I'll kick things off with my faux-Silverton RR passenger train that has appeared over the last several weeks. Pieced together some decals that were so old...they weren't any fun. It came out halfway decent and I threw some glass in the windows.
This week also saw the first run on the Tuscola Beltway, constructed by Thomas with some mentoring from yours truly.
Tuscola Beltway RR: First Run from Mike Lehman on Vimeo.
So what's everyone else up to right now? It is both Model RR Month and the model railroad season right now.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Thanks again for getting this weekend's WPF up-n-running, Mike. You're making some great progress there. Applying decals is one of my least-favorite modeling pastimes. Trying to make brittle decals work is even more frustrating! I'm sure glad when the job is done and turns out nice.
Your's look great!
I came across this "future project" on Ebay last week. It looks so homely, I just had to adopt it. This B8a tank engine was used as a shop switcher in Altoona for a while.
PRR_B8a_2788 by Edmund, on Flickr
This is how it looked right out of the box. It seems to have some kind of chemical blackener on it rather than paint.
It already has a NWSL reduction drive in it and it runs rough. I'll have to order a new one and see if that helps. I really don't see any wear on the gears but the box does fit sloppy on the axle.
I also spent some time upgrading some OLD Life-Like Proto 1000 Fairbanks Morse power:
NYC_Erieblt by Edmund, on Flickr
I've had these engines since 1998 or so and thought it was time to get them tuned up and sound decoders added.
NYC_Cliner by Edmund, on Flickr
These old beasts run beautifully, pull like mules, hardly draw any current and have pretty decent detail.
On to more great stuff. Most of us will be dealing with rotten weather. Good excuse to hide in the train room
Cheers, Ed
Mike: Thank you for starting the thread this week. People are probably getting tired of seeing the STRATTON & GILLETTE herald tied to the Weekend Photo Fun thread. Your passenger cars look great.
Ed: Those Proto 1000 locomotives sure look great. They look like powerful pullers.
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I get to post something that I was excited about this week. I finished this covered hopper car.
This is a PS-2 covered hopper from Kadee. I love this car, but it looks too modern for my 1954 railroad setting. Previously, I had success making a Funaro & Camerlengo covered hooper look older by exchanging the round hatches for square ones, so I tried that approach again with this model.
The Kadee model is wonderful, so I was apprehensive about taking a #17 blade to the roof, but I bit the bullet and did it. I installed square covered hopper hatches from Detail Associates. This whole operation was simple, and was completed successfully.
I found a set of custom decals for the fictional "ILLINOIS VALLEY RAILROAD" from an eBay seller. He had a quarter included in the picture for scale. I transferred the measurements, and it looked like the stylized IVRR logo would fit in the center of the hopper perfectly. I ordered the decals, and yes, the size was exactly what I wanted.
The decals were only printed in Dulux Gold, so that forced me to paint the freight car a darker color than I would have preferred, but I am completely happy with the final finish. The color is a mixture of three parts Scalecoat 2 Boxcar Red and one part Scalecoat 2 Engine Black.
I wanted "Big Head" couplers instead of the "Scale Head" couplers this car came with. Sam at Kadee was very helpful in getting me the parts and instructions I needed. This conversion was not simple, but no harder than assembling a 30 series coupler box and spring.
Keep the pictures coming... HAPPY WEEKEND.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
My newly built loading dock and an 30 year old DPM building.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Good morning from cloudy, cold and snowy/rainy/sleety Northeast Ohio!
Got moved last weekend and am now fully in the new (to us) condo, only have about 200 boxes to unpack to find everything.
Thanks for starting us out Mike, nice work on the passenger train.
Ed, unlike you I love decaling, someday I will get my workbench up again and start by finishing up a bunch of projects. Like your FM units, My PRR C-liners are mcuh more dolled up than the NYC units. Great find on that B-8.
Kevin, nice job on the conversions but as the prototypes were built in 1954, no need to backdate them.
So with nothing new this week I will have to bore you with another old picture from the archives.
Here are my PRR FM C-Liners with a coal drag on the Strongsville Model Railroad Club layout which will be open for the NMRA Division 4 Layout Tour this Saturday.
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!
LV T-1 has a new face and firebox, with the rest of the boiler being stripped for rebuilding.
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/60361449@N02/
Anthracite Modeler - YouTube
MIke L ... Thanks for starting the weekend with your beautiful Silverton passenger train and your video of the IC locomotive.
Ed .... The tank engine looks like an intersting model. ... Good to see your FM locomotives.
Kevin ... You did good kob with the covered hopper.
Henry .... Excekkent work building the loading dock. Looks great.
Rick .... Good to see your FM C-LIners.
Casey.... Evidently, you have started another prize winning locomotive.
I'll add my FM locomotives to those already posted here. Santa Fe purchased only one ABA set of FM Erie Builts. I think the styling on the prototype is outstanding.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Kitbashing a G scale figure. The Boothbay Railway Village Christmas layout is back again at the LL Bean store in Freeport, ME.
Getting G scale figures dressed for winter is a bit dufficult, so I modified this one. Using Druhams Water Putty, I changed a summer dress into a winter coat, lowering the hemline to below the knees, and added a stocking cap. A bit of red and green paint and she is ready to go, sitting on a bench in Freeport Station waiting for the train
I hope to have some pictures later this weekend. The layout will be running daily until just before New Years.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Mike - Thanks for starting off WPF. The little passenger train is cool. I really like the FM locos. Beautiful.
Kevin - Great job on the hopper. Unique.
Henry - A good looking loading dock.
Rick - Nothing boring about the PRR or C-Liners.
Casey - The LV T-1 looks to be quite a project.
Garry - the SF locos are impressive.
George - The lady looks okay to me.
NYC #9622 is back together after its tumble. Just a few small bits missing in the front shield.
Santa Fe #3761 is a BLI Paragon3 loco right out of the box for testing. It is a birthday or Christmas present for my 13 year old grandson. The sound is incredible.
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/
Thanks for starting things off,Mike. After a couple of slow weeks,it looks like WPF is picking up steam(or diesel)again!
It may be dusty and grimy,but this On3 K-28 was a steal on ebay:
Very nice detail,and it runs great - smooth and quiet. Too bad that big motor has to go!
There are a couple of loose pieces,like the piping straps atop the boiler -
- so I've ordered a resistance soldering unit to tackle those. Never used one before,I'm anxious to give it a try. I hope next week doesn't find me posting pictures of a pile of brass that used to be an engine...
Thanks for all your contributions,have a nice weekend!
Mike
Mike, Thanks for getting the WPF into the air. Greats scenes, extra like your trestle bents and tree covered mountain side, not to mention the low flying aircraft.
Thanks to all the contributors, Regards, Peter
middlemanNever used one before,I'm anxious to give it a try. I hope next week doesn't find me posting pictures of a pile of brass that used to be an engine...
Hi, Mike
I was pretty anxious the first times that I tried to solder details or repair joints on brass. Things weren't going all that well and then I discovered Tix solder and their flux.
It ain't cheap but the results, IMHO are worth the price.
https://www.micromark.com/Tix-Solder-Pkg-of-20-Three-Inch-Sticks
This stuff flows very easily and has a low melting point. Rather than get into a resistance soldering set I went the butane torch route. I was trying to solder big chunks of brass such as feedwater heaters and air pumps and the torch put the heat to the metal very nicely. Amazon and some other sellers have it, too.
My plan was to go resistance if the torch didn't work out but I'm pretty happy with the results using the butane torch. Takes a bit of practice.
This is the model I chose and I'm very satisfied with it.
https://www.dremel.com/en_US/products/-/show-product/tools/2000-versatip-precision-butane-torch
Good Luck, Ed
Hey,Ed - thanks for the links,and your take on the products.
The resistance soldering unit is on its way.It's the cheapest one MicroMark has,but it should fit my needs just fine. I ordered some silver solder paste to try with it,too. My past experiences with brass and a standard soldering iron yielded no results at all.I generally resorted to CA. If this unit doesn't do the job,I'll give the torch and the low-temp solder a try - they seem like handy things to have around the house in any case.
Thanks again for your help,I appreciate it.
BTW - That B8a is neat looking little engine.Sounds like you've got a bit of work to do,but at least(from what I can see)the wheels have little or no wear.
gmpullmanThanks again for getting this weekend's WPF up-n-running, Mike. You're making some great progress there. Applying decals is one of my least-favorite modeling pastimes. Trying to make brittle decals work is even more frustrating! I'm sure glad when the job is done and turns out nice. Your's look great!
Thanks, Ed, keeping in mind I'm showing you the GOOD side My eyes are just good enough at 3' to not worry much about them if it looks right when I squint at them. And doing something about it would require running down very scarce sets or even making my own decals. I need to go to another Narrow Gauge Convention for one last restock run. St. Louis in 2020 IIRC? I might just be there, gotta start saving now.
That switcher looks like a fun project. And old P1Ks tend to be good foundations, so you're on the right track investing in them.
Kevin, Like that IVRR car. Wonder if it's origin had some connection to our neighboring Illinois Valley Division, NMRA MWR?
Henry, A solid dock, something that really sets off a DPM or similar flat cast building kit. Looks great!
Rick, I could've used your decaling skills on those cars, as I aspire to working your magic on my stuff. Looking forward to seeing your shop back in action as the move settles into residence.
RDGCasey, The mass of that thing is already imposing, should move some coal!
GARRY, Thanks for your kind comments and great tasty pics.
George, She's one fetching young lady!
Allan, Thanks! Wow, nice present! Will be big
Mel, After I figure out my RPi, I might try an Arduino...whatever century that happens to be.
Mike, She's a beauty! Getting you ground in the right place is what I heard makes for good results with resistance soldering PBL offers a guide of some kind to it mioght be worth checking their website for it.
Peter, A noir scene from the master of such atmospherics! Thanks for your kind words!
Finally, a pic because it seems like it's the seasonal convergence of warm summer, busy holidays and just catching up - plus a curveball or two - may be keeping the Bear busy, so just wanted him to know we're thinking of him, hoping he gets a chance to drop by, but this pic is for him, with the new train seeing some old (and dusty if you look too close) motive power.
This has been a better week for Weekend Photo Fun.
Thank you to everyone that had nice comments for my Illinois Valley Railroad covered hopper car.
I am finishing up a freight car that I started construction on over 20 years ago. I will have pictures and the story next week.
Until then... everyone stay safe, and have fun.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Spring time on southern climes, probably a hungry, grouchy bear just woke up from a long nap.
And a Bear-Toon to end the weekend! What a great WPF thread.
G PaineSpring time on southern climes, probably a hungry, grouchy bear just woke up from a long nap.
Gidday George, only grumpy through lack of hibernation time.
Thanks Kevin, lifes too short not to have a smile, or a laugh on a regular basis, and thanks to all the contributors for sharing their really Good Stuff.
Cheers the Bear.
A Bear in the woods lurking is a good thing.
If the Bear boards the train, the passengers start getting nervous...
Until he starts handing out holiday gift cards sponsored by the fine merchants of Beartown, the very next stop!
mlehmanIf the Bear boards the train, the passengers start getting nervous...
Oh, I don't know, Mike.
I wouldn't feel very threatened by this 'ol chap —
Paddington by Edmund, on Flickr
If he gets riled up just offer him a marmalade sandwich
Thank you to everyone for the kind comments and for contributing and supporting WPF! It is great inspiration to keep busy with the layout and the models