Walkway completion

The walkway and pipe networks are complete. Here are some final details and images.

In the image above I have removed the walkway, leaving the bridge in place. The dark strips where the walkways were are made of sheet magnet I cut so size and glued in place.

Now I have turned the walkways on their side to expose the sheet magnet attached to the bottom.

This image is focus stacked for better viewing.

And a closeup of the completed Chemical unloading pipe and connection hose. In this image you can also see some rust color I added to the rail sides using weathering powders.

The last three images show detail and railcar placement from a perspective that wont be possible once the Power House is reinstalled in the blank plywood area in the foreground.

The connection hose for the second fuel tank car if needed.

Chemical unloading pipe, weathering cross ties, and starting fence construction.

At the end of the siding for fuel delivery is space to spot 1 tank car of chemicals of some sort. So I need a different pipe for unloading at this location. The  walk way naturally extends to the end of the track. I had to build additional concrete risers for the walk way and pipe. I also realized the I hadn't provided a walkway extension over or around the pipes for workers to access the tank cars.

Above I have the completed walkway with short open grate spans to the ballast for rail car access.

In the image above you can see the light gray wash I added to many of the wood cross ties. Ties do bleach to a gray/brown color over time. This also helps the track to standout from the black cinder ballast. The track nearest the bottom has only the original weathering on the ties. I will add more gray to those ties also.

And lastly for today I have the start of the fence posts. On the left where the fence approaches the short retaining wall I have a fence corner assembly. All chain-link fences taller than 6' that I have seen have corner assemblies like this. the post in the corner is connected to 1 post on either side by 1 or more horizontal braces. The braces tend to be of a smaller diameter tube than the posts are made of. Here I'm using brass wire of 2 sizes 0.032in (0.81mm) for the corner post and 0.020in (0.51mm) for the outer posts and braces. All the other fence posts are made of 0.020in steel piano wire. I like the durability of the steel wire.

Fuel for the Power House Part IV

Finishing off the corner of the module where the fuel tank is located is mostly done, just some details to add. Here are some images of the progress.

A little weathering and streaking on that concrete wall. You can see the difference between the newer wall on the left and the older wall on the right.

I added the gravel access drive to the west side of the Power House as well as the Pump House. I also replace the concrete pads in front of the doors of the Power House. 

A closer view of the Pump House as installed. Like all my structures this is removable. It is secured to its foundation by a sheet metal screw from below.

This vacant area between the fuel tank and the green & white building will have a chain-link fence that runs from the front edge almost to the concrete wall that holds up the rail siding. There is actually a 3' deep ditch at the wall and the fence will turn right at the top of the ditch. The seam between the two module frames is also visible just to the right of the tank foundation. I'll place the fence about an inch to the right of the seam. This corner will then be filled with young trees and undergrowth as is typical of older industrial sites. 

Fuel for the Power House part III

The first section of the fuel pipe walkway is painted. I used a Rust-oleum Metallic from a rattle can. It is basically silver.

Here is the walkway and bridge resting in place but not yet installed. I still need to design the last segment of the walkway that extends to the left of the image and a separate unloading pipe.

The original Walthers fuel storage tanks had issues. The Tanks were made of 4 segments which continued to separate. Apparently the plastic welder I have been using (MEK) does not make a permanent bond with whatever plastic Walthers uses. Also the details on the tank models were over sized and broke easily and needed replacing. I bought the Walthers tanks before I had seen the Tichy storage tank. So I have now bought a Tichy tank to replace the Walthers 4 tanks. 

I need to secure the tank model to the module but it must be easily removable. The finished tank will rest on the foundation ring shown in the first image. The ring will be permanently installed on the module. 2 peaces of 1" foam cut to fit will be installed into the bottom of the tank. The foam will be glued into the tank with Adhesive caulk.

Next I'll create a hole in the foam, centered in the tank for the 3" machine screw. The T-nut will be placed through the fender washer and secured to the foam over the hole. This goes in the tank before the tank top is installed. Again I'll use adhesive caulk to secure the washer/nut combination.

Here is how the installation will look. The pump house has to be relocated closer to the track to accommodate the girth of the new storage tank. I created the hole in the tank foam and used it to locate where I needed to drill the hole through the module deck. Once I drilled the hole in the module I then attempted to thread the 3" screw up into the T-nut just as a test fit and to check for unanticipated issues. 1 issue, the 3" screw is not long enough and doesn't reach the T-nut. I need another inch. To the hardware store we go....  

Fuel for the Power House part II

The oil pipeline has been assembled, painted and weathered. The image below shows how it will look once installed permanently. For now its placement is temporary. I still need to build the walkway and add the hoses to the unloading ports. The unloading ports can be identified by the yellow valve wheels.The red valve wheel is for a secondary shut-off valve. I made these from Micro Trains N scale brake wheels which can be ordered in packs of 12. A salute to Brian Banna for turning me on to these. Since I've always modeled in HO scale I was having a heck of a time locating the right size valve wheels.  I have added 3'x3' concrete pads at location where the pipeline needs a little foundation like the bends around the ground throw pocket and the unloading valves/hose connections. I also added ballast for this section of the siding.

Below I have the walkway bridge over the ground throw below. Once I assemble the walkway with railings, I'll paint all of it primer gray and weather prior to installation. To make the pipeline look like it was made of flanged pipe sections, I used the small plastic washers from Kadee coupler sets. The washer with the small hole was widened with a round file until it would just slip onto the 1/16" brass rod. ACC holds everything in place. Next time I'll borrow a friends resistance soldering tool for assembling the brass that makes the pipeline.

Farther to the left will be the second pipeline for unloading chemical tank cars. I still have to construct the walkway/pipeline risers but don't have the right sized styrene on hand.

Fuel for the Power House

The Power House for the large industry on this scene has an oil fired boiler and that boiler uses enough oil to purchase by the tank car load. So I need to construct a believable pipe network for unloading 2 tank cars.The piping will be located on a slope between the tank car track and the lead to the shipping/receiving dock. This means I'll need to construct risers to support the pipe as well as the access walkway that parallels the pipe.

 As you can see from the date stamp in the image, it has been as while since I've tinkered on this project. The area outlined in black is the power house. The brick pump house is just to the left of the oil storage tanks.

Closer inspection of the piping shows 2 tees with valves for 2 tank car spots, the pipe extends farther to the left for a 3rd tank car. I decided today that the 3rd car spot was unnecessary for oil unloading; however I can now use the space for unloading some other liquid use in manufacturing. In these images I have used the Walthers plastic pipe system to construct the pipe network. The raised access walkway is just behind the pipe resting on the same concrete risers that support the pipe. The walk way will have to have steps to an elevated section to go over the switch stand area that the pipe diverges around.

This image shows additions from this week. I've added the concrete pads beneath the pipe bends and on the far right, the brick foundation of the access way to the tunnel that the pipe runs through under the track to the pump house. The access way will be closed off by a metal door.

A closer view of the tunnel access way

 Here is this weeks real work. I'm replacing the Walthers plastic pipe with 1/16" brass rod. The plastic pipe scaled to 12" diameter pipe which is way to large for this purpose. The brass rode scales to 6" which is still a bit large but close enough. I made a pipe tee using a short section of brass tube which has an inside diameter of 1/16".

A larger view of the new pipe. I still have to add the bends around the wall for the switch stand.

New Years Tour

I was tinkering with the camera yesterday and decided to create a photo tour of the Waterfront in its current condition. This is what on operator would see as a local arrives to service local customers.

RS-3 powered local rolls past the end of 11th street into the yard.

The train approaches the end of the receiving track.

The locomotive stops just clear of the switch. The crew will run the RS-3 out onto the wood deck pier (that I just rebuilt) to clear the switch points, then proceed to the rear of the train to sort the cars into the yard. The switch lead on the pier is long enough for 3 B-B locomotives to clear the switch points.

The brick building in the background is the powerhouse for the future General Foods plant. The green structure with the conveyor is the Metro Concrete mixing building. The structure in the foreground is the remains of a partially demolished concrete coal trestle, now the storage yard of a construction company.

A better view of the end of the yard and float apron. The vacant area behind the GF power house will be occupied by the GF manufacturing building which will be about 3 times the size of the power house.

The grey area between the track and the edge of the module frame is an asphalt parking lot I just painted. I'll add paint stripes, wheel stops and a chain-link fence. It'll look more like a parking lot then.

Here is a view of the arriving train from a higher perspective.