Weekend Update 6/1/12

[w neal]

P.S. Nice car Mark!   Bet my other hobby/ride can beat yours....      Well, maybe not in the 1/4 mile, but I've done Kansas City, MO to Cleveland, OH in 4.2 hours.


[/quote]

Now THATS a railfaning vehicle!

[flight2000]

Now THATS a railfaning vehicle!

Yep.  My 13 year old co-pilot is also the photographer when we are in train chase mode... 

Brian

Grain facility and Ethanol Plant in Atchinson, Kansas


Argentine Yard in Kansas City.

[flight2000]

Brian, that BN part car looks awesome. (They all look really great) I love the way you have the scratches on it, and the fade coat.

And thanks Gary for posting the turnout, wasn't looking at building turnouts, buuuuuut man I bet that operates worlds better then Atlas #10s (I have a few I've used in some diorama’s and trains track like crap over them.) Pretty soon getting ready to release some layout planning idea's to fine tune prior to ground breaking.

In the meantime I made the cover of http://www.model160.com this week.  Here is the outtakes too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28892468@N06/sets/72157629961324508/

Mike

Thanks Mike.  Nice job making the "cover" of Model 160.  That is some stunning scenery. 

Brian

[bbussey]

Did some experimenting with the X58 floor/underframe on a couple of models that needed a ride-height adjustment.  The Life-Like model looks pretty good.  The newsprint boxcar is still too high but is a lot lower than it was.

[Packer]

I got nothing done....

Still trying to get the last remains of the paint off of my F-units. I tried using goof-off and it worked, but it left a funky crud on the shells. I was able to remove the crud with some very fine abrasive polish (used to polish a car's clearcoat) and goo-gone. I'm still working on removint the crud off of an F7B. If I can't get it off by the middle of the month, I may have to break down and buy an air eraser from HFT and use baking soda.

Once they are completely stripped, I can start adding details to the Fs. (assuming by then I have ordered the $200 worth of detail parts)

The GP5 is at a stand still. Need to order more parts and get some #80 drills (I have some, but they were made without a point  ).

[delamaize]

Well, no train progress to speak of for me over the last few weeks to speak of because of a few things.
First and formost: I'm back in the US for good, No more Germany.  My wife came back from down range and decided to file for divorce, No one feel sorry for me though, this has been years in the making, and I did everything I could to prevent it, but when the other party can't keep their pants on, it kinda makes things difficult. In turn, all my modeling supplies are still somewhere between here, (Wa. State) and Germany, I do have my trains themselfs, I mailed them home, but I don't have any of my supplies and tools. The A-4 is still sitting waiting for class lights, Crosscomound pumps, tender light, and a coal load.

Another, More happier note, Summer is coming, and I seem to be doing more outside, and I got another project:



It's a 1963 Sea-swirl, 14', normal height transom, and it was free with the clean titles. It was missing a lot of parts, it was mostly a empty hull. I have been able to track down steering componants, and throttle quadrents and a motor. It's a 60hp mid-80's suzuki, and has a bad bottom end. So I'm in the progress of fixing that right now, although it's a little too big for this boat, so I'm going to sell or trade the motor for something around the 40 hp range.

[spookshow]

Sorry to hear about the marital strife, bro'. But Day-am, I am loving that old-school speed boat! Way better than the zero-ergonomic beast boats they've been throwing at us for the past couple-three decades.

Cheers,
-Mark 

[ednadolski]

After a few practice runs, I finally finished a Fast Tracks turnout that I'm reasonably happy with,



Only several dozen left to go....      One thing that surprised me when I first got the templates was how much longer the FT #10 is than the corresponding Atlas #10.  I think my plan will accommodate this ok, but time will tell.

That's looking really good Gary.  I think that longer turnouts are definitely one of the key benefits of N-scale.    It's not too surprising that the Atlas turnout is less than a full #10, but OTOH manufacturers have always made alterations to turnout geometries to suit their needs.  If the longer turnouts won't fit in some places, at least you have the option of building custom-sized ones to suit.

On this one in the pic I had a few questions/comments:

 - Did you use a flangeways gauge to check the clearance between the stock rails and point rails?  It's a little hard to tell from the pic, since the points are not fully set either way, but the gaps look like they could be a bit on the snug side in some places.

 - Did you use the FT tool to file the point rails?   Again it could just be the pic (or more likely my aging eyes), but these look to me like the filed portion might want to be longer along the length of the rails.  (Again, the gauge will tell the tale.)

 - Since this uses one-piece construction for the point+closure rails, I'm wondering: which is the closest PCB tie to the points where the closure rails are soldered?

 - Is the frog isolated/gapped?

 - I really like the color, what did you use to paint it?

With 'only' a couple of dozen to go, you're going to be a master at this way before you're done!

Cheers,
Ed

[Ian MacMillan]

I bought something else to distract me from model trains during the warm months... A 2007 HD Dyna Wide Glide.




Just another thing to add to motorcars that keeps me out of the basement 
Also posted an update to the website with May's progress, including some outlook from the first two train shows the layout attended.
http://www.amoskeagnorthern.com/simonds-industrial-branch-may-progress/

[delamaize]

I bought something else to distract me from model trains during the warm months... A 2007 HD Dyna Wide Glide.




Just another thing to add to motorcars that keeps me out of the basement 
Also posted an update to the website with May's progress, including some outlook from the first two train shows the layout attended.
http://www.amoskeagnorthern.com/simonds-industrial-branch-may-progress/

Nice! As soon as my Household goods get here, I have my Street bike again! can't wait. I got a 2005 Suzuki Boulevard C50, I bought it for myself as a "congrads for finishing your enlistment" Gift.

[eja]

Brian, 

Who makes (made) this car ???

[Ian MacMillan]

Brian, 

Who makes (made) this car ???

True Line Trains

[flight2000]

True Line Trains

And still avaliable at:

 http://www.modeltrains.com/WEB%20-%20CMT/True%20Line%20Trains/N/TLT-n-central-vermont.htm

Brian

[GaryHinshaw]

Smike, that Model:160 cover shot is outstanding!!

- Did you use a flangeways gauge to check the clearance between the stock rails and point rails?  It's a little hard to tell from the pic, since the points are not fully set either way, but the gaps look like they could be a bit on the snug side in some places.
 - Did you use the FT tool to file the point rails?   Again it could just be the pic (or more likely my aging eyes), but these look to me like the filed portion might want to be longer along the length of the rails.  (Again, the gauge will tell the tale.)

Pretty snug, but they do conform.   I did use the FT point tool, so the angle of the points is correct.  I posted some other concerns about the points in my Eng. thread.

- Since this uses one-piece construction for the point+closure rails, I'm wondering: which is the closest PCB tie to the points where the closure rails are soldered?

The second gapped tie beyond the throw-bar - about halfway to the frog.  This is partly why the stock/closure gap is so snug, but it makes the points pretty flexible.  (It's the recommended 'solid-point' location in the FT fixture.)

- Is the frog isolated/gapped?

Not yet... but I have the jeweler's saw I need to make the gaps, and the PC ties in place to support the gaps.

- I really like the color, what did you use to paint it?

Thanks.  As noted in the Eng. thread, the rail is stock ME weathered rail.  The ties were first brushed with a medium wash of ~2 parts raw umber and 1 part burnt umber, but I didn't quite like it, so I over-coated it with a wash of -- wait for it -- Polly Scale Rail Tie Brown. 

With 'only' a couple of dozen to go, you're going to be a master at this way before you're done!