I had to rescue BB from page 8. It has been almost a week and we all must have been busy. I went climbing in Leavenworth yesterday. It was in the high 60's, and very plesant.
Bruce, Do you have any photos of lawn bowling? That sounds like a riot.
Mike, How is the scratch building coming? I have so many things that I need to do in the scratch building category. My scale lumber yard is piled pretty high.
MrB, What projects did you work on this weekend? What is the size of your layout? Aren't you in the attic?
Later,
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
gear-jammer wrote: MrB, What projects did you work on this weekend? What is the size of your layout? Aren't you in the attic?
My layout is 5x12 feet. It's located in the family room above the garage. The room has carpet, heat and AC, so it's a comfortable place. It's also the primary TV-watching room, although we're not a big TV family. My wife has hinted that I may be able to expand the layout. I probably won't do that until Annie, now a junior in high school, is off to college, but I've been making plans already.
I didn't do much on the surface over the weekend. Of course, my layout isn't just about the surface, is it? Last week, I was going through my new MR, and came upon the Trainworld ad. They had the green R22 subway train from Walthers for $99. It listed for over 180 when it came out, and I saw that Walthers listed them as sold out. So, I didn't feel guilty about not getting it through my LHS. It showed up Thursday, and I installed a decoder Friday.
The rest of the underground stuff was just wiring, though. I installed an old signal as a turnout position indicator, and finally put in "real" wires below the Woolworths and sub shop / fortune teller buildings, instead of running the wires around the edge of the layout and over the road. Then I turned down the room lights, and turned on all my layout lighting. After a few minutes, it all blinked out at once, which sent me off looking for a short. Instead, I think I've reached the limits of that old train transformer, and I'll have to pick up another power supply for my layout.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MrB, Doesn't it feel great when you get the details done. Larry was saying how impressed he was with the detail that you have on a small layout ( He thought that yours was smaller ) Thanks for confirming the size. Did you put in a deadend track so that it will be easy to expand?
Congrats on the new addition to your subway.
Thanks, Sue. I suppose I should buy you and Larry a beer, while we're here.
I did leave a couple of dead-end lines that could be expanded, but they're not really in the right place. The end of the layout that's not done yet is a big curve, and I could put a turnout along it without much trouble. Now that I think about it, maybe I should think about re-locating the old coal-chute building, and turning that siding into a connector. Hey, thanks for prompting me down that path! That just might work.
The CMX track cleaning cars are on sale this week at Walthers. Kind of pricey to begin with, but I've reached the point where dirty track in my tunnels is getting to be a big problem, and cleaning is a bigger chore than I would have thought. So, I've got one on order and I'll let you know how it works out. Gotta do some work on the Bowser trolley, too. It's not picking up power from the front trucks. They've got one of those square blocks with a hole in the middle for the axle, and the block fits into a frame. The contact there isn't very good. I had to modify the rear truck already, so I probably need to make a better contact on this this one as well.
Good morning:
I see Squeaky had a "dry spell" there for a while....Good to see some old faces back through the door. I'd better have the BIG breakfast!
Mr. B, I have to agree with Larry, you really do have a wonderful level of detail. Something for to strive for!
As for around here: Work has certainly gotten in the way of normal life lately! Demands for my time seem to have now spun out of control. This should mellow later this week with no school on Thursday and Friday.
After being away from home earlier on, I have now caught up with most all of the yard and garden work, but I STILL haven't been able to play in the Trainroom.
In my travels, I did however find another Beer Barn! This one is located up in the N.W. in Hallock MN. and felt I had to share a picture. Looks like a place we all could be comfortable at. Actually, I was in there....But I see didn't any of you there!?!?
I'm thinking that I may have to model Beer Barn for the CCRY.
Gotta' run.
JB, We have The Little Red Barn just south of us. It is a restaurant/ bar. I believe that the bar does more business than the restaurant.
MrB, How did that track cleaner work? That may be one our next purchases. We have a big train show in Puyallup in November. There are always some treasurers to be found. Oh, Larry says, "Thanks for the beer."
Morning all, Joe I'll have a bowl of cold cereal and black coffee this morning. Thanks.
Up early this morning, have another physical therapy appt. this morning. Only 2 more weeks then back to the Nero Surgen to find out what is next. I don't know if the PT is doing much good, I have been going for 5 weeks now and I am still not getting much better, A little but not that good.
To the train...I am still working on the barn, got the bottom part almost done and a few of the roof trusses built, This project will have to come to a halt after a day or so due to the fact I am out of 2X6's. Im very pleased with the way it is turning out if I can get the roof on and make it look as nice as the rest it should make a nice building on the layout. I am planning to make the roof removable to be able to see inside the loft and barn better. I will add the lighting and interior details later.
I am also working on the Revell model kit of the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy, it is going very slow also, lots if painting on the wheels and piping. I have prooved to myself that if you take your time and don't get in a hurry the project will most likely turn out a lot nicer. I am the kind of person that is always in a hurry. Why? I do not know, I have nothing elece to do.
Off Topic,,Have any of you got any pecan trees? Are they making any pecans? I have 5 pecan trees and they are loaded! The bottom limbs are literally dragging the ground. I pick up pecans every day, most days I get several gallons, especially if the wind blows very hard.
I guess I will get in the shower and ready for another treatment. I will post some pics of the barn when I get some taken. Oh colvin. I like the red barn, I guess that is the kind of place we like to hang out at. See you all later. Mike
Good morning all. Coffee and an English Muffin, I think, with some of those raspberry preserves from your garden, Joe. Mmmm.
The track cleaning car is on order. It might be in this week, if not then the week after. I'll keep you posted. I'm thinking of making a video of it inside the subway tunnels - it might be fun to see if they'd like to use it for their marketing.
When I built the subways, I planned all the lift-off sections for access. I also made a firm decision that all track above the subways would be on solid, non-removeable surfaces. So, even though I can get to most of the track, there are still a few places which are very awkward. That track has been there for 2 years now, and it's only now that I'm starting to see serious problems with dirty track. I planned all along to use some sort of cleaning car, so I guess the biggest surprise is that I was able to go this long without one.
MrB,
I am looking forward to your video.
Time for lunch, eh, Joe? How about a plate of those burritos, and a Dos Equis? Thanks.
While I'm waiting for the track cleaning car, I'm building up my small stock pens for the old Swift packing plant. I'm using the Walthers stockyard kit, but I've only got a very small space so I'll be smashin' and bashin' again. The kit is modular, designed with two complete corrals with ramps which can be built separately or stuck together. I'll only use one of the corrals this time around, and I'm even cutting the back half off of that and mounting it around the side to squeeze it into the little space I've got.
I'm going to use this for hogs, by the way. I've got a couple of the Mather double-deck stock cars, which are more appropriate for sheep or pigs than they are for cattle. Besides, I like to be different, so pork will be on the menu when I head out to the train shows this fall in search of livestock. (I'm going with the sausage sub at the Shriners hall for the Greenberg show, though. Yummy.)
I did a scratch build for ours, but it is out in the sticks where perfection and straight are not an item.
I did a wash with india ink an have not taken any current photos. Some of the boards are sagging to give the effect of age. The gate to the outside was positioned so that cattle could be herded into the corral. The gates all open for ease of cattle movement with three sorting pens.
Hey folks! Just dropin in to say hello! I think I'll have a beer!
I like that red barn liquor store, all our ABC stores around here are plain ole modern brick non-descripts.
Cheers,
Ryan
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
SilverSpike wrote: Hey folks! Just dropin in to say hello! I think I'll have a beer! Ryan
Hey, long time no see! What's the local microbrew in NC, Ryan? Whatever it is, we'll have a round of them. Puttin' together a stockyard can sure raise a powerful thirst. Here's the scene of the crime-to-be:
I've already moved the Atlas switch machine by the building over a few inches, and I'll put a notch in the building's wall so the linkage can get out to the turnout, thus hiding the machine. The other switch machine has been moved over to the right by a bit using the little adapter plate Atlas provides to shift the motors. I'll cover that up with plaster cloth and put scenery over it. I've cut a piece of 1/4-inch foamboard to fill the whole pink wedge, and the stockyard will go on top of that so that it's level with the track.
Hi, Ryan. Fun to see you over here. I would love to see more angles of your RH.
MrB, Do you ever use ground goop? Since I started using it, I just paint the pink foam brown( the color of the goop), and place the goop. In one step, you can cover the foam, and attach the grass or cow pies. I will also set the stockyard into the wet goop. Just a thought.
Good morning Joe. I'll have a coffee to go please...
I'm actually heading out to the Trainroom this morning!
It's raining and WAY too wet to do much of anything outside, the projects in the house are done (or at least can wait a bit), I don't have to go to work until latter this evening and it's a short shift at that.
Don't know which tasks I'll tackle, but the list is long enough that I'm sure I won't have ANY trouble picking a few to play with.
Ryan, nice to see you here again. Hope that all is going well for you.
Sue, I like the stock pens. Are you going to have that as a stand alone along the tracks, or is it part of another larger project? Heading W. of here, into the farming country, we see them along the roads on some of the pasture lands.
Mr. B, good luck on the bashing of your pens. Did you ever decide on how you are going to set up the shoots? And, for what ever it may be worth....I really look forward to seeing your progress pictures, but the past few pictures I've gotten are coming through pretty dark, almost to the point of not being able to make out some detail. It could be me. It could be my computer....Anybody else seeing this too.
Better get out and play.
JB,
I plan to use them at trackside. I will have meadows and other fences and let cowboys on horse back drive them into the stockyard. I should pull it together by Thanksgiving. We have been doing more planning than work on the layout. We have only exercised the locos lately.
Have fun on your layout projects.
'Morning, everybody. Sam adams for me, Joe, and a club sandwich.
Looks like a bunch of work got done while I was on the missing list. Nice!
I spent a long weekend (bracketed by two long drives) at a family reunion, then got buried under an avalanche of 'honeydews.' Looks like I might finally be almost out from under the pile, so I'm looking forward to doing some serious model railroading this weekend.
Whoops! Just got a, "Come here and help me..." call. See you later.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Finally, it's the weekend! I'll have a Strumpet India Pale Ale, and pour one for anyone else who'd like one. No takers? Well, Joe, I guess it's an acquired taste.
I got my CMX Clean Machine! I promptly put it all together, following the directions, and filled it up with 90+ Isopropyl Alcohol, the other IPA. Assembly consists of putting the cleaning pad on the car, but they also recommend sloshing some fluid inside just to get rid of any manufacturing residue. I chose the alcohol because it was handy, and I didn't want any smelly laquer thinner or other "aromatic" cleaner filling up the house.
When they say to pull it around with a small, 8-wheel switcher, don't believe them. This thing is heavy, and there's also the friction of the spring-loaded cleaning pad to consider. I backed off the S1 and pulled out a pair of GP-9's. Together, they had no trouble totin' that barge around the layout. After a few roundy-rounds, the track seemed pretty clean, but this was the surface that I've been able to maintain with a Bright Boy the last 2 years.
Next, it was time for the subway tunnels. The GP-9's won't fit down there. The tunnel clearance is just high enough for the subways. So, I tried first one subway powered unit, and then found I needed 2. Has anyone ever MU'd together two subways? I didn't think so, but that was the solution. With that power, I was able to clean the subway tracks and even the steep grades between the tunnels and the surface mains.
Finally, I tried the trains out. It worked! I was able to run the subways around at low speed with no stalls, and I didn't see the lights in the cars flickering, either. So, here's an endorsement for the CMX. Pricey, yes, but they do work, and they're on sale now at Walthers if you're interested.
Ted M.
got trains?™
See my photos at: http://tedmarshall.rrpicturearchives.net/
I'll take Mr. Beasley up on a Strumpet IPA....Thanks!
Well, I did get out to the Trainroom and decided to run some trains, checking out the new trackage of last spring, now that we've had a summer under the belt. Everything was good, but I did have a couple of coupler trip pins catch at turnouts and crossings. It was on the Athearn cars (notoriously low couplers) so I spent my time dinging with trying to fix that problem.
I have, in the past, been able to just move the spring from the top to the bottom of the box, thus shimming it up a bit. But this go round (a GN box and two Meininger Brewing reefers) just will not cooperate. I may have to get and add additional shims....Although I wonder if that will even do it. These cars look really low to me.
Seems I read somewhere, some time ago now, about shimming Athearn rolling stock between the truck and the frame, raising the car-body. Anybody else remember anything of the like?
Mr. B, thanks for the report on the "cleaning car". Is this the one in the Walthers flyer for (I think) $109? I have been looking at these for some time now and wondering how well they work....So, thanks again.
Coffee time, Joe. Yeah, I was up a bit late watching the Sox. I went to a layout open house during the afternoon, so I missed the Patriot game. Looks like they didn't need my help this week.
colvinbackshop wrote: Mr. B, thanks for the report on the "cleaning car". Is this the one in the Walthers flyer for (I think) $109? I have been looking at these for some time now and wondering how well they work....So, thanks again.
Yes, that's the one. I'm happy with mine. The subway tunnels do present a special challenge, so I've been considering this for quite a while. Once the track condition got bad enough that I couldn't get the subways around the loop unless I ran them faster than I'd like so they could coast over the gaps, I knew I needed to do something.
Blackened Voodoo, eh? I did a bit of research and it looks interesting, but not one I've ever seen up here in Red Sox Nation. I'll be back later on to give one a try here at the Beer Barn. Thanks for the tip, Ted.
Morning all, Joe, I'll have a large black coffee, Man, is it cold here this morning. 44 deg. F, 25 mph North wind, and light rain. I guess I shouldn't complain, I know a lot of you here are from the North country. I guess you see this kind of regular but I do not like cold weather.
Got out to the train room yesterday and did a little scenery work. I got to looking at all the trees on the layout and decided I had way to many. They were blocking out the view of the trains in to many places. I removed about 90 trees and had to go back and re-do the ground cover under where the trees were. Not to big of a job, just a little various colors of ground foam here and there and I was done. I still have to mix some glue/water and spray it all down. I don't know if it is the weather or not, but the trains have been running perfectly the last couple of days.
I have 2 of the P2K geeps in BN, One was running great and the other would run for about a half hour and then the light would start flickering and trying to stall at differarn places around the track. I knew it wasn't the track since I had cleaned it all very good with alchol and the first loco, (I have both Geeps MU together) would run good and the second acted like the track was dirty. I cleaned the wheels with the paper towel on a section of track method and it didn't help. I then took a dropper and put a drop of alchol on the inside of each of the wheels on the second loco and while it was still wet, I put it into service. It runs perfectly now. I don't know if this is the correct way to clean the pick-ups on a diesel or not but it works. How do you all clean the pick-ups on your diesel locos?
MrB. I really like the track cleaning car, I wish I had the money to buy one of thase. It would surely cut down on the track cleaning, especially in the tunnels.
Joe, I'll have another cup of coffee and then I better get in the shower and then go to Physical Therapy, Only 2 more weeks unless they change things again. Have a good one. Mike
I didn't get in yesterday so I thought I would stop by for coffee this morning on the way to work.
Mike, I am anxious to see what you do with your clear cut. I am in the tree making mode, so it is hard to imagine taking them out. I put some deer in the forest, and some campers. The next stage is to forest around them. Good luck with the clear cut.
MrB, How many trips did it take to get the gummy off the track?
Another cup of joe, Coffee. Oh, sorry, another cup of coffee, Joe. Whatever. Wednesday is the "morning after" for me, after ice hockey, that is. We don't get off the ice until a quarter past 10, and then we spend some time in the parking lot drinking responsibly. We did experience some "alcohol abuse" last night, when one guy opened the tailgate of his truck and knocked off a bottle of beer that was on the bumper.
Sue, I didn't know how many passes it would take either, so I just ran the thing around and around for 10 or 15 minutes. When I white-gloved it (well, bare fingers) it came up clean, and trains which had been stalling and flickering went through easily at low speed. I did a few back-and-forth passes under active control on the reversing section, but I haven't done anything to the dead-end sidings yet. They're not causing any trouble, and they're easy enough to do with a Bright Boy as needed.
I've been working on the stockyard over the last few days. I made up "scenic covers" for my Atlas switch machines, putting down a layer of plastic wrap to protect the motors, and then coating that with plaster cloth. I've found this works a lot better if I use the "extension" pieces supplied by Atlas to shift the machines outboard about 3/8 inch. This helps with clearance issues on the old-style switch machines that I've got. I'm hoping for some dry weather so I can spray-paint the stockyard pieces outdoors.
Coffee, Coffee, Coffee. I think that huckleberry pie would go nicely, please.
I climbed at the rockgym last night. I went with my friends to the local brewpub afterwards for dinner, and I had pear cider. This morning I finished applying ground foam to my Aggro trees. There will be a tree planting this weekend. Since Larry started on the bridge deck of his trestle, he is pushing me to keep my part going.
MrB, Thanks for the info on the track cleaner. I think that we will keep our eyes open at the local train show in November. You get so much done on your layout. Where do you find the time with all of your other activties?
Hello all. Joe, I'll have a cold Bud and get one for any one that is ready. Thanks.
I have actually got something done on the layout the past few days. I was installing a few more street lights yesterday and noticed the rats nest of wires under the table! I thought there ought to be a way to orginize all that clutter. Today while I was on my pain pill and taking a nap, (Yea, I still like a nap in the afternoon) I thought I could run a buss wire down the center of the underside of the table and attach all those light wires to the buss wire. I took a piece of #12 wire and stripped off the insulation and attached two of the bare copper wires to the underside of the table and secured them so they would not get in contact with each other and then hooked up the Wall Wart to the bare buss wire then started the process of undoing all the existing wiring and hooking them to the buss light wires. So far everything is going fine and everything still works. I still need to do the other side of the layout. There are a lot more lights on the end where the town is located.
While I was at it I picked up some fuse holders and some 2 amp fuses and built a fuse panel. That should make it a lot easier to replace/add lights, and if something should happen it will blow a fuse and not the wall wart. I was in Lawton on Monday and stopped in at the Salvation Army surplus store and found a box that was full of the wall warts, I looked thru the box and found 5 of them that were 12 volt and ranged from 1 amp to 1.6 amp. I got them for a dollar a piece, a lot better than $20.00 for a 12 volt 2 amp from Radio Shack.
MrB, I am glad the cleaning car works good, I need to find one to clean inside my tunnels. Are you going to Rent it out in the near future?
Joe, set us all up with another round. Mike
Mike,
How did the clear cut go?
Thanks, Mike. A Bud will go good right about now. I see you got your forum name back!
Sue, both you and Mister B are showing me up something fierce. I've been hung up on dead center ever since we got back from Tucson.
Well, I finished the "honeydew" list (spliced the garden hose after cutting out the section the neighbor's dog chewed yesterday,) so now I can get back to model building. Just in time, I got my shipment from AllElectronics - enough diodes to carry me out to visible track, I think. (I hope!) (Where do I use diodes? By 'polarizing' the power connection to a twin-coil switch machine I get away with a single power wire. Since one diode = one foot of wire in cost, I save money on every switch machine lead that's more than four feet long. I have very few turnouts that are close enough to the panel to have a lead less than four feet long. Tortoise users can get the same result without the diodes, but have to use SPDT switches, one per turnout. I get away with a hot probe, one per panel.
Skimmed through the December MR. Lots of good stuff for everybody. I'm especially impressed with the look of Rod Stewart's work. As for Handlaying Turnouts Without a Hassle, I do - but my methods differ in almost every detail from Tom Piccirillo's. "There are eight and forty ways/ of creating tribal lays/ and every single one of them is right." (Kipling) "If it works, it's good." (Mayor Pragma, Rome, 1879)
The dinner bell just rang, so I'd better get it while it's hot. Don't want to irritate the cook!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with a commuter rail operation)