Weekend Update 7/13/25

[jpwisc]

Wrapped up some more mow equipment. Finished decaling, got all the cab glass in, and got them weathered.
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[legostudios34]

Before and after - weathered up a Genesis Dash 9 this weekend. 9225 in the back will get weathered next weekend.

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Best,
Baxter

[Sumner]

The Dale Creek Trestle/Bridge sure brings back some memories from the late 60's early 70's when I lived in Laramie.  I walked to where it was once by parking on a county road and following the old twisty transcontinental roadbed to Dale Creek from the west.  The concrete footers were still there.  I picked up some spikes that I guess were left when they pulled up the track when they moved the line south.  So the spikes were either from the original transcontinental railroad right of way or spikes that were put in before they tore the line out in the very early 1900's.

One of my best friends had a ranch south of the bridge site in Wyoming & Colorado and Dale Creek flowed through it.  Good trout fishing.  UP's current southern most Laramie/Cheyenne tracks were the north boundary of his ranch.  Lots of Antelope there and saw a mountain lion once stalking some deer.  When it saw me it was gone.  I'd ride my dirt bike all over that area.

I also went to Hermosa Tunnel once and was going to stay in it while a train went through but chickened out of that.

Sumner

[RockGp40]

Been a while since I had something to contribute. I had custom decals made by @Jesse6669 and here are the results. Credit goes to a friend in Iowa who has mad talent to strip, paint, and decal, but alas, he's not on here. First up is an MTL Evans 4780 converted from an ADM donor. Look familiar? There was a discussion about this car on the 'wire several years back.

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Next up is an EX-CSX nee L&N 4750 patched for the DCR, one of four railroads of Carload Express.

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[Jesse6669]

Good stuff everyone!  Brian, I'm especially liking those hoppers.

I'm about 90% complete with the control panel "in the likeness of" the old GK Tower CTC board.  The bottom will have rotary switches for manual signal control.  The signal bezels will have 2-color LEDs (red/green) indicating the lighting on the CPLs.   I still need to add the "block occupancy" light bezels (displaying block power).  I'm going to attach it to the wall with hinges so it can be flipped up to work on the wiring.   I think it might need some light weathering..

 

Here's the inspiration:

[N Scale Train Boy]

Looks like a productive weekend all around! I managed to snag a Kato Phase III F40 which arrived this weekend, so now I can represent longer distance trains with a pair of locos on the point, I'll just need to install a decoder in the new loco. It was marked by the vendor as "Does not run" but some cleaning of the bearings and a little oil fixed that problem up! Now I'm just waiting for my PS-5344s and my decals to arrive hopefully earlier rather than later this week, so I can begin really fleshing out the fleet for my freelanced railroad!

[btrain]

True to my journalistic background, I was working on a project right up until deadline this past week for the national NMRA convention in Novi, Michigan. These two 45-degree Free-mon corners were just track and painted terrain last Monday, but with some marathon work sessions putting down ballast, scenery, and structures together produced this, which is the old Ohio Route Two bridge over the NYC Chicago line in Danbury, Ohio. These two, along with my Swan Creek Loop, and Lakeshore Central junction comprise a model 8-mile long layout for the Operations Road Show at the convention.

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I’d also like to say a big thank you to @SAH   who was kind enough to rebuild my big grain mill for the Lakeshore Central. I was stumped on how make it look more like the Grafton, Ohio mill, and really makes the module come alive. I can perfectly imagine it now being a stalwart of the community with “Star of the West Mill” silkscreened on the backs of the local softball team’s t-shirts.

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[Ed Kapuscinski]

Progress on two fronts this weekend: First, 89 getting wired for sound.

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Second, painting track on my T-Mo modules.

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[N Scale Train Boy]

 T-Mo modules.

Alright, you got me Ed - what is T-MO? Sounds great lol!

[Mark5]

The Dale Creek Trestle/Bridge sure brings back some memories from the late 60's early 70's when I lived in Laramie.  I walked to where it was once by parking on a county road and following the old twisty transcontinental roadbed to Dale Creek from the west.  The concrete footers were still there.  I picked up some spikes that I guess were left when they pulled up the track when they moved the line south.  So the spikes were either from the original transcontinental railroad right of way or spikes that were put in before they tore the line out in the very early 1900's.

Sumner

This got me running down a rabbit hole.  Looks like a cool hike: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Creek_Crossing#/media/File:10-29_DSC_0073.tif

Mark

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Alright, you got me Ed - what is T-MO? Sounds great lol!

https://conrail1285.com/introducing-t-mo/

Basically Freemo + T-TRAK.

[N Scale Train Boy]

https://conrail1285.com/introducing-t-mo/

Basically Freemo + T-TRAK.

Thats what it sounded like - awesome! I'll have to look into it, I assume you've posted about it on your website?

[N Scale Train Boy]

Thats what it sounded like - awesome! I'll have to look into it, I assume you've posted about it on your website?

Doh! Missed the link in your post completely until after I posted my own! Will definitely be checking it out - thanks!

[Sumner]

This got me running down a rabbit hole.  Looks like a cool hike: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Creek_Crossing#/media/File:10-29_DSC_0073.tif

Mark

Yes it is a nice...



.... little hike and I found it interesting in how narrow and twisty the original roadbed is to any that you see today.


Also you aren't very far from Hermosa Tunnel.

I was looking at Ames Monument up by the interstate on the map and see there was a turntable there.  I guess to turn helper engines around.  Never knew about that.  Also always seemed odd to me that this is/was the highest point (8247 ft) of the Transcontinental Railroad.  I would of guessed going over the Sierra's would of been higher.

Looks like a nice ride would be to the bridge then follow that road (222) up to Ames Monument.  Then head south on 234  to Dale Creek.  Not the creek but the RR crossing there.  Then west on 231 paralleling the tracks over to Hermosa Tunnel.

Have fun, I cherish the years I was in that area but not the winters  .

Sumner

[Chris333]

I hiked out there too....

on Google 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dale+Creek,+WY+82052/@41.1031957,-105.455412,3a,75y,18.2h,94.46t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sCIHM0ogKEICAgICynKmjqQE!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2Fgpms-cs-s%2FAB8u6HZNSwM8U6LHTYo3Q2PPtMU-wqTrj7CQzy5gGZNzI3AWhsurt3xxYfEWReKJFwNi7ZzwPI5BkAvTH_-It5Kez9imZRlCxXyl8R44DNU_7SUVwiQ7KIBXb7OpYCD4tLb2flqvWqv7Dw%3Dw900-h600-k-no-pi-4.4609763672618925-ya355.2027013774185-ro0-fo100!7i11264!8i5632!4m6!3m5!1s0x8768c263906f0beb:0x584ad2ebe30cfbc6!8m2!3d41.0830072!4d-105.3920833!16s%2Fm%2F04c88d4?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDcwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D