Description

by Marc Sisk

I have been a Northern Pacific fan for years. I have every book that I know of on the NP and have really been interested in the history of the railroad from the signing of the NP Charter by President Lincoln on July 2, 1864 to the end of service on March 3, 1970. I am particularly interested in the early 50’s era on the Rocky Mountain Division, which ran from Livingston, to Paradise, Montana. Livingston was a main division point for the railroad with big shops and yard. Included in the division was the Yellowstone Park Branch (54 miles) from Livingston to Gardiner, Montana. This was the original entrance to the park and was completed in 1883.

The inspiration for my modules came on a recent, first ever, visit to Livingston over the past Memorial Day holiday.Carol and I stayed at the Murray Hotel, which has been around for almost 100 years. Yes, it was quite a shock to our systems from the fast DC pace, but I was in NP heaven. Carol thought I was crazy, but that’s OK. The hotel is just across the street from the magnificent NP depot in Livingston. Over a four-day period, we put about 900 miles on a rental vehicle traveling from Livingston to Yellowstone, to Billings, Bozeman, Logan, and Butte taking eleven rolls of film in the process. We followed NP (now BNSF and MRL) trackage most of the way. The scenery is just awesome! The mountains, rivers, trees, and gently curving track following the rivers are truly inspirational, to say the least.

I began work on my two modules over the Labor Day weekend. The modules are 6 feet long and 30 inches wide with the extra 6” at the back. It has the standard Red and Yellow lines across the front of both modules. They span a river at both ends on double track bridges. The Blue Line follows the bank of the river on the far side the entire length of both modules crossing a deck bridge over the cut in the mountains where a fork in the river joins the main stream. The modules incorporate a Mountain Line that also crosses a truss bridge high over the smaller of the two rivers.

This being my first attempt building a module, I had several objectives in mind when I started to build. First, I wanted to incorporate mountains, hills, trees, water, rocks, bridges, and structures so that I could learn how to do and use all the various products available to the N Scale modeler. I will be starting on a large home layout of the Rocky Mountain Division soon and wanted to experiment with all the products on these modules. The second objective was to try and capture a little of what I saw during my visit to Montana. There is a real Pipestone Pass on the Continental Divide as you drive toward Butte on I-90. I did not see a big river like mine, but there are many rivers in the area (Yellowstone, Madison, Gallatin, and Jefferson). Close enough for me. The third objective was to finish them so I could participate fully in the club during the many setups. It’s fun to help set up and such, but it is more fun to watch folks watch trains going through your module(s).

Construction of the modules was done with 1’ x 4’s for the frames with a piece of 2’ x 4 ‘ x 3/8” plywood top. Yes, that left a 6” gap in the back, but the Mountain Line would be elevated anyway. I used the 2” pink foam for the base and built up the Mountain Line elevation using various thickness of the foam. I chose to build folding legs as I have seen where they are really quick to set up. A little more work involved, but I believe they are worthwhile.

The 9-foot river was initially cut out to the depth of the plywood (2”) but it looked too deep. So at one end, I filled it back in with the 1” foam so that it was only 1” deep. More better! I transitioned between the two different depths with a small waterfall effect which is just after the break in the two modules. I then used rigid wrap and covered the streambed with it to seal it and create the banks.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to pour the Envirotex over the entire length at one time and keep it from 1) going between the modules at the break and 2) having all the Envirotex migrate to the deep end leaving none in the right (shallow) end of the stream. I solved the first problem by just keeping the modules clamped together during the entire building process (after the frames and legs were done). I simply treated both modules as one and sealed the gap in the river. Carol suggested a solution to the second problem. I cut out a piece of thin sheet plastic roughly in the shape of the streambed at the point just before it goes over the falls into the deep end. I poured the entire river in one pour (one gallon of Envirotex!). I placed the plastic dam in the riverbed prior to pouring. It worked great as only a small amount of the Envirotex leaked under the dam and created a nice waterfall effect while holding the rest of the Envirotex up on the right (shallow end) module. After about an hour, I removed the dam and some more Envirotex flowed, but it looks very nice. Carol and I worked for quite a while trying to create ripples and stream effects in the Envirotex. If you haven’t done it, try it. It is a character builder. Too soon and your work smoothes out. Too late..... too late!

I used Hydrocal for all the rock castings and some of the rock faces. Again, another character builder. I found the mixing process to be runny, runny, runny, hard! About this time, I am thinking that timing is everything in this hobby. A product that I really liked is called GypsoLite. Dave Frary uses it and you can get it from Scenic Express. It is great for a rough, gritty rock effect over foam, wood, or Hydrocal. It has a long working time and dries lightweight. It can be painted and you can easily poke holes in it for planting trees. Speaking of trees, I used all kinds of trees on these modules. I used Heki, Woodland Scenics pine tree kits, and Scenic Express deciduous tree kits. They give a nice effect when blended together. Each has their advantages. I like the Scenic Express trees for their limb structure and airiness. The Woodland Scenics pines look good, but they are made of soft metal and could add weight if used extensively.

I built a couple of structures for the modules. I will add a few more as I get time. There is much to detail yet, but there always is. I have really enjoyed building these two modules, learned a tremendous amount, and hopefully captured some of that Big Sky Country feel of Montana. I want to thank my wife Carol for her creative ideas, help and patience during the construction of the modules.