Weekend Update - 7-26-2009

[John]

Ok, what you been up to .. for me, a quick trip to Denver for some fun ..

[up1950s]

Beaver Logging Co 170-172

[Ian MacMillan]

I got some more track down and got the flyover just west of CP Tomah built. Right now I am building the retaining walls and wing walls out of anchor bolt cement, so I'm building the forms this week. I also got some Digitrax UP-5's installed and wired up.

[Guilford Guy]

That train under the flyover seems a tad unprototypical...

[Dave V]

Working on the new yard extension...  Inspired by Enola, PA.





Track is Atlas Code 55.

[flight2000]

I finished up this pair of Union Pacific (ex-CNW) C44-9W's. 











eNjoy!
Brian

[BCR 570]

Brian:

Very nice engines - who makes the red cable on the front of the locomotives?  I need one of those for my C-630M.


Last weekend I undertook a short research trip to see the Chetwynd and Dawson Creek Subdivisions.  I wrote a blog and posted photographs here:

http://www.scalerailsonline.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4739

Yesterday I attended an Open House at one of the new Canada Line stations in Vancouver.  This addition to the SkyTrain network will enable one to travel from the airport to downtown Vancouver in 21 minutes and is scheduled to go into service next month:




On the model front, three new chip cars have recently joined the fleet.  These were built from the venerable CS Models chip car kit and upgraded with cast and etched brass detail parts.

First up is a car completed as one of the original Hawker Siddeley series from 1968, which had side ladders instead of grab irons and were finished in PGE Freight Car Red with the map logo.  Many of these cars still had their map logos in 1977; in fact this car still wore this livery in 1985!






Next up is a car from the second HSC series delivered in 1973, by which time the railway had changed its name from PGE to BCR.  This is what the majority of the chip car fleet looked like:






In 1975-1976 Railwest Manufacturing built 400 of these cars to the HSC design.  One of the cars received a special promotional scheme and toured the province's railways and mills to try and generate orders:






Finally, considerable progress was made this week on my MLW C-630M.  I removed all of the details from the pilots and added BLMA cut levers, trainline air hoses and safety lights, Sunrise Enterprises MU hoses, Miniatures By Eric brass pilots, and Micro-Trains couplers.

Here are the parts I used:




Here is the front pilot all cleaned off and the pilots prepped for installation:




Here is the front pilot with everything installed:




and the rear end with everything installed:




Thanks for looking.

Tim

[wendell camp]

Getting cloeser to layout

[qantaqa]

Last weekend's update ended with a crack about kits from the 70's....  like this one I've been working on, I guess 

RailHead kit from 74? and some newer parts:


instruction sheet says kit# 74-02:


MT wheels and trucks, first truck painting attempt, and bodymounted z couplers on these two cars, so far:


and just because I can and they were on sale at MBK, UPS will deliver tomorrow 4 more roundyhouse kits (and a GG1), total of 30 stalls and a machine shop... 30th b-day in a few weeks, seemed kinda zen...

meanwhile, I have to finish scraping and sanding so I can paint the building above the layout room...  something about not raining around seattle for a while... oh well...

Cheers!

[womblenz]

Well some more work on the ore dock

Due to bin walls not being seen I had some laser cut to help save some time

Testing of new parts


very happy so I carried on




also got bechwork module for the yards built (sorry no pics yet batteries in camera went flat)
but here's yard plan


Cheers Warren

[atsf_arizona]

Good stuff, all!

For me, just quick stuff - a quick grab shot of the two N scale Atlas/Kato Santa Fe GP30 Yellowbonnets on my layout:



This coming week, I'll be in Chicago at a business convention..... and then, will be taking
the Amtrak California Zephyr home to California.

Have a good week, all.

[wm3798]

In and amongst the benchwork bonanza, I made some serious headway on my roundhouse.

Another side benefit of doing decoder installations is a growing volume of surplus light boards. These came in very handy for lighting this project, especially the old Kato boards with the incandescent lamps.

Clap on!







This is the rear side, which has to cut in in a couple of places to allow the main line to pass behind the building. I fully detailed this side even though it won't be visible in current layout configuration...because you never know where it might be needed next!



Next I'm working on the roof, then it's on to the back wall sections!
Lee

[One of One-Sixty]

I started scratch building row homes using DPM modular system, making 2 and 3 story row homes and brownstone.  I am also kitbashing several of DPMs Char's Soda Shoppe into a hotel w/shoppes.  I hope to have pics later this week.

[Bob Bufkin]

Lee:

Using those boards is a great idea.  Your the first that I know of who have done that.  Very ingenious.

[asciibaron]

Next I'm working on the roof, then it's on to the back wall sections!

my vote is for them to slide out the back.  it would be cool and very user friendly.