Quanah, Acme and Pacific (QA&P) - West Texas - Fictitious Model Railroad Layout Agriculture Industry

A wheel track off of the turntable would be okay with a small gantry crane to move them around if necessary.

Also another track next to the roundhouse to make repairs on railcars.

Joe

 

OK...if there is room.

 

You could possibly make the repair track longer and use the end to store wheels. That way you just have one track instead of two. It wouldn't have to be off of the turntable.

Joe

 

That's something that occurred to me after your previous post. I've got a small, wood overhead style crane that might work well there for that sort of thing.

Thanks!!!

 

Thanks to Joe Lovett and Karl Brand for their input on a small project that had it's inspiration on a bicycle ride recently. The link to that discussion is here:

http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/rural-structure-question.13243/


While cycling east of Old Glory, TX, I stumbled upon an abandoned tower that I decided to scratch build. Here are the results so far. It will be a water tower that is filled by a windmill. There may also be a small farmhouse in the scene. I haven't decided yet. The tower is nothing but a piece of cylindrical plastic cut to length with the bottom portion covered by spackling compound and the top wrapped in scale corrugated sheeting. The windmill will have a pipe from it to the tower. The simulated stone was just painted on with art pens.

One of the things I most enjoy in modeling is finding local structures--usually simple ones--that can be built out of items you find laying around the house. Just my opinion, but the modern era of ready to run everything---nearly all at exorbitant prices--makes me want to build stuff instead of buy stuff.
Paul Moore

 

Been pretty busy with projects around the house, so the layout progress has been slow. The desk I was using for modeling was just a card table. It was in the way and not that stable, so I built a modeling desk out of scrap wood in the shop. Also put the trim boards (made them out of some ancient wood shelves in the shop someone in the past built) on the layout above the desk. There will be a drawer set to the left of the desk to store tools and paints and a piece of corrugated metal to the right of the desk.

 

A couple of new structures are nearly done. One building was (partially) added to the downtown area. After buying it, I discovered it was too deep for the spot and was going to reach first base on the ball field. So I cut eight scale feet off of the back off and now have a wall flat for somewhere else on the layout.

The second building is a scratch built lumber yard. The roof and ladder still need to be built and added. Thanks to Karl for some good input on this model! It's not where it will actually be on the layout--just sitting in it's current location to get some photos of it.

 

A little progress has been made to the layout and I've got a geology question (hint: Karl, chime in here). The first liftout is built and installed. Due to the length of the liftout, it requires a leg to support it.

The new section that the liftout accesses is built and the rough scenery is done (foam ribs, plaster cloth and sculptamold are done...maybe). In the area we live in there are strata of gypsum in the other wise prevalent West Texas red dirt. Would it be feasible to have the rock faces and the one prominent rock outcropping be predominantly gypsum? A prototype photo of a cliff over the Salt Fork of the Brazos (only 15 miles from our home as the crow flies) is attached for reference to what I have in mind as far as color goes. Mine is just a stratified layer and the photo is an entire cliff, but it may be feasible.

If necessary, these can be red sandstone, but there are red sandstone cliffs elsewhere and variety is fun.

The industry served by the siding is still to be decided. Considering the available space, it may be a wall flat with a backdrop including a similar industry.

That's about it for now.

Paul Moore

 

skyraider, post: 88560, member: 1060"]A little progress has been made to the layout and I've got a geology question (hint: Karl, chime in here). The first liftout is built and installed. Due to the length of the liftout, it requires a leg to support it.

The new section that the liftout accesses is built and the rough scenery is done (foam ribs, plaster cloth and sculptamold are done...maybe). In the area we live in there are strata of gypsum in the other wise prevalent West Texas red dirt. Would it be feasible to have the rock faces and the one prominent rock outcropping be predominantly gypsum? A prototype photo of a cliff over the Salt Fork of the Brazos (only 15 miles from our home as the crow flies) is attached for reference to what I have in mind as far as color goes. Mine is just a stratified layer and the photo is an entire cliff, but it may be feasible.

If necessary, these can be red sandstone, but there are red sandstone cliffs elsewhere and variety is fun.

The industry served by the siding is still to be decided. Considering the available space, it may be a wall flat with a backdrop including a similar industry.

That's about it for now.

Paul Moore

Paul,

I really like the topography in your pics. You really have a keen eye for this sort of thing. In the Rustler Hills and Delaware Mountains of Texas and New Mexico, the gypsum occurs in very thin laminae in a limestone host rock. The Gypsum, calcium sulfate, exists as alternating laminae with calcite. The average thickness of the gypsum is 0.4 mm (max thickness is 1.5mm). In Utah, I have seen outcrops of selenite reach a couple of feet, but it's more typical to see gypsum beds inches or less thick. See the attached for pic of some polished hand samples. I will have to go into the attic to see if I still have a rather large chunk of selenite that I hauled home from summer geology field camp. At HO scale, gypsum beds would be too small to model.
[/QUOTE]

 

Great explanation, Karl. As a result, what would you suggest regarding the color of the small cliffs and rock? Is the grayish color of the Salt Fork photo realistic?

 

Yep; I’d match the colors in the photo

 

Since West Central Texas seems to be having a monsoon season, there's been some time to work on the layout. Got some scenery done the past couple of days on the new area of the layout where Karl contributed some geological information. Still not sure what industry will be on the spur--maybe something gypsum related, like Acme on the QA&P. Needs lots more weeds, rocks, some mesquite trees, etc., but it's getting there.

Paul Moore

 

Looking very nice, PAUL!
I like the rolling hills.

 

Thanks, Sherrel.

Paul

 

How did you get from raw white hills to earth colored ground?

 

Patrick, the material I use for making scenery is sculptamold. Once it dries thoroughly, it takes artist acrylic paints very well. The paint process is basically applying washes until it is the desired color After that, I glue dirt and other things on it.

Hope that helps...

 

What colors did you use? I’m a failure at color selection for ground in scenery work.

 

Try PPG #316-6DB "Warm Praline," (Menard's has it) and then spray on Model Master #1954 "Light Earth" in spots as an accent color.

GS

 

Patrick,

What I use are the good old artist acrylics in a tube you buy at Hobby Lobby, Walmart, etc. Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber are good basic colors. You squeeze an inch or so of color in a quart of water and mix thoroughly. It takes a long time to mix properly. For bringing out the details, such as cracks, etc., you use a mix of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber. An inch or so of each in a quart of water is what I use. You can brush it on and then wipe it off of the surface, leaving it to fill in cracks, crevices, etc.

There's another color I use some. It's some yellow color---don't remember the actual name. It's pretty bright and needs to be used sparingly.

Use an old paint brush and slap it on liberally. There's no right or wrong. It will take a couple of coats or layers. You can have three or so colors mixed up for use at the same time. Have a quart or two of water in a separate container. Occasionally dip the brush in the water, clean it a little, and choose a different color for highlights, lower places, etc.

My color vision is terrible. My wife helps me and tells me where I've screwed up and helps me figure out how to fix it. But it's not rocket science. You experiment until it looks like you want.

It's about to storm again (we've only seen the sun about six days in the past three weeks). Go figure...west texas. After I mow, hopefully I'll remember to find the yellow color name and add some comments on how I do the dirt and stuff.

Paul Moore

 

A few more photos of the layout after a few more bushes and rocks were added and a shot of some paint instructions a friend wrote several years ago before he died. Gary--the friend--was the finest narrow gauge model railroader I have ever met.