The General Motors Assembly Plant - Bowling Green

General Motors Bowling Green Assembly - Corvettes

 

Its cold outside here in Washington State so I've put off opening up the big door and removing the old Sn3 layout.  It supposed to get up in the low 50's soon so until then I've been working on structures for Bowling Green, Kentucky.  The General Motors assembly plant for Corvettes is located in Bowling Green so I thought some kind of representation of the 1.7 million square foot plant would be a nice addition to the layout.  At this point, the structure is little more than an above average mock-up.  Details will come later.

Unlike the Sn3 layout, where I got bogged down in details, I decided to use the "good enough" approach to speed things up this time around.  After all, at 72, I can't spend the next 14 years plodding along like I've done for the last 14 years.  My goal is to have a trouble free operational and presentable layout in 3 years.  More on that later.

Most of the structures I see on contemporary model railroads are much to small for the prototypes they represent; that bothers me.  This model is nearly 6 feet long and it is designed to go up against the backdrop. It is being built using a combination of modified Walthers kits.  The first photograph shows the office building which is pretty much "stock" right out of the box except for paint.  The sign was pulled off the Internet, worked over in photo shop, and attached to a styrene base.  Eventually, it will have a planter box around it and a 1995 Corvette (Herpa) out front on display.  Although I don't usually do interiors, I may include a ground floor lobby in this model.

The second photo shows more of the plant.  The kit has brick or concrete block below the windows and siding.  I replaced it with sheet styrene to represent concrete (more like the prototype).  I also used the styrene to increase the height of the building by about a scale foot,  Two kits were used here; the Walthers "Assembly Plant" and "Buds Trucking Company" .I have found "fit" to be a problem with a lot of Walthers kits and these were no exception.  I spent a lot of time sanding and fiddling around with the parts and am still not entirely satisfied with the results.  The blue parapet shows up in photos of the prototype so I added it to the model. 

This end of the plant will be in the corner.  The track running into the building will run through the backdrop and into the staging area.  I spent a year working in a GM assembly plant between my Junior and Senior year of college.  As I recall, the two tracks that went into our plant held four 86' box cars each.  The huge cars were an amazing site sitting inside that building.

In the next day or two, I will mount the plant on a 8' x 16' piece of  3" thick pink foam.  Track, details and some initial scenery will then be added.  I'm also working on Hill's Pet Nutrition and the engine facility for Bowling Green.

Motive Power for a 1990'a regional railroad

MBG&C Locomotives

 

Generally, I prefer Atlas 4-axle locomotives for an operating model railroad.  They are smooth running and tolerate a reasonable amount of handling.  While earlier versions lack some of the detail included on later versions, I find all but the earliest versions made in Austria acceptable. And, I can install a sound decoder and current keeper in most versions in less than an hour.

 

#5353

 

When it comes to regional or short line railroads, most locomotives have a back story.  That's certainly the case with Madisonville, Bowling Green & Chattanooga #5353.  The last Chesapeake & Ohio U30B's were #8225-8234 delivered in 1974.  These units were similar to previous U30Bs ordered by the C&O but the final 10 came with GE's floating bolster truck.  They later became CSX #5353-5362.  By 1990, the ex C&O U30B's were at the end of their useful lives as far as the CSX was concerned and they were retired and most were sold to other railroads, locomotive resellers, or for scrap but not the #5353.  It was leased to the power hungry MBG&C during the spring of 1989 and now, several years later, still soldiers on long after many of it's contemporaries have gone to scrap.

MBG&C #5353 in a Atlas model factory decorated for CSX.  The trucks and fuel tank were painted flat black and MBG&C sub-lettering was added under the cab number.  A new 5-Chime horn was moved to the front of the cab along with a firecracker antenna.  Mig panel line wash was used to bring out detail.  It was weathered using photographs of actual CSX U-30B's.  It is equipped with a Tsunami2 sound decoder, TCS KA1 Current Keeper and Kadee #58 Scale Couplers

 

#3243

 

Madisonville, Bowling Green & Chattanooga #3243 is another CSX cast off.  Originally it was one of 90 U-23B's built between 1973 and 1975 for the L&N.  #3243 was sold to the MBG&C in 1989.

MBG&C #3243 is another Atlas model factory decorated for CSX.  The CSX lettering was removed and the paint was faded using 91% Isopropyl Alcohol.  Mig panel line wash was used to bring out the detail.  The trucks and fuel tank were painted black.  A new snowplow, 5 chime horn, firecracker antenna and air conditioning were added.  Again, the model was weathered using prototype photographs.  Older  GE's tended to leak oil and this is reflected on the lower car body and side sills.  It is equipped with a Tsunami2 sound decoder, a TCS KA1 Current Keeper and Kadee #58 Scale Couplers.