Corinna Station

Corinna Station is built using the Grandt Line Sheepscot Station kit. I spent just a couple of hours on assembly and touch-up painting. It still needs to be weathered (I did it in software for this shot), and the station sign needs to be made and applied, but it’s otherwise lookin’ great.

Corinna Station placed into platform

Corinna Station close-up

One thing that I have learned on this module is that Fomecore is not a good base on which to place track or scenery if you’re going to use a lot of matte medium to secure scenery materials. Even though I literally painted the underlying plywood with glue when I laid down the Fomecore, the added moisture from above is causing it to curl up. I can only guess that it’s peeling the lower surface right off the foam as it warps (you can see the result in the wide-angle shot above left). Fortunately, it’s only used as  a scenery base (I think) and not a track base, and I’ll just have to hide the edge with more scenic material. Otherwise, I’d have some pretty twisted trackage

Station Walls with two-tone paint applied.

Tonight’s excitement — painting the station some more. Just about all the parts are painted, so, tomorrow night I should be able to assemble the station.

I also determined that I want to build the station with its included base for strength, especially since this is to be used on one of the modules. Of course, the station floor is supposed to be flush with the platform, which meant a modification to the platform was in order. Using the base as a guide, I scribed the opening in the decking with an X-Acto knife, and then cut away the decking and one layer of the supporting Fomecore.

Modified platform, ready for station to be inserted

The base of the station is a snug fit in the hole, and the floor lines up just right! While it probably won’t be seen once the station is assembled onto the base, I went ahead and touched up the two raw-wood bits around the edges.

Platform with station floor in place

After “date night” with Donna tomorrow night, I’ll assemble the station, and we’ll see how it looks!

I did a little more on the yard tonight — replaced the ballast on the station track, and started in on the station, which will be a Grandt Line Sheepscot Station kit.

I had used Woodland Scenics fine talus material for the ballast, as it did a decent job of simulating the oyster shells used on some early railroads on the Eastern Shore of Maryland — back when I was modeling the Eastern Shore. The problem with the talus, especially on a module, is that it doesn’t glue very well. No matter how much matte medium I soaked it with, it just didn’t want to stick. So, I scraped most of it out, and replaced it with Woodland Scenics medium-sized Gray Blend. It looks much better.

One the station, I decided to use the Grandt Line over the Banta kit for a couple of reasons. First, this is a module, and so the building will be subject to a little more abuse than one on a part of the layout that never leaves the house. And second, I was able to find the Grandt Line kit more easily. What can I say?

Anyway, I started the model by painting the floor and building sides. Many of the Maine narrow-gauge lines used a similar two-tone green paint scheme. I elected to follow suit. For the light green, I used a color called “Mint Julep,” and the dark color, I’ll be using “Plantation Pine.” The darker color is a little too dark to be absolutely correct, but I like it. The “Mint Julep” is pretty darned close to being the color used at the WW&F museum.

So, that’s all for now. Sorry, no pictures tonight. Maybe tomorrow, when something may be worth showing…

Yes, I actually was able to spend some time this evening working on modules!

Station Module, platform area

I decided to work tonight on putting in the platform that’s been foamcore and cork for three years now — I’m really sick of looking at that glaring white pan-handle-looking thing!

Platform in place

Here’s the platform in place — or at least, most of it. I used coffee stirrers as the wood for the platform, applied with Pergo flooring glue. I found that the coffee stirrers really swell when you paint them. So much so, in fact, that the boards buckled at one point, and I had to remove a board!

Platform completed!

It was an easy matter to split the board I removed and replace it in the platform. I painted the wood with a dark brown craft store acrylic, and then applied some “driftwood” stain to simulate weathered wood. I over-did it in a few places, so I went back and applied more of the broad brown. And, I used the Floquil paint markers to simulate a few newly replaced boards.

Overall, the platform ended up being a lot larger than I had envisioned it, but, I was pretty much stuck doing the whole deal. Also, there’s not much space between the passenger/freight make-up/departure track and the first yard track, so I’m hoping that the WW&F prototype stations will fit. I’m also going to add some sort of freight shed to eat up some platform space.