Weekend Update 1/22/23

[CR4100]

I finished the Conrail Operation Lifesaver GP38-2 from a couple of weeks ago. After I removed all of the Conrail Quality lettering from the Walthers shell I found out I didn't have the decals like I thought I did. I ordered a set of decals and de-lettered another Walthers shell since the set does two locos.

Conrail seemed to place lettering at random on OLS units. CR 7889 is a real mess. I used photos found online of HLCX 3835 (CR 8263) and NS/PRR 5354 (CR 8208) as reference.

There's still work to do. Both units need plows installed. 8263 needs a horn and the correct fuel tank installed. 8208 needs number boards, the trucks/fuel tank painted black, and the ends of the handrails painted white.

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[peteski]

What’s that card full of electronics in thr middle of your helix?

Craig

I asked the same question couple of weeks ago when Bryan posted photos of the helix in that weekend update.  He provided a thorough explanation in https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=55299.msg759219#msg759219

[ednadolski]

That is a genuine work of art!   Well done!   

Ed

<Edit:  That's not one of @tom mann 's giant fake pencils, I hope.>

[eja]

I finished up another baggage car for my Rock Island passenger train.

This was an undecorated Rapido model.  I installed the grab irons, painted it, installed decals (K4 Supply), and gave it a quick spray of dulcote.

I may weather this one a bit.


(Attachment Link)

You forgot the telephone pole sticking out of the roof !

[up1950s]

Nicely done on the Rio Grande boxcar.

I finished installing the lighting over the existing layout sections.  I simulated the upper fascia over the New Haven section to confirm that the light would be focused on the layout and that there would be no "sun-glare" on the control panels.  The lighting will help in finishing some modifications to the right-of-way under the Cedar Street overpass as well as the swing bridge over Shaw's Cove.

Wow that's the sparsest bench work I have ever seen . Will there be any scenery on the far wall ?

[Angus Shops]

Erik, your D&RGW boxcar is a masterpiece - are you going to build yourself a fleet of them?

I’m a resin caster with a couple of decades of pedigree and among the cars I’ve added to my fleet are what we in Canada call the ‘Dominion Boxcar’. This is a 36 foot outside braced boxcar jointly developed in 1908 by the CPR (for whom W. E. Fowler was Chief Mechanical Officer at the time) and Dominion Car and Foundry - the CPR had a fleet of 33,000 of these cars and they lasted well into the  ‘50’s and ‘60’s. The predecessor roads of the CNR had a similar number.

The Dominions were also converted to stock cars (at one point almost all of the CPR stock car fleet was converted Dominion boxcars) and were widely used in work service. In my era (late ‘50’s) Dominion boxcars we’re used in all of these rolls, so they’re all over my layout.

The point of this is that I agree that the mix of the car sizes adds to the ‘feel’ of our era of modelling. And the Dominions are 4 feet shorter than yours.

And I appreciate seeing images of Bryan’s layout. As much as I admire the well composed ‘railfan’ photos, I really like to see the overall layout views - it gives a sense of the scope of other’s work, and their progress, techniques, and etc. I know, lots of others post similar photos, but I thought it was worth commenting on.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It's so funny that the DL RS3 was the intro photo this week, given that I'm spending it in the Poconos.

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I saw the mow crew out though so no birthday Alcos for me.

[Dayliner]

Erik--what a beautiful weathering job on a beautifully-built boxcar!

Despite being very busy this week I was able to finish track-laying into Youbou.  When I am in the grip of the modelling muse I am a man possessed!

The CN spur to Youbou runs along the back of the benchwork; the E&N Lake Cowichan yard will angle across toward the front edge.  In reality, these two locations are nine miles apart and on opposite sides of the lake.  Although the two locations are still very close physically on the layout, they are now operationally separate, and CN and E&N crews will be able to work up here without getting in each other's way.

The photo shows two gons in the Youbou mill spur, with the GMD1 in the headshunt at the end of track.

[Bob]

I've largely completed Marmion Hall and the two adjoining tenant buildings to the right save for some detail work - Marmion Hall needs two more chimneys, among other things.  Harper House would be to the left, but I'm not sure I will have room for it.  Marmion Hall looms over the lower town of Harpers Ferry and is best visible when you stand in Hog Alley and look up, which is what I am trying to simulate here.
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[garethashenden]

I have a continuous loop on Mill Street with both bridges installed. I think I'll celebrate with some scenery!

[bbussey]

Wow that's the sparsest bench work I have ever seen . Will there be any scenery on the far wall ?

After the mainline is done. That will be Rocky Neck beach to the right of the loop-around in that photo. Everything to the left and the lower level will be hidden.

[Erik W]

Erik, your D&RGW boxcar is a masterpiece - are you going to build yourself a fleet of them?

I’m a resin caster with a couple of decades of pedigree and among the cars I’ve added to my fleet are what we in Canada call the ‘Dominion Boxcar’. This is a 36 foot outside braced boxcar jointly developed in 1908 by the CPR (for whom W. E. Fowler was Chief Mechanical Officer at the time) and Dominion Car and Foundry - the CPR had a fleet of 33,000 of these cars and they lasted well into the  ‘50’s and ‘60’s. The predecessor roads of the CNR had a similar number.

The Dominions were also converted to stock cars (at one point almost all of the CPR stock car fleet was converted Dominion boxcars) and were widely used in work service. In my era (late ‘50’s) Dominion boxcars we’re used in all of these rolls, so they’re all over my layout.

The point of this is that I agree that the mix of the car sizes adds to the ‘feel’ of our era of modelling. And the Dominions are 4 feet shorter than yours.

And I appreciate seeing images of Bryan’s layout. As much as I admire the well composed ‘railfan’ photos, I really like to see the overall layout views - it gives a sense of the scope of other’s work, and their progress, techniques, and etc. I know, lots of others post similar photos, but I thought it was worth commenting on.

Thanks for the kind words about my boxcar everyone! 

Angus Shops, I'll probably stick with just this one.  I didn't really like working with the brittle clear plastic material that this was printed with.  If I was more ambitious than I'm feeling, I guess I could make a resin casting of the 3D printed car, for my own use, and churn out a handful of these.

You're right though, for a layout set in the mid-50s (mine is 1956, the end of steam on the D&RGW), you would still see single and double sheathed wood boxcars.  I do have some Atlas SS and DS boxcars on the layout though.

Here are a couple more photos I took.




Erik

[basementcalling]

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https://www.google.com/search?q=diesel+locomotive+starting+up&source=hp&ei=jH3HY6q-CfSiptQP3Km66Ag&iflsig=AK50M_UAAAAAY8eLnAS9mGht3t0wiT-oKXfDPpkDa2-P&oq=diesel+locomotives+starting&gs_lcp=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&sclient=gws-wiz#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:0936cdee,vid:P87sOWtIp7k

https://www.google.com/search?q=diesel+locomotive+starting+up&source=hp&ei=jH3HY6q-CfSiptQP3Km66Ag&iflsig=AK50M_UAAAAAY8eLnAS9mGht3t0wiT-oKXfDPpkDa2-P&oq=diesel+locomotives+starting&gs_lcp=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&sclient=gws-wiz#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:c51b3fda,vid:b2CHuMSbQ6I

https://www.facebook.com/nnry1/videos/starting-a-baldwin-vo-1000-for-the-first-time-in-39-yearss/550354150148760/

https://trainfanatics.com/csx-9553-cold-start/

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http://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/2016/03/smoking-diesel-locomotives.html

Frying full sized decoders produces a lot more smoke than the N scale versions. 

[basementcalling]

Been very busy the last few months, but my N scale Colorado Midland still lives.

Those scenes rock. Nicely done, Dave of the narrow rails.

[freedj]

My kitbashed freight depot continues.  This week I drew up and printed the office building roof with coping detail and also made coping for the top edge of the stairstep part of the freight section.  I also got it through primer and the first coat of paint. 

After asking about making a tarpaper roof, i decided to print .1mm lines in the roofs and see what that looks like.  I can always cover it up in the future, but its not bad!

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