Weekend Update 1/18/26

[philippe.whyte]

Tree planting has begun!!

Craig

This is looking really good so far Craig. Definitely looks like a Vancouver Island forest!

Philippe

[philippe.whyte]

My trailer flatcars made it into the paint shop. I'll get the decals on next.





Philippe

[peteski]

Peteski:  They had two cars that I know of, a not-bad model of the PRR X-58, and a double door AAR boxcar.  I've kitbashed those "X-58" cars in various ways, as they were the best "modern" (1960s) cars available in N in the early 70s.

I've heard that there was some dispute over who actually owned some of the tooling used in them, and Con-Cor ended up owning the rights to the cars, but I don't know the details.

Those actually had metal floors with SEKISUI lettering and were sold in MRC packaging?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Just running trains lately. Better than not touching the layout at all I guess. Ignore the 1990s F-150s in the background. My youngest likes to have demolition derbies down Valley Rd. when I'm not looking. I should also invest in some other vehicles outside of 1978 Ford Fairmonts...

You need to talk to @Rasputen

[nkalanaga]

Petski:  No "Sekisui", but "MRC Japan" in the metal underframe, and the underframe detailing looks the same as Con-Cor's.

The modern car has the same unusual end ladder and brake detail arrangement as the Con-Cor 40 ft car, the same rectangular panel roof, and the same trucks, right down to the "53" cast into the truck bolster.

Con-Cor used more than one truck style on these.  The oldest (?) had a one-piece truck and clip design; then they went to a more common design with the separate split pin, but a plain bolster; finally the "53" design.  I have two original MRC cars, identical except that one has the "53" truck, and one the plain-bolster and separate pin design.

Spookshow also says these were made by Kato, and the reason Con-Cor ended up with them: https://www.spookshow.net/freight/cc50rib.html

[Doc Frankenfield]

I have made progress on a new layout,, construction began in October.
 the concept is for a folding layout that can be removed from the wall for service and construction.
I am using a new product called GoBoard,(  https://www.jm.com/en/goboard/ ) which is similar to foam core, but structural
 starting with a 4x8 sheet, I drew the layout and then did a modified "cookie cutter" relief. I did not remove any material and actually used cardstock and sculptamold to separate and close up the various levels.

[PiperguyUMD]

Working from a hotel room again this week, so I’ve had to shift my focus a bit. Last week, after several good weeks of progress on the Russian Decapod, I felt comfortable adding the headlight and calling it done except for weathering. After adding the headlight, and despite having run several hours worth of flawless laps, the headlight didn’t work and I’ve lost motor control. I’ve probably jarred something loose while adding the light, and since I don’t have any way to test that kind of stuff on the road, I’ve changed gears to work on my second WM Potomac.

I used the same approach as in the decapod and put together the decoder, speaker enclosure, and keep alive capacitor. So much space in this tender compared to the Dec!



I used my free time in the evenings to chip away at the remaining detail projects on the boiler - mainly the fireman side handrails. The only things left are the ladders from the running boards to the handrails at each dome, safety valves, and the headlight.



I’ve done a terrible job of keeping up with my build thread on this loco, but I’ll post more specifics over there.

[CR4100]

A U18B with a small fuel tank and lots of air under the frame may be a reality in N scale. I made a frame to hold an 8x16 coreless motor and Bachmann truck and worm assembly. The bottom photo shows how much room is available to add DCC and weight. There's still room above the motor to reduce the frame height even more. This is proof of concept at the moment, there's a lot more tweaking to be done, both on the frame and the shell.

I have FB-2 trucks from a B23/30-7 that will be used on the final model.

[robert3985]

...I was able to get a decoder into my GP7 and toned down the weathering with a light white fade coat

@NorthWestGN - Nice job on your GP7.  Atlas's GP7 handrails are noticeably finer than their GP9 handrails and it shows on your model.

I just noticed that I think you've put your shell on backwards, unless GN's Geeps had the air tanks mounted to the front of the fuel tank. 

Luckily for me many of UP's GP9's had GP7 handrails, so I've replaced all of my GP9's handrails with GP7 handrails I found at a local trainshow several years ago.

Photo (1) - Superdetailed Atlas GP9 with GP7 handrails on my Park City Branch heading back to Echo:


This fits here because I unpacked my Geeps this weekend.  Now I need to get the shelves set up to store them on until I get my layout set up!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[dandopinski]

Doc Frankenfield

I really like your layout design, lots of running and plenty of switching! You might want to add a crossover at the far end of the stub track yard, to allow any trains that are heading in to cut the power off and return to the other end.

[davefoxx]

I have made progress on a new layout,, construction began in October.
 the concept is for a folding layout that can be removed from the wall for service and construction.
I am using a new product called GoBoard,(  https://www.jm.com/en/goboard/ ) which is similar to foam core, but structural
 starting with a 4x8 sheet, I drew the layout and then did a modified "cookie cutter" relief. I did not remove any material and actually used cardstock and sculptamold to separate and close up the various levels.

@Doc Frankenfield,

Have you actually laid out this track plan with real track yet?  I think you may have fallen into the trap that everyone of us has done a time or two.  I don’t think you’ve allowed enough room for your turnouts in your drawings, which may make it a challenge to build the plan to your satisfaction.

DFF

[jpwisc]

I was painting like a mad man this week. What did I actually finish? A Willy’s wagon…
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[wm3798]

I have made progress on a new layout,, construction began in October.
 the concept is for a folding layout that can be removed from the wall for service and construction.
I am using a new product called GoBoard,(  https://www.jm.com/en/goboard/ ) which is similar to foam core, but structural
 starting with a 4x8 sheet, I drew the layout and then did a modified "cookie cutter" relief. I did not remove any material and actually used cardstock and sculptamold to separate and close up the various levels.

@Doc Frankenfield I like that.  Reminds me of one of my earliest efforts.  I was working on a maintenance crew in an old loft building in Baltimore, and we had demo'd an office that had a wall built with 2x4 studs and a homasote wallboard.  I snatched a 4x8 section and strapped it to my Super Beetle for the ride home.  I hung it on the wall in the garage at my parents' house, with a hinge to fold it up out of the way.  My shelf yard went up the wall beyond it, so the storage yard was more out in the open.    But I really like the design overall, although you my run into some geometry issues with some of those switches...  will you be using Peco shorties?

Lee

[Scottl]

I am repainting most of my Kato 40' containers to more suitable schemes.  I have developed a simple printed stencil that slips over the end to airbrush the door lock components.  I have a second one that is for the black rubber seal.  Hoping these will allow me to upgrade the look of these containers consistently.

[nickelplate759]

I am repainting most of my Kato 40' containers to more suitable schemes.  I have developed a simple printed stencil that slips over the end to airbrush the door lock components.  I have a second one that is for the black rubber seal.  Hoping these will allow me to upgrade the look of these containers consistently.
...

Dang that's clever!