Baton Rouge Southern 3.0 - a Design discussion

[jpec]

Geaux Phil!

Jeff

[DKS]

The track gang has been hard at work inspecting the new track and removing old ties.

...and staring at the billboard.

[Philip H]

[davefoxx]

I’m thinking that the flanges may not clear the spikes on your set up.

DFF

[jpec]

I think I found the cause of that short, Phil...

Jeff

[Philip H]

Said hunk of metal was procured by me upon finishing the track on my very first layout (built to the plans of the EZ and QuiK in the N Scale Primer from Kalmbach). I used one of my dad's filed to get that polished surface, etched a date etc in one side, and then dipped it int Shellac. The Shellac holds to this day and has proven to be an excellent insulator.

And now you know the rest of the story . . . .

[Philip H]

So with track down scenery can commence. One issue - getting the polyolefins plant right. And thanks to evilbay I think using HO oil tanks is my best bet for size. In this photo the HO is on the left, N scale on the right. You can see the 20K tank car in front. I have two more HO tanks coming then I’ll be kitbashing and scratch building the rest of the plant infra structure.

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[wm3798]

Will you be modifying the HO ladders?  Turning them to the rear?  Hiring a population of giants to occasionally inspect the tanks?

The proportions are definitely better with the HO models...
Lee

[Philip H]

Will you be modifying the HO ladders?  Turning them to the rear?  Hiring a population of giants to occasionally inspect the tanks?

The proportions are definitely better with the HO models...
Lee

I've already taken the railings off the one - and have etched N scale brass ones to reinstall.  The stairs are molded on and so can be removed as well, but I have yet to find an N scale spiral stair that would work. There is an etched brass safety cage ladder somewhere on the intertubes I might look up. 

[C855B]

I'm facing the same issue. At the moment there is a lone Walthers HO tank in a placeholder role on the layout for the eventual Sinclair refinery. Unfortunately after just checking Google Street View it appears they use spiral ladders; I was hoping your safety cage ladder idea would save some effort.

When I fielded this challenge many moons ago, it was suggested to simply use the steps and railings, "converting" to N by clipping off the top rail. Nothing to lose there, so I may as well try it. I don't have a lot of confidence about printing suitable replacements on the Photon due to size and fine cross section, but with PPD back online I'm thinking hard about an etched metal solution.

I also have to think about rolling my own. The Walthers tank is a nice model, but expensive for what it is, and I throw away half of what's in the box (the containment berms, for instance). Then there's the issue with my (and most) prototypes of tanks of this size - floating tops. The fixed top of the Walthers and pretty much all other model tanks aren't that common in the largest ones, at least as seen in my travels. A styrene wrapper around a base of PVC pipe may be a better model... if I could manage to get the weld lines straight. 

[Philip H]

@C855B - For floating top you might try one of two options - styrene cylinder wrapped in printed paper texture (like this perhaps - https://scalescenes.com/product/t015-storage-tanks/) or looking at one of the outside framed HO gas storage tanks (https://midwestmodelrr.com/product/wal933-2907/). I suggest the later since they were designed to have internally floating roofs.

I only need three or maybe 4 tanks to suggest the tank farm so at $15-20 a pop in ebay they are not cost prohibitive for me.

I also picked up a suggestion somewhere to look at ABS pipe caps in 4-6 inch diameter.  They are supposedly flatted the the PVC end caps you get at big box stores. For ladders I am looking for Gold Medal Modals 160-38.  They are fairly easy to come by.  I'd love to redo the spiral stair but lik eothers Ihaven't found any yet.

[Philip H]

Just found these:

https://www.shapeways.com/product/AFBZTTUY7/n-scale-oil-tank-stairs-o75mm-h63?li=marketplace&optionId=65213361 not quite the right diameter, but maybe usable.

@Ngineer - can you warm these and rerotate?

[Philip H]

Todays progress on new railings from Plastruct and GMM:

[C855B]

Since I seem to have plumbing as another hobby (saves big $$$, and you noticed the legs on the layout, right?  ), drain pipe caps have been on my radar for years decades as cheap'n'easy tanks. Unfortunately, they look like plumbing supplies (to me) whenever folks use 'em on their layout. However, a wrapper around a 6" or 8" drain pipe cutoff core could be the solution I'm after. Hmmmmm...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Since I seem to have plumbing as another hobby (saves big $$$, and you noticed the legs on the layout, right?  ), drain pipe caps have been on my radar for years decades as cheap'n'easy tanks. Unfortunately, they look like plumbing supplies (to me) whenever folks use 'em on their layout. However, a wrapper around a 6" or 8" drain pipe cutoff core could be the solution I'm after. Hmmmmm...

I've long thought there might be something in them, especially if you can square up the edges a bit on a lathe.