I think I finally found a way to download this short video taken by a friend, of my latest scene, my hobo camp. My wife made the campfires using large washers to make the form, added different pieces of wood. I used the flashing LED "fire" and brought the LEDs up thru the hole in the washer. Later we added some cotton whisps for some smoke.
That’s a good idea Ed. What is the time period you are modeling? Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
I bought a 100’ X 3’ roll of weed block to use as table skirting. It turned out good and hides all the stuff under the table.
Then I took it to the next level. 😂😂😂
Ok, folks, another rainy day here is Washington State! You keep that in mind if you ever think about moving here! LOL
Jeff B, what a wonderful camp fire detail you and your wife did a great job! Also what a wonderful looking layout~
Ed, you must do concrete for a living? Looks great!
Steve, wonderful job on the layout skirting!
Well today I worked on my little town and the road project I wasn't pleased with. I got some more foam board down and some stripping done. I moved the fire station back next to the train station and like it there much better. Here are a couple photos.
Just so you all know the white is left over edge material form when I had my layout printed up for my control panel that I cut into 1/8" strips. As for the yellow, well because I am so cheap, that is yellow duck tape also cut into 1/8th" strips.. I just happen to have both just laying around!
I hope you all had a great Hump day and found time to have fun on your layout and with your trains!
@ChiTown Steve posted:I bought a 100’ X 3’ roll of weed block to use as table skirting. It turned out good and hides all the stuff under the table.
Then I took it to the next level. 😂😂😂
Good idea!
Mike G - Nice job on the striping and the yellow duct tape. I have some laying around - hmmm.
ChiTown Steve - love the night lighting and all the lit buildings - awesome!
Mike, It looks really good! It snowed here in Northwestern Pennsylvania. 
Today, I took out the shelf I had for our transformer to relocate it. I didn’t put too much thought into it’s initial placement but it limits our access to the back of the table. I also wanted shorten the shelf brackets I used to secure it as I have run into them one too many times trying to get to the totes underneath the table. I sandwiched 2 12”x18” pieces of particle board together hastily and I need to round off the corners on those as well. I threw this together last November with some prodding from the missus and Junior to enhance the arrival of the MTH Daylight for Christmas. Coming here has definitely inspired me to get back to work on our layout. Thank you!
@Quarter Gauger 48 posted:
Mike, You don't have to Sir me'.. I was a Noncom, RVN 11th Light Infantry Brigade, 23rd Infantry, Div. Americal. 70-83..
Ok Ted!
@ToledoEd posted:Poured 'concrete' (Smooth-it) pad for a Mi-Jack crane. Will scribe the background slab tomorrow and paint in the evening.
Looks darn good' Ed. Good scribing job you did. Cant beat the look of real concrete on a layout'... Nice work'..😃👌👍🦃
Just cut in the new 4' X 13' peninsula track with 9 pair of points, had to make a few changes and add a second 3 way wye but it seems to flow rather well.
Like my other 4' X 8' peninsula, it is ready for action immediately. There is no longer any need for any wiring at all.
Battery on board R/C is definitely the way to go.
@Quarter Gauger 48 posted:
Thanks, Ted. I agree, it looks real. I was surprised at how real.
It is really great looking Ed! I could have used your expertise when I stretched my patio by 4 feet a few years ago! 😀
@Mark Boyce posted:It is really great looking Ed! I could have used your expertise when I stretched my patio by 4 feet a few years ago! 😀
Thanks, Mark. I’m not sure how well Smooth-it would hold up outside. 
@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:That’s a good idea Ed. What is the time period you are modeling? Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Thanks, Jay. No particular time period, although I am partial to the War Years and the 50’s and 60’s. Mostly, the ‘fun’ period, though. Quite a few action accessories on the layout. Mostly for the grandson, that’s what I tell my wife. 😁. I think she’s on to me though.
You all have been doing amazing work! Keep it up! I’ve been swamped with work so haven’t had any layout time but with the Holidays approaching I should have some free time.
Mark- I put caboose industries manual ground throws on my double cross over and my LHS had piano wire. Easily bendable with pliers and stays rigid and was cheap. Just a thought for making your linkage work if you flip the DZ2500.
@ToledoEd posted:Thanks, Mark. I’m not sure how well Smooth-it would hold up outside.
Ha,Ha! You are right, Ed!! My daughter has used Smooth-it, but I have not. I will have to try it--on the layout! 
@mike g. posted:Ok, folks, another rainy day here is Washington State! You keep that in mind if you ever think about moving here! LOL
Jeff B, what a wonderful camp fire detail you and your wife did a great job! Also what a wonderful looking layout~
Ed, you must do concrete for a living? Looks great!
Steve, wonderful job on the layout skirting!
Well today I worked on my little town and the road project I wasn't pleased with. I got some more foam board down and some stripping done. I moved the fire station back next to the train station and like it there much better. Here are a couple photos.
Just so you all know the white is left over edge material form when I had my layout printed up for my control panel that I cut into 1/8" strips. As for the yellow, well because I am so cheap, that is yellow duck tape also cut into 1/8th" strips.. I just happen to have both just laying around!
I hope you all had a great Hump day and found time to have fun on your layout and with your trains!
Thanks Mike for the compliment on my video with the campfire, etc. We keep trying.
I do not post much here but I do enjoy gaining knowledge from your efforts.
I mostly use old transformers with upgraded circuit breakers. I felt the need for more electrical oversight so I installed 5A fast blow fuses on each circuit. So far so good but I need to run my dual motor PW F3.
I did not want to mess up my control panel so the fuse block is beneath it.
I had some fun today with my smartphone. It's a nearly obsolete Samsung S7, so it has some inherent shakiness. Here's a short vid of my newly-weathered SW9 motoring past a customized Lionel operating coal tower. Gotta love the operating features, sounds, and fan-driven smoke of the Legacy locomotives. They're terrific fun to play with!
And don't be afraid to crank up the volume.
Thanks guys for all the compliments! I was able to get out to the train room today early just because my buddy Tank woke me up 3AM so I was out there at 4:30 after a few cups of coffee.
I was able to get some more striping done and more buildings placed, It will be nice to move on from this area, but now I am taking my time to try and do it right so I don't have to go back and do it over again!
Here are a couple photos. I don't know how much I will get done in the next 2 day as I have 2 HOA meetings, but I will try!
I hope you all had a great day and have an even better Friday and weekend!
I worked on my Trolley line today, a couple weeks ago I removed all the Plasticville and ceramic houses. Now I added a bunch of the "Cat meow " type structures that I got at a thrift store. I made the white rail fences.
I walked past it! (I did run it last night).
I need to fix some signals, finish some roads, and do a little painting on it.
Mike, Great progress, your layout is really looking good and you're having fun! Great post!
Cheers, Dave
PS: I can't believe your start that early in the morning. That is usually the time I get up to go to swim practice. Now because of the Covid upsurge, I'm sleeping in until further notice. Bummer!!! So please stay safe, wash your hands and ware your mask! We need to lick this pandemic and get back to normal!!!!!
Mike, Tank thinks you are still in the Marines! 
The paving and line painting crews have done a fantastic job. It looks so good, it wouldn't pass the mustard here in Western Pennsylvania or in West Virginia! You don't have any potholes! Recall it was this time last year that one in Dahntahn Pittsburgh almost swallowed a public transit bus! You have done a fantastic job, and we have Tank to thank for it all! When Annie gets me up at 3:00 to go out, we both go back to sleep after. I am in the same category as Dave, sleeping in because of being retired not covid. The only day I get up at 6:00 is Thursday to meet the other old guys for a covid safe breakfast and Bible study.
@mike g. posted:Ok, folks, another rainy day here is Washington State! You keep that in mind if you ever think about moving here! LOL
Jeff B, what a wonderful camp fire detail you and your wife did a great job! Also what a wonderful looking layout~
Ed, you must do concrete for a living? Looks great!
Steve, wonderful job on the layout skirting!
Well today I worked on my little town and the road project I wasn't pleased with. I got some more foam board down and some stripping done. I moved the fire station back next to the train station and like it there much better. Here are a couple photos.
Just so you all know the white is left over edge material form when I had my layout printed up for my control panel that I cut into 1/8" strips. As for the yellow, well because I am so cheap, that is yellow duck tape also cut into 1/8th" strips.. I just happen to have both just laying around!
I hope you all had a great Hump day and found time to have fun on your layout and with your trains!
Mike,
I am fascinated by your methodology because it is eerily similar to my style (are we related? -- same first name for sure). I love clean, new black top and non-weathered buildings. Why? Because this is a model railroad and it is a fantasy world -- and my fantasy world is perfect utopian with fresh rolled pavement. I have been using roofing felt for new roads because it is actually made out of tar and the pin stripes stick to it well. I bought a roll of roofing felt about 15 years ago and I am still using it for my new layout. Dirt cheap, too. (The black foam boards work well, too--as your photos clearly show). I glue roofing felt to carved pink foam and the combination seems a little more durable. It also allows you to create nice road crossings up to and across rails. But the result is the same -- so I am pleased to see your work because the parking lots and pinstriping seem like a good representation of what my brain sees in this world.
I also truly dig the Red Owl store. It reminds me of Wausau, WI where I visited my grand parents as a kid. My Red Owl will look just like yours with the parking spots in front when it is time to place it on my new layout. Thanks for sharing the pics.
Iron Horse Mike
Actually, I meant roofing tar paper -- not felt.
@mike g. posted:Ok, folks, another rainy day here is Washington State! You keep that in mind if you ever think about moving here! LOL
Jeff B, what a wonderful camp fire detail you and your wife did a great job! Also what a wonderful looking layout~
Ed, you must do concrete for a living? Looks great!
Steve, wonderful job on the layout skirting!
Well today I worked on my little town and the road project I wasn't pleased with. I got some more foam board down and some stripping done. I moved the fire station back next to the train station and like it there much better. Here are a couple photos.
Just so you all know the white is left over edge material form when I had my layout printed up for my control panel that I cut into 1/8" strips. As for the yellow, well because I am so cheap, that is yellow duck tape also cut into 1/8th" strips.. I just happen to have both just laying around!
I hope you all had a great Hump day and found time to have fun on your layout and with your trains!
Mike G - your stripping and asphalt look spectacularly clean!! The first teenage hot rodder that lays a patch on that asphalt will be dealt with severely. Your work look terrific!!
Last night I took a few pics of my K line MU cars. 
Thanks everyone for the wonderful compliments, It really means a lot to me coming from you guys and INMO you all have such great looking layouts! I am still working at it, compared to the rest of you guys I am really the new kid on the block. I never had trains as a kid or while growing up.
To be honest I didn't get my first train till I was 45 when the sons great grandad gave him one and he wasn't interested in it. But I was like a little kid in a candy store, I said I will set it up and its all been up hill from there!
I hope you all have a great weekend and fun with your layout and trains!
Mike, to be honest, though I bought my first train when I was about 12 and never lost interest, there were many years when I didn’t have a layout. I am learning and re-learning as I go. Also, I only bought my first O gauge train 8 years ago and started using command control after that. I am learning from what you are doing as well. Thank you!
Patrick, the MUs look great. I never rode on Pennsy MUs but did so on Reading Company MUs. I was lucky to recently purchase two, two car consists of Reading cars.
Well Mark, sounds , like your in the same boat as I am. Learning a lot for this great forum!
Patrick, I am with Jay, your Pennsy MU's look wonderful. I have only road one train in my life and that was right after I started dating the CEO, it was a dinner/mystery train that lasted maybe 3 hours. Either way think your cars look great!
Well I got a little time this morning before my meeting and put down a little more pinstriping, added some grass next to the lumber storage shed, and added 2 Menards delivery truck and 2 Ambulances back by the fire station.
Here are a couple photos.
I dont think I will get anymore done today due to the fact after my meeting I hope to have my new garage door opener delivered by then so I can install it. Then we can start parking in the garage again. If anything I might try to clean a little bit so I can get a photo for SWAT in the morning! LOL
I hope everyone has a great weekend and fun with there layout and trains! Please stay safe and healthy!
Squeezed two more boxes into the cabinet.....
@gandydancer1950 posted:Squeezed two more boxes into the cabinet.....
WOW!!! That looks like some of the shelves that used to be in Madison Hardware... well... maybe a little neater
@gandydancer1950 posted:Squeezed two more boxes into the cabinet.....
I would say you need more cabinet's! LOL
Great updates this week! Enjoying all the projects. I added an elevated level to my layout. Short a few trestles so I need to hit the store this morning to snag a few more. Perfect for my conventional set-ups.
@Chris1985 posted:Great updates this week! Enjoying all the projects. I added an elevated level to my layout. Short a few trestles so I need to hit the store this morning to snag a few more. Perfect for my conventional set-ups.
WOW Chris, looks great! Is upper and lower attached or just a single upper?
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