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  Then Chooch loads, which fit perfectly, were originally made for Roundhouse 50' gondolas.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