New Page Started

I have started to post a build of my interpretation of the Detroit Union Produce Terminal.  The building is completed and I am in the process of finishing the write up.  Thought I would publish what is currently completed.

Wabash Cabooses For West Detroit Branch

My project for October is to build up some caboose models for use on the West Detroit Branch.  The Wabash purchased a group of cabooses from the N&W in 1938 and placed them in the series 2655 to 2679.  They were used on local freights across the system and were frequently found in the Detroit area.  In the late 1940's they were rebuilt into transfer cabooses by removing the cupola, many had the side sheathing replaced with plywood.

 

I use styrene to create masters for the car.  On the bottom is a standard carbody, cupola end, end wall, end sill and roof braces.  Middle, is the under frame and the tool cellar.  On the top is a version of the plywood sided rebuild.  The plywood rebuilds varied primarily in the windows.  This version has an enlarged window, others have the normal size window but the trim varies.  I am in the process of creating patterns for these as well.  A few of the transfer caboose rebuilds retained the original car siding and are easily create by cutting off the cupola from the original car side.

 

These are the molds created from the patterns.  I use Smooth On Mold Max 20.

First set of parts pulled from the molds.  They are cast in Smooth On Task 4 resin.  

Here is the finished car body before painting.  Next into the paint shop. 

This is the painted and lettered model. 

Meet on the West Detroit Branch

A K-2 was assigned to the transfer run between Oakwood yard and the interchange with the NYC and GTW at West Detroit.  This is an unusual event as the transfers are usually handled by eight coupled switchers.  A class B-7 switcher waits in the hole and after the passage of the transfer it will continue to work the local industries. 

The K-2 is a modified BLI light Mikado, the B-7 is a Hallmark import from the late 1970's.  The B-7 is the latest model off my work bench.  It has a WOW4 decoder, a KeepAlive unit, and LED lighting in the engine and tender.

Modeling Milwaukee In The 1890's

On the corner of Cherry St, Commerce St and 2nd St was a hexagonal grade crossing tower.  I have scratch built a couple of these in the past but chose to use a Walthers kit for this project.  I did add interior detailing to the second story.  Also on this corner was the milling building for the Phoenix Flour Mill.  I constructed the model using two photos and the Sanborn foot print.  The windows and fire escapes are manufactured by Titchy.  The brick walls are etched basswood from Monster Modelworks.

Milwaukee Public Library

To add visual interest to the structure I offset the loading bay back from the mill tower and added a covered loading dock to the model.  At the time of the above photo the structure was considered a derelict building and it was torn down in the next two years.

 

Next to the flour mill was its associated elevator.  It was connected to the mill by a bridge.  The  interior of the model is made from foam core and is sheathed in Campbell's corrugated sheathing.

Milwaukee Public Library

                          

This is a view down Commerce St. and shows the elevator in the late 1940's.  The building next to the elevator is the former Eagle Flour Mill, at the time of the photo it was being used as a general warehouse for Pabst brewing.

This is my interpretation of the Eagle Flour Mill, my primary references were the above photo and Sanborn map data.  I have added signage indicating that the current occupant is a wholesale grocer.  A careful study of the prototype photo shows that the building was occupied by Armour & Co at some point in its existence.

Milwaukee Public Library

This photo looks southeast across the team track area.  In the back are the chimneys of the power plant.  North of the power plant is the Milwaukee Grain and Feed Company.  The Sanborn map does not show a building named for this company.  There is however a small milling company shown in that location and I used its dimensions to construct the following model.

Monster Modelworks brick materials were used to build the walls.  As would be expected all brick buildings have been finished to represent "Cream City" brick as it was the common building brick used in Milwaukee in the 19th century.   

 

Wabash 46611

The first of many cars being built for my "Detroit 1953" switching layout.  This is a Speedwitch kit representing one of the series of single sheathed automobile cars built in 1926 for the Wabash.   

Overhead view showing my interpretation of a weathered galvanized roof. 

 

DSS&A 100 Series American

Engineers side view of my rebuilt Bachmann Southern american type locomotive.  This project will result in a good representation of a DSS&A 100 series american type engine.

Firemans side view.  I added styrene trim work to the cab to give it the appearance of a wood cab.  The domes, bell, stack and headlight are PSC castings.  The injector piping, whistle and sander valves were salvaged from the Bachmann model.

The next step will be modifying the tender.  The challenge here will be to fit in the batteries, DCC sound decoder, speaker, and wireless receiver.  I guess I did not mention that the layout that you see the engine on is being built as dead rail, so I need an appropriate engine for use on it.  It has been a pleasant experience not having to wire track, one I highly recommend. 

This is the electronics package in the tender.  There are a lot of goodies packed into a small space.  A Tam Valley radio, Tsunami 750 decoder, speaker, reed switch and controller circuit, and a pair of 110maH Sparkfun LiPo batteries.  The radio antenna is the curved red wire that lays over the top of the components.  The tender shell snaps in place so you do not have to remove screws to change the cells,  of course you do have to be careful to pick up the tender by holding the frame not the shell sides. 

I have done a little testing on performance.  So far I have found that I can perform stop/start switching, pulling four freight cars, for about 30 minutes on one set of charged batteries.  It will be interesting to see if this goes up as I put more duty cycles on the batteries.  If it could get to 45 minutes that would be ideal as it takes about 45-60 minutes to charge a pair of cells.

Crossties And Track

I have been working on some modeling projects through the summer but have mostly been enjoying  spending my time outdoors.  I did work on creating flat cut ties and detailing track using Proto 87 Store components.  This is a sample of the track on my newest shelf layout. 

Coal for the Tamarack No 2 Boiler House

Coal was delivered to the boiler houses of the mine in empty rock cars.  Rock cars loaded with copper ore would be sent to the stamps, when empty a significant number would be forwarded to the mining company's coal dock.  There they would be loaded with coal and returned to the mine.  This was a profitable cycling of cars for the railroad. 

This coal load is a resin casting created to precisely fit the 30 ton rock cars.  In the November 2011 issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist I presented a method for creating coal loads.  That method, with a slight modification was used to create the load.   Brushable silicon rubber was used to create the mold.  Once the part is cast a little side sanding and some tapering of the ends of the load allow it to snuggle down into the car.  Once the fit was established I painted the casting black.

Mine Props For Tamarack No 2

 
Tamarack Shaft No 2 is back in operation now that the miners have been refreshed with their favorite beverages.  These two cars are the first deliveries of stulls for use in the newly opened vein on the 38th level north. 

The logs were created from white pine sticks which were molded using a brushable silicon rubber.  They are cast in resin, painted and finished with powdered pigments. 

Beer Arrives In The Red Jacket District

The new Mineral Range spur which serves the beer depots located off Pine street has seen their first delivery of freight cars.  This event has been anticipated for the last four months as the depots themselves were constructed and the new spur was installed.  All of this activity has accompanied the process of changing the narrow gauge line of the Mineral Range to the universal standard sized track.  No longer will all of the beer headed for the Copper Country require unloading into cars of the narrow gauge at Houghton for shipment up to Red Jacket.  

Miller Beer Reefer Progress

I have finished construction on the first four beer reefers and am now in the process of painting.  This is the current state of the Miller Beer reefer.  Roof and ends are boxcar red and sides are white.  The Art Griffin decals have been applied to one side and now need to dry completely before I apply the eagle trademark.  I need to get some new paint brushes to do the detail painting on the model.  I am happy with the result so far, unfortunately the door on the car is five feet wide and I believe that the prototype had a four foot door.  I guess it will be back to the pattern shop for a redo!

Beer Reefer Build

I have started a build page on my next beer reefer.  It is a model of a Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul 34 foot Pabst car.  I purchased a photo of the car and decals for it from Art Griffin.  

Miller Beer CM&StP Reefer

This is an in process photo of the first in the group of refrigerator cars which will be delivering beer to the depots in Red Jacket.  This is a 28 foot car built in 1889.  My version will be after the rebuilding which applied air brakes to the car.  In the back ground is a prototype photo.  I made styrene masters of the side, end and underframe.  A mold was made and the parts were cast in resin.

Beer Distribution In Calumet (Red Jacket) 4

This is my interpretation of the Pabst depot and bottling plant, the last of the beer depots.  The first view is of the track side of the building showing the ice house, bottling plant and stable.

The above view is of the wagon loading side of the building.  I used the information gained in examining the photo to create the stepped roof of the three sections of the building. 
   

Beer Distribution In Calumet (Red Jacket) 3

This is my interpretation of the Schlitz beer depot.  This view is of the stable and front, wagon loading side.

Track side view.  Warehouse for bottled beer is on this side.  The windows placed high on the wall provide light and plenty of storage space along wall. 

Photo Of Prototype Beer Depots

Well wouldn't you know.  I have just finished the Schlitz beer depot and am ready to start the Pabst.  I was looking through the Superior Views photo pages and found the above picture.  I believe that the four beer depots are located in the left center foreground.  Extreme left is Miller, then Blatz, next Schlitz and last Pabst.  The Blatz depot is directly aligned with the Red Jacket smoke stack.  Clearly the Pabst depot shows the three sections as indicated on the Sanborn.  Tucked behind Pabst appears to be the grocery warehouse.  It appears that there is an angled wall on the Miller building.  It also seems to show the set back of the stable on the Blatz depot as shown on the map.  Of course I could be totally wrong about what I see but the direction of the photo, looking toward Red Jacket shaft, should include them.  I guess my estimates of what the buildings looked like were close.  The biggest discrepancy might be that the roof sections appear continuous not stepped down between the ice houses and the attached wings.

Beer Depots Sanborn Map Detail

This view is from the 1893 map.  The track is owned by the Mineral Range when it was still a three foot gauge common carrier. 

This view is from the 1897 map.  The most notable change is the removal of the track.  This was the time period when the MR converted to standard gauge so they may have pulled the spur.  Of course it is possible that it still existed and was not shown.  There are changes to the depots and/or this map shows more specific details associated with the buildings.  According to the key the building sections with the large "X" are stables.

I have chosen to combine data from both maps to build the models.  The Miller depot is based upon the 1893 building.  The Blatz depot did not change between maps.  I am building the Schlitz depot based upon the 1897 map configuration.  My plan is to build the Pabst depot based upon the 1897 as well. The configuration with a bottling works in the middle section and stable on the end should make a neat model.

Beer Distribution In Calumet (Red Jacket) 2

The second beer depot is that of the Blatz Brewery.  It is comprised of the ice house and stable.  This facility had no bottling operation so both bottled and keg beer were stored in the ice house.

You have to keep in mind that horses and wagons were the means for distributing the beer therefore the stable was part of the structure.  I designed the stable to reflect two stalls, room for the wagon and a small space for feed and straw storage.   

Beer Distribution In Calumet (Red Jacket)

When I studied the Sanborn maps of Red Jacket from the late 1890's I noted a block of buildings all related to beer distribution and located along a rail spur.  These distributors were for the Miller, Blatz, Schlitz and Pabst breweries.  This seems like an ideal modeling opportunity.  Photos may exist of these buildings but I am not located near enough to the resources to do the digging so I will freelance these models.

The Miller Beer Depot has an ice house and a bottling house.  Barrel beer was shipped in and stored in the ice house.  It would then be distributed to local taverns or bottled for the 'family' trade.  By this time period the bottling and pasteurization of beer was an established practice, therefore I presume that local bottling was done to eliminate the back haul of empty bottles to the breweries in Milwaukee. 

Here is the completed model.  Note that it is minimally weathered as it represents an new building.

Mineral Range Freight Equipment

My postings during the holidays has been obviously limited but I have been working on some models and am prepared at this point to share what I have been doing.

I am continuing with modeling the Mineral Range rolling stock.  Since the primary source of revenue for the railroad was servicing copper mines the majority of equipment was comprised of rock cars and flat cars. 

This model represents the 75 flat cars in the 51 to 199 series.  They were primarily used to carry mine timbers.  

This is a model of the 30 ton rock cars.  There were 100 cars in the series 1000 to 1198.  They were used to haul rock from the mine to the stamp mills and coal from the Portage Lake coal docks to the mines.

Since I need a number of these cars I created styrene patterns for the cars, RTV molds and then cast the parts in resin.  No fancy 3D printing for these models, all the pattern work is in 2D and the components are assembled to create a 3D model.  I know how to make patterns and do castings so there was no long learning curve involved or issues with printers.  The cost per complete model is about $15.