_slug]

Guyz,

Thanx alot for all the kind feedback!:)

Johnny - The other "update" I was hoping somebody would catch - but nobody did - was the B&O GP35 in the first KFC photo. Nothing unusual about that one, but if you look real closely at it in the 2nd photo where it's done up in CSX garb, you'll also notice there are (1) no cooling fans at the end of the long hood, (2) no grilles, and (3) no access hatches on the long hood - it's nothing but a slug!:p

Chip - I've learned alot from you too! My visit to your club layout last October is what inspired me to install all of those additional lineside spurs, so I can do local switching.

I have to make a trip to the camera store, my Digital Rebel has been giving me fits - can't seem to get it to auto-calculate a decent depth-of-field! Let's see the The Expert has to say...?

[JAILBREAKER74]

What program did you use to design that?

[JeffShultz]

Ken,

I've gone through this entire thread in the past couple of days and the modeling is just plain incredible....

One very minor nit to pick though - MDF is medium density fiberboard, a sort of wood type product. Used in furniture sometimes. The foamboard you use (and so do I) is something like "expanded polystyrene foam." I'd never thought using it for backdrops though.

[CSX_road_slug]

incredible....One very minor nit to pick though - MDF is medium density fiberboard, a sort of wood type product. Used in furniture sometimes. The foamboard you use (and so do I) is something like "expanded polystyrene foam." I'd never thought using it for backdrops though. Ohhhhh.... Thanx for correcting me about that one Jeff, and saving me potential embarrassment! ;) :o

JailBreaker, Do you mean the trackplan? I used AbraCAData to design that. I think it's still available, but marketed under a different name[?] Personally, I would have used XtrkCAD if I had known about it back then - it's widely used by other members here and still downloadable [for free?]

[SpaceMouse]

XtraCAD is open source and is still free, however, the site was broken the last I checked. You can still get it through the Yahoo users group, but I don't know that URL.

[jbaakko]

I downloaded XTRKCad 3 weeks ago. So the site SHOULD be up.