Weekend Update 9/4/11

[seusscaboose]

For those locals...  cut out the center area of my staging, essentially doing the  final prep for Sunnyside.  This includes tightening up some loose wires, sanding and painting some surfaces, and then eyeballing some right of ways and grades.  Timeline looks like maybe next weekend for the actual plywood to be laid.

[rogergperkins]

I have rearranged the buildings in the area many times; I am very glad I did not glue them in place, it would have made the job more difficult.

The current arrangement fell into place after I modified the track to create enough space between the trestle and the siding to the grain elevator to allow for placement of the depot.   Only after looking at that change for several weeks, did it occur to me that I could cut some Funky Foam to fit the area.  This essentially equates to having applied "asphalt" over the entire area.  I then tried several arrangements for the buildings and once I found one I liked, I drew the roads on the Funky Foam and painted them with Polly S Tarnish Black paint.  The next step was to decide where I wanted grass and I painted those areas with an interior latex paint that I had mixed in an earth color.  I applied static grass while the paint was damp.
The "final" touch was parking the vehicles.  I said "final" because the scene still lacks signs and figures.

[TrainCat2]

What are they loading at that industry there Bob? Cement?

As posted by SD452XR, Perferred Sands loads silica. Wilson Manufacturing gave me a list of loading and unloading facilities they erected that I could view on my trip to/from the NTS. This was the best looking ones that was suited for etched brass. Wilson had indicated that this design is also being used for other purposes (cement, potash, clays, etc), though this one was the closest one I could get to to get some good pics.

[dwyaneward]

Not a lot of progress since my last post to the weekend Update's.

This weekend I completed my diode-matrix board for the staging turnout control.

 

[coosvalley]

Decaled an Atlas GP7 in the patch scheme Guilford started to paint some units in during the early 1980s. Weathering is next.

Well, at least it's not dark grey....Seriously, though, I can't wait to see it weathered. Nice job.

 I painted some units into MEC yellow and green...

[ednadolski]

Picked up a Digitrax SDN144K1E sound decoder to try out.   Now I gotta go learn how to mill a 13mm hole in the bottom of an SD40-2 frame....

Ed

[atsf_arizona]

Here's my contributions for this week:



Hope you had a good Labor Day weekend, too!:



That's my N in the front, HO on the Free-Mo track:



Thx very much to the NorCal Free-Mo folks for having me for your Labor Day BBQ today.  Wonderful time.

Have a good and safe remaining Labor Day weekend. 

[rogergperkins]

Last week Kato offered a Labor Day special on selected ones of their E-8 engines.  I could not resist the Baltimore & Ohio one.  I count myself very lucky because I ordered one and within an hour or so looked again and they were all sold out.
The engine arrived about two days from when I ordered it.  The box contained:
one mechanism, one front truck, one rear truck, one B&O body shell and four undec body shells, plus some other assorts parts.
I did not currently own any Kato E-8 engines so I had no finished model to use as a guide for assembly.
The fun began!
I cautiously installed the trucks into the mechanism and tested that much to see if it ran.  Yes, success (I thought).  Then I puzzled over how to install the body shell and get the coupler through the pilot hole. Duh!  I had the front truck on the back of the mechanism and visa versa.     Okay, I corrected that error.
Now the engine was assembled to test again and ran fine!
I set about installing the pilot coupler, but even though I had some MTL assembled couplers in my inventory and one seemed to fit, I could not get the Kato piece provided to hold the coupler securely.
After exchanging e-mails with a helpful forum member n-scaler,  I opened one of the undec body shells to discover it had a part that was missing from my B&O shell.   I used it and now I have an functioning engine.

[Bsklarski]

Well, at least it's not dark grey....Seriously, though, I can't wait to see it weathered. Nice job.

 I painted some units into MEC yellow and green...

Thank you tons. This is the first time I am doing anything in the train front as far as painting and stuff, hopefully the years of building model airplanes will roll over into the train world. I need to find my B&M decals so I can decal a Caboose. I like the U18. Looks like you have a few units in MEC. I might keep the other Gp7 in normal MEC paint. I always liked that scheme against the fall colors.

Brian

[Bsklarski]

Well, at least it's not dark grey....Seriously, though, I can't wait to see it weathered. Nice job.

 I Also found this:

/>
thats not you is it??

[coosvalley]

I wish that was me, but I have not yet made the plunge into DCC .....

I have seen pics of the unit you are modeling, and you nailed it....

OH, and its actually a pair of U18Bs.....

The rest of my fleet can be seen here:

http://www.n-scaler.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=35

[Bsklarski]

I love that B&M NW2. I could use a few of them. Holyoke had some to switch the piggy back operation there into the 1980s. I know they used SW's too

Brian

[Guilford Guy]

Richie, it's nice to see that come together after many weekend updates.

Brian, I've never seen that paint scheme modeled before, very cool!

I started in on a craftsman coach kit that I'm modifying into a fictitious business car. I've made a good amount of progress in my downtime, helped by a campus store that stocks rubber cement, CA, several X-Acto Blades, and Artists supplies useful for painting and weathering.

[mcjaco]

Finally got back to some modeling this weekend.  Working on a BNSF GP30.

[Smike]

Bagged and tagged.
First time using decals. These things are the perfect canvas. I can see why hardly a single one goes without tags on the rails.