Weekend Update 2/20/11

[dwyaneward]

Couple photos' of the layout progress





I may need to get some help with track plan as I am stuck.

Here is couple photo's of the first of four F7 AB Sets (special run by IM) pickup Saturday.

[Puddington]

Only managed to fix up and weather a new Kato SD 45..... why did they use a grey black for the trucks....?



Part of a 2 x SD 45, 1 x GP 9 lash up that hauled 25 units north to the Northhill yard....

[JSL]

Nice job on the SD 45, they look really nice. The only thing I did was run my 68 car BNSF coal train on WIN N Trak setup.

JSL

[SD452XR]

Started framing the third level of the layout. 2nd level is mostly done. Still have to come up with a plan for the lift bridges. No duck unders on my layout.

Steve

[seusscaboose]

The home for the transcontinental PRR is finally complete.  For the moment, Altoona has been moved in, although it is not set up yet.  I've also started moving in tools in preparation for layout construction.  In other words, this view will never be possible again.



There are two 15-amp circuits powering 8 double outlets, and the lights are on a dedicated circuit.

nice!!!!!!

[skytop35]

Twin Cities Hiawatha power (circa 1961) Still need to weather this set but I finally finished painting the FM Erie-Built B unit this weekend and even got the decoder installed.

[Mark5]

Amazing stuff. ;D Not much here. Re-motored four diesels. And made a subtle modification to SD35 #1550:



Anyone see it?

Sorry about the crap photo (I'm shopping for a new camera).

Mark

[Bob Bufkin]

You added something above the cab roof which makes the cab look wider.

[chessie system fan]

I see some new trucks.

[squirrelhunter]

Dwayne, nice to see someone modeling the T&P. It was a classy road.

Skytop, those Milwaukee units are amazing.

N and W, I see new truck without the high brake cylinders.

I went to the Houston Area Trainshow this weekend put on by the San Jacinto club. I didn't get anything, but I saw a very, very nice N scale UP FEF-3 model, in the contest room. The guy had made a brass master for the shell, cast a resin copy, hollowed it out, detailed it and then put it on a modified Kato GS-4 chassis. It was amazing, and at first glance, I thought it was brass. Didn't have my camera or I would be posting pics.

[Mark5]

I see some new trucks.

Very close! The trucks have not changed, but the sideframes have.;D Actually, using a tip that Robbman gave me a few years back, I swapped the sideframes from a Kato SD45 onto the Atlas SD35 trucks. The Atlas truck sideframes are correct for the 1st order of SD35s, but the second order which includes 1550 had sideframes closer to the ones used on the Kato SD45.

Now all the SD35s need (in my eye) is MU cables, the correct horns (thank you BLMA), cab shades, maybe cut levers, and some subtle weathering. I gotta go back and paint the visible part of the axle pickups black some time as well.

The bonus is that I swapped the SD35 sideframes to the Kato SD45s I own, and now they have correct sideframes for late N&W SD45s.

[Puddington]

Twin Cities Hiawatha power (circa 1961) Still need to weather this set but I finally finished painting the FM Erie-Built B unit this weekend and even got the decoder installed.

Those are stunning............I got nothing else..........just stunning...............

[Sokramiketes]

We'll there's one dilemma, the door frame on these were actually raised a bit from the car side so they aren't really a good candidate for just being cut.  I suppose I could add that to a precut piece.


Jason

You leave the masking paper on the door frame and peel it off from the rest of the car side to get that detail to be raised.

[wm3798]

Got the switch machines all installed for West Staging today... then discovered the wire I used for the control panel is a little too light in the loafers to do the job...  Working on plan B as we speak.

But I did get enough of the staging yard open to monkey around with helper service on the helix.  I've got three LL FA-2's, but it turns out that one of them is plenty to get a 25 car train with 3 engines on the point up the grade.  It works great, because it has an posable knuckle on the nose, so I can nudge in behind the caboose without it coupling.  It does require that the caboose have body mounted couplers, but I've been working on that for some time now.

I've got to get the other FA's cleaned up so they run more reliably, Then I'm abandoning the stub end storage yard in staging in favor of a small helper terminal down there in the bowels of the earth.  I'll probably keep two sets of engines down there to keep things moving along.

Most trains will only need help getting up the twist, but if we end up with something above 25 cars, it will need a shove all the way to Maryland Jct.  Should be fun!

Lee

[GaryHinshaw]

As we get settled in, I'm getting back up to speed a bit.  On Saturday I took a trek to Central Hobbies to browse and pick up supplies (and did a little train watching afterwards - it was sunny!)  Today I got the spare room straightened up and set up a work table:



I finally mustered the courage to unpack the intermodal items I had hastily packed for the trip.  I knew there had been some carnage in transit, but it turned out to be much less severe than I had feared - a few bent stanchions, a few popped parts, and some paint dings.  I feel better.

Meanwhile, back at Central... Over the past few weeks, I had been admiring the handrails on the switcher than 'M and E Alco' had posted on the A Board:

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/CPR_8134_Feb-11b.JPG

but I didn't know how he had done them.  Lo and behold, while browsing at Central I noticed this tasty handrail kit from Athabasca Shops:



This is exactly the kind of solution I had been dreaming of a few months ago for my diesels: a one piece stainless steel etching that is, by construction, thin, straight, and fairly strong.  I had wondered if squarish etched railings would look odd, but to my eyes they seem fine, and the thin stanchions look fantastic.  I'm off to the drawing board now.  Why waste my time bending, aligning, soldering, and cussing, when my computer and an etching house halfway around the world can do it 10 times better?  I'm sure this is not a panacea, but it looks promising.

-gfh

P.S. At Chris333's suggestion, I'm going to try PPD for etching.  I think that's where he got the stock for these incredible ore cars.