Weekend Update 1/24/21

[Jim Starbuck]

Not shown here are handrails to be added along the boiler.  I was hoping to mount them with BLMA lift rings but their mounting pin is too short so looking for something else.


Tim

I’ve done along the hood rails using .008 phosphor bronze wire for the rail and mount rings made from magnet wire.
Cut a piece of magnet wire about an inch long then double it over and clip both ends in a forceps.
With a piece of the railing wire in the loop, twist the magnet wire tightly and it will form a nice little eyelet. I drill .25mm  holes in the shell that the twisted wire fits in nicely. With the railing wire through the eyelets, I adjust them in and out by slipping a hobby knife between the shell and the rail. When satisfied with the spacing touch the twisted wire inside the shell with ACC.
Once the glue is set you can wiggle the wire back and forth with tweezers and it will break off flush with the inside of the shell.

Jim

[BCR 570]

Thank you for the tip.  I found some eyelets tonight which were left over from the BLMA cut levers on various locomotive projects.  Some of them have a longer shank than the lift rings.

The handrails on this loco stand off the boiler a fair ways so it has been a challenge to try and get that done.  There are some pipes coming down the side of the boiler which actually underneath the handrails.

Tim

[John]

Nothing earth shattering -- working on a grain silo set for the "farm" .. added some 3d printed ladders because the Rix kit ones are too fragile. I still need to add the safety cages for the ladders and the guy wires for the piping.  They are sitting in the general area - not yet finalized placement .. Photo's are great for spotting flaws. I guess I need to fix the small bend in the elevator stack.



Received notification from Modeltrainstuff yesterday morning that a UT6D that was out of stock was now available. The process worked well. They send an email with a link to the item allowing you to purchase. I ordered it at 6am, by 9:30 a status change email showed it was ready for pickup (I don't trust USPS anymore). It was a nice day, so I drove up and got my new toy.  This will be a great little throttle for my grandkids to play trains with "Opa". It comes with a nice lanyard so the youngest can hang it around his neck and not drop it.

[BCR 570]

More progress on the Climax last night and this morning.

Handrails and most piping added to boiler:




Tender tank and boiler permanently mounted onto frame:




Tim

[nkalanaga]

John:  If your elevator doesn't want to stay straight, add guy wires.  Many of those stand-alone elevators have them.  Especially in the Midwest and Northwest, where winds are a problem, they need something to hold them up.  The pipes aren't strong enough to serve as braces in windy weather.

[NtheBasement]

Finished the base terraforming and in danger of losing momentum because ballasting is next.

[C855B]

I got a chuckle out of the switch number on the flag sort of obliterated in the correction from "201" to "251", and then somebody scrawling a smaller "251" for clarification. I laugh because it reminds me of the challenges of logical switch numbering (and renumbering, and renumbering) on my layout, where the installed count is currently approaching 100 and eventually 300+ in six sections.

[Jim Starbuck]

I finished Milwaukee SW1 #1612 in it’s second paint scheme for around 1948.
Paint is a combination of True Color, Tamiya and Valejo. The cab heralds are from Circus City with the remainder of the decals homemade.

Added details are BLMA wire grabs, windshield wipers, and wind deflectors. Scratchbuilt engine heater, homemade brass exhaust stack, cab shades, arm rests, trainline hoses, 905 Z couplers, bell cord and operational marker lights.
The markers are resin castings from a friend that I drilled out to accept 0402 LEDs which are function controlled.

The switcher is also fitted with a Loksound v4 56899 decoder and a Soberton 8x12 speaker in a styrene enclosure. There’s a pair of 25v 220uf capacitors in the cab as well.

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Jim

[mu26aeh]

Initial haul of framing lumber showed up for basement walls today.  Pre-cut garage studs $8.62 each 

[garethashenden]

Made a bit more progress with my bridge, more in the Mill Street layout thread.

[Cajonpassfan]

(Attachment Link)


Jim

Hot damn! Jim, are you entirely sure it’s N scale?
Very nice work!
Otto

[learmoia]

Initial haul of framing lumber showed up for basement walls today.  Pre-cut garage studs $8.62 each 

Ok.. what makes a 'garage' stud so special.. seems to me, you could have purchased regular studs and a Harbour Freight chop saw for the same price..  In the end you'd end up with some scrap firewood and a chop saw

[Chris333]

I remember when studs were $3 bucks.

[mu26aeh]

A buddy called it a garage stud, but basically a precut stud for a 9' ceiling. 

[BCR 570]

The markers are resin castings from a friend that I drilled out to accept 0402 LEDs which are function controlled.

Very nice!  Easy to forget how small an SW1 is.

For others who may be interested, Dave Mackinnon www.detailsnscale.com will be offering 3D printed working marker lights.  Jeff Briggs did the printing and Dave does the electronics.

Tim