Rebuilding Clermont - There's No Easy Way Out

We could have expected the rebuilding program to have been relatively straightforward... almost a piece of cake... But the walk in the park kind of turned into a substantial carpentry project as more bumps, dinks and other annoying problems started to surface when cork laying was in progress.

It quickly appeared that many structural elements had suffered deterioration over the year and this caused serious vertical variation that were far beyond tolerable. Near the electric panel, the benchwork was in really bad shape and warped. This was caused because it used to be a lifting section that was lightly built and warped. It was later altered to include a small river, which further weaken the parts. Adding extra material later didn't help the situation either.

A steep grade where none was expected nor desired

Where we planned to model the wood transloading terminal, the benchwork had a grade of 1/8" per 2 feet toward the electrical panel. It meant any car set on this track would roll back on the mainline, which is far to be the intended result! Rebuilding in this case isn't a luxury.

Starting from scratch...

On the other side of Wieland, where the track goes through the furnace room, it was evident the transition between the benchwork and hidden shelf supporting the track was far to be stable and sturdy. Back then, access there was quite limited and we did what we could. After a quick deliberation, it was decided to simply open up the wall and redo our job better. During the process, we found out the partition wall was built in the most haphazard way by the previous owner... Fortunately, it was sturdy enough to be kept.

Extra space was secured by removing an obsolete relay box on the furnace plenum.

On the positive side, we discovered several obsolete apparatus on the furnace weren't removed when it was recently refurbished due to access limitation. Having a hole in the wall was a good occasion to take them away, which gave us additional space to better align our tracks. At this point, I'm contemplation the idea to enlarge the hole a little bit and make it an alcove. This way, I hope, it will be possible to create a better transition between hidden track and Wieland, and more room to create a more fonctional Reynolds's siding.

As you can guess, the next working sessions will deal with carpentry and rebuilding the benchwork to better standard. Meanwhile, Jérôme has proposed to narrow a little bit more the benchwork in the between the yard west end throat and Wieland to improve access to rolling stock during switching. At first I had my doubt, but his argument is perfectly sound and it will make for more balanced scenes.

Meannwhile, I also started to prepare tracks, replacing missing ties on salvaged Peco flex tracks and prepping them for installation. We also completed DCC sound installation in my Atlas GP40-2W, which means this project can now be completed. I also got my airbrush nozzle replacement, so basically, my locomotive reworking program won't suffer delay.

Finally, I also did some work on a functional switch stand to manually control a turnout. This idea isn't new and has been (succesfully) advocated by Trevor Marshall for many years. I recall buying a Sunset Valley brass switch stand about 4 or 5 years ago but not doing anything with it. Now is time to put this neat idea in action. I'll probably go a little bit further and replace the round target with an oval one as CN uses and paint it yellow with it's intended spur number. Given the switchlist in JMRI are programmed using the sidings numbers, it will be a visual key to know where you are when operating. If you are interested in the mechanical aspect of this system, Trevor has put together a nice How To article for Model Railroad Hobbyist in August 2014. It can be consulted online and provides instructions and a bill of materials.

Now it's time to go back to locomotive building and weathering!

Atlas GP40-2W CN 9423 - Part 1

With the layout concept and era better define, I've continued to work on building a prototypical freight locomotive roster. My goal is to have all the key locomotives that were in regular operation and also the few leased units that made a visual impact. A quick roster show us the following engines and the years they were in service on Murray Bay Subdivision:

-SW1200RS CFC #1303 (1994-2002)
-SW1200RS CFC #1323 (1994-2002)
-SW1200RS CFC #1330 (1994-2002)
-GP15-1 LLPX #1509 (2002-2011)
-GP15-1 LLPX #1510 (2002-2011)
-RS18u NBEC #1816 (2006)
-GP40-2W CN #9423 (2002)

To this roster, we can add insdustrial locomotives such as:

-S2 Donohue
-GE 45-Ton CSL

Of these locomotives, the easiest to get in service is CN #9423.

Some of you will remember when I wrote back in 2015 about the differences between Athearn and Atlas GP40-2W. I recall pointing out Athearn won in terms of details and accuracy, but Atlas had the upper hand in terms of performance and sturdiness. Many of you commented I should take a pragmatic approach and keep the Atlas locomotive. This thought was the reason why I didn't sell it and kept this locomotive... just in case.

When Solvaset works, the original paint stays pristine.

Well... the just in case scenerio has now happened. Since we will mainly operate the layout circa 2002, we know CN 9423 ventured in Clermont for a while that year. I've got a picture from Denis Fortier that I recently posted that confirm this information. But better than that, I've found online a great deal of pictures of 9423 shot in the 2000s and was astounded by the amazing weathering pattern that developed on this particular locomotive. Interestingly enough, both sides of the locomotive are heavily weathered, but not in the same way, which I find particularly challenging in a positive way.

Knowing that and having surplus Loksound decoder, it was a matter of a few minutes until Louis-Marie installed sound in the unit. Twin speakers and a keep alive were also added. From that moment, the locomotive was ready to be renumbered. Some rivet counters will point out Atlas locomotive is a GP40-2W and not a GP40-2L (Athearn). Certainly there are quite a few differences including the frame height, however, after comparing several pictures, I came to the conclusion that when both locomotives aren't side by side, it is almost impossible to notice these differences. Given only one GP40-2W will ever run on the layout, such comparison won't happen. Further more, the heavy weathering will completely steal the show, making minor discrepancies almost irrelevant in this case. Given it was a generic CN locomotive, I see no point in pushing further. It wouldn't be the case with LLPX locomotives that were a staple on the road and that aren't heavily weathered. Also, if I think about my RS18u, I can see much more important discrepancies with this locomotive than what can be found with my GP40-2W.

Sean Steel decals (roadnumber) blend almost perfectly with Atlas pad printed CN logo. 

That said, it was time to renumber the locomotive for real. As always, I started with the Solvaset trick to remove the unwanted lettering. I hoped it would work and after soaking for 5 minutes, the lettering was easy to lift up without altering the paint. A thin coat of Micro Gloss was applied and let to dry to create a good shiny foundation for decals.

Decalling was done using Sean Steele excellent CN diesel locomotive decals. These decals are hard to find are cost much more than your regular decals, but it is well worth the price. Sean took the time to replicate CN fonts instead of using generic Helvetica fonts. And yes, it matters because CN had quite a peculiar number "2" design that other sets generally fail to replicate. Given there is a "2" in 9423, it was important to me to get this right. In my mind, people won't notice a 2" lower frame, but will easily find out lettering isn't prototypical.

New numberboard decals seamlessly blends and can be backlighted

Atlas numberboards are factory painted white and a black layer is painted over it. This ensure they can be backlighted. Since I wanted to preserve that function, some Solvaset was used to remove the black layer. Once done, a new black decal with transparent numbers was printed then applied on the model. This way nothing is lost! I also went an extra step and created the numberboard artwork using a real picture of CN 9423. Can't be closer to the prototype! And makes aligning decals far much easier.

Now, as I'm writing this, I have to finalize the DCC installation and make sure every component is secure in the right place. Also, I'll replace the flimsy Atlas plastic sunshade with A-line brass ones. Years of handling locomotives have thought me nothing beats brass for such an usage. I hope weathering to be done in a timely manner so both CN 9423 and NBEC 1816 can it the rails as soon as Clermont will be rebuilt.

Rebuilding Clermont - A Follow Up

Yesterday evening was the perfect moment to put our plans to execution. With the help of Jérôme, several sections of the layout were rebuild, cork roadbed installed and track geometry refined to improve operation reliability and long term performance. Many issues were found during the process, which took us an additional hour to solve. Given we started working at 18:30 and turned off the lights almost at midnight, we can affirm it was an extremely productive session. To make sure Clermont will be back in service as soon as possible, we will take advantage of Jérôme's last vacation week and work on the layout next Monday, Wednesday and Friday. By the end of the week, everything should be functional and wired. Here's a summary of what we did last night...

The first step was to replace several sections of fiberboard that were altered by scenery and didn't provide an even surface for track laying. Since the new yard will be larger than the original mainline, it was also the only practical solution to get rid of too many joint between board. Once firmly secured on the benchwork, a cardboard template was used to draw the centerlines.

After a good discussion, it was decided to start tracing from the yard east end since it is were existing tracks and turnouts are located.

Working from that end, the new 30" radius exterior siding track was located, then the mainline and interior siding. Using a flexible stick, we connected the dots and made sure our curves had nice easements to offer more realistic and reliable transitions.

This new turnout is our new reference point.

The yard west end prior to a massive rebuild.

At the yard west end (toward Wieland), we found out the original fiberboard roadbed was completely out of alignement on a 4 feet long stretch. At some point, elevation could vary up to more than 1/8" over less than 4 inches! After throughout verification, it became evident the benchwork was perfectly level, but the fiberboard had been sanded and modified some many times since the peninsula original construction in 2011 that it was no longer salvageable. Everything was trashed and a new roadbed was built.

It seems the original roadbed was built on July 28th and 28th, 2011...

The next big question to answer was how to find a definitive track geometry for Wieland. Jérôme made quite a compelling point the wye leg should accommodate three 72' centerbeam flatcars. My initial design called for three 52' bulkhead flatcars. After fiddling for a while with track, it was evident we could accommodate that particular demand by pushing the turnout a few inches toward the furnace room. It did work and didn't had any significant impact on the small Reynolds spur. Also, on a positive note, it meant we can now have a 36" radius mainline with a sweeping easement for better operation. Quite useful given it is where our longest cars will be switched.

The wye leg can now hold 3 centerbeam cars

Reynolds looks fine for what it is. Major "wall surgery" is expected in this area.

When all the benchwork was repaired and track alignment set, we started laying the main line cork roadbed. It didn't take that much time and we had even time to temporary lay some flextrack to see how cars would perform in the new yard.

The new west end yard throat

The same area full of cars

From that moment, we now had an idea of how things would look in the future. And to be honest, we were more than pleased. Certainly, the new yard adds a lot of track density, which isn't something I'm generally advocating for. But in this particular case, the yard was a key element to operation and not just a fancy caprice. It was needed to perform the task and now we will have all the freedom required to do it.

The other yard end vanishes behind the hill creating an illusion of vastness

From a visual point of view, the results are stunning. Not only having the yard wraps around the peninsula takes advantage of an ingrate geometry, but it also makes the scenes seem larger. When you are standing in Clermont, you see the tracks and cars disappearing behind the hill with no idea of where it will end. This give the impression the yard is quite long and create a visual illusion that expands what you perceive. Interesting because we didn't enlarge the benchwork... It should be streed that illusion didn't work before.

It also should be noted that since the yard can now hold a lot of cars, it gives the peninsula a very "railroady" look. It doesn't feel like a model, but you really sense a lot of things happen here and that the huge paper mill on the other side of the river must be feeded with cars... lots of cars. From that point of view, it feels like our layout is now about moving heavy tonnage on the rails, rather than a cutesy branchline. We've upgraded from a parochial vision to an industrial one... just like the prototype.

Another interesting point is the west end yard throat. If you recall my allegory of layout planning as a song, I'm happy to report it indeed works! When you are in front of the turnouts, you are indeed separated from the other scenes and feel completely immersed in what you do. This is also reinforced by the fact this new operation spot is located in an alcove instead of being in the middle of a peninsula.

The west end yard throat

We also discussed the possibility to model the wye east leg near the electrical panel or even add the propane (LPG) dealer siding. It would have been cool ideas, but the more we tried to fit them together, the less convincing the scenes became. I was aware of that since the initial planning steps, but it was interesting to try these ideas in real and see why they didn't work that well. Once again less is more, and this will be less work for us!

Finally, from a very technical point of view, the new yard can now hold up to sixteen 50ft boxcars per track. This will be more than enough to stage real trains without compromise.

MLW RS18 Madness - Part 17

The RS18u is progressing well. Over the last few weeks, a good coat of faded Action Red was applied over the shell... then I found out installing the handrails before priming was a nightmare when the time came to mask and airbrush the black. Fortunately, with some patience and care, the result was as good as if I did it prior to installing the handrail. Lesson learned, but at least not at a far to high cost.

Ready for decals - Look how black parts are slightly weathered

Interestingly enough, I decided to continue my military weathering approach. Some slight fading and color variations were applied over the initial coat of Red Action. the reason is simple, I don't want to contaminate the white lettering with orangish colors at this point. Also, when I applied the black, I didn't airbrush a thick coat but rather several light passes to build up the color. Indeed, on the prototype it is evident the black paint was badly fading and eroding, making the red paint under neat show through. I prefered to do this effect right now rather than wait and add it. This way, I know my weathering is closer to the real effect.

Thread plate - A detail I'm glad to have added

Another thing I did was to mix some roof brown and red oxide with black paint to create a kind of faded black that I then lightly applied over the nose, the plows and pilots. Once again, I could do this later when the model is decaled, but slowly building the effect from step one is more natural to me.Later, oil paints, panpastel and fading will help to blend everything together.

Meanwhile, I've reached the point I can now spray a coat of Micro Gloss and start applying the decals. This will be done in several steps to recreate the patch NBEC put on "CP" when they took ownership of this locomotive. Once done, missing grabirons, headlights, grabirons, brakewheel and rear numberboards will be added. Then, the big fun will begin!

Rebuilding Clermont & Learning From Past Experiments

Rebuilding Clermont was a last night priority and it quickly became obvious we had to scrap most tracks in Clermont up to the grade crossing to ensure a good track alignment. Some scenery we thought we could salvage had to be removed too.

The scene before destruction

It could be seen as a step backward but in reality, it was among my first serious scenery attempts with this layout and I was far to be impressed with how I painted and ballasted the tracks. As far as I was satisfied with my work at the time and got a lot of good words from many modellers, it was time to upgrade my game.

Solid brown ties muddied with clay contamination, not very CFC looking.

A solid dark brown made the ties very unrealistic and the use of a very powdery ballast mixed with sand gave the illusion the area was sinking in a mud hole, which wasn't the case. If I was trying to model bad secondary trackage, it would have been great. But it wasn't the case.

Clermont yard in 2014 - Wasn't in regular operation since 2008

Typical ballast and tie color on CFC with vegetation growth.

Clemont was always ballasted with quite chunky granite in a similar fashion to what I did with Villeneuve. Even in time of neglect, the rail line didn't look that bad. I'm eager to remake the scene in a more convincing way.

Ballast & painted ties in Villeneuve (2017).

We also discussed a lot about track radius. Originally, the peninsula mainline had a 24 inches radius which was always quite problematic during operation and didn't very convincing. We aren't really interested in enlarging the peninsula benchwork, however, it was found we could bump up the radius to almost 30 inches, which is much more acceptable. Not perfect for 72' centerbeam flatcars or 61' woodchip gondolas, but certainly better. Now, the radii of Clermont's three tracks will be about 30", 28" and 26". It already looks better.

Trying to fit a 30" radius template

Also, some shady benchwork construction techniques were used back in the days. It wasn't dramatic, but we will upgrade it a little bit with newer material. At some point, it was a fiberboard patchwork testifying of years of modifications.

Shady benchwork techniques?

We can't be sure how much time it will require to get tracks and wiring done, but we believe about 3 work sessions should be enough to do most work and reconnect the railroad.If by mid-October trains can run, we will be more than happy. In the best case scenerio, I'd like to have the photo backdrop installed everywhere in Clermont room and track painted and ballasted. It is not unrealistic, but my health condition and various other things out of my control can throw a monkey wrench in the best laid plan. I'd be extremely happy if Clermont could be completed within next year. Giving most structures are now built and that we reduced the scope, most work will involve adding scenery and trees, which isn't exactly the most exhausting step in the process.

Our longest cars on a 30" radius curve

It must also be noted we will add operating devices including derails and maybe working switch stands to make our experience more immersive. Some testing will be required to convince other club members, but I believe it is worth a try.

Finally, we must not overlook some crucial preparatory work performed on the sideline by Jérôme: cleaning tracks from glue and ballast. He probably spend about 2 hours scrubbing flextrack with an old toothbrush!