Weekend Update 5/25/25

[vermonter_railfan]

Got my video for the recent Ohio N Scale weekend uploaded to YouTube this weekend for anyone who wants to watch 50 minutes of trains.

[legostudios34]

About to wrap this project up. This is a Genesis (sorry for my horribly oversized scale choice  ) Phase Ib GP38-2 that I added the high nose and extended range dynamic brakes to, painted, and weathered. Tomorrow I'll get the glazing, wipers, couplers, and Loksound added.

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Best,
Baxter Barnes

[peteski]

I had such success with getting the front truck 'hot' on the Nn3 Showcase bitty Shay that I patiently waited for Walter Vail to rerun the 30-40 N one, and got one the moment it was announced as a rerun.

I've put a Kato 11-105 truck on it for the front-truck pickup, adding front and rear headlights (finding a spot for the resistors is the hardest part) and on the N one, imitating the Nn3 by adding MT 901 short-shank Z couplers on it.

I'll put up a build thread on this if anybody is interested, it's repeatable, and it's worth it.

Interested? Absolutely!  Even thought the odds that I'll be building one of those are really low, I enjoy seeing how others do things. Chances are good that I'll learn something useful.

[TiogaTracks]

I worked out a decent process for ballasting my garden railroad!  A simple cleaning brush with bristles cut out can now sweep ballast off the tops of the ties, easily packing it in between with far less mess.  So I got some great progress done this afternoon, permanently putting together a few feet of track, ballasting it, and making plans for the rest of the raised bed garden and its railyard.



The above picture shows my process, from bottom to top.  Ballast train (err, garden spade) dumps ballast.  Tamper (ahem, that modified brush) packs ballast around the tracks.  Finally the ballast regulator (by that I mean a pair of gloves) dresses up the ballast.  Then I hit it with the garden hose to wash the dusty stuff off, wipe the rails with a rag, and run trains!!!!





I decided to do a little crossing too, to hide some lousy tie spacing!

-Steven

[samusi01]

Got my video for the recent Ohio N Scale weekend uploaded to YouTube this weekend for anyone who wants to watch 50 minutes of trains.

Nice work on those semaphores: the animation is very cool. I will say that the JSH70 certainly didn't like that turnout for whatever reason 37 minutes in.

[up1950s]

About to wrap this project up. This is a Genesis (sorry for my horribly oversized scale choice  ) Phase Ib GP38-2 that I added the high nose and extended range dynamic brakes to, painted, and weathered. Tomorrow I'll get the glazing, wipers, couplers, and Loksound added.

(Attachment Link)

Best,
Baxter Barnes

You never need to apologize for scale here , we are thankful for the sharing you are doing .

[Philip H]

My layout will be toured for the national NMRA convention in July.  I don't know if I will be able to demonstrate the loading and dumping operations during the tour so I've made an updated video that I can show to visitors.

As one of your more recent YouTube subscribers I loved watching the flood loader video last night. Do you have it’s construction chronicled anywhere?

[chuck geiger]

Happy Memorial Day from Las Piedras, CA

[jpwisc]

I made some more progress on my AS-16. I got the handrails installed, as well as the last couple of louvers.
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[NtheBasement]

As one of your more recent YouTube subscribers I loved watching the flood loader video last night. Do you have it’s construction chronicled anywhere?

Sadly no.  It was built over 20 years ago and, unlike the dumper, it worked reliably from the start.  But you can see most of it in the videos.

There are two half cylinders with holes in them that act like valves; when one is open the other is closed.  When the push rod is up the holes in the top one rotate down under the chute and allow coal to pour from the silo to the bin, while the holes on the lower one rotate up and shut off the flow.  When the rod goes down the holes on the top valve move up to shut off further flow into the bin and the hole on the bottom moves down to empty the bin.  Anything tight-fitting will jam so there are spacers between the half cylinder ends and the chutes.   

I used telescoping tubing and threaded rod so I could adjust everything.  The rod is driven by a Tortoise.  A piece of brass connects the rod to the Tortoise (pic).  The screw that attaches the brass to the Tortoise is loose so it can swivel.

[Jim Starbuck]

I’m late to the party this week but I finished this printed 50’ Hutch caboose to run with the NW5.
It’s offered by a ScaleTraxx. It comes with printed trucks and clear printed window inserts.
I used 36” Tangent wheelsets and MT Z scale couplers.
The GN heralds are Microscale and the rest of the decals were printed.

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[peteski]

That is a very unusual looking caboose Jim.  Nice paint job too!  To me it seems to ride a bit high on the trucks (especially the side with 3 windows). Was the 1:1 caboose riding that high, or the appearance is a result of the angle the photo was taken?

[Jim Starbuck]

Peteski,

I milled .020” off the bolsters to lower it. The printed trucks are kind of hokey but it looks ok running in a train.
I may put similar MT express trucks on it if it bugs me.
The prototype was home built on a 50’ boxcar frame in the early 50’s and served on the Hutchinson branch and the Minnesota Twin Cities area for many years. I believe it made it into BN green paint.

[Curtis Kyger]

Why 36" wheels?  Is that what the prototype rode upon?  Seems over kill -- probably should be on 33" (?).

[wazzou]

Why 36" wheels?  Is that what the prototype rode upon?  Seems over kill -- probably should be on 33" (?).

Agree.