Restoring My Crow River New Haven Tower

Although Crow River Products still has a website, its New Haven style brick signal tower is no longer listed. I'm a big New Haven fan, having rode the length of both the Springfield and Shore lines frequently during its last years. In the 1990s, I discovered the Crow River tower and built a model for Zenith on my layour:

However, during the Great Rewiring several years ago, when I converted most of the layout from legacy DC cab wiring to a single DCC bus with 14 AWG wire, the Crow River tower was inadvertently knocked to the floor. Luckily, because the kit is made up mostly of robust resin castingss, it didn't shatter, but it did disassemble itself. I gradually recovered all the individual pieces and set them aside for reassembly.

When I realized I was making good progress replacing the last twin coil switch machines in Zenith Yard, I decided it was time to undertake the reassembly and restoration. This would also be a good opportunity to add Just Plug lighting and Woodland Scenics Light Diffusing Window Film to the interior, since I would be starting with the structure in pieces.

In the photo below, you can see the Light Diffusing Window Film added to the interior.

Like many plaster and resin building kits, the various wall pieces don't necessarily mate well. I used a George Sellios trick and spread Elmer's Glue around troublesome corners and pressed in Woodland Scenics Extra Coarse Turf to simulate ivy.

I also weathered the roof shingles with Tamiya brown panel liner. I still have to restore the outside stairway.

Atlas Gold Lehigh Valley HH660

I never paid much attention to the Atlas HH600/660, partly because I think I just have too many switchers compared to the bigger road units I need for my medium-large layout with 2% grades, but I finally made an exception for their Lehigh Valley unit in the original prewar paint. The first Atlas run of these locos in 2009 was without DCC or sound but with a DCC socket. A second run in 2010 included factory QSI/Quantum sound. The current version has ESU sound with a few added features like delaying the actual start of the loco to let the prime mover rev up first. (This can be disabled as a user option. I did this, as I'm simply used to having a model loco move when I move the throttle. Others may like the ESU prime mover delay features on their decoders.)

I had some difficulty finding information on the Lehigh Valley prototype. It was an HH660. HH600s and HH660s built in the later 1930s were identical. Lehigh Valley 116 was acquired in 1939 as former Alco demonstrator 4. The model is in as-delivered paint. The only prototype photo I've found has it in a later Cornell red with black stripes. A roster says it lasted until 1963.

I'm very pleased with the model's appearance and operation. The ESU controllability is extremely fine, and the sounds are especially clear. I replaced the factory Accumate couplers with Kadee 148s.

Disguising Unitrack

I've reached the point where I've finished tracklaying and can begin rebuilding scenery that I took out in order to update Zenith Yard. A big milestone has been disguising the Kato Unitrack,which has a main line look when laid fresh. The first thing I did was to lay some Scultamold mixed with texture paint to build up the ground surface between the tracks. The point of the color in the Sculptamold is so that any of it that peeks through the ground cover and ballast that I apply over it won't be white.

The two tracks to the left are Unitrack. The third track on the right is original to versin 1.0 of this layout. It is old Shinohara code 70 laid on cork roadbed with Woodland Scenics cinder ballast.

Once the Sculptamold was dry, I covered both it and the top of the Unitrack with Arizona Rock & Mineral N Scale Yard Mix. This is natural mineral material that can be sprayed with ordinary water with a little detergent added. Woodland Scenics ballast is ground walnut shells that will bunch up when sprayed with water. Then I drizzle white glue over the wetted ballast and do more spraying.

Finally I sprinkle the whole area with Woodland Scenics Burnt Grass extra fine turf and let everything dry. Then I clean the rail tops with a bright boy.

This leaves all the yard tracks back with the same general look and disguises the difference between thc code 70 flex track and the Unitrack. If I were building an all new layout, I think I'd strongly consider HO Unitrack, as it provides a solid and stable base, and it's possible to give it a more realistic appearance with paint and ballast.