Weekend Update 4/5/26

[Cory Rothlisberger]

This week I finished up #577. This engine and the 573 pictured with it have been on my workbench for over 5 years, and finally getting these finished hopefully means my "modeling slump" is behind me. I have 4 more nearly finished locos waiting for some parts, and finishing those will (mostly) clear up the workbench for new projects.

The locomotives look okay. I'm more impressed with your grass work, sir! 

[coosvalley]

@coosvalley, that is some nice detailing/weathering on those Geeps!!

Thank you for the kind words!

The locomotives look okay. I'm more impressed with your grass work, sir! 

Well, it just so happens:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=44732.0

[Maletrain]

Has anybody tried tilting the track to the outside on a helix?

[bbussey]

Finished the mainline finally, as far as joining all the rails is concerned, and performed a maiden run to celebrate.  The New London control panel, which contains all the hidden loop indicators and turnout controls, has yet to be finished. I started on assembling the custom PCB that I designed, which will reduce the wiring by 75% roughly. It’s going slowly due to waiting for all the electric components to arrive. I have to solder the resistors in place before adding the last three headers.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Southern boxcar is trying to simulate the look of superelevated track

Part of the fun was that it WAS super elevated track.

I really wish Kato would make normal larger radius curves.

[Mark5]

Did some performance testing of @Bluford Craig  Auto parts cars on @DeltaBravo helix.

It made for a fun time.

So, what's the radius on that helix?

[delamaize]

Ok, this is cool, and I want one!! Lol

Wouls a modified Kato Pocket Line chassis work to power this?

I’ve always had a thing for Whitcomb locomotives.
The 1929 90 ton (I’ve seen these referred to as 80 ton also) oil electric has been on my all time wish list for years. An attempted early scratchbuild was eventually abandoned after less than favorable results. With the recent acquisition of an Elegoo Mars I’ve been printing tons of stuff and I thought again about the 90 tonner but no file.
A Google search for AI generated 3D files from photos and away we go. My expectations weren’t high but what the heck.

Here’s the original photo of 9/23/1935 by Otto Perry.

(Attachment Link)

About 5 minutes into the AI studio produced this. I was astounded.

(Attachment Link)

Into Chitubox for some scale adjustments and some additional supports then on to the printer.
The results after a coat of primer.

(Attachment Link)

Next was a coat of rattle can Tamiya NATO black.  Adding some decals brought home a decent static model.

(Attachment Link)

I also played around with some photo effects of the painted model trying to replicate the original photo.

(Attachment Link)

This is now handed off to the “It would be even cooler if it ran” department which has a solid mechanism design worked out and all the components on hand.
It amazes me to think of wanting this model for years then in a matter of a few days it’s sitting on my bench. What a great time to be in N Scale!

[Jim Starbuck]

Ok, this is cool, and I want one!! Lol

Wouls a modified Kato Pocket Line chassis work to power this?

Possibly. The axle spacing on the P/L mech is about the same as the outboard wheels of the for axle prototype. The hood is fairly narrow and I’m not sore how high the Kato mech would protrude upwards.
The print has a lot of material on the underside that needs to be removed either physically milling or in the digital model to create more of a conventional shell.
I haven’t imported it into fusion yet to explore possibilities.

[MK]

Finished the mainline finally, as far as joining all the rails is concerned, and performed a maiden run to celebrate.  The New London control panel, which contains all the hidden loop indicators and turnout controls, has yet to be finished. I started on assembling the custom PCB that I designed, which will reduce the wiring by 75% roughly. It’s going slowly due to waiting for all the electric components to arrive. I have to solder the resistors in place before adding the last three headers.

That's a whole lot of SMD manual soldering!   

[chuck geiger]

A few shots today - Happy Easter!

[chessie system fan]

@coosvalley What steam generator parts are those?  They look better than stock Atlas parts.

I built this HO Walthers kit for my HO friend this weekend.  I ditched the wooden doors and scratchbuilt a roll-up door.  I'm pleased with how the weathering went on the roll-up door.  I might do more weathering on the brick and roof. There's more weathering than shows up in the photo, but I feel like it it could use more.

[randgust]

Yeah, I'd never go with a superelevation on an uphill helix.....

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Yeah, I'd never go with a superelevation on an uphill helix.....

It works fine for Dave's layout. He's doesn't push the limits like I did. He usually keeps his train length to half what I was running.

That was actually the point of my experiments yesterday: I wanted to see what I could get away with so I have a better sense of what might be possible with the next phase of my layout.

I really learned a lot in the couple hours I was trying stuff. I think I validated that I CAN run the trains I'll want to but I'll definitely want to go slightly larger on the helix, which is fine, because that's my plan.

I honestly just shot the video because I thought it was cool watching all that muscle work its way up grade. Being able to see just how sketchy it was was a nice bonus though.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

One more from the weekend. I spent some time puttering in the basement today doing odds and ends. I fixed a turnout, replaced the batteries in my command station and did some JFRTM.

I turned Todd's One of Everything store 90 degrees because it's too much fun to never include in photos properly. Does it make sense for it to be 90° from the road it's on? Who knows. But sometimes ya just gotta lean into the artistry of the scene.

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[Point353]

It works fine for Dave's layout. He's doesn't push the limits like I did. He usually keeps his train length to half what I was running.

That was actually the point of my experiments yesterday: I wanted to see what I could get away with so I have a better sense of what might be possible with the next phase of my layout.

I really learned a lot in the couple hours I was trying stuff. I think I validated that I CAN run the trains I'll want to but I'll definitely want to go slightly larger on the helix, which is fine, because that's my plan.

I honestly just shot the video because I thought it was cool watching all that muscle work its way up grade. Being able to see just how sketchy it was was a nice bonus though.

What is the weight of those long hi-cube boxcars?  NMRA recommendation is at least 1.5 oz.