Evening,
Todd, I see you only have one tunnel portal there. I just happen to have two or three sitting in my train room and they are in my way. Want them? Looks like some good progress on the layout!Robby, nice steel loads, what are they made of? Have you seen the card stock steel coil loads? I think it was the November MRR that had step by step instructions.Chris, there are crowning pieces to place under the roads if you wish.Todd, you know that was last year’s album. I have a 2008, 2009, and now a 2010 construction album. I start an area then switch to another area until another piece or part comes available or comes within budget. So things get tweaked and updated randomly.Garry, some of my concrete roads I use the Elmer’s Styrofoam board. You can cut expansion joints as needed and the Styrofoam is covered in paper so it takes paint well. Also if your layout is HO the Styrofoam board is code 100 rail height.Jeff, maybe you can re-paint that trolley for a more local flavor? I went shopping today: I bought hanging lights and shades for the roundhouse interior, epoxy mold making compound, two 1953 White cab over semi’s a red and a green one but yes their make is White, some roundhouse personnel, some new trees from MRC (100 for $8), couple jars of paint, another Chooch flat car load. Believe it or not I didn’t buy ANY ROLLING STOCK. I’m holding out until I can finish the 15 kits sitting on the work bench.
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
Grilled chicken, please.
***Garry, neat layout pics. Put one up on our desktop. Haven't had time to try the cardboard road (with my own twist on it) just yet.
***Ulrich, enjoyed the steam train vids. That little loco is an interesting looking cridder.
***Todd, you will have some kind of arm access to the tunnels, yes? You're making good progress there.
Time to do evening critter rounds. Later.... Rob
LSWrrI bought a clock this morning for the train room and it didn’t work, so I took it back; while I was standing in line to exchange the clock a large woman was returning a shovel. I asked the clerk what was wrong and she said the woman’s husband sent her to get a shovel and she accidently bought a left handed shovel and her husband made her take it back and exchange it for a right handed shovel.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Lee- I wonder if he tolde her to stop off on the way back and pick up some turn signal fluid? ROFL!!!
Reminds me of the time I sent an old girlfriend of mine back to the dealership to get her catalytic converter replaced because it was separated inside and rattled. (warranty don't you know) anyway, I told her it was her muffler bearings and it was covered under warranty. Hoo boy, it was kinda difficult a couple months later to convince her there was such as thing as a dry shock. ROFL..... again.
uh oh, what'd I roll in.
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.
Dr Pepper please. Got some things accomplished today. Now for a nap.
Chris- Went to the bridge and I'll have to admit, it seemed taller and steeper in memory than when I look at it now. The pictures make it look shorter but it's still not as tall as I recall. (hm, rhymes). Couldn't get a full on side shot because the overgrowth would have me standing down a ways and in the middle of the tracks. A photo position that I have seen taking some heat and I do believe, removed because of the illegal and safety implications. So, I opted not to even take one. Anyway, here it is.
This photo shows the end with the stairs. To keep bicyclers and sledders etc from sliding right out onto highway 54 I suppose. I am standing on the shoulder of the highway. (no traffic. I checked) EDIT I forgot to mention at this point the railway is actually about 15 feet below the level of the ground.
Robby- Some stations here were calling for 5-7 inches tomorrow, but others are calling for rain.
Here is what I have accomplished so far.
I am test fitting the town of Gold Creek. The road up to the post office General/store/bar and soon to be Dance Hall to the right, will rise and curve up to the left of the gas station. Which, by the way, I'm not sure will remain there. I'm wanting it to. We'll see. To this side of the train station will be the wooden bridge that will lead into the tourist trap town that will occupy the round, as yet not built, end of the peninsula. The upper track will emerge from the tunnel on the grade about halfway down the row of buildings( Merchants Row1) and will enter the tunnel on the wall side of the two tracks on the section against the wall. The lower track will enter another tunnel on the aisle side of the section against the wall and will exit where you see the portal onto a bridge over a somewhat shallow ravine. Then continue around the end of the peninsula, section 3 and onto section 4.
All for right now. Will have to see what tomorrow brings. It's still early, there may be more goes on tonight, but this boys back and knees say "we'll see"
Afternoon, Janie - glad to see a familiar (human) face behind the counter! I'l have a BLT sandwich, some chili-covered fries, and a RBF please, UTBN-HH (un-touched-by-non-human-hands). Thanks!
I've decided - in honor of that big circle up in the sky today, to use its color (yellow) in my post. It is actually 60 F (16 C) in Cape G. this afternoon, fer cryin' out-loud! YAY!!! (Why are those critters scurrying away from me?...)
Chris, yeah, I'd say that your smaller town up there might be risking a bunch, hoping that nothing major (or even sorta-medium-big) comes up in the way of expenses for 20 years. Heck, another nasty winter with lots o-sn*w and ice could overrun them on their salt/chemicals/sand part of the budget! But what the hey, it's their choice...
Bama - 13 couples for your small group? That's a bit of a crowd in the house, I would expect. (Unless the couples are about the size of a possum couple)
Flip, up here, it's the moccasins and the copperheads I worry about. By the way, did you decide on the BB RR because that's what's left after the piranha get done with the stream-waders?
Nah, Todd - those responses just seem funny because you took a (short) nap in the meantime (kinda like Duke does sometimes...)
hcc25rl Elliot - I don't get it.
Sam, I think I kinda, sorta, maybe understood that... Oh, and IIRC = If I Recall Correctly... (I think...)
Lee, your idea on the tattoo sounds like good sense to this parent, also! And are you trying to start the MRR Wars of 2010 there? And Sam made a good point there, about how WHAT the tattoo looks like (as well as where it's put) can make a big difference.
Jeff, cute name for the spider. I'd agree with the others - that price sounds better than a 1 oz. bottle price (X 7).
Garry, I like your road, and it looks like it's holding up well. What kind of construction adhesive did you use to hold it down?
Chuck, it sounds like you're starting to make some progress on the layout there. Are you moving your layout upstairs, or 'just' everything? Best wishes on it, either way.
Keith, it sounds like you're getting the hang of things on the roads & streets - just fiddle around with them until you like what you see! Of course, using the paper drawings of the arrangements helps, too.
Calif.Tom - sorry to hear of your latest glitch with that beauty, and hope CH gets her feeling up to her better self soon!
Robby - thanks for posting the pics of your steel loads (saved 'em) - did you make these with the 'dark gray' styrene as your starting point, or what'd you spray them for color?
Joe, sorry to hear about your 'injury' (cringed when I read your post), but hopefully the half-day's nap has you feeling more like your old self!
Had plans to get dinner with my buddy Mark here, but they have fallen through (beginning to wonder if he's mad with me about something...), so plan B will be to treat myself to dinner out (after I check what H-L has that I want to use my 40 percent off coupon on). I also would like to get more of my rolling stock and engines entered into my MRR inventory I set up, including photos, reporting marks, manufacturer #'s, etc.
After three on-call nights wihout any pages, I got called out yesterday evening to our outlying county, and on the way out there, I think I almost made a (relative of the Diner's) possum into pancake fixin's... Thought when I saw Bre'r Possum that he/she was a goner. Luckily for us both, I saw him/her start to turn around and I did NOT hear or feel any 'disturbance in the Force...' as I passed overhead. Didn't see the possum on my return trip anywhere, so guess he/she was back home, changing out britches... Even with THAT trip and another one to local ER after that, I was still back home in bed by midnight (when some Diners are still up planning their layout stuff ).
About time for me to head on out - H-L awaits (as does dinner after that)! Janie, if you get a hankering to, uh, 'clean house', I did notice that the broom is sitting in that closet off of the kitchen...
Blessings and a good evening's rest for ya,
Jim in Cape Girardeau
Afternoon all. Janie, I'll take a RBF, thanks.
Feel like I haven't been in here in years.
Had a late game yesterday, at 9:30, so I didn't get a chance to get in. We lost 5-2. Our last game is Monday night.I thought I got a concussion yesterday, but I think I'm fine. I can't even tell which hit it would have been, cause I got hit a lot. That, and my stomach was kinda wierd since the first period. Got a puck in a place where you don't want to get one, and HARD. Until you get hit, you don't understand why we wear those things! Thank god for those!Anyways, so yeah, for the entire 3rd period, I felt awful, almost like I was gonna puke, so my coach said just to go home, not even to go back on the bus. But after 12 hours of sleep (no exaggeration at all) last night, I feel great!
Got all the regular homework done, so I'm gonna have tons of time to finish my history paper, work on my chem/algebra one, and work on my english project. I have a lot to do!
I have to go out soon, so I probably won't get to much catching up between now and then, but I should have time later.
My Model Railroad: Tri State RailMy Photos on Flickr: FlickrMy Videos on Youtube: YoutubeMy Photos on RRPA: RR Picture Archives
Packers#1 I got pulled right before the first half ended (probably for the play right before it) and sat out the whole second half. not sure why,
Whadjado? Knock somebody in the scrum??? Actually though, your coach should tell you why. IF you did something wrong/illegal (is THAT even possible in rugby?) as a COACH he should be telling you so you can continue to improve. My half-a-cent...
Good afternoon... I see the Raccoon is still absent, and the Fox still seems quite...pleased. Hmmmmmm.
Thanks to Loving Wife doing a little investigating at the CR library yesterday, I've been able to do a lot of research for the future layout. They used to have an extensive collection of old phone directorys and city directories. Then came the flood of 2008 which completely wiped-out the place...and most of the collection. But, they had all the directories micro-filmed! Some genius then made .pdf files of every page... Man, I wonder what THAT cost the taxpayers of Cedar Rapids... Anyhow, I finally know definitively the names of the cement plants I'll be sending hoppers to (via the CCP), and I know exactly what brands of beer Paul Jerabek Wholsale Distribution carried. I thought he had all the...less than premium brands...but nope, another guy had the even cheaper stuff!
Jerabek will receive RBL boxcar loads of: Old Millwaukee/Old Millwaukee Light, Strohs/Strohs Light, Schaefer/Schaefer Light, SCHLITZ, and SCHLITZ Malt Liquor. I haven't figured out how he's getting his Heineken/Heineken Dark, Amstel Light, Molson Golden, Guiness Stout (YUM!), Harp, and Bass Ale. I'm suspecting those imports will arrive via truck-borne containers.
In a way, this is good news...I thought I'd be "needing" a few of the Coors boxcars (hard to find resin kit or new stuff from...ExactRail? don't know). BUT, it was another distributor elsewhere in the city who had the Colorado Kool-Aid....so, it's not an issue! I already knew who had the Miller Products (Fleck's) and the Budweiser stable of liquids (or is THAT "stable liquids?) (Dale Lee Dist.).
Yay!
I kinda wanted the guy to also have Old Style, Grain Belt, etc.; and he might yet in MY version of the universe... I still need to figure out how he (Jerabek) got his carloads of beer though. The building is now a manufacturing place for some kind of "organic" health/beauty products. There is no rail spur, and in several trips by the place, I've never seen anything suggesting a loading door/dock. But, I knew a guy who swore by it.
Just another of the many things I never took a picture of...but should've!
Another flaw in the slaw: Rerun shredded ALL of the North Yard switch lists THAT woulda shown cars for Jerabek... Sometimes, it's a wonder he survived his puppy days...
Fortunately, as King of my universe, I can add a spur/dock/door as I see fit, and assign what RBLs I want.
'Tis GOOD to be the King, right TODD?
I also found a company who might get occassional rail shipments of construction equipment. If he's where I think he is (Map Quest will tell me for sure), then he'd be close enough to the former MILW tracks the CCP operated to service National Oats. The line also served Iowa Manufacturing (Cedarapids, Inc.), builder of rock crushers and asphalt pavers. In MY world, AND if I can find HO scale crushers/pavers, Iowa Man. may get served too... Or not. They weren't rail-served (though the spurs were still all in-place) while I was in high school ('83-'87), and my era is '87-'93...so might not even worry about it. THAT's the area where I....uh...."found" the derail in my RR junk collection.
Welp, time to go get decentized enough to be out and about amongst polite society, and take professional photojournalist photographs of daddies dancing with daughters... Plus, I figure I've bored you-all enough for awhile!
Chris
***EDIT: ROBBY P: Thanks! Also, those loads look good....really good
The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!
Good afternoon. The snow is finally melting!!
Made it to a LHS and got a few cars. Two to sell, and one for me. I also picked up some plastic to make some steel loads. Hopefully those will sell also.
Todd......I hope its all rain. So far thats what they are calling for.
Chris.......I got your letter. I will get them packed up tomorrow.
Here's a few pictures of the loads. Hopefully I can get some pictures of the cars later next week. *The bands aren't that big, just the zoom in makes them look like it.*
"Rust, whats not to love?"
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
Good afternoon.... Well, hello Mr. Fox, ahhhhhh, where did Mr/Mrs/Ms/Mzzzzzzzzz Raccoon go? Oh, It's got the day off huh? OK...Gee Mr. Fox, you sure seem to have a big smile on your face about THAT... Hey, is THAT 'coon fur I see stuck between your teeth? No? Well..........if you say so. Uh, I'll take a double cheeseburger basket with fries and a Coke, please 'n thank-you...yup, at the RC.
ULRICH: Hey! Good to see you Pally! As for the "Beer Can Chicken" photo, THAT was the "signature dish" for a little place called Grillers. They only cooked up about a dozen or so per day, by advanced reservation. This particular one was, welp, "stuffed and mounted" as a display. I suspect they spray-bombed it with some kind of lacquer finish/shellac... I about fell out of my chair laughing though at Petra's reaction: "Men!" Too funny!
LEE: Great stuff! Your pics always lead to great appreciation of your talent, and deep-seated envy!!!! I hope someday to have a layout at least half THAT good! As for the roads, am I seeing things or did Walthers include the "crown" to the roadway surface???
BARRY: Yup. "Extra $$ = unanticipated repair/replacement." Virtually garunteed, at least in the Umscheid household!!!!!! Good luck with whatever it was THAT went ka-bloooeeeee on ya.
TODD: Nice suit you've got on today...is THAT a sash you're wearing to indicate your "King of Toddland" status? A top-hat would really add to your attire. I think I've got THAT bridge of yours pictured in my mind...the one I posted was the only one I've got on film...well film and in pixels now. Lemme guess, the approaches are extremely steep, the bridge unbelievably narrow, and during your time at/near/on the bridge...you hope God is smiling favorably upon you today. I can think of a dozen of those...and I'm gonna THAT I never got pics of them.
GARRY: THANKS for the "how-to" on the cardboard roads. Photo Set No. 2 is going to utilize your techniques...uh, when I get around to tearing apart Photo Set No. 1 (salvage of stuff), and get around to replacing it with Photo Set No. 2, THAT-is. You've sure got a handle on forced perspective...looks great in the photos! Speaking of...your WPF shots this week...fantastic!
I too have been wondering about PC....anybody heard from him?
JEFF: Sounds like quite the haul...looking forward to pics of what you come up with on some of those cars. I remember seeing the Gulf tank car. I never saw it on a layout, but I sure remember seeing it on a shelf at the Toy Fair in the Lindale Plaza in Cedar Rapids.
Toy Fair had a great (well to a kid) selection of HO stuff (Tyco, AHM, might've had some Athearn too), Lionel stuff (what I had at the time), as well as a goldmine of MRC Tamiya 1/35th scale Military Miniatures and Testors 1/35th stuff. Toy Fair went away about the time the "Plaza" became the "Mall."
Welp, our "1-2 inches" of s**w caused all manner of chaos and carnage on the roads...again. I just don't understand it. It USED to be, Iowans could drive in durn-near anything...now, the least little bit of s**w and there are so many cars in the ditch, the State Patrol has to issue a "tow ban." I lost track of how many rollover accidents were paged-out last night in Linn and Johnson counties. There was even a head-on on Interstate 380 just south of North Liberty...someone lost it, went across the median, and biffed somebody in the other lanes. Thankfully, the striking vehicle was slowed in the median, and the biffed car was already going slow... I'm NOT into conspiracy therories...but I gotta wonder sometimes, IF someone isn't messing with the food/water supply to make us dumber and dumber???? It just boggles the mind THAT in 20 years, the number of accidents in "winter driving conditions" would go up so darn much! 20 years ago, I braved blizzards to shoot car accidents as a freelance photographer. I had very, very few to go to. Now...it's hundreds of incidents EVERY time the least bit of snow flies. What changed?
It's OK Mr. Fox...you can keep THAT soapbox, I'm done ranting. Well...at least until I try to get to North Liberty this evening to go shoot two dad/daughter dances. Heartland Church is doing one from 5:30-7:30, and the NL Girl Scouts are having a "Sweetheart Dance" (also dad/daughter) starting at 6:30. Is it National Dads Dance With Their Daughters Day?
*sigh*
Mornin' everyone!
Ah lets see, Oh, Mr. Fox and how are you this fine sunny morning... "Yip!" I thought you would agree. I'll have a short stack of buckwheat pancakes, side order of bacon, and a cup of the new "Organic Seneca Lake Blend Dark Roast Coffee" I brought in here. Good stuff!!!! Oh and bring the bottle of NYS Maple Syrup and leave it right here on the Rivet Counter.
Barry I understand the new accountant specializes in eating "Bad Debt"!
Sam if you use the Goo Gone and clipper oil, use them very lightly! I have heard some negatives about the Goo Gone. The clipper oil needs to be a very, very light coat. Have never used them so I can't really say good or bad. I wonder if Goo Gone and oil don't attract more dirt over time? I highly recommend the "Gleam" method followed by running the CMX with alcohol from time to time. I don't have a lot of track problems and even small steam locos run without a lot of difficulty. I also do my best to keep dust and dirt away from the layout.........
Gotta get moving, my son wants me to help him today and should be calling soon. (He wanders outside humming.......)
"The fox went out on a Winter's night, and he prayed for the moon to give him light, for he'd many a mile........."
Later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Hi Folks,
Zoe, is it really you? You are back? OMG, I thought we had to live with (or in this) zoo forever!
Just some coffee for me, please!
I am through with my HD list. We will be having dinner guests tonight, so Petra made this 2 mile-long list for me to work down. But I still found the time to do some plain surfin´ the web.
Warning! The following may be contageous, if you like steam:
Video1
Video 2
Video 3
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Good Morning. Happy February 20th! Coffee and a sweet roll please. Why am I all dressed up? I heard the King of Prussia is here today. I wanna look good. We United Statesians respect other countries peoples positions you know. Besides, It'll be nice to meet another fellow king.
Ulrich- I can't tell if Petra thinks it's a joke picture or not. You should tell her that Beer Bottom Chicken (also goes by a few other names that mean the rump) is a real recipe and actually quite good. You'll have to make it for her sometime.
Lee- Dog gone it!! Thanks for posting the link to your streets pictures. Spent the last half hour looking at your album...... Again. (seriously I enjoyed it )
Tim- Good Luck for the show tomorrow.
Garry- Nice scene!
Robby- Our 1-2 inches turned out to be just a light dusting. Hope your snow peters out the same.
Today, I will continue with the construction. I've decided to make platforms that the towns and scenes will sit on in the raised section. I have searched around and read some things and it seems that most people, it appears, just lay cardboard strips or screen material or whatever the form they use for the plaster on an open grid type bench work or a scene in the hills or a raised area, whatever, they just put the scene or town right on the plaster shell. I don't feel quite that lucky. I'm going to build platforms for support for these things.
Must get a move on. Hopefully today I will progress enough to take a few pictures. Oh yeah I also said I'd try and get a picture of that wooden bridge. I need to go there anyway to see how the bridge across the Sangamon river ties in to the hillside anyway which is just down the highway about a mile. It's also a deck girder. If I remember correctly there are two different abutment looks on that bridge, one on each end. Hopefully one of those will look right for my little 50' span.
Have a Great Day!!!
Good morning. Its cool, but still no snow. Maybe old man winter is taking a break.
Well this morning I'm heading to a LHS. This one has better cars for me to weather. The other LHS yesterday isn't getting very good stuff in. They did have a used GP-30 for $25, and it was part of the "spectrum" line. So I hope to get some more cars to weather up today.
Took some pictures last night of the layout. The wife is into scrapbooking and she was to make a book of my layout. That project will be a hard one by itself (well for her). Lots of pictures, time, etc....
Other than that, its just another Saturday.
Hope everybody has a good morning.
Good morning...
I'll have oatmeal and OJ ......
Anybody hear from PC, lately?
Ulrich ... I like the UK 0-6-0T you posted. It has character. I like the layout plan, too. It has possibilities. Nice thing about MRR budgeting, is you can spend a little at a time because each little project takes time to construct. Also, I buy a lot of items second hand. For example, I purchase turnouts (switches) second hand on Ebay for about 1/4 the price of new ones. If they are damaged, I can usually repair them. I'd hate to see how much I would have spent if I bought everything new at full retail price.
Thanks for the complements on my WPF picture. Here is an alternative picture with the train traveling in the opposite direction. You can't see the 2-6-0 as well in this view.
Regarding my cardboard roads, here is a picture with more of them. This is my corner scene with the village of Valley Heights. You can see Standing Falls in below the covered bridge. The houses in teh upper right corner were cheapies from the dollar store that I repainted. They are undersized, and that forces the perspective.
The cardboard roads wind around through the scene and are very narrow. There are a couple of N scale cars on them, but they are hidden in this view by the trees. The church to the left is a Hallmark Christmas ornament that was sprayed with matte spray. The cars at the funeral are HO.
To make the roads, I cut cardboard into appropriate shapes. Then I use plenty of consturction adhesive to hold thm in place. The thick adhesive also serves as a filler. The surface is plaster, and the contours of the plaster do not have a roadbed carved into it. After the adhesive is dry, I may use spackling compund to fill unwanted cracks. The roads are firmly held in place, and will not warp. I paint them with concrete colored latex paint (household type). Alternatively, asphalt colored latex paint. When the paint is dry, I draw black lines for expansion joints and cracks using a cheap black ball point pen. I install white or yellow stripes. The stripes are painted masking tape that are cut to size. Next, I weathered the roads with washes of scrylic paints. I make gravel shoulders with fine ballast and blend surrounding scenery produicts into it.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good morning everyone..Coffee to go please for me. Gotta get up to the club today for the usual cleaning,sweeping,mopping and dusting. Our annual show is tomorrow and everything needs to be ship shape. Can't let the public see what the workbenches "really" look like. Some of our vendors that come down from the north country will show up today and we will help them unload. Plus they let us rifle through all the boxes and see all the new stuff. This show pretty much makes or breaks our clubs annual revenue...profits pay the rent and utilities for the year. RAY I hope you get to make it over tomorrow and get in our division meeting. Coffee is on me of course. Ask for me if you do. Good day all!!!...Tim
A true friend will not bail you out of jail...he will be sitting next to you saying "that was friggin awesome dude!" Tim...Modeling the NYC...is there any other?
Good morning. It's 38 here. A bit cooler than the weather guesser said it would be. The high will be in the mid 60's and it will be partly cloudy.Not much going on here today. The Home Health nurse will be around about noon to check my feet. I got the wound vac all boxed up yesterday and called the provider. UPS will come Monday and take it away. I will be so happy to see that thing gone. I received a bunch of freight cars in the mail yesterday so I'll likely be working on them today. Many will work as is and require only a little updating. Some of the others require more work, such as a Bachmann Bicentennial caboose. It needs trucks and body mount couplers. A Mehano caboose requires shims in the coupler pockets to cure a severe case of coupler droop. A brown box Tyco caboose simply needs a change of couplers. An AHM covered coil car will need body mounted coupler boxes added.
Trainman SamQuestion though- How does one clean DCC locomotive wheels??? I have yet to be successful except to do wipe down the section of the wheels I can reach, place it back on the track, move it forward and then repeat the process... Gotta be a better way!
I use a Kadee Speedi-Driver cleaner brush myself. I just clip it to the rails, dial up the required address, advance the throttle and touch the brush bristles to the wheels. The wheels spin and the dirt or whatever is gone.
Good morning my fellow modellers!
blownout cylinderas it appears that a certain thing in our house decided to die just as I got a wee bit extra money together
Hopefully you can replace it without TOO much expense... Hope your weekend gets better.
I wanted to thank you guys for the tips on track cleaning! I have been using the "brightboy" and wondering WHY it seems that I have to keep wiping the area down more often... I am going to get some Goo Gone the Wahls Clipper oil, that should help me out quite a bit.
Question though- How does one clean DCC locomotive wheels??? I have yet to be successful except to do wipe down the section of the wheels I can reach, place it back on the track, move it forward and then repeat the process... Gotta be a better way!
Well, wish me luck! I am going to the Greenberg Train Show in King of Prussia today! Talk to you guys when I get back!
Sam
May He bless you, guide you, and keep you safe on your journey through life!
I Model the New Hope & Ivyland RR (Bucks County, PA)
Good Morning--
We have all kindsa SUN today!! 'Spring' is cuddled up with me and is purring away---and I'm doing the hunt and peck thing here--
Ulrich:--That layout looks to be an interesting set up and that loco!! BTW---there is a Komodo lizard doing accounting in the corner booth now
I'm having to get more stuff today---dang honey buy list keeps growing---and that usually means my train budget is toast I'm not a happy camper ----as it appears that a certain thing in our house decided to die just as I got a wee bit extra money together
Oh well---forgot Albert's Axiom--$$$$ supply will be equal to the amount of things that will need replacing.
Since most of my roads are dirt/gravel with a small portion of downtowns having any asphalt I tend to be all over the map when it comes to techniques. I've got a few roads that have ground ballast being used for the gravel, some are just lightly plastered sections with ground dirt, and black styrene on sections denoting just recently done roads with regular styrene painted to represent aged and cracked roads----that actually are paved-
Hello Chloe---I'll have a coffee and a toasted breakfast bagel please----I'm going to see what the Komodo fellow is doing
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/
Good morning all,Keith, the Walther’s brick streets are textured and come in HO and N scale. They are styrene squares and come with fire hydrants, manhole covers, storm drains, curbs, and sidewalks. You get straight and curved sections of roads. You can flip through my pictures and see what my streets look like in HO: http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2009626820029441264yZTxkZ?vhost=rides don’t mind the mess I haven’t installed a pelican street sweeper. You can also buy sections of street with rails for a street car or a siding.
Rob, Take a cotton cloth with GOO GONE and clean the rails, then with a clean cloth apply Whals clipper oil. Bright boys are great for very dirty track, but the clipper oil treatment will last you about 3 months. I use the centerline track cleaning cars with the above products.
Good Morning,
I guess, I missed a day or two here in the Diner. Now let´s see, what do we have here. A raccoon wearing a waitress´s dress, a fox, a couple of chipmunks, a deer, pretending not see the fox, an owl staring down at us, a Massasauga rattler, hiding in Vinnie´s booth - has someone checked, whether he is still with us? I mean, alive? Ah, I forget the Armadillo. Back in the times of the Great Depression, they were called "Hoover hogs", and people ate them! I am really glad to see, that Chloe found her way back into this zoo.
Chloe, may I have my "French" breakfast, you know, it´s cafe au lait, 3 croissants, and butter/jam. Yes, I´ll stay here at the RC, sitting in those bar stools seems to be the safest place to be - mind the rattler.
In the last two days, I suffered again from those panic attacks the moment I left the house. This is really awkward - cold sweat, the heart beating like a jungle drum. I do hope this settles pretty soon, I cannot hide all day long in the house.
Rob - I´d suggest you stay away from using a BrightBoy to clean your tracks, unless you like track cleaning. Those grooves seem to speed up the process of the tracks losing conductivity. Gleaming seems to be the better way, although a little mor w*rk to do in the beginning.
Keith - I like the way your layout is coming along. As to those roads, I´d position the buildings where you want them to go and then "lay" the roads. I´ve used various methods to do this and found, that using a thin layer of plaster of paris works the best for me. I usually tack this strips of wood or bits of styrene left and right and fill the middle part with a "soapy" mix of plaster, with a little white glue added to prevent it from cracking. Try to get it as smooth as possible, so sanding is minimized. Let it dry for a minimum of 48 hrs, before sanding it, which is always a mess - the missus won´t like it. Then color it with washes of acrylic paint and isopropyl alcohol. The result looks good to me. Keep those pics of your progress rolling!
Tom - I am sorry to hear about your sweet loco. I hope that Caboose Hobbies can fix it for you in a jiffy - I guess, it just needs a new gear box. Keep us posted on the outcome!
Chris - that chicken sure looks a little overdone to me. I showed the pic to Petra and here comment was just "Men!".
Todd - how´s the benchwork coming along?
Garry - I saw your pictures in WPF - just adorable!
Flip - I am glad the missus is doing a lot better. I have been to a FREMO meet once, and to be honest, I won´t go there again. The guys take themselves a little too serious for my taste, leaving little room to what our hobby is about - fun! You should see the rule book they have developed over the years - much thicker than the constitution of the US, including all amendments. I guess, I´d rather do my own thing...
Vincent - those BNSF GP50´s with a tank car coupled in between look odd, but nice!
Lee - some years ago, my son (who is now 23), developed the idea of getting a tattoo. It took me weeks to talk him out of this. I had to employ the whole lot of arguments, like the pain, the health risk, the cost, the irreversibility of such a decision etc.. Now he is glad he did not do it...
I have been w*rking on the plan for the display layout. Did a lot of research on the prototype. The British model railroading landscape is so much different from the continental one. Their layouts are mostly masterpieces in terms of detail, and there are a lot of small businesses offering kits and stuff for scratch building. OTOH, there is hardly any R-T-R stuff available. Actually, I find this more suitable for my MRRing on a shoestring budget. Nevertheless, the total cost of the whole thing amounts to about $ 2,500 - and that´s without a loco or rolling stock. I am still negotiating about the funding.
We could agree on the plan, though. Here is the "final", i.e. prior to start of building, layout:
The loco supposed to be serving the line is this little beauty:
It is a Great Western Rlwy 0-6-0 class 64xx Pannier Tank loco, which was built between 1890 and 1930. There is quite a number of them still around, serving at tourist lines throughout the UK. Quite a hefty puller!
Here is a short video of one of them!
O scale offers a lot of detail, and the sound is just magnificent. It has a Zimo decoder, with a recording of the sound of the prototype loco. Add a high bass speaker to it and you got a lot of ooomph to the sound! (But don´t ask about the price)
Have a good weekend, you all
I'm home.
Chris- Naw, that bridge is gradual and long compared to the one I'm talking about. Maybe I'll drive there tomorrow and take a pic. Only about a mile from mom's house where I grew up. Someone might could use it as a model........for a model. They've actually closed it off and put stairs on the ends to allow walking (easier than spelling pedestrian) traffic several years ago, but no more vehicles.
Ray- that's where I'm at, sorta, with my passenger cars. I have a triple axle full dome and on the 24" radius flat it caused no problems. On the incline for this new layout the radius on the incline is the same . It pushed fine with my finger but I know that doesn't mean much. Hopefully I'll get the track some power and see how it pulls this weekend. I need to lay some track before the incline so I can hook more cars to see how it will work with a train. I haven't worked out what the grade actually is yet, but it's kinda steep. It rises 5 inches in oh, 8-10 feet of track. My hopes is to have the passenger train also service the upper portion which will house Gold Creek and the tourist town. I've got my fingers crossed.
The incline is obviously un-prototypically steep, but it will be hidden so not that obvious. Hopefully the mighty F40PH will drag it uphill. Along with a few other cars. I think it will. There will be no need or long freights but I'd still like it to be able too should I decide it's "necessary".
Bets get to bed I'm ORF tired about now.
Prayers for those in need.
Ever notice how that Owl just stares at you. Creepy.
Evenin' folks!
Just a cup of decafe, Mr Fox. MR. FOX! (THAT reminds me of a song I used to teach to 3rd. graders way back when, "Oh, the Fox went out on Winter's night..........") Ducks several flying objects...... OK, OK, OK! Man, we are touchy in here lately, aren't we!
I spent a couple hours w*rking on a couple passenger crs trying to get them to run better on the tight curves on the SLOW. I added Kadee #46 long shank couplers to them in hopes of putting them back in service. One of them is actually running very well now, but the other.......... No dice. Derails every time it goes through a curve. I have a new set of trucks ordered for it which may help. They are 3 axle trucks and bind in the curves and pull very hard. my little loco can pull them up a 2% grade with no problem but get into a 24" radius curve and they just stop the loco (Spins its wheels). They are probably binding on something underneath. I am most likely going to get some of the Rivarossi 60 fotters and run those.
I also took the opportunity to add about 1/2 oz. of lead to the Bachman 4-6-0 used on this train (Milk train with a couple local passenger cars). It now pulls the 2 milk tankers and one 80' passenger car nicely up grades and around the curves (used to spin drivers with the same load), so I guess the evening wasn't wasted.
Guess it's time to call it a night. My son wants some help with the rest of the stuff he has to get moved. He says my trailer is just about empty (I think he needs a bit of help with the couple items still on board). We now get to tackle the 10' x 20' storage place he has been renting.
Rob, some people swear by them, others swear by gleaming. The bright boy would be similar to taking sandpaper to the track, might be useful to smooth out some joints. However the grooves left by a brite boy tend to accumulate dirt, which means more useage. As a result I gleam my track too.
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.
Bowl of fresh mixed nuts & cranberries, please.
***Tom, good luck with the little brass loco.
I got a Bright Boy today for track cleaning. It feels fairly abrasive to me. Are these really safe to use on track?
Have a nice evening ALL.
Rob
Just a quick stop. A sweet tea to go.
Keith........I'm glad I could help you some . That's how I normally do it.
Quote:KEITH: Yer awfuly quiet today!
Chris you have no idea what quiet is. Lol.. my dad was a quiet man. He never talked. If he replied, he was short on words and to the point. He'd sit there in his chair.. smoking his pipe.. looking at the TV.. the TV off.. just resting. His yes or no.. were a head nod.. usually in one movement one way or the other. If you didn't catch it.. and asked him.. he'd pull his pipe out of his mouth.. in an almost exaspirated breath.. "We'll see~" In a deep mid western tone.. I'm not kidding..lol ... if Jeanne was here right now.. she'd tell ya.
But Chris.. let me tell you.. one (don't get me wrong.. my dad was a great guy) .. one time... when I was a boy.. my dad and I were on a drive together. I sat there.. listening to country music.. with my dad .. driving along the highway,... oh about 45 minutes past. I said something.. one sentence.. he looked at me.. and said.. "Boy you sure do talk alot~"
My mom was pretty much the opposite.. hispanic.. yeah.. German farmer out of MO.. marries hispanic woman. Well my mom, when she was mad at you.. (us kids had to do chores all the time) she'd beat ya.. with what ever she had in her hand.. lol. omg.. she'd chase after you with the belt.. speaking spanish.. something about "... straighting out the crooked tree while its young.. cuz if you don't the 'bend' stays in the tree when it gets older" wack wack.. All 3 of us.. turned ok.. really~
Now me being quiet.. heck I'm ready for some story telling~ We've got rain coming.. tonight.. and suppose to last for over a week. Cold rainy nights. Anyone in for a story?
Barry .. nice pics.. thanks~!