As I work around the railroad bringing up the level of scenic detail, I arrived at the Eugene depot area. This has long had a depot model plus several other structures such as the scratch-built Eugene Freight depot and several Eugene city businesses with rail access. With the track painted in this area in the past year, I could at last begin the process of providing a passenger platform.
Eugene’s depot trackage had a typical layout for the Southern Pacific. The mainline was separated from the depot by at least one other track. In Eugene’s case, the track closest to the depot was the WP Siding, named for the original construction company that laid out the original Eugene depot and yard.
The original Eugene yard was alongside what became the Coos Bay Branch. That yard remained after the Natron Cutoff was completed (the modern Cascade Line that I model) and a new, much larger yard constructed. The old yard became the Blair Street Yard, serving local industry in Eugene. My classification yard is placed between the aisle and the depot tracks and serves much the same function on my railroad—support of the local industry operations.
Meanwhile, I had a gaping blank space between the depot mainline and the WP Siding and then the depot. SP filled that space with a broad platform, a feature I long have needed to model.
I chose black styrene sheet to form the platform. I cut long strips of the sheet to fit between the mainline and WP Siding. I used a 0.080-inch base and a 0.040-inch top to first match the tie height (about 0.080-inch high) and then provide a platform top lower than the rails, avoiding a number of model railroad operating issues. I assembled the long strips into even longer strips with a slight overlap created at the matching ends. This created three strips a bit more than five feet long with overlapping joints for the center section. I used a lot of tube styrene glue to weld the top sheets to the bottom bases and then join four strips to create the longer sub-assemblies. Once the glue set for the three long subassembly strips, I sanded the inner joints and shaped the long edges.
The Eugene platform was paved with asphalt. The black styrene was way too saturated (black) to represent even slightly weathered asphalt, but should any of the subsequent paint get scraped off, the resulting black undertone will blend with the scene. I painted the platform strips with Rustoleum gray primer.
Once the platform base coat set, I applied a center stripe for the platform, as seen in photos. Note the current Eugene depot no longer has the WP siding, so the platform has been reconfigured for current Amtrak use. I built a jig using styrene strip to guide the striping. I used an acrylic paint pen from my local art supply store to apply the stripe. I finished the basic platform treatment by scrubbing the platform strips with Bragdon gray weathering powder.
Applying the center stripe to the assembled platform strips. My striping fixture is along the middle strip.
As with track laying, I installed the platform strips using DAP Dynaflex 230 adhesive caulk. I used this for both the primary mounting to the cork roadbed sheets in the area and for the overlapping joints between the center and end platform sections.
Amtrak Number 11 pauses for its station stop at the newly-installed Eugene depot platform.
Much work remains in the Eugene depot area. The Railway Express Agency depot is under construction as I write this, using another Walthers City Station kit. This is a challenge to adapt the depot kit end hipped roof sections to form a single roof. Following that will be expanding the depot platforms on the depot side of the WP Siding and then installing pedestrian and baggage cart walk-over platforms to get to the main depot platform between the two tracks. For now, at least the main platform is present!