Philip,
You kept your promise.
Have you had any help with the track laying and wiring? Your track looks smooth, and I am impressed if this is only a year. That is a lot of track.
Larry is the electrical wis at our house. He made me learn and do some but why should I when he has the skill. We did do most of the track laying together. I used to do stain glass so I can handle a soldering iron. I found that DCC sure is a lot simpler that DC.
I enjoyed the history behind your layout. Great research.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
gear-jammer wrote: Have you had any help with the track laying and wiring? Your track looks smooth, and I am impressed if this is only a year. That is a lot of track.
Just me, myself, and I. Can't seem to get the family interested.
I found that DCC sure is a lot simpler that DC.
No arguments here! I just went for a bit of overkill so I'd not have to worry about it ever again.
Thanks, but it helps to have family that worked for the RR and lots of them that still live there.
BTW, I could use a good electrical guy. Think Larry would mind stopping by? I'll throw some ribs on the grill!
pcarrell wrote: BTW, I could use a good electrical guy. Think Larry would mind stopping by? I'll throw some ribs on the grill!
I will let him know that you offered. He has been so busy, that he isn't getting our layout stuff done. I spend more time on the layout than he does. I believe that is backwards from most relationships.
If I had one more package of scale 2 x 6's, I could finish my corral and loading ramp tonight. Oh well, there are other things that I should be working on.
Later, Sue
pcarrell wrote:IT LIVES!!!!!!!
IT LIVES!!!!!!!
Well Done Phil!
Nice and big and lloks like it will be well worth it in the end.
Well I had one of the days... Yep
Dad pulled through his surgery quite well (KNock, Knock, and touch on wood) as I got to see him twice today. Yes I saw him this morning for an hour and then this afternoon... After I took a a trip to the E.R. myself Don't know how I did it but I was splitting a retaining wall brick and yes I had a full face shield on and a rock flew off the brick and nicked my forarm. It also nicked the vein. So I had a Geiser on my hands. Yes Fergmiester created another crime scene, blood splatter included Only spent 1 1/2 hours in the E/R a record in my books!
Anyway I'll keep ya posted
Fergie
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
Glad that you are ok, Fergie.
Evening Gang:
Fergie: First soldering irons and now hammers and chisels. Soon you won't be able to touch any tools. I'm glad that you didn't have to stay in the hospital. Take care of yourself.
PC: Great job. You make me really look bad. Your track was very smooth. Nice going.
Well I finished the south side of the creek crossing and got half way up the north side. There is alot more silt then I thought. The concrete on the crossing has been damaged and will have to be repaired before we cut and bale again. The crossing dates back to the late 1800s and the concrete to sometime around 1920. I guess it's held up pretty well considering.
Since I retired the days of the week don't mean much except when watching TV. Today seemed more like a week day. I just might make Tuesday and Wednesday weekend days.
Well I guess I'll head for bed.
Good Night All
Hello everyone....
i'm glad for more thoughtful comments from all of you. It was good to hear Bobk's comments on how he was comforted during his periods of deep grief. As fergie said, others will pick up the ball for Wes's good work, and I will be leading a class that he was conducting.
Speaking of Fergie, sorry to learn of his bloody mishap, but glad it was not worse. Fergie, you mentioned your Dad having surgery, and i hope he's okay now too.
..and speaking of Bobk, ..... Bob, please share your feelings again if you feel the need. you're friends are here.
PHILiP! enjoyed to photos and video clip. However, that locomotive was too close to the edges for my comfort.
I saw Sue's timber bridge posted a day or two back and really liked it.
I took a "sanity break" in the model train room this evening, and completed my kitbashed observation car. I'm very pleased with the results overall, but it does have a few screw-ups.
Good night.....
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good Morning ! from Tipton IN
07-16-07
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
Good morning. More wet stuff today with rainfall up to two inches an hour.Today's Weather for: Leesville, LA 71446 7/16/2007
Leesville airport So Far TodayHigh: 73°FLow: 72°FRain: 0.00"Rain Rate: 0.00"/hGust: 3mph NNE Heat Index: 77°FHumidity: 95%Dew Point: 70°F
Today High: 88 Cloudy. Chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning...then showers and thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 80s. Light and variable winds. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.
Tonight Low: 72 Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. South winds up to 10 mph in the evening becoming light and variable.
Rainfall expectations are for scattered thunderstorms with heavy rainfall up to 2 inches an hour in some areas.
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
Good morning
Happy MRRing
Good morning, Zoe. Just a cup to go, please. Thanks, Sue!
Paul W. Beverung wrote:Fergie: First soldering irons and now hammers and chisels. Soon you won't be able to touch any tools. I'm glad that you didn't have to stay in the hospital. Take care of yourself. Fergie - otherwise, you might need to relocate your house closer to the local hospital's ER. Do take care of yourself, and your Dad. I'll pray for his progress and healing to continue, - as well as your own.
Paul W. Beverung wrote:Fergie: First soldering irons and now hammers and chisels. Soon you won't be able to touch any tools. I'm glad that you didn't have to stay in the hospital. Take care of yourself.
PC, I still need to go back and look at your pics, but I like the layout plans you posted.
We got a little bit of Jeff's rain yesterday, but must have been just the edge of it. Didn't last very long. Hope it runs out of rain soon for you too, Jeff.
Would like to write more, but need to get going. My supervisor is back from her vacation today, and I need to hit her up for some appointments for a few clients (before they all get taken).
Blessings and a good week (and a safe one) for all,
Jim in Cape Girardeau
Thanks for the kind words all. There are plans to fix the giant gorge so no damage occurs to errant loco's.
There are some that are in need of prayer around here......well I guess we could all use some. Anyways, just know that you aren't forgotten.
Looks like we're getting a lot of the same weather Jeff.
TODAY: Warmer air the western U.S. will slide in today under a west-southwest wind. Highs will hit the mid to upper-80's. Then interesting weather will arrive tonight.
TONIGHT: Perhaps the best type of weather pattern (since we need rain) will arrive overnight, but it may bring some strong storms with it. Here is the forecast by 3am tomorrow morning. An explanation of why we are going to see this type of weather is below.
Many times in the summer months, a complex of thunderstorms will develop in the afternoon. Typically in the summer months, they actually provide a large percentage of rain totals for most of the Great Plains, and Midwest. Here is a map that shows the setup for this week. Wave one arrives tonight, with the next wave arriving by mid-week. If this patterns holds true, we could get over an inch of rain!
These systems usually don't have much severe weather with them, but occasionally they do. So there is a slight chance of severe storms tonight. Here is the Severe Storm Risk map for tonight.
EXTENDED OUTLOOK: This unsettled pattern will continue through Thursday, but the good news is that it looks to be nice again for the weekend! Highs will hit the lower 80's with low humidity.
Looks kinda similar, huh Jeff?
Good morning. You are welcome, Jim, but I hope is was not the same coffee from last night. We will call that truck driver coffee because it is standup in the corner strong.
I am still down in the dumps because I did not finish my cattle yard. It will be at least a week before I can get up to Tacoma to get more scale lumber. I would do it today, but I need to head south to get shots for two new kitties.
I will check in later when I am back from my walk with Pearl.
Good moring diners......
If you're traveling across the Heartland Division of CB&Q. Keep in mind, the Prairie Zephyr serves breakfast aboard "Silver Fountain"
Morning All...Its gonna be hot and humid here today with chance late for some of those pop up showers PC was talking about...I'll have a order of Biscuits and Gravey like Jeff odered and a cup of Luc's coffee and maybe one of Bill's dougnuts....please...Thank You.....
Gary....Looks like a good job on the car...What did you start the kitbash with?.....Do you have any other photos of your Fleet?
Jeff....Two inches an hour...How much is total rain fall per year there where you live?
PC..Yes I was thinking the same thing that engine seemed close to the 1000 scale foot drop...your track work is much better than mine...What brand of track and turn outs are you using...What code?
I have some small things i need to finish up then i think i will start another DPM building for my downtown....You all have a good monday...Jerry
Garry,
I like you weathering on the cattle car and box car. Is the box car NP by any chance?
Cox 47 wrote: PC..Yes I was thinking the same thing that engine seemed close to the 1000 scale foot drop...your track work is much better than mine...What brand of track and turn outs are you using...What code?
Thanks! The track is a combination of Atlas code 80 in the staging area where the video starts and then changes to Atlas code 55 on the modeled section. Probably about 65%-70% of what was in the video was staging. As for the drop-off, there's only one place that's real bad, and that gets fixed tonight if I can get the time.
Some of that "stand up on it's own" coffee to go please.
***Philip, I was so glad to read that you used some code 80 track. I have been under the impression here that code 50 was the way to go, but all the track I have stored away is the Atlas code 80, (along with a little Kato unitrack). Isn't code 80 the best choice for running all brands of older n scale trains, without the need to replace some of the wheels that have the deeper flanges? If I understand this wrong, please clarify. Thanks and again, impressive start to what is obviously going to be a very cool layout.
***Fergie, may I suggest staying away from nail guns, or have you done that one too? Glad it wasn't worse. The human body is pretty tough, just keep the blood on the inside for best performance.
Rob
Rob,
Standard Atlas track (code 80) is DCC friendly right out of the box and the stuff is available everywhere. And yes, you can run virtually anything on it (flangewise) and it'll work great. Thing is, it leaves a little to be desired in the looks department and I don't think there is a powered frog version, but I could be wrong about that (I've only seen plastic frogs). The tie spacing is a little far apart, the ties are a bit oversize, and the rail height is large. It can be made to look good with proper ballasting and weathering, but care must be taken to make it look right if you ask me. On the other hand, the stuff is virtually bulletproof and so it works real well for hidden areas like helix's and staging yards. About 65% of the track shown in my video is my staging yard and so it's code 80.The code 55 Atlas stuff looks good, is DCC friendly, is quite reasonable on price, and you can power the frogs or not. I would recomend that you concider using powered frogs for the reliability factors involved (no stalling & the ability to crawl across a switch). One word of caution though with the Atlas code 55; you can only run low flanged equipment on it! If you try to run larger flanges on it, the flanges will hit the ties and you will be rumbling along the track. Just make sure your equipment is NMRA RP25 compliant on the flanges and you'll be fine. Lo profile wheelsets will do the trick for the rolling stock. They offer #5, #7, and #10 (!!!) turnouts, and they look great! About 30 seconds into my video you'll see the train cross a single Atlas code 55 #10 turnout.
There are no commercially available track pieces that I'm aware of that allow you to go from code 80 to code 55, but it's not hard to make them. You simply slip a rail joiner onto the code 80, then use some pliers to flatten the end of the joiner thats sticking out. Then you lay the code 55 on top of the flattened joiner and check the rail tops to see if they line up. It should be close, but you might have to bend the joiner a little to make it perfect. Once you've got it set, just solder the the thing together and you're home free. And curves are no problem. Both of my transitions are on curves. One of them is on my minimum radius curve of 17.5".About Peco track, a lot of people like it very much. I don't use it so I don't know a lot about it. The tie spacing is a little far apart to be correct (about like the Atlas code 80 really), although some careful ballasting will go a long way towards hiding that. I know that it costs about the same as the Micro-Engineering stuff in my area and the ME stuff looks WAY better IMHO. The Peco track can be had in powered frog and non-powered frog types. One thing about it that is a very good selling point is that the code 55 is really code 80 that is just buried deeper into the ties. You can run deeper flanged equipment on it. They do offer four different sized regular turnouts and even some curved turnouts.
Micro Engineering makes some great track too, but it needs some work to be DCC friendly. They make code 80, code 70, code 55, and code 40. They make bridge track as well with the correct length and spacing of ties (I'll be using their code 55 bridge track on all of my bridges). The down side is that they make only #6 turnouts. I have tested some of my large flanged equipment (that I won't be able to run on the new layout) on some ME code 70 and it worked fine, so that might be some food for thought. The thing about the Micro Engineering stuff is that it is quite expensive comparitively, and sometimes can be a little tough to find.
That's about it for my research into N scale track. If I were you, and I already had a handful of the code 80 Atlas stuff, I'd go for it. Just ballast it up and weather it good.
Morning folks!
Another day of sleeping in...
Garry: Nice observation! Good enough to roll with the Broadway Limited Cali Zephyr!
All: Did I miss something about Fergie? Has he injured himself with tools? Or is he notorious (SP?) for it?
Sue: Is there no hobby shop down there, or is the one in Tacoma really good?
Also, do you plan on going to the Puyallup Train Show in November, and the Trains Trains Trains meeting in April '08?
Hello...
Thanks for remarks on "Silver Fountain" observation car. There is more information in a thread I posted about the car if you are interested. The dining section will have eggs benedict on the menu tomorrow morning if any of you happen to be traveling.
Glad you liked the weathered freight cars, Sue. I weatherd about 45 fright cars a couple of weeks ago including some NP cars. The box car in the photo, I think, is a CB&Q car.
I'm still enjoying looking at Philip's layout pictures. to Philip!
Heartland Division CB and Q wrote: I'm still enjoying looking at Philip's layout pictures. to Philip!
Thanks, but it's just a blue desert. It doesn't look a lot like Maine yet.
Mark,
The hobbyshop in Tumwater has minimal HO stuff. They have a little woodland scenic stuff. Their main draw is remote controlled cars and airplanes.
The hobbyshop in Centralia has the tools and some MR stuff, but the only one that has scale lumber is in Lakewood. The other Tacoma store is very reasonable on rolling stock and has a great Woodland Scenic Figure selection.
Oh by the way, I did end up going north to get my 2 x 6's. I am on a roll with my stockyard.
Is is muggy in Seattle, too?
Hi,
I've competed my weekend project.
Yes, Gloetown now has a station/depot
I'll be adding a news stand in that scene, the one from Woodland series. I like it
Cox 47 wrote: Jeff....Two inches an hour...How much is total rain fall per year there where you live?
Good Evening All,
Thanks for the dinner invite Luc but I'll just have a nice rootbeer float and sit for a bit in the corner. Got back from Pittsburgh around midnight last night. Funny trip and a long drive back with traffic delays. I didn't have a brilliant weekend though overall it wasn't bad for the rest of the drivers we supported. Saturday am the car started misfiring so i brought it in and we changed the spark box coil and plugs as the plugs had a funny tint to them that usually means electric troubles. Sat afternoon it ran well for qualifying but I never got a clean lap with all the traffic (40 cars on track at once) and ended up third but first in class. Sunday warmup the fuel pump failed in the pits but we revived it with a hammer (really - just a tap to wake it up) and the session went well. We replaced the fuel pump for the race, but the car died on the pace lap and I finally was able to limp into the pits to retire after a bit of drama. I guess after winning four years in a row I can't complain, but there you go. All the other cars we brought finsihed with my friends grandson winning my class in another car we built and prepared so my loss was a great gain for him. Christian(the driver) is a nice young man whom we've brought along in the sport and his win was well deserved. The overall winner (several classes race together in one group) was a fellow whose bad luck has let me through to win twice so his win was well deserved as well. If it comes out we may have video of qualifying to post soon.
Not much else doing right now except for DPM building construction. PC - that layout is really coming along well. The trackwork looks gorgeous and smooth as a babies behind. I love the way it loops back and forth and the large radius curves look very realistic. Nice job !!!! Well got to toodle on along and get some done on the buildings. I'll try to check in later. CUL,J.R.
Evening Gang: I got the creek crossing finished. I must have dug out 40 yards of silt. Now we have to patch up the concrete.
Mary Ann and I went to Lowes ( sorry Dick but they are on our side of the interstate and accesable by back roads) to pickup some 2x4s, insulation, and siding for her pump house/wash house. I managed to slip in a sheet of 3/4 inch blue foam and a sheet of 1/8 inch Luan plywood. The blue foam is for the Sunday Lake mine area. I can't find anything thicker then 3/4 locally. The plywood is for making patterns for the sheet metal parts of a 1 5/8 inch scale hopper car. Yes, I've got too many projects. Tomorrow I've got to get John and our friend to help me get some old counter tops and particle board out of the basement and put in the storage container. I'll use that to make shelves and work counters for Mary Ann in the container. Of course getting that stuff out of the basement will make it easier for me to work on the layout.
Garry: Nice job on the observation. If you made some goofs I can't tell. It looks great.
As far as getting hurt by tools I've got the nail gun award. Actually it was a brad nailer. I shot myselv in the left leg just above the knee with a 1 1/4 inch brad.
It's time for bed here so I'm off.
Thanks, Luc, for buying. I will have a root beer float, too.
It is so exciting to have structures finished. That looks like a pretty big station. I'm jealous because we are no where near doing buildings. I tried one laser-cut church and tiny laser-cut junction station.
I am working on the stock yards. I did a couple of panels for the chute and made four gates tonight. When you scratch build, it an experimental puzzle. Oh, well, I am having fun. That is what the hobby is about.
Time to put Pearl to bed. She was lounging in her new kiddie pool when I last looked.