What did you do on your layout today?

Wow, page 986, we are approaching 1000 pages, and this entire thread is an education in model railroading, it’s a really thick Book. Yesterday, while in Nashville, I visited a great friend, with some interesting trains, an upstairs Legacy command Entirely, layout and more. His name is Charles, a great friend. Enjoy the pictures, Happy Railroading Everyone.

Our friend showed up today with a gift for my wife. Wonder Woman is our name for our oldest daughter who passed last June from this horrible disease. Also had made Superman.

Did a bit of detailing on the tunnel, added bushes and weeds. I almost worked up the ambition to place it on the layout after dinner last night....

almost.

I have a bunch of these little plastic pine trees that I got at a friends party. They were cake toppers. I'm experimenting with spray adhesive and ground foam to cover the shiny plastic. Still a work in progress.

Bob

Larry: Your friends layout is full of eye candy. Busy, tidy and colorful.

@RSJB18 posted:

Did a bit of detailing on the tunnel, added bushes and weeds. I almost worked up the ambition to place it on the layout after dinner last night....

Bob

Bob hope you have your access hole cut to feed your wires  through as you put the great looking piece in place...LOL

@Rich Wiemann posted:

Bob hope you have your access hole cut to feed your wires  through as you put the great looking piece in place...LOL

That's exactly what I was trying to work up the ambition to do next. I have to drill two holes to drop the wires through.

Looking good Bob, Just wondering if you might be able to spray the trees with dull coat?

@mike g. posted:

Looking good Bob, Just wondering if you might be able to spray the trees with dull coat?

Good idea Mike. I will have to wait for a decent day to get outside to do it. That stuff really stinks.

Thanks

@SuperChief posted:

Some ballast getting put down:

@SuperChief

That is a GREAT ballasting system. Who makes the ballast spreader car and where is it available?

Had been waiting to purchase a Menards flat and for them to come up with a free gift that I could use on my layout and they did, so I picked up the M&M's flat and got a mid-century lighted pick-up truck as a free gift.

The head and tail lights of the truck are illuminated and it is hooked up to a simple 4.5 dcv wall wart.

The flat is connected to an AC/DC buck converter running off 18 acv track power and set to 4.5 volts.

Glued end door and windows on camp car and chalked a little to dirty it up.

@pennsynut posted:

Glued side door and windows on camp car and chalked a little to dirty it up.

Nice work! Looks GREAT!

Well, I have been busy, one of those projects that just kept mushrooming !!  Installed Kadee 805 couplers on about 8 freight cars, then started playing with the 809 magnetic un-couplers, adding some neodymium magnets until I found the right combination...  took much longer than I thought it would.   Of course every project I start takes longer than I thought it would!

When I got 3 of the 6 yard track un-couplers done, I thought I'd try switching cars. Been waiting years to finally cut and switch cars in this yard.

Uh Oh.... found I had a dead section of track in the yard, and two stub end sidings that I had not connected the siding track drops to the power......  so under the table to add some drops and clean up the old wiring. 

Figured I am good to go and can start practicing cutting some cars....   But no !,  My Lionel 0-8-0 steam switcher started stalling on the Atlas 072 switches in a critical 1/2 inch section. 

OK, so today, I took the tender and engine apart and installed a tether connecting the pick up rollers.  Finally it all works.   I shot a video just before dinner, but when I replayed it I didn't have the camera settings correct for video, way too dark.   So I'll shoot a short video tomorrow and put it up.

Bob the timber retaining wall and tunnel entrance came out great !.   

Today I finished my special cargo a huge gear loaded on a gon ready to be shipped to it's customer.

@Randy Harrison posted:

@SuperChief

That is a GREAT ballasting system. Who makes the ballast spreader car and where is it available?

Hey Randy - It is called a Ballast King. We have been impressed with it. It looks like the original website we ordered off of is now down. I wonder if anyone might be willing to part with theirs in the wanted forum.

Thanks @chris a I hope to get it on the layout this weekend. The weather forecast here in NY looks very layout friendly.

Always something when working on our little projects. As the old saying goes if it were easy everyone would do it.

@pennsynut- the cabin car looks great.

@Jeff B. Haertlein- very nice custom load.

@Richie C.- the flat looks great. I don't have room for any on my current layout. Maybe on the next one.

Bob

I appreciate that Bob and all the "thanks" from fellow posters during the last  crazy months. Covid and now the cold, snow and dangerous ice for some. Hoping for better times soon. Cheers.

JeffB, I used to sell large gears like that. I love those kind of carloads. Looks great.

@romiller49 posted:

JeffB, I used to sell large gears like that. I love those kind of carloads. Looks great.

Who did you work for?? As for this gear in actuality; it came from a disassembled old hand cranked grinding stone. Thanks for all the compliments.

@leapinlarry posted:

Wow, page 986, we are approaching 1000 pages, and this entire thread is an education in model railroading, it’s a really thick Book. Yesterday, while in Nashville, I visited a great friend, with some interesting trains, an upstairs Legacy command Entirely, layout and more. His name is Charles, a great friend. Enjoy the pictures, Happy Railroading Everyone.

Great layout and pictures of the locomotives in cases. What is the manufacturer of the Jupiter 4-4-0?? Is this a 2 rail or 3 rail model?? Thanks.

@Jeff B. Haertlein posted:

Who did you work for?? As for this gear in actuality; it came from a disassembled old hand cranked grinding stone. Thanks for all the compliments.

Jeff, I retired from a large industrial distributor. My favorite customers were always cement plants, quarries and anything related to the aggregate industry. That’s where the big stuff like gears, gearboxes, conveyors, etc were used.

@romiller49 posted:

Jeff, I retired from a large industrial distributor. My favorite customers were always cement plants, quarries and anything related to the aggregate industry. That’s where the big stuff like gears, gearboxes, conveyors, etc were used.

Sounds really neat. I know we had some pretty interesting machinery at our feed mill, but nothing as big as cement plants.

Here's a video of cutting and switching cars in the yard with the new Kadee 805 couplers and some Kadee 809 Uncouplers.  Once I figure out how to operate the steam switcher more smoothly it will get better.  2 of the 3 magnet uncouplers are modified with one Kadee Magnet strip with neodymium magnets underneath on fine thread sheet rock screws.  I needed to try and make the modified magent set up work as some sidings are already ballasted and I don't want to have to cut out ties and remove ballast if I don't have to.

I can accomplish "delayed uncoupling" pretty reliably, although now I see why that feature isn't really advantageous in a classification yard where you're not trying to spot a car in an exact location on a siding like a warehouse door or loading dock...  Finally feel like I am getting somewhere !!!

Placed trees (to be painted and foliaged later) on project so I can plan other details. Poor photo of basic point of view of the area when installed.  Cheers

@pennsynut posted:

Placed trees (to be painted and foliaged later) on project so I can plan other details. Poor photo of basic point of view of the area when installed.  Cheers

Looks like you also have room to expand!   Hope you can stake a claim to the space.   Boy, do I envy you!   PS:  Love the trees!

Cheers, Dave

Thanks for the kind comments Dave. It just happens that the design of my home included a big basement. If I thought a long time ago how involved I would be in this hobby I would have considered a different design than what I have. But I have grown to accept what I built and expanded over the last 25 years. It is still a train layout in a basement as opposed to a train layout room.  I have too many hobby interests to tackle an extensive redo and my grandkids are my priority now even though visiting is interrupted because of covid. However, when I read posts of the modelers starting new layouts or rebuilding I get to thinking what I would do differently. For sure 096 and larger for starters. Be well.

In my pictures above of the Jupiter Steam Locomotive, it’s the latest from Lionel, a brass Hybrid and it’s a beautiful model. Possibly the 2019 vol 2 Lionel catalog. The hudson is the VisionLine Hudson by Lionel. Charles is a fine model railroader and his wife loves the hobby to. I’m blessed to know them and be their friends. Happy Railroading Everyone

Found these little yard bases at dollar tree fits a plasticville cape cod house just perfectly.

@leapinlarry posted:

In my pictures above of the Jupiter Steam Locomotive, it’s the latest from Lionel, a brass Hybrid and it’s a beautiful model. Possibly the 2019 vol 2 Lionel catalog. The hudson is the VisionLine Hudson by Lionel. Charles is a fine model railroader and his wife loves the hobby to. I’m blessed to know them and be their friends. Happy Railroading Everyone

Thanks for that information!!

When the track department figures out you have been welding for 18 years, you become a track guy for a day. Switch point broke/cracked after one of the other track guys welded it. He “welded” it when it was about 12 degrees out not counting wind chill. No pre heat or anything. So after working for the track department figured I’d add some track department stuff to the the section I’m working on at the moment. Still need to fine some brighter sand/dirt for the road.

Unboxed and ran MTH Premier solid rocket booster set, with Arkema modern tank cars .

Nice train in convincing scene. Thanks for the video.

@Jeff B. Haertlein posted:

Today I finished my special cargo a huge gear loaded on a gon ready to be shipped to it's customer.

As you may recall from my earlier post I set up a large gear for transportation; well I got out one of my 4-truck machinery depressed center flat cars and mounted my gear on it. It looks so much better and will be kept on one of these flats instead.

My twin grandsons know Papa plays with trains.  They gave me this train set for Christmas.  I ran it for the first time today.

In case it was going too fast for you, the engine is a 0-6-0.  I will find a couple more batteries and enjoy my new layout today.

Bill

Bill : Train set looks great and I am sure given that it was a gift from your grandkids it comes with wonderful memories.  I noticed a furry "friend" walk by in the background, I'll bet if he is like mine they are curious anytime anything is moving!!

Best wishes

Don

Today, i am looking for a Switcher No. 622 Lionel to add to my layout. Are there any affordable units from your "not run anymore" box? Its for the (cough cough) "Grandson"..... I can oil and clean and hug it and tuck it in at night and run it and name it Fred,

Then I will post: Added a fine little engine that could to my Layout today.

email please

You are right Don.  My grandsons were very proud of their gift.  Heidi did not like having her nap interrupted.  When the train stopped, she returned to her favorite pillow and resumed her nap.  My wife likes it too.

Bill

Working Coalwood yard.,..

Time to get organized a bit... I went to Michaels craft store and bought this wheeled cart for my transformer controllers and such.  It wound up being the perfect height and the shelves are handy.  I might drill some holes in the back and put in some rubber grommets so I can run wires through it.

Today added two inner loop crossover sections (Ross O64 turnouts) that will enable the future outer loop of Ross/Atlas (want to finish the inner completely first.)  Used regular 5" Fastrack transition pieces on the departure side, but because of spacing had to make my own 1-3/4" transition pieces for the approach side.  The Rossbed looks pretty good after some rattle can texture grey, and nice how the Ross ties sit about 1/3 into the Rossbed.