Weekend Update - 9/23/2007

[John]

Not much for me .. spent Saturday afternoon in the garage with the BANTRAK trestle construction crew mass producing 1Track legs for modules.

This is a standard 1x4 module ..

[img width= height=]http://lh4.google.com/acsxfan1/RvauXma_0nI/AAAAAAAABx4/2zZ3PKyvLws/s800/IMG_2270.jpg[/img]

My contribution is a return loop, so I have to add some additional width to the module to take care of the loop.

Here is the basic design..

[img width= height=]http://lh4.google.com/acsxfan1/RuQ-XC0rB5I/AAAAAAAABwQ/xJ5prpvksrE/s800/BANTRAK.JPG[/img]

[img width= height=]http://lh3.google.com/acsxfan1/RvauYWa_0oI/AAAAAAAAByA/_fYgDdqKl8w/s800/IMG_2271.jpg[/img]

[img width= height=]http://lh5.google.com/acsxfan1/RvauY2a_0pI/AAAAAAAAByI/LQczLXEV63w/s800/IMG_2272.jpg[/img]

[Scott Lupia]

Here is a shot of a Conrail local finishing up its day. The local works a former doubletrack mainline now turned secondary. The tracks see little maintenance and the ROW is slowly being reclaimed by nature. The train still runs albiet at restricted speed not exceeding 10 MPH. Traffic is light and the Conductor is taking advantage of it by not going out to flag the crossing. Not much to worry about on their part as it is late in the day, the Trainmasters and Road Foremen have all gone home for the day and if they are still at work will never travel out to this neck of the woods just to check up on a crew.



This is the same local but on a different day. The train is headed down the main today to serve the last customer. There aren't too many consignees left in this area of New Jersey anymore which is one of the reasons the mainline was relegated to secondary status. The train is just coming to a stop for the crossing and the Conductor will be stepping out shortly to flag the crossing. The tower is long closed down and the gates are no longer functioning. The home signals are not even in service anymore.

These shots are on my new N-scale layout.

Enjoy.
Scott Lupia

[wm3798]

Great work, Scott.  Welcome to the Railwire!  Your photos remind me of the last years of industrial switching on Boston Street in East Baltimore.

Lee

[up1950s]

Ok , here is another W&LG tale . The management ( me ) had another sit down with the employees ( me again ) . The CEO wanted to have a Fire Car to be pushed to fires when needed , and asked for design suggestions . One guy in the track gang was tired of crawling around plucking weeds from miles and miles of track , and suggested that if we used a self propelled car and added a separate engine driven pump , under sill nozzles , and roof hose , it could drag some tank cars of water or herbicide to put out fires as well as kill the weeds . Another guy suggested that being that this is basically a pump system , added that it could have a high capacity pump so as the tank cars could be filled from a static water or herbicide source , thereby making it a self sufficient unit . He also added that it could be used to pump out flooded turntable pits or railroad construction sites if it had separate hoses which could be connected to input , and output connections on either side of the car . So thats the story , another multi task car , and until I change my mind , the last doodlebug from me . But who knows what I may come up with at a later date .

[3rdrail]

First, a couple of shots from last weekend's Wiregrass Train Show in Dothan of others' NTrak layouts:

Bangorboy should recognize this, it's his, from the Milton Ntrak layout.

The three NTrak mainlines really twist around one another for the next several modules. Too bad my other shots were blurry.  :-[

The Pensacola Model Railroad Club has added a coal mine to its NTrak layout.

Those unpainted black running boards on those covered hoppers stand out, don't they? 

As to other doings this week, scored a 1941 Locomotive Cyclopedia on EBay for a reasonable price. Since I was born that year, the book is as old as I am. It is not the Kalmbach reprint.

I also got so tired of one of the two flourescent fixtures in my train room not working most of the time I called an electrician. Am told new flourescent fixtures use different tubes than these 11 year old ones, so am having the two fixtures replaced and six new ones installed, as I was having trouble seeing at night in the corners of the layout.

[Scott Lupia]

Lee, thanks for the compliment.  I love the gritty industrial side of railroading. 

Scott

[atsf_arizona]

SNFF 2007 09 22

Great stuff, all.   Here's my contribution - my photo entry in the Greenlight N scale
Intermodal contest, in the "Ready To Run" category (i.e. weathered, basic mods like
lowering the car and installing short shank MT 1035s):



Like any contest, the real value is that it motivates me and others to get together
and share some pretty good N scale intermodal photos, the N scale intermodal
contest and display-only photos below are really worthwhile to see:

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/page/1/ppuser/8172

So thx, Greenlight, for getting me in action and doing more than I would have otherwise.

(no connection with Greenlight, just happy to see all the great N scale intermodal).

Have a great week.

[atsf_arizona]

SNFF 2007 09 23 b

A 2nd contribution for this week....

As the Model Contest / Show and Tell Chair-flunkie and web-master
for the NMRA Pacific Coast Region, Coast Division (central and
Northern California) I put up the web pages which document the models.

Go to the Show and Tell section for the N scale stuff:

http://www.pcrnmra.org/coast/contest/Contest_Sept_2007.shtml

The Show and Tell session has several N scale items, handbuilt N scale turnout, and
you will love the N scale Santa Fe passenger fleet by one of my fellow
Coast Division N scalers! 

There are a couple of my N scale models as well: 



Also included this quarter in HO are: Southern Pacific steam, Great Northern diesels, and O scale C&NW.
Other quarterly Coast Division Meet Recaps are at:

http://www.pcrnmra.org/coast/contest.shtml

Hope you enjoy!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Lee, thanks for the compliment.  I love the gritty industrial side of railroading. 

Scott

Yeah, welcome Scott.

What's the story with that cabin car? It doesn't look like any of the commercial models out there?

[Wlal13again]

Ditto from me Scott. always great to see another CR guys work. That caboose looks like and ex EL correct?

[Scott Lupia]

That caboose is an ex-DL&W/EL caboose.  I did a resin kit of that style caboose a year or so ago.  I made the decals for the Conrail version since nobody else did.  It is sort of a unique looking caboose.  Only true Conrail guys would pick something like that out of a picture.  Nice work.





Scott

[nscalesteve]

very nice and solid wood work there John. how did you bring the wood in this round shape (it does not look like thin plywood to me)

[nscalesteve]

Richie nice work on the W&LG fire weed killer...   

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I was thinking DL&W... nice stuff!

[tom mann]

John, nice work. 

How do you like the Dyson?  I spend far too much time cleaning cat hair out of the filter on my vacuum*, and I was thinking about upgrading.




*20 minutes, once a month for 4.5 years...18 hours!!!