Weekend Update 1/28/18

[Mark W]

Minimal modeling this week.  Starting to tidy up and get things ready for the Lincoln show.

But I did get out to have some more fun with the drone. 

[BCR 570]

Which CAD pkg do you use Tim?

Mark:

My initial 3D drawing efforts were in Sketchup, starting with a drawing of my layout room with benchwork:




and progressing to 3D models of structures needed for my layout.such as Chetwynd station and freight shed:




I have not looked into the possibility of generating STL files from these for 3D printing.  Our students use either Rhino or Blender, which have plug-ins for transferring STL files.  I have yet to find the time to try these out with a sample project.  I am thinking that the wood burners I need would be a good project.


Tim

[BCR751]

Mark,

You might want to tighten up a bit on the width of those 'watchman' heaters.  It's having an adverse effect on the handrail :Dl

Doug

[mark dance]

Mark,

You might want to tighten up a bit on the width of those 'watchman' heaters.  It's having an adverse effect on the handrail :Dl

Doug

...handrails are "pre-snipping" of course.  Here is a proto photo care of my friend Mike Barone.



md

[nkalanaga]

Mark:  For the building lettering, since you would have to do artwork for the etching anyway, would it be practical to 3D print it?

I've never tried etching or 3D printing, so am just curious...

[mark dance]

Mark:  For the building lettering, since you would have to do artwork for the etching anyway, would it be practical to 3D print it?

I've never tried etching or 3D printing, so am just curious...

Possibly but I expect to be working from a raster file (a jpeg or tiff) not a vector file so not sure how that would work converting raster into a solid model that a 3D print could injest...and as the prototype sign is thin and flat I think it lends itself well to etching.  I have used etching before and am comfortable with it.  Though these weren't custom letters, the Castlegar station sign was made using letters from an etched sprue of letters I found on line somewhere.



md

[CNR5529]

The NTrak Roadshow was present at the winter edition of the Hamilton & Ancaster Model Train Show this weekend in Ancaster, Ontario. Once again we were set up at our usual sunny spot, in the hallway off to the side from the main vendor room.

@Paradise275 brought over a "new" toy to play with, his Walthers Y3 that has been meticulously worked over by @peteski. The overhaul included rebuilding a QSI sound decoder that had burnt up due to excessive motor load caused by caked on grease, and a short on the wiring harness. Well done Pete, it ran flawlessly. Throttle response and sound synchronization was spot on, and it looked (and sounded) great hauling a coal drag at 20 mph around the layout.



I do have to say one thing though, N&W had an awful whistle installed on these things. It sounds like a cat, which breathed in sulfur hexafluoride, that is getting strangled. It definitively got everyone's attention, particularly those who are more accustomed to the typical Canadian rolling stock we tend to operate on our layout. Rick, thanks for bringing it out to the show!

[JMaurer1]

Wolf:

Envy

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Shot some photos on the newly ballasted bridge.

Still lots to do to improve the scene, but it's definitely coming together.



http://conrail1285.com/some-bridge-photos/

[coosvalley]

I have been working on some Maine Central Magor pulpwood flats.

Nice! I love seeing more of these out there!


This week I added this Pioneer Valley SW1 to my fleet, more in my layout thread..

[BCR751]

...handrails are "pre-snipping" of course.  Here is a proto photo care of my friend Mike Barone.



md

I wasn't sure if that was going to be the final result.  Thanks for clearing that up.  Also, what exactly is a 'watchman heater' and what is its use?  I must admit I've not heard of it before.

Doug

[mark dance]

Also, what exactly is a 'watchman heater' and what is its use?  I must admit I've not heard of it before.

Doug

Watchman heaters were small, diesel-burning heaters used to keep a locomotive's engine block from freezing in cold weather.  The shop didn't need to pay a person to watch locos equipped with these heaters.

md

[Paradise275]

The NTrak Roadshow was present at the winter edition of the Hamilton & Ancaster Model Train Show this weekend in Ancaster, Ontario. Once again we were set up at our usual sunny spot, in the hallway off to the side from the main vendor room.

@Paradise275 brought over a "new" toy to play with, his Walthers Y3 that has been meticulously worked over by @peteski. The overhaul included rebuilding a QSI sound decoder that had burnt up due to excessive motor load caused by caked on grease, and a short on the wiring harness. Well done Pete, it ran flawlessly. Throttle response and sound synchronization was spot on, and it looked (and sounded) great hauling a coal drag at 20 mph around the layout.

Fredrick, I searched the loco and found a U-tube video of one in operation when the first came out.

Same whistle. I don't know if they had a different one. Perhaps someone who knows the prototype can tell us.

Rick



I do have to say one thing though, N&W had an awful whistle installed on these things. It sounds like a cat, which breathed in sulfur hexafluoride, that is getting strangled. It definitively got everyone's attention, particularly those who are more accustomed to the typical Canadian rolling stock we tend to operate on our layout. Rick, thanks for bringing it out to the show!

[johnb]

I made a replica of a Pacific Electric destination sign that would go on the front of an interurban....

[btrain]

Went over to Ft. Wayne yesterday to help out on 765. It's currently undergoing ultrasound testing as part the 1472 inspection process. Here's a shot of the engine without the jacket and sandbox. The tarp over the drivers helps keep debris from going into the motion work from the needle gunning on the boiler shell.


Today I worked on the wiring and hunted down shorts for the west end of my layout.