Weekend Update 9/16/12

[Ian MacMillan]

Nothing train related this week. Spend most of it working.

I did get a chance to go out and ride today to benefit a fellow NH officer, Marc Cilley. Marc was recently diagnosed with testicular cancer. We had about 300 bikes and the cool weather may have turned way some...damn fair weather bikers!

[Bsklarski]

Well I guess I should start to contribute. Spend the last couple days off and on laying track and trying to fit what I wanted on the layout. Its a 4x8. There will be an oval shaped scenic  divider in the middle to keep down on open empty space, and keep the weight down. Also keeps the amount of money I need to spend to scenic that space. I plan on hiding some staging in there.

Anyone who knows the Boston and Maine Conn River between Holyoke Mass and Northampton Mass, will see what I am trying to do here. The coal plant is on the wrong side of the main on the layout. There is a connection that is there, not glued in yet, that is the old connection to Easthampton Mass. This branch now is a bike trail. The coal plant is a mock up until I figure out what I want to compress and model.



The other side of the layout will be Holyoke itself with the canals and all the cut stone walls. I figure the canal, being laid with the infamous floor tile stones, should take about 45 years to make. Pardon the mess in the back, thats the old HO layout that is slowly coming down. 

[nkalanaga]

Ed:  Dairy Rd looks like southeast Washington after a winter or early spring sandstorm.  I know, that's not what you're modeling, but it actually looks like home!  I've seen sand drifted against tracks, sidewalks, buildings, etc just like that.

[robert3985]

I know Kato recently announced the E5 but I just finished an A-B set from resin shells on Life-Like mechanisms. Of interest is that I visited IRM today and rode behind 9911A in the Nebraska Zephyr. I snagged the last parlor car seat in the observation. Sweet ride !!!

What??? Just LOOK at the wrong curvature on the nose!!  I'm SURE that it's at least 1.276 scale inches too SHORT, and my micrometer eyeball tells me unfallibly that the window contour is completely WRONG WRONG!!! (at least on the engineer side!)....OOOPS!  This isn't THAT thread!!  I forgot...

Seriously...well Bill...another excellent job (as usual).  They surely are a beautiful pair of engines and your work is enviable.  I'll be anxiously awaiting seeing photos of them on the modules!

Cheers!
Bob Gilmore

[up1950s]

Nothing train related this week. Spend most of it working.

I did get a chance to go out and ride today to benefit a fellow NH officer, Marc Cilley. Marc was recently diagnosed with testicular cancer. We had about 300 bikes and the cool weather may have turned way some...damn fair weather bikers!

Ian , have you heard that the drag strip in Epping next year will be part of the NHRA circuit . I think I remember that you lived , or worked there . Should be a ticket field day for a half a week .  http://www.nhra.com/story/story.aspx?F_y=2012&F_m=8&F_d=29&CustomURL=2013-schedule&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

[Ike the BN Freak]

Being my weekends are Tuesday-Thursday, its odd posting during my work week.  Well, last weekend, got one of my Ntrak module blanks I've had for 2+ years now out of storage and built up the "land" in the back for a mountain line.  This next weekend hoping to lay cork and track, have a "unfinished" module ready for the fall show to show the public a "basic" module.

[Bsklarski]

Being my weekends are Tuesday-Thursday, its odd posting during my work week.  Well, last weekend, got one of my Ntrak module blanks I've had for 2+ years now out of storage and built up the "land" in the back for a mountain line.  This next weekend hoping to lay cork and track, have a "unfinished" module ready for the fall show to show the public a "basic" module.

Good excuse for a "Midweek Update" thread!! Im in!

[Philip H]

No picx - the Nikon point-and-shoot had a high speed floor encounter this weekend - but I got 5  more cars out of bad order and into service. Speaking of which, Bryan Bussey - do you have prototype are on the Davidson Cracking Catalysts 50ft ACF cylendrical hopper ESM did?  I got one form you in the two fer sale, and I need to weather it appropriately.

Also started layout the track for the second and third layout segments.  Looks like I'll have enough code 55 flex, but may need to rethink a couple of turnouts.

[Ian MacMillan]

Ian , have you heard that the drag strip in Epping next year will be part of the NHRA circuit . I think I remember that you lived , or worked there . Should be a ticket field day for a half a week .  http://www.nhra.com/story/story.aspx?F_y=2012&F_m=8&F_d=29&CustomURL=2013-schedule&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

I did not know that. I grew up and lived in Epping until 2007. I now live about 1.5 - 2 hrs north in the White Mountains region in Ossipee. I like the scenery better!

Good excuse for a "Midweek Update" thread!! Im in!

My days off are Sun-Wed so I am game for that!

Layout is looking good Brian. Get those canals done!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Recovering from the GTE show this weekend.
Lots of fun but lots of driving for me (it was an hour away, except for Friday afternoon when it took two hours going 10 mph to get home).
Since our last show at the Hiller Aviation Museum in April, we've added another return loop, a yard, and about four new members' worth of modules, so this weekend we were able to have over 120 feet of continuous running (double that if you include going back as one circuit).

Here's the video:

More picts in the layout engineering report.

Woot!

[seusscaboose]

no modelling for me this weekend... in the world of 1:1 I changed the Westinghouse Air Brake Cylinder on a PRR B60M getting ready to get moved for restoration...

If you ever want a workout, try hoisting one up and replacing it whilst one your knees...  felt like a hundred pounds deadlifting it...

good news is...  i worked smarter not harder and used some stepboxes and otherstuff to support it...

end of the day...  we charged the car with air and released it and the brakes actually set and released and held the charge as it should...  now the car can be moved to another siding where some final work can be performed in preperation for the move over NS.

minor miracles.

the cool part of the day was rewiring the electrical box... where i traced the ceiling lights and then wired up a plug on the end of it...  then i ran an exention cord from a portable generator to the plug...  plugged it in (after changing the lightbulbs) and heaven to betsy.. the old wiring still worked!    so... lights in the baggage car... at least temporarily... until we can update the wire to code...

sent a chill up my spine...

EP

EP

[mark dance]

I had a couple of Railwire visitors this weekend.  On Saturday Tim ("BCR 570") dropped by and took same photos that hopefully will one day make there way into publication.  And on Sunday Simon ("Sirtainly") dropped by with his video car and attending rolling stock.







We spent a pleasant few hours struggling with radio interference - likely from the DCC radio system -  and riding along with the locos!  Boy, camera cars are great ways to spot things that need to be fixed (like leaning buildings and snowsheds).  Simon's 4 wheel camera car does a very good job of causing the camera image to follow the track but it also does a good job of finding any track imperfections! I will publish the video to Youtube shortly then send out the link on a C&W thread should anyone be interested riding over the Boundary sub in N scale.


md

[FEC Railway]

Spent an ungodly amount of money at the Temple Texas train show this weekend...caught an SD9-3 switching before I got there.  two more weeks and im leaving Texas for Columbus, GA!

[bbussey]

I'm late to the party, but I got some GG1 etchings today and I'm traveling next week and didn't want to wait two weeks to post.  CR 4885, a stock Kato unit with the PC markings removed, just needed the hatch.  CR 4891, a Kato PRR 5-stripe with all of the printing removed, was one of the Conrail ex-PRR Broadband Gs and needed a few additional details.  The Broadband plate over the air intake on CR 4885 was made the conventional way with styrene and putty filler, before I realized I could etch it along with the other detail parts.  The upper air intakes are the smaller more sleek version, as I didn't see how to credibly recreate the larger bulky version that Kato is doing on their American Railroads limited run.  The numberboards were shortened to accommodate them.  I'll mask off and spray the hatches, while hand-painting the other details.  My only hurdle now is putting together suitable decals for 4891.  The digits in the Microscale PRR GG1 set are too small and lacking in variety, and numbers from their other PRR sets are a different shade of imitation gold.  And I believe the markings should be a buff color anyway.

[sizemore]

Recovering from a Bachelor party (not mine) in Miami....




The S.