VIA Rail’s, Kokanee Park passes through the Car Wash Area in VIA’s Maintenance Shop, on my Trenton Subdivision in N Scale.

I have always wanted a Passenger Yard on the layout. Setting up passenger trains, shop area and an opportunity to display unique rolling stock and engines in VIA Rail Service, provides another level of modeling and operations.

Having a wash area to keep the passenger trains spotless was a must for me.

I decided on the Four Brush Car Washer Kit produced by Stewart. Using this metal kit as the base, I built a platform. The concrete slabs are 1 mm styrene sheets and the grates are walkways left over from another model project. The railings and wash solution tank is part of a sanding tower kit.

Included with the Stewart kit are “brushes” for the washers. This was my only sore spot with the kit. They consisted of black plastic tubing and the appearance was horrid. To remedy the problem, I picked up 6 mm pipe cleaners and cut them down to size to fit inside the wash pans.

The pipe cleaners give a much better appearance of the round brushes that spin along the side of the car..

As you can tell from the photo the area is not yet finished. Once I ballast the track, place warning signs and figures, the area will look much better. The black hole in the foreground is for a manhole cover, providing access to the components below the wash area. I have a figure that will be coming up through the manhole.