Re: Weekend Update 5/17/26

[up1950s]

https://michaelminn.net/newyork/urban-renewal/60th-street-railyard/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1576908292628997/posts/4262667820719684/

https://ttc-ensco.com/railway-test-tracks/

https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2022/09/bnsf-railway-tests-nordic-unmanned-railway-inspection-drone/

https://www.pandrol.com/product/ultrasonic-rail-testing/

https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2022-04-14/honolulu-rail-track-fixes-allow-for-the-next-phase-of-testing

https://www.facebook.com/groups/5209268565808009/posts/26130417379933156/

[haasmarc]

Upgraded one of my Atlas C424's:




More here: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=61070.0

[BCR 570]

Two more long-running projects have drawn to a successful conclusion.  This week I completed the final touches on my two Provincial Museum tank cars.  This was after Philippe Whyte applied a final seal coat and some light weathering for me.  Philippe took this photograph of them sitting in North Vancouver on his layout:




Photos of the water car show a long hose lying along the right hand running board.  I modelled this with .020" diameter flexible lead wire painted Grimy Black with Aluminum ends:




I installed trainline air hoses either end, also painted Grimy Black with Aluminum handles and tips:




And here are the finished cars, ready to take their place in the Provincial Museum Train consist:




I also made progress on the car for the other end of the train, completing installation of the etched sides:




More in the dedicated thread here:  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=60937.30


This weekend will be spent preparing the layout for the next op session, offered as part of our annual Railway Modellers of BC meet.


Tim

[bbunge]

I modified a BLI heavy Pacific into more like B&O 5300 for a friend over the past couple of weeks while recovering from surgery.



Four of the B&O P-7 "Presidents" locomotives more or less retained their original look until the end.  One was the "President Washington," #5300 which is now at the B&O Museum under going a cosmetic restoration.  In the later years, these locomotives lost their names and original green paint to a very deep blue.  A friend of a friend who is working on the real 5300 sent this photo of original blue paint on 5300.  This the inside of the front steps of the locomotive.  I more or less matched this color by adding a few drops of Tamiya X-1 black into Tamiya X-4 blue. 



This is the Paragon 3 version of the BLI locomotive with a centered headlight.  There is a metal weight in the front of the boiler that is basically the same size and weight of their smoke units.  Once this is removed, the boiler front can be popped out.  I replaced the stock front with a 3D printed version that has a high headlight and the number boards in the proper place.  The handrails are 0.10 BP wire.  The source locomotive was BLI's version of the green 5300, so I borrowed the front number board, as I find decaling the number boards to be one of the more difficult tasks in making these conversions (this is my third one). 



Based on photos, for much of her time, she had a box of some sort on the front footplate that I reproduced with styrene.  I used lead wire for the steam and airbrake lines.  There was a nice B&O logo decal on a Microscale set for B&O passenger cars that I put on a Gold Medal number plate.  I thought this turned out well.





The BLI shell is metal.  I used a file to round off the sand dome to make it more B&O like.  It's not exact, but close enough for me.  I cut the Bell off the BLI boiler front and moved it beside the stack, using a piece of styrene for the base.  It is sitting too high and perhaps is too large, but again, close enough for me.  Another change was moving the dynamo from in front of the stack to just in front of the cab and adding a couple of steam lines using BP wire.  Finally I cut off the steam pressure pop valves that were behind the steam dome and moved them to in front of the dome.  The B&O protos also and a metal plate behind the pops.  I am going to guess this was help deaden the sound of the pops when they go off.  I used a piece of styrene for this. 

These Pacifics had Delta style rear engine trucks.  The BLI parts box I ordered a while back had parts of a PRR M-1, including the trailing truck.  It more or less dropped in place of the USRA style training truck.  I had to file off some material in the rear of the truck to allow it to clear the steam injectors and also to thin out the piece that the attachment screw goes through.  It was about a half millimeter thicker than the original.

Photographs show that she had a dual beam headlight at the end.  I drilled holes in a piece of sheet brass and spent an afternoon filing it to size and shape while listening to the Orioles loose to New York. 



A very nice color photo of a clean P-7 5314 about 1950 shows a flat black roof and silver rods.  I gave much of the engine a final coat of Tamiya clear, sprayed from a distance to provide a semi-gloss look that I like. 

The tender is wrong, and I'm not sure if a similar tender is made in N-scale - four axle, with full height coal bin that curves at the top.  Perhaps another day, as I think the size of this tender frame is about right and a 3D shell might drop on.

I'll sign off with this impressive pacing at speed footage of 5300.  With B&O's early adoption of diesels, I suspect the 5300's lost their role of leading the named trains pretty quickly, and certainly by the time they were blue they were on lesser but they sure must have been a sight too see.

Bob

[Jesse6669]

I finally got some vegetation planted on the Midland Sub.. still lots to do here (more weeds, some litter, track weathering, signals..) but the scene is coming together.  More details in the Layout Engineering thread.

 

I also did quite a bit of decal work for some 48' domestic containers and dialed in the 3D print of the container.  Here's a test container in the MTL well car to check fit.




 

[Scottl]

Nice work Tim,the train is exquisite.

I finalized my oil tanker design and how to print it without layering artifacts. 

[Sumner]

Been putting down Spackling on the last section of the extruded foam board scenery (a long section).

 

At 82 I'm good for about 2 hours of Spackling and then spend the rest of the day on the fence, rotary snow plow or CAD work on the lag stacker.

 

.

 

.

 

Can finally see an end in sight.

 

.

 

I've got a short YouTube up on applying the Spackle .....

To be continued and a link to this whole build ( HERE ) .

Sumner

[chessie system fan]

Here's one more thing from that layout I visited a few weeks ago.  Looking at old magazines, it seems it was common for large layouts to have a raised platform to control the entire layout.  This modeler included this feature on his layout too.  But being a cabinet maker, he added some features.

Here it is. 


And here's the fun part. Instead of crawling underneath to do all the wiring, why not rotate the panel and work on everything right side up?



I forgot to take a picture of the top side, but it's your standard layout diagram showing where turnouts are and which route is selected. The entire back side of the cabinet opens up too.

And for me, a few weekends ago I showed a building I had weathered.  But after looking at it more, I grew unsatisfied with it because I had originally weathered it brown, not rusty.  So I reworked it with more rusty colors.



It's better, but still not perfect.  I ruefully have to admit that the plastic lid I used to mix all my paints looks better that what I did.

[skytop35]

Just about finished with this NW5 build, just waiting on some number boards to arrive. I've been wanting one of these for a long time. Unfortunately this 3D print and or file is NOT available so please don't ask. However I did want to show what I have been working on. I did have help as Jim Starbuck got the mechanism working for me and then I installed a sound decoder, keep alive and speaker. It runs very smoothly. Probably my personal best paint job. All the handrails are soldered brass pieces, a combination of Gold Medal Models stanchions and Phosphor Bronze 0.008 wire. I'll have it running at the N scale Enthusiasts convention this summer in Milwaukee.

[ednadolski]

All the handrails are soldered brass pieces, a combination of Gold Medal Models stanchions and Phosphor Bronze 0.008 wire.

Hoo YEAH!!   

Ed

[u18b]

Found another EMC E1 set. 
(I sold the first set- I'll probably keep this one.)

I've rebuilt the A and B unit.
Installed sound in the A unit.

Now working on the B unit.

[davefoxx]

It took me a few weeks, but I relettered and renumbered Seaboard Air Line GP35 No. 535 (as the prototype did post-ACL/SAL merger) to Seaboard Coast Line No. 1406.

BEFORE:



AFTER:



I’m seriously considering reducing the number of eras that I run on the layout down five to two (leaving only the early-1970s and the late-1970s), which will allow me to sell off another chunk of the fleet and limit the quantity of rolling stock and automobiles needed for the layout.  This locomotive relettering project helps push me in this direction.  I’ve got a few more SAL locomotives that may get this treatment.

DFF

[Jim Starbuck]

Just about finished with this NW5 build, just waiting on some number boards to arrive. I've been wanting one of these for a long time. Unfortunately this 3D print and or file is NOT available so please don't ask. However I did want to show what I have been working on. I did have help as Jim Starbuck got the mechanism working for me and then I installed a sound decoder, keep alive and speaker. It runs very smoothly. Probably my personal best paint job. All the handrails are soldered brass pieces, a combination of Gold Medal Models stanchions and Phosphor Bronze 0.008 wire. I'll have it running at the N scale Enthusiasts convention this summer in Milwaukee.

Absolutely beautiful modeling Bill!
I’m looking forward to seeing it in Milwaukee.

[Dave V]

@davefoxx ,

I know the loco is the subject of the photo, and it is outstanding...but I'm distracted by the gentle curves and perfect shingling of the depot roof. I remember what you went through to make that happen, and it's still paying off. Still looks amazing.

[davefoxx]

@davefoxx ,

I know the loco is the subject of the photo, and it is outstanding...but I'm distracted by the gentle curves and perfect shingling of the depot roof. I remember what you went through to make that happen, and it's still paying off. Still looks amazing.

Thanks, Dr. V.!  Yes, sir, that station was a lot of effort and took some patience, but, even a few years later, I step back and enjoy the fruit of my labor.  I appreciate your kind comment.  Those stick-on shingles are holding up, too.  I was afraid the adhesive would fail or the paper would curl excessively in the basement.  So far, so good!

DFF