Traintime in Durango

D&RGW K-28 473 is my favorite locomotive.  Therefore, I am presenting for your enjoyment three photos of this locomotive in service on my new layout.  The locomotive is a Westside Model Company import, which I painted, weathered, and installed a SoundTraxx Tsunami sound decoder.

D&RGW 473 is preparing to lead an oil train out of Durango.

D&RGW 473 in Durango with RGS 461 in the background.

D&RGW 473 preparing to leave Durango with an oil train.

Dolores Colorado CONOCO Oil Plant

I have recently completed a Ragg's...To Riches? kit for the CONOCO Oil plant located in Dolores, Colorado.  I followed the instructions in the kit, and found that the kit went together well.  I did use a larger base than the instructions indicated.  The instructions stated that the warehouses, platforms, and tanks would need a space of approximately 6 x 15.5 inches.  I used a larger base, at 11 x 18 inches, as I added the spur track to the model.

I used Rust-Oleum Clean Metal Primer, as recommended in the instructions, to paint all of the corrugated aluminum.  This is the final color for the siding, but the corrugated material used for the roof was top-coated with Floquil Dark Green.  All other parts in the kit were primed using Rust-Oleum's Auto Primer, which is light gray.  Pan Pastels were used to weather the model.

This is a well-engineered and thought-out kit, with many extra touches included to enhance the modeling experience.  This model will be a focal point in my future Dolores scene.

Overall "streetside" view of the completed CONOCO Oil Plant.

Close-up view of the two oil warehouses and platform.  Note the oil-filling pipes in the foreground, at the edge of the platform.

A view of the four oil storage tanks, and catwalk.  The tanks were painted with Rust-Oleum Clean Metal Primer, and weathered with Pan Pastels to simulate rust in the riveted seams.  I installed ground cover to the base prior to gluing the tank supports and tanks in place to make it easier to get weeds under the tanks, where they would naturally be found.

A close-up view of the larger warehouse.  All corrugated material was first painted with Rust-Oleum Clean Metal Primer.  The roofing was then top-coated with Floquil Dark Green.

A trackside view of the four oil loading tanks.  The track in the foreground is a length of Micro-Engineering Code 55 Flex-Trak.

The trackside view of the two oil warehouses.

An overall aerial view of the completed model resting on a table.  This view shows the relationships among the warehouses, platform, tanks, garage and office.  The garage is the small building in the lower left, with the green roof; the office is the small building on the left side with the dark gray roof.

Another overall view of the Dolores CONOCO Oil Plant.