Finished integrating my son's Slot car track into the layout.
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Ran trains for 31 visitors to the layout. Put all of the Christmas cars away after the visitors left.
Karl
This is where ad lib planning threw me a curve.
The original idea was that all track would continue straight then gradually curve when closer to that brown wall in back. To create better room and layout accessibility 3 lines where diverted right with the upper level continuing straight. When I say straight, that's only relative to corners like this....very little is actually straight, or level, for that matter. The portal sits in position for testing side clearances.
Around the corner is where the main progress was taking place this weekend. The elevation changes allow for an overpass, needed in the final connection to the other end of the layout. This could not be accomplished using the original plan without producing steep grades. The design already dictates a constant attention to the throttle so the last thing I need is insurmountable grades. Future scenery here might go all the way to the floor. The curved roadbeds in front of the window are temporary until bridges can be built. The high elevation of straight track ( at right ) will cross the full chasm for dramatic effect. If my luck holds, layout ends should now come together without any great changes.
Bruce
Worked on the club o-gauge layout @ McCormick / Stillman RR Park removing Christmas display.Hope to be done by next week.
Hi Everybody-- Happy New Year !! Eliot-- YOU are amazing !! I need to go back to your earliest pictures and see how you progressed.
Anyway-- nothing to report on much with my uncompleted layout. Suzie suggested ripping out certain things and start over. She wants room to complete a town using her extensive vintage Plasticville collection. I started laying about eight feet of track on a grade to reach a proposed second level.
She helped me somewhat today and we have now reached the area by the Control center, across from the Trolley yard. The following photographs were just taken this evening showing a real messed up looking scene. You can figure them out as I won't ID each one. I'm tired !
Suzie wants to vacate the Trolley Yard but keep the 027 Reverse loop around it. The Santa Fe coach yard will probably go too as these things are eating up real estate. What with three Milk Cars, three cattle cars, and several other Accessories, we have to decide where to set them up!
Anyway, more details later. Right now the left side of my back really hurts. Must have twisted wrong a pulled a muscle.. But its been bugging me about the past 70 days. Hope theres nothing more serious!
Here's the photos. Cheers.
KRK
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Jhainer posted:my wife took some photos while I was running 3 trains at the same time for the first time on the layout. without worry of collision.
That's quite an empire you have there. I like how you are all nestled-in right in the midst of it all. When everything is running, it must take you away to another place.
FrankM.
I didn't have much time for layout work today due to end-of-year paperwork for my scenery business. But, I did spray paint all of my tunnel portals with gray fleck stone spray paint and added some flat black soot stains at the peak of each arch to simulated years of passing steam locomotives. I also put a coat of primer on the upper level control panel for the turntable and yard switches. Small progress, but, progress nonetheless.
Moonson posted:Jhainer posted:my wife took some photos while I was running 3 trains at the same time for the first time on the layout. without worry of collision.
That's quite an empire you have there. I like how you are all nestled-in right in the midst of it all. When everything is running, it must take you away to another place.
FrankM.
John,
I totally agree with Frank's assessment! Thank your wife for taking the photos of you in the layout! And I do mean IN the layout!
I moved the Halmark Santa Toymaker Express train from under the tree and to the Polar Express layout. Then we took down the tree and packed a bunch of stuff away. The trains are still out however, for use this winter.
Nothin like turning a whole room into a train room make use of all the space you can .
thank you
I did some ballasting of a siding, a section of main track, and a section of wye track.
I used three different kinds of ballast. For the siding I used brown ballast mixed with a bit of gray .... for the y track some Woodland Scenics dark gray mixed with black cinders, and for the main Whiteson 2 Ballast by Harrison Trains. I like how it turned out. Will get some photos up later this week.
I also reassembled my sand house and got it in place on the layout.
I ran trains the whole time I did all the above and later I sat and just watched the trains for bit. Fun times in Patsburg!!
Well, as I don't have the O gauge layout formed yet, I added some lighted buildings to my N gauge city.
No recent pic,but I have a nice .gif:
http://vid1218.photobucket.com...0608_zpspkdk7ih4.mp4
But my BIG accomplishment today is, the insulation is completely done for my train room.
I will start wall construction probably nextweek.
This morning I am still working on the last front lower corner. Against the rocks I added a couple of evergreens and then added clump foliage around the curve. I added smaller loose foliage along the track and glued that down. I put a few evergreens between the two mainlines. Later today I'll go back and add clump foliage. A few pics..................Paul
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I'm readjusting my bridge type. The MTH steel set is going to remain, but the bridge support is getting revamped. I hope it turns out as good as I imagine it, pics when it's done!
I finally raised a dip in the track in one spot. You can't really see it here, but it's under the leading truck of the red boxcars on this train, right behind the grey shack:
Been meaning to shim that for a while now because the passenger coach will actually uncouple if it's coming off the spur there.
Also, my wife got me this cool display case for pins for Christmas, and I filled it with a lot of RR-related pins. This is going on the wall of the layout room, right above where the background is going.
Funny, I thought I had a lot more RR pins than that, and just now realize I wasn't buying pins from most of the tourist RRs and museums I've been to over the years...
The number plate ones represent only locomotives I've seen personally (of course nowhere near a complete collection of that).
They're not all RR related, though. I have a few insignia from some of the Army units I served in, as well as some of the NASA and Space Camp pins I've gotten over the years. There's also a real Secret Service pin in there, too as well as ones from the Olympic Games I've been to.
I should probably put the one below in there, too... FYI, I was 14 when I joined, so I think that makes me one of the youngest to ever be awarded one of these.
Today so far I spent it adding clump foliage between the two lower mainlines and adding a couple of regular trees. I think I will add a few more trees when I make them up. I had to pull some up because when I ran my scale Hi Cube car on the outer main it brushed against a couple of the trees. A few pics...............Paul
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Continued working on my recent Lionel engine acquisitions. Three are running great now and trying to get the 2065 smoking better. The 4th engine is a 675 shell plus front piece of pilot, steam chest and cylinders. I just happened to have a nice, clean motor with drivers that was made for this loco so everything is together. Needs a boiler front and the two trucks plus some side rods. The 224E just needed a little oil and it is an amazing runner.
I won an auction about a week ago. the engine showed up today so I had a chance to run it for a little while. One of my favorite trains is the chessie steam special well the one I have is an older one with no command control in it well my layout is all command control so it sits on the shelf all the time not getting used. Well the auction was for a MTH ps2.0 Chessie Steam Special 2-8-0 prototype. I picked it up for a decent price and was able to run it a little tonight. so after moving some cars around and moving some off of the layout I put the lionel chessie cars on the layout with the new engine out front. well can't run one passenger train with out another so I brought the PRR 2-6-0 broadway limited set up from the lower level of the layout and ran them on the main level using the passenger station sounds it was really cool.
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Tonight I began work on a Lionel (I am sure of the brand, it says that on all the vats) pickle vat car that I got in with damaged couplers. I removed trucks by drilling out the rivets and replaced them with Athearn O scale archbar trucks and Weaver couplers. Have them mounted with screws but will replace with shorter screws tomorrow, since I have to get thin stripwood to enclose all the vats, which is a trip out anyway. The vats on this car aren't even scribed. I should hold off and try to get that book on pickle cars that was mentioned on here, but there is an HO model of a car I'd like to model this as, so probably won't.
Thank you Ken. There are two ways to go about your quest for history. Option one is to sift through all 181 pages of this topic, as I have been posting here since page one. Option two would be to click on "follow the progress" in my signature, where you can cut to the chase and see just the highlights in one tenth of the pages.
Joe came over Tuesday afternoon, and as usual, we had another wiring session. Most of the major work is complete. There is only one block left that still needs power, except for a couple minor areas where the track has yet to be laid. Going forward, it is all about tying up loose ends, literally. This railroad has a lot of electrical connections, with one wire to each rail for every 3' section of GarGraves. I do not rely on track pins to conduct electricity. I only use one outside rail as ground. The other is for detection. The entire mainline will have full detection. This is important for my end goal of full automation.
With Joe's help, I think we can have it all done by the end of next month.
Tonight as I ran trains I got the rest of the evergreens with bases on them and snipped off the root end. Tomorrow I'll add foliage to them. The day was spent on the phone looking for the Menards Hobby shop. I have one more location to try tomorrow and if that fizzles out I just have to hope that Menards may do a small run again down the road..............Paul
paul 2 posted:Tonight as I ran trains I got the rest of the evergreens with bases on them and snipped off the root end. Tomorrow I'll add foliage to them. The day was spent on the phone looking for the Menards Hobby shop. I have one more location to try tomorrow and if that fizzles out I just have to hope that Menards may do a small run again down the road..............Paul
Here is your link,
I took a video of my latest progress on my layout and posted it on youtube.
Getting ready to extend the elevated track over the 'control area' via end-to-end truss bridges. Have just re-located Suzie's trolley collection on two parallel tracks next to the passenger station. She now has seventeen trolleys which she is very proud of ! Mitch Marnell is our Honorary Motorman !!
The photo below shows the three track 'Coach Yard' near the depot. I just removed the outer track (to the right of the photo) and so now there are only two. The ATSF cars have been re-located somewhere else and the majority of Suzie's trolleys stored on the remaining two tracks. There are five PCC cars stored temporarily somewhere else, but they will operate automatically on the 'abuilding' 2nd level.
Cheers. KRK
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Today was run trains and redo evergreens. I ran out of room to place them on my foam board to dry. I still have a few more to do out of the bags and a few to still take off the layout and replace them with the ones I redid. A couple of pics of how they turned out.............Paul
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Nice trees. Paul, please share the redo process. Where did you get the trees and how do you make them look so good? Would like to see a before and after photo. Thanks, Dave
While following another thread on DCS signal issues since I had the same issue.
https://ogrforum.com/t...94#48452550545491894
I finally found the issue with mine and in the process two 5v engines that had appeared to be dead are now working. Fixed 1 is bad. not only with the signal but with the power too. I should of caught this from the get go. The rewiring has helped (16 to 14 gauge) all channels but fixed 1(0-5 section near the TIU 5-10 ) now at 9-10 using fixed 2. This was a new TIU too. My TMCC signal has also improved which also leads me to believe that Fixed 1 had issues from the start. The two 5v engines I deleted and then added them again. still did not get a response. So I reset the engines to factory and both engines started right up, I added them back in and now life is good. The one thing I hadn't done was to run a jumper to fixed one from the other channels. I tried that one today and unplugged the wall wart from the TIU. Its always the little things. When I reconnected the old TIU I was also getting 9-10s on all to include variable 1 which I thought was bad. Turned out signal was turned off. Some times it helps to follow other's issues to get a fresh look at your own.
Jhainer posted:my wife took some photos while I was running 3 trains at the same time for the first time on the layout. without worry of collision.
Now you need a flat screen TV and your set.
Dave (darlander ) thank you for the compliment. The tree I redid were unflocked with a plastic base to look like a tree trunk. I bought them ranging in height from 1 3/4" tall to 6" to 8" inches tall. I had put them in as is but was never happy about the way they looked. I took them out and took off the plastic base leaving just the wire. I used super leaf foliage dark green and medium green. Using more dark green a some medium I mixed them together. The glue is matte medium. I use one part glue to two parts water with dawn mixed in. I use the sprayers from Scenic express but I think other would do but I prefer theirs. Once I spray the tree I then just drizzle the mixed foliage on. Then I place it on the foam board to dry
. I found this to work for me. Here are pics of the process..................Paul
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suzukovich posted:Jhainer posted:my wife took some photos while I was running 3 trains at the same time for the first time on the layout. without worry of collision.
Now you need a flat screen TV and your set.
HEHE well from where my wife was standing while taking eh picture I can look down into the living room and see the 55 inch over the fireplace. yea some days I get very little done if a good movie is on 
don't you just hate when you reside yourself to not doing any more work on your layout when you get a idea in your head you can seem to shake and now you going to act on that idea so I have to get back out the tools and back to work I will post pics as soon as I finish
Paul,
Looking good, since your retired how about making me a few dozen also.
Thanks Bryan. So you think I have time because I am retired. LOL I had more time when I was working. Anyways how has demolition gone. Any headway on getting that room done so you can move to the train room next. By the way missed you Tuesday night. Will you be catching any of the Tuesday nights in January..............Paul
The room is done and cleaned up. This weekend I plan on putting in carpeting for the wife in there and then moving all the exercise equipment in next. If time allows the TV and surround sound will get moved and rewired to the other side of the basement. Then the real fun begins with taking down some walls and moving that doorway.
I should make Dales on Tuesday night in 2 weeks since he is close by but the other ones probably not due to still being in season.
fl9turbo2 posted:don't you just hate when you reside yourself to not doing any more work on your layout when you get a idea in your head you can seem to shake and now you going to act on that idea so I have to get back out the tools and back to work I will post pics as soon as I finish
Nope. I don't mind it at all, always happy when the creative urge inspires me to do something new to the layout. Of course, this comes from a guy who has moved walls and raised a floor, and moved the cellar-to-garage door right after I had been positive the final version of the layout had been accomplished. And the suggestion for that change - adding even more square footage to the train room and layout itself - came form my wife! So, there is no use of my ever resigning myself to not doing any more work on the layout. It is , likely, never going to be done.
Example. See this vignette?
It's done.
Like it?
It's gone.
FrankM.
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Layout distraction arrived in the form of some ERR upgrades. Thanks Hennings! In preparation, I decided it best to first transfer the PS1 electronics from the future ERR recipient GG1 into my K-Line conventional drive EP5. This is taking way longer than anticipated, so it's still a work in progress. The remaining task now is to tie the GG1's incandescent lighting circuit ( those 2 dangling white boards ) into the EP5's LED's.
Got two of my bigger post war Lionel engines, 2065 and 646 smoking great by adding a little 91% alcohol to the smoke unit, letting it soak good then running for as long as it takes to get it going - maybe 20-30 minutes. no flame, just smoke.
Tonight I changed out a few more evergreens with the ones I redid and ran trains......Paul
