Living the dream.
Hello everyone, and welcome to a new weekend!
This week my share is something just a little goofy... Godzilla Awakens!
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
It looks like the big guy got lost on his way to Tokyo. He probably should have taken that left turn in Albuquerqe!
I am looking forward to seeing lot of fun photographs this weekend.
-Kevin
Good morning from cloudy, warm and damp Northeast Ohio!
Thanks for starting us out Kevin, I don't believe I have a picture of a group of Elasmasourus that were coming out of the bay on my old club layout in Anchorage.
I completed a couple of cars this week.
First off, a Proto 2000 SD 50' Boxcar kit, painted with Floquil PC Green and lettered with Highball Graphics decals. 1968 the NYC shops modernized 4 lots of cars from 1939-1949 by lowering the ladders and removing the roofwalks and they were repainted into PC in lot 965B. The A signifies the cars is suitable for clean lading.
Next a 60' Con-Cor Boxcar kit, removed the rivits to more closely replicate an ACF built car, also changed the wheelbase from 41' to 46' to match the prototype, added grabs and walkover platforms to the end of the car. Removed the plug door hardware and substituted a pair of YSD left over from an IMRC 5283 Boxcar kit which fit perfectly. Car was painted with Scalecoat II Tuscan Red and lettered with decals from Microscale, Mark Vaughn and Herald King. Car was in auto parts service hauling engines from the Tonawanda Plants in Bufallo to final assembly plants.
Last week I mentioned our club was installing an Intermodal Yard, and here is a picture of my SD39's with a general freight with the new mostly completed yard in the background.
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!
Kevin, thanks for starting another WPF, and for the Godzilla photo. Godzilla must have had a long swim since those don't look like Japanese train cars!
Rick, that's a nice intermodal yard. It looks like you have nice long tracks in the yard with plenty of containers. Even though my layout is N, I still did not have much room for long tracks. I had to be satisfied with the room I had.
Here is a cemetery that existed before the intermodal yard was built on the same site. I guess the men are starting to dig up and move the bodies to a new cemetery.
York1 John
I asked my doctor if I gave up delicious food and all alcohol, would I live longer? He said, "No, but it will seem longer."
Kevin, Thanks for opening the WPF, and the inspiration to have some fun with a Carcharodon my son gifted me for Fathers Day.
Thanks to all the contributors and viewers. Have a good weekend. Regards, Peter
For the last couple of weeks, I've been assembling a couple of Jordan Miniatures kits, which were a little obscure on the parts and methods to do the assembly. Once I figured it out, it was a little easier to understand, but when it came time to add the hoist rigging, I ended-up making a dozen-or-so cable sheaves, in two or three different diameters, then waded-in to try to understand the "floating sketches" of sheaves and of the routing for the cables.I eventually got the cables on both units in place, but the thread used to represent the cables had quite a few noticeable acute bends.The instructions with the kits suggested that once the rigging was in place, that there should be weights added (temporarily), to remove the kinks in the thread. After a couple of days with the weights straightening the cables, it was suggested that the cables should be coated with an application of Testors heavy-bodied liquid cement.I do have lots of Testors Dullcote and Glosscote, and am wondering if anybody has had success using it on thread that's meant to represent cables.
Here's the steam shovel with an elastic band holding it on the deck of a flatcar, and with a cast-metal chimney in the excavators bucket, to straighten the "cables"....
...and the Jordan crane, with two elastics holding it in place on the flatcar, with a pair of tweezers on the crane's boom, along with a sprung clamp holding a needle file, again with the purpose of straightening the rigging...
I plan on adding an operator in each machine, and I'll paint the crane's boom black, and touch-up some of my homemade sheaves, made using a Parker-Kalon metal punch.
Wayne
HO-Velo Kevin, Thanks for opening the WPF, and the inspiration to have some fun with a Carcharodon my son gifted me for Fathers Day. Thanks to all the contributors and viewers. Have a good weekend. Regards, Peter
Simon
Hey Dr. Wayne , I have built a few of those myself. This on I opted to build it with canvas side curtains. This way you can see all the machinery.
I saturated the rigging with glosscote, then washed it with grimy Black.
Rust...... It's a good thing !
Yours is nicely done, but I think that I'll likely convert my kits' doors into sliding doors. I've already added a front to both of them, and may add some windows, too.
Thanks for mentioning about the rigging, so I might try some Dullcote on the cables.
Up and running sort of. The tender trucks dont stay in tram and bind the axles. causes a heavy drag. Loco cannt get up any grade the drag is that bad. the loco needs wieght over the drivers and regauging of the drivers. but the critical driveline is smooth and quiet. electronics all run perfect. Minor issues considering the spahetti bowl of wires coming out all over. all tamed down to a nice harness and plug set especially for making a steam DCC equipped. Has new sugar cube speakers too. making more room in the tender.
This is where the wiring started.
SHane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
doctorwayne Yours is nicely done, but I think that I'll likely convert my kits' doors into sliding doors. I've already added a front to both of them, and may add some windows, too. Thanks for mentioning about the rigging, so I might try some Dullcote on the cables.
A little late to the party but I thought I would point out that using E-Z line on rigging does a great job at keeping rigging tawnt. I now use it on ships rigging also. Click on pic' for larger view........
Take Care!
Frank