Lee University

Layout Potpourri, February 2006

Several new engines have joined the roster since last summer. After acquiring the black CB&Q GP-9, I wondered if it would really ever be spotted lashed to the later Chinese Red GP-30. But on a search of internet photo sites, the seventh picture found was EXACTLY this combination! Looking past the “Baroque-man Paperweight”, a new Santa Fe GP-38 by Atlas has joined the roll. Also added to the roster elsewhere on the layout, are two CB&Q GP-35s, numbers 978 and 989

I was also able to find a second Mantua SF-Merger GP-20 matching the first engine I ever purchased. I immediately stripped the duplicate numbers intending to eventually add new recording marks and was  recently able to find a new Atlas-brand caboose for the train. ( I’ve noticed recently an increase by train companies to produce more models of this merger fleet. ) After lashing the two engines together back to back, I noticed, in time, a slight flaw in the paint design on the Mantua models. Super-Duper Railfans will spot  the problem immediately, but if you are like me, it took a second, third, and fourth look to figure it out. Can you spot the issue?  (As they say in the magazines, the ANSWER will be found at the end of the section.)

As we wander down Route 22, I thought I’d take this opportunity to thank all those folks who write to me about their visit to my train site. Admittedly I do have some friends who give me some guff about my “literary” style. Many have pointed out, with some kindly jabs, that they have been unable to find any other model railroad site that include the following words or phrases: “fat bumps”, “slather”, artistic rockface references to Michelangelo, “essentia”, the words - “back that puppy”, and the not soon to be forgotten “TWEEZERS OF DEATH!” reference. Unanimous choice for most unappetizing pairing seems to go to my use of ”feng shui” and “outdoor potty” in the same sentence. I’m sensing just a smidgin of ridicule coming my way. But that’s never stopped me before!

With the Farmland table pulled away from the main layout, I felt an obligation to enhance the long Pier Girder Bridge that was highlighted in some of the very first photos in this layout diary. The bridge has three sections spanning an area representing an earlier razed trestle being swallowed up by brush and overgrowth.

Although the Atlas brand girders are OK, they are still a rather weak visual representation of a long span of elevated track; especially since I had used plastic piers, with the unseemly slots, when I set it in. My thought was to fabricate some kind of facade that would represent a Deck Plate Girder Bridge and disguise the  “Brand-X-looking” piers.

Using several widths of Balsa strips, I fabricated two sections of the Deck Plate. First a wide segmented plate and a upper walkway with side skirt. Once these units were glued, and gently sanded, I painted all parts flat black.

I first glued the wider skirts to the sides of the Atlas girders under the side ridge-like indentation. After they were secured, I glued the walkway skirts to the sides of the girder beams. I did this to the two outer sections of this long bridge.

Trains:  Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

Page 1 - Box Canyon Layout
Page 2 - Any Time, Any Spring Disclaimer
Page 3 - Starting Over, December 2003
Page 4 - March, 2004
Page 5 - June, 2004
Page 8 - Layout Design
Page 9 - August, 2004
Page 11 - January, 2005
Page 16 – January, 2005 Redux
Page 17 – First Day of Summer, 2005
Page 20 – August, 2005
Page 21 - In the Farmland, February 2006
Page 23 - Layout Potpourri, February 2006
Page 25 - In the Cornfields, 2006
Page 27 - July, 2006
Page 30 – November, 2006
Page 33 - MARCH, 2007 – A Break In The Action