Finally filling in at 294

It has taken nearly 15 years to decide how to add scenery at CP294, and we are finally making great headway.  While the railroad around it and above it was clear, and while the top area is fully covered with scenery in that location, it took a lot to visualize how the lower level would work out.  Tracks were added and moved and all of that required a redo on the vision for scenery.  

Finally after 12 years of operations, it was clear this configuration worked.  And so I got to work.  This will be the location of the former tower, now field office, scratchbuilt by Perry Squier and detailed and installed by me here.  

It will do the dual purpose of belonging to the front tracks at CP294 and visually representing the prototype SJ tower (formerly SS#4 tower) at Solvay.  It also makes visual use of the rear tracks.  On the Onondaga Cutoff, those are the far eastern end of the railroad.  But at Solvay, the visual is a strong reminder of the old West Shore mainline, which was built parallel to the NYC at that spot.  SS#4, and SJ the followed, were between the NYC mainline that they served and the West Shore immediately to the north: exactly the configuration here.

That decided, it was time to get started from back to front with ballast and base scenery.  It is always hard to see a mainline flooded with diluted glue!

It was a tight place to be working, but since the operations had to start first and confirm it all, it was how it needed to be.  Grass came next along with ground cover.  

Ballasting track is delicate but switches are extremely delicate - moving parts don't do well with ballast granules in the wrong spots.  So it is slow, slow progress.  Ballasting the interlocking limits at 294 ended up about 11 hours of work over the course of a week.  

But, after all that, it really does come together well.  Here we are below with glue applied, still wet and awaiting the cure of the ballast to finalize its shape.  Some quick additional weathering and details will follow in the days to come.

The points are held on center by spare ties, so that the glue doesn't freeze the rails shut against a stock rail.  No matter how careful we are, the glue will work great on those points - so you must take action to deal with it as the cure happens.  A few times in the first hour of curing I moved the points by hand, and then again after about 7 or 8 hours, each time breaking the bond of curing glue.  

I also use graphite on the points as I move them, which helps to counteract the bond. Even if it gets mixed with glue residue, this is a helpful step as the glue dries.  Keep working the points once every 8 hours for a full two days, and you're going to have a great result.    

Next steps include foreground scenery, as well as trees and shrubs, weeds, and details.  It will be a busy and satisfying few weeks!

Upgrading the Tower at CP 282

 A continuing vision for the Onondaga Cutoff is to 'Let Experts Be Experts.'   We've discussed that before, and it is manifested in different ways.  Skilled hands helped with benchwork.  Trusted advice from Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman guided track installation and wiring.  Computer and IT experts helped me with networking.  Signal professionals did the signal design and guided the installation.  Transportation Planning professionals designed the car-forwarding and locomotive distribution systems, and design each operating session.  The list goes on, but it is clear that the total is much greater than the sum of the parts.

Recently, I had been searching for a suitable permanent model at CP 282 to represent an old NYC tower, repurposed as an office.  My vision was to model the tower that once stood at SJ interlocking, which became CP 293 under Conrail's tenure.  Al Tillotson, a talented modeler and regular operator on the OC, had contributed a foam-core and photo-printed stand-in that was suitable for its purpose for the last several years.  However, my goal was to model the brick and mortar construction from the 1930's as NYC upgraded its route through Syracuse.  

SJ was a critical interlocking that included not just the Water Level Route mainline but also the old Auburn Main, the Freight Bypass to the north, and the Lackawanna Oswego main line and interchange - plenty to keep the operator busy.   By the late 1950's though, NYC was installing new Centralized Traffic Control on its main routes, which allowed interlockings to be remote controlled from many miles away.  This made the tower operator and manual interlocking redundant.  The machinery was removed in the late 50's but the maintenance crews continued to use the tower as an office for decades to follow.  By the mid-90's, though, the end came and the structure was demolished.  

I worked with Perry Squier, a local modeler and expert scratch builder, to move forward.  Perry offered to build the tower if I could find plans.  Through the internet I came in contact with a former Conrail employee that - believe it or not - rescued the actual blueprints for this tower from a dumpster.  Amazed, I reported back to Perry who was surprised and pleased that we'd located the actual plans.  I made copies and Perry got to work.  

Perry asked that I do any interior detailing, which I did during a test-fit of the structure.  I also added lighting before returning the project for completion.  Perry delivered the final structure after several months of work, and I installed it on the layout - what an improvement!  

This adds a tremendous amount of NYC heritage and flavor to a scene that was already nearly complete.  The old tower was removed, and will be headed for my boy's layout in the attic, thanks to Al's generosity.  The new tower does an amazing job at night!

Another example of collaboration that turns out for the best: asking experts to help has made this layout greater than it could be if I were doing it myself. 

Going Back, For the Future

Winter has arrived here in New Jersey, and with it more time for modeling and for working towards getting several projects moving forward on the Onondaga Cutoff.  

First among those is a new tower for CP 282, which has long been a goal of mine.  The stand-in, generously constructed by Al Tillotson from foam-core and prototype photos has worked well well for several years but a permanent replacement is needed.  Thanks to the internet I was able to track down the actual original New York Central (NYC) blueprints for the tower that stood at 'SJ' interlocking, on the boarder of Syracuse and Solvay, NY, until 1994.  In discussing the project with Perry Squier, a gifted modeler who also lives in northwestern NJ, I mentioned how it would be years before I could have time to do it.  Perry volunteered to help and build the tower so long as I did the interior detailing and lighting.  I am always up for collaboration, especially from experts!

Once Perry had the building constructed, I picked up the project to test fit it on the layout.  Since the prototype has a basement, installation required - gulp - cutting into finished scenery and subroadbed with a jigsaw.  Yikes!  

This is never a fun feeling.  I used some scraps of plywood to ensure I didn't destroy the track and signals in the area, and also made sure to tie the wires underneath this spot out of the way so that the saw didn't cut those, too.  

Cuts made, I could test fit the tower:

You can see the older stand-in in the back, which actually represents an abandoned version of a Hudson Division NYC tower in the 1980's.  The permanent structure will be built following Conrail practice to repurpose old towers in the 70's and 80's into field offices for maintenance of way personnel - so we're installing an older structure, but one that was still used in 1994.  With that in mind, the second floor office and workshop would be visible and especially at night.  Therefore interior detailing was in order.

It is time-consuming work, but a printed patterned floor to represent linoleum or asphalt tiles from the early 1960's along with a variety of industrial furniture, purchased from Shapeways.com as 3-D printed items, allowed me to represent a railroad office setting.  I painted and weathered all the details based on my own experience in such converted towers, and added LED lighting which will augment night operations.  Now the towers go back to Perry for roof and soffit installation before final install on the Onondaga Cutoff.  

As February 2021 has set in, we have a refreshing change of pace here in northwestern New Jersey in a stretch of good cold weather and regular snowfall.  The kids are amazed and enjoying it, and I am too.

It's been about 5 years since we have had more than a few inches at a time down here on the piedmont, and while the mountains and hills to the north and west have fared better for snow lovers it has been quite a while for even those spots to have weeks of accumulating snowfall.  This winter we have had snow on the ground now for close to three full weeks, which is a true winter feel and a pleasure to share with the kids.  

Finally, we have another Facebook Live event this coming weekend, Saturday February 20 at 9 p.m. Eastern.  Just head on over to the OC Facebook page to watch live with us, or to see it at a later time:  https://www.facebook.com/onondagacutoff/

Enjoy the winter weather, and I will be back soon with more progress on the Onondaga Cutoff!