Weekend Update 12/25/15

[Cajonpassfan]

That's very nice, Bill... I've always has a weak spot for juice jacks...
Do you place your rivets right over raw styrene?
Otto

[Jim Starbuck]

That's very nice, Bill... I've always has a weak spot for juice jacks...
Do you place your rivets right over raw styrene?
Otto

Hi Otto,
I should change my username. Too many Skytops. I'm Jim.  Bill's a way better modeler than me.

The rivets are right on the bare shell but most of it has been skim coated with Tamiya putty and sanded to smooth out the print lines.
I did apply a couple passes of Micro Sol which seems to melt the decals in nicely.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

I've been working on an electric switcher for The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light (TMER&L).
It's going to live on the new Powerton Junction module on the Modutrak layout.
The shell is a Westinghouse model from Shapeways and fits a BanDai motorized chassis which runs very well.

(Attachment Link)

I'm trying to model this:

(Attachment Link)

That is AWESOME!
You powering through the catenary wire or track?

I've been hankering to do some Sacramento Northern stuff forever, & that shell/chassis might do the trick!

Very close to:





Now just need to figure out the steeple cabs:



Very much looking forward to seeing your progress!

[Puddington]

Been working on the layout this holiday weekend.... Sorry for the crappy cell grabs...

First I added an industrial baking plant....



I scratchbuilt this from brick paper and siding. The shed came from an ADM mill kit. The ESSO station in front of it is a ceramic mould kit.



The short lead into the bakery is a limited factor for switching the ink plant and martial arts factory (both on the same lead)



A small city block is dead center at the rear; it acts s a "divider" and a point of interest. I need to update and detail the buildings.



SIDS ( a martial arts supply house) has the road disappear behind it and now it has a large flat of a Canadian Tire warehouse and store, named for a recently departed friend.....

The track is wired and tested; awaiting a control panel being built. The buildings are 80% done and next I will lay the road "smooth it" and start plastering. (Well; my son will; he's doing the scenic elements and wiring; I'm doing buildings and panel....)

Lots of fun....

[skytop35]

Hi Otto,
I should change my username. Too many Skytops. I'm Jim.  Bill's a way better modeler than me.

The rivets are right in the shell but most of it has been skim coated with Tamiya putty and sanded to smooth out the print lines.
I did apply a couple passes of Micro Sol which seems to melt the decals in nicely.

Jim is too modest. As you can see, he is a fantastic modeler in his own right !

[Jim Starbuck]

That is AWESOME!
You powering through the catenary wire or track?

I've been hankering to do some Sacramento Northern stuff forever, & that shell/chassis might do the trick!

Very close to:





Now just need to figure out the steeple cabs:



Very much looking forward to seeing your progress!

Thanks M.C.

That #661 looks almost dead on. I removed some details from my shell that are on #661.

Mine is track powered. I'll leave the live cat for you : )

A search for "steeplecab" on Shapeways found this model by DaminKeenan.
The designer did an amazing job on this as it fits the BanDai mech perfectly.
I put a decoder in the mech and it runs very nicely.

Brass sprung trolly poles came from GHB and I'm pretty sure paragraphs are available as well.

Jim

[John]

Spent the weekend fixing code 55 turnouts. Some of them have been in place for 10 years and worked great .. but I'm starting to see the track bonds fail and no longer conduct power ..     most often this happens in the frog .. and the closure rails ..   from now on, I am hand laying any replacements since I have to rebuild the turnout anyway 

[Cajonpassfan]

Hi Otto,
I should change my username. Too many Skytops. I'm Jim.  Bill's a way better modeler than me.

The rivets are right in the shell but most of it has been skim coated with Tamiya putty and sanded to smooth out the print lines.
I did apply a couple passes of Micro Sol which seems to melt the decals in nicely.

Lol, can't have too many Skytops, Jim and Bill, nice work anyway!
Otto

[up1950s]

Those home soldered handrails Bill , are they undersized for N ? Thought I would never ask that question . I have that body as well , and a brass chassis that I think will fit , an eBay grab 8 or so years ago .

[DeltaBravo]

Wow, that is coming along nicely!

Merry Christmas everyone!  And best wishes for a joyous and prosperous 2016...

Work continues on my representation of the Castlegar station...the roof and awning segments are just set in place for the photos.  My hope is when they are painted flat black with a bit of grey highlight (modified Ed technique) the size of the shingles will be visually reduced.  I do like their 3D relief however.









md

[DeltaBravo]

I started adding trees to my T-trak module:

[Jim Starbuck]

Those home soldered handrails Bill , are they undersized for N ? Thought I would never ask that question . I have that body as well , and a brass chassis that I think will fit , an eBay grab 8 or so years ago .

The rails are made from .008" phosphor bronze wire. Scales out to 1.28".

[Iain]

Now just need to figure out the steeple cabs:



Very much looking forward to seeing your progress!

I am also interested in doing at least one of Norfolk Southern's steeple cabs:

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[Lemosteam]

Added Bluetooth sound to the Polar Express baggage car.  Just want to play songs from the movie, some action snippets and memorable sayings as well while the train is in motion.  The device played for over two hours during the install.

[jmlaboda - RIP]

Iain, thanks for posting the shots of NS trolley equipment.  This is the first I have seen of these motors (knew about the McKeen car that received trolley poles) and I appreciate you sharing the shots!!!