Weekend Update 11/27/11

[chessie system fan]

Here's what I've been working on.  This Reading boxcar is about halfway finished.  It started life as a Fox Valley SOO boxcar.



Not everything has to have a cat slapped on it in my world.

[Ian MacMillan]

I'm a new guy so I can't post pics here yet, but here's a link to my latest photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pwnjrr/6409323195/

Sure ya can. There is no restriction on posting photos. (You just cant post them as attachments)
How to if you need it;
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=23890.0

[sizemore]

Nothing much for me this week. Finished assembling the steps on B&O wagon top caboose, should be headed to paint this week (of no parts get fed to the great carpet monster). Wrapped up the wiring on the other 2-8-8-2 sitting in the Skunkwerks stable. Also had an epiphany (thanks to Lee) on Super-Berk Número Dos. Still looking for some Bachmann Heavy Mtn headlights if anyone has'em floating in their parts bins.

The S.

[pwnj]

Sure ya can. There is no restriction on posting photos. (You just cant post them as attachments)
How to if you need it;
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=23890.0

Thanks for the link, but that's what I tried before and the forum software kept crapping out on me.  Once I removed the image link code, it worked fine.  I'll try again right here:



Bingo, works fine now. Go figure.  Thanks Ian!

[seusscaboose]

nice

[Zox]

Nothing photogenic for me this week; just infrastructure work on three of my modules (the loop, the Kankakee bridge, and the just-started Kankakee station).

• Did an inspection of the loop module, since it felt a bit wobbly at the end of the last show. I ended up adding about eight screws into the frame as reinforcement. Let's just say that my woodworking standards have evolved a bit since 1998--part of the module was held together with finish nails and staples, and the Masonite top was the only thing preventing it from exploding. 
  
  
• Simplified the loop's interface wiring a bit. When we went from speaker clips to Powerpoles for inter-module wiring, I simply popped a set of Powerpole "pigtails" into the clips, which  were wired to a terminal strip, from which the wiring continued. I've now eliminated the middleman, and the "pigtails" go directly to the terminal strip.
  
  
• Added 3/4" moulding on the diagonal edges of the loop and bridge modules. These had been nothing but the edges of the 1/4" tops until now, and while it wasn't a structural issue, they didn't work well with the skirting we use at shows.
  
  
• Painted all the unpainted edges black, to meet our scenery standards.

[cv_acr]

Spent a good part of my Saturday working on this:



It is (or rather will be) a special Canadian Pacific container car outfitted to carry 5 custom 10' open-top containers for transporting copper concentrate. There were about 40 of these cars in series CP 521300-521340 in service between Ignace, ONT and Noranda, ONT via Canadian Pacific and Ontario Northland.

Modifcations of the Proto2000 kit so far include throwing away the original deck and steel weight, removing the stake pockets and other detail from the sides, building up the centre sill and crossmembers with styrene strip, filling the centre sill with lead (the car is still way underweight, but more sheet lead can be used in the floor(s) of the containers as they'll be a permanent part of the model car) and capping the centre sill.

Still to be done is finishing the truck bolsters, and building up the container bolsters and pedestals, re-adding rivet detail to the sides (Archer rivet decals), and of course building the concentrate containers themselves.

The second car in the background is another Proto2000 kit with slight modifications to the side and a replacement floor, to remove the overhang of the deck over the side sills and model the exposed bolster and draft gear cover plates in the deck of the car that existed in these old CP cars. This car will also get some new custom bulkheads.

[muktown128]

Finally got something to post this weekend.  Starting a new layout for my son.  The goal was to build a table and run trains by the end of the weekend.
Started with this yesterday afternoon.    Ended up with this last night. 
Finished up with this today.

The track is tacked down into the foam board for now to check the design and to get some trains running.  Still need to attach the foam to the HCD and install cork or foam roadbed and determine where to install gaps or insulated joiners for the blocks (using DC) assuming the track plan does not change.  I have learned a lot from following the many thread topics on the Railwire and Atlas forums.  I appreciate all of the wisdom and inspirational photos that have been posted.  Thanks!

Scott

[mark dance]

I haven't spent much time on the layout in the last couple of months...needed to get back to get some work done after all the time preparing for the Vanrail event in September. 

I have started the lattice wok on about 30' of scenery to be added in the next 6 months.  I will be working on the Slocan and Kootenay river scenes.

Other than that, I realized I didn't have a video of a trip around the whole second deck of the layout now that the scenery is done on it.  Here is the 3 scale mile trip at 30 scale miles per hour - a bit faster than the 20 that is the limit - and with no switching, thermal or brake tests.

md

[chuck geiger]

Coyote Wells, CA 9/86

[Puddington]

No trains....Sammy's first ever hockey tournament; 3 games in one day - tired child, tired daddy.... but feeling very Canadian.....The safety meeting for local Santa Claus parade, I'm the safety officer (bad cop) and of course, the 99th Grey Cup....the annual Canadian excuse to miss Sunday dinner with the family in order to eat junk food, drink beer and yell at teams you don't really care about until that game (my Sask. Roughriders sucked this year)....

[conrail98]

Nothing really photogenic for me. I cleaned up the train room some since I had dumped everything from the workshop area onto it and got stuff together to build the helix bases. Good news is I finished, for the most part, the toddler bed guardrail for my daughter (building the 3in1 for her from a Wood magazine plan) so that's going to free up some resources now,

Phil

[Guilford Guy]

I did a little bit of weathering with washes of oils, acrylics, and powders.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Chuck, I'm really digging that scene.

[chuck geiger]

Thanks Ed, paint, sift sand, dry, sandpaper, vacumm and swab mix of paint and water on it.
Then sprinkle ground cover, sparingly. I am going to redo the test area with this. The track
in this area is almost always covered with sand. The paint is a craft paint called "Linen". It
mimics the desert sand color pretty well.