Rick McClellan's Northern Division

The three in the rear are stock Walthers crossings and were not part of Joe's masterpiece. The six at the KCT/SLSF crossing were built as one unit. In reality, I think there were four KCT tracks that crossed the Frisco and we were only able to do three with six crossings.

The KCT tracks are dead so the KCT part of each diamond is not powered. Not quite sure how he did that. He created the SLSF part of the diamonds so that I only had to feed power from the main.

I will cut gaps in the track between the Walters crossings in the background and Joe's six diamonds because the Walthers diamonds, once powered, send power out all directions.

I will get going on the bridge in the near future but need to finish the wall work for the Ash Grove sub and Springfield. I have been doing some wall painting in the Springfield wall area but need another week or so before declaring it ready for benchwork. Oh and I need some $$ for that too. I think I am going to apply for a gov't Stimulus grant. I hear they have an endless supply of (our) money.

Ship IT on the Frisco!

Rick

 

UMMMM BOY! Lots of Clicketly-Clacks there. Must sound real nice with a long train going thru.

Very nice work.

 

There has been more activity on the Northern Division lately than previously reported. The walls for the Ash Grove Sub are being finished prior to installing the benchwork. Unfortunately, these wall have curved corners which require a lot of work to get smooth. The wall for Lamar Mo is ready for benchwork. The opposite side will be for Elwood Mo and that is the goal for this weekend. I would provide photos but the walls aren't much to look at without benchwork and trains.

The wall work for the Springfield Yard is closer to completion (no curved walls). Last week lights were installed and bench work will follow the completion of benchwork in Lamar and Elwood. Ceiling tile will come as the budget allows.

Completing this work has been in the back of my mind for some time but I couldn't get motivated to complete the curved walls. Mark Davidson has put carpet in place in Ft Scott, so we have carpeted the existing layout pretty well to this point. Once we have some more exciting work done, like benchwork and track, I will post some photos. Until then, how about a photo of RS1 #111 working the center siding at Merriam?

Ship IT on the Frisco!

Rick

 

Cool! Will you be including iantha on the layout? It had a station, a grain elevator and some other track side industries in the 50's. If you need more info let me know.

 

Rick ... Outstanding photo. Would like to know who made the #27 caboose? Nice model.
I came across this while looking around - perhaps many have already seen it - some mity fine track work. Click on home to see the switching in action. I was impressed, hope you are as well.

http://www.bronx-terminal.com/?p=5

Keep up the good work.

 

Nice shot..crisp and clear. What did you use?

and that Bronx crossing..that dude is a true craftsman!

 

In an earlier post of this thread Mark made a comment about the wheels crossing the diamond being music to his ears. Years ago I ran across well known photographer Art Gibson one evening south of town here in Wichita to see the Royal American Carnival passenger train go by. It was after dark so photography was impossible, but Art had a tape recorder with him to specifically record the sound of the six wheel trucks on the old heavyweight passenger cars the show still used. Ther may have been 20 or more of them in a continous cut. As Mark and I have discussed, the show played the Kemper Arena parking lot in the late 70's and came in on the Rock and left town on the Frisco headed for Memphis. Mark, would the train have crossed that diamond?

Bob Hoover
FriscoFriend

 

In answer to Howard's question, I have an old Nikon Cool Pics 4 MP camera. I use room light so a tripod and the camera timer are a must.

In answer to Bob Hoover's question, the RBBB circus train mostly likely was stored at the 19th St Yard during the performances and would have leave through this KCT crossing to head to Memphis on the Northern Division.

Ship IT on the Frisco!

Rick

 

Rick and All:

The train came in on the Rock and was backed across that big bridge west of the Kemper on what we decided were Rock Island tracks that hadn't been used for several years. Some of the empty flats actually circled around a track on the east side of Kemper. It left by going back across the bridge and then I later saw it snaking its way around south of the American Royal building I believe looking across a river. The next time I saw it was when it was ready depart Rosedale.

Bob Hoover
FriscoFriend

 

But I like the results.

For those looking forward to the southern expansion of the Frisco Northern Division, the wait is almost over. I spent a good portion of the weekend working on the curved walls on the Ash Grove Sub with decent results. The wall for Lamar has been done for some time but the Elwood-Nichols Jct wall was orphaned for a while. I should have the walls smooth and painted in the next few nights which means benchwork will follow shortly.

I am off the week between Christmas and New Years so some benchwork will go up that week along with the era change. I expect to be rerunning the late 1970s no later than Jan 15. It would be an added bonus if the run to Springfield was ready although I don't expect to have the yard completed by that time. A portion of the yard may be in place and would give us staging further south.

If I can remember, I will post photos of these infamous walls. You will probably like them better when there is a layout hanging on them. Me too.

No more wall work after this for a while. . . .

 

Re: I Really Hate Working on Walls . . .

I am using 1/8" tempered hardboard/Masonite. I attach it with sheetrock screws that are countersunk (carefully) in the hardboard. I use Bondo as the main filler between the drywall and the hardboard. I cover the Bondo with Killz since the Bondo can bleed through paint.

Hope this is useful information.

 

Re: I Really Hate Working on Walls . . .

Countersinking wallboard screws in 1/8 Masonite?
Working on a curved surface -That takes talent for sure!

Would like to see a couple construction photo's - Rick ?????

 

Re: I Really Hate Working on Walls . . .

Yep that wall on the right is the evil one. Really big gaps to fill with Bondo and a lot of straigtening out. I spent about three hours lining it up before the "fun" of Bondo. Needless to say, I am anxious to get it done.

Hey I will take you up on your offer to help. My table saw and cutoff saw awaits .. . .. .

 

Re: I Really Hate Working on Walls . . .

Nice work Rick. That can be one more thing you can show me when I'm up there on the 19th, building backdrops. Once the soldering is done for the Iantha Branch it will be ready for scenery, and that will start with a backdrop and pink foam.