Midtown?

I shared backdrop and general earlier progress here  https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/milton-a-backdrop-on-the-8th-sub-12194604 so I won't repeat it.  On to what's happening now...  Basic groundcover and ballast are complete.  Other details, trees, and structure finish work still remain.  I'm messing around with the arrangement of smaller items, so the final look of the place is yet to be determined.  

I've tried to avoid cramming the scene with structures.  Most of these small western towns have a lot of empty space around the tracks.  I'm also not modeling the stereotypical model railroad business district along the tracks.  What there is of a main street is presumed to be behind the viewer somewhere.

Canyon Road crosses the tracks toward the west end of the siding.  Pavement is sanded tile grout colored with washes of acrylic paint after it dried.  I used the same paint as on the backdrop road so the colors match.  The plain grout, which is a medium gray, didn't look bad in its natural state, but was somewhat too dark for this locale.  Unlike styrene, grout can be shaped easily to represent a crown and other free-form shapes in all directions, plus it has a nice asphalt-y texture.  Since this isn't the main drag, I used simple wooden crossbucks instead of flashers.

I'm leaning toward making the brick structure a storefront for the Cenex feed/fertilizer business to its left (note the relative positioning of the industry on the track diagram).  The school bus is parked on an empty lot slated for the depot once I get it built.  Since I'm running with train orders, the depot would still be in use as a train order office. 

I'm sure someone will question the Caboose Industries ground throws, but they are there due to a conscious decision on my part.  Operation is important, and I like using ground throws when switching.

East Side

A grain elevator and team track are served on the east end of town.  Again refer to the track diagram in the above post.

The major industry in town is an elevator complex that loads maybe half a dozen cars at a time.  On the hillside behind it, a couple of dry farm fields are done for the season and have already been plowed.  The older structure at left was scratchbuilt, while the ones at right are a combination of Rix and Walthers components.

Part of the elevator spur also functions as a team track.  The primary customer is a lumber yard that receives shipments in Weyerhaeuser and Columbia & Cowlitz boxcars.  My hometown had a building materials business that received similar cars at a team track in ones and twos up until the 2000s.  Service only stopped after construction of a commuter rail line forced removal of the spur and dock.  This area needs some metal banding and other detritus left behind as cars are unloaded.

West Side

The opposite end of Milton has the Cenex feed and fertilizer mill, and a fuel distributor.  The latter is only a spur track for now, and will eventually receive some unloading platforms for tank cars.

Cenex has a few structures arrayed along the spur.  A few 40' boxcars survived into my era, and as here could be seen delivering bagged product to agriculture related customers.  That's the fuel dealer spur in the foreground.

Next door are these structures, modified from Walthers kits.

Covered hoppers are unloaded here.  I built an auger for the structure itself, but now I need to add the dump pit in between the rails, and model its hinged metal cover.  The open area on this side of the main will receive a chain link fence around the fuel dealer's property.

Great looking scenes

Great looking scenes, Rob. The colors, the textures, the details- everything fits together extremely well. It's another one of those group of scenes where you see something new every time you look at it, like the ice machine, the bricked up windows, the subtle details in the backdrop, etc Using grout for the asphalt road is an interesting technique. Did you just wet it with water once you had the shape you wanted? The colors look great. And your gravel roads are some of the best I've ever seen.

Tom Patterson 

Fantastic!

Your work is amazing. You are very good at blending the backdrops with the foreground.

I'd love to see more of the buildings without the rolling stock blocking them.

Cheers!

Thanks Tom and Bill

I mixed it following the package directions, like I was going to apply to a tile floor.  That creates a mixture that works a lot like plaster, but has a very long working time like concrete.  Some portions of the road are up to 1/4" thick, and it feathers down to a thin edge.  Application is fairly easy to control using a putty knife and the palette knife I have for carving plaster rocks.

The powdered grout isn't at all controllable if you spray it with water, as it migrates all over the place and splatters.  It's not like using natural sand or rock that can be shaped and then set with glue.

There are some unobstructed views of the structures in an earlier thread here:  https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/agribusiness-industry-on-the-8th-sub-12189655 .

Speechless

Actions speak louder than words. Yours actions say it all. Keep the pictures coming.

That looks just wonderful! I

That looks just wonderful! I feel tempted to try your grout roads. Do you think it would still look good in N scale?

Thanks Art and Michael

I think it would work.  Texture of the "sand" in grout is very fine, so the final look of your pavement will depend on how smoothly you can apply it.  Just like when you're working on a tile floor, the grout can be smoothed with a wet sponge as it sets up.

Agree with Ground Throws

They may take an ugly picture, but you can't beet them for operation. Aren't you concerned about the crossbucks surviving, being so close?

Very nice layout. Your paved

Throws and Track

Not too much.  I have various other details in close proximity to ground throws and they seem to survive OK.  The crossbucks are not glued in place, so if somebody whacks one it should fall over without breaking unless it gets hit really hard.

Most of the track is Micro Engineering.  I had some Shinohara/Walthers code 83 that I used for parts of the passing siding, while the main is ME code 83 and spurs are ME code 55 (no longer made).

I love code 55 Rob and wish

Code 55

ME still sells the rail, and it's easy enough to hand lay or combine with Central Valley tie strip (not designed for code 55, but reportedly does work with only a little extra care in installation).

Great Model Railroads 201x?

Methinks we'll be seeing an article on Rob's WP 8th sub sometime this decade in Great Model Railroads.

For me it's already ranking better than most I've seen in all editions of that magazines over the years.

Working with Tile Grout

Rob

The secret to working with tile grout is to use denatured alcohol in place of water...Give it a try!

Mark Evans - MMR

http://narrowgauge.org/sn3

Excellent, As Always

Rob -

As always, you're doing excellent work.

Rob, have you ever put code

More Code 55

I personally have not.  I have seen photos of it and heard from others who have used it, so I know it CAN be done.  The thing users say to watch for is ensuring the base of the rail stays in a consistent position since the guides cast into the CV ties are a bit wider than the available code 55 rail and gauge can vary if you aren't careful.

Do Fence Me In

As noted earlier, the fuel dealer spur needed a fence.

I used old Alloy Forms kits to build the fence (now available from Scale Structures  http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/650-4128 ).  At this point I'm still undecided if I will add the barbed wire atop the posts.  If this kind of detail doesn't look right I think it can detract more than if it were absent.  

I left space for two 33,000 gallon propane tank cars (both propane and fuel oil are unloaded here, with the former using larger cars).  Unloading platforms and piping will be located in the open area between the spur and the fascia.  I wanted this installation to look newer than either the Cenex complex at left or the elevator at rear, so weathering thus far has been minimal (I'm assuming the track may have been in place longer).

The gates required some additional elevation above ground to clear the rails.  I inserted the gate support posts into some 1/8" o.d. tubing for extra height.  I thought about making the gates operable but decided to glue them open for now.

Here's how a couple tank cars fit into the enclosure.

I like it!

Looking (especially) at the first picture no way distracts from the over all scene.  Trying to figure what makes it so, the great work or the great photography.  Either way works for me.

Steve

Your fence posts have tops! 

Your fence posts have tops! 

Re: Alan

See, I just knew you'd notice!

One of the reasons I chose the particular kit for this highly visible location was the nice fence post and gate castings.  I'll save the scratchbuilt ones for places the lack of added post cap detail won't be noticed so easily.  Then again, maybe I'll opt not to cheap out and use nice quality commercial fence detail on those too.

Great scene and modelling

Thanks for sharing!

Just missing some oil spill on the tracks and the ground, and some hoses and you are done! Very inspiring!

Best regards!