What did you do on your layout today?

"a trifle Chic Sale??"

"a trifle Chic Sale??"

And I found a scale Bus for the layout

Frank,

You could build a layout in that scale bus!  You didn't say what Scale it is.

Miggy posted:

"a trifle Chic Sale??"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_%22Chic%22_Sale

Best known for "The Specialist", a book and vaudeville act about a rustic who builds outhouses exclusively.

In the case of Katrinka, it refers to the pilot truck mounts being somewhat crude. 

Mitch

Id like to see the layout for that scale.

That was my first serious dremel bite ever Lee. A disk rode up on a moving glob of plastic, gained good traction on the newly formed molten surface and rode up and off the loco cab like it was Evel Knevel on a ramp.

.. and that's where it landed.

Last week UPS visited. I opened the $35 total with shipping, and removed a piece of new Menard's O-36 track. I raised an eyebrow, curled my lower lip a bit, and nodded in approval "not bad at all".

   I assembled each piece with no deep inspection of anything but the butt and slip fit, which was great. Eight peices later I had a nice sturdy loop I could roll down the hall without fear of damage. But instead, I flipped it around a bit and plopped it on a table I had ready, and waiting. I clipped on a prewar lock on, and ran wires to the throttle terminals opposite the gantry pad and spotlight wires, on an AF 18b.

Marvin now has his very own moonbase to launch his attacks from.

 The moon landscape is a postwar MARX playset...very fragile is and understatement.(note cracks and collapsing happen under its own weight!)

  The Menards track is well worth the great price IMO so far.

  Removing the gantry and pad from the big table layout makes winding back the clock there another 40 years, as simple as using the right trains. If I remove the diner and the culvert loader and vehicles, I can hit the late 1800s to early teens!

My newst neighbor, an ho guy, moved again this week. He sent over some stuff that was "box overflow". Two plastiville signal bridges in O, a never worn shirt for the Super Chief and one for Nickle Plate #765, 2 solar powered lighthouses in O (too large space wise, but ceramic, so they are porch lights now), a test.track on plywood and some never used, new in the box, 1970s Tyco accessories and cars. Three are operating accessories! A whistling billboard, operating loading dock(pushes cargo onto cars), and operating package boxcar & bin. There was also a truck terminal and piggyback car. All the figures, truck, and packages still there, the wires never touched, etc.

The truck type another bonus, Dodge A-100 series is a past hobby too. This truck is D series, same styling on a semi truck.

25¢ in craft paint on the test track's plywood, an extra line thrown down, and I had a simple static ho track diorama with operating accessories on it..before he could even finish his lunch break!

  Im just a few turnouts and a Plymouth away from a short point to point switching layout, without real effort, or spending a dime, lol. Detailing will come when I itch for it.

 The whistle/billboard got a diode (Tyco ho is dc) and is now on top of my AF station w/stop timer...the funny green Tyco button sticks out like a sore thumb among all the Lionel controls but does have a vintage vibe today. Kinda like MPC, too bright to be anything but a 70s product lol.

..and a Hills Brothers Coffee billboard card would be better for turning back that clock on the 4.5x9 I guess.

As a kid, these are the exact pieces that almost had me trying out ho when Lionel was no longer being stocked due to high initial purchasing overhead. The operation packages were only $7 each, and the piggyback terminal $3-4. Kmart sold these out before I had a whole $20 saved so I let the idea die that summer...likely bought new AFX slot cars or 1:24 Snake and Mongoose dragster models instead, hard to say, Id have to pin production years down to recall for sure, I just know I stopped my ho thoughts due to empty shelves.

Oh, and this crane came over a week before the other ho stuff. I cobbled it into "something", but may convert it back since it can hold those ho piggy backs.

Oops...call me Quickdraw.

Or Thumbelina..

Just dont call me late for dinner.

Also a new backdrop, stage one.

Adriatic posted:

Oops...call me Quickdraw.

Or Thumbelina..

Just dont call me late for dinner.

Also a new backdrop, stage one.

Cool looking Crane, where did that come from? Also great looking start to your new back drop!

Adriatic posted:

Id like to see the layout for that scale.

That was my first serious dremel bite ever Lee. A disk rode up on a moving glob of plastic, gained good traction on the newly formed molten surface and rode up and off the loco cab like it was Evel Knevel on a ramp.

.. and that's where it landed.

Last week UPS visited. I opened the $35 total with shipping, and removed a piece of new Menard's O-36 track. I raised an eyebrow, curled my lower lip a bit, and nodded in approval "not bad at all".

   I assembled each piece with no deep inspection of anything but the butt and slip fit, which was great. Eight peices later I had a nice sturdy loop I could roll down the hall without fear of damage. But instead, I flipped it around a bit and plopped it on a table I had ready, and waiting. I clipped on a prewar lock on, and ran wires to the throttle terminals opposite the gantry pad and spotlight wires, on an AF 18b.

Marvin now has his very own moonbase to launch his attacks from.

 The moon landscape is a postwar MARX playset...very fragile is and understatement.(note cracks and collapsing happen under its own weight!)

  The Menards track is well worth the great price IMO so far.

  Removing the gantry and pad from the big table layout makes winding back the clock there another 40 years, as simple as using the right trains. If I remove the diner and the culvert loader and vehicles, I can hit the late 1800s to early teens!

My newst neighbor, an ho guy, moved again this week. He sent over some stuff that was "box overflow". Two plastiville signal bridges in O, a never worn shirt for the Super Chief and one for Nickle Plate #765, 2 solar powered lighthouses in O (too large space wise, but ceramic, so they are porch lights now), a test.track on plywood and some never used, new in the box, 1970s Tyco accessories and cars. Three are operating accessories! A whistling billboard, operating loading dock(pushes cargo onto cars), and operating package boxcar & bin. There was also a truck terminal and piggyback car. All the figures, truck, and packages still there, the wires never touched, etc.

The truck type another bonus, Dodge A-100 series is a past hobby too. This truck is D series, same styling on a semi truck.

25¢ in craft paint on the test track's plywood, an extra line thrown down, and I had a simple static ho track diorama with operating accessories on it..before he could even finish his lunch break!

  Im just a few turnouts and a Plymouth away from a short point to point switching layout, without real effort, or spending a dime, lol. Detailing will come when I itch for it.

 The whistle/billboard got a diode (Tyco ho is dc) and is now on top of my AF station w/stop timer...the funny green Tyco button sticks out like a sore thumb among all the Lionel controls but does have a vintage vibe today. Kinda like MPC, too bright to be anything but a 70s product lol.

..and a Hills Brothers Coffee billboard card would be better for turning back that clock on the 4.5x9 I guess.

As a kid, these are the exact pieces that almost had me trying out ho when Lionel was no longer being stocked due to high initial purchasing overhead. The operation packages were only $7 each, and the piggyback terminal $3-4. Kmart sold these out before I had a whole $20 saved so I let the idea die that summer...likely bought new AFX slot cars or 1:24 Snake and Mongoose dragster models instead, hard to say, Id have to pin production years down to recall for sure, I just know I stopped my ho thoughts due to empty shelves.

Speaking of scale, I think the galloping white horse is a bit out of scale.   Please note my keen sense of perspective!  

Dave

Just to catch up faster, Im going to hog one more in today.

My bedroom mico (0-20ish hand bent) also got a backdrop. 

First draft was too real. I wanted as simple a look here as possible. Solid blocks of bright color.

So I put the paint away, and broke out some construction paper.

I liked it, but I seemed near too familiar. Like Deja Vu.

Later, I realised I had unintentionally plagiarized the style of something famous and renamed they layout to honor my inspirational mentors....muses?...?¿?... unintentional...?¿?

  I love the show now, but only after I listened to it vs watched it. Because of the art, I couldn't take it seriously enough to listen deep while watching it... But now I'm doing it too, lol... If you guys dont like it "Im going home" "nmfrnkitslldmn" ("before I get killed")

Is that ...a baby Mega-Barbera-Lizard?

You know Mitch, I nearly gifted you my baby brothers giraffe.  But there is a crane company I recalled that used a giraffe in the signage. I can't yet recall clearly if the neck was an truss boom, telescoping cylindrical or what, but the head was "up there". As soon as the loose screw falls off that gear in my head and I remember it clearly I might adopt him out. Do you already have his bloodline in your stable? It is a good bloodline, but He is also so old his tail is bent. And it is so skinny at the end, it looks like it should have fallen off about 76 when the " Poodle bites; poodle chews it" happened. 

Today I sold a vintage one wheeled Allstate trailer, and gave the guy a grand tour of the 7 layouts (ho operating display, 2micro O, 2 Sm, M, Lrg ceiling.) He took pictures asked questions and tried hard to buy a cast aluminum 2 sided image of the IRCRR #382 on a spike, a gas lamps horizontal post. The spike head was the base to connect to the tall upright post, and a family crest was hung from the spikes length while Casy Jones rode along the top.

I declined. But I could see him thinking about his kid and a Lionel. I think the kids reaction to the 7 videos being a good one is all its going to take before he calls again, lol.

With all they styles here, I couldn't have done much better to promote the hobby if I planned it. Everything working, with a few projects from simple to scale. New,PW,PrW, tin/ cast/ plastic, nice/crap, fast/slow, ac/dc, loading, switching, cowboys, giraffes, aliens, cartoons, rockets, military, race car, car show, Santa, firemen, hunting, builders, deliveries, park, smoke, lights, whistles, horns, bells, chuff, crewtalk, and even the dreaded "chalkboard car".(hotbox)

The kids is gotta like something, lol.

I think what you've done so far looks really good Ralph. I've enjoyed watching your progress over the last few months, gives me some ideas and knowledge I'll use when I start my own layout scenery. I like seeing what everyone is doing with their track work and scenery here, gives me inspiration, to say the least.

Rusty

The horse came with two of those lanterns and the microscope. I admired these things my whole life, but would trade them all another for 5 min. with the original owner The thinker is on another cabinet, a gift from them.

Adriatic posted:

Oops...call me Quickdraw.

Or Thumbelina..

Just dont call me late for dinner.

Also a new backdrop, stage one.

Slick, Adriatic!

I'm finally starting my first real elevated layout!  Before I had a "carpet central".  The layout is 5x11 and will have two loops. One 054 and inside will be 042. 

RALPH M, your layout reno is looking great!  Please keep the pics coming (no, there are not 2 ms in coming).

Rick

Started with this and finished here. More to go.

                    Brian

Stinky1 posted:

I'm finally starting my first real elevated layout!  Before I had a "carpet central".  The layout is 5x11 and will have two loops. One 054 and inside will be 042. 

Jared,

Congratulations on getting started on the layout!!  Yes a table sure beats crawling on the floor!!

Scenery detailing continues. Weathered the track....will be weathering the ballast next.

Fortescue having firmly declared that he wasn't setting foot on Katrinka until handrails were fabricated, the RTC shops set to work: 

Trolley pole bases fabricated and test fitted.

Headlight assemblies made from brass tube and Lionel headlight lenses:

Body, chassis and railings prepped for primer!

Primer applied!

Cornelius "Commodore" Bunneh was on standby next door in case of emergencies.

Mitch

Adriatic posted:

So I put the paint away, and broke out some construction paper.

I liked it, but I seemed near too familiar. Like Deja Vu.

Later, I realised I had unintentionally plagiarized the style of something famous and renamed they layout to honor my inspirational mentors....muses?...?¿?... unintentional...?¿?

Sweet!

  You know Mitch, I nearly gifted you my baby brothers giraffe.  But there is a crane company I recalled that used a giraffe in the signage. I can't yet recall clearly if the neck was an truss boom, telescoping cylindrical or what, but the head was "up there". As soon as the loose screw falls off that gear in my head and I remember it clearly I might adopt him out. Do you already have his bloodline in your stable? It is a good bloodline, but He is also so old his tail is bent. And it is so skinny at the end, it looks like it should have fallen off about 76 when the " Poodle bites; poodle chews it" happened. 

Between you and other friends, I'm developing the "Home for Wayward Gi-raffes"...  ;-)

With all they styles here, I couldn't have done much better to promote the hobby if I planned it. Everything working, with a few projects from simple to scale. New,PW,PrW, tin/ cast/ plastic, nice/crap, fast/slow, ac/dc, loading, switching, cowboys, giraffes, aliens, cartoons, rockets, military, race car, car show, Santa, firemen, hunting, builders, deliveries, park, smoke, lights, whistles, horns, bells, chuff, crewtalk, and even the dreaded "chalkboard car".(hotbox)

The kids is gotta like something, lol.

Defininitely! ;-)

Mitch

"What did I do on my layout today?"  Well, 1st thing this morning I tried to cut the end of my thumb off. Couldn't even do that right .  The location of the cut was such that a band-aid wouldn't saty put so I upgraded to masking tape. 

But seriously, here's abrief video of the three areas of my layout I've been re-imagining.:

Ralph, sorry about the finger but great job on the layout. Enjoyed the video..............Paul

mike g. posted:

Adriatic posted:

Oops...call me Quickdraw.

Or Thumbelina..

Just dont call me late for dinner.

Also a new backdrop, stage one.

Cool looking Crane, where did that come from? Also great looking start to your new back drop!

That same neighbor. The main beam was in his junk box. Maybe Tyco too? Id wanna say Atlas or Plastiville (1/2 Seaboards lettering was there). The signal bridges on the lower level are old Plastiville.

  The mech works, it has a dial for traversing the beam and another for raising/lowering the crane. I made 2 Lionel risers wider so the wider foot of the top set would fit on the top width of the lower ones. , I filled the middle with styrene sheets butted flush to the lionel girder work, retaining the look well. Then stacked them on square plastic tube I had found that same day while walking the dog around the block. 

I just checked. The ho trailers dont have a gutter lip for the cranes jaws. These can't be hung and operated with without one so it will remain over the On30 and 0-27 el for a while.

I had a smaller wood A frame hoist there too. I like the texture of the wood better, rust might help. The size of this fills the scene better. 

Those tanks are just two dice rolling cups on two Lionel tunnel portal tops. I had trimmed the portal tops off while "going Voodoo Child" on the mountain's height and glued them together back to back for a stone based tank pad. 

Hi Mark.

I may not get past stage one on the backdrop. After my posts, I had my first derailment since I started it and getting to Casey's engine wasn't fun. It is very light, but 9ft long. Moving it requires herding the two big lazy dogs out of the room, moving things on a halfwall shelf, moving a chair over. It was a five minute job instead of 15 steps and done.

Im toying with going to smaller, removable sections or a sliding access door(s). 

I do have a heavy duty grabber. Two actually, but looking at the delicacy of the #382 model's details made me recall how much damage using a grabber might cause.  And then there is leverage; my lack of strength and control at chest height means I could never lift a post war engine out of that valley, I need both arms for lifting just a boxcar on a stick like that.. I need access!

I just kind of played around with things last night. I finished adding turf to the Sand House. I decided to play with the configuration of tracks for the servicing area. The Sand Tower is an old Plastruct kit I bought many years ago. I am assuming it is for 4 tracks so I laid out some track. On the backside of the Sand house the track will be for sand hoppers. Still have to come up with a way for sand unloading.  Off the same tracks will be a coaling tower. I think I will place it that so I can use the service track for sand for coal hoppers to the coaling tower. This is just an idea I had so far. Maybe I should just do two tracks to the sand tower. That would save a bit of space. Anyways pics. This is not the area will this will be though.......................Paul 

paul 2 posted:

I just kind of played around with things last night. I finished adding turf to the Sand House. I decided to play with the configuration of tracks for the servicing area. The Sand Tower is an old Plastruct kit I bought many years ago. I am assuming it is for 4 tracks so I laid out some track. On the backside of the Sand house the track will be for sand hoppers. Still have to come up with a way for sand unloading.  Off the same tracks will be a coaling tower. I think I will place it that so I can use the service track for sand for coal hoppers to the coaling tower. This is just an idea I had so far. Maybe I should just do two tracks to the sand tower. That would save a bit of space. Anyways pics. This is not the area will this will be though.......................Paul 

Great looking project, Paul!!! If you have any "railroad" cats, I am sure they will find that sand box very appealing.

Ralph M posted:

"What did I do on my layout today?"  Well, 1st thing this morning I tried to cut the end of my thumb off. Couldn't even do that right .  The location of the cut was such that a band-aid wouldn't saty put so I upgraded to masking tape. 

 

But seriously, here's abrief video of the three areas of my layout I've been re-imagining.:

Take care of that thumb!

As always, Model Railroading is the mother of all ingenuity!

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

Fortescue having firmly declared that he wasn't setting foot on Katrinka until handrails were fabricated, the RTC shops set to work: 

Trolley pole bases fabricated and test fitted.

Headlight assemblies made from brass tube and Lionel headlight lenses:

Body, chassis and railings prepped for primer!

Primer applied!

Cornelius "Commodore" Bunneh was on standby next door in case of emergencies.

Mitch

 

Wabbit Season......No, Duck Season.......

What did I do - at, near, on, or by - my layout today? I walked past and along it, on my way out the door to the garage, and smiled, happy at knowing I had allowed myself such an indulgence and creative effort, through the years, since its 1995 inception with the first shipment of lumber. Here are the parts I walked by today...

The door to the garage is right here, to the immediate-left of the bank of ZWs. It used to be behind those hi-chairs, along that wall, but got moved to allow for the enlargement of the trainroom, utilizing 1/3 of the garage space, off to the left there, which was added to this main space. 

FrankM.

P.S. Please excuse me if you have seen any of these photos previously. I'm enthusiastic about having the whole shebang, still, after 20+ years of such play.

Moonson posted:

What did I do - at, near, on, or by - my layout today? I walked past and along it, on my way out the door to the garage, and smiled, happy at knowing I had allowed myself such an indulgence and creative effort, through the years, since its 1995 inception with the first shipment of lumber.

FrankM.

Hey Frank,

You have created a masterpiece and I am sure some days you have to just stand back and say "look what I've done" and be proud. Kudos to you! I can't wait to get to that point on my layout. As you know the journey is very exciting. At this point when I just go in and look I feel sort of guilty and tell myself I should be doing something. 

Dave

Ralph M posted:

"What did I do on my layout today?"  Well, 1st thing this morning I tried to cut the end of my thumb off. Couldn't even do that right .  The location of the cut was such that a band-aid wouldn't saty put so I upgraded to masking tape. 

 

But seriously, here's abrief video of the three areas of my layout I've been re-imagining.:

Ralph,

The thumb situation sucks. The video was fun to watch. Thanks for posting.

RSJB18 posted:

Wabbit Season......No, Duck Season.......

Elmer Season!  ;-)

Meanwhile, back at the shops....

Paint applied, the body and chassis baked for an hour in a 200° oven and preliminary assembly.  Fortescue likes the new railings!

Roofwalk cut and fitted.

Old school roofing trick:  Apply paint to the roof, then lay tissue on it. 

Done right, it looks like a canvas roof.   Done wrong, it looks like drunken hillbillies went nuts with tarpaper. 

Fortunately, I'm modelling a railroad with a fairly high drunken hillbilly quotient amongst the workforce.

Protip: If you're glazing a car from the inside, masking tape over the window openings helps hold the window material in place while you glue it.

Katrinka hits the high iron with a pair of borrowed trolley poles!

And no "regrettable incidents" this time!

Fortescue approved! 

Mitch

luvindemtrains posted:

Moonson posted:

What did I do - at, near, on, or by - my layout today? I walked past and along it, on my way out the door to the garage, and smiled, happy at knowing I had allowed myself such an indulgence and creative effort, through the years, since its 1995 inception with the first shipment of lumber.

FrankM.

Hey Frank,

You have created a masterpiece and I am sure some days you have to just stand back and say "look what I've done" and be proud. Kudos to you! I can't wait to get to that point on my layout. As you know the journey is very exciting. At this point when I just go in and look I feel sort of guilty and tell myself I should be doing something. 

Dave

Good to hear from you, Dave. Thank you for the positive feedback!

As far as having any guilt is concerned, I never had the least bit of guilt or regret regarding the layout's investment of effort, funds, time , or commitment, though I might have lightened-up on the use of credit cards just a bit (!) Yet, it all turned out for the best, especially due to my wife's indulging and applauding me, which included her pride in sharing the layout - our layout - with others. Having OGR come take a peek too was very nice.

FrankM.

Frank, an accomplishment sure makes you feel good. Especially when it started from the ground up. I wasn't lucky enough to see it start from the beginning but what I have seen in the past few years leaves me in awe. Cool seeing how even though you could of said you were done it is nice watching you change a scene to something else. Always looking forward to the next change.................Paul

Moonson posted:

What did I do - at, near, on, or by - my layout today? I walked past and along it, on my way out the door to the garage, and smiled, happy at knowing I had allowed myself such an indulgence and creative effort, through the years, since its 1995 inception with the first shipment of lumber. Here are the parts I walked by today...

 I'm enthusiastic about having the whole shebang, still, after 20+ years of such play.

Makes sense to me, that’s a fine looking layout!

I get what you mean. I will often walk into my layout room, stand in the middle and just stare at what I’ve created. Sometimes I’ll open up the copy of the magazine that has my layout article in it (It sits on a table in the living room for now) and think to myself, “Wow, I never thought I’d ever be in a position like this,” and just be happy with what I have.

Mine was a pile of lumber less than 3 years ago. There are some days I can’t believe what I’ve done in such a short time (and how well-received it’s been among those in the hobby, both locally and from my internet-print efforts).

There’s a great line to a song I think of as a good mantra for people like us:

“It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got”

-‘Soak up the sun’ by Cheryl Crow

Okay guys, time for input from you. I posted pics of the service yard but today I took two tracks away. So which is the better of the two. There is going to be a Lionel coaling tower with coal shed in this yard too. I have to put it together and paint it yet. I may have too many irons in the fire but I like jumping around like a chicken with my head cut off sometimes LOL.........Pics..................Paul

I'm of the "the more tracks, the better" school of thought, myself. 

Mitch

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

I'm of the "the more tracks, the better" school of thought, myself. 

Mitch

I echo Mitch!  More track requires more trains.  Think of it as a license To buy!

Dave

I would split the difference and do 5 tracks.   6 is too crowded and too close to the edge of the bench work.