# Pinetop Lakes Railroad gets a New Engine Facility



## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

I just finished building these two kits. The Coal Tower is a Pola kit and the Water Tower is a Piko kit.

I spray painted them before assembly, first with a brown, then with a dark red and next with a lighter red. Then a final spray of brown to tone everything down finished the painting job.

Both kits assembled very easily. I am very impressed with the planning that went into these kits. I had absolutely no trouble making them look pretty good. That is saying something because I do not consider myself to be a great craftsman.




















This is another view of my new engine facilities. I did not notice that the sand box was tilted until I downloaded these pictures. I immediately went out and straightened it out. 

Placing these kits on my railroad required a complete revision of tracks. I did not realize that I would have to build a raised track to access the coal tower. I built a retaining wall out of cedar strips nailed and glued to a block of wood. The track leading to the coaling tower was raised on a bed of ballast. I had to use a small Aristo switch to make things work, but the only engine that will be pushing coal cars up the ramp will be a Bachmann 0-4-0 so it should work well. There is enough space on the track in front of the engine facilities to pull my longest engine up to the coal tower and the water tower.

I did not like the plastic base of the Water Tower so I covered it with cedar strips which I nailed and glued in place.










Grandma's run down farm house sits on a bluff over looking the town of Pinetop on my railroad. This building has been out in the nasty weather of Western Washington for almost three years now. I need to do some repair on it. The other buildings in the picture are Colorado Scale Model kits and they have been outside for two years now. This past week I have completely changed the tracks in Pinetop to access two warehouses and a freight station. Soon there will be a station located here and other passenger facilities.

The actual town of Pinetop is to the left and not shown in this picture.

If I get some interest in this thread I will try to post some additional pictures of my railroad.

I still have much work to do on the lower portion but i hope to complete most of that this spring.

I resized these pictures to 640 X 420 so i do not know why they do not show completely without scrolling.

John


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## Dick413 (Jan 7, 2008)

they look good. what made you go with the three colors?


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## Madstang (Jan 4, 2008)

Good job looks great!

Bubba


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

The sanding building was painted two years ago. I did not really have a painting scheme then.

As far as the water tank and the coaling tower were concerned, i just started spraying paint. I painted the water tower first and really liked the way it turned out. Then I started the coaling tower. I tried to remember what I had done with the water tank and once again started spraying paint. I think the colors matched just fine.

I usually do not have a preconcieved idea of what I am going to do in advance. I had two reds and several brown spray paint cans so I just grabbed them. The roof of the coaling tower was sprayed very lightly with a light brown color and then touched up with some rust paint since the roof panels looked like metal sheeting.

The water tank roof was sprayed with at least three different shades of brown and then touched up with some rust.

The planks that the water tank are sitting on were sprayed with a light brown and then with a gray color. 

I just start spraying paint until I get something which looks good to me.

I am working on a station that will go in the town of Pinetop. I will try to duplicate the red color of the water tank and coaling tower, however, it will probably have a contrasting color just to set it apart.

John


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Another picture of the Water Tank. I have another of these kits which will be placed at the other end of the railroad.










This is another view of the coaling tower.

You can get a better view of the retaining wall I built for the track that delivers coal to the storage bin.

The main line is about 18 inches behind this track. The other side of the service track slopes down to meet the main line.

When the rains stop i will cover the base of the coaling tower with coal from some large chunks I picked up in Chama last summer. I will also dust the entire structure with coal dust.










This is a picture of the second village on my railroad named Hondah. It is named after a real community on the Apache Reservation in Arizona about 2 miles from where we lived in Pinetop.

The trees are about 2 years old. I think they are a species of Arborvitae. On the left of the picture and in the background are some of the Dwarf Alberta Spruce. The trees are about 3 feet tall. I planted 50 of these trees about 5 years ago and every one of them is doing great. The two small trees in the center of the picture are boxwood trees. One of them is not doing to well for some reason. I do not water these trees. They get plenty of rain in the winter and often go through 3 months of draught in the summer time but they handle it just fine. I have never had spider mites or any other parasite.

This area will be completed with a road and a couple of small track side industries.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

WOW JB The Tipple and the water tank look great. So do your other buildings.

Things are coming along nicely. 

JJ


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the comments.

My railroad doesn't seem to gain as much interest as other subjects on this forum. 

My topics seem to drop off after only a couple of replies are posted so I thank you for being one of the few who find it worthwhile to respond to my efforts and give me some sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

There are no other Garden Railroaders in my area apparently so I just plod along learning mostly by trial and error.

I would like to add lights to my buildings, but I really have no idea how to proceed so if anyone has any helpful hints on how to light these buildings, i would appreciate the help. We'll see how far that request gets me.

John


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

John..... the railroad is coming along just super. The buildings sure add to it..

Super job.









Thanks for posting the images and descriptions.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

John, 

The buildings are looking great! The stand of miniature are looking good, too.


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

I like the pics, and honestly, sometimes you just have to look at the views to see if there's any interest. A lot of people don't comment. What scale are the water tower and coaling tower? I've been giving some thought to some buildings, and to a layout, and I'm doing 1:20.3. I figure 1:22.5 is less than 5% off, I'm thinking I could live with that pretty easily. 

Robert


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

John, 

Looks like the RR is really making progress. The engine service area looks great as does the rest. 

As for lighting the buildings a simple way is to use Malibu yard lights inserted through the bottom of the structures or stop by next time you're down in this area and I'll show you how I light mine using bus bars if you want.


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## Dick413 (Jan 7, 2008)

John do you have a preference in spray cans?


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

The coal tipple, water tank and sand facility are 1:22 I think. These kits are extremely well engineered and everything fits almost perfectly. The water tank and the tipple were rather intimidating when I first opened the box but I think it took only 3 nights each to finish them.

At one time I thought I would like to do 1:20 scale and I bought quite a few AMS cars to go with my Bachmann engines. However, I was so disappointed in the rolling quality of the AMS cars that i quickly gave up the idea and have since stuck exclusively with Bachmann 1:22 cars. The detail on them in my opinion is great. They run very well and I am very happy with them. The cost is another nice feature of these cars.

I usually buy the cheapest spray paint I can find at Wal Mart. They have a good selection of railroad appropriate colors. 

I do everything wrong. I have never washed plastic parts prior to painting and I have been doing the painting in the garage where the temperature is around 40 degrees. I let them dry for about three hours before I begin assembly.

I use the Uhu glue which comes with the Piko buildings and have had minor problems with it. Some of the trim on a couple of buildings has fallen off and one building the roof actually came off. Grandma's farm house, the roof needs to be glued down again.

I have also used some Colorado Scale Models buildings because they are pretty cheap. I think they are 1:24 scale.

I hope to finish a station for Pinetop in the next two weeks and then put down some roads and that area will then be finished.

Did I sound like I was moaning about not being respected? I have been on this forum I think since almost the first day it started. I guess I am overly sensitive but I seem to have the jinx of stopping every thread that I respond to or my responses seem to go unnoticed. For example, there were some threads about Dwarf Alberta Spruce trees asking how to take care of them. I responded that I just plant them and let them grow. There were many other responses and not a single person even commented about my ideas.

I also have some crazy ideas about track. You will not find a single piece of track on my railroad where I have used those frustrating little screws. I push the sections together and leave them alone. I have never had a train derail due to track coming apart. I have had many derailments for other reasons but not for not using those silly screws. 

Anyway, thanks for the good comments. I appreciate it. Now that I seem to have figured out how to post pictures and now that I have a really nice new Sony a33 DSLR camera, I will try to post more as I continue to make progress.

I am trying to get as much done in the next month since I have a chance of taking a job (even though I am retired) in the Virgin Islands for 13 weeks.

John


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

John, the water tower was one of the first kits I built, but I never thought about painting it. It looks so much more realistic the way you painted it. About size: could be 1:22, but I'm thnking 1:24. I haven't decided if I will keep mine if I ever fully commit to 1:20.3.


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Nice lookin buildings. Don't get down about posts, alot of times the guys here that post to each others topics are friends or have met at shows or gatherings. For anyone wondering, I have the water tower and it makes a nice smallish water tower in 1:20 scale. I may have to take it apart and paint it though after seein this one.


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

I did not try to seal the tank so that it would hold water. 

I did not glue the roof in place so if I ever decide to put water in it, I guess I can go back and seal it.

Yes, I think painting it made all the difference in the world. It looks much more realistic.

I am sorry for my rants about being disrespected. I guess I have a Rodney Dangerfield complex. 

I will never compare my self to some of the great modelers who post on this site.

John


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

John,

I built the water tank and coal tower kits many years ago. They are both great kits and look fine next to 1:20 rolling stock and engines. I left mine their original D&RGW yellow colors. They have been outside constantly for over 10 years. They have held up well. I like how the color has faded naturally. Last year my coal tower was blown off my layout and it fell about 3 feet. It ended up in about 20 pieces. I gathered them up and glued them back together. It looks almost new. This time I'm putting about 2 pounds of lead in the tower. That should keep it in place this time.

BTW, don't pay attention to the lack of comments or responses. I seem to suffer from the same problem. I have killed several topics recently. I keep on posting however. Mostly I try to help.

Doc


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## chuckger (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi JB,

Your buildings look good as does your railroad. I like how you finished off the tank and coaling tower. Your work is as good as any I have seen on this site, keep the photos comming.

chuckger


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Chuckgr,

Thanks for the omments.

If you were to look real close at the Water Tank you would find a couple of minor construction booboos. Same with the coal tipple.

But I agree that from a distance they look good enough for my eyes.

That is why I like the Bachmann rolling stock. The freight cars (1:22) just look good to me. I know the grab irons and other things are probably over sized, but I am more interested in the feeling than in re-creating anything exactly.

I am building a couple of new structures right now. The first one is the Donnor Mine from Colorado Scale Miniatures. It is going to be a BIG building. Then I am also going to start another Piko station.

John


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