Building Generic Canneries (I)

Returning to our scenery story, once the station area was (mostly) finished, I was left with this:

Empty space (yes, beneath the clutter).

I had an idea of what I wanted to do with the space but turning that into reality would take the better part of 2020. Yes, nearly 7 months to fill in about 3 square feet. This post begins that story.

What comes first?

The basic idea was this: Brick building in the front (Generic Canneries), concrete cold storage building (Aston Growers) in the back, overhead walkway/bridge to join the two. I added an unloading shed to the brick building (Generic canneries).

Generic Canneries came first because there was a kit I could use.

The George Roberts Printing Plant has to be a favourite of model railroaders for kitbashing. The building looks familiar but has enough character (and heft) to sit on a layout looking like it belongs there. As I've mentioned before, for me model railroading is about re-creating the everyday/commonplace of life but making it picturesque. A common problem on layouts is that a building is too small to justify the level of rail service it gets. The building should dwarf the freight cars, not vice versa.

Now this is a building that needs rail service!

The problem with George Roberts is that it is a rectangular building and I needed a sort of trapezoid. The good news for me is that part of the building was going against my backdrop so that side of the building could just be a blank or filler wall with no detail.

June 15, 2020

The above photo shows the early stages. I used foamboard as a base. A not good idea, as it turned out because foam board warps if it gets wet (spray paint not being helpful either).

At this point, there is no backwall and sidewall had yet to be added.

Testing, Testing

Test fitting #723

As I built the structure, I also had to keep in mind various dimensional considerations:

1. Leaving enough space between the building and to aisle facing sidings for the storage shed and a small road.

2. Angling the building so the spur track that goes into the building would not curve unnaturally.

3. Making sure the blank wall was flush to the backdrop.

4. ...and making sure the building did not interfere with the main line.

But the reward would be a building that would be hefty enough to justify the sidings attached to it.

The bespoke footprint of the building meant that I needed to create a roof to fit the structure. Again, I used foamboard because it was easy to cut it to fit. Five months later, having grown used to styrene, I wished otherwise (styrene doesn't warp).

A boring but necessary part of building Generic Canneries was adding interior bracing and view blocks. The interior bracing was needed to keep the roof in place and the walls straight. The view blocks prevent you from looking in one window and seeing through to the other side. In other words, something must be in the building.

Paint

The truth of the matter is that Generic Canneries was slow build. The kit was of medium difficulty to build. It had a lot of bits that needed to be painted before being placed (the exterior staircases being the best example). The structure itself was part concrete/part brick which further complicated painting (I wasn't going to paint it a uniform grey). I had a blank wall and room to custom fit. At the same time, the structure was finished enough that it could sit there - there was nothing time sensitive about it.

But I finally got to painting. I went with a beige base figuring it could pass for concrete when weathered. The brick portions were hand painted. I tried red brick then white (mortar). I tried white (mortar) then red brick. I tried white mortar then red brick (burnt sienna) weathering powder. Brick is tricky to model - a) you have to get the brick colour right and b) you have to hint at white mortar without disturbing the brick colour. Rather tricky.

September 2020.

In Part II, I'll cover more painting, talk about the excitement of roof granules and discuss detailing. Stay tuned!

Rolling Stock 

The Spur being small, the trains are short. Although I don't "operate" the Spur very often (mainly I look at it), I thought I'd put out a post about the rolling stock I use on the Spur.

Collecting rolling stock, like collecting hockey cards, is super fun. Taking pictures of rolling stock on the layout is an extremely rewarding task as it reminds me of why I've gone to all this effort in the first place.

Engines

CPR 7013 - Alco S-2

In real life, CP 7013 was a 1000 hp switch (hence the "S") engine built by Alco in 1943. The Alcos had a long life on the CPR, being retired in 1983-1986. One of them is preserved at the Toronto Railway Museum and looks beautiful.

The model is Atlas and equipped with DCC and sound. It wears the CPR Script scheme (note the maroon name) introduced in the early '60's. While I like the script scheme on larger engines, I would have preferred to buy this engine with a block scheme like the RS-18 below.

CPR 8761 - RS-18

CPR 8761 was a Road Switcher with 1800hp built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in the late 1950's. They were rebuilt in the '80s (losing their high nose) and retired in the late '90s. I have a very fond memory of seeing a rebuilt RS-18 switching the old Kodak plant in west Toronto from a GO Train in the early '90s. One of my favourite CPR engines.

This is a Rapido DCC/Sound model (I bought a bunch of these). In contrast to the S-2, 8761 wears the block scheme. While I love the model, the Rapido model is almost too detailed - there are all sorts of little pieces that can get in the way of smooth operations. 

Freight Cars

In the early 1960's the 40-foot boxcar was ubiquitous on railways. But even in that ubiguity was diversity, as you'll see.

CP 51562

51562 is a 40-foot box built in the 50's by National Steel Car in Hamilton. CP had 6,000 of these boxcars. Note the big door. Made by Trains Canada (I think I bought a six-pack on Ebay), this model has some weathering.

CP 50532 and CP 243300

50532 has the same provenance at 51562. Again, some weathering. I like the tall, solid, "normalness" of this model. 

243300 belongs to the same species but is a different cat altogether. It is a "mini-box" unique to the CPR and built around 1929. Being unique to the CPR but also one of 7,500 in its class makes it a "different but common" model. Although small, I love the "Spans the World" slogan the CPR used in the 1940's - with a plane, ship and train to show that the CPR lived up to its slogan. It needs weathering though - in the early 60's it would have been over 30 years old.

243300 is a True-Line Trains model probably bought at Credit Valley Railway.

CP 240007

Another Minibox. A very, very thoughtful gift from my Stepfather. I believe this is a Yankee Clipper model assembled by Rich Crysler at Credit Valley Railway. This is one of my rare good weathering jobs.

It wears the Block Herald scheme - making it less flashy than 243300.

ONT 90789

ONT 90789 is boring x2. A standard issue Athearn box car, bought at George's Trains. I believe it is custom decaled. You can the detail difference between the chunky details on this model and fine (separately-applied) detail on the Minibox above.

Why is the mundane boxcar on the layout? The ONR is my second favourite railroad, and runs through the town closest to the namesake geological feature that Aston is named after. 

CPR 283331

Moving on from the plain jane 40 foot boxcar, CPR 283331 may look like more of the same, but no - this is an 8-hatch ice-activated reefer. Reefers transported temperature-sensitive cargo like produce and meat. CPR had around 3,000 of this type of reefer.

The model is from True-Line Trains. It is a perfect fit for Aston Produce.

CPR 283344

Another True-Line Trains reefer, this time in the Script scheme. The ice hatches on the roof add some heft and character to the model.

That box underneath the door is a charcoal heater to keep meat/produce from freezing during winter transport.

CPR 234537

CP 234537 is a composite (wood/steel) 40 foot boxcar built in 1920-21. Wood boxcars were in decline in the 1960's, but considering CP had 3,500 of this type originally, it took a while for them to disappear. On the Spur the rationale for their appearance is that the carry non-temperature sensitive produce during peak periods and canned goods.

As I mentioned in a previous post, these boxcars are survivors - they are from my childhood layout. Built by Accurail, they have realistic wood siding and are well-detailed, but not to the point of being fragile. Weathering helps bring out the contract between the wood and steel ribs.

CPR 235363

2nd verse, same as the first. Another Accurail boxcar. I have a third one kicking around somewhere.

Note the droopy coupler. At some point, I'll have to do some maintenance on rolling stock!

CPR 381261

By the 1950's, railroads were starting to understand that the 40 foot boxcar was not the ideal way to transport bulk commodities like grain, salt and sugar. CPR 381261 is a covered hopper and is in its original plain paint. It has roof hatches and hopper doors on the bottom to load/unload (better than shoveling stuff out of a boxcar). The "slab-sided" hopper was unique to Canada, and, much like the RS-18, is a calling card for a CPR layout. You have to have at least several.

381261 is another True-Line Trains model. Although the model may look pretty boring, I've always liked the look of slab-sided hoppers. Prior to True-Line Trains coming along, you would have had to buy this model in brass.

THB 2852

The Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo was a connecting railway jointly owned the CPR and the New York Central. While it didn't make it to Toronto or Buffalo, it served its purpose of connecting the CPR (ending at Hamilton) with the NYC in Fort Erie. The line is now owned by the CPR.

2852 is the same model as 381261. On the layout, they earn their keep transporting sugar from refineries in Montreal and Hamilton to Generic Canneries. As you will see in a future post, Generic Canneries has an unloading shed designed for them.

CILX 132

CILX is a 36-foot tank car. I'm not sure what the rationale is for it being on the layout, perhaps it brings brine or some other food additive to Generic Canneries.

I'm very unfamiliar with old tank cars and their distinguishing features. They are an interesting contrast in a consist of 40 foot box cars.

 CP 436132

And of course, we have a caboose. The CPR ran with wooden cabooses well into the 1970's - in this case, the caboose has wooden sides with a metal underframe. Also the caboose is simple to look at, again, the design is distinctly CPR (the one cupola window for instance).

The caboose is one of three Tenshodo brass cabooses I bought used at the Credit Valley Railway. It cost me around $200. In contrast, I have a plastic True-Line Trains caboose - similar in look, that cost only $50.

Closing Thoughts

My focus with the Spur has been on scenery. As this post shows, the rolling stock on the Spur are mostly out of the box models that have not been weathered. You can also see how much of a difference weathering makes particularly with the Accurail wooden box cars. In putting together the photos for this post, I also noticed that some of my stock needs repair - wobbly wheels and droopy couplers.

But for now...

 Ballast and Track

To my mind, the single most important (and often under-remarked) aspect of a realistic model railroad is accurate track and ballast.

Track

To begin with, real life track is measured in pounds per yard (I believe). Main line, top-notch, heavy use track is 132 lbs. The lowly industrial spur is often laid with 80 and 90 lb. rail. 

Model track comes in codes. Code 100, the old standard, comes out to 156 lbs. per yard - well over size. Code 83 hits the real-life standard at 132 lbs. You can buy Code 70 (100 pounds) and Code 55 (80?) but it makes things tricky.

In real life, rail car wheels stay on the track because of the weight of the rail car. Wheel flanges (the edge of the wheel) are small because they just aren't that important. Model rail cars are light and can't depend on their weight to stay on the track. As a result, model flanges are larger than life.

This is where the problem with Code 70 and Code 55 comes into play - the flanges of most model cars are too big. So unless, you want to go to the extra effort of replacing wheels, your best bet (compromise) is Code 83.

But that means you need to camouflage the out-sized rail. Which requires paint and ballast.

Unpainted track

So once I laid track for the Spur and made sure it was where it needed to be, the next step was a visit from Mr. Camouflage Brown.

Already better

Spray painting track, while worth it, is a bother. You need to ensure the paint doesn't get on certain parts of your switches. You also need to keep it away from the pink foam because the paint will eat the foam.

Some modellers vary the paint to reflect the usage of the rail. Well-used rail is often a blackish-brown colour. Lowly siding rail is often rust coloured. I decided to keep things simple and paint everything a uniform brown. If I was an air-brushing pro, I might have varied colours but one goal of the layout was to keep things simple.

I almost forgot to mention the roadbed. In the real world, drainage is an important part of keeping track in place. So most track, outside of a yard, is elevated. In model railroading, this is where foam and cork roadbed comes in. Using roadbed also deadens the somewhat unprototypical sound of model railcars. In the real world, cars clunk. Model rail cars tend to click due to their lightweight.

Putting roadbed under your track can be time consuming. You want the track to be centered on the roadbed. You also want to avoid gaps in the middle of the roadbed (which comes in two pieces) otherwise you'll have gaps in your ballast.

To get a satisfying end result, I spent a lot of time cutting and fitting small bits to cover the gaps.

Tidy roadbed = tidy track

Finally, as part of creating good looking track, you need to add ties to the spots where you cut away to insert rail joiners (see the gaps in the picture above).

For extra nerd points, some modellers handpaint ties in different shades to replicate the varied weathering of real life ties.

The horror of Ballast

The second part of realistic track is modelling ballast. The concept of ballast (in real life) is simple - it ensures good drainage and ballast "locks in" the track so that it stays in place. 

Ballasting track is both maddening and satisfying. Real life ballast is endlessly variable. Railroads generally use ballast that is local to reduce transportation costs. Ballast, over time, gets mixed with weeds, dirt and crap. It gets dirty. It washes away and needs to be replaced. Sometimes the track rises above ballast and sometimes the track is set in the mud.

Here we have two pictures, taken by my Grandfather, at the same location (Forks of the Credit):

In the first picture, the ballast is grey. In the second (partly due to the light), the ballast is black.

In the pictures above, the track is set in the ballast so that you can't see the sides of the ties. I've seen other pictures of track where the ballast is below the ties.

Just to remind you how boring I am, I will say that I am always drawn to ballast in photos. To me, ballast and track is the story of the line. Razor sharp (neat) ballast means either labour was cheap or heavy traffic rode the line. I have a picture of a train riding the 4-track highway around Sunnyside in Toronto, on track where the ballast looks thin and muddy. It is surprising to see track in that state given the importance of the line. Decay is interesting, and given the capital intensive nature of the railway business, every day the railway has to decide between spending money on upkeep or letting matters slip a little further.

Not surprisingly then, there is a host of model railroad articles written about ballasting your track. The basic method is: 1. spread ballast out of a paper cup until it is perfect. 2. "Wet" the ballast to hold it in place. 3. Dribble a water/glue mixture on the ballast. 4. Watch in horror as the water/glue mixture moves the ballast around and makes a mess. 5. Swear and try to find a better method of laying ballast.

On the layout

Rants aside, I went with a two-part ballast structure for my track. Black "slag" ballast for the sub-roadbed and white/grey "rock" ballast for the top. I wanted the effect of track that was once well-maintained now slowly becoming neglected. To emphasize the effect, I weathered the ballast with grimy grey and earth brown powder.

The first ballast test.

I still haven't found a swear-proof method of laying ballast. From what I've read, the key is to use (I'm not kidding) actually crushed rock because it doesn't move around as much when you apply glue. To be tried at a later date.

Weathered vs. not weathered ballast

I've tried to present a few contrasts on the layout. The grey/white ballast is for the regular section of the line. The spur into Aston Growers has sooty ballast and dirty ties - showing its less than important status. The two track spur to Generic Canneries, has new, fresh ballast, showing it is a recent addition to the line (Generic Canneries having upgraded its facilities to receive sugar and corn syrup in bulk).

Grimy

Fresh

My favourite spot though is largely unseen. The most picturesque track is track barely keeping away nature - two rails, barely seen, overgrown and in danger of fading into the dirt.

In real life, I saw this at a park in German, where a small train ran through tracks laid in the grass. Incidentally, this ride is one of my favourite train trips, even though it only lasted about 15 minutes.

On the layout, the track behind Generic Canneries is my attempt at this:

A study in contrasts

The last picture is a good way to end this post - three tracks, side-by-side, each with its own story to tell.

 

Meet me at the station

Even though the Aston Spur is a "spur" and not a candidate for passenger service, I wanted to have a station as the centrepiece for the layout.

And with the station would be support buildings for the local track gang to store supplies and play cards in when it rained. I've always had a fondness for scenery around stations stemming from my days growing up in Georgetown, when we'd visit "the yard" on the way back from my Dad's hospital errands.

After I built my display case for the Canadian, the next hobby re-entry point was to build structures. Kanamodel offered wood kits of many CPR prototypes at a reasonable price. At this point, I hadn't thought of building an actual layout, but the idea of building structures for future layout appealed to me.

Support structures

So...

Coal shed

"Speeder" shed

Oil shed (not appearing on the layout)

The pictures don't tell the story of how long it took to build these basic structures. While the Kanamodel kits are fairly simple, you still have to measure and cut little bits of wood and assemble them piece by piece. For example, the trim on the door to the Speeder shed. The lattice for the Oil shed dock (which I don't have room for on the layout) was also time consuming. The doors and windows also prove finicky since they needed to be painted and fitted to openings in the wood. The most shockingly difficult part of all was building some stairs using a plastic form. The form was warped and I was never able to get a satisfactory result.

I was careful to paint the structures in standard CPR colours to give them a family look. In retrospect, the grey colour made the doors and windows pop more than I wanted. I should have painted them brown. The CPR's "red" also varied - most structures have a more brownish red vs the candy apple or barn red I bought at the craft store.

I also built a freight platform with a canopy roof that sits in a closet waiting to be placed on a future layout.

Even though I made many mistakes the structures came out fairly well. Along the way I built the skills needed for the big project - Aston station.

The Station

Aston station front

Aston station back

Aston station is a Kanamodel kit based on the CPR's Meadowvale station which was located on the Streetsville/Orangeville branch line. For many years, I worked a few miles away from where the station must have been located before the era of suburbs and large featureless warehouses made it redundant.

I labelled the station my "Zen project" since it coincided with a stressful period in my life during which I had taken a sabbatical to recharge mid-career. Working on the project during the spring/summer of 2018 was diverting.

Some of the challenges in building the station were dealing with a warped base (made from resin) and shingling the roof. The roof shingles were challenging because they came in long strips that I needed to keep parallel with the roof edge. They also had a tendency to come unglued, so plenty of swearing resulted.

As I've mentioned previously, I've developed a great deal of fondness for the cottage industry that supplies model kits. Meadowvale station cost me about $60 - a very reasonable price for a complete kit. When I had a question along the way, I e-mailed the owner of the company and he responded within a day. And, as you may have gathered, I like the idea that my CPR layout has prototype CPR stuff on it. Without Kanamodel and other companies like it, my dreams wouldn't be possible.

Again, I made the mistake of painting the windows and doors grey.

Putting it all together

Two RS-18s in front of the station.

Once I test fit the structures, I weathered them with powdered chalk (with lots of white streaks for pigeon poo on the station roof). They are kept in place by wood forms. I built a curb around the station for this purpose.

One of the maxims of structure placement is that each structure should have room to breathe. In the real world, structures, especially small structures, are spaced apart, not crowded together. Moreover, you should leave room for your 1/87 scale people to access the structures, and 1/87 scale people are quite messy so leave room for lots of junk. A structure without junk around it looks as awkward as a sheepdog that has just had a close shave.

The station area is in front of my background blob. A retaining wall keeps the hill in place, providing room for a road that accesses the station and surrounding buildings. There is a small parking lot, made from smooth-it plaster on top of fibreboard. Off the parking lot is an overgrown cinder path for the crew to park their work vehicle (what self-respecting work crew parks in the parking lot?) while they access the coal shed and speeder shed. 

I bought an oil tank to store fuel for the speeder that lives in the shed and CPR work vehicles, and, ignoring the warnings of the insurance company, placed it next to the station. I loved building the oil tank - it was a lesson in how paint and weathering can make plastic shine (in the right way).

I added oil barrels, broken pallets and a scratchbuilt ballast bunker to give the structures more of a habitat. I boarded off a door to the coal shed figuring the structure wasn't in its happiest of days. And added lots of vegetation (including a shrub growing in the ballast bunker) to show that the Spur gets only the bare minimum of attention.

There is one very important detail missing from the scene - once I have access to a good printer again, I'll create an "Aston" sign for the station. That, in of itself, is a bit of a process because it involves figuring out the font the CPR used for station signs on Eastern Ontario.

I also have plans to add a mini-scene to the north end of the parking lot - probably a truck getting a replacement tire. But that will require more research. 

 

 Old and New

Evolution

I don't have many photos of the layout my father and I built when I was growing up. It was a large oval (about 20 x 20) with a centre blob containing a yard. There was a branchline and a second short branchline into the basement bedroom. We completed about 25% of the scenery but laid most of the track.

The track was Peco Code 100 and the Power was DC with power blocks. My father was very adept at electrical work so we had switch machines for most of the turnouts.

The rolling stock mostly Athearn - some kits and engines from the 1960's and some rolling stock I bought in the '90s. Some of the rolling stock such as Accurail boxcars still see service on the Aston Spur.

Anyway, this post is really just an excuse to post old photos.

Scenery

Trees and rocks

Base scenery on the old layout was window screen covered with plaster cloth (thank you GDH) and wallboard compound to smooth it out. I'd paint the plaster and apply ground foam on top.

Trees were dried goldenrod, spray bombed with green paint, with foam added and hair spray to seal.

Background "puffs" were either pillow case material spray painted or dyed lichen bought at the hobby shop.

A Budd Car headed down the branch

Rocks and cliffs were just plaster cloth/joint compound painted grey.

Rocks in the background

Everything has got better since the 90's. Some of the scenery basics remain (ground foam, puff ball background trees, plaster/wallboard compound). But:

1. "Super Trees" have become the standard for trees providing finer detail than goldenrod. Although the foliage method is the same (spraybomb, cover with foam and then spray paint).

2. Rock molds (which existed in the 1990s but I didn't use them) coloured with paint are far better than my old method. In my mind, the paint is much better now since acrylics are cleaner and easier to dilute than solvent based paints.

3. The insulation foam method for building a scenery base allows for more control over gradients than the plaster cloth/screen method. Moreover, it is much easier to incorporate rock molds into insulation foam because you just cut into the foam. I'm not sure how I would do it with the screen/plaster method.

4. While ground foam has improved, the real revelation is with grass. 

The above photo is not from my layout but it shows how fine grass detail has become. You can now simulate varying lengths of grass (i.e. wild grass vs a well-kept lawn) very easily using different grass mats.

5. Finally, although not scenery per se, artist chalks/powder have replaced paint as the go-to weathering medium. While I like paint for giving on overall effect (i.e. using a black wash to draw out rock detail), chalks and powder allow for more variation - and if you use too much, you can blot away with water and start again.

Rolling Stock

The Tenshodo F9's

Atlas S-4 (the boxcar on the right is seen below).

The best piece of equipment on my old layout was a brass F9A and F9B unit made by Tenshodo - a Japanese company. The engines are beautiful (I still have them) and ran well, although only the A unit was powered. There weren't accurate CPR units - there is a difference between a F9A (not owned by the CPR) and a FP9A (owned by the CPR) The Atlas S-4 wasn't as pretty, but could crawl along the layout at low speed.

The engines were also DC-powered. With a DC power system, only one engine at a time could run in a wired block, unless you ran them together in a consist (far from fail safe). No sound either.

With DCC, sound-equipped locos, the difference is stark.

                                                Rumble Rumble.

In terms of old rolling stock, it ranges from the generic...

Repainted Athearn Box

Accurail wooden boxcars.

...too pretty good actually.

I'll save a full descripton of the Aston Spur's rolling stock for a future post, but as with scenery, the options have improved significantly. CPR specific rolling stock is now available (at least on E-bay) which is a big morale booster.

Before I leave this post, the best picture I have from the old layout: