News Update: US Army 250th Anniversary and New Location for the D-Day Exhibit

 US Army 250th Anniversary

I am steadily working on the Engine House and Machine shop. I have the windows built and am now adding the exterior planks. I hope to debut the model at the US Army 250th Anniversary Celebration at Joint Base Langley- Eustis on June 13th, 2025.  I will also have other civil war railroad models on display. 

The event is open to the public. You can find more information here.  The Military Railroad Society will be there with prototype and model train exhibits. The Army will have tours of their water vessels, other equipment of display, and lots of things for kids to do. 

Come check it out. 

D-Day Exhibit at 1st Infantry Division Museum 

The D-Day Exhibit with the dioramas we built, Keith Rooco's artwork and his collection of artifacts are now on exhibit at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, IL You can find more information at the link below.

https://www.fdmuseum.org/exhibit/d-day-omaha-beach/

Shafts, countershafts, pulleys, belts, and belt shifters

Side view of the machine shop

View looking through the machine shop. More weathering is required.

The boiler and steam engine were the final machines to add to the machine shop. The boiler is a kit from Crow River.  I used Vallejo Model Air Black Metallic paint on the boiler. It make a nice simulation of Russia Iron typically used on boiler shells.  

 The engine was a file I obtained from GrabCAD. That is a website oriented to engineers vice hobbyists. Still, there are lots of files on it that can be printed in a scale model application. 

I decided the steam engine needed a governor as that was a common feature in mill engines. The governor helps keep the steam engine at a constant speed as the load changes. That is key requirement  when cutting multiple machines are running at specified feed rates and powered from the same source. So I drew a governor, printed it, and added it to the machine.

I installed the boiler and steam engine in an extension to the left of the shop. That means the structure will no longer fit in the wye at Aquia Landing. So, Plan A is now out. 

With all the machines installed, I added the main shaft and countershafts. Some machines get power directly from the main shaft. Other machines use countershafts. 

Countershafts have to fulfill three functions. They may drive at one speed, or at two speeds, but in the same direction; or they may run at two speeds, one for driving, the other for reversal. There are different ways of effecting these movements. I opted for single-speed countershafts with machines that have stepped pulleys. I 3D printed stepped pulleys for these countershafts.

Looking through the roof at the machine shop

Typical belt shifter design

The belt shifters are essentially the on-off switches for the machines. To make them I soldered pieces of 0.032 inch phosphor bronze to the roughly correct shape. I curved the belt shifters slightly to follow the shape of the pulleys. I used extra hangers that I printed to install them except in a few locations where there wasn't room for the full hanger. In those cases I used blocks of wood.

The belt shifters don't spin in the hangers. They slide longitudinally to shift the belts from pulleys that are loose to pulleys that are firmly attached to the shaft.  Each belt shifter was a long, tapered wooden staff that extends about 6 feet above the shop floor.  Operators reach up to grab the wooden staff to engage the belt shifter. I cut those staffs using 1/32nd in birch plywood on my laser cutter. The linkage for the staffs required that I solder a short section of rod at 90˙ to the direction of the belt shifters. I used 1/8 inch square sections of strip wood to hold the belt shifters to the joists.

Belt shifter.

All the shafts, countershafts, pulleys, belts, and belt shifters create a nice complex look. Installing them was almost as tricky as rigging a sail ship model. The view looking down the length of the machine shop is really cool.

Machine Shop Progress

 

Machine shop at the EBT Railroad. It is amazing how many machines they crammed into those old shops.

I finished building most of the models of the  machines I will use in the shop. I have only finished painting and installing the wheel press. The rest need final painting and weathering.  Here is a list with status.

Planer 1    Wildwest kit     

A nice, but expensive, model based a planer in the Sierra Railroad shops. 

Planer 2     3D print from artwork that I modified from a file drawn by dansfoundry at printable.com.  

This model was based on a New Haven planer restored by Vintage Machinery on YouTube. 

Engine lathe  Wildwest kit 

This is the newer version with 3D printed parts

Bench lathe  Wildwest kit Not built yet.

Slotting machine  3D print from my artwork. 

I only had one view of the machine, so I had to make a lot of assumptions about the how it all works and fits together. 

Wheel press  
 3D print from my artwork. Thanks to Marty McGuirk for finding a set of plans from a book on the Sierra Railroad.

This one had the most fiddly parts as there is a very delicate saddle to hold the wheels set in place while pressing it and a chain hoist to help lift the axles.  

I decided to print a wheel set with  33 inch railroad wheels with the cooling fins on the back. I found a drawing of this type of wheel used by the UP. Those wheels were lightweight and discontinued as material gots better and trains got heavier.

While I was at it, I printed extra finned wheels to use as clutter around the shop. 

33" Finned wheel set based on a UP drawing

Dill press small Wildwest kit. This will be mounted on one of the posts in the shop.

Pedestal Grinder  Wildwest kit. A small grinder that can be used for general shop tasks.

Radial Drill Press  3D print from my artwork.  

I based this on the machine that Iron Jonesy is restoring on his Youtube channel. He provided enough information about the machine that I could make a pretty good model of it. The only issue was that he never provided dimensions, so I printed it in two sizes to see which worked better.

This is the artwork of the machine.

I had to thicken up some of the parts to survive  3D printing.

The wheel press is the first tool I installed. It will be in the middle of the shop. I plan to work out from it. 

I should have left some of the beams of the structure off to allow me to fit my hands inside more easily. But this should work.

 I decided to attach the belts to the machines first. Then I will install the line shafts once all the machines are in place and secure the belts to the pulleys on the line shafts. 

I am using 0.010 inch thick resin impregnated board for the belts. It is a bit stiffer than paper and is the right color.

I also printed a bunch of hanger and pulleys that I drew. I am not sure exact ly how many I will need as it depends of how many counter shafts I install.

The Sarlacc Pit?

 

Mock up of engine storage tracks

I was distracted for a few days by an interesting track plan assignment. So today, I started building the pit for the turntable. If you recall, I built this turntable for the Road Show several years ago. I saved the rotating wooden part, but not the pit. So I had to make a new pit. Note that this pit is a conical shape, like the Sarlacc Pit in Star Wars. Now I need Boba Fett figure for the turntable scene. 

I thought, "no problem, I have the files for the parts on my computer, I'll just cut an another set and glue them up." That went well enough for the main pit. But,... for some reason, the wedge-shaped pieces to make the surface of the pit were not the correct size. I must not have saved the final version of that file. So I had to redraw those parts. Now, they are tricky to design as I had to cut the parts in 2D but rotate up to make a 3D cone. It's kind of like trying to make a model of a building with hipped roof from 2D plans, except a bit trickier as this is a truncated cone or frustum.

I could have spent a few hours doing the math, but instead I got out my calipers, measured the required shape and cut the parts on the laser. It took a try or two but I got the parts I needed. I cut those parts from 0.032 in thick laser board. 

Plan B v2 with storage tracks

Now the decision is where to place the turntable. I am coalescing on a modified version of Plan B from my earlier post.  Note that I am adding two engine storage tracks to the design. I like how the parked engines look alongside the engine house. The storage tracks are needed as I have 6 engines, but we usually only use 2 or 3. 

I did a short video describing how the turntable could fit in the space. 

New Engine House and Machine Shop at Aquia Landing

 Work in Progress on the new engine house and machine shop

MYSTERY PROJECT REVEALED!

I have started work on a new engine house and machine shop. This project was inspired by a letter by Herman Haupt to General Burnside where he briefly described an engine shop at Aquia Landing. 

November 17, 1862-11 a.m.

Major-General BURNSIDE:
I have just returned from Aquia Creek. ....snip...
A machine-shop will be extemporized at Aquia by sending lathes, planer, portable, small tools, and shafting. Army forges will furnish smith-shops.
HAUPT.

From the machines and tools he described I assume that this would be a shop for light repairs and maintenance on locomotives and rolling stock.   

This project consists of three main phases, design and build the machine shop, build and add the tools,  install everything on the layout. These are somewhat iterative as the size of the machine shop needed will depend on how many machines are included.

1. Design and build the machine shop 

 I decided I wanted this to be a higher quality model than the existing engine house I built years ago for the Road Show. So I scrapped that structure saving the roof shingled sections. I plan to redo all the windows, so I removed the Tichy windows and put them in the spares box.

Engine house framing at City Point

 The  new single track engine house at Aquia Landing will be based on the one at City Point with just one stall instead of the 3 at that location.  The length will be 15 inches with the main posts on 10-foot centers.  The frame members will all be stick built with bass wood strips. Some I will cut on my laser for precise fit of the miters and tenons (yes they look like Lincoln Logs).  I used 3/16th inch wood as that scales out to 9 inches in O Scale. Heavier beams just didn't look right. 

Framing plan for new engine house

Engine house and machine shop
at City Point

At City Point, the machine shop was installed at right angles to the engine house. I opted to make my parallel to the engine house to maximize room inside for the machine tools and work benches. I have not decided where to place the boiler house with steam engine. That depends on where I install the engine house.

I initially planned to add the engine house and machine shop inside the wye and Aquia Landing where the current engine house is located. But several other plans came to my mind.

Alternative plans for location of new engine house and machine shop

Plan A is possibly the simplest (see lead photo). The engine house resides inside the wye. There would be no changes to the track plan. The drawback is that the location of the machine shop would make it hard to see all the cool detail inside. 

Plan B mock up

Plan B moves the engine house close to the aisle between Aquia Landing and Burnside Wharf. To accomplish that, the wye gets replaced by a turntable. I have an extra turntable leftover from the Road Show, so it would not be that much work to add it. The drawback here is that the turntable might be a little difficult to reach as it is deep in benchwork. The plus is that it gives the most flexibility as there would be two tracks to access the turntable. 

Plan C Mock up

Plan C has the turntable and the shop close to the aisle by placing it alongside the engine house. This is how they did it at City Point. Accessing the turntable would be easier here. But, there is only one track to access the turntable. 

I like how both B & C make getting to Burnside wharf seem a bit farther away than Plan A as crews can no longer back around the wye to get there, they have to go all the way back to the yard and them come down the back track. B & C also remove the wye track that was probably my least reliable piece of track. It worked well most of the times, but sometimes trains derailed on the wye, especially when backing. 

The location of the boiler house and steam engine to power the tools would change depending on which plan I pick. In  Plans A & B, the boiler house is parallel to the shop. In Plan C the boiler house is perpendicular to the engine house.  In all those cases, the steam engine pulley would be parallel to the main line shaft.  

What are your thoughts? Comment below. 

2. Building the Tools

I am just about done making the tools for the machine shop. I am using some kits from Wildwest Models plus models that I am drawing in Fusion 360 and then printing.  So far I have the following:

1. Planer 1    Wildwest kit
2. Planer 2     3D print
3. Engine lathe  Wildwest kit
4. Bench lathe  Wildwest kit
5. Slotting machine  3D print
6. Wheel press  3D Print
7. Dill press small Wildwest kit
8. Grinder small Wildwest kit
9. Shaper   TBD
10. Borer   TBD

Mock up of tools in the shop

I will do a more detailed report on the tools when I get them installed. 

Trip Reports and Another Sneak Peak

Sultana heads to dock in Cambridge, MD

The talks at the North Carolina RPM and the Chesapeake forum went well. 

CAROLINA RPM

I carpooled to the Carolina RPM with Mike Pulaski. He lives in Richmond, about a 3.5 hour drive to Greensboro. So I drove to his house the night before.  I had a chance to see his layout again on Friday and see his latest progress. We left his house at 500AM on Saturday and made it to the meet as it was getting started.

Butch Eyler had this display of cars weathering over time

The meet was fairly small with about 50 attendees. They held it is a conference center for a small business. The facility is quite nice with couches and chairs in the foyer and snack room with free drinks and donuts, and later pizza for lunch. They had one track of clinics to attend. 

The model display room was small with about 6 people showing models. The vendor room was also small. But I was happy that vendor Aaron Chamberlain was there with basic supplies as I purchased tools and phosphor bronze wires.

I attended most of the clinics. One tidbit I learned was that certain solder fluxes can be conductive. You need to be careful when soldering on printed circuit traces and use non-conductive flux. 

I was the last speaker to present. By then, the meet had thinned out and perhaps 15 people were present for my talk. I think everyone enjoyed it.

On Saturday night we visited a large club layout in Greensboro, got caught in a heavy rains and saw several NS trains roll through town while eating dinner.

All in all it was a fun time. Thanks to Mike for driving and Amy for hosting me Friday night.

CHESAPEAKE FORUM

A few days later I drove to Easton to present another talk. That one was more oriented toward civil war railroad history. I think it went very well. The audience members asked a lot of questions. Later, the Chesapeake Forum coordinator sent me feedback comments and they were very positive. One person said they could, "listen for another hour."

Roger Sekera and his wife, Sue, were my hosts while in Easton. We operated his HO switching layout after the talk. He designed the layout with ideas from my article on the C&O Brooke Yard that I wrote over 20 years ago. It took the two of us about 2 hours to switch the car float and various industries.  

Sue made a nice dinner and we enjoyed a walk around his lovey neighborhood.We crashed early after dinner.  Thanks to Roger and Sue for hosting me. 

The next morning I got up early and visited Blackwater Wildlife Refuge and the Pickering Audubon Center. I saw a lot of birds and got some good pictures.

On my way home I spotted the Sultana heading into the dock at Cambridge Maryland. Sultana is a replica of a Revolutionary War sailing vessel. I stopped to get some pictures of the Classic Chesapeake scene with the schooner and light house. 

MYSTERY PROJECT

The plot thickens. 

Here are more sneak peaks at part of the mystery project. Any idea what it might be?

Upcoming Talks and a Sneak Peek at a New Project

 I will be presenting two talks at the start of May about railroading in the Civil War.

The first is at the Carolinas RPM Meet on May 3-4 in Greensboro NC. You can get more information about the meet at https://cmrgreensboro.org/calendar/rpm-carolinas-may2025/

The second talk is the same topic at the Chesapeake Forum in Easton, MD on May 7th. You can get more information about it at https://chesapeakeforum.org/course/railroads-of-the-civil-war/  Note, they are charging a fee for admission. 

Next, I started working on a new project for my model railroad. I started off by getting a supply of scale lumber. Any guesses on what it might be?

Hint, I discussed this project on my blog before. It is a structure.

April Update- Northern Virginia Modelers Classic

 

Vietnam War Theme Diorama

I attended the Northern Virginia IPMS Modelers Classic today in Fairfax, VA. This is the annual show hosted by the Northern Virginia IPMS chapter. It was a fun show. I got to meet a lot of interesting people and perhaps I will be engaging in some new projects.

Larry Valett, who is the skipper of the Washington Ship Modelers Society, mentioned a new project for the Mount Airy Museum. He is a point of contact for that museum too. I had donated a bunch of my HO civil war era cars to this museum in the past. They are now gearing up for a new exhibit honoring the 250 anniversary of the US Military. I may be contributing some models to that. It depends on what they want.  We also discussed having the ship model society coming to visit the Aquia Line.

Don (l), Charles (r)

Next, I had a nice chat with Don Hakenson and Charles V. Mauro. They are northern Virginia locals that have published books on the history of civil war in the Northern Virginia region.  In fact, it was Mauro's book that informed me about Nettie Barnes and her pig. I actually cited his book in an earlier post here. So, I was pleasantly surprised to meet him. I invited them for a visit to the Aquia Line.

I also got to meet Tom Jett, who is the chairman of the IPMS National Show scheduled for this summer in Hampton , VA. We discussed a possible collaboration in building a 1/35th scale flat car for an armor project he is working on.

High Road to Rome Diorama

The National Capital Model Soldier Society was also present in force. Darci and Dave staffed a table where we had figures on exhibit including the High Road to Road diorama. Our club members handled judging of the figures for the Modelers Classic.

I brought 6 models to the show in five different categories. I am pleased to say that I received two  second and two third place awards. I also received the Special Show Theme Award for my diorama depicting a scene from the Vietnam movie, "Full Metal Jacket." I actually built this diorama in 2022, but it fit the theme of the meet, so I decided to display it. The actual award was an interesting full color print on a piece of aluminum. I really liked it.

Richmond Open 2025 IPMS Show

 

My 1/76th scale WWI tank on Macaw flat car got a First Place award in the small armor category

I attended the Richmond Open 2025 sponsored by the Richmond IPMS club on Feb 21, 2025. It was a big show at the Old Dominon Race Track facility with about 900 models entered and over 1,000 people attending.

Sci-fi and Gundam was one of the most popular categories. The younger people really seem to like this theme. Aircraft were also popular.

Our model figure club, The National Capital Model Soldier Society,  was tasked to judge figures, which we did.  There were so many entries in sci-fi and fantasy that the table was jammed with models. It was hard to fully examine them for judging with moving many of them. But we did the best we could. 

I entered some models in the contest and received two first place, one second and one third awards. Note this show does first-second-third vice gold-silver-bronze. 

My WWI tank on flat car was a model I built several years ago for my book on military railroads. The flat car was completely scratch built except for the trucks and wheel sets. The tank had to be modified for rail transport mode. The figure is by W^D models. They were a source for some of the best 1/76th scale model figures. Alas, the owner retired and has not sold off his masters.

Alien- Ripley's Last Battle shadow box diorama got a third place award in Dioramas

Avalynne and Orien got a second place in non-historical busts

King Konrad won a first place in 90mm and greater figures. The is a100mm flat figure, I made the shadowbox using my laser cutter to depict the Palantine Chapel in Aachen, Germany