"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Bear - thanks for starting this weekend´s WPF!
The rather humble beginnings of my new Swiss style narrow gauge "toy train set", I mean layout
Due to a recent stroke and ongoing heart issues, I have drastically "scaled down" my plans for layout. I also have lost confidence in my own skills and abilities, but hope to be able to build this tiny layout (with a lot of help from a friend):
Layout size is only 2´7 1/2" by 4´.
Hi Bear!
I'd love to see your train show layout in person! Lot's of interesting scenes.
I got the seats installed in the McKeen car. It was a bit fussy having to glue the armrest/legs to each side of all 24 seats. There was some flash but not too bad, and all of the seats had to have the top corners on the backrests rounded off to match the prototype. I decided to glue the seats to the floor before painting so that they would be firmly glued in place. That will make for a PITA painting project with the floor being one colour and the seats another, but it seemed to be an easier route than painting the seats before hand. I couldn't paint them on the sprue because there wasn't enough room to round the corners of the seat backs. The rear rounded seat that fits in the back of the passenger compartment is only sitting in place. It will have to be glued into the shell because it sits above where the rear shell mounting screws come through the floor.
I also installed the restraining chains for the rear truck. Getting the eye bolts on to the chains was one of the most frustrating things I have ever done. I needed eight eyebolts. I think I used 13. Then once I had glued everything in place one of the chains decided to break. Of course there was the usual problem with getting glue in the wrong places. And on and on... I'm sure you have been there! The chains are a little long but I wanted some slack so they wouldn't be stressed if the truck was turned sharply. That won't happen on the track but you never know when some clutz (me) might mishandle them.
I apologize if I am boring you with all the details, but this project has become a passion and I am having a ball!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Ulrich!
Excellent use of track planning software! I think your layout will look great, especially with all the trees.
Ulrich,
I love the Swiss meter gauge. If I wasn't already doing Colorado NG...
Dave,
That McKean car is going to be great if it doesn't drive you bonkers first.
Mountain railroading can be dangerous, as I was reminded this evening. I managed to have a 714 let loose on a 4%. The result was havoc, even knocking over the station's outhouse. Had to send in the big hook to clean things up. Surprisingly no real damage. It sounded awful heading down the tubes.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Mike:
No worries about it driving me bonkers. I qualified for that a long time ago!
hon30critterNo worries about it driving me bonkers. I qualified for that a long time ago!
hon30critterExcellent use of track planning software!
Since I somehow lost my old WinRail CAD program, which was 2D only, I am using the freebie SCARM software, which is really easy to learn.
Aside from the track, the trees and the tunnel portals, all objects are drawn by me. Buildings are to scale and consist of up to 100 elements each. The "worst" bit was the catenary
A detail "shot" of it:
Even a rather toyish set-up can look nice with the right kind of scenery ...
Bear, again thanks for opening up, I did not see your later post until after I got home from the club, but I will take pictures next time I go.
Ulrich, we all go through changes my plans went from a giant point to point to a simple oval with a come and go concept.
Dave, really enjoying your build of that McKeen car, a lot of imageenering on that car what with not a lot of details saved in the past.
Mike, another bunch of nice pictures.
Nothing accomplished this week, but here are some pictures of my new New Haven FL9's at the club.
These are awesome looking and running locomotives, I got the straight DC version but they are great.
Rick J
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
Some passenger action inbetween working on the CNJ I-5.
An older project build using a spectrum PRR K-4 and bachmann Reading I-10.
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/60361449@N02/
Anthracite Modeler - YouTube
I just hope no one was occupying the outhouse Mike, an occurrence like that would really upset your day.
Bear,
You know, I hadn't even thought of that
I'd better get Red Mountain Rescue on the line and have them check the pit!
An evening yard shot.
Great stuff so far. I don't think I would have the patience for a project like that McKeen car. I have been experimenting this week on weathering with powders mixed with matte and gloss medium in varying viscosities. And yes, the scenery looks a bit out of scale, these were taken on my On30 module as its the only thing that I have built at the moment.
Bear, Thanks for starting things off again this weekend. And thanks for the videos too.
Dave, Great work! You must have the patients of Job.
Mike L, I've had similar accidents after a 42-inch fall to the floor on my FLAT layout. Love your scenery.
Rick J, Love the NH locos. Very colorful.
Grampy, Great shot as always.
Hobbez, The scenery and the locos look good to me.
A little time running the most modern equipment on the NYC. A pair of GP-40s at the head of a mixed freight, rounding the curve at the west end of the BRVRR layout.
Keep the photos and ideas coming guys. Thanks to you WPF is always the best thread of the week.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
BRVRRMike L, I've had similar accidents after a 42-inch fall to the floor on my FLAT layout. Love your scenery.
Oh man, glad that didn't happen here. The cars held up well, just a couple of bent brakewheels, very surprising. The accident board quickly convened to examine the evidence, easily done since I'm judge, jury, and prosecutor
I was backing the pipe train down the tail of the Silverton wye. It disappears into a tunnel and heads downgrade at 4%+. Basically the track is one end of a loop that has Red Mountain on it that was my original continuous run test track when I started building the layout. The other end comes back around to eventually connect to the other leg of the wye and thence into Silverton. It's long enough I can still back many trains (not this one) into it and still stage another back there.
My lash-up of 2 converted Bachmann 70-tonners was doing fine as they approached the portal, pushing, with most of the 14-car train already on the grade. One of the locos gave a funny noise, which I later learned was probably its wheels sliding. The train was still moving, because all the weight was headed down the grade so that very little push was required for the one loco still running -- which I did not know because it was about 4' away and just going into that tunnel.
Suddenly, the train jerked to a stop and that was enough to tweak the 714 coupler out of engagement and away it went into the darkness -- and I listened for the inevitable pileup the next mountain over.
Examination of 97, the loco involved, showed the cause. There was a medium sized chunk of ground foam stuck firmly between the gear teeth at one end of a truck. In the conversion to HOn3, the 70-tonner loses the gear cover. I've been doing some work in that area and had the liftout the portal is in out, too, recently. Likely sent debris onto the track, to be scooped up, causing the accident. If it hadn't been timed and distanced just right, I might have realized that just because the train was still moving didn't mean there wasn't a problem.
Essentially no harm, no foul. The trainmaster took the rear end crew over to Red's Place at The Mears Hotel for a couple of stiff drinks and even they are feeling better.
Rick,
Thanks for the comments.
Casey,
Nice work on the loco.
Grampy,
Awesome night scene, or maybe early dawn?
Hobbez,
Hey diesels look good to me on rough track, even if it's some other gauge's narrowgauge.
Wow, so much cool stuff so far, I actually had to go through this thread with a notepad!
Bear, Cool shot from the archive.
Ulrich, I love the rHb electric, I remember my PBS station ran a series of documentaries about the that line and several others in Switzerland that were facinating.
Dave, you McKeen car is truning out nicely.
Mike, that was some wreck. I hope Sir Topham Hat wasn't too ticked off at the "confusion and delay." (This is what happens when you start watching Thomas with your 5-month-old).
Rick, I love the FL9s. When I lived in New York, I got to ride behind one while they were runging on the Long Island Rail Road.
Casy, very nice Reading steamer.
Grampy, Awesome night scene.
Hobbez, amazing weathering job.
Allan, love the shots of that curve.
Anyway, I spent most of this week forcing myself to work on Horseshoe Curve. I've been fighting against the "I want to do something else on this layout" bug for a while now. I removed some trees that were too big. And after flipping through Don Ball Jr's excelent book, Pennsylvaia Railroad in the 1940s - 1950s, I moved the trees further from the tracks and made them more sparse.
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c9W-EAtrmA
Installed a Wow Diesel Decoder in an older Athearn U-23-B I think the prototype used a 12 cylinder GE which is not a sound choice on this decoder so I used the FLD16
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/
hon30critter http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy132/HOn30critter/McKeen%20Motor%20Car/DSC01151_zpsejydyw89.jpg
http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy132/HOn30critter/McKeen%20Motor%20Car/DSC01151_zpsejydyw89.jpg
Good to see the progress, Dave, it is looking a lot less like a small skateboard
This week I added figures to a Wiking Austen Healey 3000. A couple of ladies out for a drive - who says guys are the only ones who can have fun in a car.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
We got the remaining 2 RDCs running at Boothbay Railway Village this week, shown here MUed together by the power plant
RDC-2 BM 6209
RDC-3 BM 6302
I also had to use a notepad this week. Actually it's the registration business reply mail card that came with my garage door handle.
Bear, I hope next week is less weird. I always enjoy archive pics. Thanks for starting again. It makes my Friday morning.
Ulrich, I used scarm to design my layout. I know what you made there is no small feat. That takes patience. Those aren't toys. Nice work.
Dave, the details are the best part. The chains really tie everything together!
Mike, I've seen these types of pile-ups. It seems like it's inevitable. I'm NOT looking forward to that in my concrete layout room. Must have been a cheap incident as you're still making jokes. RIP to the guy in the outhouse. What a way to "go".
Rick J, I'm interested in the gravel road crossing in your second pick. I need to make several of those. I'm curious about your method.
Hobbez, I especially like the rust on #83. Makes me wonder the last time I had a tetanus shot.
GP-9 Man, you must get a lot of enjoyment from seeing trains pass each other around the curve. The taxes on all that track must be be brutal.
George, Casey, Grampy, and Allan- you guys really set the bar high.
Here are pics of some scenery I've worked on. It's a good example of scenery on a squared off tabletop layout.
My allowance finally built up enough for some static grass and just a touch of plaster, ground foam, and some other texture. I think the fall color trees along the back may get chopped in favor of more summer color.
Believe it or not there was an attempt to improve lighting. Another job still in progress.
Once again, thanks everyone for the free education!
T e d
This week, a new Railroad is born.
More in a separate thread
Bear, Thanks for getting another WPF started down the line, and the movies too. Impressive layout to say the least, now that's a trestle!
Ulrich, You are the embodiment of "you can't keep a good man down." Best wishes.
Dave, "Workin' on a chain gang," Ah, but the agony of working with those tiny chains is worth the detailed interest they add to a model.
Thanks to all, regards, Peter
Peter,
WPF or Trackside Photo?
That has to make the cut.
Bear:
Thanks for sharing the videos. The large trestle is amazing! I love the elevation changes too. Flat modules leave something to be desired IMHO. All the scenes are great - lots of details.
I did catch the 'oops' when a couple of passenger coaches got left behind.
Peter:
That is a beautiful scene and well photographed! The reflection of the lights on the water is amazingly realistic.
GP-9_Man11786:
The Horseshoe Curve looks fantastic!
Ulrich:
I have 3rdPlanIt software and I love using it. However, you are way ahead of me in terms of drawing up specific buildings and using the terrain function. All I have bothered to do so far is make basic outlines of the structures and some elevation lines.
Well done!
Hobbez:
Nice rust!
Thought I'd post some photos so here's a bunch of them. Works in progress.
A coal dump:
City scene:
tunnel portals:
trying to curve rocks (latex molds on top of curved frame):
outcome:
3 bridges:
and I bought this cheap, don't know what it is (help?):
Have a nice holiday.
Terry