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Weekend Photo Fun, April 13 to April 15 2018

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  • Member since
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  • From: A Comfy Cave, New Zealand
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Posted by "JaBear" on Monday, April 16, 2018 4:56 AM

SeeYou190
Bear: Is that jig in the picture something you made to help you assemble the HOn3 trucks?

Gidday Kevin, simple answer, yes!
To be fair Kadee makes an assembly jig, # 715, but as a Bear who prides himself on doing thorough research, I didn’t realise that assembly was required.EmbarrassedBang HeadBang Head
 
All I saw was the 4’ 6” Arch bar truck, though (excuses, excuses), I was buying online, from my closest LHS who had bought the trucks in for someone else, who then didn’t want them. However, the Kadee #715 wasn’t available locally and as the LHS owner is unfortunately suffering from ill health, it was going to take a while to arrive, so using the photos I made the jig.
 
The things I do for fun.Sigh Laugh
 
Speaking of which, what with dining in rail cars, and looking at that grin while driving an SD 40, you’re having far too much fun.Wink
 
Cheers, the Bear.Smile

"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."

  • Member since
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  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
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Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, April 15, 2018 6:06 PM

Mike: That wooden passenger car is a great project. Your pictures of the work in progress have been inspring. Thank you ofr sharing.

Bear: Is that jig in the picture something you made to help you assemble the HOn3 trucks?

Rick: The Athearn hopper cars look good in basic black. Every so often it feels good to finish an old project.

Jimmy: Good to see a start on the bridge project.

Garry: The E6 is my favorite E unit. The shovel nose looks great. I don't care so much for the E8 and E9 models that just look like stretched F units. The ATSF warbonnet makes it perfect!

Mel: I know gray is not exciting, but the Lark paint scheme looks classic and beautiful to my eye.

Ed: The tower model looks good in its location. It seems right at home.

Don: The paint scheme on the Mount Hood RS-3 looks really good. Elegent and simple. Very nice!

.

I did not get anything done this week. I was too busy at the Virginia Museum of Transportation pretending to use an SD-40 to move cars around on industrial spurs.

.

.

See everyone next week!

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Sunday, April 15, 2018 2:58 PM

Don .... Thanks for commenting on my E units. Your custom painted locomotives look sharp ! 

Mike L ... The coach looks great. I hope you find the seats you are looking for. 

 

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

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Posted by tankertoad70 on Sunday, April 15, 2018 10:25 AM

That is a mighty fine piece of work on that wood coach Mike!Cowboy

Don in 'Orygun' City
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Posted by "JaBear" on Sunday, April 15, 2018 5:43 AM

gmpullman
Glad to see you back in the saddle again

Ed, I’m afraid I rather feel that I’m running alongside just trying to get my foot in a stirrup!LaughLaugh
 
But that is why I appreciate everyone’s efforts in WPF, it keeps me “going” until I do get some proper time at the modelling work bench, not just the 1:1 version.
 
Thanks to all for their really Good Stuff.Bow
Cheers, the Bear.Smile

"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."

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Posted by mlehman on Sunday, April 15, 2018 2:03 AM

Simon, Ed, Peter and Don,

Looking great, fellows!

G Paine
Work in progress photos are always welcome

They are and then you end up near the end, slowed ony by drying paint. I might get the decals on late tomorrow but maybe sooner.

I used Rustoleum Charleston Green Gloss Protective Enamel 214086 in place of my rapidly dwindling supply of Floquil Pullman Green. I found it in trying to get a close match to the paint on the Land Cruiser, but seems to work here pretty well in using it to slightly distinguish it from my Rio Grande cars. My story fs that the Sumpter Valley cars proved themselves and the Crater Lake Stone company management decided to order similar cars for their Cascade Branch quarry and mill transportation needs.

I had to get some additional lighting on the sbject to really brng out the green body color from the black roof ad undercarriage.

Besides decals, the wndows need glazing, but must be patient and let the paint dry. Next up is a RPO/Express car to match the coach.

BTW, here's how I made the roof removable. I folowed the kit instructions in counting the baords and cutting the sheeting for the roof. Then I used the pastic ribs with CA applied  to form and set the curve of the roof as they set. That's why a couple are crooked, the rest were easy. Once you spray paint, it teend sto blend together and it's an angle that wouldn't normally be seen. Here's a peek inside...

The last bit to the roof is to add blocking at each end. It's glued so you get a friction fit INSIDE the car ends.

There's also some additional friction fitting when the letterboards are applied with CA and held so they stick straight down as they set. This is pretty good with a little luck, then both sides get a couple of light coats of paint, toghtening up things further.

I'd like to put seats in, but I use Grandt ones and they might be a little hard to get right nowSad

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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Posted by G Paine on Saturday, April 14, 2018 10:37 PM

SpaceMouse
Mark my words. Someday, I too will be posting pictures. Just you wait. You'll see, I tell you.

Work in progress photos are always welcome

George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch 

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Posted by tankertoad70 on Saturday, April 14, 2018 7:58 PM

Great stuff as usual Gents and love the E unit lineup Garry.Big Smile

Here are a pair of recent additions I completed for the Mt Hood Model Engineers.  The first is a Kato RS-2 painted in the updated Mt Hood RR scheme using Floquil and Trucolor paints.

The second puppy is an Atlas RS-3 done up in the same manner as the RS-2.  Gotta admit that I prefer the Atlas offering of the RS-3 to the Athearn puppy.  I shan't go into the why's and wherefore's here, but I do like those Atlas "Yellow Box" lokies.  Handrails might be a bit large, but they are not delicate and can survive club ops.  Behind the RS is a MH GP7 (Athearn) that I was the first lokey I painted in the newer club paint scheme.Cowboy

 

Don in 'Orygun' City
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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Saturday, April 14, 2018 9:53 AM

Peter ... Thank you for your ind remarks...... I enjoy your highly detailed scenes. You are very talented. Every detail looks real and appears to belong in the scene. 

Chip .... We look forward to the day we can see your photos. 

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

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  • From: California
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Posted by HO-Velo on Saturday, April 14, 2018 9:47 AM

Mike,  Thanks for getting the WPF going, interesting project & some skillful modeling.

Bear,  Glad to see ya' back at the hobby bench.

Garry,  Always get a bang out of your pics, the ATSF train being drarfed by the bridge is awesome.

Middleman Mike, Appears your photostacking experiment is bearing fruit, nice shot and the foreground R/R Xing sign really sets it off.

Was fortunate to get some modeling time in this week, but slow with the camera, so goin' with a re-run.

Thanks to all the contributors, have a great weekend and regards,  Peter

 

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Posted by SpaceMouse on Saturday, April 14, 2018 9:19 AM

These all look so good. 

Mark my words. Someday, I too will be posting pictures. 

Just you wait. You'll see, I tell you. 

Chip

Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.

  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Kentucky
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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Saturday, April 14, 2018 8:49 AM

Mel ...Your newly acquired heavyweight cars with SP Lark paint scheme look good. I can image the train will be impressive with a cab forward in the mountains. 

Mike Middle Man ..... Thanks for commenting on my photo. Yep; it is my bridge ove the Mrs. Hippy River.

Mike L .... Thanks for remarking about my photo. 

Simon .. Your roundhouse is look great. 

Ed ..... Thank you for commenting on my photo. When I converted the lyout to DCC, I had plenty of locomotives needing decoders. The E6 is one of several that took a while before adding a decoder. There are several more locomotives remaining. .... Your kitbashed tower looks awesome. I like the GTW 3734 too, and would like to see more of it. 

 

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

  • Member since
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  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
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Posted by gmpullman on Friday, April 13, 2018 9:57 PM

Hi, Folks—

Here it is, Friday the 13th and that's about as good a day as any to enjoy some Model Railroading!

Thanks for starting things up, Mike. That will be a pretty unique coach when you're done. Looking good, for sure. I have a couple of Cloor-Craft cabooses that I open the box every now-and-then and all I see are toothpicks, then I put the cover back on the box. Maybe your project will inspire me!

Bear—

A very wise man once said "The greatest journey begins with placing one wheel on one axle" or words to that effect. Glad to see you back in the saddle again Yes

I've always liked the big B&O on those hoppers when I saw them passing by, Rick. Those look sharp and — you can never have too many hoppers!

That bridge is going to be h u g e Jimmy. Nice work!

An E-6 on static display, Garry! Might as well hace a stuffed-and-mounted  racehorse on display. Those babies want to RUN!

Those will be some nice cars when you're done, Mel. Looking shaarp!

Your scene is very bucolic, Mike. Yesterday, I couldn't even spell bucolic and here I am using it in a sentence Cool I like the type-face on the crossing sign.

Your roundhose is shaping up nicely, Simon. Doors are sure fussy, indeed. Especially in a situation as on a roundhouse where there really isn't room for a good hinge setup.


Well, that segues into roundhouses and I took a break from mine this week. I'm ready to populate it with workers but I'm not quite ready to jump into that phase, yet.

So, I continued on my "fill-in" project of the tower kitbash. Gave up trying to etch the copper flashing. I'll just dry-brush it with some verdigris green, just a bit, when the time comes. The chemicals I was using to try to etch the metal was causing too much damage to the shingles..

 GTW_3734a_fix by Edmund, on Flickr

I have just a rudimentary interior in it for now. This is actually a stand-in structure until I get my laser cut, PRR "Harris Tower" built from N scale Architect.

 GTW_3734T by Edmund, on Flickr

 GTW_3734_sm by Edmund, on Flickr

Thanks, Everyone! Looking forward to more great models!

Regards, Ed

 

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Posted by snjroy on Friday, April 13, 2018 2:50 PM

Very inspiring work everyone. I wonder what those HOn3 trucks will be used for... 

My projects are slowly progressing. I am almost done with my HOn30 switcher - will post a photo soon. Of course, I just HAD to start another HON30 loco project (0-4-0 Porter, stay tuned for that) before wrapping up the diesel one.

My roundhouse project is getting to a close. 

  20180330_134443 by on Flickr" alt="" />

I actually managed to get the doors to work (!), without some difficulty I should say. I will do a separate post when I am done.

Have a great weekend.

Simon

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Posted by mlehman on Friday, April 13, 2018 11:30 AM

Now I’m a fan of Kadee products, especially their couplers, BUT why do their HOn3 wheelsets need to be assembled?Crying

Hey Bear,

Thanks for your comment.

I think it's because they were first produced back in a time when everything had to be assembled. Don't know if they come assembled now as an option, which would make a lot of sense. Kadee offers their #715 assembly fixture that helps a lot. I've got one, but can't locate it right now. If you got them together without it, then you are a very skillful bear indeed! Looks like you built your own DIY fixture?

Rick,

Those basic black hoppers look great!

Jimmy,

Glad it inspires. It's mostly patience and a little wisdom that gets it built. I go slower now and things usually turn out better. Evergreen (maybe Plastruct, too) also offers longer pieces of plastic stock (24") but you won't see these often in stores unless they're really well stocked. Can be ordered, though.

GARRY,

That Santa Fe E looks sharp!

RR Mel,

Great find. The Athearns aren't close to perfect, but they do dress up well with a little work.

Mike,

Awesome pic! I think it was Star that offered wood kits for Rio Grande passenger stock, plus probably others. Got no idea on prices or availability of such olde stuff  in On3, though.

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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Posted by middleman on Friday, April 13, 2018 10:39 AM

Good looking build,Mike! That's two things I'm lacking on the layout - wood kit cars or passenger cars.

Bear,the San Juan Car Co. wheelsets are the same way,but in On3 it's a lot easier to see what you're doing!

Rick,all kidding aside,your usual terrific work. Thanks for providing historical background with your projects.

Jimmy: Nice start on your BIG scratchbuild!

Garry: Excellent shots,especially the river scene(is that the Missus Hippy?).

Mel: That's a great example of investing time and labor,instead of a bunch of cash,to come up with a good looking passenger consist!

Pretty much nothing but yard work(not that yard,unfortunately)for me this week,but I did mess around a bit with some photo stacking last night:

Good start to WPF(thanks for kicking it off,Mike),keep 'em coming!

Have a good weekend,

Mike

  • Member since
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  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
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Posted by RR_Mel on Friday, April 13, 2018 9:21 AM

Great looking stuff guys.
 
I was able to go to our local train show last month thanks to my lovely wife.  I decided to step back in time a bit and picked up five used Athearn heavy weight passenger cars at a very good price.
 
 
They were in very nice condition and that inspired me.  I picked up four more nice cars of eBay and I have cleaned them up and painted them in the Southern Pacific Lark scheme.
 
 
This was a new in the box Athearn HW Diner Kit painted and decalled ready to go.
 
 
I’m going to tow the nine car Lark with a SP Cab Forward up my mountains and through my tunnels.
 
I was inspired after viewing a YouTube video of a SP Lark pulled by a Cab Forward in 1946 from Bakersfield to Saugus California.
 
 
Mel
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
  
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 
  • Member since
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  • From: Kentucky
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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Friday, April 13, 2018 8:21 AM

Mike L .... Your coach is looking great. 

Rick ..... Hmmmm .. You don't think I would razz you for repainting a Burlington hopper like I did to Allan because he repainted a Burlington E-unit ?.... LOL .... Your B&O hopper looks good. .... 

Jimmy .... Good to see you started building your bridge. Have fun.

..

......For several years, I had this Proto 2000 Santa Fe E6 sitting on a diplay shelf.. I finally installed a DCC decoder in it, and I am operating a Santa Fe passenger train.

..

Here is a line up of E-units ...

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

  • Member since
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Posted by Jimmy_Braum on Friday, April 13, 2018 8:15 AM

Mike... rhat car is inspiring. 

This is my project, I made some progress on the center portion of the bridge this week. 

Thr bracing has started Going in. I lucked out, plastruct sells the 3/8th I beams in 15 inches... guess how long the center portion is in HO scale? 15 inches. 

(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).  

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Posted by dti406 on Friday, April 13, 2018 5:52 AM

Mike and Bear, thanks for starting out WPF.

Mike, like I said since your doing such a great job on that car, I will just send you my two Narrow Guage Labelle kits to build for me!

Bear, I did not know that the Narrow Guage Kadee trucks were unassembled, we learn something new every day.

I have been trying to build up my fleet of hoppers for the C&O, B&O, NKP and N&W. These were a couple of old Athearn 4 bay hoppers that I removed the lettering on, sorry Garry, they were Burlington Red, and I did not believe that the Burlington had 4 bay hoppers, so they were painted black.

Painted with Scalecoat II Black paint and lettered with Champ Decals, I have a few more of these cars to finish, I think I started these about 10 years ago and found them last week and decided to finish them. Built in the 20's and 30's and were repainted in this scheme in the mid 50's.

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!

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Posted by "JaBear" on Friday, April 13, 2018 4:26 AM
Gidday All, in the Great Scheme of Things, this is pretty petty but as it is the first thing to cross my modelling work bench for 3 months, I’m kinda excited.
Now I’m a fan of Kadee products, especially their couplers, BUT why do their HOn3 wheelsets need to be assembled?Crying
 
on Flickr
 
An interesting looking build, Mike.
 
Cheers the Bear.Smile
 

"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."

  • Member since
    September 2003
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Weekend Photo Fun, April 13 to April 15 2018
Posted by mlehman on Friday, April 13, 2018 2:35 AM

While I didn't make as much progress at the local train show on my Westwood coach build as I'd hoped, it's held my attention during a really busy week. After finishing the second carside, I glued up the basic shell.

 With the plans laid out, this pic shows how the short coach  is 4 windows shorter than the actual Sumpter Valley coach, or roughly the length of the SV RPO/express car.

The kit suggests making the floor removeable to. access the interior. I took a crack at making the roof removeable and it came out well, nevermind a crooked rib or two.

I like to get the basic rolling model built, then do some testing to be sure everything is rolling square.

Passengers seem to like the new rolling stock.

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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