What did you do on your layout today?

Well Thanks Bob, since you got everyone up to date I can just say GREAT work everyone!

Bob, sounds like you have a small lawn so I am happy you will get some train time today! 

mike g. posted:

Well Thanks Bob, since you got everyone up to date I can just say GREAT work everyone!

Bob, sounds like you have a small lawn so I am happy you will get some train time today! 

Yea 60 X 100 makes for quick work. Still amazing how much time it takes to keep up with everything.

Now that you mention it Paul I forgot that you had a switcher running a while back.

paul 2 posted:

Rod, good job on the snow/rock shelter. A great focal point. Are you considering doing a snow scene in that corner. Snow on top of the shelter like there had just been an avalance.

Dave, nice finishing touches. That backdrop gave the scene good depth. 

Mark, sorry to hear you are not going to York. Maybe next April.

Today I finally got working on the control panel. The TIU and some of the terminal blocks are in place. I had some left over PVC from another project so I cut it into short lengths glued themm together and tomorrow when that glued has set up glue them to the plywood. Once I get my AC to DC converter I can add the other terminal blocksGoing to run the wires through them up to the underside of the table. Thought it might be neater. Pics.....................Paul

 

Thanks Paul. Not sure yet on the snow/rock shed detailing. I’ll have to see how the mountain turns out first. 

Hooked up some building lights.

Got it done even though I had help!

Ross, The lit buildings on the street look great!  I'm glad your helper kept you in place from falling while working on the wiring!  

Pat, I'm glad the newspaper photographer was out quickly to document this train wreck!  

Paul, Yes, I hope I can get back to York in April.  I'll contact you personally about coming over sometime this fall!  Thank you!

Bob, Yes, I know where Bolton Landing is.  I will look up Melody Manor.  I had hoped to take my wife up there this summer, but the summer blew by and we didn't get anything accomplished of our own much less take even a day trip.  

Mike, I will piggy back and say great job everyone who Bob complimented.

Mitch, The Razorback Torpedo is really flying!!  I'm sorry there were no sales; but I think you planted seed in some children's minds!!  Great job!!

Hi guys I had to rework one end of my bridge lift as the board I used warped on me! Man that sucked! but I got it all put back together, and everything is nice and level now! While I was at it I had a chance to work on my inspector to see if I could get inside his head! Here is what I came up with, Thanks Menards! LOLSo while I was working on Tank, the wife painted me a new train!

 I finally got this thing cleaned and put back together  today thought I’d drop a couple progress pics I couldn’t resist to go out and run it on the layout still have a lot to do before I button this thing up. And Thanks to all of you for your components and likes this has been a fun and learning project.

Looks like all of you are make great progress this week. A great job to all of you. 

Ok Lee, You the man! That would have taken me a month or so just to figure out how to put the dam thing back together! Wonderful work!

Mike, Inspector Tank looks good in a Menards hat!  Mrs. G. Did a great job on the train!

Lee, You did a great job in a short time!

Mike G. thanks I was very nervous putting this thing back together the wires were old and briddle. 

Mike B. Thanks actually this thing been sitting for a year but this weekend I faced my demons 

Lee, That means the clock started ticking on Friday, not a year ago.

 I spent a couple hours this rainy Sunday afternoon organizing freight cars onto  4 shelves.   One shelf for all my coal hopper cars - 24 in all.  The second shelf holds boxcars which I categorized/divided by railroad name. The third shelf is also boxcars as well with a few cattle cars.... divided/categorized by road name.  The 4th shelf holds remote control operated cars, covered hoppers, gondolas, a couple well cars and some MOW cars.  I also figured out some space to store  tank cars and will do this as soon as I purchase the wood for the shelving.   It's good to almost be done with this project.  I enjoyed the time and ran some trains while doing the organizing.  Quality time spent in the train room today = BIG FUN!!  

Haven't had much time to catch up lately...just been adding likes over the past 10 days.

Some time was spent concocting a method of passenger seat mass production.  So many of my cars need interiors, especially coaches and tourister sleepers.  I fashioned these out of colored craft foam and styrene.  One car takes about a days worth of cutting and assembling.  Rough but passable.

Began the end stages of completing my 2 rail CLW GP35.  I'm not really happy with the paint so might go back later and redo it or just fully Dulcoat it.  I opened up the solid front grills and made new ones out of cat walk and brass.  Bought some LED lighting for the Geep and will attach that to it's decoder then done for now.

Another brass project was this Canadian Pacific van.  Many detail parts were scavenged out of the kit so I improvised or made my own where needed.  The steps were particularly tricky.   Making 4 identical copies was....um....fun?  When the opposite platform and undercarriage is completed then it's time for paint.

Hit the season opener train show last weekend and added to my stash of detail parts while there.  Picked up a Railking RTR set with a PS2 3V Pennsy H10 for power.  The nasty modification plans I have for this engine should be criminal. 

Bruce

Another busy weekend. Did manage to get my Menards Hummer placed and wired. I don't have a 4V wall-wart so the LED's are a little to bright at 5V (still digging for a 4V ). I tried a 1K resistor but then the head lights didn't come on. One step forward two back. Still need to install a switch on my control panel. I also opened up my RMT Beep. It kept stalling on my switches. I found all three of the screws for the power pick ups and common were loose. Tightened everything up and it works much better now.

Tank looks sharp in that hat Mike. A couple of flat cars and your wife's train can take a lap around your layout one day.

Nice work on everything Bruce.

Lee- great to see the old NYC running again.

Ross- Like the Beatles said..... "I get by with a little help from my friends."

Bruce, that is all really nice looking work!  I like the passenger car seats.  They will look great through the windows of the cars.

Bob, The Hummer looks great!   Getting the right light intensity can be tricky!

Mark and Bob, I think the wife did a nice job on the train also! That's kind of what she does in her new she shed! She is always on the look out for something new to paint on. It funny for the longest time she would give me a bad time cause I would save something and I would tell here I can use it to build something for the layout! Now she is saving stuff and my supply source has gone down! LOL

Bruce, that sure is inspirational to see seats scratch built! I can see how one car could take all day! Nice work!

Bob, Nice to see you got the hummer on the layout! Not to bust your bubble but they sell 4v power supplies at Menards! LOL

Still using the US Army 44 Tonner to haul the Hospital Train.  I plan on switching to my Veterans SD-60.  I added a drab green US Plywood car to the rear with an EoTD flashing.  I also added my reworked Post War track cleaning Caboose and it tracks really well with my new weight system.

Finally started cutting plywood for my office lobby shelf layout!  Thread here. 

Matt, looks good, but doesn't the caboose go on the end! LOL

Fridg56vet, looks like you have a good start and a nice plan in mind!

mike g. posted:

Matt, looks good, but doesn't the caboose go on the end! LOL

Fridg56vet, looks like you have a good start and a nice plan in mind!

Mike - Yes normally the caboose goes at the end, but I like my track cleaners right behind the locomotive.  I think that I'll be converting the Menards' flat with a tarp to another track cleaner behind the Vets SD-60 and the caboose can do other duty  with the 44 Tonner.  I'm still considering going into the track cleaner business on a small scale with Menards' cars so readily available.

Having  you and Mark on OGR is like having bookends of encouragement both West & East.  Other members are also very encouraging, but you 2 guys don't miss a trick.  Thanks!

Well Matt, its pretty  easy when you low income and High free time you can get only so much done at a time! But it is great to be here and see what others are doing and I have learned so much just from reading what others do!

Mike has a good point.  Low income, free time.  Maybe not so much free time for me, but I never have a boss looking over my shoulder!  LOL. When I do work, my boss is in the middle of the country, Duluth Minnesota!  LOL

Truth is I just like giving recognition where it is due!!  I can see so much good no matter what type layout one builds or trains he runs!!  Also, Mike is right, I learn a lot by seeing what others have been doing, much better than what I learned after reading train magazines for over 50 years now.  You would think I would know more than I do!  LOL

darlander posted:

romiller49 posted:

Adding a snow/rock shelter.

Very nice detail!  Much more interesting then the standard tunnel through a mountain on a corner curved section of track.   I'm assuming it was scratch built - well done!   Dave

Thank you. Yes, scratch built with bass wood. 

lee drennen posted:

 I finally got this thing cleaned and put back together  today thought I’d drop a couple progress pics I couldn’t resist to go out and run it on the layout still have a lot to do before I button this thing up. And Thanks to all of you for your components and likes this has been a fun and learning project.

Looks pretty good. Just needs a pilot and you're all set.

Picked up this Y3 for a great price. 

I finished adding figures and wiring LEDs to a pickup truck and wired it in my milk platform scene.  The truck is a 1/43 from Yat Ming. Eazy-Peazy using their vehicles.

Hey Ed, if I am not mistaken you also added the pallets that are fallen over! Looks good either way!

I worked on the small incline that is going to lead out the window one day to go around the she shed and rock garden!

Jack, The Y3 looks great!

Ed, great scene no matter how easy.

Mike, good progress on the incline!

Thanks Mark, I would have kept going, but I don't have the lower deck in place for the area under the window yet! Plus I am deciding weather to just curve out the window or a switch and get it further around the room! LOL

A little bit more organizing in the train room but not much.  I took a pretty good rolling stock count today and was surprised at the number of rolling stock I've accumulated.   Much more than I guesstimated. LOL

Just made sure the kids had fun.

JHZ563, Wow, looking great, kids having fun watching trains, thanks for the nice pictures, this is what it’s all about, having fun....Happy Railroading 

JHZ563, Now that's what I call fun! Way to go! There isn't much better thing then having fun with young  ones!

JHZ563, Those kids brought a grin to my face right away!  For all our ‘mature’ building, modeling, sophisticated electronics, those photographs and video show what it’s really all about!!!

Looking good Mike. I was multi tasking today. Between working on the control panel and cleaning up the layout  because I will be hosting my Tuesday night crew tomorrow night. But I hit a snag on the control panel. Had the TIU and the terminal blocks screwed in and some wiring done. But something didn't look right so I went and measured my opening under the table. Good thing I did I had put the transformer shelf at the wrong height and it would not of cleared under the table. I had to rip the shelf out and lower it which when I did that I had to redo the position of TIU  and lower that also. Tomorrow morning I should be all set to fit it in under the table and get at least a couple of wires done......Paul