OK, pardone my ignorance, but what is the grade if the rise is 3" over 17' ? Presently, the rise is about half that with all the shims in place. Would be kinda nice if I could lose the shims though.
Healing thoughts to those in need. Calling it a night here. Rob
Seems to have worked. OK, only 1 crossing track now. Innermost line runs end-to-end, within the two mainline loops. With the addition of a few switches, this will allow for some minimal operations, moving materials collected from the volcano to some sort of sorting plant. As for the inner loop track crossing the above described line, perhaps this will lead to the geo-thermal power plant, which will sit at the edge of the volcano. Hope this makes sense. Rob
Test: trying to post pics from Photobucket. Two mainlines (loops). The switch nearest viewer (by pile of lose track) will lead to staging tracks for passenger trains. A factory will be in the middle here.
Let's see if this pic works??? Rob
Hi All.
Flo an extra big glass of OJ and I will sit over there in the corner.
Well the flu or something has made its rounds at our house, the Wife was the first one to get sick then a few days ago I started getting it and now the teenage Daughter has it. So I have not even looked at the studio let alone try to climb the hill and work up there, guess all that lumber I bought will have some time to dry out a little more before I can get up there and working on the modules. I so want to get to work and be able to start posting some progress photo's but just do not have the energy.
Thursday I knew that I was starting to get sick so I went out and ordered my wifes Birthday, Valentines day and, Anniversary cake, thats right I can never forget the date its right on the callendar and as long as it is a substantual gift I get away with one gift. The people at the bakery looked at me funny when I wrote down that I wanted the cake to say "Happy ValenAnniBirthday". Now I just have to figure out if we will feel well enough to out or if I should buy some steaks and just eat in.
So I am outta here going to go and get some sleep hopefully and perhaps tomorrow will be a better day.
Good Night All
Ron
I refuse to grow up!!!
TMarsh Question for the experienced. Would you recommend dullcoteing the tunnel portal, or any casting, that has been washed with color. I've got the tunnel portal "painted", if you will, and wonder if I should hit it with Dullcote to preserve/seal it, or will it be fine as it is. I think it should be fine myself, but this particular one will be in a very difficult locale to repair or refinish if it should need it. Can do but would rather not sort of spot if you know what I mean.
Question for the experienced. Would you recommend dullcoteing the tunnel portal, or any casting, that has been washed with color. I've got the tunnel portal "painted", if you will, and wonder if I should hit it with Dullcote to preserve/seal it, or will it be fine as it is. I think it should be fine myself, but this particular one will be in a very difficult locale to repair or refinish if it should need it. Can do but would rather not sort of spot if you know what I mean.
Hi Todd,
There are lots of things to seal it with ie. KRYLON, low odour clear matte.
The thing you should be considering right now is the tunnel liner. If you go any further you will be kicking yourself that you didn't get that in place first. Portals without liners really stick out as WRONG....
Johnboy out for now.................................
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
Bowl of brown rice & refried beans, please.
***Todd, your progress looks most interesting. Looking forward to watching it all develope.
OK, now have 2 working mainlines, one for freight, one for passenger / tourist line. Also started an inner line (not connected) for some minimal operations. The two mains can run loop-de-loops. Any further description gets confusing (for me to relay details of).
Gone is the extra creek. Gone are tracks running over other tracks. Gone is the roundhouse. Harumgh... Better get back to working on wife's layout and let all this sit awhile. I could still change my mind.
Will be in the corner booth awhile. Rob
Well, kinda late but here's the completed benchwork to connect for a complete loop. Pardon the blur but I fgured out how to shoot a picture without the flash. Camera sets all the settings for me, (nicely I might add) but I neglected to use a tripod as I should have.
Here's what I did today. The starting of the framework for the plaster cloth.
And lastly, the tunnel portal I spoke of earlier.
You see what I meant by in a bad spot for touch up. So far the bridge to nowhere (sorry Ray. I helped myself to your name) is removable, but someday it won't be.
The bridge is in a weird place and I probably should have eliminated it and made the hill straight across, but I couldn't envision anywhere else it could go and I liked the bridge so.....
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.
Evening Folks
Flo, bucket of and a straw.
Only Good Thing Today Was the Weather, Rest Of It Sucked Caboose. Far as the weather, would you believe it was in the 60's? All most no snow left in the yard, but of course where Sue walks is still covered in ices.
Far as work? Guess it was the great weather, very few people came in. I had a whole $300.00 in sales and only 3 customers came in. 1 was a guy getting tire but on at Walmart and he was mainly bored.
Bank Of America Got a letter from them dated 02-02-11. Pretty much sounds like I better start getting boxes gathered up for moving. In a nut shell it states Yes, we took your $923.00 payment but that does not mean will give up our right to Foreclose on your happy caboose. Now if you give us $16121.53 you can keep your house. I paid in person at a local branch another $1,000.00 on the 02-10-11. I can pay them another $1,000.00 to $1200.00 this month. That mean I would have sent them between $2923.00 and $3123. in less than 28 days. 3 house payments is only $2631.00, you would think they would take that as a pretty good sign of good faith on my part would you not? Plus I have not been working a full month yet.
Guess I will call one of there Flunky's Monday and see if I can get any good news from them.
Ulrich Give Pietra my wishes as well.
See you all latter , Ken
I hate Rust
(buuuuuurp) Oh, excuse me! Ate at the Chinese buff-et, then to Walmart under the clever guise of needing a few groceries. "OH", I says " I'll zip to the other side and get Missy a bag of Oinkies." Sly devil I am stopped by the card section and got the required VD card. As any great wife would do, she did not acknowledge the card that I deftly hid from her, yet obviously had, at the checkout.
Strong coffee in a SOUTHERN DAYLIGHT mug, please.
A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Petra!
Also to Rerun!
I have given up. No, not on MRRing, just the sweeping curves and more complicated trackwork. Been removing what was laid out today and will opt for a boring layout with lots of strait track where everything fits together well. Heck, I may give up the round house idea as well. Need something easily completed that can be enjoyed in this lifetime. When it's set up, I'll post some pics of the much simplified scheme.
Hope y'all are having a good day.
Running on fumes here. Rob
AmanaMedic JEFF: I see your point. I haven't had trouble with good old Athearn black plastic and other such 1980s/90s stuff. Maybe they made it better back then... THAT's also back when the magazines all recommended the stuff. I even remember somebody writing THAT they "warmed" it on the stove first. THAT said, I melted an Athearn GP7 shell once, after I'd left it "in the soup" for about a month Same thing with a hopper shell, left in just a weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee bit too long: as-in a little over a month. For the typical Athearn blue box, I've found a day or two does the trick. I've gone to the 91% more frequently though, with "newer" plastic. The boxcar I garfed up? A late 90s MDC Roundhouse, molded in light gray. I don't know what they painted it with...
JEFF: I see your point. I haven't had trouble with good old Athearn black plastic and other such 1980s/90s stuff. Maybe they made it better back then... THAT's also back when the magazines all recommended the stuff. I even remember somebody writing THAT they "warmed" it on the stove first. THAT said, I melted an Athearn GP7 shell once, after I'd left it "in the soup" for about a month Same thing with a hopper shell, left in just a weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee bit too long: as-in a little over a month. For the typical Athearn blue box, I've found a day or two does the trick. I've gone to the 91% more frequently though, with "newer" plastic.
The boxcar I garfed up? A late 90s MDC Roundhouse, molded in light gray. I don't know what they painted it with...
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
Funny stuff there RAY, even if I didn't spot the looney... (and I was so sure....)
Chris
The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!
Afternoon folks!
Flo, just a cup of hot cocoa for me right now.
I decided to clear out the heavy wet sn*w in the driveway this afternoon. Warm enough out there today THAT I was able to start the Snow Blower without having to take the spark plug out and spraying starting fluid into the cylinder.... I want to have no ice blocks in the way when It decides to freeze solid in a few more days.
Oh!!! Spring is here!!!! Spring is here!!!! No, no not Barry's cat, the season of spring. How do I know? It's............ Time......... To Play...............Spot.................. the.... Looney!
On the way to church this morning with the temperature hovering at 38°F and a wind chill if 26°F, I noticed a young couple walking up the street... The Gentleman was dressed in a light jacket, no hat, and knee length shorts. The young lady (mid 20's I would guess) was wearing a hat, scarf, long slacks, and long winter coat. Every driver going by had a surprised look on their faces and most were rolling their eyes. So.... It's time to play... Spot.................. the.... Looney!
Ring, ring... Chris? No it is not the drivers of the cars even though they were not paying attention to their driving.... Todd? No, wrong! Not the scantily clad man walking down the street. Ulrich? What? Yes! Ulrich wins. He has correctly identified the nicely dressed young lady as being the Looney for being seen in public with the idiot she was walking with!!!!
Todd and somebody else (forgot who) thank you for the kind words on the workshop. If you decide to do something similar, do see your doctor before starting to get a prescription for Valium......
I'll be going over to my son's house for dinner tonight. Probably will be just #2 granddaughter and my son and I as Mom and the #1 granddaughter are going to a movie. Livy sang with the Angel Choir (3 & 4 year olds) in church this morning... cute! i have some chicken wings in the oven which will be smothered in Nance's Hot wing sauce before I take them over. Man food!!!! Yes!
Looks like the Walthers order will arrive on Tuesday. Then I can finish up the workshop room and styart on the main room of the engine house.
Later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
AmanaMedic JEFF: I've almost always had no problem with el-cheapo brake fluid for paint removal. I did get stymied on a boxcar I tried to strip recently. Brake Fluid wouldn't touch it. 91% alcohol only took off the lettering, after a LOT of scrubbing. I somehow managed to garf-up part of the shell...so now the frame is getting hacked up for future scrap yard components...
JEFF: I've almost always had no problem with el-cheapo brake fluid for paint removal. I did get stymied on a boxcar I tried to strip recently. Brake Fluid wouldn't touch it. 91% alcohol only took off the lettering, after a LOT of scrubbing. I somehow managed to garf-up part of the shell...so now the frame is getting hacked up for future scrap yard components...
Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood Afternoon, cup of boot coffee please, and thank-you.
ULRICH and TODD: Rerun sends his thanks for the birthday wishes! ULRICH: Sounds like Petra is having a good day, a very happy birthday to her!
Well (full of melting snow), we're back from Rerun's outing for Birthday Bag 'O Burgers! After stopping in Solon to drop-off content for Boring Proofreader Dude to have his way with it...we stopped in Mt. Vernon at the Hardee's. Rerun had two double cheeseburgers (out of four, eight years old = eight burger patties). Two was plenty for him, and we discovered the fuzzy boy LOVES lemonade (Wife's beverage of choice today). With a DQ next door to Hardee's, we got him a cup of ice cream as well. He'll have the last two burgers tonight, right now I think he's looking to settle-in for his afternoon nap.
CUDA KEN: So.......how much discount do you give for an "already been blorched on mattress??"
Journeying west along Highway 30, we paced a UP freight. From the looks of it, I'm guessing a PRNP (Proviso-North Platte). Rerun was fascinated by it. Seems the boy likes trains...as long as they keep their distance. As a young pup, he was terrified by a GP15-1. We had him on the trail alongside the North Yard in Cedar Rapids. As the monsterously HUGE geep rumbled on by, the poor little guy freaked out and took off running like the wind. I could barely keep up and keep hold of his leash!
Might piddle around with trackplans some more...might see if I can ruin a freight car or two...
Have a good rest of the day peoples!
Howdy all...It is sunny and warmer here..'bout time!...I'll have a diet Coke please Thank You...Not much going on Here..You all have a good one...Jerry
Good Afternoon Folks,
what a day! Christian and his GF joined us for Petra´s birthday party, which meant Petra spending most of the day in the kitchen. The little one has to be properly fed ...
Aside from this, there were about 20 phone calls, just when we tried to get a little rest. I must be getting older, I prefer a little peace and quietness. Do I like birthdays
Winter is definitively back to stay, more snow to come
Janie, just a mug of hot chocolate, please, before I retire to my sofa.
CUL Folks!
Good Morning All!Not much to report from the land of Buckeyes on this sunny and rather pleasant 34 degree morning..It suppose be around 40 today and in the 40s 3 days next week with showers..While out and about yesterday morning I saw a Westbound NS general freight with 2 SD70Ms pulling around 90 cars.I should have waited because by the time I was almost home I heard another train blowing..Apparently he was in the siding at Benson.I spent yesterday afternoon working on Huron River's SW7 #33..I formed a new side rail using .020th wire.Why that size? .020TH is the exact size of wire Athearn used.I shall have a cup and look over the forum.Have a good'un!
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Morning Folks
Flo, bowel of Sugar Frosted Flakes and coffee please.
Well, better get ready for work.
See you this evening.
Ken
jeffrey-wimberly After nearly nine hours in the 91% alcohol only the cab numbers came off and that was with a lot of scrubbing with the toothbrush.
After nearly nine hours in the 91% alcohol only the cab numbers came off and that was with a lot of scrubbing with the toothbrush.
I had the same problem with my AHM. Ended up using some brake fluid wiped over the body for which I was hesitant to do and di not want to soak for obvious reasons. All worked out well, but still not all the paint came off.
Good morning. It's 34° and sunny. The high will be 65° and still sunny.I finally gave up on trying to strip the paint from the two Stewart U25B's yesterday. After nearly nine hours in the 91% alcohol only the cab numbers came off and that was with a lot of scrubbing with the toothbrush. The road names stayed very securely attached. So I washed the alcohol residue off the shells, dried them and repainted right over the existing paint. Gray hoods, walkways, handrails. Black trucks and cab. I wonder how hard it would be to graft an EMD style dynamic brake onto the top of one of them? It would make for an interesting eye catcher as both already have dynamic brake grids in the sides of the long hood. One unit already has new number boards. The other one will get it's new number boards today. They are #180 and #192. I still have to do some work on the part where the cab attaches. Seems there's some paint that has to be scrapped off so the bottoms of the cabs will sit flush. I also found out what happened to the original motor of the unit I had to remotor and retruck. Upon taking the motor apart I found that one of the brushes had worn down enough that the spring had made contact with the commutator and ZAP! That was the end of the commutator. It was sufficiently gouged as to be unusable.
Good Morning!! Coffee and a #1 breakfast platter please.
PETRA!!
Rerun!!
Today: Sunny, with a high near 49. Did you catch that? Almost 50 United States measured and named after some foreign guy degrees! (siiiiiigh) Still a bit chilly for me, but I’ll shore take it Hoss! I’ll shoooore take it.
SHE’S DONE! My silly sister has signed that she is done and I can move on with the diposal of the estate. FINALLY! She called yesterday and said they would be in Springfield in an hour or two and could I be there. I said sure and met them there. She said she was done and signed the release. Whew! What a relief. I figured she'd just drag this thing out forever. She's that way.
Today I take it easy I think. Snowblower needs removed from the truck, but that’s about it. I think I can spend some time in Toddland (of which I’m king). I hope so.
I must head out today and get a VD card (hahaha! I love to say that) so I’ll probably do what we usually do at a time like this. Say “don’t look at the card honey” at the store. Anyway I will cleverly disguise that with a Sunday trip to the Chinese buffet. Maybe she’ll pick the Golden Corral. Probably not. She kind of considers the Chinese booo-fay a weekly tradition. Though she does pick the Golden Corral or Ryan’s from time to time. You never know.
At any rate, I foresee no reason I should not get some time in the train room doing something constructive. Maybe, and I know I say this alot with no follow up, but maybe I'll get an updated progress picture. Gotta pull a Jeff and clean off the thing first though.
By the way Ray- You're workshed is reeeeally looking good my friend. Seeing you super detail your little world really makes me want to do the same to mine more so than I intend now.
Originally it was just to be the larger items that would really look empty that would get the interiors and then the smallers would get the picture of the interior treatment and so on down to no interior. I will still use that plan to some extent, but I think the amount of actual detailing will increase. I'll need to increase my skill and patience quite a bit before that. I just need to slow down and not get into so much of a hurry to complete something. If it takes me a week or a month to do something, then it just takes me that long. It'll take considerable more time, but I guess I shouldn't worry about that. After all, it ain't like this thing is gonna need to be done by the end of the month.
Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe I'll have a breakfast bagel w/ cheese and a mug of dark roast to start the day.
Need to get over to church in a few minutes. I am filling in for an usher this morning. Luckily I enjoy being an usher, so it gives me a reason to show up there........
Robby, Good luck with the interview tomorrow! I know you will do well.
Ulrich, give your wife a hug from me for her Birthday. 29 again you say......
Best get my coat on and be on my way.
Good morning.
Spent most of the day out yesterday. Bought a few things, but nothing "model railroad related". Did see a few hoppers (some real nasty ones), but of course I didn't have my camera!!!!
Not much planned today. Wash some clothes, and finish up some things for the interview in the morning.
Ulrich........Didn't you say your wifes b-day is today? If so
"Rust, whats not to love?"
Good Morning...
I'm in a much better mood than I was yesterday when the main broke out in front of mah house...
Today I'm heading into the office to get some paperw**k done and wait for the inevitable call from a client about someone not showing up....
Seeing as how I'm still on-call until tomorrow night we are having our Valentine's Day on Wednesday instead...that way we'll BOTH get to enjoy the day...
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/
Rerun Florian Umscheid!
Good Morning Folks,
what a surprise! When I got up this morning, the land was blanketed with a layer of 5" of snow. Did not expect to see this again in this winter - after having temperatures around 15° C already. The drive to the flower shop was an adventurous one - the roads thickly covered with ice! I am glad to be home now.
Zoe, a Sunday special breakfast, please, with coffee,scrambled eggs, bacon, a stack of pancakes & maple syrup, a glass of OJ and buttered toast - I need a big shot of cholesterol!
Thanks for the kudos on the modules, but I have to pass them on to our home improvement store. I had all the pieces cut to size there, so it was just a glue & nail job to get them done. They do a pretty good job of ripping lumber into the size you want to have and the best is - it is free of charge. Took the guy about half an hour to do the job, and it is still the same price per sqft. as if I had bought a 4 by 8 sheet of plywood!
I am also very eager to see those modules once they are finished, but that will take quite some time.
I hope you all have a good day! Stay safe!
Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
Decaf coffee & a bowl of mixed nuts, please.
Never got down to the train room tonight. Had other stuff that took priority. (made up for it by spending 4 hours completely messing up my (N) track layout and at 4:15am, figured out it is unwise to work on MRR'ing when sleep deprived....Good Night!)
Cheers! Rob
Evening diners!!...I will take a cup of coffee please extra regular...and a few antacids . Took my wife and daughter out to Red Lobster for an early Valentines dinner. Man can you overdo it there. And of course right after dinner I feel like doing nothing but curling up on my couch and chilling. But NOOOO...not MY wife. Her idea of burning off a good dinner is freaking SHOPPING!!!! . So we head over to Target and since she is still on crutches she decides to use the electric shopping scooter. If they can give a speeding ticket and reckless driving ticket for using one of those things she would surely get a few points on her license!! A woman on a mission for sure. I picked up a few DVDs of M*A*S*H to add to my collection. For some reason after all these years I still love that show and can watch it for hours on end. Didn't feel like getting into any scenery work today so I tore into some rolling stock kits and put some NYC Pacemaker cars together adding the right Kadees and metal wheels and air hoses. I have accumulated quite a mess of kits over the years..(Athearn..Accurail etc) that I put together on odd days. I have about 30 Pacemakers and it looks awesome when I get a string pulled by a Mohawk going on the mainline. I would love to get a bunch of State of Maine potato cars next. Tomorrow my daughter has to bowl in the morning for her weekly league and then my wife wants to head out to Bass Pro Shops. Now THAT I can handle. Man land for sure.
Jeff...I have also made my own ground foam. I make it the same way we do at my club. A cheap garage sale blender..( I used my wifes really expensive one one day...but that's another story that ended in a dozen roses and a trip to the mall). We use couch cushion foam or that egg holder looking stuff in a few small chucks in water and just pulverize it. We use oil based paints which is nice cause it sticks to the foam and not anything else. Small batches are perfect at home. I just strain it out and put the small piles in a 99 cent disposable paint trays from Lowes. I usually will make 3 or 4 trays worth and just stack them away somewhere as it takes awhile to dry using the oil based stuff. Doesn't take up any room and costs pennys to make. Just a thought.
Ulrich...I love the construction of the modules...very professional looking and I am sure the scenery will look just as impressive!! I had a large N scale layout when I was in my teens that at times I truly miss. I sometimes think that I wish I stayed in that scale as you can fit a ton of track and scenery in such a small area. It was common for me to have 75 car trains being pulled by double headed steam or ABBA diesels. My N scale layout was a coal hauler because I loved having all the mountains and various types of mines and the mine towns that went with them. I wish you luck with it and look forward to the progress on it.
Ray...Any chance your coming over my way in a few weeks for our club show/division meet?? We have done a ton of work on the club layouts since you last saw them and have really gone to town with signaling and computer interface. We actually have it setup where multiple trains on the same line going in different directions will never meet as the program automatically throws the turnout and directs everything around each other. Pretty slick stuff.
Well...the girls are in bed so it's just the dog and I. So I am off to catch up on some shows I have taped on the DVR. Good night all and stay safe!!....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?
last mountain & eastern hogger So here is a heads up for you guys......... Do not forget that Monday is Valentines Day, if you want to stay on the good side of the Better Half.
So here is a heads up for you guys......... Do not forget that Monday is Valentines Day, if you want to stay on the good side of the Better Half.
CRAP!!!!! Thanks. Tomorrow is my saving grace.
Ken- 21 years in November for me and my Roadrunner. Yup I read the post. But as a fellow Roadrunner owner, par for the course.
PFTIN