Construction Update #59 - A Small Commercial District & Lizard Head

A Commercial District for Ridgway -  July 16, 2026

I spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what I was going to do with the relatively small odd shaped empty space between the Ridgway yard and the engine facilities.  I started off with the with a spur and fuel depot but within minutes I knocked a very nice UTLX tank car, built from a P-B-L kit, off the layout and onto the concrete floor.  Damaged beyond repair, the pieces went directly into the trash can and the idea of having any kind of spur near the edge of the layout at this location was discarded.

I had several buildings sitting around that were set up in the vacated space in a couple of different configurations.  I let each version sit for a day or two, while I worked on the ground cover around Lizard Head, before settling on the one shown below. 

A small stream is going to run across the front of the scene.  The street will cross the stream on a small bridge, run between the storefronts, cross the yard lead, and turn to the left heading off in the direction of the turntable and roundhouse.

The arroyo (dry streambed) was carved out of the pink foam with a utility knife and contoured with a Surfoam tool.

The raw bench work and foam were painted with my "basic" earth colored latex house paint and the creek bed was detailed with natural materials gathered on various field trips.

Repurposing Old Structures

 

The Barber Shop - August 1, 2026

I'm always on the lookout for ready-built structures for the layout.  I'm not sure where I got this little barbershop.  It was built from a B.T.S. kit https://www.btsrr.com/ but it had knocked around for awhile and it looked pretty sad.  The roof was warped, the walls were coming apart, and the smoke jack was gone.  The large windows easily betrayed the fact that there was no interior.  The repairs took about a half and hour and the end result, I think, was worth the effort.  

 

The roof was also repainted and weathered and a black view block was placed about an inch back from the store front to obscure the "empty" interior.  The smoke jack and assorted cans on the side of the building came from my parts box.

The Assay Office - July 2, 2026

 

The Assay Office is another small structure that fits nicely in the available space.  I got the neat little structure from Bruce Hanley,  It had a small wooden walkway that was warped attached to the front of the structure that I removed in favor of a walkway that would stretch the length of the street.  Other than the walkway, the Assay Office was in pretty good condition.  I touched up the paint, redid the weathering on the roof, added the ladder, and more clutter from the parts box.

 

The Shed - On the Backside of Town

 

The "shed" was another structure I got from Bruce Hanley.  Its sits directly behind the barber shop.  The only thing I did was tone done the weathering a bit and add more clutter.

The Arroyo Lobo General Store   

A couple of years ago I built the general store from a Design Tech kit for my short lived D&RGW Arroyo Lobo Branch.  Its close proximity to the aisle and the size of the storefront windows required some interior details.  I found the interior background photo on the internet and the window details came from my parts box.  The figures came from Fun & Games http://www.scalefigures.com/

 

The "has gone to war" Lucky Stike billboard sign was found on the internet and printed on photo paper.  I can't remember the last time I saw any outdoor advertising for cigarettes but when I was teenager it was everywhere.  TV and radio advertising for cigarettes was banned in 1971 and outdoor bill board  advertising by 1999.  The barrels and tanks came from Model Tech Studios https://modeltechstudios.com/ and the rest of the exterior details came from that good old parts box.

 

Ground Cover Around Lizard Head 

As mentioned above, I have done a little more work at Lizard Head.  The remaining track got ballast and the area in and around the wye finally got some ground cover.  The prototype wye was covered by snow sheds.  At some point, I may decide to build the snow sheds but maybe not.  It is, for sure, easier to switch the livestock pens without them.

From late Spring to early Fall the area around Lizard Head was covered with grass and livestock shipments in and out of the area provided much needed revenue for the RGS.  At some point I will have to build up the courage to bring out the static grass applicator.

 

  

Your comments, suggestions & questions are welcome

sdepolo@outlook.com 

 

Construction Update #58 - The Ridgeway Roundhouse Scene

 July 10, 2026

After nearly 8 months, I am back to working on the layout. 

The Ridgway Roundhouse

The initial roundhouse build was covered in Construction Update #44 (May of 2025).  While the roundhouse was inspired by the prototype, it is by no means an accurate representation of the prototype.  Due to space limitations it only has four stalls and the stalls are only about 60 scale feet deep.  The exterior of the two walls facing the backdrop are blank and the interior walls are covered with brick paper.   The exterior brick walls that are visible were made with Monster Model Works laser cut brick work.  At the time the roundhouse update was published back in May of 2025 the roundhouse still lacked roofing and doors.

Not wanting to spend a lot of time on a model full of compromises, I decided to try using a combination of Rust-Olum automotive primer and Textured Multicolor.  Putty was applied to the seams in the styrene roof, sanded smooth, and given a coat of the automotive primer.  The process was repeated followed by a coat of the Textured Multicolor.  The roundhouse roof vents are from Grandt Line (HO).  the results are OK.

The roundhouse door were built using scribed sheet stock and scale lumber.  Since they can only be seen on one side, they only got detailed on one side.

The finished doors with hinges made from scraps of styrene strip.

The finished roundhouse ready for installation on the layout.

The Monster Model Works laser cut (wood) brick material is great stuff.  The pilasters and lintels come as separate components and can easily be trimmed to size.

 

 

 

 

Measurements were made and weathered flex track cut to the required length.  The leads were soldered onto the track at the bench.

 

 

The track was glued in place with clear Polyseam Seal and holes were drilled for the leads.  Normally, I would solder the leads to the bottom of the rails and drill the holes directly beneath the rail.  In this case, since the wires can't be seen, I took the path of least resistance.  The footings for the interior posts and the concrete foundation for the back wall still needed.

Note:  Starting from this point forward, many of the layout pictures will be taken using Helicon Focus for increased depth of field. 

 

The roundhouse scenes as of July 13, 2026.  Scene still needs some additional ground cover.  

 

Additional Scenic Upgrades - July 15, 2026

 

There were three areas in and around Placerville that didn't have ballast and or ground cover.  The ballast and ground cover in front of Warehouse A/B was added.

 

The ground cover around the Placerville outhouse was installed.                        

 

 

The parking lot next to the Placerville depot and in front of Warhouse C got its initial layer of the ground cover.

As always your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome

sdepolo@outloock.com

Construction Update #57 - Weathering & Layout Photos

 

Weathering with Pan Pastels

A couple of days ago a freind of mine,  Alex Brikoff, sent me a couple of pictures of his nicely weathered HO Scale refrigerator car.  The weathering was done with Pan Pastels; a technique I had never tried.  Since a had a large selection of Pan Pastels, I thought I would give it a go.

Here is my setup.  After watching a couple of videos on YouTube, I decided to apply the pastels with paint brushes.  Sponges and Q-Tips can also be used.  I only used seven colors, browns, oxides, grays, and black.

 My efforts started with the #463 shown below.  It is a factory painted P-B-L Hybrid model.

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product.  Since the flat finish "disappears" a lot of the initial weathering, several layers were applied; each followed by an application of clear flat.  I think the result are a little bit better than those using Bragdon's or Daniel Smith powdered pigments (Construction Update #55).

 

Based upon how well the 463 turned out, I decided to weather one of my CONOCO tank cars.  The same techniques were used.  Again this car started out as a factory painted (glossy) P-B-L brass import.  Tank cars are usually well maintained so just a dusting of  "rust" was applied to the top of the tank and some earth/dust to the under frame and trucks.

The CONOCO tank car was followed by a PSC brass combine.  I purchased this model on ebay.  The model was a mixed bag.  On the plus side was the interior.  It was nicely done with seats, passengers and some freight stacked in the baggage compartment.  Unfortunately the roof and car body were way to glossy and the windows were fogged.  I think the fogging was the result of using clear styrene attached with ACC.  The car was disassembled, the windows were replaced and the roof, car body, under frame and trucks were weathered.

Here is the finished product,

It's important to use different techniques when weathering locomotives, rolling stock and structures...  You don't want them all looking alike!  Marv Hardy built this fixture for painting and/or weathering locomotives and rolling stock.  Mine is gauged for Sn3 but Marv also built them to hold N and HO scale models.   The top swivels around 360 degrees on a salvaged ball bearing bicycle hub.... pretty slick!

Layout Photos

 RGS 40 crossing the San Miguel River at Wilson leading to Fudd's.

 

K-27 #464 at Ridgway

 

 

 DRGW #346 switching the mine spur at Matterhorn

 

 

 Goose #3 between Matterhorn and Lizard Head.

 

 

 

Caboose #402 passing the shed on the Montezuma Lumber spur at Matterhorn 

Goose #3 at Placerville

RGS 40 switching the RGS warehouse behind the Placerville depot.

 

 RGS 22 passing the cafe and gas station at Old Placerville

As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome

sdepolo@outlook.com 

Construction Update #56 - RGS 22, RGS 41 & Scenery around Lizard Head

RGS #22

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to pick up a second run (1998) P-B-L RGS #22 for under $800.00.  Here are a few photos of the #22 "posed" on the layout (It still needs to have a sound decoder installed).  It needs a couple of very minor repairs but otherwise it's just about perfect.  Originally a unpainted model, it has very nice paint and weathering.  The previous owner bought it new and never ran it.

THE SUMMIT TUNNEL (LIZARD HEAD)

THE LIZARD HEAD SECTION HOUSE

MATTERHORN

WILSON

PLACERVILLE

Adam's Country Gas Station

Back in August (Construction Update #48) I included a photo of the small miner's cabin my 13 year old grandson Adam was building.  Here's the finished model.  It will become nice little non prototypical addition to my Lizard Head scene.

I also decided to add this small house to the Lizard Head scene (Another non prototypical addition).  The house came off Bruce Hanley's old layout.

Here is the overall scene.  Trees are starting to dot the hillsides; more are needed.

The stock Pens.  All the trees in this  photo came off Bruce Hanley's old layout.  I trimmed them up a and added some dark green ground foam

 As winter approaches, I spend less time in the train room.  It's expensive to heat the room (a 3-car converted garage) and I need to spend an entire day working on the layout to justify the cost.  Instead, I normally spend most of my modeling time in my workroom (spare bedroom).  

RGS #41 - A Winter Time Project

My model started life on the late Brian Ellerby's Copper River & Yukon as CR&Y #31.  It was sold following Brian's death and I ran across it in pieces, without a box, late last year (2024).  I compared the model to some photographs and came to the conclusion it was actually a late run P-B-L model of RGS #41; just what I needed since I already had a model of #40 and #42.

Here is the model on my work desk.  I can probably do most of the reassembly myself including the DCC/Sound install.  Fortunately, I have a friend who can help me out with with the assembly and reattaching (soldering) some of the small details.  Anyone have a spare box for a P-B-L RGS #41 laying around?

As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome

sdepolo@outlook.com