What did you do on your layout today?

Put  a "ballast color" under the spur track on the Lift Gate which ties into the accessory spur on the main table.....

The 1st photo shows how it looks on the main table.....

This is on the Lift Gate.....

The end of the spur is anchored by the Oblong Box Company.....I'm trying out placement of different buildings.....I like to use buildings as view blocks.....these are before pics.....

Have a great day.

Peter

@Brooklyn Corey posted:

New Work Bench

Corey, great use of your space! Good to get off  the tables in the rest of your home. My only concern is the center support leg. You need to be careful about putting anything heavy on the corners; or putting pressure on the edges when you are working.

@Putnam Division posted:

Engines have a tendency to multiply like viruses.......

Peter

They do.....and Trainland just announced the LIRR 0-6-0......😁

Nice work on the spur. I like the drive in loading docks on your building. Looks good.

@Brooklyn Corey posted:

New Work Bench

Excellent use of space Corey. 👍👍

So has the shop foreman inspected the new space yet?

Bob

@Brooklyn Corey I like the new shelves and workbench.  You ran into the problem I often do; things just don't quite fit.  Good deal you were able to cut some unused space on the layout! 

@RSJB18 Bob, I knew that 0-6-0 was a had-to-have when I emailed you!    If they offer it in Western Maryland logo, I will have to sell my TMCC 0-8-0 repaint and get one!!

@Putnam Division Peter, The speckle paint ballast is a winner.  I wish I hadn't copped out on the cost and kept using it instead of plain gray brush on paint.

First time trying this Brick Mortar stuff so was experimenting. Got all the wiring ran inside and now the roof is going up! Going to weather the roof some and play with a few different things. Turning out how I envisioned it!

New Hope & Ivy passenger car project.

https://ogrforum.com/...9#177398552098955039

The customized shells came back from Christine Brandon today.

I received lightning kits from Evan Designs.
I will not be using the silhouettes.
I received passenger seating from an off shore  company. I test fitted them. I’ll be painting them and affixing them to a thin sheet to speed the installation.


I am looking for a source of window glazing that would be slightly opaque. I’m also thinking about a thin strip at the top to suggest window shades.

@pennsyfan posted:

New Hope & Ivy passenger car project.

I received passenger seating from an off shore  company. I test fitted them. I’ll be painting them and affixing them to a thin sheet to speed the installation.


I am looking for a source of window glazing that would be slightly opaque. I’m also thinking about a thin strip at the top to suggest window shades.

@pennsyfan

Bob:

Your passenger coach project is looking to be GREAT! For window glazing I use blank overhead projector transparencies. They are available at some, Big-Box office supply stores or their on-line catalogues. They are not cheap, but a small box will last you a lifetime (as my father used to say) if you live that long (Yogi Berra would have been proud of him). The transparencies are easy to cut to size and glue in place. If you mean "slightly opaque" to be translucent, the transparency material can be sprayed lightly with Testor's Dull Coat to get the effect of frosted glass. Also, since vendors that do not advertise with OGR cannot be mentioned on the forum, can you share with me the source for your passenger seating via private E-Mail? My E-Mail address is in my profile.

P, S, - I really like your layout and am ENVIOUS of your Pennsylvania Station!

I used MASKING TAPE for window shades. It's about the right color. Just used it on buildings, though

@Randy Harrison posted:

@pennsyfan

Bob:

Your passenger coach project is looking to be GREAT! For window glazing I use blank overhead projector transparencies. They are available at some, Big-Box office supply stores or their on-line catalogues. They are not cheap, but a small box will last you a lifetime (as my father used to say) if you live that long (Yogi Berra would have been proud of him). The transparencies are easy to cut to size and glue in place. If you mean "slightly opaque" to be translucent, the transparency material can be sprayed lightly with Testor's Dull Coat to get the effect of frosted glass. Also, since vendors that do not advertise with OGR cannot be mentioned on the forum, can you share with me the source for your passenger seating via private E-Mail? My E-Mail address is in my profile.

P, S, - I really like your layout and am ENVIOUS of your Pennsylvania Station!

Thanks Randy, Pennsylvania station was crafted by Alex M on the forum. He used 4 MTH banks.

@pennsyfan posted:

Thanks Randy, Pennsylvania station was crafted by Alex M on the forum. He used 4 MTH banks.

@pennsyfan

Bob:

I wish I had the space for it!!!!! I remember NY Penn Station as a kid. My grandfather was a retired PRR employee with a lifetime rail pass. I went on many train trips with him through Penn Station and saw parts of it the station that the average traveler did not see. It almost made me cry to see that architectural masterpiece being destroyed in the early to middle 1960's.

@Randy Harrison

Randy are you referring to the sheets that were used to display charts using a opaque projector? I dumped boxes of them when we started using laptops and projectors.

@pennsyfan posted:

@Randy Harrison

Randy are you referring to the sheets that were used to display charts using a opaque projector? I dumped boxes of them when we started using laptops and projectors.

@pennsyfan

Bob:

I think we are talking about the same thing. An Opaque projector, using light above the source image, a mirror and a lens, projected off of a solid piece of paper. My understanding of Opaque is something through which no light will pass.  A translucent substance is something through which light will pass but a clear image on the other side is not visible like kitchen waxed paper. The transparency was a clear sheet projected by an overhead projector with the light source below the transparency. It is this latter thing to which I refer that I use for window glazing. Sorry about the dissertation. I just wanted to make sure we were speaking of the same thing.

@pennsyfan Bob, those cars Christine painted look great.  The interior details look good and will even be better when you paint more detail.  We have a box of transparency film, if I can find it.    My wife asks me before giving away or throwing out anything, and I hope that wasn't one of the items we decided to get rid of.    I'll keep looking.

@Mark Boyce posted:

@pennsyfan Bob, those cars Christine painted look great.  The interior details look good and will even be better when you paint more detail.  We have a box of transparency film, if I can find it.    My wife asks me before giving away or throwing out anything, and I hope that wasn't one of the items we decided to get rid of.    I'll keep looking.

Thanks Mark!

@Mark Boyce

Mark, thank you for the offer; don’t trouble yourself.  I found them on Amazon for less then $10. They will be here Friday.

Not so much layout work as getting a ps1 doodlebug on the track.  Purchased a PRR 4666 from a forum member.  He indicated it needed a battery, i had a BCR hanging around so quick swap and on the track it went.  I rode this full size version 30 years ago on the black river rr so had to have this.  It's doing laps around the basement as i write this

@Randy Harrison

Randy check your inbox.

Cleaning House, like you guys should be doing !!

@Joe Cassiday Jr posted:

Cleaning House, like you guys should be doing !!

Funny you should say that . . .

As it happens, last night I began a major effort to clear my existing work space, in order to install some better shelving to provide space to organize my tools, supplies and projects in progress (and they are legion!). So far, it's just a serious whack at the accumulated clutter, but I hope to reach the back wall soon, so I can install the new shelf supports and shelving, and start the *long* process of rationalizing and sorting all the accumulated bits and pieces!! Arghh . . .

I have been combining pizza with toasted oat cereal........a new taste treat? Hardly......but, a pizza box combined with a cereal box makes a nice and quick painting booth.

Working on a TW TrainWorx kit.......a pair of locomotive service racks.....

Have a great week, folks!

Health tip......the toasted oat cereal will bind some of the cholesterol in the pizza......but, not enough to make it healthy......

Peter

@pennsyfan posted:

@Mark Boyce

Mark, thank you for the offer; don’t trouble yourself.  I found them on Amazon for less then $10. They will be here Friday.

That’s a great deal.  I’ll find them right off now that you don’t need them!  😄

@Putnam Division posted:

I have been combining pizza with toasted oat cereal........a new taste treat? Hardly......but, a pizza box combined with a cereal box makes a nice and quick painting booth.

Working on a TW TrainWorx kit.......a pair of locomotive service racks.....

Have a great week, folks!

Health tip......the toasted oat cereal will bind some of the cholesterol in the pizza......but, not enough to make it healthy......

Peter

Wagner makes a nice portable spray booth Peter

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wa...-C900051-M/300117291

I'll stick to keeping my Cherrios and pizza at separate ends of the day.....

🤣🤣🤣

Nice work on the platform as usual.

Bob

Well it’s mostly done and has found its new home on the layout. Have to run the wiring thru the table and attach the side building but it turned out great I think!  

@Lancer posted:

Well it’s mostly done and has found its new home on the layout. Have to run the wiring thru the table and attach the side building but it turned out great I think!  

FWIW, I agree! You may want to consider "dirtying up" the interior a bit to better match the nicely weathered exterior and better capture the effects of repeated exposure to coal smoke, but regardless its a magnificent result as-is!

[In fact, having the room to do and place such a worthy edition to the layout is probably at the top of my "envy list" for those with enough real estate to permit such additions! I've just about reached the point where I have to decide what has to be mothballed in order to make rom for any substantive changes . . . arghh!! ]

@Mark Boyce posted:

@Brooklyn Corey I line the new shelves and workbench.  I ran into the problem I often do; things just don't quite fit.  Good deal you were able to cut some unused space on the layout! 

@RSJB18 Bob, I knew that 0-6-0 was a had-to-have when I emailed you!    If they offer it in Western Maryland logo, I will have to sell my TMCC 0-8-0 repaint and get one!!

@Putnam Division Peter, The speckle paint ballast is a winner.  I wish I hadn't copped out on the cost and kept using it instead of plain gray brush on paint.

Thanks, I just bought 3 more shelves yesterday!

@pennsyfan posted:

Corey, great use of your space! Good to get off  the tables in the rest of your home. My only concern is the center support leg. You need to be careful about putting anything heavy on the corners; or putting pressure on the edges when you are working.

Thanks, there won’t be anything heavy in that corner. I’ll be careful about the pressure. I’ll probably just put some scenery there.

@RSJB18 posted:

Wagner makes a nice portable spray booth Peter

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wa...-C900051-M/300117291

I'll stick to keeping my Cherrios and pizza at separate ends of the day.....

🤣🤣🤣

Nice work on the platform as usual.

Bob

....but, you can eat the pizza......  

Thank you, Bob......all kidding aside, I've thought about getting one, but these are so easy....I just throw them away and don't have to clean anything.....and, build another one when i need it......

Peter

@Putnam Division posted:

....but, you can eat the pizza......  

Thank you, Bob......all kidding aside, I've thought about getting one, but these are so easy....I just throw them away and don't have to clean anything.....and, build another one when i need it......

Peter

Agreed Peter......I'm all for disposable after spray painting too....... Wagner does make good stuff though. I have an older model of their electric sprayer and it does work well.

I'm partial to buffalo chicken btw......

Just trying out some things.....Buildings Unlimited kits have "molded-in windows". I'm testing colors and textures before starting on a build......

I've heard that Frog Tape has less bleeding than 3M Painters tape, so, I'm trying some......

My pizza box painting booth is still on the job.

Rustoleum rust which I will lighten with some terra cotta and/or tan dry brushing.

A light gray on the sill and a burgundy on the doors and lintels. I don't like the burgundy.

I'm a Jasper so green comes naturally. I may go with the Holly Green over the Kelly Green

Some spackle in the joints.......a little dry brushing with a darker gray and/or an India Ink wash next on the cinder block base....

It's nice to ne able to experiment.

Have a great week.

Peter

Ventured to the basement this afternoon for the first time in days. Got bitten by the Covid bug again last Saturday (3rd times the charm...... I hope).  Finally feeling well enough today and since I'm on a mandatory 5-sickday leave from work, the trains are calling.

I cleaned the track- a long overdue task made easy with my All-nations car.

Checked the pick ups and trucks on a new MTH caboose with the new trucks. This one tracks and rolls well. Wires are not restricting movement and I oiled the plungers on the pickups anyway.

Then I did the GRJ mod on my Reading 0-6-0t changing the chuff rate to 2/rev from 4/. For a small engine with small drivers the 2/ rev sounds just fine and you can pull a bit more speed before the sound crashes.

Now I trying to get a PS2 (5V) RS3 to play nice. I can't get the engine to stay awake when power is dropped and it won't move. I had a BCR in it but it's not working. I'm charging a green battery that I took out of a SW-1 that I picked up recently to see if there is any difference. Checked the output from the board to the battery and I've got 12v.

I was down there for a couple of hours before the CEO came looking to make sure I was still alive.....

Here's the steamer after the mod.

Bob

Love your little tank engine Bob. Sounds good too!

Peter, the pizza box spray booth is just the ticket.  Handsome experiment painting!

Bob, Aren't you glad she came down to check on you.  Did she bring the AED along?  I’m glad you are well enough to make use of the mandatory time off.  Get well.  The tank engine sounds good Bob.

@RSJB18 posted:

Ventured to the basement this afternoon for the first time in days. Got bitten by the Covid bug again last Saturday (3rd times the charm...... I hope).  Finally feeling well enough today and since I'm on a mandatory 5-sickday leave from work, the trains are calling.

I cleaned the track- a long overdue task made easy with my All-nations car.

Checked the pick ups and trucks on a new MTH caboose with the new trucks. This one tracks and rolls well. Wires are not restricting movement and I oiled the plungers on the pickups anyway.

Then I did the GRJ mod on my Reading 0-6-0t changing the chuff rate to 2/rev from 4/. For a small engine with small drivers the 2/ rev sounds just fine and you can pull a bit more speed before the sound crashes.

Now I trying to get a PS2 (5V) RS3 to play nice. I can't get the engine to stay awake when power is dropped and it won't move. I had a BCR in it but it's not working. I'm charging a green battery that I took out of a SW-1 that I picked up recently to see if there is any difference. Checked the output from the board to the battery and I've got 12v.

I was down there for a couple of hours before the CEO came looking to make sure I was still alive.....

Here's the steamer after the mod.

Bob

Sweet looking Reading Company equipment. Sorry to hear about the return of COVID. I read somewhere that scotch helps to reduce the chances of reoccurrence.
Jay

@RSJB18 posted:

Ventured to the basement this afternoon for the first time in days. Got bitten by the Covid bug again

Now I trying to get a PS2 (5V) RS3 to play nice. I can't get the engine to stay awake when power is dropped and it won't move. I had a BCR in it but it's not working. I'm charging a green battery that I took out of a SW-1 that I picked up recently to see if there is any difference. Checked the output from the board to the battery and I've got 12v.

I was down there for a couple of hours before the CEO came looking to make sure I was still alive.....

Where are you getting this Covid Bob ?     

                           I wonder if Jay might be on to something about the Scotch..........I've never had Covid........Molson XXX , Winston red 100s  and Scotty's donuts have gotten me through.......,  even with my neighbors and local hospital running rampit with it.      Sorry this Covid kept you out of the layout room.

What should the voltage be for RS3 instead of the 12 volts.       Was this bought new ?      I'm sure you have gone over all the cleaning and tightening that needs to be done if it was bought  " preowned ".     Did the Gunrunner have input on this issue ?

Be safe Bob. 😷

Tediously figuring out how to create tiny holes in a Lionel 15" aluminum donor shell roof for grab rails and ladder rests, and test fitting vents to simulate that found on NP NCL day coach.

Created a good template for the holes and hope to find a way to automate  the process with a Dremel drill press.

Continuing bodywork on Lionel F-3 ABA shells for NP NCL train: scale number boards and a second headlght housing being the main ones.

@Putnam Division your project is looking good, I put Frog tape on my list. I’ve got to order some pizza.
@RSJB18 glad to hear that your on the mend. Thankfully I’ve never had COVID; but the shots did enough to permanently screw me up.
Jay and Dallas I subscribe to your preventive medicine 😱; but I can only have two shots a week of my JW Black or Blue.  

@Pingman Carl, I commend your diligence in coming up with templates for drilling those tiny holes.  We will be glad to see your results which having templates, I know will work out marvelously.

@Jerry Williams- They are great engines. I could easily see 3 or 4 more on my layout but $$$$$......

@Mark Boyce- feeling better each day. Thanks. No, she didn't bring the AED (or a glass of Scotch)

@Tranquil Hollow RR- I have a good friend who is Greek. He loves Metaxa, says he drinks it for medicinal purposes only.......I could say the same for my Scotch, but I'd be lying.........

@pennsyfan- no vaccines for me (and without violating the TOS I'll shut up now)

@Dallas Joseph- I bought the engine from Trainz. It's been a bit cranky since I got it but it did run. I had to replace the flaky speaker when I got it so it's possible that some damage was done that is showing up now. I think I will close it up and take a look another day. Too many other projects on the bench that need to be finished first.

@Pingman- your attention to detail is to be commended. Keep up the good work.

Back to the basement for me today......

Bob

Bob, no scotch either!  My oh my!  😄 Yes, that is what I often do, button it up for another day.  I think you said you already tried a BCR, but I forgot.  That white battery is old I believe.  The new ones are green.  I’ll write more on the forum later.  Off to PT now.