East of the Blue Ridge

Chronicles of an On30 quarry railroad

First flatcars

The first flatcars out of the company shops



I used soapstone powder to weather these Bachmann flatcars. I could use some practice in order to gain more control over the effect.

Something to Run

With a considerable amount of the track in place, it was becoming apparent that I had nothing to run on my new layout.



I am beginning to put together a freight car fleet for the P&EBR. The first flatcars and boxcars are Bachmann ready to run. Once I have some painting and weathering experience, I will advance to Chivers and Boulder Valley kits.

I am trying to come up with a simple, repeatable process that yields acceptable results. Particularly in the case of ready to run models, I would like to have an assembly line approach that does not require a great deal of individual attention being given to the paint and finish.



This initial test flatcar came out reasonably well without a lot of effort. The most aggravating part of the process was applying decals. I think I will create art for polyester stencils to be laser cut by Kingmill Enterprises.