Weekend Update 12/21/25

[mcjaco]

My latest passenger train project - Soo Line train #17 - The Laker - northbound - circa 1958.

I've completed the cars based on a Youtube video I found:

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While they are not 100% prototypical, this consist gives a good representation of the train.  The cars are a combination of Micro Trains,  Wheels of Time, Walthers, Model Power, and Intermountain/CCS.  The sleepers are in their factory paint jobs as well as the WOT and Walthers baggage cars (the Walthers baggage car I swapped out the lightweight trucks for 6 wheel trucks as per the prototype).  All other cars are painted and decaled (Modelflex paint and Circus City Decals).  Low profile metal wheels have been added to all the heavyweight cars.

I finished up cutting the foam in the storage boxes this morning.  I'll need one more box for the motive power.


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I also worked on some of the decals on the 3rd GP9TT (the other two are factory decorated Atlas units).  I'm waiting on one decal set and the new mechanism to arrive in the mail.


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A fun project over the past couple of weeks.

Great project Nate.  Glad I could help with some of it.

Pretty sure that video is one of the Soo Line Boy Scout camp trains, which were similar to the Laker consists.  They just ran during the day, not the night like the Laker did.  The Laker almost always had three Geeps, so they could split the train at Ashland. 

And now you've forced my hand to finish my Laker by Madison! 

[arbomambo]

[samusi01]

Amongst other things -

-revived some designs from years ago: late 1960s forklifts.
-spotted a picture in the NPRHA's Vista Dome project of a manhole cover. This brought to mind the drawings of same... so took a few minutes to create a plan 9-9-1 pattern B-1843 manhole cover (~3mm across) and print it, as well as a mounting point. Future yard detail.
-spent a lot of time experimenting on a laser in an effort to generate some ExactRail bulkhead flat replacement bulkheads.

Here's an ExactRail flat, carrying a forklift, which is carrying the manhole base. The manhole cover is further along the flat and the carefully treated bulkhead in the rear. Hopefully ScaleTrains will run these flats again.

[ednadolski]

I’m modelling a pacific coast rainforest which has a whole other forest under the canopy. So about half of these have trunks tall enough to accommodate that. They will get washes, dry brushing, moss and ferns on their trunks. And then of course flocking. Soooooo much flocking.

Nice forest for sure,  but a bit of a cringe to see a pool table being used like that....   (lol)

(and it looks like a pretty nice one )

Ed

[NtheBasement]

Some of them will be standing but dead.

Modeling the mountain pine beetle pushes N-scale detailing to new limits!

[Wlal13again]

6210 is starting to look like a real Conrail unit.

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Now if only the USPS would remove its thumb from its bum and get that decoder to me she'll start to sound like one too.

These Atlas SD45s aren't perfect out of the box, but I actually really like doing the little bit of work to get them there.

Mine had to go back to Atlas..Bad decoder

[jpwisc]

Wrapped up a little truck conversion. TrainWorx logging truck with a Showcase Miniatures flatbed added. Built the rear bumper from styrene. Now to make some loads up!
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