In-ko-pah RR: New pics

[Ray Dunakin]

Here are a couple photos I shot today...

 

The desert is in bloom as an Alco RS-3n pulls a freight through Serenity Canyon:

 

 

In this staged publicity photo for the railroad, a passenger train pauses atop the Serenity Canyon viaduct, while a freight passes below. In the foreground, the "Tin Lizard" railbus rolls through a cut next to the abandoned Monolith Mine:

 

 

Enjoy!

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Here's a couple more pics...

 

In this one, a passenger train goes through a rock cut before heading across the Serenity Canyon viaduct:

 

And in this shot, a boxcar long past its prime sits beside the Mineral Ridge Mill. I still need to build some stairs to the door of the mill:

 

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Still haven't had time to do any modeling, but here are a few more recent photos… Multiple crossings over Serenity Canyon: The sorting house at the top of the Mineral Ridge Mill, with the Cliffside Mine visible in the background at upper right: A train passes through the town of Mineral Ridge: Enjoy!

[Ray Dunakin]

I had a little time today to put up a few more pics... Here's the ore bin at the Princess Shilo Mine: A freight train pulled by a steam locomotive passes through the town of Dos Manos: Here's a close up view of structures at the Cliffside Mine. On the left is the powder magazine, where explosives are kept. On the right is the wooden ore bin: An old stone cabin at the ruins of the Monolith Mine: And here's the interior of the cabin. A 55-gallon drum has been turned into a crude wood-burning stove: Also, yesterday we finally replaced our flimsy, canvas-topped gazebo with a new, all-metal one. Made by Hampton Bay, it's attractive and very sturdy! I had to replace the canvas on the old one every two years, at least. This one should last a good long time:

[PJM20]

Is that old stone cabin made the same way as your bridge/retaining wall method in your article published a few years ago?

[Ray Dunakin]

Yes, it was. The only difference is, the form I used to cast the building in, had all four walls. I'll have to look around and see if I have any pics to show how it was made.

 

 

[Ray Dunakin]

I don't have any photos on my computer showing the build of the stone cabin. I could scan the prints if I could find them, but that would take a small miracle in this mess I call my office. 

 

But I do have pics from a similar building, a small stone house with a board-and-batten second story. Here are some of the pics, and I'll point out some things I did differently on the cabin…

 

This is the finished building, so you can see what I was working towards:

 

 

 

I started by making a form out of foam core board, hot-glued together:

 

 

 

To create openings for the door and windows, I cut blocks out of 1/2" foam core and glued them in place. As you can see, I also built up a section on one corner, to give the building a stubby "L" shape. (The stone cabin was just a simple rectangle.)

 

 

 

I used a hammer to break up some thin stones into small pieces. I used tile nippers to adjust the shape of the stones when necessary. Then I used tweezers to place the stones into the form. In this photo you can see I was using regular tweezers to begin with, but later I switched to using curved tweezers, which made it much easier to reach into the confines of the form:

 

 

 

The stones that had the squarest shape (or at least one square corner) were used around the openings and in the corners of the walls:

 

 

 

When I'd filled one side with stones, I laid in a piece of 1/4" hardware cloth. In the narrower parts of the form I used brass rods for reinforcement:

 

 

 

Then a 50/50 mix of high strength mortar and vinyl concrete patcher was poured into the form. It should be mixed to the consistency of pancake batter. You want it thin enough to get down between the stones but not so runny that it flows under them. Note too, that I tried to keep it clear of the adjoining walls, so that stones could be fitted there later.

 

On this building, I simply smoothed the mortar after pouring it. For the stone cabin, I wanted bare stone walls for the interior, so while the mortar was still wet, I pressed small thin stones into it by hand.

 

 

 

After the mortar sets up, turn the form on its side and repeat the process on the next wall:

 

 

 

The process continues all the way around the form, one wall at a time. On the stone cabin, I used stone on all four sides. For this building, two of the walls were going to be hidden, so on those I skipped the stones and used only mortar and hardware cloth:

 

 

 

When all the walls have been cast and the mortar has set, pull apart the form and remove the building. On this one, you can see the some mortar has gotten under the stones near the front corner:

 

 

 

If this happens you can usually scrub it off with a wire brush, if it's not too thick. In this case it was too thick to do that, so I ended up scribing stone shapes into it, and painting them to match the real stones:

 

 

 

If there are mortarless gaps between the stones, you can mix some up, rub it in with your finger and let it set to the "green" stage, where it's not fully hard. Then use water and a brush to scrub off the excess. 

 

 

Hope this helps!  If anyone wants to see the entire step-by-step for this building, it's here:

 

http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/IRR_Dos_Manos_Building_1.html

 

 

[PJM20]

Thanks Ray! This write up is very helpful and I appreciate the time spent into it. This is definitely going to be utilzed in the garden. Also, you could probably make a sequel to your previous article, I'm sure there are many people like me that would be interested.

[Ray Dunakin]

Here are a couple new pics. In this first shot, a train is seen from below as it crosses the big trestle over Serenity Canyon:

 

Here's a shot from late in the day as a freight train crosses a stone arch bridge at the west end of the line. Above it is the Princess Shilo Mine. The Cliffside Mine can be seen in the distance at the top:

 

Enjoy!

 

[Ray Dunakin]

For the past few months I haven't been able to get any modeling done, but recently I had a little time and felt the need to work outdoors. I've long planned to put a small depot between the tracks at the town of Dos Manos, so I decided to do some prep work for that. 

 

Until now, the tracks going through that area have just been on dirt, rocks and ballast. Even on the two stone bridges, there was a couple inches of soil under the tracks. I wanted to replace this with a concrete base, and also create a concrete foundation and sidewalks for the depot. 

 

In this shot I've removed the track at the edge of the layout, dug out the ballast under it, and poured some concrete into the bridge. I used 1/4" hardware cloth to reinforce the concrete. The concrete is actually a mix of vinyl concrete patcher and high strength mortar mix:

 

I built up the track base, foundation, and sidewalk a little at a time, in sections. I also left a depression in the middle of the foundation -- this will be used to hold the wiring for the depot's lights. There is a 3/8" copper tube used as a conduit for the wiring. Then I marked the position of the tracks onto the concrete base, and built two forms out of foam core art board. These were positioned on the base in preparation for pouring the sidewalk:

 

 

Here's how it looked the next morning after I'd removed the forms:

 

Here's how it looks with some ballast added to two of the tracks. I may use a different colored ballast on the track closest to the town buildings, or I may glue on timbers between the rails, like at a grade crossing:

 

The depot foundation is still rough. I won't finalize it until I have designed the depot, and know exactly what the dimensions will be:

 

Anyway, that's all I've got for now.

 

[PJM20]

As usual Ray, looking good!

[Ray Dunakin]

Way back when I first envisioned this depot, it would have been one of my first buildings. I used an antiquated 3D modeling program to create a couple renderings of what I had in mind:

 

 

 

 

However, at the time I decided that I should wait until had some more experience with structures, before attempting something as relatively complex as the depot. I'm glad I waited, because I know a lot more about what I'm doing now, than I did then. I will be using different materials than I had originally planned to use.

Today I put together a crude foam core mockup of the depot and placed it on the layout, to help me get a feel for how it will look and fit into the town. The center part of the building will be two stories. Both that section, and the west wing, will have peaked roofs covered with Spanish tiles. I decided to add an east wing which will be an open, shaded waiting area. This will have a flat roof supported by arches. Here are some photos from various angles:

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think?

 

[PJM20]

Out of curiosity, what program did you use to make those renderings?

On topic, I think the mock up looks great! Did you orginally plan to put another wing onto the station? I saw on the MRH forum that you might go with Stucco just for the ease. Its your time and railroad, but I would go with stone, it looks so much more elegant. It would also match more of the architecture around the layout. Look forward to more progress!

[Ray Dunakin]

PJM20

Out of curiosity, what program did you use to make those renderings?

 

I used an old modeling/rendering program for the Mac, called Strata Studio Pro. 

 

PJM20

Did you orginally plan to put another wing onto the station?

 

Originally it was going to be just what's in the renderings -- a two-story main structure with an open, shaded area on the west side. When I put the mockup on the layout, I saw I had a lot of empty space on the east side, and decided that I'd turn the west wing into a baggage room or something, and add an east wing. The east wing will have to be narrower at the end, so it was easier to do that with a flat roof, and make it the "open" part of the structure.

PJM20

...I would go with stone, it looks so much more elegant. It would also match more of the architecture around the layout.

 

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. 

 

 

[Ray Dunakin]

My latest scratchbuild -- Serenity's Sandwich Shop. Made of Sintra PVC board and styrene, with corrugated metal. The door and window are from Grandt Line:

 

 

[PJM20]

Your structures and stonework never fail to impress!

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks!

 

[Ray Dunakin]

A passenger train goes by Serenity's Sandwich Shack in the town of Grandt Cliff. High above is the Cliffside Mine:

 

 

[PVT Kanaka]

Wow...Amazing work. We are just thrilled our mountain no longer looks like hollow tile!  Thanks for showing what can be done!