I got my New Year's resolution done, and got my parts box and my workbench drawers organized...
This paid off, as I found a gi-raffe spring I didn't know I had, so was able to replace the rubber band on that 3376 I built from spare bits last year... 
Mitch
@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:I got my New Year's resolution done, and got my parts box and my workbench drawers organized...
This paid off, as I found a gi-raffe spring I didn't know I had, so was able to replace the rubber band on that 3376 I built from spare bits last year...
Mitch
Wow that's great organization Mitch. My stuff is spred between 3 rooms and very hard to locate. I'll second your resolution but it'll probably take till March a little at a time.
Samparfitt beautiful! Happy New Year.
Dave
New Under The Hoods up!
https://ogrforum.com/...d-the-yellow-trolley
https://ogrforum.com/...hood-meet-cousin-itt
Mitch
@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:I got my New Year's resolution done, and got my parts box and my workbench drawers organized...
This paid off, as I found a gi-raffe spring I didn't know I had, so was able to replace the rubber band on that 3376 I built from spare bits last year...
Mitch
SHAMEFUL ........good about the spring and rubber band though .
Dave, outstanding work on the individual components and the entire scenes!
idea-thinker, great spans and bridges.
Chris, the station is terrific! What a gem.
Bob, excellent project, great job.
Andy
Fixed a loose banana nut DCS failure. Also noticed that the looseness caused a few of the terminals to melt, so I ordered some new ones. Then upgraded my tiu and old handheld remote so everyone can play nice with the new remote I got for Christmas. Then, I figured I’d install some woodland scenic fencing I received for Christmas. Pretty good product. I particularly like how the double door gate came out -
Chris A
Thanks for the tip on track painting. I tried it today and it works great. I did not have any acetone handy (and did not want to use wife's nail polish remover) so mineral spirits was used instead. My shop towels proved too fluffy and were removing too much paint. I cut up some Bounty paper towels and wrapped them (wet) around the wood block. The results are good. even though the paint was adequately removed from the center rail, the rail top retained a slightly darker color. Most of the track is very old and the galvanized surface became discolored which is a plus. The trains run fine on it.
@Strap Hanger posted:Fixed a loose banana nut DCS failure. Also noticed that the looseness caused a few of the terminals to melt, so I ordered some new ones. Then upgraded my tiu and old handheld remote so everyone can play nice with the new remote I got for Christmas. Then, I figured I’d install some woodland scenic fencing I received for Christmas. Pretty good product. I particularly like how the double door gate came out -
That fencing is good looking . 
Is it a wire mesh ? 🤔
Definitely a lot going on in this scene.
Well, I had some big plans for the layout this week since I was going to be home from work, but didn't plan on coming down with COVID, along with my poor wife. No fears, we're doing much better and are appreciative of the prayers and help of dear family and friends.
This evening was the first time I fired up the layout since getting sick and I ran one of my favorites - a Korean War era 726rr. As you know, this model was made without Magnatraction, but that certainly doesn't keep her from pulling a long consist of traditional size modern, MPC, and postwar era cars.
@Dave Ripp. posted:Beutiful work.
awesome work,waiting for the rain
Don, I’m glad you and your wife are on the mend, and you got to run the 726rr. I’m praying you both fully recover!
@Dallas Joseph posted:That fencing is good looking .
Is it a wire mesh ? 🤔
Definitely a lot going on in this scene.
Thanks Dallas. It seemed like it, but it could have also been a brittle, fine soft plastic mesh. It cut rather easy with scissors. The poles were plastic, which also made for easy cutting with an exacto knife when opening up the gate doors.
Hey, @don winslow, wishing you and the wife a speedy recovery!
@Don Winslow- Good to hear that you are both on the mend. We had a Covid Christmas here in the RSJ&B household too. 
That 726 is a beauty.
@Strap Hanger- the fencing looks great. Glad you found the loose wires before more severe damage occurred.
@romiller49- the dock looks great. Fit's perfectly in that spot.
@M. Mitchell Marmel- you know there's an old saying about a clean desk.........
Bob
I finished the roof and glued it to the car last night. I'm going to take a shot at weathering it today. I'll spray it with clear matte later.
I was planning to show off the layout to the family over the holidays. Covid changed those plans...
I had an idea that would let me run 2 trains on the main loops and add my bump and go trolley along the front. The Menards F7 only needs about 8-10 volts to run at less than light speed which was just right for the trolley. I tried it out and it worked perfectly.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
Very nice video Bob. The yard office is really nice. That’s a great touch with the foundation and the overhang. How is that attached?
@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:Very nice video Bob. The yard office is really nice. That’s a great touch with the foundation and the overhang. How is that attached?
I made three "rafters" and just glued it to the car. I was originally going to make the roof longer and have posts coming down to the ground but I didn't want to block the view into the car with a long roof. This solved both issues.
Ingenious Bob.
@RSJB18 posted:I finished the roof and glued it to the car last night. I'm going to take a shot at weathering it today. I'll spray it with clear matte later.
Happy New Years everyone! Excellent project idea, Bob, and it came out really nice!
Hi folks
been away for a while. so today I managed to spend a little time on the Waxhaw layout. In the layout room, the waxhaw division is a double deck folded dogbone if you will. There is an area that is quite a narrow shelf area, being about 24 inches. I chose to locate the Union station here, using a American Flyer Union station sitting on a raised foundation on a platform extending over the lower level railroad. The building seems to have the right proportions and dimensions for the spot. Boyh levels have three tracks in the station.
So today i decided to play with some styrofoam to use for platform bases and structural walls. These are actually sections which were once packing materials. I made cuts with a utility knife yielding the pills as you are sure to know. Fortunately, the resulting edges can be sanded relatively Smooth. A portable hand vacuum is useful for catching all those little pills that result from the cut.
So here are a few photos of what is happening so far. I think this will work out nicely
The styrofoam i had seems to result in the same height as the rail so using some cardstock for the elevation shoul give the platdorm a slight height above the rail without interfering with operation
from the opposite direction
on the right, using the same material to form a tunnel portal for the track below the station.
looking from above
added some trains on the lower level
looking back
From above with the trains. Looks like a busy place. I have some photos of Uptown charlotte that i want to use as a backdrop at this location.
twp streamliners departing .
Hope you enjoyed the discussion
Strap, the fencing and the scene look great.
Don, hope you and your wife get better soon.
Rod, the loading/unloading dock looks terrific.
Bob, the yard office is coming out great, thanks for the videos.
LIRR, nice work on the layout.
Andy
Got the car weathered and clear coated today (almost ran out of matte). I decided on the final placement and tested the lights.
Bob
That’s going to be a great enhancement Bob.
More trees...
Dave
Dave, Great looking trees. I'd love to know what are you using for tree trunks/armatures for the "Green Trees" in the photo I copied & pasted below ?
Bob, Love the caboose project, lighting looks just right, not "brilliant blinding blue white"... It's amazing how well done the proportions and the tooling was done on those PW Lionel Cabooses, I always liked them. Looks great under the deck girder bridge, perfect location.
@chris a posted:Bob, Love the caboose project, lighting looks just right, not "brilliant blinding blue white"... It's amazing how well done the proportions and the tooling was done on those PW Lionel Cabooses, I always liked them. Looks great under the deck girder bridge, perfect location.
Thanks Chris- I got the caboose as a throw in with a loco I bought a while back. I forgot I had it until I found it in a box recently. The lines on the shell are sharp and it is well detailed for a molded body. I used warm white LED's that I stripped out of a dead set of Christmas lights. The one next to the door is yellow. My test power is 4.5v and I have a 200 ohm resistor in line.
Bob
A couple of my operating accessories were partially blocking my view from my preferred vantage point, so I moved them to a more distant, yet accessible part of the layout.
Still trying to figure out how to get the pride of my fleet running after running an errant wire through with a screw. 
Tried this donor board and got lights ,sound ,coupler operation , smoke and even two bell response on conventional reset and the factory reset on full DCS system. Full acknowledgement that everything is OK even after unlocking from neutral ..........still no movement forward or reverse.
Maybe I'll have to wait until MTH makes the board available................well......at least this gives me something to do at the layout .
.....at least maybe for an hour or so to try and figure out. 🤔
@chris a posted:Dave, Great looking trees. I'd love to know what are you using for tree trunks/armatures for the "Green Trees" in the photo I copied & pasted below ?
Chris,
The fall and green trees are both made from sea foam material. You can get it from scenery express, most hobby shops, or online vendors. It's what they call their Super Trees. I've been really happy with the appearance these have, especially considering how fast they can be made. Most will be used as "background trees" or in areas where I need a lot of trees but they could very easily be used in the foreground as well.
Dave
https://ogrforum.com/...9#157970176314749439
Follow up videos from post on page 1071 regards 4 trains running. I was able to get most everything working in time for Christmas Eve. The grandkids (and their parents) really enjoyed it.
Also, apologies if this doesn't post correctly. Since it's my first video post it will probably be a learning experience.
@Norb Veit posted:https://ogrforum.com/...9#157970176314749439
Follow up videos from post on page 1071 regards 4 trains running. I was able to get most everything working in time for Christmas Eve. The grandkids (and their parents) really enjoyed it.
Very well done! Where did you source the trestles, road bed and railings for your elevated track?
Bob
Thank you much, it was (for me) quite an undertaking and mostly above my skill set.
The trestles on the two outer most loops at table top level are Lionel, the sticks holding up the elevated 4th loop are 1/2 x 3/4" wood cut to 8 and 3/4", then screwed to the table top from below followed by attachment to the elevated 1/2" MDF rail bed. Note, I would determine the location for each stick while using levels to maintain vertical, then I'd drill a hole thru the table top, get off the table top, crawl under the layout, find the hole, put a 2" screw in the hole, get back on the table top and turn the predrilled stick onto the protruding screw.
The simulated trestle / hand rails on the elevated 4th loop came from TW trainworx
https://www.twtrainworxstore.c...oduct/r31-trussrail/
The MDF rail bed for the elevated loop was cut out with a jig saw after I taped paper templates to the 4' x 8' MDF sheets. The templates were created with craft paper taped to my garage floor then I zip tied the tracks and turnouts together to maintain dimensional integrity, then used a compass to add 2" to each side of the both sides of the outer rails.
Daily update.....
Made a pipe-rail fence
Glued down some gravel.
Wow, you are on a mission Bob. Looks great.
Dave thanks for the reply. I am surprised, shocked actually, that that is Sea Foam. I bought the large Super Tree kit from them probably 4 years ago. When I opened the box, the sea foam branches were horrendously small. I wrote back to them and told them I wasn't modelling in N or HO scale and wanted decent size branches like I had seen on the YouTube video demonstrations. They sent me about 6 - 8 more branches that they said were larger... Still didn't get anything that was able to make a tree even 6 inches tall... Anyway enough of my whining. Glad you got a box of realistic size, mature Sea Foam branches.
I have been cleaning up and organizing both the main work bench and the front and center of the layout. Opened a box of plaster castings my daughter and I made last year, of the Pennsy Stone Block Walls, knowing that I was going to be needing many more than I was willing to pay $14.50 a section for. I am so glad she and I took the time to make the Latex cotton gauze re-inforced mold. I think I have cast 11 wall sections so far.
So here's some photos as I rough things in. Going to open my painting and weathering file and review my notes from how I painted and weathered these walls 4 years ago. I'd like to "duplicate" the dark brown" color mix that I achieved on the set around the station. We'll see how good my notes and memory are ????
Chris,
You're correct, most of the trees would be considered smaller for O Scale. They are usually put further back on the layout or mixed in with larger and smaller trees for variation. I really like the idea of creating a mold from the retaining wall.
Today, I did some detailing on a pop-up section that is located further back in one corner of the layout. The guy in the third photo says, "Get out of here with your camera and d..n details. I would like to keep my details to myself, thank you".
Dave
DALLAS JOSEPH try contacting GUNRUNNERJOHN, here on the forum or by his email in his profile, he may be able to help you, he's a MTH Tech.
Gary P,
Glad to hear that you're back at it. One good thing about the 6 years is that I'm sure you have come up with some great ideas for the layout. Take care and keep us posted on your progress.
Dave
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