Ah, train weather is here. Too cold to do anything outside, so down to the basement for some train projects.
My Colorado Midland fleet is growing. Last weekend my Lionel Santa Fe 0-4-0 , was bought by the Midland, and repainted and relettered to the "Pikes Peak Route" railroad. The MTH rugged rails Santa Fe caboose was also purchased by the Colorado Midland, and repainted and relettered as such, all including custom decals produced on the computer and printer. Also was able to purchase an Intermountain reefer kit on e-bay, in the same roadname.
Went to the local hobby store to buy some more decals (lettering from microscale), and they gave me the new Lionel and K-line catalog. They didn't have to give them to me, as I only buy scenery items and decals from them, but they did anyway. They don't carry much O-gauge, but I will consider buying some more items from them because of their customer service.
Took the wife shopping and while she was browsing the clothing store, went to hobbytown in the same strip mall, and purchased an Atlas switch tower. I hope to custom paint it and letter it for Divide, Co..
All in all, I'm having a great winter! My income taxes will quickly change my mood, but having a good time now. Reading the forums has also been fun. What a great hobby. This has been one of the best winters I have had. How is your winter going?
Winter going well so far....almost no snow!!!
underworld
Adding some embankments and terrain...
Trying to update my avatar since 2020
MartyE and Kodi the Husky Dog! ( 3/31/90-9/28/04 ) www.MartyE.com My O Gauge Web Page and Home of Kodiak Junction!
MartyE wrote: Adding some embankments and terrain...
Looks good MARTY what are you going to do with covering the foam, paint? Also like the serran wrap to protect track, I'm going to borrow that one from you, thanks.
laz57
I'll carve it up and then use a dry wall compund thinned a bit as a texture. I'll paint it with flat colors and then add some ground cover and other items to give it a rocky and natural look. I also use aluminum foil sometimes as it stays down on the track better. The saran wrap does OK. You can cut the foam and then the saran wrap will lift right up off the tracks with the foam on top rather than in the tracks.
Here is the side I did last week...
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
I got 3 of my old post war whistle tenders whistling again thanks to OGR's Barrett in the Backshop # 9 video. Jim B. made it look easy and not the least bit intimidating. What a difference a little oiling does to make them sound like whistles instead of a blender full of nuts and bolts! 2 more to do and the whole fleet will be repaired.
Jim
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
cnw1995 wrote:Marty, do you paint the foil or use it somehow to form the foam?Mpz, love to hear about a Colorado Midland collection / layout. Ever since I read Sam Posey's book, I've been intrigued by that road. Tell us more about it
I'm sorry Doug... the foil is used to protect the track from the foam. I never really thought of it as a mold, maybe I should try that. I found that the foil stays tight against the track giving it better protection. Once you carve away enough foam you lift it off. Of course running trains with foil on the tracks is electrifying!
Doug,
I've seen foil painted to look amazingly like realistic rock. No reason to feel dumb at all.
jaabat wrote:Doug,I've seen foil painted to look amazingly like realistic rock. No reason to feel dumb at all.Jim
Nope...I used to do it all the time.
I remember seeing in some model railroad books from the 50s and 60s using crumpled foil as a mold for making plaster rocks. They looked pretty good.
Hi Marty,
I've used drywall compound successfully to form rocks and roads and other stuffs. It tends to crack, which sometimes looks OK, or you can just fill the crack with more compound. It's easy to carve even when dry. Good luck.
I've been working on a dozen projects and don't have much to show yet as I keep hopping from one project to another to keep the interest peeked. Eventually, each project will come to fruition.
FJ and G wrote: Hi Marty,I've used drywall compound successfully to form rocks and roads and other stuffs. It tends to crack, which sometimes looks OK, or you can just fill the crack with more compound. It's easy to carve even when dry. Good luck. I've been working on a dozen projects and don't have much to show yet as I keep hopping from one project to another to keep the interest peeked. Eventually, each project will come to fruition.
Nice work you are doing! My next layout I'd like to have hills and tunnels!
Dissambled the 752 coaler last night. Going to beadblast then repaint everything. I took pictures to help remember assembly, but I thought I'd share them also.
I'm trying to get some scenery installed. This past weekend I completed some backdrop paintings, though I have a couple more to go.
Next up, trees. I purchased about 80 trees this weekend, and now need to begin the process of adding ground cover, trees, and landscaping.
Of course while most of the country shivers, it's been glorious here in California so spending long hours in the basement hasn't been easy, particularly with a very active 19-month old who wants to go outside.
cnw1995,
I'm verrrry loosely modelling the Colorado Midland. My layout's scenery is mountainous, and built to look like the Colorado Springs front range area. I have a bunch of old Williams kits, and am converting some cheap cars to the new roadname, not very prototypical, but I also have a rather odd rail running down the center of my tracks. So far the fleet includes 2 Weaver reefers, 3 19th century MTH overton cars (custom lettered for the Midland using Champ's decals), 2 cabooses, and 1 engine, all repainted and relettered.
I have a very informative DVD titled, The Pikes Peak Route, which presents a very nice history of the railroad with nice old still shots, and old movies for reference. I won't go deep into the history, as you allready probably know most of it, but it basiclly began as a logging road, then vegetables and ice in Divide, and lastly, gold in Cripple Creek. The thing that makes the Colo. Midland special, is it was standard gauge, not narrow gauge. This somewhat forced the D&RG to also build in standard gauge in order to compete.
Well got a little done on my wall... Paint and some ground cover. I think I'll pour on a little more brush and shubbery on this wall to give an over growth look.
Tgovbaker, Great looking mountains! I like the way they look.
MartyE I always like your layout.
I 've got the coaler blasted and primed. Turned out pretty well. Color coat tomorrow. I'll order replacement windows and be on the lookout for a three button controller. I'll post pics when I can.
Got another 21088 Franklin with the 21020, 30 & 40 cars on the bay. From the pics pretty nice. I'll need to get a set of front trucks, $7.50 from Port Lines. Toying with the idea of making it into a Washington 21089, with a blue and gold paint job, different decals. We'll see.
About to add more shelves. I've got room for a few more.
I sure envy you guy's working on scenery! My scenery has been "completed" for over a year now, and I miss it, along with track laying. I am in the detailing phase, and it's getting more tedious. I'm ready to build a new layout, but can't bring myself to do it, knowing this one needs a lot of work. I desperately need to re-wire the whole mess, but hate doing it!!!
Please keep the "winter projects" coming, as it is very interesting to see what everyone is doing! Summer will come soon enough, with lawn mowing, gardening, weeding, etc., taking up all our time.
Got the color coat on the coaler, and went on well. The rustoleum hammered satin finish is real neat! Looks just like the original mottled finish on the tower structure. I was very satisfied. I'll post pics tomorow.
Saturday night, I took an old, dead 2046 whistle tender that was completely rust-welded (wheels, rollers) the armature wouldn't turn, cracked wires, you name it, and tore into it. I completely disassembled it down to a bare frame. Got all the rust off the trucks, wheels, and rollers with a Dremel tool. Got everything moving freely, then started in on the motor. What a time I had just trying to get the brushplate off! Cleaned the armature and brushes, sanded the relay contacts, oiled the armature shaft, and get this - completely re-wired the sucker!! It works! Whistles loud and strong. What a satisfying project. I wish I had taken photos of how bad it looked before. A little gun bluing on the wheels and it's all set.
Sturgeon-Phish wrote:Got the color coat on the coaler, and went on well. The rustoleum hammered satin finish is real neat! Looks just like the original mottled finish on the tower structure. I was very satisfied. I'll post pics tomorow.Jim
I'm really looking forward to seeing photos of this project, Jim!
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