What did you do on your layout today?

Working on lumber shed, framing is done and outer clapboard walls and flooring are cut and ready 

Wasn't fully happy with materials used for corrugated roofing until found this roll, very easy to make uniform blanks and once that was done the the dies were put into operation using the vise.

These dies pressed the blanks into very nice sheets all of uniform size so no cutting involved after pressed.

The actual production of the sheets went very well at less than a minute a piece and good quality

This is a view of the CAD model although colors will be different, the railings will be removable for loading 2nd floor with fork lift

@ScoutingDad posted:

Thanks Mark, I was all over this forum looking for ideas as well as many others on the net - my thanks to all the posters. My aha moment was understanding vertical space meant down as well as up - 5th rebuild. In my video the Ross crossover is my zero vertical. It allows me to have the clearance at the tunnel of about 6.5 inches without having grades more than 2.5 percent up and down. My only cars that will not clear are the MTH double stacks - about a 1/4 inch off. I'll fix that in the next layout.  But to be honest I really like the K-line and Lionel scale containers. No they are not quite "scale" but they look better than the MTH "monsters" and the "S" scale Lionel 027 versions.  I did use SCARM software to figure out grades and layout. But when building, I made adjustments so its not quite what I layed out, but a big help. 

To all the other railroaders out there, I really enjoy seeing what you all are doing. From traditional post war Lionel to the high railers. Nice to know we can all enjoy the hobby in ways that suit our interests, available space and money. I don't even know where to put the tin plate and pre-war gear. 

My best to all you out there. Stay healthy and keep railroading.  Jeff 

But there is never enough space   ; )

Jeff, It was certainly worth the wait and revisions!  Great job!

Started this Brennan model on Wednesday. Roof and weathering tomorrow. 

Great Northern Railway operating session: pictures and videos.

https://ogrforum.com/...1#145297443274299671

The first S.B.R. steam locomotive. 0-6-0 ST #12 "Earl". Still need some detailing parts, paint and weathering but i am quite happy.

Scouting Dad, Nice job!  Your over under, left and right and assortment of bridges makes for an interesting  run.

Typo, sorry

@WinstonB posted:

Started this Brennan model on Wednesday. Roof and weathering tomorrow. 

WinstonB,

Great job on the Brennan kit, I'm planning on using that one as well. Nice work!

Scott 

@sidehack posted:

 

These dies pressed the blanks into very nice sheets all of uniform size so no cutting involved after pressed

The actual production of the sheets went very well at less than a minute a piece and good quality

 

Ray- I just saw this paint tube squeezer used to make corrugated roofing on another train blog. Thought of yours right away. I like yours better

@RSJB18 posted:

Ray- I just saw this paint tube squeezer used to make corrugated roofing on another train blog. Thought of yours right away. I like yours better

 

That is cool, I did think about a roller when first trying to decide which way to go. I would like to see how well that works. You could cut a long strip of aluminum and run the whole strip through at once and then cut to size. One thing I like about mine is that if it gets messed up a little or if I do cut an end I can qualify it in the same dies and it comes out like new and pretty flat.

Thanks for the info

I think that since yours presses the aluminum flat it will make better quality pieces. Your pieces are also more prototypical since they are longer.

@RSJB18 posted:

I think that since yours presses the aluminum flat it will make better quality pieces. Your pieces are also more prototypical since they are longer.

I am also thinking about other dies for many different styles, would be pretty easy to do.

Ray, are you making these dies?  If not where did you get them from?  Jeff

@ScoutingDad posted:

Ray, are you making these dies?  If not where did you get them from?  Jeff

yes I designed them on CAD and built them using 3D printer, a simple set of dies that I use a vise to compress them on aluminum blanks

Four more Preiser 65602 Unpainted Seated People 24-packs arrived from Germany after two months delay.  I am painting the figures for the Lionel Norfolk Southern 21" Coach passenger cars that are used in the #611 Steam Excursion Train.

The women will have clothes in blue, pink, green, yellow, and lavendar.  The men with have tan, brown, navy and gray suits.

With several days of forecasted rain, I should make good progress.

Have a good weekend.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

I'm temporarily banned from the train room (it's okay, some flooring is being installed), so I'm using the time to update/repaint a couple of locos. I'm fairly impressed with the Atlas "Trainmaster" Alco diesels with TMCC and Railsounds, and found two in nearly-new condition a couple of years ago on eBay. I prefer to get a great deal rather than be choosy about roadnames, so I ended up with locos that I'd eventually have to repaint. 

Since they're being dismantled anyway, I decided to upgrade the headlights and speakers. I ordered headlight kits from Royztrains.com today, and new Samsung speakers are coming from a distributor in Miami.

Rather than strip all paint from the engines, I just removed the lettering and logos, which is only microns thick, by dabbing on some automotive brake fluid with a cotton swab. After sitting overnight, the painted lettering and logos were soft enough to rub off with clean swabs. Now the engines are a nice, grimy black. The next step will be to apply some Pennsy decals. In hindsight I should have used gloss black as a base coat, since I'll have to spray on some clear gloss where the decals will be applied. 

I've been an avid modeler for decades, but these are my first O scale rebuilds. I'm enjoying it, and will post some periodic updates of the two makeovers. 

@BruceG posted:

I'm temporarily banned from the train room (it's okay, some flooring is being installed), so I'm using the time to update/repaint a couple of locos. I'm fairly impressed with the Atlas "Trainmaster" Alco diesels with TMCC and Railsounds, and found two in nearly-new condition a couple of years ago on eBay. I prefer to get a great deal rather than be choosy about roadnames, so I ended up with locos that I'd eventually have to repaint. 

Since they're being dismantled anyway, I decided to upgrade the headlights and speakers. I ordered headlight kits from Royztrains.com today, and new Samsung speakers are coming from a distributor in Miami.

Rather than strip all paint from the engines, I just removed the lettering and logos, which is only microns thick, by dabbing on some automotive brake fluid with a cotton swab. After sitting overnight, the painted lettering and logos were soft enough to rub off with clean swabs. Now the engines are a nice, grimy black. The next step will be to apply some Pennsy decals. In hindsight I should have used gloss black as a base coat, since I'll have to spray on some clear gloss where the decals will be applied. 

I've been an avid modeler for decades, but these are my first O scale rebuilds. I'm enjoying it, and will post some periodic updates of the two makeovers. 

Bruce, I am glad I am not the only one who has to type something to the effect of 'in hindsight'   It looks like you are well on your way with a great project.  I will look forward to your makeovers!!

Everyone, there are lots of great projects here.  What did I do in the last week?  Please check the Blackwater Canyon Line topic.  I nearly have all the layout table built.  Also please check the above link for news of an unexpected purchase.  Thank you for looking!!

Mark. You are doing. Smart thing by putting your backdrops in before your main build. I messed up on this now I've got to figure how to reach it and fix the problem. I should have at least put in clouds. I got in too big of a rush to see trains running.

John, thank you.  I made the same mistake on my last layout.  So I learned a lesson after being in a hurry to get trains running!  😄

I did not want to butcher the walls too much, especially the brick wall.  So I planned it to have slots in the back of the benchwork to drop the hardboard backdrops in.  With 30-inch bench depths, I thought it would be not too hard to put in place.  I’m not as young as I once was, obviously.  Some of the sections were a bit hard to move into place, but the theory worked.  Thank you again.

Though I don't have a layout I have often considered duplicating HO train sets from the 50's and 60s in O gauge.  One set that caught my fancy at the time was the Atlantic Coast Line set that Revell offered which included a purple and silver SW7 diesel switcher for power.  My stepdad worked many jobs during this period when I was growing up.  Since most jobs he took didn't pay much this resulted me receiving an allowance of $1.00 a week, if any money at all, for mowing the grass or hanging up my half brothers and sister's diapers on the clothes line for my mother.

I did spend a shiny new dime for a Revell HO scale catalog though and fell in love with the ACL freight set mentioned above.  My stepdad had moved us from my native Dallas TX to his home in Tampa FL where I started to watch the trains of both ACL and Seaboard.  Can't be compared to the Tampa today with CSX and Amtrak.  Even the flair that once was Tampa Union Station is gone.  Sad!

Anyway, if you are trying to put a freight train together to run on your O gauge layout and can't come up with any ideas, consider the top line sets that Athearn, Tyco, Revell, even Lionel (!) offered during this period.  A native Texan at heart (I now reside in Germany), the Lionel HO Texas Special freight set would be a winner as well as Revell's ACL set to bring back the fond memories of those innocent teenage railfan years a long long, long long, really long long time ago.  For the record, I will pass Milepost 74 this upcoming 2020 , Fourth of July, the Good Lord willing.

Have fun running your trains and stay healthy by all means!

Joe Toth Jr.

Added a bench for my transformers to my new layout.

I went about fixing a problem of my own making when, disassembling a truck to grease a gear, I pulled the wire connecting the pickup roller clean off:

So, I had to find my dirty soldering iron and fashion a clamp for the the connector (as well as a stand for the iron):

Lined everything up and dropped a dab:

Closed it up and runs good as new! (Which is good, because the little puller is new.)

- The Other Guy 

I had a 4 by 8 platform up for Christmas on a 6 ft folding table shakey so  I found a 8 ft folding table cheap and strong so down came the layout and re did the the layout. Now have 2 circular loops a trolley line and a  elevated loop on trestles. And added my Menard's police station with Philadelphia PD decals added and the airplane tower. 

Now this will keep my 20 month old great grand son occupied with all the action, I hope 

GG1GUYY

GG1Guyy - if 5 things in motion at the same time doesn't keep the grandson interested - you'll just have to add more elevated track. Just watch out for the plane circling overhead! 

Got my SCARM layout updated to show the different elevations. Kind of fun to watch the SCARM train run around the track using their basic simulator extension.  Each color shows independent lines, although I can jumper across the power feeds to run a single consist on all lines using transformer control. Haven't hooked up DCS yet. Now all I need is a little more room for a reversing loop. Lots of power drops to make that work! 

I primed the walls for the new country store last night, and sometime soon I'm going to put rubber cement on the areas were paint would likely peel off. Then, I'm going over it in white, then peeling the paint off with tape.

@ScoutingDad posted:

Got my SCARM layout updated to show the different elevations. Kind of fun to watch the SCARM train run around the track using their basic simulator extension.  Each color shows independent lines, although I can jumper across the power feeds to run a single consist on all lines using transformer control. Haven't hooked up DCS yet. Now all I need is a little more room for a reversing loop. Lots of power drops to make that work! 

Jeff, Your pictures aren't showing up.

@p51 posted:

 

I primed the walls for the new country store last night, and sometime soon I'm going to put rubber cement on the areas were paint would likely peel off. Then, I'm going over it in white, then peeling the paint off with tape.

Nice work, should turn out to be a good looking structure when done

Lets try this again

Jeff, that looks much better!  It looks like you have a great layout plan for running several trains at once, switch cars in a yard, and move any train to any track!  Very exciting!  Yes, it is fun to watch the trains run on the SCARM plan!  If you can do it, then it shows you have all the tracks connected properly and the plan should work on the real layout!!

Lumber shed is coming along, roof is almost ready to put on, then railings and last will be the corrugated sheet metal roof

@GG1GUYY posted:

I had a 4 by 8 platform up for Christmas on a 6 ft folding table shakey so  I found a 8 ft folding table cheap and strong so down came the layout and re did the the layout. Now have 2 circular loops a trolley line and a  elevated loop on trestles. And added my Menard's police station with Philadelphia PD decals added and the airplane tower. 

Now this will keep my 20 month old great grand son occupied with all the action, I hope 

GG1GUYY

That's EXACTLY my kind of layout--the kind you can change up. Nice! I have a table layout as well, although less than 4 x8. Still, I manage to accomplish three loops. Someday I'll get a 4x8 piece of ply and do exactly this.

More lift bridge work done today and some more track put down. 

Ok guys I am going to give a little advice. Don't stay away to long as it takes forever to go threw 5 pages to get up to speed on what everyone is doing! LOL It took me a couple cups of coffee.

I do want to say that there is really some amazing work being done by you folks! The track laying, model building, and structures are all outstanding! Its been awhile since I have been in the train room to work on my layout as life's other needs have got in the way! I normally try to check in daily but by the end of the day to tired! LOL Guess getting older sucks sometimes!

I do want to thank you all for posting your work as it gives some great ideas and motivates me to try and get back at it. My plan is to get out there today or tomorrow and figure out where I left off and start working on my check list.

I hope you all have a great week and please find time for your trains and layouts! Most of all Please have fun in doing whatever you do!

Hi, everyone! Well, it is a new day and I thought I would pull out a reserved video to post.

Hope y'all enjoy it and all of y'all's projects look very good! Thanks have a good day!

Covered 2 of 3 with paper. Started entering inventory in yard program

Still painting four Preiser 65602 Unpainted Seated People 24-packs.  I started a fifth pack in another color to give greater variety in the six Norfolk Southern Coach cars I have to detail.  The five packs will create 120 seated people for the cars.  I worked five hours tonight and two during the day.  Some figures needed a second coat of paint.

Preiser charges $5.00 to $6.50 per figure when their factory paints the people. Then add the shipping from Germany for the five separate boxes that hold the 24 people in the 65602 Unpainted set.  The man with baby comes in four pieces that must be painted, glued together and then touched up again. One woman with a baby comes in three pieces. Three other figures come in two pieces.  Taking a break, then back to painting.

UPDATE: Making progress on five Preiser 65602 Unpainted Seated People.  I am painting the men and getting ready to remove the 120 people from the sprues.

Have a good evening. 

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Actually I started thinking

 1. The 3/4" mdf is perfect for a small layout.

2. 20 inches off ground is right height. 

3 rather that combining 2x4 mdf to make 4x4 by more legs seperate for more effect ( bridges, rivers, etc).

4 cant get bigger on same plane. Can I build tiers. (Higher, lower?) Where am I gonna put all these trains (6)?

Cant just use o27 curves need bigger. Next level maybe Menards?

Like I said just thinkin. Time for a beer.

@John Rowlen posted:

Still painting four Preiser 65602 Unpainted Seated People 24-packs.  I started a fifth pack in another color to give greater variety in the six Norfolk Southern Coach cars I have to detail.  The five packs will create 120 seated people for the cars.  I worked five hours tonight and two during the day.  Some figures needed a second coat of paint.

Preiser charges $5.00 to $6.50 per figure when their factory paints the people. Then add the shipping from Germany for the five separate boxes that hold the 24 people in the 65602 Unpainted set.  The man with baby comes in four pieces that must be painted, glued together and then touched up again. One woman with a baby comes in three pieces. Three other figures come in two pieces.  Taking a break, then back to painting.

Have a good evening. 

Sincerely, John Rowlen

 

 

I am hiring you to paint my stuff. Enjoy!

the roof is on, need to finish wiring lights, add siding and railings

And got rid of the old window AC unit and added a split system head for heat and AC