Weekend Update 12-14-2008

[diezmon]

I started working on repowering my MILW SD-10....

But instead, I had another idea from the BN 1972 Annual.  If you have that, you'll know what I'm up to

[Ian MacMillan]

Got my power back after 5 days. Cut some trees that decided they liked the ground instead of the sky. Started working on some more drywall in the basement. Still hashing out a new trackplan.

[Sokramiketes]

David , that stuff is fantastic , I especially like that rock scene with the spring foliage . Reminds me of my favorite month May .

Thank you! Late May/early June was indeed my target, and the trees are bright green, but not as bright as in that photo--my pocket camera really goes nuts on greens. This is a better rendition, taken with a DSLR:


800 x 1200 pixel version here: http://jamesriverbranch.net/images/081211_193514_1200M.jpg

The cut stone wall next to the tunnel portal looks really nice.

That's Chooch N scale random stone wall, the old version from decades back. The portal itself is carved out of the same stuff.

Here's a better-focused shot of the cornfield--the angle plus Helicon Focus makes it look really short.

The farmer's adage about a good early growing season for corn is , "Knee high by the 4th of July".  Growing conditions must be spectacular for your, "Waist high by 4th of June" version...   

[DKS]

David , that stuff is fantastic , I especially like that rock scene with the spring foliage . Reminds me of my favorite month May .

Thank you! Late May/early June was indeed my target, and the trees are bright green, but not as bright as in that photo--my pocket camera really goes nuts on greens. This is a better rendition, taken with a DSLR:


800 x 1200 pixel version here: http://jamesriverbranch.net/images/081211_193514_1200M.jpg

The cut stone wall next to the tunnel portal looks really nice.

That's Chooch N scale random stone wall, the old version from decades back. The portal itself is carved out of the same stuff.

Here's a better-focused shot of the cornfield--the angle plus Helicon Focus makes it look really short.

The farmer's adage about a good early growing season for corn is , "Knee high by the 4th of July".  Growing conditions must be spectacular for your, "Waist high by 4th of June" version...   

Yes, admittedly it's a bit tall for June... the height of the plants in my cornfield is a little over two feet. Then again, the adage about "knee-high" is old; modern hybrids tend to exceed that growth rate. So, I figure this farmer has some spectacular new hybrid!

[absnut]

Richie, great job on the C-Liner... one of my favorite locos.  I still have the first one I bought back in the late 60's, running in NH McGinnis colors (when I feel nostalgic!).  I bought a bunch of derilicts from that fella, Bob, in PA a few years ago with the idea I might try to do something with them some day, especially the dummies.  I've got ATSF shells up the wazzou! LOL

Dick

[up1950s]

Thanks for the kind words guys . Yens can do this in a few days , and better than me with an eye shut .

[GaryHinshaw]

Well, a 5-unit spine car set checks in at about 22" long in N scale, but for some reason I feel compelled to spend most of my time working on about 1 square inch of it.  Following tehachapifan's lead I've been adding brake rigging and MLE scale hitches to an N Scale Kits 53' spine set.  Here's a close-up of the B unit, nearly complete now:



and under load:



A few minor items like end grabs & brake wheels, then it's off to the paint shop finally.

I also picked up an AC4400 shell with gull wing cab from Kato Parts so I could finally bash a proper BNSF Dash-9 from the recently released UP-style Dash-9:



The main reason I'm going to this trouble and expense is to ensure that Kato releases one themselves when I'm done. 

[James Costello]

The main reason I'm going to this trouble and expense is to ensure that Kato releases one themselves when I'm done. 

I'll be first to line up and thank you for your efforts! 

Nice work on the spines too - have you used eyelets for the wire?

[GaryHinshaw]

I'll be first to line up and thank you for your efforts!

Hehe - wish me luck James.  But I'll be d*mned if I'm going to do this 10 times over!

Nice work on the spines too - have you used eyelets for the wire?

Thanks.  I formed the eyelets by looping .008 PB wire around the tip of an awl and twisting the ends, but if I do this again, I might look into HO lift rings or something similar.

Now, about that layout of yours...  could you post a sketch of the plan you mentioned?  I think Portland would be a good choice: plenty of lumber & intermodal. 

[tehachapifan]

Great stuff!

Gary, the spine car is looking terrific!

Can't wait to see the finished product.

Russ

[James Costello]

I'll be first to line up and thank you for your efforts!

Hehe - wish me luck James.  But I'll be d*mned if I'm going to do this 10 times over!

Indeed - you can't model BNSF without them - I'll take 6 too  ;D

Nice work on the spines too - have you used eyelets for the wire?

Thanks.  I formed the eyelets by looping .008 PB wire around the tip of an awl and twisting the ends, but if I do this again, I might look into HO lift rings or something similar.
Now, about that layout of yours...  could you post a sketch of the plan you mentioned?  I think Portland would be a good choice: plenty of lumber & intermodal. 

How about the GMM or BLMA rings? Too small?

Portland is looming as a dark horse and makes a lot of sense the more I think of it. Plenty of lumber and woodchips, the intermodal yard is really neat (at least it does now looking at Google Earth...not sure if UP has changed it since then though) and the Swift roadrailers terminated there too. Interchanging with the BN would be ok instead of the ATSF (at Fresno), as a lot of the SP traffic on the I-5 came from the BN. On the downside, no California commuter cars and it's a bit hard to fudge the California Northern, but the Portland Western is a pretty cool alternative. Guess I got to decide if I want the urban feel of Portland versus the semi-rural feel of Fresno... although I guess there's no reason why Portland can't contain that agricultural traffic either. Portland is starting to tick all the boxes....going to have to do some research though, I don't know too much about it!
Hopefully I can work some 86' boxcars into the mix too!
Probably don't have the room for Doyle's roundhouse and the Daylight too though  :'(

Which plan do you want? The one from MR?
It was featured in the September 1998 Model Railroader as well as the supplement I mentioned - if you're a subscriber:
http://www.trains.com/mrr/default.aspx?c=tp&id=93&size=&scale=19&type=&keywords=pike+city
If not, I'll see if I can grab a scan of it on the weekend.

 

[GaryHinshaw]

Gary, the spine car is looking terrific!

Thanks Russ, I had a good teacher, and hitch supplier!   These spines are nice kits, can't wait to put it in service.

How about the GMM or BLMA rings? Too small?

Yes, but I did use them to support single rods on the other side of the spine.  I'll post another shot or two when they're done.

Thanks for the plan link - I see what you're after there.  Now that your all gung ho on Portland, how 'bout I stir the pot a bit and suggest Modesto?  (Mo-what-o?)  The thing that made me think of it is the small intermodal yard right off the BNSF (nee ATSF) main just south of town, the sizable industrial park just west of the yard and the UP (nee SP) main just west of that.  The interchange with the Sierra Railroad is just up the line in Riverbank, which would afford some lumber traffic in a foothills setting to complement the intermodal/ag traffic in the valley.  I think a lot of the industrial park work is food processing, but I'm not sure.  There are also one or more grain terminals in the area to receive those worms that come down over Tehachapi.  Amtrak Cali runs several San Jaoquin's per day on BNSF, and you could stretch to include the Stockton-San Jose ACE commute service over Altamont...  In any case, this is more of a model-scale operation than Portland or Fresno, with the full gamut of 2 mainlines, switching, intermodal ops, and shortline/lumber ops, all in one small package.  How to actually pack this into your space is another story, but there are possibilities...

Here's a Google link:  Modesto switching.  Just a thought.

Cheers,
Gary

Correction: the new intermodal facility I was thinking of is up the BNSF line about 10 miles, between Stockton and Escalon.  The Modesto yard is mainly to serve the industrial park. You could co-mingle them though...