That sure is a nice shiny train there Ted! Great looking and really like your Christmas layout! Thanks for the video!
Ted that's a beautiful ESE. What brand is it?
coach joe posted:Ted that's a beautiful ESE. What brand is it?
K-Line K-4670A NYC 4-PAC (15") Thx, they were a ‘99 issue I believe. A couple more would be nice. Legacy 6-82534 J3a pulling.
Mike, you gotta do what ya gotta do! Celebrate the season. 
TedW posted:Mike, you gotta do what ya gotta do! Celebrate the season.
Thanks Ted!
Continued work on my enlarged ( thanks to Woodland Scenics) upper level town. I believe(??) I have ALL of the buildings I will need. Working on the remaining roads, curbs and sidewalks.
mike g. posted:I know I am really sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I put up the train for Christmas the wife would let me till the train room is built. Again sorry! LOL
Mike;
How does that old song go - Christmas is for children??? Nothing to apologize for... in many ways, that train is truly Christmas.
A very merry Christmas to you and your family.
Big_Boy_4005 posted:Thanks guys.
Mark - The guy who designed and built the panels was an electrical engineer. I can't remember if he had some telecom background, but I want to say he did. Anyway, I'm trying to maintain his high standard for neatness, especially because there are so many wires to deal with. It is rather time consuming, but very satisfying.
I like neat wiring. It looks great, but helps in trouble or revisions!
mike g. posted:I know I am really sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I put up the train for Christmas the wife would let me till the train room is built. Again sorry! LOL
I got that same set 3 years ago. I opened the loco and added some random screws for weight. I found it ran and pulled much better!
briansilvermustang posted:mike g. posted:Nice pictures on your engines Brian, I also like your drawing of your layout. IMO its always good to just run trains sometimes!
Thanks Mike, been working 11-12 hr days, come home, eat, grab a beer and run some trains for bit, then crash...
And the problem is?????? 
mike g. posted:I know I am really sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I put up the train for Christmas the wife would let me till the train room is built. Again sorry! LOL
No worries Mike. Any train running is good train running!
Bob
TedW posted:Ran some trains... new to me ESE consist.
VERY NICE Ted early Merry Christmas 
Big_Boy_4005 posted:Thanks guys.
Mark - The guy who designed and built the panels was an electrical engineer. I can't remember if he had some telecom background, but I want to say he did. Anyway, I'm trying to maintain his high standard for neatness, especially because there are so many wires to deal with. It is rather time consuming, but very satisfying.
Looks good Elliot. I'm with you on the neat wiring. I used to do a lot of motor control centers. Everything had to be just right. I almost hated to put the covers on when I was done. 
TedW posted:Ran some trains... new to me ESE consist.
Great looking set Ted. Said it a million times but again, the tree layout is second to none.
Bob
John D. posted:mike g. posted:I know I am really sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I put up the train for Christmas the wife would let me till the train room is built. Again sorry! LOL
I got that same set 3 years ago. I opened the loco and added some random screws for weight. I found it ran and pulled much better!
Thanks John, I will have to give that a try, it does seam to like to jump the track!
Me and My Wife bonding over making Trees.
Attachments
Images (1)
almost done at work 
ready for some food, grab a beer, & run some trains with" IZZY"
Attachments
Images (1)
Now your talking Brian, That sure sounds like a great Start to the weekend!
well, till I get back here tomorrow... it will be fun...
Attachments
Images (1)
brought out my 1865 & 1866 Western & Atlantic passenger cars for an excursion run
Attachments
Images (2)
Finished up the track design! Fastrack sure hits the wallet hard 
Attachments
Images (1)
Jack118711 posted:Finished up the track design! Fastrack sure hits the wallet hard
Nice layout Jack, but I hate to tell you all track Manufactures hit the wallet hard! LOL
HUGE day today!!! Patrick came over and some projects actually got done. He started off priming the backdrop behind Hastings and a couple small filler pieces on the west wall.
After lunch Patrick moved on to paint. We concluded that he primed this section two years ago.
Painting continued on to the freshly primed areas.
While Patrick was busy painting, I was making up feeder wires for the roundhouse and garden tracks.
With the painting done, it was time to install the very last backdrop section.
The big helix is fully wrapped. The band around the top is is the fascia, and will be black to "cap" the sky. It hides the top track, and as trains reach the top, they just rise and appear out of nowhere.
This is the only square corner on the entire fascia.
This is the part of the layout where BNSF trains appear on the east end, emerging from behind the new backdrop section.
This is the east entrance for CP trains at Red Wing.
Unfortunately, the helix fascia wasn't quite level, so there was a height mismatch at the apex. We were in the process of correcting this when it was quitting time.
Patrick may be back next week, but for sure in two weeks. Construction will be complete by the end of the year.
Attachments
Images (17)
Elliot, you and Patrick sure got a lot done in a single day! The back drops are looking really nice! At this rate you will be done in no time! But if your not I will keep watching the great work you and your friends do!
Elliot and Patrick,
Great Job guys, keep up the great work!
PCRR/Dave
mike g. posted:Elliot, you and Patrick sure got a lot done in a single day! The back drops are looking really nice! At this rate you will be done in no time! But if your not I will keep watching the great work you and your friends do!
Thanks Mike, but as you know a model railroad is never done. I'm just looking forward to the day when I'm not making sawdust anymore. That day is coming soon (I hope).
Its funny you say that Elliot, I am on the other spectrum! I cant wait to start making sawdust! LOL But I do know what your saying, this will be my 3rd layout build!
Big_Boy_4005 posted:mike g. posted:Elliot, you and Patrick sure got a lot done in a single day! The back drops are looking really nice! At this rate you will be done in no time! But if your not I will keep watching the great work you and your friends do!
Thanks Mike, but as you know a model railroad is never done. I'm just looking forward to the day when I'm not making sawdust anymore. That day is coming soon (I hope).
Elliot;
Building a layout is like doing home improvements... they are never done, they can only be stopped
Hopefully, you will never stop.
Spent the day up to my elbows in GG-1 guts. I came to the conclusion that the venerable Pittman can motor in the Gi-raffe GG1 had reached the end of its service life, so I dropped in a couple of newer motors from a Williams donor G. After a minor faux pax resulting in the twin motors pulling in opposite directions, the GGG-1 is now trundling along cheerfully.
I'm mulling over why it's tough to locate bottles with eyedroppers in them on eBay.
You see, I'm working on experiments with using baby oil for smoke fluid. Works good, but the train room has a distinct aroma of talcum powder about it now.
I DID amuse the checkout girl at the Dollar Tree. I said, "Corn oil is made from corn. Olive oil is made from olives." I held up the baby oil bottle. "Do the math."
Mitch
me & "IZZY" running some trains before bedtime...
goodnight...
Attachments
Images (13)
Mitch-I tried baby oil, not the best plus your train room will smell like a baby room at best. I started making my own smoke fluid and tried that stuff. Use something lighter weight and less smelly.
Mitch, check these out on the Bay!
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/eye-dropper-bottles
Brian, sure looks like you and Izzy sure are having some fun! You sure have a great train collection !
Been pondering what to build on the small platform over my tunnel. I finally decided to continue the cliff/ hillside out from the corner. Started carving the foam yesterday. Progress so far, I'll post more pix later.
I just bought some micro LED Christmas lights that will be wrapped on the trees for Christmas.
Bob
Attachments
Images (4)
Elliot - You are my inspiration when I don't feel like going down to the basement and getting something done, but do it anyway. There have been a few days like that recently, but I am always glad that I forced myself to do it. It is an amazing feeling to get something done even if it is minor in the grand scheme of things. In my case, it is very gratifying to see all these days of a few hours here and few more there amount to solid progress.
You are making amazing progress. Thanks for continuing to share.
Art
Bob, that carving looks great! what did you use ?
mike g. posted:Bob, that carving looks great! what did you use ?
Thanks Mike. I use a Dremel Multi-max with a 1" wood blade. A little messier than a hot knife but not too bad.
The carving is done in my garage so when I'm done the leaf blower takes care of the mess .
I scribed the stone face with a straight edge and a pencil.
Bob
Attachments
Images (1)
jim pastorius posted:Mitch-I tried baby oil, not the best plus your train room will smell like a baby room at best. I started making my own smoke fluid and tried that stuff. Use something lighter weight and less smelly.
Okey-doke! What do you recommend using?
mike g. posted:Mitch, check these out on the Bay!
Very nice bottles! Thanks! What I'm looking for, though, is something like the eyedropper bottle that Lionel uses. Being plastic, it won't shatter if dropped on a concrete floor...
Mitch
I used light oil and ended up using electric razor oil a beautician friend bought for me. When I dragged some of my Lionel steamers out of storage and ran them they started smoking so it didn't gum up. I didn't use the oil straight, though but you could try it. When I moved here I didn't bring any fluid with me or use it now.
