Griff's Grime Shop: GP Mill

Since my job right now is to go to school full-time and earn my Masters Degree - most of my time is spent studying or spending time with my family; Dad and husband duties always come first. Here and there I do get some time to dabble with trains, which usually means I am working next to layout at the Grime Shop weathering cars for auction or doing custom work for customers around the world. More and more though, I am turning to the layout and working on some projects. I am sure this winter will give me plenty of indoor time to work on here. I really feel the layout is now getting closer and closer to being finished (we all know that will never really happen - but it sure is looking better and better).

Here are some shots from this past summer (June 2011):

I added some more details like signage and some great BLMA details like a work shed, port-a-john and some jersey barriers to my woodchip area:

The vegetation really made the complex track plan come to life. It kind of gave sense to the track plan.... It provides some great blinds for operation and makes for great backgrounds when I photograph Grime Shop custom weathered cars on the layout. You can also see another great BLMA detail - the electrical switch shed - love their stuff!!

I also worked on the conveyor and buildings. I painted, weathered and installed the conveyor. I also kitbashed another kraft mill that I purchased assembled off of eBay and added it to the main superstructure of the woodchip processing tower. In the distance, you can see I painted and weathered the two paper mill tanks that come with the original Walther's Cornerstone Paper Mill kit. On top of those two tanks, I custom built some superstructure; I got the idea from my photos of the Leaf River Plant in Mississippi. I also began adding some piping. You will see in subsequent photos....these tanks will move to another part of the layout to accommodate other newly installed mill items.

The right side of the layout (if facing the front) always seemed plain to me. I tossed around the idea of a woodchip pile, more yard tracks, etc. When I changed the original chemical delivery area to the woodchip reception area, I lost a place to delivery kaolin, chlorine, etc. to the mill. Plus, when I eventually install a background/backdrop on this module - I needed something to block the potential eye sore created by a backdrop coming to a 90 degree angle with a layout - especially on a 2' x 7' module.

To remedy these issues, I decided to scratchbuild and kit bash another wing to this plan that would block void background, wrap and balance the entire plant, and to give me some more fun places to switch cars in and out from. These are some initial shots from last June. Recently, I installed these painted and weathered buildings and have begun detailing them; I will include photos soon.