San Clemente (Setting the scene)

Since nobody could tell me exactly which color the windows and doors were painted in, I used a bit of modelers license and painted them turquoise. This is a color which I often saw on stucco structures and also used on several Santa Fe depots in the Southwest.

Test fitting the depot on the layout.

The finished outhouse.

From the photos, I copied the depot lettering and tried to reproduce it as best as I could. I used the carbon copying method, by blackening the back of the paper with my pencil and pasting it directly on the wall.

It worked out quite well.

With a black marker pen I followed the pencil lines. I'm not totally happy with the outcome, because the lettering turned out to be too bold. I will probably redo it with a finer marker.

I glued a sheet of scale lumber to the baseboard to represent the concrete base and platform for the depot. After the glue had dried I painted it a concrete color.

Then I started with the scenicking of the depot scene. As ground cover I used real beach sand which I collected at the beach in Belgium near our annual vacation resort. I sifted the sand to remove small pebbles and clamshell debris and fixed it with a mix of white glue and distilled water. I wetted the entire area with a spray bottle of wet water (Isopropyl Alcohol added to the distilled water)

Woodland Scenics ground foam and static grass was applied while the ground was still wet.

There are still some details missing, but palm trees are so characteristic for Southern California, so that I had to plant these first.

Half of the depot area is finsihed. The rest to the far end of the room will follow after I modeled the bluffs to the left side against the backdrop and the large rocks protecting the tracks from being washed away by the waves. Unfortunately there will only be a very small strip of beach left.

As always, stay tuned for updates.

Ballast and Scenery

Ballasting the track marks the completion of the trackwork. At this stage every piece of track and every turnout should be powered and work reliably so that the trains run without interruptions. If this is not the case make improvements BEFORE you start ballasting your track.

On the protoype pictures from the 1940's there is not much ballast visible, but mostly dirt and rubble, so I tried to mix gray Woodland Scenics ballast with bird litter and beach sand, to achieve this look.

My maintenance of way crew uses a ballast car that I purchase at least a dozen years ago at a train show in Germany (Intermodellbau, Dortmund). It makes ballasting track very easy. The ballast is simply poured into the hopper. The hopper sits on a brass underframe that holds the wheelsets and has 3 holes where the ballast runns between the ties. a couple of rubber and felt wipers spread the ballst between the ties.

When the ballast spread has finished his job, I clean the tops of the railroad ties with a smooth brush. This wipes all the loose ballast between the ties.

With a stiffer brush I clean the rails and the side of the ties. Sometimes ballst sticks to the side of the rails and causes the wheels of the railcars to jump. Then I fill the space between the rails with sand or gravel and sprinkle ground cover on top.

After the ballast is in place I wet the tracks area. I mix Isopropyl alcohol with distilled water and apply the mixture with a spray bottle. I let it soak for a couple of minutes and then using an eye dropper or pipette, I apply a mix of 1 part Matte Medium, 7 parts water and 2 parts Isopropyl alcohol.

I experienced that Matte Medium bonds the ballast better than white glue which also tends to leave a shiny surface or white spots on the ballast. I also came away from using dish washer as wetting agent. I don't like the bubbling effect. I use Isopropyl alcohol instead which works perfectly. Take care to properly ventilate your room when using this medium.

The normal Woodland Scenics ground foam isn't very realistic when used as the only ground cover. Normally I also apply coarse foliage and grass tufts from MiniNatur. Scenic Express markets a similar product in the US.

The tufts come on a plastic sheet and may be torn off. They are glued to the scenery using a drop of white glue. I mix different shades from medium green, burnt  or dry grass. Depending on the area you're modeling you may choose greener shades.