Boaz Siding

[NW Mailing List]

Thank you for the response and info John!
The pictures confirm what I thought I could see in some old photos, and
that is the handrails near the tracks.  I have fairly conclusively
determined that the culvert was positioned between the points of the
crossover and the points of the siding, so I will be including it. Of
interest in your pictures, I can see the dirt road still exists that runs
alongside the tracks.  From Google Satellite, I thought it was a paved
road. You can see it in the pic below. I found this online, and Ken Miller
believes it may be a Jim Shaugnessy photo.  I believe you can see a ditch
on the right where the culvert comes out form under the tracks (red
arrow).  I really wanted to model the livestock or hay bale shelter (not
sure?) on the hillside but my scene won't extend that far.

[image: image.png]

>>Pls update us as the diorama progresses. A great idea. You could try to
>>re-create Link's classic night shot "Honey Hole' in HO.

"Go big or go home" right?

This began with a plan to build a quick 4 ft diorama to practice scenery
skills (and give me somewhere to photograph rolling stock), prior to
starting on my Auville service area diorama which is to be 11 ft x 32 in.
Somehow this "quick little scene" morphed into accurately recreating both
Link's photo and Boaz siding and has grown from 4 ft x 32 in, to 5 ft x 32
in, and now I think I'm up to 8 ft in order to properly fit in the siding,
the siding turnout, and the two crossover turnouts.  Once I start looking
at photos in the Archive, heaven help me - next thing you know I am
emailing Ken Miller and driving him crazy with questions and asking for
advice. My last layout was 25 years ago and model railroad scenery
techniques have changed drastically, so I wanted to build this "quick
little" practice diorama to learn how to use the new static grass.

I ordered 2 pictures from the archive so I can accurately model a
tree 😶 with the belief that if I cannot model a weeping willow tree
effectively, what is the point of the rest of the diorama.  I have ordered
(and received) several materials to try to accurately model a weeping
willow (I think asparagus fern fronds are going to be the winner, but
peacock tail feather barbs might work as well).  I built a test trunk from
floral wire and paint putty earlier this week. While it came out too large,
I liked the look and it was pretty easy to work with to achieve a good
result, so I am making a new more accurate tree now.  There used to be a
hill which was located behind the tracks from the perspective of Link's
photo, and from an Archive image, I can see there was corn on top of it.
So, yesterday I did a test 3d print of 75 corn stalks.  I'll need to paint
them to see if I like the look, and if so, print a few hundred to perhaps a
thousand.  75 stalks cost $0.34 in printer resin, and $4 for the corn
stalks 3d model license. Someone is selling 140 stalks on ebay for $64, for
perspective.

Mike Rector

On Wed, Mar 15, 2023 at 6:46 AM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> Mike,
>
> Here are two images showing Boaz today. These views show the culvert (at
> the east end of the former siding) that you refer to. The culvert and
> it's handrail on the south side are about all that is left of Boaz. Even
> the grade for the siding itself seems to have shrunk in width over the
> years.
>
> A terrific resource for getting the lay of the land back in steam days
> can be found in an article by Jim Shaughnessy in the Spring 1975 issue
> of Railfan Vol.1 No.2.
>
> 'Norfolk and Western, Steam's Last Stand' by Mallory Hope Ferrell is
> another valuable Boaz resource.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Pls update us as the diorama progresses. A great idea. You could try to
> re-create Link's classic night shot "Honey Hole' in HO.
>
> John Garner, Newport VA
>
>
> Does anyone have images or info about Boaz siding that they are willing
> to share that may help me model it in HO?    I am particularly
> interested in the length of the siding.  Placement of the buildings
> (sheds), and where the turnouts are located beyond (east) of the shed.
> I also want to know about a culvert that I believe was located right
> where the crossover connected to the siding turnout.  I will need to
> model that, but don't know what to make it look like.
>
> Mike Rector
>
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