Scratch built end of track bumpers

I like to have nice end of track bumpers at the ends of my spur tracks.  After seeing some scratch built ones on the Internet done in larger scales I decided to make my own N scale ones from brass.  I used this photo of something done in a larger scale as a reference.

The materials used include scraps of code 55 rail, PCB ties, and brass stock and all soldered together.  This photo shows the one I made for the diesel distributor before I had painted it.

Here is the same bumper after painting, being glued into place, and some ballast and scenery added.  The PCB tie material is covered by the scenery.

Because it is made of brass and can conduct electricity it is important to keep the bumper from actually touching the track.  I somehow blew it on this one at the warehouse and had to cut a gap in one of the rails to clear a short as shown in this photo.

Progress on the Diesel fuel distributor

There is actually a fuel transfer facility in Battle Mountain and I am including a similar facility on my layout.  The purpose of my facility is to distribute Diesel fuel to the many mining operations in the area that maintain their own fuel pumps for their mining equipment.

I already had a good start on this industry by using parts left over from past layouts and posted about this just about a year ago in the post Reuniting a Walthers Interstate Fuel & Oil kit.  As the site of this facility was near the edge of the Battle Mountain section I decided to wait until the Harney section was installed to finish it.

The Faller silo kit I used on the Diamond Plastics complex had a tool for bending the ladder safety cages that same with that kit.  I found that this tool works just as well in shaping the safety cages from Gold Metal Models.

Here are the storage tanks with the ladders installed.  The concrete base shown here is removable so all the work can be done at the bench then placed back on the layout.

Here is the same scene after a few more details were added to the tanks and they were painted.  The truck loading platform is from the Walthers Interstate Oil kit and the pump is from the old Micro Engineering gas station kit.  Still a bit more to do here and some weathering.




Next I will need to work on how the Diesel fuel is removed from the tank cars, that will be in the next post.

A belated happy new year

We are already half way through January and I have yet to make a post.  We were in Arizona visiting family and got back a couple days ago.  Time for an update.

Before leaving for Arizona I had ballasted both lines where they connected between the Battle Mountain and Harney sections and started to blend the scenery in the area.  After giving the track a good cleaning the main line has now re-opened.

Again this year I am taking part in the Trainboard.com winter layout party.  Besides presenting a few projects on the home layout I am also giving one of my Ntrak modules a tune up with the goal of displaying it in a layout at a show in late February.