34 Ascape

When Echo Canyon was mostly complete the folks in Ascape turned their attention to finishing the yard and some industries in Ascape.  Other posts will feature individual structures and their construction.  The purpose of this post is to provide an overall view of Ascape, particularly the Engine Terminal, Yard and associated industries.  

Figure 1 View of Ascape Engine Terminal.

Figure 1 shows the Ascape Engine Terminal (center), Ascape Station (left), and Ascape Power Plant (right).  The main line and Ascape siding are along the back of the terminal.  The caboose track is seen at the end of the Ascape siding.  There is another passing siding in front of the station next to the main platform. The other tracks from left to right include the engine ready track serviced by the coal tipple, the sand house, and the oil terminal.  This track connects to the turntable in the background.  The roundhouse is under construction and is not present in this photograph.  The track to the right of the engine ready track also leads to the turntable and is track for locomotives entering the terminal.  The track to the right is the lead track for the Ascape yard.  The yard ladder is switched from this track.  The gondolas sit on the Power House stub.  

The station is a Fine Scale Miniatures kit, the coal tipple is a Campbell kit, the turn table is a Diamond turntable kit. The water tower is Walthers.  The power house is scratch built from card stock with hand carved brick detail.  The sand house (hidden by the oil depot) and the oil depot are Campbell kits.  There is a old box car shed under the water tower.  Saulina's Tavern and Harley's Cycle Shop are hidden behind the trees behind the station.

Figure 2 View of Ascape Yard

 Figure 2 is a view of the Ascape yard. The yard lead shown in Figure 1 feeds the ladder to these tracks.  The track to the right is the main line with the turnout to the Ascape siding shown.  Burgess Beef packing plant and Mauzy Ice are at the end of the yard tracks.  Farmer's Cooperative elevator and feedstore are to the right of the main line in the upper right of the photograph.  Craig's Camp is in the far background.

Burgess Beef is a Fine Scale Miniatures kit, Mauzy Ice is scratch built, the grain elevator and feed store are Walthers structures.  The turnouts in the yard are powered by Tortoise machines from switches and indicator lights on the fascia.

Figure 3 View of Ascape Station, Water Tower, and Power Plant

Figure 3 is a view of the station, water tower, and power plant. Echo Canyon tunnels 2 and 3 are in the background.  This photograph was an earlier photograph that did not use Helicon Focus or the settings indicated below.

Figure 4 Ascape Coal Tipple from between Harley's Cycle Shop and Saulena's Tavern

Figure 4 was the photographer's first attempt to use Helicon focus with multiple exposures using manual focus (see photographic details below).  Note that the cliffs are about 30 inches from the camera. The coal tipple is about 20 inches from the camera.  The figures and gas pumps are about 8 inches from the camera. Enlarge the photograph by clicking on it to see the clear detail at every distance. 

Figure 5 Burgess Beef and Cattle Yard

Figure 5 is Burgess Beef packing plant.  Bruce Burgess is a cattle man and close friend of the president.  This structure and corral are a Fine Scale Miniatures Kit. The Cattle yard is small and can handle only one or two cattle cars in any one shipment.  Reefers call at the platform to ship processed beef and pork to the market. 

Figure 6 Mauzy Ice and Burgess Beef

Figure 6 is Mauzy Ice.  This small structure is perfect for the very small operation of Burgess Beef packing plant.  Reefers are iced one at a time and it is rare for more than two reefers to visit the plant on any given day. The ice house was named for Chris Mauzy, who is a frequent operator on the ATSG.  This structure is scratch built from polystyrene siding and strip wood.  The builder drew plans from photographs of an On3 model of this ice house designed and constructed by Troels Kirk of Sweden.

Figure 7  Farmer's Cooperative 

Farmer's Cooperative and Feedstore are Walthers kits weathered by the author.   Craig's Camp is on the hill behind this scene. The main line is behind these structures and again behind Craig's Camp on the upper level.

All of the photographs except Figure 3 were processed via Helicon Software and involve multiple exposures focused at different distances. The focus was set manually.  The photographer measures the distance from the furthest object and closest object in the picture using a metric measuring tape.  This distance is then divided into 5 or 6 equal lengths and an exposure taken at each distance. The camera indicates the distance when using manual focus:   Sony 35 mm 8 mp digital camera, F8.0, color real, no zoom.  Lighting is from overhead compact florescent spot lights enhanced by two photo lamps also with compact florescent bulbs.  Exposure time is automatically determined by the camera.  All photographs were taken on a tripod via the camera timer to avoid any camera shake.  You should be able to enlarge the photographs by clicking on them.