Weekend Update 6/16/19

[up1950s]

http://www.maynardlifeoutdoors.com/2016/06/history-of-assabet-river-rail-trail.html

[BCR 570]

Another enjoyable and successful op session (#12) last weekend with modellers from the Sunshine Coast and North Shore in attendance:








With the help of a friend, my computer interface for decoder reading/programming and wireless devices is back up after a long outage.


This weekend's movements include tidying up Chetwynd Yard, and sending four flat cars south for their last trip off the layout.  They have been sold to the Brampton ONT Fire Department:




Tim

[strummer]

Another enjoyable and successful op session (#12) last weekend with modellers from the Sunshine Coast and North Shore in attendance:
Tim

I'm sure it was...although everyone looks so serious...   

You have a magnificent layout, BTW. 

Mark in Oregon

[CRL]

Very well done and thought out layout. Fair warning... I fully intend to “steal” some of your methods and ideas.

Funny thing though... I never knew the term “box canyon” meant the canyon was full of boxes 📦.

[wm3798]

Worked on a little turd polishing...


I had gotten a dummy Metroliner some time ago to add to my retro fleet, and finally snagged a power car cheap on eBay.  The Amtrak shell was from the power car, and has a slightly damaged shell, so it was a bargain.  It also has an intact movable pantograph, which I can transplant to another PC trailing car, when I get one.

I put the PC shell I had onto the drive, and made a few modifications to improve the fit.  I also got rid of the hot fire burning in the cab by replacing the bulb with an LED placed in line with the headlight lens, and blacking out the glass in front.



I put shorter shank couplers between the cars, and a dummy knuckle on the nose of the power car to improve the distance between the cars and the overall look.

Finally, I painted the thick window sills/sashes black, leaving only the silver highlight visible, which vastly improves the overall appearance.  Once I fixed the wheel gauge and lubed the power drive, it runs very smoothly for its age...  The drive is still pretty noisy with its brass gears, but it's much improved over when I first got it.

A set of these (in Amtrak) was one of the first train sets I ever received as a kid...  Mine never quite worked right, but this one is a champ.  So this one's for you, Dad.  Sorry I complained about the old one so much!

Lee

[wm3798]

Oh... and don't forget to vote in the TTrak challenge!
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=47287.0

Lee

[Jesse6669]

This week I did some more work on T-scale components for the Princeton Jct. module.

I assembled a test of the catenary gantry.  The posts were in reality H beams but this 1mm square rod is good enough for me, especially with weathering.  This gantry spans 4-tracks, but Princeton Jct. I believe had a 5 (or 6?) track span where it crossed the siding for the Princeton branch (need to research a bit more for the exact layout).  I'm thinking I'll scratch build that wider "one off" gantry.   

I'm also going to revise the PRR signal gantry to have latticed "A frame" uprights so it's more accurate.  I recently found photos showing that to be the case at Nassau tower.
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Also did a Google map printout of the area to be modeled which will include the entire station, most of the platform (gonna nip off the southern ends) and the beginning of the Princeton branch.  All of which should fit--to scale--on a 0.5 ft x 3 ft base.  The idea is to do it a narrow module/backdrop, with an extensions around the back for the mains/staging. 

And for grins I did a tiny ATSF semaphore signal (non operating) to test a mounting system.  There's a neodymium magnet in the scenery (1/32") and a tiny square of stainless steel sheet on the base of the signal.  This went off with the shiny F7-A.  (Oh and on that subject again--paint thickness does get to be real problem in 1:450 but it also covers up 3D printing artifacts so it cuts both ways.   And at arms length without magnification it's not an issue.)

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[diezmon]

Trying to get some F Units finished, and micro LED wiring. 

[nkalanaga]

Jesse6669:  Where do you get 1mm square rod?  That sounds like what I need for N scale log bunks.  Plastic is too fragile, round brass rod doesn't look right, and 1/16 inch square is too big.

[davefoxx]

Pardon the crappy video.  I ain’t got time to gussy it up.  But, this was the only way to demonstrate the Gyra Light that I installed into my HO scale Athearn GP40-2.  Last weekend, I got the headlights installed successfully.  Today, it was the Gyra Light, which required finding a way to mount it above the cab without too much light spilling into the cab.  What I did was to punch a hole through the back of the detailed interior of the cab and slide a piece of styrene tubing through that was big enough for the LED to slide inside.  The tubing cannot be seen from normal viewing angles, as it is tucked up against the top of the cab roof.  I had to do some whittling of the tubing to expose enough light for the top “bulb” of the housing to light.  It was difficult working inside the narrow shell, but it works!  Yay!

DFF

[davefoxx]

Oh, and the effect that I’m going for can be seen in this former L&N GP30 in the very beginning of the video below.  My GP40-2 is also of L&N lineage.  I just patched it for the Seaboard System.

DFF

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Work on the GP40-2LW moves forward. The shell is essentially done.... I need to add windows, wipers, shades, and headlight lenses.

I haven't started on the chassis yet - it will need modification to the fuel tank, strip styrene to make the shell sit level at the proper height, New trucks and DCC.

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[BCRail_FSJ]

With layout track complete and wired, attention turns to the motive power roster.  I spent a few hours this weekend on my first BCR RS-18 conversion using the Briggs bodyshell kits on a Atlas classic RS-11 chassis





The hard work on the chassis (including chopping the nose) was done 6 years ago when I built a CRS-20 so today I was just preparing the hood parts and test fitting them, I need to investigate whether a newer DCC friendly Atlas RS-11 is available these days.    This one is not running well at all after all these years in storage.





Good to back on modelling projects again.   

[John]

My son and I spent Saturday 15th riding the Potomac Eagle .. Romney WV

[altohorn25]

I am 95% done with this sleeper, just waiting for the car name decals to come in the mail. It's a 1938 17 roomette 1 section sleeper that was used in both pool service and on the Super Chief. Metal sides on an American Limited core kit. The car name will be either Tonto or Otowi. I didn't have all the correct size grab irons either, so those will need to be added later.

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