6 Years of Bloggety Blah Blah Blog

 "6 years! The prototype San Diego Electric Railway was built in less time for crying out loud! Yes sir! The prototype was built in less time!"

 Dan D. Sparks' annual rant.

 Dan D. Sparks

President. Yes sir! President!

And thus brings to a close a dismal "fiscal" year (Sept. 2011 to Sept. 2012) of modeling for this blog. But today marks the beginning of a very bright year ahead. So lets see where we stand so we can accurately gauge how far we go in this coming year. And now, without further ado:

The Dan D. Sparks Plywood Development and Transportation Co.

Annual State of the Company, Board of Directors Meeting 

22nd September 2012

8:00 AM San Dollar, California.

 Board Members:

 Present:

President:                         A very unhappy Dan D. Sparks

Chairman:                        A very nervous Lettuceleaf M. Malone

Traffic Manager:              A smug Robin DeRail
Finance Manager:            A jubilant Count DeMonet

Director of Development: A crafty Arnie Clever
General Manager:            David Lyman

Quorum present?              More or less.

Others Present:

Man of Mystery:                Fred Gurzeler

Company Band leader:     Bill Bolton & Orchestra

Absent:                              No Show Joe

 Proceedings:
· Meeting called to order at 8:09 a.m. by Chair, Lettuceleaf M. Malone
· Last year's meeting minutes were read and regarded with nostalgia.

Lettuceleaf M. Malone

Chairman

Opening Message from the Chairman:

Life is a balance between Family, Occupation, and Hobby. Most of the time, these are out of balance. One usually requires presidence over the others. This past year was no exception. "Occupation" was the focus this past year. Without it, the other two suffer. And with it, the other two can benefit greatly.

"Hobby" is about to benefit greatly from this years employment. So hang on... because here we go!

Robin DeRail

Traffic Manager

 · Traffic Managers Report Provided by Chair, Robin DeRail:

 ~ Last year we were enjoying a nice upswing in viewership. This year, despite half the blog entries being posted (19 posts, down from a record 28 posts last year), we managed to hang on, with a some gain, to that viewership.

~ This blog hosted 3,064 visitors this last year (Sept. 2011 to Sept. 2012) visiting 5,484 times. That's up from 1,939 visitors visiting 3,379 times the previous year, for a grand total of 16,668 visitors.

~  This blog is now averaging 15 visitors per day viewing for almost a whole 2 minutes (1:52)! That's a gain of 50% from the revised figure of 10 visitors per day viewing for a minute and a half (1:34) last year.

~ The top 3 posts visited this last year were:
     1. My Old San Diego Trolley Layout
     2. Birney #301
     3. Painting Brass Models

Count DeMonet

Minister of Finance

· Finance Committee report provided by Chair, Count DeMonet:

~ The Count happily reported that revenue from this blog (from ads) has more than doubled and is now averaging over $0.04 per day, up from a $0.02 daily average last year. 

~ DeMonet went on to report that the annual earnings for this last fiscal year are estimated at $16.07. That's an increase of over 100% from last years earnings of $7.34! Bringing the grand total to $39.48.

~ The finance chair went on to suggest that product placement may help the bottom line. When pressed further, he offered an example; "The finer photos in this blog were photographed with the affordable Canon EOS Rebel T3 Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm IS II Lens. Should anyone buy that camera by clicking on our link, we receive a referral fee!".

  

This was met with great skepticism by the board.

  Arnie Clever

Director of Development

 

· Board Development Committee's report provided by Chair, Arnie Clever:

~ Mr. Clever reported that though things have cooled off modeling wise, planning has continued in earnest. "Oh the projects that are planned!" he went on. "This company has plans coming out of the wazoo! Why, this company has more plans than could possibly be implemented in a single lifetime! Oh-boy do we have plans!" he explained. "Plans, plans, plans! You want it? I've planed it!".

~ The development chair, on the verge of collapse from the lengthy revelation of all his plans, explained that during these robust times the company has managed to stockpile a sizable amount of modeling materials and may actually see some of these plans through to fruition!  The board blinked at each other in silent amazement.

And on that note, Mr. Sparks offered: "Well then... lets get to it. Yes sir! Lets get to it!

Mr. Bolton stuck up the band with a rousing rendition of "Happy Days Are Here Again".

 

· Meeting adjourned at 11:59 p.m.
· Minutes submitted by Secretary, Mrs. Roundbottom.

Now let's get to it! Yes sir! Let's get to it!

Dandy

The Southern California Traction Clubs 100th Show!

Such a momentous occasion deserves a poster. So a poster shall be:

Drawn with Adobe Illustrator. Print 8 1/2 x 14. Distribute. Attend. Yes sir! Attend!

Dandy

Brand Spanking Pneumatic

Another ad featuring the then state-of-the-art San Diego Class 5, 400 Series car. Taken from the August 1924 issue of the Electric Railway Journal.

 

The Electric Railway Journals are free to read at The Internet Archive. Fascinating reading I tell ya. Yes sir! Fascinating reading!

Dandy

Please Stand By!

For the first time in this blogs 5 year run, weeks have gone by without a post! Whats up with that!      Well... "Good News Everyone"!...

I'm sure you have noticed in life that generally, when there is enough money, there isn't enough time. And when there is enough time, there isn't any money! Last year my situation was the latter. Next year my situation will be the latter. But this year...

A career in Animation is very "feast and famine". The work is good when you can get it. And when you've got it, you got to work your ass off to keep it, or not be invited back next season. Right now I'm gainfully employed on Futurama.(Watch Wednesday nights at 10, 9 Central, on Comedy Central to support my cause. Good ratings will mean another season. Another season means I might work again. Working again means financing this expensive hobby! (Crossing fingers and toes!) Thanks!). But they own my ass until the end of the production season, sometime this September for me. Yes sir! They own my "shiny metal ass"!

So in the meantime, I'm stockpiling kits and modeling materials like crazy. And then starting this October, I intend on making some significant progress on the trolleys, the layout, build a couple modules for the club, and other fun projects yet to be unveiled! And maybe even, dare I say, weekly blog posts? Oh my! So stay tuned and see what the future holds. Yes sir! See what the Futurama holds!

Dandy

#426 Project ~ The Infamous Golden Yellow Paint Scheme

Painting a San Diego 400 Class 5 car in its as-delivered Mission Yellow and Mahogany Brown Paint Scheme. 

Now that this car has been properly prepared for painting, lets, oh I don't know, paint it?

To make sure the delicate yellow paint shows up in its intended hue, the car is first painted with primer. I prefer good old fashioned Floquil paints applied with a good old fashioned Air Brush. These enamels require a day of drying between coats. So although the entire paint process is shown here all at once, at least a day elapsed between each color application.

Research I have done has shown that for cars built around the same time as these cars (1924), the favored interior color was a white of some sort. Most folks don't paint the interior of their models, but as time will tell, these cars will look so much better with a painted interior. Not to mention the protection the paint will provide against the deterioration of the brass. I chose Floquils Antique White as the interior color for #426.

After the interior paint has dried for a day, the windows, doors, bottom opening and any other orifice to the interior is masked off with ordinary masking tape.

Today's recipe for San Diego Electric Railway Mission Yellow is:

10 - 20 parts CNW Yellow

1 part Rock Island Maroon

It turns out that Floquil Rock Island Maroon is out of production of course. But another Tuscan Red color should work. I only chose Rock Island Maroon because its a gloss. The idea is this: CNW Yellow is the closest yellow available to the chrome yellow used on these cars. So by adding a Tuscan color, its reddish hue will push the yellow more towards orange without actually crossing the line into orangedom (These cars have been described as "Golden Yellow" but have never have been referred to as an orange of any sort). And its brownish qualities will "darken" the yellow a bit.

After the yellow has dried for at least a day, the entire body is masked off except for the doors. Today's recipe for Mahogany is:

1 part Roof Brown

1 part Tuscan Red

One thing I ended up regretting was not masking off the sliver of body showing between the doors and steps. This has proved troublesome to touch up afterwards. So next time!

Also, this color mix is a bit dark. Either it needs to have some white added, or the doors need to be lightened during the weathering process.

I have a theory about the roofs of these cars. I believe they were originally painted with a Tuscan Brown paint that oxidized over time. Later color photos reveal these cars roofs having achieved a rusty reddish brown. This reddish brown is the most common color used with modelers and restorers of San Diego cars. But I'm certain that when these cars were new, the roofs were more of a light chocolate brown. For this color I used:

1 part Roof Brown

1 part Southern Freight Car Brown

1 part CSX New Image Gold.

Details such as headlights, retrievers, trolley pole hold down hooks and towers, and bumper are brush painted Floquil Engine Black. The window frames are brush painted with the Mahogany mix. And there we have it! My latest, greatest shot at San Diego Electric Railways elusive Mission Yellow and Mahogany Brown paint scheme.

Next up is powering this model with Hollywood Foundry's new Diablo mechanism. Awesome stuffs so stay tuned! Yes sir! Awesome stuffs!

Dandy

#426 Project ~ Cleaning and Preparing Brass for Painting

Dusty and tarnished, #426 is in need of a good cleaning and surface preparation if its going to hold paint for the years of busy service I have planed for it.

 Firstly~ I completely disassembled the model and removed anything that is not brass from the shell.

 Secondable~ The shell is soaked in a 50/50 mix of Pine-Sol and water for a few minutes. If I was removing paint I would have let it soak overnight.

Scrub-a-dub gently with an old tooth brush, front, back, and in-between. Thoroughly rinse with clean water afterwards. Water and brass are pretty rambunctious together and cause a lot of trouble. So I sent that water packing as soon as possible.I used the wife's blow-drier to dry the model immediately. 

Now that the model is clean and tarnish free, we need to get all oil/grease off of it. A fifteen minute soak in White Vinegar will not only do that but also chemically etch the brass, giving it a tooth that will help the paint adhere better. Rinse and dry again. The model can't be handled with bare hands anymore since oils from the skin will prevent the paint sticking. I have actually seen a paint chip in the shape of a finger print on a model once! So wear cotton gloves to handle the model from here on out.

What a difference! Nice bright brass again. But notice it isn't a mirror finish. If it was new brass, a bead blasting would be recommended to etch the surface. So we are now ready for the paint shop. Yes sir! Off to the paint shop!

Dandy

#426 Project ~ Floored

 Hollywood. It'll chew you up and spit you out like a piece of 5 and Dime store gum. But if your lucky, every once in a while, you might catch a break.

I'm glad to be working again but man the studios work you hard. Late one night I was dragging like the brain crazed Undead after a particularly long day of production. But I had to hustle if I was to catch the last Metrolink out of the Glendale station and make my journey home. I was making good time too, until...

 A figure steps out of the shadows. I keep walking. Whatever he's selling, I'm not buying. But he walks right up to me. And even though the night seems strangely darker than usual, I can see him pull something out of his jacket and point it at me, the light of the arriving train flashing off the metal! Acting fast, I wrestle it from him. But wait. It doesn't feel right. I examine it the best I can in the little available light. Is this?.... It can't be... It is! Its a brass replacement floor for Pacific Traction's H.O. scale San Diego 400 series class 5 cars etched to accept Hollywood Foundry's new Diablo mechanism and even drilled with holes threaded for the underbody details! But how... why...  Bewildered, I look up...  but he's gone. Disappeared into the the flurry of activity of the detraining and boarding passengers.

In the cheery, brightly lit interior of the train, I examine the floor. Its exactly what I need:

Exhibit A. Top

Exhibit A. Bottom

With the under body details transferred from the original floor.

Finely crafted, accurate dimensions, and that tell-tale logo. There is only one man I know who could be behind this...

Fred Gurzeler! Front man for that Australian mob. Somehow he knew. Somehow he always knows. In this town of a thousand crushed dreams its good to know that Fred is out there, somewhere, watching out for us. Yes sir! Fred's watching out for us! 

Thanks Fred! Wherever you are!

Dandy

When They Were New

Here is an old ad from the September 27th 1924 edition of the Electric Railway Journal featuring the then state-of-the-art San Diego 400 series Class 5 cars. 

 Thanks once again to the mysterious Fred Gurzeler for pointing these out to me!

I've gots lots to post as soon as I can find some time. Yes sir! Just as soon as I can find some time! So stay tuned!

Dandy

Onward Roll the 400's!

New project! With one of the Niles cars wrapping up, I need to model one more car before I get to the layout. Big, roomy, and modern, the San Diego 400 series Class 5's were a favorite with San Diegans. 

50 of these 1924 vintage cars were ordered from the American Car Co. Numbered 400 - 449, they ran until the end of the San Diego Electric railway in 1949. Originally delivered with the one pantograph, a trolley pole had to be added when the pantographs had a way of collapsing, stranding the car. By 1925 the pantographs were replaced entirely with trolley poles because the pantographs also had a way of pulling down the overhead!

Other than the builders photo, this photo of  426 is the only clear portrait of a 400 car in its original golden yellow and mahogany paint scheme I can find. So this is the car I'm going to model. Fortunately for me...

Pacific Traction imported models of the San Diego 400's in 1969. Ive been collecting them for decades and now have about a half dozen of them. The above car I believe is the first car I purchased back in the early 80's. So finally, after all these years, its time to give it the treatment! Its going the feature the yellow and brown paint scheme, the Diablo mechanism from Hollywood Foundry, Fred Gurzeler floor, full details and decals, DCC decoder, and lighting - the works! Yes sir! The works!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ Trolley Poles

Give a man a fish and you have fed him for a day. But give a man a pole, he's a trolley fan for life!

Identifying, preparing and adding trolley poles to #107

 Looking at historical photos reveal that the Niles cars were equipped with Form 1 trolley poles that were common with 1895 - 1920 era streetcars. They have that "folded back" look to them.

The HT-P3b poles by Miniatures by Eric fit that bill just fine. I bought mine through Custom Traxx. That 32 bucks per pair price tag knocked me for a loop. But they are precision instruments and Eric does an outstanding job with these. I'm building my cars to perform and I can rely on these poles to do just that. For #105 though, I will be rebuilding the Suydam poles, which makes for a less expensive alternative. So stay tuned for that post later.

Trolley poles are constantly flexing so paint doesn't do too well with that. The best solution for that is Blacken-It. Blacken-It is a metal oxidizer. The blackened brass will still conduct electricity and won't flake off. But...

... Remove the steel springs first! The Blacken-It corroded my springs clear through! But it did a mighty fine job of blackening the rest of the pole assembly. So remove the springs, soak the poles in Blacken-It, and then replace the springs.Then you'll have a fine looking and fine working trolley pole.

That is the beauty of these blogs- you can learn from my mistakes, Yes sir! Learn from my mistakes!

Dandy

Module Spotlight ~ Trolley Crossing Guard Jct.

Getting fancy with the 1' x 4' module. SCTCs Module 972. The Trolley Crossing Guard Junction Module.

The Southern California Traction Clubs module 972. Built in 1997 it was the 2nd module built that year.

There was a need to transition from the center street running of module 971 to a private right-of-way. So this module does just that with a highway intersection as well as a steam road crossing.

The divided highway matches up with module 971. It terminates at the highway that crosses the module at an angle. The tracks of a steam road also cross here and a small elevated interlocker helps guard the junction. The diverted highway freed up some space on the rest of the module for some scenery. In this case a siding and a substation.

With the junction being a prominent feature on this module, the SCTC members decided to have some fun with it.

 Remember those old movies where if a car breaks down, inevitably it stops on railroad tracks? Then there would be the sound of a train whistle~  Its happened to the best of them...

Harold Lloyd...

Buster Keaton...

... and of course, the Keystone Kops. 

And we know the outcome. Their vehicles were no match for the locomotives that rendered them to a state of less than Blue Book value.

Now in the real world, if a streetcar was to stall because of dewiring, the last place you would want it to come to a stop is across some steam road tracks. A streetcar wouldn't fare much better than the Keystone Kops Kruzer against a speeding locomotive. This was a very real danger to some traction companies. So they devised Trolley Crossing Guards.

Here is a traction line junction with a steam road in Toronto with trolley crossing guards in the overhead. Should the streetcars pole dewire at this spot, the shoe would catch in that wire mesh covering the contact wire. That wire mesh is energized and would power the car far enough to clear the crossing and out of danger.

So the builders of this module thought that that would be a pretty nifty feature to model. And it does get noticed by the public who often ask about it.

Pete DeBeers Mt. Lowe car speeds through the junction without fear of being smashed to smithereens should it dewire under that trolley crossing guard.

A fully detailed and lit substation rounds out a fun 4 square feet of model railroading. Yes sir! A fun 4 square feet of model railroading!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ Window Shades

Super Detailing Continued. Adding Window Shades to #107

 Styrene? Brass? Nah, just simple card stock. Index card in this case. The windows are in groups of twos and threes, so that's how I grouped the shades. Cut them size and painted them Floquil Freight Car Brown for its nice reddish brown color.

Glued 'em in place with good 'ol Micro Kristal Kleer and we got it made-in-the-shade. Yes sir! Made-in-the-shade!

Dandy

2012 State of the Layout Address

Happy New Year Folks! 2012 is going to be a gang busters year I just know it! Yes sir! A gang busters year! I have some new projects ready to start as well as finishing up old projects, as I resolve this year to be my most productive year yet! So bring it on!

State of the Layout:

This is how things stand at this moment, January 1st 2012:

SD&SE Ry #107 Niles Car. During this holiday season I added the finishing details. This car is 98% DONE!  I'll post more about that in the coming weeks.

SDERy Birney #103 has been making regular runs on the Southern California Traction Clubs layout. The car with its BullAnt mechanism performs beautifully even through rough, intricate trackage. The car was declared 100% finished until Fred Gurzeler presented me with some beautiful, delicately built fenders for the underbody that I have yet to install. This car will be an important representative of 4 wheeled equipment when I start fine tuning the track and stringing overhead on my layout, hopefully soon this year. Yes sir! Hopefully soon this year!

SD&SE Ry #105 Niles Car is listing to one side! That's not good. Leaning like that causes the trolley pole to be off center and so has to reach over to the overhead. Which means the shoe is contacting the overhead at an angle. Which means dewirements are frequent.  I can't figure out why its listing but I do know how to fix it thanks again the invaluable Fred Gurzeler. He gave me some hardware that replaces the tiny Hollywood foundry screws that attach the trucks to the body. The listing isn't the fault of the Hollywood Foundry equipment but this swapping of hardware will probably fix the problem. When that's done, the car is ready for super-detailing.

 

Point Loma RR #109 / #402: I've been referring to this car as #109, but the prototype was later repainted and renumbered to #402. The paint scheme of #402 is the one I'm modeling so this car will be referred to as #402 from here on out. Progress has stalled on this car because this car requires some custom printed decals since the lettering and striping include silver. I don't have the funds for that right now and so concentrated funds on getting #105 and #107 done. They will represent big interurbans when I'm fine tuning the track and stringing overhead on my layout.

The Layout is in a state all right. A state of chaos!  The layout has suffered. From the destruction of its overhead by rambunctious kittens, to dust, to over a decade of storage, and the trial and errors of learning how to build a traction layout. So it was stripped down to just the track and streets and is ready to be rebuilt stronger, better. A canopy (what I was originally been referring to in this blog as a valence) designed to look like a streetcar deck roof, has been built to keep dust off the layout and to house the layouts lighting. It features faux stained glass clerestory windows and a brass conductors bell. I recently covered the wooden roof with a waterproof paper mache to simulate canvas covering. Sides will be installed to insulate the layout from the inhospitable world of dirt and varmints and anything else that could cause damage and grief! 

Then and only then can I start stringing the overhead again. This time tailored to a sample of each type of rolling stock that's going to be running on this layout. Which brings me to my next project...

San Diego Electric Railway Class 5, 400 series car. This project will be built from a 1970s brass import by Pacific Traction and feature the new Diablo mechanism from Hollywood Foundry.

Dandy Blog. As you can see, this blog is sporting a new 1920s look to it and features an art deco portrait of the man himself, ol' Sparky along with one of the 400 series cars. The new "Module Spotlight" feature has been met with happy comments and so will continue. Bloggin' along. Yes sir! Bloggin' along.

So that's where it all stands. As you can see I got my work cut out for me. One more car to go and then I can concentrate on getting the layout running. Yes sir! Concentrate on getting the layout running!

Dandy