Changes to the Plan
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
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
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