Darlander, Great looking engine for your Taconite project it really adds to the layout! Nice work!
Trumptrain, Nice work on the Coil car! Plus its always nice to get a different view of your wonderful layout!
M. Mitchell Marmel posted:Adriatic posted:What is a traditional inverted V roof called? Not with 4 angled flats, not Alpine roof, but one with less angle;" normal".
Gable roof.
Ah, gable, gable dormer window, dormer,dormer loft, loft; I needed a less slang taught example to get the skewed info straigbter.
If I only had painted the gable outside as I was always told to, the dormer below would be bare. I thought a dormer had to be a large extention TO a floor, possibly raised from the actual floor level, but a deep extention. I.e. a small addition or deep bay-like, but,a single plane of windows. And a loft to be a floor edge forming a balcony. That was how the various crews I worked with for 5 years referred to things. (Crews changed near every new build too.)
Mike G, the thicker your top wood the less sound transfers to the air below. I wasn't quite happy with 1/2" green foam on 1/2" ply. I'm going at least 5/8-3/4 wood and 1"-3" of foam, or homasote/sound board if I do another. Gramps old living room layout had the homesote(?)( was it homesote, I compare the product used by him to "horsehair" padding in old car seats) He had that fine,dry, brown dust coming out of the edges. Constant sweeping up was an issue. It was quiet though, especially for the 60s.
Bought a new (to us) dry basement - with a decent house over it, in PA. Yes, it passed their 16 inches-of-rain-test with flying colors !
I am excited to get loose ends in OK cleaned up and get moved to PA for the winter layout building season. My wife said I should take the largest, nicest room in the basement for the trains, wow, is she a keeper ! I now have motivation to take down my old "test" layout ! Probably need to buy more trains, lol.
Adriatic posted:Gramps old living room layout had the homesote(?)( was it homesote, I compare the product used by him to "horsehair" padding in old car seats) He had that fine,dry, brown dust coming out of the edges. Constant sweeping up was an issue. It was quiet though, especially for the 60s.
That was ceiling board, if memory serves. Homasote is much denser and a grey color. 
Mitch
I have a suggestion. Use 1/2 plywood, cover that with with 1/2 carpet padding glued down,
Glue your homosote to the padding. Make sure no screws penetrate the padding to the plywood.
No sound tranference, no noise. I have built a couple of layouts with the track directly on the
padding, almost silent.
Thanks so much for your kind words Leapinlarry and Mike G! I greatly appreciate your input!
Worked on windows on this AMB elevator kit. It comes with paper piece together windows, which l did not want to fool with. I am substituting plastic windows, and modifying openings to accommodate them. Am also moving office and unloading shed around, as l did the hoist house. Probably paint elevator, office and she'd tomorrow...having a lot of trouble with rattle can spray nozzles clogged up.
Thanks again Mitch. I recall grey within the edges, but I think that could have been grey paint in an attempt to seal the brown dust inside.
Adriatic posted:Thanks again Mitch. I recall grey within the edges, but I think that could have been grey paint in an attempt to seal the brown dust inside.
Back in the 80s, I bought an HO trolley layout with the tracks hand-laid on that stuff; I recall the crumbling brown dust well. 
Mitch
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ADRIATIC, thanks for the information on the top thickness and noise reduction!
TRESTLEKING, Congrats on the new house! Sounds like your going to have a great place for a future layout, Also I think your right, she sure sounds like a keeper!
Brian, More good stuff! Thanks!
Mike,
Cookie cutter, open frame bench construction helps reduce operation noise substantially. Without the drum effect of full plywood sheets a minimum of roadbed sound insulation is also needed. An exception to the rule, or course, is any track with built in plastic roadbed like Fastrack.
Bruce
Thanks Bruce! Yep no Fastrack here, I am going to use all Scaletrak!!
I just found your last email Mike G.
Google hid it within the "great new options" even though I thought I opted out, lol. Just like predictive text, they ask; then do what they want anyhow.
Short version.... Yes the power strip button should do the trick to shut things off. A GFI to plug the strip into would be a step up. Ill send the long version soon. Heck, I've been so behind on catching up and keeping up, that I just found the She Shed pictures.. But at least now I know what the heck you guys are talking about.. She shed
Hey, buy her a humming bird feeder with the next Menards order 
and keep it full. Red with yellow ones seem best. Hang near the windows but away from where you walk most. Looks like a perfect spot for it. Usually, they find you within about a month. The have very regular routes, but look around too in case a source vanishes. Once they find it they will keep checking back in "X" amount of time daily and become more regular visitors the next season. Skip filling and they may move on or become less frequent) Very cool to watch when they are so close. Aerial acrobatics, male dogfights, courtships, etc. I bet she loves it; and you might too. And more importantly, Menards carries them $2-$19 plastic or glass
I walked past a house that went up for sale in the last week. There was an obviously ancient "built in" layout about 6x12. For AF S gauge I'm pretty sure. But it was chopped up into 3ft squares at the curb; no hope. I looked it over sadly vs excitedly; wondered if Gramps ever knew him; if he ran AF for himself or his kids, what the old guy was like, etc.. I passed on the throttles once home. A day of silence for a passing of an unknown friend and his best friend both.
Adriatic posted:I just found your last email Mike G.
Google hid it within the "great new options" even though I thought I opted out, lol. Just like predictive text, they ask; then do what they want anyhow.
Short version.... Yes the power strip button should do the trick to shut things off. A GFI to plug the strip into would be a step up. Ill send the long version soon. Heck, I've been so behind on catching up and keeping up, that I just found the She Shed pictures.. But at least now I know what the heck you guys are talking about.. She shed
Hey, buy her a humming bird feeder with the next Menards order
I walked past a house that went up for sale in the last week. There was an obviously ancient "built in" layout about 6x12. For AF S gauge I'm pretty sure. But it was chopped up into 3ft squares at the curb; no hope. I looked it over sadly vs excitedly; wondered if Gramps ever knew him; if he ran AF for himself or his kids, what the old guy was like, etc.. I passed on the throttles once home. A day of silence for a passing of an unknown friend and his best friend both.
Thanks for the nice post! I have all the electrical figured out. All the outlets are hooked to a light switch and I just turn the room off when I leave. They all go threw a surge protector with a battery back up system built in it.
Its so sad to hear layout being dumped at the curb, I bet the old timer never thought it would end up that way!
Mike, amazing how far we have come in table construction. So many choices to decide on. Maybe you will end up using a few of them in different parts of the layout. I am done for a bit. Heading to Michigan to celebrate some birthdays. I'll still be working on what I will do to the silos in my head for when I get home. I have pretty much got the idea of what. Now it is getting the stuff and doing it. Mark, as to when you might come here I am away from the 8TH to the 12TH and I have to add one more day I'll be gone. Thanks to VISTADOME SCOTT I have someone to do my fantasy paint scheme on some passenger cars I bought years ago. I am having them done in the L&N freight paint scheme. So I will be doing a day trip to drop them off on the 18TH of this month....................Paul
trestleking posted:Bought a new (to us) dry basement - with a decent house over it, in PA. Yes, it passed their 16 inches-of-rain-test with flying colors !
I am excited to get loose ends in OK cleaned up and get moved to PA for the winter layout building season. My wife said I should take the largest, nicest room in the basement for the trains, wow, is she a keeper ! I now have motivation to take down my old "test" layout ! Probably need to buy more trains, lol.
Dry basements are a very good thing!! We have one also here in Pennsylvania. Where in Pennsylvania is this new to you basement with a house over it? We are in Butler, about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Mark Boyce posted:trestleking posted:Bought a new (to us) dry basement - with a decent house over it, in PA. Yes, it passed their 16 inches-of-rain-test with flying colors !
I am excited to get loose ends in OK cleaned up and get moved to PA for the winter layout building season. My wife said I should take the largest, nicest room in the basement for the trains, wow, is she a keeper ! I now have motivation to take down my old "test" layout ! Probably need to buy more trains, lol.
Dry basements are a very good thing!! We have one also here in Pennsylvania. Where in Pennsylvania is this new to you basement with a house over it? We are in Butler, about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Don't know why, but I imagined you as living in eastern PA, Mark. It makes sense now why visiting all the neat train venues in the east isn't just a couple of hours travel time. Been the length and breadth of your fine state and most trips ate up a lot of time. If driving as the crow flies were possible we would only be about 3 hours apart.
Bruce
Bruce,
You are not the first to say you thought I lived in the East. Yes, it can be a haul! York is almost 4 1/2 hours, and Philadelphia is 6 hours away. I've only been in Philly once, back in the late '80s.
Mark Boyce posted:trestleking posted:Bought a new (to us) dry basement - with a decent house over it, in PA. Yes, it passed their 16 inches-of-rain-test with flying colors !
I am excited to get loose ends in OK cleaned up and get moved to PA for the winter layout building season. My wife said I should take the largest, nicest room in the basement for the trains, wow, is she a keeper ! I now have motivation to take down my old "test" layout ! Probably need to buy more trains, lol.
Dry basements are a very good thing!! We have one also here in Pennsylvania. Where in Pennsylvania is this new to you basement with a house over it? We are in Butler, about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Snyder County (Central Susquehanna Valley)
That’s great! You are not that far from Strasburg and York!
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delivered and iced up the reefers.....
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I painted more Preiser 65602 Seated People for my CSX Executive Technical Research Classroom car and spare people for the Theater car when it arrives. Pictured are some 68209 8402B China Blanks.
The Technical Research car has a classroom/coach section and three large sleeping rooms. I already detailed the interior with paint, but needed people for the classroom.
Five more boxes of 65602 arrived from Germany today.
My CSX F40PH #9999 is in limbo at Lionel Service. They had to set it aside for parts to arrive. Lionel received the engine on June 22, 2018 at 9:32 A.M. They said it would only be two more weeks over two weeks ago. Yesterday I was told it will be another two or more weeks. This engine I was told by Lionel Service was manufactured by Affatech.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
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John Rowlen posted:I painted more Preiser 65602 Seated People for my CSX Executive Technical Research Classroom car and spare people for the Theater car when it arrives. Pictured are some 68209 8402B China Blanks.
The Technical Research car has a classroom/coach section and three large sleeping rooms. I already detailed the interior with paint, but needed people for the classroom.
Five more boxes of 65602 arrived from Germany today.
My CSX F40PH #9999 is in limbo at Lionel Service. They had to set it aside for parts to arrive. Lionel received the engine on June 22, 2018 at 9:32 A.M. They said it would only be two more weeks over two weeks ago. Yesterday I was told it will be another two or more weeks. This engine I was told by Lionel Service was manufactured by Affatech.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
John, when you paint your people, what is the process? I could only guess assembly line style doing many of same color hair then a dress same color... any hints for us? Thx in advance.
Looking good John! I think for me this would have to be a winter project!
They look great, John! Not just a winter project, but a retirement project! I’m close enough now, by the time the layout is far enough along, I will be retired.
Hmm, no one seems to be buying into my carpet padding sound deadening. I'm telling
you guys, it works.
This morning I ran a 20 car coal train, a small work train, and a short logging train. Brief as it was, I did greatly enjoy the time!
beardog posted:Hmm, no one seems to be buying into my carpet padding sound deadening. I'm telling
you guys, it works.
Yes, I do know it works.
beardog posted:Hmm, no one seems to be buying into my carpet padding sound deadening. I'm telling
you guys, it works.
It works, and physics tells us it does, especially if it has a rubberish or foam backing, (closed cell would be best). For me personally, being in a climate where temps swing greatly and humidity can reach 85% I would be concerned that it may start to smell. Fyi, carpet also works great underneath an outdoor pond liner.
For me, acoustic ceiling tiles work great and don't off gas like homosote does.
Marc
How to Paint Preiser 65602 and 68209/8402B(China) figures
1. Paint the flesh on the figure. Check for missed spots. You may have rubbed the brush over the figure, but oils or dirt could cause the paint not to stick.
2. Paint the men's ties.
3. Paint the shirt along either side of the tie.
4. Paint the suit coat and pants. If the figure is off the sprue, do top first and bottom next.
5. Paint the hair on the figure. There are very fine lines on the Preiser figures that act as guides that are not on the China knock-offs.
6. Paint the shoes on the figure.
The white plastic of Preiser Figures accepts paint easily, often one coat. The flesh-colored plastic from China requires two coats of paint to get the same effect. It means more painting.
I work in color groups: Women have dresses that are pastel pink, blue, green, yellow and violet. I use two colors of clothes on female figures to add interest and greater visibility. The men's suits are gray, brown, sand, light gray, and navy. The navy tends to shine even when I use flat paint. I have not used navy or black which always appears glossy lately. Not all flat paints dry a flat or a matte color.
Some figures are bigger than others in the Preiser 65602 24 Seated People set. There is a 1/48 man with a hat that I rarely use. Two larger women usually end up in the bathroom talking and smoking. The other 21 figures work nicely together.
Placement: I try to make conversation or family groups that look realistic in the passenger cars. There are no forward-looking Zombies on my trains. The work takes extra time, but it will last forever. The passenger car cost me some money. I want my investment to be of interest and create visual realism on my railroad.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
To see many of my previous Atlas O and Lionel 21" passengers cars done over the past five years, search "Preiser 65602", then click on the photos and scroll through many of my cars. I did not post these pictures. They were taken from OGR Forum and posted by others,
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mike g. posted:Thanks Bruce! Yep no Fastrack here, I am going to use all Scaletrak!!
Yeah, sorry, Mike. I've had nothing but problems with Scaletrax. Fastrack will always be my number one choice of track. Until I hand-lay my track for my Civil War themed layout I got running in my head, along with my Promontory Summit 1869 display with interchangeable eras. I'll use Lionel's old tubular track and cut it with a hacksaw, and use my own ties. Tricky part will be keeping it in gauge as I'm going to remove the original clip ties.
Hey, I know exactly where Butler is. It is the county seat.
I used to go to the Butler County fairgrounds yearly on Father's Day weekend for a HUGE swap meet. It would take all day at a brisk pace to look it all over. We went for vintage car parts and bulk supplies of all kinds. The savings and rarities made the trip very worthwhile. We would pack every vehicle taken, seldom really having enough room (or cash) for every thing considered for purchase. There was usually one or two train specific venders if I recall. They were in the buildings with more scattered throughout the outdoor tables and blankets; but I was still just a Holiday Runner of,my old stuff at that point. My last visit, I was trailer hitch shy of a new trailer from one fellow and an Argo from another.
I went to see a few band festivals and concerts in the area as well (zydico, bluegrass, metal, and a string quartet that does metal cover tunes comes to mind among others)
I loved driving those hilly roads.
With all those hills to climb and valleys to decend through, I'd bet you might even make it to Detroit faster than to Philly if you had light traffic going west. Especially with the better highway speeds of today. My first trip east I couldn't believe how long it took compared to a map's point to point comparison of flat land time.
Finished CSX Executive Research Car
After painting more people, I did the final placement of people in my CSX Executive "Technical Research" passenger car. The car has a classroom of 10 seats with dry erase board and television at the front of the classroom. The three staterooms are used by the technical group, a room for accounting and office, and a room for the president and executive secretary.
This car was set aside for a couple months while I came up with my final plan to detail the car. I have done the other six cars and completed 49 passenger cars since February 26, 2018. My 50th car is on its way: a NYC ESE Dining Car #2, "John Jay". I will probably follow the layout used on my Penn Central Dining Car.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
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FutureRail Productions posted:mike g. posted:Thanks Bruce! Yep no Fastrack here, I am going to use all Scaletrak!!
Yeah, sorry, Mike. I've had nothing but problems with Scaletrax. Fastrack will always be my number one choice of track. Until I hand-lay my track for my Civil War themed layout I got running in my head, along with my Promontory Summit 1869 display with interchangeable eras. I'll use Lionel's old tubular track and cut it with a hacksaw, and use my own ties. Trickerery part will be keeping it in gauge as I'm going to remove the original clip ties.
Just wonderind what problems you have with scaletrak?
Actually I just went to the carpet store and got the cheapest, which was usually
made of recycled carpet padding from what I could tell. I painted mine white and
overlaid it with quilt batting for a christmas themed layout. Never had a problem with
smell, I figure if it does not smell under your living room carpet, why would it smell on
your layout.
Hints: Don't even try to drill thru it for wiring, etc. Get a thin awl or icepick, heat
it red hot and force it thru the padding and the plywood. Works fine, I have done it
hundreds of times. To fasten track without screws, and avoid the subsequent noise
transference, punch holes as above where you need, then thread a thin zip tie thru
the hole and slide another on it underneath. Pull snug and your good.
John
While I might approach the situation similar to the Beardog, I'd add water and some monitor time for smoldering padding, more than than the wood even. Ive seen that stuff smolder under carpet after a cigarette was dropped and quickly retrieved. (Matresses are the same way too )
A partial drilling then a round chisel tip leather hole puch set to remove padding, then drill fully through it. I think I got these at Harbor Freight (cheap) back when there wasn't a store everywhere and it was all catalog mail order (they have/had a nice thick one if you don't have a store nearby; ask. Never looked for a website as the company has a quite a few local now)
The cut disc is 5/8"x 1/8" reinforced rubber, they cut wood just as well. I grind on them often to taylor my cuts if you notice the bevel angles. (just a few of a set in 1/16" increments to 3/4")
To the right is a homemade one. Just bevel a tube. (steel here, but Ive made them from copper, brass, and aluminum while working away from tool access in the field.) That is ground sharp while leaving a step to control depth.
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Ottawa_Marc posted:beardog posted:Hmm, no one seems to be buying into my carpet padding sound deadening. I'm telling
you guys, it works.
It works, and physics tells us it does, especially if it has a rubberish or foam backing, (closed cell would be best). For me personally, being in a climate where temps swing greatly and humidity can reach 85% I would be concerned that it may start to smell. Fyi, carpet also works great underneath an outdoor pond liner.
For me, acoustic ceiling tiles work great and don't off gas like homosote does.
Marc
I also went the acoustic tile route, knowing that I'd be super-e!evating the curves. The tile doesn't give under the irregular pressures needed to attach the track firmly to the roadbed. When angled as such with no firm support the curve tends to kink at the track jointsjoints. Tried this with Atlas track and the commercial foam underlay with horrible results. Rather than banking with wire, which can eventually dig into the tile, I use strips of cork under the outer rail.
Aside from this, I just can't source Homasote in my area.
Bruce
switching some ore cars...
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