Redbanks Fertilizer

Novermber 14, 2025

Here is the final product sitting on the layout. It should be noted that this Blair Line kit is a pretty basic and unlike my previous build I didn't make any changes with the exception of adding some stiffeners to the back side of the wall to prevent warping. The elevator and conveyor are built from laser cut parts and are probably a little crude for some modelers. This goes for the roofing too, it is nothing more than a photograph... But, the build from start to finish took less than two days which is consistent with my goal to have all the structures done by the end of the year and the layout finished (90%) by the end of February.

I like to mount my structures on a piece of .080" styrene. While scenery will glued to the top and around the styrene base, the base itself will not be glued down. This will make the structure easy to remove, without any damage, should need be. The tanks for liquid fertilizer are from a Walthers kit. They still need paint and details.

The Barr Packing Company (Redbanks)

November 16, 2024

To date, I haven't found a good picture of the Barr Packing Company in Redbanks so I decided to use the San Fernando Orange Association kit from Showcase Miniatures as a starting point. The original styrene mock-up for the Barr Packing Company is shown below.

After studying the available photos, I decided to make some changes, A lot of packing houses were a combination of eclectic sheds and warehouses built over a relatively long period of time. Here is a great example.

One of my favorites is located at Hillmeade, CA. on the Santa Fe. About 5 or 6 years ago, I built a model of the Hillmeade packing house in S-Scale. It is pretty obvious that several additions were made over the years. While I was tempted to build an HO version for the layout, there isn't enough time or room as it would require a total rebuild of the layout/track plan.

I started out by trying out several concepts on paper.

Once a couple of ideas are settled upon, they are redrawn to scale and cut out to get a better idea on how the actual model with look. All 3 versions are 26" wide. Note that the right hand side of the structure is the same since the plan is start out with the Showcase Miniatures San Fernando Packers Association kit. I eliminated the 1st version shown below because I think the roof line is to "busy".

The Showcase Miniatures kit.

Let's Get Started

November 17, 2024

I started with the Showcase Miniatures kit. First off, I was surprised to find that the material used for this kit is very thin (3 or 4 mm) what I believe to be tempered hardboard. Based upon a previous post by another modeler, I expected plywood. The hardboard is OK, but it is flimsy/brittle and requires stiffening. The instructions, if you want to call them that, don't mention a thing about stiffening nor does the kit provide any materials to do so. The single sheet of minimal instructions includes a parts identification sheet on one side and a isometric drawing on the other. Here is a link for a 3-part article on building the Showcase Miniatures kit.

http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-packing-shed-for-shumala-part-3.html

I used some 3/16" square Northeastern scale lumber for the stiffening (light strip wood) as shown below. Aleen's tacky glue was used to attach the scale lumber to the hardboard and clothespins were used to hold things in place until the glue set.

November 18, 2024

Here is the assembly ready for paint. Along with a LOT of stiffeners some other changes (light strip wood) were made to improve the appearance of the structure. These included replacing the corner trim, fascia, and pilaster bracing on the dock.

November 23, 2024

We had a big wind storm here in Western Washington so the power was out for a little over 3 days. Luckily we have a generator so life went on with some limitations and I did get a lot of modeling done. Here is the second half of Barr Packing ready for paint. A few changes in the design were made along the way to include the office on the far left. The tall section on the right has clapboard siding, the section on the left board & batten.

Here is the Barr Packing Company complex sitting in place on the layout. Barr Packing will be painted a weathered white which is typical of packing houses in the region.

The Section Foreman's House

About 5 years ago, I built a series of SP structure including series of Coast Line depots and other line side structures. I gave away or sold all of them including a partially built section foreman's house built from a ALW Lines kit. The foreman's house, along with the forementioned Paso Robles depot recently found their way back to me. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, the roof for the foreman's house was lost and had to be replaced. I'm no engineer, so the roof replacement was a measure, cut and fit operation. It took 4 or 5 tries before I could get a reasonably good result.

As always, your comments, suggestions & question are welcome

sdepolo@outlook.com

Changes to the Plan

October 28, 2024

Some changes have been made to the original plan. The original module over the desk was about 15 inches wide. Not only did it intrude upon my work space, it also tended to block out the natural light that was coming through the window behind it. It was replaced with one about 10 inches wide. As a result, Lemon Cove, which wouldn't fit on the replacement module was replaced with Exeter. On the prototype, the car barn and SP interchange were located at Exeter. While a scrap yard didn't exist on the prototype, it was added for operating interest. Now instead of staging inbound traffic at Rebanks it can be exchanged at Exeter. Ultimately, I would like to move the desk and Exeter to the south wall and place Lemon Cove back on the east wall in front of the window.

Changes were also made in Redbanks mainly due to my underestimating the size of the SP Depot and the Blair Line kit I wanted to use for the fertilizer dealer.

Here is a picture of the room with the replacement 10 inch wide module in place over the desk. If your significant other resists the idea of you taking over a spare bedroom for a layout/modeling room, you might want to show her this photo.

A Car Barn for Exeter

The Visalia Electric referred to its engine house at Exeter as "The Car Barn" No doubt, the label goes back to the time when the VE had a small fleet of Interurban cars. I guess the label just stuck. While I would love to kit or scratch build a model of the car barn for the layout, it was just to big. Instead, for the time being, I settled for a Walthers model of a single stall engine house. It was painted with rattle cans. Due to the large open engine house door, I decided to add a few interior details from my parts box. The parts were painted in the evening and assembled as shown the next morning. I'll probably add a few lights too.

The Track Gang Arrives in Exeter

October 31, 2024

The scrap yard spur.

The car barn at Exeter. I came up a turnout short for this end of the Exeter siding/SP interchange track. That's a Walthers Proto SD-9 sitting on the service tracks. A removable backdrop is planned for this area since I don't want to permanently block the window. Mounting the backdrop photo on foam core should do the trick; it is relatively sturdy and light weight.

Redbanks Fruit Company

In keeping with my plan to have the layout near complete in about 4 months, I decided to kit bash an old out of production Valley Citrus Growers to represent the Redbanks Fruit Company. My reasoning here is pretty simple; I can always build a better model at some point in the future. I bought this kit for $20 on ebay. The box was a mess and there were no instructions but the kit was complete. The purchase also included a $10 coupon for a future purchase from a large internet reseller. Kind of a no brainer...

The kit, built per the instructions, turns out to be about 9 inches by 6 inches. I turned it into a 19 inch by 2.5 inch packing house front. Here are the two sections that make up the main buildings. Both sides and portions of the ends were used.

Here is the resulting structure on the layout. It was painted with rattle cans purchased at the hardware store.

The left over parts from the ends were used to build this small addition. The concrete loading dock was made using a Rix Products kit. Later, it was determined that there wasn't enough room to include this structure.

Kilburn Packing

Two attempts were made at creating a structure to represent Kilburn Packing. A Pike Stuff kit was used to start with. As usual, I started by laying out all the components on my desk and then developed a concept for the structure.

And here is what I came up with. Unfortunately it didn't look like any of the packing houses I had seen in photos.

After looking at additional photos, I decided to change gears and use one of the Walthers modern warehouse style kits as a starting point. I think the end result is a better representation of a relatively modern packing house.

PFE Reefers

As mentioned in a previous post, 8 Athearn and Con-Cor 57' reefers were purchased for use until I can come up with Intermountain and Red Caboose replacements. This Athearn example was weathered with a powdered pigments/alcohol wash. The wash was allowed to sit for several minutes before cotton swabs were used to wipe away the excess. It was then given a coat of Tamiya Flat.

Southern Pacific Caboose/Coach #997

Every once in awhile something comes along that you just can't resist. Such was the case with SP Caboose #997. The #997 is a PSC brass import that I bought on ebay. According to my research, the Southern Pacific converted several 60-CC-1 chair cars to cabooses in December of 1952. I'm pretty sure that one of these NEVER set foot on the Visalia Electric but...

As always, your comments, suggestions & questions are welcome

sdepolo@outlook.com

The Visalia Electric Railroad

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Construction Update #4 - Redbanks Fertilizer, Barr Packing Company & The Foreman's House