The new Missouri Valley Western

[MVW]

Jim

[MVW]

Bit of a red-letter day for me yesterday, in a couple ways.

First of all, I finished wiring up the last of the new class tracks at the east end of Cedricsburg Yard. Powered the area up and an Atlas GP waltzed through all nine new turnouts and over every piece of flex without a stutter. So far, so good.

That first track test took place immediately before I was supposed to start an ops session with my two brothers. So ... we get started, or try to get started, and all of a sudden the entire layout is operating about as reliably as an old Bachmann train set. Normally sure-footed engines like my Atlas GPs or Life-Like SW suddenly are stuttering worse than Mel Tillis on a bender. And not just through switches, but often on long, straight pieces of flex.

Of course, I quickly cleaned track in problem areas. That hardly helped. I cleaned the wheels on three different locos. That hardly helped. We eventually gave up for the evening. I've been building this layout for 3 1/2 years, and I've NEVER experienced anything like this. It was a case of the model railroading "visitor's curse" ... turned up to 11.

So, I'm off to clean track and tinker and see what the hell is going on. But we spent a few hours earlier today splitting up some of our late brother's HO engines and rolling stock, and it does get one to wondering.

Jim

[MVW]

So, after and hour and half of cleaning loco wheels, the mainline and the west end yard ladder, just about everything is right again with the world.

Just about. One of my GPs continues to lose power in different places for no apparent reason. Sometimes it will start up again on its own; other times, turning the throttle up slightly gets 'er running. (And these stalls are occurring at something near mainline speed.) Contact issue? Lubrication issue?

Jim

[rodsup9000]

  Hey Jim, when I have the "stalling" problem with any of mine, I take the trucks off and disassemble them, clean the axle points and the contact piece that the axle points ride in, then when I reassemble them, I use Atlas conducta lube on the axle points.     

[MVW]

Thanks, Rodney. But that sounds like something well beyond my pay grade. 

I'll have to do an interwebz search for how to go about that. Another "opportunity" for learning ...

Thanks for the tip!

Jim

[MVW]

A few images of a relatively uncluttered peninsula:







Cleaning up some of the mess in preparation for painting the new trackwork at the east end of Cedricsburg Yard.



Jim

[MVW]

Folllowing advice from @rodsup9000 I screwed up my courage and tackled my first (minor) surgery on an N scale loco. I pulled the trucks from a ballky GP and cleaned the cups the axle points ride in. Also removed 2-3 fuzzbombs from the gear towers. Much hilarity ensued during re-assembly, but she's finally back together again and running better than ever.

Thanks, Rodney! I'll be considerably less gun shy about opening up the next loco that needs a look-see.

Jim

[MVW]

All painted up, and soon to be ready for the "B" word.







removed size tags from last image to avoid distorting the image aspect -gfh

[rodsup9000]

 Jim,
  It good to here you got the courage to take the GP truck apart and clean them. I also added this to my routine when it's time for a clean and lube.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

All painted up, and soon to be ready for the "B" word.

Grout.

Grout. Grout. Grout.

You'll no longer HATE ballasting. You'll merely be bored by it. Haha.

[MVW]

I use both ballast (cinders) and grout, actually. Ballast first, then grout on top. The grout goes on dry. I'm hoping this preserves a bit of flexibility in case I need to replace/repair a turnout in the future.

The only thing I don't like about grout is that essentially turns to concrete -- which is great if you're actually using it as intended, but scares me on a model railroad.

Jim

[MVW]

Spent a few minutes this noon unscrewing something I never should have screwed up in the first place. Or at least I started the unscrewing process. 

One of the tables holding Cedricsburg Yard is the first HCD I started with when I got into N scale a few years back. As a table, it's sturdy and level, but the 2" foam I topped it with is another story. There was a big wave in the sheet, a deflection of a bit more than .25". Which I, being a dumbass, didn't do anything about, due to lack of sanity and eagerness for progress.

As a result, there was a very unhealthy hump in my flat yard. Or rather, what appeared to be a hump because of a dip, if you follow my drift.

So, while preparing to ballast (and grout, Ed  ) the new track at the east end of the yard, I thought I'd get a start on righting this abomination.

In the photo below, you can see how the mainline still dips down. The first track in the A/D yard has been brought up to level.



The difference is maybe more obvious in this one:



And it appears I'm well on my way to mitigating this disaster. Which is good, because looking at that hump made me want to retch.

Jim

[DKS]

A few images of a relatively uncluttered peninsula:

Nice to see the disconnected track at the grade crossing. Not often modeled.

[MVW]

That's not necessarily the story, but I'm open to that interpretation, David. 

The stub on the left is the end of the switching lead from the west end of Cedricsburg yard. The stub on the right is a short spur serving the farm implement dealer.

The C&NW's mainline was doubletracked through this region by 1900, I believe. I needed a single track main, but wanted to give at least the impression of double track in places.

Jim

[MVW]

Experimenting with different approaches to painting DPM kits to see what I can, erm, get away with.

 

The brick on the buildings on the far left and far right were painted by hand using cheap acrylics. I purposely left the coverage a bit uneven ... because that's the way life is.  Both got hit with two layers of black wash to blend things a bit.

The two buildings in the middle were spray painted. I hand-painted the trim on the one in front. I'm surprised to say I don't think it looks too bad. (Nothing that can't be touched up, anyway.) Haven't touched the rear building or hit 'em with wash yet.

Amazingly, I mixed two colors (on the buildings at left) that are damn good matches for the untouched castings. 

Jim