Clothshell Scenery

Build a Layout Without Plaster!

Marsh Lake Productions
www.marshlake-productions.com

Those of you who have been following Gregg Condon’s series on Layout Refinements have seen Gregg’s mention of clothshell scenery. Gregg published this book on his techniques back in 2011, but in case you missed it, I am reviewing the book again.

We all know from his articles that Gregg likes to work fast with as little mess as possible. He seldom works from plans, but prefers to just lay out his walls, cut them out and assemble his structures. It seems to work for him as his HOn3 RGS layout shows. Gregg’s book is illustrated with color photos of a previous layout and are used to show his clothshell techniques. The book also describes Gregg’s experiences in the hobby, and articles and modelers, that have influenced him.

Basically, the clothshell scenery technique is to apply small pieces of cloth attached by caulking to an understructure such as foam, screen, or cardboard strips. The cloth is then painted with latex paint and covered with scenic material. The plaster step has been eliminated, as well as the mess.

This technique is well worth trying if you are at the scenery stage on your layout. I am in the process of adding a town made up of Bodie buildings to my layout and will be using Gregg’s clothshell method.
-Bob Brown.

The Dinky, C&NW Narrow Gauge in Wisconsin

This reprint has not been changed except for the spiral binding making it easier to lay flat. It is available from Marsh Lake Productions at www.marshlakeproductions.com, has 81 pages, is illustrated, and sells for $20.00.

The Dinky was the name local people called a 3-foot gauge 16-mile-long remnent of a 92-mile-long railroad once owned by the mighty Chicago & North Western Railroad in Wisconsin. The little railroad hauled farmers, fisherman, salesmen, and school children, as well as the mail, milk, livestock, and general freight from 1878 to 1926.

Part 1 of this charming little book describes preserving the C&NW narrow gauge, and the history of the railroad, its operation, the big flood of 1908, a hanging, and the end of the railroad.

Part 2 discusses why narrow gauge, the route of the Dinky, and its equipment. There is a postscript about the Fennimore Railroad Historical Society. Plans include the track plan and depot at Fennimore, and the depot at Werley. There are also plans for a lovely little 2-6-0, way car, passenger coach, stock car, pedestal details, and a boxcar with details. There is also a map of the railroad. This little railroad would make an interesting model and The Dinky should get you on your way.
-Bob Brown.

Narrow Gauge in the Tropics

The Railways of the Dutch East Indies
1864-1942

This new book is a scholarly work on the railroads of a little-known area. I believe it is the only book on the railroads of the Dutch East Indies. This area encompasses Sumatra, Borneo, the Celebes, and Dutch New Guinea. If laid across the United States this archipelago would span from Oregon to the Atlantic Ocean. It is comprised of some 17,508 islands. Only some 13,466 of these islands have been registered and named and volcanic activity keeps changing the number of islands. The area is now known as the Republic of Indonesia.

In the 1860s, the Dutch began developing the area but needed a way to transport goods to ports for distribution around the world. The animal powered wagon just could not haul enough produce to make a profit, so railways were developed on many of the islands. I believe the first one was on Java. There were eventually some 7,583 km of railways, with only 266 km laid to standard gauge. Most of the narrow gauge lines were 42-inch gauge. Hence the title narrow gauge.

Most pages have a photo, but few are bigger than ½ page and all are black and white. They show mostly small foreign tank engines, but there are also photos of large standard gauge locomotives: Climaxes, a railbus and a Mallet. I was surprised to see photos of heavy electric railroads around Batavia. Some of the electric locomotives looked like they would be at home in Grand Central Station. There is also information on trolley lines of the area, and railways that ran steam dummies or trams.

There are no equipment plans, but there are several pages of maps at the rear of the book along with a Gazetteer, list of abbreviations, sources for further reading and an index.

As I mentioned, this is a scholarly book, discussing such subjects as the choice of the most suitable gauge, whether private or state railways would be best, competition, the effect of World War I, and traveling in the tropics.

The book only tells the story of the railways of Indonesia until the Japanese occupation in 1942. During World War II the railways were run down by the Japanese and damaged by the Allies. So, the author has left the story of World War II and the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia for another book.

This is not a photo book, or a light read, but it fills a hole in most of our railroad libraries.
-Bob Brown.

Ron’s Books
P.O. Box 714
Harrison, NY 10528
914-967-7541
ronsbooks@aol.com
www.ronsbooks.com

Ron's Books continues to sell new releases of reproductions of industrial catalogs from Silver Lake Images LLC, Manufacturer’s Catalog Archive. Each catalog sells for $35.00.

General Electric Diesel-Electric Locomotives

This book contains 110 pages of industrial Diesel locomotives begging to be modeled. I was surprised by this because there is a big U.P. modern image gas-turbine on the cover, but only the last two chapters cover the G.E. U25B/U25C Diesel-electrics and Gas Turbines. All the rest of the catalog is full of ads, photos, diagrams, statistics, and details about small industrial Diesel locomotives.

Passenger Cars Volume 1:

Pressed Steel Car Co. & Bethlehem Steel.

Not a lot of narrow gauge or short line interest in this 76-page catalog. However, there are some nice interurban cars. But you will really have to be a fan of big standard steel passenger cars to enjoy this catalog.

Fairmont Railway Motors MOW & Work Equipment

This book contains 77 pages of detailed information on those little four-wheel motor cars we love to model. I know I have built several and wish this catalog had been available when I built them. The first 36 pages show details of four-wheel motor or section cars, plus weed burners, a Ballast Drainage Unit, weed mowers, Ballast Discers, and Derrick Cars. This is followed by 41 pages of MOW equipment such as a Ballast Maintenance Car, Spike Puller, Rail Lifter, Tie Shear, Tie Remover, Tie Handler, Tie Inserter, Spike Driver, and so many more—all worth modeling.

Vulcan Locomotives Volume 2:

Steam and Diesel Locomotives.

Most of the locomotives shown in the 84 pages of this catalog were new to me. I did know that the 2-foot gauge Hinkley locomotives of the Monson Railroad had been replaced by two Vulcans. I even remember several cab rides in one of them at Edaville. And I believe there is one in steam in Portland, Maine. But I had no idea Vulcan made so many Diesel and electric locomotives. They even built some modern 4-8-2s, 2-10-0s, and 2-8-0 locomotives. The table of contents of this catalog lists these, plus Tank Locomotives, 25-, 50- and 65-ton Diesels, Modern Sugar Factory Equipment, Storage Battery Locomotives, and the Vulcan Duplex Locomotives.

The last three chapters are about the Vulcan Iron Works, Vulcan in the locomotive industry, and how their products solve hauling problems. This is my favorite catalog of the four described in this issue, because it is full of information on small Diesel, gasoline, battery, steam tank and tender locomotives, with neat photos to give you ideas for your logging, mining, or industrial railroad.-Bob Brown.