Weekend Update 4/22/18

[up1950s]

[Dave V]

My future layout's era just broadened to include 1947.  Why?  This:



A Blackstone RGS K-27 #455...in her "post-wreck" configuration.  In 1943, #455 (looking pretty much like every other K-27 except that she wore the RGS sunrise herald) ran away on Dallas Divide and wrecked.  At the time she was hauling both ore and a consignment of several carloads of coal headed for the Soviet Union.  During the war years the RGS was too busy and short of material to repair #455 so she didn't see action again until 1947.  By 1947 many of the D&RGW's K-27 class had gone on to the great roundhouse in the sky (or to Mexico) but the remaining ones were still in service, so the RGS--ever creative--made a deal with the D&RGW for parts from standard gauge locomotives then being scrapped.  The cab is from a standard gauge 0-6-0 and the tender from a standard gauge 2-8-0.  Both had to be cut down the middle and narrowed.

This is what she looked like in 1947.  By 1951 she was pulling a regular K-27 tender--still in the D&RGW's "flying Rio Grande" lettering--until she was scrapped in 1953.

Long OOP, these can go on the 'bay for $500-700+.  I nabbed this baby for $300 and she sounds and runs as good as she looks!

[Santa Fe Guy]

Great pick up Dave. Will be a nice addition to the roster.
Rod.

[Iain]

My future layout's era just broadened to include 1947.

I have recently made the decision to also model early 1910s Norfolk Southern, so now I have three eras!

[CR4100]

The Plywood Central begins.  It's a 2'x4' piece of plywood with 11", 9 3/4" and 7.5" radius curves, all pulled from the used track box at the LHS. This should make for a great test environment. [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[jereising]

A big sigh of relief as the track cleaning train completes it's mission on The Sub.



The train was preceded by a hand cleaning using WS' Tidy Track system.  Train consists of five Aztec Predators, and is what I have developed over the years as being the fastest, best way to clean track.

The first Predator uses a wet cloth roller (mineral spirits).  First time around I add fluid every twenty feet or so, and less on each succeeding pass.  The well car acts as an idler to keep the locos clean and distribute the liquid around the rails.  The locos and second idler also do this, then there are four Predators with dry rollers to pick up what might be left.  The final well car lets me know all is well with the train.

Usually I only run two passes - and that's enough to keep things shiny - but this time I went four due to the time between trains and the amount of debris that came down, not to mention the dust.

I'm happy to report everything went well, and I can now turn my attention to more clean up and scenery repair.

[mu26aeh]

Nothing exciting this weekend.  Entering car information into Shenandoah Software MiTrains for car card and waybill generation.  I had started doing this buy hand but that's time consuming and some cars aren't very legible.  At least this way, everything will be computer printed and everyone can read that.

[CodyO]

Getting ready to move so I had to take the lay ok it apart

Took 20 mins by myself to go from
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To this
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It's great having lightweight benchwork.

[MK]

Your layout looks so clean.  I don't think I can ever move with the conidtion of my basement! 

[coldriver]

As the song says, "Look for the sign you're in Les Schwab country."  For most of you this sign will probably mean nothing, but for any of you who've spent an extended period of time in the PNW you'll recognize the iconic tire dealer.  Les started in Prineville, OR, in the 50's (not far from Oregon Joint Line territory) and spread outward to the point where nearly any town over 3,000 people in the PNW has one.   I found this image and used Powerpoint to add locations on the Oregon Joint Line (of the four Burns is the only town that actually has a Les Schwab) and then could not resist adding the "free beef" tagline to the top.  The free beef promo lasted for decades at Les Schwab but has now been discontinued. 

IMG_0088 by Dean Ferris, on Flickr

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Client needs to sell his house in the next couple weeks (without the layout!) so yesterday FreemoN friend Eric & I took it apart & down (3 stories of stairs) in less than 8 hours 
Here's the video:

More detail over on the HO thread.
But wanted to share here, too, as the pain of destroying a layout extends across all scales.
 

[Dave V]

Took a break from my MoW car project to build the Placerville, CO Texaco oil depot.  This was the Grandt Line kit. Oddly the kit's description claims it's from "Placerville, CA," and while I don't dispute that Texaco may have had an identical facility there, the kit is a match for Mike Blazek's plans and the photographs in The RGS Story Volume I. I scribed additional lines to simulate individually applied corrugated siding sheets and painted the 55 gallon drums to look a little like some of Texaco's older designs. The signs are photos of actual Texaco porcelain logos I found on eBay and printed. They should be painted on but I'm not sweating it at the moment.

[johnb]

Took a break from my MoW car project to build the Placerville, CO Texaco oil depot.  This was the Grandt Line kit. Oddly the kit's description claims it's from "Placerville, CA," and while I don't dispute that Texaco may have had an identical facility there, the kit is a match for Mike Blazek's plans and the photographs in The RGS Story Volume I. I scribed additional lines to simulate individually applied corrugated siding sheets and painted the 55 gallon drums to look a little like some of Texaco's older designs. The signs are photos of actual Texaco porcelain logos I found on eBay and printed. They should be painted on but I'm not sweating it at the moment.

that looks great, if Grandt made it in N, I would have used it on my pike

[hegstad1]

I finished the arched window Northern Pacific diner #1679.

[CBQ Fan]

I finished the arched window Northern Pacific diner #1679.

Those are sharp!  I wish there was something commercially available like this.