Getting Real Column - 9
Meanwhile, in the other aisle, back where Hammill Yard used
to be, the initial plan was to relocate “Grainzilla,” the big Cargill
Terminal elevator that had been intended to block out the
transition from layout to staging at the former Port of Erin (see
Railroad Model Craftsman
, June 2011) to the newly created
real estate where Hammill Yard was.
Finally it hit me: Maybe I didn’t need that old stub-ended stag-
ing yard after all! But could I take that decidedly un-photogenic
area and turn it into something layout-worthy? Here was my
starting point:
The problem I’d created by locating the massive elevator where
I put it was that it actually drew attention to the very thing I
was trying to screen out: the transition to staging and the ugly
air conditioning duct above it. Moving it to a new location
where it could “breathe” and that would do it justice seemed
like a noble goal.
18
19
18: Here is an early attempt at seeing what the big
grain elevator would look like in the former Hammill
Yard location. That piece of plywood is a full 8’ long,
giving perspective to the size of everything shown.
19: It was hard to picture it properly when it was at
bench, rather than track level, so I installed the ris-
ers that would support this plywood, and took another
look. The tracks to the rear are “in the groove”
and represent unseen main line trackage, much of it
newly installed.
MRH-Dec 2013
