Weekend Update 6/12/16

[Mark W]

Tried my hand at scratchbuilding a T Gauge hopper.  Was pretty fun to build, and turned out half way decent!  Man, I gotta learn to etch brass...

[rhiadon]

I have been doing some reading on T-Trak modules lately after reading the Model Railroader articles on the modules they created. It seemed that the spec only calls for Kato Unitrack at the edges so I wanted to see if it was feasible to do a module with flex track in between two Unitrack connectors. Then I had the idea, why not try this on the edge of my learning layout. If have two tracks that come off the edge to go to another module that I'll build (or not) in the future so I could put a short stub of Unitrack on the end. The trick, my layout is all code 55 and unitrack is something like code 80. I wanted to see about doing the adaption. Here's the result:

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Then I said to myself, "Self, why not see if you can make a code 55 section of Unitrack." It was actually pretty easy. Just pull out the track from the section, cut a piece of code 55 to the same length, put some little dents in the track for locating and slide the track in. Here's the results of that experiment.

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I put an original section attached to it to illustrate the difference. I ran a truck across it and it doesn't seem to have any issues with the rail joiner either. A larger experiment is warranted to see if this really is feasible.

Has anybody else gone down this road before?

[Cajonpassfan]

Slow going, but made a bit of progress on the Summit Wye tail switch, in Code 40.
The switch is not a particular "number", it's made to fit the geometry of the wye, like the prototype.
It will get painted, but first got Neolubed...
Otto K.

[ncbqguy]

You might try a piece of Peco "Code 55" rail with the transition to real Code 55 made by filing off the bottom rail base so it is true Code 55.  This would eliminate the lumps in the module joint which can cause uncoupling and other problems.  You don't need much beyond the Unijoiners of the Kato roadbed.   If you cut the Unitrack you only need two pieces for each TRAK module.
I have a stash of old brown Unitrak straights to use for the very same thing you're doing.
Charlie Vlkl

[rodsup9000]

Wow, Otto, that looks real nice. I really like the looks of the neolube on it.

[nkalanaga]

Dave:  Those "Rockies" or "Alps", look a lot like parts of Glacier NP.

[Dave V]

Dave:  Those "Rockies" or "Alps", look a lot like parts of Glacier NP.

They do.

The actual mountains along the Midland's Aspen branch are less vertical, drier, and more reddish in color, but these backdrops really offer the sense of drama that I wanted to convey.  The closed loop of track represents a section of the Midland's mainline, and the climb up to Hagerman Pass at 11,528 feet above sea level on the mainline was as dramatic as North American railroading gets.

To give you an idea of the extreme terrain in which the Colorado Midland operated, standard sea level pressure is 29.92" of mercury.  At 11,500' it's closer to 19.41" of mercury.  That is to say that at the Midland's tunnel under the Continental Divide, fully 35% of the Earth's atmosphere (by mass) lies below you.  You're 1500 feet above the altitude at which the FAA requires aircraft to carry supplemental oxygen for passengers in unpressurized cabins.

[nkalanaga]

I've never been there, but have been to Climax, above Leadville, at about the same elevation.  That was 40 years ago, and 9300 ft in Wyoming was noticeable five years ago, after spending most of the last 40 years under 1000 ft.

Incidentally, I just saw a video that claimed that humans can't breathe above 8,000 ft, and that mountaineers call that the "death zone".  I think the producer must have meant 8,000 meters, unless there are a lot of dead people in Colorado, and other places, who haven't realized that they shouldn't be walking around!

[Dave V]

8,000 meters is correct.  I live at 6,800 feet and can still run a decent 5K.  I've also climbed a few 14ers and am still alive.   

[thomasjmdavis]

I just saw a video that claimed that humans can't breathe above 8,000 ft

Like Dave, back in the day, I spent most of my vacations above 10.000.  Given there are 14,000 foot mountains you can drive to the top of, and towns in the US above 10,000 ft, and for that matter, railroads above 10,000 feet, and towns in Nepal and Peru well above that, the narrator no doubt meant "metres." But it does demonstrate the problem with the internet, that no one caught that before it went out "on air," so to speak. I do, however, recommend acclimating to the altitude before driving or hiking.

[unittrain]

Added NZT old tie stack to my Bradylake module, going to add Traincat position light signals to this module the goal is to have them operating by using a circuit designed on TRW some time back.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7299/27525403962_f7fa132f5b_h.jpg

[coosvalley]

It's been forever since I contributed so I humbly offer the following D&H hacks. They represent the prototypical, quick repaints when the D&H "absorbed" some of the Reading cabeese. Weathering to follow.
(Attachment Link)
(Attachment Link)

Nice work, I really dig those cabeese!...

I took something D&H and lettered it for another RR....









And , in an effort to clean off the workbench to make room for layout-related purposes, I finished these up too(about half of my current loco projects)....And in looking at the pics I see I lost a windshield wiper on the GP-38













Thanks for looking and have a great week!

[Iain]

Not a whole lot of modeling for me lately with moving and Linux conferences. 

[BCR 570]

As the amount of operable track on the layout expands, so too does the potential for operating work trains with some of the equipment I have built during the past few years.  With tracklaying having progressed as far as possible for now toward Chetwynd Yard on the lower level, my attention turns to the upper deck.  The helix has been inactive for a year or more now so yesterday I cleaned it up and ran a train up and down.

Work Extra 613 exiting the helix:




Work Extra 613 crossing the East Pine River bridge:




At Sundance, Work Extra 613 held the main for a meet with Work Extra 584:




I took up the last section of Code 40 track between the top of the helix and Tremblay.  Unfortunately the track bed could not be saved so I had to take that up too, and then sand the sub-roadbed smooth.

Here is Work Extra 584 at the top of the helix during re-grading work:






The new track bed went down last night and I hope to get the new track down today.


Tim

[chuck geiger]

Makin' sage - This is quite a tedious process. I am soaking the underbrush and coarse turf in a mixture of green
and grey acrylics to get the "sage" color. Need to make sure there are various sizes from small to large. There
will be some more painting the sage bushes with fine black or grey paint to highlight the bushes. Also you
get a better effect when you wait for the glue to dry and pull out the big clumps.