TheRailwire
General Discussion => N and Z Scales => Topic started by: up1950s on February 14, 2020, 07:26:04 PM
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(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/14/medium_53-140220192352.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=14963)
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Altamont_Pass
https://www.american-rails.com/cz.html
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Oh, gosh... Altamont. Old stomping grounds. The tracks to the right are the SP's line between Tracy and Niles, abandoned in the late '80s. My most recent trip through Altamont was on Amtrak, believe it or not, the Coast Starlight detouring between Oakland and Los Angeles via Bakersfield while the Coast Line was shut for trackwork. No passenger service on this line now as the modern CZ runs on UP through Martinez - there were railfans everywhere when we went through.
Something I've been working on this week was polishing the DS panel for the east side of the layout:
(http://www.everywherewest.com/div_six.png)
Rail is laid and electronics except for signaling are done (thank goodness!), so this is the first fully-operational section of the railroad. Turnout control is all touch-screen on the main system. One of these days I'll learn to not run through the switches lined against me at the Cozad grain elevator. :facepalm:
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I finished up the bottling house.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/14/542-140220185709.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/14/542-140220185733.jpeg)
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Very nice!
Otto
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(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/1151-140220211941-15009212.jpeg)
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Made a huge breakthrough on my OMI brass Western Maryland Shay.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/14/medium_1277-190120160041-14434793.jpeg)
Turns out the worm bearing AND shaft were damaged and trash. Thankfully I had back-up parts and replaced them.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212321-150161443.jpeg)
I also had a coreless motor come in the mail. Bought this off ebay. It's a 7x16 mm. I was a little nervous it might not have enough torque for this application.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212314-15015410.jpeg)
Because the motor is round and has no mounting holes, I had to create a way to hold it on. a K&S brass tube was just a little too big. But I had to cut slots for the mounting tube. These just pinched the motor and worked great.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212307-15013321.jpeg)
Motor is now modular and can be removed. I use TCS micro-plugs. Up top is the decoder socket.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212236-150102304.jpeg)
As an interface, I used some old old (almost 40 years old!) u-joints from an Atlas RS-3. Much better than that tubing.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212311-150141004.jpeg)
And cut better access slots for the gears and screws.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212252-150122343.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212239-15011313.jpeg)
Bottom line- It runs! And runs great.
Oh... and the small motor?
Running it continuously for an hour wide open, it did not even get warm.
Of course, the brass enclosure I made for the motor acts as a heat sink as well.
(that also shows how much friction and binding I've been able to get rid of).
A lot of work to get this far on something that I feared was junk.
Now I'm ready to explore a sound decoder.
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Excellent work Ron!
Great choice of motor as well.
I’ve used several of them in various locomotives and all perform beautifully. You won’t run out of power with it.
Jim
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Oh, gosh... Altamont. Old stomping grounds. The tracks to the right are the SP's line between Tracy and Niles, abandoned in the late '80s. My most recent trip through Altamont was on Amtrak, believe it or not, the Coast Starlight detouring between Oakland and Los Angeles via Bakersfield while the Coast Line was shut for trackwork. No passenger service on this line now as the modern CZ runs on UP through Martinez - there were railfans everywhere when we went through.
Something I've been working on this week was polishing the DS panel for the east side of the layout:
(http://www.everywherewest.com/div_six.png)
Rail is laid and electronics except for signaling are done (thank goodness!), so this is the first fully-operational section of the railroad. Turnout control is all touch-screen on the main system. One of these days I'll learn to not run through the switches lined against me at the Cozad grain elevator. :facepalm:
I traveled that highway many, many times between Sacramento where I grew up to the
Bay Area or vice/versa.
Many times it was just to Altamont Speedway, a tremendous 1/2 mike asphalt oval with great Stockcar or USAC Sprintcar races.
It was one of my favorite trips for catching trains on the WP or SP or both.
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Made a huge breakthrough on my OMI brass Western Maryland Shay.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/14/medium_1277-190120160041-14434793.jpeg)
Turns out the worm bearing AND shaft were damaged and trash. Thankfully I had back-up parts and replaced them.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212321-150161443.jpeg)
I also had a coreless motor come in the mail. Bought this off ebay. It's a 7x16 mm. I was a little nervous it might not have enough torque for this application.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212314-15015410.jpeg)
Because the motor is round and has no mounting holes, I had to create a way to hold it on. a K&S brass tube was just a little too big. But I had to cut slots for the mounting tube. These just pinched the motor and worked great.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212307-15013321.jpeg)
Motor is now modular and can be removed. I use TCS micro-plugs. Up top is the decoder socket.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212236-150102304.jpeg)
As an interface, I used some old old (almost 40 years old!) u-joints from an Atlas RS-3. Much better than that tubing.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212311-150141004.jpeg)
And cut better access slots for the gears and screws.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212252-150122343.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1277-140220212239-15011313.jpeg)
Bottom line- It runs! And runs great.
Oh... and the small motor?
Running it continuously for an hour wide open, it did not even get warm.
Of course, the brass enclosure I made for the motor acts as a heat sink as well.
(that also shows how much friction and binding I've been able to get rid of).
A lot of work to get this far on something that I feared was junk.
Now I'm ready to explore a sound decoder.
I remember drooling over a picture of this in N Scale Magazine in 1989.
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I'm making progress on my Precision Scale Co HOn3 D&RGW short caboose kit. One advantage to having nearly 80 books and a bunch of plans on the Rio Grande, is plentiful information on the undersides of these cars. I gave it my best shot, keeping in mind that some of the brake gear would connect to the trucks on the prototype, so I had to have those dead end on the frame. In addition to some styrene and some photo etched brass chain I had on hand, I used .006", .010", .012", .015", and .019" brass rod for the details.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49527264402_11e8c6ba2a_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49527264397_703b891c9f_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49527264362_163887d02b_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49539236556_53810377ff_b.jpg)
Erik
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I finished up the bottling house.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/14/542-140220185709.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/14/542-140220185733.jpeg)
Can you tell us about your backdrop? Also did you model Big Timber MT on your layout? It’s where I grew up.
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Readied my 2 new BM70m for the railroad. Provided a matte finish to get rid of the freshly Simonized look as the cars come from Kato. Also painted some of the detail parts and highlights, and changed the road number on one of the new cars. Not a new model, but these cars are really well done and nicely engineered.
As it comes from Kato. A bit shiny for my taste.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/1350-150220180839-150282295.jpeg)
The two new cars with light weathering and one car renumbered:
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/1350-150220180836-150211678.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/1350-150220180835-150211951.jpeg)
A car from the first run with more weathering:
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/1350-150220180838-150281418.jpeg)
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(http://www.candida-yeast-problems.com/stuff/Brookville-end of line.jpg)
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Finished up some GHQ cars today. Nothing special but it was fun painting them. I found a technique to do chrome trim rings as you can see on the "woody". I found a piece of brass tubing that was the right diameter, brushed some chrome silver enamel paint on a scrap of styrene, dipped the tubing in it and basically made a stamp. To my surprise it worked quite well.
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I resolved the switch machine gremlins i've been having with my Octo III servo board. If only i had not skipped the part of the manual that talked about range jumpers!
I also finished weathering these two roundhouse reefers. These were mostly done with oil paints. I also body mounted some MTL medium shank couplers on them.
[attachimg=1]
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Please tell me more about your Octo III gremlins, and how you solved them. I have been having trouble with setting drift and am hoping you found something that will help me.
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Please tell me more about your Octo III gremlins, and how you solved them. I have been having trouble with setting drift and am hoping you found something that will help me.
I would set the end points and everything would seem ok, then I would toggle the switch once or twice and it wouldn't quite close the switch. Then when i went back in to the manual align mode for that servo it would remember where it was supposed to be. Auto align wasn't any better. Most of my servos seemed to work OK but it wasn't as reliable as it should have been. I thought maybe my servo mounts were moving under the layout as the servos were press-fit into the aluminum channel i was using.
It turns out that I had the R2 jumper in place (maybe from the factory) and that locks the servo motion into a specific range around center. It doesn't matter what you do for auto-align or manual align if you have a range jumper set. It will let you attempt to set the end points but if the jumper is in place they won't have any effect.
I had gotten mixed up with the range jumpers and dcc address ranges and kept skipping that part in the manual. It turns out that there is nothing to do with DCC on the octo III. Thats all on the octocoder.
Now that I have removed the R2 jumper and manually set my endpoints everything has been solid. I didn't try the auto-align, but I bet it would have worked as well.
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More progress on the twin trailer flat car scratchbuilds - side sill assemblies now ready for installation:
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/1731-160220014543-150351825.jpeg)
More in the build thread,
Tim
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Work continues on my Conrail snow removal fleet. With the Russells done, the Leslie near completion, work starts ramping up on the flanger.
Conrail either ordered or modified a small fleet of these flangers between 1978 and 1980. These may be based on the International Car Corp bay window caboose, but I can not be sure. They certainly look like an ICC minus the bay windows and on stilts. And that is pretty much the construction process here. I started with a Walthers car and pretty much stripped everything from it. New end platforms built from styrene strip was added. The plow stacks were scratch built from whatever I had laying around. Blades are brass sheet. Not totally happy with them, but they are probably passable. The center floor section with the plow stacks can be removed for lighting in the future.
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
[attachimg=4]
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It was a steamy weekend here at my apartment (and it had nothing to do with Valentine's Day). Inspired by @randgust 's D16 thread and @wm3798 's vintage tinkering, I went about a theoretical steam kitbash that I had been sitting on for a while; placing the old Bachmann 2-8-0 shell on the newer (well, first run spectrum) 2-8-0 to create a passable Reading I10sa. Do I really need them? No. Did I have all the parts on hand? Yes. So let there be Steam.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/3367-160220075036.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=15037)
Both engines lined up; the first one I did up front, the second in the back.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/3367-160220075136.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=15038)
Overall side view of unit number one.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/3367-160220075208.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=15039)
Front-end view of unit number one.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/3367-160220075255.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=15040)
Front-end view of unit number two. Notice the front handrails are intact, which was not the case with the other (hence why I experimented on it first). May replace these with wire and add them to the other one.
And inspired by @Ron Bearden 's recent Shay adventures, I worked on mine a little to correct a lean in the tender, and hopefully the issue of the driveshaft slipping out of it's coupling.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/3367-160220075559.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=15041)
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Can you tell us about your backdrop? Also did you model Big Timber MT on your layout? It’s where I grew up.
The backdrop is from one of the online backdrop places. I can't remember which one. It was described as Montana and it looks like the Bridger Mountains to me (you would know better). It was purchased for another small layout that I did a few years a go and I have just pinned it up behind this scene. Big Timber? No. My scenes will be Missoula, Bonner/Milltown, Fish Creek, and Silver Bow Canyon for now.
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Many times it was just to Altamont Speedway, a tremendous 1/2 mike asphalt oval with great Stockcar or USAC Sprintcar races.
It was one of my favorite trips for catching trains on the WP or SP or both.
I hadn't thought about USAC sprint car races in years. When I was a kid my Dad would take me to sprint car and super modified (when they still looked like sprint cars) events all over OH and Western PA. He was an avid race fan. Fun times.
I'm in awe of your Shay rebuild Ron. I need to muster the patience I have for scratchbuilding structures into effort towards making locos run better. Someday soon I hope.
Speaking of scratchbuilding: Not much work on General Tire recently. In the minutes available here and there I got the rear entrance to the old admin building assembled and ready for paint. I have no idea how it actually looked but this will do.
Steve
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/855-160220104653.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=15042)
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Hey Steve - really nice job on the back of the admin building - details like this really matter. What did you use for the steps? They look rather finely detailed. The railings look like etched brass, and the small styrene pieces you cut go together beautifully! Really nice job. Bob
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I’m almost done scenery on the Rutherford Creek module. Just some trees and wild flowers left.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/2507-160220134353.jpeg)
Craig
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That mop bucket in the background looks like it's catching all the overflowing water. :D
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That "Missoula" backdrop does look more like the hills along the Yellowstone Valley, such as Big Timber, than like Missoula.
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Thanks Bob. The stairs are Gold Medal Models #160-35. The railings, GMM 160-59. GMM 160-34 also would work for the railings. I've had these sets for years and am finally getting to use them. The post and bracing are Evergreen HO 2x2 strip. I used my trusty x-y cutter to make the landing as a sandwich so that it looks like a channel frame, and keyed off of those parts, a pattern to use to cut the roof from styrene so that the posts line up, roof to landing. It worked pretty well.
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Worked on detailing the river banks, getting ready to pour the gloss medium. Still have to finish detailing the other bank. The hill in the background is a work in progress. I raised it with Stryrofoam blocks. It will be covered with Sculptamold, painted, and details. The track for this branch is Kato Unitrack. I'll either go over the molded ballast with a wash or try adding a thin layer of ballast to remove the "shine".
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Got a new bench and some Hobbyzone storage modules.
[attachimg=1][attachimg=2][attachimg=3]
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That "Missoula" backdrop does look more like the hills along the Yellowstone Valley, such as Big Timber, than like Missoula.
Oh, for sure. This is tacked back there for lack of anything else at this point. A proper backdrop will be done at some point.
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Finished up a fantasy SD40 for Maryland and Pennsylvania. May I present, in Horribly Oversized scale, Ma&Pa #3000
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/2695-160220201151.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=15055)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/2695-160220201221.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=15056)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/2695-160220201240.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=15057)
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That mop bucket in the background looks like it's catching all the overflowing water. :D
That’s funny. I hadn’t noticed that. Actually the water is flowing from the mop bucked towards the camera. That’s why it’s so grey.
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There is so much great modelling this week.
@Dave V , that scenery is amazing. @u18b , the WM shay is inspiring, @BCR 570 i can’t wait to this car complete.
Really, EVERYONE here is inspiring. Keep up the great work.
Craig
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Added ripples to my river this week using gloss Modge Podge. I'm pretty happy with how they came out. Not sure if I will follow it up with WS water effects to add additional larger ripples in areas or just stop while I'm ahead. Here's some pics of my progress.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/2390-160220210001-150611767.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/2390-160220205959-150601900.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/2390-160220205954-150581631.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/2390-160220205956-150592440.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/2390-160220205952-150491378.jpeg)
As always, thanks for looking!
David
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Awesome @davidgray1974 ! Thanks @craigolio1 !
Here are two more for me this weekend. One is Rico on the HOn3 RGS and the other is the current state of the N scale Colorado Midland.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1151-160220211725-150621481.jpeg)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/15/medium_1151-160220211724-15062911.jpeg)
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@davidgray1974 I’d call it good and move on.
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Here are two more for me this weekend. One is Rico on the HOn3 RGS and the other is the current state of the N scale Colorado Midland.
Awesome Dave. You're officially a Coloradan when you move here, and build not one, but two Colorado themed layouts. Your work continues to inspire!
Erik
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Here are two more for me this weekend. One is Rico on the HOn3 RGS and the other is the current state of the N scale Colorado Midland.
Spectaular! Well Done! 8) 8) 8)
Ed
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Added ripples to my river this week using gloss Modge Podge. I'm pretty happy with how they came out. Not sure if I will follow it up with WS water effects to add additional larger ripples in areas or just stop while I'm ahead. Here's some pics of my progress.
As always, thanks for looking!
David
Some of the best realistic Appalachian creek modeling I've seen to date.
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(http://www.candida-yeast-problems.com/stuff/Brookville-end of line.jpg)
So hot.
Weird URL though. What's up with that?
Finished up a fantasy SD40 for Maryland and Pennsylvania. May I present, in Horribly Oversized scale, Ma&Pa #3000
That's so wrong, but yet, so right.Added ripples to my river this week using gloss Modge Podge. I'm pretty happy with how they came out. Not sure if I will follow it up with WS water effects to add additional larger ripples in areas or just stop while I'm ahead. Here's some pics of my progress.
As always, thanks for looking!
David
Do you, uhh, wanna come do that in HARD coal country? Asking for a friend...
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So hot.
Weird URL though. What's up with that?
I store the images on a business server.
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Thanks DaveV and Smike! Appreciate it!
Do you, uhh, wanna come do that in HARD coal country? Asking for a friend...
Got anything available in LOG JAMMING country?
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Ed's logs only jam toilets. Bah Doom TIS.
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It was a steamy weekend here at my apartment (and it had nothing to do with Valentine's Day). Inspired by @randgust 's D16 thread and @wm3798 's vintage tinkering, I went about a theoretical steam kitbash that I had been sitting on for a while; placing the old Bachmann 2-8-0 shell on the newer (well, first run spectrum) 2-8-0 to create a passable Reading I10sa. Do I really need them? No.
I do. Nice! I haven't gotten around to doing mine yet.
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Oh, gosh... Altamont. Old stomping grounds. The tracks to the right are the SP's line between Tracy and Niles, abandoned in the late '80s. My most recent trip through Altamont was on Amtrak, believe it or not, the Coast Starlight detouring between Oakland and Los Angeles via Bakersfield while the Coast Line was shut for trackwork. No passenger service on this line now as the modern CZ runs on UP through Martinez - there were railfans everywhere when we went through.
...
You might be please to be reminded that the Altamont Commuter Express presently runs this line six days a week.
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You might be please to be reminded that the Altamont Commuter Express presently runs this line six days a week.
Ah! Thanks, my bad. ACE wasn't on my radar when I lived in Belmont in 2005. A whole lot wasn't... life situation interfered with railfanning. I was mostly perplexed why the SP commuter trains weren't running Trainmasters any more. :rolleyes:
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That mop bucket in the background looks like it's catching all the overflowing water. :D
The mops look like they have been used recently . :(
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@davidgray1974 I’d call it good and move on.
I would call it spectacular and drool on .
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Modutrak set up at the South Central Wi. division NMRA show in Madison, Wisconsin last weekend. Captured a few of the trains we ran, but not nearly as many as I should have
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Rick-
Who was that handsome guy that you I saw next to you in the dome of the Silver Solarium??
Charlie Vlk
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That double deck bridge scene is da bomb!
Thanks for posting.
Otto K.
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That double deck bridge scene is da bomb!
I got a good photo of it in 2014.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3692/12911229823_dbe6d77410_o.jpg)
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So, Over the last 2 weeks or so, I have been working like a madman on my "Deep Woods" module. I have made tons of progress, and I feel that it's done enough to make a public Debut. This is only the 2nd piece of scenery I have been able to "finish" to a point where I feel that it looks like something. Pending approval by the MRNS Electrical, scenery, and track comitee, It MIGHT be in the layout at the show. We will see. I started to plant trees this afternoon, after finishing the wiring and painting the backdrop. My orginial plan was to use bottle brush trees as filler, and make better trees, Most likely Furnace filter trees, for the foreground. I got the bottle brush trees I had on hand planted, and I'm not sure I like it. For the moment, They are going to stay. But I think I may end up just making all the trees from scratch, to get the look I am looking for.
Anyways, Here is some pictures. No pictures of it's "Final state." If it gets the nod, and approval, then I will take some overall pictures....... Oh, and I still have to make the Hobo Camp :-)
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
[attachimg=4]
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Got my LA Union Station backdrops reprinted in better proportion, I think. More on my Los Angeles Division layout engineering thread.
Otto K.
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Wow Otto, that looks awesome!!
Wolf
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Thanks Wolf! Better photos, taken with my wife’s iPhone 10.
Otto
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Wow Otto, that looks awesome!!
Wolf
I second that!!!
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Third!