Weekend Update 4/5/26

[Point353]

I turned Todd's One of Everything store 90 degrees because it's too much fun to never include in photos properly.

That store name reminds me of a customer at a local hobby shop who would buy two of everything that Micro-Trains produced.
The shop owner quipped that the guy must be stocking up Noah's ark.

[dandopinski]

Ed-adding a pusher on the tail end solves that problem. Just like Horseshoe Curve.

[davefoxx]

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  :Pnext 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.

The UP wasn’t as lucky as @Ed Kapuscinski yesterday. 

DFF

[samusi01]

A local layout owner passed on recently and another local layout owner stepped up to purchase his entire layout, with the intent of disassembling it, moving it, and setting it up again in a new, purpose-built structure. So I spent some time helping remove fascia, DCC components, etc.

As it appeared earlier this week:



How it looked a few years back (with the owner right side):



Also printed some stuff... otherwise, not much.

[Jesse6669]

I finished up GK Tower with some details, and printed/painted the utility building and popped in place temporarily.  The crossing ties are not permanent.  There's actually a (much thinner) walkway from the tower to the two train order hoops on either side of the mains and I wanted to get a feeling for how it'd look.  I'll have to add the hoops later as I'm sure they'd just get broken as I do more scenery.



That CN boxcar in the background looked too clean so I did some weathering on it.  Just a light fade with very, very thinned white (a couple passes with the airbrush), then I added a wash of AK Interactive "oiled earth" to the sides, with some extra below the door and on the door tracks.  The roof was airbrushed with Vallejo Flat Earth then two washes of oiled earth.  A relatively quick and easy weathering project.

[coosvalley]

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

I'm afraid my answer will not be of much help, as these are Shapeways prints from Wutter. They do look good, and I wish I had gotten more!

[randgust]

I have one 13" radius curve on a 2.5% uphill grade on my ATSF layout that is a horseshoe curve making a good 100-degree reverse turn.  Only the first half is on a grade, the second is flat.

As I run 30-40 car trains with 3-4 units on them, that's 'stringline curve'.   I've had to tweak the geometry quite a bit, but that's the spot that if anything is going to go wrong, it's there, pull aparts, stringlines, dead spinning stalls.  I took the superelevation out of it and reballasted it.  Took out every tiny track glitch I could find.   And it also has proven three facts:

1)  Low profile wheels, metal or plastic, will 'run out of flange' if on the head end of the train, will climb up on the inside and derail.  Pizza cutters actually do not.  Sorry.   I had to remove all my low-flange MT wheels as they wore.   Medium flange and most metal wheels are OK.
2)  Body-mount couplers on long auto box cars, autoracks, and piggybacks can make it if the shanks are long, the original short-shank Atlas flats always stringline.  Never had a problem with truck mounts, just sayin'.
3)  Soldered together sectional track holds better gauge over time and has fewer kinks than any flex track if you're going under about 15" radius.    If I was doing a helix, I'd solder up sectional C80 if I could get the radius right.

Weighing cars can be counterproductive because it puts even more weight BEHIND the power instead of just holding it down.   

EVERY car with MT's has to be either equipped with Reverse Draft Angle couplers or trimmed in the Fitzgerald method on old couplers to imitate it.   Then you'll automatically recenter those couplers the harder you pull instead of 'hanging on by a thread'.   Pull aparts are eliminated, and you don't have to worry about snagging MT pins, either.

[GaryHinshaw]

A bit late to the show, but it has been a good weekend.  I was able to take advantage of the 4-day Canadian holiday to make the trek to LA, which included a day trip to my primal landscape (Tehachapi, of course, after a 7-year wait) on Friday:



It was a very busy day!  In 9 hours on the hill, I saw 16 separate trains - a few multiple times.  One of the first was the Mojave local led by UP 1979 in beautiful morning light:



The obligatory lunch of tacos, rice, and beans was taken at the historic Keene Cafe:



The last train of the day was a rolling meet between two BNSF manifests at Woodford:



^This is just a screen grab from the video.  I'll post the video to the Proto section when I get a chance - mainly for the sound.   

Oh, and gradson #2 was born on Sunday.  So all in all it's been a weekend to remember!

[C855B]

A bit late to the show, but it has been a good weekend.  I was able to take advantage of the 4-day Canadian holiday to make the trek to LA, which included a day trip to my primal landscape (Tehachapi, of course, after a 7-year wait) on Friday:

It was a very busy day!  In 9 hours on the hill, I saw 16 separate trains - a few multiple times.  One of the first was the Mojave local led by UP 1979 in beautiful morning light:
...

Home! Great pics, Gary! The selfie with Walong as a backdrop? Showoff... 

I have to wonder if they still call the Mojave local "The Blitz". My memories of it involve 3900-series SD9s, however. Amazed that the Keene Cafe is still standing. It was already a classic when I lived there, 50+ years ago. I believe the tall sign was in slightly better shape.

[InterurbanModels]

Does scale 1:3.3 on 7.25" track still count as modeling? Anyway, it gave me some relief from tricky N scale

[chuck geiger]

Gary, I was thinking of you when I was on the Rail Cams, maybe you were on them?

[milw156]

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

I really wish Kato would make normal larger radius curves.

Ed, what was the radius of that helix?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ed, what was the radius of that helix?

I think that it was 16 3/8"(381mm).

[Mark5]

I think that it was 16 3/8"(381mm).

Thanks! 

[trainforfun]

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

It made for a fun time.

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What is the radius and the slope of your helix ?