What did you do on your layout today?

Lou1985 posted:

samparfitt posted:

BEFORE/AFTER:

Looks great. Is that foam or plaster, or a combination?

Lou,

The rocks, etc is all plaster using rubber rock molds.  This was done back in the 80's, before we knew about using foam. 

Sam

Paul, Thank you!  I do like the AS-616.

Brian, Great photographs!  I think Marci and Izzy are doing a great job!

Lou, The Ross switches look great!

Sam, the scenery really looks great with the greenery!

          thanks Mark,  I'll let Marci and Izzy know...

Switched the Petrolia Man. Spotted incoming cars, pulled the outgoing loads/empties and assembled the train now ready for the run back to Butler.

The refinery track has been pulled and it's loads assembled into the train (left string of cars). Now the empties are being spotted on the refinery track. A very busy little railroad. 

Lew

Hi guys, sorry for all the likes. But I am still on my phone and not a very good typer on here! But I do want to say what great things are going on here!

I hope to get the computer back up Friday, the teenager next door says he can fix it! He seems to know all that stuff behind the working of a Pc.

LaramieJoe posted:

Steamfan77 posted:

Mark, Joe, I’ve seen it from the other side of things. I used to work for Verizon, and I’ve been in many customer buildings and their data rooms. The customer records are so fouled up, they don’t let us touch anything. As a result, they wind up paying for circuits that are no longer in use. So, they blame us . Nice progress Paul, every little bit counts. Johan, I really enjoy your posts. Your work is top notch.

Andy

Andy, no offense intended. It was both party’s faults, really. And one only has to look under my train layout to know that I’m part of the problem!  🚂

No sweat Joe! I think we all have something to hide under our layouts 

Andy

Steamfan77 posted:

LaramieJoe posted:

Steamfan77 posted:

Mark, Joe, I’ve seen it from the other side of things. I used to work for Verizon, and I’ve been in many customer buildings and their data rooms. The customer records are so fouled up, they don’t let us touch anything. As a result, they wind up paying for circuits that are no longer in use. So, they blame us . Nice progress Paul, every little bit counts. Johan, I really enjoy your posts. Your work is top notch.

Andy

Andy, no offense intended. It was both party’s faults, really. And one only has to look under my train layout to know that I’m part of the problem!  🚂

No sweat Joe! I think we all have something to hide under our layouts 

Andy

I hide scary stuff under my layout!  Literally! I keep all my rare Halloween decorations under there!!  Well some of them lol 

Jim

Wow Jim! That space is very useful.

Andy

This thread is running like the 20th Century Limited highballing from New York to Chicago.    Haven't been here in about 36 hours, and that was 3 pages ago....   

Sam,  amazing transformation on the rock faces,  great job adding the vegetation and blending textures, colors.  Great pine trees, irregular shapes and unusually tall which makes them very realistic. 

Lou,  Nice job "shoe horning" those #4 Ross switches in there, as someone noted,  you did a great job of weathering the O27 trackwork.  

Mike G:  My HP Laptop crapped out last summer, ended up finding a local PC repair place that wiped it completely clean, reinstalled Windows 10 and then all my files/photos etc .   Wasn't fun but they got it done in 2 days for $125.00.   My other laptop blue screened and my daughter, computer science major, went in and reloaded the operating system off the windows web site.   We had to reload all the programs, apps and files/photos, but I had them all on back up disks.... Actually went pretty smoothly and it was FREE.   Hope you have a happy ending.  

Al,  Remington Factory looks good,  adding the 2nd brick color helps, but I understand the apprehension to do that after hours of weathering brickwork.  Been there, done that.  

I am sure I missed some, no offense meant,  feel like I am light years behind in a day and a half.   

I wired in my large Miller Engineering REA Express Animated sign today and installed a $2.00 DC/DC buck converter with meter to regulate the voltage down to 4.4 Volts,  took a while, but it's nice now that it goes on and off with layout power, no batteries, no switches etc.   Maybe photos tomorrow.   

Steamfan77 posted:

Wow Jim! That space is very useful.

Andy

It is very useful!  But that is only a fraction of my Halloween display!  

I switch it up from year to year.   Last year I only put out about 150 pieces.  But I ran them with a computer program to music.  

Waiting on my coaling tower and moo cows !!   Wife ordered them so I don't even know if they are shipped or going to be here tomorrow lol   

Jim

p51 posted:

Playing around with lighting in the window today

Very nice Lee

geysergazer posted:

Switched the Petrolia Man. Spotted incoming cars, pulled the outgoing loads/empties and assembled the train now ready for the run back to Butler.

                          

The refinery track has been pulled and it's loads assembled into the train (left string of cars). Now the empties are being spotted on the refinery track. A very busy little railroad. 

Lew

Lew 

I like that  layout plan 

LOU1985, Going to Ross switches improved the whole area and will give you smooth operation through them.

Sam, great job of that scene. It jumps out at you now. . 

Mike g, hope you get your computer back running.

Chris a, I will be looking for the pics of the REA sign tomorrow.

I appreciate all the great names you are calling me even though I haven't started to paint anything yet. Not sure if I will be able to start this because my daughter and grand daughter are coming in tomorrow and staying till Sunday. Going back to painting this will be my third time of painting a backdrop. The first two times are at the ends of the attic layout. ..............Paul

I ran my new Baltimore and Ohio GP9 #3419 that I fixed by adding e-clips to keep the gears aligned.  The horn has a very nice sound.  It pulled ten Lionel 21" Broadway Limited cars around my outside mainline.  My Erie PA ABA pulled 39 freight cars on the inner mainline.  An Erie E7AA unit pulled seven MTH Erie passenger smooth side cars behind the B&O on the outer mainline too.   It was fun for a change with three trains running at once..

I am hoping my new camera will allow me to take videos I can post on OGR Forum.  That might get me working again to finish the layout's upper level.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Jim, . That is some display! 

Andy

paul 2 posted:

This morning I went to Michaels and got all I needed to paint my own backdrop and this afternoon USPS dropped off my package from Scenic Express with more ground turf and white water paint. I was suppose to go to a Tuesday night get together tonight but the road I had to head out on had a huge multicar accident and with the snow showers coming down I talked myself out of driving to it because it was more then an hour one way. So I have been watching some Bob Ross episodes to refresh my mind so I can start painting tomorrow. Pics .................Paul

Paul, with all these supplies, it looks like you could become the new "Bob Ross" for scenic design!   I am looking forward to seeing your background develop.   Great work and thanks for posting the process.   Cheers, Dave

Model and Prototype.

Rio Grande passenger Fs climbed around that curve headed for Moffat Tunnel from the day of delivery until April 24, 1983 when the Rio Grande Zephyr was discontinued. Thirty years and more.

Lew

chris a posted:

 

Mike G:  My HP Laptop crapped out last summer, ended up finding a local PC repair place that wiped it completely clean, reinstalled Windows 10 and then all my files/photos etc .   Wasn't fun but they got it done in 2 days for $125.00.   My other laptop blue screened and my daughter, computer science major, went in and reloaded the operating system off the windows web site.   We had to reload all the programs, apps and files/photos, but I had them all on back up disks.... Actually went pretty smoothly and it was FREE.   Hope you have a happy ending.  

 

@mike g. Agreeing with Chris here. A blue screen of death is usually a function of a corrupted Windows installation (although it can occur in combination with hardware failures too). A re-load of Windows should do the trick. And do not buy Windows! I can help you (as a Microsoft alumni, I get deals -- wink, wink). Usually overnight. Let me know. 

geysergazer posted:

Model and Prototype.

                

Rio Grande passenger Fs climbed around that curve headed for Moffat Tunnel from the day of delivery until April 24, 1983 when the Rio Grande Zephyr was discontinued. Thirty years and more.

Lew

            hello Lew,  how about...  when the "Model and Prototype" intersect...

Oopsie! Brian, you caught me there. That B&M Geep I'm pretty sure never climbed the Hill out of Denver

Lew

                    sometimes you may have to suspend disbelief...

                                                as local freight rolls into Denver at sun down...

BEFORE/AFTER:

Before:

After:

6" and 12" conifers.

1 hour

2 hours.

These will enhance my 18" conifers. 

samparfitt posted:

BEFORE/AFTER:

Before:

After:

6" and 12" conifers.

1 hour

2 hours.

These will enhance my 18" conifers. 

I had forgotten this technique which I used on my "N" scale layout. Now you got me thinking of doing same to a bare area of my layout which needs a forest. Thanks and looks great.

Huh. I have a whole mountainside that could benefit from that process.

Lew

Samparfitt, those trees are excellent! Can you post a step by step?

Andy

Steamfan77 posted:

Samparfitt, those trees are excellent! Can you post a step by step?

Andy

Andy,

See the following posts. Page through this listed post plus those following for instructions.  The posts also includes how I added the ground bushes around the rocks. 

https://ogrforum.com/...50#83649678654692750                 

For making the 18" conifers and 12" deciduous trees see this post from Jan, 2017:  Again, you'll, also, have to look at a few posts past this initial posting.  The deciduous are several posts 'down'.

https://ogrforum.com/...76#70974704484727076

Sam

chris a posted:

Finally, moved the factory to the layout, hooked up the power, and took some photos.   It was worth all the extra time spent on the details.   

 

Chris fantastic work! This build really makes a statement, even in the rear of the layout. If this is the work you do for your background structures I can't imagine the ones in the foreground.

Dave

mike g. posted:

Well guys I did what Bob suggested, I went out this morning and ran a few more cars behind my ES44AC threw the 054 switches and curves. Did not bid well, all the cars I tried lifted when entering the switch and once again when entering the first curve back the other way! Lesson well learned!

So I did what any good Model Rail Road builder would do! I tore it out! LOL                                          I rand the same engine threw a 072 switch and had no problem, so the plan is to put in 2 072 reverse loops in place of the 054! I also packed up most of the cars I had on the layout while I do this! 

Yesterday MR. Brown brought a package for me so I moved my attention to putting down more cork in anticipation of my order of switches and 072 curves. I figure always have to keep moving forward! I dropped one of my yard  legs so I could have room to put a road in front of the Train Station and some parking!

Hey Mike,

You're a very smart man to do this now. Having peace of mind that your trains run good first, is paramount. Once you start other projects on the layout you don't want to have to worry if the trains are going to run well or not.

Dave

Chris, Absolutely beautiful work.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Thank you Sam!

Andy

Allan Miller posted:

I didn't do a darn thing.  Spent the day working on the next issue of the magazine, clearing ice off the driveway when I got home, fed and walked the pooch, and then just vegetated on the sofa for the remainder of the evening.

 

I hope to find some play time this coming weekend, after I put some of the outside Christmas lights and wreaths away.  They are now just taking up space stacked up on the garage floor.

Bangor & Aroostook GP7 #63 at Port Of Shark Bay. 

Dave & John,  thanks so much for the positive comments.   Dave, as crazy as it may sound,  my theory was to test and improve my scratch-building and kit-bashing skills on the "far away" buildings.   Probably went a little overboard, but it was a good way to practice different techniques and skills that I really had not fully developed.   The 4 story factory building in the post you copied has a pretty elaborate frame structure inside made of 1/4 x 1/4 quarter-sawn oak, obviously not necessary, but I needed 1/4 inch scale framing practice.   

Good news is I figure I am ready for the Union Station kitbash on the other end, that will be a foreground centerpiece building.   Once I am done building the last 3 modules that will complete the main line, I will have more than a few building requirements for a small city scene, mixed office space, residential, industrial buildings.   

Beautiful Work Gentlemen, 

BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Bangor & Aroostook GP7 #63 at Port Of Shark Bay. 

gandydancer1950 posted:

Allan Miller posted:

I didn't do a darn thing.  Spent the day working on the next issue of the magazine, clearing ice off the driveway when I got home, fed and walked the pooch, and then just vegetated on the sofa for the remainder of the evening.

 

I hope to find some play time this coming weekend, after I put some of the outside Christmas lights and wreaths away.  They are now just taking up space stacked up on the garage floor.

John Rowlen posted:

I ran my new Baltimore and Ohio GP9 #3419 that I fixed by adding e-clips to keep the gears aligned.  The horn has a very nice sound.  It pulled ten Lionel 21" Broadway Limited cars around my outside mainline.  My Erie PA ABA pulled 39 freight cars on the inner mainline.  An Erie E7AA unit pulled seven MTH Erie passenger smooth side cars behind the B&O on the outer mainline too.   It was fun for a change with three trains running at once..

I am hoping my new camera will allow me to take videos I can post on OGR Forum.  That might get me working again to finish the layout's upper level.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

luvindemtrains posted:

chris a posted:

Finally, moved the factory to the layout, hooked up the power, and took some photos.   It was worth all the extra time spent on the details.   

 

Chris fantastic work! This build really makes a statement, even in the rear of the layout. If this is the work you do for your background structures I can't imagine the ones in the foreground.

Dave

And that’s my working on the railroad today, Everyone your pictures are fantastic. The new computer age is bringing us closer and closer together, Amazing. The pictures below are from FarmerJohns Beautiful Layout in Kentucky...Enjoy....

Happy Railroading....

I did not work on the layout today. BUT  Mitch "Gi-raffes" Marmel had surgery this morning at Mercy Hospital in Rogers Arkansas.

I checked on him this afternoon and he is doing great.  He said that fortescue supervised the doctors with the surgery and now is with Mitch in the room keeping a watch over him and checking out all the nurses.  Norma was not happy that he could not help with the surgery but is watching over the gi-raffes at home.  The doctors did a "Under the Hood" on Mitch but will not release any pictures or video.

Mitch,  Glad to hear surgery went well.  Get better soon.  

Best wishes, John Rowlen

Hey Mitch, get well soon!!!!!

Mitch, keeping you in our thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery!  Dave & B Arlander

Paul,   Wanted to make sure I "honored" your request for a photo of the REA Express sign,  my only problem,  is I have to turn the flood lights down to see it operating !   What a "luxury problem" that is...

Finally closed up that ugly gap in the corner of my back drop, man was I tired of looking at that open seam !!!

Larry, thanks for the photos, those bridges on FarmerJohh's layout are awesome

Johan,  what a great scene and well done photo, that flat car load is another gem ! 

chris a posted:

Dave & John,  thanks so much for the positive comments.   Dave, as crazy as it may sound,  my theory was to test and improve my scratch-building and kit-bashing skills on the "far away" buildings.   Probably went a little overboard, but it was a good way to practice different techniques and skills that I really had not fully developed.   The 4 story factory building in the post you copied has a pretty elaborate frame structure inside made of 1/4 x 1/4 quarter-sawn oak, obviously not necessary, but I needed 1/4 inch scale framing practice.   

Good news is I figure I am ready for the Union Station kitbash on the other end, that will be a foreground centerpiece building.   Once I am done building the last 3 modules that will complete the main line, I will have more than a few building requirements for a small city scene, mixed office space, residential, industrial buildings.   

great modeling Chris!