WHAT’S ON THE WORKBENCH AT THE MOMENT

@Mallard4468 posted:

It's not quite on the workbench yet, but...

Awhile ago, I built a Frankenstein steeple cab loco from a MPC switcher and a couple of slope back tenders.  As a result, I have two short tender frames.  Here's a pic of one of them:

Trying to decide what to do with them.  Leaning towards something whimsical - some kind of short caboose, or maybe put a beer can on it.  Suggestions are appreciated.

I love short wheelbase projects.

Only one suggestion, though - no beer can. So often seen, and almost always a waste of a nice beginning.

@Mallard4468 posted:

It's not quite on the workbench yet, but...

Awhile ago, I built a Frankenstein steeple cab loco from a MPC switcher and a couple of slope back tenders.  As a result, I have two short tender frames.  Here's a pic of one of them:

Trying to decide what to do with them.  Leaning towards something whimsical - some kind of short caboose, or maybe put a beer can on it.  Suggestions are appreciated.

A transfer caboose, perhaps?

Mitch

Welcome back Mitch!  Transfer caboose, not a bad idea.

@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

A transfer caboose, perhaps?

Mitch

Who is this??????

Welcome back! Hope you are doing well.

Bob

@D500 posted:

I love short wheelbase projects.

Only one suggestion, though - no beer can. So often seen, and almost always a waste of a nice beginning.

On one hand, it is a cliche.  OTOH, I haven't done one yet.  Still pondering...

Thanks! That’s a really old Bar Mills sign. Looking for a nice die cast 1/48 Bell Telephone truck, any sources?

Billy C

@Trainchief posted:

Thanks! That’s a really old Bar Mills sign. Looking for a nice die cast 1/48 Bell Telephone truck, any sources?

Billy C

Nicely done! You can tell that you put a lot of attention to detail in your work!

@Mallard4468 posted:

On one hand, it is a cliche.  OTOH, I haven't done one yet.  Still pondering...

Hey, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. At least once. Looking forward to it regardless.

@coach joe Joe, yes the rabbit hole is right in front of you.  Nice work!

@T-Bone1214 T-Bone, nice work on your first cars.

@Trainchief Trainchief, I really like the flat.  As an retired telephone employee (not Bell or it's offshoots) I'm curious about the Bell sign too!

@rlplionel yes those old cords need replaced.  Everything else in that ZW looks really great!

@Trainchief posted:

Thanks! That’s a really old Bar Mills sign. Looking for a nice die cast 1/48 Bell Telephone truck, any sources?

Billy C

Was that one of those Bar Mills billboards?  I believe I've got one of those around here somewhere.

Gerat work everyone! Billy C. I really like the flat! They are so important in our hobby as they still give us room to bring out layouts to life in tight spots!

Nice to see your back and posting again Mitch! I hope all is well with you!

NEXT!

My bench is strangely empty, need to fix that. My LIRR Morris Park Switcher is done, I'm just waiting for this miserable HHH weather to pass so I can clear-coat the decals. Tropical Storm Debbi is passing as I write so we should be seeing better weather by tomorrow.

I bought a pair of ALCO S2's from Cabin Fever in one of the last of the MTH warehouse auctions, with upgrade plans firmly in mind. Originally one powered chassis with no boards, and a dummy.
The powered chassis wound up as this- with a PS3/2 stacker kit.

The other, a New York Central was going to be a dummy that I was going add lighting and be done. But as fate would have it, when I was sourcing parts for the LNE, I found a forum member who was selling a S2 parts engine, WITH TWO POWERED TRUCKS!

So an ERR upgrade kit from GunnerJohn later, here we go!

I need to mount the pilot on the front, and side-frames on the rear truck and then get going on the electronics and lighting.

More fun!

Bob

Well, went back and re-thought my excursion car. Printed out the new chassis, deck, walls benches, and roof. Only problem I had was after painting the chassis, I left it out side for 15 minutes before bringing it inside and the frame warped in the AZ summer heat! Bummer! I installed the trucks and glued all the parts together anyway and added some little people I had laying around. Actually didn't come out too bad I think. I do believe I need to work on the wall dimensions a bit though.

Darrell,

Where is it worped?

If you look closely you can see the slight gap on both ends of the body between the body and the deck. Once I saw it, it could not be unseen, lol!

Nice work guys!

Bob if I ever get my layout up and running again and I find some extra cash I just might send one your way to upgrade for me! LOL

Darrel I think the car looks fine, just add a little dirt there and no one will ever see it! LOL Thats what I do! LOL

@mike g. posted:

Nice work guys!

Bob if I ever get my layout up and running again and I find some extra cash I just might send one your way to upgrade for me! LOL

Darrel I think the car looks fine, just add a little dirt there and no one will ever see it! LOL Thats what I do! LOL

Thanks Mike. Probably one of my last ERR upgrades. The boards are getting too expensive. I have one more kit on hand after this one.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Thanks Mike. Probably one of my last ERR upgrades. The boards are getting too expensive. I have one more kit on hand after this one.

Bob

LOL Here I am again a day late and a dollar short! LOL

@Darrell posted:

Well, went back and re-thought my excursion car. Printed out the new chassis, deck, walls benches, and roof. Only problem I had was after painting the chassis, I left it out side for 15 minutes before bringing it inside and the frame warped in the AZ summer heat! Bummer! I installed the trucks and glued all the parts together anyway and added some little people I had laying around. Actually didn't come out too bad I think. I do believe I need to work on the wall dimensions a bit though.

The car looks good Darrel. The potential for 3D printing in the hobby is endless.

Bob

@mike g. posted:

LOL Here I am again a day late and a dollar short! LOL

No, you're right on time. I meant that I won't be buying more ERR kits due to the price.

Wow, that's cool!  If that shows up in the 3D catalog here, I might print out a couple of those.

Not sure if I can, the car is a combo of 3 different thingaverse projects that I re-scaled/adjusted dimensions and mashed together to make a version of the open air cars I see on a couple of excursion railroads around the state. I will look into if I can post my remix here though after I make a couple more adjustments.

My workbench has dual roles, trains and woodworking.  Nice to combine the two.  A quick project using scrap walnut to make some remote control holders for the layout.  The DCS remote holder was modified so that it can accommodate a tethered cord if I need to switch to a new WTIU in the future.

So in the area of tools for working models, what machine tools have you all found reasonably priced and quality?  I will like to get a milling machine, drill press, probably a lathe etc.  Essentially a miniature machine shop or at least benchtop machines.  I have a dremel and some accessories.  But really dont know much about what is available.  Have used drill presses and Grizzly mills along with cnc circuit board milling and fab but I dont have that kind of budget nor do I need to be computer controlled or fast.

Was at the Strasburg show yesterday which was great but did not see machines or get advise I can put into practice.

@Robbin posted:

So in the area of tools for working models, what machine tools have you all found reasonably priced and quality?  I will like to get a milling machine, drill press, probably a lathe etc.  Essentially a miniature machine shop or at least benchtop machines.  I have a dremel and some accessories.  But really dont know much about what is available.  Have used drill presses and Grizzly mills along with cnc circuit board milling and fab but I dont have that kind of budget nor do I need to be computer controlled or fast.

Was at the Strasburg show yesterday which was great but did not see machines or get advise I can put into practice.

In the tabletop category there is Sherline. Can be used as a lathe, mill, drill press with attachments and can also be powered with stepper motors for CNC work. Not cheap to get to that point. Then a huge jump to well made professional machines like Bridgeport. In between are the asian machines from Grizzly, Harbor Freight, and on line sources. They have gotten better and can give OK results after being tuned up.

Older US made machines found at auction can be better option if not worn out.

Pete

@Robbin posted:

So in the area of tools for working models, what machine tools have you all found reasonably priced and quality?  I will like to get a milling machine, drill press, probably a lathe etc.  Essentially a miniature machine shop or at least benchtop machines.  I have a dremel and some accessories.  But really dont know much about what is available.  Have used drill presses and Grizzly mills along with cnc circuit board milling and fab but I dont have that kind of budget nor do I need to be computer controlled or fast.

Was at the Strasburg show yesterday which was great but did not see machines or get advise I can put into practice.

Pete’s 100% correct, the only thing I’ll add is there are combination machines available from Asian vendors. As Pete said, some tweaking and they produce great results for model making. I’ve posted a link below for one such a candidate that wouldn’t be a bank breaker,……I have a few Asian machines, and after some tweaks, I’m extremely satisfied with the end products I produce…..this would be a great topic on a separate thread, however, I defer to the moderators to tell us where,…..I have both older US machines, and some Asian, ….the railroad shop is crammed with the Asian machines, they don’t give me much trouble …..

https://www.grizzly.com/produc...mbo-lathe-mill/g0937

Pat

@jstraw124 posted:

My workbench has dual roles, trains and woodworking.  Nice to combine the two.  A quick project using scrap walnut to make some remote control holders for the layout.  The DCS remote holder was modified so that it can accommodate a tethered cord if I need to switch to a new WTIU in the future.

Your post makes me feel so stupid!  I'm an experienced woodworker and have built lots of challenging projects, and I have plenty of nice hardwood scraps laying around.  However, my train remote holders are utilitarian at best.  Your designs are elegant - don't know why I didn't think of them!  Nice finish, too. 

@Norton posted:

In the tabletop category there is Sherline. Can be used as a lathe, mill, drill press with attachments and can also be powered with stepper motors for CNC work. Not cheap to get to that point. Then a huge jump to well made professional machines like Bridgeport. In between are the asian machines from Grizzly, Harbor Freight, and on line sources. They have gotten better and can give OK results after being tuned up.

Older US made machines found at auction can be better option if not worn out.

Pete

@harmonyards posted:

Pete’s 100% correct, the only thing I’ll add is there are combination machines available from Asian vendors. As Pete said, some tweaking and they produce great results for model making. I’ve posted a link below for one such a candidate that wouldn’t be a bank breaker,……I have a few Asian machines, and after some tweaks, I’m extremely satisfied with the end products I produce…..this would be a great topic on a separate thread, however, I defer to the moderators to tell us where,…..I have both older US machines, and some Asian, ….the railroad shop is crammed with the Asian machines, they don’t give me much trouble …..

https://www.grizzly.com/produc...mbo-lathe-mill/g0937

Pat

I've toyed with the idea of getting something like this and have a few questions...

1) One concern of mine with the lower-priced Asian machines is availability (and quality) of the tools and accessories, especially if one decides to add something after the original purchase.  Has this been an issue for you?

2) You mentioned "tweaks" to get good results.  What kind of tuning / modification are you referring to, and what is a good reference for information?

3) Can you recommend a website / organization / book / magazine for learning how to select and use these machines?

Thanks.

@Mallard4468 posted:

I'm an experienced woodworker and have built lots of challenging projects, and I have plenty of nice hardwood scraps laying around.  However, my train remote holders are utilitarian at best.  Your designs are elegant - don't know why I didn't think of them!  Nice finish, too.

Thanks for the kind words.  The scraps came from a batch of wood that was given to me by a retiring coworker. All of it was only 3/16” thick.  Difficult to figure out projects for thin wood.  She said it was milled by her grandfather over 100 years ago.  I enjoy the irony of that vintage of wood being used to hold remote controls.

Of course I can’t figure out when enough is enough on both my woodworking and train projects.  I didn’t care much for the clonk sound the remotes made when dropped into the holder, so now they’re felt lined.

@Mallard4468 posted:

I've toyed with the idea of getting something like this and have a few questions...

1) One concern of mine with the lower-priced Asian machines is availability (and quality) of the tools and accessories, especially if one decides to add something after the original purchase.  Has this been an issue for you?

2) You mentioned "tweaks" to get good results.  What kind of tuning / modification are you referring to, and what is a good reference for information?

3) Can you recommend a website / organization / book / magazine for learning how to select and use these machines?

Thanks.

Like I mentioned earlier, this would be a great thread to start a conversation about, but I’m not sure where such a discussion should belong, ….I don’t think it’s this particular thread, ….which means we wind up with our suggestions in the twilight zone,…….We need to ask the moderators where to put this topic, and keep a good rolling resource thread for tools/machines

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

Like I mentioned earlier, this would be a great thread to start a conversation about, but I’m not sure where such a discussion should belong, ….I don’t think it’s this particular thread, ….which means we wind up with our suggestions in the twilight zone,…….We need to ask the moderators where to put this topic, and keep a good rolling resource thread for tools/machines

Pat

Sorry...but we can not currently devote bandwidth to a separate sub-forum about tools and machines.  It likely would morph into discussions unrelated to the purpose of the forum.  There is nothing wrong with pointing out the tools and "machines"  you have used to repair, build, etc. your rolling stock and locomotives (and related items) here in this thread as many of you already have.  Just make sure that you only use links if you are going to mention/recommend non-sponsors please.  You also have the ability to contact one another via profile emails to discuss in more detail the tools/machines you have used.  Finally, we do provide you with a rather extensive resource list which has all kinds of useful links including a lot of help locating product which can aid you at your workbench.

Hello all,

As a long time lurker on this thread, I finally have something worthy to contribute. 

In January my Sunset 3rd Rail O5a (circa 2005) ran about ten feet when the TAS TMCC board died with a burning smell.  It's not the first TAS board of that vintage that's given up on me.  Today, the project's coming off the bench.

I buy trains to run, this one's too nice to be a shelf queen.

I gutted all the electronics and lighting.  Put in ERR Cruise w/Railsounds, all LED lighting, JWA's Superchuffer with his chuff generator.  It has turned out fantastic. 

Here's a test video as I was figuring out the JWA products:

The final product:

@jstraw124 posted:

Thanks for the kind words.  The scraps came from a batch of wood that was given to me by a retiring coworker. All of it was only 3/16” thick.  Difficult to figure out projects for thin wood.  She said it was milled by her grandfather over 100 years ago.  I enjoy the irony of that vintage of wood being used to hold remote controls.

Of course I can’t figure out when enough is enough on both my woodworking and train projects.  I didn’t care much for the clonk sound the remotes made when dropped into the holder, so now they’re felt lined.

OK, now you're just piling on. 

@harmonyards posted:

Like I mentioned earlier, this would be a great thread to start a conversation about, but I’m not sure where such a discussion should belong, ….I don’t think it’s this particular thread, ….which means we wind up with our suggestions in the twilight zone,…….We need to ask the moderators where to put this topic, and keep a good rolling resource thread for tools/machines

Pat

Based on Alan's answer, it sounds like answering in this forum is fair game, unless we digress into non-train uses.  If you get the chance, please respond to my earlier questions, either within this thread (IMO, this would help others besides myself) or via my profile email.  Your insights will be appreciated.

Serviced an Atlas RS-1 that I bought from a forum member recently. It has TMCC with EOB. I opened the shell looking for a volume control...none to be found. Also, no battery????
Anyway getting the shell back on was fun. What in the name of all things good was Atlas thinking with that crazy antenna arrangement. I had the cab on and off 5 times to get everything back in the right spots.......

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

NEXT!

My bench is strangely empty, need to fix that. My LIRR Morris Park Switcher is done, I'm just waiting for this miserable HHH weather to pass so I can clear-coat the decals. Tropical Storm Debbi is passing as I write so we should be seeing better weather by tomorrow.

I bought a pair of ALCO S2's from Cabin Fever in one of the last of the MTH warehouse auctions, with upgrade plans firmly in mind. Originally one powered chassis with no boards, and a dummy.
The powered chassis wound up as this- with a PS3/2 stacker kit.

The other, a New York Central was going to be a dummy that I was going add lighting and be done. But as fate would have it, when I was sourcing parts for the LNE, I found a forum member who was selling a S2 parts engine, WITH TWO POWERED TRUCKS!

So an ERR upgrade kit from GunnerJohn later, here we go!

I need to mount the pilot on the front, and side-frames on the rear truck and then get going on the electronics and lighting.

More fun!

Bob

Bob - looks like a nice rainy day project!

Parts and pieces as I'm repainting some MTH club cars.  

Cheers, Dave

@Sean007 posted:

Bob - looks like a nice rainy day project!

Rainy days, sunny days, nights, weekends........

Gonna take a while to put it together.

Thanks

@darlander posted:

Parts and pieces as I'm repainting some MTH club cars.  

Cheers, Dave

Dave I sure hope you share more photos and tell a little how your going about doing this as I know I am going to have some that I want to repaint down the road!

@mike g. posted:

Dave I sure hope you share more photos and tell a little how your going about doing this as I know I am going to have some that I want to repaint down the road!

Not much to it Mike.   I use SCALECOAT II - Wash away to remove old markings.   Important to wash in soapy water, rinse and dry before painting.    I'm lucky with this project to be able to use rattle cans  - RUST-OLEUM Gloss Marigold & Flat Red Primer.    If needed, I clear gloss coat areas that receives decals.   After a good cure, I use a flat finish to seal the decals.  The biggest problem can be getting everything put back together correctly.   I take pictures at times to reference part locations, etc.  That was a specially true with my American and Big Hooke crane cars I did this spring.    I am off on a trip now so it will be a few weeks before I get  back to the bench.

Cheers, Dave

PS:  Looks like you have a great home for new layout!   Anxious to follow your progress!