June of 2022 was my last post, with my wife out of town, 2 week vacation, and wiring chores on the layout there hasn't been much to post until now, my how time flies! For this post I have several things to mention. New trackage for the town on the layout called Carrizozo NM, name change for Santa Fe Yard, how things went at my first time selling at the New Braunfels TX model train show and swap meet, and finally something new I'm going to perform on all my rolling stock on the layout.
First off, I have completed industry tracks for the town of Carrizozo NM. Carrizozo is the town on the layout just at the top of the helix as the tracks curve away from it. Going thru some of the track plans and ideas for industry spurs on Pintrest, I noticed a bunch of plans had a track diamond included in the plan to get to that out of the way industry that needed rail service. I decided I wanted to include a track diamond and also a long runaround. The following pictures show the track plan as it is now in the town.
This photo shows Carrizozo looking north, the helix is directly behind the camera. Looking in the foreground, the far right track is the lead track to another small industry just north of the right most turn out. The middle, and left most tracks will be for a small grain/feed-mill operation. The straight tangent track just after the turn out for the left most track, (about middle of the picture), will be another right hand turn out added for a spur track. This track will stub end into the opposite side of a very interesting building I found while attending a train show this past month. In combination with the structure I found, there will be a grain bin, or a single or double grain silo with a few small auxiliary buildings.
The photos above show the interesting structure I purchased at the New Braunfels train show. The building does need a little work to be presentable, cleaning and painting. The bottom photo shows the place where the new spur tack will stub end into the building for a hopper car spot. I'm sure this was probably for a road semi truck loading spot but, eh, there's a loading dock next to it for truck traffic. I'm using it for a rail car. The top photo shows the chute for the hopper car spot and has a loading dock which I think I might have to extend a bit for a boxcar spot. All in all I thought it was a unique building perfect for this place on the railroad.
Carrizozo looking south. In the foreground is the lead track for the industry spur just opposite it with some MOW (maintenance of way) equipment parked on it. At this point I am undecided as what industry to put on this spur, maybe a team track, small chemical or fertilizer plant or something all together different. Up in the air is still a possibility of putting a small industry with a single car spot at this end. The track to the far right is the branch line main to Yrbi and the middle track is the main with turnout splitting to two tracks which are the beginnings for the double main to the helix. The turnout in line just off the split for the double main is the beginning of the runaround for Carrizozo.
The above two photos show the track diamond or crossing for the future small aggregate or cement industry to be serviced by the railroad. The crossing is a Shinohara 45 degree crossing.
This photo shows the Carrizozo run around.
The industry trackage in Carrizozo is next on the list for wiring. I had just recently finished the wiring for industry trackage in Orogrande and El Paso.
Now for my report on the train show. My first train show where I was a selling vendor was a very successful one. I sold off rolling stock, RTR and kits mostly, and a few locomotives. I desired to sell off more of my NS roster that I have accumulated over the years but ended up only selling one Proto 2000 SD60M, at first I sold both Proto SD60Ms but one was returned because it wouldn't run. After bringing it home and disassembling it, I found that the dreaded lube that turns to concrete had seized the worm gears. I should have known better to test run these before taking them to be sold, but they had never been out of the box and were brand new, live and learn. NS is seen in pool power a lot in UP trains here in Texas but all in all not that popular here, may be the reason for the units I had not selling very well. I did sell one SP Black Widow scheme F7A which was a Stewart w/Kato drive, and older Athearn blue box ATSF Warbonnet FP45 that had been re-motored with a Mashima Can motor, super detailed, weathered and ran very well. As mentioned before most of my success was from the rolling stock I sold off. Kits and RTR, mostly assembled Athearn blue box. I had the prices set at $7 each, or 3 for $15, or 5 for $20 and most of them had Kadee couplers with a few having Kadee wheel sets. I was able to sell 2 Auto-Max cars which I was so happy to finally be a rid of! Those things are huge!, And came out long after the D&RGW era.
One step I have started to take is to weather the wheels and trucks on my rolling stock, even if the car itself is not weathered I think having the trucks and wheels weathered helps them stand out on a non-weathered car. Weathering on the cars will take place at later date as this takes a bit more time to perform where weathering trucks and wheels is a simple start to the weathering process. Below is an example of one car that I completed the process on, and yes the whole car needs a weathering job badly. Not all cars will have the same effect done to them as far as colors and technique goes. I will add washes and powder washes to lighten and highlight as well, or not, just depends on what I want to experiment with at the time. With the car below I simply painted the wheels with a micro brush using Polyscale rust and the truck frame a grimy black acrylic paint. Micro brushes are a great tool to have as they give you more control as where to put the paint.
And finally to close this post out. I renamed Santa Fe Yard to Falagrady Yard. The name Falagrady comes from very good family friends of ours and especially my Mom and Dad. I named it after them in their honor. The Falagrady name was a household name in my youth and I always liked the name. On a visit to my Mom and Dad's place we got to talking about Don and Faith Falagrady and they're family. I had it in the back of my mind to find a new name for Santa yard. That's when it hit me, I'll name Santa Fe Yard after the Falagrady family.
