Corrugated Metal Fencing for the Scrap Yard

December 12, 2024

There are several locations on the layout that will require some fencing. For the scrap yard at Exeter, I decided to use the "Cornerstone" corrugated fence kit from Walthers. The fence comes molded in gray plastic that needs to be painted and weathered. The fence panels were left attached to the sprue and then painted three colors of craft paint to achieve the desired weathered appearance. The gray was applied first followed by the brown and rust colors that were blended into the gray while it was still wet.

Here is the end result. The three Folk-Art colors used were Classic French Gray, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna. After the paint had cured, the parts were given a thin coat of Tamiya TS-80 flat spray to protect the finish.

Gates

For the scrap yard, I wanted to include gates that could be open or closed. The gates pivot on a piece of .032 bronze wire inserted into a piece of syrene tubing. Putting a slight bend on the lower end of the bronze wire provides just enough tension to keep the gates in the open or closed positions.

A hole was drilled in the cork/foam and Aleene's Tacky Glue was used to hold the styrene tubing in place. The doors can be moved between the open and closed positions. Coming up with enough "scrap" is going to be a challenge.

Wood Fencing

The same technique was used to paint and weather the Walthers wood fencing south of the Redbanks depot and behind the small MOW storage area. For the wood, Folk Art-Black was used instead of Raw Sienna (Rust).

Here is a section of fencing installed south of the depot.

Chain Link Fencing

December 16, 2024

I've been operating the layout for several weeks and it became obvious that, in the layout's current configuration, there wasn't enough space in Exeter for interchange. (An operating session with my grandson operating as the engineer and me as the conductor takes about an hour.) In order to improve operations the engine house was removed and the small two track interchange was added.

Of course, removing the engine house and service track left the railroad without a place for the locomotive and caboose to layover between operating sessions. Fortunately, the solution was right here in Woodinville on the now abandoned East Side Freight short-line here in Woodinville. The East Side Freight built the small chain link fence enclosed service/storage area next to its small yard office on one stub end of a out of use wye. In order to include a yard office, a small "clamp on" extension will have to be added to the front of the module.

Elizabeth Guenzler Photograph

Woodland Scenics (A2083) chain link fencing was used to enclosure on the stub end of the main track between the small yard and edge of the module. The Woodland Scenic fence in my kit was warped and difficult to work with. It is also a bit oversize. Gluing the sections together proved to be a challenge. I finally settled on the method shown below. The two sections were suspended between two pieces of styrene, held in place with squares and glued together with gap filling ACC. The same method used for making the corrugated metal gates movable was used for the chain link fencing.

Here is SD-9 sitting within the partially completed fence. Unfortunately, one package of fencing wasn't enough to complete the project. I also managed to damage, beyond repair, several fence panels. On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this fencing about a 5. It is fragile and difficult to work with. I ended up mounting the fence to a section of styrene to add some stability. Eventually, styrene strip will be hidden by ground cover.

2 Month Review

December 20, 2024

Construction on the Visalia Electric shelf layout started around the middle of October, 2024. The original time frame for construction (90-95% level) was about 4-5 months. So after a little more than 2 months, here is a overview of progress to date. All of the track is installed and operational. All of the background murals are on hand but have yet to be installed.

Exeter Module

The capacity for interchange with parent Southern Pacific has been increased by replacing the single stall engine house and service track with a small 2-track yard. Eventually, this module on the East wall will be moved to the South wall and be extended another 4 feet to increase the length of the interchange tracks, add a depot, the engine house and service tracks. This module will be replaced with a new module. It will include the town of Lemon Cove, the rock spur and the Kaweah River crossing.

The future scrap yard at Exeter. The interchange, shown in the previous photo, is just out of view to the right. The Exter module ends about 3 inches to the left of the fence.

East Redbanks Module

The white building in the background is Kilburn Packing. The green building on the left is Redbanks Fruit Company and the team track is on the right. The scrap yard shown above is just to the right and beyond the lamp shade.

Redbanks Module

The Redbanks depot and small yard on the North wall. Redbanks Fruit Company, Kilburn Packing and the East Redbanks team track are to the right.

Barr Packing is on the far track against the wall. The house track (loading dock) is in front of Barr Packing and The Redbanks fertilizer dealer is on the far end. The Milwaukee Road box car is siting on the mainline.

Merry Christmas

As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome

sdepolo@outlook.com

Grade Crossings

November 26, 2024

There are three roads that cross the tracks on the module. All three include multiple crossings; one with two, one with three and one with four. For the VE, I bought two types. Part # 118 includes 12 two lane crossings for 90 degree crossings and part #132 that includes two angled crossings. These are really nice laser cut wood crossings that work perfectly with Code 83 rail. They are a little thick for Code 70 and probably a bit thin for Code 100.

In order to get the outer boards to snuggle up to outside of the rails, one of the back side corners needs to be shaved down to clear the spike heads molded into the flex track. As shown below, I used an X-acto knife followed by a bit of sanding to even things out.

The grade crossing were stained with Builders-In=Scale "Silverwood" and glued in place with Aleene's Tacky Glue.

Roads

I spent a lot of time looking a road building tutorials on YouTube. Ultimately, I used a combination of several how-to videos to create my asphalt roadways. In the past, I have always used sheet styrene to create roads. While it is easy to work with, it is difficult to achieve anything but manicured roadways with going through several steps to achieve some texture, cracking and erosion. My era and location dictated that most of the roads in the rural area I am modeling would suffer from poor maintenance.

1/8" cork was used to make the roads. It was cut 22 scale feet wide and tapered with sandpaper were the asphalt meets the grade crossings. A X-acto knife was used to chip away along the sides of the cork to show signs of erosion and deterioration along the shoulders. It was also glued in place with tacky cement. The deterioration is exaggerated at this point but once the shoulder is blended in the surrounding scenery the effect will be much more subtle.

Coloring the road way can be a challenge. My paint preference, with the exception of locomotives and rolling stock, is craft paint. I tested out several colors to come up with a base color. I decided upon the Apple Barrel brand #21490E "Pavement" shown in the middle of the photograph. Later, Apple Barrel #20536E "Country Gray" applied with a dry sponge will be used to lighten (age) the asphalt and add more texture. Additional weathering will be done with more craft paint and powdered pigments.

The road painted with the Apple Barrel "Pavement" along with some gray applied with a sponge. More weathering will be applied once the shoulder is in place.

Fascia

December 2, 2024

I finally managed to finish off the fascia. I added some molding along the top and had the paint mixed to match Woodland Scenics "Burnt Grass".

Details

December 9, 2024

The layout is getting to the point where scenery and details can be added. Here is a little MOW storage area that is accross the street, to the East, of the depot.

Another little detail is the car puller located next to the Redbanks fertilizer dealer. I still need to add a shelter to protect the puller from the weather.

Finding vehicles to fit the era can be difficult. This 1979 Chevy pick-up fits right in. I owned a 1976 version of this same 4-wheel drive pick-up with a 4-speed transmission and the optional 350 V-8. It is still one on my all time favorite vehicles.

Rolling Stock Additions

I keep an eye out for rolling stock that is appropriate for the layout. I found this Atlas Agrico 3-Bay cylindrical hopper on ebay.

As always your comments, suggestions & questions are welcome