Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

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PeterLJ
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by PeterLJ »

Where is the "like" button?

Peter
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BrianMoore
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

I finally brought my 16' of modular HO to the monthly club meet at the weekend, and am happy to report that it all went very well.

To clarify once more: four 47x20" rectangles of pink foam, wrapped in ply with integral legs, a low backscene on one side to facilitate picture-taking, and using Conrad switch motors controlled either side of the module by SPDT switches recessed into the fascia, and powered off 16v AC. I've obviously strayed a bit from the agreed NMRA(BR) HO modular specification, but the Modular Enforcement Police were noticeable through their absence. In the final picture, you can see the 2-inch size difference in comparison to the adjoining module.

I was particularly happy with the Conrad motors, which worked perfectly; the secret seems to be attaching them to a small piece of 6mm ply which is in turn stuck firmly to the underside of the switch. Then, you can attach the wire that pulls the switch from underneath, and ensure all works fine prior to planting it.

Quisling has an SP Type 23 depot, a fruit-packing plant with four spots, a food outlet served by insulated boxcars and corn syrup cars, a two-spot propane facility, and a house track by the depot to take other traffic. Still lots of work to do with the scenery and buildings.

Quisling was also paid a passing visit by SP 4449 and a couple of support coaches.

ImageQuisling underneath by bxmoore, on Flickr

ImageQuisling LH. by bxmoore, on Flickr

ImageSP 4449 through Quisling with support coaches by bxmoore, on Flickr
Happy days.
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torikoos
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by torikoos »

Glad the 'shake down' went well, and pleased the Conrad motors worked for you too.
For the money you can't fault them, and they do throw nicely. :-)

Koos.
Koos Fockens -Devon UK. North American Model Railroading
Age is just a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, then it doesn't matter.
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torikoos
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by torikoos »

hi Brian, it looks great. I meant to ask what did you use for ground cover? Sifted earth from Dartmoor or did you buy a scenery product?
I'm still looking around for a natural source in the local area, but it seems in my direct area it is far too red in most places..
Koos Fockens -Devon UK. North American Model Railroading
Age is just a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, then it doesn't matter.
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BrianMoore
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

I slapped on a base coat of Vallejo Brown Earth paste, which comes in a biggish pot, and is a grainy, red-brown colour. I've had a few jars of various sands and stuff lying around for years, so just dipped into them freely - a little goes a long way. Kids' sandpit sand is the best to use, but mine has been picked up, in small pots by myself, friends and family (which I pass to them with a request), from places across the globe. Yangtse River soil gets sprinkled on top of sand from Monterey Bay; Hawaiian sand with stuff from Bigbury in Devon etc.

I'll definitely use the airbrush to tone things in, once most of the ballasting is done.
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

Quisling visited the Western Union's November meet with much more scenery on it and a few changes, looked OK and performed reliably.
The modified cardboard Auhagen model at left (made more "3D", and with added styrene roofs, a loading dock and awnings) looks good, and the Kingmill flats (again with some modifications) seem to fit in. They'll all have to get bedded in more permanently.
ImageQuisling depot car park by bxmoore, on Flickr
I replaced the planned truck-loading facility with some non-rail-served scratchbuilt styrene wooden-outline structures, and, having seen and liked it on his blog, I got well-known SP modeller and author Tony Thompson to send me a hi-res picture to use as part of the backscene - California Airframe Parts Co., viz:
ImageCalifornia Airframe Parts Co., Quisling CA. by bxmoore, on Flickr
Here's the Quisling turn making up its train. The loading dock is an indulgence that allows me to unload green Canadian Pacific newsprint boxcars that were common across the US:
ImageQuisling Turn being assembled, prior to departure. by bxmoore, on Flickr
Brian Moore
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BrianMoore
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

Here's a view of the complete module, with Pete Saunders' Rocklin module next to it, followed by Western Union's Lipson Junction crossing module. The Quisling Citrus Association's packing house still requires a decent roof, and the Quisling Propane track is in front:
ImageQuisling at Western Union - 15 November 2014 by bxmoore, on Flickr
Southern Pacific crane in the MoW siding:
ImageSPMW at Quisling by bxmoore, on Flickr
To add some substance to a fictitious place, I modified a lot of fruit packing company labels so that they represented Quisling-based locations, and pasted them onto both sides of the fascia:
ImageGeeps & fruit labels = central California by bxmoore, on Flickr
There's still lots to do, detail-wise, and I'm planning three-foot extensions at either end to extend the MoW, propane and other sidings.
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BrianMoore
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

Here's an example of an actual fruit label that I modified:
Image1 Monte Vista Quisling by bxmoore, on Flickr
I made a load of them, and then I got side-tracked:
ImageMugs 2 by bxmoore, on Flickr
ImageMugs 1 by bxmoore, on Flickr
Brian Moore
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BrianMoore
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

All modules are required to have a track diagram on them, showing the locations of industries:
ImageQuisling Depot by bxmoore, on Flickr
Finally, two videos from the November meet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBhh1U40pv4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFNRIHJTt4I
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torikoos
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by torikoos »

It looks great Brian, and I'm impressed with your progress. I haven't managed much at all.. Hoping the modeling challenge will help in getting another structure ready for my Tree Point Module..
Koos Fockens -Devon UK. North American Model Railroading
Age is just a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, then it doesn't matter.
raifenton
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by raifenton »

Hi Brian
I'm intrigued by these Conrad switch machines, and they are so cheap! I've seen Conrad's web site at
http://www.conrad-electronic.co.uk/ce/e ... ct/219998/
and its picture but there is no indication of how the machine is connected to the turnout when underneath. Is the tab bolted to the drive shaft partly tubed for the connecting steel wire to be slipped down into?

Also, would you mind saying a few words on how do you do your ground cover, please.

Regards
Rai Fenton
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BrianMoore
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by BrianMoore »

raifenton wrote:Hi Brian
I'm intrigued by these Conrad switch machines, and they are so cheap! I've seen Conrad's web site at
http://www.conrad-electronic.co.uk/ce/e ... ct/219998/
and its picture but there is no indication of how the machine is connected to the turnout when underneath. Is the tab bolted to the drive shaft partly tubed for the connecting steel wire to be slipped down into?

Also, would you mind saying a few words on how do you do your ground cover, please.

Regards
Rai Fenton
Rai,

Here's a YouTube video that shows the Conrad motor in operation. I've not used a crank, and instead have mounted the motors at a right angle to the point, and extended a stiff wire from one end of the moving part through the baseboard to fit into a hole one side of the Peco tie bar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TlsBE6k-Gg

The ground cover: On the flat areas, it's either the pink foamboard, or 3mm ply, cut to fit around the trackwork. In both cases, I then either painted on a base coat of earth-coloured Vallejo textured paint (eg opposite the fruit packing place) or sprayed the area with grey primer from a can (as in the area around the old trailer mobile home). Then, I've got a plastic ice-cream container full of a fine mid-yellow-ish sand with some very small stones mixed in, and using a coffee scoop, I sprinkle the mixture over the area to the thickness I want, "wet-water" it, then pour thinned PVA liberally. Once any whiteness has gone away, but when it's still wet, I sprinkle in a few different colours of sand/gravel/ballast to give some variation using my fingers, plus Woodland Scenics fine foliage, and plant a few bushes and bits of plant scrub. It's really all very simple. I used plaster to ease the transition between the 3mm ply down to the foam.

On the "concrete" areas around the depot and California Airframe, I again sprayed a base grey from a can, then used Humbrol white enamel with some light grey mixed in (of different strengths to give variation), painted it onto the ply, then liberally sprinkled lots of baby powder over the wet surface. Then, I stippled in the powder so that it mixes in with the paint, and left it to dry. It takes time to get it right, but the effect is usually good.

I used an airbrush to meld in the different colours, and give some further variation to the "concrete", making it particularly dark where the MoW crane is parked.
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torikoos
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by torikoos »

Koos Fockens -Devon UK. North American Model Railroading
Age is just a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, then it doesn't matter.
raifenton
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by raifenton »

Thank you both, much appreciated. I wish the Conrad had been around earlier when I was installing Tortoises en mass, especially those where I had to add cable extensions to because the Tortoises fouled the L-girder!

Regards, Rai
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torikoos
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Re: Quisling: constructing 16 feet of modular railroad

Post by torikoos »

depending how long ago that was. The Conrad motors have been around for some time now (I'd estimate at least 8 to 10 years), but they are not as well known perhaps in the UK.
I knew Conrad as an electronics company from when I lived in the Netherlands (which is now already over 14 years ago). (They are a german company), and they started to supply more and more modeling supplies (mostly radio controlled stuff initially, railroads followed later). They haven't been on the UK market for that long however, I guess about 5 years now, and I bought a few of them for my module. I gave one to Brian to try and the rest is history as they say :-)

Koos
Koos Fockens -Devon UK. North American Model Railroading
Age is just a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, then it doesn't matter.
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