Weekend Update 11/30/25

[Dayliner]

I've been getting back into scenery work lately, with the current project being a wooded hill which will serve as a view block between Victoria and Langford--eight miles apart as the train rolls, but right next to each other on the layout.  The basic landform is now complete, awaiting ground cover and vegetation. The road was a challenge, as it crosses the slope as it climbs it. I put down two layers of spackle compound to establish the sub-grade, then finished with a layer of Smooth-It. The driveway with the pickup parked on was a challenge, as I wanted it to be level from side to side, but it came off the roadway which was on a slope. It took several attempts at building up one side of the drive to bring it close to level. Painting the road was another challenge. I'm always afraid of going too dark on roads, and tend to over-compensate. This is Vallejo grey surface primer, which looks light but grimes up nicely with the application of some weathering powder.



The terrain was built up using layers of corrugated cardboard, which is a little laborious but gives a fairly precise control over the angle of the slope and the shape of the terrain.  After the contour layers were down, I used spackle compound to build up the slope, then covered it all with plaster cloth.



And as Tim mentioned in his post, the big news this month has been the long-awaited arrival of Rapido's RDCs, an essential piece of equipment for my E&N railway.  Tim had the honour of making the first trip over the line with VIA 6134, seen here in one of Tim's photos after arriving at Victoria station (in mock-up), with one of Rapido's New Look buses operating the No 23 route along Esquimalt Road.



Finally, Tim's portrait of the Budd car through the door of the Victoria roundhouse mock-up shows just what exquisite models these are (and yes, the couplers are now right way round!!).

[OldEastRR]

Way back in 2014, I came across an old article by Bob Chapman in the Nov. '98 issue of Mainline Modeler about kitbashing a C&O baby triple hopper. I really enjoyed the article and I decided to make an N scale version.  I made the cuts as shown in the first photo and then, with perfection being the enemy of good enough, put the pieces in a drawer and they stayed there until the other week when I assembled the car as-is. The only new things I did the other week was build an underframe, build new bolsters that don't stick out past the car ends like all old N scale cars did back then, and scratchbuild the peaked ends (I started with an I-beam).

How do you guys make such perfect, straight, flawless cuts on car bodies?

[dem34]

How do you guys make such perfect, straight, flawless cuts on car bodies?

Standard Method: Clamp to a surface with a Miter box around, Tape each side of cut with Masking tape. Slowly and carefully cut through, even with a box it takes practice
Lazy: Hold it tight, go fast enough you can rip through evenly.
DKS: Use a table top Table saw and make a little sled.

[chessie system fan]

1. Use a miter box.
2. Make the cuts along natural seams.
3. Go slowly.
4. Paint the thing black so no one can see the flaws. 

[bbunge]

Used Kristrol Klear to put windows on Illinois Terminal 450, a double ended PCC.  Painted details, added a bit of weathering and tweaked it to operate on the live wire.  IHP print on a tomytec chassis.



Future work includes truck frames, mock couplers and at least basic directional lighting.

[altohorn25]

My latest locomotive product shoving some cars around the yard.

3D printed Fairbanks-Morse H10-44 shell on an Atlas VO-1000 mechanism.

[craigolio1]

The kits are available from Baldylox Designs on Etsy. If you want a finished one, feel free to message me.

Thank you. I’m actually looking for just a cab that I could use to repair a Shapeways model I’m working on. Going to contact him about maybe purchasing a failed print.

Craig

[GaryHinshaw]

Another try, using Google Gemini at @chuck geiger’s recommendation, with a touch-up in ChatGPT:



DFF

Very nice logo Dave.  I have actually been thinking about using these tools to produce blended backdrop images.  Here is what Gemini gave me in 5 seconds using nothing but the prompt "Create an image of the Tehachapi foothills.":



What does the brain trust here recommend for (current) tools that might build on this idea?  I'd like to be able to provide images and text as prompts, and then have the software blend them and give them a homogeneous tonality.

For some further noodling on this theme see this TBC link.

[samusi01]

Here is what Gemini gave me in 5 seconds using nothing but the prompt "Create an image of the Tehachapi foothills.":

and in unrelated news, an upcoming challenge here at TRW will be 'blending AI backdrop with a T-Trak module'.

[Scottl]

Very nice logo Dave.  I have actually been thinking about using these tools to produce blended backdrop images.  Here is what Gemini gave me in 5 seconds using nothing but the prompt "Create an image of the Tehachapi foothills.":

Amazing.  AI and 3d printing are revolutionizing model railroading.

[GaryHinshaw]

Meanwhile, In Real Life, this is what my 'lab' looks like after completing 333 N-Possible coupler conversions, with hundreds more still to go...:



Nothing very photogenic for WU recently, just a full-on push to upgrade the fleet.  And seeing as how it is US Thanksgiving weekend: I've lost count of the number of times I've been thankful for a wood floor in here instead of carpet.  I'll let you guess why. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Since it's getting to be excursion season I decided it was time to get Uncle Bennett's car ready.

I'm not going nuts on it, but I wanted to at least get rid of some of the bare plastic parts.

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[Sumner]

Built the last 3 curved turnouts....



... needed for the tracks at and by the sawmill complex

More info, build tips and images on Railwire .... ( HERE )

Sumner

[R L Smith]

Used Kristrol Klear to put windows on Illinois Terminal 450, a double ended PCC.  Painted details, added a bit of weathering and tweaked it to operate on the live wire.  IHP print on a tomytec chassis.



Future work includes truck frames, mock couplers and at least basic directional lighting.

Dang. If you could print that 160 times larger, San Francisco's MUNI would be knocking at your door...

[dandopinski]

Moving right along....