Weekend Update 8/18/24

[bnsfdash8]

Not much got done this week, but I couldn't help myself and tore down one of my Scale Trains SD40-2s.

They didn't use a ton of glue to hold everything together, but it took some careful wiggling and prying to get things apart. Thankfully I only broke one tab on the shell. 

It'll end up being repainted to NS 3329, the Maersk Sealand promotional unit. A loco I've wanted to do correctly for a long time.

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[Mike Madonna]

With the layout all cleaned up for last weeks operating session I took a lot of photos and have been posting a photo tour of the layout on my Grand Trunk Southern thread in the Layout Engineering Reports.  I also ran a couple of trains for the first time in a while.  I usually content myself dispatching and let others do the operating.  Before the operating session started, Fredrick "CNR5529" brought over his young daughter, I think she is 4 or 5 and she ran the Turbo Train around the layout.  It looked pretty good, so earlier this week I spent a couple of minutes taking it for a spin myself.  Here are a few photos of it transitting the Lake District and down the grade above Nathansville.

The backdrops, and "blending" of such, is spot on! Well done! Who's backdrops did you use?

[delamaize]

I don't have any pictures, But I went to Jim Younkin's MB&S for an operation session Saturday, Fun was had by all. One of our newer, Younger club members picked a job that is one of the more difficult ones. Once I got mine 3 jobs done, I went and rescued him. x600 took some pictures, and was planning on posting sometime...

[Cory Rothlisberger]

Been "planting" a lot of trees lately. The one side of the layout is mostly covered at this point.



Was nice to grab a sceniced shot at a different location for once. BRW 752 coming down from the Conrail interchange.


And lastly, some Conrail visitors...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Cory, I love those buried sidings!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Fun weekend here!

Sadie dog went for her first train ride on Saturday. Appropriately, on the Northern Central!

Their 19th century replica cars are perfect for pets.

It was part of New Freedom's "Dog Days in the Park": https://www.facebook.com/events/1071609260749651
Terri and were there helping out with the rescue that Darcy and Sadie came from (the Mid Atlantic German Shepherd Rescue, from which we've gotten two dogs that add up to half a shep between them), and so of course we went on a ride.



"Ed, did you model this tree? Have I tried eating it yet?"






Then, it was off to Glenville with @mu26aeh to run on Dave Trone's impressive West Penn. It's such a "low key" ops session compared to some of the others I participate in and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for making the connection Adam!





The layout is enormous.



Adam's new toy that he let me run:


Close to the end of my night:


And yesterday, @DeltaBravo came over for some JFRTM time and an attempt to print some new backdrops (why are OS print settings so hard??).



What a great hobby weekend: dogs, friends, trains. Can't beat it.

[x600]

I don't have any pictures,  x600 took some pictures, and was planning on posting sometime...

#%&*@#$*+@!!!!! I have a bunch of great photos, but being technologically ******** disabled, it may take me a while.
It seems that my laptop doesn't want to talk to my smart phone until I do some sort of voodoo snake dance by the light of a new moon, while facing N-NW with the phone and laptop in a brown paper bag swinging it counter clockwise while chanting
"ATLASKATOMICROTRAINS" 10 times.
Or I need a 12 year old to help me.
Stand By.......


Greg O.

[shark_jj]

Thanks Mike, the backdrops are from LARC Products.  (www.LARCProducts.com)  You buy them on CD and get them printed yourself.  I explain in the Grand Trunk Southern Layout thread how I did it.  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=26250.15

If the link doesn't take you to page 2, then that is where you want to be, I explained the backdrops and how I did them bottom of page 2, top of page 3 in the layout thread.

[packers#1]

#%&*@#$*+@!!!!! I have a bunch of great photos, but being technologically ******** disabled, it may take me a while.
It seems that my laptop doesn't want to talk to my smart phone until I do some sort of voodoo snake dance by the light of a new moon, while facing N-NW with the phone and laptop in a brown paper bag swinging it counter clockwise while chanting
"ATLASKATOMICROTRAINS" 10 times.
Or I need a 12 year old to help me.
Stand By.......


Greg O.

As much as I’d love to see the dance, why not just sign into The Railwire on your phone and upload the photos from there? I haven’t gotten bulk upload to play nice yet, but uploading one at a time works. If they’re turned just put in multiples of 90 for degrees of rotation until they’re straight.

[x600]

Thanks, Sawyer, but no need to do that dance. The issue was that I had loaded pictures from my phone before so when I went to do it this time it wouldn't recognize my phone. I like to use my laptop for pictures as it is bigger and with my eye issues, easier to see the quality of the photos. When my PC updated it changed the way it syncs to the phone so BLAH BLAH BLAH, I got the pics to show up on my PC, but now I have to get them to show up here.
Stand By, hold my beer, I got this
OK! one of life's little successes!

Here's our own @delamaize grinning after cleaning up the yard at Mud Bay



I spent a few hours working the job at the paper plant in Little Rock.


Jim added a third level from Independance to Raymond and South Bend. I haven't had the chance to run up there yet, so Jim let me take an inspection caboose hop to check it out.










Here's a photo for @wazzou. I had to hold at Raymond Station while John Lowry cleared the main.


I didn't think Jim could make the MB&S any better, but the third level adds a whole new adventure to operations.
One more photo.

On my way into Independance, I found @Sparky deep into the job at the McCleary Door Plant.




Greg O

Thanks for your patience.

This was supposed to be second picture, crossing the covered bridge coming into Raymond.

[Olivani]

Ed, that red engine on the left, looks very interesting, could you please post a close up ? Thank you.

Oliver

[arbomambo]

Denise Hutton and I had a wonderful visit with the folks at ScaleTrains.
We’re thrilled and grateful for their support and sponsorship as we plan the new world record T-TRAK layout at the 2026 NMRA 2026 Scenic City Express - Chattanooga Convention and National Train Show!
From left to right:
Bruce Arbo, Craig R. Laing, Denise Hutton, Roy Masterson (NMRA SER President), Jason Williams and Shane Wilson, of ScaleTrains.
www.nationalt-traklayout.com

[mkearns]

I love Craig's Prince module. I've seen it a few times here in WV.

[arbomambo]

While we were meeting with ScaleTrains Shane Wilson and Jason Williams, some of their products were being photographed on the two T-TRAK modules brought by Craig Laing and myself.

[Dave V]

@arbomambo ,

Those are just fantastic... This kind of work really, really temps me to dabble in T-Trak, but I doubt I could produce results that sexy.