Arcadia & Betsey River Ry
Arcadia & Betsey River Ry
Logging In The Pacific Northwest In HO Scale
Logging In The Pacific Northwest In HO Scale
The Camp 2 Extension
The Camp 2 Extension Begins
The Camp 2 Extension Begins
Camp # 2 on the Arcadia & Betsey River Ry. is the site of the largest camp on the line. When completed it will have a full compliment of camp cars produced by BTS Models and will be centrally located between two log landings.
To the east of camp # 2 will be McKenney's Landing and to the west will be Cat Landing, named for its method of bringing logs to the loading site where a crotch line loading system will be employed.
A six car run-around track will be laid at Cat Landing and a switch-back line from Cat Landing to the Bottom Line Mine will also be installed.
This series of photo's show the progress as I proceed.
The Masonite Panels
Here you can see the 1 X 2's that have been glued and nailed to the Masonite panels that support the extruded foam. The panels make fastening switch machines an easy task.
The 1 X 2's are fastened to cleats on the sides of the joists with screws so everything stays in place.
The Base Is Glued Down
This view illustrates the method I use to fasten the extruded polystyrene foam that will form the base for my track and scenery.
I use Liquid Nails Original Formula and as you see apply it in a zig-zag heavy bead. Once applied I place the piece in position, then remove it to let the adhesive flash off. When the strong odor dissipates I reposition the piece carefully as the adhesive acts like contact cement.
Ready For Track Lines
These foam pieces have been glued to the Masonite panels shown above and are now ready to have the track lines drawn in place.
The gaps between the blocks will be bridged by the sub-roadbed and eventually will be covered by the scenery.
Sub-roadbed is applied
My sub-roadbed is made up of two pieces of 1" thick foam cut 1-1/4" wide. These pieces are glued to the base in the same manner as you would lay cork roadbed.
I use this method to give me an opportunity to model cuts, fills and subtle grade changes.
A Grade Begins
With the sub-roadbed in place I am able to cut in a log span bridge over a slough without having to gouge out the base.
In the back of this view you can see a wedge of 2" foam I have cut and placed to lift the track up and over itself to reach Cat Landing from Camp 2.
I made vertical cuts half way through every 3" or so on each side of this piece to make bending it around a curve a little easier.
A Closer Look
Here you get a closer look at the wedge cut to form the base for the grade up to Cat Landing.
The single strip of foam in the rear of this view will be the line to the Bottom Line Mine.
When my new house was built the foundation was covered where exposed with a fibreglass mesh material to hold a coat of stucco in place. The contractor left the mesh material he had left over so I am using it to support plaster cloth I use to make my hard shell foundation.
Yet Another View
Here you see I have attached the sub-roadbed to the grade wedge using nails to help hold it in place.
Note that the backdrop has not yet been painted in this area.
I hot melt glue the corrugated strips you see to the backdrop and the fascia to help create the contours I want. I also place wads of news paper where needed and overlay everything with the mesh which I hot melt glue in place.
Switch Block
I prefer to have a solid place to locate my turnouts so I cut a recess into the sub-roadbed to receive a block of Homasote.
I glue the block in place so that its top surface is level with the cork roadbed to be applied later.
The Block Is In Place
With the block glued in place I can lay my turnouts and track and spike everything securely.
Temporary Staging
To enhance operations carried out mostly on the lower deck I decided to lay some trackage leading to the place where camp 2 will be located and use it as a staging track.
Here you see the Camp 2 Logger ready to move a string of loads to Hill Camp where it will meet the Hill Camp Turn. In Hill Camp the trains will swap cars and return to their points of origin.
A Base For My Scenery
When my new house was built the foundation was covered where exposed with a fibreglass mesh material to hold a coat of stucco in place. The contractor left the mesh material he had left over so I am using it to support plaster cloth I use to make my hard shell foundation.
I hot melt glue the corrugated strips you see to the backdrop and the fascia to help create the contours I want. I also place wads of news paper where needed and overlay everything with the mesh which I hot melt glue in place.
I hot melt glue the corrugated strips you see to the backdrop and the fascia to help create the contours I want. I also place wads of news paper where needed and overlay everything with the mesh which I hot melt glue in place.
More Mesh Material
Another view showing the mesh and corrugated strips. Note that the mesh is glued to the top of the sub-roadbed next to the cork.
The mesh is glued to the base foam here because a water way will be modeled here.
Ready For Turnouts, Almost
In this view you can see a Homasote block with turnout ties in place. you can also see two of my home designed magnetic uncoupling ramps mounted in the cork.
Before I lay the track and install the home built turnouts I will cover the entire area with plaster cloth and a coat of thinned Hydrocal plaster.
Plaster Cloth and Plaster
In this photo you can see the three layers of scenery base I use in developing my scenes.
The first is as indicated earlier, plastic mesh over news paper, then a layer of plaster cloth and finally a layer of colored plaster (Hydrocal).
When mixing my plaster I mix a small amount of latex paint with the water before adding the plaster. This gives the plaster color so that white doesn't show if it gets chipped and eliminates the need to paint as a separate operation before adding my ground cover.
I mix my plaster quite thin to make it easy to apply but in areas of high stress I put two coats on. I also spray the plaster cloth with water just before applying the plaster mix so that the water in the plaster isn't drawn out too fast causing the plaster to setup before I'm ready.