Hi from Belgium,
This is my contribution to this WPF.
I have published some pics of a broken old engine house in last WPF.
This was a very old Arnold Rapido model, I construct in 1973 ( I am 50 now!) in Nscale.
This engine house was a gift of my late so loved father for christmas.
It was my first attempt to detail and to try weathering techniques.
For some unknow reasons, this model was never used on any of my layouts.
It was stored in a scrap box in a very bad condition and some parts were destroyed or missing.
Because this model have so much memories for me, I restored it and rebuild it this week in a decent condition.
Parts of the roof were rebuild, the clestory is repaired,news doors were constructed, new colors, a few details inside, new chimneys, leds lighting and a new small shed on the side is also reconstructed.
Many new details were added; the glazing is full Micro Scale Krystal Clear.
As usual I added some scenery around the base so the model will become parts of the engine facility on my under construct yard.
The two first pics are the "before restored".
Good week end.
Marc
A while back, I was browsing through Railroad Picture Archives.NET when I stumbled upon this creature. It's called a "sweep." It combines the chassis/cab of an SW1200 with the hood of a GP9. Since the image is copyrighted, here's the link.Canac 7103 "Sweep"I decided I had to have one, right now. Since I didn't have an SW1200 I substituted an SW1500 which I had purchased last summer simply because it was so inexpensive. I also had a dummy GP9. Here are the victi... er, uh, volunteers.First I removed a portion of the front of the SW1500 and chopped the stacks off. You'll see the reason in a moment. I also cut off a portion of the hood from the GP9.Here's the time-saving step. The GP9 was an old Athearn wide body. Without the stacks on the SW1500 I was able to slip the hood of the GP9 over the hood of the SW1500. This saved me quite a bit of time since I didn't have to remove the hood of the SW1500. It also maintained a great deal of structural integrity.Then I notched out the hood on the GP9 to allow for the steps on the SW1500.Next is where I made a mistake. All of my trial fittings had been on the body only without the chassis installed. Once I had the chassis installed, I discovered that I needed to mill off a small triangular portion of the frame to allow the body to fit. If you do this project, you may want to cut the GP9 hood just a little longer. On the other hand, cutting of portions of the frame only added about 5 minutes to the project.Here's the completed project. Total time from the first picture to the last was 1 hour and 15 minutes. It still needs to go to the paint shop, get handrails and couplers, and tune the chassis. Obviously it's not complete yet and one could spend hours adding details, re-motoring, re-gearing, etc., but it was a fun and easy project. One could also use a more accurately scaled hood for the GP9 and it really wouldn't add much time to the project.Tom
Life is simple - eat, drink, play with trains!
Go Big Red!
PA&ERR "If you think you are doing something stupid, you're probably right!"
Great stuff again this week! Keep them coming.
I've been doing some scenery on the BRVRR this week. It is one of the parts of model railroading that I don't like to do.
I decided to work on the back-lot of my engine house. Time to cover up the dirt colored paint that has been the ground cover for years.
The first step was putting down some small brown ballast and various shades of ground foam over the general area. Here the Elmer's is still pooling. The track grid at right is for spare wheel sets.
Here is the nearly finished scene. The crane and compressor are from a LifeLike Scene Masters grouping. I still have to letter and detail it. The shed/shop is a bashed portion of the house from a Bachmann Steam Whistle Freight Station. The wheels are old plastic sets painted rust brown.
The spare rails are parts from old pieces of flex track and the ties I made from scale square beechwood, cut to length and colored with a Sharpie. I don't remember where the truck came from. The figures are Woodland Scenics or Bachmann I think. Still a little work to do to dirty things up a little, but I'm pleased with it for now.
All work and no play make for a dull railroader, so I did operate a train or two. In keeping with some of the earlier shots I made up a coal train and shot a little video. If I have time, I'll post some of it on YouTube this weekend. In the mean-time here's a still of the locos as they pass near the Berea Tower.
Leading the lash-up is NYC GP-40, #3083, an Atlas model with a Soundtraxx DSD-101LC decoder. Next is NYC GP-40, #3075, an Athearn BB model with a Digitrax DH163 decoder and last, NYC GP-20, #6109, a Proto2000 loco with another DSD sound decoder. The lash-up works together pretty well and sounds great!
Keep the good stuff coming guys. I love this thread.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
Chris
Lancaster, CA
Check out my railroad at: Buffalo and Southwestern
Photos at:Flicker account
YouTube:StellarMRR YouTube account
DrilineHere's a few pics of my scratchbuilt Ralston Purina plant using foam core and strip styrene. I have yet to add details. So this is just a plain canvas for now..
Very nice. Please post again when you have the details to your liking. Looking forward to seeing them.
Bob
Photobucket Albums:NPBL - 2008 The BeginningNPBL - 2009 Phase INPBL - 2010 Downtown
stilson4283The first rail is now installed on my layout, two switches built only about 11 more to go. I hope to have a complete loop of track to start running on in the next week.
Hi,
You say "two switches" are built....Did you handlay them or did you use ready to run turnouts?
Good weekend.
Marc_Magnusstilson4283The first rail is now installed on my layout, two switches built only about 11 more to go. I hope to have a complete loop of track to start running on in the next week. Hi, You say "two switches" are built....Did you handlay them or did you use ready to run turnouts? Good weekend. Marc
Just from the picture, it looks like both his switch(s) and the track is handlaid.
-George
"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."
PA&ERRMarc_Magnusstilson4283The first rail is now installed on my layout, two switches built only about 11 more to go. I hope to have a complete loop of track to start running on in the next week. Hi, You say "two switches" are built....Did you handlay them or did you use ready to run turnouts? Good weekend. Marc Just from the picture, it looks like both his switch(s) and the track is handlaid.-George
They are all built from Fast track jigs, and the track is from central valley tie strips. I would consider that more handlaid light.
Well, I got it done, such as it is. Here's my "sweep" switching a car into Puppy's Pet Products.
Lessons learned:
1. Use a good quality tape and make sure it's snug against the surface when masking off areas for painting.
2. Paint is not a hole filler.
3. Accu Flex #16-601 is not flat. It dries to a nice gloss which would make a nice surface for applying decals.
4. I wish I would have known about step 3 before I put the decals on.
5. Do NOT use 40 year old decals. They have turned yellow. Buy some new ones!
6. Do not blow on decals while they are still wet with solvaset. They will disappear at hypersonic speeds.
7. Don't rush the painting. Take time to follow the steps above.
8. Using Pearls Drops or other gritty tooth paste really does smooth out an Athearn drive. It also leaves the drive train minty fresh.
Tom
Tom,
Here is a neat trick I learned a few years back about masking...
Spray your first color. After it dries do your masking. Once your masking is done, spray along the edges of the mask with the first color again and let it dry.
Now, spray your second color!
Works like a charm!
Tom (fiatfan) ... Thanks for sharing your loco conversion Neat looking loco! Also, now I know how to fit a decoder in an SW unit.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Ok I got bored and finished another car..
Be Wise Beware Be Safe
"Mountain Goat" Greg
SP&S Oregon Trunk
Good looking stuff this week.I spent some more quality time out shivering in the garage, but it wasn't too bad today, actually... Got the extension built that will complete the connection between the helix and Elkins. I apologize for the quality of the pictures.... new camera... haven't read the manual yet.
Here it is in progress this morning.By 6 p.m, I had this together...Then tunnel portal is the top of the helix.Here's Elkins. I gotta read the manual on the camera to see if it can do any better than this...and here's a look at the whole assembly. Elkins is on the right, the helix is on the left.This is the last piece I can install on the wall before moving the work bench. That will set in motion a massive chain of events that will ultimately lead to the completion of the plan I posted the other day elsewhere in these pages.Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
You guys have outdone yourselves again this week. Really outstanding modeling and photography.
I think I'm out of my league altogether.
I did manage to post some video on my coal train on YouTube. Here's a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUu9QqJNj8g
It is only about a minute long, but it does show one of my favorite lash-ups.
Keep the good stuff coming guys.
Well done! It's the paint job that make the engine believable. That's a great looking kitbash!
The Cedar Branch & Western--The Hillbilly Line!
Thank you all for your kind words.
George, I will try that tip the next time I paint something. This was my first ever engine build. I may strip and repaint it.
BTW, the decals are actually pushing 50 years old. I bought them when I was in high school which was '60-'64.
Again, thanks everyone.