August - September Update

Here it is October 2nd and I am now just getting the opportunity to write my update post of August and September. Since my last post documenting the retirement of EMD GP30s from service, there have been quite a few changes to the layout that everyone needs to get caught up on. 

ACTIVATION OF SD60Ms
July saw the departure of MCIS EMD GP30 and GP60 fleets. To help offset MCIS had purchased a three unit fleet of EMD SD60Ms in 2016 when they had been parked. At the time the units were stored for overhaul and eventual re-activation.  MCIS 6085 and 6086 released from MAC Rail in September and went into service equipped with Soundtraxx Tsunami2 sound. MCIS 6087 expected to be in service January 2019. 

All three motors came from BNSF and have been equipped with PTC equipment to operate over CN trackage rights and GPS for e-DTC operation on home rails.  

 MCIS 6085 (Full repaint by Fogelsinger Rail)

 MCIS 6086 (ex. BNSF patch by VMS)

Both motors were hard wire rebuilt from the trucks up to improve performance. 

IT ALL BEGAN WITH A BOOK
For sometime I have struggled to find the right fit of industries for my Bay Industrial Spur. While it did host a river side cement terminal, asphalt terminal, and corrugated box plant it felt too crammed. After reading Bernie Kempinski's recent Waterfront Terminals and Operations book I was inspired to make changes, all due to modeling a boat...... A good friend and modeler told me earlier this summer "While you have the generic midwest theme going on, a lake freighter would firmly plant your layout on the Great Lakes", and he was absolutely right! Seeing that Deans Marine model on Bernie's layout sold me, now to figure out the plan. 

Part 1 - Location
So like a good plan I started to sketch out ideas on napkins or printer paper to get a feel of what would work. 

Lafarge terminal in Delray, Michigan (Detroit River) - Google Earth 3D

Sketching up the idea

Using the prototype, a common boat / rail served industry all over the lakes is cement. I already had the Graystone Cement terminal but it was against the backdrop. Trying to weight all my options I looked at placing a lake freighter on the backdrop behind the silos but the mock-ups didnt look that good. So how about a full scale model... 6" wide x 56" long.....will need some real estate. 

Mocking up where boat would go with culprit inspirational book.....

After reviewing the space needed for a smaller cement laker / barge slip I was comfortable with sacrificing the space to help create a more immersive industry. It was not until this point that the area finally felt balanced with only having one industry. 

Using my jigsaw I made quick work of cutting the 2" foam out from the river crossing up 60" to the entrance to the layout. I ended up cutting a width of 8" to allow for room for pilings / piers and placing a good backdrop behind where the ship will go. Using the cut foam I traced onto OSB and replaced back in its place. The neat part is the river scene and boat slip are connected bringing a better waterfront feel. 

 View west towards Saginaw River

 View east towards cement terminal

Sheet piling from Walthers, Piling from ModelTrainStuff

This fall will see the completion of the dockside scene with painting the OSB and deciding if I will use water or just clear coats to show water depth. 

Guess with the work done, now I need a boat.... hope I can find something maybe even a barge / tug combo ever so present on the Great Lakes now. 

Part 2 - Find a Boat 

Searching for a 1/87 is not exactly easy and there are kits but to get a modern like boat I needed some help since Bearco Marine does not appear to be in business anymore. Low and behold I found a kit on Ebay that was of the Amoco Indiana tanker. I had talked with a few modelers who had kitbashed the Sylvan laker and gave me their opinions to consider based on what I wanted to accomplish in the end. Taking all the input and being a modern era layout, the Bearco kit seemed like the best choice. Thanks again to Mat Thompson, and Ken Larsen for answering my questions on the lake freighter path. 

The box for the kit was well big.. Ended up doing UPS customer pickup so I could take the directions on vacation and read through them no less than a dozen times. This was a craftsman kit, and the opportunity to build was going to take my modeling skills to a new level. 

Kitchen table for reference...... lots of extra plastic

Selective Compression..... hehe

Part 3 - M/V Graystone Conquest (Launched)

Suppose the easy part of figuring out the location and buying a boat were done. Now came the task of putting my modeling skills to use and build the laker. 

After reading the instructions no less than two dozen times by now, I started on the ship. First thing to do was trace the bow - deck - stern as the hull has alot of excess vacuum formed plastic. 

 Beginning the journey, tools of the trade

 Tracing the bow / drilling out the portholes

Working with a good friend who is a woodworking shop, we used a dremel mult-max to cut down the hull to the right height. From there it was going to be old fashioned sweat to get the ship level and prepared for moving further with the build. The directions are well done and keep you on task in order. Mind you this is all happening outside during the heat of August in Texas.... Call it exercise. 

Ensuring stern / main deck / bow all are even and level - good ole visual check

 "Power" tools and plenty of plastic shavings

Test fitting the deck and hull (two complete pieces)

After sanding with 250 / 400 / 1500 grit, time for primer

Part 4 - M/V Graystone Conquest (Outfitting)

First details added (16 watertight door castings)

As I was installing the door castings, I realized that even with a good smooth back the door had a gap between them and the rear cabin wall. For this project I used the Vallejo plastic putty in the fine applicator packaging. This stuff is great. Once the door were properly sealed I painted the forward and rear cabins flat white. The forward, main, and rear deck received aged concrete color with a weathered chalk effect from Rustoleum. The hull received a satin winter gray which was slightly darker than the primer. 

Boat is beginning to take shape

Once the hull and deck are cut to size, test fit, glued together, and painted it now becomes a process of detailing out the boat to the modelers preference. The kit comes with a great assortment of white metal cast pieces that I will be using. Since this is a freelance cement laker, the walkways and vent stacks for the intended tanker kit will not be used. 

From here the kit comes with stripwood and styrene sheets needed to fashion different parts of the boat. I decided to use Microscale Krystal Kleer for the port holes versus the clear plastic sheet. I forgot to mention this has to be done after painting the sections, but before the deck and hull are glued together. 

Woodland Scenics dry transfer decals and self adhesive logo by K. Klettke

The next step was putting down the stripwood along the sides of the main deck for the handrail stanchions which were to be a made from piano wire supplied. I wanted to have a more detailed ship so in short order 1/96 scale brass stanchions were on there way from Maine curiosity of BlueJacket Shipcrafters. This model company does some amazing work and stocks everything needed to detail out your ship. Once stanchions were received used the appropriate size bit to drill holes on 7/8" intervals. I fashioned a styrene template to help keep consistent spacing. 

Keep it simple - use a black sharpie to color the handrails keeping the holes clean for the piano wire

Each side of the main deck has 40 stanchions for a total of 80 on main deck. Additionally threaded through the stanchions are two solid 3' pieces of piano wire for 12' in total on the main deck. 

 Port side main deck completed 

First of twelve liferings placed on stern cabin wall. These are white metal castings painted with inexpensive white and orange craft paints. 

With work completed on the main deck handrails, the next area of attention is the stern. This is where I am currently working. I began with the template supplied in the kit and traced out the shape onto styrene sheet supplied. From there it was a matter of cutting out and trimming to fit. Once in place there are lot of details that will be added. Based on the directions, the stern will be completed before moving to the bow. 

 Template over top of stern with styrene rough fit. 

Styrene sheet cut and fitted. 

This gets us caught up on the work happening on the layout. I expect to have the stern mostly completed by November. This month is travel intensive for work so time may not be as readily available, luckily temperatures are beginning to "cool" off here in Texas. 

Alot of great things to come this fall with the cement terminal and lake freighter. I didnt even mentioned where the corrugated box plant and asphalt terminal went.... until next update.

GM

April-May-June Update

Well no doubt I am slightly (3 months) behind on update posts. While life around these parts has been no doubt busy there have been plenty of model railroading, just lacking the time to write about it. This post will however catch you up with all the happenings around the MCIS St. Clair Sub since March. 

MCIS 7052.... Is this a new add to the roster? Read on to find out. 

CASS RIVER SCENE UPDATE
When we left off in March I was chin deep (upper level @ 66" off floor) into creating this scene. This specific setup featured a through truss bridge over the Cass River with deciduous vegetation flanking the banks along the right of way. 

After a few more weeks of work the scene is now 95% complete, the last bit to complete is ballasting the bridge approach. 

On previous layouts I have used Magic Water to create my water features but after seeing alot of good reviews on the Woodland Scenics Deep Pour Water system, I wanted to give it an honest try. Specifically the Cass River from the google street view is pretty murky so the pre-tinted murky water was on point. I ended up using two kits together to get the depth and coverage required. Using the product was as easy as the instructions provide, there are a good videos on the web showing step by step. 

As a base layer I did end up using Quikrete general purpose paver mix screened to get the rock I wanted in the middle of the river with a light blend of Missouri river pebbles provided by a good friend to provide alittle more color along the banks and in shallower water. Of course good scenic cement soaking is key in making this all possible. 

Quick Money Saving Tip: If you have a Hobby Lobby close by, you can get alot of model railroading products there, and even better use their online 40% one item coupon to help bring down the cost of items like the Deep Pour Water, tools, or Just Plug lighting. 

Paver and rock base in place, ready for scenic cement

 Water Pour 24 hours later - great results! 

Google Street View - Cass River 

With the water hard as a rock, it was time to begin adding in foilage on each side of the river. From the photo above, its pretty thick so I really wanted to layer the trees to draw the operator into the scene. 

 West bank of river at UPPE / LACE DTC block boundary

Zooming out a little more from the same shot above

 Canoers gliding town the Cass towards Caro, Michigan

 What is a Michigan river bank without a weeping willow

View west from DTC block boundary looking at the main (left) and east leg of wye (right) 

With Cass River scene just about done, I will be turning my attention towards Upper Huron. This scene encompasses the Michigan Sugar plant, Upper Huron branch wye, and the Town of Upper Huron. From the photos below basic terrain with paint and dirt base layer are in place. The next step before continuing to develop this scene is installation of backdrop. With Sceniking out of business I needed to find another vendor who created scenes to fit Mid-Michigan. After searching I came across Backdrop Junction and in short order working with Dave Burgess a backdrop will be on its way. The mockup looked great, cannot wait to get the finished product installed. 

We will return to Upper Huron later this summer to see how the scene development process is coming along. 

 Bare dirt.... Did I start modeling west Texas?

MAC RAIL UPDATE

If getting work done on Cass River wasn't enough, I decided to jump head first on quite a few backshop projects. Lets take a scroll through each of the projects completed and underway.

Contract Projects

The MAC Rail Sales rep has been busy as April saw the completion of three Soundtraxx Soundcars and a UP EMD SD50 with Tsunami sound and ditchlights under for a contract customer. 

Some say the soundcar is too much, done right it does add another level of immersion.

Paint Shop 

In addition to completing contract work, MAC Rail also opened up a paint shop for Michigan Interstate Railroad. Birthdays are always great when you get a portable spray booth. For the amount and scope of work I do, this is perfect with my Paasche H.

Michigan Interstate recently purchase two SD70ACe's from CSX. As part of opening the new paint booth, one of the units MCIS 7052 received a fresh paint job by the MAC Rail.

Motor was primed with Tamiya Fine White Primer and painted with Scalecoat II Reefer Yellow and Conrail Blue. 

Decals:

• Rail Graphics (MCIS logo, numbers, and lettering)
• Microscale (SD70ACe data)
• Highball Graphics (American Flag, Operation Lifesaver, Smart Start)
• Shellscale (Numberboards and rear numbers)
• Smokebox Graphics (Side Sill yellow reflective tape)

 Reefer yellow ends complete

 Conrail Blue applied

 Conductors side markings done (7051 as reference)

 Motor equipped with Tsunami2, Currentkeeper, and two fuel tank speakers

Completed motor in active service - nice work MAC Rail

EMD SD60M / SD70ACe Overhaul Project

With MCIS 7052 in service complete with new Tsunami2 sound/control system, MCIS management decided it was time to continue with the momentum and update the other EMD SD70ACe's (7050, 7051, 7053) for fleet commonality and efficency. While under way the two unit fleet of SD60M's which had been on MAC Rail property since last year awaiting updated electronics also received Econami sound/control. Project is on track to bring the three ACe's online by July 01 in time for the late summer demand coming into the 2018 sugar beet campaign. 

Lined up in Building 3A.

MICHIGAN INTERSTATE FLEET UPDATE

This year marked our 10 year wedding anniversary.  Building on a tradition that we started the year we got married, the CFO purchased this fantastic undecorated Proto 2000 Heritage 2-10-2 with QSI sound from the consignment cabinet at DMT. What an amazing present to commemorate and whole lot of fun to operate. Using gold dry transfers, I was able to do a convincing job marking it up for Michigan Interstate #2018. Maybe a call to Matt Welke at Circus City Decals is in order to setup a gold letter package for the excursion fleet. Don't think doing a ton of dry transfer work is for me. 

This engine will be kept along side MCIS #2008 at their Mount Pleasant base and used for passenger excursions throughout the year

Lastly MCIS 4051 (EMD SD40-2) has made an appearance on the Bay City Division. Since purchased used from the MR&T, this motor was assigned up on the North Division working between Sault Ste. Marie, St. Ignace, and Detour. Using floquil acrylics and makeup applicators from a Model Railroader Cody Grivno weathering article sometime ago I was able to give it a touch of the elements.

Pretty lengthy post, but there you have it three months like that. The summer looks to be pretty busy with the installs, ops session preparation, and of course a few other cool adds to the mix. I plan to get a monthly post out around mid month and expect to stay that course the rest of the year. Thanks for stopping by. 

GM 

Early April Update

My attempt to complete a post at the end of March was a complete bust. However the on-going work on the layout provides no shortage of great content for me to share with you in this post. Great happenings on the Michigan Interstate St. Clair Sub, so lets get started. 

Executive Unit Acqusition
Over the past few months I have been thinking of acquiring motors for Executive / Special service on the Michigan Interstate. Using prototypes of Pan Am, NS, and Maine Eastern I figured EMD F7s would be a solid choice. 

It just happened that a friend to the north had a beautiful EMD F7 A-B-A set looking for a good home. In short order Michigan Interstate's CFO authorized acquisition of the three engines. While 2017 was not planned for fleet growth, the set were too good of a deal to pass by. 

Trio on previous owners pike awaiting final purchase paperwork

In short order the motors routed BNSF-CHGO-NS-FTWAY-MCIS. Beings they were dead in tow like railcars it took some time to get them to "Michigan" with numerous mechanical inspections along the way. Arriving in Fort Wayne the units were delivered on the overnight interchange cut from NS. Once in MCIS inventory they routed via the daily M-FWGR (Manifest - Fort Wayne to Grand Rapids) connecting onto the M-GRBA (Manifest - Grand Rapids to Bay Yard).

A-B-A Trio arriving at Bay Yard behind EMD SD40-2M #4571 and 4059 on M-GRBA-29

 At Bay Yard the units will ride the L-BAMP (Local Turn - Bay City to Mt. Pleasant) to MAC Shops for prep work before heading to Fogelsinger Rail to receive a very classy scheme. The units should be in new paint by end of summer 2017 in time for the Thanksgiving and Christmas specials planned on the network.

GoPro4 Inspection Car

For sometime i have been wanting to capture the St. Clair Sub from the locmotive engineers view, however from a HO scale perspective it has been somewhat limited. The only options for using an iPhone was the iCar from Minutman Scale Models. After talking with them I learned that there would not be one for a iPhone 6 due to the weight imbalance of the phone and if they had built a car it would be outside NMRA clearance specs. Knowing this I turned my attention toward the other  product which was the Laser cut acrylic GoPro4 Camera Stand from Summit USA. For $9.95 it is a really good buy and takes not very long to build. The most expensive part is the $200 GoPro4 "Session" camera.

 

Components for building my inspection car - 60' flatcar, Camera Stand Kit, and GoPro4 Session.

Directions are clearly labeled with good reference photos. The parts are laser cut ready to test fit and final assemble. 

Within an hour I had the kit together using brush one C.A. After a few hours i test fit the camera on the fixture. 

Definitely recommend this camera fixture for anyone with a GoPro4 Session. The deliverable video and photos provide the view from a modern wide cab locomotive window. Additionally if I want a wide view like from the back of a observation car, I can still use the fixture but just turn the camera around and move towards rear of railcar. Over the next month I will be testing the shots and working up video over the St. Clair Sub that I can share on my YouTube channel. 

If you are interested in how the video looks with this fixture please check out the following link.   Summit Customcuts - Camera Fixture Cab Ride

Grays Lake Scenery Progress

Continuing my 2017 focus on one scene at a time, the scene continues to impress me. The entire area now has a good covering of tan latex paint, various shades of rock, and Heki wildgrass tufts. Here are few photos showcasing the work done in March. 

Tools of the trade - multiple homemade dirt / sand grades and Harley & Sons rock ballast 

Basic rock and ground foams installed from highway overpass back to station foundation (Before) 

 Same view with tuftgrass, textured grass, and SuperTrees added. Everything from background to signals is glued.

 Area around Cooperative Elevator and Crop Production Services developing "Character".

MCIS9019 unloading fertilizer materials at C.P.S. Grays Lake.

If you have been following my posts you can really see how this area has come along way. Over the new few months we will continue to bring it all into a finished product.

Woodland Scenics Just Plug System

We are surronded by innovations in our hobby. One topic that really impressed me was the LED lighting system offered by Woodland Scenics. Up till this system came out Walthers and Atlas had some great product on the market, but the simple plug in / modular system was a win for me. While developing the scene, I figured now was teh time to spend the money and add in the lights whether i lit them now or later. 

Currently i have 3 different sets of lights (modern lights at LPG terminal, Wooden lamp posts for trackside / industry area, and ornamental lights for downtown Grays Lake). So far I have only installed the modern lights and temporarily connected them but the results are fantastic. 

:"Just Plug" light hub - transformer connects into this box which then connects to the LED lights 

Lighting demonstration at LPG terminal - the effect is just enough for nightime ops / photos. 

Be sure to check back as i add more lights, i will touch on where the control boxes ultimately get installed. Hardest part of installing these lights was drilling the hole through 2" thick foam. 

MAC Shops Work

Recently completed install on friends Atlas GP38.

Components Installed:

• Soundtraxx Tsunami2 EMD Diesel
• Railmaster Hobbies DS1425-8 speaker,
• Soundtraxx Currentkeeper
• Monster LED Rotary Beacon
• 3mm LEDs for lights

Happened to catch a photo of the motor in transit after releasing from MAC Shops. Who doesn't love a good GP38 in ATSF colors? Ironically the leading motor #4571 (former SD45-2) was originally a Santa Fe before becoming a Michigander.

Returning from MAC Shop behind MCIS 4571 on L-BAMP-25 (Local Turn - Bay City to Mt. Pleasant) 

ATSF 3546 back on customers home rails.

Hope you enjoyed the happenings around the St. Clair Sub. Check back later this month for progress on Grays Lake and hopefully a link to cab rides across the subdivision.

GM