Phoenix Weekend

The first weekend in March I traveled to Phoenix to attend a meet of the Arizona Division of the NMRA. More than one hundred model railroaders were in attendance. These meets are held three times a year in various locations around the state. As with most such events a  contest room, swap tables, layout tours and clinics filled out the schedule. I must confess to some doubts when I saw the clinic titles. The evolution of gas stations, modeling eagles from scratch, and measuring prototype structures did not seem to be topics up my alley. But the quality of the presentations was excellent and they managed quite well to keep my attention. The contest entries were a bit sparse, but an aspect of their contest room was something I would like to see more of at NMRA meets. They call it Lenny's Challenge. Members are encouraged to bring a modeling project which they would like to share with group. The projects are not judged or voted on. They do not even have to be finished. The idea is to simply share techniques and perhaps stimulate similar efforts. Too often, in my opinion, NMRA tends to project an elitist image. I think something non-competitive such as Lenny's Challenge says we are just a bunch of guys having fun and enjoying our hobby.

On Sunday I visited an open house at Richard Newkirk's Shasta Division home layout. This a large layout which Richard began work on ten years ago. But he abandoned his initial efforts and is completely rebuilding the layout with higher standards. One of those higher standards is hand-laying all of the track.  That is quite an endeavor on a layout this size which will be double decked when complete.

I also visited three club layouts in The McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. This is the most popular park in Scottsdale's city park system. The land for the park was donated to the city by the McCormick family. Originally the land was part of a ranch owned by the McCormicks of the spice and tea business. A mister Stillman who married into the family had an interest in trains and built a 15" gauge live steam layout. This is now the core of the railroad themed park. Several pieces of prototype equipment and train stations have been moved into the park. The day I visited there were long lines waiting to ride the little steam train.

The old ranch bunkhouse now houses three model railroad club layouts which are in operation each Sunday in exchange for free rent. These are not huge layouts but the N scale, HO/HOn3, and tinplate pikes are well done. The N scale layout is a collection of NTrak modules. A large yard takes up nearly all of one side of the display. Some scenes are composed of more than a single module to create a more cohesive display than a might be typical of an NTrak setup.

The HO/HOn3 layout may have more space devoted to narrow gauge than to standard. It all displays a high level of craftsmanship. If you find yourself in Phoenix on a Sunday I definitely recommend a visit to the McCormick Railroad Park.

 

 

FALLEN FLAG?
Topic: Ramblings

Several months have elapsed since the previous Journal entry. Those months have seen the closing of Augusta Station and my personal transition to a new life. It is still unknown if the Missouri Kansas and Pacific layout will make a similar transition. Augusta Station was both a model railroading project and a business venture. As a modeling project it was something of a success. Unfortunately, the business venture was not  successful and the owners of the business were left with no choice but to end the business venture. Some contacts have been made which might allow the MK&P layout to become a small part of another business venture in another location with other owners. It is an uncertain future, however, and the layout as so many others may become nothing more than another load for a trash dumpster. So it may be time to reflect a little on what was learned during this modeling endeavor.

One  thing demonstrated by the MK&P layout was not a new discovery, but a confirmation of my belief that N scale is not just for small spaces. In fact, N scale really comes into it's own in larger spaces. In a large space N scale can create sweeping scenic vistas which any other scale would be hard pressed to equal. Development of the layout did not progress to a stage where we could test the degree of detail which can be achieved in N scale. I have seen other layouts which do demonstrate that detailing is possible in N scale to a much higher degree than most persons might suppose. However that may be, the real strength of N scale will always reside in the ability to create big scenes be they magnificent mountain vistas or imposing industrial locations. If scenery is a strong interest for you, I can not think of any scale in which you would be happier.

 

Before starting this project I had read about building layouts using foam board insulation and also about bench work built with steel studs. I had no experience building with these products nor even seen them first hand. That may have been something of an advantage, however. There were few preconceived notions of how things were to be done. This left a lot of room for experimentation. I am now convinced I would never use any other method to build a layout. Two inch foam insulation mounted on top of an open grid of steel studs and topped off with Woodland Scenics foam risers is the easiest, least complicated, and quickest way of building I have seen. These materials have the further benefit of being uneffected by enviromental conditions of humidity and temperature.

A third thing learned, there is no better use of three inches of layout space than fluorescent lighting of your sky backdrop. This too was something I had seen written about but never witnessed first hand. No photograph can adequately show the profound effect up-lighting has when experienced in person. The flat blue wall behind the layout becomes a glowing, translucent sky. No need to worry about tricky painting techniques to achieve that graduated color from light blue at the horizon to the deep blue of the sky overhead. Just lay a string of T-8 fluorescent fixtures along the base of your sky backdrop. Then hide the fixtures behind scenery which now will be enhanced by a realistic sky. This single technique may do more than any other to lend believability to your scenery.

There were many small discoveries during the past six years. The condiment dispenser which I thought might be a good tool for gluing down ballast proved to be much better for spreading the dry ballast. Another style of condiment dispenser was successful as a glue applicator.  A few discoveries were less than happy. Instant Water proved unsatisfactory as did the black tarry Instant Roadbed. Although we returned for a time to traditional cork, Vinyl-bed (a recycled foam vinyl product) was our final choice for roadbed. And mounting turnout machines on 1/4 inch plywood wasn't a good idea either. But unsatisfactory results are merely a provocation to to look for a more satisfactory method. Using .060 styrene was a much better way to mount turnouts and turnout motors on a foam based layout. Small lessons such as these taught a larger lesson. Progress may come at the expense of prior failures. Discoveries are never made by persons doing what people have always done. When on the cutting edge there is always the danger of some blood being shed. But with proper attention wounds will heal.

I think willingness to innovate typified much of what went into building the MK&P. Perhaps most of the innovations related to the bench work construction. While foam insulation has been seen in layout building for some time using it as a structural material is relatively recent. The transfer of steel studs from the building trades to model railroading is even newer. Because such applications are new, there are few examples and exactly how to utilize these materials has not been fully explored. Hence, there are plenty of opportunities to be creative. Without previous experience in this type of construction, it took me awhile to understand how best to exploit these materials. Perhaps I am a little slow, but it took a bit of time to recognize some of the principles required by  construction of this sort . The open grid of steel studs topped with two inch extruded foam insulation defines the lowest level for any track or scenic features. Plan ahead, you do not want to intrude upon that bottom two inches of foam with gullies or streambeds. Woodland Scenics foam risers and inclines raise the track above that level. To gain elevation most foam construction which I have seen stacks foam sheets like layers of a cake. While this technique is satisfactory for small changes in elevation, it will quickly consume large quantities of foam for major changes in elevation. I discovered a more efficient use of material was to build boxes of foam which can be stacked on top of each other to any desired height. I lost count of how many sheets of foam insulation came into the building. (Certainly more than enough to build a good sized home.) Almost nothing went out. Scraps find their way into later construction so there is almost no waste of materials.One thing which has always bothered me about building bench work it plywood is the tremendous piles of scrap wood it seems to generate. 

 An even more efficient use of materials is to adapt the technique frequently used for plywood bench work construction. In areas where there are no structures which need flat surfaces for support it is possible to use foam pylons (called"risers" in plywood parlance) to support a base for the track. This gives a good deal of flexibility for creating very rugged scenery. Cutting the foam sheets may seem to lead to the same wasted trimming as seen when cutting plywood. However, the foam scraps are very useful for constructing scenery. As seen in this photo, foam scraps can be used as struts to support the wire form over which plaster hardshell is to be laid. Foam scraps can be assembled in all sorts of arrangements to provide scenery forms. Foam insulation board is very versatile. It easily can be cut or shaped with a saw, knife, hot wire, hot knife, or Shurform tool. It is quickly held in place with a hot glue gun. No drills or screws required.

We did make one major change in our construction method. We began with building individual tables supported with 2x2 legs. The tables were then joined together with sheet metal screws. While this worked it did have some problems. It was difficult to keep the joints between tables level. Flat and level bench work is essential for the best track laying. Even though derailments did not emerge as a problem I was not comfortable with this situation.  The last segment of bench work was supported on continuous beams. This eliminated any problem maintaining a smooth transitions between sections of the steel grid. The beams in this case were a modified box beam. However, for any future construction we would have switched to "I" beams similar to those used for floor joists in home building. While the  box beams worked well enough constructing them was too complicated. 

In this bench work photo you will notice the bench work stands away from the wall. The resulting two foot wide aisle, accessible via a duckunder, accomplished two things. First was to provide access from both sides of the five foot wide bench. The second was to give access to hidden staging tracks to be located under the tall mountain ridge. Also note the ledge attached to the wall. A triple track continuation of the mainline would later be mounted on this four inch wide ledge to function as a hidden return route for trains. If you examine the previous photo of the pink foam, you can see an open box exists beneath the upper level of track roadway. This is the box where a hidden staging yard of fifteen tracks will be laid out.

Perhaps the last lesson learned was about track cleaning. With a layout as large as the MK&P there is a lot of track to keep clean. Track in the presence of on going construction and many visitors add to the track maintenance issues. Bright Boys, track cleaning cars, alcohol, paste polishes, and any number of track cleaning solutions were employed. It wasn't until the last couple months of operation, however, that I came upon the suggestion of mineral spirits as a cleaning treatment. I made a trip the the paint department of the local Lowe's homebuilding store. With some denim scrap as a cleaning pad, I went to work with this new cleaning solution. I followed up with a quick pass of a Bright Boy to burnish the rails. The mineral spirits, just as other solvents and cleaners I had used. was effective at removing gunk from the rails. The real surprise was how long the cleaning lasted. I was able to run for weeks without repeating the task. I had discovered some time ago that running trains every day extended the time before cleaning needed to be done again. Likewise, I discovered that after not running trains for a couple days I almost always had to clean the rails again before I could run trains successfully. Not so after using the mineral spirits. With the curtailed schedule of operations which preceded the final closing of Augusta Station, there were extended periods during which trains were not run. It was a pleasant surprise to find that I did not need to clean track before resuming operations. I do not know but I suspect "mineral spirits" are a blend of mineral oil and alcohol or some similar solvent. Cleaning with mineral spirits leaves behind the slightest of oil film on the rails. I am supposing that this creates some sort of protection for the metal rails and perhaps improves electric conductivity. However it works  it does work well as a track cleaner.

It has been a great six years creating the Missouri Kansas and Pacific layout. My only regret is that it could not continue. But life moves on. Right now my model railroading is in a forced hiatus. I am living in one of those infamous 10x12 spaces, a dorm room which I share with a roommate. Although he is a pleasant fellow he is not a model railroader. I have no idea how I could accomodate a paint booth or even a mini table saw into this space. It has been very difficult to manage even a computer and a printer. So, for the time being at least, I have returned to an earlier condition of armchair modeling.

But if at some future date I have an opportunity to build another layout, even if it were only a 10x12 space, how would I build it? I would definitely build my bench work with steel studs and rigid extruded foam insulation resting on "I" beams. Woodland Scenics foam risers and inclines would provide the base for my track. The track would be laid on Vinyl-bed roadbed. The track would be Micro Engineering code 55 weathered rail. I would use Atlas rail joiners, turnouts, and switch machines. I would continue to assemble the turnouts on .060" styrene. Notice a pattern here? Yes, I would build my new layout pretty much with the same materials and techniques we developed over the six years building the MK&P. I would hope to avoid any of the design mistakes which were made along the way. And there were a few, but by in large I was happy with the layout we built.

 My move to Arizona has opened a part of railroading of which I previously had little or no awareness. The railroads which historically existed around the former copper mining town of Jerome would make fascinating model subjects. And the BNSF raceway across northern Arizona offers plenty of action with nearly non-stop container trains. Add in some manifest freights, Amtrak, and a couple tourist railroads and there is more  than enough to keep a railfan happy. In fact I see one of those tourist railroads every day. And while I am no longer on the leading edge of model railroading, I am on living on the edge of something pretty big. You see, I am now living in Grand Canyon National Park and working in the El Tovar Hotel made famous by Fred Harvey and the Santa Fe Railroad.

 

 

Scenic Diversity
Topic: Scenery

It seems as though my days in college geology class were in a land far away and a time long ago, but if I recall correctly "discontinuity" is  the name for what is pictured in these photos taken during my recent trip to Colorado. Technically, a discontinuity is the surface at which seismic waves passing through rock change speed. Visually, it is a line along which two differing types of rock meet. This geological phenomena can be useful for model railroads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rock formations on any model railroad layout usually exhibits a good deal of uniformity. The same rock texture and color tends to persist from scene to scene. More variety can make the scenery more interesting and make the layout seem larger. On the MKP layout I took full advantage of radical changes in rock strata. Rock formations in the East and Midwest make fewer and usually less obvious changes than those of the Rocky Mountain West.

At first this can look like you are creating a calico cat. It takes a bit of courage to make these abrupt transitions. But as you add ground cover, trees, and other vegetation these additions compete with the rocks for the viewer's attention and soften the contrasts between rock types and colors. The variety adds interest and a sense of place within the overall scenery. So that which at first seemed un-natural becomes completely natural.

 

 

IS IT ART?
Topic: Ramblings

Memorial Day I headed for Denver. I had left a lot of time to just kick back without a lot of special plans. Of course, I had to visit Caboose Hobbies. Doesn't every model railroader when in Denver? But my reason was because I used to work there part time and wanted to check in on old acquaintances. An additional place I wanted to visit was the new Art Museum building. This radical piece of architecture demands the attention of anyone heading into downtown on 13th Avenue. It looks more like a sculpture than a building. Maybe that's the point! This is a new building since I lived in Denver and I wanted to check it out. Inside the walls jut away from you at radical angles and the central stairwell can challenge those of us with vertigo. Finding a way to display works of art in such a space also presents challenges. You don't just hang a painting on a tilted wall. The combination of art shown was just as unusual as the building. Everything from the most modern to ancient Japanese art.

 So what does all of this have to do with model railroading or with trains? I hadn't expected that it would have anything to do with them. That is part of what a vacation is for, to get away from your everyday life. But strangely enough, the visit to the museum did bring me back to a debate sometimes heard about model railroading. Is it art?

 

Contemporary art certainly questions our traditional assumptions about what art is. Everyday materials and tools which are not commonly associated with art and artists have found their way into art museums. These changes, of course, have been hotly debated and there are plenty of doubters, especially among the public.

I have been over the years very reluctant to say model railroading is art. I am more inclined to call it a "craft". But as I walked through the museum that morning and across the plaza outside I began to think maybe I have be wrong. Other events have also raised the question for me. There are many artists in and around Augusta. So it is not usual they might come into the Station. But when one with a national reputation who has works in museums and private collections around the country brings into the Station another artist visiting from out of town just to show him the layout, I can't help but wonder if he has brought his friend because he thinks of it as art. And when still another artist asks to take photos of a scene on the layout to use as a reference to help him with a painting he is working on, does he consider model railroading to be capable of being art?

 

While standing on the plaza outside the buildings of the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Public Library and deciding architecture also can be art, I concluded that building a model railroad can be creating an object of art too.

The Ultimate Goal
Topic: Ramblings

I guess Tony Koester and I lately have been doing some of the same reading. In his "Trains of Thought" in Model Railroader, March 2007, he commented on the Sam Posey book, Playing With Trains (Random House, 2005). In the second half of this book, Posey explores the operations vs. art debate often heard today in model railroading circles. By the way of explanation, in the world of model trains "operations" is when modelers attempt to reproduce the activities of full size railroads with their miniature models. For some in the model railroad community this debate has reached the level of a struggle for the future of the hobby. I think it is important that Tony Koester, as a proponent of operations, in his column seeks to reign in the more extreme combatants in the debate to recognize that model railroading encompasses a diversity of interests and goals.

It has been my experience that "operations" is a goal discovered by a matured interest in model railroading. At it's beginning model railroading is a visual experience.  Operations arises from an intellectual realization that there is a purpose behind what is seen. "Action has always been a focal point (Koester, Realistic Model Railroad Operation, Kalmbach 2003). . . but, I would argue, in the beginning that which fascinates isn't an intellectual but an aesthetic experience. The beginning modeler is much more likely to be inspired by what he sees than by any awareness of timetables and train orders. The pleasure or enjoyment model railroading can be prolonged and enhanced by intellectual pursuits such as operations.  We always desire fresh experiences. The layout, especially once finished, sooner or later can bore us . If we are to maintain an active interest we must either discover new ways to experience the layout or tear it down and build anew.

There are as many ultimate goals as there are model railroaders. The nature of their participation is an expression their personal character. In my view, the highest level of modeling is when your layout displays its own unique style. We recognize a photo of the Gore & Daphetid because the modeling has a unique style recognizable as John Allen's. We can recognize a photo of work by Malcolm Furlow because of the unique style of his creations. To me that is the ultimate goal for model railroader to develop a unique modeling style which is immediately recognizable. Even if copied by others it is identified with the style of a particular modeler.  If Furlow were to build a layout which looks like Tony Koester's Midland Road we would say it is "out of character" just as we would if Tony were to build something looking similar to Furlow's Ferrocarril de Rio Mantanas. Attaining that degree of style and character in modeling is the ultimate level of achievement. That is why Koester can appreciate the Franklin & South Manchester as a great layout even though he might never build one like it. He wouldn't not because he doesn't posses the skill but because to do so would be out of character and not his style.

Even though it is fair saying, " To an increasing number of modelers, realistic operation is the ultimate goal of the hobby, " (Koester, Realistic Model Railroad Operation, Kalmbach 2003) it would be unfair to say it is the ultimate goal for the hobby as a whole. If operations is the ultimate goal for you that will be reflected in the layout you build. The new Cat Mountain & Santa Fe is the evolved expression of David Barrow's interest in operations. The sparse scenery on his earlier layouts has been in keeping with territory where the Santa Fe is to be found, but also it is an indication scenery isn't the focus of his modeling. Now, with the exception of structures, he has almost entirely abandoned scenery so as to permit more space for a longer mainline with more operations potential. The increasing favor of modelers for multi-deck layouts is another expression of operations growing popularity.

The MK&P is designed to appeal to the casual observer who most likely has never heard of "operations". Our typical visitor is not a model railroader. The broad panoramic scenes of the MK&P are there to entice this visitor to pay the admission for a closer look. But I also hope as building of the layout progresses, the design will provide an opportunity for this visitor to gain some knowledge of the functioning and role of railroading in American life. And I intend for it to provide an operations experience for model railroaders. The visual experience will stay as the first priority. There is no second deck not merely because the layout is large enough without one but because, in my opinion, double decking places limits on the visual possibilities. (Multiple decks don't accomodate mountains four feet high.) On the MK&P the trains are one part of the scenes rather than dominating the other elements of the scene. I think that in the end this will enhance operations by giving the operator a larger experience of the world through which trains move. When he is "aboard his train" it won't be too much of a stretch of the imagination to feel as if he really has places to go and things to do.