Hi All,

I designed a placard to be mounted on the fascia over or in front of each of the yards.  This placard was made for Gresham Yard's main class yard.  There will also be one for the Local Yard. 

It allows the YM to keep track of blocks of cars that have been placed or stored on a track that is not assigned to them.  The YM can place magnet ID's in whatever location the cars have been placed.  It can also be used for both outbound and inbound trains that are parked on one of the 3 A/D tracks or switch leads.

I'm looking forward to seeing how my YM's like this and if it is a useful tool for them.

Best, Andy

Hi Jim, I bought some scrap pieces of sheet steel and had them cut to size.  It was only several dollars total and I have enough for all four yards.

After I had them cut to size, I drilled the small mounting screw holes in the corners and made sure that the

sheets were clean of any oils, etc., and lightly sanded them.

I then sprayed them with a Rustoleum black primer.  Then taped the thin border and vertical dividing line to keep the border black and sprayed the yellow coat.  I removed the tape and let it all dry.

Then I bought black 1/8" pinstripe from an auto parts store.  Before I started laying our the tape, I designed the diagram in Corel Draw but could have easily done it with pencil/paper.  I use a rule and straight edge to apply the stripping.  I used a small pencil mark at both ends of the line of where the tape would be laid.  Then used the straight edge along that line to make sure that the stripping would be laid straight. 

For the lettering, I used a Brothers P-touch label maker (black over clear), cut the excess off each label and then applied them.

When it was finished, I first gave it a coat of gloss (Testors from the rattle can) but decided to change that with a top coat of Dulcote.

The magnets were purchased at TSC (about $3 for pack of 8) and are just the right size.  I sprayed the magnets black and applied P-tough labels (black over white, cut to size) on the face of the magnet. 

After testing them out on the placard, I realized that the magnet was going to really mar the finish quickly with use and decided to glue a very thin piece of plastic to the base of the magnet. 

The magnets are a little on the strong side which can make them draw together if too close to each other but I think that it will work well with a little care in use.   

Best, Andy