Newport Railroad Update 12/30/2023

@BillYo414 posted:

Well the fume system works. I bought a Fantech as @RSJB18 suggested on page 5. I was nervous as heck to drill through my siding but it worked just fine. I hooked it up before I started spray painting. Constantly spraying 35' of duct gave it some work to do. The smell is there but it's only in the basement. You can't smell anything upstairs. I also fired up the test layout to see if it would pull the smoke and it did. The smoke drifted over to the nearest uptake. I will need to dampen the uptake nearest the fan though. The pulling isn't so strong at the farthest uptake. The noise isn't too bad either. It faded into the background when I started two trains up at once.

That leaves the matter of 18" worth of masonite and a backdrop to hang. Then it's benchwork time.

Glad to hear the fan works Bill. You can add a speed control to it if you need to slow it down a bit. Balancing the two intakes will help too. I'm replacing the siding on my house this Spring and plan on adding one to my basement too. One over the layout so I can finally run smoke, and one in my shop for soldering and other fumes.

Bob

@RSJB18 would I just use a dimmer switch to change the speed?

I'll come up with something to balance it all out. That made a big difference.

No, you would need a fan speed control. Motors require a different control from lighting dimmers.

Also, a couple of dampers in line with the exhaust grills will allow you to balance them.

Bob

Bill, The furnace looks great!  Yes, I know where three stone furnaces are within an hour to hour and a half drive from here.

Thanks @RSJB18. I appreciate the controller link. Unfortunately, it would be difficult to add that in-line damper because I used a tee with a cover on the end as my intake. But all is not lost. I can modify the cover. I was assuming I close the intake near the fan 2/3 of the way, the middle intake 1/3 of the way, and then leave the far intake open. Does that sound right? It almost seems too simple.

Thank you @Mark Boyce. It's been a worthwhile project.

@BillYo414 posted:

Well the fume system works. I bought a Fantech as @RSJB18 suggested on page 5. I was nervous as heck to drill through my siding but it worked just fine. I hooked it up before I started spray painting. Constantly spraying 35' of duct gave it some work to do. The smell is there but it's only in the basement. You can't smell anything upstairs. I also fired up the test layout to see if it would pull the smoke and it did. The smoke drifted over to the nearest uptake. I will need to dampen the uptake nearest the fan though. The pulling isn't so strong at the farthest uptake. The noise isn't too bad either. It faded into the background when I started two trains up at once.

That leaves the matter of 18" worth of masonite and a backdrop to hang. Then it's benchwork time.

Excellent progress!!!    And it sounds like you are dealing with all the fundamental issues first, which will really pay off in the future.  I've learned the hard lessons from putting off dealing with them - you are taking the smarter route.  The fan system sounds like a winner!

The sump pump is very cheap insurance for all that basement work.  Have you considered a battery backup or another way to power the pump if a storm interrupts electrical power?  I don't know how prone to flooding your area is.

Keep up the good work!

George

@G3750 Thanks! The smarter route is a lot less fun haha but I know it's a wise move.

I absolutely would have battery back up on my sump pump. The suburb of Youngstown I live in usually is shielded from severe weather because of the elevation change (or at least that's my opinion). But once in a while, the weather beats the elevation change and we get wrecked. I'd like to be prepared for that situation.

Today I tried install the backdrop. It went ok until the end. It turned out I was crooked and we made things a lot worse when we tried to fix it. I put the tape up first. Then I pulled like two feet of the cover off the carpet tape and stuck the backdrop to that. I **thought** I had it level but apparently not. One us unrolled the backdrop while the other pulled more cover off and stuck the backdrop. Photos:

You can see the folds in the top there. I am very pleased, overall, with the backdrop! I just need to hang it level. So I need to decided if I'm going to redo it or try to live with it. I'm leaning towards redo just because it's going to bother me every time I look at it. If I redo it, I will put the tape up again. Then, before removing the paper on the tape, I will unroll the backdrop and pin it to the backdrop until I'm happy with it. Then I will pull the paper/cover stuff off the tape and stick the backdrop while it's in place. Live and learn! I could have researched this for four more months and still messed up.

On the upside, I think I found my lights for the blast furnace tap! Photos:

These lights do not light up individually in sequence, as if the iron is flowing but I think I'm going to use this for the time being. Trying to make a model railroad at the level of detail I want could stop me from ever building it at all. I can go back and add detail to buildings. These lights are 2700K. I wish they were a little lower temperature but I think this might still work. The iron I worked around was poured at 2500F-2600F and was more orange. Blast furnace iron is hotter if I recall so this might be a good color afterall.

The lights are found here. They do come on slow. The video there says these lights can be cut to length but it says you can't power the lights you cut off. Anybody know if this is true? Don't I just need a 24v power supply and a match driver for LEDs?

Besides that, I placed a big order for Ross and Gargraves track with the local hobby shop. Most of it is here already. It will let me make my two outter loops so I can at least run some trains finally. It'll be cool to stretch the 2-10-10-2's legs finally. This is close to the final track plan:

BillYo, I like your backdrops. Where did you get them from.  I'll be looking at putting up backdrops later this summer / fall.  I'll be getting back into town next week.  If you need any help with re-doing your backdrops, i'd be happy to come help. It will be a good learning experience for me as well since i am about to embark on the same thing in the near future. Email me.

Tom

I like the BF lights you have. Maybe you could "orange them up" a bit by enclosing them in a thin piece of yellow or yellow-orange plastic to still maintain the brightness but change the color a bit. I'd say film but how hot do they get. Even some LEDs get pretty warm.

Tom

Number 1. Make sure your walls are straight. 2. Have at least one, preferably two, people help you. FWIW, when wallpapering, not being a professional, I used a vertical level line at the width; from top to bottom. This kept the paper straight from top to bottom. You can draw a level line all the way across the top. Match the paper/tape  to the line. Don’t worry about the base because the layout will cover that. If you have to turn a corner, measure and do another level line. Be mindful that the corners may not be square. At that point you can cove the corner and continue the paper around. Or, match the paper, cut and hide the seam the best you can.

Thanks! The backdrop is Feather River from trainjunkies.com. It matches the hills in our neck of the woods very well. I'll hit you up if I go the redo route. I definitely think putting tape up with the paper on the tape, then pinning the backdrop up, then removing the paper from the tape, would be the right way to do this.

I think these LEDs look good because they have a translucent (NOT transparent) plastic covering on them. You can't see the individual LED bulbs unless you turn the brightness way down. I think an extra layer of plastic will get it perfect.

Straight walls would have helped. I regret not shimming my studs out.

I didn't even think about having corners that aren't straight. I wonder if that caused some of the issue!

It’s very unusual to find corners that are perfectly square. The secret, therefore, is in drawing the level line and then matching. In wallpapering it’s all about matching the pattern. Good luck.

@Tranquil Hollow RR I'll keep that in mind and the insight is helpful. I'm still kicking around whether I want to redo it or try to get through it.

Looking pretty good, Bill!  I'm sure you'll get the backdrop straight - never an easy thing and an extra pair of hands is typically a good idea.

That blast furnace cast house - WOW!  You're killing it, man! 

George

We'll get there one way or another with that pesky backdrop.

Thanks @G3750! I'm quite pleased with the lighting. It's a little overexposed in the photo. It's going to look great with smoke!

My sense is that, with your eye for detail and precision, you won’t be happy if it’s not looking the way you want.

You have good senses @Tranquil Hollow RR. I don't know how else to tell you that haha

I think it looks good, Bill!

Another thought Bill: Take a swatch of the blue color and have them match it for a quart of paint. FWIW; My recommendation would be to go to a paint store like Sherwin-Williams or a local independent.

Bill,

Great backdrop! Look man, you haven't started bench work so take your time and get the backdrop the way you want it. If it bothers you now, I promise you it will later. Also do  you plan to do sharp or rounded corners? You have some great things going over there. Keep the progress coming.

Dave

Bill, great updates. Coming along nicely.

Tom

Thanks @Mark Boyce and @tom !

@Tranquil Hollow RR get the blue paint to paint the area above the backdrop? To "straighten" it?

@luvindemtrains that's along the lines of what I was thinking. I have a blank slate. Better to do it now. I'm planning on a sharp corner because I'm planning on doing a huge hill there anyway (this would be the middle pic with the blank masonite on the right side). The blast furnaces will sit in front of it and a hill will be between them and the wall. I hope to add the remains of a stone blast furnace (like the Hopewell or Mill Creek furnaces here in Youngstown) so I expect the corner to effectively disappear from focus because there will be enough to look at. Mountains will dominate the blank blue areas of the backdrop too.

Painting the areas along the edges, with the same color,  will blend with any gaps that might occur because of uneven surfaces.

Thanks to @TomSuperO, the backdrop is up!!

His patience was key in sticking-unsticking-sticking-unsticking-sticking-unsticking-and finally sticking a portion of the backdrop through a dip in the masonite. The masonite curved toward the wall at one section but the curve was not vertical or perpendicular with the floor. Consequently, the backdrop would not go on smoothly without a ton of work, which @TomSuperO did. I wouldn't have had the patience for it. I would have yanked that masonite down and got sturdier plywood so I had a flat surface to work with. For what it's worth, the dip occurred because the concrete supports stick out farther than the 2x4s. I tried to ignore that. Lesson learned.

Here's the method we used:

1.) Put that fancy double sided carpet tape in two stripes where the top and bottom edges of the backdrop will be. Make sure the stripes are level. Mine were not level and it's a pain to deal with.

2.) I discovered Scotch Delicate Surface Tape on a whim at the grocery store, of all places. We used a lot of that tape to temporarily hold the backdrop up. You can't just yank it off the paper backdrop but if you slowly pull it away, it will release without damaging the paper. Pretty impressive and very handy. Using it at the top and bottom makes the next step tricky BUT it does make adjustments MUCH easier and I think it's worth going this route because of that. We adjusted the backdrop three times before using the double sided tape to permanently stick the backdrop up.

3.) Working in roughly three foot sections, we took the purple tape off and started pulling the backing off the doublesided tape underneath as shown:

The trick was keeping the backdrop close to the tape, without sticking it to the tape, while you kept the backdrop taut and free of buckled sections/waves/folds/etc, and then pressed it down. It's tough but we got it 99% right. The dip/bend in the masonite was the killer and it's as good as it can be.

You repeat that last step with the bottom, pulling the backdrop downward.

I'm extremely pleased with the results. I did cut it at the right angle in the second picture but it was necessary to make the job faster and easier. This will be hidden for the most part with a mountain anyway so I'm not concerned. That makes for one section a bit over 40' long, and another around 10' long. There will be some necessary cleanup along the edges of the backdrop like removing visible tape and painting the surface black.

The next step will be putting a ledger board up along this wall to support that side of the table. Then it's table time!

Here's to hoping I got a table with a loop of track in the month of June!

Nice job Bill and Tom on the backdrop!

That does look nice.  Here’s 2,tips that may make installing backdrops easier: A-if you can, attach backdrop to Masonite, etc before it’s on wall. B- I cut lower part of backdrop (hills, buildings, etc) off of the “sky” part. This way you are dealing with a smaller, and easier to manage, piece of paper.  I paint light blue for the sky . JohnA

Bill,

This is a milestone and it's heartwarming to see how Tom just offered his assistance with the project. Another example of how many friendships have been created through this hobby of ours. It looks great but I'm sure you are happy this part is over and done with. I will be on the lookout for the next project you have with the layout.

Dave

That is awesome!  I think that's cool that Tom helped you.  We know each other as well.

Congratulations on getting the backdrop up!  That's a huge step.

George

Congratulations Bill on a job well done. It’s great that Tom was able to help because that was not a one person undertaking. Plus, you never would have been happy with how it first turned out. Now it will be the WOW factor when you enter the room.

Thanks everybody! I won't hide the fact that I went down to the basement at least three times last night just to check it out haha

@John A that's a slick idea but I had 50+ feet of backdrop so it wouldn't have worked out for me. If the length isn't too long, then this would definitely be the way to do it.

@luvindemtrains it's definitely a benefit of the forum. Part of Tom's reason for helping was to get a practice run in for hanging his own backdrop haha it's always good to learn from someone else's mistakes.

@G3750 he mentioned he knew you after I mentioned our zoom meetings!. I'm hoping you, @Mark Boyce, Tom, and whoever else is nearby can all get together at each other's layouts every so often.

@Tranquil Hollow RR you got that right. I like this so much better than the backdrop that had the fold in it. It really does grab your attention when you first see it.

@BillYo414 posted:

Thanks everybody! I won't hide the fact that I went down to the basement at least three times last night just to check it out haha

@John A that's a slick idea but I had 50+ feet of backdrop so it wouldn't have worked out for me. If the length isn't too long, then this would definitely be the way to do it.

@luvindemtrains it's definitely a benefit of the forum. Part of Tom's reason for helping was to get a practice run in for hanging his own backdrop haha it's always good to learn from someone else's mistakes.

@G3750 he mentioned he knew you after I mentioned our zoom meetings!. I'm hoping you, @Mark Boyce, Tom, and whoever else is nearby can all get together at each other's layouts every so often.

@Tranquil Hollow RR you got that right. I like this so much better than the backdrop that had the fold in it. It really does grab your attention when you first see it.

Bill,

You know what?  You should go down and admire the backdrop!  You deserve to enjoy it after all that hard work.  I did the same when ours was done. 

I hope we can all get together as well.  That would be a lot of fun.

George

@G3750 The Rustbelt Pilgrimage lol That could be a big area though. But there are a number of us between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

@BillYo414 posted:

@G3750 The Rustbelt Pilgrimage lol That could be a big area though. But there are a number of us between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

Bill, you know the difference between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, right?

142 miles and 6 Super Bowl rings. 

George

@BillYo414 posted:

@G3750 The Rustbelt Pilgrimage lol That could be a big area though. But there are a number of us between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

I'm probably about 15-20 minutes from Bill (I believe he is in Struthers, OH). Poland is just a pretty straight and short drive south of Struthers.

@Allan Miller posted:

I'm probably about 15-20 minutes from Bill (I believe he is in Struthers, OH). Poland is just a pretty straight and short drive south of Struthers.

I drove through Poland often taking our older daughter back and forth from Butler to Malone Univ in Canton from 2009-13.  As I learned at some point, I could see the old OGR office from the traffic light on US 224.

@BillYo414 posted:

@G3750 The Rustbelt Pilgrimage lol That could be a big area though. But there are a number of us between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

Rustbelt Pilgrimage!!  I love it!  It is a good idea, Bill!  However, coming here you have to get past the guard dog, Bentley!

We got him last year at about 6 years old.  He was a rescue who lived clean over in Philly with a hoarder, addict, bulimic woman who died at the hospital and Bentley was alone for some time before he was rescued.  He spent 9 months in 'rehab' before he could be rehomed.  He is really good, but you never know when his PTSD will momentarily kick in and he will bite my shoe.    Then he sulks, like 'why did I do that?'  I say, you have to be tough when you grow up in Philly!    My wife spent 4 years there in nursing school.  It is a totally different world from Pittsburgh.

We had an orange and yellow diesel locomotive at the foundry @G3750 haha I'm well aware of the difference.

Yes, @Allan Miller is nearby. So is @David Minarik. There are quite are enough of us to do some ops. One day! There's no way I could organize anything now though.

@Mark Boyce could be me but he looked like he has a weakness for treats and a good ear scratch haha

I'll be going to get my ledger boards tonight or tomorrow. I don't want to discuss table options here in this thread. But that's on the list too. I'll be using the search function for that since it has been discussed to the end of time and a few days after that. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do. I'll be excited to just get a big loop up so I can make full laps with the 2-10-10-2 instead of running it 40" back and forth haha

@BillYo414 posted:

We had an orange and yellow diesel locomotive at the foundry @G3750 haha I'm well aware of the difference.

Yes, @Allan Miller is nearby. So is @David Minarik. There are quite are enough of us to do some ops. One day! There's no way I could organize anything now though.

@Mark Boyce could be me but he looked like he has a weakness for treats and a good ear scratch haha

I'll be going to get my ledger boards tonight or tomorrow. I don't want to discuss table options here in this thread. But that's on the list too. I'll be using the search function for that since it has been discussed to the end of time and a few days after that. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do. I'll be excited to just get a big loop up so I can make full laps with the 2-10-10-2 instead of running it 40" back and forth haha

Ear scratches and home made “Bentley cookies “. 😄

Yes we want to see that 2-10-10-2 running around the layout .  👍🏻

Bill,

That furnace is looking fantastic!!!  I'm really impressed and now afraid to ever let you see mine!  lol

I signed on to follow this thread.  I can't believe I've missed this progress.