Model Railroader - Plug and Play.pdf - Poradniki modelarskie - kubol33

A ‘plug-and-play’ industry

Raw materials storage silos

Rough roll furnace

Grinding and polishing

Yard

Shipping docks

Ware room

Office

PHOTO COURTESY OF PPG INDUSTRIES

By Henry Freeman

the glass factory. In fact, the plan only

varies from a traditional 4 x 8 design in

two ways: It has a three-foot single-

track tail serving as the drill track for

the plant and there is no loop.

When plugged into my B&O Cum-

berland Division during an operating

session, the PPG plant provides a steady

stream of incoming and outgoing traffic

for the rest of the railroad thanks to a

connecting track at the end of the inter-

change yard. When the session is over, I

unplug the 4 x 8 plant from the layout

and store it, freeing up valuable floor

space in my layout room for working

on other projects.

This is how Pittsburgh Plate Glass Works

No. 7 plant in Cumberland, Md., looked in

the late 1950s. At this point in its history,

the float glass system has yet to be

installed. Most of the plant could be kit-

bashed using various manufacturers’ stock

kits and styrene shapes.

I started with a basic loop of track

on a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood. Years

later, as my friend Bill Chapin and I

worked on designs to add a major

industry to my HO scale Baltimore &

Ohio Cumberland Division, we realized

the best approach to solve my space

problem was to return to the 4 x 8 lay-

out concept. As a twist on the tradi-

tional plan, however, our self-contained

industrial plant is made to “plug in” to

the rest of the layout when needed and

be moved out of the way when it isn’t.

turing technology. Once the furnaces

were fired, plate glass production went

on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and

consumed huge amounts of raw mater-

ial. PPG closed the Cumberland plant

in the 1970s.

A glass plant receives its raw materi-

als by rail and stores them in a series of

silos. An intricate system of conveyers

automatically gathers the materials

from storage, weighs each to a specific

formula, mixes them in a batch, and

carries them to the melting tank.

Timing and continuity of the rail-

road shipments are of vital importance

to keep a glass plant running. Soda ash,

limestone, and sand are all delivered in

A plug-and-play layout

By itself, my 4 x 8-foot Pittsburgh

Plate Glass Works No. 7 plant is a self-

contained industrial switching railroad,

complete with a small interchange yard.

The layout can provide hours of fun for

a switch crew moving cars of time-

sensitive raw materials in and around

The prototype

Pittsburgh Plate Glass started con-

struction on the Cumberland Works

No. 7 plant in 1954, installing a rough

roll, flat glass furnace with a chemical

polishing system. In 1963, PPG added

the world’s first float line furnace, open-

ing a new era in plate glass manufac-

L ike many young model railroaders,

for your railroad An HO layout doesn’t have

to be a loop of track

PITTSBURGH

PLATE GLASS

Scale: 3 ⁄ 4 " = 1'-0"

12" grid

HO scale (1:87)

4 x 8 feet

Minimum curve radius 18"

No. 4 turnouts

foot

tail

Grinding and

polishing

Office building

Power house

Ware

room

Switch

lead

Rough

roll

furnace

Shipping

docks

Batch house

To rest of layout

Lehr building

(annealing oven)

Interchange yard

Float line

bath

Raw materials

Float furnace

ILLUSTRATION BY JAY SMITH

covered hoppers. Salt cake, needed in

the manufacturing process, rouge (iron

oxide) and felt for the polishing process,

and packing material for outbound

loads are shipped in boxcars.

The Cumberland plant made plate

glass from 1 ⁄ 8 " to 3 ⁄ 4 " thick and shipped it

by truck, boxcar, and flatcar to cus-

tomers for installation in store fronts

and office buildings, processing by mir-

ror manufacturers, and fabrication into

automobile safety glass.

MAKING GLASS

factory in the United States producing plate glass using both the traditional flat

process and the new float technology side-by-side.

The major steps in traditional flat glass production begin with mixing and melt-

ing raw materials into molten glass. The molten glass is then rolled into a continu-

ous solid ribbon, ground to a uniform thickness, and polished. The final steps

include cutting, inspecting, and packing for shipment.

In the float glass plant, raw materials (largely sand and soda ash) are melted in a

gas-fired furnace at over 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit. The molten glass flows out of

the furnace as a continuous ribbon of flat glass that floats on a bath of molten tin

(which has a much lower melting temperature) until cool enough to hold its shape.

Final processing further cools the ribbon, then it is cut into uniform sheets which

are trimmed to sizes specified by customer orders.

Unlike the flat process which uses rollers to physically shape the glass, the float

system produces glass with a perfectly flat surface. – H. F.

Industrial layout potential

Though most of my PPG plant

would involve scratchbuilding or kit-

bashing structures, you could apply the

concept to other heavy industries. Cur-

rently there are structure kits available

for automobile plants and steel mills.

Perhaps a plug-and-play industry is

just what you need for your existing

layout. Or it could be the starting point

of your first model railroading adven-

ture with plenty of room to grow.

Henry Freeman is a newspaper execu-

tive in Westchester County, N. Y., and

was the founding sports editor of USA

TODAY . He is a member of the faculty of

the Model Railroad Skills Institute, and

his article on “Research in the Informa-

tion Age” appeared in Model Railroad

Planning 2001 . He got back into model

railroading 15 years ago when his wife

gave him a train set for Christmas.

A t one point in its history, Pittsburgh Plate Glass Works No. 7 plant was the only

Decaling

Fig. 1 TOOLS AND MATERIALS. Along with

decals you’ll need a shallow container for

water, decal setting solution, brushes,

tweezers, hobby knife, and small scissors .

these days makes it possible to

model cars and locomotives from

hundreds of railroads and private own-

ers. Many of these aren’t available in

factory-painted versions, so learning to

decal your own equipment gives you

many additional model options.

Preparation

Figure 1 shows the tools and sup-

plies you’ll need, starting with a shal-

low, flat container for water. An

upside-down plastic can lid works well.

A dark-colored container makes it eas-

ier to see light-colored decals.

Always use distilled water. Tap water

has minerals that remain on the model

when the water evaporates. Try distilled

water and you’ll find that most of what

you thought was decal glue residue is

no longer a problem.

I use a hobby knife and scissors to cut

decals (fig. 2). A clear drafting triangle

works well as a knife guide, allowing you

to see exactly where you’re trimming in

relation to the lettering. Small scissors

are handy for cutting smooth curves.

You’ll need decal setting solution. I

recommend Microscale’s solutions for

thin-filmed decals such as Microscale,

Oddballs, and others, as well as

stronger solutions such as Champ

Decal-Set and Walthers Solvaset for

Champ’s and Walthers’ decals.

Fig. 2 CUTTING DECALS. A clear drafting tri-

angle works well for guiding the blade, and a

self-healing cutting mat is a good surface.

I use two brushes: one for water, one

for setting solution. They should be

decent-quality soft-bristle brushes, and

they should be used only for decals.

Adding decals

Only apply decals over a gloss or

semi-gloss surface. If the model has a

flat finish, start by spraying on a coat of

clear semi-gloss or gloss.

Trim the decals from the sheet.

Some decals have clear film over the

entire sheet; others (namely Microscale)

have film only under the lettering and

graphics. See fig. 3.

If the clear film covers the entire

sheet, cut the film as close to the letter-

ing as possible. If not, cut outside of the

film, as the outside edge will blend in

better with the model’s painted surface.

T he wide variety of decals available

Fig. 3 DECAL FILM. Microscale decals (at

left) have decal film only under the lettering

and graphics. Other brands, such as Champ

(right), have film on the entire sheet.

Place the decal in the water and let it

soak for ten to 20 seconds until the

backing paper is completely saturated.

Take it out of the water and place it on

a paper towel for a minute. Let Cham-

pion and other thicker decals float off

the paper, then move the decal to the

model with tweezers.

In the meantime paint a small pud-

dle of Microscale Micro Set on the area

where the decal will go. Micro Set is a

weak solution that will begin to soften

a decal, but not to the point where

you’ll be unable to move it.

Position the decal over the car, then

slide the decal into place as fig. 4 shows

with your finger, a brush, tweezers, or a

toothpick. If you’re using tweezers, be

especially careful not to tear the decal.

If the decal doesn’t slide easily from the

backing paper, let it sit for a few more

seconds. If the decal doesn’t want to

move, add water or Micro Set with

a brush.

Once the decal is in place carefully

blot away excess Micro Set and water

with the corner of a paper towel. Don’t

blot the decal itself – just touch the area

near the decal.

Add a setting solution, such as Micro

Sol, with a brush around the edge of the

decal, being very careful not to disturb it.

Capillary action will draw the fluid

under the decal. Once you’ve added set-

ting solution, DO NOT touch the decal.

It may shrivel a bit at first, but that’s nor-

mal – it will straighten out as it dries. Set

the car aside for a few hours.

Fig. 4 REMOVING BACKING PAPER. Gently

slide the decal from the backing paper

to the model.

Fig. 5 AIR BUBBLES. Trapped pockets of air

show up as raised bubbles (at the point of

the knife) or silvery areas (on the right of the

F). Prick them with a knife.

Fig. 6 FINISHED DECAL. Keep pricking the

bubbles and reapplying solution until the

decal appears to be painted on.

blade, then apply more setting solution.

When the decal is dry, the lettering

will look as if it’s been painted on (fig.

6). Allow the car to dry at least 24

hours before applying a clear finish.

Then spray on a light, clear coat of flat,

satin, or semi-gloss to give the car a

uniform finish.

You’re now ready to turn more

undecorated models into custom cars

for your layout.

Final steps

After the decal dries you might see

air bubbles trapped underneath it

(especially around raised details) or a

silvery sheen on flat areas (fig. 5). Gen-

tly prick the bubbles or silvered areas

with a pin or the tip of new hobby knife

PHOTOS BY JEFF WILSON

Personalizing

structures

S tructures can play a big role in

use the same building in multiple loca-

tions if you give it a different paint

scheme in each place.

As you build each structure, decide

what you want the building to be. For

example, is it going to be a furniture

store, drugstore, grocery store, or bar-

ber shop?

Signs are probably the most impor-

tant detail when it comes to providing

Fig. 2 WINDOW SHADES. Pieces of colored

paper or manila file folders work well for

simulating shades.

an identity for a structure. A wide vari-

ety of signs is available from compa-

nies like Bar Mills, Blair Line, JL

Innovative Design, Microscale (decals),

and Woodland Scenics (dry transfers).

You can also use individual decal or

dry transfer alphabet sets to make

signs, or you can take a photo of a real

sign and reduce it (or scan it into

a computer and resize it) to use it on a

model. [See Jeff’s feature on structure

signs in the May 2001 issue of M ODEL

R AILROADER . – Ed. ]

Window treatments make buildings

look lived in. You don’t necessarily have

to detail a building’s interior – you just

need to give the impression that it has

an interior. The grocery store in the

lead photo is an example. From the out-

side it looks busy, with all the signs on

the windows. However, the view in

fig. 1 reveals that the only interior

Fig. 1 FALSE INTERIORS. Sometimes by placing a few items close to the windows, we can

make a viewer “believe” the building has a full interior. This DPM grocery store has just a few

Preiser crates in the window (along with lots of signs) hiding its bare interior.

giving your layout personality.

Detailing and improving commer-

cial structure kits will make your build-

ings different from all of the otherwise

identical buildings on layouts across

the country.

First, paint all plastic structures to

kill the plastic shine and to make the

building more realistic. You can often

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