A shelf layout emerging from a turnout

[davefoxx]

I like it, Lennart!

[svedblen]

Thanks Dave.

[ednadolski]

Nice job on this.  Always great to see your progress! 

Ed

[svedblen]

Always great to see your progress!

Thanks Ed, but really not very much progress. Apart from scenery, I have a loco to detail and paint, but in that department I seem to suffer from some kind of "modeler's block". Can it be due to some other guy doing such a fabulous job on a GP9   

EDIT: But I have actually contacted Norm at Protocraft about couplers, so it is no longer a complete standstill 

[Ken Ford]

Lennart, I just found your two threads and read up on what you're doing. Beautiful work!

You'll like Norm's couplers, I use them in P:48.

[svedblen]

You'll like Norm's couplers, I use them in P:48.

Thanks Ken. Good to hear they seem good.
Any pics or web page showing your P:48 stuff?

[Ken Ford]

Nothing at the moment, it's all been temporary testing stuff so far. I'm getting ready on a scenery test module, though - I'm hoping on using that as a photo platform.

[svedblen]

I wanted an asphalt strip along the spur, indicating that it is accessible and sometimes used for some kind of loading or unloading. I made the strip using a drywall spackling compound, which I painted gray using diluted black color from an ordinary children's watercolor set.



As you can see I made cracks in the asphalt to make it appear old. And I wanted something more than the ordinary grass and weeds, so I created some dandelions to go along. Or at least something that is meant to be dandelions  I will later add a thread in the Scenery Techniques forum where I show how I made the dandelions.
EDIT: Here is the added topic https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=41193.msg512673#msg512673

Here are some more pics of the scene.













EDIT: Here is the topic about the dandelions https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=41193.msg512673#msg512673

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Whoa.

[svedblen]

Thanks Ed 

[Ken Ford]

Whoa.

Not just whoa - WHOA!

[svedblen]

... and Ken 

[svedblen]

The type "E" couplers I ordered from Protocraft arrived a few days ago, and today I assembled them. As advertised, it took some filing and drilling to get the parts ready for assembly, but it was a fairly straightforward process given the detailed instructions that Norm at Protocraft sent along. So I now have one set of couplers for each of the hoppers, and one set for the engine.

Here is what (six of them) looked before assembly. Three parts each - body and shank, knuckle and lift pin.



Actually, there was a fourth part also. A small spike acting as the knuckle hinge, referred to as the "escutcheon", a word I never heard of before,

And here are the first two I assembled. The hinge spike will later be trimmed to length.



Since I do not yet have any coupler boxes I am unable to install them and cannot make any live tests. But they seem to couple and uncouple as they should when doing a simple test by hand. Uncoupling is by lifting the pin. Cool.

[ednadolski]

Those Protocraft couplers are great.  You will have to be a bit careful when painting & weathering, to keep the moving surfaces clean so that the pin can drop smoothly.

What are your plans for operating the pins?  (top/bottom lever, magnet, ...?)

Ed

[svedblen]

What are your plans for operating the pins?  (top/bottom lever, magnet, ...?)

Bottom lever for the cars, and top for the loco. To get the bottom levers working smoothly might be a challenge. But challenges are to be overcome, aren't they