Took some photos and made a list of things to be done tomorrow.
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I brought two projects home yesterday. The ALCO Erie diesels with the upside down number board. In nice shape but so far only runs in reverse so it will be the trailing unit until I get the E unit sorted out. Also picked up a dirty but nice pre-war Lionel set with a 224E engine that runs but needs some TLC. There are three car-a nice gray Sunoco tank car, a nice dark orange gondola and a tilting bed flat car for logs. All three need cleaned and lubed but the paint on all 3 is good. Have them on a track now with a box car and caboose that go along with them. Using my 2056 to pull them. After being away for a month my house and property needs attention but I have my priorities squared away and got the layout cleaned and running. Actually, after I got home I was totally stressed out from my long stay away and going out and buying some old trains and running my trains was good therapy. To see your son who you raised and educated, a grown man, brought down to where he could barely function by a stroke is very, very stressful and not much you can do. But he is fighting hard and coming back.
My thoughts go out to you and your son. Hope he makes a full recovery!
Mitch
Tom got the USATrack cuts done for the inner loop, and now that line is running. WooHoo!
btw, I just got a new iPhone, the 6S+ and the photo and VIDEO quality is superb. The Standard Gauge colors and designs just seem to really "pop". Highly recommended.
Can't upload pics right now, soon.
Cleaned up the pre-war 224E I brought home yesterday, greased and lubed it, hooked it up to its tender and it pulls like a champ !! Poor thing needs a front truck so will look at the Greenberg show next weekend. Noticed the pick up rollers show little wear. Had a nice consist of a 2679 box car, 2755 tank car, 2812 gondola, 2561 flat car, 2672 caboose.
Weathered a boxcar, organized the train room a bit, went to Staples and bought more cloud poster board for my sky backdrop. AND ran trains while weathering the boxcar. Love to watch em run!
I have been busy with other things, but Meanwhile I was doing lots of planning in my head for scenery. Today, I started more scenery for our logging camp area. Once I finish with setting out the log deck and litter all around, I will add the cables from the donkey up to the pulleys on the heel boom spar, and also the supporting cables for the spar. Then I will add more trees in front of the scene. I've been leaving space to get my hands in for adding these details. Then I'll add more trees. This was the first step.
John
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I entertained an old friend, Wade from Ana, Texas, one of the first I met when I joined the Lone Star Hi-Railers some years ago. He came out to Amarillo for family business and visited me. We ran four trains on the layout. I handled the switches and he ran the trains, including a 2-10-2 double heading a GP7. He wore the right ball cap for a visit with me. 
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I worked on the fudg-sicle stick tank again. Pinstripe banding is ok, but it wont stick to the oil stain, and getting it to take weathering might be tough too. It's stuck to itself and actually still helped greatly to hold it together during assembly, below. Trestle mount for now. Maybe a pumphouse?
The white canopy glue isn't dry yet. It can take days or even weeks before it clears up.
My water is just two clear plastic discs cut from packaging. One has blue and green marker swirls on one side, dry brushed paint of red, two greens, and a tan paint.
I took the blue marker to four random chunks of scrap (3 wood and a pebble to be exact
) and glued them all as a sandwich with canopy cement, to try and add some depth to it.
The camera misses little. This pic shows better how they hide from your eyes.
The bottom. Real simple, and tan got a heavier coat than the greens & red.
When I left off, there was a bare wood gap between the paper strips and not connected where two board formed a seam. I smeared a thin layer of JB weld along the circumference and along the two board seam (5 o clock below).
To perch the water on, 4 fireplace matchstick clippings
Not plumb, I kept the tops slanted to the inside to ensure the water-disc doesn't slip by and fall. And Im glad I did. The JBweld expanded ever so slightly. I could just see some light between boards now, when I couldn't before this. My perfect cut discs were an easy 1/32" too small now, I might redo them?.
The JB weld isnt hard as a rock being thin & all, but added a good firmness to the tube. Handling is pretty easy. The real firmness should come once the silver plastic frosting lid on the bottom is finally glued (? silicone?, hot glue?)
Ok, I wasn't happy with the water being "flat as glass", with no ripples, etc but I didn't want to play with silicone here.The white line/ring at the top disk needed blue marker on the edge to look right, vs white too.
.So I blued the edges, and for the surface, I closed the gap between the disc's spacers, and created a wavy edge, any varying depth it the view too. It looks much better wavy. (pebble spacer between the two discs) , I used super glue one one edge sloppily to unsure a little "white foam" at the waters edge.(some white is really clear stuff, but still wet, some white is dry)
Painting the walls blue below the clear disc, would improve things even more but this is good enough for me.
Note the top pinstripe is thinner, I ran out of the thicker of the two there, and the other sizes were too big.
Wavy looks better IMO.
Weathering is next.
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All ya need now is Billie Jo, Bobbi Jo and Betty Jo...
Mitch
M. Mitchell Marmel posted:All ya need now is Billie Jo, Bobbi Jo and Betty Jo...
Mitch
I'd need some wood cribbing and some sign material from Mr Haney
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Lot of great work being posted. With the arrival of an organ donor Friday. Saturday I performed heart transplant surgery on my Kitbash CB&Q U30B. PS2 board finally died after a gazillion miles and hours( original donor had been a very high mileaged SD70Ace). Then I performed muscle replacement surgery on my PS2 upgraded Weaver N&W C630. (replaced a frozen motor). Both patients are recovering nicely. Organ donor now listed in the FS thread.
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Took one of my Marx 666s and my Marx 0-4-0 windup for a bit of exercise on my layout, and a funny idea occurred to me: Does anyone have a spare lead or pony truck from a Lionel 671/681/2020 steam turbine loco knocking about? I think it would be amusing to convert a 666 from a 2-4-2 to a 2-4-6... ;-)
Mitch
I haven't done too much of anything for some time now. But I got to go to a number of very nice layouts over the past few weeks that kind of start a fire again to start doing something. which kind of got me. Especially seeing Bryans progress in person. The pics do not do it justice. So today I ventured to the attic with a couple of more car carriers. And while up there I ran a few trains. Pics of the two auto racks added. That makes 16 on the train now........Paul
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Paul,
Looks nice. Did you add any weight to the auto rack cars?
Practicing taking layout videos with my new iPhone 6S+.Taking train vids definitely has a learning curve. Here a shortie with just raw footage, this is of course far from how I want any finished product to be- but its a start- and its keeping me busy playing trains!
Special thanks must go out to my husband Tom, who has put in so much time and effort getting this layout built and running for me!
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Re-thinking and re-organizing, or life on the layout- please excuse my dust (on the train cars) and sawdust (and various construction bits of stuff) on the rug in these pics.
Decided today to move the small table holding the transformers and their cords to a more logistically and ergonomically-friendly spot. They are now in front, next to one corner table leg. Previously the table was on the side of the table near the wall outlet. Someday, I may add a sliding pullout shelf or something-or-other under the table top for all the controls. Not the most aesthetically pleasing, but for the present this works well enough.
What I do not have right now, is a good space for all the other cars and engine that are not being currently run. Some are placed against the front of the couch length under the layout table. It is what it is for now. The other Circus cars look like the leftovers of the train wreck in the film, The Greatest Show on Earth at the back edge of the couch. Poor things, and the animals have escaped!
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Carey,
Your layout looks good. Good start on iPhone videos. I too am new to it. I have the 6s not plus. It does a super job when I think back to the big bulky VHS camcorder we used 25 years ago to send videos of the kids in the mail to my in-laws. The only camera I own other than the phone is my old SLR I bought back in the '70s and the camcorder. Neither have seen the light of day in years
Paul, those auto carriers look great. Next time we go out to Ed's you should bring them.
I couldn't resist this entry today! Mr. Richard Melvin was at our home filming our layout: The Glacier Line today and yesterday. It was a wonderful experience! I have been in this hobby for well over forty-something years and this was an experience like no other. The Crew, Gregg Burks, Chris Toncheff, Rod Weinscenk, Joseph Coy, Connie Coy and I greatly appreciate the honor to be included in the OGR video series! We will be on OGR video #13. Thank you to Rich and OGR Publishing!
Running a magazine
. One heck of an excuse for visiting model railroads
You made it up the "grade" John!
I'll give you the 1st "little engineers, that could" thumbs up 
John C. posted:I couldn't resist this entry today! Mr. Richard Melvin was at our home filming our layout: The Glacier Line today and yesterday. It was a wonderful experience! I have been in this hobby for well over forty-something years and this was an experience like known other. The Crew, Gregg Burks, Chris Toncheff, Rod Weinscenk, Joseph Coy, Connie Coy and I greatly appreciate the honor to be included in the OGR video series! We will be on OGR video #13. Thank you to Rich and OGR Publishing!
John,
Thats really neat! I'll be watching for the video!!
Mark
Randy T, I have not added weight to the cars. I run them on 0-96 and 0-89 curves as they come out of the box. Bryan, that would be something to see all the auto racks running on that layout.......Paul
I hung some new cloud paper for the background of my layout.
After months of writer's block, I decided this week to just make a simple layout in my office while I worked on the larger one. I started a thread over in the layout section. Would love some feedback.
https://ogrforum.com/t...-acres-office-layout
This will also be where I document the progress of this little layout and maybe some teasers of the larger one if I can get through my creative stall.
Finished dry fitting the upper level over the main level, playing around with different locations for bridges, got all my signage out and hung on the walls, and "thanks" to Paul for the suggestion on a double bridge over the gorge area I ordered 2 Atlas double track pratt bridges. btw Paul since it was your suggestion can I send you the bill?
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Looks great, Panther 97. The lights look great!
Mark Boyce posted:Looks great, Panther 97. The lights look great!
Thanks, Mark!
I got it!...I got it!... Aw man 
.... lost in the lights
()
Panther97 posted:My baseball field is coming along....
Wow that looks great! Build it and they will come. Just wondering how is going to be playing!
Adriatic posted:I got it!
Bryan, glad I could give you input. But I think you owe me for my consulting fee. But if by chance you don't like them once you get them I will be more then happy to take them off your hands in lieu of money LOL...............Paul
mike g. posted:Panther97 posted:My baseball field is coming along....
Wow that looks great! Build it and they will come. Just wondering how is going to be playing!
Mike;
"how" is not playing, he is on the 15 day disabled list... Who is on first, What is on second, and I Don't Know is playing third. I'll give you the rest of the lineup tomorrow!!!
Panther;
That is one fine ball field - can almost smell the peanuts and cracker jacks.
Panther97 posted:My baseball field is coming along....
Looks great, love the lights!
Is it to scale? If so, it must take up a huge section of the layout. A pal of mine wanted to build a regulation baseball field with stands in HO scale and once he did the math was shocked at how much room it'd take up even in that scale. He gave up on that soon after.
I painted..all this junk..even the rivets
2-Left over bridge portal tops glue together, with two dice cups and black pinstripe
An old platform, whats new it the garbage can/ash tray
Still needs 3-4 silver bars painted in, from the top, to bottom sections at the garbage opening.
A coffee spill, some butts, from wallpaper brush bristles, painted tissue is the garbage.
The can itself is an oil pressure relief valve for a vintage VW bug, with a washer glue on top
The is my new pole.
What kind of pole? I haven't decided yet.
It's a furniture leg rest and a chopstick, lots of hot glue in the base gives good ballast.
The cement texture is just plastic model fill putty, Testor's . Pressed on with my thumb, then made a semi-clean line across the top edge with a toothpick.
I need a few dots of yellow/red/blue/violet in a few of the green spots.
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"how" is not playing, he is on the 15 day disabled list... Who is on first, What is on second, and I Don't Know is playing third. I'll give you the rest of the lineup tomorrow!!!
Pat Kn posted:"how" is not playing, he is on the 15 day disabled list... Who is on first, What is on second, and I Don't Know is playing third. I'll give you the rest of the lineup tomorrow!!!
Pat,
Thank you for the YouTube link. There is something about that routine that is timeless!
Well now that the tear down of the layout is compete and the floor repaired it was time to start all over again the bench work is about complete for the new layout and the opening of the wall allowed me to keep the room more accessable, now I have to make some access hatches and fix and paint the walls and in just a few more weeks it will be time to lay track I am hopeing for a smooth time I did some recycle of the cases under the layout and have to find a home for everything durning construction 
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Very little....building a grain elevator kit, excruciatingly slowly, as it uses real metal corrugated siding...that I only trust two part epoxy for permanent bonding. Put a strip on...wait....put another on..wait...Not happening fast.
