Milling about

I have a Walthers grain elevator that I built a long, long time ago, and for a Great Lakes port it makes sense to have one.  I would like to make it larger - whether I'll be able to find the add-on silos, or have to build my own, is a subject for another day.  Having finished ballasting the main lines, and being sick of ballasting for now, I decided to work on the elevator/mill complex.  Here in Buffalo we once had one of the largest concentrations of grain elevators and grain processing facilities in the world.  There are still a couple active down by the waterfront.  I used inspiration from a couple examples - first, the ADM elevator and mill complex in Buffalo on Ganson Street; second, the malting complex in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.  What I saw in a general sense is a mix of old brick buildings with newer corrugated steel buildings.  All somewhat large and imposing, but plain with some assorted pipes going around.  (I'm not too picky about how accurate it's done - just that you get the general sense of what it is).

I thought this might be a good chance to try scratchbuilding something.  Walthers makes a Red Wing Milling building, and one for a narrow backdrop space, but I wanted something more modern-looking.  It's going to fit next to the grain elevator, along the backdrop, down the way from the steel mill.  I drew up some plans and searched for parts.  Here's where it got more complicated. 

Lessons learned (many):

1. The good thing is, Design Preservations/Woodland Scenics still makes those modular brick building pieces. So I was able to buy some sections and put together a good 5-story-ish brick building section of the mill.  I had to cut some pieces, and use some styrene pieces to secure the corners, but not a big deal.
2. Remember that quaint time when you could go to a local hobby store, check out options, talk to someone knowledgeable, and get exactly what you needed?  And not have to jump through hoops when you needed something more?  Yeah, those days are gone.  Even with a ruler, it's tough to estimate exactly how some things are going to look until you get them.  The Evergreen 4526 corrugated siding was what I needed.  The 9215 plain white sheets were way too thin.  I used some for the backing that would just face the wall, but it's way too thin for the roofs.  So I had to order something thicker. 
3. Securing the corners and edges - I used some .04 square rods.  They fit great for the corners of the brick sections, but are kinda too small for the corners of the larger part.  I looked into getting some L-shaped pieces, but so far I've made do.
4. I'm just working with Testors non-toxic glue in a little tube.  I've thought about going to the Plastruct solvent that fuses things together, but it has been good to be able to take things apart that didn't work well.
5. Styrene is stupidly expensive.  Like how does this one 6x12" corrugated sheet cost $5. It's plain plastic.  I thought this would be cheaper than buying a kit.  When all is said and done, getting a kit and modifying it would probably be cheaper and easier.  But I am learning things as part of doing this.  It gives me a sense of the economies of scale for the Walthers kits...but still, these are plain pieces of plastic, I can't believe how much they cost and how a project adds up.
6. The photo shows the brick building and the tall corrugated building.  I still need to build the lower part along the front with the loading doors, which will be 3" tall and a little longer than the brick section.  It will ideally look like a complex that was added to over the years.

Up next - the lower section; a base to secure it and the roofs, because the tall section seems flimsy on its own; then painting it.  I've made a lot of progress relatively quickly because it's March 2020 and we're all stuck at home.  I've also considered getting in on the styrene racket.

Grade crossing

I completed the grade crossing - well, the road part.  The crossing gates will come someday at another time.  I prepared the road the same way as before and finished with that dull-coat spray. Which still comes out a bit glossy, but it was successfully tested by my 3-year-old nephew with some Matchbox cars. The finish didn't scratch off, and both the cars and the trains successfully navigated the crossing.  I'm happy with how this turned out.

I'm working on finishing up ballasting the main lines, which at this point consists of the approaches to the shipping channel bridges.  I received the materials in the mail for the next project, building a milling building to go with the grain elevator.  Or, at least what I think I'll need.  I'm not naive enough to think that I'll end up needing something else to build it.