What did you do on your layout today?

Got out the rubbing alcohol and scrubbed my HO and N scale rails. Then I FINALLY finished construction on the Archie Harrison Supercomputer. 

mike g. posted:

Evening everyone, I hope you all had a great day!

Brian, Great Chessie Pictures! You sure know how to catch them all in the best pose! LOL I am glad you like the change to the Morton Building!

John, that Santa Fe Auto Parts car sure is one sharp looking car! I just might have to get one down the road some day!

Johan, Thank you sir! Your Always welcome here and who knows maybe one day I will get back to Europe! 

John R, Thank you sir! I agree it is a puzzle game! Sometimes it takes a few try's to get things to fit! I am sorry that your down sizing, but I guess we all will one day!

Paul 2, Thank you also! Not really getting a lot done just little things here and there! I sure hope the ground wire or the cleaning fix your power problem! 

LEE D. You sure have a cool looking layout with some great vehicles! I could look at it all day, very cool!

Elliot, here is a picture for you cause your not getting any. Its the finished Kit bash of the Morton building, I repainted the silo and stand, the piping coming from it. So now all I have to di is wire it up and get track to go threw it! LOL

Everyone have a great Thursday AKA PREFRIDAY! 

Mike. Thank you very much. That woukd be a super nice.  Welcome anytime. 🤝

Well it didn't me long to upgrade. My "blue dip" GP9 dummy now has cab figures, LED headlight (long hood forward of course)  with on/off switch, correct fuel tank and detailed Premier step pilots with cut bar. 

mike g. posted:

Good morning everyone!

Mark, I am sure you could find something to do with the old house, maybe rent it? 

Johan, great looking car and what a wonderful scene!

John R. I am so sorry your going threw some much trouble with your engines! But I am sure glad that your Lionel dealer has stepped up to take care of you! I hope MOM is doing well!

So yesterday after work I came home and did a little work in the train room. I was trying to figure out my building placements on the siding and I really wanted to have the Morton salt building along the very back. SO I did a little kit bashing and was able to move the silo from the back to the top which gave me a little room after cutting a small square section out for the duct work. Please forgive me Mark the Menards guy! I really like the building and knew where I really really wanted it!  It was a real PIA to get the grass off of the bottom of the silo legs but I got it and went out this morning at 4AM and repainted it so it will be dry when I get home from work!

Here are a couple pictures. give me your thoughts!

Yee Ha~! It's hump day!  Everyone have a great day, its almost the weekend! LOL

Mike, Renting it out is one option!  Unfortunately I don't want to become a slum lord in a rural area being inundated with new construction.  Besides the place needs so much to keep the modern family happy.  The interior is virtually unchanged from my dad's first recollections in the '30s except he said they got their first furnace in 1936.  Our daughter suggested it should be a historic landmark, but nothing happened there and on one of any notoriety ever lived there!  

On to the Morton building!  You did a great job on it!  Better make sure the Salt Girl doesn't spill any salt on the tracks!  

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

Paul, you were brave enough to drive out here. I'm waiting for everyone else to bite. Nothin' but crickets in my email for the picnic so far. Wake up guys!

Paul is the Man!!  And Shirley is a trooper as well!  I'm not much farther than Paul, but I will have to ask for a rain check and hope for the 2020 picnic!  

Ralph M posted:

Well it didn't me long to upgrade. My "blue dip" GP9 dummy now has cab figures, LED headlight (long hood forward of course)  with on/off switch, correct fuel tank and detailed Premier step pilots with cut bar. 

Ralph, units just like that used to run through Valencia Pennsylvania when I was a kid!  The engineer would always wave while I was waiting on my bicycle!!

Mark Boyce posted:

Ralph M posted:

Well it didn't me long to upgrade. My "blue dip" GP9 dummy now has cab figures, LED headlight (long hood forward of course)  with on/off switch, correct fuel tank and detailed Premier step pilots with cut bar. 

Ralph, units just like that used to run through Valencia Pennsylvania when I was a kid!  The engineer would always wave while I was waiting on my bicycle!!

Thanks Mark. This is the look I was going for - what they look like after years and years. I've still got some weathering to do. 

(John C Durant photo)

Ralph M posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

Ralph M posted:

Well it didn't me long to upgrade. My "blue dip" GP9 dummy now has cab figures, LED headlight (long hood forward of course)  with on/off switch, correct fuel tank and detailed Premier step pilots with cut bar. 

Ralph, units just like that used to run through Valencia Pennsylvania when I was a kid!  The engineer would always wave while I was waiting on my bicycle!!

Thanks Mark. This is the look I was going for - what they look like after years and years. I've still got some weathering to do. 

(John C Durant photo)

And look at that, you are only one digit off on the road number.  Must be the right series of numbers!

Evening everyone, I hope you all had a great day!

Brian, great pictures! Anything new on your new layout? I am sure Marci is keeping you busy, plus you have to take the time to get Izzy her ice cream! LOL

Greg, its a start! Slow and easy as you move forward! LOL

Vincent, looks good. Do you still get OGR on that? LOL

Johan, your more then welcome! I love everything you post! The wife says one day when I bring up a trip to Europe. I want to take her to show here where I was an Embassy Guard and everything else! LOL

Ralph Nice work! Now that you got your engines mostly done, what's next?

Mark, thank you sir. I think your daughter is on the right path, how many buildings that old still around that you could truly live in? Plus there was some notoriety there! Your Dad and Mom lived there, then of course you came along! What more do you need! LOL

Today after work I went out and set up a ventilation system and painted some track, I really like how it looks and I used earth Brown from Rust-o-leum thanks to Dave AKA Darlander! I think it looks great, now I have to move a lot of stuff to paint the other end!

BEFORE                                                                                         AFTER                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Mike g, track looks good. 

BRIAN, you always seem to find good pics to post along with your engines and cars.

Today I had to work in the yard, cut grass and plant grass. Because it looks like rain through the weekend. But after dinner I managed to put some time in on the layout. Am I making headway not really. Still working the problem. I added all the ground wires and fired up the track only to find I still have the problem of the engine stopping in the same spot. I rechecked all the track with a voltage meter and with the transformer set at 17 volts that is what I was getting all the way through the track to the very end. The only thing left to do it clean the track real good to see if that is the problem. I sure hope that will be the solution. Pic..............Paul 2

Paul 2, I sure hope cleaning works! I have no idea what would be the next step! Sorry!

Well my Mom and Brother are coming over from Seattle area today after I get done Tubing and I hope to have a nice visit with them. They haven't see the train room since the bench work has been up so I hope they are surprised! After they leave I will move things around so I can hope to get the rest of the track I have down painted, if not I have the weekend!

Well folks, its FRIDAY! I hope everyone has a great weekend

Paul, I sure hope cleaning takes care of it.  Surely there isn’t an uneven spot in the track where the engine doesn’t make contact. I hope you get it solved today.

Mike have a great visit with your mother and brother!!

Mark Boyce posted:

Paul, I sure hope cleaning takes care of it.  Surely there isn’t an uneven spot in the track where the engine doesn’t make contact. I hope you get it solved today.

Mike have a great visit with your mother and brother!!

Thanks Mark, I haven't seen them in almost a year, do to everyone's doctors appointments! LOL Should be a nice day!

I added an 0-6-0 C&O steamer to my lay-out, giving me five trains running at a time. There was a slowdown on one straight track, and it seems that a pin is defective. I replaced the straight track, and the train runs fine.

Paul - I already had you and Shirley penciled in. I'll go over it with ink.

Mike - The layout is really coming to life, and the Morton Salt building turned out great.

GuitarMike - I'm not sure if a spray bottle would work, but I kind of doubt it. A few problems with that idea. First, if you could get the mix thin enough to go through it, it probably wouldn't cover very well. Then there's the matter that the mist isn't very fine, and the large droplets would want to bead up on the rail. Finally, your finger would get very tired. You will still have over spray, but it won't travel as far, because of the lower pressure. You are welcome to try, I think I'll stick with my method. There is one more thing I could do to improve my fan method, and that would be to add a three sided box, to form something of a booth effect, better directing the air through the fan and filter, reducing the amount of dust escaping. Moving it is just an extra hassle when painting. Flip a coin between that and the dust. Slow you down while doing it or after to clean it up. Can't win.

Mark - Don't wait too many years.

Well guys, I did it again, I tripped and fell. This time I did my right knee almost exactly six months after I did the left one. I was upstairs putting away some groceries, and I just didn't pick up my right foot enough. It was like my toe just hit something sticky on the floor, and I lost my balance, then BOOM. There wasn't anything on the floor.

The funny thing was, I was just planning on going downstairs to work on the layout for the first time since the layout tour. The good news is, I didn't land on the concrete this time. The bad news is, it hurts just as bad as the last time, maybe even a little worse. I can't even get off the couch without help from my wife. That said, just think of all the other things I can't get up from without help. It definitely slows down trips to the refrigerator, not my idea of a diet plan though. Haven't been to the doctor yet, maybe Monday. I can't even drive like this.  

Elliot, my wife and I send you our best wishes and prayers. We hope that your knee is all right.

UGHHHH- sorry to hear that Elliot. Keep it elevated and iced. Hope it is not too serious.

Bob

mike g. posted:

Evening everyone, I hope you all had a great day!

Brian, great pictures! Anything new on your new layout? I am sure Marci is keeping you busy, plus you have to take the time to get Izzy her ice cream! LOL

Greg, its a start! Slow and easy as you move forward! LOL

Vincent, looks good. Do you still get OGR on that? LOL

Johan, your more then welcome! I love everything you post! The wife says one day when I bring up a trip to Europe. I want to take her to show here where I was an Embassy Guard and everything else! LOL

Ralph Nice work! Now that you got your engines mostly done, what's next?

Mark, thank you sir. I think your daughter is on the right path, how many buildings that old still around that you could truly live in? Plus there was some notoriety there! Your Dad and Mom lived there, then of course you came along! What more do you need! LOL

Today after work I went out and set up a ventilation system and painted some track, I really like how it looks and I used earth Brown from Rust-o-leum thanks to Dave AKA Darlander! I think it looks great, now I have to move a lot of stuff to paint the other end!

BEFORE                                                                                         AFTER                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Mike. Thank you. Sound a you must a plan some trip. Where in Europe you have been a working? 

Johan

Mike G, the five trains include one N gauge, Two HO gauges, and two Lego dead rails that are a little bigger than O gauge.

Elliot, Mark - Don't wait too many years.   How right you are!!  None of us know how many years we have left where we can get around.  I am so sorry about your fall!  I hope you recover quickly.  I am well aware of the possibility of falling.  Since I had the damaged sciatic nerve in November, I have a drop toe where I have to really pay attention to my walking.  I have caught the toe of my shoe even on carpet.  So far I have only twisted the other knee that I have been getting the shots in to hold out a couple more years before a knee replacement.  However, I could easily go down and really tear something up.  We are getting our finances in order as forced retirement is coming to my wife as to me.  Once we start getting my Social Security checks, my wife's pension, and move around some investments, we should have a better idea of how to spend.  Right now we got caught a bit off guard and there isn't much coming in each month. 

Johan, The Altoona a car looks great!  The Horseshoe curve is only about 50 miles form where I live.

John, That is a great photograph of trains on your new track!

Jeepers Elliot, please be careful. Look before you walk. I hope the pain subsides quickly.

Mark, sometimes we just have to align ourselves to the fact as we get older we have to more and more watch out around us and take it slower.

John, very nice work on the module.

Johan, that's another good looking car. 

Another day went by with errands before I could get down to the layout. But I may have turned the corner. I borrowed the wife's swifter and  took a microfiber cutting it to fit the swifter. I had bought a can of denatured alcohol.  Attaching the microfiber to the swifter I wetted the rag placing it on the track and rubbing it back and forth as far as i could reach. Then I went around to the other side and did the same thing. I let it dry for a bit then I got an engine and started running it through. After a couple of tries I now can run the train all the way through. I still have a slight problem with signal. But tomorrow after I hit a train show in Middleburg heights I'll change out the batteries for fresh ones in the legacy and the DCS. To further clean the track I have to find my track cleaning car or borrow one from one of the guys in the club. So I really feel good with the way it went tonight. Some pics......Paul 2

Paul, You are absolutely right!  Thank you for identifying with me! 

I am glad you got trains moving, albeit not perfectly.  I could see a low radio signal for Lionel.  But you should have great DCS signal through the rails.

Well folks, it's done.  My train room is officially open for business.

It was a big day on my mountain.  By 9:00am I had 14 feet of fence down.  Then the waiting....  At 3:08 a new-to-me building was on it's way to me.  

This is the new location (forth since October) for the Bald Rock Mountain Railroad.  I will have to run power to the building.  Any idea how much total current I should design around including lights and a small heater.  The building interior is 8x8.  Do y'all think 30 amps are enough.

I will finish putting the fence up tomorrow.

Odenville Bill posted:

It was a big day on my mountain.  By 9:00am I had 14 feet of fence down.  Then the waiting....  At 3:08 a new-to-me building was on it's way to me.  

This is the new location (forth since October) for the Bald Rock Mountain Railroad.  I will have to run power to the building.  Any idea how much total current I should design around including lights and a small heater.  The building interior is 8x8.  Do y'all think 30 amps are enough.

I will finish putting the fence up tomorrow.

The small heater is the wild card. Could be 7A, could be 15. I'd pick the heater then calculate power.

The building looks great !!!!

Yardmaster96 posted:

Well folks, it's done.  My train room is officially open for business.

Those photos show that you have a very well-designed room.

Woops, I hit enter too soon.  Now that I have all my pictures attached.  The track frame is 1/4 inch angle iron set atop 1/4 inch flat steel formed in the shape of an L lag bolted to the columns.  The track sits atop 1/2 inch Styrofoam pads cut from 4x8 sheets.  The curves are 1/4 inch steel arcs painstakingly measured and designed by my friend Hunter.  Once cut out they were set with clamps, and the mounting pieces, which I showed you in the photos, were measured out and cut, drilled, tapped, and low and behold they worked.  Curve 3 got messed up big time so Hunter elongated the holes and solved the problem.  Once the curves were on, the Styrofoam went quick, but the booster drops were a pain.

I used Fastrack because I had Fastrack on hand.  I promised a picture of the Burger King locomotive, well, there it is.  It has a Hershey tanker, a Wheaties box car, a Lobsterville vat car, or as I call it, a mistake buy.  Thought it said Red Lobster.  A Crayola caboose and my favorite, the Morton Salt hopper.

I added pics of how the wiring was run.  Starts at the transformer, feeds the TIU through the Variable 1 in ports, then feeds the track through the variable 1 out ports, by snaking its way down through the floor of the shelf, behind a fake wall at the back of the cabinet, down under the bottom of the last shelf out through the face of the bottom of the cabinet under the porch carpet I used for a floor cover making a noticeable bump, then through the wall of the column, picture shows the outlet cover I used to cover the box.  Once there it snakes upward toward another outlet cover and using sticky back Velcro I moved it along the wall, up to the hanger face, and over to the access point I showed you in yet another picture.  Once through the Styrofoam, it connects to the 10 inch track piece above it, and then using red and black 18 gauge wire I ran booster drops off this piece to pieces at the beginning and opposite side of each curve. 

Once completed, I set the loco on the track, and after some tweeks and a learning curve, it ratcheted around the track forward and backwards with no issues.  I kept adding cars one at a time to test its pulling power and settled on the ones mentioned above and shown in the picture.

I added pictures of my DT&I Yardmaster set that I got from Santa in 1971.  I also added a picture of my old toy chest, now a storage chest, that my maternal grandfather built for me in 1965.  53 years it finally has a home it can be proud of.  A note, if you look at the picture closely, a fishing rod sits to the right of it.  This is the rod my paternal grandfather used once before he died.  I used it to catch an 8 pound Bass in 1995.  Finally I added a picture of 3 of my 5 trains.  Just thought you might like to see them.  All of you have been so nice to add pictures of your train set ups.  I've enjoyed looking at all of them.  I hope you enjoyed seeing a small part of mine.

Now I have a question.  My SD 70 ACE has suddenly begun to throw sparks from the pickup wheels.  None of my other four locomotives do this.  I assumed dirty track, dirty wheels, but the other four run the same track, no sparks.  They've been dormant for several weeks now since I have been finishing Liam's track.  I have a propane heater in the room.  Any ideas as to why one would suddenly start sparking and the others don't?

Thanks

John

Thanks Vincent.  Up close you can tell i'm not a carpenter, well, drywaller.  My sister helped me with most of it.  The columns were there, the grandson track was an after thought.  But considering it used to be a water cistern, I'm pleased with the results.

Cut, fit, assembled, disassembled and glued some 50+ popsicle sticks. 

Cleaning up scap wood I paused to make large ..?...Scrapwood bin? Coal? Firewood? Produce /Eggs for sale?  

  The stick was whittled to smaller than toothpick diameter and a small piece of Scotchbrite was used for broom bristles...one with the good oak handle...red oak

I painted the bin as a colorful Farm stand.

The hinge is vinyl pin stripe. I added 3 prop-stick pole holes .... and built my 5th prop-pole in 28hrs.

Not because it needs 3 sticks. Not for different heights or because I broke any. NOooOo, I just keep loosing them 🐒

  "At the house" is coming off in favor of "up the drive" or I might skip it. The scrollwork has to go too .  I didn't even sand it, so lots of brush ridges making lettering HARD too. Like trying to write on a napkin on your stearing wheel, the mechanical pencil wanted to rip at the fresh acrylic paint.

 One small self serve sign, and some hanging "veggie of the day" signs too? I can fit Dill & Oats up top too; I just wanted to eyeball it all once with the camera for mistakes.  The roof is grey while I consider billboard art.  It will be an ad in the upper left (7up? The Vernors Gnome (right colors), Burma Shave joke, etc. et  & "closed" in the lower right; 25/75 diagnal seperating boarder between them.

I think  needs red pink and blue for text &/or bullets/etc. for another "color pop".

Mark Boyce posted:

Elliot, Mark - Don't wait too many years.   How right you are!!  None of us know how many years we have left where we can get around.  I am so sorry about your fall!  I hope you recover quickly.  I am well aware of the possibility of falling.  Since I had the damaged sciatic nerve in November, I have a drop toe where I have to really pay attention to my walking.  I have caught the toe of my shoe even on carpet.  So far I have only twisted the other knee that I have been getting the shots in to hold out a couple more years before a knee replacement.  However, I could easily go down and really tear something up.  We are getting our finances in order as forced retirement is coming to my wife as to me.  Once we start getting my Social Security checks, my wife's pension, and move around some investments, we should have a better idea of how to spend.  Right now we got caught a bit off guard and there isn't much coming in each month. 

Johan, The Altoona a car looks great!  The Horseshoe curve is only about 50 miles form where I live.

John, That is a great photograph of trains on your new track!

Mark. Thank you. That is a one place where i like visit some day.

Johan

Greetings all.

Nice to see all the great work on your layouts.

Paul- HORRAY! you found your problem. Glad a train finally made it all the way through.

Yardmaster- great looking train room. Very creative use of an old cistern.

Adriatic- very nice

Mark- sorry to hear about your current situation. Hope it all turns around soon.

Bill- Pick your heater first. Add that load plus 20 amps for lights and train power. Probably 30 Amps should be enough. Install a sub panel so you don't have to run back to the house to kill the power or re-set a breaker.

John- the new module looks great.

Mike G- nice work. The rail looks good painted. Enjoy the time with your family.

Johan- another nice box car.

Me? more yard work today. Finally sunny around here. Been raining so much I almost forgot what the sun looks like. I'm contemplating a change in my track plan going to my elevated loop....stay tuned.....

Bob

                      yard day today...

                          outside though...

                             painting,  trimming,  & weeding...

                       OK, time for a beer...

                                 have a GREAT weekend everyone !!!

Don't you just hate it when reality punches your best plans in the nose?  The new home of the Bald Rock Mountain Railroad is 8 feet by 8 feet.  On the outside.  My existing 8x8 layout will not fit in a 7' 3" square room.  Along with the new territory there will be a totally new layout.  Seeking good 7x7 plans now.

As suggested I will pick a heater first.  There will be a local breaker panel along with power "E-stop" buttons.  I'm starting from scratch on interior overhead lighting.  I'm thinking LED's everywhere.

The Railroad CFO said the fence can wait for a couple days of rest.  See rule #1.  I think I'll run a switch engine while I wait for some 7x7 inspiration . 

Today, me, my wonderful wife Terry and my cat Pumpkin assembled the track for the inner loop around our to-be redesigned City scene. We are adding a 2-track industrial siding next to the zoo as well as a spur onto the city wharf, a stub track for switch engine storage and switches to allow trains to pass from the inner to the outer loop and back again at 2 points around the city to facilitate switching operations. Terry and I were both on the platform at different times assembling track and it was Pumpkin's job to rub against us and walk between our arms and legs as we knelt on all 4's doing our work. Pumpkin will be very disappointed when the layout is back together with full scenery and trains. Now, in its stripped-down form, the layout serves as Pumpkin's playground. Afterwards, we ate a bottle of Motrin and collapsed.

Guys everyone has so much great stuff going on 

Brian great yards very nice

Elliot. I also will be praying for you This September I’ll be driving 30yrs I’m 50 and had hip and knee trouble since my teens. I feel your pain 

Paul. I like that crossover and your layout is looking nice

Johan. Always enjoy your reefers cars I have  a soft spot for them

John. That’s a great pic of your layout 

Mike. Your layout is really coming together and thanks for the complement