Weekend Update 12/7/25

[GaryHinshaw]

That snow melted quickly.

  It's Tehachapi; it usually only sticks for an hour or two.

[C855B]

  It's Tehachapi; it usually only sticks for an hour or two.

Au contraire! Annual event for us kids was when Mom and Dad would pile the five of us in the station wagon to "go to the snow" at Tehachapi Mountain Park. Vividly recall the last trip there - I lost a small telescope I had in my pocket while sledding. I had it for train spotting on the drive to and from.

[Sokramiketes]

As Gary has shown above, I visited him today to learn his methods for assembling the N-Possible couplers.  I am still in the investigation phase with these, but the new Rapido RDC cars are an obvious candidate as they wont be interacting with other equipment, and the conversion yields a major improvement in appearance.  Under Gary's watchful eye and to the sound of his finches, I assembled two pairs of the couplers with the soon-to-be released loco boxes and short shank draft gear as per Andrew's suggestion:

All for now,

Tim

And so it begins... welcome to the other side!

[GaryHinshaw]

^ He's still testing the waters.  It's time for a little "Better modelling through peer pressure" campaign.   

[Sokramiketes]

^ He's still testing the waters.  It's time for a little "Better modelling through peer pressure" campaign.   

Seeing the quality of his modeling efforts, this might be a "He'll come around to better without pressure..." situation.   

[Ed Kapuscinski]

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Went to Strasburg this weekend.

[dougnelson]

Merry XMas from Google Gemini.

[Cory Rothlisberger]

At long last, I finally had some time for trains. My biggest hiccup was old analog me procrastinating wiring the control panel of my expanded staging yard. Had to get rid of the damn snow first. Thanks, Ed..


My son insists on running some Amtrak and I got tired of hearing him fight with the Amtubes every time he tried putting them on the rails. Was able to make room for another track dedicated to what he wants to run. Also gave me some extra room for when I want to fiddle with cars that have been sent off to the "rest of the world"


Also has a minute to run a revenue train. Here he is waiting for a signal in the latest dusting of snow.

[randgust]

Davefoxx is that one of those old Walthers "Oscars" at the end of that train?

When I was about 12 years old I did the HO "Piker" and still have it today, my very first attempt at craftsman kit.   Talk about a Christmas memory.  I loved that thing, it was my own "Private car".

[davefoxx]

Davefoxx is that one of those old Walthers "Oscars" at the end of that train?

When I was about 12 years old I did the HO "Piker" and still have it today, my very first attempt at craftsman kit.   Talk about a Christmas memory.  I loved that thing, it was my own "Private car".

Sure is, Randy!  Redecorated as the A&R’s No. 4 (a/k/a The Party Bus).



DFF

[chuck geiger]

DFF - Verde Canyon RR in Central AZ has a party hack.

[Scottl]

AI goodness this weekend.  Meshy to make the Jasper welcome sign and one of the restaurants opposite to the train station.

[wm3798]

The other night I accidentally went to bed at 9 pm.  As is my custom, I awoke some time later for my traditional visit to the latrine.  Having slept for what seemed like a long time, I glanced at my time piece expecting it to read 4:30 or 5.  To my simultaneous chagrin and amusement,  I discovered it was only 1:15.  Having slept well for 4 hours, my brain was in full ADHD mode, and resuming my slumber was clearly out of the question.  So, what to do?
Well, for months, my layout had lain dormant as I built decks, prepped and painted drywall and otherwise attempted to make my house less of a jobsite, and more a continuum of my penchant for unfinished projects.  A good example of which was my hobby work bench.  The combined forces of ADHD,OCD, and insomnia converged in a fever for which even more cowbell was an inadequate remedy.
Over the course of several hours, I put away tools, sorted coupler springs, filed unused decals, and otherwise dealt with the detritus of over a year of feeble attempts and half-cocked experiments, resulting in two bags of trash, and this, dear reader, amazing and rare treat, the clean work space.



In the process, I identified scores of "five minute projects"  you know the ones...  it takes 45 minutes to find the tool you need, and another four days for the parts to arrive...  but I remained focused and didn't attempt to start ... or finish... anytbing!  Clearing the decks was the only mission, and the mission was accomplished!

Also, did some Christmas shopping in lovely Shepherdstown, WV, and one of the galleries had these in the window.





Proving once again that N scale is truly an artist's medium!

All the best for a week of good vibes,
Lee

[Sokramiketes]

AI goodness this weekend.  Meshy to make the Jasper welcome sign and one of the restaurants opposite to the train station.

WHOA.

Just got off at Jasper for a station stop in September.  Will be curious to see this all take shape!

[Scottl]

The AI prints look pretty good.  Lots of support artifacts from the Elegoo (crap) software but these building fronts are great so far.