What did you do on your layout today?

@RSJB18 posted:

I think a motor and battery from a Little Tykes car would fit in that 0-4-0 (or 2-0-2?) Mike. The track system looks easily repeatable too.

Just sayin'

Thanks for the idea Bob, but I think I will pass as it would take away from my already limited O gauge time! LOL

I cleaned up and lubricated some railcars from an Ebay purchase. These have the usual issues like loose wires, dirty wheels and a surprise, two coupler shanks that were detached from the base plate. These are the cast metal type shanks with the integral rivet (480-31)  and access to placing a substitute rivet requires removing the armature rivet (480-19) and spring (480-38). Rather than do that, I decided to try using Gorilla glue. After a thorough cleaning, I applied the glue and clamped the coupler in the vise overnight. This morning the coupler appears to be very firmly attached to the frame! I put in a new coupler spring and reinstalled the truck. Seems to be a good solution.

@mike g. posted:

Hi guys, wonderful work!

Bill T, The Steel Mill building looks outstanding! I really like how you put all your buck convertors together in the same area. Mine are all over the layout and now I am going to have to change that! LOL

I hope everyone had a great day and fun with there layout and trains!

Thanks for the compliment Mike.  Here's a frontal view of the mill building. To the left is the electric arc furnace building and annex.

I spent a day stringing fishing line through little holes I drilled  in each insulator on the telephone poles. 12 poles times 10 insulators each.  Either 5 or 10 pound test monofilament that was 20+ years old.  Wish I had some of my old spiderwire. Gave up fishing long time ago back in the 90's since I never caught anything.

Power goes from my terminals to a rocker switch at the facia then back to the building lights.  I try to get things organized,  but it's starting to look like a rat's nest under the layout.

Hey Bill,

What did you use to drill the holes in the insulators? This may be a project I will do soon.

Dave

Good evening everyone! I recently got back from a trip to Dallas and work has once again continued on the layout. Thankfully, my health has made turn for the better and seems to be under control once again. Back to the layout, work has turned away from the mountain for a bit. Currently, I finally decided to paint my unpainted Lionel Rico Station in red, white, and black. Below are some photos of the progress so far. Thanks for reading, and happy railroading!

Spent the last two afternoons  getting ready to install the river scene my friend Steve and I have been working on.  Hope to get the river banks colored  the first of next week . Seems like everything takes more time than I expect.

John, your river is going to be great!!

Thanks Mark. These big projects just take a lot of time. Hope to post some pics of the river installed late next week.

@luvindemtrains posted:

Hey Bill,

What did you use to drill the holes in the insulators? This may be a project I will do soon.

Dave

I believe that I used a 0.5 or 1mm drill in a pin vise.

Hi Everyone,

I worked on fire escape for a kit-bash I am doing.

Dave

Bill, Great looking mill building! Man that sure is alot of holes to drill and very small. If I want something like that I might have to sub it out! LOL

TrainMaster, The new paint job is just wonderful! Really makes a statement!

John, That is going to be one amazing river!

Dave, the fire escape looks good. I sure hope you will post more photos when you have it mounted!

Well guys, no photos from me today, but I did get all the track laid for the lower level and got 99% wired yesterday and today. I still have to work on the wiring for the drop down section. I hope to have that figured out tomorrow, then I can move onto wiring the switch motors!

I hope you all have a great week and find time for fun with your layouts and trains!

Good evening everyone! Well, progress continued on the station for the past two days and I am happy to say I was able to finish it this evening. I may add a few thing here and their to it, but it first real transformation has been completed. Thanks for reading and happy railroading!

P.S. I am sorry for two of the photos being side ways. I think my phone decided to take a siesta and didn’t turn them around.

Handsome station, Trainmaster!

Great looking platforms for the fire escape, Dave!

Had an overhang on one of my curbs and decided to make something to fill the gap.

FECRailroaddog,

Very creative idea!

Dave

Thanks Luvindentrains, buddy came over to run some trains yesterday and he gave me the idea..lol

FECRailroaddog,

Also, thanks for subscribing to my YouTube channel.

@FECRailroaddog posted:

Had an overhang on one of my curbs and decided to make something to fill the gap.

Im with Dave, Great idea!

I blew the dust off the track and bridges on my outdoor covered shelf layout. This takes a considerable amount of time! I also cleaned the track, and ran some trains for our 2 yr. old grand daughter.

I put a duplex receptacle in the wall where the transformer goes for track power, and used two pieces of old cord with plug ends on one side, and stripped ends on the transformer side. I keep them attached to the transformer, so all I have to do is plug the other ends into the outlet supplying track power. I plan to attach a shelf that folds down when not in use for the transformer.

I hate to be a wet blanket, but IMO using standard 120V receptacles for low voltage is a bad idea.  I'd pick some sort of connector that it NOT commonly used for high voltage power.

My new 10-track yard extension is taking shape, ready to put the base layer of fascia on and paint the top to get ready for lots of track!   I'll finally have some room to stage some freight cars.

That’s a great use of the space John. The wall is perfect for an industrial backdrop.

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

That’s a great use of the space John. The wall is perfect for an industrial backdrop.

Well, the wall may just get more shelves for display, but we'll see how things shake out.

Ran the Corgi Brill converted with a Bowser motor. Really, the kit left a lot to be desired but thanks to Corgi it looks great IMHO.  The vid is a little long; sorry. Also, I agree with GRJ on NOT using those receptacles for track power. To a point it is a violation of the National Electrical Code to do what was done.

Jim K

Farmerjohn, Wow, your river area is coming together very nicely and as always, your layouts a great work in progress. The pictures are beautiful. Mike g. I’m like you, , I haven’t had time to work on my layout do to honey do projects, however I visited my friend Dr. Jack Fisher last week, here’s some pictures of his fine workmanship. Happy Railroading

WOW Larry, your friend Dr. Fisher has an incredible layout.  What an effort, real artistry.  Thanks for sharing.

Don

I agree with Don, Dr. Fisher's work is just great.

I resumed work on the K-Line 2320 S2 switcher by prime painting the body and exposed parts of the chassis. This was the NorthWestern loco in green and yellow. I will use grimy black finish to match the other switchers on the Lost Creek RR.

@rail posted:

I blew the dust off the track and bridges on my outdoor covered shelf layout. This takes a considerable amount of time! I also cleaned the track, and ran some trains for our 2 yr. old grand daughter.

I put a duplex receptacle in the wall where the transformer goes for track power, and used two pieces of old cord with plug ends on one side, and stripped ends on the transformer side. I keep them attached to the transformer, so all I have to do is plug the other ends into the outlet supplying track power. I plan to attach a shelf that folds down when not in use for the transformer.

I agree. This is a code violation.

To correct, I'd recommend a two pin twist lock connector and matching receptacle.

The 120v source should be on a gfci receptacle as well since you mentioned that this is outdoors.

Bob

@leapinlarry posted:

Farmerjohn, Wow, your river area is coming together very nicely and as always, your layouts a great work in progress. The pictures are beautiful. Mike g. I’m like you, , I haven’t had time to work on my layout do to honey do projects, however I visited my friend Dr. Jack Fisher last week, here’s some pictures of his fine workmanship. Happy Railroading

This is a beautiful layout. I watched Dakman's video on it and was amazing by the size and detail. Thanks for sharing.

That layout is breathtaking.

John

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

My new 10-track yard extension is taking shape, ready to put the base layer of fascia on and paint the top to get ready for lots of track!   I'll finally have some room to stage some freight cars.

That will make room for a lot of cars, for sure.
I lot of track to lay as well.
Have fun, and enjoy.............

I made a track bumper out of some left over wood ties from some Ross track cut offs.
I think I will try to make some more of these, as I kind of like it, and it seems sturdy enough, when a car hits it.

@RSJB18 posted:

I agree. This is a code violation.

To correct, I'd recommend a two pin twist lock connector and matching receptacle.

The 120v source should be on a gfci receptacle as well since you mentioned that this is outdoors.

Bob

The outside outlets on each side of the door to the shop are wired to a ground fault circuit breaker, as is the outlet for the pond filter.

Today I installed and painted a fold able shelf for the transformer.

Going for the toy train look. I had bought 6 rolls of grass paper and 2 rolls of cork from Micheal's. I cut the cork into strips for the roadbed. Installed it all onto my layout, had to repair 2 of my K-line 072 switches, but all is up and running again!

@Darrell posted:

Going for the toy train look. I had bought 6 rolls of grass paper and 2 rolls of cork from Micheal's. I cut the cork into strips for the roadbed. Installed it all onto my layout, had to repair 2 of my K-line 072 switches, but all is up and running again!

I like that layout Darrell.  How did you attach the Fastrack bumpers to the K-line track?

@Darrell posted:

Going for the toy train look. I had bought 6 rolls of grass paper and 2 rolls of cork from Micheal's. I cut the cork into strips for the roadbed. Installed it all onto my layout, had to repair 2 of my K-line 072 switches, but all is up and running again!

Nicely done. I also used cork from Michaels for road bed. Worked well for me.

Put my ATSF B unit on the rails last night. Looks good overall behind the Menards engine- the car body heights are comparable, but the coupler heights are slightly off and the stripes along the bottom don't match. Not a deal breaker on my railroad.

@Steve "Papa" Eastman- had mentioned on one of his videos that the Williams B looks better. Guess I will need to get one of those one day.

Bob

RSJB18 Bob, I think the Lionel B unit is actually a very close match to your Menards nicely made F unit and at a glance, the three stripes at the bottom of the shells are the same colors, although the Lionels are a little wider. The set looks like it’s ready for duty on your pike.  Even on real railroads some units in an ABBA consist don’t match. Yours looks just fine and your layout is very nice. @idea-thinker has one of the Menards units  that I can see in person one day. Trains are fun. Happy Railroading Everyone

Those units look great Bob. They’ll be pulling their consists so fast no one will notice any differences.