LOL!
I meant to also add, Simon, that the scenery is looking great! That backdrop really adds drama. Dan
Southgate 2Be my guest! That cow catcher is a big ol chunk of metal!
Looks like the Bears Retirement Project!!!
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good stuff this weekend, gents.
Tom: My little vise is on it's way, too.
I was looking at your Cary cowcatcher Dan, thinking that if it was me, I’d be into it with a small drill in a pin vice opening up a big enough hole so that I could then hand file out the gap between each bar. I must admit that my next thought was; that is probably why I take so long to get a project close to finished!!...Cheers, the Bear.
Be my guest!
That cow catcher is a big ol chunk of metal!
Chuck, O scale definately has it's appeal. But... Nah! No room. But i'd like a better look at that 44 tonner, maybe next week WPF?
Rick, it's cool to see those BIG freightcars, and the room to run em. And I hope your wife is recovering quickly.
Peter: Grampa's Chevy looks great! And thanks again for the heads up on the vise.
JDVass, run what ya like. Somehow I have NP and V&T on my SP territory RR.
Dan
Hello all,
Dan: I love those old 4-4-0 Rivarossis. Your's matches nicely with the MDC passenger cars.
Tom: I need to look up that tool. I'm sick of drilling through my fingers!
Chuck: Your scene is shaping up nicely. I have some 2 rail O scale stuff, but I haven't bothered converting them to DCC.
Rick: I hope things come back to normal soon for you and your wife.
Peter: My dad had a fleetline! Way before I was born, but we have pics of it. What a cool car.
JDVass: Who can resist a nice CPR engine?
Ed: What a nice looking passenger car... Outstanding paint job.
Tom: Very neat work. I should follow your example: my underneath wiring jobs definitely need improvement.
With this cold weather outside, I've been able to put some time on my scenery work (left side of the photo).
IMG_20240119_122225 on Flickr
Simon
Nice work everyone!
I am plodding along with the LED installation in my Proto 2000 E7A. Plodding is an apt term because there are several considerations to ponder simultaneously - i.e. if I do "this" then what impact does it have on "that 1", "that 2", "that 3", etc? I makes my head swim sometimes.
Both SMD LEDs have been installed onto the modified number board light tube:
I tried several options and wound up combining two. I first affixed the LEDs using 10mm x 1/2" long strips of Tamiya masking tape. Once they were positioned properly, I backfilled the interior space on each end with Testors Clear Parts Cement (TCPC) to eliminate any horizontal movement of the LEDs when their wires were bent over the front of the number board frame. Should I ever need to replace an LED, both tape and TCPC will peel off with only a small amount of effort and clean-up.
I temporarily attached the number board light tube to the front cabin wall and ran the SMD LEDs wires through the lower hole, originally occupied by a large incandescent bulb:
Once the wires were successfully routed and ensured that they would not interfere with the rotation of the front truck, I affixed the number board frame to the front cabin wall using TCPC. I then twisted the matching common and green wires to one another. This helps tame the wires and ensure that they do not sag over time:
Next was preparing the Lok5 decoder. Since the E7A only has front headlights and I only need AUX 1 to control the number board LEDs, I unsoldered the yellow F0R wire and AUX2 thru AUX 4 wires from the Lok5 PCB. I also like to group like-wires (e.g. red/black, orange/gray, common/white or yellow) and twist them together for a cleaner look. It also makes the wires much more manageable.
The speaker wires that came with the Lok5 weren't long enough so I replaced them with a twisted pair and will trim them to length once I install the SSS speaker on the back end of the E7.
I'm using 1" wide Gorilla mounting tape to build up the well behind the cab area for mounting the Lok5 decoder. Gorilla mounting tape holds REALLY well, stays pliable and will not dry out, and won't leave a residue behind when removed like 3M mounting tape:
To make room for the speaker, the large lighting PCB had to be removed:
I'll need to modify the wiring for the front and rear trucks, as well as the motor leads so that I can solder them to the Lok5 decoder. There isn't much headroom above the large central weight over the drivetrain so I need to figure out the best way to lay the wiring on top of the weight. I'll also need to add resistors for the headlight and number board LEDs. I'll be able to move forward with those issues once the SSS speaker is installed, which will be arriving tomorrow.
To be continued...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Fun Stuff this weekend.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery for your wife, Rick.
While I don't specifically model the Penn Central it is a railroad that loomed large in my early days of railroading and it is what I saw most frequently in my travels around the Cleveland area.
So while watching a P-C DVD the other day I was reminded of a few passenger cars that the railroad bought from the Rio Grande in the early '70s and I decided I wanted to model one of these cars, of which there were only two coaches purchased:
rr-fallen flags.org
You can still see the Rio Grande striping in the reflection below the right window.
Rather than try to find an HO Rio Grande P-S coach I decided that one of my Nickel Plate coaches with fluting can very well be a good starting point. Here's a before:
NKP_P-S_coach by Edmund, on Flickr
I stripped the blue and mixed up some Scalecoat NYC light gray and Reading Green to come up with the P-C's "Deep Water Green" for passenger equipment.
PC ex Rio Grande Coach 3165 by Edmund, on Flickr
Once everything was reassembled I have a pretty close representation of the cars as I remember them coming through Cleveland on #63 and 64.
PC ex Rio Grande Coach 3-4 view by Edmund, on Flickr
PC ex Rio Grande Coach occupied by Edmund, on Flickr
Thanks for all the great contributions, Folks!
Cheers, Ed
Passenger service has returned to little Lestock, Saskatchewan. It was actualy CN than ran through my hometown, but it's my railroad empire, and I'll run what I want. Lol
Some good boyhood memories connected to my late grandpa's green Chevy Fleetline; like Sunday afternoon trips to the park with a stop at Ortmans Ice Cream Parlor for a cone.
Dan, Thanks for getting the WPF underway with some nice 'old time' modeling.
Tom, Good to see your holder has arrived. Been putting mine thru the paces weathering and adding some detail parts to a tank car, really like the range of positions that can be acheived.
Thanks to all the contributors and viewers. Have a good weekend. Regards, Peter
Rick, sorry to hear about your wife.
Yes, it is O scale. I just had to build one, known as 3 rail scale with Kadee's, realistic setting, etc. I've also taken the electronics out of my 3 locos and am replacing them with Digitrax decoders.
I'm still buying and building HO stuff because you never know...
Chuck - Modeling in HO scale and anything narrow gauge
Dan, thanks for starting us out, I could not as I was at the doctor's office with my wife doing her phyical therapy on her knee. Nice pictures of your steamer and other cars.
Tom, that is a cool vise, I may have to put that on next year's Christmas list.
TW, is that HO, because I am seeing three rails like is is O Scale or something else.
I did not get anything done this week with dealing with my wife's Physical Therapy and lack of mobility, meaning I have been doing a lot of stuff for and with her, and she has not been coming down to the basement to listen to news and stuff while I work on the trains.
Here is an old shot of my Athearn GP40-2's with a general freight made up of coil steel cars and 86' Auto Parts cars which are running on the Strongville club layout.
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!
Dan, I love the steamer and passenger cars. That 4-4-0 is fantastic!
Tom, cool vise. I may need one of those.
My contribution is a photo of part of my O scale Chico Central. I've been busy painting the rails, and now I'm in the middle of painting the ties. I like the way they are looking so far, but I have a lot more to do.
Thanks for starting out WPF this week, Dan.
I hope to post something model-wise later. In the meantime - and thanks to Peter, Amazon just dropped the following off this snowy afternoon at my front door stoop:
It appears well-constructed with a heavy base and I'm looking forward to seeing how I'll be able use it for my projects.
a little work done on the Cary 4-4-0: I think the Civil War era "cow catcher" pilot looked out of place on the 4-4-0, with it's chunkier proportions and steel cab, so I modified this one from a Rivarossi 2-10-2:
So, what's a layout set in the mid-late '60s doing with four, soon to be five 4-4-0s?
Excursion trains. I finally found a deal on some MDC old time passenger cars that I'd been watching for. Rivarossi "Reno" with the 4 MDC cars...
Baggage-Express combine, and one of 2 coaches, #17 Other coach #18, and... Is that a lounge car? my knowledge of passenger equipment is limited: Also included in the deal was this Athearn dome car and a very nice Combine car, the make of which I dont know (help?), but it has an interior, and sprung diaphrams for the end doors. These two motivated me to drag out an F-7 chassis I had stashed, the NP body that I had no real previous interest in, and put the glass and horns in/on it, couplers, etc and a tune up. That's what I have this weekend, let's see your good stuff! Dan
Baggage-Express combine, and one of 2 coaches, #17
Other coach #18, and... Is that a lounge car? my knowledge of passenger equipment is limited:
Also included in the deal was this Athearn dome car and a very nice Combine car, the make of which I dont know (help?), but it has an interior, and sprung diaphrams for the end doors. These two motivated me to drag out an F-7 chassis I had stashed, the NP body that I had no real previous interest in, and put the glass and horns in/on it, couplers, etc and a tune up. That's what I have this weekend, let's see your good stuff! Dan
Also included in the deal was this Athearn dome car and a very nice Combine car, the make of which I dont know (help?), but it has an interior, and sprung diaphrams for the end doors. These two motivated me to drag out an F-7 chassis I had stashed, the NP body that I had no real previous interest in, and put the glass and horns in/on it, couplers, etc and a tune up.
That's what I have this weekend, let's see your good stuff! Dan
Here's the weekend thread where we show completed models, WIPs, layout work under construction, or other photos, old or new.
Let's see what ya got! Dan