Weekend Update 10/18/26

[milw156]

That is some insane drone flying in the lead-off photo for the weekend!
Modutrak participated in the 2026 Chicagoland RPM held in Naperville Il. this past weekend. Here are some of the trains and scenes from the meet.

[PanAmShay]

This weekend was a busy one!

I installed ESU 58751 Loksound 5 decoders and ESU 50432 9x16mm speakers into a pair of used-but-new-to-me Atlas GP40's from ~2010.  I cut off part of the back of the frames to make room for the speakers.  I used the smallest speaker enclosure in the bag and sanded it down further to improve clearance.  But I made the mistake of clamping the frames in a vice which squished down the front bumps that help keep the shell snapped on.  So I'll need to come up with a way to add a little material back so it doesn't rely on just the rear snap.

Finished up a box with a Raspberry Pi running JMRI connected to a Asus RT-BE58 Go travel router and Locobuffer NG to plug into the club's Digitrax Loconet, allowing us improved WiFi throttle access over LNWI.  It worked wonderfully!

Ran trains at the Maple Valley train show.  The GP40s had their first run across another member's excellent trestle module.

[John]

No trains for me this week. 

[NtheBasement]

Finished up a box with a Raspberry Pi running JMRI connected to a Asus RT-BE58

Gotta ask why the waterproof box?  Modeling a flood?

[Mike Madonna]

Started figuring out how to install the Tortoises for my Eliot/Devil's Slide Center Siding western entrance/exit. Have some clearance problems as well as assembly/disassembly clearance problems, but...now that my portable layout is pretty much set up permanently in my new residence, the assembly/disassembly inconveniences aren't such big problems as when I was regularly taking it to shows.  I like to build my turnout combinations as monolithically as I can on the bench, which makes for a lot fewer rail joinings thus less potential future joint problems...although I don't have many joint problems since I've had the layout set up permanently.  It'll be great fun to finally be able to run my trains in a big circle since it was only during shows and being coupled up with my show partner's (Gregg Cudworth) modules that either he or I were able to run trains of any length and not just back and forth.

Hopefully, this will be in and operational later this week...

Photo (1) - Fiddling with west end Emory/Devil's Slide Center Siding entrance/exit on my scenic transition module from Echo Canyon to Devil's Slide:


Also worked on finishing some Pecos River Brass cars I'm selling to a customer, but gotta make the UP decals for the hoppers since they're not available in N-scale.  The PRB UP 0-50-6 Tank Car is a sweet-looking model, and I decided I'd better shoot a thin coat of MicroScale Liquid Decal Film on the decal sheet before I tried using it as it was my one-and-only sheet and they are notorious for degrading after years in storage into unusable, brittle messes. 

The airbrushed Decal Film application worked excellently however (much to my relief) and using Tru-Color Paint for the first time on a brass model yielded the finest, non-detail hiding paint job I've ever done...and I've used Scalecoat in the past, which I thought was the best.  TCP also is ready to handle in about 30 minutes (I wait 45 before handling) and to apply a second coat if needed. 

Tru-Color Paint?  I highly recommend it...just don't follow the manufacturer's recommendations as far as thinning and air pressure are concerned.

The hoppers I did using Scalecoat II, and I'm also extremely happy with the results, but...the painting process is 24 hours longer for them since that's their curing time with Scalecoat II...

Photo (2) - PRB Hoppers and UP Tank Car on my drawing table:


I'll spend the rest of the weekend (about four more hours) working on some old Hallmark Geeps that I've restored, painted and am now finishing up.

All in all, a very good weekend!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

EDITED - for grammar & clarity

Robert,
The sub roadbed looks to be spline. Is that 1/8" Masonite?
Also, the Micro Scale Decal Film, was that straight out of the bottle or thinned? IF thinned, with what and PSI?
As always, thanks in advance!

[PanAmShay]

Gotta ask why the waterproof box?  Modeling a flood?

Hah!  Wanted something durable to bounce around in an NTRAK group trailer to withstand getting kicked or dropped and clear so you can see any error lights at a glance. Plus it was only $35 so cheaper than making anything once you factor in time value. Already cut a bunch of holes in it so no long flood-proof!

[keeper]

That is some insane drone flying in the lead-off photo for the weekend!
Modutrak participated in the 2026 Chicagoland RPM held in Naperville Il. this past weekend. Here are some of the trains and scenes from the meet.

/>

Nice video. The CB&Q loco at 9:43 is very interesting. Does someone know who and how that was made?

[Sokramiketes]

Nice video. The CB&Q loco at 9:43 is very interesting. Does someone know who and how that was made?

Yep, that's Robbie Hanson's 3D printed CB&Q shovel nose.  He has a couple versions complete and they are gorgeous. 

[robert3985]

Robert,
The sub roadbed looks to be spline. Is that 1/8" Masonite?
Also, the Micro Scale Decal Film, was that straight out of the bottle or thinned? IF thinned, with what and PSI?
As always, thanks in advance!

@Mike Madonna - Mike, my splined Masonite subroadbed is 1/8", but 1/4" also works. just not as flexible.  I lay it out in Cadrail like I was looking up at it from the underside, print it at 100% (lots of sheets with registration marks taped together) tape it to an appropriately large enough piece of 3/4" plywood that's observably flat. then use finishing nails and lots of clamps to glue it together using premium yellow carpenter's glue.  Basically, I built this section upside down, which guarantees a mostly flat upper surface when the completed splines are dry and flipped over.

Photo (1) - Showing printed Cadrail roadbed plan at 100% taped to work surface with first spline registered with finish nails and subsequent splines clamped to both 1st spline & the nails:


Photo (2) - Showing more complete spline assembly clamped together and also clamped down to 3/4" work surface:


I then take the assembly to my local cabinet shop and have both the upper and lower surfaces planed before mounting to my L-girder benchwork.

For longer assemblies, I build them in place, starting with the center spline on the subroadbed risers, gluing and clamping as I go using 8' long splines.

I had a good friend who built his using industrial-strength yellow hot glue in place on his and others' layouts he was helping to build, then slathering on yellow carpenter's glue on both the top and bottom, which sucked it tighter together than just clamping still runny hot glue together.  Worked well for him, but, I prefer to use yellow carpenter's glue for sticking the splines together as it creates an incredibly strong and dense subroadbed that also has very serious sound-deadening qualities.

I used to cut the splines myself on my table saw, but the Masonite dust got EVERYWHERE, including into my nose and lungs...so, I had the aforementioned cabinet shop do the cutting this last time...cutting a couple of 4X8 sheets of 1/8" tempered Masonite into 1" wide splines...which is an incredibly efficient way of making subroadbed as the only waste per 4X8 sheet is just the kerf and doesn't cost that much to have my shop do the cutting.

Photo (3) - 1" wide 1/8" Masonite splines while cutting in my driveway a few years ago:


As for thinning Microscale Liquid Decal Film, I use 91% IPA to thin it 50%...putting a couple of fast thin airbrush coats on the decal sheet, at 20psi with my Paasche VL with a #3 multihead, then immediately cleaning my color cup and airbrush with the same 91% IPA, then with Acetone.  Although the instructions on the bottle say to wait 15 minutes, I waited 24 hours, and the decals worked really great, with very little discernible decal film visible on my smooth, glossy tank car's surfaces after cutting close to the lettering with a fresh #11 scalpel blade and a couple of applications of Micro Sol (red) about 8 hours after the decal had dried using Micro Set (blue) when initially positioning and letting dry.

Photo (4) - Before Micro Sol:


Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore



EDITED - for clarity

[Dave V]

Got the very first track in place on my layout. This is the crossover just outside the west entrance to East Wayne yard.



Feeders and 2 Tortoises (under the layout) in place.  The blue flag is masking tape to remind me to eventually trim the turnout actuating wire.  The lower right turnout will lead to industrial trackage.

I'm curious if you did anything to those Atlas turnouts to increase their robustness/reliability?

[nickelplate759]

I'm curious if you did anything to those Atlas turnouts to increase their robustness/reliability?

Mechanically, no.  They're pretty fragile.  I dropped one today on the concrete floor and broke one of the point hinges, for example.  Expensive stuff to break so easily!

Electrically, I'm going for redundancy - Soldering turnouts to adjacent track that has feeders, and dropping some feeders from the turnouts themselves.    I'm not doing anything for the points, primarily because I haven't been able to solder feeders to them without otherwise destroying the turnout.

I'm also testing each one as it gets wired up and installed.  Haven't got a bad one recently, but I have in the past.

[Mike Madonna]

Robert,

Thanks for the (as usual) detailed explanation on the spline and decal film. My plan is to use spline as a sub-roadbed. I'd feel better operating big Steam with that set up. I believe it also allows for almost natural "easements" for curves and possible vertical transitions as well.
Again, appreciate the assistance!