Large Scale Central

Haitian Sugar Train in On30

Other Scales O / On30
#1

Here are a few shots of an On30 mini layout I work on during the winter months. It is a depiction of a 1920s Haitian sugar train running from Port-au-Prince Haiti to Leogane Haiti.

I have worked on this off and on for several years now. Here is a link you can look at if you would like to read more about it.

http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22912

I hope to be posting more pictures this winter as indoor modeling has commenced. Thanks for looking.

Doc Tom

It is cold, so I stopped work on the outdoor garden railroad. I thought it was time for some Caribbean sunshine and warm blue waters.I have gone back to work on the Haitian Sugar Train.

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I have done work on the Leogane Beach scene just below the Leogane engine house. The warm Caribbean ocean continues the oxidation process on the rusting hulk of the worn out Kraus steam locomotive.

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A sugar train from Port au Prince arrives at the Leogane tank. There has been a profusion of tropical growth since we last posted here. The aroma of burning dried sugar cane, steam and Bougainvillea fills the air.

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Further down the line construction of a Haitian Rum still and a Haitian village continues. More photos to follow during these cold winter months. Thanks for looking.

Doc Tom

#2

Very interesting. Cheers. TOF in Oregon

#3

Nice to see I’m not the only one with a winter largescale…

#4

Bart Salmons said:

Nice to see I’m not the only one with a winter largescale…

:wink:

#5

Thanks Doc, good stuff!

#6

World Famous BARBANCOURT RHUM is made in Haiti. But not at a distillery that looks like this:

I thought this charming rural “still” had to be modeled for my On30 Sugar Cane hauler set in 1920’s Haiti.

Here is the next structure undergoing construction in the Leogane section of the mini layout. It is a representative of the back jungle distillery pictured above.

I tried to recreate the wooden fermentation tanks. Next to come will be the sugar cane press and the distilling apparatus.

While not quite the same as an Appalachian Moonshine still, you get the understanding that all cultures and people love the taste of fermented juices.

Doc Tom

#7

I took the trusty iPad out to the train shed to get a few pictures of a little more progress on the On30 mini layout.

Here is some Caribbean blue water I was able to place under the dock at Port au Prince.

Here is a Haitian house and the start of a sugar cane field in a corner of the Leogane section of the small layout.

I have been enjoying some “warm weather” modeling down in the Caribbean during these cold days.

Doc Tom

#8

Great looking layout - good work, congratulations. What kind of track do you use?

Walt

#9

walter sarapa said:

Great looking layout - good work, congratulations. What kind of track do you use?

Walt

Thanks Walt. I used el cheapo Atlas Code 100 flex track and removed every other tie. The track was given to me.

Only regrets are two turnouts that have those blasted Atlas insulated plastic frogs. The little Porters love to stall on them. If done again I would go with the Peco track/turnouts. Lot of folks are using their trask/turnouts in On30.

Doc Tom

#10

I cheated with with my Porter. I made a small tender fitted with HO scale archbar trucks with power pickups. I think the benefit of improved performance offset the sacrifice of prototype fidelity. I may make a four wheel tender fitted with pickups. I think that would bring the Porter closer to prototypical possibility.

Walt

#11

walter sarapa said:

I cheated with with my Porter. I made a small tender fitted with HO scale archbar trucks with power pickups. I think the benefit of improved performance offset the sacrifice of prototype fidelity. I may make a four wheel tender fitted with pickups. I think that would bring the Porter closer to prototypical possibility.

Walt

Hi Walt,

I am considering the same. I was able to get a new Porter 0-4-2 with DCC and sound off eBay for $75. I was really surprised to be able get this although there were about 7 up for bid when I made my purchase and probably resulted in the low price. Anyways, for this Porter I have been researching building a tender with the B.mann passenger car trucks that pick up the juice and could prevent the stalls at the plastic frogs. I also have enjoyed reading about the “keep alive” capacitors that can also benefit these little lokies.

Lot of info on the “railroad line forums” on how to build these neat little tenders and wire in to the sound equipped Porters.

It is a pain for the Porter to stall and have to go through the whole restart sound sequence when it restarts.

Doc Tom

#12

The section of the mini layout that I have been working on recently represents the rural area of Leogoane Haiti.

Rural Haitian houses are quite primitive. Many are built from wattle and thatch. Mud is used to cover the wattle that makes up the walls. This type of construction, imported from Africa, was quite prevalent in the 1920s in Haiti.





Here is a model I built from card stock and paper. Like so many prototype structures in Haiti it is perched on the side of a mountain with a steep path leading to its front door.





Down below the colorful Porter locomotives are passing by on their way to the sugar cane fields.





Hope you like the pictures.

Dr. Tom

#13

It is lunch time at the sugar mill (HASCO) in Port au Prince. The local cook at the cook shack is making up beans and rice and a seller drops by with a load of Coca Colas from up North.

(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/Haiti%20Sugar%20Train/DSC07046_zps53edd01a.jpg)

(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/Haiti%20Sugar%20Train/DSC07045_zps825a0465.jpg)

(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/Haiti%20Sugar%20Train/DSC07048_zpseb38f59f.jpg)

#14

Tom, don’t think, that you can get away with that!

i think, you should give us at least half a dozen of how-to posts, about that vegetation you made.

#15

Korm Kormsen said:

Tom, don’t think, that you can get away with that!

i think, you should give us at least half a dozen of how-to posts, about that vegetation you made.

Hi Korm,

Learning how to make tropical foliage was a real departure for me from my usual Tennessee Mountain forests on my previous layout.

This article gives a nice way to make palm trees:

http://www.bigindoortrains.com/primer/glitterhouses/seaside/palm_tree/palmtrees.htm

I cut out a few of the steps and made these palms using pipe cleaners and “foliage” from the fake plants section of the local Hobby Lobby.

Woodland Scenics has come out with pretty good palm trees and you can buy el cheapo palm trees from China off eBay in O scale.

Thanks for looking.

Doc Tom

#16

Tom, That is amazing!! cant wait to see more pics, could you put some overall shots of it to get some perspective on the whole layout?

#17

Ron Tremblay said:

Tom, That is amazing!! cant wait to see more pics, could you put some overall shots of it to get some perspective on the whole layout?

Hi Ron,

This is a small On30 layout that is quite portable. Here is a frontal shot from when it “went on the road” at a local train show at the old Clarksville RR Depot. The frontal view is Port au Prince.

Here is an overhead view from a few years back. The area I am working in now has no scenery on the backside in this picture and is called Leogoane.

Thanks for the questions and for looking.

Doc TOM

#18

Thanks Tom, that is beautiful.

#19

thanks for the interesting link.

#20

I have been away for quite some time and wanted to try my hand at getting back with a few On3o shots…

Here are some colorful shots I did this summer on the little Haitian Sugar Hauler.

I am looking forward to getting back in to the On30 discussion part of the forum.

Doc Tom