My Old San Diego Trolley Layout

You might think I'm trying to fool you but, believe it or not, before your ol' pal Dan D Sparks was modeling the old San Diego Electric, I used to have a layout featuring the "new" San Diego Trolley!

I came across some old photos of the old layout, so I thought I would share them with you. So here is the nickle tour:

The layout was built in a 12x12 foot bedroom in my apartment. Originally the layout started as a 2'x4' module that grew to take over my entire bedroom!

1. This is the scene that greeted you when you walked through the door. I absolutely fell in love with MTS Imports models of the Siemens/DuWag SD-100 LRVs when I saw one in my local hobby shop. So I saved up my nickles and dimes and purchased it. Which was no small feat at $300 a copy (that was a lot of money in the late 80s)! Eventually I was only able to collect 3 of the models.
2. Transit Center and Clock Tower built from Plastruct parts. The background was painted directly on the wall. Something I regretted when it was time to move out.

3. Visitors really loved peeking inside the American Plaza Station, it made for a nice scene.
After the layout was dismantled, I traded in the LRV models for some San Diego 4oo series class 5 trolleys from Pacific Traction. And that's how I got started modeling the old SDERy. MTS imports is apparently importing some more of the LRV Trolley models. I wonder how much they will cost this time around!

I have some more pictures of the layout somewhere. Maybe I'll post some more pix at the beginning of next April also. Yes sir! The beginning of next April also!

Dandy

Click here for Part II !

Niles Project ~ Windowed

Impressed with the qualities of the transparency paper, it was used for the remaining window glass.

I actually like the transparency paper better than clear styrene. It cuts better, the clarity is really nice, and it seems to stay cleaner.



Taking a picture of glass is actually kind of difficult. I posed this car and lights all different ways trying to get a glare on the glass. But I guess I got it good enough. I did manage to get the glass in the interior bulkheads to be visible as well if you look closely.

Finally, with the glass done, we can now get on with the wiring. Yes sir! Now get on with it!

Dandy

Are You Kidding Me!

Oh Dastardly Fates! How did I miss out on an authentic San Diego Electric Railway Trolley Gong on eBay! Why! WHY!!!

I have been building a Dustcover/Lighting Valence/Display Case for my layout that is also housing and displaying SDERy artifacts. Already I have tickets, tokens, passes, and photos to display in it. A virtual shrine to the old SDERy. Not only that, the design of it (what I now refer to as the "Canopy") is that of an old wooden streetcar. So a bell... an authentic trolley gong... oh that would have been the cherry on top!

For years, I have scoured the internet looking for authentic trolley gongs. The only thing I can find are reproductions of San Fransisco's Cable Car Gripman's Bell selling for $600!

So imagine my surprise when not only a trolley gong comes up for auction on ebay, its an authentic SDERy trolley gong!!! Figure the odds! I mean seriously!

But horrors of horrors, the seller included a very low "buy it now" for $129! So of course a savy investor recognized the incredible deal when he saw it and snatched it up.

I'm sure he will relist the bell on eBay knowing full well his profit will be WELL over %100. But because of my dismal financial situation this last year, I can't afford to enter a bidding war. Lousy timing. Yes sir, very lousy timing.

Oh F-ing Fickle Fates! Why do you taunt me so? Why couldn't I have seen this auction just mere hours sooner. Despite my very tight financial situation I could have swung $130 bucks. Never has or will an opportunity like that come my way again!

This photo is actually upside down. The bell would be mounted under the floor. The motorman would step on a pedal to ring the bell. The shaft from the pedal would go through the tube seen in the above photo and push that plate, which would cause the ringer to rotate and strike the bell.

Here is another angle. The tube on the right. Ringer on the left. Counter weight on the bottom center would lift the ringer again when the motorman lifted his foot off the pedal.

Oh rotten day! I just can't live with myself right now. Having something so wonderful appear before me and then snatched away. Its too much to bear!

I guess I should remember whats important. The gong would have been a helluva nice touch, but its a well crafted layout displaying finely tuned, highly detailed, smooth running models, running their routes and making their stops flawlessly that's important, right? If I can achieve that, nobody would really notice the artifacts would they? It should be the show that the visitor remembers. It should be the show that the visitor takes away with them. Yes sir! Its the Show that is important.

This situation still stinks though!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ Cathedral Glass Windows

Simulating the Yellow Stained Glass Windows

Bill Bolton was very kind enough to think of me when he came across the September 1908 issue of Electric Traction Weekly that featured an article on the new Niles cars for San Diego, and sent me a copy. What a timely treasure trove of information that article is with lavish descriptions of the cars inside and out! I knew that the "deck sashes" (clerestory windows) and "upper side sashes" (the arched portion of the center windows) were of stained glass, but I has not a clue to its color. This article reveals them as "Yellow Cathedral Glass". Wonderful! Thanks a million Bill!
After some discussion around the Southern California Traction Club clubhouse, we concluded that colored index tabs would make suitable material. And handy too, we had some extra in the clubs files.

After digging out a yellow tab, I cut it to size and glued it into place with my new glue of choice for this sort of thing: Micro Kristal Klear.

I was going to do the same for the clerestory windows (or "Deck Sashes" as the article describes them as) but it occured to me that Micro Kristal Klear might be perfect for this since the windows are tiny and the material goes in the window rather than behind the window frames like the yellow plastic would.

I "blobbed" on the Micro Kristal Klear over the windows from the inside with a small screwdriver.

The goop filled in the window nicely.

To "stain" the glass yellow, I purchased a bottle of Mr Hobby Clear Yellow Acrylic paint. It comes in a tiny bottle in a variety of colors to tint the taillights and turn signals etc, on auto models.

After the Micro Kristal Klear windows dried, I filled in the window with the clear yellow paint. If the index tabs fade over time, I'll tint them with the clear yellow paint as well.

Oh I wish you could see this in person, the windows glow yellow really nicely. The photograph just doesn't do it justice.
Thanks to good friends around the world, these are turning out to be some very handsome cars. Yes Sir! Very handsome cars!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ Corner Windows ~ Transparency Film

After some more trial and error, I do believe I have finally found a suitable "glass" material that will curve around the corner window frame.

But first, a common suggestion was to use vacu-formed packaging such as found in battery packaging and soda bottles. So I gave that a try...

...and it actually worked well. But a common characteristic of vacu-formed packaging is that it has a texture to it as can be seen in the photo above (above the smudge of glue in the lower 1/3 of the window). The clarity of the plastic isn't the best either. So on to the next suggestions.

Ken Blackburn, a member of the HO Traction Modeling Yahoo Group, suggested Acetate. And Ken Somers, a member of the Interurban Yahoo Group suggested Mylar. I was really struck with how simple and elegant these ideas were. It fits perfectly with the KISS principle. So I set out to find some transparency film. Not so simple. Because of the proliferation of computers, overhead projectors are all but obsolete. Drafting supply shops seem to have disappeared as well. On line I can find transparency film for well over $20 a box!

I ended up stopping by Kinko/FedEx and asked if they can print transparencies. She said a dollar something for color and 75 cents for B&W. "What would you like to print"? I told her I was actually only interested in the transparency sheet itself. She sold a sheet to me for 75 cents. I don't know what the material is other than it came from a box of 3M Transparency Film. But it is slightly more flexible than styrene. So I cut a piece to size and...

Hey! Not bad! Not bad at all. It curved real nicely. And the clarity is quite... well... clear! This time I used CAA (Super Glue) to glue on the window. I've been trying to stay away from CAA since it shatters in freezing temperatures. But I needed the fast drying qualities while I pressed the window to the frame. I'm very happy with the result. I'm going to use this transparency film material for the rest of the windows.

I wish to thank all of you who gave your 2 cents, your help is greatly appreciated. Yes sir! Greatly appreciated!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ Corner Windows ~ Micro Kristal Klear

Well you folks really came through for me, thank you! A lot of ideas were presented, a few of which I'm going to give a try.

To recap, I'm trying to find a suitable solution for creating the "glass" for the rounded corner windows:

Australian traction modeler Bill Bolton comes through once again with the suggestion of trying Micro Kristal Klear. I've been using this stuff for gluing on clear styrene windows because it won't craze the plastic and it dries clear. But it also claims it can be used to make small windows itself. So since my bottle of Micro Kristal Klear is right here, why not give it a try?

Micro Kristal Klear is very similar to white glue, with some characteristics of rubber cement. I took a blob onto a toothpick and stretched it across the window opening. That was easier to do than I anticipated. Then I took a small screwdriver and scraped up the over slop. As you can see in the photo above, the "glass" is within the window frame. Not behind it as clear styrene would. Also, the "glass" the took on the almost 90 degree curve! But unfortunately that wouldn't last. Apparently it shrunk a bit as it dried and kind of straightened out:

And here is the result. Its not exactly "crystal clear" (which is probably why its named "Kristal Klear"), it is a bit cloudy, but not that much more than clear styrene. Also, since it is a liquid, the thickness is not consistent. So there is a bit of a "ripple glass" effect to the window. So Micro Kristal Klear is still a strong contender for use in the final model. But before I make a final decision, I'm going to try some of your other suggestions. Yes sir! Lets try some of those other suggestions!

Thanks Bill!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ How The Hecka?

I'm unable to get the clear styrene to conform to the curve of the corner windows in a satisfactory manner.

These Niles cars have these stylish curved corner windows. Curving almost a full 90 degrees. Quite a handsome feature if you ask me. If I can only get the glass (clear styrene) to curve that way too!

So I scoured the internets looking at all the nifty theories on bending styrene. I tried a bunch of them, finally building the above jig. How it works is, the styrene fits between the two pieces and then the whole shebang is put into the oven (I forget the temp). It kinda worked:

... but while that method might work fine for regular styrene, it caused the clear styrene to frost over. That might be fine for some folks, but you know me, everything has gotta to be overly realistic. I want to try for crystal clear.

So I'm asking for YOUR help, my dear readers. Below this post you'll find the "comment" button. If you have any ideas on how to fabricate and install curved window material, I sure would like to know. Please, click on that comment button and make you voice hoid! Yes sir! Make your voice heard!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ Christmas Headlights

Shaping Christmas lights LEDs to work as headlights.

Well a year ago I encouraged you all to seize on the end of Christmas sales to grab cheap LED's. Well, I should have known, but it turns out that...

... Christmas LED's come in different sizes (and colors). The bulbs I grabbed (left) are way too big to use as headlights. Fortunately, I have a good friend in John McWhirter who gave me some of his Christmas bulbs (right) that fit the Niles cars perfectly.

To get a good fit for the bulb in the headlight opening, a little shaping of the LED's leads is necessary. Then the tip of the bulb is shaped into a lens shape.

Looking through doorway to see the inside of the front, you can see how well the bulb fits into the hole. And how the leads are bent around the housing and then up the widow posts. Which brings up a little problem; does the window glass go over or under the leads? Obviously, the glass would look best pressed against the window frame. So the glass goes under the leads. Which means, the next step is installing the window glass. Yes sir! Installing the window glass is next.

Dandy

Inaugural Run of Birney #301.

SDERy Birney #301 makes it first public run!

The Southern California Traction Club set up its modules at the Great Train Expo this last weekend at the Fairplex in Pomona. I took the opportunity to fine tune #301 and was able to get it to run perfectly on the modules. It ran trouble free for hours. And of course I took plenty of video to share with you!:

The BullAnt motor is kind of noisy in this video but really its not that bad. To be fair, Hollywood Foundry who manufactures the BullAnt offered to replace it with their new and improved belt driven extra quiet BullAnt drive, an offer I hope that isn't too late for me to take them up on!

Because Birneys are a rather diminutive car, the Miniature By Eric trolley poles proved to be not quite long enough to reach the overhead. So one was swapped out with a rebuilt Bowser pole. In the video you can see how the new pole really presses against the overhead for good electrical contact. I'll post in the near future how to rebuild trolley poles.

So after all this time, it was quite satisfying to finally see this little guy make laps around the layout. Yes sir! Quite satisfying indeed!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ Applying Decals to #107

Now that the decals are made, I'm going to try a different technique of applying the decals so as to help them settle more easily into the wood slats.

Remember, decals have to be applied onto glossy surfaces. Since I painted #107 with Floquil paints, which dry dead flat, a coat of gloss has to be sprayed on to where the decals are going to go. AND the decals need to be sealed as well. So while I have the gloss in the airbrush, I'll coat the decals with it as well.

Okay, Floquil Hi Gloss has been applied to the decals and #107. While they dry let me recap the decaling of #105...

With #105 the decals didn't want to settle into the deep wood slats. Eventually, the parts of the decal with air under it will dry out and flake off. So I'll probably loose that part of the "5", and the 3D drop shadow of the "0", and the rose buds on the corner flourish of the pin stripping, etc.  So after discussing the matter with Don Ball, it was concluded that it was difficult for the air to escape from under the vast expanse of the decal paper. So he suggested cutting the decals closer to the printing:

With a new, sharp eXacto blade, I cut out the negative areas of the decals that didn't contain any printing. But while applying the decals, I had a horrible problems with the decals curling! I wasn't able to get any photos since I was frantically trying to get the decals to lay down flat and straight before they set. Some decals got so distorted that I had to scrape them off and print new ones. Now its quite possible that this happened because the decal paper I used is over a year old. Fresh paper might behave better, but I don't know for sure. But I'll be sure to start with fresh decal paper next time since decal paper doesn't cost and arm or a leg.

Decaled and sealed with Dull Cote. Over all it looks good! But under closer inspection, the pinstripes are a bit wiggly, air bubbles can be seen here and there, and the edges of the decals are visible. Hopefully, some of these imperfections will be hidden by a bit of weathering. But over all, its looking good. Yes sir! Looking good!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ Decals for #107

As typical of railroad companies in the early 20th century, the San Diego & South Eastern Railway lettering and striping scheme became more simplified.

This photo of #105 was used to determine the lettering scheme for my model of #107, since the number #105 i'm using for the combine.

Gone are the embellishment in the corners of the pin striping, and gone are the 3D lettering with drop shadows as found with the earlier Niles cars lettering scheme. The result is a rather smart looking interurban. The spelling out of "San Diego & South Eastern" has been replaced by an interlocking monogram which I tried to magnify as greatly as possible (so great that the printing dot matrix is the limiting factor) :

Here is the monogram as seen in the center of the car greatly magnified. Spending quite a bit of time studying this monogram I have determined that it has to be the initials of the San Diego & South Eastern Ry (the photo is identified as San Diego Southern Ry). The two "S"'s are clearly visible. The "E" is readily discernible as well, though I'm not sure how it interrelates with the second "S". But the "D", is it backwards? The blob at the top center between the "D" and the "E" does have the general shape of an ampersand. And the blob at the bottom center is the right size for a "RY". So here is my interpretation of this monogram:

What do you think? Looks about right? I hope so, it was a lot of work. I'm not too concerned about it though, its so tiny in HO scale that it'll just end up looking like the fuzzy prototype picture anyway.

It also appears that the spelling out of the railways name occurs underneath the cars number. The overall shape of the fuzzy streak in the photo is about the right proportion for it. I can't imagine what else it would say otherwise.

And here is my interpretation of that as well. Looks about right? I settled on mahogany brown for the lettering and striping. Seems like the logical choice.

The finished decals. I did a test print and found that despite careful measuring, the proportions are off a bit (I ran into that with #105 as well), so adjustments will have to be made when I actually print onto decal paper. Otherwise, were good to go, yes sir! We're good to go!

Dandy

Birney Project ~ Test Run

Birney #301 takes a test spin around the Southern California Traction Clubs test track.

Wow! I'm really late with posting this! I apologize. Took the Birney for a spin around the test track and it performed as expected. A little noisy though, club members ( having the bull session in the background) thought I was making margaritas or something.

Hollywood Foundry is now making the BullAnt with a belt drive, so the mechanism is really quiet now.

I can't wait for the next set-up of the clubs layout so this little guy can ply its trade on the streets of the big city. Yes Sir! Ply its trade!

Dandy

HO Scale Vacuum Track Cleaning Car

This Russian traction modeler built a car for vacuuming his track!

I'm not to the point of needing one for my layout yet, so I'm posting this video here so when the time comes I'll have this as reference. Because this car is just so darn nifty! Yes sir! Darn nifty!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ Doing the Dirty Work

Weathering #105 to give it the appearance of a hard working interurban.

San Diego cars were a grimy lot. Look at this photo of #101. Its a dirty dirty trolley! The Wells Fargo panel looks to be recently painted (new express contract?), so its clean. but the sides and window posts are down right grungy. I suppose it would be difficult to keep a wooden car that makes its home working the hot, dusty dirt streets and in the moist salt air of a desert by the sea city clean. And judging by the automobiles, we're well into the teens if not the 20's by this time, so this car has many years of service under its belt rail.

Since my model of #105 has taken some modelers license to it, I intend to"go wild" with the weathering. This car will be the dirtiest of all my revenue cars, it will represent the dirty end of the weathering spectrum. The rest of the fleet will be a bit more classy in appearance. But for now, I'm going to have some fun with this.


There are some weathering techniques I want to try out. I'm a big fan of the Bragdon weathering powders, they are fantastic for, rusting, dusting, dirtying and "scale effect". I'll elaborate how to use the Bragdon Weathering System in a future post, but real quick, the powders contain a friction activated adhesive that affixes the powders when they are scrubbed on. But I want the powders to settle into the groves to accentuate the wood slats. So I'm trying the powders as a wash by mixing the powders with alcohol. The photo above is the result of this. I took a "0" brush load of the dark brown powder and mixed it with 4 drops of alcohol. The effect is stunning. Not only did the pigment settle into the groves, but it also stained the paint really nicely. It really desaturated to colors.

I thought I had overdone it. But comparing this photo with the prototype photo at the top of this post, it  actually looks about right. This car looks like a work-a-day interurban that has been making its rounds, keeping its schedule, and moving the merchandise. It has been a useful trolley, yes sir, a very useful trolley.

Dandy

The Small Layout Scrapbook

A website called the "Small Layout Scrapbook" featured traction layouts last month.

Layout Scrapbook publishes an article twice a month and is part of the Micro/Small Layouts for Model Railroaders site. The site is dedicated to layouts that are roughly 4x6 feet (1200mm x 1800mm) and under. It also features a design gallery of small layouts.

Here is an older post they did on traction layouts. It features some very fun and very tiny layouts! Yes sir! Very fun and very tiny!

Dandy