Hello everyone. The weekend is here, and it is supposed to be cold (for Florida), and rainy. I wish I had a layout to stay inside and work on. Instead I will be finishing the bathroom project.
This is a new-purchase week for me. I have no new modeling to share.
This beautiful PENNSYLVANIA prototype three dome 8,000 gallon tank car came up for sale this week on BrassTrains Dot Com. I purchased it immediately.
It is imported by Sunset, and will look great when I get it painted and added to my fleet.
The previous owner put Kadee trucks on it. He masterfully machined the Kadee mounting hole/pad to use the factory shouldered truck mounting screws. It seems to work 100% A+.
This is a win for me. I don't need to buy a set of Kadee trucks for it, and I have less work to do to the model.
So, what is new, old, pretty, or nifty that you can share with us this week. I love this thread, and I am looking forward to all of the shares we get to see this week.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
MacBear Tartan!? The Sisters of the Poor Hospital has been reporting their bedsheets missing!
Thanks for kicking off the first WPF or October, Kevin! Really like your brass
I have some updates for the little tower/cabin scene:
Tower_oct by Edmund, on Flickr
This is still a preliminary layout but things are firming up.
Tower_oct-2 by Edmund, on Flickr
More trees, stairways and railings, some signal gear and "railroad junk" scattered about the tower area is still in the works.
Tower_oct-1 by Edmund, on Flickr
Walthers did an excellent job on replicating that brick work
Camp-tracks by Edmund, on Flickr
Some further scrub and plantings needed here plus the addition of some burned out, rusted junk scattered about the cabin. I use tree roots to replicate dead trees. They have a very convincing look.
On to more great stuff, and maybe another Beartoon if were "lucky"?
Cheers, Ed
gmpullman....and maybe another Beartoon if were "lucky"?
Lucky???!!!!
SeeYou190
Rich
Alton Junction
Thanks for getting the best topic on the forum going Kevin. Slick looking tank car, but pretty clean for an oil car.Ed . . . . what can I say about your great looking scenery but GREAT LOOKING SCENERY!!I spent a lot of time getting the Woodland Scenics Aremotor to go together, the castings were badly bent out of the box. The fan outside ring is off center, overall I wouldn’t recommend the Aremotor kit.It took about a week to clean up and assemble the basic kit and a couple of days to get the fan working. It did turnout pretty good and the fan moving is neat automation for my layout.
The base is three layers of .03” Styrene sheet, slightly different sized to give a non flat ground surface, the ground is WS flocking.I was thinking of making a cover for the gears but they won’t be easily seen where I’m going to plant it.
The motor is a cheapo off eBay I bought just to see what it was all about. It draws 40ma at 12 volts no load and cranking the fan and drive system it draws a whopping 42ma. The gear ratio is about 50:1 and turns the fan at about 100RPM at 10 volts.
EDIT:
I checked the fan RPM and the gear ratio is 100:1, the motor turns at 6500 RPM at 12 volts. With the voltage set to 11.4 volts the motor run at 6000 RPM so the fan will be running at about 60 RPM on my layout.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Kevin .... The tanker looks beautiful .
Ed .... Your scenery is outstanding ....
Mel .... Your working windmill is amazing.
Bear ...... LOL ..... LOL
This past week I completed a Northern Pacific stock car from a Proto 2000 Mather kit. It looks just like a Great Northern stock car I made several months ago. For each of them I did not use the tiny and very fragile plastic grab irons becasue they break. Instead, I made grab irons from brass wire. Each stock car has more than 30 grab irons.
This photo shows both the NP car and the GN car.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good morning from cloudy and rainy Northeast Ohio!
Kevin, thanks for starting us out, good find, can't wait to see how you paint that one up. I have a NYC bay window caboose where the previous owner put either Central Valley or Kadee trucks on it and it runs great.
Ed, that new scene is outstanding the camper part is what makes for the overall layout experience.
Mel, your ability to work with motors and LED's is outstanding!
Bear, LOL but now get to some modeling!
Garry, good job on those cars, I have replaced a lot of plastic grabs with metal ones on the cars I have done, look better and less chance of breakage.
Here is this weeks output!
Tangent 70T ACF Gondola Kit, painted with Scalecoat II Grimy Black and lettered with Herald King Decals. In the 50's the DT&I (PRR Controlled) leased 200 G31 Gons from the PRR and they wore a few different paint schemes while with the DT&I, this is the last paint scheme before they were returned to the PC just before Conrail. As the DT&I did not want to be included in Conrail they got rid of any PRR or PC leased cars on the system.
Branchline 50' RBL Kit, substituted A-Line Sill Steps for the plastic ones in the kit and added the one under the plug door as the prototype had one along with the grab along side the door. Car was painted with Scalecoat II Silver and Grimy Black and lettered with a Oddballs Decal set given to me by one of my club members, he gave me three sets as long as I made him one of the cars, that one is painted and awaiting some time for me to decal it. The prototype car was one of 5 ordered by the KO&G before they were fully absorbed into the Missouri Pacific and were used in general service on the railroads.
Kato PC SD40 & SD45 with a general freight running through the oil and gas storage area of the Strongsville Model Railroad 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!
I thought I would stop by this weekend to see how everyone's projects are coming.
Kevin- It's rainy here too, although soccer and other activities will steal some of my layout time... That's a very nice looking tank car.
Ed- excellent scene!Bear- the BearToons are always appriciated...
Mel- That's a neat animation.
Garry- Very nice work on those cars, bending the grabs must've been quite a task.
Rick- I really like that gon.
I finally got some work done on my module project this week. Sorry about the weird formatting and narration, this was first posted on my blog.
https://northcountrytrains.wordpress.com/2020/10/01/rebuilding-a-module-on-the-adklc-part-2
Wow. It’s been over two months since I last posted about the module project. Well I’m finally back working on it, so expect some more posts soon.
The next step in the rebuild is to install a double crossover between the two mainlines. This is the approximate location of three of the turnouts. The other turnout is sitting next to the track.
I used a Dremel cutting disk to make the first track cut. I’ll finish the turnout install in an upcoming post.
I then shifted my attention to the rubber mat crossings. While these crossings looked great, club members (including myself) were constantly complaining about their trains stalling on them, due to outer sections being too high. I started sanding these down and I’ll reattach them soon.
Have a great weekend everyone!
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
I'm awaiting a shipment of materials from Plastruct-dot-com, so, to make a meager contribution to WPF this week . . . a few photos from the Way-Back Machine . . . way, way back.
Here're a few photos of one of the first scratchbuilt structures I made a pretty long time ago.
Here are the proof photos of the completed building.
Here's one of the building on the N scale layout.
And here's one of the prototype. (I have some other photos of the prototype that get around the dumpster! But this one kinda shows the overall impression.)
I will make another version of this building for my current layout. When I get around to it. Hopefully, it will be a little more . . . umm . . . refined.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
Kevin This is a new-purchase week for me. I have no new modeling to share. This beautiful PENNSYLVANIA prototype three dome 8,000 gallon tank car came up for sale this week on BrassTrains Dot Com. I purchased it immediately.
Kevin--I for the briefest moment, considered bidding on a brass 2-6-2T. It was bid at $100 with a day and a half to go. It would have saved me a lot of work as you'll see below.
Bear--I'm eagerly waiting, too.
Ed--I believe that caboose is new to the scene, isn't it. I think detailing the burnt-out cabin will be a blast. Thanks for the tip about tree roots.
Bear--Didn't have to wait long. How were the brownies?
Mel--I have one of those windmills. It would look cool at 100 rpm. Thanks.
Garry--That's a lot of dedication for grab irons. I'd go nuts--which is not that far a trip.
Rick--Nice job on the rolling stock.
Harrison--congrats on getting back to your project.
Robert--I was thinking it was already refined. It's hard to tell the one on the layout fro the prototype. The dumpster was a nice detail.
I started a new project this week. Actually three, but his one is the most interesting.
I'm going to turn this:
Into this:
Or a general facsimily thereof.
This is how far I got.
A new motor will arrive by barge from Chine sometime late November. In the meantime, I'll be cleaning it up a little.
Another project is building a Fast Tracks turnout a day. I should finish what I need by the end of the month.
This is what I need them for.
My wife printed out my plan 1:1. It's a little off but workable. Tomorrow I'll cut the inner loop on the close end out for a 3% grade to the top level of the layout where the mine and lumber camp live. I'll also cut out the turntable in the far corner.
Sunday, with any luck, I'll start laying the main.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
Wow! There is some really excellent stuff being shared this weekend.
Ed: Quite cxcellent work on your new scene.
Bear: I am glad that Ed posted a picture worthy of a proper BearToon this week.
Mel: That kind of animation looks great on a layout. I prefer subtle things like a windmill rotating ove a house being on fire. It looks like the work was worth it.
Garry: Bending the grab irons is not something I enjoy. I have a couple of covered hopper car kits that are unassembled because pre-made commercial grap irons are not available for the sizes needed. I have a few of the Proto-2,000 Mather Box Cars, and those came with metal grap irons pre-installed. That was nice.
Rick: When you post two freight cars in a week I always feel like I need to choose a favorite. This week it is the KANSAS OKLAHOMA AND GULF box car. That one looks sharp to me. Your work on these is amazing.
Harrison: Great to see you back. Your new work on the layout/module is sure looking good.
Robert: The craftsmanship on your first scratchbuild is amazing. I want to fit a similar structure into my downtown. I was going to use the old Art-Deco single screen movie theater in Clewiston, Florida as my prototype, but yours has some features I surely like.
Chip: Looking at the prototype photo for your project I think you chose the right model to use as a starting point. It looks like it will be fun to build.
I also have a decorated model of the Sunset three dome tank car. This one I have had for a long time. It is factory painted in white for Ethyl Corporation. When we moved to Slaughter, Louisiana in 1981 it was so my parent could take a job at Ethyl in Baton Rouge. This train car will not be in my fleet, I am not sure what I will end up doing with this one.
Robert- That's a really good structure for one of your first scratchbuilds! A lot better then mine...
Chip- That's a neat steam loco you're modelling.
Kevin- Nice to see a painted version of that car.
I’ve been getting some more modelling done this weekend. I was going through my prototype archives and I found these two D&H documents that I got at the Albany train show last December. If any of my fellow D&H modelers need any information from these, let me know and I’ll see if I can locate what you need.
I’ve been thinking about starting a freight car scratchbuilding project for a while now, so I finally decided to model an ATSF TOFC rebuild. Although it’s not from my area, it’s a prototypical, era appropriate, car that will go around my curves, and it doesn’t seem to be too hard to build. I haven’t started yet, as I still have to go to Hobby Lobby for the styrene I need.
On the module project, I cut the rest of the rails out where the first turnout will go.
Of course, I had to pull up the specific piece of track with the feeder wires attached. Well, that project is on hold until I get a new tip for my soldering iron (I did order some already).
Hello all! I hope all your weekends are going good!
Kevin- Thats a nice looking brass car! I don't have any :(. Is brass just more detailed than plastic? or are there other advantages.
Great beartoon as always! And just when I think hes went back to the cave..Bam! Another great one!
Ed- Thats a really nice scene you have coming togeather! I hope mine turns out that well!
Mel- Nice windmill! I love animations on layouts. At the museum of science and industry, theres a lot of animations on the layout. My favorite is a tree being cut down by the sawmill
Garry- Awesome work on the boxcar! 30 grab irons?! Sounds like tedious work. I Have a P2K PS-2 Hopper kit in the mail as we speak. I'm looking forward to building it. Hopfully it makes next weeks WPF
Rick- Great work on those cars. I would have assumed they came out of the box like that. Your work is an inspiration to me. Really like those PC units!
Harrison- Nice work on the module! I hope the install of the crossover goes smoothly! I have a tuft of field grass that I used too much glue on, so it stalls my engines once it hits the fuel tank. On a possitive note, now my trains can do burnouts! Need to get that out of there but I keep forgetting
Robert- AH I hate waiting on things in the mail! Really great job on that building. Looks just like the real thing!!
Chip- Looking forward to seeing the locomotive when its finished! Looks like a fun project! Nice planning! I'm too impatient and I just start throwing track down. I guess thats why I posted a thread about cold feet last week. LOL
As for me, this week has been long and dragging. I didn't work on the layout much but I did get the shaper sheet in place on the one side of the creek and the abutment finished besides paint! Jack wasn't much help, he just keept playing with the bushes!
Hope you all have a safe and fun weekend!
Harrison: Finding wires where not expected can be a real bummer.
Ringo: I am becoming fond of the pictures of Jake that you share. He looks like a fun companion. I am going to answer you brass model question in a new thread.
[Kat by Bear, on Flickr
Ed, I have that same little trailer, nice scene! When he parked at the wayside, he convinced a blond to join him.
Kevin, I also thought that was the CMX cleaning car.
Nice pictures guys!
Mike.
My You Tube
Great to hear from you Mike!
Nice camper scene. A lot of great looking work here guys!
Katzilla was adopted from a farm and later to be known as a wild cat Bear. The cat destroyed Gary's layout and it is not repaired yet. It would be helpful if we weren't in a pandemic so myself and the club members could help repair it quicker.
I have learned a cat who gets into the room usually is not a Model Railroaders best friend at all.
TF
mbinsewi I also thought that was the CMX cleaning car.
Look at this cat... I am certain Jake was up to something... you can see it in his eyes.
I have one more contrubution to this WPF:
https://northcountrytrains.wordpress.com/2020/10/04/scratchbuilding-a-piggyback-part-1-the-floor-and-undeframe/
I’ve been pondering the idea of scratchbuilding a TOFC flatcar for a while now, and I finally decided to start building it. I chose to model a ATSF rebuilt flatcar because it fit my time period and it would run around my curves. It also seemed like a manageable starter project, and there were plans and a (very basic) article in the December 1984 model railroader. I started by cutting out the floor from 2 mm (.08 in) styrene.
I’m not sure if it’s normal for styrene to warp, but all of my pieces warped as soon as I cut them. Not anything a little glue and bracing can’t fix.
The next step was to cut out the two center sills and their spacer.
At this point I took a moment to clean up my workbench. The speakers are for blasting my work music.
Before gluing these, I wanted to get most of the underside pieces cut, so I cut one of the pieces that the trucks screw into (drawing a blank here) and glued it together.
At this point I was ready to call it a night, but I first put the pieces together to get a feel for how the whole thing will look. Yeah, it’s kinda too early to tell.
I can see a flatcar here, can’t you…?
HarrisonI can see a flatcar here, can’t you…?
I can and I don't even need my spectacles!!!!
Once again a big thanks to everyone for sharing their really Good Stuff.
Cheers, the Bear.
HarrisonAt this point I took a moment to clean up my workbench. The speakers are for blasting my work music.
I also have a pair of LogiTech speakers on my workbench for providing music to work by. They sound pretty good for tiny speakers.
The flatcar is looking like a flatcar. I can see it too.
Harrison I can see a flatcar here, can’t you…? I can and I don't even need my spectacles!!!! Once again a big thanks to everyone for sharing their really Good Stuff. Cheers, the Bear.
Harrison I can see a flatcar here, can’t you…?
Bear .... Aren't you always making a spectacle of yourself ? .....
Harrison ... Seriously, that is good work on the flat car.
Flip ... That looksl like a fun project you are starting. Thanks for commenting about my stock car.
Kevin ... Thanks for commenting on my picture. The Ethyl Corporation tanker looks great.
Mike .... Nice scene with the camper.
Ringo .... Hopefully, the cat does not mistake ballast for litter. LOL .... Thanks for commenitng about my photo.
Robert .... Your theater building is fantasatic.
Rick ... Thanks for remarking about my picture. ... Your gondola, boxcar, and PC locos are excellent.
Another weekend is coming to a close.
Thank you to everyone that made this another good edition of Weekend Photo Fun.
I hope everyone has a good upcoming week.