Construction Update #42 - Cumberland (Summit) Access Road

When I originally installed the roadbed around the summit (Cumberland), I included a pad for a small  depot.  About a year ago, I picked up the small depot shown in the photo from my local hobby shop.  It was about the right size, nicely built, and would serve serve as a temporary stand for the "future" Cumberland Depot.  All it need was a means of access.

The only way to reasonable access the depot, other than by rail, was by a bridge over the lower portion of the horseshoe curve leading to the summit and a retaining wall to hold back the hillside.  The Rix Rural Timber Overpass seemed to fit the bill and I just happened to have one on hand.

 

The bridge required a little modification but it worked out just fine.  Then a template was made using .060" Evergreen Scale Models styrene sheet stock.

The scale lumber 2x12's were cut to length, stained with Builders in Scale "Silverwood" and glued to the template with ACC. 
 

 The verticle 12x12's were stained and glued on with Aleeb's Tacky Cement.

The bridge and retaining wall installed on the layout.  The matching the color of the bridge to the retaining wall with have to wait until the new LED ceiling lights are installed.

Construction Update #41- Plaster Cloth, Plaster Cloth & more Plaster Cloth

Work continues on the upper level scenery base.  About 80% of the upper level now has a layer of plaster cloth over the painters paper and cardboard web.  I prefer plaster cloth from Scenic Express.  It is cheaper and better, in my opinion, than that of it's competitors.

  

 

 

I did get sidetracked for a couple of days while the geography around thee "new" Grayson-McClure load out was modified.  The load-out, built from a Walthers kit, has moved around the layout from one future load-out site to another for over a year.  Finally, it was decided that the small 1 or 2 car load-out at the end of the aisle was the best location. 

 

The location did involve a rework of the existing scenery base.  The painters paper and cardboard webbing were cut away from behind the load-out and a access road built from styrene was set into the side of the hill.  The spur was also moved about a inch forward, towards the aisle, to make room for the road.

 

 

 And here is the end result.. 

 

 

 

Turning around, the mainline on the lower level, crosses a bridge, enters a tunnel and wraps around a horse shoe curve towards the summit.  Again, several days were spent making changes in this area.   

 

Originally, the Rockwood Branch crossed over the mainline, passed over the entry door, and terminated in a short 2-track staging yard.  While I liked the operational aspect of the branch, I never liked how it looked.

 

Here's how it now looks. 

A bridge was also added.  The 2 Atlas RS-11's, shown here drifting down grade after helping a feight up the hill, will eventually be renumbered and sub-lettered for the MBG&C.  Actually, the Southern only rostered one RS-11: it was owned by the Carolina & Northwestern, a Southern subsidiary.  The spur, that shows up just above the locomotives is a remnant of the trunkcated Rockwood Branch.

The tracks wind around the horseshoe curve leading to the summit and emerge from this cut.

 

Location & Name Changes

 

My recent YouTube video's have bought in a lot of  useful comments.  About a week ago, I received a comment about the area I am modeling in Tennessee.  As a result, Palmer, TN is going to replace Coalmont on the layout and Monteagle is goiing to replace Grundys.  In addition, The Union Coal Company mine will become the Tennessee Consolidated Coal Company. 

The Palmer depot and Tennessee Consolidated Coal company store.

The Tennessee Consolidated Coal company store at Palmer, TN

As far as I can tell, coal mining all but disappeared from Grundy County in the late 1950's and the rail line was abandoned during the 1990's.  Fortunately, on my version of  Palmer, coal mining in the region is still viable during the mid 1970's.

The Tennessee Consolidated Mining Company processing plant.  Date unknown but probably, based upon the rail cars, during the 1930's.  A modernized version would make for a great model.

As always your comments and suggestions are welcome.\

sdepolo@outlook.com

And, if you haven't seen them, I have 4 videos of the layout posted on YouTube

Search "Madisonville Sub"

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Contstruction Update #40 - Hardshell on the Upper Level & First Working Signals

A Change of Pace

 

Every once in awhile, a change of pace is nice.  After nearly two years, I made the decision to go back and work on the upper level.  Some basic scenery was installed on a portion of the upper level during the Spring of 2020.  Construction Update #10 (June 27, 2020) covered the process.  Basically, I used profiles made from pink foam, covered by a web of cardboard and then a layer of painters paper glued to the webbing.

 

The upper level includes a horseshoe curve circling back on itself on a 2.5% grade towards the summit at Cumberland.  When I was working on the scenery back in 2020 I stopped short of the curve because I wasn't sure how to scenic the area.  Ultimately, I decided to only scenic the isle side of the loop and hide the back side in a tunnel and cut.  This would allow access to the back side of the loop from below.

 

The Tunnel #3 portal at the lower end of the loop.

 Looking down grade from the same spot.  The hot wire cutter is sitting on the lower portion of the curve.  The bottle of glue is sitting on the upper end of the loot.

Tunnel #3 portal after the application of the cardboard webbing.

Tunnel #3 portal after the application of the painters paper.

Tunnel #3 portal after the application of the plaster clot.

The First Operating Signals

 

Since this portion of layout will feature signals, I decided to add them along with the basic scenery.  The signals, cabling, and signal control boards are all part of the "new" Atlas Signal Control System.  The Atlas system is easy to install and can replicate anything from simple ABS to a form of CTC.  The first two working examples on the Madisonville Sub are simple stand alone intermediate block signals.

 

Each signal requires a signal control board.  These two are attached to the benchwork below the signals.  I mounted the signal control boards on a separate piece of plywood.  I drilled four holes in the plywood, 2 on the top, 2 on the bottom.  I used the top 2 to mount the plywood "lower" while hooking them up.  Once the wiring was done, the lower holes were used to raise the board out of view.  The signals are plugged in at the top (black plug).  The red a white wires along the bottom are power in (12 volts DC).  The black wires are connected to the block detectors. 

Block Detectors

And lastly, here's a picture of my friend Kurt's SP Layout.

As always, your comments and suggestions are always welcome

sdepolo@outlook.com