Getting ready to screw down a bunch of track tonight.... Decided, I would run my Sunset 3rd Rail C & O Allegheny down the grade and take some photos before the work shift starts. This is one of those steam engines I bought over a decade ago, but never had a layout with curves that it could negotiate....till NOW..... It was worth the wait !
Chris, there is an old saying good things come to those that wait. So it may have been ten years before you could actually run the engine but it looks great on the new sections. You have construction technique down to a science.
Mike, I got the last half of the leaves out to the street. Unfortunately I still have a third left on the tree. It is a Pin Oak at the back of our house. It's over a 100 years old and standsover 100' tall and spreads out more then 60'.
So with the leaves done aand ready for pickup on Thursday I can now start to work on the wiring kits for the passenger cars. This is a first for me. I have not work with wire that small so I better take my time. Sp why I was doing the leaves I happened to look on the front step and there was my small package from Gar Graves. Two bags of screws I am going to try on the track and some more blades. I had bought back in July two Menards bridges. A single and a double. After looking over where I was going to use them I found out I am going to have to buy another double which I think may make it more interesting. One track will go through it and on the other half I am going to put a plank roadway for coal trucks. Pic of my package. Kind of feel bad I only have one more package coming this week. I ordered the Sunbeam Bread sign from Miller Engineering..........Paul
paul 2 posted:Chris, there is an old saying good things come to those that wait. So it may have been ten years before you could actually run the engine but it looks great on the new sections. You have construction technique down to a science.
Mike, I got the last half of the leaves out to the street. Unfortunately I still have a third left on the tree. It is a Pin Oak at the back of our house. It's over a 100 years old and standsover 100' tall and spreads out more then 60'.
So with the leaves done aand ready for pickup on Thursday I can now start to work on the wiring kits for the passenger cars. This is a first for me. I have not work with wire that small so I better take my time. Sp why I was doing the leaves I happened to look on the front step and there was my small package from Gar Graves. Two bags of screws I am going to try on the track and some more blades. I had bought back in July two Menards bridges. A single and a double. After looking over where I was going to use them I found out I am going to have to buy another double which I think may make it more interesting. One track will go through it and on the other half I am going to put a plank roadway for coal trucks. Pic of my package. Kind of feel bad I only have one more package coming this week. I ordered the Sunbeam Bread sign from Miller Engineering..........Paul
Paul
can’t wait to see the coal trucks at work
Paul and Mike thanks for kind words and the rest who replied with likes. I miss working on the layout I played catch up around the place this weekend. Maybe I can get to the garage this week and run some trains and get some new pics of the layout.Lee D.
The nice thing about fixing other folks' trains is the interesting boomers one gets on one's railroad:
Protip of the day: If your Lionel streamliners have worn bearings, 5/32" Evergreen styrene tubing will do in a pinch.
I must say, though, the wiring on these things tends towards the Chic Sale side, especially in wire thickness or lack thereof...
A bit of proper Lionel wire sets things to rights.
And the consist hums along well. Even Norma Bates Kitteh approves!
Mitch
chris a posted:Getting ready to screw down a bunch of track tonight.... Decided, I would run my Sunset 3rd Rail C & O Allegheny down the grade and take some photos before the work shift starts. This is one of those steam engines I bought over a decade ago, but never had a layout with curves that it could negotiate....till NOW..... It was worth the wait !
Chris: Your layout look better and better. I think you have a excellent color eye. Regards from Germany.
Johan
chris a posted:Quite a bit of excellent work's been getting done since I last logged in about a week ago. John, that hand laid track work is exceptional. Johan, the Shark Bay is looking great.
Mark, hope your back is doing better than mine, it's been a "character building week" not being able to stand or sit in one position for more than 30 minutes max.... Anyway, it's starting to get better slowly.
Managed to get the ballasting done, on the grades, and cut and located the table top for the passenger tracks under a "future station".... Just need to lay out the center lines and finish laying a whole bunch of gargraves straights... Figured I'd better get the ballasting done before I set the 20 inch wide x 8 foot long sheet of plywood.
Nice looking work Chris!
It's funny how my back feels pretty good, but whatever is wrong with it has been giving the sciatic nerve fits. Character building! Yes, as long as I keep walking, I'm fine. I was able to work on blowing and grinding leaves over the weekend and today, but when I stop, the tingling and bad ache starts. I must be a sight getting up in the morning, the legs just don't want to work. I'm glad I am laid off right now. 
I found out we are waiting for insurance to approve my MRI before it can be scheduled. Keep a customer in pain until for longer!! 
Johan, Thanks very much for the positive feedback. Your work on the Shark Bay is most inspiring. Having seen your detail work and expert weathering makes your comment about "color eye" , very meaningful, and most appreciated. Chris
paul 2 posted:Mike, I got half the leaves raked yesterday. Today is the second half. But I got up at the crack of dawn. Knew it was too cold to go outside so I got all the sillouettes glued and hopefully later tonight I can work on the wiring for the lighting...Pic......Paul
Paul, I'm looking forward to seeing these great cars put together and on the tracks.
I'm glad you got your leaves done. I finished what I can on mine, parts of 4 days. We had so much rain, I still have a pile that is really soggy on top of the big lily of the valley bed. I may have to just grind them up sometime. Now I have to get time to go do my dad's. At least there, I just blow them from the front around the house and shop, then let the wind take them over his hill. By spring they are all down in the hollow.
Mark, Thanks. Check your email, I sent you a message about my symptoms before I had lumbar back surgery done by a neurosurgeon 16 years ago.....
Fortunately after 2 weeks, my back is finally starting to come around..... Of course I am stretching, walking, hanging up side down, using ice packs, going to the chiropractor once a week, to try and relieve the pain and symptoms. But at least it's finally responding.
WOW Chris A. That is one impressive engine! But then again who wound not except less for such a great looking layout! I know one day I will be reading about it in a magazine!
Paul, I am glad you got done what you could with the leaves! From your new delivery I am starting to think that you and the Mailman ,UPS , Fedex , Heck even the paper boy are on first name greetings! LOL Its nice to see your getting what you need to keep going !
Chris I am glad your back is starting to feel better! Cant get much done with a bad back! It just hurts no matter what you do. Sit , stand, walk, laydown, when you have a back acting up it all sucks!
I have been out of country and also on a western drive trip of the US the past two months. Wow, this topic moves by leaps and bounds. Hard to keep up with all the activity. In spite of my travel, I have found some time for layout progress. I added another SD40-3 locomotive (formally SD45-T units from the Southern Pacific) to my DM&IRR diesel fleet and completed the all weather cab window instillation to #404 and the new #410 which was purchase recently on ebay. Got the work done just in time before the arrival of the unseasonably cold weather the past few days. I'm sure the crew appreciates my efforts.
I have also completed the forestation of Mt. Iron, site of my Minntac tacoite plant. I ordered some more street and yard lighting fixtures to brighten up the layout a bit. My next project is to clean up my shop, paint my fascia and add some building flats along my 4 track yard.
Cheers to all!
Dave
Hi Dave, I hadn't heard from anyone for awhile, so I dug out my stack cars and measured them on top of GG piece of track and it was 5 1/2 " I set the underside at 6" and that makes the top at 6 1/2"'s. I think it will still work. Here are a couple of pictures of what I got done today. The last picture is for you Dave!
Nice work Dave! The engines look sharp and I like the addition of the weather windows! Where do you get those from?
The trees look great, I am not sure how many more you can fit before the forest management folks get on your case! LOL
mike g. posted:Nice work Dave! The engines look sharp and I like the addition of the weather windows! Where do you get those from?
The trees look great, I am not sure how many more you can fit before the forest management folks get on your case! LOL
Mike, I purchased the All weather units from: https://www.shapeways.com/prod...scale-diesels-4-pack. All weather cab windows are an iconic diesel detail in the DM&IRR world.
Dave
Dave, welcome back! The DM&IR engine looks great! So do the trees on the hills!
Mike, You are an expert on that digital level!!
Chris, Thank you. I see the email. I’ll reply to it! Thank you for your concern and advice!
Still procrastinating on layout building but a lot of train testing, of the 3rail kind was happening up there. At the train show on Sunday 4 engines came home with me. A dummy scaleLionel GP9 from about 2005 will make a nice repainting project in the future and a mate for my Legacy GP9.
Next was a scale Lionel GP30 in dark blue with simple B&O graphics. Figured the oddball EMD body design would look doub!y unique dragging around my bright red wagon top caboose. After a preliminary lube she performed all the TMCC features but turned out to be one of those pesky types that doesn't receive signals well. It would barely respond 50% of the time. Inside I found the factory placement of the sheet metal antenna suspect, being sandwiched between TMCC and lighting boards pretty much killed reception. As I pondered a remedy the smoke generator was repacked and the resistor sock removed. I hit upon using the 3 radiator fan housings ( metal ) as an antenna and soldered in wire to join the housings then connect that to the stock antenna support. All works great now, and in reality even better than expected. I had neglected to notice the engine has Odyssey, something not promoted on the box and not obvious when it ran poorly. Bonus!
Number 3 is an Atlas FM Erie built in UP garb and powered via TAS command control. Again, a future repaint candidate though there's no hurry. I was intending to add an ERR cruise M if I found the thing worthy of the upgrade. After sitting dormant for13 years, a little lube was all she needed. Immediately obvious this time was the TAS Engineer On Board. Bonus #2! As with the GP30, nothing on the Atlas box indicated EOB OB.
Last purchase was on a total whim....truth be told, I can't resist $10 engines. Although an AC powered, 3 rail, post-war, diecast, somewhat reassembling a PRR 0-4-0 A5, it wasn't American made and wasn't O! Turns out to be a Trix 00 product, one of 2 locos they made for U.S. consumption, a short short-lived venture. Labelled as " parts", a wire from the rear shoe had broken off, effectively killing the reversing unit. After the brushes were freed up and wire connected all that was needed was a good cleaning to get it working as fine as any PW Lionel equivalent. No cruise to be found here but it's E unit design differs from the norm in that the drum is subbed by a rod of brass and plastic. A rachet mechanism activated by a solenoid does the same N-F-N-R sequence we're used to. This all fascinated me to no end......need to get me some track now!
Going nowhere with the layout but man am I getting there fast!
Bruce
My 8H C&O Allegheny presented a challenge for me as well. MTH produced my Allegheny and my 46 radius Gargrave turns caused me lots of sleepless nights.
After days of adjustment, we now run 100% of the mainline without derails with my Allegheny, all the curves and inclines.
I'm very curious about your red brick retaining walls in your layout photos. And the concrete walls as well. Where did they come from. I would love to use those designs.
John d.
msueagle75@Yahoo.com
John, I'll try to provide as much info as possible. Regarding the Dark Red/Brown retaining walls: I purchased some of the Pennsy Stone Block Flex Walls for the area below the station. I had bought some Mold Builder, Latex mold making compound, and decided to take a shot at making a mold for these as they are roughly $14.00 a piece. Long story short, it took days to build the molds, but they worked, so the walls in the photos below are cast hydrocal, primed light gray auto primer rattle can, then a mix of 50/50 acrylic paint/water washes in about 4 different colors, I pretty much used a "stamping method" putting down the different colors in blotches, ending with a final brown wash to tone down the blotches from the different colors: From memory the washes were made with Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna, Pewter gray, Small amounts of Khaki, and I kept some white around to lighten up some of the spot washes.
The concrete retaining wall going down the grade is explained in a post in this thread from 8 days ago.
The link below should take you back to my post on how I made the concrete retaining wall...
https://ogrforum.com/...06#81537088413706906
John, JGTRH62, thanks for get well wishes with the back issues..... It's finally coming around after 2 tough weeks, so if I keep doing the maintenance, stretching exercises etc. I hope it will keep improving.
My back ordered wall came in over the weekend and we were able to get them installed. Some of my son (T's) diecast Cat equipment came in handy. I'm also considering reworking the switch going back through the wall here. Right now I don't have much room for scenery and a tunnel portal. If I replace it with a O-72, I will have much more room to work with and have more clearance. The new switch would be moved back some. What's the worst that could happen, I could always change it back if I don't like the new configuration. Time to make an order from Ross.
looking great Ted ! like the backhoe help !
Thaddous, the wall looks great, and it is neat seeing the Cat equipment at work. I can see where you would like to improve the entrance through the wall. I'll look forward to seeing how it comes out.
Darlander Dave, Thanks for the information, but the link did not work. I will try again!
Thanks Mark, That digital level is a life savor when it comes to %! Sure makes life a lot easier!
Bruce, sounds like you got a good haul from the show! I cant wait to see the new repaints down the road!
Chris A. The walls look amazing! You could have fooled me I would have thought they were store bought! I am glad to hear that your back is getting better! Hope it keeps in the improvement mode!
John Thanks! I am going to have to pick u another sheet of plywood to cut out for the upper loop in the mountain! I hope to be able to work on that this coming weekend!
Brian, I sure love those B/W Pictures, reminds me when I was a little kid looking at pictures with my dad! Brings back memories!
As you all have seen I got some work done yesterday. The nice thing out of the whole deal was the I build it strong enough to support my 182Lbs. I am happy with what is done so far, I might get a little done this morning before work, but then wont be able to get back at it till Friday!
here is a couple more Mike...
Mike, You have me sold on the digital level. Looks like we may be able to get my 15-year old car back on the road. I have an auto body guy who is willing to do whatever to save money. He found a used white hood that will be close enough, and can fix the fender. I thought it was a goner too. All told, it should be a lot better than buying another car.
All that said, I should be able to squeeze in a few things, like the level, that I thought I wouldn’t be able to do.
Mark Boyce posted:Mike, You have me sold on the digital level. Looks like we may be able to get my 15-year old car back on the road. I have an auto body guy who is willing to do whatever to save money. He found a used white hood that will be close enough, and can fix the fender. I thought it was a goner too. All told, it should be a lot better than buying another car.
All that said, I should be able to squeeze in a few things, like the level, that I thought I wouldn’t be able to do.
That's great news, Mark!
HCSader73 posted:Mark Boyce posted:Mike, You have me sold on the digital level. Looks like we may be able to get my 15-year old car back on the road. I have an auto body guy who is willing to do whatever to save money. He found a used white hood that will be close enough, and can fix the fender. I thought it was a goner too. All told, it should be a lot better than buying another car.
All that said, I should be able to squeeze in a few things, like the level, that I thought I wouldn’t be able to do.
That's great news, Mark!
Thank you Pete! The hood is so bent up in the air, you can look in from either side and see almost everything in front. The grill has one long crack and is up against the radiator. That’s all we see. Now once he pries the hood open Thursday, if he finds something else, we will reevaluate. Everything works fine except the lights on the right front, but that’s obvious because they were smashed. My son-in-law feels a lot better! I would have died if I had borrowed my father-in-law’s car and totaled it. However he was a very understanding man.
Adriatic posted:Two words on the white hood Mark... racing stripe
Yes racing stripes on an ‘04 Hyundai sedan! Herbie comes to mind! LOL
I sent Paul out to pick up my Menards order (Parking Deck) so he can bring it to me at tonight's train crew meeting. Before anyone starts to yell at me for elder abuse sending this guy out in the cold remember that studies have found senior citizens lives are enhanced when they feel needed and presented with new challenges and stimuli. I sacrificed driving the 35 miles to pick this up myself for my good friend.
btw: I did offer to buy his breakfast* at Perkins this Saturday when the Northeast Ohio/Pennsylvania guys meet for helping me out.
* Breakfast meaning cold cereal only, if he wants milk on it he has to splurge for that himself.
Mark, that is great news about your car! I hope the best for you there! The level I just picked up at Lowes, It just jumped out at me one day when I was looking for something else! Glad I got it! LOL
Well Bryan, you picked the right guy! Paul comes across as someone to help a friend down and out! I sure he feels for you and wants to try and make your life a bit easier! LOL
My buddy was in a jam once and I ended up patching a spot on the rear using body epoxy and a mild stainless strip. The muffler was also "hit" and I ended up using a new but unused, short, fat, chromed, Harley muffler on his Festevia. It was oversized both mechanically, and visually. It aleady had a different hood too. The end result was a "hillbilly tuner". After the first exhuast was stolen we put the other on vs a new muffler.... it was too funny not to .
After he passed away (early) the car ended up being part of a national TV show build challange where they put it in a big hampster wheel! 
All thanks to some pals at Roush Racing & Ford's who thought he would have got a kick out of it .... and he would have. He had been trying to break into TV or voice acting for years .. at least the car made it . Same guy used to walk the dogs and talk guitar with N. Young whenever he was in town. I know by now Robbie would have been into Lionel too; the guy loved toys even more than me. His Star Wars collection was pretty extensive, including unopened stuff from the first releases.
Sorry for the nostalgic rant.... but not really 
I haven't done a thing other than flip the master switch the other dat just to hear the sound systems for a few moments.
I've posted this already, but we have a puppy and she pretty much dominates every spare waking moment (and several nocturnal ones) at the time. I still haven't gotten around to reading the current issues of OGR and MR I have sitting around.
Also, before we got the puppy, I signed on to go do the astronaut thing in Huntsville again (the 5th time since 2012) and I finally managed to get some train shots from across the highway from the space center. I'd been wanting to get shots there for years.
Mark, let me know if you need visual reference to get it right. Ive still got at least six Herbies left from the old VW collection.
(look at the fuzzy comic book in the background too) (Pal Robbie's summer car was a 69 automatic stickshift bug. We both bought nice ones the same month one summer, not even knowing we were both into Bugs. We were both driving one the next time we worked together (this century)
Mike, kind words. Hope Bryan reads this....LOL Oh by the way Bryan, when I bring your building you may noticed it was open. I took the liberty of removing the top three floors. If you want them back you know what you have to do. I will put them in a safe space. I only hope being a senior citizen I can remember where I put them......LOL. See you tonight with the partial package......................Paul
Bryan, I plan to be at Perkins on Saturday too. Looks like Paul is on top of your delivery, although it will be piecemeal. I hope to see you both there.
Butch, Yes I thought the reference to Herbie would raise your interest even more. The auto body guy found a used white hood, so it doesn't need painting. I figure 15-year old paint would be tough to match anyway. I guess there is someplace online that has the correct racing stripes and number 53.
Mike, thank you for the well wishes on the car.
Lee, neat photographs from Huntsville!
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