What did you do on your layout today?

I cleared the two mains and ran my first two sets.

Hello everyone! Everyone’s projects are looking great. Nothing further has been done to the layout scenery wise, but I did add this.

Taking inspiration from @p51’s old thread, I had a coworker make this for me. I took a simple frame and stained the boarder to be the darker color it is now. My coworker did the rest by using chalk paint to create the lines, lettering, and logos.
This evening, I was able to hang it on the side of the layout and wright out my more popular trains on it.
Thanks for reading.

@Trainmaster04 posted:

Taking inspiration from @p51’s old thread, I had a coworker make this for me. I took a simple frame and stained the boarder to be the darker color it is now. My coworker did the rest by using chalk paint to create the lines, lettering, and logos.
This evening, I was able to hang it on the side of the layout and wright out my more popular trains on it.
Thanks for reading.

Wow, that looks great!

Still tunnel and retaining walling. Paula and I completed the right front.

Next is right side tunnel 3 which feeds the front end of a hidden Y, then tunnel 4 which is on the right side, length undetermined as of yet.

If you have retaining wall among the jobs left to do, beware. It may get rather boring about about now.

Since my last post, I dismantled my layout so I can plan the next round * of design and implementation.  I vacillate between the desire to take a laissez-faire approach, where I lay stuff{tracks, trains, accessories} down and see how it all rolls and designing things in depth before I even set up the lumber and tracks. I enjoy the benefit of some spontaneity, since all my layouts are designed to be dismantled eventually, but some level of planning goes into each layout because they all have three things in common:

1. I think I should learn some new technical or aesthetic principle from each iteration;
2. I'm usually trying out new rolling stock, layout design, or accessory I just acquired; and
3. I'm determined to have some sheer childlike wonder and fun.

To be sure, these should all be intuitively obvious, but it doesn't take long for items one and two to contravene item three.  That's one of the reasons why I keep as much spontaneous as I can and one of the reasons I designed my layouts as ephemeral: I don't want my design or learning curve to become a white-knuckled, molar-grinding exercise, but when I freewheel too much, I end up having to re-do something or learn a new trick to make up for unexpected hazards.  That said, the next layout will probably accomplish the following:

• more than one train consist in play (probably will use lionchief-enabled engines to make this easy, and use my zw to power various accessories;
• all three of the track stock I have will be in play, unless I can get the atlas track to play nice with the fastrack transitional pieces (I have an atlas bridge I want to add, as well as a decoupler);
• I want some elevated track segments to increase usable real estate and break up the sightlines vertically, as well as horizontally
• I'm less inclined to use O72 on this, since I am not trying to use my zephyr or the NY Central with the extra long passenger cars; AND
• I want to use some of the accessories from my last layout, but placed in different areas for better power throughout and stability.

I'm sure everyone grapples with some of the goals and conflicts I've listed here.  I mention mine in the hope that someone who knows better than I and has solved these problems will chime in with feedback I can incorporate in the process of laying out a new design.  Some day when I own property and can set aside designated large spaces, I may go for a permanent layout, but I really love setting up something ephemeral, knowing it can all be taken down and rearranged.  Some things I am thinking of making permanent, however, is running and attaching wiring to the undersides of my two 4'x8' surfaces, both of which are hinged at the middle; obtaining some of that foam people have mentioned deadens the noise of FasTrack; incorporating water effects; and placing my ryobi night lamps under the layout to light things obliquely, which I think will enable more dramatic video clips of running consists.

* this is sort of tongue and cheek, since part of the reason I dismantled my layout had more to do with using my dining room table to eat meals than serve as a work bench.

Afternoon guys and gals, I hope your all enjoying this wonderful Humpday!

@DrSteveDC Steve the bridge looks great and runs nice and smooth!

@pennsyfan Bob, Congratulations on the milestone! They sure are in a hurry to get back! LOL

@Trainmaster04 Looks great and sure is nice to have friends that can help you!

@Bill Webb Bill things sure are looking good! Where do you get the nice portals and retaining walls?

@SIRT Your module sure is coming together! Outstanding work!

Well guys as for me I was able to get the last of the main table plywood cut, I still have to fasten it down, but I wanted to paint the back area so I wouldn't have to be crawling on the layout! I know it isn't much but here are some pictures to just prove it happened! LOL

I just took the second picture to show the narrow walkway and that their is still a mess on the other end! I think that will change one day! LOL

Where it opens up under the TV Really wont be that much space as that is where the upper level will stick out.

Well I hope you all have a great week and find time to have fun with your layout and trains!

@SIRT posted:

Amazing debris. Most modelers fail to show what a dirty siding looks like.

You nailed the look!

Thanks Lee.

Colors and details are out of focus right now.

When I get the 96" x 18" T.S.S. back drop and proper LED lighting from SAMS, photos will become top notch.

No need for 3 rails on sidings...

@SIRT posted:

Progress 2-15-23

Beautiful. I love the debris and weathering. Life is dirty.

The vibrotor on my windmill just wasn’t cutting it.  It was loud and very cranky.  I removed the vibrotor from the housing and replace it with a 3/4” wooden dowel painted black.  I drilled a hole in the center to fit this mini DC gear reduction motor.  Then I drilled out the shroud to fit over the tiny plastic gear I used to couple the motor to the shaft.  Soldered the connections, put it back together and I am much happier with the way it runs! A dab of hot glue holds the wires, motor and dowel in place.  I will probably run it on a switch with a c battery.

@DrSteveDC

Great job on the windmill. It sounds quiet and looks like it runs smoothly.

@pennsyfan  Thanks! should run a little slower and quieter with a single c cell battery.  The test was with a 6v transformer.

Hello all! It's been a while since I have posted here. I'm working on my new layout and needed some wider curves than the standard O-36 for Super-O. I ordered an engine from Lionel that needs at least O-42. So, I was going to use gargraves but I realized I could bend and open up the Super-O curves to O-46. I used my grandfather's beam compass to draw out the center line and used a jig to bend the curves. I cannot wait to finish the loop!

Here is the motor upgrade of the windmill with a 1.5 v c cell battery.  A bit slower and a lot less noisy.

I just spent the past six hours using canopy glue to re-attach  windows that had become detached in my subway sets. Anyone with MTH Railking subways knows my pain and the numerous windows that just fall off, with some cars losing every window.  The easy move would have been to just cut and glue new plastic windows. Unfortunately, the old ones that fell off have some of the interior paint attached, making it imperative to glue them back in the exact spots. However, not only did MTH do a lousy job securing the windows, they also used some kind of horrible plastic that seems to curl and distort, making the reinstall all the more joyful. 5 sets done and 2 more to go on this long overdue project -

As long as you are in there, you may want to consider replacing the grain of wheat bulbs with LEDs.  Every one of my cars had the holders cracked - ordering the replacement bulbs was useless. You can glue them back together (which I did), but I have no idea on how long that fix will work. Either way, the bulbs eat a lot of track amperage, IMO they are better off gone. I've had no issues with the windows but I have a CTA set.

@ScoutingDad posted:

As long as you are in there, you may want to consider replacing the grain of wheat bulbs with LEDs.  Every one of my cars had the holders cracked - ordering the replacement bulbs was useless. You can glue them back together (which I did), but I have no idea on how long that fix will work. Either way, the bulbs eat a lot of track amperage, IMO they are better off gone. I've had no issues with the windows but I have a CTA set.

Strange, but I cleaned every interior, inspected the heat shields, the light brackets,  and each bulb on the 5 sets I did and not one was broken.  I like to reposition the bulbs so that they are not pointing up and touching the roof (less risk of roof melt issues due to the heat). I had considered upgrading a few sets to low heat LEDs but I actually like the flickering light I get from the existing bulbs and the soft color hue. It kind of reminds me of the actual trains I rode back in the day.  With my two Z4000s, I have enough power to run six sets at a time with power to spare.

@Strap Hanger posted:

Strange, but I cleaned every interior, inspected the heat shields, the light brackets,  and each bulb on the 5 sets I did and not one was broken.  I like to reposition the bulbs so that they are not pointing up and touching the roof (less risk of roof melt issues due to the heat). I had considered upgrading a few sets to low heat LEDs but I actually like the flickering light I get from the existing bulbs and the soft color hue. It kind of reminds me of the actual trains I rode back in the day.  With my two Z4000s, I have enough power to run six sets at a time with power to spare.

Nothing like getting stuck in a dark NYC subway car.......

Nice work Strap!

@Bill Webb posted:

Still tunnel and retaining walling. Paula and I completed the right front.

Next is right side tunnel 3 which feeds the front end of a hidden Y, then tunnel 4 which is on the right side, length undetermined as of yet.

If you have retaining wall among the jobs left to do, beware. It may get rather boring about about now.

        

Where did you get those tunnel portals? They look great!

@Strap Hanger posted:

I had considered upgrading a few sets to low heat LEDs but I actually like the flickering light I get from the existing bulbs and the soft color hue. It kind of reminds me of the actual trains I rode back in the day.

IME, LEDs are slightly *more* prone to flickering -- they tend to light up and dim down much quicker than the filaments on grain of wheat or other incandescent bulbs, unless buffered by a high capacity capacitor, and are thus a bit more abrupt in their flickering -- and for any given bulb type you can usually pick from several different available "temperatures"; "warm" is usually pretty close to incandescent. If that fails, you can usually paint any LED bulb with a transparent or translucent yellowish paint, and with a bit of experimentation make it as dim or soft as you like.

Well, no big projects so far today, but yesterday I picked up my order of three pairs of Atlas track bumpers at Model Train Stuff in Cockeysville, and today I installed them on the ends my layout's three non-operating sidings, replacing the piles of ties I'd been using as (literal!) stop gaps. When I first checked them out after returning home, I was a bit apprehensive, since the boxes said they were for the "Atlas O 21st Century Track," and I've been using decidedly *20th* century tubular steel track, some original (and well used!) Marx and Lionel and some more modern repro, but all decidedly retro, so I figured I was in for some kit-bashing at best.

Imagine my surprise and delight, then, when they all snapped easily in place, on both straight and curved (O-27) track sections! I plan to do some discrete weathering on them to dull the "new plastic" shine a bit, but otherwise they easily met or exceeded my expectations, no kit-bashing required! Sometimes it's the little things . . .

!

Ran out of tufts...

@SIRT posted:

Ran out of tufts...

That's tuf(t) . . . I hay(t) it when that happens . . . 🙄

Sirt, I love the road. Nice job.

I got the 2 Menards trucks wired up last night. The '48 Ford looks good, but the REA truck is way too bright. I will knock the voltage down with a couple resistors. I also need to get some Tamiya paint to change the cool white headlights to more of an incandescent color. I don't know why mfr's can't use the correct color temp LED's?
I should have noticed it on my work bench but.......

You can see the difference between the trucks in the first two pix. The Ford has WW LED's.

The tail lights are almost brighter than the headlights.

I also added the loads I made to the truck.

And for those asking about the back flips......this is the extent of the workspace under my layout.... And that's after pulling the train storage drawers out.

Bob

Designers of vintage auto models are no longer old enough to remember, or are not knowledgeable enough to know that old cars/trucks ran on 6 volts and the lights werent much better than a couple of candles mounted on the hood. Even 12V lights werent all that bright but then you werent driving 100mph on the interstate and didnt need to see 3 miles in front of you and blind everyone coming the other way.

@Farmall-Joe posted:

Even 12V lights werent all that bright but then you werent driving 100mph on the interstate and didnt need to see 3 miles in front of you and blind everyone coming the other way.

That’s big brother making your life better.

NOT!

@RSJB18

Looking good Bob. That Tamiya paint is great stuff. I have red, orange, and yellow for different applications.

Morning guys, I see everyone has been busy!

@DrSteveDC Steve wonderful job on the windmill! One question why not just use a buck converter to lower the power? Then not battery needed.

@StrapHanger Sorry for the window problem, but if you think about it if you didn't have to fix the windows all you would be doing is running trains!

@SIRT The tuft is looking great! But Tuff luck on the lack of tufts! I am sure you will find more!

@RSJB18 Bob, the trucks look great on your layout! They fit right in. I know this might sound cheap, but that's me. To tone down the tail lights you might try putting some scotch tape over them. Just a thought.

As for me yesterday I was able to get the outer loop all connected together. But the bad news is when I tested it with my small switcher it worked fine. But when I tested it with my 4-8-4 when it came to a pair of back-to-back switches it caused a short. I have no idea why but plan on getting out there when I am done here to try and figure it out.

The other bad news is I used the last of my straight track, all that is left is 1 30" flex and a bunch of cut off's. At least I got one complete loop done, now all I have to do is make it work correct. If I do, I will take a short video of a around the room run.

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

@romiller49 posted:

Sirt, I love the road. Nice job.

Thanks guys, a work in progress. Lots more to do.

@RSJB18 posted:

I got the 2 Menards trucks wired up last night. The '48 Ford looks good, but the REA truck is way too bright. I will knock the voltage down with a couple resistors. I also need to get some Tamiya paint to change the cool white headlights to more of an incandescent color. I don't know why mfr's can't use the correct color temp LED's?

I feel your pain, Bob. IMHO the workmanship on some of the Menards lighted vehicle offerings hasn't been very good, either. The last one I bought had a lot of white light leaking around the tail light lenses, so I ended up flowing some watered red acrylic around the edges, to seal them properly. Also, I'd decided to power it with a 5 volt wall wart, which was slightly above the 4.5 volts of the "official" power supply -- it probably would have worked as-is, but as you note, the lights were so bright and the color 'hot' I just fiddled around with small-value resistors in series until I was satisfied.

I anticipate delivery today of my next two Menard vehicles (a stake truck just like the one in your pic, and an REA pickup on a freebie deal) and I finally broke down and bought an "official" multi-plug power supply from them, but I suspect I may have to do some voltage tweaking again, or invest in the paint wash you mentioned to tone down the headlights.

@Steve Tyler posted:

I feel your pain, Bob. IMHO the workmanship on some of the Menards lighted vehicle offerings hasn't been very good, either. The last one I bought had a lot of white light leaking around the tail light lenses, so I ended up flowing some watered red acrylic around the edges, to seal them properly. Also, I'd decided to power it with a 5 volt wall wart, which was slightly above the 4.5 volts of the "official" power supply -- it probably would have worked as-is, but as you note, the lights were so bright and the color 'hot' I just fiddled around with small-value resistors in series until I was satisfied.

I anticipate delivery today of my next two Menard vehicles (a stake truck just like the one in your pic, and an REA pickup on a freebie deal) and I finally broke down and bought an "official" multi-plug power supply from them, but I suspect I may have to do some voltage tweaking again, or invest in the paint wash you mentioned to tone down the headlights.

Steve- I have 4 of Menards cars and trucks and they are all way too bright. If you didn't see my original post, when I tested the '48 Ford with power, I instantly discovered that they put smoke units in these cars.....
After a re-wire and replacement of the LED's I found lots of light leaks. I blacked out what I could with liquid tape.
They were all "freebies" with other $20.00 purchases so I'm not bashing or complaining. Actually, I like fiddling with this stuff as long as I can take them apart without destroying them.

I'm using an old cellphone wall-wart at 4v.
(Notice the lack of insulation on the splices)

@Farmall-Joe @pennsyfan @mike g.- thanks guys.
I agree that modern methods of model lighting don't match the prototypes but we're not talking about expensive models either.

Bob

@mike g.  Buck converter, not familiar with it.  Does it convert ac to dc and drop the voltage?

Thanks!

@DrSteveDC posted:

@mike g.  Buck converter, not familiar with it.  Does it convert ac to dc and drop the voltage?

Thanks!

From Wikipedia:

This whole hobby is a "buck" converter.  Takes your bucks and converts them to trains.

UMLIFE 4PCS AC/DC to DC Step Down Buck Converter AC 5-30V DC 5-48V 24V 36V 48V to DC 2.5-35V 12V Voltage Regulator Board 2A Adjustable Volt Power Supply Module

Hi Steve as you see you can get ones for AC-DC converter. The one above is from the big A

@Farmall-Joe posted:

This whole hobby is a "buck" converter.  Takes your bucks and converts them to trains.

. . . or spousal friction, depending on the conversion rate!

@DrSteveDC Lots of good and funny replies to your question.

I am not an expert, there are several ways to reduce an incoming voltage to a lower voltage. The "buck converter" is useful in model railroading to reduce an incoming dc voltage to a lower dc voltage. They are typically a small inexpensive circuit board which can take a variable incoming voltage and reduce it to a desired constant lower voltage output.  If you had a 12 volt dc source, these can be used to split the voltages into 4.5 and 3 volts often seen in different LED lighting systems.  Besides being adjustable, they tend to be reasonably power efficient (around 80%)  meaning they do not get hot when reducing the voltage. They are also really useful in LED lighting of (passenger) cars or marker lights because our ac voltage varies according to variable transformer output - slow v fast trains. Once converted from ac to dc, the buck converter will output a constant lower voltage to the LEDs.  Too much voltage quickly burns them out.  Many modelers simply use different dc output voltage wall warts (transformers) to meet their needs.  Hope this helps.

Hi guys I am back Like I said I would. LOL

Steve they are all correct, as Jeff stated I use a lot of old cell phone chargers but some of them I can run 2 maybe 3 LED lighted buildings.

Any how I went out this morning and first off, I ran my small switcher as it doesn't have a problem with the switches that cause problems for the big guy. Along with it I had 5 cars and 1 was my scratch-built track cleaning car. I ran it around about 5 time then parked it, next was time for the UP4-8-4, Here it is in action.

It sure can tell where things need smoothed out!  LOL

@mike g.  - Thanks for that!  I will order them.  I want to upgrade the 197 radar antenna as well.