@luvindemtrains posted:Thanks Dave! It's addictive to me now. I feel guilty when I don't put in some type of interior. The only time I feel ok about not doing it is if I know no one will ever see it. At that point I try to include some more detail on the outside. You can blame my feelings about it on the HO and N scalers. When I see them doing this really detailed work I think to myself, I have no excuse.
Dave
I just watched your vidio, very well done.
@WesternPacific2217 posted:Hi Bob, I worked on the PE LionChief Berkshire last night with no success. The front pilot truck axle is so sloppy (1/4" side to side) in the truck it just slips over to one side of any switch and climbs over the top of the rails. Here's the temporary solution below for now. In the meantime I will continue to fiddle with the very loose drive train on the Berkshire.
I've upgraded the Berkshire for my LionMaster Big Boy #4006! This is one of my best running steam engines, and frankly, it looks awesome pulling the PE train. Plus, little kids and adults immediately notice the Big Boy and comment about it. The Berkshire, not so much!
That's what I did on my layout today! :-)
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade Scott. The BB looks right at home at the head end. I wonder what Smokey the engineer would have done trying to get a BB across that frozen lake? 
I was working from home today but actually had to WORK! 
To make it worse, my desk is right next to the layout. I did steal a few minutes and painted the inner rails on some of my 027 turnouts to insulate them. I ran my 0-6-0T over them with no issues. I will test with the BEEP next.
Bob
You had a bitter sweet day Bob. You mentioned painting the inner rails of your turnouts to insulate them. Never heard of this. Can you discuss the details?
@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:You had a bitter sweet day Bob. You mentioned painting the inner rails of your turnouts to insulate them. Never heard of this. Can you discuss the details?
In a recent post I discussed some issues with my BEEP shorting out on the turnouts. I used some polyurethane to insulate the turnout. Others have suggested clear nail polish but I've has success with the poly. I painted the inner rail of the turnout to insulate it. Hopefully the BEEP will clear the turnouts without arcing. I still need to test it out later.
Bob
@Dave Ripp. posted:I just watched your vidio, very well done.
Thanks Dave!
@WesternPacific2217 posted:
Wow, a Big Boy at the head of Polar Express. Looks great! I'm the brakeman on a Polar Express train today, and it's going to be raining all day. I'm NOT looking forward to that...
As for myself, I'd had a pinched nerve in my neck and for quite some time I didn't even think about my model trains. My left arm just hurt so much. But after 3 weeks of chiropractor visits, it's doing much better.
That's why you have seen very few posts and hardly any news or new layout photos lately.
@p51 posted:Wow, a Big Boy at the head of Polar Express. Looks great! I'm the brakeman on a Polar Express train today, and it's going to be raining all day. I'm NOT looking forward to that...
As for myself, I'd had a pinched nerve in my neck and for quite some time I didn't even think about my model trains. My left arm just hurt so much. But after 3 weeks of chiropractor visits, it's doing much better.
That's why you have seen very few posts and hardly any news or new layout photos lately.
Welcome back Lee, glad you’re feeling better. Chronic pain issues really suck, good that your Chiropractor has you on the mend.
No pics, but did order new flooring for the train room & carpet for the basement steps . ETA early January. At $3600 I'm glad it didn't come out of the train budget. Nothing is cheap anymore !
I’ve made a lot of progress last weekend. Today I have one more final section for the viaduct.
which is the curve to the brown bridge. I’m planning removing the bridge to paint it black.
My sharing my progress motivates me to complete a task. Thank you.
Outstanding work John! Impressive.
Andy
Grandkids 3-rail layout delivered.
John,
Nice work on the bridges. Your statement probably holds true for many of us. Posting unfinished projects helps motivate me as well as showing the finished project. Whatever works to get it done right? Fortunately with other aspects of our lives we have motivation...family, spouse, and friends. However with our hobby it's usually just us who cares. One is very fortunate if they have someone motivating them to complete anything regarding their layouts. The other twist to it is it's our hobby and most definitely should not be turned into a "chore".
Dave
@Jrtrains posted:I’ve made a lot of progress last weekend. Today I have one more final section for the viaduct.
which is the curve to the brown bridge. I’m planning removing the bridge to paint it black.
My sharing my progress motivates me to complete a task. Thank you.
Really nice work. I enjoy the building of a layout nnd finished product so thanks for the step by steps.
@p51- I feel your pain Lee. Literally....I have a similar condition from an accident many years ago. Still flares up occasionally. Glad you are on the mend. Being outside on a cold wet day probably doesn't help. The things we do for trains.......
@Stevemny- nice RS-3. One of my faves.
@Jrtrains- nice work on the bridges. Everything looks great.
@trestleking EVERYTHING costs more these days. At least the train budget hasn't been affected by the flooring work.
Bob
So I was running my SF F3's bluebonnets the other day and the powered unit came to a screeching halt. 
Assuming the worst I took it to the shop and broke it down. I pulled both motors and began testing them. Both were very cranky and wouldn't turn. I oiled the motor shafts and got some movement but not totally free rotation. I let it sit overnight and when I tried it today, both motors revved up to ludicrous speed....
I then proceeded to dig the old crusty grease out of the motor worm gears and replace with fresh grease. I wasn't sure if I was keeping the pullmor's or upgrading to DC can motors but I decided to go with a AC commander ERR upgrade so I hadn't done a full service on the engine yet.
All back together and running smooth as silk (for a pullmor motor). 
The Christmas tree is done so the trains will be going underneath this week. 
Bob
Bob, I think the overnight crew got into your cache of alcoholic libations. That got those F3s purring.
Well here’s my current mess…..I mean…..situation. Bought the Rockville bridge at York so had to figure out how to incorporate it, along with the Fastrack bridge. Hopefully I can finish the upper level tomorrow so I can start on the trees and Dept 56 Christmas houses.
John (JrTrains)…...I bought the half inch basswood strips at Lowes, as you suggested, and made some girder supports. I’ll likely weather them as well.
Rick
@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:Bob, I think the overnight crew got into your cache of alcoholic libations. That got those F3s purring.
Darn.... now I need to find a new hiding spot......😂😂😂😂😂
I've been working on the elevated
4th loop with two reversing loops and 5 bridges since Halloween, it was far more involved than I thought. Had to do a lot of 2 steps forward one or two steps backwards. It's not done yet but it's getting closer. Hope to start wiring tomorrow or Monday.
@Norb Veit posted:I've been working on the elevated
4th loop with two reversing loops and 5 bridges since Halloween, it was far more involved than I thought. Had to do a lot of 2 steps forward one or two steps backwards. It's not done yet but it's getting closer. Hope to start wiring tomorrow or Monday.
Looking great Norb!
How many trains will you be able to run at one time?
When you get the layout wired, please post a video or two.
Rixster..looking good. Where did get the side walls for your curves? Did you make those too?
Norb your layout is going to be fun to run.
Thanks Sean, the layout is built for 4 trains though more may be possible with Legacy. The elevated 054 loop and the outside lower 072 will be for Legacy, the two lower inner loops, which can transfer trains between those two loops and the two leg yard will be conventional. Hope to get everything running before Christmas when the grand kids will be over.
Hello John, The green wall at the back of the layout is just cut and painted, plywood. The elevated railbed was cut out of MDF then painted black. I used gray shelf grip on top of the MDF to try to reduce the noise and vibration, we'll see if that works. I also have a bunch of plastic simulated girder edge to attach to the elevated MDF rail beds. Planning to install them after the wiring is finished. I got the deck edge girders from: https://www.twtrainworxstore.c...oduct/r31-trussrail/
I would also like to give a shout out to Zack at CountryBunker Trains over on YouTube. I stole his ideas for the diagonal shape of the table near the doorwall, using MDF for the elevated rail bed and the TW trainworx girder edging. I have learned a lot from his videos and from the folks on this Forum. I really, really appreciate all the advice and great ideas!
@RSJB18 posted:So I was running my SF F3's bluebonnets the other day and the powered unit came to a screeching halt.
I then proceeded to dig the old crusty grease out of the motor worm gears and replace with fresh grease. I wasn't sure if I was keeping the pullmor's or upgrading to DC can motors but I decided to go with a AC commander ERR upgrade so I hadn't done a full service on the engine yet.
All back together and running smooth as silk (for a pullmor motor).
The Christmas tree is done so the trains will be going underneath this week.
Bob
Glad you got the Santa Fe sorted out, Bob... the blue and yellow paint scheme is real sharp!!!
@RSJB18 posted:Darn.... now I need to find a new hiding spot......😂😂😂😂😂
You’re in luck, Bob... I offer a free Adult Beverage Storage service (temperature controlled storage available for the more delicate vintages). If you will send me your stash, I will gladly hold it until all of your crew take the pledge 
Looking, good everyone! I decided to put up a Christmas tree layout this year and decided to make a video of two trains running around it. Hope you all enjoy it, and Merry Christmas!
Last Sunday and today I worked on cleaning up the mess which was created when the westend of my layout had a catastrophic earth quake. Below is the before photo.
For a couple of years now, I've wanted to pay tribute to my mother who was the spirit of Christmas in our household. She loved everything about the holiday season!! To do so I purchased an MTH Christmas store and began to spruce it up back in 2019. This holiday season, the muse struck and I thought I'd make the Christmas Store the centerpiece of the Westend Neighborhood complete with giving Westend a light dusting of snow.
Of course I'm very particular when it comes to scenery and placement of buildings. My personal process of scenery creation is to mentally visualize the scene before trying out building ( be it figures, vehicles, trees, shrubs ... or whatever I'm working on at the moment ) placements. The process is time consuming, however, I greatly enjoy it all! The short story is that as I was repositioning buildings over the Thanksgiving weekend, I leaned on the shelf with one hand and put a bit too much weight on the shelf. Next think I know the shelf gave way and Westend was demolished. I, however, was not angry or upset! No four letter words were uttered. I felt no regrets. My thoughts immediately shifted to "opportunity has been created." I felt a surge of excitement!
The aftermath of the earthquake that demolished Westend.
Of course the first task at hand ( which I undertook last weekend ) was to pick up all the pieces, reposition the shelf's bracing, and place the shelf back on the bracing. Although the shelf has served the layout for 14 years without a mishap, I made the bracing stronger this time. Live and learn ... lol!
Today's moch up of what is possible. A few days ago, I extended the shelf northward about 10 inches. You can see the extension, in black, in the foreground. This way I will be able to include a Christmas tree lot in front of the Christmas store, shown here with the big snow flake and sign " Merry Christmas" To give myself a better idea of how the end result might look , I placed the Christmas tree, figures, candy canes, snow men and rooftop sign. 
My father made homemade eggnog every Christmas. He used my great grandfather's recipe. This was powerful eggnog!!! Lots of NOG!!!! He didn't spare the liquor. He also made the Swedish hot drink Glug ( pronounced "glueg".) This drink also packed a mighty fine punch!!! Our Christmas Day open houses were quite the event with food, drink, and an 8 x 8 ft electric train layout!! Dad built my brother and me two 4x8 collapsable tables for our trains which came out the day before Thanksgiving each year. So also in tribute to dad, the Little Tavern will be selling Egg Nog and Glug this holiday season. I will print a sign and attach it to the Little Tavern. Btw - I bought the Little Tavern at York in the Orange Hall. Little Tavern was a burger chain indigenous to the Baltimore/DC/Richmond areas. I ate many of their delicious burgers over the years!
There is still lots to do here on the Westend Neighborhood. It may not be done by Christmas, I'm thinking more like July! Christmas in July ... It's a good thing too!! 
Yesterday I cleared this area in preparation of removing the switch along the back wall. I will replace the switch with straight Gargraves track. I've got plans to redesign the siding this switch once served. This all came about as a result of the disaster of Westend. FUN TIMES!!!
I worked on the new expansion last night and this morning adding some bushes, trees, dead wood, and weeds.
@trumpettrain posted:Last Sunday and today I worked on cleaning up the mess which was created when the westend of my layout had a catastrophic earth quake. Below is the before photo.
For a couple of years now, I've wanted to pay tribute to my mother who was the spirit of Christmas in our household. She loved everything about the holiday season!! To do so I purchased an MTH Christmas store and began to spruce it up back in 2019. This holiday season, the muse struck and I thought I'd make the Christmas Store the centerpiece of the Westend Neighborhood complete with giving Westend a light dusting of snow.
Of course I'm very particular when it comes to scenery and placement of buildings. My personal process of scenery creation is to mentally visualize the scene before trying out building ( be it figures, vehicles, trees, shrubs ... or whatever I'm working on at the moment ) placements. The process is time consuming, however, I greatly enjoy it all! The short story is that as I was repositioning buildings over the Thanksgiving weekend, I leaned on the shelf with one hand and put a bit too much weight on the shelf. Next think I know the shelf gave way and Westend was demolished. I, however, was not angry or upset! No four letter words were uttered. I felt no regrets. My thoughts immediately shifted to "opportunity has been created." I felt a surge of excitement!
The aftermath of the earthquake that demolished Westend.
Of course the first task at hand ( which I undertook last weekend ) was to pick up all the pieces, reposition the shelf's bracing, and place the shelf back on the bracing. Although the shelf has served the layout for 14 years without a mishap, I made the bracing stronger this time. Live and learn ... lol!
Today's moch up of what is possible. A few days ago, I extended the shelf northward about 10 inches. You can see the extension, in black, in the foreground. This way I will be able to include a Christmas tree lot in front of the Christmas store, shown here with the big snow flake and sign " Merry Christmas" To give myself a better idea of how the end result might look , I placed the Christmas tree, figures, candy canes, snow men and rooftop sign.
My father made homemade eggnog every Christmas. He used my great grandfather's recipe. This was powerful eggnog!!! Lots of NOG!!!! He didn't spare the liquor. He also made the Swedish hot drink Glug ( pronounced "glueg".) This drink also packed a mighty fine punch!!! Our Christmas Day open houses were quite the event with food, drink, and an 8 x 8 ft electric train layout!! Dad built my brother and me two 4x8 collapsable tables for our trains which came out the day before Thanksgiving each year. So also in tribute to dad, the Little Tavern will be selling Egg Nog and Glug this holiday season. I will print a sign and attach it to the Little Tavern. Btw - I bought the Little Tavern at York in the Orange Hall. Little Tavern was a burger chain indigenous to the Baltimore/DC/Richmond areas. I ate many of their delicious burgers over the years!
There is still lots to do here on the Westend Neighborhood. It may not be done by Christmas, I'm thinking more like July! Christmas in July ... It's a good thing too!!
Yesterday I cleared this area in preparation of removing the switch along the back wall. I will replace the switch with straight Gargraves track. I've got plans to redesign the siding this switch once served. This all came about as a result of the disaster of Westend. FUN TIMES!!!
Hi Patrick, I have to ask about the snowman on the side of the Merry Christmas building. When I first looked I thought that Frosty had hung himself by the neck after jumping off the the top of the building, I hope that's not the case! LoL Some people might find it morbid, I on the other hand found it humorous.
I always enjoy your scenes, descriptions, and stories that go with the scene! Thanks for sharing!
@Apples55 posted:Glad you got the Santa Fe sorted out, Bob... the blue and yellow paint scheme is real sharp!!!
@Apples55 posted:You’re in luck, Bob... I offer a free Adult Beverage Storage service (temperature controlled storage available for the more delicate vintages). If you will send me your stash, I will gladly hold it until all of your crew take the pledge
Thanks Paul. The blue and yellow is one of my faves, along with a certain blue and yellow from the other side of the continent.
As to your most generous offer....the single-malts never leave my sight. As to the rest, it's been well secured.
******************************************************************************************
Christmas decorations are officially done. House, tree, and layout! 
The two trees are done with lights from Evan Designs if interested. Both sets are battery op.
Bob
@trumpettrain posted:Last Sunday and today I worked on cleaning up the mess which was created when the westend of my layout had a catastrophic earth quake. Below is the before photo.
For a couple of years now, I've wanted to pay tribute to my mother who was the spirit of Christmas in our household. She loved everything about the holiday season!! To do so I purchased an MTH Christmas store and began to spruce it up back in 2019. This holiday season, the muse struck and I thought I'd make the Christmas Store the centerpiece of the Westend Neighborhood complete with giving Westend a light dusting of snow.
Of course I'm very particular when it comes to scenery and placement of buildings. My personal process of scenery creation is to mentally visualize the scene before trying out building ( be it figures, vehicles, trees, shrubs ... or whatever I'm working on at the moment ) placements. The process is time consuming, however, I greatly enjoy it all! The short story is that as I was repositioning buildings over the Thanksgiving weekend, I leaned on the shelf with one hand and put a bit too much weight on the shelf. Next think I know the shelf gave way and Westend was demolished. I, however, was not angry or upset! No four letter words were uttered. I felt no regrets. My thoughts immediately shifted to "opportunity has been created." I felt a surge of excitement!
The aftermath of the earthquake that demolished Westend.
Sorry to hear about the disaster Patrick. Looks like you are well on your way with the urban renewal project.
Christmas in July works for me!
“Rixster..looking good. Where did get the side walls for your curves? Did you make those too?”
John….I bought the side girders at a train show. They are plastic and bendable. They didn’t come in packaging but they look like the ones sold by Scenic Express.
So many excellent projects the last few days, I can't begin to catch up commenting. They are all great!
I got back to my layout and checked out all the switches and tracks I added to the AIUs. All is swell! I then proceeded to add my 3 TMCC engines to my DCS remote. I finally figured that out after several tries over about a year's time. Once I saw my error, they all three worked great. I wasn't adding the TMCC engine TMCC number in properly. All I will say about that is, boy am I dumb! No wonder they pushed me out with an early retirement.
I did encounter an interesting problem with the TMCC Western Maryland 0-8-0. It kept derailing and I couldn't see why for a while. Then I realized part of the engine was hitting the DZ1000 mounting screw closest to the rails. The DZ1000s in question were all on the opposite side of the engine from my view point. That part hits on every one of my DZ1000s. I do not know what this part is, but it is the black part that goes down outside the drive rods in this photograph.
Here is a Premier H9 Consolidation. It is representative of all my other steamers, in that none of them have that part.
Well, the only easy fix was to remove the offending DZ1000 screw and snug the other one down a little more. We will see how well it holds up. I wonder if there is enough plastic that I could countersink the plastic and put in flathead screws.
@RSJB18 posted:Thanks Paul. The blue and yellow is one of my faves, along with a certain blue and yellow from the other side of the continent.
As to your most generous offer....the single-malts never leave my sight. As to the rest, it's been well secured.
The two trees are done with lights from Evan Designs if interested. Both sets are battery op.
Bob
And a seasonally appropriate Bah-Humbug to you, Bob Crotchety 😁 🎅🏻🌲 😁
P.S. The layout lighting is fantastic!!!
Today is a milestone day. I completed a layout that was started nearly six years ago. Starting building it for a grandson born born at that time. Now, he's in kindergarten and there are two more grandkids...a 2 1/2 year old (who LOVES Papa's trains) and a 9 month old. Of course, there are always more details that can be added to a layout. But, this one is finished for now. The grandkids think it's great. So, now I move on to building a new 2-rail shelf railroad with hand layed track. A new adventure for sure. Wish me luck!
Pictures of 2 layouts.
@trumpettrain posted:Last Sunday and today I worked on cleaning up the mess which was created when the westend of my layout had a catastrophic earth quake. Below is the before photo.
For a couple of years now, I've wanted to pay tribute to my mother who was the spirit of Christmas in our household. She loved everything about the holiday season!! To do so I purchased an MTH Christmas store and began to spruce it up back in 2019. This holiday season, the muse struck and I thought I'd make the Christmas Store the centerpiece of the Westend Neighborhood complete with giving Westend a light dusting of snow.
Of course I'm very particular when it comes to scenery and placement of buildings. My personal process of scenery creation is to mentally visualize the scene before trying out building ( be it figures, vehicles, trees, shrubs ... or whatever I'm working on at the moment ) placements. The process is time consuming, however, I greatly enjoy it all! The short story is that as I was repositioning buildings over the Thanksgiving weekend, I leaned on the shelf with one hand and put a bit too much weight on the shelf. Next think I know the shelf gave way and Westend was demolished. I, however, was not angry or upset! No four letter words were uttered. I felt no regrets. My thoughts immediately shifted to "opportunity has been created." I felt a surge of excitement!
The aftermath of the earthquake that demolished Westend.
Of course the first task at hand ( which I undertook last weekend ) was to pick up all the pieces, reposition the shelf's bracing, and place the shelf back on the bracing. Although the shelf has served the layout for 14 years without a mishap, I made the bracing stronger this time. Live and learn ... lol!
Today's moch up of what is possible. A few days ago, I extended the shelf northward about 10 inches. You can see the extension, in black, in the foreground. This way I will be able to include a Christmas tree lot in front of the Christmas store, shown here with the big snow flake and sign " Merry Christmas" To give myself a better idea of how the end result might look , I placed the Christmas tree, figures, candy canes, snow men and rooftop sign.
My father made homemade eggnog every Christmas. He used my great grandfather's recipe. This was powerful eggnog!!! Lots of NOG!!!! He didn't spare the liquor. He also made the Swedish hot drink Glug ( pronounced "glueg".) This drink also packed a mighty fine punch!!! Our Christmas Day open houses were quite the event with food, drink, and an 8 x 8 ft electric train layout!! Dad built my brother and me two 4x8 collapsable tables for our trains which came out the day before Thanksgiving each year. So also in tribute to dad, the Little Tavern will be selling Egg Nog and Glug this holiday season. I will print a sign and attach it to the Little Tavern. Btw - I bought the Little Tavern at York in the Orange Hall. Little Tavern was a burger chain indigenous to the Baltimore/DC/Richmond areas. I ate many of their delicious burgers over the years!
There is still lots to do here on the Westend Neighborhood. It may not be done by Christmas, I'm thinking more like July! Christmas in July ... It's a good thing too!!
Yesterday I cleared this area in preparation of removing the switch along the back wall. I will replace the switch with straight Gargraves track. I've got plans to redesign the siding this switch once served. This all came about as a result of the disaster of Westend. FUN TIMES!!!
Great scenes Patrick . Wonderful story.
This installment would work well on a whole TWO pages in THE FREE STATE JUNCTION RAILWAY PHOTO AND VIDEO STORYBOOK. 
Lots of great work happened today gentleman!
As for myself, I technically didn’t do any work on the layout today. However I ordered all the track I will need from Menards today! I decided to shy away from the more modern stuff to start a traditional layout.
Next weekend I plan on finishing the benchwork and start to lay the track. Hoping to have trains running Christmas Day since I’m on vacation next week. Pictures to come soon!
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