SeeYou190 Mike (Tropolis): I enjoyed the "family photographs" of your UNION PACIFIC steam locomotive fleet. In a display case or in photographs you might see the better detail on the Athearn Big-Boy, but when they are running on the layout, that Rivarossi will look fine. -Kevin
Mike (Tropolis): I enjoyed the "family photographs" of your UNION PACIFIC steam locomotive fleet. In a display case or in photographs you might see the better detail on the Athearn Big-Boy, but when they are running on the layout, that Rivarossi will look fine.
-Kevin
Oh I agree, but it was a good excuse to purchase a new one
I spent some of the evening playing with the Athearn and I am enjoying it! The exception being the bell was missing from it's bracket. Of course Athearn isn't responding to service or parts requests until May so...guess no bell for now. The soundtraxx recordings of 4014 used for the decoder inside this release are incredible.
The only other 4-8-8-4 might want to add is a brass example but that's not priority at the moment.
The Backshops - A blog dedicated to modeling projects
As usual, there's fantastic work here.
I've finished off my two latest On30 builds.
I had a spare front drive truck from the Bachmann HO USRA 2-6-6-2, which I'd used to build another loco. (I thought it had a cracked gear, but it turned out that was just a loose screw. So I didn't need the spare driving truck.) I realised that if I added a motor to it, that would give me a 6-wheel steam mechanism. So I did, and this is the result. Cab and some boiler details are 3D printed. Most of the body is made from plastic. The smokebox was resurrected from an old kit that didn't work out, with a 3D printed smokebox door added.
This diesel critter is a 3D printed body I found on Shapeways, on top of a Walthers ML-8 chassis. I widened the pilot and footboards to match my other locomotives, and put the body on top of a wider footplate to match. I added a Bachmann bell, and used 2mm LEDs for the headlights.
Both locomotives have DCC & sound on board, as well as keepalives. The diesel has an open grille at the front, and this is where the sound comes out.
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
i have been busy working on the Lighted sign for Union Station. I went through several interations but finally settled on using LED lighting.
The first interation was going to use EL (electroluminenct) wire to light up the letters but when I started testing it it wasn't nearly as bright as I had hoped.
The second interation used LED's hand soldered together in packs of 4 and had wires going everwhere and was a mess. I gave up on this after three letters.
The third interation was to build a circuit board to mount the LED's and resistors and thats what I finally did. It took care of all the wiring mess and still allowed me to have a high density number of LED's to evenly light the sign.
The letter covers were engraved and cut on my laser cutter from 1/8" acrylic. The letters are hollow to allow room for the LED's.
The current limiting resistors are 0603 in size and mounted on the back. Each circuit board has approximately 60-100 LED's. All LEDs are 0603 in size (0.060" x0.030")
It was definitely a learning experience to figure out how to solder all the LED's to the board since they are so tiny. Soldering Paste is wonderful stuff and make it so much easier to do. The other key is a very fine and clean soldering tip.
The top sign shows what the board looks like without the letter covers and the bottom is the finished board.
Unfortunately I don't have a great picture of the sign lit up yet because it overpowers my camera and just looks like a blur.
I wanted sign to be noticable in daylight hence the brightness.
The image below should give a sense of scale. The signs are pretty small.
Colorado Front Range Railroad: http://www.coloradofrontrangerr.com/
SeeYou190I wonder if one of those organic switchers is named Emma?
More likely "Old Maude"
I think I had one of those Timken box cars, maybe a Blue Box that was custom painted by Bev-Bel or Greenway.
Probably the only manufacturer's special paint job I have currently is this 50,000th PS1:
PS1-PS1 by Edmund, on Flickr
Unfortunately it is an MTH product and is barely one notch above a Blue-Box. The underframe detail is excellent, though. I wonder if Kadee has ever considered doing this paint scheme?
Great stuff this weekend, folks!
Will we be honored with a Bear Toon? He's been AWOL for a while.
Regards, Ed
mbinsewiIn heels no less !
I wonder if one of those organic switchers is named Emma?
Living the dream.
It says I can share this on social media, so:
In heels no less !
Mike.
My You Tube
Ed: Thank you for sharing the story that accompanies your Train Miniature Baby Ruth freight car. I never wanted train set cars from my childhood until about a year ago, then I decided to just recreate the train I remember. I think all I need now is the WESTERN MARYLAND tractor flat car and the silver VIRGNIAN hopper car.
David: That is a fine looking Canal Boat in your picture this week. Forty feet is only about six inches long, so it doesn't even take up much space to look that good.
Ringo: I hope your move goes smoothly. Your pictures of that beautifully weathered Soo F unit always make Weekend Photo Fun better. When I rebuilt the primary chain case in my 1973 Harley Davidson, HD wanted over 100 dollars for the transmission input shaft support bearing. The same bearing from the Timken dealer in town was less than $10.00 direct. I am not paying $90.00 for a cardboard box with the Harley Davidson logo on it.
Rick: The Usibelli Coal Company car looks great! Thank you for also sharing the in-process photo of your Arrowhead hopper car project. Your work is so neat and clean. My in-process shots don't look anything like that. It looks like that kit is going to build into a fine model.
Mike (Wisconsin): Your hopper car project is something to be very proud of. Why are there two air reservoirs on the cars? I assume the second one would be for the commodity discharge system. Is this correct?
Weekend Photo Fun is off to a good start. I am hoping for a busy weekend full of great photo shares.
riogrande5761 dti406 Athearn PC&F 50' RBL with 14' Door, painted with Scalecoat II Tuscan Red and Silver paints and lettered with Herald King Decals. The SP and its Cotton Belt subsidiary had several hundred of these cars in the canned goods service out of California. The 14' door made for easy forklift use and cars were equipped with air bags to securely keep the loads from shifting. Hasn't Athearn already run those a couple of time pre-decorated. Occasoinally I have seen you post freight cars you painted and decalled that have been offered already painted and printed and visually to me, look the same. I've scratched my head over it.
dti406 Athearn PC&F 50' RBL with 14' Door, painted with Scalecoat II Tuscan Red and Silver paints and lettered with Herald King Decals. The SP and its Cotton Belt subsidiary had several hundred of these cars in the canned goods service out of California. The 14' door made for easy forklift use and cars were equipped with air bags to securely keep the loads from shifting.
Hasn't Athearn already run those a couple of time pre-decorated. Occasoinally I have seen you post freight cars you painted and decalled that have been offered already painted and printed and visually to me, look the same. I've scratched my head over it.
Jim,
It's because I do a better job than Athearn does, they make a lot of mistakes on their cars and I prefer my paint and decaling jobs to theirs. I also make a some modifications to the cars adding extra detail that is missing or missapplied.
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!
Excellent work guys.
I remember a picture of some ladies pulling a Timken car.
I love that SOO, nice weathering!
My Flexi-Flo project is slowing coming along:
Decals should arrive Monday, then some weathering.
Have a great weekend! and keep up the excellent work!
dti406Athearn PC&F 50' RBL with 14' Door, painted with Scalecoat II Tuscan Red and Silver paints and lettered with Herald King Decals. The SP and its Cotton Belt subsidiary had several hundred of these cars in the canned goods service out of California. The 14' door made for easy forklift use and cars were equipped with air bags to securely keep the loads from shifting.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
That reminds me that I have a few freight cars of my own to rehabilitate. I've been very focused on motive power for the moment however - my desire to build out a Chyenne service terminal being the main driver for that.
That's a fine looking canal boat David. You mentioned looking for a modern canal boat for when you run diesels, do you swap out certain scenery depending on the motive power used?
I decided to lay my UP motive power next to each other, mainly to measure out what I would need for either a display case or a multi-loco storage box. Took the opportunity for a quick and poorly lit photo in the kitchen area.
I like how you can see the family resemblence of some of them, especially the 4-8-2 and 2-10-2.
Since receiving the brass 2-10-2, I've stripped it of paint except for the frame, cylinders, and pilot. I won't be stripping the cylinders or frame since that would require additional disassembly that I'm not willing to do at this time, but the pilot can be separated with a single screw so that will eventually be stripped.
Soon to be added is an Athearn 4-8-8-4 4018 later today as it comes in the mail, as I wanted a Big Boy example that was more detailed. The Rivarossi is very nice and runs very smooth but is the least detailed of this little fleet, despite my efforts!
I'd like to add a UP 0-6-0, another 2-8-2 that isn't USRA, and a 4-6-2 so that will all have to be brass I think, and maybe a 4-10-2 but that isn't too high on the list. A Challenger needs to be included as well eventually.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
Mike
Good morning from cloudy, cool and windy Northeast Ohio!
Kevin, thanks for starting us out, I do not have any nostalgia cars except for the Usibelli Coal Co. car from Alaska that never existed. I know there was some discussion on that car of yours on one of the forums I frequent.
Ed, thanks for you contribution, again can't speak if those cars ever existed or not.
Dave, nicel looking canal boat, after watching so many British mystery shows those canal boats always are intriguing.
Here is this weeks output!
Another Bowser H43 Coal Hopper painted with Scalecoar II Black paint and lettered with Herald King Decals, this makes 14 of these cars in the inventory. 100 Ton car of which the PRR and successors had several thousand.
Athearn PC&F 50' RBL with 14' Door, painted with Scalecoat II Tuscan Red and Silver paints and lettered with Herald King Decals. The SP and its Cotton Belt subsidiary had several hundred of these cars in the canned goods service out of California. The 14' door made for easy forklift use and cars were equipped with air bags to securely keep the loads from shifting.
Got some work done on the Arrowhead Models H39 Coal Hopper, made a couple of subassemblies of the brake gear and installed it on the B end of the car. Have a lot of grabs to install in the next step of the process.
Last week I took my Athearn Southern GP38-2's to the club along with a raft of the 70's IPD boxcars to run on the Club Layout.
Thanks for looking!
Kevin- Love the Timken boxcar! I rebuilt my trucks rear diff using all Timkens, wouldn't use anything else! Glad it brings back childhood memories! Theres something about the "Toy" rolling stock that just brings back great memories. I still have somewhere my Athearn BlueBox ATSF Passenger cars that I saved up years to buy.
Ed- Great looking car, Ed. Looks like you and Kevin both found nostalgic pieces this week. That car does look like it has great detail for its age.
David- Love that boat. Looks very nice!
This week I started packing away stuff from the layout as the first step in our move so no layout updates till the new one is underway in a few months. I did get back my Favorite engine after getting sound and weathering done on it. I think it came out great!
The Tsunami 2 Decoder is a fantastic upgrade from the Tsunami. It has tons of sounds to play around with.
Looking forward to more great posts!
Thanks for starting WPF Kevin. A lovely Boxcar.
Ed. Baby Ruth looks great.
My picture is of a canal boat. For around a year I have been searching for a suitable modern canal boat for Clarence Dock when I run diesels. Many I saw were not what I was after. Then ---
'Kingfisher' a 40ft canal boat.
I now need a crew for her.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Thanks for setting up another WPF episode, Kevin
SeeYou190It brings back childhood memories, and that is all I am looking for.
Probably my only nod to nostalgia was this Train-Miniature Baby Ruth box car I picked up some years ago.
Baby-Ruth2 by Edmund, on Flickr
I recall the day vividly that my dad had to go across town in Cleveland and there was a hobby shop near his destination. We stopped in and he let me choose any car from the fully-stocked shelves lining the store. This was the one
The original car is long gone but when I came across this NOS, pristine model I treated myself to it.
Curtiss_Ice-Reefer by Edmund, on Flickr
I recall thinking that this Train Miniature was the wave of the future in HO rolling stock. They seemed to have captured better detail than the same Athearn and Roundhouses of the era.
I put a little time into mounting new trailer jacks on some of my TOFC cars but haven't made a photo of them yet. Future update.
Hello once again from hot and humid South Florida where the temperature hit 92 degrees today.
I acquired another train car for the rebuild project of the Tyco Train Set I remember from my childhood. This car was not Tyco, it was somebody else, but I very much remember having a Timken Roller Freight Boxcar.
This model is actually much newer than the one I had back in the day. This one is from Model Power, and I cannot say for certain who made the old Timken car I had. It is close enough. It brings back childhood memories, and that is all I am looking for.
Weekend Photo Fun is now offically started! I am looking forward to another great weekend of shares from my fellow forum members.