Weekend Update 3/1/20

[Iain]

Something I’ve wanted to try for awhile, finally got around to it. Opening the side of a Kato 70 ton closed side hopper. Especially  since they were nice enough to include the inner details even though they are hidden by the closed sides. I suppose they planned on offering them open sided at some point.

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I should be able to cobble together the correct decals from about 4 different sets to turn it into this

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At $5 a pop for the undec shells from Kato (less Trucks, couplers and weights), I will have more invested in decals than for parts.

Tom L
Wellington CO

Oooh, I need to do at least one NS 8000 class.

[freedj]

I have made some progress on a scratchbuilt LPG Distributor based on a mashup of 3 prototype photos.  I pulled this image into sketchup and projected the model from the size of the foundation slab according to the google satellite images.

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[up1950s]

After hours and hours of hair pulling web searching I THINK MAYBE the Massey Ferguson 830 MIGHT be a 70s or 80s born date .

However In the meat of the 50s decade while the company was called Massey Harris Ferguson , in Germany they built a 630s that looks so close to the 830 it will get your approval . They shipped the Massey combines all over the world , and were built in very many countries .

Here is a 630s 

[ncbqguy]

Gary wrote:
“My extreme foobie BL2 PRR #565 is completed for now”
While not a scheme the PRR used it is one that they should have.   Integrating the stripe with the name as you have would have been a logical progression for a tradition respecting design, unlike some of the abominations the PR consultants come up with for “heritage“ units.
Charlie Vlk

[johnb]

As a true Southern Pacific railfan, I know that the “beloved” SW1500 was called a crud. In all aspects, the Micro Trains SW1500 is a think of beauty.




These little gems are great switching locos, paint is sharp and crisp, I just wish that my weathering skills were up to the challenge of making it perfect.
Thanks Smoken’ Joe for this great model. I seriously started to sing a Paul Simon song when I opened the package from Talent.

[glakedylan]

Gary wrote:
“My extreme foobie BL2 PRR #565 is completed for now”
While not a scheme the PRR used it is one that they should have.   Integrating the stripe with the name as you have would have been a logical progression for a tradition respecting design, unlike some of the abominations the PR consultants come up with for “heritage“ units.
Charlie Vlk

Thanks Charlie....your comments very appreciated.
I was thinking along those lines, and being a foobie why not use a scheme
that has PRR style but never used.
BTW, your post which featured a couple images of BL2 with decaling was a
wonderful resource for ideas and led me in these project.


sincerely
Gary

[Mike Madonna]

thanks Mike, it is a factory MTL weathered car, part of a SP runner pack,  1 SP, 1 PE, 1T&NO and 1 SPdeM car....this was the MTL item that made me model the 1950's l

John,
Totally slipped my mind about that set! Doh!!

[arbomambo]

  Time has allowed progress on another 'Southwest Desert" module; this one is a double that features a crossover.
I'm using my carved insulation foam (extruded polystyrene foam) method to create the small-ish mesa next to the tracks.

a few photos depicting the basic method:

First, stacking and laminating 1" sheets on top of each other. Because we live on the Gulf Coast, we only get 1" foam here. It's not an issue because the layers actually help me to duplicate the type of formations I'm modeling. Simple white Elmer's "Glue- All" does the trick; no need to spend money on anything else.



After 24 hours it's dry enough to pick up by the top layer...yes, simple Elmers Glue-All. About 30 minutes with a serrated knife and/or hot wire knife, followed by a small hand sander with 80 grit yields this:



I sanded the topmost portion horizontally flat to make it easier to model the eroded 'tower'. I transferred, with tracing paper, the outline of the flat surface to four pieces of foam, then cut those to shape and laminated them together, again, using the Elmers Glue-all.
After 24 hours dry time, I took the piece outside, and, using a steak knife, butter knife, and a small retractable Xacto-style knife, I cut, chipped, and scored the foam to resemble an exposed sedimentary rock outcropping, ravaged by wind and water over time. Here is what it looks like before I use a stiff bristle brush to clean up the 'fuzzies' and loose foam bits.







After cleaning up the carved piece, I glued it in place atop the mesa, using the same Glue-All method, and a heavy weight on a book to keep the piece pressed onto the top of the mesa overnight.








Before I paint, then add various pigments, powders, soils, and rocks, I'll cast some hydrocal rock formations to model the cut that is adjacent to the trackage.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

  Time has allowed progress on another 'Southwest Desert" module; this one is a double that features a crossover.
I'm using my carved insulation foam (extruded polystyrene foam) method to create the small-ish mesa next to the tracks.

I have a question about those crossovers. How well are they insulated?

I have a pair that I'm doing something similar with but I figured I should figure out if I have to perform surgery BEFORE I glue them down.

[jpwisc]

 I knocked out a Herzog slot train. These sure are unique.
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[draskouasshat]

I knocked out a Herzog slot train. These sure are unique.
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Its an MPM. There's other companies that call theirs slot trains but HERZOG refers to them as an MPM. I was on one for a year running a signal construction project on the river sub.

drasko

[jpwisc]

Its an MPM. There's other companies that call theirs slot trains but HERZOG refers to them as an MPM. I was on one for a year running a signal construction project on the river sub.

drasko

Yup, MPM XXXIV
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[Iain]

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Doing up a decoder for my SAL VO1000.  Since I want to have an open cab, that means eliminating the piece of black plastic that blocks the light.

[OldEastRR]

Tokyo insisted on the 2 per stock number N Scale and 3 per HO kit box packaging for the ACF Covered Hoppers.
While many of us will buy multiples of one road name unless it is a unit train type car most prefer singles.  I think some customers even resented having to buy multiples.   The goofy Lima style snap in trucks didn’t help.
Getting Japan to understand the North American market profile for more road names, paint schemes, road numbers, and more frequent predictable production is a battle that Kato USA staff has been fighting with no results.
And the re-release is the previous roads and paint jobs.
Oh well.....
Charlie Vlk

The trucks themselves are really nice with metal wheels, but yes the mounting pins are dumb and KATO couplers are rather worthless. tho there is a centerbeam that possibly MTLs could be body mounted. I bought a bunch of these on sale and also cut out the sides to make NH prototype cement hoppers. Luckily MS makes a whole set of NH decals for cars like these.

[elnscale]

The Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society, based near Scranton, has three restored diners, a sleeper car, two dieseliner coaches and a power car. They regularly run excursions, including full dining service, on the Delaware-Lackawanna freight lines.

https://www.eldcps.org/