Weekend Update 10/20/13

[kelticsylk]

First Allegheny Eastern train to make it around the layout without stalling...

[davefoxx]

Congratulations, Frank.  That train looks great snaking through those curves.

DFF

[Cajonpassfan]

Frank, that's impressive, congratulations on your progress!
Otto K.

[C855B]

^ +1. Great progress. The vision is coming together.

[towl1996]

Yeah, Congrats!!  I thought you were going to pan to the right, we need to see more!

[lv4142003]

Tom, those covered hoppers look badass. Hopefully there will be more photos and information.

[jmlaboda - RIP]

Tim, that BCOl car is looking good!!!  Especially so, "Thanks]!" for showing the tapered end's inside... it shows how you did it and I may yet do the same on some modernized heavyweights which would need this detail.



Would love to do some cars similar to what the Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis fielded... these rebuilt heavyweights looked a lot link other, newer lightweight equipment with the tapered ends and the six-wheel trucks being the biggest difference between the two...
http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=247179
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2165355

[kelticsylk]

Yeah, Congrats!!  I thought you were going to pan to the right, we need to see more!

I probably tried to, but I'll bet a technical difficulty intervened. Still some kinks to work out. I had to put up "guardrails" in two places So I won't run out of rolling stock. For the most part this train makes it around the layout with few if any trouble. As for my other cars, they need work.

[superturbine]

Also, I finished up the rebuild of my First 4-12-2 with a new boiler and tender body.  Changes were made between the 1st and 2nd engine and now they are both of the improved casting. 
Excuse the publicity shot, UP is proud of their 4-12-2's

Click on the picture to increase size...



Otto,  Thanks.... and yes I have done a little work on the UP tender and I plan to have it done in the next 4 months! 

Jason Smith
Tomball Locomotive Works

[Hyperion]

Apparently they're so proud of the 4-12-2s they're just up and scrapping their brand new diesels.

(note the gondola in the far back)

[arbomambo]

Having finished one of the cars I've had 'semi-completed' for a bit (ATSF 64' semi-lightweight smoothside baggage), I've decided to do the same to all of the cars I have started but not finished BEFORE I start any more of the MANY car builds I have waiting for me.
Here, first are 3 KATO Valley sleepers I'm modifying to 1957 appearance.
I purchased these from Russell and he g=had already removed the 'Pullman' from one of the cars; I removed the 'Santa Fe' from one of the others, and still have one more to do. I'm re-lettering them with letters from the Micro-Scale sheet, which has a more correct sized font. I'm also removing the top-most and lower-most silver stripe as these were gone by my era. I'm also adding a thicker silver stripe seperating the dark and light gray, as these were thicker when repainted back into two-tone gray during my era.I'm also removing most of the skirting, but leaving panels covering certain pieces of equipment a la the prototype.
Here is one sleeper with these mods done, re-lettered to "Blue Valley".



I still need to completely re-arrange the underframe equipment to match the prototype-this will be the biggest challenge of this conversion, but removing the equipment from the KATO underframe seems somewhat easier than doing it on the heavyweight Rivarossi cars that I've done for the heavyweight conversions I've done so far.
Here are the other two in various stages...one with skirts, lettering, and stripes removed-the other waiting...I'd like to have them both done to the first one's appearance by the end of the weekend.



The other cars in the queue are the KATO CB&Q cars that are almost dead-on 'Pine' series sleepers...they need the skirts removed and/or modified...re-lettering, and the underframe equipment re-arranged as well....

I'm modifying this....



into this....



Thanks for looking,
~Bruce

[Mark W]

Workin with Dry Bulks.

[draskouasshat]

I finally got my MO-JO back and was able to get some train work done!  Here is my latest FEF-1, it still needs a few more details installed.  The engine casting has significant improvements over the previous casting.  Including new smoke stack, corrected sand and steam dome (previous castings had a slight angle), pipe work has much better detail and the tender casting has flaws removed.


Here is my work on the 3rd 4-12-2 tender

that tender sure looks familiar

[superturbine]

Yes it should Adam,
You will notice the tender has been largely reworked on the water tank, also new tool boxes been made and cast, new water hatches made and the wood deck is individually cut boards and all new rivet lines added.

Let me know when you want the rods and other castings.  Thanks for all of your work on the 4-12-2s Adam.

[High Hood]

Just south of Aberdeen, North Carolina on the S-Line (former Seaboard Air Line mainline), three Seaboard System B30-7s are on the point of the northbound Tropicana Juice Train, en route to New Jersey:



DFF

That's hot.