Weekend Update 10/27/13

[tehachapifan]

Ed, you mistakenly posted a video of the real loop!

Amazing work

[PGE-N°2]

Turning the HOMER "flyunder"...

This is a really good illustration of your sub-roadbed construction. Thank you.

[Chris333]

After bashing the Walther Vulcan Mfg for the industrial layout I decided to put the same kit on my "real" layout. Just mocked up:


And I started chopping up the sides:

The real news in I went into the basement and did something 

[kelticsylk]

Finished ANTIS, well the track anyway...The interlocking is a future project. Ran a test train and was pretty happy with the results...

The two Baldwin's on the headend haul a half mile of mixed freight up the 2% grade to Bennington. The train stalls on the 3% grade of The Slide. Normally this would be downhill but with the helix out of commission trains end up running uphill.

[mu26aeh]

I got a door made for my case this week. Now I'm deciding whether I need light bars all the way across the top row or not. The light in there is a Sylvania 4 bulb battery powered LED. I can get 4 across there and turn them so the light hits the back of case. Of course now with the glass front, I have a reflection from the stair wall showing. It's only a 4' walkway there.

[nkalanaga]

Mark:  I like that M&StL passenger train.  It looks almost "narrow gauge" compared to most N scale.

Ont suggestion, if you're looking for improvements, would be MT Z/Nn3 couplers.  That would close the gap between the cars, and the old equipment looks better with smaller couplers.  From experience 50 ft cars with body mounted 903/905 couplers will take 10 inch radius curves if the track is good, and have no objections at all to 12 inch radius.  As long as all of the cars are the same length, with the same truck spacing, the real limit is corner contact and wheel-draft gear interference. 

These results are with Nn3 cars, so wheel-draft gear interference would be less of an issue in standard gauge.  My passenger cars have enough room for the draft gear between the end of the platform and the wheels that interference isn't a problem, and yours look like they do as well.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Phil isn't the only person resurrecting a portion of the old WM.

After spending some time at the Timonium show today I was inspired to get working on the yard. So that's what I did.

My first priority was getting some of the tracks repaired, which I achieved.

It looks like I'm making good progress in this photo...



But not so much in this one.



That then allowed me to do some work under the layout to add a set of Kato unitrack plugs (it's what I've used for the other layout too) to connect in a DCC system or an analog throttle. This allowed me to run some interloping light power back and forth to try out the repaired tracks.

The Chessie visitors posed with some CR power at the north end of the yard. The Chessie power is sitting on the utility track, and the CR engines are on one of the A/D tracks.

[Leggy]

While I was up on the ladder installing the camera, one of the Google street view cars drove by. Who knows - maybe I'll be captured for posterity. Or, considering the angle they were at, more like posterior.

Posteriority?

[spookshow]

Mark:  I like that M&StL passenger train.  It looks almost "narrow gauge" compared to most N scale.

Ont suggestion, if you're looking for improvements, would be MT Z/Nn3 couplers.  That would close the gap between the cars, and the old equipment looks better with smaller couplers.  From experience 50 ft cars with body mounted 903/905 couplers will take 10 inch radius curves if the track is good, and have no objections at all to 12 inch radius.  As long as all of the cars are the same length, with the same truck spacing, the real limit is corner contact and wheel-draft gear interference. 

These results are with Nn3 cars, so wheel-draft gear interference would be less of an issue in standard gauge.  My passenger cars have enough room for the draft gear between the end of the platform and the wheels that interference isn't a problem, and yours look like they do as well.

Thanks, I may do that someday. I got rid of the truck-mounted Rapidos on the Bachmann cars in favor of chassis-mounted MT's, so swapping in something else would be pretty simple.

Cheers,
-Mark

[tom mann]

I had the opportunity to get up close to some hoppers under the patient, watchful eye of Brian (RockGP40).  I got almost 200 reference shots, and learned about how certain rust patterns are caused.  This is an example of what I was photographing:

[rochsub]

Made this video of a stack train on my Tehachapi Loop layout:

The locos have the etched pockets and Z scale couplers installed.  More details here


Ed

Very nice Ed. 

Here's the next ops video for the Geneva sub

[davefoxx]

I've been working on street and sidewalks in Aberdeen this weekend:



More over on the Seaboard Central 2.0 Layout Engineering Report.

DFF

[davefoxx]

 I got almost 200 reference shots, and learned about how certain rust patterns are caused.

Factory model covered hoppers are now fearful, knowing what's about to happen to them.   

[superchief]

well done everyone.....Ed you really captured the "loop" but I did not see any "crazy" railfans on the hill over tunnel 10, Superturbine and I took a trip to Cali and visted the loop and Cajon.. And rode ATSF 3751 to San Diego........it WAS a SUPER trip!!!! Gordon

[flight2000]

Lot's of great stuff again this weekend. 

I was able to finish some more painting and detailing this weekend.  Seems to be all that I'm doing lately... 

A pair of Wheeling and Lake Erie SD40-2's that got the detail treatment before being painted and weathered.









We visited Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg yesterday and I posted photos here: http://www.lakeshoremodeltrains.com/miniatur_wunderland.htm

My favorite:



Cheers,
Brian