Weekend Update 9/12/21

[Tom Todd]

Randy
Looking very good
Tom

[bnsfdash8]

I haven't done much modeling lately, but I knocked out a quick 3D project today with some NW/NS style cupolas to upgrade my Atlas cabooses.

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[jargonlet]

I could be wrong but aren’t ns cupolas the same width as the caboose body?

[R L Smith]

Nothing like inviting people over to get one out of the armchair...

Back in July I volunteered to host the October meeting of my NMRA Division. At the time, I still did not have a fully-operational main line. But now that meeting is only 5 weeks away. No pressure!

Since putting putting myself on the spot back then, I have completed the mainline, installed and wired all industrial sidings, finished wiring the staging helix (each staging track has an isolated section to remove power from stationary locomotives) and added four locomotive storage tracks. I spent the last week installing and painting the fascia for the upper deck and put up another 8 feet of backdrop.

Still to complete before company shows up: install and paint the facia for the lower deck, re-route and neaten up the wiring, and prepare a few trains for display running (check wheel gauge, car weight, etc.) Any time leftover will be spent cutting up cereal boxes to make temporary structures for the various towns. Oh, and getting a hammer for Whack-a-Mole Gremlin, 'cause you know they will be visiting too...

Progress photos of the Southern Tier Division:

Painted Post above, Hammondsport below (correct, the Erie Mikado should not be on the Lackawanna main...):



Bath above, grade between Hammondsport and Rheims below:



Cohocton above, grade between Rhiems and Bath below:



Newly-added (fictional) town of Adrian Mills NY. Was supposed to be Wayland NY, but I'll be taking too many liberties with this one so...



Future scene along the Canisteo River at (non-fictional) Adrian, NY:


Staging helix and engine storage tracks, fully wired:


RLS

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Damn, Ron, that is looking great! So much progress.

[bnsfdash8]

I could be wrong but aren’t ns cupolas the same width as the caboose body?

They are, that was a mismeasurement on my part.

[randgust]

Maybe before painting that eye candy you could ship to a very trusted source for measurements to produce a shapeways print .

I think the total universe of individuals interested in a GN-only, oddball NW-3 that requires two Bachmann mechanisms to be cross-kitted and a bear of custom painting is probably down to one person - Tom - and we've got that.

Still blows my mind that from that era, a non-turbo Roots V12 567 is only turning out 1000hp for what was a 'passenger' diesel.  Wow, I coulda had an E-8!

[C855B]

... Wow, I coulda had an E-8!

Brilliant.

[milw156]

Brilliant.

But with an E8, you have 2 prime movers to worry about, not one, twice as many things to go wrong.

[peteski]

But with an E8, you have 2 prime movers to worry about, not one, twice as many things to go wrong.

I don't quite think that is what Randy or Mike had in mind. I agree with Mike that it was brilliant!

But if someone has to explain . . .

[milw156]

no argument there...

[GimpLizard]

I think the total universe of individuals interested in a GN-only, oddball NW-3 that requires two Bachmann mechanisms to be cross-kitted and a bear of custom painting is probably down to one person...

Ah... make that two.

My two biggest railroad passions are the Great Northern and oddball locomotives. (I shudder to think how I'd react if the GN had ever had a BL-2. )

[John]

They are, that was a mismeasurement on my part.

And the great thing about printing it .. easy fix

[John]

A little late to the party ..

Before I retired, I got myself a nice big TV to watch football .. It's a replacement for a 50" Sony Bravia I 've had for a very long time .. not much is wrong with it .. so I decided to repurpose it for the layout .. I plan on running a CATS instance on a PI and using this display for the dispatcher to keep track of trains ..

[metalworkertom]

Thanks for that info , My thought was to find pieces of the wreckage steel being shipped by rail for future display , or even scrap .

I know some was used on the USS New York built in New Orleans .I think  7 tons  was melted and cast for a portion of the bow. I did a little digging but nothing found as of now.
Edit : The ship was built in New Orleans. The 24 tons of scrap was melted in Amite La. If shipped by rail it would have been by CN / IC