Weekend Update 11/14/10

[up1950s]

Well being that the other forum started in the wee early hours today , no reason that we can't either . Post time again .

[up1950s]

UP ( OSL ) 535 done
 

 

[BCR 570]

Well being that the other forum started in the wee early hours today , no reason that we can't either

Richie:

I have been thinking for some time that Saturday evening seems a better time to start.  It allows members on the East Coast or further east ie. Europe to post on Sunday morning while we are still snoozing.

Another lovely steamer - well done.


Tim

[BCR 570]

This was another week of major accomplishments as several long term projects have come to fruition just in time for a layout open house in conjunction with Trains 2010.

Firstly, the circuit breaker panel was completed with final soldering of the remote status LED indicator leads to the circuit boards.  The panel was then screwed into place underneath the helix:




Secondly, the power mangement panel moved another step forward with soldering of the wires to the LEDs and the SPST switches.  There are three indicator LEDs and one SPST switch to turn off track power for each of the eight power districts.  Here is one set with the panel:




I also located and screwed the panel onto the fascia in front of the helix.  I initially used washers in front of the panel but I subsequently removed them as they were not really needed and they made the bolts look a lot larger than they actually are.  I still have to cut out a rectangle behind the holes:




Thirdly, over on the recently installed west wall benchwork, the final connections for the LED layout lighting were made, and the entire layout lighting is now in place and operational:




Here is a closeup of the upper deck section for the Kiskatinaw River bridge.  The backdrop curves in front of the rear wall:




So the layout is now complete with respect to benchwork and lighting.  I wish to thank my friend Mark Hepher who supplied and installed the LED light bars through his lighting design company.


Now lets back up and change to a wide angle lens to give you a better overall view of the layout, panning from left to right:








Thanks for looking,

Tim

[mark dance]

Well the vancouver Trains 2010 open house tours just left...about 80 or so people through the layout on its official "public unveiling".  I learned a lot in the process....things I didn't expect, like I thought 3' aisles would be ample for 10-11 visitors a time.  Seems visitors all like to congregate in only certain places!

This week I finished the snowed scenery around Farron summit including adding about 400 more snowed trees and 40 telegraph poles with the correct insulator configurations for the Boundary sub.  I also updated Youtube with a video showing the 3 scale mile run over Farron summit from Cascade and down to Shields.

Here are a bunch of shots of the plow train operating through Farron...






 






And here is a Youtube video of a  Passenger train climbing then descending Farron with about 2 1/2 scale miles of complete scenery.

/>
Now off to bed for some sleep!

btw Tim, your wiring is "painfully neat"...nice job!

md

[davefoxx]

Geez, guys, I haven't even gone to bed yet.  But, this is Weekend Update, not Sunday Update, so....  Tim, coming from someone who enjoys his OCD, that wiring job is a thing of art!

Hopefully, assuming I can find accomplish everything I need to (including getting to bed), I'll have pictures of the birth of a hollow-core door layout by the end of today.

DFF

[DKS]

I modified this Z scale Miller Engineering gas station so it could be fully illuminated.

[John]

I have been thinking for some time that Saturday evening seems a better time to start.  It allows members on the East Coast or further east ie. Europe to post on Sunday morning while we are still snoozing.

It really doesn't matter when it gets started, or by whom  ... as long as the title stays reasonably the same and includes the date .. have fun ..

[Philip H]

With the recent expansion in the BRS' operating crew, modeling activities have slowed of late.  So the last few weeks have primarily been given over to equipment receipts:

The operating machinery department took delivery of these two 1:150 gems courtesy of Steve Campbell at the N Scale Intermodal Store:



That was followed quite quickly by an interchange delivery of 3 Laurel Valley 70 ton Hoppers, which will work both dedicated and interchange calcined coke service:



Finally, the Ponderosa Northern supplied a double door 50ft boxcar (PNR 2043) for interchange service:



The car rides on BLMA 70 ton ASF trucks, and features some Gary Hinshaw-inspired Full Throttle body mount couplers (which are compared in this photo to standard MTL Truck mounts with pizza cutters):



All this equipment awaits weathering and the addition of details.  The PNR car will get BLMA Trainline airhoses and etched metal cut levers and brake platforms.

All that, of course, assumes some sleep sometime soon . . .

[DKS]

Damn, these things are like weeds. They're popping up everywhere...

[davefoxx]

Damn, these things are like weeds. They're popping up everywhere...

You're right.  I found three of them in my basement two weeks ago!  ;D

[up1950s]

Richie:

I have been thinking for some time that Saturday evening seems a better time to start.  It allows members on the East Coast or further east ie. Europe to post on Sunday morning while we are still snoozing.

Another lovely steamer - well done.


Tim

Thanks Tim . I agree on less restrictive start time , more air time , fits more schedules , glad John is good with it .   

[Bob Bufkin]

Didn't get much done this week.  Thanks to N&W I did receive a couple PRR Arch Roofs and underbody details for PRR passenger cars.  Unfortunately I didn't realize that they were made for Model Power or Lima cars, not the Rivirossi cars I have.  At least the underbody ice A/C will work on the cars I have.  Will get a couple Model Power cars and change the roof on those.

On a unrelated note, I shaved off my beard.  Now I'm just an old coot and not a bearded old coot ;D

[John]

Thanks Tim . I agree on less restrictive start time , more air time , fits more schedules , glad John is good with it .   

Hey - the less work I have to do around here the better it is

[Erik W]

I actually have something to contribute, after a year of not touching the model RR.  Life got in the way, more specifically I was divorced.  Luckily it worked out that I was able to keep the house.  So, thankfully didn't have to tear down the layout.  At any rate, I’m not sure if any of you guys remember me, but I’ve been building a D&RGW layout set in 1956.  My interest finally returned.  After spending some time figuring out where I left off and where I stashed things, I broke out the modeling supplies.  I’m in the process of scenicing the Denver portion of the layout.  My current project is building a building that will be on the very edge of the layout and is cut off at the layout edge.  I decided to do this because visually I believe it’s a good way to convey that the city extends beyond the edge of the layout.  I also added some photos of the city area.












This is the last section I sceniced, leading into Denver.  What you see in the background is the mainline leading to hidden staging behind a steep hill.  So, from the normal viewing angle when operating, the trains running south leave Denver and disappear behind a hill.


Here’s an overall shot of the layout (I'm not sure why this is showing up smaller than the actual size of the photo).


This is the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel.  This is an older photo, but a good one showing the tunnel area which isn’t shown in the panoramic shot above.

Erik