This is a visual representation of what the area looked like prior to construction. This area was an extension of the COX Sawmill located on the opposite side of the mountain. This freight depot was used as a shipping area for the products generated by the sawmill. On the opposite side of the main track was a small M.O.W yard and equipment staging.

One of the most challenging aspects of an area redesign on a club layout is finding a plan that everyone agrees on. We have a group of experienced modelers at the club that put their ideas together and agreed we would benefit from having an industry that uses tank cars to transport their goods. We decided on a refinery for this area. This is an example of what we are planning.

Pictured is the old Freight Depot that the membership was no longer using. During our inhouse operating sessions, club members found that switching out this industry was troublesome and that most, if not all of the switches and track were worn out and no longer useable. It was decided to clear out this area and begin construction on an updated industry that's easy to switch and maintain.

Having a full time railroader as a member of the club has its perks! Before we began construction, we made sure to "protect" our crews from any active tracks and trains that ran through the area of the layout we were working on. Pictured here is an actual railroad Form D that controls train movements on the real railroad. Our Engineer member thought it would be funny to fill one out for our model railroad!

Just like in the real world, flagman are positioned along the right of way to protect roadway workers against the movement of trains through an area of construction. The Form D in the last photo specifies the location of where the flagman are to be positioned to protect the track workers. Shown here are our HO scale flagman at Weehawken Junction. These guys also come in handy when switching during operating sessions.

The first step of any project that involves replacing an existing area of the layout is demolition. In this picture you will notice that all of the track and ballast has been removed along with the ground cover down to the sublayer of the layout. Additionally extra scenery is removed and stored for use later. You will also notice that club members removed a section of rock face that will make room for a runaround siding and loading track in the new area.

Once everyone starts hearing the commotion of construction, they start making their way out of the back room to see what all the noise is about. This photo captures one of the many conversations had with the other members to discuss the plans of the new area. Involving the membership in the decision making process is very important and usually allows for additional and sometimes better ideas to be suggested and implemented.

Moving mountains is no easy task! However, the Dremel tool makes quick work of removing the plaster. This old road is too narrow to serve the new industry and thus we must "blast" away some rock to widen the road. A vaccuum is used to collect the dust generated so it does not land on other sections of the layout scenery. Our expert demolition team made quick work of this rock face removal project.

The planning comitee had originally thought we would widen the road using a retaining wall detail. However, club members discussed and agreed that cutting the hillside further back would allow us to slope the hill back down to the road and re-create new rock face as well. This proved to be a better plan and will allow us to put more rock detail back onto the layout. It is important to keep as many scenery details as possible.

The new industry no longer required the siding track used by the M.O.W crew and thus needed to be removed. Upon removal of the siding it was decided to remove the switch and eliminate any extra short pieces of track. Here you can see a member removing the individual track sections. Water mixed with rubbing alcohol is used to loosen up the glue and ballast which allows the removal of the track from the roadbed underneath. 

Once the switches have been removed, replacement track must be placed through the area. Each section of track is nailed down with tiny rail spikes to hold the ties in place. Later on, ballast and glue will be added to the new track to hold it in place. Eventually the new track and ballast will be painted to match the existing layout's coloration and details. You wont even realize this is a new section of track!

Once the new track has been installed, its important to make sure that the curvature matches the existing track so that there are no kinks that would cause derailments. In this picture you can see a club member up on a ladder looking down at the track while another member works to remove a kink at the new switch. This switch will allow access into the new industry area.

Here is the final result of the track replacement project. You maybe able to see where the old track and switches were located before they were removed. The next step will be to ballast and glue down the track and then paint everything to match. Scenery wise the sub-layout will be painted to hide all of the different colorations before final scenery is added.

We use homasote to build up the sublayer of our railroad. Homasote is a construction material similar to dry wall that is used for sound deffening. Before we place the cork road bed on top of the homasote, it is imperative that the fiber board is sealed to prevent warping when we add the glue and water to the ballast to lock in the track. If you skip this step, the homasote will delaminate creating a ton of problems!

Upon installation of the new homasote section, we were able to layout some track to get an understanding of what the new track plan might look like for the area. We are not yet sure how the buildings will sit in the new area so the track plan is only a mark up of a suggestion. We do want to install a run around section here for operations so this layout is close to what the final product will be.

The new section of homasote was not a perfect fit in the empty space so now the gaps need to be filled in so we have a continuous level area to lay track and place scenery. Pictured is a club member using toilet paper and a mixture of water and Elmer's glue to make a basic papier-mâché like material to fill in and cover the gaps between the old and new sections of homasote.

With all of the gaps filled and covered between the old and new sections of homasote, the only thing left to do is let it sit and dry. We were also able to fill in the holes between the mainline and the lower section of the new area which we will later detail to form a rock face using scenic plaster and a rock carving tool. Now we just need to paint the homasote to seal it in preventing moisture intrusion.

More often than not, when reconstructing an area of the layout, you will find that there are elevation changes between new and old sections of the layout. In order to smooth out these transitions so that we can lay track, we utilize wood construction shims used for framing doors to create a ramp like section of the base layer to lay track upon. This ensures a smoot transition between two sections and thus wont cause derailments when we run trains. 

Now that the papier-mâché has dried, it must be painted to seal it from moisture intrusion. Painting also helps hide the different colorations and also prepares the area for the addition of ground cover. Once this are has dried, everything will be hard as a rock and ready for the installation of track components and then wiring. Once building placement is finalized, track laying can begin.

This particular section of the railroad was shown earlier in our picture series. We have finished with the homasote sealing and track work and now this section of track is ready for ballasting. Before we begin ballasting, wire drops must be soldered to the outside of the rails which allow us to send power to the track to move the trains. Once everything is wired up and tested we will begin ballasting.

Upon testing out the layout of the new track for the industry, the club members found that additional scenery needed to be removed to make way for the new track. Sadly, that required us to tear into the area we had just finished repairing the sub scenery on. The additional removal of the rock face will allow us to install a straighter  section of track we plan on using for the switching lead.

Pictured here is the track coming out of the Cox Saw Mill. We want to tie this piece of track into the new switching lead and that's going to require we reposition the curvature of the track to meet up with the new switch. This also required the removal of more rock to make way for the track. Eventually this area will be filled and with a retaining wall and new rock structure to replace the removed scenery.

This photo shows the beginnings of the track laying for the runaround we are installing for the new industry. Trains can either pull into the new siding or reverse into it depending on their direction of travel. Once inside the new industry area, trains can utilize the run around to ensure their engine is on the right side of the consist for switching operations. 

The signal shown here was removed during the demolition phase and had to be reinstalled now that we are done with the demolition. This signal will now be used to protect the crossover going into the new area. Additionally, this signal serves as the distant signal to the yard lead switch around the corner. This signal currently shows "Clear" and when the switch is thrown into the area the signal will read "Stop"

On the real railroad, signals show status of switch point position and also give instructions to the engineer on how fast they are allowed to travel through the switch. Once ballasting is completed, two pedestal style Pennsylvania Railroad Signals will be placed in the yellow circles to protect the crossover switches and to inform our engineers how fast to operate through the switches.

The Pennsylvania Railroad employed Pedestal Signals in areas where they needed full sized signals but had constrictions with space. The solution was to stack two dwarf style signals on top of each other and engineers would read them as high signals. This signal shows Medium Clear which tells the engineer to take the next right hand switch at medium speed. This is the signal style referenced in the prior layout photo to the left.

Our crews began working on repairs to the rock face we had to move to make way for the road widening project. We first placed foam into the empty area to support the top of the existing hill structure. Then we shaved down the foam to level out the edges. Finally we covered the foam with "Plaster Paper" and allowed it to cure. More plaster will be added to shape rocks into the face of the hill and then it will be painted to match the layout scenery.

The last piece of homasote needed to complete the area was installed and sealed with brown paint. Once the paint dries, we can lay the track that goes in this section. This piece of track comes out of the saw mill and will be tied into the new track work for easier access into the saw mill area. Eventually a retaining wall will be placed in the gap between the mainline and the new track work.

Here you can see how the track plan is finally coming together. We utilize both straight and curved switches to achieve the smooth curves required to run trains without derailing. Track laying is an intricate process and does require a decent amount of skill. Eventually this whole area will be ballasted and will receive final scenery repair. You can also see in this picture the gap in the layout where the retaining wall will go.

With everything in its final resting place and the different track sections connected together, you can stand back and make sure there are no kinks in the track that may cause derailments. It is important to ensure the curves are smooth and flow together nicely. If the train cars bunch up anywhere, that can cause the cars to jump off the track in tight curves. We use PECO medium sized switches to minimize tight curves.

Once the track work is complete, our members need to power the track. This is done by soldering small wire "drops" onto the outside of the rail and fishing them down to the underside of the layout. From there all of the wires are connected together and then connected to the power source. Each individual section gets a drop to ensure we are not relying on rail joiners to carry the voltage. Eventually, the rail joiners fail and you loose track power.

The first phase of the track plan is completed. Now we wait on the membership to vote on the idea for the new industry. We laid out a template so members can get an idea on how the industry might look and operate. Once an idea is decided on, scenery and building construction can resume on the new area. 

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Here is a shot of our scenery department working on the process to repair the scenery that we removed when we started the track replacement project. Small stones and crushed rock are mixed together to give the illusion of what remains after the rock face was "blasted" away by the saw mill when they first started laying the track. Eventually the rocks are painted to match the surrouding area.

The next step in the process of scenery repair was to fix the damage we did to the mainline retaining wall. A mixture of paper towel and plaster mixed with water is used to create this replacement rock formation. Eventually the white paper will be painted to match the existing colors of the rock wall above it. The hardest part of this process is the color matching. Several mixtures of paint will be required to get the colors just right.

In areas where the sub road bed does not contour with an existing area, or in areas we need to fill in gaps between different sections of sub road bed, we employee the use of beach sand. Beach sand does a fantastic job of filling in all the cracks. Eventually we use a mixture of white glue, water, and dish soap to seal in all the sand so that it doesn't move about. Eventually, we will ballast the track area and hide most of the beach sand.

Saw mills were notorious for using wood shavings for "ballast" in their rail yards. To this extent, we did our best to find a ballast color that closely resembles the wood shavings but also matched the existing ballast in other areas of the mill. We feel we captured the appearance pretty accurately!​

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Repairs have begun to the rock wall that lines the access road tot he chemical plant. This will get a coating of dull coat to remove the shine and then a white wash to bring out the rock features.

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Once the rock painting is complete, the roadway will be repaved and details applied to the road surface to model worn asphalt.

The damn for the river and the associated pump house that will supply water to the chemical plant has been rough fitted into place. Rock work and Water repair will be completed to complete the scene.

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The gaps between the rocks and the damn will be filled with struct-a-mold and scenery details will be completed. and eventually Woodland Scenics water will back fill the damn.

Here we see the completed track work that allows access to the chemical plant area. The ballast work has been painted with the airbrush to match the existing ballast along the railroad. The crossover will be protected by two domino style PRR signals which we mentioned earlier on this page. Eventually a road will be installed where the unballasted track is located at the bottom of the picture.

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The scenery team has begun working on the retaining wall portion of the chemical plant. This wall was employed due to the tight space between the main and the new track. This area will continue to be worked on and eventually ballasted. Once done, you would not even know this area was torn apart!

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The scenery team has begun filling in the voids between the dam and the rock walls running parallel to the river. They used hydracal to make a rock like surface which they will eventually paint and scenic. This dam is being used to create a drafting pond down stream so that water can be pumped into the chemical plant industry for the chemical making process. 

The scenery team has begun working on the road that will eventually lead to the new chemical plant industry. We use a product called smooth it by woodland scenics to pave the road. It has the consistency of pancake batter when you put it down on the layout and it gives you about 20 minutes of working time to smooth it out and fill in any cracks you may have especially around rocks and scenery.

Once the road is dry, we can work on painting the road. We used a paint called "asphalt" by woodland scenics that comes with the road paving kit as part of the smooth it road system. We had not yet painted the whole crossing because we had to make some repairs to the pavement before we finished painting. Eventually the crossing will receive cantilever lights to protect the crossing.

Here is an action shot of John working on the roadway repairs and applying some more asphalt paint to the new crossing. John is the scenery committee chairperson and has been working tirelessly to bring life into the new chemical plant area. Most of the pictures you see on this page are of his handy work. ​John works with several other members of the club who enjoy utilizing their modeling skills to better the railroad.

After successfully completing the install of the crossing and completing all of the paint work, the crossing lights were installed at the crossing. Once all of the details were put in place, the lift out to access the area was put back into place. With show season less than a week away, the scenery team will pause the project here.​

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After successfully completing the install of the crossing and completing all of the paint work, some final details were put in place. Some trains were staged in the area to give an idea of what equipment would utilized in the chemical plant. We also placed some signage which shows what the chemical plant might look like once its constructed. ​

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Make sure to keep checking back for regular updates!

Before final ground work and building placement can occur, we must first level the area(s) where we plan to place buildings. This is done with a combination of beach sand, white glue, soap, and water. After allowing sometime for the mixture to set up, the buildings are pressed into place to create indentations that they will fit in once the glue mixture has dried and set up. 

You may notice in the picture to the left the small details of our scenery which sometimes include ho scale people figures completing jobs around the industry in which we are modeling. In this scene, you can see a construction worker getting ready to make the climb up the caged ladder and onto the roof of the water tank to do an inspection on the tank's vent system.

Here we see the different buildings in this area being pressed into the sand and glue mixture to create the indentations we mentioned earlier. Once the location of the different buildings are marked, the buildings will be removed to allow the glue mixture time to cure and harden.  Final ground cover will be applied once the buildings are placed in their final positions.

Woodland Scenics is an extremely popular supplier of scale buildings, figures, vehicles, and scenes. We employee a lot of their products around the layout. This roofing crew was used on an old factory building that was removed from the layout when we built the cement plant. We were able to repurpose this scene on top of the water works building. These little details is what brings the scene to life!

That's right, we paint rivers! Special paint that serves as a sealer is made in different shades of green and blue which simulate water depth. It does not look like much now, but when we pour the "water" into the river, the colors will pop and will create a visual trick that makes the water appear to be flowing down hill towards the damn. Rehabbing this river was necessary to provide the water fort the water works that is used by the chemical plant.

Pictured here is the completed paint for the river. The paint takes about two days to dry and cure. Next we will pour "water" on top of the paint. This is done in two pours or "lifts". Its important that the painted service is free and clear of any dust or dirt that might bet picked up by the water when we are pouring it. Once the water is poured, the river will appear to be flowing downhill.

Now that the scenery and buildings are in their final resting places, finishing of the ground cover and scenic details can be completed. Our scenery team took about 8hrs to put down the stone/gravel road, plant the trees, place the bushes, and added the small details like plants and cattails along the water way. This area is named Herbert's Notch after the member who is responsible for our fantastic mountain scenery.

Now that the scenery and buildings are in their final resting places, finishing of the ground cover and scenic details can be completed. Our scenery team took about 8hrs to put down the stone/gravel road, plant the trees, place the bushes, and added the small details like plants and cattails along the water way. This area is named Herbert's Notch after the member who is responsible for our fantastic mountain scenery.

After the hard work of tree planting, rock placing, river bed painting, dam building, building construction, and electircal install is completed, this is what you are left with. A museum quality representation of a small water works and pump station that uses a dam to collect river water used in the chemical manufacturing process. ​

Make sure to scroll back up to see before pictures of this area. What an amazing Transformation!

With the waterworks scenery completed, our scenery team can move across the main to the chemical plant section of the scene and start working on scenic details on that side of the tracks. All this picture needs now is a train pulling freight or passengers on the uphill grade!​

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This handmade water return discharge pipe was hand built by the scenery team and installed in the area. The metal pipe is bent using a special tool and the water effect is created using silicone. This discharge pipe allows the water used by the chemical plant to be returned back to the river it was pulled from to ensure water still flows to the areas down river.

The chemical plant sits right up against a rather large rock face so it was only fitting to install a fence that would prevent rocks from falling into the chemical plant area and injuring one of the plant workers. This fence was handmade using styrene and yarn that was run through the styrene I beams and then painted a rust color. Wire tool or screen material was added to the backing to complete the rock fence.

This view of the new area is one that you wont be able to see as a patron visiting the layout. This photo was taken from the operators isle at the club and shows what the area looks like to the members as they are operating their trains during the open houses.​

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Make sure to keep checking back for regular updates!

Here we have a shot of the chemical plant positioned on its new "concrete" base. The flame has been lit using a tea candle plastic flame, a well placed L.E.D, and some yellow and orange paint to give the look of fire. There are still some scenery items that need to be worked on in this area but we are about 85% complete up to this point!

Here we have a shot of the loading facility within the chemical plant. The three storage tanks contain the products available for purchase. Trucks can pull up to the loading dock and pump onto their trucks their desired product. The scene was completed with some detail vehicles and employees working on the loading dock. We also added in some parking lot lighting to light up the scene at night.

Here we have a shot of the chemical barrel storage area. Inside the green barn are several metal drums of the chemical the plant produces for customers requiring smaller orders. This area also serves as the employee parking are for the folks working within the chemical plant facility. Its the little details like these that really pull the scene together!

Here we have a shot of the chemical plant in its 100% completed state. many hours went into the construction of the plant itself and several months went into the landscaping that tied the plant into the existing scenery. From start to finish, this project took us about 6-8 months to complete and involved the hard work of about 10 of our key members here at the club. We invite you to come by during an open house to see all the new details!

Here we have a shot of the chemical plant in its 100% completed state. many hours went into the construction of the plant itself and several months went into the landscaping that tied the plant into the existing scenery. From start to finish, this project took us about 6-8 months to complete and involved the hard work of about 10 of our key members here at the club. We invite you to come by during an open house to see all the new details!