Good afternoon (subject to revision after review...) Joe, I'll have an Anchor Steam, thanks - and see if anyone else needs a refill.
Lots of busy people here. Makes me feel kind of inadequate. All I've managed to get done on the railroad front is organize and reprint all of my electrical documentation. Fifty-odd pages so far, and that's only for about 1/4 of the total railroad. Of course, I also run about four hours worth of the schedule every day.
Mike, I think I've seen the prototype for your ridge, on the former WP line through northern Nevada. Your sky looks good!
I've been following the adventures of the rock-builders with interest. There's a bunch of the same in my future.
And now we have The Tale of the Two Annies. One has mono (my very deepest sympathy. Been there, done that,) the other is about to rise to new thespian heights. Life does that, sometimes.
The rotten economy just got up close and personal. I got the invoice for next year's subscription to Tetsudo Mokei Shumi. Last year, I got away with $50.00 American less, for almost the same cost in Yen. Owww!!!
My own economy isn't too shabby. Just gave Walthers an order for 18 quad hoppers and two cabeese from the October sale catalog. That's 'makins' for two full unit trains - and brings me up to speed on coal haulers for the TTT. (American cars on a Japanese line? Not exactly. The hoppers will be sliced, rejoined over buckeye center trucks and become seven-axle articulated cars with two single-bay carbodies. The cabeese, also sliced and diced, will mate up with pieces of other hopper cars to become four hopper-brakes. Both the AAR and the JNR would disown them on sight.)
The Fukuoka Bassho ended on an unusual note. Yokozuna (grand champion) Hakuho and Sekiwake Ama ended up with identical 13 - 2 records, so they had to have a playoff match before the Tournament Champion could be named. It turned out to be one of the best matches of the whole 15 days. Hakuho finally won, which gave him full claim to about a truckload of loot - everything from the Emperor's Cup (about as big as the Stanley Cup) to two huge, fresh-caught tai. (Can't eat the Emperor's Cup, but those two 15kg fish will make a LOT of sashimi.
Speaking of eating, I just got invited to dinner. See ya.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Morning all. Joe, I'll have the pancake special this morning with black coffee. Thanks.
Still hurting pretty bad this morning, guess I'll have to take it easy another day or two. Mr. B... The rocks are cast from WS molds using P of P, I cast a bunch and started laying them as you would if you were building a rock wall. Sometimes it gets difficult to find the perfect rock for the place you need it, some trimming and adjusting are required, that is why it is taking so long. I need to do some more casting as I am about to run out of rocks. I hope your daughter is getting along better, I han mono a long time ago when I was a child, believe me, it was no picnic.
Better go, I see Joe has my breakfast ready. Later. Mike
The e-mail from Joel Bragdon suggested Greased Lightning, so that's what I used. We had some of the fake TSP (how can they call it that, even if they label it "substitute?" It's either TSP, or it isn't.) and that was basically of no use at all.
Joe, can I just get a glass of chocolate milk? 2%, please. The workday calls tomorrow, and that's my nightcap. As for the Bragdon Foam rock opera, well, to be continued...
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MrB,
What degreaser did you use? Was it the real TSP? Hopefully you camera won't be at Sony too long. I am anxious to see how your washes do.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
We put up the tree yesterday and 'Spring' sprung up the tree launched off the tree and landed on top of the bookcase. Thankfully the tree is bottom heavy and 'Spring' is a 6lb cat.
You all have a good Thanksgiving!!!
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Why, thank you, Sue. Right neighborly of you. I'll pick up the next round. But first, a Strumpet IPA. Thanks, Joe.
I ended up washing all the rocks down with a degreaser, and then re-applying the gesso and some more of the powdered tempera. (For those of you who've never done Bragdon Foam rocks, well, it makes a French gourmet recipe look like a walk in the park.) The paint took much better the second time, so I guess the problem was not getting the mold release right. I've put the rocks in place on the layout, but with teens occupying the Train/TV room, all I can do is wait my turn. In the meantime, I did another casting, and this one came out much better. I only used half as much of the foam backing, and ended up with a much thinner and more manageable product. When I pulled it out of the mold, I noticed that the inside of the mold was still greasy, so this time I hit the casting up with degreaser first. I just applied the gesso, and that's probably as far as I'll get for the night. Incidentally, I'm doing most of my finishing downstairs on the bench, rather than on the layout. Much easier that way, and I don't have to worry about "accidents."
The digital camera is back on its way to Sony, so there will be no pictures for a while. I might borrow my daughter's camera if I come up with anything really noteworthy, but I'm far from any finished products right now, so I can wait a while. I had to remove the Moose Bay Bridge to work on the rocks and the Bay itself, so right now I can't even run trains around the main line.
And, I went to a train show today. My prize was a decent, if cheap, caboose for $2. It has body-mounted Kadees already installed. This one may get decorated for the Moose Bay Railroad, just so I've got one piece of rolling stock named for my layout. I found an oil tank for one of the houses on the layout, and a rowboat to put in the bay. I picked up an old Jordan tank truck kit, which I'd been looking for, and one other cheap item that I can't remember just now.
But, I was kind of disappointed at the show. I've seen all of the layouts before. Some, like NE Ntrack, had a new configuration and a couple of modules I didn't remember, but most of the displays haven't changed much. Again, I must complement young Miss Whitney of the Young Model Railroaders, for having a very nice riverbank module I hadn't seen before. Very good eye for detail.
Mike, what are you using for your rocks? I'm glad I clicked to blow up the picture, because these old eyes didn't even see the tunnel until I was able to get a closer look. At the show, the HO layouts looked huge after staring at N-gauge trains for a while.
I'll have a Strumpets, please. it's been a while since I've done that. I see Strumpets ahs a variety of brews based on Mr. B's psots. I missed the explanation of the diffefent brews 9assuming there was one). Any one will do for me.
I'm wondering if the Forum's NP fan (Sue) noticed my NP 4-8-4 in the WPF. It's really not detailed for NP, but it will do. I have many "close enough" models on the layout.
Everybody ready for Thanksginving?
Believe it or not , we just put up the Christmas tree, and the Lionel trains are performing well under the tree.
Cheers!
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
I’m thinking I’ll take BOTH Sue and Mike up on the offer….I’m sure I can do at least two!! Maybe more!!
Nice work on the mountain Mike. It looks like it’s coming together and the blue with the clouds looks good too!
BC: I’m not sure how many are in this years cast. I do know that there are 13 in “Reif Company” (they are the core, and best of the best) this go round and at least another 8 in “Man Dance”. Then it’s Marina and I (we have danced together for about 8 years now) playing the grandparents this year….So that makes for 23. On top of that we have the mice and the solders and the Mother Gingers. These scenes / acts are with some junior division dancers and I would venture to guess that those number in the 30 to 40 range so, a cast of 50 something!!??!!
It is going to be fun this year. I won’t be dancing as much as in past productions, but will be acting a bit more and the dances we do….Will have a bit more impact. My Raeanne (Annie) will be dancing two solos, Snow Queen and as one of the Dolls. She will also be in the troupe of flowers…Al of which is on point this time. She is pumped! And so am I!
As for the MRR….I went hunting today (the last day of the season) but I’ve got great plans for next week when I actually have some time off and hopefully no other demands for my time!!
Sorry, Joe, I guess it is my tab. Drinks for all.
Hey, Joe, please put a Bud light lime on Mike's tab. I know that he is good for it.
Mike, Great progress. Your rocks look great.
Today has been beautiful and sunny, so I felt the need to be outside. I am still thinking about the ground goop though.
MrB, How are the foam rocks doing? Did you get the real TSP?
Think I'll have some Coor's tonight...
mikemower.. I like the tunnel through there. Out in my district we don't have tunnels but Cuts. Oy do we have Cuts...
Evening all, Is it to early for a cold beer or two, or three? Didn't think so. Joe I'll have a cold Bud on tap and set everyone elece with what ever they want.
I have been busy in the train room the past couple of weeks. I had a dark brown paneling in there and every time I tried to take a pic it always turned out red, So I used drywall mud and smoothed out the grooves in the paneling and applied a light texture and painted the walls a nice sky blue. After that I used cheep spray paint to paint some clouds, I think they came out pretty good if I do say so myself, Looks so much better than the paneling.
I also took out some more walls leaving me with one big room without a wall down the center. After that I got to looking at the room and decided I could enlarge the N scale quite a bit and in doing so I am able to get away with all the sharp curves, As of now I think the tightest curve will be around 28'' R, with the largest at 48''R not bad for N scale.
I have been working to hard and to long at a time and now my back is killing me. I shouldn't try to do so much at once. But NO, I have to get it all done at once, (at least that is what I think). I am taking it easy today and do nothing, I will get some train running time tonight while I consume a few cold beers.
I will try to get some pics up but I am having trouble getting them to post from Photobucket these days. They have changed things over there and now I don't know how to get around there very well.
Have another drink on me and I will see you all later. Mike
Hay, I did get one to copy here. This iss the mountain I am building, Still have a lot to do. Later. Mike
Good morning everyone. I'll have a cup of hot cocao with the marshmallows on top, please.
Mr.B.; I hope your Annie feels well shortly. Mono is not fun,having had that...kind of makes for a grumpy time...
Col.; Nutcracker sounds like it is going to be good. How many people are involved?
I was going to go out of town today to get some pix of an old feed mill down the road aways but I got a bosscall instead at 3 this morn. My wife & I are going to put up the xmas dex today instead so that I could "hope.hope" go tomorrow. This mill and the one in Woodstock, ON(Purina) are going into my convoluted mess of a RR soon...
Oooppss...forgot to mention:
Mr. B...Sorry to hear of your Annie being on the down and out! Get her healthy again ASAP so as to not miss out.
My Annie is running "full tilt" at the moment with more activities and social life that I can hardly imagine!! Tomorrow we / I will be hosting a group of 14 for a formal dinner before the formal "Snowball" dance. That should be fun...I get to cook!
We have also started this year's Nutcracker rehearsals...That should be fun too! I'm now cast as the Grandfather this go-round and Rae will be dancing a solo as the "Snow Queen". It will be another total blast...I'm sure!
Can’t say I know why…or have any reasoning, but both acrylic paints and pre-mixed sheet rock mud will mold.
I already keep my “mud” in the fridge. And, I’m starting to think I should do the same for the paint.
With that….I’ll have a tall, cold tap Joe.
Hey, I’ll buy the next too…
Hey, I forgot to welcome you to the Barn, BC. As you know by now, they do have Guinness here. Anything else you can imagine, too, in bottles or cans, or on tap. I'll have a Strumpet IPA, made only in the Strumpet brewery on my layout in Moose Bay. Thanks, Joe, and could you throw some kielbasa on the grill for the gang? Great.
For the paint to get mouldy, it must have some nutrient in it for the mold to grow on. Not sure what makes up acrylic paint, but that's one thing I've never had happen to mine. I did try doing a wash on the rocks with newer acrylics from my own collection, but it didn't make any difference. And all my tests have been on scraps, so I don't mess anything up by using an "inappropriate" additive like alcohol. Thanks for the tip, though.
Turns out, young Annie has mono, so she'll be taking it easy for a couple of weeks. She'll probably be cleared to resume athletic activity the first week of December, so she'll hopefully only miss a couple of days of Ski Team practice, and that will just be dry-land stuff anyway.
I'll have to pick up the TSP tomorrow. There's a train show this weekend that I'm not going to miss, and I can hit both the hardware store and my LHS on the way back. I'm having them put the sound in my S1 switcher. That's my contribution to "economic stimulus."
AAH! now I might get somewhere with this question. Does anyone know how acrylic paint could become mouldy? We have some Magenta that went south ...
I will have a Long Island Iced Tea, please, Joe. This has been a busy week. I have a sew until midnight tonight, but I only plan on staying until 10:00.
MrB, I was told not to use the alcohol because it does something to the lacquer. Since Joel is a chemist by trade, he would give you good advice. Another thing, I do my foam pours in the house. I only to the lacquer paint part in the garage. Let me know if you find the secret.
Hey, look who's here for lunch! I'll have a cheeseburger and a Coke - the all-American mid-day meal.
Penny's in Florida visiting her parents, so I'm Mr. Mom this week. Like a good Mom, I'm staying home today with my sick daughter. She came down with a sore throat yesterday. The quick strep test was negative, but they do 24 and 48 hour cultures too, just so they can charge the insurance company more money. I've been called to play hockey tonight, though, so no alcohol until after the game for me.
Joel did e-mail me back last night. He also thinks it's the mold release. I tried some of the "TSP Substitute" we had around the house, but it didn't do any good. I wondered why it was called that. I think the printed instructions from Bragdon mentioned TSP, with "the real stuff" after it. Now I get it. I tried adding a bit of alcohol to the wash. It helped a bit, but not much. I sprayed a scrap with Dul-Cote, too, but that didn't improve things, either.
It's cold out here, too. Right at the freezing mark, and that's going to be the high for the day. I guess I'll have to head to the hardware store for some real TSP.
Coffee, please. Too early for spirits.
MrB, It is not the age. I had a similar experience. I E-mailed Joel, and he seemed to think that there was too much Petroleum jelly remaining from the mold release. He suggested using TSP to clean it. NOT THE ENVIROMENTALLY FAKE STUFF. (Not his words) Also, there are mold releases that you can buy. ( I have not tried any.) I didn't have any trouble until I used alcohol to do a wash, and it was down hill from there.
E-mail Joel. He responds within a day usually. My computer crashed last January, and I lost the E-mail I was saving that explained how to handle it.
I am almost to the stage where I do rocks again, and I plan to try another mold release on a small part. I love the hardshell part though. It has been fool proof.
Mr. B…I’ll take you up on a Porter, it’s one of my favorites!
Yes, I got the “artificial summer” working properly and it’s again comfortable out there. As for out side…It’s in the teens, the wind is picking up and we have some snow flurries. Might be time to break out the long johns!
Evening, all. I'll have the Strumpet Porter tonight. Just for a change, and one for anyone else who speaks up, too.
Tonight I tried the first washes on the Bragdon foam. I also put the VHS tape in the old player upstairs and watched it. Things pretty much matched up with the theoretical models on the tape until it came to the wash. Instead of going on nice and even, it all beaded up in pools and dripped off. Not quite all, but clearly the surface is not accepting the paint the way it should. The Gesso (pronounced Jess-o on the tape) went on fine, and the black powder seemed to behave itself, too.
Could it be that the materials are just old? It's been 4 years since I bought this "starter kit," but I haven't opened any of the containers until now. The foam all worked just fine.
Anyway, I watched my recording of the first Extreme Trains tonight, too. (The live showing is during my weekly hockey game, so I have to watch later.) It really reminds me of Tougher in Alaska, also on the History Channel and with the same format, pretty much.
Joe, I will have a quick coffee before I head to work, thanks.
MrB, Yes, my first ones were a bit thick. The thick ones won't reheat and soften as well as the thin ones. I did start with a smaller section though, and I didn't use the frame. (I was lazy) I just set mine on a board. If you use the frame, it is not as messy. Keep us posted with photos.
Coffee, please. It's morning in America, once again, Tuesday to be more precise.
Wow, Sue, your rocks rock. Hope mine come out that well. Did you get the mold from Bragdon, too? So far, I've been happy with the Bragdon process. The foam does a great job of picking up the detail. I got the Gesso painted on Sunday night, and last night I did the black Tempera powder. I've got some scraps to play with, so I'll start the color washes on those to see how they work out.
Did your castings come out very thick? Mine ended up about an inch thick with all the backing foam. I probably used too much, but it certainly expanded a lot after I poured it. Next time, I'm going to chill the stuff down, as recommended, to give me more working time after the pour. My mold is 9x12 (it's a genuine Bragdon mold) and I found the foam was setting up before I even finished spreading it all out.
Chuck, I got a bunch of Phillips flat connectors. I thought of the D-connectors, but the pins are so small that wiring them up would be quite a challenge for my old eyes. They had all different sizes, and I got a bunch ranging from 2 to 12 connectors. The structure lights, street lights and Miller Engineering signs all run on separate busses, so that's 6 pins right there. Traffic lights are another 4 wires per unit, meaning 8 per intersection. Although it's really altogether fitting and proper to have your subways running directly beneath your city streets, it sure makes wiring everything up a lot harder.
JB, got that room warmed up yet? Upper 20's outside here this morning. Brrr.
Well, time to get to work.
'Evening, everybody. I'll take you up on that tall tap, JB. Now you know why I left Wonderful West Frostbite (Rapid City, SD) for the balmy climes of Southern Nevada.
Nice looking rock faces! Due to the countryside I'm dealing with, there are going to be quite a few of them in my future.
Sue, I love Larry's trestle. If spiking is likely to be hazardous, thick CA is one fallback position. I'm curious how the points of that switch are going to be powered. I could get away with an Anderson link masquerading as an extra piling.
Mister B, I noticed your thread about quick disconnects for lift-out sections. Have you considered the plugs and sockets intended for electronic applications? My one yard throat is connected to the fixed layout circuitry with a 25-pin D-plug and socket, needed because I have to get power to five 2-coil switch machines, have connections for switch routing lamps (on the zone panel) and have to get frog power from power-routing switches to the solidly-anchored staging yard. I didn't try to splice to the microscopic wires of a flat cable. Instead I bought un-cabled connectors. 22 gauge communications wire solders in nicely, thank you - and that's heavy enough in the rather short lengths used. Of course, 25 conductors may be overkill (unless the Heartbreak Hotel has individual room lights.) There are similar connectors with fewer pins at my favorite internet electronics bargain site - as well as some with more.
The Fukuoka Bassho is in full swing, so I'm going to make some Zzz's before it comes on live at 11 PM. Fukuoka sure looks a lot different now than it did when I was living in the area 50 years ago...
Have a good one. See ya...
Hey, Joe. Please make me an Irish Coffee. I am going to kick back are relax this evening.
MrB, I suspect that we are talking about the same thing. I believe that the Black tempera is to fill in the white spots. Let me know how that goes. Don't use alcohol washes because it reacts with the lacquer. The next rocks, I plan to try an earth tone lacquer. I have only done white because the directions call for white.
By the time you get vegetation in the cracks it doesn't show much. The white shows more in photos than when you are looking. The other thing could be not getting the petroleum jelly off. Joel had me try TSP (the real stuff).
JB, Larry thanks you. He has been so careful with it. I hope that when he gets to the spikes, that it doesn't break.
I did some ground goop on one side of the stream. Most of the rocks I get out of the driveway.
Later, Sue
I was just following orders the first time around. He said to build a wood frame; I built a wood frame. He said to use rubber bands and clothespins; I used rubber bands and clothespins. He said to use white lacquer; I used white lacquer. If I wasn't so paranoid about getting this right, and if I'd thought it mattered, I guess I would have gone with an earth tone or maybe gray, too. So, we'll see how this comes out. Did you do any of yours with white, and do you see any spots where the painting didn't cover it? I know that happens with Hydrocal castings - I always go back later and touch up the white spots with a little acrylic once its on the layout. It takes months before I get them all.
Right now, I've got all the pieces down in the basement. I put that Gesso stuff on, and I'm going to let it dry thoroughly over night, since it's bedtime now anyway. I thought it was interesting that the instructions said that cheap Gesso is just as good as the expensive stuff - your Gesso is as good as mine, in other words. It really will be a whole lot easier to do this down in the basement on a bench. Trying to wash off the excess black Tempera powder with a wet sponge in the middle of my layout, with all the drippings ending up going through the cracks on to the carpet? No, I don't think I want to even try that.
MrB, What color of lacquer paint did you use for the mold release? That will make a difference when it comes time to paint the rocks. I decided to use earth tones because the white sometimes shows in photos. Why don't you E-mail Joel and see if he will trade the VHS for a DVD?