What did you do on your layout today?

Lee, ours is the small Cape Cod plan with two rooms upstairs with the stairwell in the center of the one room. I have one room for trains and my Roomie of almost 48yrs has the other room for a sewing room. No dormers in ours so the South room has windows in the end wall facing South and the sewing room has windows in thbeend wall facing North. We actually upsized with this house as it is 1080 sqft 3 BR while our previous house was a little under 800 soft 2 BR.

Lew I love "Roomie".

Dave

luvindemtrains posted:

Lew I love "Roomie".

Dave

Dave, I stole that from a Pittsburgh radio personality who on air always referred to his Better Half as his "Roomie". 

On Edit: The name of the Pittsburgh guy is Jack Bogut.

Facia done and wiring tucked out of sight:

Someday I'll paint the fascia and all the exposed framing. Was thinking of black or dark brown but could do the same color as the walls. I dunno'. Thoughts, anyone?

Yes I know I am not stopping by near enough, kind of buried at work!   I am actually down in the basement today trying to finish laying my 5 yard tracks which will eventually be sitting under a station kit bash like the one Scott (B&O fan) built above.  

Scott outstanding job on the B & O station.    Could you post any other photos.   I am hoping to embark on this kitbash in October/November, so any insights you have from your build would be most appreciated.   I already have my 4 MTH station buildings, just haven't gotten them out and started the planning/cutting phase. 

Lighting really adds to your scene.

like it!😄

geysergazer posted:

Facia done and wiring tucked out of sight:

         

         

Someday I'll paint the fascia and all the exposed framing. Was thinking of black or dark brown but could do the same color as the walls. I dunno'. Thoughts, anyone?

Most folks will say black to make the layout pop.

At the request of my "roomie" 🥰 I did the same color as the room.

chris a posted:

Finally got my train station wired up and added lights out front.

Yes I know I am not stopping by near enough, kind of buried at work!   I am actually down in the basement today trying to finish laying my 5 yard tracks which will eventually be sitting under a station kit bash like the one above.  

Scott outstanding job on the B & O station.    Could you post any other photos.   I am hoping to embark on this kitbash in October/November, so any insights you have from your build would be most appreciated.   I already have my 4 MTH station buildings, just haven't gotten them out and started the planning/cutting phase. 

Chris - thanks, biggest thing is to really take your time with the center entrance section. That was the most difficult part to work out.

The handsaws with the assorted blades I got from micromark. Ended up using all 4 for different areas. Clamping a 12 inch steel ruler on the areas you intend to cut helps a lot. 

The dome and skylights came from plastruct. I used self adhesive strips from Michael's for making the detail lines on both. It's meant for making lead lines for painted stained glass.

The other thing to watch is the internal supports that are molded into the MTH structures, they'll make it more difficult to cut the walls. The posts for screwing the banks together can mostly be ripped out by twisting with pliers. Try and plan on saving about an inch around each corner, makes it easier to use the wall block lines as a guide to cut.

I'll get some other  photos soon.

Thanks Scott 

Installed another background photo and got my first stoplight wired up and installed. 

Lew, looking good.

Jim, nice progress with your layout. You have been able to ge a lot done.

Chris a, staion looks great.

Mark, glad you were feeling better and was able to make the trip to our neck of the woods for breakfast.

The first half of the day was spent out having breakfast with the Northeast ohio group and then a layout tour. All in all a great day out. When I got home there was a package waiting for me on the steps. I had seen this car on the "B". It sorted of caught my eye so I was able to get it. It's slightly weathered and I have to change out the couplers and trucks because it is two rail. I don't know if it is a real name on the side or a fictional one but it doesn't matter I like it. No work on the layouts but I added this to the layout . Pic.............Paul 2

Scott thanks very much for the details and notes....   I really like the "dome on the roof"  great addition. 

Paul, my error,  I copied Scott's comment and photo from an earlier post, should have just copied the photo.   I was asking for any "build notes, hints and details" that I might borrow to help make my effort more successful

Hence,  that awesome B & O station is not mine !!   Hopefully mine will come out that good when I get around to kit bashing it this fall.  All the credit goes to Scott (B & O Fan) as all the photos are of his build!  

As for me, I am still working underground trying to get the passenger station yard tracks completed today.  I'll post some photos later tonight. 

Did a little work on the pit (top border) and painted the turntable bridge. 

Ralph M posted:

I bought this RailKing Imperial USRA 0-8-0 in New Haven in 2016. It was on sale at a ridiculous discount and even though I really wanted one in WM I bought it anyway because it was such a deal. I reasoned that I could just re-decal it for WM later. What I didn’t count on was not being able to find any O scale WM steam locomotive decals  for 3 years– until now!

At first I wasn’t going to use the Fireball logo but I’m glad I did. - it really adds some zip to an otherwise all black loco. I looked at old photos of WM 0-8-0’s and noted that those that got the Fireball logo only got that and the letters “Western Maryland" but no pin stripes. I'll probab1y re-number the loco to match the WM roster,

The Fireball always looks great!!  Excellent job Ralph!

geysergazer posted:

luvindemtrains posted:

Lew I love "Roomie".

Dave

Dave, I stole that from a Pittsburgh radio personality who on air always referred to his Better Half as his "Roomie". 

On Edit: The name of the Pittsburgh guy is Jack Bogut.

Lew, I remember Jack Bogut and Roomie!

paul 2 posted:

Lew, looking good.

Jim, nice progress with your layout. You have been able to ge a lot done.

Chris a, staion looks great.

Mark, glad you were feeling better and was able to make the trip to our neck of the woods for breakfast.

The first half of the day was spent out having breakfast with the Northeast ohio group and then a layout tour. All in all a great day out. When I got home there was a package waiting for me on the steps. I had seen this car on the "B". It sorted of caught my eye so I was able to get it. It's slightly weathered and I have to change out the couplers and trucks because it is two rail. I don't know if it is a real name on the side or a fictional one but it doesn't matter I like it. No work on the layouts but I added this to the layout . Pic.............Paul 2

Paul, I was glad to make it to Ohio and see you and all who attended.  I had my knee brace on, and it’s a good thing, I twisted it in Mike’s basement and it would have been a lot harder climbing his stairs!  LOL. 

The car looks great, but I don’t know if it is a real or fictional name.

Mark Boyce posted:

Ralph M posted:

I bought this RailKing Imperial USRA 0-8-0 in New Haven in 2016. It was on sale at a ridiculous discount and even though I really wanted one in WM I bought it anyway because it was such a deal. I reasoned that I could just re-decal it for WM later. What I didn’t count on was not being able to find any O scale WM steam locomotive decals  for 3 years– until now!

At first I wasn’t going to use the Fireball logo but I’m glad I did. - it really adds some zip to an otherwise all black loco. I looked at old photos of WM 0-8-0’s and noted that those that got the Fireball logo only got that and the letters “Western Maryland" but no pin stripes. I'll probab1y re-number the loco to match the WM roster,

The Fireball always looks great!!  Excellent job Ralph!

Ralph, you have definitely turned a plain-looking train into a very sharp-looking train!

Good day! I had a good time assembling the motorized tender on my Disney Lego train. When I was done, I realized that I had to do it over again because I had missed two pieces. Total time was three hours.

It runs great Vincent!

OK calling it a day....  Got 4 of the 5 passenger yard tracks done, wired and most important of all built my padded end of the line protection.  I am installing warning LED's that will tell me when the last wheel axle gets within about 5 inches of the end of the track, but I just know that someday a train is going to go in there too fast !!!!

So after several tests of different configurations,  I fabricated a backstop and installed some really soft open cell foam that has a lot of "give".   Besides not damaging the observation cars and rear platforms, the tests I ran so far show it's pretty good at eliminating derailments... We'll see.  Anyway here are some photos.  There are more down below including one where I put the main line back over the storage yard for perspective.

The barrier is a great idea, Chris!  Looks like a great passenger yard!!

Finally started connecting the dozen UCS tracks on the layout. Not perfect, but will add a fun dimension to the freight yard. 

Any suggestions on how to improve the performance of the double coal car? (3rd video) Thanks!

Thanks Mark,   the foam padded buffer is pretty cool,  I have a caboose track (stub siding), on the other end of the layout that extends into the corner and I need to build something similar plus a section of padded wall along the siding so no cabooses go diving.  

I am glad I decided to expand the layout and incorporate the partially hidden passenger car yard.   I have 4 passenger trains, (and I am not buying anymore... he said with conviction!!!).   

I really never liked the idea of having 2 or 3 of them on the large wall display shelf and having to move them to and from the layout.   

Hopefully I can build the foundation for the Union Station Kitbash later this month and then start kit-bashing the MTH Bank buildings.  

Ralph I really like the WM fireball decals on the tender, great job.

Lou,  Nice work on the turntable,  it's looks really good after the first coat of paint.      

Kevin, I don't have a suggestion on the coal car, but you have done a nice job with those cars.

Chris, I agree, I don't like having cars on shelves collecting dust either, I have a lot sitting around now just because the layout is in early stages.  Hopefully I will work out a system to rotate cars and engines since my won't be that large.

Kevin, all three of your videos are interesting. My dad had a Lionel searchlight car like yours.

Morning guys, I once again handed out a lot of likes! After not being on here for  4 days I come to fine 296 emails from here. Sure is a lot to catch up on, as everyone is doing wonderful work! 

I have had no train room time as I had mentioned before the CEO wants a deck. Well come to find out she had found a set of French doors to go out to the deck for free from one of our customers that come into the store. So as you might guess I have been installing doors after I cut out the old window and reframed the open area. I should have called Chris A. But that would have been spendy flying him from the east coast. Well I got that all done now I can start on the deck.

If anything I hope to get in the train room today just to run some trains and figure out why my trains done like one switch. Its like the points don't move over and the wheels climb on top of the rail. I will see what I can come up with.

Well its Sunday, day of rest but not for me! LOL I hope everyone has a great weekend and please try and find some time for train fun!

GO HAWKS!!

B&O Fan posted:

Installed another background photo and got my first stoplight wired up and installed. 

B&O Fan -  Looks Fabulous!!  I love the Charles St. background with the Washington Monument in center, Peabody Conservatory of Music to the right, Mt. Vernon Methodist Church spire. WOW!  The Bromo Seltzer tower in the foreground looks great too ( did you make this model of the Bromo Seltzer Tower ? ) as does the trolley wire in the background.  The stock buildings you chose ( MTH ? ) are perfect for old Baltimore.... got to love the spire on the Davenport Dept Store.  ( why not Hutzlers Dept.  or Bragger & Gutman? .... just a suggestion :-) )   With the background and the choice of stock buildings you capture the true flavor of a great city!     Great job ..... BRAVO!!!!  

FYI - I work about a block from where your background photo is taken. 

                         Go  BROWNS  !!             have a great day everyone !

Last night I created a coal load for my ( new to me ) Weaver 3 bay hopper.  I used a piece of dark styrofoam cut to the size of the car's opening, spread some foam glue over the entire service, then sprinkled scenic coal over the glue.  Looks good to me.  The only thing I could have done better is perhaps shaped some modeling putty and attached it to the center of the styrofoam so the coal would have a piled look in the center.   The cool thing is that this newly created load has a different look when compared to other coal hoppers in my collection.  I'm sure there was a prototypical flat load at times ... LOL!  

After the coal load I fixed a broken coupler on one of other Weaver 50 ton hoppers .... in-other-words I glued it shut.  It now works great!  

Tinkered with some scenery just a bit, changed out a locomotive and some cars on two of the trains. 

I did all this as I ran trains for a little over an hour last night and certainly enjoyed my time with the trains!

First thing this morning I ran trains for about 15 minutes.  Great time!!  

B&O Fan posted:

Installed another background photo and got my first stoplight wired up and installed. 

You have really captured the flavor of downtown Baltimore, Maryland with several of the city's most iconic structures, the Bromo-Seltzer tower and the Washington Monument. The era and style of your foreground buildings are also characteristic of much of the Baltimore metropolitan area architecture. Your background photo of the Mount Vernon area is very well blended into the rest of the scene. You, sir, have the eye of an artist. Superb scenery work!

The smoke feature on my Railking diesel with PS3 stopped working. When I opened it up I found that two wires had come loose from the smoke unit.  This is the first time this unit has ever been opened up since it left the factory. I'll be fixing this today.

That's some poor soldering.

Randy Harrison posted:

B&O Fan posted:

Installed another background photo and got my first stoplight wired up and installed. 

You have really captured the flavor of downtown Baltimore, Maryland with several of the city's most iconic structures, the Bromo-Seltzer tower and the Washington Monument. The era and style of your foreground buildings are also characteristic of much of the Baltimore metropolitan area architecture. Your background photo of the Mount Vernon area is very well blended into the rest of the scene. You, sir, have the eye of an artist. Superb scenery work!

Randy - Thanks Very Much! Started this layout in January and still not halfway. Step by step, I'll get there. Appreciate the feedback. 

trumptrain posted:

B&O Fan posted:

Installed another background photo and got my first stoplight wired up and installed. 

B&O Fan -  Looks Fabulous!!  I love the Charles St. background with the Washington Monument in center, Peabody Conservatory of Music to the right, Mt. Vernon Methodist Church spire. WOW!  The Bromo Seltzer tower in the foreground looks great too ( did you make this model of the Bromo Seltzer Tower ? ) as does the trolley wire in the background.  The stock buildings you chose ( MTH ? ) are perfect for old Baltimore.... got to love the spire on the Davenport Dept Store.  ( why not Hutzlers Dept.  or Bragger & Gutman? .... just a suggestion :-) )   With the background and the choice of stock buildings you capture the true flavor of a great city!     Great job ..... BRAVO!!!!  

FYI - I work about a block from where your background photo is taken. 

 

B&O Fan posted:

What is the background building with the narrow, arched windows, to the left of this photo?

Patrick  - Thanks, will be adding more structures. I have one more section of the city to build. Yes, the Bromo Tower is a kit from Custom Model Railroads in MD. Added a new blue led in the top this year, like the glow. 

Regards, Scott 

A couple of flip phone happy snaps from the train show in Springfield, MO, yesterday:

Picked up a couple 675 mechanisms for a five-spot each (as seen in the center photo).  One ran right out of the junk bin; the other refused to go.  Upon closer examination, I noticed a lack of drum in the E unit, so I bypassed it and the little indefinite buzzes along quite cheerfully,  thanks.  ^.^  May use the mechanisms as the basis for a boxcab switcher or two... 

Mitch 

I spent a pleasant three hours assembling two bags of Lego parts, and this beautiful passenger car is the result.                                              I was worried about how heavy it is, but it runs great.

Well fellows, there’s some real good pictures of progress that have appeared over the last few weeks/days on this post, pages now at 797, Wow. I’m like Mike g., so many home projects, the yard, and visiting other fellow model railroaders. Briansilvermustang, your pictures are really nice, you have so many trains, SCOTTY, I like your model railroad scenic detailing and track work, Trumptrain, I understand Work, it’s good and bad, the good is Payday, the bad is no time for train fun, RSJB18 Bob, I like your layout and diesels, also your positive attitude always cheerful, Lew, nice layout work, and I like the new station, nice around the wall action, Chris A, glad to see your back and the progress your making. I love your newly built station and your passenger car tracks, B&O, neat Ideas, COASTLINEKEVIN, wow, neat videos which reminds me of post war Railroading at it’s best, very nice layout, Vincent, I know your having fun with your Lego Disney train, and enjoy your contributions to our hobby, Ralph M, great decal work for Your Western Maryland Steamer, great work. Mark Boyce, your contributions to everyone’s work is fantastic, it’s all about the Fun we have here on the forum. I just picked up my UP Camera Caboose, and just got my CSX Caboose working. You can see it being pushed around the track in front of the little track cleaning car. The pictures in the Iphone are the Cabooses Camera....Wow, Everyone have a great sunday evening.

Did some more work on the bridge I had This old broken tank car on it’s side I thought I would use it 

Put together some Weaver Hoppers this afternoon 

Vincent, that makes a really nice looking train!

FL9Turbo2, the bridged fits in there great, and you are filling in scenery nicely!

Lee, Those are really nice looking two-bay hoppers!  my favorite size.

Larry, Thank you!!  Nice pictures from the caboose camera!  The CSX caboose looks great!

No work on the layout this weekend.  Yesterday Ageis21 John and I ventured across the state line into Ohio and met up with the NorthEast Ohio group to visit Mike Wyatt's layout!  We had fun operating trains and looking over all he has done.  I'll let him post photographs.  Then John and I ventured a little further south of Lake Erie to Corner Field Hobby Shop and Museum.  The Elesh family put on a great show for us as always!  This was the first I had been back since the layout was expanded.  John had never been.  As John and I were saying, it is so immense and detailed that photographs just don't do it justice.  Go there yourselves.