Weekend Update 1/20/13

[R L Smith]

Hi John,

I'm trying out the use of "industry cards" instead of car cards with waybills. One advantage is fewer cards to make, but one of the primary motivations is to not have to read car numbers from two feet away.

I use the dice to determine how many setouts and pickups to make at each town.  This means each local freight has a different makeup / train length each time I run it. There is a set of dice for each town on my railroad; I modify the numbers on each set so that there is no number higher than half the number of available switching spots.  This (in theory anyway) will prevent each siding / spot being switched on every run.  (One of the railroads I run on frequently has a very repetitive pattern of exchanging each and every car in a town on every local run.  "Oh good, there's that string of covered hoppers.  Again.")

Ron

[wm3798]

Roger,
Never apologize for scratch building... that structure turned out beautifully.

Brokemoto... Good looking yard, but I'd suggest you go over that ballast with a layer of dark gray/black unsanded grout.  See Ed's work with this product.



The combination of the multi-colored ballast and the large-ish grains are detracting from the realism of your yard.  Yards are typically ballasted with cinders, which will have a much smoother appearance than the ballast you've selected.  You want more of a muddy, finer grain surface.





The good news is you can spread the finer stuff over top of the coarse stuff and get a much better result.
Lee

[brokemoto]

.Brokemoto... Good looking yard, but I'd suggest you go over that ballast with a layer of dark gray/black unsanded grout.  See Ed's work with this product.
Lee

Thanks for the hints, Lee, but it ain't my yard.  It belongs to Cody O.  I do not operate Erie steam.  If I ever lay a yard, I will take your hints.  I had not considered the use of unsanded grout.  Thanks!

[johnhale]

Worked on a new oNeTrak Wye this weekend. This is one of two that will be available to the Bantrak oNeTrak setup.

[seusscaboose]

Worked on a new oNeTrak Wye this weekend. This is one of two that will be available to the Bantrak oNeTrak setup.

and so it begins

[Philip H]

SSome new rolling stock arrived this past week, including a really HAWT Bluford Shops KCS transfer caboose (H/T Chulvis) and the Randgust CF-7 that I've been waiting for.  It will eventually be an L&D unit:



Other railraod work was suspended in honor of the inauguration yesterday:



At which my teenagers graced me and the general public with their presence:



That shot alone was worth the 5 hours standing in the cold - even though no trains were featured in the Inaugural remarks.

[wm3798]

Duly noted, Broke!  Comments redirected to Mr. Cody!

[kalbert]

Hi John,

I'm trying out the use of "industry cards" instead of car cards with waybills. One advantage is fewer cards to make, but one of the primary motivations is to not have to read car numbers from two feet away.

I use the dice to determine how many setouts and pickups to make at each town.  This means each local freight has a different makeup / train length each time I run it. There is a set of dice for each town on my railroad; I modify the numbers on each set so that there is no number higher than half the number of available switching spots.  This (in theory anyway) will prevent each siding / spot being switched on every run.  (One of the railroads I run on frequently has a very repetitive pattern of exchanging each and every car in a town on every local run.  "Oh good, there's that string of covered hoppers.  Again.")

Ron

I use a similar method on my little switching railroad. Since I'm limited to 5 cars +1 loco, rolling a dice to determine train length made sense. If I roll a 1 I send the loco out on a pickup run to collect only covered hoppers from the elevator, rolling any other number means I shuffle the deck of waybills and draw the number I rolled.

[bbussey]

That shot alone was worth the 5 hours standing in the cold - even though no trains were featured in the Inaugural remarks.

Philip,
Great sunset shot over the capitol building.

[Philip H]

Philip,
Great sunset shot over the capitol building.

That was sunrise, good sir.  about 7:15 AM or so, and shot with my iPhone 4s.

[bbussey]

That was sunrise, good sir.  about 7:15 AM or so, and shot with my iPhone 4s.

I was thinking that, don't know why I typed "set" instead of "rise".  Typing too fast in between work tasks.  Great shot.

[Roger Holmes]

Roger-- What are you using to apply your static grass.  I bought one of the expensive Noch applicators and my first two attempts leave me underwhelmed.  Yours is much more (ahem) erect.  Please share your technique and glad to see you back posting again.

Roger

[POVC]

Worked on a new oNeTrak Wye this weekend. This is one of two that will be available to the Bantrak oNeTrak setup.

John,

Is that going to be a true 90-degree wye module or more of a 45-degree turnout module?  How about showing us a track plan?   

Tim

[Ian MacMillan]

I really like that building.

[johnhale]

John,

Is that going to be a true 90-degree wye module or more of a 45-degree turnout module?  How about showing us a track plan?   

Tim

They will both be 45-degree. The exact same geometry and size as Martin's. But will also have a single track straight. We can use the as 45s, 2 foot straights, or wyes.

John