The first structure for the new East Rail layout is now a wrap. Photo above. In Miami there is a fairly broad range among industries in terms of how often they receive cars. The LPG companies, logistics warehouses, and scrap metal industries are worked frequently. Others only see a car or two a year. This structure falls into the “seldom if ever gets cars” category.
The inspiration for the project came from a structure on FEC’s CIS lead (Page 80 of my new book). For those that want to try your hand at photo wallpaper I’ve placed the image in the Photo Wallpaper section of the How To tab (scroll to the bottom).
Visiting your site in person creates a mental link between you and your subject that you simply can’t get from looking at photos online or in a book. This shot was taken looking east down Miami’s 23rd Street in 2007. I was taking in the sound of the aircraft flying out of MIA, the humidity, the sun, the sights, sounds, and smells. I think of all of that when I walk into my layout room.
Visiting the location we’re modeling adds an entirely new and positive dimension to how we experience our hobby. It took me until recently to understand why. I used to think of the goal of the visits as being solely one of documentation. That’s certainly a big part of it…..but not the biggest.
What is really happening when we are at ground zero, in person, is we’re making a strong, positive, mental connection between an actual “place”, a “world”, and our model. Without the visit, it’s impossible to make that same link. When you’re there on the ground, soaking it all in, the location never, ever looks the same as it does in photos. It’s better. Far better. Looking back on my rail fan and site visits, I can confidently say they have been some of my most enjoyable days on earth. The exploring, the discovery, the excitement of having what we’ve previously only seen books now being right in front of us. The sun, the heat, the sights, the people, the sounds, the smells, you can’t get that from a computer screen.
Will having visited the site make the resulting model look different to others? Who knows. Will it look different to you? Emphatically yes. Having made the trip, every time you walk into the layout room your mind will roll back to the day, or days, you visited the inspiration of your model.
Having laid that groundwork here are some things to consider, in no particular order. There are likely dozens of rail fan “art shots” out there on the web already so you don’t really need those. Rolling stock photos can be easily had with the click of a mouse. Take lots of structure photos but do so at a fully square, ninety degree angle orientation. Get the structure sides too. You’ll need those for modeling. Take plenty of detail shots. Take down-the-street and panorama shots that give an overall view of the area. We are no longer in the film age. When in doubt, photograph it. Never assume a building will always be there, or be there in the paint scheme you like. If you have an SLR, make sure you have it on the right settings and check your shots after each one to make sure “got them”. I have some ugly stories about not having done that. Ouch. Make sure you have extra batteries. Make sure the camera is set to auto focus and not on manual (another ugly story). I generally bring a camera and my phone as back up.
Do some aerial recon. before the trip so you know where things are and don’t waste time searching when you’re there in person. Make a rough list of the things you want to photo and put them on a map printout. My readers are primarily industrial switching enthusiasts. Your typical industrial area or long spur can usually be well documented in a few hours. They aren’t that big and you won’t need a huge amount of time, certainly not days.
Mental blocks. I used to associate going from city A to city B as being a “trip”. A trip being something that is expensive, time consuming, takes a lot of planning, and in other words, a big “deal”. If you think it through logically, that doesn’t need to be the case. I only need three or four hours on site. There is no reason to stay overnight. Let’s look at an example. I live in the Washington, DC area. Railfan “heaven”, railroad heaven is Los Angeles, the opposite coast. You would think getting there is a big and expensive deal. It’s not at all. Let’s look at the numbers. Oddly, with a little advanced planning you can get coast to coast, non-stop, DC to LA airfares for three hundred bucks, even less sometimes. Then you can play the time difference to your advantage. It sounds crazy but you can get a 9am flight out of DC and be in LA at lunchtime (Their time. Remember the time difference). Pick up a rental car for forty bucks and make the short drive over to Vernon to take your shots. Get a 7pm flight home and it’s mission accomplished. Cheap, simple, and FUN! If you go during business hours you’re likely to see more rail action. If you want quiet, go on the weekends but you probably won’t see trains. Monday through Wednesday flights tend to be the cheapest.
Finally a note on safety. Actually it’s a commentary on how terrible your typical middle class American is at risk assessment, often assuming danger where there is…absolutely….none….ZERO. I routinely ask my friends why they don’t visit the sites. The answer is always the same. “I saw some graffiti in a photo. I’m afraid I’m going to get mugged”. It’s the prevailing concern. You are NOT going to get mugged. Your car is not going to get stolen. These areas are business locations not residential “hoods”. (Actually, the chance of being mugged in “the hood” is pretty much zero too but that’s a subject for another day). Further, most of these places have a Starbucks and Whole Foods within a few blocks. By being completely over the top in assigning risk where, realistically there is none at all, you miss out on one of life’s great experiences.
So, go on Expedia, check the rates, look at the maps, plan your trip and have fun!
The local runs down the switchback to pick up an empty at the Miami Produce Center on my Downtown Spur layout. This was a tricky move for the crews because they had to cross 12th Avenue to do so. “Twelfth” is a busy, four lane, boulevard through the heart of town. For whatever reason, there are no crossing flashers and sight lines are blocked by buildings on all sides. The crew would stop short of the street, put out fusee’s, stop traffic by hand, and scoot across to the Produce Center’s courtyard.
To simulate the move on the layout, I’ve installed working fusees from Logic Rail Technologies. I did an article awhile back on this in MR but can’t remember the specific issue.
Cars spotted at The Terminal Corporation’s logistics warehouse in Baltimore on a very rainy day in May.
The photo above, taken yesterday in Baltimore, illustrates how just a single turnout and judicious industry selection can provide a platform for an interesting operating scenario. Because this is a logistics facility, you can’t just dump cars anywhere. Each car goes to a specific door. Heated phone calls would be made if the boxcar was spotted where the reefers are. Although not visible, there are two tracks here. You have the slightly elevated industry in the back. In the front, obscured by the guardrail, is a stub-ended sorting track to help with blocking and organizing the cut. If the boxcar and reefers weren’t blocked in the yard, they’d use the sorting track to get them in correct sequence. Five reefers came in, but they only had room to spot two of them at the loading bays. That means the three on the right needed to be placed “off spot” until room frees up. Once the two reefers in the back are unloaded, the switcher will pull them (and likely the boxcar), and put the two loaded offspot reefers at the doors. Tom Klimoski made some phone calls to industry insiders and they believe the reefers are probably carrying potatos. My guess is from Idaho. I have a track plan for this scene in my latest book, 8 Trackplans For Modern Era Switching Layouts.
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As work on the East Rail layout ramps up, one of the more annoying issues has been the “black hole” dark spot in the corner. The poor lighting was really taking the fun out of working on the railroad and needed to be addressed. Adding lighting that is effective and cleanly executed isn’t always that easy.
To the rescue was a Lithonia lighting 4 foot LED ceiling mount fixutre that I ordered from The Home Depot. When picking lighting, the first thing I look for is “horsepower” (brightness) which is measured in lumens. This particular product rates at 4000 lumens which certainly does the job. It also has adjustable color temperature and brightness knobs.
Electrical codes dictate that all connections must be made within a junction box that is accessible from the room (not behind a wall).
The tricky part of the install was that the ceiling above the fixture is actually a drywall boxout I built to conceal my home’s major hvac duct runs. This meant I needed to find the framing and also make sure I knew were the ducts were so I didn’t drill through them. Once I knew where everything was, it was the old story of wishing you had six foot long, one inch diameter, jointless arms to thread the wire through.
My good buddy Tom Klimoski, a career firefighter and master DIYer, is always reminding me of the importance of adhering to building codes. Codes aren’t a case of “the man” telling you what to do in your own home. Their sole purpose is to keep people from burning their homes down, killing themselves, etc…..all worthy objectives I think we can all agree.
Tom reminded me that two key wiring codes are: a) All electrical connections must be made in a junction box and b) junction boxes MUST be accessible from the room, not hidden behind drywall. In other words, some jury rigged, just twist the wires and stuff them behind the walls, deal is just downright dumb from a safety standpoint. It only takes an extra hour to do things to code and the peace of mind is worth it.
The layout room is now bathed in bright and evenly distributed lighting. Onward and upward.
