Weekend Update 9/10/23

[up1950s]

https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/

https://citybop.com/wa/mt-rainier-railroad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=qee-VS8MvMs

https://canadian-pacific-railway.weebly.com/problems-while-building-the-railroad.html

https://beetleprint.com/products/model-railroad-old-man-problems-t-shirt-gec091

https://www.reddit.com/r/trains/comments/9rafjw/hey_boss_i_think_i_found_the_problem_broken_rail/?rdt=38282

https://www.up.com/aboutup/community/inside_track/ben-bauwens-it-230614.htm

https://www.theonion.com/pete-buttigieg-learning-about-problems-facing-rail-infr-1846154596

https://www.transportationmatters.iowadot.gov/2015/09/how-your-cell-phone-can-stop-a-train.html

https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2022-02-28/honolulu-rail-officials-scramble-to-fix-a-new-problem-with-the-train-tracks

https://www.spreadshirt.com/shop/design/problems+become+a+train+conductor+railroad+gift+mens+t-shirt-D5c77d7fa1cbf3a5639a36064?sellable=AlYJoaj5aMt4oARV5g7O-210-7

https://www.zazzle.com/i_m_a_railroad_engineer_i_solve_problems_you_don_k_t_shirt-256378132666890724

[craigolio1]

Lots of good progress on the Rocky Mountaineer B36-7. It’s ready for decals now. For the handrails I used automotive plastic adhesion promoter and so far I’m very pleased with the results. The plastic handrails are in perfect condition after installation.







More in the build thread.

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=56214.45

Craig

[Dave V]

Started building structures for my as-yet unnamed HOn30 Wild West fantasy micro layout. This kit is from Wild West Scale Models. The only name I've settled on for the layout so far is that the main town is going to be called Scotch Creek:





I put an interior in but you can't see it... 

[craigolio1]

Started building structures for my as-yet unnamed HOn30 Wild West fantasy micro layout. This kit is from Wild West Scale Models. The only name I've settled on for the layout so far is that the main town is going to be called Scotch Creek:





I put an interior in but you can't see it... 

That looks outstanding!  I love the contrast of the filler material between the logs.

Craig

[mu26aeh]

Railroad budget took a sizeable hit this week, but it was worth it.  This is Lilo, a Yorkie/Shih Tzu mix

[dem34]

Procrastinating, no, couldn't be me. Made a little 3D printable Diorama base to practice scenery for a clinic tomorrow.

[BCRail_FSJ]

Three out of five sections of Beatton River have reach the rough completion stage.   Laying it out on the floor to make sure it does actually fit (and happy to report that it does).

Surplus white paint used to seal the foam makes it look like I am planning to model winter.  i did briefly consider that, but I think I will stick with late summer.

[wm3798]

Having brought the layout home from storage, it was time to root through the stacks of stuff and work on a couple of projects.  Over the years I've acquired quite a few engines that were declared dead by their prior owners, or at least out of date and out of step for their current modeling needs.  I've built quite a collection that I've been able to revive, and in some cases, improve considerably.

The first example this week just needed a good cleaning.  A pair of Atlas/Rivarossi E8s


I've already collected several of the later ConCor iteration of these, with the nice heavy Kato drive, but I had always shied away from the original equipment version, because they are, almost single handedly, the reason we refer to those early years as "The Dark Ages" of N scale.  Woefully under powered, oddly designed pick up wipers that drag along the rails, and only two geared axels out of a possible 6.  Not to mention the notoriously bad motor with the rubber magnets.  According to @bbussey who sent these to me, these were barely used, and stored for almost 50 years.  That's probably why they are now running.  I'll have to check with @mmagliaro to see if the magnets can be retrofitted to make them more durable, but until then, I'll be running them sparingly to preserve them.

Next, I took this basket case from @Ed Kapuscinski and got it rewired and back on the road.  There's more discussion of this ConCor/Mehano SD50 over on my Hi Rail layout page.


And lastly, another @bbussey contribution, a first generation Bachmann 0-6-0 from about 1978.  The original plastic motor was cooked, so I dug around and replaced it with one from a Spectrum 2-8-0 drive I had laying around.  Again, more on that in the Hi Rail Report.



I can't wait to see what treasures I find at N Scale Weekend next week!

Lee

[ednadolski]

Surplus white paint used to seal the foam makes it look like I am planning to model winter.  i did briefly consider that, but I think I will stick with late summer.

Net time try gray... it will look like the moon (esp. if you side-light it)

Ed

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I spent the day running Scranton at Jeff Mutter's.

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[Lemosteam]

Designing and printing the LIRR IS icing facility based on the PRR Huntingdon facility, but greatly reduce in capacity. Yeah I know, that's a stock car but its the only cad model I have similar to an ice reefer.  The design is modular so it can be extended, starting with three 50' sections I may print and up another 50' extension.  Still need to design the ice transfer house and conveyor bents later.





Here is the Huntingdon facility, no other pics available that I can find.  Best I can tell, the deck had ice carts that likely rode on tracks (maybe use Z Scale?) and had folding chutes.  I may try to design a derivation of that where the chute rides on tracks as well and can roll from one car to the next.  The ice cart would roll up to the chute and tip the ice into the chute where it would slide down to the loader personnel.

[rodsup9000]

 Got the track laid on the section I rebuilding

[Angus Shops]

Designing and printing the LIRR IS icing facility based on the PRR Huntingdon facility, but greatly reduce in capacity. Yeah I know, that's a stock car but its the only cad model I have similar to an ice reefer.  The design is modular so it can be extended, starting with three 50' sections I may print and up another 50' extension.  Still need to design the ice transfer house and conveyor bents later.







Here is the Huntingdon facility, no other pics available that I can find.  Best I can tell, the deck had ice carts that likely rode on tracks (maybe use Z Scale?) and had folding chutes.  I may try to design a derivation of that where the chute rides on tracks as well and can roll from one car to the next.  The ice cart would roll up to the chute and tip the ice into the chute where it would slide down to the loader personnel.

It looks to me like the height of the proto structure is greater than is shown in you rendering. I’d also suggest that the ice cart track is probably around 2 foot gauge - maybe print it as part of deck rather than messing with Z gauge track. Or are you thinking of having the ice carts actually move on the deck? In addition the ice cart rails heads are probably flush with the wood (I presume) decking so that the working surface is as flat as possible for safety (less tripping hazards).

[Angus Shops]

Today was the grand opening of the “new” local model railroad hobby shop in the Vancouver area. I say “new” because it is really more like the reincarnation of Central Hobbies, which closed in May/June. It’s a new business with new owners, but some of the previous staff and all of CH’s inventory is part of the new shop. The new business is named Intercity Trains and Hobbies and is located in Langley, rather than Vancouver proper. The “and hobbies” part of the name is really a misnomer - I saw exactly one singular plastic model kit, everything else is model railroad. I understand that the new shop will eventually include a significant European selection. Nice new shop, and it’s great to have a real ‘brick and mortar’ local option! Best of luck to them.

[Angus Shops]

As part of my efforts to ‘round out’ my freight car fleet, I’ve had my eyes peeled for a greater variety of transition era tanks cars. I’ve been looking for something beyond the MT and Intermountain offerings, in particular some Canadian specific road names/business names (not much hope for this), and especially some variation in tanks car capacity, for more variation in my train consists.

While at the ‘new local hobby shop (see above) I spotted some MT triple dome cars - these cars are very noticeably smaller than the single dome variety, with a capacity of around 8000 gals. as opposed to 10,000 gal. capacity (and 33 foot length as opposed to 39 feet). But I don’t really want 3 done cars. My plan now is to remove the two outer domes to create an 8000 gal. single dome car. It also looks to me that the domes are a little too short, so I’ll raise the height of the remains dome. Any thoughts?