What did you do on your layout today?

Bob, The U boat looks very nice!

STINKY 1, looks much better. Amazing what a few things will do to a scene to make it better.

Mike, my basement layout sits at about 41 inches off the floor. The wife is short but if by chance she comes down to see the layout I just pick her up so she can see everything. Other wise she looks like the old Kilroy was here figure LOL.

Bob, nice collection of D & H. My third favorite road. Sorry CP and CN are one and two.............Paul

                                 here you go Paul... #2 and #1...

Thanks guys- D&H is rapidly becoming one of my favorites too. The color scheme is great!

Bob

                       nice D&H layout...  https://youtu.be/K9xQ6oJF5zo

mike g. posted:

Before you all get excited wait till the last 3 pictures! But I took out the items to take picture and realized the bench height was to high for me! So after taking pictures I spent the night lowering the bench height and redoing the bridge! I hope you all enjoy!

Mike, now that you lowered the bench/bridge, will you still be using 1x4 or 2x4 cross members on top of your L-girders for attaching risers for elevations changes and overhang extensions which are helpful to  produce interesting contours?   Dave

PS:  What was the old bench height to the top of your L-girder that you felt was too high?   FYI: My lowest elevation to the top of the roadbed is 42" off the floor.  

decoynh posted:

mike g. posted:

Bryan, that sure looks great!

Lee Nice work on the box cars!

John, looks wonderful! One down and how many  more

Very nice commercial for your favorite brew!

I hope you don't regret lowering the table when it comes time to do the wiring.  I still have eight buildings and 6 streetlights to wire because my layout  is only 36" off the floor.  Heck, you could have gotten some sheet rocker stilts to work on top.  Oh well, enjoy the Coors & the train.  I hope that you have the RailKing cold train too.  Erics Trains has a video of it.

Thanks mike

trumptrain posted:

Took a few photos for the Team Track Tuesday thread while running trains tonight.  Had great fun!!

I like that KB my grandpa had 2 a KB6 dump truck and a KB7 road tractor 

RSJB18 posted:

WOW A couple days away from this thread and passenger cars are filling up, subway's are getting wired, layouts are getting ballast, and there's enough Coors Light on the West Coast to keep Mike happy for a long time.

keep up the great work everyone.

I was able to find a few minutes to finish getting my D&H U-boat running. Gotta love these old MPC units, nice and simple, clean the E-unit and motor and off it went. Just in time to pull the set of Rail King D&H passenger coaches that I bought over the weekend (more pix to follow). 

Bob

Bob here you go I took this pic of a D&H hopper hiding in a pool of  chassis’s last year thought you would like it

 

I started working on this old AHM pola flatcar Converting it into a 40 foot piggyback car this is what I have done so far enjoy the pics

Hi Matt, I plan on trying to get all the wire ran for the layout before I put the top on! That will only leave me drops to hook up, and with being a shot guy I don't see a problem. The bench was at 43" and I lowered it to 36".

Bob, the D & H engine sure looks fabulous!

Darlander, I still plan on using 1 x 4 but between the L girders for the cross members. I know it defeats the purpose of L girders, but it gives me the height I want! The top was 43" and lowered it to 36" which hits me right at the hips which fells like a good working height for me!

LEE DRENNEN, looks like you have a great start to a great plan! Keep us posted!

Thanks mike I will 

RSJB18 posted:

WOW A couple days away from this thread and passenger cars are filling up, subway's are getting wired, layouts are getting ballast, and there's enough Coors Light on the West Coast to keep Mike happy for a long time.

keep up the great work everyone.

I was able to find a few minutes to finish getting my D&H U-boat running. Gotta love these old MPC units, nice and simple, clean the E-unit and motor and off it went. Just in time to pull the set of Rail King D&H passenger coaches that I bought over the weekend (more pix to follow). 

Bob

 

 

Nice, Bob.

Ahhh ughah... Ahhh ughah... Dive... dive... dive... Sorry - couldn’t resist.

Glad to see them back on the road.

Mark,  Soon you be having fun putting people in your passenger cars.  I grind the bottoms of the figures to create as much flat surface as possible for the glue to adhere the figure to the flat seat.

The Amtrak Vista Dome is finished.  Like the Observation, it also took 38 People for the Dome and main floor.  The Vista Dome is like the Wabash Dome that is lower than the new Union Pacific Dome cars.  I had to grind down 1/4" of vertical walls to allow the Dome Floor to hang lower than deigned.  The Dome Floor rests on top of the upper edge of the window glass now.  The screws are not tightened, or the Dome Roof will be pushed out of the car.  Been there, done that.  Ouch.

The car is drying before I close it up and give it a run.  Here are some pictures of the people on board.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Nice work John! I love how you just keep plugging away night after night! You are for sure a man on a mission!

More progress on the Polar Express gi-raffes!  ;-) 

https://ogrforum.com/...44#80973530144444944

John, It looks like you masked the floor off so you could spray paint the seats brown.  Am I correct?  I can't remember if you mentioned any of that.  Yes, I can see where the people will need trimmed down some to fit in the seats convincingly.

Brian, That is lots of CP!  I liked the old gray scheme so much better than the red.  Of course I don't like red period.  

Mitch, Glad to see the PE Gi-raffe project is nosing ahead!  

Paul, we need the word for "dive" in German!  I looked it up, and got confused, they seem to use different words for the different ways we use our word "dive".  Probably a good idea.  

Bob, DH had a great scheme.

Mark, 

I never mask when I paint.  You are looking at two to three coats of paint on the seats and six coats of flat white on the table tops.  The blue interior of the Amtrak and CSX cars demand an extra coat of paint. Masking always bleeds for me, even with the 3M blue blocking tape.  The old-fashioned way of painting is the best method.  It is time-consuming, but that is part of the hobby's relaxation therapy.  That and shipping engines back to Lionel for repair.  My second Vision Line GG1 is going back to service for stalling and tight gears.  It will not start up in forward and poops (not a typo)  my ZW-L breaker.  I love this hobby.

Oh, the front coupler on my Vista Dome just fell off, broken, no good, throw the car away. Buy another.  Hope it isn't broken too.  I love this hobby.

The front coupler on my Observation keeps opening.  I hope Lionel has parts.  Last month they did NOT.  I love this hobby.

My CSX #9999 FH40P was supposed to get new air hoses that were broken off the back of the NEW engine.  Service waited seven weeks for parts from China, and then sent it back with the broken air hoses glued back on, but slightly crooked.  I love this hobby.

Pictures of Observation included.  The coach is next.  Can't wait.

Sincerely,  J-J-John  R-R-Rowlen

Above pictures are of the Vista Dome.  I am a little off my game.  I am getting ready to call Lionel Service or whatever they are calling themselves today.

I love this hobby.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

John Rowlen posted:

Above pictures are of the Vista Dome.  I am a little off my game.  I am getting ready to call Lionel Service or whatever they are calling themselves today.

I love this hobby.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

At least you are maintaining your sense of humor John. Very nice work on all of your cars BTW.

Bob

Maintaining a sense of humor, or going crazy, Bob! 

Yes, I know about Lionel parts and service.  Roll the dice!  

John, I agree with Bob, you are keeping a sense of humor.  Why shouldn't I have thought that a guy who just painted 1000 people wouldn't paint a few seats and tables?  I agree about masking, I always have trouble too.  Thank you for answering my question.

I have been after a few issues with MTH, but nothing worth bringing up.

Brian, enjoyed the pics of 2 and 1 and the other Canadian engines. I am with Mark I like the older paint schemes for CN an CP better.  And going a step further with three being the D & H for me the TH & B and Ontario Northland are 4 and 5 for me followed by South Buffalo Railway and Buffalo Creek as 6 and 7. I knew I said I was going to work on my control panel but for the past few days I as going through all my limber to see if I had enough to do it befor buying more lumber. I do so I can start laying it out tomorrow. Tonight I worked on my building. I put another coat of everything on so in the morning I think it should be a go to satart adding the roof and then all the signs. Pics of the building so far..............Paul

Paul, Yes my favorite railroad, Western Maryland had sharp graphics on the steam locomotives, whether the round herald or the fireball.  While I would probably prefer something a bit more colorful on diesels, I do not like the late WM era circus scheme.  So, the black with the Fireball will have to do.  The B&O had a nice two tone paint scheme, but all the diesels I ever saw before Chessie were dark Navy blue.

It doesn't matter what you said you were going to do next, you found the right thing to do for this given day.  The building is looking good!

Apples55 posted:

RSJB18 posted:

WOW A couple days away from this thread and passenger cars are filling up, subway's are getting wired, layouts are getting ballast, and there's enough Coors Light on the West Coast to keep Mike happy for a long time.

keep up the great work everyone.

I was able to find a few minutes to finish getting my D&H U-boat running. Gotta love these old MPC units, nice and simple, clean the E-unit and motor and off it went. Just in time to pull the set of Rail King D&H passenger coaches that I bought over the weekend (more pix to follow). 

Bob

 

 

Nice, Bob.

Ahhh ughah... Ahhh ughah... Dive... dive... dive... Sorry - couldn’t resist.

Glad to see them back on the road.

LMAO 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

THANKS PAUL

Having finished the Chinese laundry, except for sign, l tackled a box of sticks kit for an ore tipple, by T.P. Fleming.  Due to interruptions, it is almost done. It is a lot easier to build these from scratch with scribed sheet wood, as l have, as plans and parts ID are not perfect.  However, since no prototype is ID'd either, creative modeling is in order.

.

Mark Boyce posted:

Paul, we need the word for "dive" in German!  I looked it up, and got confused, they seem to use different words for the different ways we use our word "dive".  Probably a good idea.  

Wow, Mark... I thought English was perverse!!!

After an online search, I think the appropriate verbiage would be “U-Boot untertauchen”. By the time they got through that mouthful, I think they’d be “zunk”   

Paul, ha ha, yes I agree!!

Hi Guys, I am so tired right now all I can say is there sure is a lot of great work being done here! I hope to catch u better tomorrow! Everyone have a great night!

You too, Mike!!

Do you see a CheifSt.in Michigan? Eh Mark? 

Dive? As in a dive bar? Or an action? By  a  person?

And we have trains mixed in? 

I'm on a kick of recalling childhood German lately. This is almost too easy really, German name on the loco to sweeten it, (and Michgan designed)...  "Shay Winery".

Schwienary (schweinery?) dishonesty, greedy, "piggy", dirty, and sloppy actions.

Diner? ....Bald's Pork Franks....

Hog & Dog biker bar ....for Schwienhund, similar but more a personal putdown than object or place.

eine and sau sounds,  are bases for "dirty, underhanded, and foul, distasteful, rotten, unwanted,"  etc..etc.

What have I done lately? Not very much. Other than experimenting with some different types of layout shots for something hush-hush for now (if it comes to pass, you'll all know about it), I haven't done much.

Two weekends ago, we had the breaker that controls the wall outlets in the train room and two other rooms go out, and we had to fix that when we had the time, so no trains for a few days (turns out, thankfully, it seems to have been the breaker itself).

Last weekend, there was the final (local) car show of the summer that I take my WW2 Jeep to. That lasted all Saturday. At least I got an award, something which rarely ever happens for military vehicles at these shows (now I need to find a place to put this thing other than stuffing it into a box somewhere)...

The following day, it was chores and doing stuff my wife wanted. Since then, at the office it's been all overtime every day and that'll go into the holiday weekend (annoyingly, I'm well caught up but they can't/won't differentiate between those who are caught up and those that aren't).

Last night, I ran a passenger consist from one end to the other and did some switching, which is about all I've done.

Some train time is still better than nothing Lee.

congrats on the award for the Jeep. How a Willys couldn't win every time is beyond me.

Bob

          very NICE Jeep Lee

Thanks, Bob and Brian!

Bob, if you go to a car show, you'll see there's a strong emphasis on the shiniest and most modified stuff you can get. I'm not into that, I'm all about preserving something as it was. My favorite 'shinny' cars at those shows are the ones that look closest to stock. I can appreciate the effort that goes into a hot rod, but I'll always decry losing the historical 'fabric' of the original vehicle.

My layout, as many of you here already know, is an extension of my love for history. Almost everything I'm into eventually intersects at the WW2 years. Even my love for the space program, which really got started by the Germans launching A4 (V2) rockets at Antwerp and London. I got this Jeep when I was still in the army due to my love for history, not quite so much that my primary focus was a love for old vehicles.

Lee, great nighttime shot. Also congrats on winning a trophy. The jeep looks good. Tonight I put a black wash on the building. So tomorrow I can start working on th roof and signs. And since I found enough lumber for the control panel I can start cutting the pieces out. Pics..............Paul

RSJB18 posted:

Thanks guys- D&H is rapidly becoming one of my favorites too. The color scheme is great!

Bob

I agree D&H livery is gorgeous. Wasn't there a D&H thread a while ago? We could resurrect it or start a new one  and then see D&H trains galore.

Arnold

RSJB18 posted:

Thanks guys- D&H is rapidly becoming one of my favorites too. The color scheme is great!

Bob

I agree D&H livery is gorgeous. Wasn't there a D&H thread a while ago? We could resurrect it or start a new one  and then see D&H trains galore.

Arnold