Weekend Update - 2 Sept 2007

[asciibaron]

it's been a busy weekend here.  i finalized my track plan, picked up the lumber, picked up the track and turnouts, 2 Atlas Alco C-630's (w/decoders) that i will need to paint at some point, a Bowser N5 cabin car in Focal Orange, and some beekeepers for the N-Trak module.  i think i've made some progress.  now i have to work on the honey-do list this weekend and will try to get the layout started this week.

-'67 flat broke and busted

[wcfn100]

    Last night I inventoried 430 of my freight cars which included 342 MT cars.  Thank goodness for copy and paste and the MT car body database in excel.  I still have a banker's box of other manufacturers to do tonight plus a couple storage cases of cars without jewel cases or boxes.  Then I need to figure out how to inventory the cars that have been heavily altered.  Ooh, I forgot about the unbuilt kits.

I'll save the locos for another weekend along with the two boxes of stuff I need to sell.


Jason

[3rdrail]

Did a little weathering on my Atlas LIRR H15-44 No. 1509 and my Bowser LIRR cabin car as I plan to run them at the Dothan train show, among other trains. Am considering coupling my AN boxcars to them, even though they are of different eras, but probably won't.

Here's what they look like now:




BTW< I changed the date to today's date in case someone goes searching later on as this topic usually begins on Sundays.   

[tom mann]

Not much here.  I spent the week away on business, with only a little bit of time to check the forums.

[absnut]

In spite of missing the traveling we've done for two years, it is good to be back railroading.. I decided to take a little break from layout wiring, and get back to scratch-building. This station was inspired by (but not an exact copy for want of measurements and more than one photo) a turn of the century Boston and Maine station in Danbury NH. Rather than have a typical semaphore signal, I decided I had to have an old ball signal (a real test of my patience!!) However, I was pleased with the results. When I run across some better shingles, I will re-roof. Also, will need some scribed wood (or styrene) for the platform. The entire building is constructed with sheet styrene and Grandt Line windows, wire for the drains, and shingles printed off the net. The ball signal is a retired Atlas telephone pole, strip styrene, 2 lb. test fly fishing leader, four Micro-Trains brakewheels, and two beads from my wife's hobby desk. I really dreaded cutting clear acetate for all those windows but, then  I remembered I had bought some Micro Kristal Klear (Microscale) and... WOW!.. does it make great windows! A bulletin board, a few posters, couple of people, station sign, and assorted platform "stuff" will gussy it up for my layout.

[up1950s]

Still working on my latest doodlebug conversion . My brand new Sears lawnmower I bought in 1973 went toes up , lost modeling time trying to fix , then converting it into a lawn flatbed of sorts . Nothing lasts anymore .

[atsf_arizona]

Foto Fun 2007 09 01

Here's some quick grab shots during a busy Labor Day Weekend,
of a Kato Santa Fe E8, lightly weathered:





If there is anything noteworthy at all about this standard light weathering
job, it's that the A-1-A truck sideframes have been painted and weathered
to give them a little depth:



I just noticed from the photos, that I need to blacken the frame behind the portholes
with a black magic marker. 

Have a great Labor Day Weekend, all!

[John]

Working on the Atlas roundhouse ..

[asciibaron]

spent the afternoon modifying the old benchwork and building the new section.  busy weekend.





i'm looking to have the track in place in the next week or so - gotto have the bulk of the work completed before the newborn arrives in October.

-Steve

[John Burkush]

Stopped by Neal's Labor Day BBQ and sale.
Had a burger and hung out for a while; didn't buy anything.
I am waiting for the L&HR C420's from Atlas the 0-8-0 to come out.
Concord NH train show is next Sunday, will be spending there!

[wm3798]

Nothing photogenic.  I've mostly been hanging on a ladder outside scraping a century of old paint off the house.

But by scheduling an operating session for October, I have begun making a "to do" list.  A sampling includes re-building the yard throat with more forgiving turnouts, and re-engineering the subterranean return loop so that my big diesels don't hang up on the S curve.  I may also open up the one tunnel portal to allow 85 footers to make the entire main line loop.

Lee

[John]

I have begun making a "to do" list.  A sampling includes re-building the yard throat with more forgiving turnouts, and re-engineering the subterranean return loop so that my big diesels don't hang up on the S curve.  I may also open up the one tunnel portal to allow 85 footers to make the entire main line loop.

Lee

and you rag on me about changing things on the layout ... don't ever say another word about my mods

oh .. and don't fall off the ladder

[SquirrelHollow]

Did a little weathering on my Atlas LIRR H15-44 No. 1509 and my Bowser LIRR cabin car as I plan to run them at the Dothan train show, among other trains.

I've been looking forward to this show and meeting the SONTrak-ers since May, all the time, not realising I have a conflicting commitment.  I'll be 2400 miles away in Utah, enjoying some vacation time. (and the WY Prong Horn Antelope hunt )  Maybe I can get a day off for the Pensacola show in October.

[wm3798]

I have begun making a "to do" list.  A sampling includes re-building the yard throat with more forgiving turnouts, and re-engineering the subterranean return loop so that my big diesels don't hang up on the S curve.  I may also open up the one tunnel portal to allow 85 footers to make the entire main line loop.

Lee

and you rag on me about changing things on the layout ... don't ever say another word about my mods

oh .. and don't fall off the ladder

Naw.. I'm just finessing a couple things... you always start the bulldozer, then ask questions later! ;D
Lee

[Day One]

I started out by messing around w/ photoshop a bit this week.  I made about a 20 inch strip of mountain backdrop that fits into a hard to scenic area on the layout. It came out decently I think but still needs some work. I think I'll end up putting some more visible peaks into it a little lower down so that you don't just see a wall of trees. Then I'll need to paint the sky areas to match the rest of the sky.

Before:


After:


I Also got tired of looking at an old industry that I built many years ago before I had any direction (or clue) about what time period the layout would be set. The "before" industry was an old coal dealer and it was just to dated to fit into the 1985 to present time scheme of my layout. I built a mockup of some sort of factory to simply place over the top of it even tho I really don't know what kind of industry it is. Any ideas?

Before:


After: What could it be?  ???


I think I like the new industry tho it's a bit tall and blocks too much of the view into the area behind it which is under the upper level of the layout. I'll build it with a lower (possibly sloped) roofline for better access into the area behind it since it is an area where a lot of switching takes place.


I also did another mockup of another industry that again, I don't really know what it will be. I think I have the same problem here as the other one. I built it a little too tall and it blocks too much of the view into the scene behind it. I'm glad I did the mockup's first.





Finally, I finished adding a fully tied down lumber lumber load on one of my centerbeam flatcars. I like how it came out tho it was a tedious process to get it done so I don't know how many more I will do like that.



Any feeback about the industries would be great.

Hope you enjoy the pics. I need a better camera that can handle macros better.