Construction Update #47 - Memphis Junction & Lower Level Staging

 

Memphis Jct Background Structures

 

Henkel’s Bowling Green manufacturing facility makes a variety of laundry products and currently employs about 900 people.  Henkel didn't actually own the Bowling Green facility until 2016.  Before that, the business was owned by Sun Products and before that Huish Detergents. Henkel was built using left overs from other projects.

 

The Southern Recycling scrap yard fence was built using a couple of Walthers kits.  Note, that like the prototype, the spur passes through the yard, travels down the center of the street behind the depot, and serves the Sherman Williams paint factory. 

 

The gondolas are from Atlas.  They were weathered with  oil washes.  Then Chooch loads, which fit perfectly, were originally made for Roundhouse 50' gondolas. 

The loader was assembled from a Kibri kit.  It was given a coat of Tamiya flat finish and weathered with a oil wash and some Bragdon powdered pigments.  It should really be equipped with a electromagnet.  The fence still needs to be painted and weathered.  And the yard desperately needs some scrap!

 

 

Here's another background structure built from left over parts.  It sits between Henkel on the left and Hills Pet Nutrition on the right.  Like Henkel, it has no spur nor does it have a name at this point.  I'm pretty sure the block wall panels originally came from the Walthers Magic Pan bakery kit.  The doors are Pikestuff and the skylights were cast by a friend.

 Here is an overall view looking south.  That's Hills Pet Nutrition on the far right. The L&N's Memphis Jct yard is in the foreground.

The third addition to this group of background building is Parker Loyd.  It was built, right out of the box, from a Walthers kit.  This building is just a "filler" for the time being.

The Lower (North) Staging Yard

 

For those of you who have been following these update, you know that the visible throat of the lower level staging yard is now occupied by the General Motors assembly plant.  The change opened up a lot of "new" real estate for Memphis Junction, some street running, and four new industries.  The old staging yard consisted of 5 tracks that went through the backdrop and into the dispatcher's office; the longest track being about 12' long.

 

Following the change, the entrance to the staging yard moved south, to the right, about 6 feet, with a single track passing through the backdrop on an angle.  Originally, I planned  for three 14' long tracks , between the garage door and the backdrop, which led to an additional two short tracks in the dispatcher's office.  When I finally got around to installing the tracks between the backdrop and the garage door, there was only room for two.  I forgot to consider the garage door hardware that eliminated about 2" of clearance.  While I did loose one of the three long tracks, the current two tracks are about six feet longer than the original staging tracks.

 

Here is the entrance to the staging yard.  The cut out to the right of the turnout was made to clear a garage door hinge.

The two staging tracks pass through the wall and into the dispatchers office.  The track nearest the window is about 20' long.  The second track branches out into three tracks, the longest about 14' long and the shortest about 6' long.  The short track with the covered hopper sitting on it is the GM spurs that goes into the plant.  The track on the far right represents the L&N line (staging) to Guthrie, TN.

And here is a view from the other side.  Note that the covered hopper shown in the above photo can be seen through the hole in the backdrop.  The GM plant is on the right and the two staging tracks between the backdrop and the garage door are on the other side of the backdrop behind the plant.  The hole in the backdrop can't be seen from normal viewing angles. 

Historically, I have hosted a open house for those who live in the Seattle area in late July or August.  I should have a date nailed down in the next couple of weeks.  Last year, I ran over my leg with a farm tractor and had to cancel.  The year before, it was the "Virus".

And finally a quick note that several friends have recently joined the effort.  They have teamed up to work on the company town and tipples around Palmer and Coalmont.  I look forward to sharing their efforts in the not to distant future.  I should also have a new YouTube video posted in the next week or two.

As always, thanks for following along.  Your comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome... Steve

Construction Update #46 - Memphis Jct.

 

Background Structures - The Rooming House

This background building was built by kit-bashing two Walthers "Row House" kits to make a taller 28" long by 1/2" thick front..

 

 

The 3-story section was made by using two side walls from one kit and adding the third floor, cut from the top half of the two side walls, from the second kit

 

 

The one story section on the right, was made from the lower half and the two side walls from the second kit.  The original recessed entry doors were replaced with a pair of doors left over from another kit-bash.  The structure was painted with "rattle cans" from my local Ace Hardware and weathered with a combination of washes and powdered pigments.

 

 

Background Structures - Sherman Williams Paint Company

This large structure is another Walthers kit-bash that includes a scratch built addition on the left end.  Again, because I think most Walthers industrial and/or factory kits are two small, two kits were used.  Originally, this structure was located behind the Preston Miller yard where I never thought it looked right.  Later it was replaced with the Kentucky Grain Growers elevator and silos.  After kicking around the shop for a year or so, it finally found a home at Memphis Jct at the end of the spur that runs down the center of the street behind the depot. 

I tried something else for the window treatments on this building.  Normally, I would put black construction paper behind the clear glass windows to block out the vacant interior.  In this case, since it has no back wall, I installed all the windows and spray painted the back sides black.  Two of  warehouse doors have the doors rolled up.  Photographs of factory interiors were pulled off the internet and glued in place to provide some depth.

Original location behind Preston Miller Yard

 

Street Running

 

I finally got around to painting the roadway and parking lots around the depot.  I found that by giving the concrete paving around the tracks a light coat of asphalt gray spray paint and then sanding it  lightly with 600 grit sanding film made it look pretty good.  The asphalt roadway still needs some weathering.

 

Other Developments - Southern Recycling

 

Southern Recycling is a interesting industry that exists in Bowling Green.  Note the two loaded gondolas inside the yard and three outside the gate on the right.  On the left, the tracks exit the yard, cross through and intersection and enter a lumber dealer.

 

Here is the Southern Recycling location on the layout just south or to the right of the depot.  The spur goes down the center of the street to the Sherman Williams paint factory.

 

Other Developments - Berry Global

 

Berry Global, Inc is a Fortune 500 global manufacturer and marketer of plastic packaging products. Headquartered in Evansville, Indiana.  They have two facilities in Bowling Green, a large complex east of downtown and a smaller facility to the west.  Both receive plastic pellets by rail in covered hoppers. My friend Kurt Boyd is building the main structure to represent Berry Global.  I think the model will be a lot more interesting than  prototype which is a plain tilt-up style concrete building with silos and a spur along one side.

 

Berry Global will eventually occupy this space (white cutout).  The cork roadbed, without track, is the Madisonville Sub mainline to Madisonville, KY and Evansville, IN (staging). 

Kurt is building the main structure, I volunteered to build the silos from a Walthers Pellet Plastic Transfer Facility which turned out to be a bit more work than I planned on.  Only one silo has a ladder while all four silos have the indents and mounting holes for a ladder. It took three applications of putty and sanding to smooth out the other three silos and eliminate the holes and indents.   There are other problems with this kit to include the piping which doesn't line up properly.  While I think the end result will be fine, I wouldn't recommend the kit for someone who isn't prepared to fix a poorly designed and executed kit.

 

As always, your comment and suggestions are welcome.

sdepolo@outlook.co

And check out my videos on YouTube.  They can be found by searching for "Madisonville Sub"