Sýnir færslur með efnisorðinu White River Junction. Sýna allar færslur
Sýnir færslur með efnisorðinu White River Junction. Sýna allar færslur
fimmtudagur, 23. júlí 2015
Sneak Preview - and a possibility???
This post serves two purposes. And, it may be the first model railroad blog post to feature a Vulcan funeral�
The first purpose is crass commercialism - a plug for my friend Bernie Kempinski's Upcoming book from Kalmbach - 45 Original Track Plans.
But one of those plans does have some bearing on this post and on my layout. It's Bernie's Magnum Opus du White River Junction�. or some such. Essentially the plan in the book features White River Jct. and several other CV towns in a massive dream layout scenario. He did me a favor and didn't design it for my present basement - a good thing since I'd likely be taking a crow bar to what I DO have had that been the case. Thanks Bernie!
For frame of reference here's a snippet of the parts of the plan that apply to this discussion (reproduced here with Bernie's permission)
I've blogged about the issues with the White River scene on my layout before so I won't repeat those concerns. I might come to the conclusion that what it is is what it is�and it's not worth the time/effort/expense to change.
But, as Mr. Spock said, "I like to consider that there are always �. possibilities."
[Editor's Note: Of course that was shortly before he sucked down the Enterprise's main engine fumes inside a glass box that looks the smoking rooms in the airport, died, and then got shot out of the ship in a giant eyeglass case�.But I digress.]
Although the plan in the book is too large but perhaps I could take a kernel of an idea and solve several of the issues with WRJ by adapting it to fit my space.
The key would be the removal of the wall behind WRJ - completely - and finishing off the walls in the present workshop to match those in the rest of the layout room. (The workshop area is 6 x 11 feet).The staging yard which presently juts into the middle of the storage room would turn 180 degrees and end up along the left wall of the present workshop in this view.
I'd add a little - perhaps 14-18" to the rear of the layout - enough to make the platform area of the station a true highlight. The resulting operator's area would be approx 36" wide. Access could be via duck under or through some sort of lift out lift gate. A door may or not be installed between where the water heater is and the corner of the wall.
A conceptual sketch of how this might fit the space is below.
Will I actually do this???
Honestly, I don't know. There's some appeal to it but I also dread the thought of another step backward.
At least this wouldn't require tearing out sections of the layout and rebuilding them - it's a change to the space more than the layout itself.
Key is to determine if the time/effort/expense is worth the benefit. We'll see.
Read More..
The first purpose is crass commercialism - a plug for my friend Bernie Kempinski's Upcoming book from Kalmbach - 45 Original Track Plans.
But one of those plans does have some bearing on this post and on my layout. It's Bernie's Magnum Opus du White River Junction�. or some such. Essentially the plan in the book features White River Jct. and several other CV towns in a massive dream layout scenario. He did me a favor and didn't design it for my present basement - a good thing since I'd likely be taking a crow bar to what I DO have had that been the case. Thanks Bernie!For frame of reference here's a snippet of the parts of the plan that apply to this discussion (reproduced here with Bernie's permission)
I've blogged about the issues with the White River scene on my layout before so I won't repeat those concerns. I might come to the conclusion that what it is is what it is�and it's not worth the time/effort/expense to change.
But, as Mr. Spock said, "I like to consider that there are always �. possibilities."
[Editor's Note: Of course that was shortly before he sucked down the Enterprise's main engine fumes inside a glass box that looks the smoking rooms in the airport, died, and then got shot out of the ship in a giant eyeglass case�.But I digress.]
Although the plan in the book is too large but perhaps I could take a kernel of an idea and solve several of the issues with WRJ by adapting it to fit my space.
The key would be the removal of the wall behind WRJ - completely - and finishing off the walls in the present workshop to match those in the rest of the layout room. (The workshop area is 6 x 11 feet).The staging yard which presently juts into the middle of the storage room would turn 180 degrees and end up along the left wall of the present workshop in this view.
A conceptual sketch of how this might fit the space is below.
Honestly, I don't know. There's some appeal to it but I also dread the thought of another step backward.
At least this wouldn't require tearing out sections of the layout and rebuilding them - it's a change to the space more than the layout itself.
Key is to determine if the time/effort/expense is worth the benefit. We'll see.
miðvikudagur, 22. júlí 2015
Key Pieces of White River Junction
I've had some inquiries from my post the other day showing one possible change to the White River Junction section arrangement. I think it may have confused some people - in fact I know it did! I didn't make it clear that the plan doesn't show the layout IS - and in fact is a compromise from the prototype.
In an attempt to clarify -
here's an aerial photo from 1953 showing the station area at White River Junction, Vt. From the UVM web site. I added the labels to show some "key" elements.
The orientation of this aerial photo is close to how my layout's White River scene is presently arranged - the station is to the left and the CV yard is north - to the right in this photo - as you look at the layout - and when you're standing in my aisle you're really in the White River.
Read More..
In an attempt to clarify -
here's an aerial photo from 1953 showing the station area at White River Junction, Vt. From the UVM web site. I added the labels to show some "key" elements.
The orientation of this aerial photo is close to how my layout's White River scene is presently arranged - the station is to the left and the CV yard is north - to the right in this photo - as you look at the layout - and when you're standing in my aisle you're really in the White River.
My main issue with the current arrangement is the staging yard - it's on a stub-ended shelf through the large mouse hole. And, speaking of the mouse hole, well that's issue #2 - but as we add more and more elements to the foreground and continue the scenery into the staging yard it becomes less and less obtrusive 
But it doesn't change the fact that the staging yard itself is a real problem�.And now here, for the first time anywhere - the "Backstage" View. I've lost count of how many times I've bumped into the end of this damn "temporary" staging yard.
fimmtudagur, 9. júlí 2015
Flipping the Yard?
I've discussed some of the frustrations I have with the main yard scene on the layout in previous posts.
Bob Sprague, who's had a number of layout designs published in MR over the years, came by a few months ago and after we reviewed the list of what was bothering me (outlined in more detail below) he prepared this drawing showing a possible solution. This drawing shows the "main peninsula" exactly as it exists. Changes to the main peninsula are off the table.
The top wall and left side walls (relative to the drawing above) basically the location of the main yard does not reflect the current state of the railroad. At this point the station "wye" scene (not actually a complete wye) is where the turntable is shown on this plan - the turntable is in the upper left hand corner.The south-end staging yard is currently on a stub-ended shelf that juts into the middle of the furnace room. This drawing shows a revision to the staging yard that wraps the line around the furnace and creates a double-ended fiddle yard on one end.The other change on this plan from what's in the basement presently is the right side of the room (relative to the drawing) - currently the north end staging yard is along that wall - I'd like to move that from the wall to another location. Pluses to the current arrangement:
1. Current arrangement represents the "prototype" orientation of White River Jct. - from the north you go through the CV yard, past the engine terminal and then arrive at the station.
Cons to the current arrangement:
1. The station in its current location is kind of hidden - the proposed plan would make the station - a signature scene - the first thing you see when you walk down the main aisle.2. The current location of the turntable is too far from the aisle to effectively work as the "hostler" and there's no room for the roundhouse - which means this section of the layout languishes simply because I can't figure out how to make it work. And frankly we never seem to use the turntable during an op session.
In essence the main issue is the station is a "curved scene" - the curve in front of the station is a longtime favorite of prototype railfans - and the same north yard is an inherently straight scene - (on the prototype it's arrow straight for a couple of miles).
Naturally, I ended up with the "straight" scene in the corner - meaning the yard has a 90-degree bend in the middle.
There is one "con" to the proposed new arrangement - actually two:
1. I'd have to scrap what I have and rebuild the thing
2. The orientation of the elements in WRJ don't match the prototype - you'd pass the station before arriving at the yard from the north - exactly the opposite of what really happens.
But, although the orientation will be reversed from the prototype the arrangement in the "new" plan has the yard and engine terminal in a "straight" part of the layout and the station in the corner.... I've been toying back and forth with these plans for several months - thought it was time to share it with the world and see what the reaction is.
Read More..
Bob Sprague, who's had a number of layout designs published in MR over the years, came by a few months ago and after we reviewed the list of what was bothering me (outlined in more detail below) he prepared this drawing showing a possible solution. This drawing shows the "main peninsula" exactly as it exists. Changes to the main peninsula are off the table.
The top wall and left side walls (relative to the drawing above) basically the location of the main yard does not reflect the current state of the railroad. At this point the station "wye" scene (not actually a complete wye) is where the turntable is shown on this plan - the turntable is in the upper left hand corner.The south-end staging yard is currently on a stub-ended shelf that juts into the middle of the furnace room. This drawing shows a revision to the staging yard that wraps the line around the furnace and creates a double-ended fiddle yard on one end.The other change on this plan from what's in the basement presently is the right side of the room (relative to the drawing) - currently the north end staging yard is along that wall - I'd like to move that from the wall to another location. Pluses to the current arrangement:
1. Current arrangement represents the "prototype" orientation of White River Jct. - from the north you go through the CV yard, past the engine terminal and then arrive at the station.
Cons to the current arrangement:
1. The station in its current location is kind of hidden - the proposed plan would make the station - a signature scene - the first thing you see when you walk down the main aisle.2. The current location of the turntable is too far from the aisle to effectively work as the "hostler" and there's no room for the roundhouse - which means this section of the layout languishes simply because I can't figure out how to make it work. And frankly we never seem to use the turntable during an op session.
In essence the main issue is the station is a "curved scene" - the curve in front of the station is a longtime favorite of prototype railfans - and the same north yard is an inherently straight scene - (on the prototype it's arrow straight for a couple of miles).
Naturally, I ended up with the "straight" scene in the corner - meaning the yard has a 90-degree bend in the middle.
There is one "con" to the proposed new arrangement - actually two:
1. I'd have to scrap what I have and rebuild the thing
2. The orientation of the elements in WRJ don't match the prototype - you'd pass the station before arriving at the yard from the north - exactly the opposite of what really happens.
But, although the orientation will be reversed from the prototype the arrangement in the "new" plan has the yard and engine terminal in a "straight" part of the layout and the station in the corner.... I've been toying back and forth with these plans for several months - thought it was time to share it with the world and see what the reaction is.
miðvikudagur, 13. maí 2015
miðvikudagur, 29. apríl 2015
fimmtudagur, 26. mars 2015
Progress Report
They say there's nothing like an open house or a visit from some fellow modelers to really kick things into gear. I hadn't really been all that motivated to do a lot of modeling in January and February. I'd say it was more "puttering" than progress. But when I learned that two of my good friends and great New England modelers were going to venture forth from their winter hideaways to visit several layouts in the DC area, including mine, I figured it was time to get my you-know-what in gear again!
The blog has also suffered from a lack of progress posts except for a couple of "wordless Wednesdays." What do you want from me - to make progress and then have time to actually blog about it????
So what has been going on:
1. These visitor preps always seem to start with cleaning up - the layout had gotten littered with "stuff" again. Actually just getting the surface of the railroad cleared off can be a huge motivator.
2. I engaged the services of Rich Cobb to build a couple more White River Junction structures to go along with the station he completed for me a couple of years ago. This meant getting Rich photos, footprints and other bits and pieces.
3. Bernie came out here and we "swung for the fence" with an attempt to fix the issues with the "black hole of White River. You can see what our plan was here. The result, still very much under construction, can be seen below:
There was the unfinished river scene north of White River Junction that needed a little something. Last weekend was spent patching the sub terrain, adding the "dirt" texture layer and painting the backdrop. I'm still getting my sea legs under me with the painting, but I do enjoy it! A couple of evenings to prep a couple of boxes of Super trees, and another evening spent flocking and "planting" them. A quick coat of fresh black paint will double as the water surface for the time being. Yes, the bank still needs vegetation, and track needs some ballasting. Overall, I think this will be a nice photo spot on the railroad - I know I'd certainly wait for a train here, and would be sure to frame the picture with that "electric maple" on the right:
And the "official" structure awaits signage, weathering, and details:
Read More..
The blog has also suffered from a lack of progress posts except for a couple of "wordless Wednesdays." What do you want from me - to make progress and then have time to actually blog about it????
So what has been going on:
1. These visitor preps always seem to start with cleaning up - the layout had gotten littered with "stuff" again. Actually just getting the surface of the railroad cleared off can be a huge motivator.
2. I engaged the services of Rich Cobb to build a couple more White River Junction structures to go along with the station he completed for me a couple of years ago. This meant getting Rich photos, footprints and other bits and pieces.
3. Bernie came out here and we "swung for the fence" with an attempt to fix the issues with the "black hole of White River. You can see what our plan was here. The result, still very much under construction, can be seen below:
Rich came through in record time with the White River Junction ball signal (Rich delivered the models painted but unweathered - the final finishing is on me):
Yes, I consider myself blessed to have great friends and talented modelers who are willing to help me out with this project, but ultimately it's my railroad � which means I should probably do something�.
I did get the WRJ station platforms completed - by far the largest paved area I've ever in one sitting. I think I'll save the specifics on that for it's own blog post, but you can see the platforms behind the E7 in the photo above.
There was the unfinished river scene north of White River Junction that needed a little something. Last weekend was spent patching the sub terrain, adding the "dirt" texture layer and painting the backdrop. I'm still getting my sea legs under me with the painting, but I do enjoy it! A couple of evenings to prep a couple of boxes of Super trees, and another evening spent flocking and "planting" them. A quick coat of fresh black paint will double as the water surface for the time being. Yes, the bank still needs vegetation, and track needs some ballasting. Overall, I think this will be a nice photo spot on the railroad - I know I'd certainly wait for a train here, and would be sure to frame the picture with that "electric maple" on the right:A few weeks ago I did a post about the Derby & Ball building in Waterbury. Just to show I actually do things other than redo track and make trees, here's the progress shot of the Derby & Ball building (obviously still under construction!) I couldn't determine how the prototype was painted in my era, but I kind of liked the colors it's painted now, so I went with those. Very New England color palette.
One last thing - just tonight (so Jim and Randy just missed it) I got the Twin State Fruit Company building for WRJ from Rich. So out with this stylish mockup -
Sorry for such a long post - I'll try to keep future posts shorter and more frequent!
But there's been a lot going on (some things I'm keeping close to the vest for the time being!) and wanted to catch you up!
miðvikudagur, 25. mars 2015
miðvikudagur, 4. mars 2015
miðvikudagur, 4. febrúar 2015
fimmtudagur, 29. janúar 2015
Rethinking White River Junction - 2
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| Is this the answer to the White River Junction dilemma? Time will tell. |
I received a fair amount of feedback on the blog post, both on the comments section and through personal emails and I've read, considered, and most of all appreciated them.
 |
An overhead view of the station in position on the layout. |
If I hadn't done any rework to the layout I would likely choose the latter - but as I told Bernie at lunch last Thursday I feel like all I've done is benchwork, track, and wiring. Frankly, I'm sick of infrastructure.
Finally, there's the not so insignificant fact that the station and coaling tower - two signature structures - are complete.
So a "tweak" it is.
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| Several people commented that the hole would be less objectionable with light levels matching the layout room. Here's a view that proves that theory. I made it that tall to take photos from "inside " the hole looking out - but the result is the hole is too tall. |
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| This prototype shot is pretty close to the angle of the model photo above. Note the Cross & Abbott building to the right. Circa 1957. B. Decker photo. |
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| By the time I took this photo Cross & Abbott was Vermont Salvage. (For a number of years it was White Mountain Paper Co.). Most of this wall will be visible on the layout. |
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| This is a portion of the old Swift & Co. packing house. The low height will work well for screening the hole in the backdrop. At least I hope it will. |
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| Sanborn Map shows how some of these elements fit together. |
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| Front side of Vermont Salvage, which will be the Cross & Abbott Co. during my era. |
On the right side I plan to add the long warehouse structures to the rear of Cross and Abbott and may add some portion of the Swift branch house - even running the wall into staging.
What of the staging yard that juts into the middle of the workshop? That's going to have an adjustment made as well, but first I want to ensure this transition works.
Wish me luck!
fimmtudagur, 22. janúar 2015
Rethinking a few things
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| Some things work, others don't about the White River Junction yard. It remains the only layout section that hasn't been rebuilt�yet. (White ruler is for size reference!) |
But I'm not.
I could never actually "over plan" anything - we've all known modelers who are trapped in "analysis paralysis." My approach is a little more "Ready�Fire�.Aim!" but hey, it works for me.
After spending several years and lots of hours building, rebuilding, and rebuilding again I'm finally happy with the "middle" of the railroad - basically the long peninsula down the center of the room.
They say the sure-fire way to tell if something isn't satisfying shows in a distinct lack of progress. And any visitor to the basement can immediately identify where that area is on my layout - the main yard area.
Here's a run down of the issues:
1. The White River Junction station is tucked into a reverse corner - and a portion of the platform is actually poking into the south end staging yard in the utility room.
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| Issue #1 and #2: The position of the WRJ station. Note how the platform canopy actually ends up under the "hole." |
2. The south end staging yard itself - a stub ended yard that juts into the middle of the utility room. It's always in the way. Since it's an unfinished part of the basement where I do a lot of sawing and sanding and the ceiling is unfinished dust and dirt rain down on the track and the equipment in the yard. It drives me nuts. Enough said.
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| Issue #3 and #4: Center of turntable is beyond arm's length in the corner. So operators don't use it since it's hard to see. Also, no room for even a "bas relief" roundhouse. |
4. Because the turntable is shoved in the corner there's little room for a roundhouse or any kind - let alone a decent scale model of one.
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| Issue #5: A little hard to tell here but the north yard throat is confusing to visiting operators - and the guy who built it! |
The next two issues are much more aesthetic/design related than the previous two:
6. To access that staging yard I ended up with a huge slot in the wall - effectively masking and screening it is proving elusive - there's no easy way to hide something so wide. Adding a highway overpass would destroy the composition of the prototype scene. I've tried various ways to "soften" the transition - they work in photos but in person, well, it's tracks going through a hole in the wall.
7. And this is much more aesthetic - there's lots of "countryside" and "small towns" on the layout - what's missing is a city-like element. Something that contrasts with the pastoral nature of much of the rest of the layout.
Not sure I have the solutions to these items worked out in my head quite yet, but I've hired a consultant to provide some professional solutions to these problems. Luckily, as the treasury is plenty bare he works cheap!
Stay tuned.
fimmtudagur, 11. september 2014
White River Junction Scene Planning
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This pre-construction mockup shows how the scene is arranged (it's not in its final position in the room here). the B&M Boston line ends at the wall, and the CV/B&M south staging is stub-ended. I'm considering connecting these two staging yards to form a loop around the furnace and hot water heater. |
My posts over the past week on White River Junction ("WRJ in a Garage" and "Lessening the Mouse Hole Effect") produced some email requests for more detail information on the track arrangement at my HO scale version of this iconic New England railroad junction.
To those who don't know, White River station sat in the middle of a wye junction with four "legs" (For an aerial view of White River in the 1950s see this post:
(1) A joint CV/B&M (technically it was CV to Windsor, then B&M south from there...) down the Conn. River Valley towards Springfield, Mass.
(2) The B&M "Northern" Line to Boston,
(3) The B&M (with CPR trackage rights) line up the Conn River Valley towards Wells River, Vt and ultimately Berlin, NH and
(4) The CV mainline north through Vermont to Montreal (by way of St Albans and the CNR).
Although it was a busy junction for the CV, the majority of the trains were B&M.
In many ways, the entire layout hinged on whether or not I could include White River. Knowing that it was going to be tricky I built this mockup back in February of 2009. For those keeping score, that predates the double-deck version of the railroad. I tried a number of options to get all four legs of the junction "live" on my layout, but the resulting plans always ended up with lots of staging to represent the various B&M lines, and required placing the station and junction in the center of the room - preventing me from modeling some of the other things I wanted to include.
I could see no way to make it all fit so I opted not to model White River Junction, primarily because of that obsession with making all the lines "live."
So I started building a double deck railroad representing a completely different portion of the CV - then in December of 2010 tore most of that out and started again.
And once again I wanted to include White River Jct.
The design for my current layout started with the photo of that mockup from 2009. Only this time I remembered I'm modeling the CV - not the B&M. So the only B&M trains I model are those that interfaced directly with the Central Vermont. All the others (and there are many) I ignore.
This radically simplified the staging requirements. On my layout the big hole in the wall leads to the joint B&M/CV "South" staging yard. The track to the far left will lead into another hole and into the B&M's Boston staging tracks - currently the South End staging yard is stub ended but I'm seriously looking into connecting the south staging tracks and B&M Boston tracks to form a loop in the utility room.
What of the other two routes?
In my case, the CV mainline continues past the WRJ yard and on to the rest of the railroad.
The line to Wells River, which is behind the station in the overall view, is a dummy track - it crosses the B&M Boston line (protected by a ball signal) and then continues north aboiut 5 inches until it traverses my railroad's steepest grade - 54" straight down to the floor!
þriðjudagur, 9. september 2014
Lessening the mouse hole effect
Taking a break from working on Waterbury structures to offer a planning/construction tip.
Frequently on model railroads track passes through walls. Typically the mainline leaves the scenicked portion of the railroad and heads into a staging yard in a separate room. That's the case near the White River Junction station on my layout.
Modelers frequently disguise these openings with highway overpasses, buildings, and the like. But in my case no such options were available.
Let's face it, we're not really fooling anybody into believing the train isn't going through the wall. What we need to do is lessen the impact of the track heading into a dark mouse hole.
The easiest way to ease the transition is to maintain the same light levels and type of lighting on both sides of the opening.
The photos (underlie purposely to show the effect) illustrate what I mean.
Read More..
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| The train emerges from a darkened staging yard. What's the first thing your eye sees in this view? The scratch built station? No, it's the cavernous black hole. |
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| Turning on the lights in the staging room offers an immediate improvement. The next step will be to screen the exposed stud and support post with a realistic backdrop that will blend into the layout room backdrop. |
Modelers frequently disguise these openings with highway overpasses, buildings, and the like. But in my case no such options were available.
Let's face it, we're not really fooling anybody into believing the train isn't going through the wall. What we need to do is lessen the impact of the track heading into a dark mouse hole.
The easiest way to ease the transition is to maintain the same light levels and type of lighting on both sides of the opening.
The photos (underlie purposely to show the effect) illustrate what I mean.
föstudagur, 5. september 2014
Layout Design: White River Junction in a single-car garage
I came across it the other day and thought I'd post it here.
If there's one thing I'm not entirely happy about with the current layout it's the staging at the two ends of the railroad - I doubt the answer lies in the arrangement shown here, but I came across this plan the other day and thought I'd post it here in case you've ever pondered how to capture much of the action, if not all the tracks, at White River Junction. miðvikudagur, 8. janúar 2014
miðvikudagur, 1. janúar 2014
Wordless Wednesday #31
WRJ, circa 1958. Bob Decker Photo, Courtesy Central Vermont Railway Historical Society
miðvikudagur, 4. desember 2013
miðvikudagur, 23. október 2013
fimmtudagur, 29. ágúst 2013
Build Me a River 5: Test fitting foreground trees
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| Test fitting some Crepe Myrtle tree armatures. Still could use some more foreground trees! |
I think two large trees work well in the positions shown. I do want to add a couple more "medium" trees.
These trees will be painted and flocked once I'm satisfied with how they look and their placement in the scene.
Build Me a River - 4: What do 220 Supertrees look like?
?
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Work continues on the White River scene. Will our hero finish in time for the MER Convention tours? Stayed tuned to find out..... |
After looking at the photos I think I'm going to carve a sharper angle into the base of the foam panels (luckily the panels aren't glued in place!) to get the hillsides to lean back toward the wall. Their current vertical position give the trees a pronounced forward "lean" and the top of the treeline looks like a crew cut - I'd rather have more variation in height.
?
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The "leaning trees" effect, not really a problem when you're looking at the layout in person, is all too apparent in this photo. Adjusting the angle of the hillside "panels" will address the problem. |
But the changes I need to make are relatively straightforward "tweaks." Once they're done I can add some additional texture (static grass, weeds, and the like) between the track and the treeline.
?
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The open areas create a nice visual relief from the solid mass of trees. This will get a static grass treatment to add some additional textures and colors. |
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