Weekend Update 2014/09/07

[seusscaboose]

GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY!

Yeah, it was a long day for sure... when I was done I felt like I was Broken in Half

[Puddington]

Deleted

[jmlaboda]

With a large commercial bakery planned for the layout you can't have too many flour carrying Airslide. Decaled this guy and will now weather it according to a couple of pictures I found.

The local bakery use to receive boxcar loads of Roman Meal bread mix... usually about a boxcar a week.  This continued to happen well into the 80s.

[mark dance]

slowly making progress...ballasting and ground cover around the pulp mill.







Have a great (rest of your) weekend!

md

[delamaize]

Here is a shot of the little locomotive I bought as a stand in.
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And here is the model number
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[chicken45]

In between more meat sessions, I managed to sand more on my FD2. Gotta drill some holes for grabs and tie downs. I also ordered those F22 and F23 cars off Shapeways. Already got the decals.
I also ordered Choo Choo for my boy.
Who remembers this? Code 254 rail is so unrealistic without ties.

[nkalanaga]

"Code 254 rail is so unrealistic without ties."  But it's FUN!!!

[nkalanaga]

Some time back we had a topic on lowering MicroTrains 39 ft tank cars.  For those who didn't read it, the process is simple, replace the trucks with BLMA, and add 1015, 1016, or 1025 couplers as desired.

These two cars are a little(?) more complicated.  Neither one can be lowered enough simply by switching trucks, so even with new trucks the body bolsters have to be filed.  On the MT car (left) it's actually easier to use "standard height" trucks, as there's no need to measure the bolster height.  Just cut off the circular truck mounting post and drill the pin hole deeper.  The MT car has InterMountain 100-ton trucks with Atlas metal wheels, while the MDC has BLMA 70-ton trucks.



There's also no easy way to mount a coupler.  Both cars would need an offset shank coupler, and even then, there's no easy way to mount it, especially on the MDC car (right).  In both cases the answer was to build a coupler box from Evergreen stips and use an Accumate coupler, which has a slight offset.  Then the only problem is what to mount it to.

Again, in both cases, the answer was the same:  Glue it to the bottom of the tank.  On the MDC car that was easy.  It would work on the MT car, but the floor would then be glued in.  I glued it to the body bolster instead, so the "floor" can still be removed.  The outer ends are glued to the end platforms.  On the MDC car that's a Gold Medal Models upgrade part.  The MT car has the end platform cast between the side sills, rather than on top, simulating an end sill, and looks similar to the closest prototype I found.  There I cut a 3/16 inch gap in the center of the end sill, glued the new coupler pocket into that, and put a piece cut from a boxcar roofwalk etching on top for the texture.  It also reinforces the joints.

The MT car has nice brake rigging, but the reservoir interferes with the wheels after the car is lowered.  I replaced it with a casting, mounted higher, to match my prototype photo, a BN (FW&D) car from 1975.  The cut-off MT reservoir ended up on the MDC car, as the cast-on reservoir was just a lump.  The MDC car also received new brake rigging made from an aftermarket cylinder and a bunch of plastic and wire bits.

And, no, the MT car is NOT correct for the GN, but I've had it for years, and decided to see if I could make a better looking car from it.  The prototype was a full-frame car, with nothing close available.  The best standin I've seen is a Tomix Japanese car, which has a tank slightly too small in diameter.  I have three of them, but don't know if it's still available, and have already painted mine for US leasing companies.

I decided to post this after realizing that I couldn't remember ever seeing a topic dealing with the MT modern tank car, and wondering if that was because people were turned off by how high it sat.  I'm sure others have lowered theirs.  Anyone want to describe their methods?

[eja]

Darn .. I have no idea.  If was a banana car I am sure Dee would chime in !

BTW .. your work looks terrific !

[nkalanaga]

Thank you, but most of my work is invisible!  All of the lettering is stock, except the ACI labels, hazmat placards, and the consolidated stencil on the MDC car.  As the cars were black to start with, even the touch-up painting was easy.  These really are simple projects, suitable for anyone comfortable with basic tools and glues.  The hard part was figuring out how to make work.

For those who followed the recent debate on removing trip pins, here's a good comparison.  After taking the picture I noted that both couplers on the MDC car are missing theirs, while the MT car still has both.  Accumates work just fine without the pin, but it does change the appearance.

[wm3798]

I received this in the mail the other day from a guy we met randomly on the Cape May - Lewes Ferry a couple weeks ago.



He was bicycling from Philadelphia to Richmond, we got to talking about hobbies, and he told me he had an "old dusty set" he would send me.

The box doesn't indicate that a power pack was included, but there seems to be room in the package for one.  I haven't looked it up yet.  Anyone else get started with this set?  It's got the original loop of track, plus a bunch of spare Atlas 9-3/4 curves and a hand full of Atlas 5" tangent.

The engine appears to be in reasonably un-used condition, but is definitely out of the "dark ages".

I'll probably try to find a home for it with a proper collector of such antiquities, as I have no immediate use (or space) for it.

Lee

[Puddington]

I forgot; another addition to the Penn Central orphans club of Lower British Columbia circa 1973.....



Poor little guy, scared, all alone; no one with a Jersey twang, using colourful language to describe his mother, invoking the wrath of all around with a cheap cigar and a hatred for all things other than the Yankees to keep him company... all he has is peace, quiet, beautiful mountain scenery and the oddly calming aroma of aromatic herbs being lightly burned by people in colourful clothing and long hair... dude..... 

[cv_acr]

Nice looking mill area Mark. I like the driveways and the parking lot alongside. I've seen too many layouts where people don't even think about anything other than the tracks and the building. No way for cars and people to actually access anything.

BTW, if you want to upgrade that paper boxcar a bit, cars in that "pine tree" script scheme always had black ends:
http://canadianfreightcargallery.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=cp81137&o=cprail

[nuno81291]

In a decision to actually build something for once  I made a $5 fly zapper static grass applicator. To test it out I ordered silflor late summer and autumn blends. I made a small diorama just to see how the applicator works, what adhesives seem to respond differently and attempt to learn to apply static grass...the idea here is late summer farm scene.. just a tall grass field with the railroad in the back, a barn and some work vehicles. This took 1 hour to make...any feedback on the grass would be helpful. I realize various lengths help (only have 4mm grass)... and I didn't lay any bushes or shrubbery yet...will place a few for effect. Any other ideas for this tiny scene?

[ednadolski]

no one with a Jersey twang, using colourful language to describe his mother, invoking the wrath of all around with a cheap cigar and a hatred for all things other than the Yankees to keep him company...

You're making me homesick... 

(at least please tell me that the brick building is a toll booth...)

Ed