What did you do on your layout today?

Brian,

Great job on all. I especially like the way the 2 shades of red on the observation car really stand out

mike g. posted:

Lee, Your attention to detail is just AMAZING! Nice little video also! Sorry I didn't find you at the train show, there were just so many people and not enough time!

It's all good, Mike. I did look for you as well, but there were lots of people around the show. I could have walked right by some people and never noticed them.

Did you get anything cool? I really didn't see much I had to have and nothing I couldn't live without. That said, I got a screaming deal on a book about Milwaukee Road structures which had lots of stuff from Montana to WA (including the Chehalis depot, which isn't far from where I am)...

p51 posted:

mike g. posted:

Lee, Your attention to detail is just AMAZING! Nice little video also! Sorry I didn't find you at the train show, there were just so many people and not enough time!

It's all good, Mike. I did look for you as well, but there were lots of people around the show. I could have walked right by some people and never noticed them.

Did you get anything cool? I really didn't see much I had to have and nothing I couldn't live without. That said, I got a screaming deal on a book about Milwaukee Road structures which had lots of stuff from Montana to WA (including the Chehalis depot, which isn't far from where I am)...

Hi Lee, I did pick up 9 gondolas and one MTH PS2 New Haven switcher and 4 bottles of woodland grass. But I am a little PO'ed right now as the switcher isn't working correctly and I have no idea how to fix it. I put a post in MTH PS2 forum and hope someone there has some good idea or news for me about it!

Cool looking book! Should be a lot of information in there for you!

Mark Boyce posted:

mike g. posted:

Bob, good news! You don't have to worry there will be no painting of the New Haven switcher! Forum Member Briansilvermustang has offered to trade me a MTH PS2 BNSF switcher for the New Haven switcher!

 

Mark, looks good. Now your just like Paul, a clean slate just waiting to get messed up again with the build!

Paul, Looks like a good time! You know you cant spend all your time building! Everyone should take some time to just sit back and run trains now and then!

 

Well yesterday I busted my butt working on our bathroom remodel and that's about it! But the CEO said I should take today off and do something fun, so train room here I come. First this is to put new traction tires on the New Haven switcher, then whatever I want. I am not sure but have a few ideas of what I am going to try and get done. I will post later!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday and finds time for there layout and trains!

Mike, you are absolutely right except I need to clear off some space in the other room to find the tools and materials.  

Mike, Here is what I mean about the mess in the other room.  Tools and materials are in here, plus a bunch of stuff I'm sorting out from my Mum and Dad's house and my aunt's apartment.  Oy!!!  I can only get one of the two photographs off the phone, but you get the idea.  

Well Mark you have the important stuff, Z4000, TIU, Window to look out and a coffee maker! What more does one need to start a build! Oh Yea 2 good knees or atleast a knee and a half!

John, good job on the weathering!

mike g. posted:

Well Mark you have the important stuff, Z4000, TIU, Window to look out and a coffee maker! What more does one need to start a build! Oh Yea 2 good knees or atleast a knee and a half!

John, good job on the weathering!

Mike, You are absolutely right on all counts!! 

Finally got my smokejacks inside my old ten stall roundhouse. The smokejacks were made as one tapered Thus the units are made so that they are rectangular as a smoke jack and taper into a square at the other end of the unit becoming  the chimney.piece. The area of this unit, under the roof is the smokejack; while the area above the roof  becomes the chimneys. After we completed the units in all ten stalls of my roundhouse today , we tested out the theory. See attached picture, with one of my S-3s in the stall underneath the smokejack. Works great!!

Jeff, they do work great!!  Nice job.

What'd I do? Finished the Gantry Crane traverse movement system

That Post can be found here:

https://ogrforum.com/...3#133896818039490323

And what everyone is waiting for with baited breath  :

Lew, Great Job! I am glad you included the video! Works really wonderful! Now the big question is how are you going to hide it! LOL

Thanks, Mike! I think I'll put a small shed over the winch drum. I need more Lionel winch cable to replace the piece of electrical wire currently substituting. That will make the cable kind of disappear. Also, there is normally a mill gondola parked under the Crane which will pretty much hide that cable. 

Very ingenious, Lew!  Your ideas to hide it sound like winners too!!  

geysergazer posted:

Thanks, Mike! I think I'll put a small shed over the winch drum. I need more Lionel winch cable to replace the piece of electrical wire currently substituting. That will make the cable kind of disappear. Also, there is normally a mill gondola parked under the Crane which will pretty much hide that cable. 

Lew, you could do what I did and use 50lbs fishing line, can hardly see it!

Thank's Mark! Did you catch the pic I put up of a B&O excursion train at the station in Butler:

B&O FPA2 #4017. Then second unit is 4015, seen here when the power had to run-around the train at the end of the outbound leg:

Huh. I see milepost #195 to the right next to the mainline. 

Well, as some may know, I started my layout a couple of years ago with Lionel Fast Track, but then ran into issues with locos backing right out of some of the switches. I then, after a lot of research, made the decision to sell all of the fast track, and to switch over to Ross Custom Switches and track.

The table is 114" x 58 1/5", and I made a nice green grass cover for my table using Woodland Scenics Spring Grass mat, with a thin cushion/pad of laminated floor under-lament for a bit of sound deadening.

I had planned to lay down the outer loop, when I realized that the edges were curling up because I just made the mat the size of the table, and didn't staple it down, thinking that the raised fascia would hold it in place. I also then decided to add another leg to the table to make it a long "L" to allow a much longer loop, and more space for trains and other stuff. The "L" will be 91" x 52", so it will add a lot more space.

Well I finally had a friend come over and help me make a new cover for the main part of the table, which I made approx 6" larger on all sides so that we could pull it down and staple it in place. I also added a second layer of the cushion/pad material. You can see the seams where I had to piece it together to get it large enough for the table

Now I can go about building the "L" and getting it covered and attached to the table. It will attach to the right half of the visible side of the table, and will have an approx. 2 foot long45 degree corner where it joins at the middle of the table.
The cover for the "L" will be stapled down and then the two will simply be attached together with long utility screws. There will be a noticeable joint there between the two folds, but there will be enough going on in that area to mask it a fair amount.

Here is a pic of the table with the new cover.

The 8th of 9 Lionel Santa Fe 21" passenger cars is done, The "Navajo" Observation.

The Observation has people installed on seats that are visible through the car body windows.  I set the body shell next to the chassis to find which seats would be in front of a window.  There is no sense in placing people who will be hidden behind a wall.

The placement of the people seemed to take forever: grinding, trimming, repainting flaws, and finally gluing into/onto the seat.  With the Bar missing from the center of the Observation Lounge, I overpopulated the remaining seats to compensate for the void in the middle of the car.  I still have plans to contact Lionel parts for a Bar from the NYC ESE Observation.

The final Santa Fe passenger car is the Baggage with opening doors.  It will get the interior floor painted and baggage installed.  When I finish the Baggage, I have the two Challenger Add-on cars from 1927060 2-pack to detail.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

John, looks great! How are you going to top this project?

Mike,  To TOP this project I will have to get off my BOTTOM and finish my "Valley of Bridges" layout.  You have passed me by, and it is time for me to finish the layout with the corrections I discovered I need to make.

It is easier to type what I am going to do, than to do the things I type.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

mike g. posted:

geysergazer posted:

Thanks, Mike! I think I'll put a small shed over the winch drum. I need more Lionel winch cable to replace the piece of electrical wire currently substituting. That will make the cable kind of disappear. Also, there is normally a mill gondola parked under the Crane which will pretty much hide that cable. 

Lew, you could do what I did and use 50lbs fishing line, can hardly see it!

Mike, will fishing line follow the small diameter of the idler pulley at the left end? If so that is a no-brainer. 

"Waste not, want not"

Instead of seeing this:

Now we see this:

Temporary but I like the effect. 

Finally joined a local club with a layout, and ran a 2001 engine I picked up a few years ago for the first time - Lionel's B&O President Harrison Light Pacific.  Fun stuff!

David

geysergazer posted:

Thank's Mark! Did you catch the pic I put up of a B&O excursion train at the station in Butler:

       

B&O FPA2 #4017. Then second unit is 4015, seen here when the power had to run-around the train at the end of the outbound leg:

       

Huh. I see milepost #195 to the right next to the mainline. 

Lew, I missed them.  Thank you for bringing them to my attention!  I found them on Picture a Day!  I don't always follow that one.  That's great the station stop under the viaduct.  Where did your trip originate?

geysergazer posted:

What'd I do? Finished the Gantry Crane traverse movement system.

The Winch installed:

       

To clamp the cable to the Crane I hot-glued pieces of small terminal-strip to two of the Crane's feet:

       

To provide a drop for gravity to draw upon the cable I used this familiar-looking pulley  :

       

 

                   

 

                   

 

                    

                    

 

And what everyone is waiting for with baited breath  :

Excellent.  I see, or rather hear, that you kept true to post-war accessory sounds.....LOL

Put down some plaster cloth for area. Didn’t take pictures but took some time to build up grade crossing as well. Next step the first road on the layout.

geysergazer posted:

mike g. posted:

geysergazer posted:

Thanks, Mike! I think I'll put a small shed over the winch drum. I need more Lionel winch cable to replace the piece of electrical wire currently substituting. That will make the cable kind of disappear. Also, there is normally a mill gondola parked under the Crane which will pretty much hide that cable. 

Lew, you could do what I did and use 50lbs fishing line, can hardly see it!

Mike, will fishing line follow the small diameter of the idler pulley at the left end? If so that is a no-brainer. 

Lew, I would think so, if anything it's worth a try!

mike g. posted:

geysergazer posted:

mike g. posted:

geysergazer posted:

Thanks, Mike! I think I'll put a small shed over the winch drum. I need more Lionel winch cable to replace the piece of electrical wire currently substituting. That will make the cable kind of disappear. Also, there is normally a mill gondola parked under the Crane which will pretty much hide that cable. 

Lew, you could do what I did and use 50lbs fishing line, can hardly see it!

Mike, will fishing line follow the small diameter of the idler pulley at the left end? If so that is a no-brainer. 

Lew, I would think so, if anything it's worth a try!

Eggcellent point, Mike! 

Lew, Dan is right about the postwar sounds!!  Your temporary coverup gives will make Mike feel much better!  LOL

David, congratulations on joining the club and getting to run the Pacific!  It looks great!

Mark Boyce posted:

geysergazer posted:

Thank's Mark! Did you catch the pic I put up of a B&O excursion train at the station in Butler:

       

B&O FPA2 #4017. Then second unit is 4015, seen here when the power had to run-around the train at the end of the outbound leg:

       

Huh. I see milepost #195 to the right next to the mainline. 

Lew, I missed them.  Thank you for bringing them to my attention!  I found them on Picture a Day!  I don't always follow that one.  That's great the station stop under the viaduct.  Where did your trip originate?

Mark, I don't know. I was there but too young to have memories. IMO either Butler or Pittsburgh.

Lew, going between Pittsburgh and Butler you would have gone through Mars and Valencia.  I grew up about a half mile from the tracks at Valencia.

All walls have been printed and assembling them all is next....elevated tracks on side of building.....fire destroyed it

Ray, the printed walls look great!

Dan Padova posted:

geysergazer posted:

What'd I do? Finished the Gantry Crane traverse movement system.

The Winch installed:

       

To clamp the cable to the Crane I hot-glued pieces of small terminal-strip to two of the Crane's feet:

       

To provide a drop for gravity to draw upon the cable I used this familiar-looking pulley  :

       

 

                   

 

                   

 

                    

                    

 

And what everyone is waiting for with baited breath  :

Excellent.  I see, or rather hear, that you kept true to post-war accessory sounds.....LOL

Dan, that was actually part of my reasoning. I wanted to do what Lionel might have done in......1953....those 3-pole universal motors and worm gears.

Plus the smell of Ozone! 

I did nothing but run trains all weekend - no layout work. It felt good to finally be far enough along that I can sit back and play.. for now. 0-60 in about 14 months.

Mark Boyce posted:

Lew, going between Pittsburgh and Butler you would have gone through Mars and Valencia.  I grew up about a half mile from the tracks at Valencia.

 Roomie is from Mars. 

geysergazer posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

Lew, going between Pittsburgh and Butler you would have gone through Mars and Valencia.  I grew up about a half mile from the tracks at Valencia.

 Roomie is from Mars. 

That’s right!  I forgot!  

Did a couple of new videos...
https://youtu.be/vrUnfQN7kYw
https://youtu.be/rt3AOIDfmqI

Spent some time putting Christmas trains away. Brought back memories of York Saturday’s at Vince’s Trains packing up! Again things have gotten away, more Christmas train rolling stock and motive power than I realized. Lol.

Had a chance to do some ground work around my bridge area over the weekend. Starting to look good.

Mark Boyce posted:

Ray, the printed walls look great!

thanks Mark, trying to keep it as close to the actual hotel but took a few liberties