Weekend Update

[wm3798]

I guess the rest of you are still crawling around under the layout soldering wires...  So, what's on your workbench this week?

I finished up (more or less) work on a Kato F-7 A/B set.  Thanks to Sizemore for the nicely done paint work on 53.




I also took care of a few website updates, which I posted previously.

Lee

[John]

I was working on my track. 

[atsf_arizona]

I'm way busy with work these days and no time to model
or take new photos - but it's great to see other's work.

[Zox]

I've been working on cartoons. Specifically, using my computer to lay out the scenery for my bridge module:



That's the first time I've really been able to see how that "short" arch will look with the landscape under it. The 3/4" foam is a bit too high, though; I really need the road at about 5/8" elevation.

An overhead shot:



Since I do my roads on the computer, once I have all of this laid out I'll assemble the "hardscape" over the picture as a unit, then put it in place and work the rest of the scenery in around it.

So getting these drawings done and fitted to the module is progress, of a sort.

[BCR 570]

With C-630M 701 now on hold waiting for a decoder and ditch lights, this week's project was to create a temporary replacement for the Pine River bridge.  The FDM model is somewhat delicate and I have been concerned about potential damage while trying to install wiring above, paint the backdrop behind, and work on scenery below:
 


The bridge pictured above will require 1000+ handlaid ties and two pairs of rail, which would render it somewhat difficult to keep removing whenever there was work to be done.  I do want to get rails across the canyon but have them easily removable when necessary.  The solution was to build a wood replacement for the steelwork which could also sit on the abutments and piers.  I made a front from cereal box cardboard so it would somewhat resemble the prototype:




I laid Micro Engineering Code 40 flex track along the span and glued it down.  Removal will only require sliding out the rail joiners at each end and lifting out the span.  I also used this as a test bed for attaching 22 AWG feeder wires and connecting them to 14 AWG bus wires.  With leads from a power pack connected to the bus wires, it was time for a test run across the bridge:






I was interested to discover that even with the relatively heavy plywood core, the train still sounds like it is drumming across a bridge, and the piers actually vibrate while the train goes across.  I recall watching trains cross the actual structure and there is quite a change in sound as they go across.  It will be interesting to see what the models sound like when they cross the FDM model in a few years.

With this temporary span now in service, the FDM model can go back into its storage tube for a few years.  After establishing the precise alignment for the span, the next step will be to work on the short connection from the north end of the bridge to the bottom of the helix.

Tim

[eric220]

The PRR is in storage for the next few weeks, but the last few days have included a little prototype railroading.  My wife and I met her parents in Portland, OR for a few days of sightseeing.  We flew up, but we took a more appropriate method of travel back: The Coast Starlight.







I learned something aboard this train.  The Coast Starlight operates with a signature car called the "Pacific Parlor Car," a first-class only lounge run behind the diner.  These five cars are restored lounge cars from Santa Fe's El Capitain.  They had a wine tasting, movies, and other special events over the course of the trip.  Dinner is also available for first-class passengers in the lounge instead of the diner.





The last picture is the interior of the Pacific Parlor Car at dawn in Sacramento.  I highly recommend a trip on the Coast Starlight to any of west-coasters.  The train runs from Seattle to Los Angeles, and would be worth an end-to-end trip.

[atsf_arizona]

Eric220, as a Santa Fe fan, I love that interior photo of the ex-Santa Fe El Capitan Hi-Level lounge car.

For me, a last-minute addition:

[SkipGear]

I feel like I am chasing John around the web. I have posted behind him 3 different places now.  ;D







It would be done tonight if Microscale decals for B&O steam were anywhere close to the right font. I didn't feel like dusting off the Alps tonight and fighting with creating deluxe gold lettering. I'll work on that tommorrow. Oh, and an engineer and decoder.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

No pics from me. I restarted work on my Alaska F7. Hopfully I will finish it before the IM ones are released. I am trying to locate pictures of a B&M or MEC USRA 0-6-0 for another project but not having luck.

[asciibaron]

things are progressing on the layout.  i've begun laying out cardboard to map out the track plan.  i'm hoping to get some homasote and masonite this week. i need to get the staging yard track laid so i can get working on the upper deck for Warwick.  i'm pleased with the amount i've completed so far - it will be real nice to have the track in place and see that first train run, but that's a few months away at this point.

-steve

[Philip H]

I've continued replacing pizza cutters and Rapido couplers in my fleet with Atlas 70 and 100 Barber Rollerbearing trucks, the ones with the Accu-mates already installed.  So far they are running well, and the MT trucks I have on a  few other cars have been treated to some FVM wheelsets for pizza cutter elimination.

I also spent some time in the basement finishing organizing my building supplies - I hate having to go through three boxes to find the appropriate paint bottle.

And I ensured domestic tranquility by both cutting the grass (in the middle of the 5 hottest Days the DC area will likely see this year) and hanging new curtain rods in the Baby's room, the laundry room and ( :-\) the train room.  Of course, the white curtains that the lovely MRS. bought for the train room do make it significantly cooler to work in.

[tom mann]

no photos, but I finally found a bracket solution that gives me the clean look I've been looking for.  Built a few of them and installed 16 feet of supports on the wall for my layout.

[asciibaron]

no photos, but I finally found a bracket solution that gives me the clean look I've been looking for.  Built a few of them and installed 16 feet of supports on the wall for my layout.

i know it was hot yesterday, but has hell froze over?

[Guilford Guy]

No pics from me. I restarted work on my Alaska F7. Hopfully I will finish it before the IM ones are released. I am trying to locate pictures of a B&M or MEC USRA 0-6-0 for another project but not having luck.

http://s707.photobucket.com/albums/ww74/ferroequinologist/Boston%20and%20Maine/
This might help, although I was unaware B&M had USRA 0-6-0s?

[ednadolski]

I've been working on a 2x3 scenery diorama, but it's not anything worth taking pics let alone posting any.

Ed