Good morning from cloudy and cold Northeast Ohio!
This is the weekly thread where modelers can show in progress projects, completed projects or just photos of the layout.
I managed to complete a couple more cars this week!
Athearn 2970CF ACF Covered Hopper kit, painted with Scalecoat II MofW Gray and lettered with Herald King Decals. Cars were purchased by the NP for Cement Service in 1967, eventually also used in hauling Bentonite and Silica Sand. The cars hauling Bentonite and Sand could be found all over the US.
IMRC 40' PS1 Boxcar Kit, painted with Scalecoat II B&M Blue and Black Paints. These were 1957 purchases that were rebuilt in 1976 lowering the A end ladders and a new simplified paint scheme. Used in general service on the B&M. Below is a picture of the as delivered car. {I did this car over 10 years ago.)
Also some new cars I received recently.
Rapido NYC Flexiflow Covered Hoppers for Cement Service, Cars were 125 Ton and had air assist unloading features.
I have not been to the club for serveral weeks, so I resurrected an old picture of my Athearn DT&I GP38-2's hauling a coil steel car train 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!
Thanks for starting W P F, Rick.
Great looking cars. well done.
I have been making some lift-off loads for my wagons.
Piece of wood glued to some card.
Turn over and load of 'ammunition boxes' glued to card.
Place in wagon.
Make some more.
First trial run of loaded wagons.
Lift the loads out and return empty.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Rick- Cloudy here too in northern IL with about 2" of fluffy stuff coming down. Great cars as always! Are those rapido cars? Also really like the 1776 DTI unit. I still need to find my SOO and MILW bicentennial units.
This week I found a Genesis GP9 with sound for a steal. Then the long awaited WSOR SD40-2 Dummy my friend custom painted for me. Ive been waiting for this thing for a few months now.
Also was getting stuck or "modelers block" on my river scene. So I ripped it up! Starting fresh and going to add a small lumberyard and service station to add some scenery.
Looking forward to more great posts this weekend!
David- We must have posted at the same time! Those loads look great! GOing to really add realism to op sessions I need to make some lumber loadds for my flatcars.
Thanks, Ringo. The loads make the wagons 'look full' yet they are only the 'top layer' and lift out easily. Make different loads and use the same wagons.
Changing your scenery. Yeah! Been there (many times).
The locomotives look great.
Interesting items today, everyone. I have not been doing much lately but discovered some motors I have neglected, intended for my last Blue Box heavy duty flat car. Just hand painted. I decided to forego tie-downs like chains and opted for lumber restraints plus Grandt Line bolts & nuts. (It was tough to add the nuts below the deck.)
20210212_120028 by Paul Ahrens, on Flickr
20210212_120102 by Paul Ahrens, on Flickr
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Rick: Thank you for starting out my favorite thread, Weekend Photo Fun, for us all. I am a big fan of the BOSTON AND MAINE boxcar you shared this week. The gray centerflow is also great, but the B&M is just too handsome not to be my favorite this week.
David: It looks like you did a great job building those loads. Running loaded open topped cars makes everything a lot more interesting.
Ringo: Tearing something that is blocking progress is good, and something I have done on my own layouts.
Paul: The load on youe Athearn Heavy Duty Flatcar looks great. I recently acquired one of those (finally) and hope to add it to my roster in the coming months.
Nothing new from me this week. Here is an old prop-posed picture from my 30 by 30 photo studio.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
David, really liking the loaded wagons. I have a soft spot for the English railways and operations for sure.
I finished my week and started my weekend with finishing the weathering and detailing of this Walthers Gold Line CA-1 caboose. I added grab irons in both brass and styrene wire/rod bent to shape on the sides, on the front of the doors and windows and such, brush painted the tops of the steps, and added a bit of acrylic craft paint wash and Vallejo pigments carbon black for weathering. I had this one for a long time before doing anything with it so I'm happy to have it finished. It does need some metal wheels and maybe center shank Kadee couplers but I have to double check the coupler guage.
Next on the projects list is this Bachmann first run Acela, before they came DCC equipped and were just 'ready'. I've opened the shell and I need to remove some capaciters on the PCB board that may interfere with DCC operation. This one is probably going to get a Soundtraxx tsunami2 for electric locomotives. No one has seemed to have captured the Acela's hybrid K5LA horn, but I'd rather have something than nothing. I should be able to squeeze a speaker or two into that top cavity. The Sountraxx electric loco decoder has some cool features like an 'arc' that you can program if you wire up an LED at the pantograph that is in time with a sound indicating arcing. I might try that with a micro LED!
And lastly, today I fired up a 90s redbox Rivarossi Big Boy that I poorly installed DCC into last year with a TCS Wowsound decoder. My wiring was terrible - instead of heat shrink I used electrical tape, also the articulated chuff sound would start clipping the speaker on speed steap 20/128 despite being a low volume, the articulated chuff was just doing something causing it to clip and distort. I pulled the TCS out of the Big Boy which I decided will get the Soundtraxx big steam instead, as well as two speakers, I'm just waiting on delivery of the decoder and all the parts and thankfully, the chore of wiring the locomotive and breaking into the rivarossi centipede tender (not for the faint of heart!) is done.
The TCS is instead going into an old BLI Blueline 2-8-2 I bought when I was 17 back in 2007. I pulled out its DC-sound board which I never cared for, and after some researched figured out what wires need to go where on the Bluelines. Then, after some more research, decided that I wanted to model a specific UP USRA 2-8-2. Since my specific model purchased was 2480 I thought that'd be the one to do.
The prototype 2480 had some interesting features, the footplate on the drivers side is raised so I removed the lower footplate and ladder and filled in the notch there with styrene and putty filler in prep for this modification. I also carved off and sanded smooth some of the details on the sides of the smokebox which are not present on the photos I have. I debated going further and carving off all of the molded-on piping, but I decided that wasn't desireable for this one (as I try to follow the 'good is good enough' mantra and actually finish some things).
It will however be getting some brass iron grab irons on the sand dome and a few other prototype-specific details.
Enough to stay busy as Texas gets hit with some sub freezing temps. Stay warm, folks!
The Backshops - A blog dedicated to modeling projects
Rick, thanks for the good start to the weekend. I really like the covered Flexi Flo hopper cars.
David, another great scene from your layout. The wagon loads look good.
Ringo, it sounds like you'll be busy for a while with the new work. I'm afraid that if I had a set of weights, the most exercise I'd get would be placing them on the layout until the glue sets.
Paul, that's a nice looking flatcar load.
Kevin, your photography is really something. I like how the background is lighter and looks like it really is farther away.
Micktropolis, that's a nice looking caboose, especially since it's UP. I don't have a single caboose yet on my layout. That and some hopper cars are my next purchases.
I haven't worked on the layout, but we had some out-of-town visitors this week, which was a good excuse to run the trains for a while. I love my City of Los Angeles train. This is a Kato n scale set being pulled by A & B units.
York1 John
David- Thank you for the kind words! I've been here too, lets hope this one actually gets done!
Paul- Nice loads! What are the motors used for? And are the nuts and bolts real?
Kevin- I love that big 4-8-4. You do such a great job on fantasy paint schemes. I really like the tender.
Micktropolis- Best of luck on the acela! The UP caboose looks great.
John- I don't use them either! Theyre my girlfriends. She does use them a lot so I got a dirty look as I set them up there! Nice looking train. I hope to have a big set like that when I have a big layout
Ringo58Paul- Nice loads! What are the motors used for? And are the nuts and bolts real?
- Those are pretty large motors for that basic shape. I note that this company sells motors up to 30,000 HP (saw another at 100,000 HP), which would make these look a bit puny I expect. I worked at a world-scale ethylene plant that had a cooling water system that handled 100,000 gpm, using rather large electric and steam driven pumps.
Large Induction Motors - Baldor.com
- The bolt ends with nuts are Grandt Line HO #5123 (HO). They are tiny plastic bolt ends (0.02" diameter) with washer/nut. Just paint, snip off, make a tiny hole and glue in the bolt nub. I had used them on my tunnel portals as a small detail. It seems one fell off; hope the portal doesn't collapse. I see that Tichy makes some similar details.
Grandt Line HO #5123 (2-1/2" Nut 6-1/2" Washer) 100 pcs (Plastic) 1:87th Scale for sale online (ebay.com)
20210212_190911 by Paul Ahrens, on Flickr
Rick, Thanks for opening the WPF with some eye-catching rolling stock models, of particular interest is BM 76538 being a 1976 rebuild.
Thanks to all the contributors and viewers, have a good and safe weekend, regards, Peter
peahrens I worked at a world-scale ethylene plant that had a cooling water system that handled 100,000 gpm, using rather large electric and steam driven pumps.
I worked for Aramco in Saudi Arabia. In their gas-oil separator plants (GOSP), they had gas compressors with electric motors in the 12,000 to 15,000 HP size range.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Great stuff this weekend everyone. I don't have the time or energy to write something out for everyone, but I did look at all the posts and they look great!
The complete version of what's below can be found here.
https://northcountrytrains.wordpress.com/2021/02/13/some-new-freight-cars-and-installing-dcc-in-a-walthers-gp9m/
I started off this week with a couple packages. One was my new Smiley Antenna 5/8 160 mhz Slim Duck, which I’ll review later. The other was from a fellow D&H modeler (hint, not the same person as last time). Inside the box were three freight cars!
The first was an Intermountain D&H 40 foot boxcar. The detail on these Intermountain cars are beyond my level of comprehension.
The second was another Intermountain car, this one a PS-2CD covered hopper. I love the D&H red, although the logo bothers me. I have been informed that this was prototypical though.
These also have something that I have never had on a car, air hoses… sorry about the blurry photo.
The last car, and possibly my favorite, is an Atlas D&H caboose! This has to be the most detailed D&H caboose I’ve ever seen.
The other thing I did recently was install DCC in my Walthers TrainLine GP9M. This engine is far from DCC ready, but it wasn’t impossible. I started by carefully removing the shell and metal weight.
I then taped the decoder to the underside of the frame, as the TCS guide shows. TCS has some very good decoder install help for dozens of locomotives, even if you aren’t installing a TCS decoder. I’m using a Digitrax HO scale economy decoder that I picked up at Tony’s Trains for 18 bucks.
Hurley lends a helping hand to solder the headlight.
One thing to note: One of the motor contacts is located below the top of the frame, which makes it quite tricky to solder. I got my soldering iron plenty hot and once I got into the space I worked as quickly as possible.
I put the shell back on the loco and gave it a test before reprogramming it to address 41.
One big plus of DCC for me is being able to run multiple locos, such as this pair I've been running a lot lately.
:
If anyone is interested, I'm going to be running trains and chatting live on GFW Trains YouTube this Friday at 8 eastern time.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Harrison
Homeschooler living In upstate NY a.k.a Northern NY.
Modeling the D&H in 1978.
Route of the famous "Montreal Limited"
My YouTube
York1Kevin, your photography is really something. I like how the background is lighter and looks like it really is farther away.
I actually tried something very fancy with that picture. Thank you for noticing the backdrop effect.
The backdrop image is adhered to a piece of 1/4" MDF with wallpaper paste. It is not attached to the diorama board.
I took a 3/8" drill and chucked a 1/4" allen wrench into it so it would be off-center and vibrate. I took the picture on about a 3 second exposure while the drill was vibrating the backdrop image. That made the backdrop seem out of focus and further away to defeat the large depth of field I had with the small aperature opening.
It is a bit of work to set this up, so I only used it on a few images.
Steven Spielberg did something similar in the battle scenes of Saving Private Ryan.
I hope this works
This is one of my newer Athearn RTR Sound engines
CHARTER MEMBER OF THE MILWAUKEE FALLEN FLAG MODEL TRAIN CLUB . I COLLECT HO, N , O-3rail & On30 Trains & run them ! I Use KATO HO & N scale Track . I also Use Lionel Fast Track ! I change track layouts Often !
It seems to work ! The Direct link !
Excellent work as always guys. I enjoyed everything.
WRGMILW, those new diesels look sharp! I bet they sound excellent too.
Kevin that pic of that S&G 4-8-4 with those background effects is great!
I did a bit of work on a Bowser PRR F30a flatcar, replacing the molded on details and thick stirrups with wire parts. I also replaced the deck with a Laserkit one.
I removed the stock steel plates and replaced with lead. Since the underframe detail cannot be seen from most viewing angles, I removed it. The additional weight made the car go from about 2.2oz to 3.6oz. I have another car to do this work on as well. I got the holes drilled using the Skil electric screw driver with a MicroMark chuck, but it was a bit challenging with the tool not turning the bits perfectly centered.
Next is one of a batch of four Branchline Blueprint 50' AAR boxcars in the GAEX "Shipper's Delight" paint schemes. This one hasn't been finished, I had the glue drying for the weights and will work on adding the final details soon.
Alvie
CSX 911 cruises through the backside of a commercial district.....
Terry
Inspired by Addiction
See more on my YouTube Channel
Excellent photographs this week by all. A well done is in order.
I do not know if I have posted this before but -----
Sometimes around the layout I can hardly see a train, but I know it is there.
A diesel locomotive is at the rear right on its way to Crown Point Yard
Still time for more pictures.
Rick - Thanks for starting WPF. Great cars as usual. I really like the NYC Flexiflow hoppers.
David - Great Idea. I'm going to steal it.
Ringo - We all have blockages like that. Thats a good looking little GP9.
Paul - I like the flat car load.
Kevin - Nice photo. The garden hose is a nice touch.
micktroplolis - Thats a good looking UP caboose. I've been-there, done-that with Bachmann locos. The old DC only ones were bears to convert to DCC.
John - The UP "City of Los Angeles" is a good looking train. Good picture too.
Peter - The "Men at Work" sign is a good touch.
Harrison - Good 'How To'. You have alot of extra wire there.
Kevin - A very effective technique.
WRGMILW - A good looking Northwestern loco.
Alvie - Interesting stuff.
Terry - 911 looks good.
I've been tinkering with making my own light standard for 'open' areas. This one cost me less than $2.00 which is a far cry from the 20-30 dollars for the ready made ones I have been able to find.
A few pieces of styrene tubing and sheet and a bargain basement bulb. The metal shield is a panel washer and the main shape a portion of a fan casting with a hole in it.
I have to work on making the gussets more uniform, but it works.
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/
Great stuff everyone. Hope everyone is staying warm. -13 F with a -32 wind chill this morning in NE Wisconsin.
It's been a long time since I've added some photos so I hope this works.
Here is local train 46 moving a box car into a spot at the Glenbulah elevator.
Pictures from my CNW Lakeshore Division 3rd Sub layout.
Scott Sonntag
Peter, your work continues to be amazing. The tank car scene is realistic down to the hoses and spots on the fence. Great!
Harrison, those are nice-looking boxcars. I especially like the D&H caboose. Also, good work on the CN locomotive.
WRGMILW, your locomotives look good. I am amazed that you have four different scales collected and working. Do you have a favorite?
Alvie, that is a nice looking job you did with the flatcar. It looks like it's straight off a shelf of detailed cars. Be sure to let us see your finished Branchline boxcar.
Terry, that's a nice scene of your CSX locomotive and I like the chain link fence.
Allen, you did a good job on the light pole. Is that a regular bulb or an LED?
Scott, those are some good photos or your Chicago & Northwestern layout. I like the fall trees in the background. Good job. (One of my friends in college in the early 1970s had your last name. I'm not sure where he was from.)
If I've missed anybody, I apologize. I love looking at everyone's work each week.
John,
Its a Life-Like, new old-stock Frosted pea bulb I found at a local hobby shop. I bought all that were available.
Allan. You're not stealing it from me. Here in the UK making wagon loads this way has been done many times by modelers. Simple yet effective.
York1 Scott, those are some good photos or your Chicago & Northwestern layout. I like the fall trees in the background. Good job. (One of my friends in college in the early 1970s had your last name. I'm not sure where he was from.)
Thanks for the complimnet John. Fall is my favorite time of the year so it was natural that the layout would be set in that season.
My father was part of a family of 11 so I have cousins scattered all over the country but bigger groups in Texas and Missouri. Where did you do to school?
Scott
As always, All great looking modeling and projects displayed here this weekend.
I enjoyed looking at everyone's work over coffee this morning
TF
Lakeshore SubWhere did you do to school? Scott
Scott, I sent you a message.
The water tower is starting to look like a building.
I think I may remake the spout from styrene.the joints in the tubing are not as smooth as I would like.
hgodling, nice work on the water tower. Maybe you can post more photos of your progress on next weekend's edition of Weekend Photo Fun.