What did you do on your layout today?

Ectually, that AF set is postwar.  WWI, that is...  ;-)  I have a couple of those semaphores, and they date to ca.  1918 or so. 

 

The Marx set you have is interesting, in that I have the same windup loco and consist, only mine is plastic and the gondola is dated 1972... 

 

Mitch

I also rebuilt the legs on my daughters layout she hasn't done much with the layout. so I cleaned up the track fixed the legs and ran some trains.

  I'm surprised half your layout isnt "glass" Where did you pick it up?

You really should have visited The Herny Ford Museum, or Greenfeild Village if you were on the east side of Mi. & north of Monroe  

 

 

Pat: Thanks. I am eager to see it, too. But, it will take some serious time.

Yep, you messed up just a bit.

You drove right past me, and a few others.

 You were on the dooorstep of a few train "private dealers" too.

Did you at least spot the abandonded downtown Mich. Central Station from I-75? 

 

If there is anything around here to see, its the HF/GV. A whole weekend is better, but half a day looking around might have brought you back  

 

I think that guy may have tried swapping me for a dunebuggy I sold in spring.

Those arent exactly found in every marina.

(I cant do boats & buggies anymore)

 

 

I use to live in Michigan New Baltimore to be exact basically 23 mile rd and Jefferson area. right on lake St Clair we were within 5 miles of my aunts house when I Picked up the boat and we drove by My dads house where he grew up. I watched a few trains running beside 285 on my way out of town.

AAHHHRRRGHH!!  What did I do WRONG on my layout today?   I found the thinnest

styrene sheet I could for the bufferplates on the front sides of this Oneida gas electric,

and, after laboriously applying rows and rows and columns and columns of rived decals to the cut out "plates" cemented them to the scribed wood sides with Testor's plastic cement.  Bad idea!  The cement softened the styrene and carried the wood scribing through to the front of the  "riveted" "plates".  Fall back and regroup!  To the rear, march!  Stripped off the styrene, found some thin sheet brass in my materials stash, cut brass plates to match the styrene ones and am now gluing them on (and the car had been painted and dull-coated, too, so I get to do that over, as well as replace all

the decal rivet patterns)

after transplanting a couple bushes The Boss wanted moved, I gave my new to me Marx some TLC...

Picked up/purchased 12 Lionel postwar 11" flats from The Whistle Stop in OKC for a very reasonable price.  They will be getting painted olive green and decals for Transportation Corps US Army.  I have a lot of 1/48 tanks, jeeps, halftracks, cannon, trucks, etc., etc.to be loads.  Also have the Menards truck/trailer to add, along with Weaver WWII style Army cars.  Should make a nice 40s period style train, the flats will all get wooden floors and more detailing with chains, blocks, etc.  When complete, will post pics.  For others doing so, or anything alike, have seen on WWII videos of military trains the use of gondolas, with ends removed, to transport trucks, jeeps, trailers, etc.

 

They easily roll on/off with steel plates placed between the cars for continuous moving. Note on the pic of aft tank tie-down, use of turnbuckles made from brass tubing and stock.  Used tap and die for operational turnbuckles for tie-down in the test samples.

Hmmmm, MkIV and I think an AMX, not your usual loading for the US Army!

I picked up two sets of 042 0 gauge switches to go in the cabinet for use on the layout when its time... making headway!

Ran trains for 10 minutes today.  Thats all I had time for and I enjoyed every minute 

Spent an amusing evening piloting an itty bitty train through an enormous, exquisite layout...

 

http://hograils.com/thesierralinesartcunningham.htm

 

Distressing lack of gi-raffes, alas. 

 

Mitch

After the wall came down and most of the former West German Army's equipment was shipped back to the Port of Baltimore and onto Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, then loaded onto the rail head and shipped to The NTC in California.  You would have seen loads like this as well as an ATSF train in Maryland with a caboose attached at the end.  Same thing with the stuff that was brought out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Daniel,

 

  You are so correct.  Wanted to check things out before making use of the M-10s, Shermans, half tracks, etc.  I consider then as "war trophy" status and on their way to Aberdeen for testing.  Also have done some sample shots of US equipment on redecorated flats, before the Transportation Corpse decals.

Having stripped the styrene buffer panels off the LaBelle model of an D&RGW gas electric conversion, I replaced them with very thin brass, and then redid all the

rivet decals.  Grrr!  Then began and finished installing all the handrails, grab irons,

and steps.  Found I had omitted an underframe gas tank and brake cylinder, so have

shaped the tank.  Need to repaint the whole body and decal it.  There is light at the

end of the tunnel.

Today I started doing some scenery work on the two trestle sides at the entrance to the train shed. The Pratt truss bridge "drops" in between the wooden trestles. Now I will finally get to adding ground cover, bushes, ballast, and installing the trees more permanently on the entire layout and making more trees. 

John

I rewired my MTH Crescent Limited due to a short.  I put a new motor in my K-line AW&P and upgraded the Cruise Control to 4.0.  Everything is working great!  I need to get a Mikado or something besides a Pacific next...

I haven't posted any progress in a long time, because I haven't done anything in months. Business is slow at the real job, so my seniority sucks, even after 19 years. My free time has been all over the place, except on the layout. However, my Dad has been busy working on his own, trying to get "the other side" of the layout going.

 

1st layers of texture going down to cover up the plywood, bridge work, hills, track planning for the 2 industries, figuring where to cut the access holes etc etc.

 

Oh and...we finally have come up with a NAME for the layout. Stayed tuned for a new video update where we will announce the name...FINALLY!

 

 

The bridge girder is even long enough to put the name of the RR across the panels

 

The biggest thing that reaches out to me and slaps me right in the face is all that shiny track. Man I have a lot of track painting to do.....and ballast work. Where's Dennis Brennan anyway?

L.O.S.; Amazing looking hi-rail layout. I wish I had 1/2 your talents.

Somebody has oneheckofa good eye for panorama and planning, configuration, and controlling the viewer's eye. Wow. Really nice. And exciting to imagine the possibilities that lie ahead.

LOS, great to see more photos of your extraordinary layout.  Hope to see more, soon!

 

 

Doug,

I agree with Spence, Moonson, and Carl, you have an excellent eye and talent!  I really like the backdrops and am glad to see the photo that shows this area in relationship to your engine service facility.  Also, I really liked your video 6 that I viewed a while back!

Installed my new ash/cinder conveyor!

Doug your Dad's work really looks great. Spectacular view and fits well with the backdrop. Glad to hear that you are getting back to work. Have missed your updates; they are always interesting.

 

Want to see the name.

Steve, nice job on the conveyor. Did you build it?

 

No.  It is a built-up.  I got it indirectly, but I think it is from Crescent Locomotive Works:  http://locomotiveworksinc.com/Coaling.html

 

 

That's a very sharp facility and a very sharp overall vista. I can just imagine how really good it is going to look once you have completed all the ground-coverings and ballasting. Wow. And that steam locomotive, its tender, and that single coal-hopper look excellent as an ensemble. They remind me, clearly, of scenes I saw like that when I was a boy in Pittsburgh, circa 1950's. Very cool, Steve.

What I've been working on this month just doesn't compare to some of the beautiful stuff that some of you have posted recently. I also seriously doubt that anyone here needs anything like what I'm building. 

 

On the other hand, others have posted pictures of some good looking wiring. Wiring is one of those under appreciated and oft dreaded aspects of the hobby.

 

I'm pretty sure I explained what this is on a previous page, but now this one is nearly finished, so I thought I would explain it again.It might make a little more sense now.

 

This is a turnout relay panel. I will have two of these on my layout. This one will control the 48 turnouts in the south half of the room. There is actually room for up to 60 relays, but the last 12 aren't fully wired. The north panel will control 56 turnouts (4 spares) and is currently mounted to the layout, but isn't quite as far along as this one. I think when I finish this one, I'll take the other one off and bring it to the table to finish it. It's easier to work on that way.

 

I know this looks complicated but, each of the white relay sockets is wired exactly the same, 48 times here. The relay just flips the polarity for the Tortoise.

 

This bank of terminals connects directly to the Tortoise, 2 wires to power the motor. The terminals at the bottom of the panel (photo 1) will be where the control wires connect, one per relay. In phase one, a micro switch on a temporary control panel will throw the relay. In phase two, the control panels will be removed, and a computer running JMRI software connected to CMR/I hardware will throw the relays. The whole mainline will operate under CTC.

 

I managed to hang this panel today. It contains the relay power supply, the RS-232 to RS-422 adapter for serial communication with CMR/I, and a CMR/I mother board with its 5V power supply. Output cards will plug onto the motherboard and control the switches for this half of the room, as well as signals for this peninsula.

 

Here are the two panels in their closed positions, the unpainted one being the the turnout relay panel.

 

 

Time for bed, Matt and Jon are coming over in the morning.

Elliot; the wiring looks amazing & so well organized. It puts me to shame.

I ran trains last night for about a half hour before bed.  Fun times!!  After a small derailment, my Lionel TMCC 0-8-0 switcher needed reprogramming .... which brought the operating session to a close at 1 a.m. this morning .... I took the reprogramming issue as a sign to stop the trains and go to bed  

Thanks Spence. I picked this up from an electrical engineer years ago. It's all about the zip ties. Tie 'em close and keep 'em tight.

And here *I* was feeling all accomplished over finishing three FastTrack power cables!

 

Did a little modding on my trusty Weller soldering iron:

 

With that collar off, it now fits into the stock wire holder on my Radio Shack iron base (itself modded; after the original iron burned out, I put a socket onto the cord and now I can plug any soldering iron I like into it!).

 

I'd never taken apart the 2466WX tender that came with my 1666 loco.  Apparently, it was just a EENTSY bit overdue:

 

Got most of the mildew out with a dish brush and Top Job cleanser... 

 

After cleaning the commutator, brushes and holder, I fitted a new third rail pickup onto the rear truck:

 

Now the tender goes around WITHOUT throwing a shower of sparks when I blow the whistle!  Nice and loud whistle it is, too!

 

Mitch

Elliot,

nice job wiring. My club is in the middle of a major track change that caused me to remake the control panel. I understand the work involved in your project. I used a circuit card with 4 relays to control a 4 way switch with 3 motors with a rotary switch.

Thanks Pat. That's a pretty interesting design there with the double doors. Never seen that before.

 

I have one of those 4 ways, and added 2 more switches to make my 6 track hump yard. I plan to use a diode matrix to do the route selection.

Still working on under the tables. Just about got the first storage closet cleaned out. Took a break from that and went to the Firelands train show in Mansfield OH Saturday. Nice little show. Second time there. Seemed a bit smaller then the spring show. But always a nice short trip from the Cuyahoga falls. A few more trains shows here to got to. Then York. After lunch I'll start storing trains in there. No pics this time. Who wants to see clean up anyways...........Paul

Matt and Jon were here, as advertised, working on there regular projects.

 

Matt finished off the last of the manual throws in the Northtown engine service area. These two access the diesel and sanding tracks.

 

Matt likes getting credit for navigating all the obstacles as he installs these.

 

The simple clean look of the finished product. I'll come back this week and give everything a fresh coat of flat black.

 

I think the count is down to 39 of these remaining. Next time, a new challenge - a crossover (two switches) controlled by a single knob. There's also another 3 way to be done. One thing about this task is he doesn't get bored. There are always new challenges.

 

Jon hung 40 more feet of fascia over in aisle one. Once again, it's a matter of staying ahead of Matt so he can do the next throws. You can just make out that 3 way between the two light bulbs on the right.

 

With the completion of this section, the upper deck fascia is about 75% done. There are some small areas with more complicated cuts that still need to be done. We'll leave those for later. Next up, get going on the lower deck, again to stay ahead of Matt.

 

Have had a repeating paint problem on one of the buffer plates on this LaBelle model

of a D&RGW gas electric, so have done several repaints, which take a while to dry.

To accomplish something, I disassembled and started repainting the Hallmark 1935

Ford pickup model that came in.  I pulled up an actual pickup that was painted red

when new and have painted cab and bed red.  Since my grandfather's 1937 Chevy

pickup was red with black fenders, a common paint treatement of the period, I

have painted chassis and fenders black.  Removing the Christmas packages from the

floor of the bed, with sanding, made the "wooden" floor of the bed looked used.  I

have another, the 1940 Ford Hallmark pickup coming in, at a much cheaper price than

the $40 I see a lot of, and this is bundled with a 1963 Thunderbird which is for sale.

(I have not seen either yet so cannot describe)

Edits in red below.

I've tried posting this three times unsuccessfully(3 days).

 

 While cleaning (and running trains more), I got distracted by whistling while I was working.

 I have been accumulating trains without whistles. Enough I twice have recently assembled 4 trains at a time, and to not been able to blow a whistle on one "in celebration".

 

  The fabricating flu struck me as I looked into a box. I had two gift alarm clocks with crossbucks and lights. I've had a half dozen over the years. They spend more of their lives in boxes, than on shelves as knick knacks, so I decided to make them into stationary layout accessories.

 

  I removed the electronics from one, and inserted them, and the silicone the speaker into a Pringles can and added a tiny temp on button.

 I had heard about folks doing the can trick for MP3/ipod use, and always wanted to hear the difference.

Well, it is a huge improvement.

 

 It sounds great compared to it being in its factory enclosure. "Tin like" sound is gone and mid.s and bass jumped sky high.

 Its loud enough to easily be heard over 6 engines (4 trains, 35-45 cars).

 Just "toy sounds", whistle, then chug, then warning bells, etc.

"very fake" but clearer than the old talking stations that play records, so I'm good with it.

 

 Wiring the second one I was thinking more, and jumped the activation switch input, putting the button on the power leads instead.

 This way the sounds stop playing as the button is let go of, and I can blow the whistle in an almost proper way (only one length of horn blast, not short, not long, but a "medium"). Held down, it plays the whole effect track, looping non stop.

 

 I kept the next one in the base seen next to Puppy, and below, because the Pringles can is too loud, and lasts too long playing the whole thing, for prudent late night running.

 I removed the crossbuck post so its base would be small enough to fit on the shelf near the controls and used that area to mount a temp on type rocker switch on it.

(The can of chips is under the layout till I can fit it a tunnel, topside).

 Fabrication flu's fever, was almost normal again, till I picked up the pole.

I suddenly saw something.

  I took off the zebra stripe clock board, and the cross bucks, moved the light bar further up the pole and screwed it into place. I popped out the red lenses, and swapped in two 14v 100ma bulbs. The aim looking awkward, I heated each lights mount, and turn them away from each other 30-40°, and then angled them down some.

 

 The pole was hollow plastic. I open up the hole drilling out the pole bottom, and it now fits snugly over a small terminal finger nut.

 

I still need to give it "real" wiring.

But I am very pleased with the mock up.

 

How did I test it?