What did you do on your layout today?

pennsynut posted:

It's a good thing I got my Christmas shopping finished earlier than usual. Today I worked on the underside of a stretch of bench work where the bridge will be.  It will not be prefect but so much of it will never be a focus. 

After reviewing work by others, I decided my mortar joints were not as wide, deep and prominent so I worked on those, spread some spackle on the arch underside and improved a tunnel portal. 

 

Love the arches and stone portals, but you are a pennsynut so where is the Keystone?

Dave

pennsynut posted:

It's a good thing I got my Christmas shopping finished earlier than usual. Today I worked on the underside of a stretch of bench work where the bridge will be.  It will not be prefect but so much of it will never be a focus. 

After reviewing work by others, I decided my mortar joints were not as wide, deep and prominent so I worked on those, spread some spackle on the arch underside and improved a tunnel portal. 

 

Your joints are pretty detailed. What's your technique?

Ive just done pencil/pen lines, with only minor indentations. Yours are pretty deep!

darlander:  Funny you pointed that out.  I plan to add a layer perimeter around the edge of the openings that will have a keystone.

mo985: I used a ball point pen at first, but as you know that makes a rather thin cut and a shallow or thin mortar width. I experimented with a philips screw driver, a nail, a dremel grout tool (hand held) and finaly a hack saw blade. The hack saw blade was a little better at removing some of the foam between the blocks.

You might consider experimenting with various tools on sc rap foam to find one that works for you. This is my first experiment with this type of project so it has been tedious for me. I will appreciate any advice you have.

Today I got some cork laid down after coming up with a track plan in the area I am working on. Curved track in the front is going to the gantry area. I am making a large scrap iron yard there. Pic..............Paul

pennsynut posted:

darlander:  Funny you pointed that out.  I plan to add a layer perimeter around the edge of the openings that will have a keystone.

mo985: I used a ball point pen at first, but as you know that makes a rather thin cut and a shallow or thin mortar width. I experimented with a philips screw driver, a nail, a dremel grout tool (hand held) and finaly a hack saw blade. The hack saw blade was a little better at removing some of the foam between the blocks.

You might consider experimenting with various tools on sc rap foam to find one that works for you. This is my first experiment with this type of project so it has been tedious for me. I will appreciate any advice you have.    

darlander here:  I used a very dull pencil.  Try cutting in the pattern with a sharp knife and then use the the pencil to soften and fold in the edge.   This produces less puckering of the styrofoam plus the tapered shape of the pencil point will help widen the joint.   I also distress the surface with the eraser end of the pencil before I cut in the block pattern.   I like your plan of adding edging around the opening with the keystone!     Dave

Got a new cell yesterday and it takes great photos.

Great camera!  Great subject matter!  A winning combination!

p51 posted:

Got a new cell yesterday and it takes great photos.

cool!!!!! What did you get?

Mark Boyce posted:

Great camera!  Great subject matter!  A winning combination!

Thanks, I was really surprised at the depth of field for just a cell phone (it's an LG G5, I think, just got it last night as my galaxy 6 was dying and I could hardly get it to turn the screen on anymore). It's hardly "magazine article" quality but it works great for the internet.

I'm going to have to re-shoot those with my good SLR with long exposures, as this weekend, I'll be getting my magazine article done on my layout.

Great pictures Lee, Of course what would you except when you have a great layout your shooting!

PS. Is it snowing down there?

mike g. posted:

Great pictures Lee, Of course what would you except when you have a great layout your shooting!

PS. Is it snowing down there?

Thanks, Mike!

Nope, no snow down here in the South Sound. We might get some on Monday, though. That's the day we'll be un-decking the halls of the Christmas decorations, and I'm going to try to squeeze in some writing/photography time for my article.

I hope you and everyone else here has a great holiday weekend!

p51 posted:

mike g. posted:

Great pictures Lee, Of course what would you except when you have a great layout your shooting!

PS. Is it snowing down there?

Thanks, Mike!

Nope, no snow down here in the South Sound. We might get some on Monday, though. That's the day we'll be un-decking the halls of the Christmas decorations, and I'm going to try to squeeze in some writing/photography time for my article.

I hope you and everyone else here has a great holiday weekend!

Cool, good luck on your article, hope it goes well. 2" of snow here in Hoodsport/Lake Cushman area. I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

Well, I guess if I stopped just running the trains I'd get more done but I did just add a new skirt to the table. Nicer than the crappy old black furniture wrapping fabric I used from the couches we had delivered.

p51 posted:

Got a new cell yesterday and it takes great photos.

Nice station and layout. Is the depot scratch built? I am considering a cornerstone model, but maybe a different and unique rural PRR steam era that I would have to scratch build. But it might cost me as much as Woodland all said and done. Great track work, ballasting and platform detail BTW.

This afternoon I got down the rest of the cork. I have a sharper curve going into the Scrap Yard. Where the cork ends going into there I am going to taper the end down. Decided to not put cork under that area. After dinner the glue should be dry and I can paint the cork. Some pics of the progress so far.....................Paul

 I spent the afternoon working on the outdoor suspended layout after a long span of inactivity. I moved all the patio furniture out of the way, and cleaned both loops of track. I then ran some engines to find any trouble spots, and went back over those. I left the engines run for several minutes to make sure everything is good to go for a video tomorrow.                                                                                    I pulled all my coal hoppers out, and I will be running 23 mixed road and bay sizes complete with loads. I will also be running a small MOW track repair train on the inner loop with my Weaver wood side gondolas filled with various loads.      I brought home a double fixture quartz lamp to illuminate the dark corners. I need one more, which is at my son's garage. If I don't add light, I can only video from a few locations. I'd like to get at least one full lap for each train. I will set the camera on a tripod in the center of the patio so I can do a 360 degree panorama. If all goes well, I'll post a video somewhere on the forum.

Don

pennsynut posted:

Nice station and layout. Is the depot scratch built? I am considering a cornerstone model, but maybe a different and unique rural PRR steam era that I would have to scratch build. But it might cost me as much as Woodland all said and done. Great track work, ballasting and platform detail BTW.

Thanks!

Yes, it is scratch built. It has wood and heavy cardstock walls, plastic doors and windows (with individual clear plastic window panes). The roof is wood but covered in plastruct roofing (which I might later change to actual hand-laid shingles eventually). I also made a readable (with a powerful magnifying glass, anyway) train bulletin chalk board, as well. It's right behind the guy reading the newspaper on the far end. The roof comes off the structure itself can lift off from the foundation, which is one piece with the walkways. Eventually, I'll put a full office interior inside the cupola. I have all the scale furniture and paneling, I just need to get other things done before that.

All but 3 structures on my layout are scratchbuilt (two Grandt Line flag stops, and a heavily-altered Woodland Scenics Ehtyl's gas station model).

About half the figures are from Artistta, with the sailor's sea bag hand-lettered as a photographer's mate heading back to the USS Indianapolis and a likely horrible fate at the end of the war. I need to hand-render the correct rank/rating patch to his uniform eventually. Note the benches are all occupied by women, workers at the twin rayon mills in Elizabethton, TN*, waiting for their commuter train to arrive. All the male figures on the layout are either old or very young, and the able-bodied ones either are working for the RR or are in uniform. Just like in the real-life 1943 rural deep South.

The trash can even has scale trash inside, and a lid to one side to show it.

There are correct war bond posters on each side of the depot, and the covered load on the baggage cart is marked, "L. Riley, Johnson City" in honor of the late Lee Riley, the man at Bachmann that got their On30 line into the hands of folks like us and pushed for making fine items like the ET&WNC-patterned Baldwin 4-6-0s that got me back into the hobby.

*All place names on the layout or mentioned off the layout are based on real places.

After dinner with the glue dry I painted the cork. If it is dry later I'll start applying ballast to the painted areas. The curve that is going into the scrap yard area and the short piece in the back will transition to black. This time around I am going to ballast sidings in dark cinder and applying good color ballast to the mainline. Pics..........Paul

Latest project...

Decided to listen to more Christmas music while I added more detail to the bridge and portal. BTW, to all Merry Christmas. 

handyandy posted:

Latest project

handyandy posted:

Latest project...

not so fast.....we need some details!!

pennsynut posted:

Decided to listen to more Christmas music while I added more detail to the bridge and portal. BTW, to all Merry Christmas. 

 

Looking good!

handyandy posted:

Latest project...

I wouldn't want to be around when you fire that thing!!!!!

This morning with the paint dry I ballasted the area of track. Late this afternoon with the ballast dry I mixed up some plaster and laid it down between all the tracks in that area. Think that is it for the night I made the plaster a little too soupy so it is going to take longer to dry. Tomorrow maybe I can get the track and switches down in that area. A few pics...................Paul

Santa came to the house early. These were not to arrive till Tuesday. So I took them down to see if the plaster was dry but guess not till tomorrow. Got these from Mr. Muffin. Pic. Merry Christmas everyone.......Paul

paul 2 posted:

Santa came to the house early. These were not to arrive till Tuesday. So I took them down to see if the plaster was dry but guess not till tomorrow. Got these from Mr. Muffin. Pic. Merry Christmas everyone.......Paul

Do you like these? I've seen photos in magazines but wondered how good they look in person...

  I waited on smoke fluid, but Mr Zip didn't deliver it. I called a pal who happened to have plenty, and time to deliver it too, and so I borrowed some. It was a stroke of luck. I thought I was going to be the guy at the hobby shop window wishing for 5 minutes of the day back  ...

   Pushing my luck, I fiddled with the 655 resealing the gap between the smoke units cup and chamber, then looked at a K4s e unit, re-bent the fwd finger as needed, and obviously when I had turned my back for coffee, an elf ran off with one of the valve guide's slide plate's screws   I can hear it laughing at me   

P51, in my opinion they are much better in person. Woodland scenic did a great job on these, I think they raised the bar a bit on detail, still my opinion. Also what made the purchase better was Mr. Muffin ran a special when I ordered them. Buy two get the third free. Even without the special I would have bought them. If Woodland scenic makes more of these small buildings I will buy them...................Paul

I had fun yesterday  continuing to work on a #339 Standard gauge Lionel passenger car I acquired in my big box purchase a couple of months ago. Has a decent paint job on it but th trucks needed attention. Cleaned it all up, repainted the trucks but one was missing an axle and two wheels. What to do ??  I had some bad diecast wheels from the cars on my M1000 and noticed they were the same diameter as the tin wheels on the 500 series trucks.  Made an axle out of an 8 penny(I think)  finish nail and a piece of shrink tube over the nail for spacing and had my complete truck. I was curious to see if it roll ed OK but the car lacks couplers yet. What to do??   Good old twist tie  fastened to the coupler in front solved that problem. Ran it around the layout several times with no problems but more permanent repairs are  needed.  Still have the #341 Observation car to do but it is in a wee but rougher shape but will get fixed. Out of 15 cars in the box I bought that will leave only an Ives passenger car not repaired and I think it is not worth fixing.  Never know though.

handyandy posted:

Latest project...

Is that a 5.56 shell casing I see there? Holly Frankenstein Batman.   

As usual some nice work being done. Merry Christmas everyone.

Paul the Woodland scenic buildings look nice.

Eliot as usual you can make my head spin with some of the issue you run into and the solutions. Kind of nice the issue with the switch turned out to be a simple fix. Watch the video of your hump yard in action. pretty cool. Only question that the cars moved pretty quick  and slammed into the other cars. Are you going to put something in to slow them down.

Yesterday, while getting thing ready for this morning I finally got around to repairing the lights on the S Scale PE passenger cars. Had to loosen up and create more slack and the stipe and solder to all the 2R pickup wipers on the trucks.  Then replaced the rear spring in the rear truck on the engine with one of the springs from one of the 3R couplers which sit taller and have more resistance then the stock one. This now  allows for better contact with the rails, No longer derails. and also allows the engine to be run without traction tires. Only issue left is no sound from the engine. Any Ideas.

I was able to get a second coat of color on the plaster but for some reason I am not happy with the color. I may had used to wrong earth tone color because the last I did on the attic layout was more of a brown color. But this is it for the day. Time to get ready to go out and spend time with family on Christmas. Pics...first coat....second coat....Paul

suzukovich posted:

Eliot as usual you can make my head spin with some of the issue you run into and the solutions. Kind of nice the issue with the switch turned out to be a simple fix. Watch the video of your hump yard in action. pretty cool. Only question that the cars moved pretty quick  and slammed into the other cars. Are you going to put something in to slow them down.

Thanks Suzukovich, I try to bring my "A game" when it comes to the layout.

Yes, you're right, the cars are going a little too fast. I'm thinking of something as simple as broom bristles to rub on the axles or wheels. Usually what happens on things like this is, as more time passes, new ideas pop into my head. I thought of a couple new ones as I was typing this. The wheel is still spinning, we'll see where the ball lands.

I've been working on the layout almost every day this month, and have gotten a lot done. Here's a small job I took care of a couple days ago. I had a broken switch point that needed to be re-soldered.

The pivot pin was still in the throw bar, but had dropped down in the hole and couldn't be grabbed. If the pin is lost, I usually have to replace the whole throw bar and do new pins. A little quick thinking, and I came up with this magnet. It pulled the pin up, then I used some tie wraps to hold it up while I soldered the point back on.

The finished repair. Should have only taken me 10 minutes, but "stuff" happens.

There will be lots more to say over on My Dream/Nightmare Layout next week. I'll be doing my usual monthly update, plus a review of year four.

Started to weather my SD35 finally. gonna be a long process. but I only work two days this week so starting Wednesday I will be devoting around 6 hours a day until it is done. will post pics when finished 

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

suzukovich posted:

Eliot as usual you can make my head spin with some of the issue you run into and the solutions. Kind of nice the issue with the switch turned out to be a simple fix. Watch the video of your hump yard in action. pretty cool. Only question that the cars moved pretty quick  and slammed into the other cars. Are you going to put something in to slow them down.

Thanks Suzukovich, I try to bring my "A game" when it comes to the layout.

Yes, you're right, the cars are going a little too fast. I'm thinking of something as simple as broom bristles to rub on the axles or wheels. Usually what happens on things like this is, as more time passes, new ideas pop into my head. I thought of a couple new ones as I was typing this. The wheel is still spinning, we'll see where the ball lands.

I've been working on the layout almost every day this month, and have gotten a lot done. Here's a small job I took care of a couple days ago. I had a broken switch point that needed to be re-soldered.

The pivot pin was still in the throw bar, but had dropped down in the hole and couldn't be grabbed. If the pin is lost, I usually have to replace the whole throw bar and do new pins. A little quick thinking, and I came up with this magnet. It pulled the pin up, then I used some tie wraps to hold it up while I soldered the point back on.

The finished repair. Should have only taken me 10 minutes, but "stuff" happens.

There will be lots more to say over on My Dream/Nightmare Layout next week. I'll be doing my usual monthly update, plus a review of year four.

Well done Elloit, another great fix.   Problem solving can be a fun challenge part of the hobby, especially when it is successful.  Looking forward to seen all the progress in April.   Dave

Nothing on my layout but I did go to the football game and watched the STEELERS beat the RAVENS !! Actually, what you spend on just one of those games would buy some nice train stuff. My son paid for it.

Thanks Dave. Problem solving is one of the best parts of the hobby, and it is most satisfying when you can make things work.

Now I have to work my magic on the Roseville power district which seems to have a dead short, that I haven't been able to find.

Just finished a new video. Elliot look forward to your next update.

  Had to do a music edit. White Christmas blocked in 244 countries including the portions of the US. so here is edited version if you cant see the first one.

Got my rock wall finished around my new portals, and the base finished for our "homestead". 

Working on the benchwork for my small (micro-ish) layout...