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 Posted - January 29 2020 : 10:05:19 PM
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The El Paso History Museum asked me to contribute this micro layout, which I call
Hart's Mill Crossing, which compresses the elements of a Trousseau painting that
shows the early railroad as it crosses from Mexico into El Paso in 1883.
There wasn't much to El Paso when the first train, a Southern Pacific work train,
arrived in the village in 1881. In very short order, El Paso grew exponentially
from the railroad, which connected from Mexican interests, such as copper and
silver, and timber from Southern New Mexico.
Not quite a museum quality piece, I did my best with it. The micro layout was
constructed using river sand from the Rio Grande about where the initial
train crossed into El Paso from the West. The trick now is to keep it
running smoothly, unattended, for the length of the five month
exhibit, which will put about 800 hours of use on this little train!
Wish me luck, I will need it.
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Posted - January 30 2020 : 07:38:58 AM
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| Oooh! Could we get an overview of the layout?
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Posted - January 30 2020 : 2:50:49 PM
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Thanks, Blax. It's simply a circle of track with a couple of 9" thrown in at the corners.
I've become interested in microlayouts, that is to say, how much can be done in a
about a yard square, in such a way as to tell a little story. The story here is El Paso's
first rail experience. The painting on the back wall is the inspiration. It measures
33 x 34 inches and was built up from a hollow door with Styrofoam for scenic base.
Water is Clear Gorilla Glue, which is no more than Woodland Scenics, but more viscous,
thus much easier to work with.
I'm going to try to post weekly updates to chart this layout's progress. It's going to have
run 800 hours before it goes back on the shelf.
https://youtu.be/9wKxS-b9mbY
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Posted - January 30 2020 : 8:01:00 PM
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Another nice video although quite a bit long.
I saw some nice scenes Jeff. Well done.
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Posted - January 31 2020 : 07:34:20 AM
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| I saw the video! Great layout! I'm sure the Mantua General can soldier through...
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Posted - January 31 2020 : 09:41:26 AM
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quote:
Another nice video although quite a bit long.
I saw some nice scenes Jeff. Well done.
Originally posted by wks - January 30 2020 : 8:01:00 PM
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Two minutes and six seconds. I try to keep videos to three minutes or less, just
curious, how did it come out long?
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Posted - January 31 2020 : 4:35:04 PM
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Maybe it is my phone but according to the time tracker the video is over forty nine minutes long.
I see blank black space after three minutes.
I thought you had additional video further up on this title.
Regardless the first two minutes is excellent as always.
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Posted - February 01 2020 : 02:39:57 AM
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Might be an upload issue, thanks for the notice. I will
Endeavor to reload it soon.
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Posted - February 03 2020 : 11:09:20 AM
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quote:
Another nice video although quite a bit long.
I saw some nice scenes Jeff. Well done.
Originally posted by wks - January 30 2020 : 8:01:00 PM
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Thanks to WKS, and a few other folks, I got notified that the upload was quirky.
No idea why it did that, so I reloaded it, hope this one is better.
https://youtu.be/-hItzgrwfC8
Museums are closed Mondays, and I am eager to get out and see how it
is holding up tomorrow. I have not seen it all week, and hope it is not
lying in a ditch.
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Posted - February 08 2020 : 1:57:48 PM
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Remade the video. Checked in on it this morning. She sat sadly on the curve,
drivers slowly turning, otherwise stationary. Turns out she burned off her
two traction tires. Switched her out and took her back home, figure
out how to remove the drive rod pins, now cannot find my Goodies
Hairbands for love or money.
This is the remake of the video:
https://youtu.be/E3FcSCeX6sg
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Posted - February 08 2020 : 2:54:48 PM
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Did not have to fix the video. Still it seems natural in the three minutes slot.
I am sure you will fix that nice steamer.
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Posted - February 10 2020 : 12:00:22 AM
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Week two, update:
https://youtu.be/vIpTdkKSJZY
Found my Goodies Hair Bands-
after I made a trip to Walmart for
a new set. Refitted the Mantua,
which had shredded its factory
tires.
The McGyvered rubber drive shaft
on the Bachmann works really good.
Putting it to work all day Sunday.
WKS: you'd be proud of me- I took the
trolley around its loop in El Paso today.
Nice ride.
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Posted - February 10 2020 : 08:36:26 AM
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I like that 0-4-0. I think that the prototype to that is the B&O dockside, which for a time, had the saddle tank removed and a tender added, hence the low boiler and tall domes and stacks. Interestingly, that gives it the same proportions as a lot of 19th century locomotives and really works well in the era of your layout.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - March 09 2020 : 12:18:49 AM
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The latest update is that the little 0-4-0 basically ate its transmission,
not surprisingly. The Model Power Mantua re-pop was a disappointment.
Out of the box its function was jerky and the current draw was high.
The traction tires shredded within a few hours of run time, and
after replacing them the motor developed a short. Back to the
store it went; not sorry to see it go.
I stood tall and paid two bills for this Bachmann American Type.
It's got a redesigned motor (can) and a simplified transmission
(no more cumbersome drive shaft) as well as onboard sound,
which is beautifully synchronized to the motion.
Initial impressions have been very positive; hope it
keeps running as nice as it does now.
https://youtu.be/34vBzhFhkxY
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Posted - March 09 2020 : 7:20:37 PM
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quote:The latest update is that the little 0-4-0 basically ate its transmission,
not surprisingly. The Model Power Mantua re-pop was a disappointment.
Out of the box its function was jerky and the current draw was high.
The traction tires shredded within a few hours of run time, and
after replacing them the motor developed a short. Back to the
store it went; not sorry to see it go.
I stood tall and paid two bills for this Bachmann American Type.
It's got a redesigned motor (can) and a simplified transmission
(no more cumbersome drive shaft) as well as onboard sound,
which is beautifully synchronized to the motion.
Initial impressions have been very positive; hope it
keeps running as nice as it does now.
https://youtu.be/34vBzhFhkxY
Originally posted by Chops124Â -Â March 09 2020Â :Â 12:18:49 AM
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Chops,
Chops, chops, chops.
Licking my chops as we speak.
We can work this out the easy way....
Or the hard way...
Put the Jupiter on the bay for $70, free shipping, and your beloved Penn central DD40 can return to you safely
I have him hostage.
But I must
Obtain
The new tooling Jupiter!!!
 
P.S.
Try not to run Jupiter on the exhibit layout for too long, I'd hate to see that beauty go to waste.
Edited by - BlaxlandAlex3 on March 09 2020 7:23:03 PM
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Posted - March 09 2020 : 7:46:39 PM
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Wait a month or two and we'll see how the new tooling Jupiter
holds up. So far it appears to be way better than any of the
prior editions, including AHM, Mantua, and Model Power/Mantua.
If the main drive gear cracks, then this will be a very, very bad
omen. Hopefully not. Cross my fingers. Toes. Ankles.
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Posted - March 10 2020 : 07:53:06 AM
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quote:Wait a month or two and we'll see how the new tooling Jupiter
holds up. So far it appears to be way better than any of the
prior editions, including AHM, Mantua, and Model Power/Mantua.
If the main drive gear cracks, then this will be a very, very bad
omen. Hopefully not. Cross my fingers. Toes. Ankles.
Originally posted by Chops124Â -Â March 09 2020Â :Â 7:46:39 PM
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Yeah, I hope that doesn't happen. I'll cross every single limb I have as well
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 Posted - March 10 2020 : 10:04:09 PM
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Nice video of the reliable Jupiter Jeff.
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Posted - March 19 2020 : 12:33:39 PM
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How is that wonderful engine holding up Jeff.
Did it wilt and stop in the desert heat?
Or did it streak across in style?
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Posted - April 10 2020 : 3:29:09 PM
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Hey chops, how is the tracks across the desert layout holding up?
Is it still at the museum or did you take it back?
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Posted - April 10 2020 : 11:54:20 PM
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Still at the museum, which is on lock down. When it did
run, this redesigned Jupiter ran splendidly. Bachmann
finally joined a good motor to a good body.
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Posted - April 11 2020 : 09:55:33 AM
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quote:Still at the museum, which is on lock down. When it did
run, this redesigned Jupiter ran splendidly. Bachmann
finally joined a good motor to a good body.
Originally posted by Chops124Â -Â April 10 2020Â :Â 11:54:20 PM
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Indeed they did. Is the museum going to be on display permanently, or is it only going to be there for a certain period of time?
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Posted - April 11 2020 : 3:30:58 PM
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The display is set to come down mid June. There are two history
museums in El Paso- the older of the two being in a large mansion
in the Greek Revival style, dating to about 1900. If I remember, the
owner had made his money in timber, in New Mexico, about 100
miles North of El Paso, where Ponderosa Pines abound. Much of
that would built the rapidly growing El Paso. That museum has
a lot of cool stuff pertinent to the city's history, Mexican Revolution,
doodads and what nots.
The second history museum is parked in the downtown and has
the austerity of an airport and very thin displays that consist
largely of blown up photographs mounted on the walls. Which is
where Hart's Mill Module came to be displayed. They may have
been desperate, can't really say.
There seems to be some kind of long lasting feud between the
two museums, and the artifacts seem to be jealously confined to
one museum or the other. "Spring Green," a locomotive built in
1857 by the Breese Kneeland Company of New Jersey instead
of on display in the cavernous new museum, is relegated to
a very secure, but isolated spot of downtown.
Mandy the Mule, and her exceptional 19th century rail omnibus, is
apparently in storage somewhere with the city bus company. They won't give it
up, either. It is supposed to go on display, but I've not seen or hear of it for
decades.
(Mandy and omnibus, 1881, the year the railroad hit town).
It would be very fine to have these two elements on display under the same roof,
but alas, no, that is not to be, politics being what they are, each side wants to
hold onto what they got.
The midtown museum does have the ox cart, which we are told is a repop.
I'd never know that by looking it, as every plank and peg looks to be a
zillion years old. It is a full sized replica (replica?) of a 16th century
wagon, the type that won the Spanish Colonial South West. That is a vein of
history that goes very deep, and deeply into its own origins.
To the right of the hay and grain store, on the module, is an HO ox cart, built by the
late Doc Harrison.
Thus, in the void between, did fall my little effort, Hart's Mill, that I never
intended to be on display at a museum, but rather dragged about to various
events like the coin show or the model train show in Albuquerque.
Edited by - Chops124 on April 11 2020 3:42:20 PM
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Posted - April 11 2020 : 8:14:27 PM
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Wow, I'd never heard of that 4-4-0 before. I like the looks of the paint scheme.
What do you plan on doing with the layout after? Take it to shows and events like you stated?
When I went to the Tampa show some months back a guy was demonstrating his micro n scale layout that had working real water. Some guy offered him flat out 10 grand for it. He declined!
You never know what someone might pay for that!
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Posted - April 11 2020 : 10:12:23 PM
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That would be a dream come true, considering I only have
maybe $50 into it!! Plus the locomotive, which I would
rate as a definite buy.
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Posted - April 12 2020 : 07:36:41 AM
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quote:That would be a dream come true, considering I only have
maybe $50 into it!! Plus the locomotive, which I would
rate as a definite buy.
Originally posted by Chops124Â -Â April 11 2020Â :Â 10:12:23 PM
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You never know....
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Posted - April 12 2020 : 11:36:27 AM
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A curious factoid about #1, which started out as #40, on the Milwaukee
and St. Paul, is that her crown sheet was made from a single slab of
iron pounded to requisite thickness and size by Russian serfs using
sledge hammers.
Seriously, whenever I think I got it rough, I just think of what those
poor sods had to go through: beating a piece of unyielding metal
with a sledge in sub zero conditions dawn to dusk...you get the idea...
whatever I think, I got it pretty darn good.
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Posted - April 12 2020 : 5:37:00 PM
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| Haha, yeah, I suppose. "Russia Iron", they called it.
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