Right now the yard lead is the mainline, because the mainline won't be running at the ops session. Tyler, did you connect the main to the switch yet, or are they still separated. Also, you need to start on the scenery I gave you!
Alex
Yes, that's correct. The meets in WRJ will happen on A/D 1 and A/D 2.
No, I haven't connected those up yet. Just a few pieces of flextrack will do it, I haven't had the time to work on it yet though. And yes, I do need to work on scenery...
Here's a shot of my freshly painted (thanks, Alex!) GP18 #9423 leading local 42T westbound over the pass, complete with dubbed-in sounds as usual. Yes, Vincent, that is the same transfer caboose you're thinking of!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15mqqIeu2Ng
Enjoy!
Looks good, and good to see that the GP-18 (was IC) and Caboose (made entirely out of scraps, save for the couplers and coupler boxes) are getting some work done on your layout.
BTW, did you put the screens back on the grilles behind the cab? Doesn't look like they are on in that video.
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
If anywhere, they'd be in the locomotive box... But when I packaged up the locos to give to Alex, they weren't there... I wonder where I put that little baggie with all the small parts!
They were there when you got it, right?
Anyways, my C30-7, 2 RDCs, Gp35, and 4 85' flats should be here in a few days. Pics when they arrive. Still no clue what to do with the RDCs.
They're Athearn... They are too short, and fall short dimensionwise. If you really want RDC's buy the 20$ Proto ones from trainworld.
I didn't want the RDCs, but they were included with the 4 85' flats. For what I paid for the lot, the RDCs were pretty much free. Here's the link of it:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=320365916482
I'll probably just throw them back on ebay, using the "rare," vintage," and "collectible" in the listing.
I don't really want RDCs, since Amtrack didn't have a lot of them in use on BN trackage. BN did have RDCs (they were the NPs), but they never did anything with them.
Page 5 guys? Come on!
I finished 7 pairs of feeders in the Lebanon yard last night, but I doubt anyone wants to see photos of them... Feeders aren't the most interesting subject matter out there!
I also am placing the layout more specifically, elimanating the freelanced towns and replacing them with prototype towns. From west to east: WRJ is now Lebanon, NH, New Poland is now Mascoma, the pass now follows a prototype alignment along Mascoma Lake (perfectly prototypical with the curve, and almost to scale even!), Dooley is now Enfield, Stude is now West Canaan, and West Formanek is now Canaan.
I am taking some liberty with the town arrangements, as the distances between them are shortened, and most of the towns aren't arranged like the real ones. I'm justifying though, since the prototype towns basically stopped growing back in the 60s/70s when the rail service started declining.
West Formanek/Canaan is very close to the prototype town however. Look at this map and (if you're not already on top of it) find the Northern Rail Trail on the southern end of the town. Then find Williams Park and look across Depot Street. Look! It's Delery Pulpwood!
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=canaan+nh&sll=43.645338,-72.012795&sspn=0.006739,0.012671&ie=UTF8&ll=43.645563,-72.012516&spn=0.006739,0.012671&t=h&z=17&iwloc=A
Yesterday when I got back from work, there was a box at my door. In it was the mixed lot of 4 85 foot flats and 2 RDCs arrived. The RDC are really diry and rusty, so later on this week I'm going to bead-blast them. The RDCs are metal, so it won't be like those Kato C425s... They are undecorated, but after I beadblast them, I'll paint them silver then throw them on epay.
Out the the 4 flats, a RI blue, a TTX brown, and a yellow and a black WP. The flats are in good shape. A few broken stirrups on them, but most were repairable; the ones on the black WP one were missing so I bent some out of staples (staples are good for making stirrups since they are flat like the protoypes). They didn't have the container shoes and a few were missing bridge plates and one missing trailer hitch. I also paln to buy one set of the PPW/ALine weights for these; then use clay to make casts of those weights so I won't have to cough up 14 bucks a car.
According to UPS, my Athearn RTR Gp35 should be here today!! I think I got a pretty good deal at 35 bucks. Still no word on my BLI C30-7 with QSI sound from Internet Hobbies that I ordered a week ago. I put UPS 3-day shipping on it, so it should be here by now. Hopefully it comes today.
TrainManTy West Formanek/Canaan is very close to the prototype town however. Look at this map and (if you're not already on top of it) find the Northern Rail Trail on the southern end of the town. Then find Williams Park and look across Depot Street. Look! It's Delery Pulpwood! http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=canaan+nh&sll=43.645338,-72.012795&sspn=0.006739,0.012671&ie=UTF8&ll=43.645563,-72.012516&spn=0.006739,0.012671&t=h&z=17&iwloc=A
That's pretty cool Ty!
Speaking of Canaan, look what happened there in 1907! I guess not much has changed in 90 years...
http://www.gendisasters.com/data1/nh/trains/canaan-trainwreck1907.htm
Well, I'm planning the other side of my 4x8 (just sketchign it really, b/c the RTS plan wouldn't bend like I wanted it to). THe side which was going to be a mountain pass will now appear to be a rail line oparreling a river. THe other side will most likely have a fertilizer plant (only the area where fertilizer is shipped out will be modeled (ACF centerflow hoppers etc.), and then probably a paper mill or some other large industry. I won't know for sure until I have the track layed down and such. I've also figured out how to create a yard that has an A/D on each side (will tell more abt. that this summer when I have time to create a good SCRail history).
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
Woof... P2k Undec Geeps are a female dog... My hands are glue covered after adding 3 dozen grab irons, MU hoses, handrails, grills and whatnot to two GP18s. From now on I don't care... No more P2k Undecs... I'll just have to strip paint off pre assembled models... Plastic Grabs fly far.
BAH
Guilford Guy Woof... P2k Undec Geeps are a female dog... My hands are glue covered after adding 3 dozen grab irons, MU hoses, handrails, grills and whatnot to two GP18s. From now on I don't care... No more P2k Undecs... I'll just have to strip paint off pre assembled models... Plastic Grabs fly far. BAH
Yea from what you said Alex on the phone, those Geep seemed like a major female dog!
Tyler, that's neat that you could match your towns to proto-typical towns.
My Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JR7582 My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcfan/
Alex, so are P2K GP7s! I just finished adding jumpers between the trucks of 8569, and now I need to rip out all the wiring to reduce how many of bulky joints between wires and all that stuff so I can get the shell to fit. Also, the frame is bent (don't worry, I didn't do that! It was already like that!) and I destroyed the coupler cut bar and knocked off the horn and air hoses while trying to add the shell and coupler boxes... Which don't fit, by the way.
I HATE HARD-WIRING DECODERS!
WCfanGuilford Guy Woof... P2k Undec Geeps are a female dog... My hands are glue covered after adding 3 dozen grab irons, MU hoses, handrails, grills and whatnot to two GP18s. From now on I don't care... No more P2k Undecs... I'll just have to strip paint off pre assembled models... Plastic Grabs fly far. BAH Yea from what you said Alex on the phone, those Geep seemed like a major female dog! Tyler, that's neat that you could match your towns to proto-typical towns.
Does it make any sense to glue the hoods to the cab to the sill on an UNDECORATED model... I had to tear into it to disassemble it because all my models are done with the cab painted separately. It makes no sense. Now I shall go fret about finding paint for the WRS units before Saturday.
Alex: Obviously the WRS units would be best if painted by Saturday, but if not we can run with masking tape reporting marks and/or with the other four operable units leading (two from another operator). Then you can paint them after the session and deliver them a week or two later. Don't kill yourself...
Thing is they've already been prepped for painting. I'm gonna take the Orange line to Malden today with a friend and go to Charles Ro, because I think they have Soo Line Red, and Engine Black.
Alex, if you're having trouble getting the mounting pegs in the holes, try enlargeing the holes just a little bit with a pin vise and a bit. I've had to do this a few times when installing the details on my Atlas SD24s (dunno why atlas engines aren't fully assembled) or replacing handrails on some of my other engines.
Tyler, I though it was the C&O Geep that wasn't working right, not 8569. P2Ks are sometimes a pain to get the shell on (almost all of them are). I have a few tips for them that's made mine a lot easier to put on:1. I've found than sometimes a little bit of filling here and there usually helps a lot. On the inside of the shell and the weight, look for any burs or rough spots and file them smooth.2. Run any sort of wiring through the channels in the frame, and secure them with tape (I use electrical tape, but if you have Krepton tape that'd work better).3. When putting the shell on, sometimes it helps to lift up gently on the pilots.4. Don't force the shell on, or you'll end up bending the walways (or breaking details) on the ends of the units. If it don't fit, look to see what's causing it.
A tip keeping the soldering joints fairly smooth is to find some way to line up the ends of the 2 wires so they overlap at a 180 degree angle (okay, that's kind of hard to explain) when soldering them. If you end up with any burs, find something to cut them off with (I use a set of flush-cuting pliers) of file them down. Also use heat-shring tubing. The first engine I applied these pratices to was that Kodachrome GP30.
Anyways, my GP35 arrived yesterday when I was off at college.
It's a decent looking engine (correct horn location for ex-GN units) and runs pretty well (It's a tad noisy, but I've only and it about 9 feet or so which helped a bit from when I first started it). Not a bad deal at 35 bucks. I do want to find lightbulbs like the type that are in it since they do put out a good bit of light and I have a few other Athearn engines that would benefit from having those instead of a LED behind a crappy lense (mainly in my SW1500s).
I think some of my units are starting to get a bit arthritic in the joints since I haven't ran them in several months. Doesn't help that both of my parents decided that I'm not allowed to have a layout of any sort (loop of E-Z track included) anywhere in the house. I probaly should make a test track on a shelf or start leasing.
Still no sign of my C30-7, I'll be sending them an e-mail today to see what's up.
I put 8569's shell on the C&O geep's frame, since 8569's frame is completely dissasembled and without a decoder. I'll reassemble it sometime in the future once the shell is painted and I get a decoder for it.
And the frame is a bit bent, so on that unit it always takes a bit of force to fit the shell on. The problem is that the taped solder joints take up so much room inside the shell. If they weren't so tall, the shell would go on fine.
Wouldn't the USRA ban a loco if it's frame was bent?
Is the C&O geep is from the older run where the shell is held on by clips like the GP18's instead of screws? Does the PRR geep's shell bow up near the middle when on the C&O frame? If both are the case, the problem is that the post for the screws on the PRR geep is hitting the frame, since the C&O geeps frame won't have a hole for it. If not, take it apart and bend the frame back.
I sent internet hobbies an e-mail regarding the C30-7. Almost immediately, I got a UPS tracking information e-mail. So it should be here this weekend. Now to find some SD40-2s.
Its not that they won't fit... It just took awhile to install all the parts. Disassembling it was much more difficult...
Anyways, the orange line was completely screwed up with ATO problems, and after we made it one stop in 12 minutes, we got off and abandoned the efforts. We walked around "Slummerville" looking at MBTA work equipment and the Sperry Doodlebug. After half an hour I found a grassy slope up to the MBTA's lowell line, and when I get to the top, Guilford's idling with a dozen cars. We then walked a block Northwards to a large iron truss bridge over the tracks, and found GP40 319 sitting there with a dozing crew. After catching a few commuter trains we gave up the chase (he had to be home by 7, and it was quarter of 6) and walked to MBTA's greenline station where he caught a trolley home, and I a bus.
Tomorrow I'm going to try another attempt on Charles Ro, this time via Bus.
I got lucky. Upon arriving at home there was the Walthers Box on the doorstep. After I shower (It is 88ยบ) I'll start in on the 4 units.
29oC or 84oF! Pretty warm for Spring.
That's good! I had gone as far to develop an operating plan with just two WRS units plus two that an operator is bringing! One loco per each manifest (there are two), one unit as helper for helping under-powered trains over the pass, and 9423 works both the yard job and local.
Hopefully all four will be done for Saturday...
All 4 are painted and assembled. Tomorrow I'll do the decalling. I've been working on the units for the past 4 hours- yuck.
FINALLY! progress! although no pictures yet, I have layed track on the 4 "dioramas" that will make up my modular layout. I have sodlered two of them, and planning to solder a third tonight. Also, I will hopefully get a boxcar back into service (been down because i ran out of semi-gloss halfway through spraying it), and also might get a second layer of powder down on my plastic pellet hoppers. Pictures this weekend, hopefully!
Sorry about that, Alex... I feel guilty now... Good news about the op. session though! 9:36 into Littleton will work (we'll figure out the return trip when you're here, making sure to use the Saturday schedule, and I've got two other operators coming! Should be a good session!