Weekend Update 2/8/26

[up1950s]

https://www.facebook.com/reel/825527356322761

https://www.facebook.com/reel/662729266926996

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1954493025134713

https://steamgiants.com/wiki/whyte/4-8-0-twelve-wheeler-type/

https://www.loco-info.com/view.aspx?id=-513&t=&cookies=decline

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[bbussey]

Finished six RBB&B Concello seat wagons.

[BCR 570]

It always feels good to finish a long-running project; even better when you finish three!  This past week saw completion of my three track projects for the NMRA's Civil Certificate, which have been under construction since August 2024.    The final steps after testing included installation of push pins to serve as stops at each end of the tracks, and a label front and centre.

Turnout project completed:




The crossover had a continuous short which took some time to locate and solve, which made testing possible:




Crossover project completed:




Crossing project completed:




I also made a power distribution board so that I can power all three projects simultaneously with my DCC system:




These three projects will now be stored until I am ready for my Civil Certificate evaluation.  I have one more requirement to fulfill.


I also successfully de-sprued the parts for my Ohio crane:




Tim

[arx nakanishi]

Let me share with you another cut from my N-scale Cisco, Utah diorama: some details, and a dusk/night scene of the D&RGW section tool house.


: telephone booth/outhouse


: used ties


: fuel tank and speeder


: Duke's Service in the distance


: toolhouse in the distance

videos with trains embedded below

Thanks for watching!

[KSTXFLID]

Concello seat wagons, well that was a rabbit hole. Learn something new every day. Before my time but fascinating. Barely remember a Ringling show but no big top just an arena. I do remember a train. No I've got some research to do.

Beautiful work and thanks for sharing.

[Wlal13again]

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The Walthers Freight Station was the first kit I built and put on my layout 20 years ago.  Over the years I wanted something to generate more traffic. We had a good sized feed mill in town where I grew up that had covered hopper and boxcar traffic so I decided it was time for a change

[rodsup9000]

Installing more sound decoders in InterMountain FT sets   

[Specter3]

I have a space I am putting a chemical plant on the lower level of my layout. Since I am modeling a specific area I wanted to actually put something together that was not generic. All I originally had were some blurry old aerial photos.

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Started googling using address. Found it was an Occidental plant. It made chlorine among other things. Kept digging. It had changed hands a couple times. It was shut down in 2008 and demolished in 2011. It was referred to as a chloralkil plant. Kept Googling. It used a process that used mercury in baths that were open to the atmosphere. By its mechanics this process got mercury airborne. We all know that mercury is bad so in the 90s environmental groups really started laying on the companies to change to a newer technology that did not use mercury. Oxy Chem did and shut the plant down. No pictures exist that I can find of the actual facility. Did more Googling. Found out that there n my time frame the plant was owned by Diamond Shamrock. That was nice to find. But still did not lead to pics. Had another idea. I know the basic layout from the aerial photo. I just need to know what a mercury process building looks like. Well turns out there are photos of those.

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So using this photograph to help I made a paper template of my space and started drawing. Came up with this:

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Got it on the layout and threw some foam on it to get a feel.

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What do you think?

[Lemosteam]

Some time ago, I picked up a Bachmann “Broadway Limited” train set. It has a nice PRR 4-6-0, and three shorties, an RPO, a coach, and an observation. It’s a cool foob set and I’m really liking it. The cars are very nice old tooling, identical to the old lighted ones with the silohettes in the windows.  I was able to pick up a second matching coach, but they are hard to find because most are sold as a set, not individual cars.

I found two more of the old cars, stripped them, repainted them as best I could match the newer paint, added lead shot in the center sill, added 36” steel wheels, re-decaled them in gold as special cars, named after past PRR presidents. Now I have four coaches for a fairly long train.

[chessie system fan]

Today, I did more work on my friend's HO scale layout.  He painted the backdrop sections and I installed one. We'll touch up the paint around the screw holes later. Installation turned out to be more difficult than we anticipated because when he installed the doorway (the post on the left in the picture) thirty years ago, he must have used the hardest of hard woods in existence.  When I drilled the holes for the screws, the holes smoked a little!   

[Slim Rail Mike]

@Specter3
 Love the research in this hobby. Looking forward to watching this build.

[mkearns]

Some time ago, I picked up a Bachmann “Broadway Limited” train set. It has a nice PRR 4-6-0, and three shorties, an RPO, a coach, and an observation. It’s a cool foob set and I’m really liking it. The cars are very nice old tooling, identical to the old lighted ones with the silohettes in the windows.  I was able to pick up a second matching coach, but they are hard to find because most are sold as a set, not individual cars.

I found two more of the old cars, stripped them, repainted them as best I could match the newer paint, added lead shot in the center sill, added 36” steel wheels, re-decaled them in gold as special cars, named after past PRR presidents. Now I have four coaches for a fairly long train.

I have this exact train and two extra, older coaches. I spun the 4-6-0 off into a C&O 378 project that turned out great (valve gear on the DC model in this set a better match for prototype than the DCC one).

My plan for the coaches is to “Chessie Steam Special” them for TTRAK. I really like these kind of shorter passenger cars on the tighter curves of a small layout.

Anyway, wondering if you might have any tips, especially re: stripping and repainting, for these specific cars? I’ve not yet done a strip/paint project.

[mu26aeh]

I had a surprise when I got to work today.  The BLI CSX 1973 Chessie mullet heritage unit had arrived.  I was disappointed before I even took it out of the jewel case.  I could see thru the case the blue was way off  .  I had 3 or 4 other people at the shop confirm my disappointment, all saying it had an almost purple hue.  The prototype unit show the 2 blues (CSX cab and Chessie long hood ) being very close in color, just slightly different.  So we pulled a few TC paints from the rack for comparison and decided TruColor Chessie Blue would be the path to take (others being B&O Bando Blue, C&O Enchantment Blue and B&O/C&O Blue).  After dinner this evening, I disassembled the locomotive, only breaking 1 handrail where someone had inadvertently applied some glue to the stanchion hole and masked off the long hood.  A little while later, everything back together and onto the layout for a new "as delivered" roster shot.  I used ChatGPT to add the same background to both photos.

[wm3798]

The new layout location is gradually  lurching forward.


The steel column is boxed out to provide a wire chase to bring power to the layout.

At first I pondered wrapping it in tongue and groove 1x pine, but Rho suggested using solid 1x to give it the appearance of a sold  post, since my faux ceiling beam worked  out so well.




Being 8' tall, and roughly 8x10, it will look dangerously like a cross tie...
Somewhere under the snow I have a tie plate I can affix to it to firmly establish the space as my train room!


Lee

[Dave V]

Building structures for Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on my N scale PRR Juniata Division 2.0. This is Walthers' Merchant's Row III. I used ChatGPT to assist with creating period-correct signs and interiors by straightening and focusing real photos online.