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Keith Pashina
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Here is the finished enginehouse in place on the layout.
This is a very compact model, and fits neatly into the end of the Black Hawk module.
The little metal-clad shed was situated in front of the enginehouse.
Not entirely certain what it was used for,
but it seems like it would have been a good location,
to store flammable materials such as oil and paint,
and maybe other things, such as track tools.
On my layout, it is used for flammable liquids and tool storage,
and there are examples of both strewn about.
I originally built this building in 1993, and recycled it for use here.
At this time, the Gilpin Tram had not built their two-track car shop
(another building for which there are no photos)
at least when there were only 2 stalls.
So, I put some lumber, sawhorses and other materials about,
for some minor, open-air repairs to wooden freight cars.
I put in 5 SMD LED lights inside.
Each has a resistor to give a yellow glow,
and highlights some areas where I want to draw the viewer's attention.
Two Shays are parked inside the enginehouse for the night.
I made the enginehouse doors operable
Keith
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Keith Pashina
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I haven't posted anything the past month or so,
but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing some modeling.
We chosen few know what is really necessary,
is to stockpile the REAL essentials:
I proceeded down to a good local hobby shop and stockpiled a bunch of stuff,
a variety of ACC adhesives, wire, paints, and other goods.
Of course, I did not need to purchase any kits!
Like any real narrow gauge modeler, I have been prepping for decades,
and steadily adding unbuilt kits and supplies.
Encouraged to stay at home, sounds like a modeler's dream!
So, with a bunch of supplies on hand, I have been building some kits.
As you saw in my previous posts,
I had been busy building the Black Hawk Boiler Works and Machine Shop scene,
and most recently finished up the Gilpin Tram enginehouse.
My most recent project was building some resin freight car kits.
This past week, I finished adding all the details
(brake system, brake beams, door hardware, etc.)
and was preparing to start painting them.
I was preparing to fire up the one working airbrush on hand
(the one I affectionately named my Chinese-made knockoff of a Badger airbrush)
when a serendipitous trip to the mailbox brought me these:
Yep, my two Badger airbrushes showed up in the mail.
I had sent these to Badger for service back in early March.
They offer great service, and warrant their airbrushes,
all I had to do was pay for shipping.
They warned me that their normal turnaround might be delayed,
but these showed up just 2 months later, as promised!
It turned out the inoperative airbrushes were due to some rough handling on my part,
but with the tune-up and replacement parts they provided, they both work like new.
The inexpensive airbrush has a place too, for $20, it has its limitations,
but is good to use for coarser paints, scenery, etc where you don't need a fine touch.
The Badgers are used on locos, cars, buildings and figures,
where you want to have much better control.
The current project I am finishing up is some resin HOn30 kits made by Railway Recollections,
4 boxcars, 2 cabooses, a lime car, and a powder car.
These are freelanced models,
and will be part of the Gilpin, James Peak, and Middle Park Railway and lettered for such.
Rolling stock running on my layout that is not based on the prototype Gilpin Tram,
is lettered for the GJP&MP line.
I'll post more photos as I get farther along.
I would think many of you FreeRails readers are also doing some modeling or planning.
What has everyone been working on?
Any modeling you care to share in this thread?
Keith
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Ken C
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Keith
The engine house and addition of the rolling stock are looking good,
as for myself, scenery work is coming along.
3 Bachmann Box cars lettered, 1 reefer lettered, 1 reefer conversion to a gunpowder car,
working on a Australian NT reefer kit, all in all staying busy.
Waiting on a order of switch's to start work on second yard and engine terminal.
____________________
Ken Clark
GWN
Kaslo & Slocan Railway
International Navigation & Trading Co
Kootenay Railway & Navigation Co.
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Keith Pashina
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Well Si, I hope we will get to see more photos of your snowplow project - looking good so far!
IMPROVING THE FREIGHT CAR FLEET
I had previously posted some in progress photos of the resin car kits I was building from Railway Recollections.
The past month has been very busy for me, but I finally completed these models.
I built 4, short 20' cars. I thought they turned out okay.
Oops, in this photo you can see the decal film,
looks like more work to do to get it to nestle down better into the siding.
Here is loco #12 doing some switching in Black Hawk.
I needed some additional revenue cars that were not ore cars,
and these have worked out nicely.
Two of the cars started out as underframe kits - all you get is a resin underframe.
From that, I scratchbuilt a powder car (at left) and lime car.
The powder car is based on a 3' gauge prototype that ran on the Colorado Central,
it was a metal clad box car used to haul blasting powder or dynamite,
up to Central City and Black Hawk.
The lime car was also based on a 3' gauge Colorado Central car,
which was a covered short gondola.
The covers were needed to keep the powdered lime dry.
The lime was used in part of the ore smelting process,
at the Hill Smelter in Black Hawk.
These cars are caricatures of the prototype cars,
but I like how they turned out
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Keith Pashina
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CHALK MARKS ON FREIGHT CARS
"Back in the day", railroad crews often used chalk,
to make cryptic notations on the sides of freight cars.
These notations were used by others on switching crews,
to designate information about where the car was to be switched,
handling instructions, locations in trains being made up, etc.
Or, the notations may have been used as a convenient surface to do some calculations,
or just plain grafitti (in the good 'ol days before spray paint).
Chalk marks were everywhere on railroads in the steam era,
I suppose their need was eliminated after radios and other technology became available.
The turn of the century Lehigh Valley boxcar has several chalked marks visible.
Here is a slightly more modern scene, and chalk marks can be seen near both ends of each car.
This image is from the Denver Public Library, image number OP-2295
And here is the whole point of this post,
the narrow gauges used chalk marks, too.
This is a D&RGW boxcar, probably in the '40s or '50s,
and a chalk mark can be seen on the right side, by the grab irons.
Another photo from the Denver Public Library, image OP-9186.
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Keith Pashina
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CHALK MARKS ON GILPIN CARS?
So, were chalk marks used on Gilpin Tram cars, also?
After looking at several photos, the answer is, yes, they did!
Here is an enlargement of a Denver Public Library, Western History Collection photo,
showing Quartz Hill, and a string of ore cars in the foreground.
Chalk marks can clearly be seen on the left and right hand ends of the car.
What do they mean? I don't know, but they are interesting.
Here is an image from the Dan Abbott collection,
and it shows a proud mining engineer or owner standing on a spur at the Aduddell Mine,
note the car in the background
I don't have a good, clear copy of the previous photo,
but an enlargement seems to show a chalk mark on the left hand side of the car end.
This photo is a goofy one,
it's a multi-exposure trick photo of the same person in car 100.
But, it shows chalk used to good effect.
So, it seems the Gilpin Tram used chalk marks on freight cars when switching.
I imagine it could have been convenient to note which mill cars were going to,
or what mine the car came from.
Most Gilpin Tram photos are not closeups of freight cars,
and they tend to be more in the background,
where the small chalk marks become difficult or impossible to see.
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Keith Pashina
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So, I decided to add chalk marks to some of my freight car fleet, too.
In my previous post, you can see I added chalk marks to the 20' boxcar models.
In the photo above, I have added various marks to the three cars in the foreground.
The chalk marks are dry transfers from Clover House.
These are particularly useful,
as I can easily add the marks over already weathered and finished cars.
However, on newer models, I will use chalk mark decals,
and I just ordered some from Speedwitch Media for this.
I tried using a very sharp white colored pencil, but it didn't work for me,
the lead was too brittle when using a very fine point for my HOn30 cars.
But, it may work well on bigger models in 1/4", 1:35 or 1/2" scales.
I like the marks, they add detail indicating a working railroad,
and hint at previous busy activity.
Just another small detail in the overall fabric of my model railroad.
Keith
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