Weekend Update 10/4/26

[up1950s]

https://www.google.com/search?q=Locomotive+speed+records&sca_esv=3b528c4e8e292c43&biw=1912&bih=914&sxsrf=APpeQnuV0myzCRm33R_7JbTRD1TkJ88mwg%3A1790694844371&ei=vNW7aoKHFs6nptQP0KrW8Qo&aep=22&udm=50&ved=2ahUKEwiC1eWQipSXAxXOk4kEHVCVNa44ChC15g96BAgGEBc&cs=0&oq=Locomotive+speed+records&gs_lp=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-MLwgcGMi0xNC43yAedAYAIAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp&mstk=AUtExfDzFgcV_CYqb2MiBprgtg-fzrsZFj44dawx_uk4ZmJ0u7vHQwPvY_HOfDrHRpRh1m_yWWOBlyFWy3IuAEkxgv-rGUftJOjZMT5_HVuNVSMQDzZ-_6cuj9jSg8NKnpHbLcN9TCLT_QMZLO9ymPhDjCrgVz-xw2o6GGM&csuir=1

https://www.steamlocomotive.com/roundhouse/

https://picryl.com/media/the-cliffhouse-train-locomotive-1890-db4642

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-8-8-0

https://www.american-rails.com/2-8-8-0.html

https://www.ogrforum.com/topic/lionel-kcs-2-10-4-buy-war-bonds

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fwhat-scrapped-locomotive-would-you-build-from-the-ground-up-v0-1eudxy7jdglf1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D2048%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D973171b083dede26814fc3f24bd3f59c5ba9279f

[nickelplate759]

Finished putting down cork roadbed for the entire mainline of the NKP-ish.   This is the last part - Ft. Wayne.
The flat cork area on the upper left  is where the tracks for the Ft Wayne depot will be.



Secondary tracks won't be on cork.

[chessie system fan]

Most of the track on the Central of Georgia layout I'm building is installed now.



More here: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=59578.30

[packers#1]

Finally got the chance to work on some scenery this week! Track is painted, ballasted, weeds added, and I’ve started on the trees. They’ll at least complete the rear of the scene, and I’m not sure how far they’ll come up on the right. Once that’s done I’ll get the road and grade crossing in, plant the fertilizer plant and conveyor in the ground, then add the gravel lot. Going to ballast the main track as well and see how far I can get with the tree supplies I have on the right before turning to the rest of the structures on the layout.



A little preview with the structures

[randgust]

As much as I was impressed by the Pecos River workmanship, ya couldn't see it, and I somewhat reluctantly decided to hit it with the same grimy black treatment as I've done on most of my other N steam, brass or not.

So after i had mutilated the front truck, cylinders, frame, drawbar, changed tender trucks to Dirk's assembled ones (as possibly the last thing he did for a customer), wired the whole thing for DCC conversion.... close your eyes and just paint and re-decal....

Well, that was worth it.  What moves was hit with NeoLube, which is another standard with me on steam.



After all the work I've done on it, the fact it still runs really well (or at all!) was an unexpected surprise!

[Lemosteam]

Finished assembled tested and painted B60b Messenger kit. Had one last set of older Microscale decals.



Here it is with a custom MT B70:



And some gratuitous glamour shots…

[Dave V]

I hate that I can upvote @Lemosteam ’s post only once.

[CR4100]

I hate that I can upvote @Lemosteam ’s post only once.

I got you! Have my upvote.

[delamaize]

Oh God yes john, those are turning out so awesome. I'm excited! Between my Santa Fe fast mail, and the Fort Pitt Pennsylvania mail train I'm going to need 10!!

[Dave V]

Building another PRR Juniata Division "negative space" T-TRAK module:



It'll look nearly identical to this one:



...except that I have a really cool grass product from Busch I want to try out. Otherwise, same deal. Gentle slope, trees in back, line poles on the inside.

Eventually I'll pick up some PRR milepsosts from Keystone Details and throw one on each.

[arbomambo]

Updating another ‘older’ T-TRAK single; this one being the prototype Kato/Woodland Scenics foam single, gifted to me by Hiroshi Kato during a Kato USA-sponsored private dinner for the organizers of the previous world record T-TRAK layout at the NMRA’s National Train Show in 2018 at Kansas City.
I built this one to test the concept and was pleased with the result. Unfortunately it’s been stored in a lexan container in the garage and hasn’t participated in a setup for a number of years.’
I added desert yellow grass to it and am in the process of laminating poster board on the front and side fascias to reduce dimpling the foam sides.

[Angus Shops]

I’m not a Pennsy modeller, but those B60b’s look like as good a model as I’ve ever seen. Well done and I hope you sell a million of them.

[Maletrain]

Nothing pretty from me - I'm still working on getting all of the track on the club layout working.

To that end, I made a "dead spot detection car" that has only one axle pickup, hooked to an LED.




The design is simple.  Just a Kato caboose truck with one axel replaced with a plastic wheel set.  The "car" floor is cut away to give a direct view of what the pickup wheels are touching, and the body is transparent to avoid shadowing the view.

It works well at home - even found a dirty section.  We will see how it does at the club for individually pinpointing each of the myriad of track problems on the unused sidings.

[tehachapifan]

To guarantee that one will be produced by Kato, I starterd work on an N scale Amtrak Ex-Metroliner Cabcar...



This is made from a Kato Amfleet I coach where I added a cab front from Fusion Scale and mounted more correct trucks.

While one could probably get away with simply mounting the cab section right on the end of the stock Kato coach, I wanted the overall length to match the other Amleet I cars.

This required a bit of careful surgery to cut down the overall length and relocate the door on each side behind the cab (this styrene was rather pungent to cut into and file!).

The trucks were anything but simple to replace, as the stock Amfleet I cars have a rather unique mounting system vs. the more typical screw mount.

The pilot with plow was made with spliced up parts from the Kato Surfliner cabcar's front coupler assembly that were mounted to some styrene.

A small window opening was also added behind the last regular window on each side as per the porototype (before there last major overhaul).

[davefoxx]

I finally finished the decals on the second Jolly Green Giant (SCL GP40).  It’s been sitting vertically in a coffee mug for weeks while I started, but then ignored, the decals on the ends of the locomotive.  Like the prototype, SAL No. 619 is now SCL No. 1534, and SAL No. 625 is now SCL No. 1540.  Perfect for the early-1970s-era on my layout.



More on The Carolina Sandhills Lines thread in the Layout Engineering forum.

DFF