The Western Maryland in Free-moN Modules

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ah I smell where you’re coming from. I’ve been wanting to up my static grass game, may add some foam for texture too.

The fine stuff actually has a good role to play. Bigger stuff, well, it'd be a crime on your beautiful work (I'll admit I use it in forest floors though).

Take a look at the stuff in this album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/d2y3j5stBXAycQAS6

This photo, in particular, convinced me that fine foam is ok (and note the colors): https://photos.app.goo.gl/ivXkTYJYYFkwuoje6

[wm3798]

The yard layout is backwards for Elkins, too small for Ridgely or Hagersown, and the engine house too big for Bowest.  I'm stumped.

[Angus Shops]

I must be a weirdo as well; I use my airbrush on all sorts of scenery items, including trees and shrub growth for subtle colour variation, as well as ballast,  rock faces and fill slopes. All my ballast is ‘mainline light’ when applied; all the darker stuff is airbrushed darker, then the ties are brush painted in a variety of tie appropriate colours

[PiperguyUMD]

@wm3798



I gotta say though - seeing videos from all of the recent Free-moN events has me contemplating a small coal branch of 3-5 modules. I believe if it’s well thought out, it could be an easy and fun thing to take to shows.

[packers#1]

Totally off topic but that might be a great idea for my future Interstate layout…hmmmm 

[mu26aeh]

Funny, when I saw the yard drawing, I thought it looked like Hanover, but didn't post about it.  Then you show that picture 

[PiperguyUMD]

Totally off topic but that might be a great idea for my future Interstate layout…hmmmm 

That could be fun project! Then we could team up and take over the Asheville shows 

[PiperguyUMD]

Funny, when I saw the yard drawing, I thought it looked like Hanover, but didn't post about it.  Then you show that picture 

I wish it had a little more trackage to provide some more operational flexibility, but at the end of the day, my interests lie in building models and rail-fanning my layout. Hanover is the perfect model railroaders engine facility, its got all the steam servicing facilities you could want, and it'll make a great back drop for my 3d printed H9s, K2s and if I can ever come up with a mechanism, I2s.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That could be fun project! Then we could team up and take over the Asheville shows 

Oh man, like I need another reason to go to Asheville...

[MK]

OT, what's so special about Asheville?  Just got back from there last week and will be going back in less than a month.

[packers#1]

OT, what's so special about Asheville?  Just got back from there last week and will be going back in less than a month.

Hiking, beer, it’s basically the Portland of the South. Both Sierra Nevada and New Belgium chose to build their east coast breweries there due to the water quality, there’s some great regional players (OHMYGOD HIGHLAND) and a lot of funky local places (my girlfriend’s favorite is called Burial). The hiking is incredible, the AT goes through there, DuPont National Forest and Smokey Mountain National Park are there. There’s the Great Smokey Mountain RR, a local shortline/class 2 and a lot of Norfolk Southern action. Plus it’s kinda the regional hub city so western NC and Upstate SC just meet there

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The Wicked Weed Funkatorium is possibly my wife's favorite place on earth.

The Battery Park Book Exchange, a place that's a bar, coffee shop and bookstore might be mine.

Oh, also Biscuit head and lots of other delicious places.

[PiperguyUMD]

My mom's dad's family has been in Buncombe county since the early 1700s. My grandfather talked about riding a horse into downtown Asheville. Highland is IMHO the best around. They were cranking out some great stuff way before the others even thought about moving east! Saw a 6 pack of Clawhammer today - thats their Oktoberfest, and is OUTSTANDING!

[packers#1]

My mom's dad's family has been in Buncombe county since the early 1700s. My grandfather talked about riding a horse into downtown Asheville. Highland is IMHO the best around. They were cranking out some great stuff way before the others even thought about moving east! Saw a 6 pack of Clawhammer today - thats their Oktoberfest, and is OUTSTANDING!

@Ed Kapuscinski if y’all are into sours and you ever go chase the Pickens in Anderson you gotta stop at the Carolina Bauernhaus for their specialties; the guy that owns it is a Clemson micro major and works with SouthYeast Labs (another Clemson grad) to do sours and native ales.

The best story about Highland is the life story of the founder that they told us on the tour! The Gaelic Ale is my favorite, but their coffee porter is also delicious. They’re about to open an 18 hole disc golf course on their property too so I’m hype.

Oh and to tie this back to trains, you can’t forget the Biltmore, which was built by the Vanderbilts with their railroad money

[PiperguyUMD]

I've been pecking away at a few projects the last few weeks, and the last few days where one of those times when several come together at the same time.

The first was getting sound in all three of my Intermountain F7s. One was shipped with the wrong sound file, but I'm planning to pick up a Loksound programmer shortly so hopefully that will be a quick fix. I 3d printed speaker enclosures that fit inside the cab. To be honest I'm not sure what the story is on these speakers, I've had them in my stash for almost a decade, but I'm very happy with how this setup sounds.

Next up is my pair of FA2s. These are both from Life-Like's last run and have split frame mechanisms. 302 was essentially finished earlier this year, but I'd been putting of wiring the headlight and putting numbers on the number boards. I used shell scale's new lighted number decals - man what a great product! When I have the modules out again, I'll have to post some photos. Fantastic effect! 301 was detailed almost a decade ago. I had thought about completely stripping it and detailing it to the same level of 302, but ultimately decided against it. Instead, I added etched stirrup steps, grab irons on the nose, speed recorders, and fan grill. I thought it would bother me that it didn't have wire grab irons, but I really don't notice from 3'. The final detail for both units was a 3d printed insert to covert the headlight into a dual beam configuration. The stock lens wouldn't fit over this one so I created a new one by dripping in clear resin then curing it in my print curing station.





Finally, I've started work on a conversion kit for the new BLI pacific. I was able to essentially finish the oil tender shell. I plan on also doing a coal tender as well, but I'll knock that out once the boiler is done. The tender came together pretty quickly, rivets where printed, but all grabs, ladders, and walkways are etched brass or wire parts added after the fact. The paint job was pretty straight forward, and the masking job ended up being one of my best - ZERO touch up!







It was at this point that the project became extremely frustrating. For decals I had planned to use the new WM steam set from Tichy. These are a joke. Its a shame, because their catalog is very good. Lots of sets that are very useful, but the print quality and decal film is laughable, at least until it ruins your project. I ultimately painstakingly used two sets of ancient Northeast Decals WM steam. Despite multiple coats of Microscale decal film, they where still pretty crumbly. I cannot begin to express how tedious this was, and for OK results. But because the Tichy decals are so bad, I didn't really have a choice.

One of my best paint jobs about to be toasted by a decal fiasco!


Tichy decals on the cab, 40+ year old Northeast decals on the tender:


I did start some work on the boiler. I printed a blank tube to the rough dimensions, then measured the openings I need to clear and mount the mechanism. I was surprised to find I nailed the fitment on the first try! I did some work on the smokebox front and headlight, which need a few tweaks but are heading in the right direction.



Overall, I'm really excited about the pacific. This conversion will be much easier that my Potomac and 2-8-0. The decal issue will have to be resolved though. It's really frustrating to put so much time and effort into the design, print, detailing, and painting, only to have the decals sabotage those efforts. Still, considering what I went through to get these results, not bad. I think some subtle weathering will help cover my mistakes. Gotta be careful though, WM keep the K2s pretty shiny!









Finally, a project that was dead in the water gets another shot at life after peteski sold a spare Bachmann S4 motor to me this week. The next project on the list will be wrapping up Baldwin VO660 #103.