The drones are coming!
Welcome to Drones over the Railroad AKA MOVI0016 from Mike Lehman on Vimeo.
Yes, you're actually flying over the layout in this video. Panic stricken 1/87 people and critters flee before your Godzilla-eye view of things.
More about this in my "Drones over the Layout" thread: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/260442.aspx
In other news, the last significant part of the line around Beartown was ballasted this week.
Also found some new triblade props for the Flying Goose.
Looking forward to seeing what else folks 'round here are up to.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
The Weekend is here ALREADY!
Thanks for the Tip-Off Mike. For the moment, I can not get the Vimeo video to play. Maybe it still needs more "processing" on their end. I played another of your videos, Tefft Helpers, and it played just fine. ‡‡‡ It must be something with Chrome. I went to IE and the videos ran fine. In Chrome I can "scrub" the timeline and the thumbnail plays in motion but not the larger frame? Harumph!
Between the drones and the super-mini cameras out there our layouts have never been covered better! Nice work on the ballast and, I'm sure there are some happy folks regarding that prop!
I have been making a real mess this week! But—it was work that needed to be done and I can finally have ALL of the "bull" work over with and be done with it.
Prior to carpeting the other half of the layout room I thought I had better get the fabric covering on the fascia. Since I re-worked the corner you see here last week, I had to redo that fascia anyway so... might as well jump in!
Here's the carpet glue spread on with a toothed trowel ready for the fabric. You can see the finished fascia in the right background from last weeks project.
Moving around toward the city. Once the glue sets a bit I go back and trim the fabric to follow the contour. That carpet glue loves to plop off the trowel! That's why I figured I had better get this done before I put new carpet on the floor...
Here's the view after the carpet was placed by the coal mine. IMHO this stuff is ideal for fascia covering. It takes scuffs, helps deaden sound and if I remove anything that was screwed onto the fascia the holes practically disappear.
There's another project going on here, too. I have ceiling tiles pulled out to run wire for additional LED mini-can lights. Whew! By Sunday or Monday I hope to have all this stuff cleaned up and ready to continue my floor carpet installation.
On to more great photos!
Happy Modeling! Ed
Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Mike, thanks for starting us off, I bet the railroad crews are enjoying running on ballasted track.
Ed, informative ideas on fascia and carpeting the layout area, that I will keep in mind when I start.
Bear, sure like that weed sprayer, just have him send that puppy this way, by the way are you finished with that car ferry you are going to send me!
Managed to finish a couple of cars this week!
Bowser Round Roof 40' Boxcar Kit, painted with Scalecoat II Boxcar Red and Black Paints then lettered with Champ Decals. The DT&I had a 1,000 of these cars built in 1939, they were repainted in this scheme in the late 50's and some lasted in auto parts service until 1979.
Tangent Models PRR X58 Boxcar painted with Scalecoat II PRR Boxcar Red and lettered with Herald King Decals. Thousands of these cars were built in the 1964 to 65 period and were known as the Vietnam Veterans. Many lasted into the PC, Conrail, CSX, and NS service until their recent retirement.
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!
Mike, I use Fire Fox and can't get the video to play. Maybe I'll try another browser.
Mike.
My You Tube
Mike L ... Your drone video is impressive. .. (plays okay on an I-Mac.)
Ed .... Your layout is outstanding.
Bear .... I like the weed sprayer .
Rick ... Both the DT&I and the PRR boxcars look great !
Below is 700D which was a wrecked F7A which was rebuilt by EMD into and F9Am.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
mbinsewi Mike, I use Fire Fox and can't get the video to play. Maybe I'll try another browser. Mike.
Try waiting. It took a very long time to load and start but then did run in Chrome.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I suspect the video is still "fresh" in the Vimeo system. I'm on the free version and it used to take awhile before you could see it as the processing took place. Now you can see it soon after uploading, but seems to take longer for others to see it still. It should start working soon, if not already for you.
Also wanted to note that the black bars that flicker through at various points seem to be an interaction between my LED lighting and it being interrupted by the spinning props. Seems to depend on how the drone is positioned vs the light strips.
Good stuff from everyone, this week. Stoney Creek crossing.
Bear:
hon3critterDave, I briefly managed to catch up with Brett, and he said that the prototype for his scratchbashed weed sprayer was a one off from the Northern Pacific RR, which he believed was in service in the 40s and 50s.
Thanks for getting back to me on that!
Regards,
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Nice stuff everyone. Update on what I started last week-Wheeling and Lake Erie 6351. I am just waiting for the numberboards from Kato now, and then my 11th Wheeling unit will be done. Train show this weekend, so we shall see if I can take a break on Wheeling units for awhile. Mostly I am looking for either some SD40 units (not the -2), and some more modern era equipment. Plus stuff for my freelanced road, so I can build some "oddball projects"
(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).
Boothbay Railway Village has set up about 100 feet of 2 foot gauge panel track near the entrance to the Springfield show, and will be running the Porter locomotive under steam during the show.
Here, unloading the loco around 5PM Fridayhttps://www.facebook.com/AmherstRail.org/photos/pcb.10155013285814443/10155013285769443/?type=3&theater
And a short video of getting ready to run this morninghttps://www.facebook.com/RailwayVillage/videos/1561126767236351/
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Mike, Thanks for the WPF take-off. That's a neat shot of the twin-engine airplane coming down the valley.
Hoping to get a lot of mileage out of this stocking stuffer.
Thanks to all and regards, Peter
One of our guys at Springfield just sent me a better picture of the Porter locomotive we are running at the Springfield show
As always, some great things being shown.... That is why this thread is usually the best on the forum!
I have finally gotten back to work on the Keuka Creek and Milo Mills area of the SLOW. Some of you may remember the beginnings of the gorge rockwork a couple months back. The stonework is made from broken ceiling tiles...
Since then I have sealed the tiles with Kilz to prevent the color disapearing into the tiles and having to repaint again and again..... Without the Kilz the color will fade very quickly!
The stone bridge support was added as was plaster cloth for the grass and forest areas. Plaster was painted the "earth Color" I use and the main coat of WS Shale color was added to the stone:
Several other WS colors were added to tone the rockwork (rock is not A color but thousands of colors next to each other....). Last night the stream was poured using Envirotex Light.
Today I started to put the grass and small bushes in place. This is just the start as there will be wooded areas here too.
A view of the area from above looking up the creek. Enjoy!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Nice work with the ceiling tiles Ray!
Ed, I like the carpet, am keeping this in mind for a potential fascia rehab someday. Only problem I see is that I have a couple of tight spots that coule lead to carpet burns if you got ina hurry to get through.
Bear, Hope you (and Mike B.) got a chance to see the video and thanks for the alternative view of the weed sprayer
Rick, Love that late PRR boxcar! Yes, that last little bit of needed ballast really broke the mental barrier of not quite believing I got this far. This was only heightened by the arrival this week of my NMRA Golden Spike Award
GARRY, Looks like 700D has been working hard since getting back from rebuild.
Gramps Trains, Jimmy, and George, Great pics!
HO-VeloMike, Thanks for the WPF take-off. That's a neat shot of the twin-engine airplane coming down the valley.
Peter, Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. Finding my stash of spare aircraft parts helped make the new props happen.
Ray, I'll join Dave in my enthusiasm for your rocky scenery.
In the spirt of this being WPF=fun, I've added a link to my latest drone video post. It's a little hard to follow when it happens, but I display most of my limited althertic ability by catching the out of control drone when it hits me in the chest.
Nice Catch MOVI0106 from Mike Lehman on Vimeo.
I've added some more content in my Drones Over the Layout thread, including the entertaining "Three Drone Shorts": http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/260442.aspx
I am not a regular on this thread because I don't have much to show. Yesterday I was at a LSH to buy some paint and wire for other projects and I saw an Accurail kit on the shelves. Despite the fact that I still have more complex kits to build, I couldn't resist and bought that Accurail gondola kit. Back home I opened the box and began assembling the parts. 35 minutes later I got that:
That should be called a ARTR (Almost Ready To Run) car. I have more complex projects on the go (some Tichy Train kits and a Sylvan Scale resin caboose) but this one gave me some relax and... fun.
Guy
Modeling CNR in the 50's
Guy,
It's a fine looking car. Some folks put shake-the-box gems like this down, but they're a good way for a quick, satisfying build or to start a bigger project with, if you want to get into detailing, mods, weathering, etc.
I haven't taken many still pics with the new drone. I can grab stills from the video files. But I've taken a few to get a feel for what works best. This one is another angle on the Goose pic in the original post I added to it. My tripod doesn't go this high, so having the drone is worth a try. It may not be as shakey as I can be
mlehman Guy, It's a fine looking car. Some folks put shake-the-box gems like this down, but they're a good way for a quick, satisfying build or to start a bigger project with, if you want to get into detailing, mods, weathering, etc.
I recently had a squirrel get into my layout. A lot of rolling stock ended up on the concrete floor. I'm glad a lot of the rolling stock was Accurail. Every one of the pieces that landed on the floor survived and most only needed trucks and/or couplers. Tough, well made models.
I can't imagine the damage that would of happened to some high end, supper detailed model. Hopefully you never get a squirrel on your layout, but cats and hamsters are just as bad.