What did you do on your layout today?

Country Joe, Your village is clean and prosperous, just like I remember so many towns in the Pittsburgh area used to be.

FrankM.

Mike g, not going to use the level for support LOL. I have to tweak the corner of the table on the right so it is level between the tables........Paul

Paul, how are you going to get to the other table?

darlander posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

Darlander,

The MTH Mikado looks like a great plan!!  Defacing a B&O locomotive, oh my!!  LOL. I have two engines repainted into B&O.  One started life as a Great Northern, the other as a D&LW!  I suppose there is someone out there who would chastise me!  

I think the the D&IR will look great!!!!

Mark, Sorry about defacing the B&O, but we are now even because you sacrificed a Great Northern which is also close to my heart!   Yes, you have now been chastised for your shameful act!   I have started the the Mikado transformation and had to remove two pilot boiler tube supports on both sides of the pilot to make room for the front foot boards.   I will post construction pictures at a later date after the transformation is completed.   Cheers!

Dave

 

That sounds great!  I'm glad the project is moving along well!

MaxSouthOz posted:

Very nice, Joe. 

Thanks Max.

Country Joe posted:

I am working on the second level. This will be the main town for the layout. These are WIP pictures.

 

Joe,

Looks to me like you are living the dream building your new layout!  I agree with Frank, your town looks great!

mike g. posted:

Nice work there Joe! What are you using for your car roadway?

Thanks Mike. I'm using black foam core with black foam inside. I use Woodland Scenics N scale foam roadbed for the crossings as in this picture. I split it and put the sloped edge toward the outside rails. Trains run though it without issues.

Moonson posted:

Country Joe, Your village is clean and prosperous, just like I remember so many towns in the Pittsburgh area used to be.

FrankM.

Thanks Frank. I hope to do some light weathering when all the big jobs are done and I can spend more time on details. In my world I like things clean so I don't want the town too dirty.

Mark Boyce posted:

Country Joe posted:

I am working on the second level. This will be the main town for the layout. These are WIP pictures.

 

Joe,

Looks to me like you are living the dream building your new layout!  I agree with Frank, your town looks great!

Thanks Mark. I think I am living the dream. I'm building a new layout and living in Florida where I wear the same clothes and can go to the beach all year round.

Joe, So are you telling me, you don't need as large a closets down there than back north.  That tells me Florida houses have more room for layouts even though they don't have basements.  ��

Country Joe, your work is really inspiring, a very nice new city, clean streets, clean buildings, and yes, a pink Cadillac, possibly Elvis is shopping somewhere there? Just kidding about Elvis, but your work is beautiful. It's nice when other Modelers chime in....Keep us posted...

Today the fellows In my area came to my house and we ran trains, visited and had a great lunch at Cheddars....Wow, 

A nefarious looking group. 

What have I done today?

Well, I've completed building my demonstration board for the Clinic that I'm presenting at this year's national NMRA convention.

It's sitting on my work board, which is on my layout; so I'm hoping that it qualifies. 

The object is to show four ways to use servos to achieve motion on a layout - using the Tam Valley Depot Octocoder™

http://www.tamvalleydepot.com/...opusservodriver.html

Here is a close up of the mechanism of one of the units . . .

As I say, not really on the layout; but close. 

Cheers

Mark Boyce posted:

Joe, So are you telling me, you don't need as large a closets down there than back north.  That tells me Florida houses have more room for layouts even though they don't have basements.  ��

Yes and no, Mark. The Mrs and I each have a walk in closet and the two guest bedrooms each have a smaller walk in closet so there's plenty of closet space. Florida is very casual. Dressing up means a pair of Dockers, a polo shirt and shoes though you can get away with sandals. It's shorts and tee shirts most of the time yet we somehow have the closets full. 

We had our house built and we expanded a few rooms. According to the floorplan the den was supposed to be 10'9" x 13'4" but we moved the wall out 7' so it's 10'9" x 20'4". That's my train room. The rest of the house belongs to the wife. I'm happy with this arrangement.

leapinlarry posted:

Country Joe, your work is really inspiring, a very nice new city, clean streets, clean buildings, and yes, a pink Cadillac, possibly Elvis is shopping somewhere there? Just kidding about Elvis, but your work is beautiful. It's nice when other Modelers chime in....Keep us posted...

Today the fellows In my area came to my house and we ran trains, visited and had a great lunch at Cheddars....Wow, 

Thanks Larry. I know that clean isn't very realistic but I like it that way. I hope to find an O scale Elvis to go with the pink Cadillac.

Your layout looks great and you have a fine posse. That's the one thing I miss about NY. Well, one of two. I miss the kids and grandkids, but I also miss the train friends I had there. 

Country Joe posted:

Moonson posted:

Country Joe, Your village is clean and prosperous, just like I remember so many towns in the Pittsburgh area used to be.

FrankM.

Thanks Frank. I hope to do some light weathering when all the big jobs are done and I can spend more time on details. In my world I like things clean soI don't want the town too dirty.

Indeed. Everything and all places in life are not dirty or weathered to the extent that anyone call tell. There is a place for every mood and atmosphere, IMHO, so clean is as good as soiled. You have captured something very pleasant in your layout, something that brings happiness.

MaxSouthOz posted:

 

The object is to show four ways to use servos to achieve motion on a layout - using the Tam Valley Depot Octocoder™

 

 

Four ways to use servos, sounds like an interesting talk, Max. I can see a signal or semaphore as one method. A switch machine and what I'm guessing (from following your posts) a working garage door. What is the fourth? 

Country Joe posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

Joe, So are you telling me, you don't need as large a closets down there than back north.  That tells me Florida houses have more room for layouts even though they don't have basements.  ��

Yes and no, Mark. The Mrs and I each have a walk in closet and the two guest bedrooms each have a smaller walk in closet so there's plenty of closet space. Florida is very casual. Dressing up means a pair of Dockers, a polo shirt and shoes though you can get away with sandals. It's shorts and tee shirts most of the time yet we somehow have the closets full. 

We had our house built and we expanded a few rooms. According to the floorplan the den was supposed to be 10'9" x 13'4" but we moved the wall out 7' so it's 10'9" x 20'4". That's my train room. The rest of the house belongs to the wife. I'm happy with this arrangement.

That sounds like a good arrangement to me, Joe.  I always agree, I let my wife have control of most of the house too.  I just asked first to be humorous, but second because I have never been to Florida, so all I know about the houses is that they don't have basements.  Good reason; close to sea level, they would probably get wet easily.  Thank you for humoring me!!  

Moonson posted:

Country Joe posted:

Moonson posted:

Country Joe, Your village is clean and prosperous, just like I remember so many towns in the Pittsburgh area used to be.

FrankM.

Thanks Frank. I hope to do some light weathering when all the big jobs are done and I can spend more time on details. In my world I like things clean soI don't want the town too dirty.

Indeed. Everything and all places in life are not dirty or weathered to the extent that anyone call tell. There is a place for every mood and atmosphere, IMHO, so clean is as good as soiled. You have captured something very pleasant in your layout, something that brings happiness.

That is what I built last and want to build again.  Though my layout will be set in West Virginia, I want the country towns to look prosperous to support a lot of rail traffic; or is it vice versa.  A little weathering is all I wish.

Pat Kn posted:

MaxSouthOz posted:

 

The object is to show four ways to use servos to achieve motion on a layout - using the Tam Valley Depot Octocoder™

 

 

Four ways to use servos, sounds like an interesting talk, Max. I can see a signal or semaphore as one method. A switch machine and what I'm guessing (from following your posts) a working garage door. What is the fourth? 

Hi Pat

There are two turnouts.  One close coupled from beneath and the other one mounted on top - and a couple of ways of using micro switches to power the frogs and the signals.

Yes.  A semaphore and a roller door.

Cheers

Mark Boyce posted:

Country Joe posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

Joe, So are you telling me, you don't need as large a closets down there than back north.  That tells me Florida houses have more room for layouts even though they don't have basements.  ��

Yes and no, Mark. The Mrs and I each have a walk in closet and the two guest bedrooms each have a smaller walk in closet so there's plenty of closet space. Florida is very casual. Dressing up means a pair of Dockers, a polo shirt and shoes though you can get away with sandals. It's shorts and tee shirts most of the time yet we somehow have the closets full. 

We had our house built and we expanded a few rooms. According to the floorplan the den was supposed to be 10'9" x 13'4" but we moved the wall out 7' so it's 10'9" x 20'4". That's my train room. The rest of the house belongs to the wife. I'm happy with this arrangement.

That sounds like a good arrangement to me, Joe.  I always agree, I let my wife have control of most of the house too.  I just asked first to be humorous, but second because I have never been to Florida, so all I know about the houses is that they don't have basements.  Good reason; close to sea level, they would probably get wet easily.  Thank you for humoring me!!  

That is how I took it, Mark. Visit Florida when you can, especially in the winter months from November to April. The summer is very hot and humid (tropical rainy season) but the winter is fabulous. You may not want to leave. That's what happened to me.

Country Joe posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

Country Joe posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

Joe, So are you telling me, you don't need as large a closets down there than back north.  That tells me Florida houses have more room for layouts even though they don't have basements.  ��

Yes and no, Mark. The Mrs and I each have a walk in closet and the two guest bedrooms each have a smaller walk in closet so there's plenty of closet space. Florida is very casual. Dressing up means a pair of Dockers, a polo shirt and shoes though you can get away with sandals. It's shorts and tee shirts most of the time yet we somehow have the closets full. 

We had our house built and we expanded a few rooms. According to the floorplan the den was supposed to be 10'9" x 13'4" but we moved the wall out 7' so it's 10'9" x 20'4". That's my train room. The rest of the house belongs to the wife. I'm happy with this arrangement.

That sounds like a good arrangement to me, Joe.  I always agree, I let my wife have control of most of the house too.  I just asked first to be humorous, but second because I have never been to Florida, so all I know about the houses is that they don't have basements.  Good reason; close to sea level, they would probably get wet easily.  Thank you for humoring me!!  

That is how I took it, Mark. Visit Florida when you can, especially in the winter months from November to April. The summer is very hot and humid (tropical rainy season) but the winter is fabulous. You may not want to leave. That's what happened to me.

Yes, winter indeed!  I have had 3 trips to the South, all for work classes, all in the summer unfortunately.  Two to Dallas, one to Atlanta!  Yuck!  Now I could get used to the summer down there quickly!!

Mark Boyce posted:

Moonson posted:

Country Joe posted:

Moonson posted:

Country Joe, Your village is clean and prosperous, just like I remember so many towns in the Pittsburgh area used to be.

FrankM.

Thanks Frank. I hope to do some light weathering when all the big jobs are done and I can spend more time on details. In my world I like things clean soI don't want the town too dirty.

Indeed. Everything and all places in life are not dirty or weathered to the extent that anyone call tell. There is a place for every mood and atmosphere, IMHO, so clean is as good as soiled. You have captured something very pleasant in your layout, something that brings happiness.

That is what I built last and want to build again.  Though my layout will be set in West Virginia, I want the country towns to look prosperous to support a lot of rail traffic; or is it vice versa.  A little weathering is all I wish.

We each see the world in our own way. Thus, our layouts are reflections of those viewpoints.

What people remember the most is how we made them feel, it has been said.

filling in screws and seams on lower level sky...

Started tinkering with a roll your own tubular to Fastrack adapter. I'm converting a short siding to a small engine yard and the 5121 tubular turnouts take up too much room. I can fit a 036 Fastrack turnout into the existing space but don't want to waste 5" for the factory adapter. I will cut the tubular track down to the length I need when I get it on the layout.

Bob

I'm replacing this single siding (the turnout on the right), with the new turnout so I'm not too concerned about the rail alignment since it's not a main line.

Cautiously trying some scenery out here.  I like how the portal turned out and was able to get a little ballast down.  Now I am trying to create some separation between the two sides and make an acceptable entrance the opposite way.  Right now I think that its a little too big, so I may shorten it up a little or cut it off at more of an angle.  I think its too boxy, but I also have little room to spare.  To the right of this entrance will be a grain facility. 

Thaddeus posted:

Cautiously trying some scenery out here.

will be a grain facility. 

That inner track looks a bit close, Thaddeus.

Have you run anything around to check it?

MaxSouthOz posted:

Thaddeus posted:

Cautiously trying some scenery out here.

will be a grain facility. 

That inner track looks a bit close, Thaddeus.

Have you run anything around to check it?

Yes I have, I have about a 1/2" to spare.  Did many checks with my engines and rolling stock.  Tight clearances may be the motto of this layout......

Very good. 

I just fixed something that's been bugging me for a very long time. The Blue Points, which move the turnout points, have a piece of piano wire that runs up from underneath through hole in the center of the swing bar. Half of the wires when I installed them, actually stick up just a couple of millimeters at most above the tops of the Rails. That means I couldn't possibly run a bright boy or cleaning block over them, as pushing against that wire would snap the points right in half. So, for the longest time I agonised on how to cut them down without using an snipper or something that would probably snap the swing bar.

Then, today, it occurred to me. I could use my Dremel tool with a cutting wheel, and push against the wire with a pressure allowing swing bar to move either left or right. And darned if it didn't work. In less than a few minutes, I had all of them cut down, to where I can clean the track without having to worry about anything from now on. It's funny how it's always the little things that take forever for you to figure out how to fix them.

This is a happy day for me. I'm sure many of you can relate to something like this...

    to hot outside, stayed in and ran some trains....

Lee, glad it was a nice easy fix!

p51 posted:

I just fixed something that's been bugging me for a very long time. The Blue Points, which move the turnout points, have a piece of piano wire that runs up from underneath through hole in the center of the swing bar. Half of the wires when I installed them, actually stick up just a couple of millimeters at most above the tops of the Rails. That means I couldn't possibly run a bright boy or cleaning block over them, as pushing against that wire would snap the points right in half. So, for the longest time I agonised on how to cut them down without using an snipper or something that would probably snap the swing bar.

Then, today, it occurred to me. I could use my Dremel tool with a cutting wheel, and push against the wire with a pressure allowing swing bar to move either left or right. And darned if it didn't work. In less than a few minutes, I had all of them cut down, to where I can clean the track without having to worry about anything from now on. It's funny how it's always the little things that take forever for you to figure out how to fix them.

This is a happy day for me. I'm sure many of you can relate to something like this...

Always the little details / problems that drive us crazy.

Good work Lee.

mike g. posted:

Lee, glad it was a nice easy fix!

RSJB18 posted:

Always the little details / problems that drive us crazy.

Good work Lee. 

Thanks, gents!

I must admit I held my breath on the first one of these. I picked the nearest turnout that would be the easiest to replace if it snapped the throw bar in half (I have an extra of each L/R turnout, just in case I ever need to replace one). When it worked fine, I still carefully did the rest. The most difficult to access turnout (behind some trees and the cornfield) thankfully didn't have a issue with the actuating wire so I didn't have to do anything with it.

The funny part was several times after doing this, I went into the layout room and ran my fingers over the points, knowing I don't have to worry about breaking turnouts when cleaning track anymore!

Test fit a bridge I've been building.  Originally showed in a separate thread and thanks to others good suggestions I think it came out much better than version 1.0.

I used linoleum nail heads to simulate the rivets.

Neat, it looks really sturdy! Can you supply the demsions and a link to the other thread? I absolutely love it !

Thanks;

Mike

Great looking bridge, Steve!

Thanks Mike and Lee.

Mike, here's the link to my original post.  I was trying something for the gusset plates and didn't like it.  Wound up using basswood and linoleum nail heads.

Overall length is 32 inches.  I'll have to get the other measurements, but roughly 4" wide by 6" tall.  I glued and screwed in key locations, using hardwood dowels from big box store.  Spray painted with Rustoleum rust color. Haven't run anything over it but did put a 20lb weight on it and didn't see and movement.

https://ogrforum.com/...a-bridge-too-far-ish

No layout work today. Had to cut the grass. But I managed to get another wood chip hopper done and ready for a load. Also Mr. Brown dropped off another package. Ordered it yesterday and got it today. Pics........Paul

Thanks so much  ,Steve. Your bridge is just an awesome example of craftsmanship! The talent on this forum ,never ceases to amase me !

Mike