Weekend Update 6/2/13

[Fliegerin]

I haven't posted in quite some time. Thought I would throw the following into the ring:
D&H SD45 EL repaint

That is really cool!!!!


@  chicken45

Nice finds

[Dave Schneider]

I managed to find some Code 55 turnouts on eBay (thanks to DKS for the link) and expanded the Beer Line this weekend. This is the Commerce Street yard, where Pabst trans-loaded beer from trucks to insulated boxcars. My version is pared down a bit, but there are plenty of a capacity to make it believable. I got the scale track installed, which was used to weigh out-bound spent grain cars from Schlitz and Pabst. This will add a nice bit of work for operations. The bottom two tracks go to the Pabst grain elevator and to load broken glass (cullet) from the Schlitz bottling plant. One of the three Schlitz grain elevators is seen here in mock-up form.



Here is the view from 1976 for comparison.



Best wishes, Dave

[HuskerN]

added another Kenworth T800 to my grain truck fleet.  And finally put DOT striping and mudflaps on a Trail King bottom dump, and my 48' and 53' flatbed trailers.







HuskerN

www.nscaleaddiction.blogspot.com

[bbussey]

Joe: This isn't bad, but Smooth It from WScenics is much easier to work with.

/>

Quikrete anchoring cement is even better.  It's available from Home Depot in pint-sized containers (and larger) at a very reasonable price, and it's the real thing so you don't have to paint it a concrete color after it is set.  Just weather and you're done.

[cv_acr]

Finally finished the decalling on this pair of Southern boxcars, and started trying to weather them. The first one ended up WAY heavier than I intended, but there's actually a shot of one of these cars on rrpicturearchives that's even whiter, so while I certainly wasn't planning on it being this extreme, it's actually not unrealistic.


Opposide side:




Both cars are HO scale Intermountain PS-1s; the roof hatches were added by me.

(And yes I'm aware that 34297 has lost a couple of pieces in the photograph, and that the roofwalks on both cars need some repair.)

[nkalanaga]

It may have been something in the local water, as our well had both iron and sulfur, but the one time I used plaster to pave around track, after a few years the rails turned green.  This was in the early 80s, with Atlas code 80 flextrack, so newer track products may also react differently.

[flight2000]

Husker,
Really nice grain fleet you have there.  Nice job!!

Here are the 44-Ton switchers I finished this weekend.  These were PRR engines before being stripped and I have to say they were easier to disassemble then the first one I did.  Looks like Bachmann used less glue to put them together in the later releases because I broke only one railing this time versus the six during the last go around.... the original cut levers survived this time too...   





Also finally got around to taking a photo of the HO 4650cf hopper I finished a few weeks ago:



One of these days I'll get a small module built for the HO stuff... until then the bench work has to do... 

Brian

[GimpLizard]

Starting to bash buildings for the Jersey City Industrial...





This is helping me gear up for the challenge of building a dual-era layout.

David,

It's hard to tell from the photos. Did you have to trim any of those turnouts... to get it all to fit within a 2x4 space?  I've been trying, for some time, to come up with a simple 2x4 roundy-round, using C55 track and having a fit trying to fit a reasonable length passing track. And if you did have to trim some, is there a way to do that in Anyrail?

Thanks

[DKS]

David,

It's hard to tell from the photos. Did you have to trim any of those turnouts... to get it all to fit within a 2x4 space?  I've been trying, for some time, to come up with a simple 2x4 roundy-round, using C55 track and having a fit trying to fit a reasonable length passing track. And if you did have to trim some, is there a way to do that in Anyrail?

Thanks

Yes, I trimmed about half of the switches. You don't gain all that much, but a couple of inches here and there might make a difference. There's no way to "trim" parts in AnyRail; what I did was this: after connecting the switch to the other track, I disconnected it (right-click the connection node, select Disconnect), then I nudged the switch toward the track it was connected to with the arrow keys. I'd position it by eye, knowing that up to an inch of the switch can be clipped off. Note, too, that I also had to trim some of the track sections to fit as well.

[sizemore]

The number of exhaust vents on the foreground building is unreal. Looks like a promo for Walthers Mod-U-Lars.

The S.

[Dave Schneider]

That is funny....Walthers promoting an N Scale product. Sorry...cheap shot. Actually, the Commerce Street power plant was the prototype for the Walthers model, and for many years had this unusual stack arrangement. Looks like a pipe organ and almost too unbelievable to model. It is hard to imagine why all those stacks were needed. Apparently this was a heating plant at some point in its lifetime even though it was called a power plant.



Best wishes, Dave

[jmlaboda - RIP]

To add a little history to the model (exquisitely done I might say) the unit was originally built as EMD demonstrator 4352 and was sold to the D&H, painted in the lightning stripe blue, gray and yellow.  The unit, along with the other two former demos, were traded to EL for three U33Cs, which was what the D&H mechanics were more familiar with, with the EL units receiving a similar paint scheme to that of D&HY 802.  The top link below shows 802 in its various paint schemes while on the D&H while the others are of the EL U33Cs that saw use on the line...

http://rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=53937
http://rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=113170
http://rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=52023

Definitely a beautiful model... thanks so very much for sharing your work!!!

[GimpLizard]

Yes, I trimmed about half of the switches. You don't gain all that much, but a couple of inches here and there might make a difference. There's no way to "trim" parts in AnyRail; what I did was this: after connecting the switch to the other track, I disconnected it (right-click the connection node, select Disconnect), then I nudged the switch toward the track it was connected to with the arrow keys. I'd position it by eye, knowing that up to an inch of the switch can be clipped off. Note, too, that I also had to trim some of the track sections to fit as well.

Ah, that's what I figured. Being the techno-dope, that I am, I was hoping I was missing something.

I'm trying to come up with an N scale version of an HO 4x8 from the early 80's. The Kitty Hawk Central. But I want to rotate the passing siding around to the straight section, with the spurs running off of it. I have a plan I like using C80. But I'd really like to do it with C55. Ah well. I guess it's back to the drawing board... so to speak.

Thanks for your help.

[PGE-N°2]

I haven't posted in quite some time. Thought I would throw the following into the ring:
D&H SD45 EL repaint

Interesting colour scheme. I have one that could almost match that, except it is a combination EL nose and hood with a Santa Fe cab and frame. I plan to eventually strip it and paint it in Milwaukee colours.

On another note, I agree with the guys pining over the PGE map logo. I think that may have been the single most original and visually attractive logo of any railroad.

[mecgp7]

Cool looking SD45!.. I must get a EL version and do one in this paint scheme..!

You have a sharp eye. I started with a stock Kato SD45 in EL. From there it is a matter of painting over the maroon stripes and diamonds on the ends. The front diamond bled under the masking so I framed it with the yellow stripes from the decal set. As it turns out, if you look closely at some of the prototype pics, you can see that that is exactly what the paint shop did. I also moved the horns to the side as per the prototype. The loco saw this paint job twice and the horns were centered originally. The neat thing is that the maroon "Radio Equipped" under the cab is prototypical.

I appreciate everyone's kind comments.
CG