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Over the past few months I've been working on a variety of projects, but not yet getting any to the point of completion. I thought I'd share a few in-progress pics anyway.

The first few photos show some recent progress on roads throughout the layout. I got all roads cut, painted, and striped, but haven't yet done any significant weathering. In addition to the road work in the area, I've also begun upgrading scenery between Bluffs Yard and UP's Pool Yard in Council Bluffs, and made the decision not to model the South Expressway as originally planned. More on that in the caption for photo #6 below.

The last few pics are related to my decision a few months ago to do away with Cass County Elevator in Atlantic - which has never been appropriate for my May 2005 era - and instead model a larger portion of the branch serving Harlan Elevator. The prototype Cass County Elevator was torn down in about 1996 - around the same time Harlan was built - but I could never find a way to model Harlan, since it's at the end of the approx. 2 mile long Atlantic Spur north of town, so I originally compromised on instead resurrecting Cass County. A few months ago, I finally realized that by moving the junction with Atlantic Spur further east toward Atlantic, where I had originally planned to model the E. Nishnabotna River bridge, I could model the branch with enough room to allow me to spot five cars at a time for Harlan, to be pulled up by their little GE 45-tonner. (Harlan Elevator itself is off-layout.) Still not a lot of car capacity for a modern grain elevator, but enough that it could load a layout-sized unit train with just two re-spots. This also let me extend the spur serving Pellett Petroleum, a local fertilizer dealer, and to more accurately model their facility.

Those changes not only allowed me to start switching Atlantic as the prototype did, but also meant I could correct my track schematic there. I stubbed South Siding just west of the old RI depot as was done on the prototype after Cass County's demise, allowing me to eventually model a long-time Atlantic fixture, spreader IAIS 9500, tied down there. I'm also taking advantage of this time to add #4 Track to Atlantic Yard. With these two changes, I've finally been able to do away with all but one of the remaining track schematic compromises on the layout. The only one that remains is the removal of a yard track and RIP track in Bluffs Yard in order to keep scene depth manageable there. I'm comfortable with that, though, since there's really no way to overcome it in HO scale without growing longer arms.

Linn St. at Atlantic.  The weathering on the north side of the crossing was the result of an impromptu Pan Pastel demonstration during a recent open house.  Thanks to Jeff Leaman for the use of his Pan Pastels, and to Clark Propst for the lesson.
Linn St. at Atlantic. The weathering on the north side of the crossing was the result of an impromptu Pan Pastel demonstration during a recent open house. Thanks to Jeff Leaman for the use of his Pan Pastels, and to Clark Propst for the lesson.
By: Joe Atkinson
New crossing at McClelland, still awaiting weathering, backdrop photos, scenery, etc.
New crossing at McClelland, still awaiting weathering, backdrop photos, scenery, etc.
By: Joe Atkinson
Google Maps view of the intersection of 16th Ave. and South Main St.
Google Maps view of the intersection of 16th Ave. and South Main St.
By: Joe Atkinson
Recent road and scenery work at the intersection of 16th Ave. and South Main St. in Council Bluffs, still awaiting weathering, detail work, backdrop photos, etc.  Lord willing, the RailsWest Museum (former RI depot) will eventually be built where the blueprints are laying.
Recent road and scenery work at the intersection of 16th Ave. and South Main St. in Council Bluffs, still awaiting weathering, detail work, backdrop photos, etc. Lord willing, the RailsWest Museum (former RI depot) will eventually be built where the blueprints are laying.
By: Joe Atkinson
Google Maps view of the IAIS line between the former RI depot (upper left) and Ready Mixed Concrete (lower right).
Google Maps view of the IAIS line between the former RI depot (upper left) and Ready Mixed Concrete (lower right).
By: Joe Atkinson
My original plan was to have the South Expressway overpass cross the tracks at this location.  However, after working on the scenery here, I came to the conclusion that trying to fit the depot, overpass, and Ready Mixed plant seen in the previous photo was too much, and didn't leave me with a way to tie the depot or Ready Mixed lots into adjacent streets.  Instead, they were just going to dead-end into the overpass piers.

To open things up and increase realism, I decided to do away with the overpass, and instead model 8th St., crossing the tracks at grade just beyond the utility pole.  An added bonus of this approach is that the grade crossing will offer more operational interest than the overpass.  Prototype engineers in this area are on the horn a lot between 16th Ave. and Pool Yard, and the two crossings I was originally planning to model didn't do a good job of recreating that.
My original plan was to have the South Expressway overpass cross the tracks at this location. However, after working on the scenery here, I came to the conclusion that trying to fit the depot, overpass, and Ready Mixed plant seen in the previous photo was too much, and didn't leave me with a way to tie the depot or Ready Mixed lots into adjacent streets. Instead, they were just going to dead-end into the overpass piers.

To open things up and increase realism, I decided to do away with the overpass, and instead model 8th St., crossing the tracks at grade just beyond the utility pole. An added bonus of this approach is that the grade crossing will offer more operational interest than the overpass. Prototype engineers in this area are on the horn a lot between 16th Ave. and Pool Yard, and the two crossings I was originally planning to model didn't do a good job of recreating that.
By: Joe Atkinson
"Before" view showing Cass County Elevator on the left and the double-ended siding that served it.
"Before" view showing Cass County Elevator on the left and the double-ended siding that served it.
By: Joe Atkinson
"After" shot showing the now-stubbed South Siding, the empty lot where Cass County Elevator once stood, and the pending addition of #4 track on the right edge of the yard, against the aisle.
"After" shot showing the now-stubbed South Siding, the empty lot where Cass County Elevator once stood, and the pending addition of #4 track on the right edge of the yard, against the aisle.
By: Joe Atkinson
Another view showing the stubbed South Siding (left) after Cass County Elevator's demolition.
Another view showing the stubbed South Siding (left) after Cass County Elevator's demolition.
By: Joe Atkinson
Prototype view looking north at the Pellet Fertilizer spur, with Atlantic spur to the left.
Prototype view looking north at the Pellet Fertilizer spur, with Atlantic spur to the left.
By: Joe Atkinson
"Before" view showing my original attempt to model the Atlantic and Pellet spurs.
"Before" view showing my original attempt to model the Atlantic and Pellet spurs.
By: Joe Atkinson
"After" view showing the reworked spurs and larger Pellet facility, still awaiting more detailing and scenery work. Atlantic Spur on the right serves Harlan Elevator (off layout). I plan to eventually decorate the GE 45-tonner seen here to represent Harlan Elevator's ADM-painted unit as an indicator of the elevator's presence beyond the layout. The grain bin next to the tracks (also seen in the prototype photo to the left) belongs to a local farmer and is unrelated to the elevator.
"After" view showing the reworked spurs and larger Pellet facility, still awaiting more detailing and scenery work. Atlantic Spur on the right serves Harlan Elevator (off layout). I plan to eventually decorate the GE 45-tonner seen here to represent Harlan Elevator's ADM-painted unit as an indicator of the elevator's presence beyond the layout. The grain bin next to the tracks (also seen in the prototype photo to the left) belongs to a local farmer and is unrelated to the elevator.
By: Joe Atkinson
13 images in this album on 2 pages.
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  Last modified on June 20, 2013 at 23:30.