NittanyLion The two sides are uneven at the ridge,
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
This is what's currently on my workbench:
It's an HO scale EMD GP18 that I put an Athearn GP38 cab on. I also put Athearn trucks on it, as the original ones only had a 9:1 gear ratio, and the Athearns ones have a 12-13:1 gear ratio. Have some custom exhaust stacks made from the csleeve bearings for the worm gears of the old trucks:
Pretty cool, eh? I had flappers on them stacks made out of pieces of thin cardboard, but, they broke off, so, I ain't gonna bother with that.
Hello everyone. The peak of my model railroading season for 2015 has now passed. School has started for the kids (as well as hockey) and most of my vacation days are gone. I did manage to work a bit on my dual gauge turntable this week. Here she is giving a ride to my Keystone shay, that is patiently waiting for the connecting rails...
Simon
JaBear Nittany Lion, if that was my house I’d be Very pleased!
Thanks, I'm really happy with how it ended up, although I still can't get the courage up to do the ridge cap. The shingles turned out to be easier than I'd expected, but the ridge cap scares me. Its inspired by this house: https://goo.gl/maps/RZGAJ
I rushed the shingles on the second one because I was too comfortable after the first one. The two sides are uneven at the ridge, but I suppose I can pretend the guy that reshingled it did a terrible job.
The second was much more ambitious a departure from what City Classics put in the bag:
Also lacks steps and I haven't mortared the brick on the addition. Based on these houses https://goo.gl/maps/dCLIM, but I didn't care much for the awnings myself. Thought green shingles might have more of a pop on the maroon house than black or tan too.
Hi Bear:
You are right. It would be much smarter to paint the interior and install the lights first.
I was having a bit of a time trying to figure out how to mask around the interior lights. The lights are mounted between the top halves of every two windows so getting the tape tight up against the walls will be difficult where the LEDs are installed. I just figured out that if I don't glue the actual LEDs in place until after the masking is removed then I will be able to get the masking tape to fit flush to the interior walls. The buss wires can be installed and the LED leads glued in place except for the last 1/2 inch or so. After the masking is removed all I will have to do is tack the LEDs themselves in place which will require minimal handling of the shell. I have a bunch of tissue and bubble wrap which I can use to protect the outside of the shell. Sounds good in theory at least.
Any other suggestions anyone?
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
While I’d “seen” the three Henchels on the Boothbay web site before, I must admit that I was surprised, in light of the amount of US locomotive manufacturers, to see the German built locos.
George MceEvoy, the museum founder, had a large collection of railroad memorabilia in the 1960s. His parents finaly told him that he had to get his stuff out of their house (sound familiar??). He bought a piece of property on Boothbay, ME intending to start a museum. About that time, he heard that Maine Central RR was selling their 1912 passenger station in Freeport, ME. He bought it, had it cut up into 9 pieces, had it transported to Boothbay, and re-assembled.
At this point, he decided that it would be a good idea to have trains running on the property. By the early 1960s almost all of the Maine 2 foot locomotives had been scrapped; most of those that remained were owned by the Edyville RR in Carver, MA. Looking through Trains Magazine, he saw an ad for German 2 foot gauge locomotives. He bought 4. Presently 2 are operational, one is sidelined for repairs and one is on static display behind Freeport Station.
The museum is celebrating its 50th anniversiary this year.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Speaking of 9/11 I was sort of lucky that I had flown out of Cleveland for Houston on Sunday evening so I could be at a Harley-Davidson dealerhip in Houston on Monday morning for my training session. I was watching CNBC in the morning as I always did when I traveled and they had a picture of the first tower all morning. Their studio was in New Jersey and they had a camera always on the towers that they showed during the show. Lot of speculation on the first tower that a small plane had hit it until the second one hit.
One of the ladies at the dealership worked with cadaver dogs and was called to go to New York and help.
Many of my trainer co-workers were not flying out until Monday morning and were either in the air or on planes at the gate when all flights were cancelled and told to land, many had trouble getting rental cars etc. I could not get a flight out of Houston and ended up with Hertz's permission to take the rental car back to Cleveland, I had a nice two day drive to get back.
Rick J
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!
Allan,
Beautiful work on your FP-45. That's not an easy one to paint.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
On 9/11 I was at work in the Cleveland Police Museum when the news flash came up on the TV. By the time the second plane hit, all of central Cleveland was being evacuated as there were some fears that the tall buildings downtown might be targets. By two hours after the event, downtown Cleveland was peopled only by policemen and fire fighters. Things haven't returned to "normal" since that fateful day. A day that will go right up there with December 7th as a day of infamy. We will never forget.
Great start to WPF! Thanks everyone for your participation.
A slow time on the BRVRR. Thought I would revisit a project from 2010.
I needed/wanted another SF FP-45 but couldn't find one. I decided to try and make my own:
This Athearn BB FP-45 in Milwaukee Road livery was my starting point.
The finished product. Floquil silver and SF red paint, Microscale decals, Dulcote and a Soundtraxx decoder and speaker were all part of the transformation.
A more detailed description of the project is on the "How'd You Do That" page of my website. Link is in my signature.
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/
Cheers, the Bear.
Thanks Bear
I really appreciate your encouragement. Getting past the rivet decals has invigorated me.
I'm still in a quandry as to how to do the interior/exterior painting. If I paint the exterior first I am worried about damaging the paint and the roof details while I am working on the interior paint and lighting. There will be a lot of handling. Maybe what I will do is get some high end masking tape to protect the exterior while the interior work is done, and then cross my fingers that the tape will come off without damaging the paint. I will need to let the exterior paint cure thoroughly before masking obviously. Does anybody have any other suggestions?
There will be 18 LEDs in the passenger area with big enough resistors to just make them glow as the originals would have done. That will also reduce the draw on the decoder. I have decided to install phosphor bronze buss wires in the roof and each LED will have its own SMD resistor. I will use a 3 prong mini plug between the shell and chassis with one lead for the headlight, one for the interior lighting and the third as common. That will allow the shell to be removed as needed. Wiring the interior lighting will be a major exercize.
Enough babbling! I could have had half the work done by now!
hon30critterThis time I used water straight out of the cold water tap.
Great stuff everyone!
On 9/11 I happened to be home from work in the morning and my eldest son Glenn was also home from school. We were both watching televison in the morning which we never do, and of course the program was interupted by the video footage from New York. It was hard to comprehend what was actually happening. When the first tower went down I said to Glenn that there could be thousands of people caught in there, and then the second tower went down and I felt numb.
I will always remember 9/11, not only for the terrible tragedy, but because I felt that Glenn and I had witnessed something of incredible importance to the free world together and there was some sort of bond formed that hadn't existed before. Glenn was killed in a car accident four years later. 9/11 now gives me mixed feelings.
Anyhow, I got the rivet decals on the roof and sides of the McKeen car. I had to replace some rivets on the sides that were lost in the process of repairing the damage done when my Dremel accidently cut through the sides in a couple of places when I was hollowing out the roof. I used Archer Fine Transfers HO and N scale rivets. I'm quite happy with the results:
I discovered something when I was applying the decals. I had used them before and I had followed the instructions to use warm water to soak the decals. I had a lot of trouble with the decal strips breaking and the decals curling under the paper backing when I was trying to apply them. I wasted a lot of decals. This time I used water straight out of the cold water tap. No, I didn't plan the change. I just forgot to follow the instructions. However, the change in water temperature made the decals much easier to apply. I put on about 40 strips and I only lost about an inch of decal. Also, the decals did not fold themselves under the paper as they had before, and they were much easier to manouver. I think the colder water allowed the decals to retain more stiffness whereas the warm water weakened them considerably. I'm sure part of the reason for the improved installations was a result of my gaining experience, but I strongly believe that the cooler water played a major role.
Mike, I first heard the news on the way to work and wondered if someone was trying to pull an Orson Wells War of the Worlds stunt, sadly no. I’m afraid your mention of Ops Sessions is making me green with envy!!! Smile, Wink & Grin Hope things go as planned.
Yeah, it was just some bad news when the first tower was hit. The moment the second plane hit, just before I left for campus, I knew it was a very big deal even as people were still trying to figure out what was happening. No accident, in other words. By the end of lecture an hour later, it was clear a terrorist plot of some sort was underway, because the Pentagon had been hit, too. So I took what I was hearing, summarized this situation as known at that hour, and basically spun it into, "We don't know this for certain, but it's clearly a mass, coordinated attack. Be careful out there." The towers had yet to fall...
BTW, the section of the Pentagon hit was where my now father in law had worked prior to retiring a couple of weeks earlier. Everyone on duty that day was lost. And my now-wife couldn't get through to confirm where her dad and mom were for almost a day due to the phone situation in the DC area, so was considerably worried as he was the type to head back to the office even after retirement.
Speaking of phones, I also do shortwave utility band listening and had the main military contact frequency dialed in all day. Of course, all flying was shut down, even the military's unless for air defense, who were prepared to shoot down anything moving except themselves. One problem. The Federal Emergency Managament Agency director was way out west at a conference. So they put him on a KC-135 and headed back to DC. I listened as the FEMA head tried to get through to his office by phone patch, except even with military priority they had troubles, finally getting an absolutely horrible sounding call through on a line. Considering FEMA was born in part to address the threat of nuclear attack, what I heard that day said that what had been spent on communications was obviously far short of adequate. In between the phone patch attempts before he finally got through to FEMA HQ, the plane's pilot kept contacting various folks to A) figure out where they would be permitted to land and B) remind everyone his was an authorized flight and please (implied) don't shoot us down. Last I heard, they were going to have to land in West Virginia as they wouldn't let them near the capital -- and the pilot seemed relieved not to have to try under the circumstances...Yikes, even the guys with "US Air Force" painted across the side of the plane were worried about getting through without catching a AAM.
The good news is we had just enough crew today at the ops session to run most of the passenger schedule. We ran behind an hour or so most of the "day" by fast clock, but were eventually able to mostly catch up. It proved I had things about right in terms of how the fast clock worked against the scheduled times, so really happy about that. Very few mechnical difficulties or track issues, so all around a raging success. 3 hours later I was beat but we had a great time.
Right now I have my hands full during ops sessions, even when I'm not running trains like today, so probably won't happen right away, but I'm thinking about experimenting with Skype to allow people to participate virtually. Not sure if the time zone would work for you, but I'll let folks here know when I am ready to give it a try.
And if you're considerably close than the Bear is in New Zealand, in person participation can be arranged by dopping me a PM.
Bear, Thanks for opening WPF on this solemn day, another "that will live in infamy."
A big thanks to all the contributors for making this such a fun, interesting and inspiring thread.
Regards, Peter
Still doesn't have stairs (haven't decided what kind), the shingle ridge cap, or windows (waiting for proper conditions to take it outside and dullcote), but I'm rather pleased with how this little house turned out.
Its intended for a module I'm starting work on. Five years ago, I thought "I should join a module club." Finally getting around to that.
More great photos since i was here earlier.
I took a picture this afternoon of a rural grain elevator I have built in recent weeks. . .... It is my own design based on numerous photos of different grain elevators. I drew my own plans for it and built it from Evergreen styrene and miscellanous styrene pieces from my scrap box. ... This model will be placed in a back corner of the layout, and therefore, it is not highly detailed. Decals were left over from a Walthers kit. ... It needs weathering prior to placing on the layout.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
May collection od Swiss narrow gauge electrics is slowly growing:
It´s about time I get started on the layout for those beauties!
Well, there's my OCS car finished up until I decide to populate it and put a lighting kit in it.
9/11/01. A day I will never forget, much like when I heard NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr was dead after the Daytona 500 that year.
I was 9 years old, and sitting in elementary school. Our teacher had it on her portable TV set and we watched it happen. A lot of it. Well at one point I looked out a window in the classroom- I saw a jet plane. It was flying lower than most jet planes, even being along the flight path of PITT international airport. It was the only plane I saw all day, and didn't think much of it until years later when I saw the flight plan of a certain flight. I saw united 93 pass over my town! I may have been one of the only kids that day so far away from shanksville who can say they saw it. I live 30 miles south of Pittsburgh, and its something g I will never forget.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
I weathered one of my boxcars. Here's a before shot....
Threw a diorama together for outside shots, and afterward.....
Thanks
Inspired by Addiction
See more on my YouTube Channel
Yesterday was our work session on the Boothbay Railway Village layout. I took a minute off to catch a photo of one of out Henchel locomotives passing by the giant pumpkin patch.
The museum is partnering with the Damariscotts Pumpkinfest next month and growing a couple of pumpkins. These probably will be medium sized, in the 500 pound range. They will be in the pumpkin carving event. The record pumpkin last year was around 1,459 pounds; they make boats out of the largest ones and race them in the riverhttp://damariscottapumpkinfest.com/
gmpullman dti406 I read where the bottom deck was to close to the upper deck, did you have any problems loading your trucks. Hi, Rick With a long pair of big tweezers I was able to work the trucks in there. I had a few inches to spare but not much. I remember many of the 2 deck auto racks being loaded with Econoline Vans and frequently I saw them with Post Office delivery trucks on them but you know it is very difficult to find just the right vehicle when you need it. Even these 1960 trucks may be a bit early for this car! Thanks for asking, Ed
dti406 I read where the bottom deck was to close to the upper deck, did you have any problems loading your trucks.
Hi, Rick
With a long pair of big tweezers I was able to work the trucks in there. I had a few inches to spare but not much. I remember many of the 2 deck auto racks being loaded with Econoline Vans and frequently I saw them with Post Office delivery trucks on them but you know it is very difficult to find just the right vehicle when you need it. Even these 1960 trucks may be a bit early for this car!
Thanks for asking, Ed
Thanks Ed, those 1960 trucks don't look any different from the 1965 Ford F-100 I drove when I worked for the Highway Department back in the 60's so they look good on the bi-level. They seem to sit low enough I have read where the Econlines and such will not fit on the car.
Rick
Great stuff, everybody.
My wife and I were in Halifax, NS Canada on 9/11 where we watched the horrors on the TV in our hotel room.
Several days later we began our trip home.... We rode Via Rail's Ocean to Montreal. Next we rode a Via train to Toronto. We spent two nights in Toronto.... We rode Amtrak's "International" to Flint, MI where we rented a car to drive to the Nashville TN airport where our car had been parked for a long time.
I took this photo from the Budd Dome Observation car of the Ocean.
I'll get back to showing model trains next week.
Good stuff from all on this day of remebrance. K4s 1361 on the down grade at Stoney Creek..
Looks like WPF is off to a fast start...
Bear: Those F units are truly "living on the edge"!
It's been nothing but yard work for me this week,so here's an old shot of my other yard:
Have a good weekend,
Mike
Here's my submission for this week; my USRA light 2-10-2 hauling some passenger cars around....
Bob Berger, C.O.O. N-ovation & Northwestern R.R. My patio layout....SEE IT HERE
There's no place like ~/ ;)
Bear, Thanks.
A tough day to remember...I had lecture in one of the biggest halls on campus. Usually listened to my radio before class, but that day I just kept listening. I knew the prof a bit, he knew something was going on, just not clear yet, so when I kept the earphones in and kept listening instead of stashing the radio and headphones when lecture started, he knew things would be of interest to the whole class. So as the end of the hour neared, he called on me to give a full report! So I got to stand up and fill in the latest, grim news to about 700 folks. Good thing I'm not shy about a little impromptu public speaking
Nice work everyone. Those full autoracks can turn into expensive projects, but Ed's looks well worth the investment. Cool stuff, Terry GP-9_Man, and Rick!
Not much modeling as I'm in the middle of a two-week run with 4 ops sessions here. There's always room for more if you're in the area and want to join the fun, drop me a PM.
Grabbed some pics when I was up finetuning things on the Cascade Branch. A brace of NW2Ms climbs out of the quarry at Crater Lake.
They then climbed up to Camp 13 for some clearance testing.
Returning to Crater Lake Junction, where spurs to Camp 13, the Crater Lake Quarry and the Outlaw Mine originate.
Finally, I caught these locos drifting downgrade at Summit.