PRR/Conrail Juniata Division Engineering Report

[davefoxx]

Hmm.  I think that I would like to see that hill cut down and the height restored with Super Trees.

DFF

[Dave V]

Hmm.  I think that I would like to see that hill cut down and the height restored with Super Trees.

DFF

I trimmed about an inch off the hill and made the flank by the tower less sharp.  Both flanks of the mountain will be softened by Supertrees to transition between foreground/background.

[Ian MacMillan]

Wut?

You already have the rock retaining wall there, so when you bring the industry right up to it, have it so the industry's foundation is something not of the same material, like concrete etc. Kinda like how if you have a cut rock abutment and they heighten it with poured concrete. Will help add some interest I think to were the building is flush with the wall.

That's the plan.

Oh, and an American Hardware Supply is en route.  I'll leave room for a compressed version of it.  I could even angle it if necessary to clear the siding.  However, I am most definitely doing what Chris showed, i.e., the two tower pieces bracketing a short wall section.

Try asking in the Middlesex Build thread if anyone has any extra walls. I did that on a few of mine where I used a mirror image of the right wall to replace the shortwalls that are normally used for the stair tower. Here is one where I did that, and I just added the stair tower to the rear wall.

[Dave V]

Progress stopped for 3 hours for a beach break over at Navarre Beach, but this is what I ended up with:



The brick is dark for now (PRR Tuscan) but when I add the mortar wash it will lighten up.  I included the stair tower because I like how it breaks up the straight flush wall.  Deciding whether I want its base to be brick, concrete, or stone.  I may do what Ian mentioned and make it concrete.

On the other side, now that I have a grade (great idea, DKS!) I know have a whole new scenic element where before that spur used to immediately duck behind a razor-thin ridge.

[Ian MacMillan]

...I included the stair tower because I like how it breaks up the straight flush wall...

Ah, I thought you were talking about the left side short wall for the stair tower.

The bump out part with the windows that Atlas (on the straight flush wall) has on this kit is way undersized for an actual stair tower with your typical square incline stair set up, which the larger bump out (on the left short wall) is more accurately scaled to be a stair tower. I wonder if the actual building had a side by each stair set up in the tower, making it smaller? Maybe they used it for something else?  You can see some neat photos in the YouTube video of the actual building. 
Edit: Talked to Paul who stated that it is all accurate dimensions from his measurements.


And good for Dave, there is a real life example in the photos of what to do with the larger loading doors!

https://picasaweb.google.com/109551258085645456632/NewEnglandMills

Helme Mill

Hiddennj.com

[Bsklarski]

Progress stopped for 3 hours for a beach break over at Navarre Beach, but this is what I ended up with:



The short end of the building next to the inside of the mainline curve would be a nice little place for a sub station to power the building and the town. You could even run the high voltage lines out across the main line for something different

[Chris333]

The American Hardware kit only comes with 4 of those "towers" you could do 2 along the road and 2 along the parking lot. There is enough left over to get you around to the trackside. Also if you so this route you can take the short now un-used wall from the Atlas kit and widen the building.

Glad to see the hill made it back into play.

[Dave V]

I left 3.5" between the retaining wall and the edge of the ties on the spur.  The Atlas building is 3" wide, so this will allow a 1/2" loading dock between the Atlas building and the spur.  The American Hardware build is about 2" wider than that, so I will need to get creative with how I narrow it.

I did not like how the stone wall came out.  That stuff is hard to work with.  I ordered a new one so this time (duh) I'll use the straight edge along the top and also mount it to a sheet of styrene to make it flatter.

Also en route are a pair of Walthers brick smokestacks.

[John]

I did not like how the stone wall came out.  That stuff is hard to work with.  I ordered a new one so this time (duh) I'll use the straight edge along the top and also mount it to a sheet of styrene to make it flatter.

Try casting from hydrocal then scribing the blocks ..

[Dave V]

I real love the colors used on this HO version of the American Hardware Supply posted by user "faraway" on the old Atlas forum:

http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae149/faraway52/FL2012/IMG_1352.jpg?t%201333622264

It's very close to the real JC Blair & Co.

[Dave V]

Another idea...  End the stone retaining wall at the right end of the Atlas building and start a poured concrete wall from there where the Walthers building will be, signifying newer construction.  It will add interest to an already interesting mix of architecture.

[Alpaca]

This may be a bit late, but an interesting way to deal with the problem of loading docks and other features floating in space is to fully enclose the siding with a “drive in” sort of structure. This works fine provided the grade is not to steep and you must also take caution to ensure that rolling stock or locomotives do not hit the top of the entrance as they are delivered or taken away.   

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Also, I just saw an article somewhere about carving stone into foam. It actually looked pretty easy. I think it's in the lastest RMC.

[Bsklarski]

Balsa wood. Its easy to carve and make all the little differences in stone. This picture is is of an O scale layout. N scale would be even easier and better as you dont need the depth.

[Zox]

And for yet another stone option, this was created by spreading a thin layer of caulk onto a piece of sheet styrene. A Silhouette-cut acetate stencil was used to control the thickness of the caulk and to keep it out of the mortar lines: