Weekend Update 4/9/17

[chessie system fan]

I'm not a b&o modeler but the coach is a B&O prototype. I have some pictures of those coaches painted green. So no not a mow coach but one in regular service.

There might have been some painted solid green in the '30s and early '40s, but from about 1940 to 1950 passenger equipment was painted solid B&O blue.  Around 1950-52 equipment was painted blue and grey.  For MOW, the steam ere color was bright red.  Once C&O bought control in the mid '60s the color switched to C&O MOW green.

I'm really dying to see your photographs now because I've never come across any information on green B&O passenger cars used in passenger service past 1940.  I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

[jargonlet]

I'm really dying to see your photographs now because I've never come across any information on green B&O passenger cars used in passenger service past 1940.  I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

I have the book "West of Cumberland: The Old Main Line" by Terry E. Arbogast. It's about the B&O in West Virginia. There are a three images in that book that look to be green coaches and are dated between 1944 and 1953. Two of them seem to be green but are in black and white. The other one however is in black and white too but I am pretty certain that the coaches are green.

Over on Dan Robie's site there is quite a bit of information about the B&O in WV. On the link I am providing, there are two pictures dated to the 1950's with green B&O coaches. The pictures are in the section entitled "Evans" and "Wesley Church". I do not model the B&O but I do think that these are pictures of green coaches. However I could be wrong and will stand corrected if so.

http://wvncrails.weebly.com/bo-ripley-branch-millwood-to-ripley.html

[arbomambo]

Pretty cool looking!  However, the trains are REALLY screaming by...and there's a REALLY big dip in the track between modules that dropped your yellow UP cabooses in one of the shots.  How do ya get such a big dip using Kato Unitrack???

I watched it twice however, groovin' to the music, and thinking you should get a newer UP CA yellow caboose that's the right color of Armour Yellow, with red ladders, red end platform railings and red pad-printed curved grabs on the caboose sides.  My piss-yellow MT CA UP cabooses all get kitbashed into CA-1's, and repainted with Scalecoat II... 

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

Bob,
These are T-Trak modules and a set of two...these were set up on a table that was 'less than level' and a small gap was created at the join of the module set.
Yes, these trains are entirely tooooo fast ( I'm trying to convince the members who operate that scale speed actually looks better and will garner more interest, but sometimes it's like beating your heasd against a wall)
 I don't run any of my nice equipment on the T-TRAK modules...the only train that is mine is the Kato Modern 844 and the set that goes with it...I bought them exclusively to run at the shows...
It's a process.

[randgust]

I'm always very happy to see somebody hand-building their turnouts!  Quite a selection you got done this week! 

All of my mainlines and branchline subroadbed is constructed from splines.  I use 1" X 1/8" or 1" X 1/4" strips I cut from 4X8 sheets of tempered Masonite.  Actually, nowadays, I have them cut at a local cabinetry shop, and they do a much more precise job than I can with my 10" table saw...plus, I get to NOT breathe all that Masonite dust!!

Since in most instances on my portable layout, I am laying track to a precise centerline, I usually print out a 100% mirror image paper plan of the 6' to 12' section I'm building, and construct the subroadbed off-layout/off-module on top of the paper plan, with the top of the splined subroadbed being on the bottom, laying on the paper plan.  I glue it with yellow carpenter's glue, and clamp it every 6 to 8 inches, tapping the splines with a hammer before I clamp tightly to make sure the top of the roadbed is evenly regulated by the flat surface I'm building it on.

The Masonite splined subroadbed is ultra strong and stable after the glue is dry, and a double tracked mainline will support my 200+ lb. weight.

I used to use yellow hot glue to glue the splines, sealing both top and bottom of the splines with yellow carpenter's glue, but I find the carpenter's glue used as the primary adhesive makes for a much more solid and durable structure.

After I've installed my splined subroadbed, I power-sand it to make sure it's got an even surface to glue my cork roadbed to.


Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

Bob, man alive, I love your workmanship as usual, but.....Masonite?     I assume you live in a rather humidity-free climate.    Here in PA I have to admit that making my backdrops from tempered Masonite ranks up with the top five design mistakes I've ever made - over 4' modules the stuff expands and contracts a good 3/32 min to max from dry heating season to mid summer, even with a dehumidifier fighting it every step of the way,  I've never used it again since.... even for backdrops.    I'll get a little expansion/contraction just on pine that will show up in rail joints at the module ends but the Masonite is on an annual migration path now.

[jpwisc]

I am working on a hip roof right now for a restaurant in Rush City. The scene is coming together. I'm about 85% done with it.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I am working on a hip roof right now for a restaurant in Rush City. The scene is coming together. I'm about 85% done with it.

That is looking awesome! I love the breathability of the scene.

[James Costello]

I am working on a hip roof right now for a restaurant in Rush City. The scene is coming together. I'm about 85% done with it.

Looking great Karl.

[arbomambo]

[C855B]

/>

Great vid! B&W is a nice touch. I'm pretty "up" on concert band literature... yet have never heard that piece. Nice, definitely a crowd-pleaser, and within my band's reach. What in the heck is it?

[wcfn100]

Great vid! B&W is a nice touch. I'm pretty "up" on concert band literature... yet have never heard that piece. Nice, definitely a crowd-pleaser, and within my band's reach. What in the heck is it?

That's the theme from 'Stripes' man. 

Jason

[C855B]

See? Reveals just how much of a moviegoer I am. The only thing I recall from seeing Stripes on TV is the pancake spatula scene.

EDIT: I was shot down. Elmer Bernstein allowed relatively little of his movie work to be published for general consumption by performing ensembles. The Magnificent Seven theme is available, naturally, but Stripes is only published in a piano score. Cool piece in the march genre, nonetheless. Similar to the theme from Patton, but that's by Jerry Goldsmith and readily available.

[babbo_enzo]

Bob, it's great to hear from you.  We're all pulling for you, and I'm sure there are many wallets lined up to help you on the financial side whenever you're ready to spin up TrainCat again.

Bob, a warm welcome back and my ... well, I can't pry but I send you my heart full of friendness, so sorry for your loved Jami.
A lot of us is waiting for you when (not IF you restart yout TrainCat shop !
Cheers
Enzo

[arbomambo]

That's the theme from 'Stripes' man. 

Jason

nope...not the theme from 'Stripes'...

[Lemosteam]

Even better.

[tehachapifan]

Wow, those sound very similar to my (untrained) ear!