Weekend Update 2012/09/09

[mmagliaro]

Wow Max , I find that a really odd one to me . I am used to seeing sloped in steam chests allowing for inside mounted valve gear , but this is outside valve gear .

I know!  I am planning to take out the Atlas cylinder saddle, cut a "V" shape out of the plastic, so I can simply rotate the cylinders
inward, and then probably have to drill a few new pin vise holes to put the valve gear back in.  Although I'm thinking of
trading out the valve gear with something finer from my scrap box instead of reusing the old simple Atlas gear.

Lemo... this is not a Pecos River, or any other "brass" engine.  It's Black River Locomotive Works, which was one guy, Tom Jackson,
making these out of Atlas steam parts and his own pewter cast boilers.    Yeah.... I'm really happy to finally be making a steam
engine again.

[Lemosteam]

Rats I meant Black River...  Sorry Max.  I remember that now from your website!

BTW, how did you get your hands on my high school nickname???

[R L Smith]

I have one week left 'til company comes and I think I've reached my limit on puff-ball tree making.  The coming week I will be adding as many details as I can and test running long trains on the mainline.

All this effort because I am on the home layout tours for Mainline Hobby Supply's Open House Weekend Sept 15-16.  This year there are 24 layouts on tour.  Although I'm the only N scale home layout (there are two HO clubs with N scale display layouts), there are some outstanding HO layouts available for viewing during this Open House.  Geographic area ranges from Frederick and Hagerstown MD to York and Harrisburg PA.

Here are some overview shots of my 12' x 14' layout.  Much to do (and obviously re-do) in the coming months and years, but it's been fun so far!

From the doorway, with Rheims and its mock-up buildings on the left, Bath straight ahead:



Hammondsport:



Where the EL and B&H meet up:



Now down along the wall:



Around the end of the peninsula:



And along the Canisteo River.



Ron

[davidgray1974]

Those trees really do look great.  Fantastic work!

[davefoxx]

Got out the handheld sander and started grinding foam.  It makes one heck of a mess, but that's easily contained with the shop-vac.  Started roughing out this cut and the hillside above the lake.  I think I'll lay in a piece of 1" foam to raise the water level in the lake.  That will allow me to blend the landforms into the lake with less steepness of the slopes and increase the surface area of the water a little.



More over on the Layout Engineering forum.

DFF

[davidgray1974]

I really slacked off this week.  Didn't really get much done but wanted to take a needed break from making trees.  I did however manage to start adding rocks around the river side of the coal mine.  Start to finish took about 3 hours but was a nice break from my routine.  I stopped in the area where my wooden bridge, once built, will cross over.  Will build it this week so I can figure its exact placement which will enable me to move on with the rock formations.

Started with adding extra foam insulation that I precut and shaped before hot gluing to the layout.  Then cut sections of rubber rocks an applied them with hot glue as well.




Here are the pictures once sculptamold was added to fill in the gaps and blend in the surrounding areas.




Also purchased some Blueford Shops L&N and Southern 70 Ton Hoppers and some Atlas L&N 90 Ton Hoppers.  Hadn't run any of my L&N engines lately so I figured I would let the GP7TT come out and play for a bit.




Thanks for looking!

[mmagliaro]

Rats I meant Black River...  Sorry Max.  I remember that now from your website!

BTW, how did you get your hands on my high school nickname???

Heh... I didn't think of it.  I am sure I read you referring to yourself by that name somewhere.  That's where I got it!

I didn't want to nitpick about the name, except that people might start wondering about a "Pecos River" atlantic
and where they could buy one!

[NARmike]

Well, the snail’s pace continues... slow but sure.

This week I managed to complete the railings for the Heart River bridge.

Ever try making N scale L-Girders?



I needed to attach the scale lumber to the plastic stanchions. CA didn't work... the wood just absorbed it. Epoxy was too blobby. White glue didn't set quick enough and Gorilla Glue expanded too much.

As I was swearing my wife suggested I try some of her polymer medium she uses for her acrylic paints so to amuse her I gave it a shot...

It worked like a charm. Makes a great solid bond and is virtually invisible. I used one that was fairly thin and applied it with a toothpick. It works very well. The products are available in art supply stores and come in a wide variety of consistencies, glossy to matte and transparent to opaque. I'll be experimenting with using it when it comes time to do my water effects also... it looks promising!

Do any of you have experience with this stuff?



So... as usual... I couldn't resist a mock-up photo

Prototype...



Model...



Next step... Paint!!!! 
I can’t find any Floquil Grimy Black or many other popular Floquil colours here due to the bottles not being bilingual  so I’ve ordered some up from the States… hopefully they arrive soon.

Mike

[PGE-N°2]

The Hart River bridge looks very nice, but methinks you need to get some of the upcoming GP9s in NAR colours to pose for that photo.

We went railfanning this weekend, and tried to trace some of the remaining physical traces of Canadian Pacific's legendary Kettle Valley Railway.

[NARmike]

The Hart River bridge looks very nice, but methinks you need to get some of the upcoming GP9s in NAR colours to pose for that photo.

Thanks! I'm way ahead of the game on the GP-9's... I've had all 3 reserved since Supertrain

Mike

[JSL]

But I held the first one in my hand a couple of hours ago.  If go to Edmonton Show, Jeff will have the sample with him..

[NARmike]

But I held the first one in my hand a couple of hours ago.  If go to Edmonton Show, Jeff will have the sample with him..

 

[Dave Schneider]

I managed to make some progress on my layout trailer. Had the electrician over this week and it now has 50-amp service. Painted the interior and brought in my workbench cabinets. This will be a great space (10'-8" by 19'-0") in which to build the Beer Line. Still need to hang a new entry door, but hope to start building some benchwork next week!



Best wishes, Dave

[Kevin C]

I have started work on the first helix for my layout with the base complete and the threaded rod risers in position. I still have a long way to go. 
Kevin.

[Scottl]

Mike, that bridge is awesome.  I've used the gloss and matte mediums for a variety of gluing tasks and the heavy gloss makes excellent water.