CanadianShield wrote: CPRAIL, What scale do you model in? Canadian Shield
CPRAIL,
What scale do you model in?
Canadian Shield
HO scale. Why are you asking?
BTW Hoople, go with the S1.
In my head: I am kit-bashing an N scale Mother Hubbard loco out of an old bachman chassis and starting to build my dream layout in a finished train room.
In reality: Feeding horses, cows, and other critters, continuing to work on our new house, trying to figure out how to pay for a concrete slab in the future train room, and planning a little HO table layout under glass for my wife.
As my mother(RIP) use to say, "No rest for the wicked". -Rob
I just finished upgrading an old Mantua 4-6-2 Pacific, that I had acquired in the mid '60s.
The trucks aren't prototypical for the vanderbuilt tender. I'm not a rivit counter, so I don't care. They look presentable, AND I have a locomotive that can creep along at a snail's pace smoothly without the herky-jerky movement it had before. By the way, I used a technique to improve electrical pickup by using KaDee #5 coupler centering springs as wipers I read about in another thread on this forum. I gotta thank you folks for the guidance and inspiration to get this done.
Now if I can only figure out why my headlight only flashes on momentarily when I turn track power on, yet is otherwise off under all other conditions...
Right now, I am doing research on modeling the Illinois Central's operations at Fulton, KY centered on the late 40's and early 50's...
Back then, Fruit Growers Express shipped bananas arriving at the port of New Orleans north by train in ice reefers (before the advent of mechanical refrigeration and trucking). The midpoint in their journey was Fulton, KY, where they received fresh ice and were then divided up, with some going north to Chicago and some going east to markets there.
According to a book I checked out at a local library, the era mentioned seems to be at the height of traffic -- in 1947, over 53,000+ cars of bananas left New Orleans that year!
Fulton at the time had an enormous amount of rail traffic, boasting a huge yard with a turntable and roundhouse, a sizable passenger and freight depot, and two ice plants for servicing the reefers.
I'm thinking on first making the layout virtual by using Trainz Railroad Simulator with the notion that one day I'll actually put it to benchwork...
Keith
Living at Fulton KY
Man , everybody seems to be pretty industrious lately! Here is what I finished Last week.
Mike
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” -- John Lennon
This week I was able to squeeze in the Nascar race and finish this guy to be placed accross from the gas station in Valle Rojo.Pretty basic , less the turret top and added roof details.
Thanks Guys , Mike
Recently purchased 5 Athearn 54' PS Covered Hoppers (BNSF) and of course they are all the same number (433246), so I'm trying to change them to various different numbers i.e. 433248,433240, etc. also have just 'weighed' & put KD couplers on them. Will also have to weather them at some stage in the future.
A good job for a very cool and overcast afternoon.
On30 Mogul detailing: waiting on Detail Assoc. parts from Walthers (since last November -- 75 years of increasingly watered-down service these days, guys!!!)
On30 modules... ordering $200 stripwood from kapplerusa.com for Jack Work king post truss bridge from MR 4/1960
1:48 Trolley Layout: discovered 1895 lithos of original Brill Maximum Traction truck (HAPPY camper, me!), redrew Charles Small CTL plan (12/1965 MR) for new 2-7/16" track spacing from MR Forum input.
3-1/2 month old baby, huge Dell (employer, pays for MRR :-) project, and new home: 98% of my time. Life is good and getting better. :D
Control panel, which explains my interest in soldering irons on another thread.
One main line, of a double-main-line oval, is down, with the reversing track, so I can do a bit of "testing" now and then.
Most of you folks are way, way ahead of me.
I'm finishing up the scenery around the roundhouse. Here's a shot outside, with some rusty old wheels. The light on the roundhouse is from Walthers Cornerstone, and I used it to replace the dummy light provided with the Atlas kit.
There's a road on the other side, with a steep embankment. I protected the drivers of Moose Bay with some Pikestuff guardrails.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I had to take a break from extending my upper level to gap rails and wire detection circuits in the lower level which will be hidden. I'm using Digitrax BD4s which have 4 detection sections per board and will illuminate LEDs or tie in with their other products for signaling or computer interface. For detection and LED indication only, I had to run a wire from the board's ground (pin10) to the chassis of my DCC system.
Thanks for the compliment. It's obviously a work in progress. The flash shows the areas that I need to repaint. It's soo dark in my furnace room(train room). I needed to do a fair amount rock walls. The tiles look better in person. I'm trying to free up enough real estate on the layout to plant some old buildings. You van see where I ripped up track.
secondhandmodeler wrote: I'm trying to make rock out of tiles! I'm also trying to decide which buildings to salvage from my childhood layout.
I'm trying to make rock out of tiles!
I'm also trying to decide which buildings to salvage from my childhood layout.
You have any more pics of the tiles?? awesome job so far! Also, my opinion, keep all of them, you never know when you might need pieces or parts to build another project! have fun!
Secondhand, I would save them all. They look like they were well assembled. A little weathering and detailing, and they'd ALL make good town buildings or trackside businesses. If not, email me, and I'll tell you where you can ship them. Also, good work on your rock walls made from tiles!! Me? I'm working on rock cliffs that are behind my logging industry; assembling freightcars; detailing a new P2K UP GP 38-2 that I got at a killer price. And, oh yes, wiring.. Actually, the wiring isn't that bad now that I know I can wheel around under the benchwork in a low office chair - good neck and back support. I have one rock mold that, well, jumps out at you if you use it more than once on the same cliff. I score it from behind; lengthwise and cross-wise; snap it and then turn it to different angles, and that's like having 2 or 3 different rock molds.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
jbinkley60 wrote: Working on a two tank oil storage facility along with the loading platforms. I hope to post some pictures this weekend.
Working on a two tank oil storage facility along with the loading platforms. I hope to post some pictures this weekend.
Been following you research and work so far on the other thread. Can't wait to see your pics.
Edit: I may have your tank farm confused with another, Well I still like to see your pics.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
Engineer Jeff NS Nut Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/
All my ongoing projects just came to a standstill a few months ago. I'm gradually starting to get ambitious and in the right mind to jump back into the projects. There's so many unfinished scenery work at the club besides the projects on my workbench just collecting dust.
In early March this spot was flying along before my wife's condition took a turn for the worse. I'm doing it with another member, we even had a tree clinic but still need hundreds more. The ends are waiting to complete the retaining walls and finish around the portals. Note the extreme cut, the rocks are the Rubber Rock from Cripplebush. Great to work with but rather pricey.
There's many other areas ongoing also. The club really wants to complete the scenery before our next show. The river valley with a mill canal and pond here
The junction at one end of the unfinished mount
The "Y" just to the left of the ME bridge/ mill
And a swampy factory pond and abutments will complete this entire end.
Hopefully by next show the entire leg can look like this.
A small sawmill on the mountain line. Hope to add the workers and track ballast this weekend.
More (Caution - large page, scroll to the bottom).
Karl
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
jeffers_mz wrote: Tracklayer wrote: Well. Let's see here. I'm getting ready to put my AR-15 back into its original M-4 configuration and sell all of the tactical accessories off of it to a friend of mine for about $500. I just bought a new truck and am looking for a tool box to put on it as well as a bug guard and a few other items. I've been wanting to build a life size butler for the front hall entrance for a couple of years now, and though I have the head, hands, old tails tuxedo and all, I still need to build the frame for it. There's a new chick that moved in down the street that I've been trying to figure out a way to meet and ask out. Etc, etc. Oh, you meant train related projects. No, I don't have any of those right now...Tracklayer Irons rule, and don't need batteries, but buttstroking with an M4 gets expensive. Stripping FN mags here, replacing springs, bathing them in unleaded and toothbrushing hundred year old cosmoline out back, taking advantage of some fine weather, 7 down, 15 to go. Then another 30 in 5.56, 20s and 30s. Maybe get out to the range tomorrow, and see if clean new springs make the BAR-10 run right. Hope so, can't get anymore Black Hills Blue Box for the DCM anymore so I'm getting the 10 up to match specs.Grass needs cut, but that's a full time job in the summer, and the garden is looking good. A five foot high wall of bushy tomato plants, at least 6 pea to marble size tomatoes visible, and just plucked my first green pepper yesterday. Trainwise, knocking out details in areas of the layout that are about to get hard to reach, due to a staging and mainline expansion. Ballast on those sections mostly done, about a foot of double track main to go, and even that's all done but gravel and glue. Seven trees to replant, adding one layer of clear styrofoam glue to the waterfalls about every three days, so it has time to cure and won't create bubbles, then I'm ready to pour water, detail that, finish the free span of the trestle, and then the expansion begins. All the members for the benchwork are cut, (and taking up valuable real estate), still need to stain the legs and braces, and get two matching casters from the hardware store. Need to design and cut pieces for a frame to hold a PC and another for a subwoofer too, they both hang from the benchwork, so it will roll, with only one power line running off layout.Curves on the two new mainlines will be 22 to 24 inch, finally allowing me to see how my BLI 2-10-4 pulls the new Rivarossi heavyweights, assuming I can drop the lights and people in them sometime soon. Long list, it's a process, not an objective. I sneak in some "track testing" now and then too. :-)
Tracklayer wrote: Well. Let's see here. I'm getting ready to put my AR-15 back into its original M-4 configuration and sell all of the tactical accessories off of it to a friend of mine for about $500. I just bought a new truck and am looking for a tool box to put on it as well as a bug guard and a few other items. I've been wanting to build a life size butler for the front hall entrance for a couple of years now, and though I have the head, hands, old tails tuxedo and all, I still need to build the frame for it. There's a new chick that moved in down the street that I've been trying to figure out a way to meet and ask out. Etc, etc. Oh, you meant train related projects. No, I don't have any of those right now...Tracklayer
Well. Let's see here. I'm getting ready to put my AR-15 back into its original M-4 configuration and sell all of the tactical accessories off of it to a friend of mine for about $500. I just bought a new truck and am looking for a tool box to put on it as well as a bug guard and a few other items. I've been wanting to build a life size butler for the front hall entrance for a couple of years now, and though I have the head, hands, old tails tuxedo and all, I still need to build the frame for it. There's a new chick that moved in down the street that I've been trying to figure out a way to meet and ask out. Etc, etc. Oh, you meant train related projects. No, I don't have any of those right now...
Tracklayer
Irons rule, and don't need batteries, but buttstroking with an M4 gets expensive. Stripping FN mags here, replacing springs, bathing them in unleaded and toothbrushing hundred year old cosmoline out back, taking advantage of some fine weather, 7 down, 15 to go. Then another 30 in 5.56, 20s and 30s. Maybe get out to the range tomorrow, and see if clean new springs make the BAR-10 run right. Hope so, can't get anymore Black Hills Blue Box for the DCM anymore so I'm getting the 10 up to match specs.
Grass needs cut, but that's a full time job in the summer, and the garden is looking good. A five foot high wall of bushy tomato plants, at least 6 pea to marble size tomatoes visible, and just plucked my first green pepper yesterday.
Trainwise, knocking out details in areas of the layout that are about to get hard to reach, due to a staging and mainline expansion. Ballast on those sections mostly done, about a foot of double track main to go, and even that's all done but gravel and glue. Seven trees to replant, adding one layer of clear styrofoam glue to the waterfalls about every three days, so it has time to cure and won't create bubbles, then I'm ready to pour water, detail that, finish the free span of the trestle, and then the expansion begins. All the members for the benchwork are cut, (and taking up valuable real estate), still need to stain the legs and braces, and get two matching casters from the hardware store. Need to design and cut pieces for a frame to hold a PC and another for a subwoofer too, they both hang from the benchwork, so it will roll, with only one power line running off layout.
Curves on the two new mainlines will be 22 to 24 inch, finally allowing me to see how my BLI 2-10-4 pulls the new Rivarossi heavyweights, assuming I can drop the lights and people in them sometime soon.
Long list, it's a process, not an objective. I sneak in some "track testing" now and then too.
:-)
Yes indeed jeffers_mz, irons do rule!... I thought the red dot sight system I had on it was the coolest thing in the world until it dawned on me one day that if the battery ever went down on me when I might need it the most I'd be in big trouble. Oh well. Live and learn... I am however going to at least put the scope back on it for long distance target shooting. I won first place with it in my catagory at a match back in 01. We were shooting at nickels from 150 yards. I just got lucky...
I use to really be into firearms back in the early 90s after I lost my girlfriend Dana in a car accident, and took a gunsmithing course to give me something to do besides dwell on losing her, but after several years and many thousands of dollars later, I finally sold off most of my collection and am down to just a handful now that I get out once in a while and take out to the range to plink with.
For my home layout:
Installing a sound decoder in a Stewart F3AB, today working on the speaker enclosures that will go in the B unit. The decoder will go int the A unit.Scenery in the Greenvale Junction area of the layout. The buildings and roads are done, but a vacant lot, areas adjacent to ditches, and a small hill need foliage and trees. Telephone poles and other details are awaiting scenery completion, as are some building interiors.Finished re-installing a chain link fence at MidState Machine. The fence had been in storage since we moved some time ago and I just found it again
Installing a sound decoder in a Stewart F3AB, today working on the speaker enclosures that will go in the B unit. The decoder will go int the A unit.
Scenery in the Greenvale Junction area of the layout. The buildings and roads are done, but a vacant lot, areas adjacent to ditches, and a small hill need foliage and trees. Telephone poles and other details are awaiting scenery completion, as are some building interiors.
Finished re-installing a chain link fence at MidState Machine. The fence had been in storage since we moved some time ago and I just found it again
For the model railroad group at Boothbay Railway Village:
Working on two final buildings for Dragon Cement complex - the Admin Office and Maintenence Building. Also, a fuel tank for the cement kiln, and rebuilding a conveyor between the storage silo and bagging plant so it will fit better.We will be doing Great Explorations, a program of the Boothbay school system. It is a summer enrichment program for children. We will be teaching model railroading; and I am building the sample building - an Atlas Shanty with checker playres.Did some research on the Fore River railroad bridge between Portland and S. Portland so we can build a compressed version on the new layout.
Working on two final buildings for Dragon Cement complex - the Admin Office and Maintenence Building. Also, a fuel tank for the cement kiln, and rebuilding a conveyor between the storage silo and bagging plant so it will fit better.
We will be doing Great Explorations, a program of the Boothbay school system. It is a summer enrichment program for children. We will be teaching model railroading; and I am building the sample building - an Atlas Shanty with checker playres.
Did some research on the Fore River railroad bridge between Portland and S. Portland so we can build a compressed version on the new layout.
Who ever heared of just one project underway at any time??
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Still waiting to build my shed. So I'm chained to the work bench. My latest scratch build is a Scheuerle ladle carrier. A multi-wheel vehicle for carriering up to 400 ton ladles. Really neat looking beast,should have something to share soon.
A side from that a couple of other scratch builds going too .Far to many hands in the ole cookie jar.
Patrick
Beaufort,SC
Dragon River Steel Corp {DRSC}
Fear an Ignorant Man more than a Lion- Turkish proverb
Modeling an ficticious HO scale intergrated Scrap Yard & Steel Mill Melt Shop.
Southland Industrial Railway or S.I.R for short. Enterchanging with Norfolk Southern.
My layout has been in the planning stages, where it stands now I have some shelf modules, really some plywood and homosote placed in near position they will be in for the layout. Dropped some track down to see how things fit. I think I narrowed down how I will do Chicago (with lots of artistic license). I'm going to make an experimental loop so I can work on equipment and test them. The loop will be a part of the Belt Railway of Chicago making connections to other lines. The entire layout will grow from that making things work as I go. Thats where I am at at the moment. I set up a long stretch of test track and put my BLI 2-6-6-4 on it so I can get some short run jollies...8-D
Working on the asphalt road and adjoining parking lots you see here. It's the first roadway of any type I've ever built so it's been a learning experience.
and testing my new Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 consolidated. Seems to be a sweet little engine.
Jarrell
In the train room (read: large shed in back garden) - I added two car routing card boxes, added a new piece of fascia, altered a section of view block backscene and filled some screw holes, then started making up some basic scenery carcass for the "plywood pacific" end of the layout. I have discovered an excellent material for landscape formers - its corrugated plastic board used in the sign industry - I got mine for free off some road contractors who had used them as temporary signs and had finished with them. Its lightweight, easy to cut with a craft knife but very strong (in the direction of the corrugations) - I glued that in place with hot glue, and then used wire mesh over that.
In the den: (read: the home office where I have a small workbench) - I am upgrading an Athearn Blue Box wide vision caboose to go with my 1970s MEC diesel era. So far this week I have:
And there was me thinking that I hadn't done much modelling this week