What did you do on your layout today?

Thank you Lee. Dave, the rocks look good already.

Andy

Lee,  Very nice detail work.  It adds greater interest and depth to the train layout.  I like to draw people into the details I have inside my buildings and passenger cars.

I am afraid to slow down.  My acrylic paints keep trying to gel, my brushes have just been replaced, and I might forget how I do all the figures.  There are very fine line indentations in the Preiser 65602 Seated figures: hairlines and clothing tracings that my eyes fortunately can still see under very bright light.  These fine lines are not on the Chinese copies.  That is when my memory takes over.  I can no longer say that I could paint these figures in my sleep, for when I dozed off yesterday , I painted brown hair over the people faces.

The fact is I am too cheap to pay Preiser $150.00 for 24 factory painted people.  The same people in the $30.00 65602 set come in five separate display boxes ranging between $27.00 for four people to $37.50-$45.00 for the six pack with the three babies and parents. (If you can find them)  Then add shipping from Germany on each box if the dealer only has one in stock.  I figure my painting has saved me over $15,000.00 so far on the 150 Preiser 65602 boxes I have purchased, with only 15 left to paint.  I also did over 800 China figures.  When I finish, my current 139 passenger cars will total 168 detailed cars.

Painting the people and detailing the passenger cars is what I do as I wait to help my mother when she gets up in the middle of the night.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Preiser individual packs shown below.

Mark Boyce posted:

Great vehicles, Lee!

Ed, that platform looks great besides working great!

Thanks Mark. 

   one for Bob...

Added a couple of Woodland Scenic gooseneck lamps to buildings.

John Rowlen posted:

Very nicely done!   Far superior to any factory painted figures that I have ever seen.   You have great  patients, skill and stamina.   Wonderful detail!    Cheers, Dave

Chris, The building is really shaping up to be outstanding!

Jon, The McSorley's building is sharp and well detailed.

John, I understand now about the acrylic paint you are using.  You are doing an outstanding job!

Steve, those gooseneck lamps look great!  They add so much to buildings, and were such a common sight in days gone by!

Brian, D&H for Bob!  That's a winner!

Mayor Magoo posted:

Added a couple of Woodland Scenic gooseneck lamps to buildings.

I like the effect. I want to do that to a Lionel grain elevator above the truck door and the man entrance door.

Lew

Andy, the wall is going to look great in place on the layout!

Dan, the girder bridge build looks like it's going to be a perfect fit for your layout!

Steve, Nice addition of the car with the headlights! Brings life to the layout! Also wonderful job on the lights!

Chris A., The building looks amazing! I really like how clean and neat the wiring and lighting is inside! Attention to detail is wonderful as always! Thank you so much for the little how to and the links to the products you use and where you get them from! You Rock!

Dave, the rocks are looking good! What are you using for the molds and product?

As soon as I get breakfast and out of my jammies I plan on going out to the train room and take some pictures for Dave so he can see my mess! LOL Oh by the way its snowing again!

Morning Dave and everyone else! I got out of my Jammies and took some pictures for you all! Its quite a mess as I haven't been in there for a few days as you all know. But do me a favor and enjoy! LOL I included a picture of the one Tortious switch machine I have installed and the next one waiting for cork!

Great posts everyone. It took me a while to catch up.

Mike g, the layout is really coming together. Nice work and pics.

Chris a, good job on the building. Came out great. I like your idea with the lighting.

Well the tree situation is behind me now. Once they got the tree of the house I ended up with only a small amount of roof damage where the tree landed on the house. Especially considering the attic layout could of been damaged. Still have to get estimate for the roof damage but this morning it was great to get back to what I like best. Working on the layout. This morning I finally glued down the ground foam I had put down weeks ago. Then I added the fourth and final coat of water. So when that dries I can start adding my white water effects. I still have to decide how I am going to paint the river on the backdrop and how I will angle it into the scenery which I am going to paint in myself. Pics......Paul

Paul 2, That sure looks great! I hope I am that lucky when the time comes to do scenery ! Wonderful job Paul!

mike g. posted:

Morning Dave and everyone else! I got out of my Jammies and took some pictures for you all! Its quite a mess as I haven't been in there for a few days as you all know. But do me a favor and enjoy! LOL I included a picture of the one Tortious switch machine I have installed and the next one waiting for cork!

Mike, I'm trying to figure out your space. It looks to me like you built an interior wall under the roof peak, walled over the garage door on the interior and that would make the layout in the front half of the structure immediately behind the garage door in the pic above?

Lew

Mike, Looks like you got more done on the layout before the snow, work, etc. than I was aware of.  Looks great!  How many tortoises are you going to install?

Paul, I'm glad there was just minor damage!  Keep that attic dry!!  The weeds between tracks look great!  The water looks great too!  I'll look forward to seeing how you color and detail the area! 

Mike, thanks for the kind words. Paul, glad there was only minor damage. The layout and specifically the gorge is looking terrific. Wow!

Andy

paul 2 posted:

Great posts everyone. It took me a while to catch up.

Mike g, the layout is really coming together. Nice work and pics.

Chris a, good job on the building. Came out great. I like your idea with the lighting.

Well the tree situation is behind me now. Once they got the tree of the house I ended up with only a small amount of roof damage where the tree landed on the house. Especially considering the attic layout could of been damaged. Still have to get estimate for the roof damage but this morning it was great to get back to what I like best. Working on the layout. This morning I finally glued down the ground foam I had put down weeks ago. Then I added the fourth and final coat of water. So when that dries I can start adding my white water effects. I still have to decide how I am going to paint the river on the backdrop and how I will angle it into the scenery which I am going to paint in myself. Pics......Paul

Paul that all looks great!  Glad the tree didn't bust through the roof!  Gorge is looking good!

Mike thats a very nice mess you got going over there!   Have you powered your US power building yet?    Mine mines a BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE noise all the time.   Havent figured it out yet.  And is all that new snow??????

Jim

Retaining wall is primed and ready for paint. 

Andy

mike g. posted:

Morning Dave and everyone else! I got out of my Jammies and took some pictures for you all! Its quite a mess as I haven't been in there for a few days as you all know. But do me a favor and enjoy! LOL I included a picture of the one Tortious switch machine I have installed and the next one waiting for cork!

Looks great, Mike! I'll bet you know exactly where everything is too!

Hi Everyone, I hope your all having a great day!

Lew, My garage is 24' X 24', I added a 12' X 24' train room on the back of my garage, so now the footprint of the building is 24'W X 38'D. The train room is to the left of the RED door in the picture!

Mark, thanks! I really haven't got a lot done, Just a bigger mess! LOL I plan on installing a total of 10 Tortoise machines!

Hi Jim, I have powered it up, but I don't know if it makes noise or not! If my hearing aids don't pick up the noise then its not happening! LOL

Andy, the retaining wall looks like its going to work great!

Pete, thanks! As for knowing where everything is not really! Every now and then I find myself having a Paul 2 moment and spend 30 or so minutes looking for something right in front of my face! LOL

Mike G:  Looks like a "well organized" mess to me !   I assume the Tortoise control we discussed is working. 

Mayor Magoo:   The gooseneck lights look great, they really add a lot to any building.  

Paul:  The gorge is looking really good.   I haven't modeled any "water", one of these days !

Andy,  Nice job on the retaining wall.   If you have to build more and decide you want something slightly different looking so they're not all the same, here's a photo of an 8 foot long Concrete retaining wall section I built late 2017.    I kind of built myself "into a corner" so the wall had to be less than 1/4 inch thick to maintain clearance on the lower level.  Ended up using 1/8 inch masonite and 1/16 inch fun foam for the "raised sections".  Actually worked pretty well as 1/16 inch  = 3 inches in full prototype size

Mike, that now makes perfect sense. Tnx!

Lew

Chris, not yet, I have been meaning to drop you an email about the switchs and diodes you used. I am going to have to buy enough for 10 switches. o I need new toggles and diodes!

Lew, when I get home tomorrow sometimes I will post another picture of the garage. Or you can check out this thread.

https://ogrforum.com/...c/train-room-started

John Rowlen posted:

Lee,  Very nice detail work.  It adds greater interest and depth to the train layout.  I like to draw people into the details I have inside my buildings and passenger cars.

I am afraid to slow down.  My acrylic paints keep trying to gel, my brushes have just been replaced, and I might forget how I do all the figures.  There are very fine line indentations in the Preiser 65602 Seated figures: hairlines and clothing tracings that my eyes fortunately can still see under very bright light.  These fine lines are not on the Chinese copies.  That is when my memory takes over.  I can no longer say that I could paint these figures in my sleep, for when I dozed off yesterday , I painted brown hair over the people faces.

The fact is I am too cheap to pay Preiser $150.00 for 24 factory painted people.  The same people in the $30.00 65602 set come in five separate display boxes ranging between $27.00 for four people to $37.50-$45.00 for the six pack with the three babies and parents. (If you can find them)  Then add shipping from Germany on each box if the dealer only has one in stock.  I figure my painting has saved me over $15,000.00 so far on the 150 Preiser 65602 boxes I have purchased, with only 15 left to paint.  I also did over 800 China figures.  When I finish, my current 139 passenger cars will total 168 detailed cars.

Painting the people and detailing the passenger cars is what I do as I wait to help my mother when she gets up in the middle of the night.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Preiser individual packs shown below.

John 

I like using  acrylic paint also it flows easy and works great for me and I would rather buy unpainted figs and paint them the way I want and like you it’s cheaper 

mike g. posted:

Morning Dave and everyone else! I got out of my Jammies and took some pictures for you all! Its quite a mess as I haven't been in there for a few days as you all know. But do me a favor and enjoy! LOL I included a picture of the one Tortious switch machine I have installed and the next one waiting for cork!

Mike

I like the way your layout is coming along. Wow you still have a lot of snow 

chris a posted:

Mike G:  Looks like a "well organized" mess to me !   I assume the Tortoise control we discussed is working. 

Mayor Magoo:   The gooseneck lights look great, they really add a lot to any building.  

Paul:  The gorge is looking really good.   I haven't modeled any "water", one of these days !

Andy,  Nice job on the retaining wall.   If you have to build more and decide you want something slightly different looking so they're not all the same, here's a photo of an 8 foot long Concrete retaining wall section I built late 2017.    I kind of built myself "into a corner" so the wall had to be less than 1/4 inch thick to maintain clearance on the lower level.  Ended up using 1/8 inch masonite and 1/16 inch fun foam for the "raised sections".  Actually worked pretty well as 1/16 inch  = 3 inches in full prototype size

 

Chris

I like that NKP Boxcar weathering is nice 

paul 2 posted:

Great posts everyone. It took me a while to catch up.

Mike g, the layout is really coming together. Nice work and pics.

Chris a, good job on the building. Came out great. I like your idea with the lighting.

Well the tree situation is behind me now. Once they got the tree of the house I ended up with only a small amount of roof damage where the tree landed on the house. Especially considering the attic layout could of been damaged. Still have to get estimate for the roof damage but this morning it was great to get back to what I like best. Working on the layout. This morning I finally glued down the ground foam I had put down weeks ago. Then I added the fourth and final coat of water. So when that dries I can start adding my white water effects. I still have to decide how I am going to paint the river on the backdrop and how I will angle it into the scenery which I am going to paint in myself. Pics......Paul

Things are coming along nicely great pics can’t way for more updates

Chris, thank you for the kind words, and the wall suggestion with a picture. That looks great! 

Andy

Guys

looks like another productive day for most. There was several BIG intermodal trains come in this week again nothing done due to work here’s the score

Work.  3

Lee.    0 

Maybe it will level off soon and it will be back to normal for awhile. Oh well more money for model railroading. 

Mike g, it’s great to see your train room again, looks great, and I like your construction work, looks very sturdy.  

Paul 2, wow, your layouts coming right along and looking good to.

Chris A, Wow, very nice retaining walls, a really great looking 4 story building in progress, and your trackwork is great....you move quickly....Great progress.  

This thread is an education in itself, everyone’s contributions are beneficial to all of us.  Happy Railroading..

mike g. posted:

briansilvermustang posted:

mike g. posted:

Brian, as always nice train! Red sure is a nice color, but not as nice as orange & black, or Green and white! LOL

 

 

 

 

 

Nobody can stump the ‘silvermustang! Brain always comes through

JD2035RR posted:

mike g. posted:

briansilvermustang posted:

mike g. posted:

Brian, as always nice train! Red sure is a nice color, but not as nice as orange & black, or Green and white! LOL

 

 

 

 

 

Nobody can stump the ‘silvermustang! Brain always comes through

JD, you are so right! But I have noticed now that he has Marci and Izzy he is a little slow at responding! LOL But he always has what your looking for! Even a new car that he gets to ride in! I am not to sure Marci will let him drive! LOL

Brian, You are the man!

leapinlarry posted:

Mike g, it’s great to see your train room again, looks great, and I like your construction work, looks very sturdy.  

Paul 2, wow, your layouts coming right along and looking good to.

Chris A, Wow, very nice retaining walls, a really great looking 4 story building in progress, and your trackwork is great....you move quickly....Great progress.  

This thread is an education in itself, everyone’s contributions are beneficial to all of us.  Happy Railroading..

 

Larry, thank you! I hope to get something done this weekend if not for sure a little next week!

John Rowlen posted:

And they complain about “man-spreading”   

My latest adventures in model railroading have been to replace 8 defective lamp stands that came with my remote switch fastrack switch tracks.  I bought 18, 9 left hand, 9 right hand, just worked out that way, and all but one of the nine left hand switches LED's didn't work.  Defective is a harsh word, so I will just say, non-working right out of the box.  The track portion worked fine, but the bulbs were dead.  So I have been replacing the lamp stands rather than the bulbs.  I tested a non-working stands to see if it might have been something I wasn't doing, but nope, the bulb was shot.  Replacing a bulb practically requires a degree in clock repair, at least I saw no easy way to remove the old one, so getting 8 lamp stands was easier.  All 8 of the new ones work.  Nothing different.  Install, hook the track to the oval, turn on the system, light works.

Another adventure was the art of making signage.  I have 18 switches and wanted to mark all 18 of them with the name and number as they appear on my DCS remote.  I won't go into what I named each of the 18 pieces, but one of them, number 4 in order of listing, is Ohio.  To answer the question, "is there a Baltimore?" Yes.  Number 8.  There is also an Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe switch.  So maybe I did sort of go into what I named them.  Anyway, other than the lights on the switches, I had no way of knowing at a glance what switch I was needing to open or close so I asked my daughter to make me 36 small signs, two for each switch, with the "postal code" name on top and the assigned number under it.  Atchison is AT, Topeka is TO, Ohio is OH, just like it's cousin the actual state.  I then bought a bag of 500 skinny short wooden sticks shaped like tiny little 4x4 posts.  Using glue I glued each set of signs to a post.  When it was finished, Ohio, for example, had a sign that my engineer could read going either direction and I had a sign I could read at a distance that quickly told me to open or close the Ohio switch, and that it was number 4 in on my list.  I've gotten better at it the more I run the trains, but come on, it's a layout and signs add detail.

To make them stand up, I bought two boxes of 20 Madison Mill 1/2 round dowel plugs and using trial and error and a drill press, plus a vice and my usually off eye, I drilled one 1/8 inch hole in the "middle" give or take, of the plug about 3/16 of an inch deep.

The hole was just the right size to accept the stick which by the way was cut to scale to be about 7 feet tall.  I poured glue in the hole to make sure the stick stuck in the hole.  I then bought some of those Velcro round tabs and used the hook side.  Marry hook Velcro and porch carpet and you get the same relationship as the loop side or fuzzy side.  I also had her create stop signs and EOT or End of Train signs for my parking areas. 

Paul 2, the waterfall is coming along nicely.

John Rowlen, great job on the painting those figures.

Chris A, I like your retaining walls. I am in the same boat, trying to change up the walls so it is not completely concrete.

On that note, I finished working on the arched wall and installing in on the layout. I know the back of my legs are going to be killing me tomorrow, since I can already feel them aching. 

I installed the N scale Architect sheeting in the openings I wanted bricked in, then I cut a 3/4" plywood template to go into the arch. This allowed me something to hold the strip of brick sheet against while the hot glue cooled and keep the arch liners fairly straight.

I'll touch up any paint that has any hot glue around arch edges tomorrow.

Al,  The brick walls with the arches look great beneath the city above.   Nice architectural lines in the large retaining wall without drawing too much attention away from the foreground scenery and it blends really well with the large tall buildings above.   Excellent.  

Uh oh. Had our first 187 at the station tonight. 

Thank you Chris

All, the arches look great! made just like it was there before they even started to build the city above! Nice work!

Kevin, I sure hope everyone got out ok! Nice setup! LOL

Brian, Good morning! Wonderful pictures! I hope you have a great day and when you get home tell Marci and Izzy I said Hi!