Welcome to Weekend Photo Fun
January 31 - February 02, 2020
All Are Welcome!
Here is an opportunity to showcase any recent project or layout progress.
Please feel free to post any model railroad related photos here — past or present. This is a place to share photos of your layout, equipment or current project.
This week I have a kind-of-neat project to share that I just completed.
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Doctor Wayne has posted examples of amazing improvements he has made to Tyco “train-set” freight cars, and I thought I should follow his inspiration and give it a go.
This is what I ended up with. It is a nominally forty-foot-long steel gondola car. It looks good enough to join my fleet of nonsense and will find a home in regular operation on my layout.
This is the car I chose to use as the beginning of this project. I chose this car because it had pretty good interior detail inside of the gondola body, and the lettering was applied so lightly that there was no reason to remove the paint or lettering as part of the project.
I disassembled the freight car into its base components and tossed everything into the trash basket except the yellow carbody.
As with nearly all my freight car builds, I started at the bottom. The hollow portion of the underframe had enough room to mount sheet lead weights to bring the car up to 4 ounces total weight with the body interior still completely empty, excellent.
I glued a sheet of 0.020” sheet plastic over the weights, then I glued a portion of 0.080” by 0.250” plastic to simulate a frame. To this “frame” section I mounted the components of a Tichy AB brake system in my signature “fakey-brakie” arrangement.
Tichy bolsters were also added in place of the original TYCO underframe to mount the trucks. I drilled and tapped a piece of 0.125” styrene for each end to mount the coupler boxes.
Then I added some detail to the ends and sides. This consisted of a new brake wheel, Tichy grab irons, Yarmouth resin tack boards, and A-Line stirrup steps.
I placed the car on some test rails to get an idea if the underbody and added details looked OK. I was quite happy with the overall appearance.
I shot the car with red primer since the final color was to be good old basic black. The car was then painted with my customary black paint mixture of four parts black, one-part red, and one-part white.
Decals were applied for the LARAMIE RAILROAD. This was done with Microscale silver railroad roman alphabet decals. The outside of the car was lightly weathered and sealed with Testors #1260 Dullcote.
Kadee whisker couplers were installed in Kadee #242 boxes, and a pair of weathered Kadee trucks completed the build. I like the way this freight car looks sitting on the rails.
Inside the carbody there was a large TYCO logo molded into it. I was able to remove it, but the floor was scratched up just a bit from the process. There were also two cast in rectangles that could not be easily removed, so they were left in place.
When the chalk weathering was applied to the inside of the car, all this disappeared, and it looks just like I hoped it would.
There you have it, from train set junk to a wonderful looking model ready for revenue service in my miniature world.
Please keep more good photo fun coming for the weekend. Share whatever you have, new projects, works in progress, or even some good old photographs.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good morning from mostly cloudy and cold Northest Ohio!
Kevin, thanks for starting us out. I did the same thing a few years back, except my old Mantua Gon had a completely metal underframe. I replaced it with an Athearn Boxcar underframe, added all the requisite grabs and ended up painting it for the FRISCO which had a similar car.
I have been studying gons lately and it seems like no two were alike between railroads so that the models available are only good for a few railroads like the Proto Model, the two Tangent Models etc. And some are not good for any railroad like the Athearn and old MDC Railgon which were built to fit in the boxes used by the manufacturers.
I did manage to complete a couple of cars this week.
IMRC 40' PS1 boxcar made in the 50's with an early 70's. Car was painted with Scalecoat II Boxcar Red and lettered with Mask Island decals. Used in general service on the ATSF.
Next, a Walther's Bay Window Caboose kit, that is standing in for a Southern Bay window caboose which had different steps and window configurations. There was a Wright Trak Kit for this caboose that was a bear to build and it may reappear from another kit maker. Car was painted with Scalecoat II Reefer Yellow, ATSF Red and Black Paints and lettered with Mask Island Decals. The yellow bay window designates the caboose as used in local service.
Started working on a Tangent PD 4740CF Covered Hopper kit. Nice kit with a lot of similarities to the Exactrail 4427CF Covered Hopper kit.
A Pair of Athearn Genesis F7's with a coal drag on the Strongsville 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!
Kevin ...... Thanks for starting Photo Fun with a great step-by-step upgrade of a train set gondola. Outstanding !
Rick .... Great work from you again this week. I like the ATSF boxcar and the SOU caboose. The F-units look nice, too.
My contibution is Old Phtographs of Reggie's Junk Yard. ... Beware of "Dawg", the very mean junk yard dog. .... Reggie made his auto parts store and warehouse from an old wood boxcar he bought from the railroad. You can see him working on his stock car.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Garry very very nice and busy scenes there! Kevin great rust work on the car, and Rick, super "clean" and fast work on the cars as usual!
Following some good advice I decided to finish off some weathering details on a car which had the majority of the work completed a few months ago. (Kadee car, Microscale decals).
Good morning on the last day of January and the first weekend of February 2020. The year is 1/12th over alraedy!
Thanks for starting the fun of WPF this weekend, Kevin. Great theme, gondolas! Tou're building a great fleet there. I like gons and flats for the variety of open-top loads we can show off in them .
Excellent work on the cars as always, Rick. So far all my Tangent models have been RTR. I may just get inspired to build one of their kits, soon.
Nice scenes of the junk yard, Garry. Every layout needs a junk yard (good reason to have those gondolas!).
That is some exce;llent weathering, Yannis! Especially the roof peel/rust. I really need to get into the weathering "mode" soon. I keep putting it off
Well, you just never know what might turn up in your locomotive roster !
Following a few threads here lately, subjects from dockside switchers to hybrid vehicles, I was prompted to do a few searches and what should turn up but an Ebay find of one of the very first, true hybrid vehicles to hit the rails:
NYC_DES-3e by Edmund, on Flickr
NYC_DES-3f by Edmund, on Flickr
Forty-one of these were made for New York Central in 1930 for use in the streets and docks of westside New York. One was built for the Rock Island. These engines could be run off third rail or batteries that could be recharged by the 300 HP Ingersoll diesel.
On the DC test track all I got was a loud hum but no movement.
NYC_DES-3c by Edmund, on Flickr
No surprise there. The motor was frozen solid and, of course, the gum-rubber tubing was as brittle as a Saltine cracker.
NYC_DES-3d by Edmund, on Flickr
As luck would have it, I had a few first-run Life-Like Alco FAs on hand as parts donors. The drive shafts were a perfect fit on the 3/32 shafting
NYC_DES-3a by Edmund, on Flickr
The motor is smooth running compared to the original and I have the added bonus of flywheels, too. Success! Even with those open-gear towers I have a pretty smooth running switcher.
NYC_DES-3b by Edmund, on Flickr
Now its off to the paint shop
NYC_DES3-1543 by Edmund, on Flickr
Thank you, everyone.
Cheers, Ed
Kevin, Rick, Garry, Yannis,
This is not an idle compliment -- I am really in awe of you guys and your modeling talent.
I just started two years ago when I retired, and I'm afraid I will not live long enough to ever reach your level of ability.
This is my favorite forum page each week.
I like passenger trains, and my n scale City of Los Angeles is leaving a new tunnel through some southwest UP territory.
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 starting off WPF. Great job on the car! I've never gotten past body mounted couplers and metal wheels on my TYCO cars.
Rick - Good looking cars as always. I particularly like the Southern caboose.
Gary - Great job on the junk yard. Good Stuff for sure.
Yannis - Good job on the box car.
Ed - Cool. Thats making use of the old parts box. Big time!
York1/John - I like the UP train. One of my favorites.
Just starting with the decals on my 'pipeline on wheels' project. This is the first car. Judging by the time it took, I'll be working on these things 'til I'm 80.
Does anyone know where I can get custom decals for these tank cars at a reasonable price?
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
BRVRR Does anyone know where I can get custom decals for these tank cars at a reasonable price?
https://highballgraphics.com/index.php/custom-decals/customer-submitted-artwork-requirements
Inspired by Addiction
See more on my YouTube Channel
Kevin, Nice work on fixing up the gon.
Rick, That Southern caboose looks sharp.
GARRY, Nice display of junk.
Yannis, That Frisco car is outstanding!
Ed, Digging that heavy electric.
John, That scene isn't very big but seems to go on forever.
Allan, Looks like PenCentral has a solution for you.
This week I did some more rearranging, this time at Crater Lake. I moved the station across the tracks from its previous location and turned 180 degrees. This improves the sitelines plus makes it easier to reach in and do switching.
BEFORE
AFTER
The various facilities originally opposite the station swapped sides with it. The exception was the water tower, which eventually went where the stockyard used to be, while the stockyard moved to where the depot set previously.The coaling platform also moved farther west to fit the stockyard in.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Penn Central - Thanks for the link. I'll check them out.
Kevin, Thanks for opening the WPF and sharing your nifty gon transformation tutorial, like that custom color.
Yannis, Dig your Frisco weathering. Might I ask how you achieved the rusted roof and added depth to the roofwalk?
Thanks to all for sharing your interesting projects and fun photos. Have a good Super Bowl/Ground Hog weekend, Regards, Peter
The hungry folks in my little world needed a place to eat. The Nickel Plate diner has been so popular recently that people were standing in line to get a table. The owner decided to add on in the vacant lot next door.
aDsc_6605 by danmerkel@sbcglobal.net, on Flickr
aDsc_6603 by danmerkel@sbcglobal.net, on Flickr
The business is still thriving, Breakfast is available 24 hours a day, the chili is hot and the staff is friendly. Do stop in when you are in the area!
dlm
PS. -- How do I get rid of the line under each photo?
Thank you all for the kind feedback!
John (York1): This is a great scene with the City of LA taking the turn!
Mike: Very efficient rearrangement, the new scene composition feels more "natural".
Peter: Many thanks, I applied salt weathering for depicting paint peel effects on the roof. The roofwalk was done starting with a black color gradually drybrushing with silver while having inbetween washes (dark & rust).
Kevin - Great Job on the gondola, I like it!
Rick - Looking forward to your completed hopper kit
Garry - That junkyard scene never get old, always enjoy looking at it!
yannis - that boxcar is sweet, especially the roof!
Allan - you're welcome, hope the graphics work out for you
Everyone else - great jobs, keep up the good work!
Seen while railfanning in Southern Nevada....
Terry
Wow guys, there sure was a lot of great stuff presented in Weekend Photo Fun this week. Thank you to everyone for the kind comments on my TYCO Gondola Car upgrade and refit project.
Rick: as always, your work is inspiring to me. The SOUTHERN caboose pain job is striking and done with precision. I always love your contributions.
Garry: your junkyard scene is one of my favorites. Will certainly have a junkyard scene on my final layout. They can fit any space, generate traffic, and are fun to build. A+
Yannis: your work on the roof of that boxcar is incredible. It is very convincing and photographs perfectly.
Ed: that is a great looking model. I am pleased to hear it runs well even with those gear towers.
John: Well, you have a layout, and it sure looks very good. Much better than my first layout did. I do not have a layout right now, so you are winning in my book. I have become much better at building freight cars over the past three years. I am glad I took up the “new fleet” project to keep me going during the “no layout” years.
Allan: Did you do that decal lettering one letter at a time?
Mike: More upgrades and improvements to your beautiful layout, wow. I hope I have the where-with-all to make improvements when I see a better way to do something.
Pete: Your scenes and photography always amaze me.
Dan: The addition to the diner looks right. I have eaten at many a small-town diner with an addition just like that. Good work.
Terry: Like Pete, you always seem to set a mood in your scenes that gives a level of artistry to your photographs that makes them truly stand out.
I have one new addition to the fleet this week. I believe this is an Alco RSD-12 diesel locomotive. The box is not correct for this model. I know it is too new for 1954, so it will not be on the layout. I plan to paint it for the STRATTON AND GILLEETE, and it can join the Dash 8 40-CW and GP38 in the “Time Warp” fleet.
Thank you for making this a great week of photo fun!
The company I work for sent me to Texas for two weeks so not much modeling got done other that some telephone poles. I ended up making about 50 of them. It was an easy project that I could do on the road.
Colorado Front Range Railroad: http://www.coloradofrontrangerr.com/
Wow,indeed,Kevin! Lots of great stuff this week.Thanks to all for your contributions.
Yannis - could you explain "salt weathering"?
Peter - Thanks for your weathering tips in last week's WPF.
I'm working on loads for some of my high-side gon's.After taking this pic, I trimmed the foam under the rock to lower the loads a bit.
I'm finally working on a passenger consist.Got a couple of AMS(Accucraft) coaches - I still need to pick up at least one more coach,a combine,and maybe a parlor car or business car. A daytime shot:
A couple at night:
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Mike
I'm always inspired looking at the great craftsmanship on WPF. I only hope to refine my modeling skills close to what I see here every week
Well, I've had this HO model for quite a long time now. I acquired it at a train show even though I Model N scale. I really like the model and wanted to repair it, add some things and weather it like I would on any building going on my layout.
It was missing a blower extension and railing on top. I added some steps and a railing by the office. I did some weathering and added a wood-burning stack on the shop.
Today I finally found the guts to weather the roof to simulate a weathered grey cedar shake look.
Now I just got to add a little rust to the black metal and wait for my daughter to get done with the new signage that I don't know how to do.
I hope she gets that done soon, she is just as procrastinatory as I can be sometimes. This model is almost complete and I want to get it sent to its new HO home.
TF
Wow, lots more great stuff!
YannisMike: Very efficient rearrangement, the new scene composition feels more "natural".
Layout planning is a 4D exercise. You gotta remember how important time is on the railroad, not simply physical objects...but I digress. My point is that no matter how good your planning is, you are likely to see places and things that can be improved after they're built. Plus I built a lot of stand-ins as I went. Between those factors, there's always room to consider how to make it better.
In this case, my planning wasn't the best here, but what could fit trackwise. I stuffed a wye into this corner, with this area being a triangle in a corner that measures about 4' x 5' x 7'. It's tucked in next to our HVAC. This is what things look like without the mystique of imaging.
There's standard gauge staging and some tools, etc below. The HVAC is to the right out of the pic.
This shot looks at the back of wye, rock bins, etc from an angle I can't get to except sticking my arm up there. I have to do everything like a giant ship-in-a-bottle, because the last time I could physically touch the tail track of the wye was before I hoisted it into position. It's about 4' deep back to the corner.
This pic look in from between the HVAC (to the left) and the water heater (to the right.)
Al Saez was the photographer for the SP and friends with Campbell. After he retired he sold his photos at train shows and was a docent at the Durango Silverton RR, where I met him and bought a couple of his photos. He had a scaled down station in his backyard.
If he is still with us, he must be in his 90's.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddyAl Saez was the photographer for the SP and friends with Campbell. After he retired he sold his photos at train shows and was a docent at the Durango Silverton RR, where I met him...
That makes sense. Campbell moved the operation to Durango at some point (the 70s?) and operated there for some time. I had the chance to tour the "factory floor" on a manufacturer's tour during the 1996 National Narrow Gauge Convention in Durango.
Great kits, although they can be intimidating in their numerous parts that need cut to fit in many cases and extensive instruction sheets. That sort of stuff gets me excited and I still enjoy building one every now and then. I've got a Pump House and a LCL Freight Station on the shelf that are next up.
Mike (middleman): Very nice photos/scenes there!!!! Salt weathering is in short, usage of salt grains for creating sort of random masking patterns.
Mike (Lehman): Thanks for the details on the layout!
Thanks,Yannis....Great job on the boxcar!