Weekend Update 7/2/23

[nscaler711]

@peteski It's the HO BLI Brass Hybrid. I wish it was N scale, I'm not sure where I'd even begin to start trying to make one in N.
Yeah I've thought about putting plexiglass around it but I kind of figured the glare would take away from it. I'm also on the fence about putting the 671 I was able to get running behind it as that what made me fall in love with the S2.

[squirrelhunter]

I have been distracted and working on some open loads.  Here is my Ductile Iron Water Main pipe load, still waiting on some Chartpak 1/64 tape for the bundles of pipe.

Is that an N load? If so are they 3D printed?

[craigolio1]

Still perfecting my brick and mortar work on plastic structures.



More on the Carolina Sandhills Lines thread in the Layout Engineering forum.

DFF

That looks really good!

[peteski]

@peteski It's the HO BLI Brass Hybrid. I wish it was N scale, I'm not sure where I'd even begin to start trying to make one in N.
Yeah I've thought about putting plexiglass around it but I kind of figured the glare would take away from it. I'm also on the fence about putting the 671 I was able to get running behind it as that what made me fall in love with the S2.

I was also hoping that it was an N scale model.
I have models in display cases, and even if there is some glare at certain viewing angles, I don't  find it objectionable.  If you think about it, most museum exhibits are housed in dust-free enclosed displays, so to me a clear case actually gives the model extra gravitas. Besides, unlike in museums, whenever you want to examine your model "naked", you can always lift the clear case off the model. 

[spr1955]

Is that an N load? If so are they 3D printed?

It is n-scale, not 3D printed.  5/32 styrene, shrink tubing on ends, 4x6 scale lumber in a 65' mill gondola.

[davefoxx]

Shrink tubing on the ends of those pipes is genius!  Kudos!

DFF

[craigolio1]

It is n-scale, not 3D printed.  5/32 styrene, shrink tubing on ends, 4x6 scale lumber in a 65' mill gondola.

Yeah great idea!

[altohorn25]

It's the summer of 1969, and the Milwaukee Road's Eastbound Morning Hiawatha is having a bit of trouble.  The prime mover in E8 unit #32A has shut down and the crew can't get it going again.  Management has sent relief power in the form of FP45's #1 and #5 to meet the train at its station stop in New Lisbon, WI.  We were able to catch the action as the motive power was swapped out and the train continued on its journey to Milwaukee and Chicago.

Passenger cars are Brass Car Sides mounted American Limited core kits.  Storage mail car #2050 is a Railsmith model.  The super dome and skytop parlor are resin shells by Jim Stillman.  The E8's are detailed Kato units and the FP45's are by Athearn.  The video was shot on my N Scale LaCrosse Division of the Milwaukee Road.

[GM50 4164]

It is n-scale, not 3D printed.  5/32 styrene, shrink tubing on ends, 4x6 scale lumber in a 65' mill gondola.

What kind of tape are you waiting to arrive to use for the straps? I have not heard of it before.

[spr1955]

Graphic Arts tape.       Search for this on amazon.com or just google it.  Chartpak is the brand.

Chartpak 1/64" wide roll graphic arts tape.

[sirenwerks]

I had the chance to visit Dean Ferris’s Oregon Joint Line today while visiting family in the DFW area, and run a way freight through the layout - Alco lead, of course. Dean’s layout is as amazing in person as it looks in photos, even more so. Thanks again Dean for accommodating my visit and my family while there. Thanks for the eggs, Dean! And for the opportunity to see your excellent work in person. I hope one day I can take part in an actual ops session.

[R L Smith]

I have finally cracked.  After months of staring at my basement with no layout and no track plan, I've gone and done it.   The dark side of HO has called my name and I answered Wednesday morning down at the local auction house.  There were 3 serious bidders for approx 15-20 HO locomotives.  All various Western Maryland power with 1 Bachmann 3 truck shay for McCloud river.  I missed out on the shay, but ended up with a Kato/Stewart F7 A/B set, 1 Atlas RS3 and 2 Proto 2000 GP9.  4 out of 5 ran when I came home to check them out.  1 GP9 however would only light up, no movement.  Some quick internet intel revealed these are prone to axle gears cracking and did I hit the jackpot.  All 4 gears are cracked end to end.  Off to the hobby shop today to get new replacements, along with some Kadee couplers to install on the GP9 s as they were missing.  Went to install them tonight and, well, I got some serious learning to do.  Original screws missing and Kadee doesn't  include screws in their coupler packs like MicroTrains does.  So guess I gotta head back to hobby shop at some point and get some screws too.  Any know which size screws I need ?  2-56 are too big





Also while at the hobby shop, FedEx showed up with a shipment from one of our distributors including my Atlas 3230 cement hoppers I pre-ordered.  I grabbed them too because I'm not switching to HO      I got these as consignment fodder at the hobby shop as WM equipment is highly sought after.  May end up keeping 1 or 2 for use during ops sessions I get invited to.  Time will tell.

Thanks for the heart attack Adam - you had me going there with the HO WM.  At least I know my ticker still works!

[Dave V]

Lizard Head Pass on the RGS:

[u18b]

Made some progress on the next EP-2.  Aaron printed me some sand boxes.



I got them painted and decals this week.



Aaron did a great job and I was pleased with how they turned out.   If you happen to have a brass EP-2, you might want to see if Aaron
@chessie system fan  will sell you a few.    They are a big addition.



After I install these, I will be almost finished.

[milw156]

I have been distracted and working on some open loads.  Here is my Ductile Iron Water Main pipe load, still waiting on some Chartpak 1/64 tape for the bundles of pipe.

Very nicely done! Very creative use of the shrink tubing! I started using Pop Tart wrappers cut very narrow and either painted black, or colored with a black permanent magic marker (gives it a bluish-black look) to bind the bundles together. The material is very thin, and has a little stretch to it, and superglues well. In addition, it is easy to find, relatively cheap, and probably the healthiest part of the deal! I have a couple of loads I bought that use the the chartpak tape, but didn't like how bulky it looked, and the adhesive tended to let go after a while.
Just some "food" for thought!