Weekend Update 1/19/14

[dougnelson]

The big news this week is that an event that I've been dreading for a year and a half has finally happened. I didn't so much watch as listen in horror as my T1 ran through a misaligned trailing point turnout in the upper staging yard, drove itself off the bench work, bounced off a windowsill and crashed to the floor. Fortunately there doesn't seem to be any cosmetic damage. I need to disassemble it and make sure everything is aligned properly, but it does still run fine.  I think I lost a few years off my life there...

"Oh the humanity".  That must have been a heart stopper.   Time to install PRR safety railing.

Doug.

[BCR 570]

Tim -
You must have a lot of help completing all of these projects with the speed in which you build them. 

Hello Bryan:

I am always willing to provide and receive help, and I have received a lot of it for this latest batch of models.  I must credit my friend and fellow RW member Doug Davies (BCR751) who has visited BCOL 6508 on display more times than I can count during the build of this model.  He recently braved the northern BC winter to measure and photograph all the side rivet strip spacings, which, along with the range of offerings in N Scale from Archer, enabled me to achieve a fairly prototypical arrangement of the rivets.  My friend Greg Kennelly has also provided a lot of guidance from time to time.  Another RW member Chris Dittmar (BCOL 747) has climbed all over and under BCOL 6506 to assist me with getting my model of that car as correct as possible.  I must also thank all of the many friends and acquaintances who provided me with photographs of this equipment when it was in service; without those my efforts to model them would be far more difficult, and a lot more speculative.  And finally, this batch of models will soon go to my friend Jeff for painting, as that is not possible here in the apartment, and his painting skills are far more advanced than mine.

As for the speed, well I have noticed with each successive build and the experience one gains from them, that the work goes faster.  I try to do a little bit each week, and usually have Sunday afternoons to devote to modelling.  The big problem is that I enjoy building models more than working on hte layout, and while the models have progressed well recently, the layout has not . . .


Tim

[Chris1274]

I'm working on number boards for my CSX sd70macs. One down, three to go.



For some reason, Kato made them with white numbers on a black background, when they're supposed to be black numbers on white. I'm using John Sing's method involving laser printing the numbers onto adhesive mailing labels and covering them with clear scotch tape (discussed here: http://home.comcast.net/~atsf_arizona_2/Easy_N_Scale_Locomotive_Numberboards.html).

[Mike Madonna]

Here are a few shots of a Southern Pacific S-40-8 36' Stock Car. This is one of TrainCat's etched brass kits.

Etched Kit as you see it....



Kit "sub assemblies"; Roof, car body, doors and (road name) placards in Polly Scale Zinc Oxide "primer" ....



Car assembled, finished in Polly Scale "Box Car Red" .......



Clear coat, then decaled ......





The kit is a bit involved, but is both very accurate and very rewarding. 

[eric220]

"Oh the humanity".  That must have been a heart stopper.   Time to install PRR safety railing.

Doug.

Very much so. Next project on the layout is installing computer control on the upper staging yard turnouts so they can be "reset" before operating. At the same time, I think a guard rail along the yard throats is in order.

Update on the T1:

Good news:
-The grinding sound that developed was a result of the headlamp LED popping out and dragging the lead against the drive shaft. A quick reseat fixed that.
-The locomotive appears to have suffered zero cosmetic damage.
-An exploratory disassembly and reassembly seems to have fixed the pickup issue that had developed.

Bad news:
-The bouncing-off-the-windowsill sound was the front of the tender. The front cracked at the top and the sides pushed apart slightly, separating one of the solder joints on the side. Cosmetically, apart from the crack, not noticeable without close inspection.
-The locomotive has developed a slight once-per-revolution bind. It's only noticeable at very slow speed, but it is concerning, and I haven't been able to track down the cause.

Overall, I still have a very usable and gorgeous locomotive. Unfortunately, I think I have destroyed most of any remaining collector value. Good thing I really just want this thing to operate, huh? 

[chicken45]

Went to visit fellow SPF TRW Shelia today. We roundy rounded while I tried to keep my boy from swatting her E8's off the track.
Neither my K4 nor my my L1s decided to run today. Not sure what was up with that, but the HH1 brought her A-game.

[Baronjutter]

Excellent photography, very crisp photos.  Did you have to go over to the dark side to get them so nice?

[chicken45]

Excellent photography, very crisp photos.  Did you have to go over to the dark side to get them so nice?

Haha! I'm glad someone caught him hiding out.
These were taken with my iPhone 5 camera. Really not a bad camera at all.

Oh and BTW your buildings are shaping up nicely! I'll be taking my stab at scratchbuilding a station here in the upcoming weeks. The plan is to use cardstock core with basswood overlays.

[bbussey]

I finally finished installing all of the double crossovers at the east end of New Haven.  I also added two digital amp meters to the right of the control panel, one for the track bus and the other for the accessory bus.  Removal of the clutter will begin once all of the track is in place.



At the west end, the .009" cutting disks that I've been waiting forever for finally arrived.  So I was able to isolate the frogs and finish my first custom double turnout piece of trackage.  This was a lot easier than I thought, so it gives me confidence on future upcoming difficult track areas such as the elevated Bridgeport section and Poughkeepsie Bridge.



Still three custom track segments to scratchbuild to finish the mainline in the New Haven section.  I was hoping to at least get the two middle sections done this weekend, but it looks like I won't get to them until February at this point.
 

[Iain]

Brian,

Where'd you get those cut off disks?

[bbussey]

Based on Chris333's recommendation, I got them directly from Dedeco, a manufacturer of dental tools.  Part# 5173.  I tried ordering through a dental supply house at a cheaper price, but I waited a month for the back-order to arrive before canceling.  It cost only $5 more including shipping to order directly and I had them in two days.

[superturbine]

Here are a few shots of a Southern Pacific S-40-8 36' Stock Car. This is one of TrainCat's etched brass kits.

Etched Kit as you see it....



Kit "sub assemblies"; Roof, car body, doors and (road name) placards in Polly Scale Zinc Oxide "primer" ....



Car assembled, finished in Polly Scale "Box Car Red" .......



Clear coat, then decaled ......





The kit is a bit involved, but is both very accurate and very rewarding. 

SWEET LOOKING STOCK CAR MIKE!!!!!

[randgust]

Well, this is fun.

Two changes in technology that made this shot possible...

...dropping my Iphone into the scene where no camera was previously possible, at railhead level.....
.... Tomar's tricolor LED's (scale sized!  3 indications!) to replace the horribly oversized signal head previously on the NJI cantilever bridge.... that was last night's project and this is the first shot with it in it.

[Cajonpassfan]

Mike, that IS sweet! Very little that gives it away as an N scale model! Amazing.... I would probably hit the wheel faces with a bit of color..... Does it come with grabs or did you make those out of wire? Nice workmanship, too.
Randy, nice down low shot. The iPad has a corner mounted lens that does a nice job on these types of pics also.
Well, back to the trainroom, gotta finish the last piece of benchwork today.... 
Otto K.

[Scottl]

Nice work with that ASTF scene.  I have to admit, the phone cameras are working out to be very functional for modelling work, and you are right, they can go places where SLRs dared not tread!