What did you do on your layout today?

Mike, your Tennessee Connection also has placed you and your family, Grand daughter on our prayer list. Prayer is Powerful, The Lord listens... Hope you all are doing ok. Leapin Larry and friends

Mike,

I don't know you, but my family prayers are also with you.

Bryant Dunivan 111417 posted:

Finished it Yeah!

Very nice layout. I like that backdrop. This reminds me of Metropolis Style. 

Brian, keep posting pics of AMTRAK and I'll be spending some serious money.  Nice work!

Nick12DMC posted:

I’ve been playing around with this over the weekend.

Picked it up at Ready to Roll a couple of years back. As soon as I saw this water tower I knew what I wanted to do to it.

I used inkjet water slide transfer paper.

Nick

Tell us more about the decal process Nick. Details please. That turned out great, and on a curved surface no less. Great movie!

decoynh posted:

Brian, keep posting pics of AMTRAK and I'll be spending some serious money.  Nice work!

             thanks Matt !          a couple more to keep you thinking...

A friend of mine took me to see a awesome layout near my old neighborhood inspired me to get more work done on mine 

That looks like one cool place. More info? Is it a public layout or private collection?

Bob

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Nick12DMC posted:

I’ve been playing around with this over the weekend.

Picked it up at Ready to Roll a couple of years back. As soon as I saw this water tower I knew what I wanted to do to it.

I used inkjet water slide transfer paper.

Nick

Tell us more about the decal process Nick. Details please. That turned out great, and on a curved surface no less. Great movie!

Hi Elliot, It was a bit more involved than I first thought.

The easy bit is printing the sheet. Use a semi gloss setting on the inkjet printer and a high quality print option if you have it. Fill the page with as many copies of the decal to maximise the space. 

Then you let the ink dry and then spray 3 coats of rattle can automotive clear.

Leave about 30min between coats and then I left it overnight in a warm room to dry.

Then cut out the decal keeping close so as to avoid having to much “film” showing round the decal.

Then place in a bowl of warm water. I found I had to leave it soaking  for a good 10 minutes. Before it would come off the backing paper. Even then I had to tease it off with an xacto knife. 

Once off the backing it was pretty easy to place but care is needed to avoid damaging the decal as they are fragile.

The one shown in the picture is the second attempt.

I want to add in some of my favourite movies into the layout. Obviously got to feature a DeLorean somewhere. I picked up a Silvercup Bread craftsman sign kit. I plan use this to recreate the battle scene  from Highlander or the Queen rock video from the films soundtrack. Which use the sign as a backdrop. I just need to find some O gauge sword fighting figures or rock band figures.

Nick

RSJB18 posted:

That looks like one cool place. More info? Is it a public layout or private collection?

Bob

It was a private collection he owned a set of retail buildings in one of them he made his train room

Thanks Nick, I want to do graffiti for railroad cars. I have taken tons of photos of real cars. The trick is to isolate the image, and organize a bunch to fill a sheet. The tip about the printer setting and the over spraying was really what I was after.

I have both white and clear film sheets, but I haven't tried them yet. I'm leaning toward the white for the graffiti for two reasons. First, a lot of images need white and without the increasingly rare Alps printer, you can't print white. Second, inorder to make the colors pop on a dark car, the film should be opaque. I bought a number of sheets of graffiti off eBay a few years ago, which were printed on clear. They were just OK on light colored cars, like grey. Brown cars would be a big time fail. 

I hope this gets some more of the guys here to try this. It's fun and not very expensive.

briansilvermustang posted:

             thanks Matt !          a couple more to keep you thinking...

Fortescue is of the opinion you left it out in the sun too long. 

Mitch 

Got to do a bit more on the wall. This morning I had to do some snow blowing. Picked up another 3 to 4 inches. We ended up with more then a foot since this started. Thank God it is going to rain on Wednesday. That will melt down some of the snow. Was running out of room to blow the snow. More of the wall came down this afternoon. At the bottom I have to be careful because the cab le wire goes thorugh the wall. If I cut that the wife will be really mad with no cable LOL. Problem with all the snow I can't take any of the wood out to the street for pickup. I am hoping to get down after dinner and get some more wall down. I already have my measurements for the table but I changed them slightly. I was going to make the table 40 inches long but decided to go with the length of the wood, 48 inches rather then cut some off. And if you can somewhat envision it this table will be lower in the front with two double track bridges going over a number of cascading waterfalls going underneath. Pics............Paul

Had this RS1 sitting on the shelve and it turns out loose wires caused issues and now fixed and ready for some PC action.

forgot to post the billboards.

Mike  hope all goes well.  

I've received three LIONEL TCA convention cars over the past 3 days that will be used for a couple of paint projects that were purchase on the Bay.  Their main virtues are they are smooth-sided, the paint comes off easily (usually), and they are cheap in relative terms.

The three cars were disassembled today.  The Full Vista Dome surprised me because it did not have the typical sheet metal screw securing the truck assembly to the frame--so the trucks remained attached to the frame as the frame/truck assembly was removed.  I'll need to research this/ask here on the forum if that is the correct way to do the. removal.

The other two cars, a diner and an RPO, were the typical sheet metal screw removed and the truck detaches from the frame that I'm used to seeing.

All three cars received liberal doses of Rustoleum Aircraft Remover and the paint removal process is well underway.  The full dome responded best with virtually all paint removed.  The diner was very good with a modest amount of paint remaining.

The RPO is a mystery since a lot of paint came off, sort of like a first coat, but a lot of paint remains, especially on the roof.  Those have been set aside to dry and then I'll hit them with another dose of the paint remover.

On another project, I masked a PW Lionel aluminum car with a vestibule that I'd shot with Molotow liquid chrome attached in preparation for shooting the Tru-Color Chinese Red paint per the Texas Special.  I've never used this paint before so this is in the nature of a test application.  Also, I'm interested in how the paint reacts to the Molotow and the latter reacts to being masked.

Two little things:  ordered RPO mail hooks for the Lionel RPO mentioned above; and, bought a K-Line 15" aluminum RPO decorated as an SP Golden State car which will be used for yet another paint project.

Pictures of in process steps will be posted later.

THANK YOU, NICK, FOR THE STEPS IN MAKING AND APPLYING CUSTOM MADE DECALS.  There are a number of uses for that particular skill in my passenger car projects.

All I can say is that there have been a lot of people doing a lot on their layouts!  A few highlights:

John R, Congratulations on populating so many cars.  They all look great!  

Bryant, That layout looks great!  It should be great fun for you and the grandchildren!  

Brian, You sure are tempting Matt!  You had better watch out or he will be sending you the bill for his Amtrak purchases! 

FL9turbo2, That place is something else, there is so much visual impact that it almost hurts the eyes to look at the overall photograph.  I needed to focus in on the hundreds of individual items to appreciate. 

Nick, The water tank decal looks great!  I've never seen the movie, but I am guessing you are referring to Ferris Buhler.  Our kids talked about it years ago.

Paul, I know what you mean about wanting to get debris out in the garbage so you have room to do something.  I'm glad you are making good progress. 

I haven't gotten much time, but I have been moving things around in preparation for layout building transfer from the little room to the family room.

Worked on my first scratch build, almost done still need to find some stairs.nd 

ENichter posted:

Worked on my first scratch build, almost done still need to find some stairs.nd 

Really nice work looks very much like the tanks at a chemical company I grew up by.

Eric, That really looks impressive!!

paul 2 posted:

Got to do a bit more on the wall. This morning I had to do some snow blowing. Picked up another 3 to 4 inches. We ended up with more then a foot since this started. Thank God it is going to rain on Wednesday. That will melt down some of the snow. Was running out of room to blow the snow. More of the wall came down this afternoon. At the bottom I have to be careful because the cab le wire goes thorugh the wall. If I cut that the wife will be really mad with no cable LOL. Problem with all the snow I can't take any of the wood out to the street for pickup. I am hoping to get down after dinner and get some more wall down. I already have my measurements for the table but I changed them slightly. I was going to make the table 40 inches long but decided to go with the length of the wood, 48 inches rather then cut some off. And if you can somewhat envision it this table will be lower in the front with two double track bridges going over a number of cascading waterfalls going underneath. Pics............Paul

Paul you have inspired me to go and take part of my layout down so I can get to work on my wall project!   

Kon I like the RS1s!  And that Konway billboard is awesome! 

Eric that is some great modeling!   The water/chemicals in the top look real! 

Lets go get some work done!  

Jim 

longer video with some more PC action. 

Thanks Jim. 

First off I will second what Mark said, Lots of great work!

Larry Thank you! I hope you had a great time playing basketball with your granddaughter ! You didn't really miss anything special at the train show! I have been to better ones there, IMO this one was a bust!

Pat, Leapin Larry, Bryant, Andy and everyone else thank you for all the prayers! My little angle got to come home from the hospital this morning! She has a fallow up again tomorrow but things are looking good! God Bless you all!

Paul, your moving right along! Be careful and don't step on any nails!

JGTRH62, Why turn back! LOL, The landscaping crew is doing a bang up job! Nice work!

Andy, good looking RS1! Plus I like to get a look at your layout whenever I get a chance!

Carl, sure sounds like you have been busy! I cant wait to see the pictures!

Eric, Just wonderful work! Looks great!

So yesterday I was out working on my control panel and was shot some wire, I thought I would just rob it from so largers cables I had laying around so here I am trying to remove the outer layer and oops slip goes the cutters along with a good chunk of the tip of my pinky finger! LOL So needless to say I really didn't get much done today! I sat and planned location for my new crane, found a wall wart for it, a little fast, but it will work!

The best part of the day as I said before my granddaughter got to go home from the hospital this morning thanks to all your wishes and prayers! Thanks Again!

Great news that things are looking up for your granddaughter  --- keep us posted

modeltrainsparts posted:

Great news that things are looking up for your granddaughter  --- keep us posted

Will do! Your all just like family!

mike g. posted:

Mark, just amazing! Love the winter look!

Dave, are you sure your not a landscaper! Looks great!

Mark, I am glad you made it back safe! 

Carl, I feel you! Do it, then do it again! that's how my body work turns out! LOL

So today I went out and worked on the control panel and a little bit on the crane! Not to much and not worthy of pictures.

On a side note I hope I don't offend anyone, but I am asking for prayers for me 15 month old granddaughter as she was taken to Seattle's Children's Hospital with Pneumonia her little right lung is in bad shape right now!

We hope your granddaughter improves each and every day now she is home with her loving family.

John d.

Thanks John!

Mike, I hope your granddaughter is fully recovered soon.. Since you're a Marine, I'm sure a chunk out of your finger won't slow you down.. I live about 1 1/2 hours from the main gate at Parris Island...

Woodson posted:

Mike, I hope your granddaughter is fully recovered soon.. Since you're a Marine, I'm sure a chunk out of your finger won't slow you down.. I live about 1 1/2 hours from the main gate at Parris Island...

Thank you ! I am glad I never went to Parris Island, there are so many Marines there that's are sick cause of the contaminated water there, that the VA gives full medical to almost anyone that was there in a certain time frame!

Well with the inspiration from yall I got to work on the expansion..  Well its a contraction first!     First picture is the bench work before I started.  

The second picture is afer I got all the stuff cleared off so I could start taking the bench work apart.

This last picture is with a 2x2 section, 2x4 section, and the odd angled section taken out. 

Tonight I have to scoot that 4x8 table back a foot or to so I can get to that side of the bump out.  Think I will reuse that funky angle piece to add a little bit of real estate near my minii Eric Seagle bridge lol    Still debating on leaving that side 4 feet deep.  Or cutting it down to 3 feed...  I can't reach the back of it...  So its either useless or will be a huge pain if i keep it that way!   On the other hand I will lose 12 square feet of layout...

Jim

mike g. posted:

Woodson posted:

Mike, I hope your granddaughter is fully recovered soon.. Since you're a Marine, I'm sure a chunk out of your finger won't slow you down.. I live about 1 1/2 hours from the main gate at Parris Island...

Thank you ! I am glad I never went to Parris Island, there are so many Marines there that's are sick cause of the contaminated water there, that the VA gives full medical to almost anyone that was there in a certain time frame!

Mike my Dad and my Nephew did boot camp at Paris Island.  

Great news that your Granddaughter is getting better.  Thank God for good doctors and prayer works! 

Jim

Yesterday “Sunday” I had completed my hinged turntable, it turned out well. I had an issue with reaching across a  7’ X 14’ rail yard.

This is my small classification yard.

I have been working on this layout for 12 years now, I have completed laying track, power, trap doors..

Now its time for my Grandchilderen and me to start scenery, this will be a never ending retirement project.

Mike, good to hear the news on your grandaughter. The power of prayer.

Jim, looks like you are tearing into that wall. Question you mentioned an angular wall. Are you tearing out that too. Are there any pipes or wires in there. When I was starting my attic layout there was a closet up there that went from the chimney in the middle to the outside sloping ceiling. I thought I would be able to take the whole thing out but I proceeded with cautin and glad I did. in the last section were wires. So glad I did not cut through them. They were the old tubular wiring in old houses and they were still electrified. Don't know if I will get much time on the wall today. Promised the wife I would treat her to lunch and then tonight it is the Tuesday night group so I might not get back to it till tomorrow...........Paul

My 10x17 layout has also been a work in process.    Two years in the making and probably another two to go.       Had I to do it all over again I probably would have added another tier to make it more visually interesting.     But this will probably be the design I keep.     

paul 2 posted:

Mike, good to hear the news on your grandaughter. The power of prayer.

Jim, looks like you are tearing into that wall. Question you mentioned an angular wall. Are you tearing out that too. Are there any pipes or wires in there. When I was starting my attic layout there was a closet up there that went from the chimney in the middle to the outside sloping ceiling. I thought I would be able to take the whole thing out but I proceeded with cautin and glad I did. in the last section were wires. So glad I did not cut through them. They were the old tubular wiring in old houses and they were still electrified. Don't know if I will get much time on the wall today. Promised the wife I would treat her to lunch and then tonight it is the Tuesday night group so I might not get back to it till tomorrow...........Paul

Paul no angular wall.  I think I was speaking of the angle piece of bench work that was directly at the wall.   That filled in the gap between the 2ft x 4ft table I took out and the 4ftx8ft table that is still there. You can see it pretty well if blow up the 2nd picture.  There is wiring in at least one the walls of the bump out.  But I can deal with that.   16 additional square feet of layout doesn't sound like much.  But in such a small room its HUGE! : )

GaryDahl that looks like a cool layout!  Lots of high end stuff!   Please do post more pictures!   2019 will be my 4rth year working with O gauge trains.  My layout has grown 6 times (working on 7) and has changed rooms once !  

Jim

Alabama Joe posted:

My 10x17 layout has also been a work in process.    Two years in the making and probably another two to go.       Had I to do it all over again I probably would have added another tier to make it more visually interesting.     But this will probably be the design I keep.     

WOW now thats a big layout !!  How do you reach the middle??  : )    Looks like the heavy work is done! 

Jim

          BBRRRR....            think SPRING         can't get here soon enough !!!

Jim, looks like you have a great start on your expansion! Keep chugging away at it and it will be done in no time!

This morning I went out at 5:30 AM and worked on my crane. The kid I bought it from didn't tell me he had broken the swing left and right. I took it apart and the shaft that holds the gear in place had broken! I had some round plexi glass that was just the right size, cut it to length and super glued it into place! Now every thing work as it should. I also put out my scratch build tank yard and fueling station from MTH! 

Here are a couple of pictures for the day!

          looks good Mike !!     now you're getting to the fun part !

Gary, great looking layout! Wish I had room for a TT but no such luck! LOL

Joe, for 2 years that's a wonderful looking layout! I like how you can walk around to see everything! Keep up the great work!

SOO Brian, I see you be at it again with your camera! LOL Love the pictures, I hope your remodel is going well! Tell everyone I said HI!

briansilvermustang posted:

          looks good Mike !!     now you're getting to the fun part !

LOL I still have a lot of track to lay that I don't have!