Seaboard Central 2.0

[davefoxx]

The 4th post down on this page from "Harsco" shows how he does his track without any air brush or rattle cans and uses a mix of woodland scenic ballast and grout:

http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=40209&whichpage=7

I've seen his layout in person and it looks really good,

Phil

Well, one chief advantage is not polluting the house with spray paint fumes.  But, I'll stick to the method that I started with.  Hopefully, any difficult angles of shooting paint, resulting in missing a spot here or there will not be visible from most viewing angles.

Thanks,
DFF

[Ed Kapuscinski]

You know Dave, I'm sure I owe you some ballasting time for all the benchwork work... shoot me an email and we can work out a time.

[davefoxx]

You know Dave, I'm sure I owe you some ballasting time for all the benchwork work... shoot me an email and we can work out a time.

Ed,

You're welcome to come up anytime.  However, instead of wasting time ballasting, which I can do, I would much prefer a tutorial on JMRI, which I really don't know much about.  I've got JMRI downloaded to my Mac and my smartphone up and running as a throttle, but I don't really know how to use JMRI much beyond that.  That's where I could really use some help.

DFF

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Sure!

Shoot me an email with some times you'll be available in the next few weeks.

[davefoxx]

Sure!

Shoot me an email with some times you'll be available in the next few weeks.

Will do.  We've got family obligations this weekend and next weekend, but maybe we can get together the weekend before Eric's next ops session in March.  Saturday afternoons and Sundays should be fine for me.

DFF

[davefoxx]

While at my parents' house this afternoon, I came across my small 2' x 3' layout that I built several years ago after I gave the Virginia Central away and needed something to work on and run trains.  Due to the track plan's shape, I called that layout the "peanut," just like Ed calling his former layout the "kidney."



That layout was nothing special, except for one custom curved turnout that Chris333 built for me with 10" and 8" radii!!!  I had given this little layout to my nephew a couple of years ago, but, clearly, he had never used and abandoned it in my parents' garage.  I had long lamented giving that custom turnout away and actually had a spot on my current layout where I could have used it.  So, when I saw it today . . . opportunity!  I cut the curved turnout out of the layout, scrapped the rest, and brought it home for use on the Seaboard Central.  Here's the turnout in its former home:



Here's where it resides now:



It took a bit of work to safely cut the turnout from the old layout, remove the roadbed and ballast, and clean it up.  I ended up having to strip the turnout back to the bare rails and PC ties.  But, since I had some wood turnout ties on hand, not a problem.  The new turnout creates a double-ended siding similar to the tracks that the prototype A&R has in Aberdeen.  It can also be used as a runaround, a place to store freight cars and cabooses, or for delivery to an industry in town that's adjacent to the track.  Like the prototype, this siding will be buried mostly in grass.

Here's a closer shot of the turnout.  The "peanut" gave its life, so that this turnout could live.


There's still work to do.  I need to mount a slide switch to throw the points, and, of course, there's replacing ties at rail joints, paint, and ballast.  Unfortunately, I'm out of spots on my three Hex Frog Juicers, so there's no way to power the frog . . . for now.

A special shout out goes to Chris333 for his superb trackwork.  Considering what this turnout went through to be transplanted, it's clear that Chris' work is top notch and rugged.  Thanks again, Chris!

DFF

[Chris333]

Whoa, that is awesome that thing is still kickin'. I might have to use your testimonial in my next infomercial.   

[davefoxx]

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!  I'll be there for the taping.

[davefoxx]

A little bit of ballast on the SBD mainline.  It's still drying.  I tried 70% isopropyl alcohol this time as a wetting agent.  It seemed to work better than wet water, but, boy, does it stink if you get up close.  Whoo!



Slow progress on the Seaboard Central, but it's better than nothing.

DFF

[jpec]

Dave,
Have you seen the new stuff Scenic Express sells as a wetting agent? I'm no chemist but darned if the stuff doesn't look and smell like windshield washer fluid or some variant of it. I've used it the last few work sessions at John Drye's as both a wetting agent and part of the 50/50 mix in the glue and it works great...I might try some washer fluid and see if I get the same results...

Jeff

[Rich_S]

Dave, The layout looks great. I've been using 70% isopropyl alcohol for awhile now and agree it works great. It also has the side benefit of clearing the sinuses 

[Ian MacMillan]

Ive been using 70% alcohol for over 10 years now and wont use anything else. Works great and its cheap.

[DKS]

Ive been using 70% alcohol for over 10 years now and wont use anything else. Works great and its cheap.

+1

Plus, I've since found it's unnecessary to spray it on. I just use an eyedropper, and dribble it on, holding the dropper very close to the surface. It doesn't disturb the ballast.

[Chris333]

The way I Dullcote everything I have to watch out with spraying alcohol around. When I did the coal around my trestle I tried to use straight water and it wasn't soaking in. So I used alcohol and the whole trestle turned white because I Dullcoted it. Good thing is re-Dullcoting it instantly brings back the color. Guess I just worry...

[Greyryder]

I use matte medium (Podge Podge) and it has an odd reaction with alcohol.