Ramp and Dock for Team Track

Probably felt a bit guilty using a laser kit and not using a Clever Bros cardstock "kit" for the team track office, so I chipped in the $20 for the Clever Bros Jackson Volume 3 "CD" download.  That got me a ramp, a dock, and some stairs to use; plus a few other kits.

Modified the loading ramp somewhat to ensure that a flatcar would fit and the coupler would not interfere.  That required lengthening the ramp a bit.  The "extension" seemed a little precarious sticking out in the infinite, so added a couple of 4X4/6X6 supports.  They turned out to be too short, so I fabbed up a couple of (tan) concrete foundations, about 18" in diameter.

The sign on the side of the team track office says, "Office, Trade Street Team Track".  Trade Street ran along the Southern Railway tracks in Rock Hill -- don't know if there was a team track; still checking on that.

To make sure the other folks in Rock Hill who needed "less than car load" would be serviced, I also constructed the loading dock.  Again, I tried to extend it a bit and somehow the underpinning and the dock, itself, ended up being different lengths.  So, added stairs and shelter.  That worked out OK, I suppose.

We'll need to do a little painting of the off-loaded goods and decide what type to focus on.  But that ought to allow for a pretty busy team track, as long as the Cotton Factory shipments don't get in the way!

Another challenge will be to raise the surrounding ground level to that of the track bed.  Shouldn't be too big a hurdle. . . .

A Team Track

Don't know why, but I decided to add a "team track" scene to the layout.  The best place was at the Cotton Factory siding where the Armory needed a means of receiving jeeps, trucks, and such.  When I found a BTX laser cut Southern Railway Team Track Office, I just had to try it out.  Another small structure "perfect" for the small layout.  Realizing, of course, that sharing an industry siding with a team track is probably not so prototypical. . . .

Started by painting many of the parts before removing from the "board".

Assembly went pretty smoothly -- the accuracy for laser cutting is amazing!

Used a little florist styrofoam to help fill up the coal bin and topped off with a bit of HO scale "coal".

The fascia for the roof did not fit the slot very well after painting the pieces.  I had used a needle drill to open holes for the small front roof supports, and that worked well.  Probably should have used the same approach for the fascia board.

Will probably leave the roof unfastened from the office

Got a pot-bellied stove from Rusty Stumps and desk/file cabinet from Model Tech Studios.  Would have been easier to install before putting up the rafters!  But since I had left the door and window open, I went "all the way".  Even have a mug to go on top of the stove since I couldn't find a coffee pot.  Don't know about Southern Railway employee, yet, but I have included a box for him/her to sit on (not in picture).

Plantings at Station

Checked on the ground goop from granddaughter's visit and just had to add some vegetation around the train station!

Started with a mix of fine turf from some earlier work.  Painted some half-and-half white glue in an area around the station and across the track leaving room for car parking, bus, and REA Express truck. . . maybe.  Found the fan I was using for cooling was blowing the turf all over the place so turned the fan off and found some turf that may not have been glued down too well.

That led to using an ear syringe bulb to add some half-and-half, but got way too much.  So, pulled out the 2mm static grass and the homemade static applicator.  Figured this could be a planting area and the rest could be the grassy lawn.

Used some commercial flower hedge and a few commercial flower bunches in the area.  Then went to another of the spindly trees.  Wrapped the tree with florist tape a la Farm Pond about VI.  Then painted some "Fawn" acrylic to soften the brown tape and camouflage the gray wires.  Sprayed the tree with strong hold hair spray and dusted on some coarse turf.  Sprayed again and dusted on some earth tone blended turf.  Not sure that helped a lot, but it felt better.

Poked a hole with a scratch awl and glued the tree in place with white glue, full strength.

Photos along the way:

Before and after:

Another view:

More Ground Goop

Without the participation from a couple of granddaughters -- and the request from the "other" family to let a granddaughter visit for a couple of days -- took the opportunity to offer Ground Goop mixing to my 6-year-old granddaughter.  Knowing that her older cousins had done the same was probably enough to raise sufficient interest.

So, with the usual recipe of vermiculite, celluclay, paint, and white glue, we started mixing up a batch.

Spent a few minutes taping the track near the site of ground goop addition, but couldn't take the time to photograph.  Had hoped to cover the area right at the  "front" side of the layout, around the station, and between the outer and inner loops from the middle of the layout around the station corner.

Had some concern that the station on the layout might have been too extravagant for Rock Hill, SC, but turns out the actual station was pretty significant:

So, decided to leave the extended platform.  Marked off the location of the station and platform so we wouldn't cover with ground goop.

Now everything was ready.  Got a good start before granddaughter lost interest -- covered everything we had taped off!

After granddaughter lost interest, finished around the station end and added some ground goop between the inner and outer loop all the way around the other end.

The color is a bit dark, but will be covered with ground cover, field grass, flocking, etc. Pretty good progress for a 6-year-old.

Replaced the station and platform before the goop dried completely.  No problem.

Well, actually, there were several spots on the floor and side of layout that received some brown paint.  Sooner or later maybe we'll paint the sides. . . .

Farm Pond VIII -- Finished?

Totally gave up on grandkid help -- there's still more to do on the layout for them -- and maybe finished up the farm pond.

Sprayed some strong hold hair spray on polyfiber, small bushes, and such and dusted with earth tone ground foam to try to get rid of some of the springtime green -- it's September, after all.

While that was drying, added more wire to the fence posts.  Used the 6X fly fishing tippet but did the whole perimeter at one time. . . what was left.  Actually used a cinch knot on the far fence post and ran the line all the way to the third corner. 

Kept some tension on the line with the tippet spool and glued at each post with white glue. 

Doing one of three lines at a time left opportunity to try to make a gate.  Must have used 30 thou plastic rod because it converted to about 2.5 inches, scale.  Used a bit larger plastic rod for one side -- the hinge side.  Glued with CA, but it wasn't easy.  Painted with Testor's rust color paint.

Added some field grass combined with sisal for broomstraw, stuck down some of the polyfiber and bushes here and there.  Had spread a little parsley flakes on one polyfiber to add a little more dimension.  Glued the gate on.  Added the boys fishing back, placed a horse, stuck the farmer next to a truck just emptied of cotton to be ginned.  A few other pieces including a rather large tree.

That might be enough.  Once the white glue dries, we can check it out to see if anything more needs to be done.  After a little vacuuming, it looks OK!

Table Skirt Diversion

OK, there was an article somewhere that I ran into recently showing a guy who had installed a "skirt" around his layout by using clothespins or maybe Velcro and cloth to allow him to cover the mess under the layout, but get behind the skirt or even remove it easily.  It looked like installation would be easy, too.

So, out came the clothespins and a 1/4" drill bit.  Drilled a 1/4" hole in one side of that clothespin "handle" and a smaller hole across in the other handle.  Used 3/4" wood screws to attach clothespins about every two feet or so -- four pins on the 6-foot sides and three on the 4-foot sides.  Most difficult job was screwing on the pins from the "backside" of the layout frame.

Decided to use burlap cloth since it would seem to go well with the workshop decorating theme!  Had to order online. . . .  It came in 40" width, so just folded over 4-6 inches at the top so the skirt would just touch the floor.  Cut the burlap in lengths a little longer than the sides to round the corners and be easy to remove sections, if needed.  Not too tough to screw on clothespins, even easier to hang up burlap.

Before:

After:

Farm Pond VII -- Adding Some Dry Land Plantings

From a commercially prepared group of about six small trees, one was chosen and wrapped with brown florist tape.  The brown contrasts a little with the gray wire (and most bark is not nearly so much brown as gray), but the tree seems to look better to me!

While "ground goop" looks pretty good as it is, adding a little fine turf that's a mix of greenish brown colors seems to make the scene look a little more realistic.

This is adhered to the surface with half and half white glue and water spread with a paint brush.  Likewise, some homemade ground covering (from blending dried leaves and twigs) was added.  The intent is for the "pasture" to be a bit more grassy and the surrounds a bit more weedy when it's all over.  Also laid down some medium and fine gray ballast for the drive leading away from the cotton gin.  Medium may be a little too coarse; need to check after it all dries.

Florist tape wrapped tree looks pretty good on the other side of the pond.  Of course, its size seems to be challenged by the cattails!!

Waiting for scenery to dry is a bummer, but after an overnight spell it was time to try to add some taller grass.  The plan is to have some "pasture" grass inside the fence and something more resembling weeks outside and around the cotton field. . . and maybe a little near the railroad siding.  The pasture grass will be 1.5 mm yellow(-ish) grass from SceneMaster and the weeds will be 2.0 mm winter mix from Peco.  Maybe the homemade static grass applicator will make some of the flocking stand up.

The pasture grass looks a little "hairy", so that's good.  Got some on the pond that will have to be removed in due time.  Since the ground covering mix applied the day did not all stick, a shot or two of strong hold hair spray was applied.  Problem is, some got on the top of the pond!  A little water on a paper towel removed much of the hairspray.  Maybe the flocking on the pond can be removed with a small vacuum cleaner.

The color difference in the two flockings is more evident than the length of the "blades", but some added weeds and broomstraw will help define the different areas.  Some bushes will be inserted near the rails, also, but not until the wire has been installed. . . maybe.

Since half and half water/glue was applied with a syringe for the static grass, it's another overnight drying needed.