Weekend Update 4/7/24

[up1950s]

https://www.steamlocomotive.com/types/colored/

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3438451099780136&set=a.1441806412777958

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35703

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/which-locomotive-has-the-most-miles-on-the-clock

https://www.railserve.com/stats_records/worlds_fastest_trains.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_powerful_locomotives

https://twitter.com/GWR/status/412628470061998080

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=K7L5LfyAWO4

[chuck geiger]

I have built an association with Tom Garza who runs scalesigns.com and he is branching out and developing products that N scalers don't have. See his https://scalesigns.com/collections/n-scale-1-160 or FB page. https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=scalesigns%20com Whenever someone comes up with something that there isn't - He makes it. He can make station siding signs, custom signs, gas station signs which are insane,  now Jersey barriers, you name it. I told him about this new entry into N Scale Crossing Signals that wants 44.00 for (2) non-operating signals and the guy on Etsy who sells the ones I bought that have spider web strands of supports from the mold making it look like a dinosaur's back even when sanded. I sent him the Etsy ones I bought and this is what his Beta test looks like:




He is working on modern billboards we haven't had since BLMA or scratch. The signs are interchangeable for new clients on the board:

[johnb]

put most of the wall board up in y bathroom, threw my back out. What did I do? went and bought a new couch, carried my old sectional to the garage, and my daughter and I carried the new couch upstairs...sitting in my recliner drinking a nice red zin, back is now in the next zip code

[Lemosteam]

Been working on landscaping the west side if the channel. Did I say I hate ground forming? Ugh. So frustrating.

Anyway, the unsanded grout trick is all dried up. And I have final structure placements, except for the tower.

Started laying tape for proposed roadbeds. I like the flow so far. They represent four track gravel roads and some two track accesses in the aggregate and ROW. I will be using gravel and sand for each respectively.

[OldEastRR]

Two Taverns

I don't know why the N kits of taverns/bars/drinking establishments are all so gaudy and garish, so attention-attracting. In my working class  Chicagoland residential area we had "taverns" settled in among the houses, but discreetly. No bright lights, no large beer billboards, no expansive glass windows that could let anybody passing by (especially a wife)  glance in to see who was boozing it up inside. A beer sign hanging over the door, small, high-placed front windows, drab overall appearance, that was it. No sign, no need to -- everybody in the neighborhood knew where "Skitzy's"(or whoever owned it) was. A neighborhood bar for the neighborhood.
For my New Haven-ishh railroad town I decided they probably had the same kinds of bars, so I reworked a Bar Mills "Saulina's Tavern" and a Blair Line "Green Door Lounge" to fit those images.

Here's the Bar Mills rebuild:



I figured a pitched roof was something required for snowy New England winters rather than the stock flat one, and thought the original boxy overhang structurally unsound so I changed it. Plus it gave me the chance to incorporate one of those weird old-fashioned architectural features you Northeasterners have: the tall turret. Not finished yet, now I need to find New Englandy shingles for the roof, and put the beer logo on the sign.

Here you can see I've got it positioned on the lift-out that will sit on the layout. I'll put the delicate stairway in as my very last item (I also moved it from the bar's side to the rear). There's a familiar NE item, the fuel oil tank, and you Northeasterners will easily recognize the detail on the brick building below the faded wall sign.



This is the Blair Line modification: "Red's"





I moved the entrance from the short wall to a long one because the building needed it's long side facing the street to fit the lot. Still have to install the front door and two small windows on either side, and think I'll have to add a row of windows on the second floor. No signs for this one at all, everybody knows it's "Red's". No, the owner isn't named Red, the guy he bought it from some time back wasn't named Red, and all the red paint on it now was added by the current owner, who figured since it was called "Red's", it might as well BE red. This guy will be part of another lift-out section of old and wooden buildings "down by the river, next to the RR tracks". Yeah, not a posh area.
Both building will get more details and figures added around them as the final touch.

BTW, both these places are only a couple of blocks from the huge textile mill in town, as are a few other such establishments (off the layout). A working man needs a place to relax on a Friday, right?
 

[craigolio1]

After being largely absent from the model railroad scene since November I’m finally back!  I was studying for an exam which I wrote last week and to celebrate I connected with some old friends at the Double Headers Model Railway Show in Cambridge Ontario today.

 It was great to be back. We set up some of our Free-mo-N modules and ended up with about 60 ft of track with a 6ft passing siding at each end. We handed out some fliers to several interested parties and had some great chats with fellow patrons and exhibitors. The funniest thing about hat happened to me was chatting with a guy about some projects and thinking, man this dude is really in line with what I’m into and I feel like he’s doing similar things to another guy I know…. I should introduce them!  Well as it turns out this follow IS the guy I know!  We’d just never met in person. So Rick, it was really swell to meet you in person!  Hahahha.

Here are some picks if my equipment running on the layout. There are a couple of other fellows from TRW who were there with modules, trains, or just good company….  So please post your pics as well! 

It’s great to be back.

Some set up pics.







This is my model of the “Credit Valley Explorer”, which was an excursion train run by the Orangeville to Brampton Railway (Cando Contracting) until a few years ago.  Thanks to @philippe.whyte for the consist decals! And thanks to Fusionscale Graphics for the Cando loco decals!









Here’s my pair of custom made VIA Rail RDCs.









The Rocky Mountaineer. Again @philippe.whyte was the star here providing the decals for the loco and consist.







And last but not least thr BC Rail Budd Wiser school train.







It was really great to back with the group operating again.

Craig

[160pennsy]

Two Taverns

I don't know why the N kits of taverns/bars/drinking establishments are all so gaudy and garish, so attention-attracting. In my working class  Chicagoland residential area we had "taverns" settled in among the houses, but discreetly. No bright lights, no large beer billboards, no expansive glass windows that could let anybody passing by (especially a wife)  glance in to see who was boozing it up inside. A beer sign hanging over the door, small, high-placed front windows, drab overall appearance, that was it. No sign, no need to -- everybody in the neighborhood knew where "Skitzy's"(or whoever owned it) was. A neighborhood bar for the neighborhood.

Reminds me of the corner bar / tavern that I kit bashed for my T-TRAK module. The lower red brick portion came from Kestrel Designs KD26 kit and the 2 story white clapboard section was scratch built using Evergreen styrene & cast pewter windows/door.   

[Chris333]

No pics, but I paid off my house. Exactly 200 months early!

[C855B]

No pics, but I paid off my house. Exactly 200 months early!

Congratulations! Great feeling, isn't it?

[johnb]

No pics, but I paid off my house. Exactly 200 months early!

[Chris333]

LOL all I got was a piece of paper saying "we're good".

[wazzou]

LOL all I got was a piece of paper saying "we're good".

Now what deductions do you have?   

[MK]

I rather have no deductions than a mortgage.   

[CNR5529]

As @craigolio1 mentioned, our group was part of the Double Headers layout tour in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo area yesterday, in the main registration hall. We had a great time displaying a FreemoN layout, having officially dropped the Ntrak portion of our layout last year. We had a point to point layout with passing tracks at either end where we could run around our trains, and were able to run up to 3 trains simultaniously. Switching to this style of layout meant that operators now had to pay attention to their trains, which is something they were not used to coming from the NTrak environment. Shenanigans ensued, but more importantly all had fun!

Zebra stripe GMD1s haul some freight across Rutherford Creek
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TH&B GP9TTs hauled a CPR-TH&B-NYC pool passenger train, these are a new release from Atlas, and sound great!
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Not sure who would want a cow pasture next to their appartment, but it made for interesting viewing angle.
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When you dont have a wye, reverse loop or turntable, tender first is the only option.
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It was a modest layout, but got the guys fired up to build more modules... a yard, junction, and staging were discussed and are now in the works.
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[freedj]

I worked on detailing and repainting a Kato NW2 this week. I modeled a snow plow that clips onto the sill with no glue, as well as a dynamic brake? radiator and a weather window.  The vent and windows got glued on and puttied in, and the loco got its base coat of paint.  I am modeling TSBY 1977, and next up is making some custom decals for it. 

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