Weekend Update 8/5/12

[Bob Bufkin]

That crossing is as smooth as Twiggy .

You better explain to the young guys here who Twiggie is.

[peteski]

PRR K4 problem solved thanks to a Starmans special.  Here is the detailing of the Trix shells I have been working on.  For 30 or 40 year old tooling, these MiniTrix shells are actually quite nice expecially when detailed and painted.

Nice detailing Doug!  The siderods look better (finer) than I remember them on those models (which was a long time ago).

I'm not a Pennsy expert and I'm curious: did their 1:1 tenders have roller-bearing trucks?

[Pennsy]

Doug, you said:

"PRR K4 problem solved thanks to a Starmans special.  Here is the detailing of the Trix shells I have been working on.  For 30 or 40 year old tooling, these MiniTrix shells are actually quite nice expecially when detailed and painted."

What wxactly is a aStarmans Special?

TIA

Jim

[Bremner]

You better explain to the young guys here who Twiggie is.

Twiggy was the first supermodel

[nkalanaga]

Very nice work on that crossing.  Too bad most train meets don't have a contest category for trackwork...

For the holes in the house, if the filler doesn't fix all of the problems, a rosebush will!  Unless you're modeling a specific house, plant something in front of the flaws, and no one will be the wiser.

[davefoxx]

Extended this passing siding today, so to allow slightly longer trains to run on the layout.  This shows that two locomotives and nine cars can now clear the mainline.  This is at least two 50' car lengths longer than before.  I also painted the Atlas double track bridge that is pictured below and finally committed to gluing the 2" foam to the HCD.



More detail in the Seaboard Central 2.0 thread in the Layout Engineering Forum.

DFF

[dougnelson]

Thanks for the kind comments on the PRR K4. 

Notes on the K4:
- the drivers and rods are not from the Trix model.  They are from a Fleischmann German Pacific.
- the K4 tender did not have roller bearing journals, but these ConCor freight trucks are the closest thing to the shape of the PRR tender trucks.
- a Starmans special is a mechanical conversion for the K4 done by Hans Starmans from the Netherlands.  This is a tender drive model - motor, gears, single powered truck, decoder and a honking weight over the drive truck are all located in the tender.  The loco itself is free running.

[Chris333]

I believe Victor once made correct PRR tender trucks in brass.  Either way that's a sweet steamer.

[bc6]

Ive done some more work to the entry gate this week. First I added two portals to the outbound portion of the module they aid in scanning outbound trucks, I've changed the supports on the building and added bracing to the top of the building. I also show the "works" underneath the building that are security measures for the intermodal facility.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Built the first of two MOW buildings for my Free-moN Staging Yard:





First time using corrugated metal roofing, but I think it turned out ok.
(Just have to be careful handling: paint, even dry, just slides off that stuff!)

Lots of great modeling again: thanks for sharing!
Have a groovy weekend.

[ljudice]

Completed laying the new, modified mainline - currently preparing to solder on power connections....

Stand by for video!

[Roger Holmes]

An out of state friend came recently and took a number of photos in my basement.  Here are two showing the Chicago "L" train.  You can just make out the covered stairways leading up to the "L" platform.



The cathedral is evocative of Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral which, in reality, isn't near the "L".



If you look to the left in front of the arched window you can see the "Superman" cow from the Chicago Cow street art program of a few years ago.  They are scattered all over my downtown area.

[peteski]

Thanks for the kind comments on the PRR K4. 

Notes on the K4:
- the drivers and rods are not from the Trix model.  They are from a Fleischmann German Pacific.
- the K4 tender did not have roller bearing journals, but these ConCor freight trucks are the closest thing to the shape of the PRR tender trucks.
- a Starmans special is a mechanical conversion for the K4 done by Hans Starmans from the Netherlands.  This is a tender drive model - motor, gears, single powered truck, decoder and a honking weight over the drive truck are all located in the tender.  The loco itself is free running.

Ah, that explains why the siderods looked so much finer than what I remembered the Minitrix ones to be. Now that you mentioned Fleischmann, that also explains that the spokes of the drivers also looked finer than the Minitrix ones.

As far as the tender trucks go, I wonder is simply taking few swipes with sandpaper to remove the triangular bolt patterns on the ends of the axles would go a long way towards backdating the trucks.  At least to me that was the first thing I noticed when looking at those trucks.

[SAH]

I really enjoy seeing the freight car mash-ups.  Nice job with the NP DD box car Bryan.  Looking forward to the final product.

The fertilizer building is looking great Mark.  Makes me want to jump into the many structure projects on the backlog list.

But instead of structures I need to get some decoders installed.  And since I've taken the darn thing apart why not detail the shell? 
Here's the start of AC&Y 207 & 208.  Phase III H16-44.  Bachmann models.  This morning I realized ol' eagle eye removed and filled the dynamic brake air intake screens but failed to notice the cooling fan housing on the roof.  DUH!  At least I spotted the error before I started adding the delicate details.

Steve

[jereising]

Horns blasting, a northbound Z train crosses a farm road between Cliff and Bealville....