C.Sam, That's a sad sight. 
I hate to see a club dismantle. Hope you find another club to share your love of trains with.
C.Sam, that is for sure a sad sight to see. I hope your club will find a new home to build a new layout. With one door closing, one will soon open. I hope yours opens soon!
Surely may not seem like a lot to some of you, but my 11 year old PS-2 F3 battery is getting weak, so put on the wall charger from MTH and hopefully that will take care of it in a few hours. If not, will have to check out the BCR.
George Harritos posted:Surely may not seem like a lot to some of you, but my 11 year old PS-2 F3 battery is getting weak, so put on the wall charger from MTH and hopefully that will take care of it in a few hours. If not, will have to check out the BCR.
We have BCR's in all of our MTH Proto Sound II engines. They are GREAT!
Things were going along pretty good yesterday until I put the top on and found that somehow when I was cutting the piece I was off at one end. The front and sides matched up but the back side was off, short. So today I went back to the depot and got another piece of Luan board but I had them cut it for me. Got it home and painted it so after dinner I hope to get it on. I can use my mistake somewhere else................Paul
Adriatic posted:Then this giraffe showed up to get some water.Well someone needs to post a giraffe since someonelse is preoccupied
Hee hee hee! 
Been rehabbing a somewhat distressed Frisco spotlight caboose, as Frisco Festival is this weekend:
(excuse the lousy pic, my phone camera isn't all that great)
Added a second pickup to the other truck, ground 20 years worth of crud offa the wheels and fabricated a quick and dirty chimbley outta aluminum tubing. Now the lights work good! 
Mitch
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Randy Harrison posted:George Harritos posted:Surely may not seem like a lot to some of you, but my 11 year old PS-2 F3 battery is getting weak, so put on the wall charger from MTH and hopefully that will take care of it in a few hours. If not, will have to check out the BCR.
We have BCR's in all of our MTH Proto Sound II engines. They are GREAT!
Hello Randy
My very first J&W BCR-1 was defective so waiting for a replacement sometime next week. Its for a railking PS-1 NW-2 switcher.
Tiffany
We took the LCCA traveling boxcar for a Radio Flyer ride. Grandsons, Adam & Noah.
Gary
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Randy, I have BCRs on all my PS1 & 2 engines and never had a problem with them. I have over 15 of them.
Tiffany posted:Randy Harrison posted:George Harritos posted:Surely may not seem like a lot to some of you, but my 11 year old PS-2 F3 battery is getting weak, so put on the wall charger from MTH and hopefully that will take care of it in a few hours. If not, will have to check out the BCR.
We have BCR's in all of our MTH Proto Sound II engines. They are GREAT!
Hello Randy
My very first J&W BCR-1 was defective so waiting for a replacement sometime next week. Its for a railking PS-1 NW-2 switcher.
Tiffany
Do you get your BCR's from Wayne Renga of J & W Electronics in Red Lion, Pennsylvania? Wayne is the inventor of the BCR and is a really good guy. Of there is a defective BCR, I am sure he will replace it for you.
Have been working on the 076 Standard gauge block signal given to me by a friend. The top section is suffering some zinc pest but still in one piece. The wire was totally bad and a faulty socket but getting it back together. Don't plan to have it function, just lit. Tedious work. Wanted a few buildings on my bedroom layout so have two Marx cabins and picked up a Marx ranch house yesterday. The ranch house moved to the first floor layout and the barracks building went up stairs where there is more open space. Have been running my trains every day.
This morning was a positive move forward. I got the top on the control panel and the frame of it screwed down to the table top. I ended up using three door hinges and brass bolts to hold the top to the hinges. Bad on me it took two pieces of Luan board but I figure I can use the Luan for sidewalks around buildings. Question for all that have a control panel...... what is the best thing to use to put your schematic of your layout down. I want to do that before I start putting in the switch and uncoupling controls. All ideas greatly appreciated. Two pics of the control panel. Still have to touch up some bare wood spots................Paul
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I have used automotive pinstripe.. Available in different widths and colors to suit your needs..
The surface should be well sealed and preferably have a gloss for the tape to adhere to. Burnishing helps a lot.
It can also be used to mask though. Paint ( roughly) a second color, mask the center of the rough line with the tape, Repaint to clean the edges of the new lighter lines, pull the mask.
Adriatic posted:The surface should be well sealed and preferably have a gloss for the tape to adhere to. Burnishing helps a lot.
It can also be used to mask though. Paint ( roughly) a second color, mask the center of the rough line with the tape, Repaint to clean the edges of the new lighter lines, pull the mask.
You are correct as usual!!! He will need a gloss finish for the tape to stick to the wood surface.. My bad..
I use automotive pin striping tape as well.
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modeltrainsparts posted:I use automotive pin striping tape as well.
Love the cup holders!! Great idea!!
Randy Harrison posted:Tiffany posted:Randy Harrison posted:George Harritos posted:Surely may not seem like a lot to some of you, but my 11 year old PS-2 F3 battery is getting weak, so put on the wall charger from MTH and hopefully that will take care of it in a few hours. If not, will have to check out the BCR.
We have BCR's in all of our MTH Proto Sound II engines. They are GREAT!
Hello Randy
My very first J&W BCR-1 was defective so waiting for a replacement sometime next week. Its for a railking PS-1 NW-2 switcher.
Tiffany
Do you get your BCR's from Wayne Renga of J & W Electronics in Red Lion, Pennsylvania? Wayne is the inventor of the BCR and is a really good guy. Of there is a defective BCR, I am sure he will replace it for you.
Hello RANDY..........
I bought it from modeltrainstuff.com and waiting for replacement one. I just shipped it (returned) back to them yesterday by UPS. I didn't know Wayne Renga as I would have ordered one from him. This whole thing cost me 35.28 ( for 1 BCR-1 and shipping cost) and been going on for almost 2 weeks now.
Tiffany
Panel looks great Pat, Like you have been doing it for years! The club should be very pleased!
I don't use the newer fancy buildings on my layout, not that I don't like them, but too expensive. So I go with the retro look to fit my PW Lionels, that said, I added and moved my buildings around on my layout. The Marx Army barracks went up stairs and a Marx ranch house I just got replaced it. Moved some around too. Looks better. On my upstairs layout I now have the barracks and two Marx log cabins, an old Ives semaphore signal and the "new" old Lionel block signal. No scenery, vehicles or people.
I added a few extra figures to the Country Store. I think now, it has the right look I've wanted all along.
The figures are a mix of Arttista and Woodland Scenics and the structure is a Woodland Scenics "Ethyl's gas station" which I modified by removing almost all the signage and everything next to it that you'd never see during WW2. I wound up removing almost as much as I kept. I liked the look of the building itself, though, as many people in On30 make their buildings comically small. For a 'country store' in rural TN, this is about the size of the real ones back then...
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Looks great just like everything else you put out!
mike g. posted:Looks great just like everything else you put out!
Thanks again, Mike.
Nobody would have noticed this, but the 1932 Ford to the right of the store has the correct TN license plate for 1943, with the correct county code for where the layout takes place. And the signs on the store are all 1943 or earlier, but things you could do or buy in that region at the time. There are movie posters there, all with the name and location of the nearest movie theater (The Bonnie Kate theater in Elizabethton, which still exists but as a performance center now).
For me, it's the little details like this that I truly enjoy and feel can make a layout something special.
Tiffany posted:Randy Harrison posted:Tiffany posted:Randy Harrison posted:George Harritos posted:Surely may not seem like a lot to some of you, but my 11 year old PS-2 F3 battery is getting weak, so put on the wall charger from MTH and hopefully that will take care of it in a few hours. If not, will have to check out the BCR.
We have BCR's in all of our MTH Proto Sound II engines. They are GREAT!
Hello Randy
My very first J&W BCR-1 was defective so waiting for a replacement sometime next week. Its for a railking PS-1 NW-2 switcher.
Tiffany
Do you get your BCR's from Wayne Renga of J & W Electronics in Red Lion, Pennsylvania? Wayne is the inventor of the BCR and is a really good guy. Of there is a defective BCR, I am sure he will replace it for you.
Hello RANDY..........
I bought it from modeltrainstuff.com and waiting for replacement one. I just shipped it (returned) back to them yesterday by UPS. I didn't know Wayne Renga as I would have ordered one from him. This whole thing cost me 35.28 ( for 1 BCR-1 and shipping cost) and been going on for almost 2 weeks now.
Tiffany
Wayne Rengais an OGR Magazine Adevertiser. The link to his web site is http://www.jandwelectronics.com/. Give him a call. He is a great guy! Tell him Randy Harrison of Harrison Trains and Scenes in White Marsh, Maryland referred you.
p51 posted:mike g. posted:Looks great just like everything else you put out!
Thanks again, Mike.
Nobody would have noticed this, but the 1932 Ford to the right of the store has the correct TN license plate for 1943, with the correct county code for where the layout takes place. And the signs on the store are all 1943 or earlier, but things you could do or buy in that region at the time. There are movie posters there, all with the name and location of the nearest movie theater (The Bonnie Kate theater in Elizabethton, which still exists but as a performance center now).
For me, it's the little details like this that I truly enjoy and feel can make a layout something special.
Lee, the only thing I was looking for and didn't see where Kids, My grandmother told me along time ago they use to hang out at the local gas station/store.
Pat and Woodson those are a nice looking consoles. I appreciate all the suggestions for the console. I think I am leaning toward the auto pin strip tape. I have been doing some reading and I might try urethane as a coating after the tape is down. I am still reading up on this. Yesterday I hit Menards because they had swivel bar stools on sale and after all these years I finally decided to get some for sitting purposes. Also while there I got some more tongue and groove for shelving under the basement tables. Have not done much today. Ended up getting a Charlie horse during the night and it still is hanging in there. Hoping by dinner time it will shake itself loose so I can do some layout work. Rough to get old.........................Paul
mike g. posted:Lee, the only thing I was looking for and didn't see where Kids, My grandmother told me along time ago they use to hang out at the local gas station/store.
I asked my Dad about that and he said the kids were either working the family farms or out in the woods hunting or getting into whatever trouble they could (and not get 'whupped' for it later). Kids would go get some candy if they had any money (which rarely happened) but the old-timers you always saw hanging around outside usually shooed them away.
But yeah, I've been looking for a few kids because school's out on the layout. Most kids are in action poses, but I have two probably early teen boys hanging out at a small depot at Hunter, next to the water tank there. They can be seen at around 0:19 on this video.
Eventually, I want to model my parents as little kids, as this is where they grey up. Dad would be 7 and Mom would be 6 in the summer of '43. They grew up very close to each other and certainly knew (or at least knew of) one another by this point.
Very cool Lee, You are a lucky one to have a story to fallow for your layout. The only thing I remember from being a kid was putting coins on the track to see how flat they would get, That and jumping off the tressels when the train was coming! But then again I am going to try and model modern age.
Lee,
Excellent modeling! That is a great idea modeling your parents as kids there. When I was in N scale, I made a scratch build homestead where I grew up as it looked about 1962 when I started school, down to Dad's '49 Chevy in the open doors garage. I never thought to put N scale people on the diorama. Dad said it looked just like when he was a boy growing up there as well. Incidentally, it looks about the same today, though some trees are gone and others matured. Now if I could do it in O scale; many once my new layout is up after I retire.
Mark Boyce posted:Lee,
Excellent modeling! That is a great idea modeling your parents as kids there.
Thanks, Mark. I started taking a LOT of notes from my folks about all the little details. What did mailboxes look like? Gates on fences? Did anyone have tractors on their farms? Stuff like that. I have a book filed with sketches and notes from those conversations, photos of the area from the 40s and other sources. I'm lucky that there is color movie film taken of the RR I model in the year I model, so I can look at the little detail stuff there, too.
I know a lot about the WW2 era, so some things are obvious to me (war bond posters, no able-bodied young men who aren't in uniform or working essential jobs, few autos, etc).
I've been asked several times if there'll be any moonshine stills. It happens so often, I even put this segment into my layout's website:
What about Moonshine stills?
As I am building a layout that takes place in Tennessee in the 1940s, you'd think a moonshine still would be a requirement. The problem there is that at least a few relatives of my parents were moonshiners, but any moonshine still they had was way up in the woods where nobody could see it until they were standing next to it. My Dad spent a great deal of of his youth hunting and trapping up in those hills and I don't think he ever stumbled across one (I need to ask him about that). Mom told me she saw parts of a busted up still when she was a kid on one occasion but never anything else like it.
I'm actually disappointed that putting a still out where a visitor to the layout could see it would be so incorrect as I was looking forward to building one.
Hey, that house IS peach colored!
I was thinking sacks of sugar at the store and a miniscule copper dot on the backdrop to point at.
Paul2- A solid coat of urethane (well cured) is exactly what to do BEFORE you lay pinstripe. Burnished onto a smooth paint, maybe warmth applied, it's not going anywhere without effort. But if you change your layout, you CAN pull it up.
Top coating the stripe well is going to take a lot of product. Topcoating painted lines much easier.Masking tape is cheaper than pinstripe, I just always had pinstripe around and it masks and curves great too.
I've been trying to solve a traction mystery on my Marx AB E7. It varies from struggling with 3 cars to being happy with 6, then back to three. I think it might be under gauged 
Worn from use 
Adriatic posted:Hey, that house IS peach colored!
I was thinking sacks of sugar at the store and a miniscule copper dot on the backdrop to point at.
I get what you mean, but you wouldn't find sacks of sugar at a country store during severe rationing that was well under way by 1943. Molasses were used, but I bet the end result wasn't nearly as good.
I've actually been trying to find evidence either way, but I strongly suspect that moonshining was strongly curtailed during the war, except the corn-based stuff in the Midwest that didn't need too much rationed stuff. How they got moonshine out and about during the war would have been a big issue, too, what with gas rationing. I do know that this is where the traditional glass jar for moonshine came from, as it had previously been shipped and sold in metal cans before metal rationing took effect.
My parent had some 'family' moonshine in a jar when I was a kid and my dad let me take a sip. It tasted like what I thought lighter fluid would taste like. Maybe that's one of the reasons why I don't like hard liquor, even to this day.
I bet they put some moonshine in the fuel tank of the Model T or A truck to run a load in to town. We had a 160 acre "farm" (summer place) place north of Pittsburgh and my grandfather got enough gas to drive to work every day and go to the farm on weekends. So there was gas available. None of this was critical to the war effort. I heard awhile ago a lot of this stuff was psychological - to make the peasants(us) feel like they were doing their part in the war effort. You need a GI in khakis on crutches at your gas station with his sweetie. You can't show it on your layout but the "blackouts" at night were a big thing around the cities. Especially around Pittsburgh -the Steel City. This was so German bombers couldn't find the city -which now seems ridiculous. Air Raid wardens patrolled the streets making sure no light leaked out from your black out curtains. I don't think the hills of Tenn. had that problem.
TN had blackouts, like most places in the US, during the war. I doubt there were air raid wardens walking around the "hollers" in those hills as the houses were so far apart, though.
I do have a sailor at the end of the line waiting for the train, to get back to ship, the USS Indianapolis (Google it if the name of the ship doesn't sound familiar to you). You can't see it in this photo, but his sea bag is marked with his name and his ship. This is the last time his family will ever see him, though nobody knows this yet.
It's just one of those small details on my layout that I have to show the cost of the war.
Lee,
Your attention to detail is amazing! Curious, did you research the name on the sea bag for TN casualties on the USS Indianapolis or pick one that has some other connection for you?
bd
I been having a lot of fun running the LCCA Boxcar. A long with going on tour with this boxcar. Check it out.......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ENwMvHNI0
This video is about the Lionel Collectors Club of America, and their traveling boxcar. We will go on a field trip and meet Bob Brasseur the owner of a famous Lionel Train Shop. The boxcar will travel to several famous Michigan locations like, Durand Union Station, At the layout the boxcar will be pulled by a LionChief Plus Steam Locomotive. All aboard for a ride with Train Room Gary
I originally had copper included in the stores waiting stockpile, then metal availability and rationing came to mind.
The sounds and speed on those On30 are pretty nice. Standard Bachmann fare right?
I've had a culvert loader hooked up for over a year with no pipes to load. A bit pricey for new tubes, considering what they are.
My one nearby train pal called and said when he finds the time, he's coming by with an operating culvert car and six extra pipes for me....and trucks for the reefer kit Mike G sent. He's always landing great deals and has less than five bucks into the car and pipes together. Glad I waited I guess.
Just after finishing the main portion of the reefer build (I'm waiting for trucks before adding on the fine detail) I came across a list of a few train-contacts of my Grandfather's. Mr Koontz of the Ye Old Huff N Puff was on it! So I'm going to stash the note paper in the reefer, a Huff N Puff kit itself. I think I'll roll it up into a tube, along with the cars story, and insert it into a spent bullet casing. I'll drill a hole in the underside to press the shell into it. A screw on the rim edge to hold it if too loose. Any better ideas for the time capsule?
Wow some more great work. Lee I don't know what to say. This just gets better every time you post. The level of detail , historical accuracy and also a great way to show a snapshot of family history. Defiantly something to be proud about.
C.sam Seeing the layout dismantled, Well its just sad. As for the modules that are being sold, That was a lot of nice work. If they haven't been sold this weekend I may buy them and pay to have them shipped to Florida.
Mitch: I just cant believe you have been neglecting the Giraffes.
Now for me. This back to school thing has killed me and my wallet. Haven't had time to do much of anything the last couple of weeks, Just been to tired. I did mange to complete the weathering of my sons track on the layout. Since I didn't like how it turned out the first time so I went ahead and redid it.
This is how it looked before I started,
The first attempt.
The redo.
Painted the slot in the track white and to get ride of the black line and applied a thicker coat of snow.
This is the final result. The ruts are bigger and track looks more snow packed.
Added benefit of running the slot cars to create ruts and blend everything in was natural weathering
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