WPF: 9/12-9/14

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Great stuff so far, and it is still daytime on Friday.

Lee's lcomotives and Robby's tank car look very real. Grampy's wildlife adds a lot to a nice layout. Jeff's paint shop has been very productive.

Terry showed how to cover a layout if a hurricane is approaching. I hope terry will be safe himself.   

[howmus]

Nice start to the weekend folks!  C & O Fan and all of you in harm's way, hope you make it through the storm with no damage!

Grampy I have several of the same detail figures on my layout.  One question, what are the deer and the snake?  I have not been able to acquire them and need some.  After all the Southern tier of NY and the Northern Tier of PA look a lot the same.   When I taught in Wavery, NY years ago, we had a kid who brought in his new pet snake that he had caught up in the Wavery Glen to school.  Turned out to be a baby Cooperhead............  Very tame and friendly.... he was set loose out in the country!

Ken L. wrote, "Lee, that's quite a fleet of WM locos you're amassing!  I especially like the hammerhead."  The RS-3 Hammerhead is my favoite diseasal.  I get to play with this one though: Lehigh Valley #211

[Blue Flamer]

C&O Fan.

Don't forget to pull ALL your electric plugs from the sockets. It also may be a good idea to shut off the MAIN switch for the house in the main Hydro (Electric) panel when the winds from IKE start to pick up. It may mean that you will have to reset all those stupid flashing timers, but if you don't do it and you get hit with a power surge you will probably still have to reset the flashing lights. The only difference is, you probably will have to replace all your blown out electronic equipment BEFORE you do the resets.

Good luck to all of you who may be in the path or fringes of IKE.

Blue Flamer. 

[Grampys Trains]

Hi all: Tom, your layout is looking good, Robby, great job on that tank car, Jeffrey, you've really been busy, Lee, you've got quite a stable of locos there, and Terry and all the people in the path of the hurricane, my thoughts and prayers are with all of you. Here's some shots of Pennsylvania wild life.

Black bears.

White tail deer.

Raccoons, doing what they do best, scattering garbage.

A large copperhead heading for cover.

 

[CSX_road_slug]

http://www.wmrywesternlines.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/Roster_Shots_022.jpg

http://www.wmrywesternlines.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/GP723.jpg

http://www.wmrywesternlines.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/Web_761.jpg

http://www.wmrywesternlines.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/Geepers_006.jpg

http://www.wmrywesternlines.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/Hammer_Time_009.jpg

http://www.wmrywesternlines.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/SD35_7434.JPG

http://www.wmrywesternlines.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/Brass_036.jpg

...   I enjoy doing these modifications.  They usually don't take long, and the results are always satisfying.

Lee, that's quite a fleet of WM locos you're amassing!  I especially like the hammerhead. 

[lvanhen]

Tom, is that a 4x8?  Good, I'm not alone in this size!!

After the road is tacked down, I'll fill in the voids of the cork with thin layers of vinyl spackle; sanding between layers when dry.  Once the road is smooth and the voids filled, it will be painted Grimy Black and weathered.

PLEASE DON'T SAND IT!!!!  After it dries, use a moist sponge to smooth it over - sanding spackle is guaranteed to make a mess anywhere it is done - and on a layout!!!!

Looks like a great start!

[wm3798]

How about a run down of some locomotives I've modified to better represent Western Maryland's practices...

GP-9 40 was the first chopnose geep I did.  It rides a Life Like GP-20 drive, and borrows a GP-20 windshield (to get the wiper detail.)

GP-7 23 was the second chopnose geep I attempted.  It rides on a Life Like GP-20 drive that's modified for DCC, and a nose mounted headlight. 

I modified the pilot and walkways of this Bachmann Spectrum Consolidation to better represent a WM H-7b.  I removed the ladders and cow catcher, and added the tie rods, air reservoir under the smoke box, and the plow pilot, as well as a working MT coupler.

I now stable a half dozen RS-3's, all but one are from the earlier Atlas/Kato run, one is the recent Atlas Classic release.  I've added corner mounted number boards and spark arrestor stack extensions to all of them now, and am adding sun shades and new horns as they become available.

On 193, I added the high short hood by combining parts from a second shell.  The WM's "hammer heads" were equipped with dynamic brakes and steam generators, requiring the extra space.

My SD35 fleet has been modified with the addition of plows, sunshades, and the flange oiler cabinet behind the cab on the fireman's side.  I used a battery box from a spare shell turned on it's side to represent the flange oiler.

GP-9 25 is my latest chopnose, on which I used an etched brass cab face I had made to get the dual windshield.  25, (later Chessie 6400) was the first GP9 chopped by the Hagerstown shop, and was the only one to receive the dual windshields.  Other add ons include sunshades and a 5 chime horn.

I enjoy doing these modifications.  They usually don't take long, and the results are always satisfying.

Lee

[jeffrey-wimberly]

This last week has been a busy one for me. I had several projects to work on. The first of these was get a Bachmann GP40 body onto an Athearn GP60 frame. While the frame required very little modification the Bachmann body needed quite a bit of surgery. For some reason known only to them, Bachmann had the couplers mounted to the body instead of the frame. The mounting pads for these couplers had to be carefully removed. The mounting tabs that the screws that held the body to the frame also had to be removed. After all this was done it was a simple matter to spread the sides of the body slightly so that it would hold onto the frame through tension. First photo shows how it looked after the body was fitted, second photo shows the unit after painting and light weathering.

 

The next project was to rebuild some old Bachmann hoppers. These were made for Talgo trucks with truck mounted couplers. I installed new trucks and added body mounted Kadee #5 couplers.

 

The easiest project was rebuilding an old Mehano caboose. All I had was the caboose body with a useless frame. I pitched the frame (it's now buried under a bunch of plaster) and installed an Athearn frame and a pair of roller bearing trucks with nickel-silver wheels and body mounted Kadee couplers.

After assembly

And after a run through the paint shop.

 

There were also two gondolas to rebuild. These received Talgo trucks with Kadee couplers.

 

And lastly, pouring the plaster for the new section. It'll look much better when the scenery goes in.

 

That's it for this week.

[C&O Fan]

I spent the morning covering the layout with plastic bags

almost done

Hope Hurricane Ike goes the other way !

  

 

[Robby P.]

Tom I like the look of it.  I also like the idea of the road.  Peel and stick.  Very nice!!!

Heres my latest car.  Its a little tanker, which still has alittle blue left.

 

[tstage]

I've been busy the past few weeks rewiring my layout.  Although the mainline is technically finished, a few things have to wait until I tack down the track to the roadbed.

Here's a couple of shots of some preliminary roadwork I did a few days ago.  The road is 1/16" thick cork sheeting:

Click picture(s) to enlarge

The cork is manufactured by Contact so it already has the advesive on the back: Just cut to size, peel, and press into place.  It cuts very easily with either a sharp #11 X-acto blade or a pair of scissors.

After the road is tacked down, I'll fill in the voids of the cork with thin layers of vinyl spackle; lightly sanding (and vacuuming) between layers when dry.  Once the road is smooth and the voids filled, it will be painted Grimy Black and weathered.

Along with wiring and roadwork, I've also been working on trackwork.  Here's a picture of a superelevated section along my mainline:

Click picture to enlarge

Although you really can't see it very well, the superelevation is achieved using increasing/decreasing thicknesses of dimensional styrene (1 x 8 and 2 x 8, to be specific) underneath the outer rail tie so that the track leans inward slightly.  The plus to the styrene is that it adheres really well to the plastic ties with Liquid adhesive.

I'm hoping to finish laying down my mainline trackwork this weekend.  I'm using DAP Latex caulk to tack the track in place.  I've been really pleased with the results so far.  It has worked very well on my roadbed.

Tom