Weekend Update 1/8/23

[Lemosteam]

   

Same Here!!!

Jerry G.

Nice Maverick. My son’s is a hot pepper red XLT front wheel drive on a 3 year lease of $150.00/ month. He is averaging 38.6 mpg. Very nice, simple truck. Drives and handles great.



Working for Ford for 38+ years, the Ranger did not get good until we went to front sla suspension- I HATED the twin-I beam front end. All of the motors were great in those, from the twin plug 2.3 in 89, to the indestructible 3.0L.

I put 1.2 million miles across five rangers over the years. I still drive a 93 3.0L with 275k miles on her. Yes I hate the front twin-I suspension still, lol.

[nkalanaga]

Does the owner of the STL file sell prints?

Or, is the file still available for others to print their own?

[davefoxx]

Hey Dave,  I took a double-take when I saw your photo.  It would appear you and I have the same good taste in selections of fascia and skirting color.   



Erik

@Erik W,

I’m flattered.  That layout of yours is one of my favorites.  I’ve probably told you this before, but that mountainous section to the right in your picture is some of the best topographic modeling I’ve ever seen.  Really captures the area well, especially considering that track is not even on a grade!

Thanks,
DFF

[pdx1955]

Working on adding trees after adding all sorts of tufts, static grass and shrubs...and working on a few trees a night as well!

[John]

@gary60s gave us a treasure trove of scratch build designs .. this weekend I picked a loading dock to see how well I could get one to print on my Mono ..

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=30558.msg759308#msg759308

This is the result of the build. Printed on an Anycubic Mono in gray (grey) and about 4 hours of design time in Tinkercad .. I think it turned out OK ..  painted using rustoleum cammo black and brown for the deck .. using a technique on Kathy Milat's channel - lightened deck with thinned enamel gunship gray and also took off some of the brown to give it a slight weathered look .. This deck is best suited to be planted in the ground with some dirt around it rather than sitting on a hard surface.

I spent considerable time trying to get the wood grain to work - but the effect could be better done using actual wood cut to size 6"=10-12' .. I would still print the frame for simplicity.












The files are available here .. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5770691

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Speaking of, is it still flipping out on you?

Just last night it stayed chirping for an hour after I killed the power.

So yeah, still possessed.

[crrcoal]

Ed do you have a thread on building this?   Disregard, found it!
 

A little late for Christmas but it's the return of the DCC in a Box.

I cut two more holes in the box.

Then I put some more junk in the box.

(Attachment Link)

(Attachment Link)

This is all in service of making a bunch of dated "dick in a box" jokes and adding my new Lokprogrammer.

[altohorn25]

I had one open spot in my storage box where I keep my n scale Royal American Shows carnival train, so I decided to build another flat car and load.

The flat is a Micro Trains car with factory lettering that I re-numbered, added 33" metal wheels, painted the deck, and weathered.

The red and yellow wagons are factory painted by Micro Trains, but have had the modern undergear removed and replaced with more prototypically correct large tires and a 5th wheel.

The white wagon is a 3d printed kit that I purchased on Ebay.

I also added possum bellies to all three wagons for equipment storage.  Chock blocks were added on each wagon wheel.

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[altohorn25]

I had a little time this morning to work on some track that has been giving me problems.  This is one of the reasons why I've been letting the layout sit over the winter so that any problems will present themselves before I start painting track and laying down ballast.

Anyways......I put a curved turnout on the westbound main at the south end of New Lisbon.  It has been giving me problems (just like all the other Atlas code 55 curved turnouts.....) since I installed it in July.  I finally had enough of equipment derailing so I pulled it out and replaced it with a #7 regular turnout.  I had to re-lay some of the main as well as the siding and move the turnout that leads to the Wye, but it operates much better now.  No derailments.  Life is good.

I should have known better than using curved turnouts........Atlas code 55 curved turnouts are the devil......no matter how much you tweak them, they still never work quite right......too much space between the throw rails.........

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[CR4100]

I started removing the Conrail Quality lettering from a Walthers GP38-2 shell. This is destined to become Conrail Operation Lifesaver 8263.

[AlbertSpor]

Quote from: AlbertSpor on Yesterday at 07:56:54 PM
Draskouasshat the UP baggage horse cars look great. Any chance you might want to sell a few prints at some time?
George the NKP car looks promising.
Nate the Rock Island cars all look great, I love all of the passenger car threads and photos that we have had lately.
Albert

unfortunately, i cant sell the UP car. i bought the STL file for it to use as a test and design medium to see how it printed. im also comparing my details like rivets to what he did so i can improve my designs.

Thanks for letting me know.
It does look good in the photo.
Albert

[John]

I should have known better than using curved turnouts........Atlas code 55 curved turnouts are the devil......no matter how much you tweak them, they still never work quite right......too much space between the throw rails.........

I was a big fan of the Atlas code 55 turnouts when they first came out .. but after almost 20 years of them on my layout - I'm no longer the fanboy I was back then .. If I were to do it over, I would have hand laid them all, especially the frogs

[garethashenden]

I made a small double track trestle. One of the less realistic parts of this layout is the turnout immediately before the river, all on a curve. There are no perfect solutions, but this seems reasonable. Need to do the parapets and add the guard rails, then its ready for painting.

[bnsfdash8]

The sills still need to be masked and the pilots and walkways painted black but I was excited to see how the GP60I and 60B looked with some decals.

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[Erik W]

@Erik W,

I’m flattered.  That layout of yours is one of my favorites.  I’ve probably told you this before, but that mountainous section to the right in your picture is some of the best topographic modeling I’ve ever seen.  Really captures the area well, especially considering that track is not even on a grade!

Thanks,
DFF

Thanks Dave!  I've admired your work as well.  As a native of Maryland (born in Bethesda, grew up in Edgewater - not too far from Annapolis), I like how you really nail the look of the mid-Atlantic region.  Also, I've also always had a soft spot for the RF&P and Seaboard. 

My layout is mostly finished.  I'd shoot more layout photos, but I need to put some thought into additional lighting specifically for photography.  I need a couple of studio lights, or bright area lights.

Here are a couple test shots I took awhile back that show the entire layout.  The coloring is somewhat off, but you get the idea.




Erik