Ebenezer Grill

One of the local hangouts -- that The Wife and I like to visit -- is a hot dog restaurant called Ebenezer Grill, or Loyd's (for the owner).  The left, front corner of Blacktop Crossing seemed to be a perfect place for a gathering spot of some sort, so Loyd's was a natural.  The construction is a representation, not an exact reproduction.  However, since Loyd uses a trailer in the rear for storage, I began by constructing Clever Bros cardstock model of a construction trailer.  I was doing this while visiting in-laws for Thanksgiving, and I didn't get any construction photos.  But here is the actual trailer -- it's a house trailer, not a construction trailer; remember, the goal was a representation. . . .

I also started the main part of the restaurant around the same time period.  However. I found no model that resembled Loyd's close enough so I designed my own structure.  I used an Autocad program called Inventor to draw out the restaurant from rough dimensions I obtained from pictures and from pacing off the actual building.  The scaled drawing printed out to the converted dimensions, so I cut the "parts" from the printout for patterns.

The restaurant is basically red clapboard siding with yellow trim.  Clever Bros has a weathered red clapboard that looked good, and I used scale 1X4" and 1X6" "lumber" that I found at H&R Trains in Tampa during Thanksgiving visits!

I'm not even sure that Ebenezer Grill existed in the 1950's, but it looks like a fit for that era.  Today, you can find everything from a Rolls Royce and a red Jaguar convertible to a city pick-up and an old Ford in the parking lot.  The vehicles in this photo, then, might be appropriate:

The windows and doors are also "store bought" and have "glazing".  Although I've included Venetian blinds on the windows and doors, there are a couple of openings where a light might shine through.  Maybe I'll get industrious and rig up a couple of LED's inside.

Update, January 15, 2015:  Heather said the front door was green and The Wife said I was missing the flag:

Here is a better view of Loyd's:

I guess I need to add a flagpole and, obviously, a bit more scenicking is required, but maybe I can get a grandkid to help me over Christmas Holidays!

I'm not bragging about my cardstock skills, but I like the versatility provided -- from a freebie "kit" to self-designed building from purchased cardstock textures and other material.  Work I've seen by others with cardstock keeps me striving to improve!  How ANYone does this in N scale is a mystery to me.

Trying Out DCC!?

A purchase at H&R Trains in Tampa, FL,  over Thanksgiving was an MRC DCC system.  It was supposed to be simple and "intuitive" to connect.  The only problem was I needed to have easy access to the DC wiring to run Thomas for the newest granddaughter!  So, I hoped to install a switch to disconnect the DC system and then connect the DCC system.  That seemed simple enough until I stopped by Radio Shack to find the appropriate switch.  I finally picked up a blade-type switch; if nothing else, I could see what should have been happening.  I left all of the red (-) wires connected and inserted the switch into the black (+) side like this:

Before

After

Then I went to work on the locomotives.  The Southern F3 A/B set had come with decoders that I had removed and replaced with shunts for DC operation.  I replaced one in the F3 A unit and put one in the SCL loco The Wife gave me as a gift.

SCL Shunt Disconnected

Decoder Ready to Connect

Job Completed

 I connected the DCC system under the control panel to the switch (black, +) and to the gang bus (red -).

When I plugged it in, I got an "ovrld" signal; I assumed that was "overload".  I disconnected the DC red (-) wire from the gang bus and got rid of the overload.  But the locos wouldn't run!  I got out the ole multimeter and started testing from the power supply through the switch to the Atlas controllers.  No current downstream of the controllers!?!  On a whim, I moved the top Atlas direction switch.  Lo and behold, it worked.  Now, should I figure out why or just don't mess with success?

Thomas for the Youngest Grandkid!

Before Thanksgiving, a Bachmann Thomas the Tank Engine was received.  Of course, it came with loop and hook coupler which only worked with one of the cars that had been obtained in the 1950's!  So, with a little effort from a rotary tool, a Kadee coupler was installed.  It may not be lined up exactly correctly, but it pulls cars around the track which should be sufficient for now.  I wonder if there's room for a DCC decoder. . . ?

A Few Items from Winter Haven Train Show

While visiting relatives in Lakeland, FL, we took a trip to the knitting shop (The Wife) and a train show sponsored by Regal Railways in Winter Haven, FL.  Was able to pick up a few items for the layout at reasonable cost, I suppose.

For grandson Jake, here are two more military vehicles, loosely defined as a half track and as a deuce and a half.

Still not so sure these are 1950's era vehicles, but they are probably a little more "vintage" than the existing Desert Storm era vehicles.  Sorry about what looks like a dead horse and maybe a sleeping lumberjack in the photo.  Someone evidently bumped the layout!

For the Mill Hill area, some junk in the backyard.

We'll blend the scene into the landscape when we add more ground goop.  Again, the age is a little off for the layout.  It looks like a 1953 or 54 Chevy, but it's too rusty already for a 1956 time period.  I just couldn't pass it up since it seemed to fit the overall scheme of things.

Horse Barn

With help from the granddaughters -- third and seventh grade, give or take -- the cotton field has been planted and is about ready to be picked!  However, since one of the wagons used to get the cotton to the gin is drawn by horses, they thought we HAD to have a shelter for the horses.  The best I could do on short notice was the wooden shed that's part of Clever Brothers furniture factory file -- cardstock.  Frankly, I'm pleased with how it turned out.  A little more detail plus dirt and fence for the "pasture" and we should be in business!

I also got a display case that "Crazy Cousin Larry" gave me varnished and mounted to store odd pieces of rolling stock or cars not needed for the time being.

Another Granddaughter(s) Visit

I may have to give up on grandsons helping, but my granddaughters (visiting for the weekend while parents go to concert) jumped right in there today!  They helped mix up the "ground goop" (we used previously) for a cotton field.  Then we spread it out, plowed it with a comb missing four of every five teeth, and planted some cotton plants.  The plants may not be quite green enough, but they seemed to work pretty well to give the effect of individual plants in a row.  They are about 1/2" high, or around 4 scale feet.  We used moss from Michael's cut to the specified dimension.  Then the young ladies dabble some wicker white paint on the moss to give a full blown cotton plant look.  I think it will do.  They want a few weeds around the cotton field, so maybe some broomstraw is in order.

While they were planting cotton, I took the opportunity to reapply and glue down (with heavy hold hair spray) some forest debris.  It had been rubbed off in the move.  Also planted the seven Southern Yellow Pines I had made some time ago.

Finally, while they took the afternoon for a visit to Discovery Place with their grandma, I cut out the blacktop road.  Used a suggestion I saw earlier to use the underside of asphalt roofing shingles (that is, regular shingles turned upside down).  Looks like it might work with some trimming and weathering -- well, and some lines down the middle.

Nice to have some progress again!

Finally, Some Real Progress

I had been hoping to get some grandsons to visit and help finish up the Cotton Factory (Atlas's Middlesex Manufacturing), but finally had to take advantage of a granddaughter's visit over the holidays.  She helped a lot with the windows -- there are WAY too many -- and I finished the kit today, per box instructions.  At some point I'll try some weathering and figure a way to keep from seeing all the way through the building.

Even a few cotton bales I picked up over the holidays.

A bird's eye view including company store.

And a shot through the pulpwood yard.

Now I need to get serious about how to fabricate a boiler room for the smokestack.