Weekend Update 5/13/12

[DKS]

+1  Fantastic.  The second shot really caught my eye too!

+1 Better and better. Your starting point is now in the distant past.

[avel]

Oh that, it's an air cleaner.  Pulls from the sides and exhausts out the top.
Funny thing, I had even painted the inside black because I had plans to incorporate the air cleaner onto my O scale layout somehow. With some detailing and weathering on the outside. Using some styrene to extend the height and hide the controls on top. You can see a small part of the O scale layout standing up against the wall.

Anyway, seezsya

[Smike]

Been waiting to see Amtrak 156 on the point of the CZ....  and today was the day!   Train #5 just east of Eola yard on a nice sunny day...

Funny, I think I saw that same train crossing Sherman Creek Bridge from across the river as I was driving down Rt 22 just past noon. Was it heading East?

[Vince Gortner]

^^^ That was Sunday's westbound CZ, about 40 minutes west of Chicago just approacing the Eola yard just east of Aurora, IL.   The phase I heritage unit was at Chicago Union Station for National Train Day and then they put it on the point of the Zephyr.   Clean!  Super clean, as you might expect.  Too clean, actually.   

I bought one of the Kato units and .... I want to weather it a little just to make it look a little more realistic!  Nope.  Turns out that the real one doesn't look realistic either! 

[Smike]

Ha! "Eola yard" 'Enola yard' Who doesn't get those mixed up      [/Dyslexia]

[lashedup]

Now comes the fun of smoothing out the step-wise construction of the radial roof followed by the apllication of closer to scale wire hand holds and railings.  As I model 1952, the box on the underframe representing the AB brake control valve will need to be replaced with a K-type cylinder and reservoir from the InterMountain USRA composite gondola - the finest N-scale K-type brake set-up I have seen.

Cheers,
Greg Kennelly
Burnaby, BC

Hey Greg,

Can you take a close up photo or two of the stepping in the roof? I'd like to see how good/bad it is.

Thanks!

-jamie

[Vince Gortner]

Ha! "Eola yard" 'Enola yard' Who doesn't get those mixed up      [/Dyslexia]

Now this makes sense...  I didn't get that before and actually had to google the Sherman Creek Bridge!  Sorry...  spent my whole life in the Chicago area with about 89% of my vacation time spent west of here.  And I'm totally ok with Kato's western roads bias.  Sorry!!  [/katowesternroadsbias]

[PGE_Modeller]

Hey Greg,

Can you take a close up photo or two of the stepping in the roof? I'd like to see how good/bad it is.

Thanks!

-jamie

Hi Jamie,

Here are a couple of shots.  I tried to get the lighting so that any edges or roughness was most pronounced.  This one shows the logitudinal bands that comprise the roof.  I measured the thickness of the steps at about 0.0035".



The second one shows the roughness in the vertical surfaces, i.e. the side walls of the car body.  Interestingly, the other side is definitely smoother than this one.



It turns out that the roughness of the side is of greater concern to me than the roof.  The surface of the sides might be be more acceptable for someone modelling the cabooses in their later years when the plywood had definitely become somewhat grotty.  Unfortunately, in my modelling era of September 1952, these cars were only 4-5 months old so I need them to be in pristine condition.  The step treads will probably be replaced with open grid material as cutting them away may be the only way to get a sanding stick/needle file into position to smooth out the risers - a disadvantage of having the steps and end platform as part of the body shell.

Cheers,
Greg Kennelly
Burnaby, BC

[Smike]

And I'm totally ok with Kato's western roads bias.  Sorry!!  [/katowesternroadsbias]

Don't worry us Eastern Road folks will be rolling in it with Kato and FVM soon enough..

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=397470&nseq=359

(oh ya Sherman Creek Bridge  )

[Dave Schneider]

I am not much of an "Eastern Guy" but that is a handsome Lehigh Valley scheme!
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=397470&nseq=359

Lee, is this your photo or some wm3798 imposter?

Best wishes, Dave

[davidgray1974]

Thanks everyone for the great comments!  I have truely learned alot from everyone on here.  I'm still not where I would like to be in my modeling, but I know that I've come a long way in a short period of time.  Thanks again everyone for all your help!  I can only hope that my layout will look half as nice as the ones I've seen on here.

[wm3798]

Ghost Fleet!


Story under a separate thread...
Lee

[SkipGear]

No real modeling this past week for me. I have been bogged down with painting RC car bodies, my other hobby. I did however participate in my first operating session.

I have mentioned the layout before. The layout belongs to a gentleman also modeling the B&O in N scale that lives less than 10 minutes from me. His layout is pretty impressive in its size and scope. He is modeling the B&O from Cincinnati to Chillicothe in the early 50's and has done it with very little compression. All towns on the line are represented in scale, no compression of the siding and industry length except for the area around Procter and Gamble. The only compression is the distance between towns. The layout is built as a giant helix that navigates around the entire perimiter of the basement and two peninsulas 3 times with return loops at each end seperated by about 4' of elevation.

I've never been interested much in operations but this has me wanting more. We ran a light schedule with 7-8 trains active at any one time on a 4:1 fast clock. Because of the size of the layout, it was almost a little too easy but it was the first night and time tables were being tested. We didn't run any unscheduled trains and all went smooth.  I ran the National Limited from Cincy to Chilli for my first train and everybody had to move over for me so it was a good starter into operations. It took roughly 40 real minutes to run the train from start to finish. There was a coal drag that took over an hour in real time to make it's run. The layout can easily handle a dozzen or more operators with all the chances for locals and switching jobs to be run.

[Packer]

Adding some stuff:



I changed the trucks on my C425s. I still have to figure out the fuel tanks. If I can find an HO scale drawing of an SP&S/BN or a PRR/PC/CR C425 I'd be a lot closer. (SP&S and PRR C425s had the same tanks)





I tried an Atlas SD24 cab on the GP5 project. I had to do some cutting and filling to get it to fit right on the P2K long hood. I had to modify the high-nose numberboard to get numberboards to fit in the cab since Atlas was out of the numberboard inserts. The actual headlight portion doesn't fit, but I think the Details West headlight inserts will fit. I also have to add cannon steps and a Des Plaines insert to make it correct.

[TiVoPrince]

Direct  
from Casper, Wyoming I suppose...