What did you do on your layout today?

@Berkshirelover726 posted:

Not so much anything on my layout as the wife and I are on vacation in Virginia but, I did upload a new video to my YouTube channel. It’s been about 10 months since I uploaded and I felt the urge to upload something. I enjoy making videos and I want to do more how to and repair videos in the future, not just running trains (or playing music as the other half of my channel is music).

I hope you enjoy and hope everyone had a great New Year’s Eve!

https://youtu.be/FvIdWG6e61Q?si=aqSjpN1WAUN4jACi

Nicely done layout!

Peter

Yesterday was not a happy day. I got the word that the fence was coming down that protects the Christmas Layout at the Clubhouse. The dismantling of layout it self will begin on Friday. I went over to pack up my trains. So all that’s left till next Christmas are the videos.

That is a sad day, Bob!  You did a wonderful job on that layout!

@Mark Boyce posted:

That is a sad day, Bob!  You did a wonderful job on that layout!

Thanks Mark, we used to leave it up till after the Little Epiphany. Now a new wave in the club; we have to get it down before people start leaving for FL.

@pennsyfan posted:

Yesterday was not a happy day. I got the word that the fence was coming down that protects the Christmas Layout at the Clubhouse. The dismantling of layout it self will begin on Friday. I went over to pack up my trains. So all that’s left till next Christmas are the videos.

Bob, the videos should put a smile on your face until next Christmas.🙂Nicely done.

Happy New Year, Gene

@pennsyfan posted:

Thanks Mark, we used to leave it up till after the Little Epiphany. Now a new wave in the club; we have to get it down before people start leaving for FL.

Yes, that was the day my mother left up decorations, though if the live Christmas tree was losing its needles, it had to come down.  Yes, I see the club must be aging and going south for the winter.  You and I are doing something wrong by staying up north when we are retired!  😄🥶

@Mark Boyce posted:

That is a sad day, Bob!  You did a wonderful job on that layout!

The fact that you put smiles on so many faces with the wonderful display will hopefully hold you until it reappears next year.

@Mark Boyce posted:

You and I are doing something wrong by staying up north when we are retired!  😄🥶

Mark,

Sadly, I am in the same situation.

Happy New Year.

Tom

Hi guys I am sorry I have been away for a few days and wow so much has happened Dave put in some grass and fenced a nice little section off .

While Jeff was making his brick look as much as a real street is! Nice work Jeff!

Larry added a few train item's to already wonderful looking train room and layout! I am not sure about the other things he mentioned, sounds like trouble! LOL

Peter helped the giraffe for their annual clean up!

Pennysfan  Bob had another year for Christmas taken down but It will be back up next year

If I missed, you I am sorry!  I will try to do better next time! Either way you all are doing great work and we are so honored that you all are willing to share it with the rest of us!

I hope you all have a great New Year and fine time to have fun with your layouts and trains!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Yes, that was the day my mother left up decorations, though if the live Christmas tree was losing its needles, it had to come down.  Yes, I see the club must be aging and going south for the winter.  You and I are doing something wrong by staying up north when we are retired!  😄🥶

I turn 81 in a month and I have no desire to go to Fl. Been there done that. Not for me.

@Berkshirelover726, Hi Cody, I’m glad to see you back participating on the OGR Forum and I just watched your cool video. To say it’s cool is an understatement, it’s great! I like the layout at the beginning, trains running flawlessly, post war looking, and your scenery is nicely done, you do need to finish your roundhouse roofing, and then the floor layout, taking us back to how most of us enjoyed our trains when we were children at Christmas time, (1950’s-1960’s 1970’s) then the Super O layout, WOW. So, I loved the video. I like @Dave Ripps re-do of his beautiful layout, from tear down, to re-build, amazing workmanship. And I need to mention my friend @Mikeg, with the beginning of his new layout room, utilizing a black ceiling. He will have a really nice layout room and I know for a fact he will have a beautiful Millhouse turntable for a crowd pleasing focal point, great work Mike! There are many others that post here with beautiful layouts, @trumpettrain, @Rjsb18 Bob, and so many others. I wish everyone a Happy New Year… (Many Prayers for those folks in New Orleans)…

@leapinlarry posted:

@Rjsb18 Bob, and so many others. I wish everyone a Happy New Year… (Many Prayers for those folks in New Orleans)…

Keep nudging Larry....... I'm almost over the top....... I've narrowed the list to the LIRR A5 or a H16-44, both Legacy. Or maybe a F7??? Awww heck.......I'll just buy 'em all........

Thanks for your kind words and Happy New Year!

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Keep nudging Larry....... I'm almost over the top....... I've narrowed the list to the LIRR A5 or a H16-44, both Legacy. Or maybe a F7??? Awww heck.......I'll just buy 'em all........

Thanks for your kind words and Happy New Year!

Bob

Bob, you know Larry has sold cars for a living.  Now he is selling railroad engines.  He has you hooked and is reeling you in!!  😄 You’re still working, so you have the income.  😄😄

@Mark Boyce posted:

Bob, you know Larry has sold cars for a living.  Now he is selling railroad engines.  He has you hooked and is reeling you in!!  😄 You’re still working, so you have the income.  😄😄

We have been chatting Mark. I told him that I received a very generous gift certificate for Trainworld for Christmas. Just debating what to buy. But Legacy LIRR 0-4-0's don't show up every day.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

We have been chatting Mark. I told him that I received a very generous gift certificate for Trainworld for Christmas. Just debating what to buy. But Legacy LIRR 0-4-0's don't show up every day.

Bob

Buy now or regret it later!  😃

@RSJB18 posted:

We have been chatting Mark. I told him that I received a very generous gift certificate for Trainworld for Christmas. Just debating what to buy. But Legacy LIRR 0-4-0's don't show up every day.

Bob

My gut tells me it’s the LIRR 0-4-0? Lionel did a great job with the 0-4-0 and I haven’t heard anything negative about it.

Gene

Morning guys nothing new from me, but it is nice to see you guys still working on stuff!

@leapinlarry Larry thanks for the kind words! Your correct about the Millhouse Turn Table as it would not have been able without You and @farmerjohn help! With that said I got the idea for the black ceiling after seeing John's layout! It really helps you keep your eyes and mind on the layout! I can tell you this I think mine will look nice, but nowhere as great as yours and FarmerJohns!

@RSJB18 Bob, Larry is right you need to expand your engine roster! What happens if something goes down? You need something for back up, I know you think you might have enough but remember the old saying that those who have the most toys win! So, keep getting more!

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

Wow—I’ve been doing a lot, but I’ll only post a couple of pictures each time.  I’m getting close to completing the layout.  I’m putting little people and animals around the layout, doing other detail things.

I’m getting ready for a new shower in our master bedroom which is located over my turntable area of my layout, so, we will be moving all the trains in that area, and then we will reprogram the lead tracks around the roundhouse. I use the PTC3 system. Now, @Mikeg, thanks for the kind words, Farmerjohn and I thank you again for helping us with the Lentz train collection which is all finalized… Happy Railroading Everyone

@RIRocket your layout is looking great!  
@leapinlarry move all those engines etc out of the way!  What a job!  As always, everything looks great!

Ok, now all of the locomotives and a few cars are moved from the area that’s under the ceiling tiles that will need to be removed to turn off the upstairs bathroom water supply. Hopefully, no bug issues… Happy Railroading Everyone

@leapinlarry posted:

Ok, now all of the locomotives and a few cars are moved from the area that’s under the ceiling tiles that will need to be removed to turn off the upstairs bathroom water supply. Hopefully, no bug issues… Happy Railroading Everyone

I'd cover the layout before they start Larry. Any special riders in the contract for layout damage?

Bob

@leapinlarry posted:

I’m getting ready for a new shower in our master bedroom which is located over my turntable area of my layout, so, we will be moving all the trains in that area, and then we will reprogram the lead tracks around the roundhouse. I use the PTC3 system. Now, @Mikeg, thanks for the kind words, Farmerjohn and I thank you again for helping us with the Lentz train collection which is all finalized… Happy Railroading Everyone

Good luck Larry -beautiful layout, BTW - always love seeing pics of it.

We had a similar scenario in September and October with a kitchen remodel - both the electrician and plumber had to contort themselves over and around Warrenville.

I removed some trains off the layout and shelves, an accessory too.

No harm done and it gave me the opportunity to dust and lube trains during that 2 month project

WOW Larry I sure hope things go smoothly! I am with Bob if you can I would cover it, even if it with the light weight plastic! I will be praying for you that it all goes well!

Here are s few more shots of what I’ve been up to.

If you have been following my progress, you know of my tendency to flip from project to project. As I was thinking about the extension of the trolley line with elevated trestles, it was obvious the background needed some help.  I already had a Korber General Light and Office Building #969 but never could figure out what to do with it given I am modeling a town and not a city (mostly).  After unsuccessful discussions with several vendors, I decided to cut the sides in half (with my new grizzly band saw - Christmas gift  : )  )  and turn it into two background buildings. In the meantime, my son gave me the Background Apartment Building #700 from Mr. Muffin's - another Christmas Gift.   So now I am in pig heaven.   Here is approximate placement,  unfinished of course.

A couple of observations,  the apartment building is the office building with the top cornice cut off. Amazingly my cut sides are virtually identical in width to the apartment building.  However the added apartment fire escape will add visual interest.  The resin in the older office building is different than the apartment building. While I saw a video of a guy building another Korber structure, he mentioned Rustoleum primer does not stick well to the resin. Sure enough, even thought it goes on nicely, I can scrape it off with my finger nail and painter's tape will pull some off. The brown is a light coat of Krylon.  I have had problems with Krylon primer and water based paints on my train shelves. The water based paints did not want to stick and pulled away - probably an issue as with water based paints not going over oil based. I will see as there will be coats of acrylic paints for the bricks and mortar lines. No clue as to whether the new resin acts like the old.   

Happy New Year and Railroading all !!!

Just a little "big picture" context on how this all fits in the layout plan. 

Jeff, isn’t it nice to be at the point in layout construction where you can switch off doing one Thanh and going to another when you feel like it?  The placement looks good.

Mark, I got spoiled with TPRR1 and the degree of finish. I have a hard time running trains because so little scenery is in place. For me its way more fun watching the trains moving thru something --- even if the scenery is only 70% complete. As we all know its the last 10% detail that takes much of the time.

When we get back from our cruise, I'll start hammering away at the elevated tracks and the scratch build freight warehouse (now a cardboard mockup).  Now that I have the band saw I can go ahead and cut out most of the trestle sections. Have had a devil of a time working with laser cutting services and 3D printed structures vendors. I suppose if they have to do anything out of the ordinary, they would just as well pass. That's OK but, just let me know your not interested.

Just because someone will ask - the cruise is 9 days in the Eastern Caribbean with fraternity brothers  from college and their spouses. We decided on a cruise because January weather has impacted 2 out of the last 4 get togethers in the Chicago area. Last year it was lake effect blanketing Northern Indiana and another we could not come up I57 from Champaign. None of them are model train people but many of us did ride the Durango Silverton nearly 40 years ago during a group ski vacation. 

Jeff, yes you did have a nice level of completion on the old layout.  You might have hit on the reason I don’t run trains as much as I thought I would by now.  It isn’t a problem with the track plan.  That is working well for me.  The band saw sounds really great!  👍🏻

Have a great vacation!

"Today" is actually yesterday. Guests over the other day, and went to dump the logs - a no go. Went to dump the coal cars - a no go. Back out yesterday, spent time tracking the log car problem and after much trial and error (and intermitent working) I finally concluded I had to remove the UCS track and install another. Cleared up that problem.

Tested the coal car, same as I had done prior to open house....it worked fine. Fine, until it was loaded with coal! The old 1033 did not put out enough voltage to dump a loaded car. It was good enough for the milk car unloading, but not the coal. So, I had to wire in a Z750 so I could control the coal car UCS track to properly dump.

Then, it was on to one of the 3469 post war coal cars...it would dump but not return to normal position. After much "jiggling" and complete dismantle and a few reassembles, it finally decided to work. Wish I know what I did to get it to work, in the event it ever happens again. And, odds are it will.

So, that left 5 minutes of run time for the work train. Running trains is so much fun - when one can find time to do it! Maybe today. Though, I have some engines in dire need of tires. Oh well. ( Photo is...just because I want to. Log loader shown in back right. Also a view of the infamous cattle loader! And what was Lionel thinking when they made those crossing gates so large???)

Greg

Good morning from Texas where it is cold and windy today!

Was able to finish working on my second Bar Mills kit which is their O scale tobacco shop. This building ended up being a little challenging as the multi-story construction was prone to warping with the paint I used. However, it ended up turning out just fine.

I’ll make another post, hopefully, later today of this building on the layout.
Thanks for reading and have a good week!

Hello everyone!

Im back but with more photos:

Very nice building

@Trainmaster04 posted:

Hello everyone!

Im back but with more photos:

That is indeed a nice building for sure. Did you work on that or someone else do it up?

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

That is indeed a nice building for sure. Did you work on that or someone else do it up?

No, I did this building on my own. I always like to have something to do with my hands and I have become quite comfortable with Bar Mills’ kits.

@Trainmaster04 posted:

No, I did this building on my own. I always like to have something to do with my hands and I have become quite comfortable with Bar Mills’ kits.

You did a very fine job with this building!  It looks great!

Even more progress pictures!

Great photographs, RIRocket!  I like the corn and sunflowers, and railroad too

Added some grass, sidewalks and a park area. I still have to vacuum the excess grass in the new park area.  I'm also trying to figure out how the houses will be laid out. I have 4 garages and 10 houses to fit. I've tried several options. I have a bad habit of changing my mind after work is done so I'll make sure I like it before adding driveways, fences, mailboxes and trees.

I went back down and vacuumed up the excess park grass.

@Dave Ripp.  Dave I have the same issue as you - cannot leave well enough alone.  Just ideas - consider some elevation change with the houses, consider curving the streets or rotating the streets 45 degrees or so, with your garages I am seeing the alley ways common in Chicago .

As for me - got some trolley wire up and the trolley re-wired to take power from the overhead. A short video.  For whatever reason the trolley pole wheels (those that contact the wire will not conduct.) However if I offset the wire on either side of the wheel I get power to operate the trolley -  YEAH!!!  Obviously not good enough to run, but the concept is proven. Now to the engineering work. I may have to buy new trolley poles which will conduct through the wheels or get a slider shoe.

Soldering the trolley wire to the poles is not too bad, if you can figure out how to approach the job. My wire had a couple of kinks which is proving not so good. Also getting enough tension is another challenge. For this I will need to install a vertical pole at the end of the line. However, for a first "see if I can do this" not too bad overall.