Weekend Update 5/3/15

[up1950s]

Rethinking the R/C control of the camera direction , DCC would be easier I think . DCC address to control motor with a screw on the shaft , with a nut or threaded sleeve that will ride fore and aft , to that is a push rod which will control the up and down of the camera . Another address , motor , etc controls the left and right . Motors need not be big , or powerful , just powerful enough to do the job . The nut needs to be restricted from turning , via tongue and groove , flat spot slide , or encapsulation slide . One inch of screw length should give enough movement , 1/2 " either way . Limit bumpers on the screw will stop the nut from getting screwed off in either direction . The gimbal joint could be 2 pop beads . An IR camera will allow inspection in tunnels , though 12vdc mounted lights on the camera will give better color shots in the tracked structures and tunnels . 

[mark dance]

I have started work on the balance of the Pope & Talbot sawmill at Castlegar.  Not an accurate representation of the real mill as I don't have the space but I will try to get the colours and some of the spotting features correct.





I also am rounding out the sound units in the fleet in advance of next week's ops session.  This week Gary H brought me 3 new Atlas S2's and I made a couple of videos.  For those of you who have seen these already on the Product forum, my apologies.

Have a Great Weekend!

md

[up1950s]

Thanks Mark , I like the way the amps play into the sound , the bell is fine , but the horn could use a bit more base I think . Atlas did a great job on these , and the ease at which 2 units moved that long cut of cars is impressive .

[Roger Holmes]

The recreated Lincoln Funeral Car arrived in Springfield, IL tonight in preparation for this weekend's recreation of Lincoln's funeral on the 150th anniversary of the original.  This car arrived on a flatbed truck after UP/Amtrak couldn't come to an agreement with the committee to transport the car by rail.  It sits adjacent to the UP tracks at the Springfield, IL Amtrak depot which is about two blocks from my office.  I am of counsel at the oldest law firm in Illinois and we claim Lincoln as one of our early partners.  One of our current partners will be a pallbearer tomorrow since he is the great-great,etc-grandson of one of the original pallbearers.










I hope to get some daylight photos this weekend but it will be tough to get this close again.  Re-creators, four period bands and visitors from around the world have arrived and the procession and funeral recreation will be quite crowded.  A friend received a Secret Service visit at his office and they were checking out sniper positions so it is rumored that Obama and/or several past presidents may be in attendance.

[coosvalley]

This week I finished up this filthy animal....A basket case that I found on the bay, It ran great but needed a new cab.....here she is now, as Vermont Northern #201, total cost to me was about 45$!!!...I added Wire grabs, window wipers, MU hoses and a plow...And the weathering..maybe some day I'll add the smoke deflectors...

The prototype: http://imagestorage.nerail.org/photos/2004/02/15/2004021516045526382.jpg

[JanesCustomTrain]

This week I finished up this filthy animal....

Looking good. Did you use 'alcohol' to create the white patches on the sill ?

Your model needs a plow on the rear as well. (http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/misc-v/vnor201adp.jpg)

Jane

[coosvalley]

Thanks for the link!..     I have a pic of her dumping ballast in Nov. of the year they ran this line , and it does not have a plow on the long hood end, and I have one of her on the D&H taken just before her VNOR service, with no plows at all!..., So, it wore that plow for less than a year!.....However, since it was my only plow of this type (Sunrise) I probably won't worry about it!..Thanks for sharing though, knowledge is power or some such thing...

Interesting side note.....The C-420 painted for Vermont Northern that was released by Atlas actually only ran for about 1 month for the VN (dec '77) before Lamoille Valley took over...The ex-Long Island scheme at least covers the whole year of VN operations...

The side sill "primer" was done with Gouache, thin puddles in grey and white, scratched lightly with a wire brush once dry...

[central.vermont]

and here's a shot of the 201 at Rigby yard on the MEC. Not sure when I took this shot.

Jon

[coosvalley]

and here's a shot of the 201 at Rigby yard on the MEC. Not sure when I took this shot.

I'm betting she was on her way elsewhere(Wabash Valley RR?) in this pic, probably Jan. or Feb. '78 I would guess...Sound right?

[JanesCustomTrain]

Is this Minuteman trying to get out of the picture ?

Jane

[basementcalling]

I tanked for a while in between spray bomb coats of paint on mill buildings.  Old packing tape and scotch tape roll centers work well for tank frames.

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The pollution controls are now attached to the kraft mill, which gets weathered when I find my airbrush on the workbench under the piles of kit sprues.

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And am old Pola something kit.  No idea what B 7458 is supposed to be,  but it will have done unspecified mill function and act as a small building to help show the mass of the recovery boiler and kraft mill.



The recovery boiler is back in the paint shop after some major bleeding of a gem stripe over the base white. I got so frustrated when I pulled the last line of tape oft and saw it I had to stop soaring for tonight.  Plus it was dark.

More to come tomorrow I hope.

[Chris333]

Another couple feet of ballast.

[C855B]

I love the tower, Chris.

No photos, unfortunately, but our N-Trak club brought a boatload of modules to "my" history museum again yesterday for the second year of our historic festival. Well-attended event and appreciative crowd, for sure. I was interviewed three times, once on live radio, and right in the middle of the interview the passing train we were watching stringlined and dumped a couple of dozen cars on their sides. Radio announcer/interviewer went on, "Oh, my! Big derailment! Train cars everywhere! Right before our eyes!... but don't worry folks, it's a miniature train." He had fun with it.

I gave a new talk this year about trains in Centralia, but it wasn't SRO like last time. That's OK. We changed the publicity timing quite a bit and this was one of the things that suffered a little.

Downside is we cut back the time of the main event, so it turned into six hours of setup for four hours of show. Add to this a long-ish drive for the rest of the club that a few of the guys do twice (setup on Friday), I'm not going to blame them one bit if they're reluctant for a three-peat.

[jmlaboda]

I love the tower, Chris.

The tower is nice but I'm loving the trackwork!!!

Coosvalley... that ALCO looks great!!!

[NYNE]

Coosvalley: I love that Alco. That is a fine looking beast.