Weekend Update 4/29/12

[SkipGear]

More work on the EM-1....



....and some structure detailing on the HO layout I help with.



Buildings are fully lit and more has been added since this picture.

[mcjaco]

Great job Max (as always).

Well I have been working over a recent ebay purchase. I bought a Bachmann Light Mountain on EBay and opened it up and VOILA - not only does it have a decoder (which the listing mentioned nothing about) BUT it's also sound equipped to boot. It wouldn't run very well initially so i took it apart reworked the bearing blocks and cleaned up the wires ...  only thing left to do is move the wires to the side. It pulled maybe 10 cars when I got it - it will handily do 25+ now and the sound and light aren't shorting out. Thank you Kapton tape.

Also version 2.0 of the bearing block "trick" for the Bachmann Light Mountain - instead of tape - use a dab o' solder on 2 sides of the bearing block. More permanent and wont come out when you take the engine apart for the 2-5th time. Works great.

Picture is of a test fitting a new weight in the boiler. Weight is made from a egg sinker I clamped in a vice and then cut in half. Nice rounded shape that needed minimal milling.

I really wish the bearing block fix worked on all of these units, but it doesn't.  Mine are perfectly square, the tape method lifted the drivers to high up, and I lost all electrical contact from the other drivers.  Consider yourself lucky, I've been monkeying with my Lt. Mountain for three years.....

[John]

First post here, coming over from Atlas.  I see some old friends, and lots of new layouts.  Here is some recent shots from the paper mill area.

An aerial view if the mill area.

I really like this design .. I may have to copy it

[up1950s]

4 sidings in the mainline length of 8 cars is a pretty good hat trick . Not a fan of the bushes in the building , but it did solve your problem and if you focus low it works for the buildings favor , and high , the forest has depth . The more I look at that track setup the more I like seeing the buildings on an angle . I wonder now how the roadway would look in front of the buildings . Do buildings ever get built to fit the tracks , opposed to the street in front ? Non the less , this setup works great on this side and I guess the other side could be the dead end streets of a diagonal grid street pattern , and that actually could happen .

[up1950s]

Tony , that EM-1 is coming along so great . I don't have the brass plumbs to do a boiler from scratch .

[nscalemike]

Not much modelling on my part- lots of travel these days.

I finally worked on my "noodle-swoosh" loco.  It's a foob, mostly because I had a spare dash-9 rather than a dash-8, but I like the looks of it and will keep it until I can find a cab to convert this to a proper CN cab.  I'll finish it with grabs, proper MU hoses and weathering to match one of the originals:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=361518&nseq=10





Also have a 5-pack of Nscale kits well cars in the paint shop, nearing decals.  Hope to have my winter projects done by mid-May before I am away for the summer.

Scott

Scott, you beat me to it!  I have a dash 8 that should arrive today that I was going to do the same thing to . . . . Just when I thought I may have the first n scale model out there!   It looks great and hope mine will turn out as well!

Mike

[Scottl]

Mike, these have grown on me and I was lucky to have a BNSF unit around.  I may keep it for fun- even my wife thought it was pretty cool!

I've seen one version that they moved the nose door to the brakeman side.  The reworked metal (grab iron panel and door on nose) is in primer red oxide, along with an orange patch for the CN loco.  I have a photo of it that someone did in HO and it is my favorite.

[Pennsy]

Dougnelson posted

I completed an upgrade a MT heavyweight.  The entire underbody equipment was reorganized to match the equipment diagram for an ice-activated air conditioning system.  The ice bunkers are from Bryan's ESM.  The changes were not difficult due to MT's separate underfloor casting.  The car also got lavatory etched glass, interior paint, window shades, American Limited diaphragms, Fox Valley 36" metal wheels, and a light satin finish for the roof.

I couldn't find Bryan's ESM on the web. Couls you post a link? And are there more details on your blog about the etched glass and other details? And what satin finish you used too?
This is a great looking car and I hope to have mine looking as good soon

Pennsy

[nscalemike]

Mike, these have grown on me and I was lucky to have a BNSF unit around.  I may keep it for fun- even my wife thought it was pretty cool!

I've seen one version that they moved the nose door to the brakeman side.  The reworked metal (grab iron panel and door on nose) is in primer red oxide, along with an orange patch for the CN loco.  I have a photo of it that someone did in HO and it is my favorite.

Scott,
I thought the same thing,  the first time I saw one pass through town I was glad to see it go, then another one came and another, and finally I thought it may be a cool loco, something a little different. 

Did you paint the patch out or use trim film?  Also, what did you use for the lettering?  I had a hard time finding the black CN.  I did get some but it will be slightly bigger than the prototype.  I think it's close enough though, and in another month or two you won't be able to find the prototype as the repaint is going fast.

thanks,
Mike

[Scottl]

 Mike, I was going to paint on the patch, but taking the Kato shell apart was too much of a pain.  Instead, I made trim film with airbrushed Poly Scale Utility Orange and a separate black lettering decal with a laser printer on clear film.  I downloaded the black logo from the company website- they actually have different versions there to choose from.

Cheers,
Scott

[bbussey]

I couldn't find Bryan's ESM on the web. Couls you post a link?

Item #990401 - A/C Ice Bunkers for MTL Heavyweights
Eastern Seaboard Models
www.esmc.com

Go to the In Stock page.

[dougnelson]

Pennsy:

Sorry for the late reply -

I see that Bryan posted the ESM link for the ice bunkers.  The etched windows are done in Adobe Illustrator and then printed on translucent vellum paper and glued (Elmers) to the inside of the window.  I lightly scribe the outline of the window on the glass insert to get the location accurate.  Same technique for the window shades.  The roof was sprayed with Badger ModelFlex satin finish.

The MT cars are easy to work on due to the number of separate parts that can be isolated to work on them.

[Pennsy]

Sorry, just as late a reply Thanks for the reply

I got some of the ESM ice bunkers, they compare very nicely with the one's by PRR Parts. Hadn't though to do the etched windows like that, pretty cool.

I do like the MT cars. can't wait to see what they do next.

Jim Donaldson
SP4 U.S. Army Cavalry Scout

Pennsy:

Sorry for the late reply -

I see that Bryan posted the ESM link for the ice bunkers.  The etched windows are done in Adobe Illustrator and then printed on translucent vellum paper and glued (Elmers) to the inside of the window.  I lightly scribe the outline of the window on the glass insert to get the location accurate.  Same technique for the window shades.  The roof was sprayed with Badger ModelFlex satin finish.

The MT cars are easy to work on due to the number of separate parts that can be isolated to work on them.
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