What did you do on your layout today?

Everyone, great work, RSJB18 Bob, looks like you have things cornered, and talk about Files, you’ve got great cabinets, and yes the Cat, looks so good, John Rowlen, your car floor color is great, your such a patient painter, and the furniture will really set the cars personality, Johan, I love the Sante Fe switcher with weathered effect, cool scene, P51 Lee, your the best, that little steamer, the setting, your artful weathering, simply awesome, Mark Boyce, your upbeat comments are always in tune with what’s happening on lots of threads, great morale builder, Mike G., your hard work on painting the crane and innovation with electronics is fantastic, SIDEHACK, 3D printing parts, Amazing, a way to make what you want, technology keeps us happy.  Geysergazer Lew, your innovative way of pictures, model building and scenic photography, like window shots, so neat... Everyone here has a story to tell, it’s Fun watching your thoughts in action. Happy Railroading 

RSJB18 posted:

Lee- nice details on the new engine.
Vincent- the tow truck came with a flatbed car from Lionel. It's standard O scale. I like flatbed cars with different loads. Adds some variety to the layout.
LIRR Steamer- Thanks. I had considered adding extra ties to the tubular track but after adding the ballast I decided they weren't necessary. Nice work on your tunnel entrance area too!
Mike and Mark- thanks for the comments. Nice work on the crane Mike.
Ray- the building is coming together. Your making we want a 3D printer now.....
John R- another great car
Johan- beautiful scene

For all- the paper printout scenery is really easy to work with. You can make things as simple or complex as you like by adding 3D pieces like I did on the corner. The best part is that if you make a mistake just throw it out and print another sheet out. Just gotta eat more cereal.....

Bob

Bob, I wish the process would be easier but unless you want to print somebody else's parts that were designed by them (which is often the case) then you will also have to be able to do the design yourself on a CAD system.

There is a lot of inexpensive CAD software out there which may be easy to learn depending on your expertise or how difficult the model is you are trying to design. 

So it is really two separate things, design and then take that designed model to the printer to produce it. There is a learning curve but I believe well worth the effort.

I can get into more complicated models as I have many years experience in CAD designing but just learned to 3D print this past year and it is going pretty well.

If you are interested in it I would recommend a basic CAD software for models not too complicated and you can pick up an inexpensive 3D printer (for under $300) that could get you going.

There is also plenty of help myself included if you need it.

RSJB18 posted:

Finished up the details on the retaining wall today. Made the corner piece, top, and some wood boards (balsa), to cover the top of the cardstock print. Added some ground cover at the base of the walls. I might make a railing to go around the top at the end of the siding.
I "re-paved" the road that was torn up during construction.
I also painted the base board where the machine shop will go. Makes for a clean pallet to work on when building up new scenery.
I added some plaster cloth along the new siding too.

My helper pitched in with meows of support.

Ran some trains for a while too

Bob

Good work Bob.

Looks like your layout uses O27 gauge track, O42 curves and switches. Warrenville is all O27 gauge too, with O42, O54 and O72 (very hard to find, only made by K-line and then for only about 5 years) curves. I also added over 2,400 wood ties and ballast.

Have fun!

Guys lots of stuff going on out there!.  P51 that trench engine keeps looking better and better.  Might take that white pen you talked about the other day and make some "bullet holes".  The article I read on these things is that they got shot at all the time.  RSJB18 / Bob you mentioned "printout scenery" - is there a web site or a source of that stuff or do you make it yourself?  LEAPINLARRY - your layout looks awesome!  The GG1 has to be "scale" as the Lionel ones (old Lionel) were not nearly so long.  What kind of radius does that need?  Liked the CSX jacket by the way.

Enclosed below is a picture of the always energetic management of the "Long and Skinny" RR.  Works foreman "Max" is holding important discussions with the chief engineer over needed roadbed improvements

Happy Tuesday everyone

Don

John- yea, all 027 track and curves except for the two switches linking the inner and outer loops. I had to use 042's to make it work. One day I'll rip this down and do a bigger layout with proper radius curves but this keeps me happy for now.

Ray- I've dabbled in CAD at work but I'm far from an expert. Now with Revit, BIM, and other 3D drafting software's on the market, CAD is almost obsolete.

Larry- I've considered making a logo for my RR based on the NYC Water Level Route, called the File Cabinet Route . At least I found a better use for the tops then piling junk on them.

Bob

Don McErlean posted:

  RSJB18 / Bob you mentioned "printout scenery" - is there a web site or a source of that stuff or do you make it yourself? 

 

Don- as long as the moderators don't object. I have two sources for images I've been using.

One is textures.com https://www.textures.com/ . Mostly focused on the graphic design market but this is where I found the block wall printout.

The other is a blog run by a fellow over in the UK https://modelrailwaylayoutsplans.com/ . Go to his scenery tab and he has a bunch of stuff for sale and download.

Great work everyone! Thank you Larry for your nice comment!

Well guys I am going to make this short and sweet. I got out to the train room, got the crane all wired and set up, ran power to it and everything works. The only problem is the gears don't sound like they are meshing very well. So when I get a break later today from working on the house I will see if there is something I can do!

If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them! Here is a shot video of it in action!

Everyone have a great day!

mike g. posted:

If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them! Here is a shot video of it in action!

Everyone have a great day!

Did you Lube/grease the gears?  

Cheers, Dave

Sounds like something is not completely engaging.

Hi Dave , I used graphite, but am going to get some grease and pull the gears grease them up and reset them.

Rick, I agree that something isn't engaging, I just have to figure out what a good setting is for the gears.

Bob. Thanks. Your scenery work looking good. 👍

Johan

leapinlarry posted:

Everyone, great work, RSJB18 Bob, looks like you have things cornered, and talk about Files, you’ve got great cabinets, and yes the Cat, looks so good, John Rowlen, your car floor color is great, your such a patient painter, and the furniture will really set the cars personality, Johan, I love the Sante Fe switcher with weathered effect, cool scene, P51 Lee, your the best, that little steamer, the setting, your artful weathering, simply awesome, Mark Boyce, your upbeat comments are always in tune with what’s happening on lots of threads, great morale builder, Mike G., your hard work on painting the crane and innovation with electronics is fantastic, SIDEHACK, 3D printing parts, Amazing, a way to make what you want, technology keeps us happy.  Geysergazer Lew, your innovative way of pictures, model building and scenic photography, like window shots, so neat... Everyone here has a story to tell, it’s Fun watching your thoughts in action. Happy Railroading 

Larry. Thank you. That Santa Fe MP15 is a rebuilt K-Line products with fixed pilots Kadee's, cab interior...... Nice CSX jacket. 🤝

Johan

I haven’t had time to work on the layout except for simply testing things out. Everyone seems to be having a fun day and the results are fantastic. Briansilvermustang, great pictures, wow. Don, the cat is sleeping happily in a cozy room, RSJB18 Bob, yes, I like the file cabinets, it shows organization and good housekeeping. The CSX jacket, pictured earlier,  was given to me by a friend thats an engineer for the CSX Railroad out of the Nashville Radnor Yards. I like visiting that department and watching them turn diesels around. SIDEHACK, how do you like your K-Line MP 15? I just bought one in BNSF livery off the For Sale forum. Conventional. I’m going to use it to pull my track cleaning car.  Happy Railroading 

mike g. posted:

Hi Dave , I used graphite, but am going to get some grease and pull the gears grease them up and reset them.

Rick, I agree that something isn't engaging, I just have to figure out what a good setting is for the gears.

Good move!  I would recommend a white lithium grease.  Hope you get it resolved.

Cheers,  Dave

I spent a pleasant 45 minutes assembling these two small fortifications for my "Knights of Atlantis" lay-out.

mike g. posted:

Great work everyone! Thank you Larry for your nice comment!

Well guys I am going to make this short and sweet. I got out to the train room, got the crane all wired and set up, ran power to it and everything works. The only problem is the gears don't sound like they are meshing very well. So when I get a break later today from working on the house I will see if there is something I can do!

If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them! Here is a shot video of it in action!

Everyone have a great day!

The gears definitely need to be greased, not graphited. But before you do that, put a drop of oil on each end of the motor's armature - betcha that will stop the noise … then you can grease the gears 

BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Bar, that Shell tank car is very realistic.

darlander posted:

mike g. posted:

Hi Dave , I used graphite, but am going to get some grease and pull the gears grease them up and reset them.

Rick, I agree that something isn't engaging, I just have to figure out what a good setting is for the gears.

Good move!  I would recommend a white lithium grease.  Hope you get it resolved.

Cheers,  Dave

Well Dave, it went from bad to worse! LOL Its not the gears making the sound its the Motor! So now I have to find a double wound motor for a Lionel #182 crane! Also the winding keeps breaking!

Aww, that a shame, Mike. The bay is a possible source. Two 182 motors have sold there in the last three months.

Very nice engines, Larry!

Vincent, There are even knights on those!

Mike, I'm sorry you need to replace the motor, but at least you know what the problem is.

Today, I moved some little stuff to make room for the sons-in-law to move the plywood and Homasote.  That was enough.

Its all good, I got a name and number from Jeff the Train Tender to a nice fella that is going to try and repair it for me. He says its around $40 including shipping!

I will let you all know what comes of it!

That sounds like a good deal, Mike!!!

Larry it is a VO1000 by Weaver with TMCC, a great little switcher

Been away for a bit as our baby boy was born on the 17th, but I was able to start work on my 8th layout in 8 years. Drawing heavily on the CTT “Build This Retro Railroad”

The Santa Fe Baggage Car is completed with Woodland Scenics figures I had in my supplies.  I was lucky to find the key figures I needed, repainting two bicycles red and yellow to make them easier to see inside the car.

The next task is designing a kitchen for the Santa Fe Dining Car that already has a detailed Dining Room with Preiser People I painted.

I was having difficulty posting pictures Tuesday night. Normal quick transfers were over eight minutes, 20 minutes, or not finishing.  The pictures are now posted. Thank you.

Have a good evening. … or good day.

John Rowlen

Vincent Massi posted:

BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Bar, that Shell tank car is very realistic.

Vincent. Thank you. 🤝

Johan

Jon1443 posted:

Been away for a bit as our baby boy was born on the 17th, but I was able to start work on my 8th layout in 8 years. Drawing heavily on the CTT “Build This Retro Railroad”

Congratulations! 

more planning than doing....at our Tuesday Night Train Group gathering last night a lot of great ideas and product for my module.  One of my friends who is a electronic sound wiz showed me a sound board with different buttons that I will be able to attach to my module.  Each sound is some form of emergency vehicle so I am going to try and mount this to the outside of my module so guests can press the button and play different sounds for the emergency vehicles on my don't text and drive car crash scene.  Also hope everyone is sitting down but Paul actually thought of me when he was at the store and found an old VW van and gave it to last night.  He said I should park it in the skid row part of the module and try to have some smoke coming out of it.  We talked and I think I could try an get an old smoke unit form a shelf queen and try to run some tubing underneath both the car crash and the VW van to give it the appearance of smoke coming out.  Keep everyone posted of the progress of that.  

                          BNSF workers were very busy yesterday...

       #3505 is getting a lot of farewells,  as it is being readied for the ride out west.

             #4449 will pull the BNSF business train, along with #3505 westward,

                    where it will begin new switching duties out in Washington...

                      snacks were brought in, and crews said farewell to #3505...

                   as they watched it roll off into the darkness behind 4449...

          I'm sure yard superintendent Mike is anxiously awaiting  #3505's arrival...

My Latest effort has been to put trains under glass (Lexan) that you walk on top of. So I will have trains running under your feet. Just roughed in for now.

My other effort has been to cut grooves in the hard wood floor and press fit rails into the grooves so my trains can cross a door way.

See the pictures below.

Thanks;

idea-thinker

Brian, what a great farewell!

Idea-thinker, wow now thats going above and beyond! Or should I say under and beyond! Very nice, I hope you will post videos when your to that point!

Bryan, That is a good idea Paul has on the VW!  Doing on the layout starts by thinking and planning!

Brian and Idea-Thinker, I was thinking of exactly the same replies as Mike gave!  Ditto

That is the coolest idea I’ve seen in a long time!! 

idea-thinker posted:

My Latest effort has been to put trains under glass (Lexan) that you walk on top of. So I will have trains running under your feet. Just roughed in for now.

My other effort has been to cut grooves in the hard wood floor and press fit rails into the grooves so my trains can cross a door way.

See the pictures below.

 

Thanks;

idea-thinker

I like this idea too. Very cool. Do you have crossing signals at the door so no one steps on a train going by?

Nice job laying the track in the floor too.

I switched out power and rolling stock last night. Put the LIRR power in the shops for service and will run Pennsy for now. A few steamers- B-6, A-5, and a 0-4-0 tank, and a FM H-10-44 and a couple of Plymouths.

The steam engines uncovered a new clearance issue that I had not run across before. The front steps on both locos hit the roof on my team track platform and then the hill going around the back. Made the necessary adjustments. The team track depot was picked up and shifted slightly north, and the hillside was trimmed back to increase clearances.

Close clearance from this step was corrected.

Good as new....

The offending corner on the roof.

Current roster

This morning spotted North Western’s only one SW1500 switcher moving C&NW locomotives around diesel facility while C44-9W and other unit about to leave facility.

No scenary work today but did take out the Lionel Broadway limited two car diner set to look it over and check it out on the tracks.

Here are a few photos 

The walls are going up finally, then on to primer, decided to mount on steel rods for ease of removal

Bob, I'm glad you found the clearance issues and corrected them now.

Patrick, All the green and yellow looks great!

LIRR Steamer, those cars look great on the broad curves!

Ray, the building front is looking great!  It will really look sharp once it is all together and painted!