CSX Cumberland Division

[John]

LOC HAER WV 86 has detailed measured drawings of the station, but you probably know that 

[Bob]

Yes, thank you very much John - I do have that document but I really appreciate you pointing it out!

[Bob]

I have finally gotten back to modeling.  I replaced one of the two helices on the layout and finally have fixed all of the track issues.  Trains run flawlessly now, and when I do have a problem it is the equipment rather than the track.  So, back to scenery.  I've decided to tackle the part of the layout that you first see when you enter the room: Cumbo, where the single-track low line diverges from the mainline to Cherry Run, West Virginia where the lines join once again (well, just to the east of Cherry Run).  In addition, the single-track Lurgan subdivision crosses the Potomac just east of Cherry Run where it joins the CSX mainline.  This stretch of the layout is quite rural - a few homes, an electrical substation, lots of fields and some forests, and a rock but that I have posted on earlier in this thread.  I ought to be able to complete this section without too much work - I have just spent an entire week scratch building the first home based on photos I took at Cherry Run - I had forgotten just how long it takes to make a decent structure.  I also need to remind myself how to take photos without saturated colors - the model home's bricks are not red as seen here, and the yellow is more pale.  Go figure!
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At Cherry Run itself there are a few houses and all sort of small sheds scattered around.I've just completed the first (and largest and closest to the tracks) house and two sheds with a few more to go.  Due to compression, I can't have the road crossing at Cherry Run, but I'll put a signal bridge in.  I'm going to have to make a road, and thus far I am not at all happy with the two roads I have built thus far: styrene for one, and plaster for the second.  I think my painting and weathering skills leave much to be desired as I have seen photos on TRW with really good looking roads using these materials.  This time, I can going to try gray craft foam which is then a pliable - hopefully it will look OK!
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[Bob]

I've pretty much finished the south side of the Cherry Run module.  The house and sheds are based on the prototype - there just was not room for the other buildings.  Also, the road actually crosses the tracks here, but there was not room for that either, unfortunately.  Have to add an old TV antenna to the house and add a whole bunch of junk leaning against the back wall and in the yard - I'm trying to mimic what Spookshow dues with his incredible Hope MN layout.  There is a small fenced-in garden that I need to add plants to and I need to seal the seam between the styrofoam module and the plywood that holds the track, then meld things together.  Next up is the module directly to the each of Cherry Run which will have the tracks (both the mainline and low line) cross the creek of Cherry Run, then I'll model where the low line and main line are close together (labeled North Mountain ion the map) where Harmmonds Mill Rd crosses the tracks.  There are a few houses close to the mainline, farm fields, some tree lines, and an electrical substation off a gravel road. That gets me up to Cumbo where the lines merge once again. The stretch from Cumbo to Cherry Run is what you first see when you walk in the basement, and it will be nice to see the pink styrofoam disappear!
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