Wisconsin Central - Heritage Division

[w neal]

Very cool. I gather its been a pellet store for a few years. I am modeling it as a wood pellet store as well. I think it was a pellet store in the late 90s or early 2000s when I saw it last; pallets of bagged chips trackside and a semi trailer outside that advertised their business.

[w neal]

In between college football today, I took some time to take on adding No - Ox to the rails. I figured I'd try it in and around Waupaca, then attempt some switching at the industries there to see how it helps. Have not treated any locomotive wheels yet. I figure that will come later, as the fleet is rather large. I might do so for a couple locos after, just to observe the difference.




First, I cleaned the rails with a mildly abrasive track eraser. The one pictured is Life Like's version. Its about the consistency of a pencil eraser, and for all I know it may be. Then I applied some isopropyl to the rails with an old (clean!)  sock. As you can see, it doesn't take much more than a foot of rail or so to get a spot dirty. I would then move my finger to a different, cleaner part of the sock and continue. Then, a vacuuming of the rails is a good idea to remove dust, track eraser crumblings, and sock fibers.




Per directions, I then applied it to the railtops using small smudges like the above.







(Finger not to scale, Tee Hee)

When I could no longer feel like the stuff was between my finger and the railtops and that it had disappeared from the end of my finger, I would get another small dab and continue. I've got the feeling that I still over applied it using this method. I could also feel how it can make the rails slippery too. I'm going to let the stuff sit on the rails a few hours, then wipe it off with another clean sock. I'll report later on my results...

[bdennis]

I have applied No-Ox to my layout using a cloth wrapped around the end of a piece of timber.
My layout is in a room within my garage and I struggled with dirty track for some time and was using a Peco track block.
As I'm in Melbourne Australia I don't see the temperature fluctuations or humidity that you guys see and my room is fairly well temperature controlled just by it being within a sub room within the garage (no heaters or AC)
I last applied the No-Ox about 3 or 4 months ago. I have not cleaned the track or loco wheels since then. I just turn the layout on and run it.
I did not apply any to the loco wheels.
I have not seen any pulling performance issues since using the No-Ox.
I highly recommend it.

[w neal]

Good on ya mate! Thanks for the endorsement and confirmation. Hope the summer is good to you.

Please give my regards to the next A7 you see, albiet in a museum or such.

[w neal]

At first, my results with No Ox were No Good. There were some spots where my locomotives were still stalling. I re-cleaned those spots and re-applied the No Ox. Same results. Phooey! Upon closer examination however (closer as in, get out the old man magnifiers), there were very tiny streaks of rail brown paint still on the railtops in those locations. Yet another cleaning and reapplication of the No Ox finally yielded a good result. So, as has been mentioned on this forum before, make sure the rails are 100% clean before appliying the stuff. Lesson learned.

Now my only trouble spots are where frogs are not powered. Good thing I am well skilled at soldering in "zero G" under the upper level.

[w neal]

"Its been a long, cold, lonely winter"

My basement is uninsulated, so I've been taking a break from the layout the last couple months as temps fell. I've been doing other modeling such as decaling and structure work for some upcoming projects. Now that the birds are singing, and Leo is rising higher in the evening sky, temperatures outside and in the layout room have risen. As well as cleaning and No - Oxing (is that a word?) the track, I am going back to previously sceniced areas and wiring my frogs. I skipped this step in years past in order to hurry and get the pink foam covered with scenery. All that to prepare for being on a layout tour during an NMRA convention. So now the unglamorous "under the layout" work is at hand. Its very slow and time consuming work. Especially so when one has to solder in "zero G" underneath the layout. Ah well. When you finish and test each turnout, it does give you a real sense of accomplishment. Its all for an eventual goal. My hope is to get some operations started.

Above:







Below:






Sorry that I have few pretty pictures to post. I rekon it will all be worth it later as trains will be operating and socialization with others will be occurring.

[w neal]

Here is a better shot from above of the two turnouts I was wiring last night.

Notice the crude, caveman - like benchwork seen previously. What was it Han Solo said? "She don't look like much kid, but she's got it where it counts" 

[nickelplate759]

You're posting about turnouts but I'm admiring the simple scenery and how it renders the ordinary.   Not enough people remember to include wildlflowers - nicely done!

[w neal]

Your point does not fall on "deaf eyes". I'm aiming for early fall: goldenrod a plenty! Hopefully there are a few Monarchs enjoying them. One of the advantages of N scale I suppose;  a somewhat expansive scene above of the ordinary, perhaps mundane. Vive la dull!

[w neal]

By the way, for those who were wondering, I'd like to point out something. Please note the "under layout" picture above. In it, note that the Blue Point switch machines are supported by a small square of masonite that is glued (via construction adhesive) to the underside of 2" pink foam. It works wonderfully for those using pink foam as the scenery base. Just pointing it out.

[w neal]

Really like the new hoppers from Athearn. Thank you for doing 6 roadnumbers. I guess I'm biased, doing a fair amount of agribusiness on the portion of the WC that I'm modeling.

[w neal]

In between working on a relative's house construction (1:1 scale), I've been adding some logs and detritus to my forrest floors here and there.





I tried to simulate a nice carpet of fallen pine needles here. Alas, seemingly no one makes static grass in a nice bright rusty red color to help us simulate dead pine needles. Appearntly, no one who makes scenery materials has spent time in pine forrests. Shame.

[w neal]

Cutting up some logs last night for making pulpwood loads.

[w neal]

Recently revisited the area of the Wiouwash trail's crossing of the mainline. I guess I did a fair job of representing this area. Although not captured in my photo, the area is a bit marshy. I'd forgotten just how much so! A short hike along the R.O.W. does reveal foundations from the former Soo Line coal dock. Glad to see they still exist in 2021. However, the cement call box at the former diamond's location has disappeared since my last visit.

 

[pedro]

Case study in “less is more” Midwest modeling. Love it. Simplicity rules!