Dolores Depot

Dolores, Colorado is the next town to be included on my new layout depicting the Rio Grande Southern Railroad.  Because I plan to construct Dolores fairly soon, I decided to build the Dolores Depot.  This will complement the Dolores section foreman's house and Conoco Oil Facility, already completed.  This kit is available from American Model Builders, and is their kit No. 803.  This is a laser cut kit, using  peel-and-stick technology.  I pre-painted all parts before assembly, which resulted in clean color separation of the different building components.  I finished the roof using four colors of paint, sprayed onto the roof shingles while the shingles were still intact in their sheets.  The four colors were Roof Brown, Mud, Engine Black, and Platinum Mist, all from Floquil.  This technique is one that I used on several Raggs... to Riches kits, following the instructions in those kits.  The uneven application of the four colors of paint makes a very realistic looking roof.  It is worth the investment in time to use this procedure.

This is a nicely engineered kit, although I did have a bit of trouble getting the four sections of roof to come together evenly over the two-story section of the depot.  However, patience resulted in an acceptable roofline.  The kit does not include material or information on the platform that surrounded the prototype station, so that will be forthcoming.

The colors used to paint this building were Star Brand paints from PBL, specifically Jersey Cream and D&RGW Trim Brown.  These are solvent-based paints, so be sure to use with adequate ventilation.

Front 3/4 view of the American Model Builders kit for the Rio Grande Southern Railroad Dolores. Depot.  The Depot is simply sitting on a vacant area of the railroad, as the Dolores section of the layout has not yet been constructed.  Two tracks will pass in front of the station.

Front 3/4 view of the freight end of the Dolores Depot.  Note the lack of a station platform.

Rear view of the Dolores Depot.  The house track will run behind the depot, with a connection to the Goose Barn.

Layout infrastructure improvements

I have recently completed the storage cabinets and fascia for my new layout.  I have installed drink holders, and throttle pockets for the DCC controllers, and have actually begun the scenery on the High Line to Silverton.

New cabinets installed under the layout to hold parts and supplies.  the new fascia is shown at the top of the photo.

New cabinets and fascia installed underneath Durango.

Initial scenery for the High Line to Silverton.

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.

Durango Stock Pens Completed

I have finally completed the Stock Pens at Durango, and have installed them in their final location on the spur leaving Durango.  I purchased this Banta Modelworks Stock Pens kit several years ago, and started construction prior to my move.  Along with many modeling projects, this kit had to wait patiently until the time was right to complete it.  In addition to the kit instructions, I made use of the tips that Tom Troughton published on his website, Troughton Modelworks, entitled "Building the Stockpens".

An overall view of the Durango Stock Pens.  Additional "dirting in" of the stock pens is forthcoming.

The wood was stained with Hunterline Driftwood.

Another overall view of the Stock Pens.

 

Close-up view of the chutes.  Note that this is a double chute to allow loading cattle into single-deck stock cars, or sheep into double-deck ones.  The gates swing on hinges, and the extensions are functional.

Rio Grande Southern K27 461 is switching the Durango Stock Pens.

Rio Grande Southern 461 is picking up loaded stock cars to insert into the stock train waiting on the mainline in the foreground.  The RGS stock cars in the foreground were built from Grandt Line kits.

Westside C-25 with WOWSound v3 decoder

Monday I replaced the existing Tsunami decoder and anemic speaker with a TCS WOWSound v3 decoder and a new so-called "sugar-cube" speaker.  I replaced the decoder not because there was a problem with it, but because the C-25 has a very narrow tender, and I needed to install a Keep-Alive with the decoder.  I was not satisfied with the sound that I was able to get from the existing speaker, so I obtained one of the very small "sugar-cube" speakers from the Streamlined Backshop.  This is a very small speaker, literally about the size of a sugar cube.  I installed a 13 x 18 mm speaker, which had a 1 watt power handling capacity.  There was plenty of room, even in this narrow tender, for the decoder, the KA2 Keep-Alive, and the speaker.  Once the installation was complete, I tested the locomotive on the layout, and was amazed by the quality and volume of the sound.  I have uploaded a video of the C-25 as it is turned on the turntable and readied for service on the layout.  This video also shows the operation of the turntable using the PTC III controller.

D&RGW C-25 375 entering the turntable in the Durango Yard.  The locomotive is a Westside Models brass import, equipped with a TCS WOWSound v3 decoder with Keep-Alive, and a sugar-cube speaker.

D&RGW C-25 375 being turned on the Durango turntable.  The turntable is controlled by a PTC III turntable controller.

D&RGW C-25 375 has been turned on the turntable, and is lined up for the service track.  It will now readied for service by filling its sand dome, and topping off its load of coal.

The C-25 is positioned at the sand house to receive a fresh load of sand in its sand dome.

The C-25 has topped off its load of sand, and is now ready to pull forward to the coaling tower to top off its coal load.

K-28 476 with a TCS WOWSound decoder

I just installed a Train Control Systems WOWSound decoder into my Sunset Models K-28 476. The decoder includes a KA2 Keep-Alive circuit board, which allows the locomotive to continue to run over dirty track, or other intermittent electrical problems.  The decoder has a wire connection to a sound cam, allowing the chuff to be synchronized with driver rotation.  The decoder was set to use the auto-chuff by default, so I checked the TCS website for details on how to enable the cam wire. 

All axles on the locomotive, and two of the four on the tender, were too tight in gauge, causing the locomotive to "bump" its way across properly gauged turnouts.  Therefore, I had to disassemble the locomotive and re-gauge the wheelsets to ensure proper operation.  The result of the work is a locomotive that runs well at low speeds, and has an interesting selection of bells and whistles.

I've uploaded a still photo and a video of the locomotive in action.  The video is only about 1:24 in length.  Enjoy!

D&RGW K-28 476 crossing the turnout leading to the Durango Stock Pens.  The locomotive is a Sunset Models K-28 with a TCS WOWSound decoder with Keep-Alive.  The locomotive has a headlight installed, but still needs a crew.