Detailing RF&P Geeps part 3

 In cased you missed my previous detailing tutorials on RF&P GP40's and GP40-2's
Part I of my RF&P Geep modeling
Part II of my RF&P Geep modeling


Well it been a while since I put a post up.  It seems that I am not as busy now as I have been the last month.  I attended a RF&P historical society meeting on Saturday.  I displayed several of my RF&P models and it dawned on me, I have not done a whole lot of  RF&P modeling lately.   So this got my detailing and painting part of me going.  Well I did not jump in right in the deep section, I just started in the kiddy section.  Detailing crossed my mind and I knew I wanted to detail my GP40's a little more.  Several still need the correct horn on the rear and some decent weathering.  I also decaled my last GP40 the 127.   I now have all the GP40's.   I added some speed recorders and some mu hoses to the front.  Both of these are from Details West and are pretty easy to install.

First the mu hoses:  They come 2 per package and have extra plug housings.  The cord goes from plug-in to plug-in, so I cut one of the plug-ins off and used the one that comes with the loco. I didn't see many pics with the mu plugged in both so just put the unattached end near the other unused plug.  I still need to added some colored paint to the lid and plug.

Speed recorders are a little more complicated.  They changed places over time and vary from model to model.  I'm modeling the early 1990's so pretty much they are on the first axle on both sides for numbers 121-126.  #127 has it on the second axle.  I found that a 1/16" bit and a drill makes easy work of the hard plastic in the truck.  Glue the recorder in, run the wire, trim and paint black.  So look at pics from the year you are modeling to see where these recorders go.

Unpainted mu hose and plug-in.

Painted mu hose in position. Still need to add the silver for the connector and paint he lid.

Speed recorder in place.  The wind deflectors are a good touch.  The RF&P GP40's do not have sunshades.

Weeds in the yard

Not a whole lot from me in the last week.  The Tigers are in the World Series and have not played a game since sweeping the Yankees last week.  They get started tomorrow night in SF.  I got some weeds down in Battlefield yard and from the look at the pics, will have to go back and put some more in.  They are from Silflor and work great.  I also picked up a engine I always wanted.  It's a Ex-Milwaukee Soo unit in the Bandit scheme.  It's a MP15AC and it runs like a charm!  I will do a patch-out on it and it will serve probably the VM.
Now some pics:

Ballast work in the yard

 Been a enjoyable 3 day weekend.  The Tigers are up 2 games to none in their series with the A's.  I am anticipating the game tonight.  Last week I did manage to get the ballast down in a couple of evenings.  It's never fun to ballast around multiple switches but it has to be done.  The gluing is pretty fast as long as you don't miss any areas.  My mini shop vac tells me I missed a few small spots.  I get those spots redone this week.  I also put in switch machines beside the switches.  I hand throw all switches in the yard and they add a nice touch.  The caboose ground throws work good but are so out of scale.  Last time I checked, your looking for realism, and those type of throws are not realistic.

The switching lead .

The beginning of the yard with RF&P staging on the right and the VM mainline on the left.  The foam in the background will be a ridge above the tracks with a rural scene.

The switching lead end.  Notice the MP15DC.  She's the main switcher in the yard.

Overview of the yard.

The other end of the yard.  Some boxcars pose for the camera.

Up close of a switch stand.  The ties are painted matchsticks.  So many colors to choose from on the switches.  I went with white and red.

If you don't know, I love the BN, thus you can find several cars on my layout with BN markings.  Looks as if I have found 2 BN boxcars!

A car I weathered up last night.  This was probable was the best looking one in the bunch.  My airbrush was giving me some trouble last night.

Yardwork and baseball

Spent some time yesterday in the yard I added this summer to my layout.  I did not get anything done this week model train related.  I did not even go into my layout room.  My evening consisted of the MLB channel and baseball games!  The last post I did, I was stressing on my Detroit Tigers and not making the playoffs,  Well they had a great week and as of today as 2 games up on the White Soxs with 4 to play.  It's a great year for baseball in this area as the Orioles and the Nationals are both going to make the playoffs. Usually playoff baseball slows down my model railroading every year about this time!
     
Battlefield Yard is the name I settled on last week.  It's the mainly a classification yard for the Virginia Midland for inbound and outbound freight.  It also acts as a staging yard.  Yesterday, I got the track painted and then cleaned the rail heads.  This is a least favorite task of mine.  Needed lots of elbow grease.  Hopefully I can get some ballast down today for at least part of it.

Painted track.  I start with a light gray coating and come back hours later with a flat brown.  The gray highlights make the track standout.  I may come back and touch up the sides of the rail with rust.

RF&P #91 tests out the track.  Make sure you cover up the contact points on the turnouts.  

I glued down the switch ties and then painted them when they dried.  I just glued down the switch bar which will be under the switch mechanism.  Just another detail that should look OK.

New Logos on the Virginia Central and a On30 critter

Well not a whole lot of progress this week in the layout room.  Seems to be a bunch of things going on this week.  My Detroit Tigers are fighting for there dear lives for a playoff spot.  It looks as if they may come up short.  I think it would be awesome to have a Beltway series between Washington and Baltimore!  On to model railroading:

Got some Virginia Central boxcar decals done and the guy that did them for me threw in some VC logos for my 2 GP35's.  If you are interested in the VC boxcar decals (no one else produces them)  click on this link:
Virginia Central boxcar decals

The older logo on VC #5

The new logos on the VC fleet.

I also put in a Tsunami in a On30 Boxcab I recently built.  Still needs to be weathered

Virginia Midland Shops on the layout

Well, I'm finally putting Virginia Midland Shops VMS on the actual layout.  Been trying to decide where exactly to put it on the layout.  I had a spot near the yard but it was cramped so I put in the industrial area.  I wanted it by the yard but I do not have the space.  So it will have to stay in the industrial area.  I wanted 2 tracks for the shop area but again, I could not figure out a configuration I wanted.  So I will stay with a one track lead.  This is mainly for small repairs for locos and cars as well as a fueling area.  It will have a small loco shop area.  So here are the pics:

Nothing special about this shop.  The Pikestuff kit is perfect.  Still I have lots of work to do on the area and the shop.

VM CF7 "Red Baron" #256 tries the shop out for size.  It's a tight fit.  I will probably raise up the foundation a little.  It's a close clearance.

A few new freight cars...

Been kinda busy since I went back to work.  I have made some time doing various projects.  I finished a few on this long holiday weekend. I will also try to update the blog a couple times a week.  Well at least once a week!

Here is a chopped Walthers Greenville 2 bay hopper I made a little smaller.  I talked about this in my last post.

Here is a graffiti infested boxcar at Klotz Distributors:

A rust-bucket patched Buckingham Branch boxcar waits for it's next assignment:

Until next time, enjoy this great Hobby!