KP Premiere

KP, as Knowledge Park in Rock Hill is known, should have a display case for the first two phases of the N scale train layout by mid-January, 2021.  Phase III is currently under construction, so some sort of signage is needed to communicate the status.  How's this?!

Let's Join Knowledge Park

 Seems this blog has been hijacked by the Knowledge Park project!  Oh well, railroads is railroads.

With the desire from the "owner" to combine the original 1953 era downtown Rock Hill (Phase I) with the extension down White Street (Phase II), a little adjustments needed to be made.  First, I and II were bolted together with the two tracks along what is now Village Way lined up pretty closely:

White Street (not shown) will need to be adjusted about 1/4 inch or so.

The trestle at the joint needs to be covered/converted to an extension of the bank for the higher track and the two Chatham Avenues need to be somehow combined:

Maybe a little more work needs to done with, say, sidewalk and grass/weeds.

A display case will surround the layout so the wiring for Phase II and III needs to go BEHIND the control box, like this:

And the light switches need to be placed under the layout:

Oops, photo of completed relocation is missing!

Need to get moving since Phase III is making progress:

Knowledge Park Phase II Gets Legs

 Here is Phase II on legs.  Used roughly the same approach as for the downtown area -- this time 1X4's instead of 2X4's for legs plus lauan gussets and 1X2" angle "stretchers".

"Helper" under the layout wants to join these two parts although that would mean some cosmetic work since part of the Cotton Factory is duplicated.  May not be too tough to do, and it would make the protective "case" for display a bit cheaper.  Besides, the layout belongs to HIM!

Full Cotton Factory on Phase II.

Knowledge Park and Rock Hill Phase II

 Jim continues to work on one of two additions to the 1953 model of Rock Hill, SC.  The focus is the "textile corridor" near downtown Rock Hill now being developed as "Knowledge Park".

The original section is downtown just up to what is now Dave Lyle, or just a bit to the northwest, thereof.  The second section will extend from current Dave Lyle to about halfway to Stewart Ave, and bounded by White Street on the southwest and the railroad tracks on the northeast.

Views from northwest, looking southeast with and without lights

The Cotton Factory with warehouses behind, looking from White Street on the southwest.

Cotton Factory owner's house (will need to confirm) on northeast corner of section.

A VERY neat boneyard!!  Must have taken a few watches to collect all those gears for N scale. . . .

Main parking lot.  Still probably a little small for a textile facility, but very good representation.  Seems the builder must like Clempson orange ;) 

Another bit of detail.  Note forklift (one of maybe 20 on this section) with straightened staples for forks and an operator with tie.

Remarkable work!

Builder needs to add some finishing touches and then get it out of the way to build Phase III.  These two phases are about 9X5', each.

Oh, and a movie of the switcher running between sense switches with a pause built in at

both ends.

Let there be LIGHT

Well, let there be a little MORE light.  The Wife mentioned that the plastic cover tended to cut down on the light on the layout.  And David Popp, on Model Railroader Video Plus, just installed some more LED rope lights on his layout.  So, why not give it a try on the Blacktop Crossing?

Actually, the lighting is a good bit better and without noticeable shadows.  This is about 16 feed of rope light from Walmart installed with one "factory" clip and several zipties.

BIL did say that he thought of a Christmas tree?!?!

18, Count 'Em

Here's a challenge.  I think I count 18 Clever Bros structures -- either the model as designed or some slight modification or just use of textures and parts -- on the layout.  See if you agree!  You've seen this "aerial" view before:

·         Woodyard shed – Yard Shanty

·         3 Company Houses – Small Company House

·         Horse Barn -- Furniture Factory file, Wood Shed

·         Military Warehouse -- Quonset Hut

·         Little Wooden Church – Rural Church

·         Crossing Tower -– Crossing Tower

·         Storage/House Trailer -- Construction Trailer

·         Ramp, Dock, Stairs -- Jackson Volume 3

·         Doctors’ Office – Photo Studio

·         Backyard Shed – Danged if I know, but it’s from Clever Bros

·         Cotton Gin -- Old Brick Texture for the boiler house exterior, Vertical Seam Sheet Metal texture for the unloading shed exterior walls, and Cedar Shakes for the roofs

·         Cotton Broker Office – adapted from Clever by Paul Egri

·         ‘Baccer Barn -- Tool Shop, Creeky Roofing foundation, Paul Egri

·         Ebenezer Grill -- Weathered Red Clapboard texture

·         Boiler house -- Small Brick Machine Shop and Paul Egri

·         Smokestack -- Old Brick (Colonial Brick?) texture

Back from the Edge

Seems the track on the right side of the layout is precariously close to the edge.  It's not hard to imagine a loco or boxcar tipping over that edge.  Maybe it would be a good preventative move to put up a bit of a guardrail over there.  Wonder if there is a little hardboard sitting around that could be used?  Why yes, yes there is!

So, with a little effort, a roughly 6-inch by 12-inch rectangle was cut out with top corners rounded off.  As close as the rail is to the edge, there may not be room for the little bit of overhang that might be needed if the hardboard is mounted directly to the sides of the layout table.  Maybe a couple of lengths of 1/2 inch "trim" could offset it enough.

Some olive and leather spray paint was supposed to help the guardrail blend in; maybe it did.

BIL checked out the left side and mentioned it was pretty close, too.  Just happened to have some hardboard on the table saw and before you knew it, another but somewhat smaller guardrail was in place.

And here is the cover with two additional pulleys on the ceiling so the far corner twine does not bind with the frame when the cover is raised.

Hunkered Down

So, maybe "hunkered down" is an old Southern (region not railway) description, but that's about what it's been like around here since early March.  But sometimes progress can be made.  An afternoon's effort:

A few 1X2's to be cut to about 6" over the size of the layout -- two at 82" and two at 54".

Glue, pocket screws, and corner braces give a frame.

Add eye screws, rope, and stapled plastic sheet to get a cover.

Four hooks in the ceiling with pulleys attached and a cleat, and voila:  a removable layout cover:

May need to add a large eye screw or pulley to direct the far ropes off of the cover on the near end.  No big deal. . . .  Will remove the two vertical supports (one visible at left of this view) and maybe strengthen backdrop.  Attention to backdrop might not be needed if suspended cover doesn't hang on it.  All around satisfactory solution for prior makeshift cover.

While up on the ladder installing the pulleys, took a couple of "aerial" photographs.  Not sure which shows best.

Do Zombies Attend Church?

Don't know where this figure came from.  None of the others have the pin in a foot to stick into scenery!  But the color of this guy brought up thoughts of zombies:

Used a tannish marker to give a little better color to the guy; hard to see since it's a "bit" out of focus, but his tan IS more life-like.

That's him between the two ladies by the white picket fence and the milk truck.  So, this "converted" zombie appears to be headed for church.  Also more permanently attached Reverend Jeff hailing his flock on a warm Fall evening along with Deacon Williams standing by the steps while Finance Committee Chair Compton already has the plate out standing there beside the Right Reverend.

Fighting the Weeds

Broom straw or broom sedge might be one of may favorite weeds -- somehow it reminds me of my childhood!  I've had some Woodlands Scenic "grass" for some time.  It is WAY too long for broom straw and when cut to something even close to scale length/height, it gets real hard to manage.  I've used some, but gave up on it.

Well, just recently I found a method to cut it closer to proper length AND made it easier to handle.  Cannot remember exactly where I found it but on the Internet somewhere!?!  Here are the steps in photos:

OK, maybe not quite as obvious as hoped.  Instructions had called for just one set of popsicle sticks, but that might have been O scale.  So, WS grass was laid down with two sets of sticks and cut down the middle.  Instructions used rubber bands, but clothes pins or paper clamps worked fine.  The cut ends are dipped into a line of white glue and let dry.  Resulting "rows" need to be pulled or cut apart to get reasonable clumps.

All was going well, until compared to an HO scale figure.  Much too tall, still.  But a little trimming and the bunches came into line for height -- problem is, each "straw" is the same size, which is not quite prototypical.

Still better than earlier efforts, so a few were applied to the layout with just a dab of white glue on the bottom.

As luck would have it, the very next day Trackside Scenery showed up on my PC -- with another approach to broom straw!!  This looked fantastic.  So, I cut the Woodlands Scenic grass to lengths close to "real" broom straw and rolled some weed.

OK so far, then pull a clump apart and dip in patches of white glue (well, he actually used a spray adhesive of some sort).

I wasn't convinced, so I added a few of the prior effort

Well, we tried.  Not totally satisfied with either but maybe from 20 feet away, they'll look OK.

Adding (Back) a Few Details

The three Easley train show boxcars made it to the layout and look right at home.  Some effort was made to weather; looks like C&O needs to have its rust dulled a bit. . .

Also, the motive power for Blacktop Crossing is lined up with engines idling.

Tried to create a scene at the team track.  Seems one guy is claiming to have done all the unloading work from the LCL car at the dock while another is just about to pass out and needs a rest on the steps.  We could ask the supervisor who really did the work, but she also knows who's bragging and who's working!

Moved the milkman and his truck from the Company Store to the Mill Village.  The youngsters in that house probably consume gallons of milk a week.

The Doc's Buick is parked in back of the Doctors' Office, and a wagon load of recently-picked cotton enters the Cotton Gin for processing.  Maybe that panel truck at the Gin is picking up some cotton seed for oil production.  And maybe that same truck will be stuck there for the duration -- funny what a little compression will do for realism!!

A couple of vehicles are parked at the Cotton Office and a delivery truck has pulled into the back of the Company Store to unload.  A couple of stray cats have found a viewing spot on the short fence.

Beyond the end of the Blacktop and across the tracks are the rolling hills in the background.  The Rural Church parking lot is filling up, but a few more "parishioners" are needed to complete the scene.

On the other side of the Cotton Factory a few bales of cotton are left on the dock to be brought inside.  [a bit out of focus!]

And on the other side of town, the greasers are still talking cars and trash, folks are having hot dogs and conversation, and life goes on in a small Southern town on a balmy September afternoon.