Weekend Update 12-27-20

[up1950s]

https://www.canadianrailwayobservations.com/free-issue-Mar2019/content/cp.php

[Lemosteam]

Completed my PRR X30 class one-off fire truck shipping car. 74’ of pure double door boxcar monstrosity.



Also began using me decaling station made from a Surface Pro box. Unfortunately, the main tray is made of cardboard so the small center tray will not hold water.

[BCR 570]

A little more progress this week on the Dolbeer engine and Climax locomotive for the Provincial Museum Train.

A dry fit of parts for the Dolbeer which is about as far as I can go prior to painting (which needs to occur before assembly):






The Climax frame now has trucks, couplers, driveshaft and cylinders/gears installed, and the boiler has received the smokestack and headlamp:






Also this week, the layout was reactivated for some article photography.  In this photograph, RS-18 No. 607 prepares to depart Dawson Creek for a track cleaning run to Chetwynd, while RS-3 No. 567 prepares to undertake another yard shift:




Merry Christmas Everyone!

Tim

[nscaler711]

Been a while since I've been here, car parts have been a priority. 
Anyway, this is a project I've wanted to tackle for a while now.
Loksound 73199 in a Athearn SD75M.
The mech required some surgery but the board seems to fit well, and the cab interior will be no more as the speaker and box would not fit anywhere else. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Though I seem to have ran out of decoder wires a while back and can not find any suitable substitutes to even test the decoder/ program CVs. Oh well.

Also any idea where I can get Ditch light housings at?
I've tried a small piece of brass drilled out for a 0402 LED but it won't have the right profile. Was going to use the original ditch lights but they fell apart while I was drilling the lense out. Go figure.

[altohorn25]

I didn't want to wait for Lowell Smith to come out with the observation car for his SP Cascade, so I thought I'd fix the issue.  I had an extra Kato smoothside observation car sitting in my stash (It's an SP prototype, but not the actual car that was used on the Cascade).  I added the light housing to the roof of the observation end.  I cut the skirting out of the middle of the car.  Added a few other detail parts.  Painted and lettered and it's done.  The paint and lettering (Microscale decals) match Lowell's cars almost perfectly.  Not bad for a 4 hour morning project.

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[Dave V]

Lots of doings on the RGS lately.

Placerville before:



Placerville after I added a new spur and the Primos Chemical Company carnotite ore loader that sits just south at Saw Pit (it still stands today!).



Then it was time to tackle a track trouble spot.  A cold solder joint during my initial tracklaying marathon came back to haunt me in the form of a kink. 



Well, since I use a 19” minimum radius curve, dropping in a section of Blackstone sectional track was a no-brainer.



And...like it never happened (minus the kink):



Now it's one thing to model typical consists...it's another to model exact consists.  This is the 1938 Barriger inspection special that ran the full 162 miles north from Durango to Ridgway modeled exactly with the same loco and cars as the real deal:



That particular train movement was conducted to document the state of the RGS prior to applying for federal loans under the New Deal and included some of the first color photographs ever taken of the RGS.  So now I can model it exactly.

And then here's just a choo-choo shot near the Rico-Argentine Pro Patria Mill in north Rico.



Lastly, some San Juan Central fun as a re-routed SJC train finds itself at Deep Creek headed northbound for Ridgway and home rails at Montrose.

[davefoxx]

The construction phase of my highway bridge is finished.  Minor detailing and paint next.



More in the Seaboard Central 3.0 thread in the Layout Engineering Forum.

DFF

[GhengisKong]

Completed my PRR X30 class one-off fire truck shipping car. 74’ of pure double door boxcar monstrosity.

X-32 with X-31 ends spliced on? Send Fine N Scale a pic to see if you can motivate them into making a kit!

[peteski]

I didn't want to wait for Lowell Smith to come out with the observation car for his SP Cascade, so I thought I'd fix the issue.  I had an extra Kato smoothside observation car sitting in my stash (I know, it's a UP prototype, but it looks ok.....).  I added the light housing to the roof of the observation end.  I cut the skirting out of the middle of the car.  Added a few other detail parts.  Painted and lettered and it's done.  The paint and lettering (Microscale decals) match Lowell's cars almost perfectly.  Not bad for a 4 hour morning project.

That looks great - nice job!
If I'm not mistaken, the prototype uses those distinctive "Napoleon Hat" trucks.  Kato sells those as spare parts.  Small additional modification, and it would look even better.

[John]

The construction phase of my highway bridge is finished.  Minor detailing and paint next.



More in the Seaboard Central 3.0 thread in the Layout Engineering Forum.

DFF

Looks great .. don't forget the switch stand

[altohorn25]

That looks great - nice job!
If I'm not mistaken, the prototype uses those distinctive "Napoleon Hat" trucks.  Kato sells those as spare parts.  Small additional modification, and it would look even better.

I have a set of those trucks, but the mounting system is that newer "clip" system instead of the older phillips head screw that is on this car.  I'll have to see if I can make it work.

[Mike Madonna]

Nate,
Very nice job on that Cascade car!
Any tips on cutting the skirts off? Your cuts almost look "factory"....
Thanks in advance!

[peteski]

I have a set of those trucks, but the mounting system is that newer "clip" system instead of the older phillips head screw that is on this car.  I'll have to see if I can make it work.

I seem to recall that @bbussey was able to easily install those clip-on truck on the older kingpins with a screw.  I think all that needs to be done is to cut off the little clips on the new truck, then just install them same way like the older trucks.

[nickelplate759]

I didn't want to wait for Lowell Smith to come out with the observation car for his SP Cascade, so I thought I'd fix the issue.  I had an extra Kato smoothside observation car sitting in my stash (It's an SP prototype, but not the actual car that was used on the Cascade).  I added the light housing to the roof of the observation end.  I cut the skirting out of the middle of the car.  Added a few other detail parts.  Painted and lettered and it's done.  The paint and lettering (Microscale decals) match Lowell's cars almost perfectly.  Not bad for a 4 hour morning project.

Not bad at all - in fact really really nice!  I do have a couple of questions.  First - does 4 hours include painting, or just the kitbashing?   My projects always stretch into multiple days as soon they reach the paint & lettering stage (for paint, decals and overcoats to dry), and I'd love to find a reliable way of doing it with less waiting.   Second - what did you use for your silver paint to match the Railsmith cars?  I note that the prototype car is actually sheathed in flat-panel stainless in the photos.

If you take Pete's suggestion about the "Napoleon Hat" trucks, be aware that Kato has two (!) versions of them.  The Kato Daylight cars have solid-bearing trucks, but the 4-4-2 sleeper in the Kato 20th Century has roller-bearing trucks.  Not sure which is correct for the prototype, but both truck styles are available from Kato's parts department.

[peteski]

If you take Pete's suggestion about the "Napoleon Hat" trucks, be aware that Kato has two (!) versions of them.  The Kato Daylight cars have solid-bearing trucks, but the 4-4-2 sleeper in the Kato 20th Century has roller-bearing trucks.  Not sure which is correct for the prototype, but both truck styles are available from Kato's parts department.

I did notice that they tooled up another version of that truck for the 20th Century Ltd.  I did notice that the overall shape is little different, but I failed to notice the difference in bearings.  Kato really doesn't cut corners when they make a model of a famous train!  Now we have another truck available for kitbashing.