Weekend Update 10/30/16

[OldEastRR]

I picked up an A-B set of previously owned PRR Baldwin RF- 16's from Des Plaines Hobbies when I was down at the RPM meet last weekend.  I had to hardwire decoders in them since the drop in isn't produced anymore and couldn't find it on ebay. I weathered them up this morning. They run well if not a bit noisy. They pull a ton as well (had them pulling 60+ 33' hoppers around my layout without slipping).  Weathered the N-6 cabooses as well this morning that I got a few weeks back. (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link)

Nate Pierce

How do they run? My set runs pretty slow, top speed only around 60 smph. They're still DC.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

You guys can drive me nutty sometimes. I was fairly happy with the HEP access doors to my Conrail OCS E8s:


But a few of you thought the styrene was too thick and the joints didn't look right. This started eating away and I started cutting strips of "002 brass. Several attempts were not good - scissors, paper cutter, chopper, Xacto. I finally taped the damn thing and rulers with packing tape all over:



After the parts were cut, I sanded them to remove burrs. And this is the result:



Improvement? I'm not really sure. Tedious way to waste 6 hours though.

[OldEastRR]

I think you should have tried scribing seams where the door edges are for the access hatches. I don't imagine the doors bulge out that far from the skin on the real loco -- what, at most a 0.5"? --- who'd notice that in N scale? the best way to handle criticism like this is say "OK, wise guy , YOU do it and let's see what yours look like."
There's an awful lot of wiseguys on this forum.

[peteski]

There's an awful lot of wiseguys on this forum.

Sure, but without that peer-pressure Ron Bearden's beautiful brass EP-2 would have some serious orange-peel on it!  But he repainted and it now looks so much better. 

BTW wise guy,  did you ever call Microscale?   

Al might also have a point about the doors: just scribing them in might have made more sense. Looking at this photo they don't appear to be really standing proud from the body.  If anything, the latches seem to be the most prominent feature.
Conrail 4020, 4021 by barry9c1, on Flickr

[wm3798]

Work progresses on the photo diorama for the McGratten Memorial Train, due in these parts in the next few weeks.  Last night I dug around in the parts box and found a short length of roadway that dates back to my 1989 Laurel Valley Railway layout.  There are pictures of it somewhere, but I'm not sure I can access them anymore.

Anyway, you can see I had to scrub the crossing warning off the pavement, and I added some Rix concrete railings, and built some abutments out of scraps that were leftover from a siding job.

Now that the road ROW is established, I can work on paving it and developing the real estate around it.

Lee

[sizemore]

Hey @wazzou, Thanks! I think it's just the my picture and lighting that makes the firebox look a little glossy. It's a rounded off corner too, so I'm sure that amplifies the light, too.

But your question on other locos having a sheen to them...I've seen them all over the place.
This K4 looks pretty glossy, but it was in 1987.

Glossy cylinders, lower half of the boiler has a little shine:

Shine on the entire side of the boiler:

Completely flat:

PRR locos all started off glossy. You can still see a little shine and sunlight on the round parts of the domes, even when filthy.

So, i'm sure it also depends on the class, too.

Also consider tenders sweated in certain climates giving the appearance of a clean glossy tender with a nice dirty locomotive.

The S.

[R L Smith]

The Mike McGrattan Memorial Train (M³T) completed its' tour of the EL in western NY this weekend, and will be visiting the CSX Hanover Subdivision very soon. I'll upload pix to the Photo Thread over the next couple of days.



Ron

[Jim Starbuck]

I finished a couple decoder installs in LifeLike DL109s. Photos are posted over in the DCC section.

[OldEastRR]

about the doors: just scribing them in might have made more sense. Looking at this photo they don't appear to be really standing proud from the body.  If anything, the latches seem to be the most prominent feature.
Conrail 4020, 4021 by barry9c1, on Flickr

first time I've seen a photo of the prototype and yeah, the doors are flush so all you need are seams. The visuals that highlight the doors' being there are the long hinges and the deep latches. My solution would have been, scribe the door seams, use a small bit and files/Xacto to cut the latch wells, then glue 4 thin brass rods where the hinges go. Paint 'er up and there you go.

[Cajonpassfan]

About time!
Working to finish my "east end" staging yard (Barstow). I needed substantial staging to feed the railroad, LA on the west side, and Barstow and points east and north on the other. Barstow is a 20' long, 22" wide shelf in the garage adjacent to the train room, sitting high (74"), above the 36" high workbench. There is a 44" wide bulb-out at the end of the benchwork to accommodate a return loop. I have a portable, 4' long, 21" high aluminum platform from Home Depot to provide access when needed.

I used quality 1x3 finish pine for the frame and placed it above the plywood base, creating a U shaped troth. This allowed me to hinge a Masonite lid over the staging yard, to keep the dust and garage critters out.  During op sessions, two cameras monitor the yard and the lids are lifted and kept in the open position by magnets. Rest of the time, the lids are down, keeping the dust to a minimum. The critters, not so much...

The entire assembly, plywood and frame, were covered on both sides with a good coat of latex paint to minimize moisture intrusion and expansion in the unconditioned inland southern California garage, where the temperatures, and to a lesser extent humidity, can get to be extreme. It's been very stable over several seasons, with no appreciable track expansion or other issues.

The track and turnouts are old Code 83 (Correction: Code 70) Shinohara I inherited from a club I belonged to many years ago. I wouldn't use it on visible trackage, but for an unscenicked staging yard, it's perfect: solid, in gauge, and with a wide rail top for good contact. I didn't even have to make any modifications for DCC friendliness other than insulating the frogs as these are power routed design.

The turnouts (26 so far to access all 14 tracks from both ends)  are all Tortoise driven, using NCE DCC switch-its. This allows track selection by using macros: just enter the track number and up to 10 turnouts are activated to align the route. Diode Matrix on steroids..

Because of the NCE macro ability, the entire staging yard can be operated from the adjacent (air conditioned) trainroom via small tv monitors. Arriving trains come in and stop, departing trains can be brought out on the railroad.

Now if I can only  keep the rodents out
Otto K.
modeling LA to Barstow and back, via Cajon Pass

[Ed Kapuscinski]

This one's for @Ed Kapuscinski...



 

I love it.

[Chris333]

I haven't touched my N scale layout since April. Today I went down and cleaned off the eastbound main and ran a train. Yippy!

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Track was pretty dirty, almost a brass color. I don't get water in the basement, but it may get a little damp. If/when I get further on the layout I'll look into polishing the rails to see if that helps.

[altohorn25]

How do they run? My set runs pretty slow, top speed only around 60 smph. They're still DC.

They run a bit slow, but prototypical for my purposes.  As you said, top end is probably around 60 mph.

[Cajonpassfan]

I haven't touched my N scale layout since April. Today I went down and cleaned off the eastbound main and ran a train. Yippy!
Track was pretty dirty, almost a brass color. I don't get water in the basement, but it may get a little damp. If/when I get further on the layout I'll look into polishing the rails to see if that helps.

Chris, that's just phenomenal! I love the way you tie it all together, just beautiful work! I'm always so impressed...
If I can make a suggestion, on the right hand side of the city scene, where the train comes out of the black hole under the overpass, a small light source, perhaps an LED inside the curve, would go a long way toward softening that transition...
Anyway, thanks for posting the video, it's a joy to watch.
Otto K.

[Blazeman]

How do they run? My set runs pretty slow, top speed only around 60 smph. They're still DC.

Put 'em on coal or iron ore drags. That's what I'm planning for mine. One runs faster than the other, so speed matching will be interesting.