Weekend Update - 9/30/2007

[bsoplinger]

Nice work guys . I am in and around Latham/Cohoes , NY , where the Mohawk dumps into the Hudson . I plan on visiting JP Trains & Hobbies as UMTRR suggested , as soon as the girls get back from the mall .

Hope they take a real long time at the mall  :

JP's is open noon - 7pm Wed thru Saturday in "the summer" which is defined as from Memorial Day to the end of September. This coming Sunday, Oct 7th will be the first Sunday he's open (noon to 5) since May.

If you drop by next Saturday, go in the back and say hello, I'll be the guy working on DCC installs, since I do the store's installs. Been a busy month, about 50 installs, all HO, not a single N (other than mine).

[ñiao]

Claus
How is the florist foam working out? Is it better than the regular stuff (pink/blue) or just what you had available.

That florist foam is great. But it is rather soft, so you have put a plaster coat on it.

The other stuff is not available here (living in an average temperature of about 84 F saves you some insulation).
Therefore, I use the old fahioned wire/plaster method mixed with some styrofoan and the florist stuff.

Great work shown here.

[up1950s]

Nice work guys . I am in and around Latham/Cohoes , NY , where the Mohawk dumps into the Hudson . I plan on visiting JP Trains & Hobbies as UMTRR suggested , as soon as the girls get back from the mall .

Hope they take a real long time at the mall  :

JP's is open noon - 7pm Wed thru Saturday in "the summer" which is defined as from Memorial Day to the end of September. This coming Sunday, Oct 7th will be the first Sunday he's open (noon to 5) since May.

If you drop by next Saturday, go in the back and say hello, I'll be the guy working on DCC installs, since I do the store's installs. Been a busy month, about 50 installs, all HO, not a single N (other than mine).

Well I got ther at about 5:30 and nobody came to the door . Thats the way the ball bounces . It will be months till come up this way again , but I dont know if I will stop by . Since my daughter moved from Albany to Cohoes , and we stay at the Hampton in Lathem there remains a great deal more oportunity , so perhaps .

[Erik W]

No N scale for a while but I recently finshed this:
http://therailwire.net/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=d813d94e5f7e630e21af24cb9484bc7e&topic=13712.0

I recently got back from Germany and Austria so for some strange reason have the urge to build a Tiger tank model.  I'll probably start on the scenery on the layout after I'm finished with that.

Erik

[DKS]

Got started with handlaid Code 25 Z scale track. This represents a change in plan also.

Before (an impossible mess):



After (much better):



Details on the whys and wherefores here: http://jamesriverbranch.net/new.htm

[wm3798]

Our student's name is Alexandra, and she hails from the Duren Region southwest of Düsseldorf. 
Lee

[asciibaron]

i ran a train and drank a beer.  it was a good weekend

-steve

[MEC_FAN]

 Got 5 more switch machines in this week and roughed in some more scenery. Jon came over Saturday and helped me put on some more fascia. We also started laying cork coming out of the helix.
Coming out of helix.

[SquirrelHollow]

I played with some spare shells, contemplating whether or not I would ever finish an RSC-24 if I started the project.  Reality actually won.  Project = no go.

I reviewed my previous Nn3 modifications of Bachmann 4-4-0s and Kato 11-105/106/107 chassis.  Many lessons learned; many mistakes burned into my memory.

Other than that, I scouted a bunch of territory for this year's Deer hunt.  I learned a lot about what people here call 'roads'.
I saw a couple deer, tons of tracks, and absolutely nothing that will be legal during the season.
I had a scary run-in with 2 bears.  They brought the last three days' total to 8.  This encounter was bad enough, though, that I went back to the truck to arm myself with something besides car keys.  Florida claims there are only 1200-1500 left in the state....  My experience this year tells me they are reducing the real figure a bit.  I know of 12 this year, and 6 within the last month that were culled for becoming threats in residential areas.  I, however, have only seen them in the wild - looking very healthy.
My truck became a victim of what I call "chinese handcuff roads."  (once you go so far, you can't back up, can't turn around, and going forward just causes damage - but is the only safe decision)  So, it now proudly sports an amateur rendition of Rocky Mountain Pin-Stripes that I PRAY will buff out.  I'm supposed to be trading it in on a Buick in a week.  :-\



Good weekend for me, bad for the truck.

[POVC]

I'm working modules for the same show as John; these are all OneTrak modules for the inagural BANTRAK OneTrak loop...

A pair of corners (which I'm building because no one else was building)



A 4' straight with a Walthers ADM grain elevator...



A 4' straight with a bridge over a creek...



Good news is I have two weeks until the show to get these runnable...

Bad news is it will be a week before I get a chance to do anymore work on them.   

Tim

[Day One]

I did a bit of work on a few structures, made some of my own power/telephone poles, and took some video of some double headed steam.  I'll post up picks later this week when I get home. Right now I'm in Birmingham, AL at Barbur Motorsports Park doing the Red Bull AMA US Rookies Cup Selection Event. http://us.redbullrookiescup.com Fun stuff all around!

[Chris333]

David,

Where do you get your Z scale PC ties? Fasttracks, or do you have another source?

I agree, keep the coal trestle at all costs 

[DKS]

David,

Where do you get your Z scale PC ties? Fasttracks, or do you have another source?

I agree, keep the coal trestle at all costs 

Fasttracks. For regular size ties, I just cut them in half.

Yeah, I wasn't going to give up the coal trestle this time, no matter what.

[Mark5]

Got started with handlaid Code 25 Z scale track. This represents a change in plan also.

Details on the whys and wherefores here: http://jamesriverbranch.net/new.htm

.015 x .025 wire for rail

interesting ... anybody done this before? (I'd like to see pix).

[Mark5]

i ran a train and drank a beer.  it was a good weekend

-steve

I drank some beer too.

Not much on the train front though. Finished up the T8 lighting in the "train room" - bright but although the tubes are "Natural Sunshine" it doesn't quite seem right ...

Test ran a Bachmann WM 2-8-0 I got on the ultra cheap ...  ;D

Eyeballing my proposed staging track arrangement lead me to the conclusion that my idea was not feasible. :'(

but mostly spent time repairing an upstairs window and replacing a downstairs window (this damn old house).