NEW MOTIVE POWER FOR THE DISTRICT

Two new additions to the fleet 2 Norfolk Southern GP-40-2's

TESTING BACKDROP SECTIONS

TESTING OUT SOME BACKGROUND PICS I PRINTED OFF THE INTERNET.

AMERICAN TALC BEGINS

I have begun the task of scratch building the American Talc plant for the railroad.  I am using foam core board that i purchased from the dollar store for the foundation and support for the structure. After trimming out the basic outline of the structure, I spent about two and a half hours carving mortar lines into lower half of the front wall. It really wasn't that bad. I also purchased some textured paper files from Clever Models.  I chose the silver and the green corrugated metal sheets.  After comparing the two on the wall itself, I chose the green. As progress continues, I will post further updates

The First Train to Yuma

We reached our first milestone for the District layout.  The first train under power ran across the Talladega Creek section. For the most part it was uneventful. After soldering a few rail joints to relieve some power shorts, the locomotive moved back and forth across the whole section with no problems.

I have made a deal with myself for this layout.  I am not going to get into a rush to get benchwork up and throw track down just to get trains running. As I stated in the first blog post. I really want to concentrate on taking my modeling to the next level. My plan is to take it one section at a time and get the trackwork and the scenery down to really try to get the most out of each scene.

LAYOUT STATS

Employee Timetable for the Anniston District from 2008

AMERICAN TALC

 The next project lined up for the layout is the American Talc plant located at mile post 94.7 in Alpine, Al.

Here are a few photos from google earth of the plant and layout

As I am cramped for space to begin with on this layout. The plant will be built as a low relief structure. I think I will still be able to capture enough of structure detail to make it a decent representation.