Construction Update #26 - The Placerville Scale House, Cafe-Bar & Gas Station

 

North Placerville 

The Scale House

May 2, 2024

I really like doing scenery work and as I have previously mentioned here in the blog, I usually start with a structure or other key element and work out from there.  Here is the scale and scale house on the north end of Placerville.  The scale house is scratch built with a styrene core overlaid with scribed wood siding and Grandt Line doors and windows.  I prefer injection molded doors and windows from Grandt Line or Tichy over the laser cut wood peel and stick windows found in most of the current craftsman style kits. 

Hardware Store & Miner's Supply

These two structures are across Front Street from the scale house.  Both of these structures were built from Wild West Models kits.  The one on the left, built by Bruce Hanley, is "Harvey's Hardware".  I built the "Miners's Supply" on the right.

Here is a view looking south towards central Placerville.  The red structure in the background in the flour and grain warehouse that is behind and to the north of the depot.  The scale and scale house are in the right foreground.

Drainage Ditches & Culverts

One of the things I could have done better on previous layouts was to pay better attention to modeling how prototype railroads deal with drainage.  Poor drainage is a real problem for railroads since it leads to erosion and costly repairs.  On a model railroad adding drainage ditches and culverts not only replicates the prototype and adds interest.

The culvert shown in the photo on the right is from Grain Belt Models.  I found out about these culvert pipes from my friend and fellow modeler Kurt Boyd.  They are available in multiple scales.

The Placerville Cafe-Bar

Here is the cafe-bar sitting in it's future location.  I decided to replace the shingles provided with the kit with some "peel & stick" versions from Rail Scale Models.  I am also building the McCarville Studios Placerville gas station to go along with the cafe-bar.  It will be located to the left of the cafe-bar.  Progress has slowed when it comes to building structures. A pulled muscle in my back makes sitting at my work desk difficult.

The Placerville Gas Station

May 7, 2024

While I was waiting for the cafe-bar shingles to arrive, I decided to start on the Placerville Gas Station kit from McCarville Studios.  As mentioned in a previous post, I prefer to do as much of the assembly before the walls are installed on the base.  Here are the parts laid out on the desk.  Since I like to give every thing a coat of flat before the window glazing is installed, the glazing is one of the last things I do.

Here is a photo of the "almost" finished gas station.  I did add some additional trim work on the canopy section which is not called for in the instructions (Yes, the removable roof is on backwards in the photo).

The kit includes some corrugated metal roofing.  I decided not to use the material provided in the kit because the corrugations looked under size to me.  I checked a piece of actual corrugated metal and the corrugations were a little over 2.5" apart.  I think the material provided in the kit looks about right for HO Scale.  As a result, I decided to use the S-Scale material available from Wild West Models.  I think it is a little oversize but it is much easier to work with and I think it looks better.

Most of the structures on the First District are mounted on a piece of styrene, hardboard or pink foam before they are installed on the layout.  I glued the floor to the base, added some strip wood to hold the building in place and glued down a bit of ground cover.  The pump island was also glued to the base.  When I have finished detailing the pump, it will be centered on the island and glued in place.

May 9, 2024

The corrugated roofing was cut to length and attached with double sided tape.  I am still using the double sided tape I purchased from Ragg's... To Riches about 10 years ago.  Similar tape is currently available from Wild West Models.  The tape has a aggressive and permanent acrylic adhesive.  The tape is expensive, about $16 a roll, but it is worth it!  The Wild West roofing comes with a "silvery" finish.  I didn't paint it; it was weathered with Bragdon powdered pigments.  

The kit came with a piece of what looks like fishing line for the pump hose; bronze wire was used instead.  The graphics came from a Micro Scale decal sheet I found in my box of "left overs".  The 55 gallon drum is a Tichy part.  I also replaced the stack with one from my parts bin.

The gas station on the left, the cafe-bar on the right, temporarily set up in their final locations on the layout.  The replacement shingles have arrived from Rail Scale Models so they will be installed on the cafe-bar this coming week.  On the prototype, the gas station was located to the west and on the opposite side of the tracks from the cafe-bar.  Due to a lack of space coupled with the desire to include these two interesting structures, they ended up here along the main line.  The spur leading to the stock pens and oil distributor is in the foreground.

As always, your comments, questions and suggestions are welcome.

sdepolo@outlook.com

Construction Update #25 - A Tale of Two Projects

Old Placerville

Placerville Structures - McCarville Studios Placerville Cafe-Bar

April 20, 2024

Ny version of  Old Placerville will include several structures.  The first two, the fuel oil depot and stock pens have already been built; the first from a Ragg's...To Riches kit the second from two Banta Modelworks kits.  Three more are beng built from McCarville Studios kits; the cafe-bar, gas station and barn.

The McCarville Studios Placerville Bar-Cafe

I decided to start to with the cafe-bar.  I built the model per the instructions with the exception of the laser cut paper shingles included in the kit.  Based upon a close examination of the color photo on page 258/259, "The RGS Story, Vol 1" (Sundance Publishing), I came to the conclusion that the included shingles were to large and uniform when compared to those on the prototype.  I will probably end up using "peel & stick" shingles from Builders In Scale or Rail Scale Models.  In addition, due to the shallow pitch of the porch and rear shed, I decided that rolled roofing would probably be more appropriate than shingles.

Here is a picture of my model waiting for a roof.

Make no mistake that the McCarville Studios kit builds in to a very nice and interesting structure but I do have a couple of observations/suggestions.  First I think the instructions could be improved by adding more "how to" along with a couple of pages with larger photographs. I also question the use of MDF for the core material.  MDF is brittle, the corners are fragile and it is easily damaged by moisture.  Although there is no mention of it in the instructions, it should be sealed, especially the base, to protect the parts from moisture.  I exposed a piece of the MDF to water and watched it swell, warp and loose all of its rigidity.  As a result, I sealed all of the MDF with two generous coats of flat lacquer before I started any assembly.  I think 1/16" or 3/32" of marine plywood would be a better choice of material.  

I find that building up the sides to include the siding, windows, doors and trim, were possible, before attaching them to a base makes for easier assembly.  And, while there is some mention of interior bracing to prevent warping I think most kit or scratch built structures should include interior bracing regardless of the construction materials.  As can be seen in the following photo, I used 3/16" square strip wood  to add the bracing.  I used Aleen's "Original" Tacky Glue for all of the assembly.

Basic Scenery for Old Placerville

April 27, 2024

I am using a hillside to transition between the scenery around Old Placerville/Placerville and Ridgway.  I used a Woodland Scenics incline set to create the roadway followed by a series of "pink foam" profiles.  Eventually the caf-bar and gas station will be located in the foreground between the road and the tracks.

Here is a overall view of Old Placerville.  A staging track representing Montrose will be located behind the hillside and between the backdrop that has not yet been installed.  The Texeco fuel oil dealer was built from a "Ragg's... To Riches" kit by Bruce Hanley.   I built the stock pens using parts from two "Banta Modelworks" kits. The cafe-bar, gas station and bar will be located on the far left.

The profiles were covered by cardboard webbing, a layer of painters paper and then plaster cloth.  Generic plaster cloth can be purchased on Amazon for about half the cost of  similar products available from hobby shops.

The plaster cloth was then followed up with a layer of Sculptamold.

Basic Ground Cover

The "hard shell" was given mix of white glue and earth colored exterior house paint.  Paving sand was sprinkled on to the paint-glue mix along with several colors of fine turf.  Once the new backdrop is installed I will add more texture (trees, shrubs, grass, etc) in order to blend the Placerville-Old Placerville-Ridgway scenes together.  No, that corrugated shed doesn't belong in the stock pen!

As always, your comments, suggestions & questions are welcome

sdepolo@outlook.com

 

Construction Update #24 - Scenery around Placerville & Bridge 45A

Placerville

Scenes from around Placerville 

There are three grade crossing in Placerville.  The first one, south of the depot is shown below.  The crossings are from Tichy, the plank for the crossing were made from scale lumber and the caboose is a P-B-L model.

I built the depot from a Ragg;s kit.  It was painted with Floquil paints and weathered with Bragdon powdered pigments.  This figures are from Fun and Games.  I don't glue the figures in place.  Instead, I pin the figures in place so they can be easily moved or replaced.

There are a number of structures along Front Street behind the depot.  All of these are fronts about 2" deep.  The Placerville Garage was built with parts left over from the Monster Model Works Placerville Store.  Most of the trees here were built from Scenic Express Super Trees.

North of the garage is this little house.  It was scratch built using a photo off the internet.

The post office was right next door.  Again, it was scratch built using photos off the internet.  The flag pole is from Woodland Scenics and the figure from Fun and Games.

The PLacerville store was built from a Monster Model Works kit.  Again is is only about 2' deep.

 Another scratch built house built from photos located north of the store.

The second crossing north of the depot.  The #346 has uncoupled from it's train and pulled forward to clear the grade crossing.

This little material yard is located on the north end of the house track.

None of these little scenes are finished.  I need to add more details, additional ground cover, shrubs and static grass.

 

Bride 45A

April 14, 2023

 

Yes, work continues on Bridge 45A.  All 22 bents are now finished as is the bridge deck.  The prototype had 29 bents.  About 600 individual pieces of strip wood were cut, stained and assembled to make the bents.

North Bents

Center Bents

South Bents 

I cut 325 bridge ties for the bridge deck.  I ordered the wood from Northeastern Scale Models.  The wood from Mt. Albert or Kappler is nicer but the material from Northeastern is much cheaper, when purchased in bulk, and is "good enough" for bridge stock.

 As always, your comments, questions and suggestions are welcome

sdepolo@outlook.com 

Construction Update #23 - Scenery

Wilson - "Milepost 32.6.  Elevation 7.723 feet - was primarily a passing siding of 27 car capacity."  (Page #305, RGS Story, Volume 1, Sundance Publishing)

April 8, 2023

 

While Wilson is still lacking some detail to include additional ground cover, static grass,  shrubs, figures and water, it now provides an acceptable background for a few photos.  Here RGS #455, a K-27, has stopped for water.  Most if not all of the RGS water tanks were painted oxide red.  But since I have yet to find a actual picture of "Wilson" who is to say that the tank, if one ever existed, escaped the RGS B&B gang and a coat of oxide red paint.  The K-27 is from P-B-L and the water tank was built from a V&T Models kit.

 

Northbound leaving Wilson for Placerville.  The east bank of the San Miguel River is in the foreground.
 

 

The stock car was built from a P-B-L kit and the drop bottom gondola is from a V&T kit.  I don't think I have ever seen a picture of a drop bottom gondola on the RGS but there are a couple running around my version of the railroad.

The box car storage shed attached to the section house.  This kit-bashed model is based upon a similar structure that stood at Pagosa Junction.

 

Leased D&RGW #346 southbound at Wilson.  #346 is a P-B-L brass import equipped with DCC and Tsunami2 sound.  This model has an interesting background as it was originally lettered for Brian Ellerby's Copper River Yukon, then my Alaska Pacific and now the D&RGW.

Initial Scenery around Placerville

I typically start with earth colored paint followed by a layer of basic ground cover (paving sand) around a key scenic element; in this case the depot.

Here, the same thing has been done with the hotel, coal bin and small warehouse to the south of the depot.  The Bar Mills "Idaho Hotel" is a stand in for the original hotel.  A Banta warehouse kit, built by my 11 year old grandson, is another stand in for the Gallaway Stage Stop Building (He still needs to paint the roof). 

And in this case, the "scenic element" is a drainage ditch that was west of the depot.  A partial view of this ditch shows up a picture on page 273, Volume 1, RGS Story, Sundance Publishing.

As always, your comments, questions & suggestions are welcome

sdepolo@outlook.com

Construction Update #22 - Scenery around Wilson, RGS #42

 

Scenery around Wilson

It's been nearly a month since my last post.  April has been a pretty busy month and the amount of time I've had available to work on the layout has been limited so here is a quick update.  Here is where I left off in the last post.

Since color is one of the most important elements when it comes to scenery, I like to start out with a small "test" section based upon a couple of photos I find on the internet.  As can be seen, in the following photograph, there is a lot of variety when it comes to the "right" color.

After several tests, I decided to moderate the intense "reds" shown in the photographs since the resulting rock work just look real to me under the lights I am using (LED 4000).  In fact, some of the actual material I collected from the area, back in 1998, actually took on a violet hue.  Here is what I came up with.  Ace Hardware mixed the paint for the rock work that was then tinted with several different colors of craft paint (thinned or dry brushed).  The ground cover is all natural, which the exception of some ground foam,  The ballast is paving sand from Home Depot and the rest of the ground cover is a blend of paving sand and decomposed granite found on Old Blewett Pass Road here in Washington State.  The tree was made using "Super Trees" from Scenic Express.  

Fudd's Crossing

 

The Fudd's crossing trestle also got installed in the last couple of weeks.

Installing the crossing included the cutting in a a new turnout.

Once the turnout and track were in place, I built up the scenery around the abutments to stabilize the trestle.

And, here is Fudd's at the end of the spur.  This structure was built by Bruce Hanley.

Here is an up-to-date picture of  Wilson as of 3/27. 

RGS #42

I also managed to pick up a P-B-L #42 (Later run with correct cab & cab window) this last month, three additional box cars and a Banta kit for the OPhir Tram House.

The #42 is equipped with DCC and a Tsunami sound system.  It runs and sounds great.  It does have some minor damage to the tender but it can be easily repaired and the price was several hundred dollars less than one of these models typically sell for.

These three cars were picked up off ebay for $60.00 each.  All three came in the original boxes and are nicely weathered.

As always, your comments, suggestions & questions are welcome

sdepolo@outlook.com