Durango & Silverton RR Shots |About Me
|
|
| Construction shots: | Benchwork | Scenery | Finished Scenes |
| Layout: | Trackplan & Specs |
| Misc: | The
Road to MMR | Articles
I've written Durango & Silverton RR Shots |About Me |
I named it Glen Oaks for no other reason than I liked the sound of the name. Glen Oaks is a small town in a rural area, and is the southernmost town modeled on the layout. From the lower loop the mainline climbs a 1% grade at this point and vanishes into a tunnel, only to reappear halfway around the layout at Froton.
 |
This is the way the track was originally
laid back in the Summer of 2000.
The tunnel will be where the track passes under the far left edge of Westcott. (June 2000) |
 |
After operating for over a year I knew
the Glen Oaks siding -- which only holds 7
cars plus an engine and caboose -- was too short. Plus, the turnout at the far end of the siding was too close to where the
tunnel portal would be.
In February, 2002 I reconfigured the siding, making it almost 3-feet longer by adding a curved turnout farther down the mainline and moving the far turnout toward the camera 5 inches. In this shot the cork roadbed shows the actual difference between the old siding and what will be the new one. (February 2002) |
 |
In March, 2002, I began working on the hillside that separates Glen Oaks from Westcott (on the upper plateau). I used 2-inch Styrofoam insulation sheets. The sheets were glued together and then, like the old joke, I just carved away anything that didn't look like a hillside, using a hot wire foam cutter. On a lark, I also decided to add a river at this point. The river will curve around the back of the hillside and end at a mirror. You can see where I've drawn in the riverbanks on the subroadbed. (March 2002) |
 |
After adding a plywood sheet beneath the
subroadbed to act as a stable river bottom, I cut away the subroadbed
and propped up the tracks with plywood so I could still run the
trains. The river looks wide here, but the bulk of the width will
be taken up by the sloping banks -- which you can see carved on the
Styrofoam in the background.
My email buddy Dave Hunt and I determined that a plate girder bridge on the mainline (track closest to the camera) and a pile trestle on the siding would look great -- it would give the impression that the mainline and its bridge had been added later in time. (March 2002)
|
 |
I decided to scratchbuild both bridges, starting with the plate girder bridge. Here's a closeup of one of the sides. I made the rivet plates from .010" styrene embossed on the back with a pounce wheel. (March 2002) |
 |
Here's the final bridge, painted and weathered, in place. It's being held up at this point by a block of wood. (March 2002) |
 |
Here's a rare view of the completed pile trestle bridge -- normally the plate girder bridge hides most of it. In the background you can see the future location of the falls. (March 2002) |
 |
After covering all that lovely Styrofoam with plaster-soaked paper towels and forming the riverbed, I added some rock faces next to the tunnel portal, as if a geological fault had occurred at that point, which also created what would soon be a waterfall in the river. Another thanks goes to Dave Hunt for that idea. (April 2002) |
 |
Once I'd painted the riverbed and set rocks and twigs into it, I made two pours of Envirotex Lite on the "upper" portion of the river. I blocked off the back end of the river with a mirror (yes, another one!) which will give the impression that the river continues around a bend. I blocked the river off at the falls with a piece of clear styrene, temporarily attached with silicone caulk. (April 2002) |
 |
I decided to try Woodland Scenics' "Water Effects" for the waterfall and, needing something to use as a "backer" for the stuff, decided on some "plastic paper" from Fruit Roll-Ups (what more could you want? A great snack and model railroading material, all in one!). Here it is glued into place. (April 2002) |
 |
Here's my second attempt at making falls
with the Water Effects. Here the first layer of Water Effects had been
applied to the plastic paper and had dried almost totally clear, and I
added a second layer with a toothpick just moments before I took this
shot. (The stuff has the consistency of toothpaste.)
No gloss medium has been applied to the river's surface yet, so the water looks unnaturally still. And, of course, there's no Envirotex on the lower part of the river. You can clearly see where the mirror is, and how, once greenery surrounds it, it'll create the illusion of a longer river. (April 2002) |
 |
One of the details I added to the river was fish. They're about 1/8" long (lunkers in HO scale!) and made from solder. Here they are, in position just before I poured the final layer of Envirotex. In the final scene I have a little red bobber resting on the water's surface just above them. (June 2002) |
 |
Elsbernd Antiques, named for our good friends, antique collectors and house contractors Teresa and Jerry Elsbernd, is the first of the town buildings for Glen Oaks. It was built from a kit by J.L. Innovative Designs, but built as a mirror image. This building received a score of 92 in an NMRA Merit Award judging. (January 2003) |
 |
All construction stopped in Glen Oaks in June of 2002 as I devoted all my time to working on my Master Model Railroader certificate. Almost three years later I returned to where I'd left off. The first task was to build the buildings for the downtown area. Since Elsbernd Antiques had already been built, the rest of the block had to be constructed. The first was Patty Lou's Bakery (named for my mother-in-law, and built from plans in a '70s Model Railroader article). Here it's mounted on a diorama which won "2nd Place Off-Line Display" at the 2005 NMRA Convention in Cincinnati. (January 2005) |
 |
The bakery was scratchbuilt (except for the upstairs windows) and features an orange cat, remarkably similar to our Phyllis, sleeping in the upper right window. Besides the exterior details... |
 |
...the model features a fully detailed scratchbuilt interior, complete with cases of cakes and bread and pastries. |
 |
The donuts in the front window are actually tiny beads, painted brown and "glazed" with white paint. The baking pans are .005 styrene. |
 |
The third building for downtown Glen Oaks was also scratchbuilt from plans in an old Model Railroader, which I adapted to fit the space. This is "Norm and Phyllis's General Store" (named for our two cats, Norma and Phyllis -- Phyllis is sleeping in the bakery window next door, and Norma is hiding on the upstairs porch). |
 |
With the three main buildings built, it was time to get back to scenery... three years later. I used a piece of Gator board to form the base of the town. The town follows the angle of the Black River, and the grain elevator is on its own spur. (April 2005) |
 |
I always envisioned downtown Glen Oaks as
having a brick street, so I used some plastic brick sheets to create
one. Rather than ending the street at the backdrop, I had it curve
around the corner. The block itself is .060" styrene, which,
when combined with the .020" bricks, creates a realistic 4"
curb. The styrene was painted concrete and scored with expansion
joints.
One thing I didn't care for was the fact that when you stood in front of the town, you could still see the road ending at the backdrop. How to get around this....?
|
 |
Yup. Another mirror -- the fifth one on the layout so far. Here you can see it in position, reflecting the street in front of it, and creating a false curve around the back of the block. |
 |
Once the trees are placed against the backdrop and next to the mirror, the mirror is virtually invisible. The top edge of the mirror will later be covered by overhanging trees. (May 2005) |
 |
I added a little park across the street, complete with a picnic table and a young couple looking across the river at the hillside. On the picnic table there's a table cloth, a picnic basket, two paper plates, and a bottle of wine. (July 2005) |
 |
Here's a straight-on look at Glen Oaks after I finished it. (Is it every really finished?) The hillside features pine trees made from a Color-Rite kit and some made from Woodland Scenics armatures and Bragdon's "Finescale Forest" foliage. (June 2006) |
 |
Just a candid shot of the mess in Glen Oaks as I added the trees and other scenery around the river. (May 2005) |
 |
The next area I worked on was the culvert, which is between the grain elevator and the Diljak/A-1 complex. Three tracks pass over it -- the mainline with a turnout for a spur (closest to camera), the passing siding (center), and the spur for Diljak/A-1. Here's the way it looked before I started. (June 2005) |
 |
A little Sculptamold helped make things a little more understandable. (June 2005) |
 |
Once the stones were painted, fake fur and Woodland Scenics tall grass were added, and some Enviro-Tex was poured, it suddenly looked like something. The only thing that needed to be done at this point was to add ballast to the tracks on top. (July 2005) |
 |
Before I got much farther (or forgot), I added an abandoned spur to the aisle-side of the A-1 Box Company. (July 2005) |
 |
One of the new Walthers Cornerstone releases I saw at the Cincinnati Convention in 2005 was State Line Farm Supply. I just loved that building, so I ordered it and built it immediately. I renamed it the "Glen-O-Co-op" and added a large sign, as if the owners were trying to spruce up an older building. I also put an addition on the side. The building rests up against the backdrop, so a good chunk of the right rear corner has been cut off. The billboards and trees hide the joint. (August 2005) |
 |
Glen Oaks is teeming with people, but one of my favorite mini-scenes is this one, next to the farm supply building, of an older farmi couple being sold a tractor. (August 2005) |
 |
I added a few details to Glen Oaks' main street, including two non-working wig-wags. The sign says "Glen Oaks, An award winning town" because 5 of the 7 buildings in it have won awards in various contests. (August 2005) |
 |
The next area to be developed was the
short spur that's between the mainline and the edge of the
benchwork. Originally I'd planned to have a junkyard here, but
decided instead to make it the Glen Oaks team track. (This
location is called "Future Industry" on the trackplan below.)
|
 |
I used a pillar crane from J.L. Innovative Design, and cast a "concrete" dock from plaster, then added styrene "concrete" around it, and built a fence and gates from bridal veil. A great little industry with only about a 6" depth! (September 2005) |
 |
FINALLY! "Mr. Pondscum" (see my article) got around to adding cattails and pond scum to his own layout! I later even added lily pads. Some of the cattails were leftovers from the article. (September 2005) |
 |
Between the mainline and the passing siding I was able to squeeze in this tiny flagstop depot, scratchbuilt from plans in the April 1979 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. I added a freelanced freight shelter and wooden platform. This little scene is about 5" long. (October 2005) |
 |
Here's a detail that never got published in my Railroad Model Craftsman article about constructing the A-1 Box Co. This is cranky, bored Mr. Diljak, smoking a stogie in his second floor office in the Diljak/A-1 Container Corporation complex. (See below). The cigar is actually a brush bristle. (July 2003) |
 |
This is the way the finished Diljak/A-1
Container Co. complex looks. The three wooden buildings are
scratchbuilt, and the brick building was kitbashed from two DPM kits.
The building on the far right was the subject of my article, "Building the Diljak/A-1 Container Co." The brick building on the far left was the subject of my "Kitbashing an addition to the Diljak A-1 Container Company" article. Both were published in 2004 in Railroad Model Craftsman magazine. (June 2006) |
 |
This is the south end of the
complex. Immediately to the left of the dirt road in the shot is The
Lake area.
Except for some trees in the foreground, this area is finished. All told, Glen Oaks took me four years to finish. (June 2006) |
 |
This is Glen Oaks as seen from the North... as if the cameraman were standing in Westcott. The whole of Glen Oaks occupies an area about 96" x 28". |
 |
And here it is from the South end -- the same view as the second picture on this page. |
|
This is the trackplan as of 11/21/03 |
|
 |
Valley Growers Grains was the first industry in Glen Oaks. This structure was built in 2001 from a Campbell's "Grain Elevator" craftsman kit. |
 |
In October 2002 I started working on
structures for Glen Oaks. This is the "future box
company" noted in the drawing above. It's the Diljak /
A-1Container Company's storage building, named in honor of my good New
Jersey friend, Chuck Diljak. As the theoretical history goes, it
started as the A-1 Box Company and Mr. Diljak (seen above) bought and
renamed it. It's completely scratchbuilt building; all windows and
doors were cast in two-part resin by me. The only commercial parts
are the pallets, the figures, the crates, and the vehicles.
I designed this structure and drew up the plans for it. My construction article and plans ran in the March 2004 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. (July 2003) |
 |
This is another view of the track side of
the structure. Both this shot and the one above were photographed
on a diorama I made for the building. The pictures were taken
outside, with real trees as the backdrop.
This structure earned 104 Merit Points in an NMRA structure judging -- a proud achievement indeed! (July 2003) |
 |
Here's the back of the building as it sits
on the diorama. The stand-alone loading dock was also designed by
me and scratchbuilt one board at a time.
The actual Diljak/A-1 complex on my layout won't have the loading dock in this position, but instead, will be across the tracks next to the following building. (July 2003) |
 |
Across the tracks from the Diljak/A-1storage building are these two buildings, the original A-1 Box Company buildings. Again, as the theoretical history goes, this was formerly the plant until more buildings were built. Now the upstairs houses the offices. Both of these buildings were kitbashed from DPM structures. There will be an abandoned siding next to the curved portion of the building once it gets installed on the layout. Old Mr. Diljak (above) is in the 4th window from the left. |
 |
After I built this model I realized it would make a dandy kitbashing "how-to" article. So I built another one, exactly like the first. All told, the two models took me 3 months to complete. I gave the original (pictured here) to my friend Chuck Diljak (see above). The second one is installed on the BVrr. Model #2 received 101 points in a Merit Award judging contest. (July 2003)
|
 |
The Glen Oaks team track, as seen from the south entrance. The flagstop depot would later be placed on the green strip to the left of the fence. (September 2005) |
 |
Another shot of the Glen Oaks team track. The dock foreman shoots the breeze with a truck driver. (September 2005) |
 |
In the Spring of 2006 I finally scratchbuilt the fourth and final building of the Diljak/A-1 Box Company complex. I designed the building myself. This is the side that faces the spur and is opposite the brick building. (May 2006) |
 |
Here's the side of the building that faces the backdrop. I added a little powerhouse, bashed from leftover pieces of DPM walls, and a Walthers smokestack I picked up at a flea market for $5. (May 2006) |
