CRESSMONT
The little dairy at Cressmont was photographed often since it was right where the county road crossed the railroad and was therefore easy to get to. My model of the dairy was built years ago and this is the third layout it has been on. Besides the dairy, the barn and silo that were behind the dairy are modeled. I've also included an old windmill behind the dairy and the suggestion of a corn field next to the siding. A sound module with cows mooing provides sound effects to complete the scene.
PROTOTYPE INSPIRATION
In September 2020 I began construction of the scenery on the final section of the layout, Cressmont. These two images show the early stages of scenery construction. The land forms were made using the same plastic screen material that I used for the mountains along the back of the layout but instead of coating it with Homax texture paint I used Sculptamold. The rock castings are all from the prior layout.
Here are a few of the images that influenced the design of the Cressmont section of the layout. The upper left photo was the inspiration for the steep bank along which the track runs. The color photo upper right shows me and Frank Criswell at the Cressmont grade crossing during our visit to the area in 2007. The lower left photo from 1962 confirms that the silo was a light grey color at that time but other photos show it was at one time a darker color like the red my model is currently painted.
Railbus Motor A was a frequent visitor to the dairy because it was used to deliver milk bottled at the little building to ERC&L employees from Dundon to Widen. Here the crew has finished loading a few cans and is enjoying some casual conversation with the folks who run the dairy.
At one point the farm in Cressmont tended 60 milk cows and a reasonable sized corn field. The cornfield is visible on the left of this view. The cows are represented by a sound chip with a speaker concealed in the little barn. The silo and windmill are Bachman Plasticville structures from my childhood American Flyer layout!
As shown in the photo in the Prototype Inspiration Photos section below, the track ran on a shelf above the creek in some places. This was the inspiration for the section of track passing through the Cressmont scene.
The model of the Cressmont bridge seen above was inspired by prototype photos but some liberties were taken with the center pylon strictly for aesthetics.
The county road at Cressmont was paved but on the layout it is represented by a narrow dirt roadway.
For more prototype photos of Cressmont, click HERE.
This image inspired one of the trains run on the layout where a logging engine runs to Cressmont to switch a couple on MOW cars.
