Welcome to Weekend Photo Fun
January 03 - 05, 2020
All Are Welcome!
Here is an opportunity to showcase any recent project or layout progress.
Please feel free to post any model railroad related photos here — past or present. This is a place to share photos of your layout, equipment or current project.
It is past midnight here in the Eastern Time Zone, so today is my Birthday! I wanted to start Weekend Photo Fun and celebrate me completing 52 years on the Earth.
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This week I have another new addition to my "Fleet of Nonsense" I am building for the new layout. This one is an Athearn Blue Box 50 foot steel gondola car. I am very fond of the Athearm 50 foot steel gondola. It has a heavy duty beefy look to it. It just looks like it is there for business.
As usual, this car has been updated with Tichy grab irons and A-Line stirrup steps. It has a neat scap metal load that I bouight at a swap meet. I think it was custom made. Of course, it has Kadee trucks and couplers. It was painted with Scalcoat II paints and decorated with custom decals for the SPOKANE AND CASCADE by Donald Manlick.
Please share your projects, purchases, things that have you excited, or just a favorite picture of your layout.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Happy Birthday, Old Timer
Thanks for starting up the first WPF of the Roaring Twenties!
Great Stuff, Kevin. I sympathise with you trying to work between those ribs on the gon. Makes for a real challenge. Dry transfers?
My recent "project" has been to make a "visually interesting" interior for a rolling mill that I'm using as a backdrop. I had two of these mill stands and quickly realised two just wasn't enough.
Mill_left by Edmund, on Flickr
Well, as these things go, inspiration struck and I sliced them in half and butted them against the back wall of the building.
Mill_stands by Edmund, on Flickr
Basically this is "movie-set" construction as these will be viewed at a distance. If that boxy thing looks like a corn dryer to you, please keep it a secret
I found a photo that I printed and slapped onto the back wall, actually the building is only half-thickness since it acts as a view block.
Mill_backing by Edmund, on Flickr
More photos will follow once I get off the 'puter and get back to the shop!
Cheers, Ed
Happy B day Kevin. You and I are the same age, how's that.
Here is a new loco I just got. Its an SD39 Athearn RTR. Athearn is sure stepping up their game on the RTR line with the details and great sound. I only paid $170, great budget locomotive.
I tried to match the weathering on the prototype photo I found.
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
Good morning from cloudy, foggy and rainy Northeast Ohio!
Kevin, thanks for starting us out with one of your great madeup cars.
Ed. you do some very imaginative work with your large buildings and industries!
Motley, nice work with the weathering keep us informed of your work.
Only got one thing done this week!
Atlas RS-1, in order to do the M&StL RS-1 a number of modification have to be done. Since the Louie installed their steam era bells on the hood tops as the frame mounted bells froze up in the winter, the walkway over the top radiator vent has to be moved to the side. After removing the walkway, you will find the venting has a dip in it so the entire vent area is filed away, the walkway moved to the engineers side and a new vent area is scratchbuilt. Also installed steam era markers on the long hood. Changed to vent on top of the cab to match the ones the Louie had. Painted the unit with Floquil Signal Red and decaled it with the later Shroeder era decals I got from Mark Vaughn (now available from Clark Probst). The Louie originally received their RS-1's in small batches and every delivery had a different paint scheme (some said picked by the office staff). After Sprauge was kicked out in 1954 they Louie standardized the paint scheme into the Red & White scheme as this unit.
Like Ed, I received three Rapido RS-1's in PRR, a really good looking unit.
Since were doing Rapido, here is my pair of FA-2's. waiting for the FB-2's to be delivered in the spring. This was shot on the Strongsville Club layout.
Thanks for looking!
Rick Jesionowski
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
Happy Bday Kevin! Treat yourself to some Upstate NY maple syrup it you can. Just wondering, do you know exactly how many cars you have custom painted?
Nice job on those details Ed!
Michael, thats some good weathering.
Rick, I like the big bell on the long hood.
I have been busy, or travelling, or both. Maybe I'll get some work done on the layout this weekend...
One thing I did do is make a custom board for my favorite game, Ticket To Ride. It's of my home state.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3-DWh6PMhgpeVdQUTNtaXdNeExSS3F3Y3VUeTY5dnRGTWhv/view
Harrison
Homeschooler living In upstate NY a.k.a Northern NY.
Modeling the D&H in 1978.
Route of the famous "Montreal Limited"
My YouTube
Happy New Year,all! - And Happy Birthday,Kevin!
I've been messing with lights(again),but this time it's the lighting above the layout. It took a bit of experimenting before I found a combination of LED bulbs and a dimmer that work well together(no buzzing or flickering).Now the track lighting can be turned down enough to give a night time look to things,and I'm still able to see where I'm going,whether switches are lined correctly,etc.:
Keep the pictures coming!
Mike
Ed: Thank you for the Happy Birthday wishes. The SPOKANE AND CASCADE lettering are decals. They were just a little bit too wide to fit between the side posts on the car. It looks awkward only when viewed directly from the side. It looks better with normal viewing. You work on the rolling mill equipment looks very good. Nice job
Michael: Thank you for the Happy Birthday. Your Athearn Santa Fe (BNSF) locomotive looks very good. You did a great job on the weathering.
Rick: you did a very nice job with all the conversion work on the RS-1 diesel model. I especially like the rolled-up canvas winterfronts for the radiator intakes. These look very convincing.
Harrison: Thank you for the birthday wishes. I do not know that I have ever had New York Maple Syrup. I can buy Ohio and Vermont Syrup in the stores down here, but I do not remember seeing any syrup from New York. I LOVE the board game Ticket To Ride. We have had some serious family fights start over back-stabbing each other in that game. Stealing the little one-car gray route sections happens in the first couple of turns every game! We played it just this last Christmas in Orlando. My youngest daughter is a beast at TTR, and wins nearly every game we play. I cannot click your link to your board from my work computer. Have you ever played Empire Builder by Mayfield Games?
Mike: Thanks for the Happy Brithday. Those are some amazing looking dusk/nighttime shots on your railroad. Those are looking quite good. My favorite is the second from the bottom with the locomotive cab lit up. I would love to see you share more in Show Me Something.
Please keep the Photos And Fun coming in this Weekend.
Great idea Harrison, I never though of making my own board for that game! I was always disappointed in the inaccuracies found on the default map!
My family gave that game to my grandpa for his birthday one year and I play it every time I visit! My cousin is so good at it that he has memories all the route cards and can predict what routes you have picked up based on your plays!
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
Isaac: If you are playing TTR with the default board (which is the best one by the way), you MUST get the 1910 card expansion for the game. This will solve your problem with your relative memorizing the route cards.
The innacuracies on the board are there to improve game play, it is not intended to be geographically accurate.
-Board Game Fanatic Kevin
Happy Birthday, Kevin.
Here is a re-post of a photo I took several weeks ago of the S&G boxcar you kindly gave to me.
To everybody who contributed so far: .... Great work in your phoos !
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Kevin- You will get blocked a lot if you try to play on my board. I added station rules from TTR Europe. If you want the NY board and cards to print out, just let me know. Also, I do not have the 1910 expantion, I probably should get it. I am going to start working on a Chicago Transit board soon...
Garry: I love that picture of the STRATTON AND GILLETTE boxcar on your fine fine layout.
Harrison: 1910 will make the core game so much better, I think you will enjoy it a lot. Have you ever played Empire Builder?
I've been on a New Haven kick lately — can't explain why:
N-H_RS11_1414-cab by Edmund, on Flickr
Maybe it was the recent RS-11 from Rapido?
N-H_RS11_1414 by Edmund, on Flickr
Then while looking at some offerings from some of the on-line retailers I found an Overland caboose at a respectable price:
N-H_C-659_caboose by Edmund, on Flickr
I always have to have a matching caboose for every engine
Today a pair of Rapido New Haven diners showed up. Photos of them will follow.
Keep the great stuff coming!
Ed: The STRATTON AND GILLETTE has one of the same style of cabooses. It is the only steel caboose on the "official" SGRR roster.
I am working on painting a pile of Kadee trucks that I bought on their Cyber-Monday deal. I have my work cut out for me.
Kevin, Thanks for opening the WPF on your special day and here's to many more to come, btw, your gon is 'real gone'.
As usual diggin' all the photos and wonderful modeling. It's rare that there's not something here to pleasantly tweak my old memory banks.
Ed, Your nifty mill interior project reminds me of the Jones & Laughlin steel mill in Aliquippa, Pa., here's a shot of the tin mill crew circa 1930, my late Gramps standing on the right. By 1942 Gramps brought his steel working skills to the Kaiser shipyards in Richmond, Ca. helping build liberty ships.
Michael, Really likin' the SD and the character you've added to the loco. I recall the walls rattling as those long drags of containers and auto racks rumbled thru the cut behind our house on their way towards Martinez, Ca., the home of Joe DiMaggio. I'll always have a soft spot for 'Joltin Joe' and the yellow and blue of the Santa Fe.
But I digress.
Middle Man Mike, The lighted night time scenes add such an interesting dimension to your superb model railroad.
As always, thanks to all the contributors and viewers, have a good weekend and regards, Peter
Kevin! Hope it was a good one. Unfortunately I don't have any photos to post, but I like everything I've seen so far. Keep up the good work everyone.
Some pretty amazing pictures here... I made some progress on my wood mill scene during the holidays.
Simon
20200102_173118b on Flickr" alt="" />
HO-VeloBy 1942 Gramps brought his steel working skills to the Kaiser shipyards in Richmond, Ca. helping build liberty ships.
Thanks, Peter I, too, have a fascination for the Mon Valley mills and anything steel-mill related. As a boy my dad would take me to the Cleveland Flats to watch the works in operation. Back then there were several public roads where you could park and watch things up close. I still have a fascination watching the skip-cars run to the top of the furnace.
Are you familiar with the 1944 movie "Man From Frisco"?
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037045/
A fascinating look at the "new" process of shipbuilding. IIRC filmed at the Kaiser shipyards. Worth a look.
Here is a look at the progress made last night:
Mill-side_view by Edmund, on Flickr
Mill_line3 by Edmund, on Flickr
Again, I'm not after a completely accurate line of mill-stands. I have to keep reminding myself that this is a background building.
To break up the visual monotony of the roof I added ladders at one end:
Mill-access by Edmund, on Flickr
— and this power feed at the other:
Mill_power by Edmund, on Flickr
Thanks for all the great contributions this weekend!
I finished painting the big batch of Kadee trucks.
Since I was painting, I went ahead and finished the generators for the AMB flatcar load I am working on.
Lotsa trucks there, Kevin excellent detail work on the motors, too!
I set my rolling mill in place tonight and made a quick connection to lighting power.
Mill_litup by Edmund, on Flickr
At first the interior lights weren't quite as bright as I had originally planned so I added a few more LEDs.
Mill_litup1 by Edmund, on Flickr
I forgot to place the background photo inside, too
Mill_litup2 by Edmund, on Flickr
Still more weekend ahead!
Room for more photos... Cheers, Ed
Awesome work on the rolling mill Ed.
How big an area do you have for your steel mill? Can you give us an overall shot of it.
gmpullmanexcellent detail work on the motors, too!
Thanks Ed. I did not break open the whole bag of tricks, because these will be inside all the crate frame, but I wanted them to look pretty good.
I am quite happy with the finished product.
Thanks for starting off WPF Kevin and Happy Birthday. Thats a good looking car at the start. I don't envy you the work ahead on the trucks. And the motors look good too.
Ed - Cool stuff. The NH locos look good. The progress on the rolling mill is astounding. Great work!
Michael - Good looking loco.
Rick - The RS is cool. Love the PRR FAs.
Mike - The dusk/dark photos look great. Good job with the lighting.
Garry - Nice photo.
Peter - Thats a great old photo!
Not much new on the BRVRR. Working on an update to the website which should be up this coming week, I hope.
More grist for my "Pipeline on Wheels" project. Couplers, paint and decals in the future!
Keep the photos and ideas coming guys. Thanks to you WPF is always the best thread of the week.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
MotleyHow big an area do you have for your steel mill? Can you give us an overall shot of it.
Thanks, Michael Here 'ya go —
Mill-Overall by Edmund, on Flickr
Originally this area was going to be the "crew lounge". Well, that was 25 years ago and the "crew" kind of disappeared.
Mill-Overall-L by Edmund, on Flickr
Here's the blast furnace looking toward the electric furnace.
Mill-Overall-R by Edmund, on Flickr
—and the recently upgraded rolling mill. There's a second one behind it. They make great view breaks. Never mind the clutter on the floor, I was doing some wiring and have the skirt pulled back.
High-Line to mill by Edmund, on Flickr
I just noticed the dead buck toward the left The trains go through here fast.
The Puller_NKP by Edmund, on Flickr
The gray concrete building is sort of the blower house. Just another kitbash background building.
Thanks to everyone and for all the contributions this weekend, folks!