Weekend Update 10/19/25

[garethashenden]

I see you've got a little section of bluetooth railway there Ed! How's the connectivity?

[squirrelhunter]

I made more progress on my Southern boxcar project I started last year.  Here's another test print.  Splitting the roof into a separate piece from the body made a huge difference in print quality.  There's still more to design and adjust (like the scale-thick roofwalk being too fragile), but this project is in the home stretch now.



This week, I also tried airbrushing Tru Color paint for the first time (though nothing photo-worthy yet). It turned out better than expected.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I see you've got a little section of bluetooth railway there Ed! How's the connectivity?

Given the fact that there's somehow voltage showing on the track even though my command station is unplugged, I'd say the odds are slightly higher than you'd think. lol

[peteski]

Didn't know anything about S scale , now I know 1 thing .

And to konow even more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_modelling_scales

[Dave V]

Yeah, my only exposure to S scale (besides my father's childhood American Flyer set he showed me just once) is Sn3, which--I believe--is more popular than S scale standard gauge.

Mad Max doing what few of us dare...again!

[mmagliaro]

Yeah, my only exposure to S scale (besides my father's childhood American Flyer set he showed me just once) is Sn3, which--I believe--is more popular than S scale standard gauge.

Mad Max doing what few of us dare...again!

LOL... you don't know how true that is.  We used to think N Scale was tough back in the 80s.  S Scale had a good smattering of locomotive and rolling stock companies actively producing products up until about 10 years ago.  After that, a whole slew of them shut down.   There are at least some really good rolling stock and structure kit makers left, and FastTracks makes all their turnout jigs for S scale.  Even the good finescale track producers quit, but luckily, Micro Engineering just stepped back in and is making S track for any code of the rainbow.  But for locomotives?  Ugh.  That is the one big hole.   If only I knew somebody who likes building locomotive models  ...
 

[mmagliaro]

I made more progress on my Southern boxcar project I started last year.  Here's another test print.  Splitting the roof into a separate piece from the body made a huge difference in print quality.  There's still more to design and adjust (like the scale-thick roofwalk being too fragile), but this project is in the home stretch now.



This week, I also tried airbrushing Tru Color paint for the first time (though nothing photo-worthy yet). It turned out better than expected.

That car looks really crisp and nice, and all the details are sharp.  Why try to 3D print the roofwalk?  Couldn't you just make it from a few pieces of thin stripwood, or even styrene?  After all, you are going to have separtely applied grabirons and ladders anyway, I assume.

[chessie system fan]

Thanks, Max.  That's a great question. The answer is I'm doing two versions. One is a detailed version for me.  The other, if I get around to it, will be a "runner" version with molded on grabs that can stand up to lots of 0-5-0 handling in ops sessions.

[C855B]

S scale via American Flyer was my entry into MRR. I was dabbling with scale modeling in S because 1:64 appealed to my arithmetic brain as much easier to work with for scratchbuilding than the 1:87 of HO, and S wasn't appreciably larger. O was too big for the space I was allowed. Then N scale came along just about the same time I was earning chore money, and at the time there was a lot more bang for the buck with N. With no LHS support for S, N became it.

Speaking of "bang for buck", I still have the jewel case for one of my first N purchases, an Atlas ore jenny, with a $1.75 price sticker. Aside from knuckle couplers on the trucks, mostly an unchanged model for 60 years.

[DeltaBravo]

One reason the Scalecoat reboot has been pushed back and back and back with i think 2 different new owners now, is the ability, or lack thereof, to find someone to put the paint in a rattle can at a price they can actually sell it.  Believe it or not but I still get a lot of modelers that prefer the rattle cans over the airbrush route

I understand the preference of shake rattle and spray. It is just faster then setting up the airbrush, thinning the paint, knowing what pressure to use and then cleaning it all up.

[DeltaBravo]

I spent Sunday making and planting more trees on the layout.

   

[ednadolski]

Next project - a couple of #12 turnouts in Z scale.  These will use code 40 rail.




Ed

[rickb773]

Death of the PRSL – Conclusion

I am still alive! Got the new "bones" in place and the floors cleaned up before my wife returned from Florida.
(Another 4-5 feet will be added to the front of the second picture and the shelves on the right will go under the layout when the electrical wiring is complete.)

Pictures show pieces of the old PRSL where I will use their portions on the new layout.
Horizontal planning is somewhat settled, now I just have to work at the vertical connections dominated by the bookcase portion of the layout.
.....
I also need a new name.
"Baltimore, Philadelphia, Reading, and New York" won't fit on the sides of the cars and locos.
"Reading and Pennsylvania" was the name of one of my favorite small layouts on the nScale.net forum.
I used "Allegheny Northern" on my grade school layout but I don't have enough space for a lot of coal mines.
"Northeast Corridor (NEX)" implies passenger rail service and this is primarily a freight line.
At least I have 6-12 months to come up with a new name.

Keep 'em rollin,
Rick

Another Potential Name for my new non-prototype multi-railroad layout:

"Delaware Valley Northern"

With the slogan: "We don't have any equipment, but we own the track and you'll run when we tell you to!"

[nkalanaga]

An advantage of S scale for N scale modelers is that S is exactly 2.5 times as large as N.  Makes converting plans very simple!

Mathematically, N isn't much harder than S.  I've never owned an N scale ruler.  1/64 inch is 2.5 scale inches, 1/16 inch is 10 inches, 3/4 inch is 10 feet.  I can do the math in my head most of the time.

[mmagliaro]

An advantage of S scale for N scale modelers is that S is exactly 2.5 times as large as N.  Makes converting plans very simple!

Mathematically, N isn't much harder than S.  I've never owned an N scale ruler.  1/64 inch is 2.5 scale inches, 1/16 inch is 10 inches, 3/4 inch is 10 feet.  I can do the math in my head most of the time.

I assure you, if I switch to S Scale, it won't be because of the fractions or the math.  To me, S is the sweet spot where everything gets just big enough to make things like couplers, rail and flanges be really close to their correct real-life proportions while still being physically convenient and practical.  Ironically, the couplers, flanges and rail heights are still too big compared to real life.  But using HO parts is the answer to that, and there are lots of HO parts in the world.  I am not crazy about the Kadee HO coupler knuckle with that nutty coil spring on it.  Somebody must make a really good realistic-looking HO coupler.