A shout-out for Tamiya products

This all started with filler putty. As a long-time user of Squadron putty (of both kinds), I have been loyal to the product, and have gone through several tubes of the green version. I have liked it and relied on it. But a friend who is a plastic modeler (non-railroad models) recently stated to me that he thought the Tamiya gray putty was finer grained, or smoother, or something like that, and it filled gaps better, especially small or narrow gaps. I decided to give it a try.
     But before continuing, I should mention that hobby shops that specialize in model railroading usually only carry a limited range of Tamiya products. Many shops have discovered the excellent Tamiya paints, but the Tamiya line extends far beyond that. (You might benefit from browsing a little on their web site, which is at: https://www.tamiyausa.com/ .)
     The place to find a wider selection of Tamiya products and supplies is at a hobby shop selling plastic models, from race cars to armor to airplanes to ships. They will have plenty of Tamiya’s famously excellent plastic kits for those subjects (just read the reviews in any issue of Fine Scale Modeler), and will have lots of Tamiya’s ancillary products too. (And while you’re there, it’s a great place to pick up some canopy glue, too.)
     I’m mentioning hobby shops. You can of course buy Tamiya products on-line, but I urge you to resist the temptation unless your “local” hobby shop is many miles away. Or someday that local hobby shop won’t be there.
     I bought a tube of the gray putty, in the package as shown below. As soon as I used it, I liked it a lot. It was everything my plastic modeler friend had claimed. I still have my most recent tube of Squadron Green on the bench, but . . .

this stuff is just great.
     Tamiya are also a source of a superb masking tape for modeling. I have used it, and found it really ideal for flexibility around corners and edging up to details. I’ve been using it for awhile, and this new package is about my fourth roll. Note that it comes in a nice dispenser.

     They also offer brushes to go along with the paints, and several tools of specialized use. For example, there is a really nice tool for bending etched metal parts, a type of detail part which we railroad modelers have in common with both airplane and armor modelers.

The jaws have a triangular cross-section, and thus are considerably stiffer than you might guess from looking at how long and slender they appear. I have used these very successfully.
     Oh, and did I mention paint? Comes in bottles, solvent based but water clean-up, and in spray cans too. Rattle cans have a bad rep, but Tamiya spends a little more money to give you a much better spray nozzle. I have never had the burps or blorts that are familiar from Testors products or, for that matter, the spray paint you get at big-box stores. Shown below is their outstanding thin-coat primer, that has become my standard for priming anything.

Incidentally, I included at right a can of Tamiya color TS-1, called “Red Brown,” and it’s a pretty decent box car red, though doubtless intended to match some other color.
     Let me close by saying that I suppose it’s obvious, but this is a Japanese company, founded in 1946 to make wooden models, and changing over to plastic in the 1950s (you can read more of their history on Wikipedia, at this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamiya_Corporation ). They are perennial winners of “Model of the Year” awards from model magazines in a number of countries. Their reputation for quality is enviable.
     Well, I sound like a Tamiya sales guy here, but I have absolutely no connection of any kind with them. Just a truly satisfied user of everything I’ve bought with their name on it. And of course, that means I am ready to trust one of their products I’ve never used before. I know their quality by experience.
Tony Thompson

Unloading covered hoppers, Part 2

Awhile back, I posted a short description of how auger technology is widely used for moving granular materials, and in particular, for unloading of covered hoppers with such cargoes. (That introductory post can be found at this link: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2017/11/unloading-covered-hoppers.html .) In particular, I showed a pair of photos provided to me by Clark Propst, extremely helpfully showing a close-up of such an unloading auger.
     I show below a repeat of an image from the previous post, a detail of the 1949 photo that Clark sent to me. You can see how narrow is the auger pit (looks like maybe the equivalent of one missing tie or a bit more), and a good look at the auger mechanism, as visible from ground level.

     I wanted to include such an auger pit at my Pacific Chemical Repackaging (PCR) plant at Ballard on my layout, because some granular chemicals are delivered there.
     I began by choosing a location in the area alongside the PCR building, then digging out a tie and the underlying Homasote to an adequate depth. There won’t be any detail in the trench aside from the auger itself, so no need to create a fine finish here. For the cutting into the sub-roadbed, I used the chisel blade of the hobby knife,to help make smooth, vertical sides to the pit. This only needs to be about as deep as it is wide (the auger body is round).

The removed Homasote is so fuzzy, the pile of debris looks far larger than the pit.
     Next, I painted the interior of the pit Dark Gray, though a concrete color would probably also serve. In the prototype photo above, it is unclear what the walls of the pit look like.
     With the pit opened up, I chose to use Evergreen 3/16-inch tubing (item 226) for the auger tube, and cut it to fit the trench. (There is no requirement for using tubing here, of course, even though the prototype is a tube; solid rod would work exactly as well.) I added a strip of scale 1 x 10-inch styrene strip to the top of the tube (Evergreen no. 8110) and closed the end. I added a large nut-bolt-washer casting on the end, chosen from my parts stash of Grandt Line NBW’s.

My idea was to paint the sides of this (I used Model Master “Light Sea Gray”), but not the top, before inserting into the pit. The flat top was then glued to the bottom of the rails (see prototype photo), so any detail on the top of the auger needed to be glued in place after placing it in the pit.
     I’m not sure what the two items on top of the auger are, in the prototype photo, probably a pair of connections to the car’s par of  outlet openings, so I cobbled up something to look like these receivers. I used pieces of scale 1 x 6  and 1 x 2 strip. A view of the modeled auger, in the pit and glued to the rail bottoms, is below. The company building lines up with the back of the pit.

I felt that this looked satisfactory, so I went ahead and tried it with the structure in place.

     As I have already said, I owe considerable thanks to Clark Propst for providing a very informative and stimulating photo of a prototype auger in place. Though mine is far from an exact model, it will serve its primary purpose: to show switch crews where to spot covered hoppers for unloading! as well as providing some credibility for this spur as a destination for that kind of car.
Tony Thompson

Walkways and sidewalks, Part 2

Earlier this summer, I posted some comments about the ubiquity of walkways and sidewalks in our everyday world, and how many modelers (yes, including me) don’t model enough of these features on their layouts. (The post, for background, is at: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2018/06/walkways-and-sidewalks.html .) In the present post, I want to extend this topic.
     One of the more complicated industries on my layout is Pacific Chemical Repackaging in the town of Ballard. In addition to the two-story structure, there are nine or ten storage tanks and containers. The industry receives and ships in tank cars, and also ships from its warehouse. But in my first placement of the completed building, I merely plopped it down onto a surface of dirt (as so many of us do), without including any of the walkways. Below is an overhead photo. Tank car loading and unloading is at right.

In the lower right corner is the unfinished unloading rack for high-pressure tank cars, which has now been completed and installed (as described at: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2018/08/tank-car-loading-platforms-part-4.html ).
     The simplest way to start work on this kind of project, for me at least, is to develop patterns for what comes next. I used some light card stock (printed with a previous generation of waybills), and simply put the building on top of it. I then used a pencil to sketch in where the walkways would logically go to provide pathways for employees between the building and the tank car loading and unloading facilities. (There will be additional walkways at the other side of the building, and behind it.)

Alongside the three-compartment tank car at bottom, you can see the top-unloading crane, which will be embedded into the walkway in that area.
     Once sketched onto the cardstock around the building, the resulting plan is removed and cut out to make the patterns. Rough patterns are then checked against the building and corrected as necessary, then transferred to Evergreen “Sidewalk” styrene sheet. Results are below.

At top and bottom are the two paper patterns, with the two center pieces being the styrene sidewalk cutouts.
     Both pieces of sidewalk were now painted a concrete color. To see how the work looked at this point, I tried an installation, including a check of the fit of the top unloader into the cutout shown above. That test is shown below, on the unloader side of the PCR building. Compare this view to the photo at the top of the present post.

     The concrete needs to receive extensive staining, etc. from spillage, and I will add some details, such as chemical drums, a workbench, a hose rack, and some figures. But I am already pleased with the improved realism of this area, compared to my original setting of all these components onto bare dirt.
Tony Thompson

An excellent new Southern Pacific book

Just now available is an excellent new book from Shade Tree Books. Author David Coscia’s title is, Southern Pacific in the San Fernando Valley, 1876-1996. This is a big book, 480 pages, hardbound in a horizontal format, with approximately 8.5 x 11-inch pages. The cover image is a Rod Aszman painting of No. 60, the West Coast, passing Burbank Tower.

Cover price of the book is $89.95, and among other places, it is available (or will be shortly) on the Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society web site, at this link: https://sphts.myshopify.com/ . You should also be able to find it at hobby shops and railroad museums that sell fine railroad books.
     It might seem like a quite restricted geographical area, but in a way, this frees Coscia to delve into considerable detail. As he did in his 2011 book Pacific Electric and the Growth of the San Fernando Valley, he provides extensive historical information about the development and industry of the San Fernando Valley, which gradually in the 1950s became filled with private homes as Los Angeles suburbs, after a 19th-century beginning as a farming area. Even as late as 1950, the outer (northwestern) end of the Valley remained agricultural, but that was soon overwhelmed by housing developments.
     The depth of SP detail is considerable here. Author Coscia has included many accident reports and other kinds of incidents, quite a few of which provide interesting insights into the methods of the time. A number of maps by Jonathan Signor enliven the text. In addition, it’s a pleasure to see the fine photographs of Ralph Melching included, along with numerous aerial photos of the area from different periods. These visual resources really enrich the text.
     It is probably unavoidable in a book as dense in information as this one, that a few errors crept in, though none are of great consequence. Only the seriously detail-focused would quail at the identification of a Class P-5 Pacific as an F-5 (a misreading of the photo) on page 197, or mis-identification of the PFE ice plant in the background at Taylor Yard (page 213) as being the diesel shop. As I said, these hardly detract from the overall quality.
     I should probably confess to a special intensity of interest in this book, having grown up in the area described and having family history there too. As a young teenager, I often rode my bike down to the depot in Glendale, and when I got a box camera, began to take photos. Below is an example, with Consolidation 2827 on the point of the Burbank Local. They were stopped behind the caboose you can see at right, and the engineer told me the train ahead, No. 831, had a red board and everyone would just have to wait. It’s a better picture than almost every train shot I took in those days — for the simple reason that the subject was stationary!

A year or so later, I had the marvelous opportunity of riding a short ways in the caboose of the Burbank Local, but that’s another story.
     I really am enjoying this book and have already learned a lot of information I didn’t know. David Coscia is to be congratulated on an excellent book, and I recommend it highly.
Tony Thompson

Tank car loading platforms, Part 4

This series of posts is about kitbashing the Walthers kit no. 3104, the “Oil Loading Platform,” to make two platforms, each one single-sided (the Walthers kit structure is intended to be two-sided) and to accommodate a single tank car per platform. The first post (which is available at this link: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2015/03/tank-car-loading-unloading-platforms.html ) was about the general need for platforms like this, and showed the beginning of my separation of the Walthers parts into two structures.
     The second and third posts continued the description of  developing these platforms. In the second post, I showed my two basic platforms, and described how I used the kit railings for the two separated platforms (see: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2017/02/tank-car-loading-platforms-part-2.html ). In the third post, I completed the platform intended for the winery in my layout town of Ballard, and showed it in place at that industry (that post is at: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2017/02/tank-car-loading-platforms-part-3.html ).
     The second platform was intended to serve my chemical repackaging business on the layout. (I have discussed and explained this type of business in a previous post: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-chemical-repackaging-business.html .) Although it is in some ways just like the winery platform, shown completed in the third post, it also is different in significant ways. First, and most significant, this is an unloading platform, while the winery platform already completed is a loading platform.
     A second difference is that I planned to have the platform piping emerge from the ground, making some piping extending away from the platform itself. Third, I wanted to use the kit access stairway on this platform, and it extends some ways beyond the end of the platform. I gave some thought to using some kind of base for this platform.
     But first I had to complete arrangements for piping. As the piping arrangement worked out, the manifold connections were farther to one side of the drop-down walkway opening in the side railing. Since that manifold should be supported at the top of the platform, at the height of the top of the drop-down walk opening, I needed to extend the top bar there. I used a short piece of 0.040-inch square styrene “Microstrip” from Slater’s to match the top bar, then spliced it with a full length of Evergreen scale 2 x 4-inch strip behind it. (The Slater’s strip is close to HO scale 4 x 4.) You can see my extension in white in the photo below.

Of course, you might not need to do this if you were careful to align the piping closer to the drop-down walkway.
     Once I had the extension done, as shown above, I went ahead with choosing a base. I decided to represent the entire structure as placed on a concrete pad. This would tie all its elements together, and also further separate its appearance from the previously completed platform at the winery. For the concrete pad, I chose Evergreen “Sidewalk,” in 3/8-inch squares, their number 4517. Once I glued the platform to this pad, I could quickly add the pipes coming from the ground, and the stairway at the other end.

As you can see, all elements of the model are now supported on the single base, making it much sturdier overall. The base has yet to be painted a concrete color. You can also see the small white shims needed to fit the stairway railing to the railings on the platform.
     I decided to represent my three delivery pipes to be color-coded, and used colors I saw in an on-line article, namely two of them red and one light gray. I painted the pipes those colors up to the valves, but not onto the manifold above it. I then drilled each valve body with a #73 hole, to accept the wire I decided to use as hoses. (In fact, you can see the holes, if you click to enlarge the image.)

In this photo, the base has been painted a concrete color.
     For a high-pressure unloading station, as this is intended to be, it is necessary to model a set of three hoses to connect to the unloading outlets on an ICC 105A tank car. I have described this process in some detail and illustrated how it works in a previous post (you can read the post at: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2017/02/unloading-high-pressure-tank-cars.html ).
     For hoses I used no. 24 wire, with black insulation. I also used some 1/16-inch brass tubing to represent hose fittings; these slip onto the end of the stripped wire and are secured with a drop of CA. Then each wire was gently formed so that it draped over the railing.

The hose attachments are not as obvious in the photo above as I’d like, so here is a view from the other side, looking down into the platform. This is, however, not a view that will be available on the layout.

     With a coat of flat finish to make the appearance consistent, the rack was ready to take its place at the high-pressure car unloading spot at the Pacific Chemical Repackaging plant in my layout town of Ballard. Here we see it in place, though work remains to be done on the plant’s equipment in the background.

     It has been fun to research, understand and build an unloading facility for high-pressure tank cars, something I had wanted to do for some time. Now I have one in service.
Tony Thompson

Still more thoughts on frittering

I have written several posts over the years spanned by this blog, about the general topic of planning, and about getting things done. One obstacle for many of us, certainly including me, is what I call “frittering,” meaning occupying oneself with lots of little and moderately necessary tasks, instead of digging into big ones. (One example of a post on this topic is here: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2014/06/more-on-planning.html ).
     One thing that, at least for me, tends to generate frittering is a looming need to work on some big project, but there is some barrier, or series of barriers. Probably everyone knows this kind of situation: I need to paint the trim in the spare room, but first I need to buy the paint. Or first, I had better check if we have any of the old paint, and see if it’s still usable; if not, find the paint number so I can buy new paint. I should check to see if we have primer, too.
     But before I go ahead and get the paint ready, I had better make sure the scrapes and dents in the woodwork are patched. And to do that I need to buy some more plastic wood or other suitable patching material. And before I can do that I need to examine all those scrapes and see if any need deeper sanding or repair before I patch them. And before I start on that I better make sure I have fresh sandpaper of different grades before I start. And to do that I better survey the sandpaper stock in the garage . . . grumble, grumble.
     All those steps, and it begins to seem like a big mountain to climb. But then I realize, if I go look over the sandpaper stock, I will actually be getting started on the project. Once I’m underway, the project takes on a life of its own, and will keep going.
     This is a good example of a principle that is called “finding the next action” in something, and it can take a bit of a think sometimes, to realize what that “thing before all the other things” actually is. But often it is very positive to do so, because that great big project can actually get underway with something relatively small and easy (like checking on the sandpaper supply). And now you’re off and running.
     I use the “next action” indirectly, too. I learned long ago that I hate to start modeling projects without all the needed detail parts and materials, because finding them missing when I’m actually working really brings things to a halt. Or at least it does if you don’t live near a local hobby shop. So I sometimes go to the opposite extreme and buy parts for projects that never get started . . . but I prefer that situation to the discouragement of having to stop work in the middle of something.
     Like most modelers, I recycle old kit boxes for parts collections and incomplete projects. Some of them have been in that use for quite awhile, as is evident from the box ends, revealing long-gone kits or companies, or obsolete box decorations. Here’s an example.

Many of the boxes have strips of tape used for writing the contents, indicating that they have contained a variety of things over the years.
     Is this about frittering? Well, yes, indirectly, because getting going on a project of some ambition requires that you make a start, however small, and whatever that takes. Frittering is really a way to kill time while avoiding that big project (and looking busy . . . how can I start that big project while I’m tied up with this other stuff?). You have to recognize that you are kind of constructing a reason why you can’t get to the starting line on that project. That killing of time can include a long exploration in finding the “next action.” So I have found that I had to learn not only to plan thoroughly, and find the next action for each step, but also be sure not to get lost in the planning — or lost in the little steps before getting to the big steps in a project. That can easily turn into frittering.
     I might paraphrase an old saying, and remark that “the price of avoiding frittering is eternal vigilance.” I would hate to have to admit how often I've realized I was happily diddling along with some little project, thereby postponing the bigger one, and actually it was just frittering. So if you’re like me, keep your eyes open, and check from time to time to be sure of what you’re really doing.
Tony Thompson

Video of an operating session on my layout

Last spring, one of the young operators in our area, Adam Palmer, did a school project to make videos of operating sessions at some local layouts. All have now been posted on YouTube. Mine is at the following link (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1vlr50Htrw ), and in addition you will readily find Adam’s other videos, of Ed  Merrin’s Northwestern Pacific, Bill Kaufman’s State Belt, Tom Swearingen’ Cal-P, and a pair of videos on Jim Providenza’s well-known Santa Cruz Northern. I have waited to post anything about the video because I wanted to be sure Adam had finished all the projects, beyond my layout.
     Adam had an interesting idea of how to film these videos. He essentially worked an operating session himself, filming all the moves, and writing a script as he went along. He then had the layout owner narrate from this script, so that the entire operating session is explained and described by the layout owner, not by Adam. I think he did a great job of the video creation, and showed good angles of train movements and switching. If I had a criticism of the video of my layout, it might be the sound, which is often not very crisp and can be a little hard to understand in some stretches (including parts where I appear to be mumbling somewhat), but at least the script is clearly written.
     He began with the work of the Santa Rosalia Branch local, switching industries at Ballard and Santa Rosalia, such as this reefer to be picked up at the Coastal Citrus Association warehouse.

     After completing the work of the local train and returning to the mainline junction at Shumala, Adam then did the usual switching tasks there. These included putting together the cars for the Branch local for “tomorrow,” as well as switching the industries there, including setting out the car of lumber you see below.

     I had not actually realized what Adam intended, and when he set a date to come over and do the video recording, I was in the process of re-setting the layout from a prior operating session. So I created a kind of interim or partial session, using the cars then on the layout. Of course that didn’t matter for Adam‘s purposes, and he carried out the entire session very smoothly. He is a perceptive and fairly experienced operator, so had no trouble with the logic and procedures of doing an entire session alone.
     Anyway, I appreciate the considerable effort by Adam, to figure out how he wanted to film the operations, taking all the video, creating a script in essentially “real time,” and then all the editing to stitch it together into a whole. It’s a little long at 27 minutes, but it does give a fair representation of what it’s like to participate in an operating session on my layout. And you can’t ask for more than that.
Tony Thompson