Weekend Update 12/7/14

[bbussey]

Milled my first attempt of the I-5 tender body core exterior.  I'm pleased with the results.







A couple of minor adjustments were needed to the G-code, which I've already made and tested.  I'll run the program on the two good body interior millings sometime this week, and then it's a matter of having the body wrapper etched.

[Erik W]

Nothing new from me . . . for a loooong time.  After quite a while of no interest in my layout, I dusted, vacuumed and cleaned the track and ran trains for the first time in 2 years yesterday!!  It felt damn good.     I'm hoping with a 90% finished layout, I can catch the train bug again and motivate myself to make more progress, and who knows, maybe even get the layout to a point of completion.  When I was divorced a handful of years ago, I figured, "Well, at least I'll have unlimited time to myself to work on the layout."  Turned out though, the train interest dried up, as rebuilding a social life took priority.

These are some rehashed photos of mine, many of you old timers have seen before, so bare with me.  I figured the newer members would get a kick out of them. 

These first 2 photos show the layout in its entirety.






















Erik

[James Costello]

Great to see your fabulous layout and craftsmanship here again Erik - hope to see much more of it in the years ahead!

[MVW]

I would think it would be real easy to rekindle interest in a layout like that, Erik. Looking forward to following along.

Jim

[Scottl]

Wonderful layout Erik.  I'm looking forward to seeing you getting back into the swing of things.

[Cajonpassfan]

Nothing new from me . . . for a loooong time.  After quite a while of no interest in my layout, I dusted, vacuumed and cleaned the track and ran trains for the first time in 2 years yesterday!!  It felt damn good.     I'm hoping with a 90% finished layout, I can catch the train bug again and motivate myself to make more progress, and who knows, maybe even get the layout to a point of completion.  When I was divorced a handful of years ago, I figured, "Well, at least I'll have unlimited time to myself to work on the layout."  Turned out though, the train interest dried up, as rebuilding a social life took priority.

These are some rehashed photos of mine, many of you old timers have seen before, so bare with me.  I figured the newer members would get a kick out of them. 

These first 2 photos show the layout in its entirety.


Erik

Welcome back Erik, been there, done that, and absolutely can relate. One does need a life outside of the hobby, it's all about balance, and I hope you find it. Your modeling is very creative and I look forward to seeing the layout completed...
Best, Otto K.

[davefoxx]

Erik,

I remember that you went through a divorce, so I'm glad to see that your layout still exists.  I've always admired it.  Your mountain portion has some of the most realistic contouring through the landscape that I've seen done on a model railroad.  I hope your interest is rekindled, so that we can see more of your work.

DFF

[chuck geiger]

Danneman, Kempinski and Erik!!!!!

[mcjaco]

Working on a Soo Line F7B.

[Bendtracker1]

Awesome layout Erik!  Looking forward to seeing what you've got in store for the remaining 10%.

Here's a project that has been a major thorn in my side for the last year.
I painted this one and a few others for a buddy back in 2000. Since then he switched roads and then scales. He decided to
get the decals on and finish them so he could try selling them. For whatever reason the decals had issues. They would crumble when trying to slide them off the paper, so we tried using MicroScale liquid decal film with no avail. They would still crumble. It's almost like the paper was bad, not enough glue to release them or the white lacquer was way too thin.
We even ordered several new sets of decals right from MicroScale with no luck either. They were probably from the same batch?

I was able to get this unit done and half of an E8. I wound up buying a separate set of white 4" & 6" stripes to see if they will work better than the others have. If I can get the E8 finished, then I have U30C that I want to try to finish as well.

If we can get them done, he is going to try and sell them. If we can't get the decals to cooperate he'll just sell them painted without decals.

I still need to replace the small details like the glass, horns and couplers yet.

MoPac SD40-2 #3092 in with Double Eagles.

[Mark W]

Lookin great Allen!  If you can't get the decals to slide, I bet you make it work with some of your awesome weathering and bring in top dollar on the auction site. 


As for me, more work at Roca.  I decided I want to get this one finished by the end of the year, even if it kills me. 

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks Richie, for "sneaking" that Pearl Harbor Hawai'ian narrow gauge stuff in on Dec. 7.
(I see what you did there!  Ooh: layers upon layers!) 

Always interested in Hawai'ian narrow gauge, ever since reading about Byron Henderson's Oahu projects: http://mrsvc.blogspot.com/2008/01/one-lost-weekend-redeemed.html
So very groovy to see photos of the cars.

Dec. 7th always held sway in our lives, as one set of grandparents married in Portland, OR on Dec. 6th, 1941 and woke up on their honeymoon to war (and to work in the shipyards / phone exchange, with grandma's brother later killed at Midway), another grandparent rejected by the Imperial Japanese Army because of a heart condition and so had to be a policeman in Kyoto (a shame from which his heart/psyche never fully recovered), an auntee born & raised in Berkeley, CA, was forced at gunpoint to "evacuate" to a freezing/burning desert for 4 years, and another grandparent, in his final year at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, found out he was going to graduate "right now" instead of summer 42' and go off to fight in the Pacific.

Fortunately I had the chance to build a model railroad shelf layout with my (at the time) 9-year-old daughter, and base it in Alameda, CA in 1946-7.  So, in addition to learning & playing with track, scenery, wiring, soldering, etc., we were also able to research & explore many of the issues from the many, many viewpoints involved in the conflict.



Alameda Air Station fighters fly off in the background behind Doolittle Freight (named after Alameda native Gen. Doolittle):



Anti-Japanese posters (including a "Jap Hunting License" and "Remember Pearl Harbor") rot on the angled corner:



And abandoned Fujiwara Trading Company lies victim to the racist-influenced and unconstitutional Executive Order 9066:





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9066

Model railroads are a wonderful way to not only build beautiful layouts while learning multi-disciplinary skills, but also build relationships with your children by exploring the history in both your backyard and your family tree.

Speaking of healing and rehabilitating, I've started sprucing up a HO structure that my departed friend left to place on his layout:



The roof is all cardboard, and most of the deck support is missing:



So I'm experimenting with various foundation rock-wall and roof-roll material / textures:



And rebuilding the deckwork:



With a bit of staining & weathering, should look appropriate for a 1920's logging layout.

Also finally trimmed the shingles on the depot, so I'm ready to weather that with powders.
Next up: refurbish the pre-built turntable and finish the fuel dealership.

Still have a bit of wiring to do, plus installing Keep Alive / Current Keepers in the brass locos 

Other than that, just looking forward to our Free-moN setup at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, CA on Jan. 3 & 4
http://www.greattrainexpo.com/shows/2015Richmond.html

Happy weekend & Warm Winters to all!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

As for me, more work at Roca.  I decided I want to get this one finished by the end of the year, even if it kills me. 

Looking good, Mark!
Great aspect of module making: "easy" to get done, and then they're done done!
Very satisfying!
Very much dig your grain structure there.
Looking forward to the finished scene (isn't there a wooded river/creek bed on the other side?)

[Catt]

Probably getting boring by now,but I decided to post one more pic anyway.

Progress pic for the west side of Second St.One of these days I will get some work done on the east side of the street.   

[thomasjmdavis]

Still needs to be weathered, but finished my "close enough for me, and its my railroad" Wabash cafe lounge (aka MT diner with blue paint).  Blue is actually darker than it looks in the photo.  Decals are left overs from a batch I bought years ago.