Weekend Update 2/17/13

[superturbine]

Great work every body.

Thanks Mike,
Are you on board for the AC-9 conversion of an intermountain Cab Forward with Phillip and I?

[Dave V]

This weekend, awesome is spelled D-K-S.

I installed the station DKS built and shipped to me.  I added some platforms, signs, and details, but the main building is 100% DKS awesomeness.

[BCR 570]

What are you thinking for the brake platform Tim ?

Mike:

At present I am thinking BLMA #403 Coupler Platforms Style A or C with the notch for the brake stems, shortened in length and possibly also in width.  I will let you know how I make out.


Tim

[LIRR]

No new work to show this week but.....
Trains aren't allowed to stop, but it is Tuesday so the engineer keeps the F units crawling along while the fireman jumps down and runs into Peggy's Market Basket for a peach pie.

[cv_acr]

I've actually been working on my HO switching layout again over the last couple of weeks.

First I actually got the last of my masonite fascia pieces cut, and disassembled the layout sections to install them. I touched up the edges of the scenery with drywall mud to finish the surface contours, and did some painting and basic ground cover (dirt and a first layer of ground foam) on a couple of sections. Also I picked up some more wood ties at the Copetown train show last weekend and finished laying the last industrial spur at the back.

Some progress pics:







I also made some wood cribbing for a culvert under the scrapyard spur for the drainage ditch. The vertical supports are pieces of rail. Still need to stain and weather the timbers, and fill in the scenery around this.

[Virginia Atlantic]

I quite like that.  Great prototypical logo design.

[PAL_Houston]

Looks like Ogle County Co-Op outside of Oregon bought themselves a Cat D2 to shift cars around during loading.

[bbussey]

Good luck dispatching, Gary.

Looks like my next revenue freight car project will be a batch of slab side hoppers from Geoff Gooderham - these cars were used to haul grain from Fort St. John and Dawson Creek to custoiomers in the Fraser Valley and on Vancouver Island, so they are needed for my freight car fleet:

I ordered a round-hatch style and a rectangular-hatch style today, which I will decorate for TH&B and CN respectively.  Then I can retire my TH&B kitbash from decades ago.

[Iain]

My care package from Kleins arrived yesterday full of Bachman tenders, couplers, and wheelsets.  After chopping firewood this morning, I worked on chopping up those tenders; hopefully I'll have something photo worthy by tomorrow.  If I was smart, I'd make a master and cast it (most of Norfolk Southern's tenders, while distinctive, were standard across the board), but the mods are simple enough that I'll not do that.

[Coxy]

...  I will use the Hwy bridge as a “handle” to open and close the entry gate that this scene resides on, so it needs to be very sturdy with minimal detail to get crushed.  So far it seems to work very well in this capacity.

Looks great Mark. No other solution for a handle? Something fascia-mounted or recessed in the fascia perhaps? Grabbing scenery/structures seems like a dangerous thing to encourage!   

[C855B]

Acquired a new tool yesterday to aid with layout construction:

[PAL_Houston]

Acquired a new tool yesterday to aid with layout construction:

How tall is your layout gonna be exactly? 

[C855B]

How tall is your layout gonna be exactly? 

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=26087.msg305394#msg305394 

[mark dance]

Looks great Mark. No other solution for a handle? Something fascia-mounted or recessed in the fascia perhaps? Grabbing scenery/structures seems like a dangerous thing to encourage!   

Thank you Coxy.  As to handles, most people actually just push and pull on the fascia and framing directly and that works fine as the latching is positive but light in both positions.  I think I am the only one who uses the bridge...but it is just so convenient!  Visitors generally are a bit shocked when they see me do it 

md

[Mark W]

Took home 1st place at the local train show Model Contest.  The theme was "Special Loads".

Nailed it?