Weekend Update - 9/5/2010

[John]

It's weekend update time. Hope everyone is having a safe Labor Day Weekend

I am trying to cram a steel mill complex into a small space on the layout .. so I have been mocking up some things ..

First - the basic diagram .. its drawn in XtrkCad



Then, the area from each side .. with mock ups in place

[BCR 570]

Good Morning:

During this past week I put the electronics projects on hold so I could get the installation of the crossbearers on my trailer flatcars completed:




More info and photos in the dedicated thread.

I also worked on proofing instructions for several upcoming kits.


Tim

[wm3798]

Okay, back in the saddle.  As you may have heard, Pam wants to give me the Nov/Dec cover, but wants me to re-shoot one of the pictures I submitted.  Said picture involves a familiar K-2 Pacific high stepping it across the famous Casselman Crossing bridge.  The locomotive is all polished up and ready for the shoot, and the crew is standing by with the cameras and flash bulbs.  But there's one little problem...

This...


presently looks like this...




When we reconfigured the Connellsville sub, the bridge was more or less tossed back into place, leaving a nasty kink and some bad cuts in the rail. This shot also shows some of the bridge track ties having been pulled away from the rail.  It was giving me fits as I tested the track through there, so with that, and the pressure of a deadline, I spent this evening making the necessary repairs.  This involved pulling the bridge out and fixing the track ties, re-aligning the west end of the bridge (the right side) since it no longer curves to the right, and re-affixing the walkway on the south side of the bridge, which was affected by the track alignment.  I also cleaned up the approaches from both ends, eliminating the kink and the dip, and affixing the guardrails back to the approach tracks.  I painted the rails and re-ballasted the approaches, and will give the new trackwork some test runs tomorrow when the ballast is dry.

Here's what it looks like now, through the lens of my shabby little camera...



I've got to patch in some foam and ground cover, replant the trees around the river bank in the background, the work out another camera transaction to try to get this shot not only right, but perfect...  No pressure there, though!

Lee

[Puddington]

Happy Labour Day folks.....

Canada Post finally came though with the stirups I ordered (via Singapore no doubt) so I added these and the stove jack to the Combine, finishing that little project.

Here she is tailing a late day mixed as she drifts out of Samuel Ridge on her way to tying up for the night at Puddington Valley.



The CPR's first lightweight sleepers were the "Grove" series 10-5 sleepers. These were built just after WW2 and served into the late 1970's. Painted in Tuscan with gold lettering they were as handsome a smoothside lightweight as you'd see; their slightly rounded sides giving them a distinctive "English" look.

Until Geoff Gooderham's shells arrived, the only way to approximate a "Grove" car was to alter some brass sides made for a NYC sleeper. I did just that a few years ago...



The windows were "close" but the model lacked the distinctive sides. The Gooderham resin shells have solved that.

I have begun two cars and have completed one.

The shells both were VERY CLEAN and needed very little work to remove flash or fill bubbles; Geoff's got this down to a fine art !

The shells had the grabs and hand rails added; 0.010 brass wire was used.



The extra details on this model are impressive. The car number boards have been added to the small window near the door. The ends are highly accurate with the distinctive door and brake gear.



The frame is very well made with a brass sheet added to the mold to add rigidity and strength. The under side details are very well done.

The cars were primed and preped for painting with my slightly altered True Line Trains tuscan.



The photo above shows you how light alters the "perception" of the tuscan. The bottom car and second car are painted at the same time from the same paint. The finished brass side car (third car) was painted using the same basic paint mixture; yet two years of running have latered it's colour slightly. The lack of a black roof also shifts your eye (you'll see that in a minute) The picture of "Palm Grove" at the top shows the weathered affect of the actual paint.

One car has now had the winodw frames silvered; the road name and livery name added and the gloss coat applied. I am working on the second car.



The shells are great to work with and look very nice when painted.

The interior of the sleeper was crafted of sytrene; a couple of roomettes were made with walls, chairs and painted in light pastel beige and green, similar to the prototypes. Passengers were added to 3 roometes and a conductor was added to one door. The A end had partial walls added with a passage door.

The styrene windows were added one at a time - Gooderham built a "seat" into the frames which were silvers. The windows seat in using Krystal Kleer. A railing is added to the passage side windows, like the prototype. Shades were also added.

The 1015 MT couplers were added; diaphrams and then end and bottom weathering. Finally; the roof ladders were added and the B end ladders..... Here is the "Birch Grove" in revenue service.





... and just illustrate the colour shift of Tuscan under bright incandecent light vs. lower light.....LOL (The darker picture is more accurate)

[DKS]

Thanks to my shrinking brain and arcane survival skills, I completed CNJ F3 #56 in T (1:450).





http://1-450.blogspot.com/2010/09/f7-with-clothing.html

Let the wise cracks begin.

(To answer some questions in advance: Yes, I know the trucks are wrong. No, there are no steps or grab irons. No, it doesn't have DCC, and no, the windshield wipers don't work. Heck, the headlight doesn't even work. Technically it's not finished yet--I still need to add the fuel tank.)

Edit: Yes, it's an F3, not an F7. Sorry for the confusion, but I was confused...

[sirenwerks]

Technically it's not finished yet--I still need to add the fuel tank.

Yea, and powder that nose a bit, it's so shiny. Seriously, David, that's amazing.

[up1950s]

Super looks on that mill John . David just Wow , that looks more correct that many early HO offerings .

Not quite done adding details to UP ( OSL ) 4754
 

 

[esa123]

I managed to get a lot of work done this week! Track on the center module was laid down to include the hallmark crossover. I used 3M's spray glue to attach my track to cork roadbed (the cork was attached with latex caulking previously to a wood base). In the past I haven't had any problem with this as it bonds very firmly and allowed for a flexible drying time making it easy to correct alignment issues. This time everything went down well but about a day later wherever there was tension on the rails (turnouts, crossover, etc.) the tracking began working itself loose. I reattached it at those weak points with thin liquid cement securing it in place permanently. Aside from laying track I also began installing servo turnout controllers from Tam Valley Depot. I'm using the octopus II for control of fascia mounted buttons since I don't need DCC turnout control at this time.  Finally, I'm working on staring a new blog so everyone can view my progress (with many more photos and descriptions) vs. just weekly updates!

Best of luck, I can't wait to see everyone's work!
Erik

[John]

Erik .. are you using the FastTraks jigs?

[esa123]

Yeah John, I'm using primarily #6's but there are two #7's (a right and left hand) that lead into the crossover. I went with fast tracks because of their reliability and more realistic appearance  - once I super detail them. All the turnouts are code 55 primarily because I originally bought them for a mainline railroad but ended up moving houses so they are now being used for this. If I had it to do over again I would have used code 40 turnouts as all track on this layout (except for sections between turnouts and the cross over on this module) is ME code 40. Kappler standard profile ties were used to fill in the non-pc-board sections. I made a nifty little jig some might find useful for doing this quickly. It's two pieces of wood that form a 90 degree "T", with holes drilled on either side for the throwbar to go through. This allows for the non-diverging side's ties to lay flush against the adjacent board for alignment. I start out by taping a track template down to the base board, followed by double sided tape on top (this holds the wooden ties down as I place them across). Finally I affix medium acting superglue to the bottom of the turnout, hold it in place over the ties for a few minutes, then cut the ties to the correct length with an exacto knife based on the tamplate. Once everything is removed from the jig the double sided tape is very easy to remove and you have all your ties in place! Note: By making my jig a "T" shape you can do either right or left turnouts of any size on the same jig, you just have to flip it over!

[NorfolkSouthern9708]

Thanks to my shrinking brain and arcane survival skills, I completed CNJ F7 #56 in T (1:450).

I bow down before your awesomeness....

[wcfn100]

Thanks to my shrinking brain and arcane survival skills, I completed CNJ F7 #56 in T (1:450).







Let the wise cracks begin.

Awesome work David, but isn't #56 an F3?

Jason

[Dave V]

I decided to take a few pictures of some of my recently weathered stuff under natural lighting.  I've also found that using the iPhoto uploader to Picasa for Mac has been washing out my photos, so I've had to use the Picasa editing feature to try to restore the original color.

Up first, my N scale LifeLike/Walthers Proto 2000 Pennsy HH1 weathered only with Dullcote and cheap acrylic washes:





Then, a shot of a Deluxe Innovations Pennsy boxcar airbrushed only.  Again, using cheap acrylic craft paints for coloring:



A Walthers Pennsy GSC flat, with painted deck and deck debris:



And, Eastern Seaboard Models' awesome N-scale only Pennsy G26, airbrushed, and with Hay Brothers Garage load:



Lastly, an Intermountain Pennsy boxcar with an interesting history...  So I weathered this guy years ago with chalks and Dullcote, but never much cared for how it came out.  Last year I tried stripping the weathering off using Testor's airbrush thinner.  It didn't all come off.  What remained behind, however, looked way better:

[up1950s]

Super subtle weathering on that HH-1 & others look so real with the heavier treatment . I wonder what a face would look like with the same attention ..... just remembered , coal miners at shifts end . 

[Dave V]

Thanks, Richie.  OBTW, you are now the new resident steam-head extraordinaire...!