Model Railroad Blog

DTS Ops. August 17

A stellar crew made up of the “Three J”s”, L to R Jerome, Jarrett, and Jeremy flawlessly put Y320, the Downtown Spur yard job through the paces.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought this year to the long-standing approach to operations in the hobby. Although well-intended, it’s analogous to putting a blindfold on somebody, throwing them in a pit, letting them marinate for three hours, and seeing if they can dig themselves out. Can they orient themselves geographically? Can they figure out the paperwork? Can they figure out all of the hidden traps and artificially complicated moves? “If” they survive, they get a pat on the back along with a “Wow, see how much fun ops. are!!” Well…..actually….not so fun to be honest. I’m as guilty as anybody. No wonder so many people are turned off to the operational side of the hobby. Time for a different approach.

As I wrote previously, the biggest change is something Kelly Regan suggested. The layout owner is the conductor. In one fell swoop, this solves so many problems. The crew no longer needs to worry about orientation. It insulates them from figuring out, often in just a few minutes, the arcane paperwork that will drive the session. When the host is “boss”, the new crew doesn’t even see the clipboard. So odd, crews don’t even ask to see it! Go figure. Kelly also suggested capping the session at ninety minutes, give or take. Better to have people wanting to come back than looking at their watches.

I made a few more tweaks this go around. I cut two moves out of the switch list to shorten the session. I’ve also had a bit of an epiphany about doing loads-for-empties switch moves. Yes, loads-for-empties swaps are the way things are done with larger industries (my scrap yards, the LPG dealer, Trujillo). However, not so for the smaller concerns that may get a car every month or two. In these cases, you either drop a load there or pick up an empty. You don’t do both. Think about it, if they only need a car every ninety days, and you just picked up an empty there, they aren’t ready for a load right away.

Small industries, such as Pan Am Frozen Foods, only get a few carloads a year. In previous op. sessions, I’d do a loads-for-empties car swap every time. This isn’t realistic. If you’re pulling an empty, they are nowhere remotely close to needing another loaded car anytime soon. In these situations, I either pick up an empty during a session, or drop off a load, but not both. In a similar vein, if you have a number of these small, infrequently served industries on the layout (and The Downtown Spur does) you wouldn’t switch every one of them every session.

Some other notes. There are no operational tricks or “gotchas”. None. I don’t work every industry every session. I’ve also eliminated the annoying task of having to dig out a car when there is another one blocking the way. This does happen on the prototype (especially with corn syrup and logistics warehouses), but it’s not the norm. For the most part, incorporating them (digging out a car from behind another) into most op. sessions is a case of not the right time, not the right place, especially with a crew unfamiliar with the layout.

At today’s session, even with the trimmed workload and no errors, we ran closer to two hours. We’d run for awhile and then I’d stop the guys, give them a brief rundown on what the prototype would be doing in this case, and then resume.

In summary:

  1. The layout owner is the conductor, handles the paperwork, and directs all moves. The crew handles the throttle and work on the ground (coupling, switch throws, distance callouts, flares, etc.)
  2. Limit session length to roughly ninety minutes.
  3. No artificial “gotcha” moves or tricks. No weird problems the crew has to solve. Doing so is totally unrealistic in the grand scheme of things.
  4. Don’t work every industry, every session.
  5. Small, infrequently served industries either have an empty picked up or a load spotted, but not both.
  6. No cases of having to dig out a car from behind another. This does happen in some cases in the real world but it’s more appropriate for when you’re running solo or have a highly experienced crew. Even then, limit it to one instance per session.

This concludes the latest installment in my ulterior motive-laden, not-so-hidden agenda of recruiting modelers to the dark side…..modern era industrial switching operations. I’ve been thinking about the best frequency to hold these sessions. The two most recent sessions, the ones I’ve had since implementing the updated approach, have gone very well. I’m thinking quarterly probably.

This is the work order from today’s session. The crew never saw it (and didn’t seem overly eager to see it!) I only glanced at it occasionally since, by now, I’ve committed to memory most of what’s going on.

Upgrading A Coil Car

My latest project was upgrading this Intermountain coil car for the LA layout. The goal of this project, and the point of today’s blog, was to focus on keeping the weathering subtle. Follow along as I walk you through things.

The title of today’s blog involves a bit of bait and switch. It’s less about steps A,B, and C, and more about the mindset of moving on to the next modeling level. At some point, there will be folks who want to transition from casual recreationalists to modelers. Doing so entails moving out of your comfort zone and learning how to use new tools and new techniques. The techniques are usually pretty simple. The moving out of your comfort zone? It’s a lifelong roadblock for many. For today’s subject, you’ll need an airbrush, the thought of which is an almost paralyzing fear for many. Using an airbrush isn’t like running a nuclear power plant. You push a button, and paint comes out. That’s it. They’re ridiculously simple to use.

For today’s tutorial, I’ll be using an Intermountain BNSF coil car. This is an exquisitely detailed model. It’s also quite delicate so plan accordingly. When working on something like this, I wear latex gloves to prevent fingerprints from getting on the model’s surface. I place a fluffy old towel on the workbench to serve as a cushioned work surface.

With a project like this, it helps to know the overall goals you’re shooting for. In this case, my primary objectives are to: knock down the shine and tone down the brilliant white in the sublest of ways.

Everything starts with studying a few prototype photos of your subject. Notice the dead flat finish. Note the subtle haze layer that tones down the white lettering. In many photos of these BNSF cars, the haze has an oxide reddish cast similar to that of the base car color. For whatever reason, the taggers leave them alone, so most are graffiti-free.

If you’re a newbie, I suggest starting with the low-hanging fruit, simple upgrades that are hard to mess up and have a large visual payoff. Start with the trucks, couplers, and air hoses. Get those done and take a break for a few days.

Replace the couplers with Kadee “scale” couplers, #158. Trim the coupler trip pin off. Remove the trucks and mask the wheel treads with strips of 1/16″ masking tape. Using an airbrush, paint them with Tamiya XF-72 “Brown”. Let things dry. Now we need to add contrast. Using a small, old, ratty brush, grind some Bragdon Soot Black FF-64 (or similar black from any supplier) weathering chalk onto the surfaces. Seal with rattle can Dullcote. Put the trucks back on the car. Out of the box, the air hoses have no sag. Using tweezers to stabilize the hose, impart a slight bend into them. Using a small brush, paint the hose a medium gray and the hose fittings a lighter gray.

….and now for the crucial step, the subtle haze overcoat. Before you start, go into a darkened room, light some candles and incense, and repeat the mantra over and over, “Use a light touch. Work in Layers. Use a light touch. Work in Layers”. Next, write a blood oath to yourself, “I fully realize that if I take a heavy-handed approach to the weathering, I’m screwed, will have gone past the point of no return, and will have likely ruined the model”. Moving onward…..

The haze is obtained by applying a highly, highly diluted wash with an airbrush. Pour some Tamiya XF-20 thinner into a tiny bottle or medicine cup. The tint will be Tamiya XF-68 “Nato Brown”. This has a bit of a red tint akin to the BNSF base. Dip a paint brush handle into the Nato Brown and swirl it into the thinner. Repeat until you see some color appearing. Airbrush the wash onto a 3×5 card to see how it looks. (testing your mix on the model? Not recommended!!) You should see some color, but just a bit. Make sure it’s not too dark. Overspray the model with the wash using your airbrush. I use a hairdryer to speed up the drying. At this point, the haze will be barely noticeable. We’ll build it up with more layers. Better too light than too dark. Apply, more paint drops to the thinner, test on your white card, and repeat the process by adding another layer to the model. Continue adding thin layered washes until you see a hint of color on the white lettering and then…STOP! If you’re not sure if the haze is dark enough, take a break and come back later.

The overspray will likely give the car a dead flat finish. If you still have some shine, lightly puff on some rattle can Dullcote to knock that down.

The final step was to add some shadows along the seams near the grab holders. If you’re a newbie, I suggest skipping this step. One of the more crucial modeling skills to learn is where the danger areas are, places where there is little room for error, places where it’s easy to overdo the weathering and ruin the model. This is one of them. It is so easy to go too dark and have a mess. With that disclaimer, this is what I did. Take a tiny, new artist’s brush with a sharp tip and dip it into the black weather chalk. You want to pick up just a few small grains of the weathering powder. Lightly tap it on the joint. Blow on it hard to remove the excess. I did not draw the grains downward; I let gravity do that. You need to go super light with this step.

So there you have it. Have fun!

Fruitland Team Track – A Gift to Modelers

The yard job pulls a cut of cars out of the Fruitland Team Track, lays on the horn, and prays it doesn’t spear any motorists as it crosses Leonis Blvd. (LA RailProductions video)

As long as I’ve been studying it, I still continue to be amazed at the modeling potential of the Fruitland Avenue Team Track (now operated by Arrow Reload) adjacent to Malabar Yard on the northern remnants of BNSF’s Harbor Sub. Every research foray seems to lead to a new discovery.

The geometry of the facility lends itself well to modeling. Logistics yards are always good modeling subjects. Modern ones, however, have the drawback of being on the antiseptic side visually. The Fruitland facility is a step back in time and is surrounded by vintage structures. The breadth of car variety spotted at the team track is astounding; you have: coil cars, gondolas, hoppers, boxcars, “regular” flats, low bulkhead flats, and high bulkhead flats.

There is an unusual amount of present-day, high-quality video documentation (Primarily by LA Rail Productions and Pasadena Sub). Enter “BNSF Malabar Job” in the YouTube search panel and you’ll see over a dozen videos that feature the several block transfer hop from Malabar Yard to the team track. It gets better, this short run features a one-block section of street running. One video even shows them using an old BN shoving caboose.

Street running and a caboose/shoving platform. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Click HERE for the video. It’s the first segment.

From a modeling standpoint the entire operation is a gift from the gods: compact facility, vintage structures, car variety, street running, and a caboose on some transfer runs. Whether you model this exact facility or not, the concept in general deserves a hard look.

Here’s a labeled aerial for reference. Click on the image for an expanded view. The one thing that isn’t obvious, and only apparent when you’re actually there, is how relatively small the area in question is. It only takes a few minutes to walk from the Malabar yard throat to the entrance alleyway to the team track on Leonis Blvd.

LA’s Billboard Culture

LA’s billboard culture is long-standing.  In the 1950s, you had the iconic “Methyl” ads created by the Foster and Kleiser ad agency. Many of the sign creators went on to become artists in their own right.

Billboards. Depending on personal tastes, opinions vary from “hate ‘em”, “tolerate ‘em”, “sorta of like ‘em”, to “love them!”.  I fall into the last camp.  By their nature, they’re created by professional artists at ad agencies.  Sure, you have your personal injury lawyer and insurance ads, but many are very skillfully executed from an artistic aspect.

Zoning treatment varies wildly from region to region.   Some cities, like Washington, DC, have a total ban.  You won’t see a single one.  Other cities have a fair, but not overwhelming, representation. Baltimore, NY, and Miami are examples.  (Many in Miami are Spanish language which adds an interesting regional stamp.)

And…then….there is….LA.  Jesus.  I have to admire a city that doesn’t apologize for who it is and just lays it down.  The billboards in LA are on an entirely different plane.  They are in a different world in terms of size, quantity, and of particular note, artistic execution.   They are in your face.  They are massive.  They are striking. 

When you drive out of LAX in your rental car, you feel like you’re on a different planet.  The message from the city is, “This is who we are.  We are film, we are art, we are a commercial juggernaut, we are a place of energy and optimism.” It’s hard not to be swept away and feel uplifted. Let’s take a photographic journey through a few examples.

One note before I get into a few photos. The nature of photography is such that these images don’t come remotely close to capturing the size and impact of being there in person. Here we go…

Facing west down Sunset Blvd. Entire sides of mid-rise structures are covered with signage, most of it entertainment-related.

Leaving LAX’s car rental lot and hitting the 405 on my most recent trip, you’re hit with this massive image from Sky Posters, Inc.

LA does things that the rest of the country wouldn’t consider for a split second. Massive billboards aren’t just by the side of roads, they arc completely over them. Pretty hard to miss. The trend is towards LED signage because you can change imagery via programming. As big as this sign looks in the photo, it’s downright shocking in person. You’re looking westward towards the airport on Century Blvd.

Another Hollywood-themed ad on Century Blvd.

Bridging into our subject of interest, scene composition on our layouts, LA’s billboards extend well into the rail-served industrial regions. From a modeling standpoint, you have to be careful.  You have a very narrow window to work with artistically.  Get it right, “it” being billboard treatment, and you add some nice “snap” to your scenes. They are also a way of adding a regional stamp.  If handled carelessly, however, you’ll end up with a dopey caricature that gives you that hokey “model railroady” look that you want to avoid.  The best way to stay out of trouble is to copy ads that actually exist.  Also, place your signs in locations that would be logical for your prototype.  Finally, match the size of your models with those on your prototype. Regarding dimensions, if you err, do so on the small side. Better too small than too large.

A blank billboard across the street from the LAJ’s Horn Lead in Vernon.

A mid-sized billboard on Pacific Blvd., across from the entrance to Malibar Yard.

A sidenote on the art you chose, you can give yourself a lot of flexibility if you just model blank boards and then photoshop the artwork onto the blank.

As LA’s Central Manufacturing District (the area I model) evolves, older structures are being replaced by more modern concrete tilt-ups.  Not ideal but that’s life.  There is a bonus, though, and something unique to the area.  A number of these tilt-ups are emblazoned with utterly massive and colorful logos.  By copying that feature I would get another stamp that says, “this is LA”.  The key is not to overdo the idea, model one large logo tilt-up framed by more mundane subjects.  The nature of these boxy structures is that if I want variety, I could simply pluck a building off the layout and rotate in a different one.

Here are a few photos of the more iconic structures, the ones you see as drive about.

Crystal Promotions in Vernon. The lead to the LAJ Fruitland Team Track is in the foreground.

4 Seasons is one block to the west of Crystal Promotions. The track in the foreground has been abandoned.

C.R. Laurence is a few blocks north of Malabar Yard. That’s the lead to the yard on the left.

As you head into the Central Manufacturing District from the east, and cross the LA River, you’re greeted by the massive Alkam Home Fashion logo. Welcome to beautiful downtown Vernon baby!

Time For A Change? An Update

Shown above is a design for a proto-freelance, removable module extension to the current LAJ layout. Sweetener Products is no longer rail-served under this plan, and its spur serves as a lead into Arrow Reload, a logistics/team facility.

In my June 21st blog, Time For A Change, I wrote about feeling “stuck”. Both my primary layout (The Downtown Spur), and the two smaller ones (East Rail 2, LAJ), were finished. With no compelling projects in front of me, I was drifting and not getting much modeling done outside of work.

Thinking about my options, one was to take a crowbar to The Downtown Spur and replace it with a modern BNSF, Harbor Sub. theme. I also have a really nice, unfinished loft above my shop, which could be finished for about 5k and house a fourth layout.

I decided to reach out to my informal “board of directors,” grizzled veterans who are extremely experienced and have been around the block. A few were in the same position I’m in. Opinions varied from “go for it, build a new layout” to “go slow and think about it”. The loft idea? Pretty much a unanimous opinion that I was totally insane for even considering building a fourth layout. Okay, guys, point taken.

Although The Downtown Spur is totally done, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not ready to take it down. So much work went into it. It holds many fond memories, and it’s great for operations. All of this put me back to square one.

Off and on I’ve considered extending the LAJ layout. The problem there is that the room conversion and renovation to a mid-century modern sunroom and mini-library was very successful. I’m not interested in breaking up that experience with an expanded layout hatchet job.

Adding all of that up, it brings me to what is admittedly a temporary path. I’m going to follow the advice of “my board of directors” and go slow. For the time being, I’ll spend my time building up my fleet of modern era BNSF/LAJ rolling stock.

Although I don’t want to disrupt the LAJ layout room, after much thought, I decided that I could expand the layout “IF”, the expansion was a removable module. Extending the layout about four and a half feet to add a team track inspired by Arrow Reload vastly improves the operational potential and gives me another six months or so of projects to keep me busy while I think things through.

The LAJ/BNSF extension. This particular window frames the sunset and bathes the room in sunlight. I don’t want to permanently block it with a layout extension. The solution is to make the extension easily removable.

The extension is supported by a small shelf on the left and a removable shelf bracket on the right.

I needed for the shelf bracket mount to be totally hidden behind the blinds. The solution was a sidemount design.

In order to be viable, the extension module needs to be both strong and extremely light. I came up with a design using 1.5″ thick extruded foam framed by 1/4″ by 2 1/2″ lattice.

Will this expansion prove to be viable? Will installing and removing the extension prove to be too cumbersome? Who knows. It does buy me some time while I consider my options.

P.S. Prototype sidenote. Between my own site visit and a number of YouTube videos, it seems at least for now that switching operations around BNSF’s Malabar Yard are very intense as they serve Arrow Reload and Exxon Mobil. LA Rail Productions released a new video today in which the first segment documents pulling a cut of cars from Arrow. Note the ragged caboose tucked in behind the power!