Just thought that I would stop by for a quick beer after work. I hope everyone who had the day off enjoyed it. Maybe some of you got some layout time. I work Monday-Thursday this week, so I won't get any until at least Friday.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
The last round is probably about gone, so I'll be glad to buy the next one everybody.
My layout's progress is slow but sure. I'm presently working on scenery.
Cheers!
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good morning! I'll have the special this morning....and keep the coffee coming.
It's -20 again this morning! We just can't seem to climb out of the freezer. On the other hand, it will be a good morning to spend some time in the Trainroom again.
I'm still working on turnouts, the landscaping at Isabella and also working out some lighting details for the Backshop at Whyte.
Sometimes jumping from project to project can be frustrating for me, in not always seeing the progress. I also seem to be quite slow at most everything I tackle....Not to mention learning the hard way most often!
The up side to this "project jumping" is being able to work in numerous places with any number of different skills. If one project doesn't fire my missile today or I need to walk away to re-group / re-think....I can move to another project. Heavens...I even have some lower level benchwork to build yet! BUT, that along with the lower level off pike staging will have to wait for a bit warmer weather, as the rough lumber is out in the pole-barn, needs re-saw and planning, and the sawshop isn't heated!
Garry you mention that you are doing some scenery. Are you planting grass, shrubs and trees at this point?
Coffee for me, too, and some link sausages with scrambled eggs. Thanks.
Good old New England weather. We got up to 60 yesterday, but there was ice on the roads again this morning. Weather dot com says it's 40 out now. I'm hoping the rest of the glacier on my driveway will melt before it gets cold again later this week. It's been there since just after Thanksgiving.
JB, I'm in the project-hopping mode, too. I punched some holes through the foam and ran wires for a bit more interior lighting, in the Star Garage and the cigar shop building. (Really prophetic. First, we had the Cigar Store Indian thread over in Layouts, and then I painted up my own Native American to get him ready. Next, I made the decals for the shop and installed lighting, and this morning, there's the final piece of the puzzle. I'd tried to keep the name of the cigar shop secret, but it's out in the open now. "Fidel's Cuban Cigars" will be the retirement job of a certain Latin American presidente.)
I had teenagers occupying the layout room last night, so I went down to the basement workshop and put some finishing touches on the trolley. I got the decals done and some final trim pieces in place, so tonight I will give the sideframe a spray of satin lacquer to seal the decals, and then I can install the window glazing. It's getting close, but it won't really be finished until the speaker and sound decoder come into my LHS.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
JB and Mr.B are project jumping. Likewise here. My scenery project in this section of the layout has quite a bit of rock strata. Each step of the process requires long drying times. During those times I'm building a protoypically correct Burlington Route passenger car.
Happy Model Railroading.
Good morning. Coffee and a bowl of oatmeal this morning please.
We're still in the freezer with lows of -20 every morning so far this week. It has now (at 0900) warmed up to -11, but the wind is steady at 10 MPH so the wind-chill is at -30. Two things for sure about this: It's a bit unusual and it's hard on the wood pile!
Taking advantage of theses colder temps, I've been plugging away in the Trainroom a few hours every day and can actually see some progress! I've added one more wire control for turnouts at Cascade Junction and now have a total of ten. All but one is complete (this time I ran out of wire) and I've started working out some of the structures and placement. I had a general idea when I laid the track, but as always with me, things morph! First of all the trackplan isn't what I had drawn, adding run-around trackage, additional connections and sidings, and I now want to take advantage of some of the space to hint at a small community.
Mike, I saw your post on the upstairs train room.....It's looking good and OHHHHH the possibilities with those long runs! Did you ever get the trolley to run better? It may need a good cleaning and lube job. Lord only knows how long it's been in the box...I think I had it in storage for about five years!
Gotta' get after the chores, I've got a Sec. Prelims Swim Meet to officiate this afternoon and early evening....So I've got to get all my chores done before noon today.
Morning all, Joe, I'll just have toast and coffee this morning,. Thanks.
colvin, I haven't done much with the trolly as of yet, It is cold in the trainroom and I have spent most of my time in the new train room. I will glue the final pieces of ceiling tile on today and then I will start the process of deciding where I want to put the buildings, roads, and track and the such. I still need to build the benchwork in the North end when the weather gets warm enough to get some more lumber from the barn. I have a stack of 1X4's and 1X6's that I salvaged from some old shipping crates from when I was working, they are 16' long.
I will post some pics here as well as on the forum for those that would like to see them and might have missed my post.
Looking South
Looking North
Samson likes the new benchwork too.
You all have a good day. Mike
Good evening, All. I thought that I would slide onto this bar stool for a beer.
Nice room, Mike. You are going to have fun with the space.
I will check in tomorrow.
I'll buy a round...of "breakfast" this morning.
The Sec. Meet is history and now I'll be off to the State Meet this Fri. Needless to say I haven't had time for much MRRing the past few days, not even taking the time to buy more wire to finish the remaining turnout control.
I did however do a little re-modeling of the Backshop on Fri. Nothing major, just a bit of cutting and fitting (I have a file cabinet recessed into the benchwork here that needed to be moved 2") to make room for a multi drawer storage cabinet that will hold rolling stock and locos used to fiddle Sawbill Junction.
I may get out there again today before skiing to play with something, even though a pretty short time frame! I need some fuel tanks at Cascade Jct. so I'm thinking that I may spend a little time checking out my "inventory" to see if I can come up with something suitable. This is a busy place on the roads (and at the top of the hill for the pushers) so I will need fuel for the diesels and steamers...Water too for that fact.
Better get moving...See you all later.
Pretty quiet for a Sunday afternoon, eh, Joe? Not much to do now that football season is over. I'll have a Strumpet Lager, please, and see if anyone else wants one.
I did some detail work on the Star Garage this weekend. I've had a couple of packages of JL Innovative accessories sitting around, the unpainted, raw metal kind. So, I trimmed them up and started painting. I detailed the inside of the garage, too, since it's got a big open garage door and lots of windows, and it's near the front of the layout. With a light in there now, you can even see what's going on.
That's an Athearn auto. I scratched the lift racks out of styrene.
I did some more on the trolley, and now it's assembled and running. I'm going to have to take it apart again when the decoder and speaker comes in, but for now I can run it. I haven't put the people inside yet, either.
Mr. B...I'll take you up on a Strumpet Lager, and I'll buy the next round.
Your Star Garage is looking good, as is the trolley! Nice work, really nice work!
For the most part I did the normal chores, taught the ski class (we had a temp. of about 35 today, which was easy to take, but in all honesty was a bit too warm with the snow being a bit sticky where the sun got to it for the afternoon) and roasted a chicken with potatoes, onions, wonderful herbs and carrots for dinner this evening....But, I did get out to the Trainroom and found a great fueling facility for Cascade Jct.
It's a Faller B-157 plastic kit with two horizontal and one vertical tank, each rather small in size, along with pumps, walkways, pump house and such. I'm thinking it will be a perfect addition to the scene! I'm not sure when I may get to it, but it's on the work bench.
Tomorrow I'm running to town early to run a few errands and get some wire for the remaining turnout! Then I need to work in the Sawshop a bit to run some additional lumber for the library addition and also for some benchwork.
Now that I remodeled the Backshop for the thirty drawer cabinet at Sawbill...I got the "BUG" and want to finish up the lower level benchwork across the isle and be able to say "I got it done".
It is too early for beer, so I will have coffee. I rescued this from the bottom of page 5.
I love your tolley, MrB. Looks like you have been doing more modeling that the rest of us.
Off to work, with climbing tonight.
Good evening...I see Squeaky hasn't been busy.
The meet went well and I've made it back home. I hope to get to the Trainroom tomorrow for a bit and will send out a report.
For now though, I need to get to bed. It's been a long ordeal with seven hours of driving to and from the cities and two back to back ten plus hour days on the pool deck. All of which was very worth whileBTW!
I need a beer THANKS, any body else for one?
Well we survived Florida. Gear box problem. Got a train meeting Tuesday at the house to get away from the cars. Selling the Ferrari, Porsche, Xjs and XJ6. Trying to get down since I am not getting younger.
Built some buildings and bought the Leather Company from Cornerstone and that gives you enought parts to build a whole industry PLUS lots of spares. Well have to get back to the grease job may have the "F" car sold, I HOPE!!!!
George, good to see you back at the Barn...And to hear that you survived the trip to Florida! Thanks for the picture.
Thought I'd stop in and see who is hanging out of late and I see that Joe is pretty bored. As for a cold one...Yes, I'll have one, please and I'll set the house too, for any takers.
I haven't gotten to the Trainroom much (I've been busy with unforeseen demands) but I have started construction of the fueling facility...Maybe later in the week I'll get those pics posted with an update.
For now though, I've got to get back to the kitchen and get my Shepherd's Pie together and into the oven. I have a Lifegurad Class to teach tonight...So I have a timeframe to meet!
I'll try to stop in after work...
Thanks for the cold one colvin. Not much going on here the past few days, I did get some of the track laid on the N scale the other day and got the feeders on and most of the buss wire run. I watched the N scale steamer run without flaw last night for about 3 hours while I consumed a few cold beverages. The only problem I had was at a 90 deg. crossing, all of a sudden the steamer would come to a sudden stop on top of the crossing. I watched closely at it while it crossed and when it stopped the drivers were spinning on the rails. Upon closer inspection I found the screw that holds the front wheels on (4-8-4) had backed off and was hanging on the crossing. I tightened the screw and it ran perfectly the rest of the night, I am very happy with it.
I robbed my piggy bank and came up with enough $$$ to order some more cork roadbed and another package of flex track, it should be here Monday. I will then be able to do the second main line. Right now I have 30' of track laid and by the time I am done I will have 80-90 foot of track, a fair amount of N scale for me.
There is something I am not sure of, is N scale 144:1, or am I wrong?
Thanks for the cold brew, maybe some of the others will drop in for a cold one this evening. Mike
I'll have a cold one Joe and I'll buy Mike another one...And any one else that's coming in for that matter!
Mike, I'm thinking that you are off a bit on the ratio thing with N. If memory serves HO is half of O and N is about half of HO, thus the ratio for N would be 1: 160.
Hey, I just did a search and found this.... Check these out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HO_scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_scale
Sue, you mentioned in a recent post that Mr. B is doing more modeling than the rest of us....I'm thinking that you are right on and so with that; How do you fit it all in Mr. B???
Actually I have spent some time in the Trainroom, but I haven't gotten any work done on actual trains!
I did however get started on the fueling facility for Cascade Jct. and have made progress on a number of fronts!
I now have all the cabinetry in place in the Backshop. The well pump tank is behind the thirty drawer cabinet (somewhat center of the pic, just to the right of the "off white" file cabinet) and the lower level of the peninsula is behind the other cabinets to the left.
I have also finished all of the wire controlled turnouts at Cascade Jct. I ended up with ten on this fascia and two more around the corner behind where I'm standing to take this pic.
When I get more done at Cascade, I'll post a pic or two from there to. But for now, I'll have another brew Joe, and then I'll have to say good night....I'm turning into a pumpkin!
Nice pics, JB. How'd you make the turnout controls? I'm getting tired of reaching over scenery to throw caboose ind. ground throws. Will your method work thru 31/2" of foam?
Regards,Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
Good morning, everyone. Coffee, 3 eggs scrambled and some link sausages, if you please. And a glass of OJ, since his next trial is coming up next month!
I looked out the window this morning and saw a rare sight - my driveway was ice-free and completely dry. It hasn't been that way since early December. A lot of thawing over the past few days, with some rain, but last night things dried out and the temperature dropped a bit below freezing again. Should be an easy drive to work and....HOLY FUDD!
Well, having lived on this street for 26 years now, I'm used to the runoff crossing the road and turning to ice when conditions are like this. So, I automatically slowed to a crawl a quarter mile from home, and took it r-e-a-l e-a-s-y. After that, I was more cautious, particularly when I saw the SUV with its butt in the ditch, and the police cars, and another SUV lying on its side in the woods. For some reason, they had closed the road from one direction, but not the way I was going.
colvinbackshop wrote: Sue, you mentioned in a recent post that Mr. B is doing more modeling than the rest of us....I'm thinking that you are right on and so with that; How do you fit it all in Mr. B???
I wish I could say I'd been doing a lot of modelling. Between work, ski trips and hockey, I've had very little time. However, I've created the iliusion of a lot of work by doing very small projects and then posting pictures of them. I'm gearing up for spring, though, with the sound decoder and speaker for the trolley already in hand, and some more stuff on order. It's finally time to add the Miller Engineering signs I've wanted for all these years. (www.microstru.com to look at those.) That building with the awning will be the Heartbreak Hotel (gotta rename "Beasley Street" to "Lonely Street" for that one) and there will be light-up Pizza signs over Suzanne's House of Beef.
My guess is that Mike's the one doing the most train work, what with his "Honey, I shrunk the HO trains" efforts. I'm really looking forward to see this as it develops.
Hey gang:
I'll have a cold brew and stick a pizza (everything but the sink) in the oven Joe. I'm hungry and thirsty too!
Sooo...Mr. B's secret is out. Small scenes, completed. Not a bad idea Mr. B. I'll have to give that a try! As of this writing, I have NO scenes 100% completed, but I sure do have a plate full of projects going on!!
Terry, I'm with you on the reaching over / through scenery and / or rolling stock to get to the ground throws! This is 100% the reason I went for the "remote control" method at Cascade Jct.
I'm not sure that my method, with the wire controlled turnouts, will work through 3-1/2" of foam, but I'm thinking that it will. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to make this work with my one and two inch base, but it did. For the most part, keeping everything in alignment is seemingly the most crucial. And....A retro-fit or new construction will make a difference too!
I've had a couple of PM's in regard to this turnout project and so I'm thinking that I will give a shot at posting a tutorial.......But no matter, I'll get you some info one way or another, as this has turned out to be one of my better "Brain-Storms" !!
A round for the house Joe...Then, I've got to get.
Hi, Joe. A Bloody Mary and drag it thru the garden.
JB, I reeally like the tutorial idea and remember to address the lowest common denominator,ME!
Terry
Howdy, everybody. Sapporo for me, Joe, and top off anyone who's needy.
JB, there's no reason why an Anderson link won't work through thick foam. The only problem I'd have would be finding suitable wire. Five inches plus is too long for my straightened paper clips. Possibly music wire, if it can accept the bends. I agree with you and Terry that dropping my big, klutzy 0-5-0 into the (planned) scenery is a dubious proposition at best. In addition, the MZL operating system and my hot-frog turnouts require electrical contacts on the switch actuators. (One layout I was involved with used slide switches pretending to be relay cases as ground throws.)
Two mileposts in operation to report:
Needless to say, I'm a very happy camper.
Well, the race is getting interesting, so I'm outta here.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I will just have coffee this morning, Joe. The high overcast skies here mean one more day before the rain sets in again.
MrB, Who makes a sound decoder for a trolley?
Chuck, Are your spring days getting warmer down there? Larry gets down into California every week, and they have had a lot of rain.
JB, All those filing cabinets fit well under your layout. It amazing how much junk can be hidden down there.
Mike, How is your layout room coming?
George, Have you been getting much layout time?
Morning all. Joe I'll have a cheese burger basket with all the trimmings and a DP. Thanks.
Been keeping busy on the layout the past few days, N scale and HO. The other day I was really missing my HO trains and decided what the heck, I went to the barn and rounded up all the used track and some leftover new track to see if I had enough to put together a simple loop to run the trains. Lo and behold I ended up with enough to make a complete loop around the 5' X 15' portion of the layout. I soldered all the joints together and even used several pieces of brass that hadn't seen a train in 40 years. Believe it or not, it runs great! Day before yesterday I went to the old trainroom and gathered all the buildings, rolling stock and autos and set me up a layout in the new trainroom. Now the track is simply down with rail spikes and no roadbed, I keep changing my mind and moving my buildings around trying to find out what I like, when I decide and get some cork roadbed I will be able to get some track permintaly (SP) down.
This is turning out to be a book so I will not go any further, here are a few pics I took the other night, not very good but it will give you some idea. Mike
Mike, Great shots. Are you using the N scale to create forced perspective? We did that with a photo of a barn in the background.
Happy Birthday to me! I turned 61. I got a Happy Birthday e-mail from Trainboard/Railimages, where I host my photos. A round on the birthday boy. Nachos, too, because, well, cake just doesn't go with Strumpet IPA.
We were up skiing, but bagged it early because of howling winds. The trails were all icy, and only the bunny lifts were turning. So, I went down to the workroom and got the trolley assembled. First, it wouldn't run at all, but I found a broken wire (poor quality control on a solder joint) and that got it up again. With a bit of mechanical re-arrangement, I got all the parts stuffed inside, without too many obvious immense electronic devices in the passenger cabin.
This trolley is a Bachmann Peter Witt, a really nice model. It comes with its own decoder, which may yet be a problem, but that's only a basic motion-and-lights unit. I added on a Digitrax SFX0416, which provides sound plus some other functions. The 0416 comes with selectable diesel or steam, but it can be programmed with other sound files. I found a trolley "sound project," as Digitrax calls these things, on the Digitrax site, and downloaded the software and the data files. My LHS has the required PR-2 unit to do the programming, although it's not hooked up yet. I think that's going to be a learning experience for both of us.
If this works well, I'll probably get a PR-2 of my own. I'd love to put sound in the other trolley, and in the Proto subway cars as well. After that, it's on to the GP-9's and F7's to complete the sounding of the fleet.
Happy B'day Mr.B, I'll take you up on the cold brew and some nachos.
Did everyone remember to change there clocks? Mike
Mister Beasley, and thanks for the brew. (just think - only 9 1/2 years more to get to where I already am. Race you to 100?)
I couldn't get to sleep after the excitement last night (First day of the Osaka Basho. The two Yokozuna won their matches against the Komusubi, but it was a bad night for the four Ozeki - all of whom are now 0-1.) So I was laying in the dark with my eyes open when my cable box flipped from 1:59 to 3:00. I guess that convinced my subconscious that it was time to ZZZZ out, because the next thing I knew, the sun was up.
Sue, the high temperatures in Sunny Southern Nevada have been in the 70's. There are two mountain ranges between us and California's rain - darn it! We need more precipitation to refill Lake Mead.
My layout project for the next ??? is the Nonomura zone panel. It has to control fourteen powered turnouts, keep frog polarity straight on that spring switch and handle simultaneous operation of three trains, two through and one switching. The MZL control system is user friendly, at the expense of being somewhat wiring-intensive.
Incidentally, N scale is 1:160, unless you model Japanese prototype. In that case, it's 1:150!
Happy B-Day Mr. B!!!! I sure hope you had a great one! And thanks for the cold one.
We're warm and sunny today, after a pretty cold week. I too, was skiing today with the last session of the MYSL lessons. What a great way to finish up the ski lessons, with temps. in the 20's, a mild breeze, strong and warm sun, and a hot coco break around a bon-fire about 1/3 of the way down "THE WALL" (a vertical drop of about 400') on skinny skis! It was just a wonderful day to be out on the boards!
Mike, I'm thinking I may be confused. Are you giving up your HO, or keeping that out in the barn with a new "N" pike up-stairs? And thanks for the pics to both you and Sue.
Sounds like we have all been pretty busy with our RR empires lately! I love hearing of all the progress. Chuck, we really would love to "SEE" your progress. It really sounds interesting....Maybe we all need to chip in and get you a camera!
Other than the normal chores around the place and some skiing over the weekend I have been working on the "Turnout Tutorial" a little, but mostly I've been finishing up the fueling facility project for Cascade Jct. I really like the way it has turned out! Yes, I kit-bashed and painted a little, but it's mostly out of the box and fits well.
Right now I have it sitting along a line with the tower behind the cross-over with pumps between the two mains heading for the helix, an oil column (for the steamers) and a pump (for the diesels) on the Sawbill Subdivision and an unloading rack on a siding at the front of the scene off that Sub. Guess, I should have done an overall view, but hope you get the jest. What do you think? Should the tanks be at the back of the scene?
Latter.