What did you do on your layout today?

Well I stated in my last post there was more to the story and here it is. Andra received a great promotion and salary increase. That was the good news. The bad news is it's further away. So we did some clean up on the house and put it up for sale and started looking for a new place. Our house sold before it was even listed. We're still trying to find a house. Looking at the Lapeer,Mi area. These will be the last pictures of the CDNF RR in current house. Trestle bridge wasn't even finished. Layout and everything is getting tore down and packed this weekend. Not sure where what when next layout will be ....

Best wishes on your relocation. Hopefully your new home will allow for a wonderful layout.

@RJ Shier  I feel your "pain"  We bought before we listed our home. We now have a sale pending on the previous home.  The market in Champaign and Grand Rapids turned over a month or so ago. The 6.5% interest rates are scaring off the speculators bringing a bit of sanity back into the market. Not so good for the seller but not horrible so far.  My future train space is a bit larger than what I have now. So looking forward toward a long build time over the winter.   I am sure many of you remember interest rates in the 80's. Bought my first home in 82 with an 18.5% interest rate and that was the lower variable rate. Not sure what all the excitement is about now, but its long over due for the end of free money and the zero yield we were all getting on our so called safe investments.

@RJ Shier posted:

Well I stated in my last post there was more to the story and here it is. Andra received a great promotion and salary increase. That was the good news. The bad news is it's further away. So we did some clean up on the house and put it up for sale and started looking for a new place. Our house sold before it was even listed. We're still trying to find a house. Looking at the Lapeer,Mi area. These will be the last pictures of the CDNF RR in current house. Trestle bridge wasn't even finished. Layout and everything is getting tore down and packed this weekend. Not sure where what when next layout will be ....

Congrats to your wife. Sorry to hear about the move but hopefully a wide open basement is in your future.

Bob

@RJ Shier posted:

Well I stated in my last post there was more to the story and here it is. Andra received a great promotion and salary increase. That was the good news. The bad news is it's further away. So we did some clean up on the house and put it up for sale and started looking for a new place. Our house sold before it was even listed. We're still trying to find a house. Looking at the Lapeer,Mi area. These will be the last pictures of the CDNF RR in current house. Trestle bridge wasn't even finished. Layout and everything is getting tore down and packed this weekend. Not sure where what when next layout will be ....

@RJ Shier

Good luck RJ. I wish you well and stay in touch.

Wood

Alan, the fruit stand looks great!!

Larry, you always have great photographs!

RJ, congratulations to your wife.  I’m sorry the layout will have to come down.  I hope you find a great new home!

Jeff, I hope you get a buyer soon.  Yes I remember those rates.  I think we had 17.5% on a $37,000 completely remodeled two story house.

Continued from "Buy anything cool lately", thread.

Not so much what I did on my layout as much as what I did to my Lionel Legacy Western Pacific F7 ABA set from 2008 catalog. I pull the California Zephyr, a consist of 8 K-Line 15" aluminum passenger cars with the F7 ABA set and with just one powered A unit and it shows some strain! The aluminum cars weight just a little over 2 lbs each, that's about 16 to 17 lbs all together. Then there's the A and B F7 dummy units that weigh in at about 4.5 lbs each. I had been looking for the matching WP powered B unit and almost had one on eBay NIB, and got out bid!!! :-( Oh well!

The other day a Legacy F7B Denver & Rio Grande Western #5652 NIB from the 2020 catalog part number 2033278 popped up. Cool, I'll just switch the WP plastic shell, fuel tank, and any other pieces to the powered chassis. Low and behold, it worked extremely well with minimal modifications. Here's some photos of the process of switching one railroad to another.

Before I began the process of changing the bodies out, I tested the new 2020 F7B unit solo and then lashed up with the WP set. Ran fantastic, noticeable difference in pulling power.

Notice the difference in color (silver). Going to have to change the truck side frames out too.

Disassembly of the Legacy F7B Western Pacific unit.

I just realized I didn't take a photo of the Legacy F7B Denver & Rio Grande Western #5652 with the body off!!! Doh!

I did have to modify the truck side frames, the WP side frames had locating pins and the Denver side frames didn't. So, I had to grand those off.

Locating pins ground off.

I had to focus on putting the thing back together correctly and didn't want to mess with a camera, so here's a photo of it finished and on the tracks. Notice you can see the top of the motors and electronics through the cooling louvers along the top below the black roof.

Oh yeah, and the rear roof lid on the back of the WP F7B body is conveniently magnetically attached, so I can just lift if off to set the switches, just like it was made for it. The original WP non powered chassis had the switches on the bottom of the chassis.

And here's a video of the very first test run around the track!

A couple of WIPs:

The two shells at left each have half a pilot.  So, I figure I can get an entire pilot onto the 248 by doing some cutting and fitting... ;-)

The 8300 at right came without a boiler face, and replacement faces are unobtainium.  So, I'm looking into using a Thomas face instead...  ;-)

Mitch

That Thomas face is lookin' a tad spooky...

@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

A couple of WIPs:

The two shells at left each have half a pilot.  So, I figure I can get an entire pilot onto the 248 by doing some cutting and fitting... ;-)

The 8300 at right came without a boiler face, and replacement faces are unobtainium.  So, I'm looking into using a Thomas face instead...  ;-)

Mitch

Hey Scott, that’s awesome that you were able to find a Rio Grande powered B unit and convert it to a Western Pacific for your CZ. Good job and I enjoyed your video.

I was thinking of finding a powered F7 B for my Santa Fe Super Chief. Its powered F7 A pulls the unpowered B and A, then an express reefer, a baggage car, and five passenger cars. But the powered A seems to pull the whole train effortlessly and if I increased the power, it would leave the track. So, I don’t know if I really need a powered B. 🤔

@Yellowstone Special posted:

Hey Scott, that’s awesome that you were able to find a Rio Grande powered B unit and convert it to a Western Pacific for your CZ. Good job and I enjoyed your video.

I was thinking of finding a powered F7 B for my Santa Fe Super Chief. Its powered F7 A pulls the unpowered B and A, then an express reefer, a baggage car, and five passenger cars. But the powered A seems to pull the whole train effortlessly and if I increased the power, it would leave the track. So, I don’t know if I really need a powered B. 🤔

Hi Vern, Thanks!

I have a stiff grade on my layout for the track that goes over the lake and that is where things got a little strained. It isn't just the weight of the CZ aluminum cars it's also the drag from the pickup rollers too. If I remember correctly your layout doesn't have any grades, so one powered unit should do the job. However, if you wanted to add another B unit to your Santa Fe set, a powered one would be nice addition to make an ABBA. That would be so cool!

I'm putting the D&RGW body on to the non-powered chassis today and I may add it to my WP consist just for fun. I did see a photo online of a WP powered CZ train (I can't seem to find it again!!!) with ABBA F7's and the second B unit was a D&RGW. I figure a WP B unit had a mechanical issue, so WP borrowed one of D&RGW B units in Salt Lake City to finish the run to Oakland, CA.

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Hi Vern, Thanks!

I'm putting the D&RGW body on to the non-powered chassis today and I may add it to my WP consist just for fun. I did see a photo online of a WP powered CZ train (I can't seem to find it again!!!) with ABBA F7's and the second B unit was a D&RGW. I figure a WP B unit had a mechanical issue, so WP borrowed one of D&RGW B units in Salt Lake City to finish the run to Oakland, CA.

Completely believable Scott. I see CSX, NS, and BNSF power on with Amtrak all the time. With PTC controls these days often an engine needs to be added to cover the rest of a trip.

Nice work on the B unit swap too.

Bob

@TimMacPA posted:

That Thomas face is lookin' a tad spooky...

Yeah, it's meant to slip over a Thomas with the moving eyes.  I may throw a red light in there for Halloween... 

Mitch

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Hi Vern, Thanks!

I have a stiff grade on my layout for the track that goes over the lake and that is where things got a little strained. It isn't just the weight of the CZ aluminum cars it's also the drag from the pickup rollers too. If I remember correctly your layout doesn't have any grades, so one powered unit should do the job. However, if you wanted to add another B unit to your Santa Fe set, a powered one would be nice addition to make an ABBA. That would be so cool!

I'm putting the D&RGW body on to the non-powered chassis today and I may add it to my WP consist just for fun. I did see a photo online of a WP powered CZ train (I can't seem to find it again!!!) with ABBA F7's and the second B unit was a D&RGW. I figure a WP B unit had a mechanical issue, so WP borrowed one of D&RGW B units in Salt Lake City to finish the run to Oakland, CA.

Thanks, Scott. I think I will try to do that. 👍

Finished my upgrade to the Menards Brewery Building. Added an exhaust pipe with smoke unit and some 3D printed brewery vats.

The outside vat for public tasting at the brewery?

Took advantage of a rainy Saturday to work on expanding my layout to handle O48 curves with the help of my two boys.

Going to get a video up soon on my YouTube channel.

I finished up the landscaping work on the front of the layout. I'm very happy with the results. Considering most of the photos I take are on this section of the layout, I put it off for too long. Remember, this started with the modification of the two switches. Sometimes one project leads to another.

I cleared off the mains and ran trains for a while too.

Need to run the track cleaning car next.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

I finished up the landscaping work on the front of the layout. I'm very happy with the results. Considering most of the photos I take are on this section of the layout, I put it off for too long. Remember, this started with the modification of the two switches. Sometimes one project leads to another.

I cleared off the mains and ran trains for a while too.

Need to run the track cleaning car next.

Bob

I remember this work from last week.  Excellent job on detailing.  I enjoyed your video. Thanks.

Wood

Train show in Cleveland, layout visit and 'old memories'.

https://ogrforum.com/...4#164447381321349714

Western Union crew finally came in to string the line on the telegraph poles:

Nicely done Bob. You have very nice detail.

Jay

Bob, the area looks great, nice work. The area is more finished now. It was work to upgrade the switches and finish the scenery for this spot on the layout, but worth it, nicely done.

Andy

NMRA MCR DIV 7 meeting and 2 layout visit pictures.

https://ogrforum.com/...5#164024807759434725

@Steamfan77, @Wood, @Tranquil Hollow RR

Thanks guys. Much appreciated. On to the next project now......

Bob

Found a spot for my lighted vehicles. I’ll wire them after I lay down the gravel areas.

Sorry but I have not had time to catch up on everyone’s work. Will do so tomorrow.

We have been adding a grade track between levels 1 and 2; took awhile to figure it out due to alternate methods of grade calculation, both of which had the same answers.

Anyhow, we finished it today. What an awful photo but all this stuff will eventually be hidden and a mountain put in place. After completing this, we started on the level 2/3 grade.

Well fellows, we ran trains for a few minutes today, hopefully in the next few days we will wire up a few more accessories. Happy Railroading Everyone

Great updates everyone!  I enjoy seeing all your updates!

-Greg

@Bill Webb

Nice smooth looking grade Bill. looks like 1%.  I also must admire your layout base.  Muti tiered construction gives you a vastly different result than building on a flat base. Really good planning.

Decided to move my Rockville Bridge to the front of my layout to make it more visible as the centerpiece of my layout  I’ve been adding in the Woodland Scenic rocks and fall foliage and am quite happy with the results.

Rick

@Rixster

Looking good Rick.

@Rixter, wow, a really nice video and a beautiful diesel going over a cool bridge, it’s awesome. Happy Railroading Everyone

Good morning everyone! A few days ago I decided to give my Lionel grain elevator a make over. Since I had already painted my Rico station red, black and white I decided to continue the theme. After about two evenings of painting I was able to give the old building a well needed makeover. I also pulled some old SF boxcar decals and placed them on the building. Overall, I’m glad I painted it.

I have begun a pop-out for the middle of the layout. It will be a Bayou. The inspiration for the scene is from a painting by an artist in the Central Valley of California.

Thanks to the artist John Harrell, who has given me permission to post his painting "Moonlight on the Bayou."

@Alan Rogers

That is so enhancing.  It looks like a Vincent van Gogh painting. A great painting results in a great scene.  Please post when you finish.

@RSJB18 posted:

I finished up the landscaping work on the front of the layout.

Bob

Looks like you're getting the hang of this fancy layout stuff Bob.

Looking great.

@Alan Rogers- beautiful painting and it will be a great module on your layout for sure.

Don

@Ed "ICE" Berg posted:

I had THE MOST EXHILERATING day today watching the paint dry on my newly repainted backdrop panels. I haven't had so much fun since we had a front lawn and I would sit there watching the grass grow!

Good work, Ed.

When I painted my backdrop 25  years ago, what surprised me the most is how much I enjoyed it. That was a surprise because to say I did not distinguish myself in art class in elementary school would be an understatement.

Part of my backdrop appears in the background of thus photo:

@Alan Rogers posted:

I have begun a pop-out for the middle of the layout. It will be a Bayou. The inspiration for the scene is from a painting by an artist in the Central Valley of California.

Thanks to the artist John Harrell, who has given me permission to post his painting "Moonlight on the Bayou."

Alan,

You nailed it! I can’t wait to see the finished scene.