Scenery construction: Colfax

Colfax, my classification yard, is located on the upper level of the layout and is the highest elevation on the pike. The Colfax yard has 5 tracks. I named this yard Colfax for two reasons: the yard on my first "good" layout (1978) was named Colfax, and the decals on all the BVrr rolling stock of that era say "Return to Colfax Yard." Colfax was the name of the street I lived on in South Minneapolis.

Directly beneath the Colfax yard is Smithtown, there was a two-track single-ended hidden staging area added in February 2001. It's named Smithtown because (you guessed it) that's the street we live on now. In August 2004 I replaced that staging with a double-ended 3-track yard.

Colfax sat as raw plywood and Homosote until August of 2006, when buying a new Walthers 90' turntable got me to start work on it.

	Here's a bird's eye view of the yard. Each of the five tracks makes a 45-degree turn in back. On the right, where the buildings currently are, there will be a small retaining wall, above which will sit some "false front" buildings. The yard is laid directly on Homosote. The turntable, roundhouse, caboose track, and maintenance track in the area to the lower left. (August 2000)
	Whoops! Design flaw! I realized several months after the yard ladder was built that I'd be fouling the mainline every time I put together a train. One #8 curved turnout and one #6R turnout later, I'd solved that problem. Should've read Armstrong's Track Planning for Realistic Operation one more time! (February 2001)
	Here's the capacitor discharge unit (left, back) and diode array (left front) for route-controlling the yard turnouts. The circuit on the right is an infrared train detector, which indicates the progress of the mainline train on the hidden track beneath the yard. I built a second one of these to indicate occupancy of the hidden staging. (August 2000)
	Here's a shot of Smithtown, the two-track hidden staging I added directly beneath Colfax yard in late February, 2001. This was replaced in August, 2004 with a double-ended 3-track staging yard (see below).
	Here's a shot looking at the reverse loops (the lower one is in the center of the frame). Colfax Yard and the upper loop are near the top of the shot. The 3-track double-ended staging will be added directly below Colfax Yard. To make the yard level, I needed to raise the entire last 30 feet of mainline about 4.5". You'll see the difference in the "after" shot 5 shots below this. Surprisingly, raising all that track and getting it level only took an evening. (September 2004)
	This is taken from the reverse loops looking back to where the above shot was taken. You can see the mainline (black line) next to the wall and the area where the old stub-ended staging was removed.
	This is the edge of the reverse loop showing where the new yard entrance will be located. I used a #8 curved Walthers turnout from the mainline (outside) track.
	The first thing I did was cut large sheets of corrugated cardboard to fit the area where the new staging would go. This way I could use them as templates for both the plywood subroadbed, and for the actual track itself. I'd be able to tell exactly where to place the turnouts that would join with the existing layout.
	Once I had the cardboard template, I laid the turnouts and flextrack directly on the cardboard, then traced them. This would be the actual shape of both the plywood subroadbed and the staging tracks.
	Here's the "after" shot, with the actual staging yard installed. You can see how much higher the reverse loop is now.
	Here's the exit to the staging yard, with the #8 curved turnout installed (very bottom of shot).
	In the end I built 5 new detection circuits for all of this: one for each of the 3 staging tracks (showing turnout fouling points and occupancy), one for the mainline reverse loop (in anticipation of when that would be hidden behind the fascia), and one for the staging/passing track within the loop. The panel has 19 LEDs on it, but is easy to read.
	This is a shot below the benchwork, showing the three occupancy detection circuits for the staging tracks. It looks complicated, but it's really not. In fact I wrote an article about how easy it is to build one of these, entitled "Conquering Schematicophobia," which you can see on my "Articles" page. (September 2004)
	In the Spring of 2006 I realized I could utilize some "wasted" space at the back end of the yard, and moved one of my temporary industries, Johnson Rod, there. There's a boxcar and hopper sitting on the spur in this shot; that spur comes from track #1 in the yard. (May 2006)
	I also extended the fascia from around the return loops to the front of the yard. In this shot, one of the removable panels has been taken off to expose the hidden staging. You can see the on-fascia momentary contact buttons for the five yard tracks (upper left), and the track diagram and occupancy LEDs for both the 3-track hidden staging, and the lower reverse loop.
	I saw a demo of the then-new Walthers 90' turntable at the National Train Show in Philadelphia in July 2006 and was sold. When I heard a local hobby shop was selling it for $219 (SRP: $299) it was sold... to me. So I started work on the engine servicing area of Colfax. I knew I had to add a caboose track, a coal/sand/ash entry track, a roundhouse exit track, and a coal/sand/ash delivery & pickup track. First thing I did was make a pencil rubbing of the existing trackwork. Big thanks go out to my friend Chuck Diljak for helping me with design ideas for these new tracks. (August 2006)
	As I'd done when planning my city of Westcott, I brought the template to the floor and started playing with some flextrack (for the yard lead), the turntable template, and a template I'd made of the Heljan roundhouse that I had a kit for. Here I'm trying to figure out (1) where the turntable/roundhouse should go, and (2) how many stalls the roundhouse should have. You can see the tracing of the mainline track on the paper just above the yard lead. I "discovered" the empty corner space above the mainline at this point and realized it would be perfect for another Colfax industry. (August 2006)
	Once I got the template back up on the layout, I moved the location of the turntable/roundhouse one more time. That's the mainline track at the top of the shot, and the yet-to-be-extended yard lead next to it. And there's that "hole" between the mainline and the corner that would later house an industry.
	Once I figured out the configurations, it was time to build. Here I'm laying the cork roadbed for the caboose track. The turntable (just to the left of the yellow glue bottle) is already mounted. (August 2006)
	This is the final trackage. Cabooses are on the new caboose track. The roundhouse exit track is to their right, the sand/coal delivery track is in the center, and the roundhouse entry track is next to the aisle, beside some "stand-in" models. The "mouse hole" in the upper right of this shot lets the mainline go from this side of the layout over to the city of Westcott. Just in front of the mouse hole is the extended yard lead. The Small & Shaw building (see below) will later cover the hole. (August 2006)
	A former railroad buddy, Rick Boxford, bought this Heljan roundhouse (and 3 extension stalls) kit at a swap meet for $10. He gave it to me when he dropped out of model railroading. I painted the bricks "rust" and painted the doors in the official "depot colors" of the BV: Pullman Green with an accent stripe of SP Daylight Red.
	I filled in that "corner hole" with rigid Styrofoam and laid a temporary track there for a future Colfax industry (which will later become Wissota Furnutire). The spur comes off the mainline.
	Once the trackage and turnout links were completed, I extended the fascia further. This shot gives you an idea of where things are relative to the rest of the layout. I'm standing next to the return loop (to my left, out of the picture). The lake area is in the right foreground, and Glen Oaks is on the other side of the curved backdrop just above the bridge. Where that white piece of paper is on the right will later become the farm area. (August 2006)
	The above picture is exactly how the yard and roundhouse area sat for about a year, while I constructed the farm scene. Once that was completed, it was time to continue onward. This shot, taken in January of 2008, shows the completed foreground, containing the turntable and roundhouse. I converted a $5 swap meet machine shop into a powerhouse and added a Walthers smokestack. The tracks in the foreground are "cut off," giving the viewer the impression that they continue into the void of the aisle. In the background the Wissota building and the unnamed gray building next to it are, so far, the only permanent residents, as I try to figure out what to put back there. (January 2008)
	To be sure I had room to include all the necessary engine servicing structures, I jumped ahead a little bit and added a Walthers ash hoist, sandhouse, and coaling tower -- all located along the track closest to the aisle. (January 2008)
	Moving north from the turntable, here's the diesel fueling facility. Because the BV just recently added its first diesel, this is a rather small area that's intended to look like it was jammed into an empty spot. Behind the turntable leads is a Quonset hut supply house and a carpenter shop (a leftover from my old '70s layout). The water tank was scratchbuilt. (January 2008)
	Next to the water tank is the Walthers coaling tower. Because I only have one turntable lead, I'm only able to use one of the coaling stations. Next to it is the sandhouse. (January 2008)
	Just beyond the sand house (and actually the first "workstation" an engine encounters on its way into the roundhouse) is the ashpit and hoist, another Walthers model. Finally, next to it is an abandoned caboose, serving as a yard office. (January 2008)
	Behind the roundhouse you'll find a little kitbashed shop and, behind that, the Small & Shaw Hardware Manufacturing Company. This building is a kitbash of Walthers' American Hardware Supply Co., and was the subject of a kitbashing article which ran in the August 2008 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman and won the "Kitbash of the Month Award." The building not only hides the hole in the fascia where the mainline comes through, the mainline actually passes through the building -- a trick first popularized by Earl Smallshaw. Hence, the building name. In the immediate foreground is a hillside which leads down to the farm area. You can barely see the top of the tunnel portal. (January 2008)
	I finally finished the area behind the roundhouse and turntable in late January 2008. Here's the way it looks at slightly below eye level. The Wissota Furniture building is on the far left; across the alley is an unnamed gray building (which rests right up against the backdrop). Across the alley from that, an unnamed brown building. Finally, next to that is Dunn Welding (it sounds like a pun, but it's not meant to be!), which is a blue one-story building. It's really only half of a building that rests up against the backdrop. But I added mirrors #8 and #9 to the layout at either end of the building, so it appears to be a full building to a viewer standing in the aisle. (January 2008)
	At the time I built it, this was the deepest part of the scenery on the layout (probably 39 inches or more) and it was a real pain to work on... standing on the second step of a two-step ladder, and bending WAYYYY over to put down weeds and details with a long pair of tweezers. Since that time, the area on the yard side of Eureka has turned out to be deeper, and even more of a pain to work on. Take it from someone who'd never do this again: keep your layout narrow! (January 2008)
	Here's a shot just to show where things are, relative to one another. The farm scene is on the right, then there's the hillside up to the roundhouse area, which curves around. You can just see the yard ladder over on the left. (February 2008) It was at this point I stopped working on Colfax and began working on the town of Eureka... work that eventually won me a 1st Place prize in Model Railroader's "Design a Scene" contest.
	Once all the work had been completed for Eureka, I turned back to Colfax. I added some Downtown Deco building backs to the south end (near Wissota Furniture) and then began working on the Eureka-side (the north end) of the yard. I first built the industry (as yet unnamed) you see here out of a Revell Enginehouse and Bakery (see details in the "Industries" section below). One leg of the reverse loop comes from behind this industry and rejoins the mainline, just about behind the boxcar in this shot. In the foreground I decided to add a brick street. Because the city of Colfax considered the yard to be a little bit of an eyesore, they erected a wooden fence to hide the view. The fence, of course, was like a magnet for signs, and eventually the whole fence became cluttered with advertising. This is a portion of the fence. (April, 2009)
	Here's a wider view of the street. You can see the number of signs on the fence! (April, 2009)
	One of my favorite little scenes in this area is this one. It's a little hard to read with this small photo, but on the far right there's a kid on a bike, with his dog running beside him. He's waving to the guys in the truck... who are waving back. There's a kid directly above the back end of the truck in this photo, who's also waving. A nice little "small town" scene. (April, 2009)

The next order of business was to fill in the 5 feet of background between Colfax Foods on the south, and the unnamed industry on the north. The problem is, the space is only about 7" wide. I didn't want any more industries, since Colfax was getting larger than I'd ever envisioned it. I suddenly got the idea to build a little neighborhood, so I used a 3-pack of City Classics' "Company Houses," chopped them in half, and created little "next to the tracks" backyards. I'm in the process of turning this into an article. This is a shot of the houses off the layout. (May, 2009)
	Here's a shot of the houses installed on the layout. Between those houses and Colfax Foods (the industry with the water tower) is a nondescript apartment building. I also built a couple of smaller apartment/business buildings for the far side of Colfax Foods. (May, 2009)
	I super-detailed all of the backyards. Here's the Andersons' yard (the houses are "A," "B," "C," "D," "E," and "F"). Three kids are playing, and the crop of tomatoes is looking good! (May, 2009)
	The "C" house (no name yet!) has a great big garden in it, with lettuce and corn. (May, 2009) This leaves about 2 feet of blank space between the houses and the Reverse Loop scenery. When that's done, this side of the layout is finished!


*Construction shots:*	Benchwork \| Scenery \| Finished Scenes
*Layout:*	Trackplan & Specs
*Misc:*	The Road to MMR \| Articles I've written Durango & Silverton RR Shots \|About Me

Colfax / Smithtown

Updated 05/17/09

Colfax's trackplan and industries


	Wissota Furniture ("Wis" for Wisconsin, "sota" for Minnesota) is the first (and so far, only) permanent industry in Colfax. It's located just off the mainline, in the curve of the backdrop (in fact, the building is actually "sawed off" in the back to accommodate the curve in the Masonite). The building is a kitbash of one Walthers' "REA Express" building. All of the kit's walls were used for the visible walls; the building's rear walls are blanks of styrene. I scratchbuilt the water tower from a plastic container for nylon stockings and some Central Valley beams left over from the bridge over the lake.
	Way down at the opposite end of the yard (the "north" end by layout directions), just several real feet from the town of Eureka, is this building, whose name I haven't decided upon yet. This was the former location of the always temporary "Johnson Rod and Skyhook" building. This building is on a siding that starts near the end of one of the yard tracks, and was made from a Revell Enginehouse kit I built as a kid, plus a Revell Superior Bakery kit (virtually the same as the enginehouse) that I got for $8 at a flea market, and a few additional wall sections I made molds of and cast. (March, 2009)
	Here's another view of the "new building." In this view, the camera is facing the return loop and the town of Eureka starts just to the left of this picture. As you can see cars get pulled inside this industry. Currently it's simply housing my track cleaning cars (made the John Allen way, with a couple of nails dragging some Masonite on the track) until I can figure out (1) what the industry does and (2) what its name is. It's hard to see in these shots, but there's a chain link fence around the loading dock area. (March, 2009)