Weekend Update 7/23/17

[fcnrwy23]

Well, with All of the work on my MOW stuff.  I forgot to post some photos of my DQ store, which I had finished.  Just before, my Pittsburgh (NSE) trip.

I had originally looked at both of the Walther's, DQ kits.  (the Original, Ice Cream stand and the Newer, Grille & Chill restaurant.)
   The Ice Cream stand, would have physically fit the location that I had in mind on the FCN, at Ford City.  But, I wanted a, Newer looking store.  The problem was the that the Grille & Chill had too big of a "footprint" for the location.  I evaluated the kit for possible, kit-bashing.  But, doing so would mean loosing a lot of the kits theme.  So, I did some on-line photo searches for some of the DQs that I have previously been too.  Which were unlike either of the models.
The design that I ended up with is something in a timeline, between the two kits.  (Original, 1950s and the G&C, 2000s).



The DQ's location on the FCN, was the old location of the "Badger Bank" building, that I had built some years ago.  I decided to modified (Meaning, that I cut the structure, in half length-wise) the bank building, for it to fit it's new location, which is behind the DQ.  Its the Green and Tan, building in the background in the next photo.



After, completing the exterior, I decided to try my hand at adding interior details to the model as well.  A full set of booths and tables have been added, along with the Counter and Menu boards.
The exterior got a "Drive-Thru" window and an exterior menu board, as well.

The plan is to also light the interior..

Great!  Now, that FC has a DQ!   Lets EAT!! 

Jerry G.

[Dave V]

Love the DQ.  If I were doing modern railroading in the West I'd want to modify one into a Los Pollos Hermanos.   

[C855B]

No pics, just a story -

Train show this weekend with the club N-Trak layout. I brought a couple of trains to run, one that I knew was "vanilla" enough to actually run on the layout's poor track quality (age, and craftsmanship issues... you know the drill...), and another with recent developments in scale running details such as FVM narrow wheels and MTL True Scale couplers that I knew wouldn't make it very far. I wasn't disappointed.

I also brought the momentarily-suspended C855B project to show the guys mostly what could be done with 3D printing, especially considering there is another 3D printing fan in the club who is doing surprisingly good work with a very inexpensive ($150!) PLA-filament printer - definitely good enough for rendering N scale buildings. (Truthfully? I was astounded by the quality of the output.) His main complaints were time to print - sometimes days - and that "PLA is nearly impossible to glue! CA just beads up!" He found a special Loctite CA that works, however.

Anyway, I had the C855B hulk on the layout trying to get its near-scale wheels through an area I knew to have gauge problems. As I was re-railing it for the 100th time, one of the passers-by commented, "Looks great so far! You doing the A units?". I was floored. I told him he was likely the only other person in the building who knew what it was. Turns out he was another UP 1960s double-diesel fan. This is the most generic train show we have in the area, with lots'n'lots of tinplate and copious vendors selling Brio knock-offs, so it was a bit of a surprise to find other serious/knowledgeable folks in attendance. You never know, I guess.

[railnerd]

Made some additional progress on my car ferry slip, including using 3D printing to push past one of my stall points.



More info in the Santa Fe in China Basin thread…

     https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=31751.msg534579#msg534579

[tehachapifan]

Love the DQ.  If I were doing modern railroading in the West I'd want to modify one into a Los Pollos Hermanos.   

Wow, I was thinking the exact same thing when I saw the booths and then saw your reply! "Just one minute of your time"

[jnevis]

Finally something train related!!
Spent most of last week in Reno for my grandmother's funeral.  Stopped into the WP Museum in Portola, since we spent a lot of time there when they still lived nearby.
There was a long line of deadlined SD60s and Dash 8s.  Also spotted the former SP fire cars that I usually see in Truckee.
Only modelling is some 1/285 aircraft game pieces.

[SSW7771]

Great work everyone! I started testing how to build some trees this weekend; more on my layout build thread.

[rickb773]

I’m never going to be a super modeler, but I am trying to persistently make small improvements instead of sitting on my hands. So here’s a couple of before and after shots utilizing every scrap of  a Chooch peel & stick “8260 Small Cut Stone Wall”. (Still need to do some trimming.)

[Dave V]

Okay, having that second loco in the video lettered for the Beano (B&O) was bumming me out, so I decided it was time to letter it as another CMRy 2-8-0.   In my era most of the locos had a simple scheme (the one you see on the 34 in the video) with a big number on the tender and the lettering "COLORADO MIDLAND" above.  I have lettered a few engines like that and decided to tray something different.

Now, in the late 1800s the Midland had a very beautiful and elaborate scheme:

https://brasstrains.com/Classic/Product/Detail/058946/HO-Brass-Model-Train-MEW-CM-Colorado-Midland-2-8-0-Steam-49-Pro-Custom

I worked hard to try to do the artwork for that and even had the decal film on hand.  I was never satisfied with how it looked so I decided that since the Athearn 2-8-0 isn't really a good representation of the CMRy Class 136 anyway (in fact the whole layout is a great big foobie) I would "approximate" the scheme with what decals I had on hand.  So, the before shot:

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

And what I came up with:

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Although it isn't as elaborate, I like how it looks.  I think it'll look good once Dullcoted.  I also had to paint that air pump.

[PiperguyUMD]

Not a ton of modeling this weekend, just some odds and ends. 

I'd never been happy with the paint job on my CNJ 1000 so after some tests on other 3D printed shells, I decided to try to stipe the paint using isopropyl alcohol.  If you let it soak too long it can deform the shell, but I did short ten minute soaks followed by scrubbing with a toothbrush, and ten minutes out of the alcohol bath.  I'm pretty pleased with the results!

I have completed the tender of my WM Potomac and an working on getting a TCS Wow sound decoder in the tender.  There is plenty of room so it shouldn't be a problem.  The cool thing is that the WOW sound decoder has WM Potomac 1403's Whistle!  As soon as the humidity drops, I'll get it in the paint booth.  Does anyone have any suggestions on revitalizing old decals?  I have a set of Northeast Decals for WM Steam that only has enough heralds to do two locomotives.  Any tricks to make sure that they don't disintegrate when I put them in water?

[Santa Fe Guy]

Not a ton of modeling this weekend, just some odds and ends. 

I'd never been happy with the paint job on my CNJ 1000 so after some tests on other 3D printed shells, I decided to try to stipe the paint using isopropyl alcohol.  If you let it soak too long it can deform the shell, but I did short ten minute soaks followed by scrubbing with a toothbrush, and ten minutes out of the alcohol bath.  I'm pretty pleased with the results!

I have completed the tender of my WM Potomac and an working on getting a TCS Wow sound decoder in the tender.  There is plenty of room so it shouldn't be a problem.  The cool thing is that the WOW sound decoder has WM Potomac 1403's Whistle!  As soon as the humidity drops, I'll get it in the paint booth.  Does anyone have any suggestions on revitalizing old decals?  I have a set of Northeast Decals for WM Steam that only has enough heralds to do two locomotives.  Any tricks to make sure that they don't disintegrate when I put them in water?

Micro scale has a product for exactly that issue. Cannot think of its name at the moment however it works.
Rod.

[Bendtracker1]

Micro Liquid Decal Film
http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MI-12

[BCR 570]

My layout reached a major milestone this weekend with the completion of three months of wiring and turnout control for Dawson Creek yard.  I completed the track-laying in March, at which time the underside of the benchwork looked like this:




After three months of work (all of it done while lying on my back with my head and shoulders resting on the lower deck), it now looks like this:




This view underneath the central portion of the yard shows the dual track bus runs, and the auxiliary power bus to supply the servo drivers.  Note that the LED light strips underneath the upper deck were mounted on small wood blocks to allow for the passage of wiring above:
 



This image was taken underneath the east ladder tracks where there is a high concentration of turnouts.  For each turnout there is a servo mounted on a bracket with the frog juicer attached to the rear of the bracket, and a second bracket for the Singlet servo driver:




A central schematic panel identifies the tracks and the industries for operators.  It is tilted 30 degrees for an optimum viewing angle:




This is the east ladder panel (also tilted) and several smaller panels for individual turnouts:




This view shows the panel for the west ladder and also illustrates the angled mounts:




Several locomotives have been brought up to Dawson Creek for testing and adjusting of turnouts.  Here we see C-420 No. 632 near the station, as well as RS-18, No. 613, RS-10 No. 581 and RS-18 No. 607:




I am very pleased to have the yard finished and operational.  I will now take a break from layout work to enjoy running trains and return to some modelling projects.

Tim

[coosvalley]

It's been a good week for me...

First my "better half" bought a PT cruiser convertible, which at first I was kinda' "meh" but then I realized it will be great for railfanning and some "pan" shots..

I also took the grandson to see thomas. I worked at this event for 5 years, and I didn't want to really go deal with the carnival that goes with it, so we set up at the only public crossing they use for the event and had a picnic in the small field nearby. Though I never pushed it, this little guy LOVES trains, maybe it's genetic( he is 4 generation train buff, though his mom only liked models ).

Also this week I got some layout work done, more in the Layout Engineering page





I prefer this end....





And the layout,here you can see the darkened canal wall, I'm debating another coat.......



Thanks for looking and have a great week!

[Blazeman]

I'm working in Spring Grove, PA at the paper mill.  A look down Main St.

Adam: Are the structures portraying "stores" the ones you purchased from our Long Island member?