Weekend Update 8/7/16

[jmlaboda - RIP]

And both models are very close to prototype based on the pics I can find.

Don't forget the little "NS" in the upper right hand corner of the combo door boxcar.  They were from the first "NS" and were the only car of their type on the roster.  A lot of them operated through the 70s in NS gray with big lettering... was a bit of a treat after the merger to see them in fairly great numbers in the western part of N.C., though slowly but surely they were repainted into Southern garb.

[Specter3]

Thanks Jerry, I would not have caught that. I am going to have to order more sheets of decals. There are not enough numbers in each set for a single series of car. I think I will be able to cobble together the NS from somewhere. I was just thrilled to find a prototype for this car. I received these from MBK when I thought I purchased 50 ft single door cars. When I found the proto photo I kept them instead of dealing with the return.

[SP-Wolf]

Wolf, that's very cool, nice work! Did you make it of styrene?
Otto K.

Thank you, Otto!!

Yeah - it is made from Evergreen.

Thanks, again
Wolf

[craigolio1]

Have the main structure of my new trestle for the industrial complex's Santa Clara river crossing finished. (The original river bed was way to deep) Going from 8-1/2" to 3". Next up are the mainline bridges.

Here is the new trestle - ready for paint: (It is 2 feet long by just shy of 3" tall)



Thanks,
Wolf

That is awesome. I totally have a thing for trestles.

Craig

[conrail98]

I decided to start building a little something until my health improves a little bit and that basement cleaning fairy arrives. It's based on Lance Mindheim's Palmetto Spur he builds in his book How to Build a Switching Layout, but in N scale so it's only 9"x48" long (he used a 16"x80" HCD for HO). Anyways, got the carcass of the structure built along with a staging cassette:



I'll probably start a layout thread too,

Phil

[Lenny53]

A current example, F7's from Intermountain.  Was supposed to be Feb of 2016 (August 2015 may have been the original date), pushed back to April....of 2017.  Now I know from here it is due to sound decoder issues but absolutely no official communication from IM.  Unless I missed it, it is not on their upcoming product page.  It is a hobby and Chinese production causes all kinds of frustration, but keeping your customers informed is always better than not.

Guess I shouldn't hold my breath for the AMT FP7.   Good to know.

[CBQ Fan]

Guess I shouldn't hold my breath for the AMT FP7.   Good to know.

The big issue as I understand it is the development of a new sound DCC decoder.  Once the issues are sorted out I am confident the engines will be produced. 

[nkalanaga]

"Once the issues are sorted out I am confident the engines will be produced."

I'm not.  They weren't locos, but almost every freight car I've reserved from IM in the last several years has been delayed, and eventually cancelled, with no explanation.  I know there are no decoders in a 1937 AAR boxcar or 60 ft flatcar.

[craigolio1]

Finally finished my 3rd SP SW1500 (#2469) kitbashed from MP15DC shell parts. Unit rides on a modified Con-Cor/Kato SW1500 chassis and has a Zimo MX621 decoder installed. Grab irons, wipers, uncoupling levers and MU hoses are from BLMA. Truck sideframes and side handrails are taken from an MT SW1500 shell. Gyralight castings from Miniatures By Eric and see-thru grills made from Eduard Mesh. Pollyscale paint and Microscale decals.

Shown in foreground with previous SW1500 kitbashes (#2596 and 2689) in background along with MP15AC kitbash (#2718)....



Street running with numberboards, headlight and gyralight effect operating.........



Cab end view....

I keep going back to this photo and I'm just blown away by the quality. I have looked and looked and honestly I can't find a single tiny thing that gives away it a kitbash. The work is so fine.

Well done. I aspire to make models this nice.

How did you attach the screen?  I used CA to attach the screen on my caboose. It's easy to see where I applied the tiny drops and hoping to find a method of attaching it that looks less obvious.

Craig

[up1950s]

Got to agree , those SP diesels are museum quality as is the paved street and poured cement service area with pit .

[Ed Kapuscinski]

My railroading this weekend included a few minutes making further progress on my PC Bowser N5 and dispatching @seusscaboose's Milepost 1 layout (via Timetable and Train Order).
This photo reminds me of my love/hate relationship with these cars. I love that there are N5s available. I hate that they're such fixer uppers. Looking at this photo makes me appreciate the crappy railings and grab rails and just look at that shadow where the paint applied to the roof just missed a section. Ugh.



And here's my office from Saturday.

[jmarley76]

Late add...

Spent Sunday afternoon FINALLY painting the backdrop behind the papermill. Now that I have that project out of the way, I can procrastinate on something else...

[eric220]

Ha! At first glance it looked like the chair had wires running to it!

What's the switch address to administer "correction" to the dispatcher again? 

[tehachapifan]

Thank you for the props, Rich S., John B. and Craig!

.....How did you attach the screen?  I used CA to attach the screen on my caboose. It's easy to see where I applied the tiny drops and hoping to find a method of attaching it that looks less obvious.

Craig

For the top grills, I positioned the (already-pretty-snug-fitting) screen in place in the opening flush with the shell surface, put a tiny drop of CA on the end of .008 wire and carefully applied it to the seam in a few different spots. If the droplet strayed a little onto the finished surface (I applied the screens after painting), I knocked down the buildup and sheen with some ultra-fine modeling sandpaper and touched-up the paint if needed. With the droplets being so tiny, the mess was limited if I miss-hit the target. There's not a lot of CA holding these but, because I spent a lot of time making sure that the screens were a relatively snug fit in the opening to start with and there's no edges to catch, they seem to be pretty darn secure. It also helps that the Eduard mesh is really sturdy stuff and was virtually a perfect size for this project, in that I had a long edge of screen that I could CA along the inward-facing edges of the shell opening (well, at least two opposing edges anyway). The front grill is held in place by pressure alone from wrapping around the side edges of the protruding frame. The screen was bent on both sides so it could be slid over the frame. Getting the cuts and bends so it was a snug fit was no an easy task!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ha! At first glance it looked like the chair had wires running to it!

What's the switch address to administer "correction" to the dispatcher again? 

There's a button... lol. Everyone loves it.