Thanks guys! Not sure if anything will get done today I have been up since 3 and an hour drive to the nearest vet ER for my buddy inspector Tank. Still waiting to see the Vet. But if I am up to it when I get home I plan on trying to paint a few folks!
I hope everyone has a great weekend
Derby Day here in KY Mike..
Post time 6:57 pm so you have time for a nap when you return home after your buddy’s repaired to watch the race!
A sincere good luck with the Inspector this morning!
Today I’m attempting to set up my new Triton router an table. I have the oak board planed an ready finish.
It’s designated as a display board for a friend’s B&O F3 ABA .
Thanks Seth, looks like I will have time for a nap here as they just told me the he got bumped because of a more important emergency. It will give me time to go threw the forum and see what's new, I might even come across some new cool ideas to me! LOL
@mike g. posted:Bob, your making great progress! It's nice to see things moving forward.
As for me I painted a couple little people skin color a couple days ago and did not like the look. So today I sprayed all my little people with white primer and maybe tomorrow I will get to painting. I also made a couple pedestal to use when painting them.
Mike, years ago my brother gave me a small magnifying glass on a stand with two clips at each end to hold small items while being painting...I didn't have much luck using it during my attempt at painting little people a few years ago. The magnifying glass wasn't the problem, but more the painter...lol...
I'll try to get a picture of it later on and post it here...
Paul, I know what your talking about. I have the same thing but never thought a bout using it for painting. I use it to hold wires together while I solder them together.
Well after making it home after 9 hours driving to and from the vet and the time waiting in the parking lot. I have no energy to do anything let alone paint. So Tank and I are going to watch TV, well really I am he is already taking a nap! LOL
We moved into a new train room (with a house over it) in April and all the train stuff seems to have survived the 1350 miles without issues. Have a nice workshop off the train area (for an older house) so I have been settling in there. Rich in SD.
@trestleking posted:We moved into a new train room (with a house over it) in April and all the train stuff seems to have survived the 1350 miles without issues. Have a nice workshop off the train area (for an older house) so I have been settling in there. Rich in SD.
Looks good Rich! I hope you enjoy SD, plus when the big winds come you and the wife can be in the basement running trains together!
Rich, That is a great looking workshop you have! I hope you really like living in South Dakota!!
Leapin Larry. The river will go below the dam which you see as soon as you go down my stairs into trainroom. Yes this river is bigger than the pics show. We are building it out of foam on plywood braced with aluminum because it will drop down for access to camping area and front two bridges. It doesn't weigh that much but before the rapids is 8ft long and the rapids is 2 feet. O gauge takes a lot of real estate.
FarmerJohn, I am sure there is a story behind it - how did you decide to model the river with the hydro dam?
farmerjohn, what product will you use to create the river??
I've been working on my railroad. Been rewiring a bunch of buildings, converting to dimmable LEDs in the buildings, and relocating buildings. Of course that means moving wiring, cutting holes, and generally messing up things that I thought were finished. Also put people in my Pink Cadillac - unfortunately they will never walk again and have no need for seat belts. In the middle of it all, I ran an ICG freight which decided not to follow the switch points. With all the power off, I was fiddling with it pushing it back, when crash!!! one of my box cars went off the rails and hit the floor. Cracked off the top walkway which was easily glued back in place. My swing bridge was swung to provide access to work on the derailment. Funny I heard the first set of wheels going off the tracks and kept pushing - then crash. Kill switch would not have been of help since all power was off.
Hoping to take vids of Twin Pines RR tomorrow and post, there is always something else I want to finish before recording. The 10,000 lumen garage lights arrived yesterday - wow they sure light up the space. Just unscrewed my 4 inch LED can lamps and screwed these bad boys in. I think these only go in when I will take vids or photos.
BTW - saw all the Williams stuff going at auction - I know zero about them. Are they suitable for scale and are there any issues to them in general. Can anyone point me to a forum page which does a good job discussing.
Thanks ... Jeff
Scouting dad. The idea for dam born when my wife and I took our two kids on a white water rafting adventure in the mountains of Tennessee and NC. Great memories I have of those times.
Capetrainman .the river has a foam base which is carved out and painted for depth. We are pouring a 2 part resin for the water effect. Will put ripple effects below dam for turbine effects when the pour is done on river.
Hopefully will have some more pics soon. Thanks for asking .
Was trying to find something easy to hide the underneath of my layout. Sister suggested banquet skirts with velcro. It does not get easier than this.
Wow, Farmerjohn, thats going to be a Fantastic view, Awesome, and do you remember this, September 2019, just before the pandemic. Coming down the stairs to see your fabulous layout which, to me, is the 8th wonder of the world. Thank you for showing your ideas and thoughts on this fun to review forum. Happy Railroading Everyone 
I have a small 1-room (13x22) layout compared to the rail empires I'm seeing in posts here. As such, my space is very limited and the scenes can't compare... but here's my current project. I created a triggered unloading ramp scene for my collection of MTH reefers. Upon trigger, it plays some rail chatter plus a warning bell just before the load is pushed out of the reefer. The scene unloads 3 crates before ending. Note that I adapted the activation rails for the O72 curve where the unloading ramp resides. (You'll also hear traffic sounds by any traffic on the 2 blocks in front of the station).
I'm amazed by all the talent you all have. It keeps me inspired to create more interesting scenes.
(I used an online video compression service to get the video file down to a reasonable/acceptable size ... hoping it works).
FarmerJohn, WOW 10' of river and rapids! That's almost half the size of the length of my train room. But man I it is going to look Amazing in your train room, coming down the stairs and seeing that first thing is surly going to be the big WOW factor! Cant wait to see more!
Jeff, that is quite the project to rewire all your building and move them to different locations, I have been telling the wife I was going to start over after seeing everyone's wonderful layout and she calls me crazy! LOL I am sorry about the crash of your box car but I am glad it was an easy fix. I am surprised that NTSB wasn't out doing an investigation and testing the operator!
JJWyatt, Looks great and easy, I think Elliott went one step further and used weed fabric on part of his huge layout. I was thinking about using it but its hard to store engines and rolling stock on it! LOL
ScottV, Nice work on the unloading area! It sure looks like it works great. You might think about backing a truck up to that area so folks dont say your wrecking there packages! LOL I also like the jogger in the beginning of your video also as you pan to the unloading area it sure shows a wonderful train room. I sure would like to see more of it as its about the same size of mine. 12' X 24'
Well its Sunday which means relaxation and trains or train projects. Since I have been busy lately I just might do both and sit down turn on NASCR, start up one or 2 of the engines and run some trains while I watch tv and paint my little people!
I hope you all are safe and having fun with your trains and layouts!
Scott - compressed video looks fine. I had a Tyco Burlington box car (HO) which used to shoot out crates from the door. Also a semi-scale car that threw out letters (that one was lame). The cold air fog is a nice touch on the reefer. What video compression did you use - was it the dot.com on the video?
Mike - boy starting over is an interesting question. For me starting over would involve tearing out basement walls that I put up way before I ever thought about getting back into model railroading. Getting an extra 5 feet would be great pushing to 9x18 Even without that I probably would have torn the layout apart and rebuilt if I thought I would stay in this home another few years. Hoping to find another place in a year or sooner and move on. The accident was the failure of the RR operator to post a bridge out sign and failure to put up a barrier to prevent cars from going over the chasm and failure of the operator to even consider the results of his actions knowing he moved the bridge out of the way in the first place. If the NTSB had jurisdiction over my TPRR, I would have been shut down long ago for goofy operating errors.
On my layout a 12 car train plus engines extends at least 1/3 of the way around a loop. This means one end of a train is always behind me and out of sight if I am inside the loops. I already had taken 4 cars off to re-rail the engine - so I could move my bridge out of the way - never even considered that was not enough. Just glad there was repairable damage to the box car.
Scotty, now that is nice. The layout looks wonderful.
@ScoutingDad posted:Scott - compressed video looks fine. I had a Tyco Burlington box car (HO) which used to shoot out crates from the door. Also a semi-scale car that threw out letters (that one was lame). The cold air fog is a nice touch on the reefer. What video compression did you use - was it the dot.com on the video?
Mike - boy starting over is an interesting question. For me starting over would involve tearing out basement walls that I put up way before I ever thought about getting back into model railroading. Getting an extra 5 feet would be great pushing to 9x18 Even without that I probably would have torn the layout apart and rebuilt if I thought I would stay in this home another few years. Hoping to find another place in a year or sooner and move on. The accident was the failure of the RR operator to post a bridge out sign and failure to put up a barrier to prevent cars from going over the chasm and failure of the operator to even consider the results of his actions knowing he moved the bridge out of the way in the first place. If the NTSB had jurisdiction over my TPRR, I would have been shut down long ago for goofy operating errors.
On my layout a 12 car train plus engines extends at least 1/3 of the way around a loop. This means one end of a train is always behind me and out of sight if I am inside the loops. I already had taken 4 cars off to re-rail the engine - so I could move my bridge out of the way - never even considered that was not enough. Just glad there was repairable damage to the box car.
I dont know if I would start fresh, but I see so many great ideas that would make it more fun and the wife says I should add a second level! I sure like her thinking, but she hates the price! LOL As for us its not a problem as we have talked about it and if nothing drastic ever changes were here till our last days!
I’m going to build a “on ramp under repair” scene on the right side of my elevated station and needed some lighted barricades to begin the project. I didn’t really like the mth ones and couldn’t find any of the old K-line blinking ones that I really wanted, so I decided to build my own. The blinking LEDs arrived yesterday along with a shipment of Arttista figures and today, after three hours of cutting, painting, and wiring, I’m pretty pleased with the results.
I need to glue the stop sign into the construction workers hands. Then, after I mount the building back on the layout, I need to install the construction crane and suspend the on ramp piece from it. Looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. FYI, the best source for reasonable priced arttista figures is Crusader. Great service.
Looks great SH! Where did you get the blinking LED's?
Thanks Bob/Mike. I buy all my LEDs from these guys - https://lighthouseleds.com/pre...pico-nano-micro.html
decent prices and reasonable shipping. You’re totally correct Mike and no, I won’t shoot you! However, the hardest part for me was stenciling out the angled hazard Orange color. After doing one balsa wood bar, I quickly decided that I was going to limit my barricade to one per unit. It works for me and matches the other K-line ones I have on the layout. Mike, if I’m not mistaken, i thought I saw one of those cranes on your layout. Is that correct? If so, did you discard the base and mount it directly to the layout?
@Strap Hanger posted:Thanks Bob/Mike. I buy all my LEDs from these guys - https://lighthouseleds.com/pre-wired-leds-1.html
decent prices and reasonable shipping. You’re totally correct Mike and no, I won’t shoot you! However, the hardest part for me was stenciling out the angled hazard Orange color. After doing one balsa wood bar, I quickly decided that I was going to limit my barricade to one per unit. It works for me and matches the other K-line ones I have on the layout. Mike, if I’m not mistaken, i thought I saw one of those cranes on your layout. Is that correct? If so, did you discard the base and mount it directly to the layout?
Hi I do have a couple on the layout and I will go out and get a couple photos of them and the base for you. one I got rid of the base and just cut a square hole to slide it into. The bigger one I kept the base, just cut the legs off and screwed it to the base as its taller and really pick some weight. The big one can pick the front of a powered engine like the ones in my service house!
@Strap Hanger posted:Thanks Bob/Mike. I buy all my LEDs from these guys - https://lighthouseleds.com/pre...pico-nano-micro.html
decent prices and reasonable shipping. You’re totally correct Mike and no, I won’t shoot you! However, the hardest part for me was stenciling out the angled hazard Orange color. After doing one balsa wood bar, I quickly decided that I was going to limit my barricade to one per unit. It works for me and matches the other K-line ones I have on the layout. Mike, if I’m not mistaken, i thought I saw one of those cranes on your layout. Is that correct? If so, did you discard the base and mount it directly to the layout?
Here are a couple photos of both cranes, the little one works but only has limited swing both ways and is more for looks.
The bigger one is screwed down as the kids love to play with it when they come to visit!
guess I should have taken a photo so you could see them both at the same time. I will be right back!
Awesome, Mike! Your cranes look fantastic. Thanks for sharing those photos. Cutting the legs like you did and screwing it down is probably what I’m going to attempt. However, that smaller one looks great mounted without the base. When I get back to the layout, I’ll see how much room I have and work it from there. When I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to deal with the road to nowhere in front of my station, I remembered seeing a crane on your layout and it just clicked. This is why this forum is so good. If I hadn’t seen your work, I would never have come up with my project idea.
I did several things today:
Will run trains after dinner.
John
@ScoutingDad posted:Scott - compressed video looks fine. I had a Tyco Burlington box car (HO) which used to shoot out crates from the door. Also a semi-scale car that threw out letters (that one was lame). The cold air fog is a nice touch on the reefer. What video compression did you use - was it the dot.com on the video?
...
Yes, the video compression website leaves its address as a watermark unless you wish to pay for an monthly/annual subscription. I saw an online review of compression tools... this one was rated as one of the highest.
....and yeah, i also have a few Lionel cars that shoot stuff out. I seldom use them.
Strap Hanger, you are so right! I have learned so much from this forum and if someone ask me I am always going to share what I can as those who have been here before me have always helped me out! What a great group of people!
John, sounds like you had one heck of a day. But I can tell you still happy cause you mentioned running trains after dinner! most of the time that's always a happy place!
@mike g. posted:As for me guys, I went out and started painting my little people and I know some of you guys really like doing this but I have to tell you after I get all of these painted the next batch will be pre painted! LOL
Mike...nice job on the painting so far...I take it your patience maybe running thin like mine did a few years ago
. After the first batch I did, I said time to move on to less tedious work...
@Capetrainman posted:Mike...nice job on the painting so far...I take it your patience maybe running thin like mine did a few years ago
Your right Paul, but I guess I will see how I feel after doing 50 of them! LOL I like the idea of saving me money. but I dont know if its worth losing my mind! LOL
@mike g. posted:Your right Paul, but I guess I will see how I feel after doing 50 of them! LOL I like the idea of saving me money. but I dont know if its worth losing my mind! LOL
Mike,
I like your rich colors. Doing a great job. What paint do you use? Acrylic or lacquer? Where did you source those figures - I like them. (Apologies if you posted this info already.)
Bob
Mike, I had no idea those cranes were that strong! Great scene!!
Scott, the video is great!
This weekend I finished the roadbed and fastened the track into place. One of the switches has a dead spot. I will have to check the jumpers I soldered in. I'm guessing I have a cold joint. Speaking of soldering, I replaced the tip on my soldering gun, and I have better heat transfer. That should do the trick on fixing the bad connection.
I tested my Lionel pre-war 97 Coal Elevator today, and all the wiring was done by yours truly. 
(Sorry for my hand getting in the first shot. I had to help the shredded plastic bits get in the buckets on the chain. These shredded plastic bits are leftovers I picked up from Schain Mold to use as coal. )
Shot a bit of video. Not super happy with the autofocus on my DSLR but the increased lighting seems to have reduced the graininess. Here is a short video of the town of Twin Pines. The Inn will get additional detailing as will a few of the other buildings.
I'll get the layout video edited and post in the next couple of days.
@ScoutingDad ....but there's only ONE pine in front of the Twin Pines Inn. I like the detailing of the town, including the stair stepped sidewalk and the bridge work to that lower level. Those would be good for my corner town scene when finish construction heads that way.
@Andrew Steiner ...that coaling elevator is nice! Would adding some kind of sloping insert (high on the sides, low in the center) into the loading tray help the "coal" to find its way to the center ? It might keep Mr. Finger's working hours down.
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