What's New on the PRR Panhandle Division?

[rogruth]

George,

My body just wasn't up to the trip.

I agree with the uneveness of the pilings.

[G3750]

George,

My body just wasn't up to the trip.

I agree with the uneveness of the pilings.

Sorry to hear that. You would be welcome!!

Here are the photos.

First is a long shot of the overall area after painting.

Slag3 001W.jpg (116.77 KiB) Viewed 6545 times

Second shot is a closer look at the northeast corner of the pit.

Slag3 002W.jpg (101.2 KiB) Viewed 6545 times

Last shot is with the test placement of wall pilings. Note that I will attempt to heat them in warm water and bend them to fit the curve of the area.

Slag3 004W.jpg (95.72 KiB) Viewed 6545 times

Comments welcomed. Thanks for looking.

George

[rogruth]

It makes more sense now.

[G3750]

It makes more sense now.

I'm making sense? Wow, something IS wrong.

Seriously Roger, thanks for weighing in on this. My recollection of such walls is that they are painted a badly faded light green and are showing rust spots. However, the green color post-dates my era so I am going to leave them a rust color.

In the early 1960's Weirton Steel knocked down their vacant World War II-era shell casing plant (in use as warehouse) in preparation for construction of the 1967 Basic Oxygen Plant (aka "Mill of the Future"). If my hazy childhood memory serves me correctly (I would have been 10 when they started), they used these types of pilings to hold back earth for excavation of the foundations and the hill side along Weir Avenue. Anyway, we're going with that.

George

[rogruth]

I think the color was determined by the owner/user so go with what you remember.

If somebody that worked in the area can prove something different you can always repaint them.

[G3750]

I think the color was determined by the owner/user so go with what you remember.

If somebody that worked in the area can prove something different you can always repaint them.

I'll claim "artistic license" or insanity - I think it's the same thing.

George

[rogruth]

Maybe so.

[G3750]

Updated 7/26/2012:

Made some progress so far this week:

• Got the train room cleaned up a bit. That took longer than expected.
• Began the track installation process on the access hatch. Thought I had plenty of track pins, but had to get some yesterday. I've got the roadbed, switch, and track positioned for the slag dump track.
• Began the electrical wiring process for the above.
• Painted all but the last 3 steel pilings yesterday; I'll get those sometime before the end of the week.
• Ground off the "Circle L" cast into the plastic on the sides of the power shovel cab. Then I hit both the cab and its doors with 2 coats of white paint.
• Put together a Plastruct order list for static generator / compressed air tank at the end of the Standard Slag spur (used to dump the slag cars).
• Put together (as part of the above) a list of components for compressed gas tank structure (see photo). Mine will be a little less ambitious. And I may change my mind once the costs get figured out.

Tank Structure001W.jpg (124 KiB) Viewed 6482 times

George

[rogruth]

If I recall,that is a fairly large and complex building.Good luck.

[G3750]

If I recall,that is a fairly large and complex building.Good luck.

Yes, it is. And pricing out a 5 x 5 tank structure with Plastruct generated a lot of "sticker shock". That was very expensive. I ended up ordering only the girders for the frame. I'm going to rethink the tanks. I think wooden dowels can be had much more cheaply. If I can get them turned on a lathe so that they have hemispherical ends, we're in business. But $6.00 / tank using Plastruct components is prohibitive.

George

[G3750]

Updated 7/28/2012:

• Painted the bottom half of the power shovel's cab the correct flavor of red. My friend is producing the Bucyrus-Erie decals for me.
• Assembled most of the power shovel. It was more of a bear than I originally thought. I was pretty careful with the painting, flash removal, and gluing. I think it turned out.
• Went on a scavenger hunt for tubing to replace the Plastruct tank parts. I think I found something that will work - cake supports at AC Moore. Instead of $4.00 each, I got 12 for $4.64!
• Laid a little more of the caboose track.

George

[G3750]

Here's a photo of the Lionel Power Shovel (6-12751) that I (sortof) transformed into a Bucyrus-Erie 150B. Will eventually hit it with a coat of Dullcote and weathering. Still waiting on decals, but I think it came out fairly well.

B-E Shovel02.jpg (231.33 KiB) Viewed 6426 times

George

[rogruth]

Very nice.

When did Lionel make that?

[Berk765]

I'm sorry I haven't been following this thread, but your layout is lookin' good.

[G3750]

Very nice.

When did Lionel make that?

Thank you!

Roger, I'm not really sure. I'm guessing 10-13 years ago, but I don't know. It might even have come out in 2004-2005.

I had a small scare or two in building this model. The first step was to wash all the parts in soapy water to get rid of any mold-release agent they might have used. I accidentally poured at least 4 small parts into the garbage disposal (not on) in the sink while draining the container holding the parts. Fortunately I was able to fish them out, but I was sweating bullets for a bit.

And then I misplaced a track tread. When it looked like I would have to replace it, I poked around on eBay for this kit. Holy smokes! I got this kit for $4.00 at a York several years ago in the Silver Hall; on eBay they want retail which is $29.00!

Fortunately, the tread turned up and I was able to assemble the model with no further drama. But building it was significantly harder than it looks. It's a "snap together" model , but there are a lot of intricate assembly steps.

George