Layout Progress; 0-6-0 Coal to Oil Conversion

The photos, in descending order:

1. The yard area and, in the back corner, the depot site, with the freight house siding at the rear. All track has been laid and tested in the "left" half of the layout (please refer to track plan in much earlier post), which is all I'm planning to construct for now.

2. I've begun weathering the track with a mix of rust and brown paint, applied to the sides of the rails with a small brush, and to switch guard rails, wing rails and flangeways.

3. I essentially dismantled my old roundhouse, which had suffered some damage moving from Idaho, and am completely rebuilding the sides. The roundhouse floor will get a coat of patching plaster, which will then be sanded and colored to represent weathered and stained concrete.

4., 5., 6. I decided to have some fun with the freight house track and depict one of those battered, neglected sidings we've all seen. My favorite example is the track on Snake River Avenue in Lewiston, Idaho, which I saw when it was part of the Camas Prairie Railroad. It appeared as if every length of rail was at a different height, giving the track a roller-coaster appearance. It was about as crooked, uneven, mud-and-weed covered as track could be and still function which, strangely enough, it did! It served the Lewiston Grain Growers elevators and a couple of other minor industries. I actually saw a switcher with a boxcar running on that track one day, and running very slowly, bouncing along as if it would derail any moment.

Anyway, on my siding I deliberately used some short pieces of rail and spiked them in such a way as to add a little crookedness. Not so much, of course, as to compromise gauge. I tested both my engines on it without any problems. With the addition of dirt (ballast on this type of siding is a technicality), weeds and debris, it should look about right.

7., 8. My 0-6-0 now represents an oil-burner. The oil bunker was made out of styrene; the fittings were miscellaneous items from my scrap box. The bunker design was based on that on a UP 0-6-0 in the December 1958 Model Railroader and a Texas & Pacific 0-6-0 in the magazine's March 1986 issue.