Weekend Photo Phun 12/21 - 12/23

[mikesmowers]

   Merry Christmas to all on this forum and good pics from everyone.

  Here is what I have been doing the past few days:

 

  I got the idea from another member on these forums but can't remember who, Thanks if you are here.  I took his idea and did a few changes and added the paint and will give them as Christmas presents to the Great nieces and nephews on my list. I built three of them a red one, a blue one, and a green one. I ran out of axle pegs to finish the other two but have the wheels painted and ready to install on the loco when I get to Hobby Lobby and pick up more axle pegs.    Hope you enjoy the Holiday Season.     Mike

[Phoebe Vet]

It's been a Maryland tradition for fire stations large and small to present Christmas Gardens, large layouts featuring lots of lights, funny scenes, animation, and of course, a couple of blazing houses surrounded by Match Box fire trucks.  Here in my home town it's no different.  In fact, the fire company recently moved into a new building, leaving three large vehicle bays available down town for "other uses".  The Christmas Garden committee is rumored to be working feverishly on a major expansion!

Merry Christmas everyone!  What kind of holiday train displays are in your communities?

Lee 

Suggestion to reshoot that night scene:

If you don't own a tripod, take a plastic baggie, fill it about 1/2 way with uncooked rice, and use it for a platform for the camera.  The use the self timer on the camera to take the picture without touching the camers during the exposure.

[bogp40]

I thought I'd start off WPF this week with a photo update of my American Flyer Royal Blue steam engine!

Here's a before picture, just to show how far it's come. I found out the truck in the photo is from a Marx 2-4-2, and not the Royal Blue.

And here it is now.


I've also done the boxcar, which is now finished except for the "478" on each side, which I may or may not add.

All the engine needs now is the lettering, some touch-up around the tender where I couldn't get the spray paint to go, and a gloss finish coat. It's exciting getting this done, because this set is about 70 years old now, and it's been beat-up and not running for 45-50 of those years! It's also been in the family since it was brand-new.

 

Very nice!  Must feel good to restore such a sentimental piece. Even though the origional lettering on the tender was "American Flyer", don't forget that B&O capital dome needs to be highlighted in Dulux gold, maybe you can find the gold lettering or make your own decals for the gold tender and cab no.

How many of the origional cars do you have? behind the newly painted box car, I see a tank car.

[RRCanuck]

Milwaukee Road

Thanks for the questions.  To the right of the terminal, from closest to furthest are 3 buildings:

Walthers Northern Power, Kibri Factory Annex, and the last one I think was called the Burlington Factory, and I think it was a Model Power kit...I built it so long ago I can't remember, and I can't seem to locate it in the Walther's catalogue.

None of these are prepainted, although some are molded in colours that are at least close to what you would want.  The terminal building is not one of those..the walls and ramps are molded in white, and the doors and other bits are robin's egg blue.  The roof is molded black. I was too lazy to break out the air brush, so I used spray cans and some judicious masking: the walls are ModelMaster #1933 "Camouflage Gray" (although the actual colour is more like sand than gray), and the doors etc. are ModelMaster #1910 Dark Green.  On the ramps, and about half the road surface elsewhere on the layout I use a Krylon product called "Make it Stone!" .  There are a number of similar products on the market - find this stuff at your local Home Depot or craft store.

Selector

Thanks for the comments.  I agree that making changes like these are fun.  Especially in this case because the gods were smiling on me... the radius of the switch I added was a perfect match for the curve of the original track, which minimized the amount of work and destruction involved.  Wish I could say I had planned it, but it was pure luck.

JaRRell

Love the backdrop.

Cheers.

[C&O Fan]

Wow, that's impressive, to say the least, Jarrell. 

Terry, you have a very nice bridge scene there.    The steamer looks like a beaut.  Which is it?  Do you like it?

-Crandell

Thanks !

The steamer is a P2k with an early soundtraxx decoder

It pulls well but the tender would derail when backing a string of cars through a turn out

untill i added alot of weight

I have a friend who has the same loco and he changed the draw bar on his to fix the problem

[howmus]

jecorbet, thank you sir!  The bandstand is completely scratch built.  The wires go up the side of one of the posts and are connected to 4 grain of rice bulbs, to match the kind of lights they would have in 1925.  If you look closely you can see the electric box on the post.

[jecorbett]

Looks like we are off to a great start for the weekend!  Really like "old Blue" and Selector you're work is alsways an inspiration.  Actually I like everyones contribution so far.  Great work!

I have installed blue ropelight for simulating night time on the Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western RR.  Here are the first shots of Nightime with the lighting on the layout.

Hopewell Junction enjoys a summer concert in late evening:

Love the lighted bandstand. I have a branch line planned and one of the scenes I had planned in the terminal town was a large town square with a similar bandstand. I hadn't thought of lighting it but that's a great idea. I'll have to work that in.

[rayw46]

Mister Beasley, the only suggestion I can give you is that old adage, "If it hurts when you do that, then don't do that."

Ray

[MisterBeasley]

Happy Holidays to everyone!

I pulled these out of my pile.

I got these in a yard-sale box-of-trains almost 50 years ago.  This is the condition they were in then.  They've never run on my own layouts, but I always liked them and vowed to someday fix them up.  I took the first step last week, ordering a set of Athearn trucks with couplers to replace the hook-and-loop ones:

I'm hoping the Athearn trucks will have a long enough bracket so that the coupler clears the end platforms and allows me to couple the cars.  I've got 18-inch curves to go around, so I'll need to keep those platforms from getting too close.

I had hoped to open the cars up and maybe detail the insides, but it looks like they are very well-assembled wood models, and I might not be able to open them up without causing a lot of damage.  If anyone has any hints, I'm open to suggestions.

[MilwaukeeRoad]

This weekend is going to be hectic, so I'd better get in a quick posting now while I have the time.  I've added a small industrial spur to MEGA Widgets...

And it feeds into this Open Air Terminal.  Not exactly a Canadian prototype, but Frankly Scarlet...

I built the Terminal pretty much straight from the box, but I cut the dock so that the track extends partially inside the building.  Putting the other buildings back in place will create an area like this:

Many people, details, lighting, etc still to be done.  By the way, thanks to all the folks that advised me on how to bring this track down from cork roadbed height to plywood height.  The file / Surform / sanding approached suggested by johncolley, doctorwayne, and loathar did the trick. Cheers.

Nice pictures.

two questions.

1) Is that open air transload pre-painted?

2) What kit is the building next to it in the third picture? Is that pre-painted?

 

Thanks.

[Guilford Guy]

No EZ track for a layout after I sent it away to Plasser. I left the Maerklin Equipment and track down in Rhode Island so no layout for me this year.
I have some Maerklin pix from a couple years ago.
I've also included a CRUDE map :)

Its quite fun. I can operate 4 trains independently with Maerklins System which is somewhat like a very simple DCC system.


I usually have a switcher working the small yard (in North Grafton, not the Passenger+Work Train Yard in Grafton Center) which doesn't interfere with mainline trains by use of a double slip switch. Sunnyville is where the lines divide to circle the tree to access The North Woods, the German Federal Railway Interchange, and the Pine Needle Supply Farm. There are 2 sets of remote crossovers near Sunnyville (The long straight run towards Sunnyville is beneath the sofa...) I can run 3 mainline trains consisting of a local passenger, and express passenger, and a fast freight. If I want something more fun I will give the Fast Freight a hotbox and have it stop outside Sunnyville, so we would then have to operate on single track between Grafton and the North Woods. :)

Time for pictures lol...


The first train of the day is not very well patronized and only suggests a short train of small older wooden coaches.


The Express Train from Sweden has arrived in Grafton. After Turning the Set on the balloon loop, they backed her into the station.


The work train sits int he Coach yard in Grafton.


A rush hour commuter train emerges from the Tunnel Under Sunnyville.


Harvesting Pine Needles for the production of creosote.


The work train and a set of Bavarian Express Coaches in the Grafton Yard.


North Grafton's Freight Yard


A set of truck chassis set for unloading on the North Grafton Team Track


A car of scrap metal from the local scrap yard sits on the yard lead. The Engine house is behind the scrap car. A morning commuter train enters North Grafton while the tail of a fast freight disappears from view.


A freight train prepares to enter Sunnyville Tunnel.


Two Cars sit on the DB interchange awaiting pickup by the local freight crew. With the masses of Commuter, Express, and Fast Freight trains in the daytime hours, all the local freight trains must run at night.


A speed restriction at the North Woods curve was not obeyed...


The Yard Crew needed to use the Mainline as the lead was too short to accommodate the large cut of cars. Unfortunately the yard crew did not reset the mainline switch when a morning Rush Hour train came flying towards Grafton.

[howmus]

Looks like we are off to a great start for the weekend!  Really like "old Blue" and Selector you're work is alsways an inspiration.  Actually I like everyones contribution so far.  Great work!

I have installed blue ropelight for simulating night time on the Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western RR.  Here are the first shots of Nightime with the lighting on the layout.

Hopewell Junction enjoys a summer concert in late evening:

[wm3798]

It's been a Maryland tradition for fire stations large and small to present Christmas Gardens, large layouts featuring lots of lights, funny scenes, animation, and of course, a couple of blazing houses surrounded by Match Box fire trucks.  Here in my home town it's no different.  In fact, the fire company recently moved into a new building, leaving three large vehicle bays available down town for "other uses".  The Christmas Garden committee is rumored to be working feverishly on a major expansion!

Merry Christmas everyone!  What kind of holiday train displays are in your communities?

Lee 

[selector]

Wow, that's impressive, to say the least, Jarrell. 

Terry, you have a very nice bridge scene there.    The steamer looks like a beaut.  Which is it?  Do you like it?

-Crandell

[jacon12]

I'm continuing on around with the backdrop painting.  Only about 25 feet to go!  Yeah!!

JaRRell

[selector]

Don and Terry, thank you for your compliment...it means a lot.

RRCanuck, I have always enjoyed relatively simple adjustments such as the one you show in your photos.  I recently added a small RIP/parking radial off my turntable, mostly to really park an engine.  I enjoyed it immensely, and used the opportunity to add some scenicking technique to my toolbox.

I like that building!  And, when it is all done up and scenicked, I think you will have some nice image fodder there.

-Crandell

[RRCanuck]

This weekend is going to be hectic, so I'd better get in a quick posting now while I have the time.  I've added a small industrial spur to MEGA Widgets...

And it feeds into this Open Air Terminal.  Not exactly a Canadian prototype, but Frankly Scarlet...

I built the Terminal pretty much straight from the box, but I cut the dock so that the track extends partially inside the building.  Putting the other buildings back in place will create an area like this:

Many people, details, lighting, etc still to be done.  By the way, thanks to all the folks that advised me on how to bring this track down from cork roadbed height to plywood height.  The file / Surform / sanding approached suggested by johncolley, doctorwayne, and loathar did the trick. Cheers.

[C&O Fan]

Good Job Darth ! Ole Blue looks pretty good ! 

Nice bridge shot Selector

Here's A couple of my Berk pulling a mixed freight accross my stone arch bridge

[jasperofzeal]

I was wondering who bought all those pizza cutters from the store.

Just kidding, but good job on the engine.

[DigitalGriffin]

Very nice scenary work Selector.  I like the weathering you did on the bridge.

[DigitalGriffin]

Go B&O!  Go!

Thanks for sharing.  A lot of love went into restoring that poor loco.

[selector]

Why, that's greatly improved, Darth...good job!!

Here is my latest image.  I posted my Christmas image in the thread launched earlier for that purpose.

NYC Mike (one of Tom's favourites) drags leased hoppers across the Seneca River.

And here, during a pause in his work, a yard worker admires one of the Pennsy's newer heavyweights on the Broadway Limited during a rare stop in Seneca Falls.

[secondhandmodeler]

Darth, that looks very nice.  There are some people out there that say you shouldn't redo things like this.  Do they say the same thing about old automobiles? I don't think so.  Way to breath new life into a family gem. 

[Darth Santa Fe]

I thought I'd start off WPF this week with a photo update of my American Flyer Royal Blue steam engine!

Here's a before picture, just to show how far it's come. I found out the truck in the photo is from a Marx 2-4-2, and not the Royal Blue.

And here it is now.

I've also done the boxcar, which is now finished except for the "478" on each side, which I may or may not add.

All the engine needs now is the lettering, some touch-up around the tender where I couldn't get the spray paint to go, and a gloss finish coat. It's exciting getting this done, because this set is about 70 years old now, and it's been beat-up and not running for 45-50 of those years! It's also been in the family since it was brand-new.