Waterville & Washington Railroad

The old adage of measure twice cut once got me. I glued the stringers too close together. Ugh. Luckily the parts were still slightly pliable and I was able to pull them apart with only having to replace one cross member. I had to sand everything down, but that was a small price to pay. Now it looks correct. Time to find the right creosote color to paint the bridge parts.

I continue my work on the Mill Creek bridge. I'm needing/waiting on the measurements for the eyebars for a pin connected truss bridge so I can have them laser cut out of styrene so I've moved on to building the two Panel Pile Trestle (PPT) bridges that are on each side of the truss bridge. I built a jig out of styrene which speeds up the process tremendously and also ensures uniformity of the PPTs. I've ordered Central Valley bridge tie sections and also Detail Associates nut/washers to complete the detail and roadbed of the bridges which I should get this week. Time to paint the PPTs which makes me a little nervous as it's fully exposed so I need to ensure the colors match a bridge that is moderately fresh, but not too weathered. It's nice working with the MOW standard diagrams as it shows the blueprints for building all of the parts.  Central Valley truss bridge with the scratch built cement backwalls in the foreground. Initial coat of paint ...

Wow. Where has the time gone? Since my last post, I've changed my job, moved twice, and now I'm at school. I'm still a modeling - slowly. Working on a new project which is a bridge. I plan to use it on my new Washington, Ks, branch line. I'll hopefully post a few photos of other projects I'm working on like my Mopac ex-KO&G caboose model. I have it with me so I can hopefully finish it also. Nate

Wow. Where has the time gone. I haven't updated my blog since I posted over a year ago that I was moving. Since that time I attended school and are temporarily living on another continent. Looking to accomplish more model railroading projects starting next year. Please stay tuned as I'm going to begin building a layout depicting Washington, Ks. I can use what I build later as part of my dream layout. Wishing you all a happy holidays and a happy new year! 

We're moving again and it's back to where we were previously assigned.  The good news is that we're looking to rent this time and found a place that is nearly 5000 sqft in size with huge open basement.  The bad news is again, it's temporary for only 2-3 years until we move again.  Hopefully we're able to rent the property.  There will be no excuse to why I can't do any modeling.  I'm going to try my hand at airbrushing and finishing my five T&P 4526 cuft covered hopper models.  The goal is to have the models complete (plus a few others) and ready for the St. Louis RPM meet next year.  I'm going to have to find someone who is good with an airbrush in the area to show me how to do it - plus decaling.  Hopefully I'll post good next week this upcoming week.

I built a Lake Junction Models (LJM) Mopac double privy like the one found at Waterville.  I took photos of it and the LJM Mopac tool house.  The Mopac used the tool house to store equipment for the section crew.  There was a wooden track to store track vehicles inside and also to the side of the tool house.  The double privy was interesting as the Waterville station agent, Milford Godsey, said that he didn't use it unless he had to.  The track workers would occasionally use it. Items were stored in the female side after the passenger trains stopped in November 1960.  Hopefully I can get back to the FMC 4526 models after the first of the year. 

I have removed the rope pulls and the airline brackets.  Plus I sanded down the parting material on the bottom of the center bay.  Next will be filling of the grab iron holes.