miðvikudagur, 19. ágúst 2015
miðvikudagur, 12. ágúst 2015
þriðjudagur, 11. ágúst 2015
The miniature world(s) of John Ott
On occasion I run across a model railroading blog or web site that's just so cool that I feel compelled to share it.
The web site is John Ott's model railroading web site - it includes a number of sections devoted to his previous layouts, and his current effort (if you're a fan of H. P Lovecraft you're in for a big treat!)
What I admire about the layouts is not only the modeling chops John displays but how creative he is with both the themes and techniques. That model of the Salem, Mass station is alone worthy of close study!
The presentation and design of the web site are also top-notch.
I hope you enjoy exploring this site as much as I have. Pour yourself a beverage and click on the image of the home page below to start exploring this truly outstanding model railroad site:
Read More..
The web site is John Ott's model railroading web site - it includes a number of sections devoted to his previous layouts, and his current effort (if you're a fan of H. P Lovecraft you're in for a big treat!)
What I admire about the layouts is not only the modeling chops John displays but how creative he is with both the themes and techniques. That model of the Salem, Mass station is alone worthy of close study!
The presentation and design of the web site are also top-notch.
I hope you enjoy exploring this site as much as I have. Pour yourself a beverage and click on the image of the home page below to start exploring this truly outstanding model railroad site:
miðvikudagur, 5. ágúst 2015
sunnudagur, 2. ágúst 2015
Transitions and more countryside
Although I've been doing a fair amount of thinking and planning in the White River Junction section of the layout progress has been continuing on the other end of the mainline in between Williams Creek and Everett.
Since Everett will include several structures I want to create some sort of "scenic divider" between the pastureland north of Williams Creek and Everett proper. So I glued some foam in place and carved it to shape. The rock cut and rock outcroppings on the hill are made from Cripplebush rubber rocks. This is the first time I've used these but I'm impressed with how easy they are to work with. I also like the "out of the box" color though I'll likely add some oil paint washes to give them a little more shadow and highlights. Certainly beats plaster molds!
miðvikudagur, 29. júlí 2015
þriðjudagur, 28. júlí 2015
Post op sessions To-Do lists�.
After the last few posts with "big dreams/big plans" time to get back to reality.
Several pieces of a couple of puzzles have to drop into place before I do the 'big WRJ re-do' I blogged about.
But the last two op sessions did reveal some issues/glitches that need to fixed. AND, I want to continue working on the rest of the layout (you know, the parts I don't intend to tear apart anytime soon).
First, and most critical of these is a Walthers Code 83 curved turnout at the north end of Waterbury. It has worked okay - early on problems with some Rapido passenger cars were traced to out-of-gauge wheel sets. These were replaced with Reboxx wheels and it seemed to alleviate the problem. But in the last two sessions the issue came back with a vengeance and now just about every passenger car, most steam engines, and even some freight cars, are derailing in this turnout.
After the session a careful check with the standards gauge revealed the issue - there are several points along the length of the point rail where the gauge is tight.
Shouldn't be too much of a surprise - the point rails are "straight" and the closure and corresponding stock rails are curved. How COULD the gauge possibly be constant?
So this one has to replaced.
At the same time this end of Waterbury yard has code 70, Walthers code 83 and Peco code 83 all coexisting - less than reliably. The entire ladder is going to come out and hand laid curved code 70 turnouts are going in their place.
Of course this is the only place on the layout where the track is still laid on styrofoam - so the question is "Do I suck it up and replace the sub roadbed with plywood and relay all the track?" (That means redoing the track/ballast and wiring, and maybe some of the scenery so it's not a simple answer)
I suppose I could relay the turnout on the foam and see if it works. (As a practical matter securing turnout controls to the foam - especially through the 2" foam - can be somewhat problematic.) What I DON'T want to do is stick with the foam then find I still have reliability issues and get to relay the track a third time�..
The other "to-do" items are much less intrusive. Actually, most of them are "administrative" and paper work in nature.
Read More..
Several pieces of a couple of puzzles have to drop into place before I do the 'big WRJ re-do' I blogged about.
But the last two op sessions did reveal some issues/glitches that need to fixed. AND, I want to continue working on the rest of the layout (you know, the parts I don't intend to tear apart anytime soon).
First, and most critical of these is a Walthers Code 83 curved turnout at the north end of Waterbury. It has worked okay - early on problems with some Rapido passenger cars were traced to out-of-gauge wheel sets. These were replaced with Reboxx wheels and it seemed to alleviate the problem. But in the last two sessions the issue came back with a vengeance and now just about every passenger car, most steam engines, and even some freight cars, are derailing in this turnout.
After the session a careful check with the standards gauge revealed the issue - there are several points along the length of the point rail where the gauge is tight.
So this one has to replaced.
I suppose I could relay the turnout on the foam and see if it works. (As a practical matter securing turnout controls to the foam - especially through the 2" foam - can be somewhat problematic.) What I DON'T want to do is stick with the foam then find I still have reliability issues and get to relay the track a third time�..
The other "to-do" items are much less intrusive. Actually, most of them are "administrative" and paper work in nature.
fimmtudagur, 23. júlí 2015
Sneak Preview - and a possibility???
This post serves two purposes. And, it may be the first model railroad blog post to feature a Vulcan funeral�
The first purpose is crass commercialism - a plug for my friend Bernie Kempinski's Upcoming book from Kalmbach - 45 Original Track Plans.
But one of those plans does have some bearing on this post and on my layout. It's Bernie's Magnum Opus du White River Junction�. or some such. Essentially the plan in the book features White River Jct. and several other CV towns in a massive dream layout scenario. He did me a favor and didn't design it for my present basement - a good thing since I'd likely be taking a crow bar to what I DO have had that been the case. Thanks Bernie!
For frame of reference here's a snippet of the parts of the plan that apply to this discussion (reproduced here with Bernie's permission)
I've blogged about the issues with the White River scene on my layout before so I won't repeat those concerns. I might come to the conclusion that what it is is what it is�and it's not worth the time/effort/expense to change.
But, as Mr. Spock said, "I like to consider that there are always �. possibilities."
[Editor's Note: Of course that was shortly before he sucked down the Enterprise's main engine fumes inside a glass box that looks the smoking rooms in the airport, died, and then got shot out of the ship in a giant eyeglass case�.But I digress.]
Although the plan in the book is too large but perhaps I could take a kernel of an idea and solve several of the issues with WRJ by adapting it to fit my space.
The key would be the removal of the wall behind WRJ - completely - and finishing off the walls in the present workshop to match those in the rest of the layout room. (The workshop area is 6 x 11 feet).The staging yard which presently juts into the middle of the storage room would turn 180 degrees and end up along the left wall of the present workshop in this view.
I'd add a little - perhaps 14-18" to the rear of the layout - enough to make the platform area of the station a true highlight. The resulting operator's area would be approx 36" wide. Access could be via duck under or through some sort of lift out lift gate. A door may or not be installed between where the water heater is and the corner of the wall.
A conceptual sketch of how this might fit the space is below.
Will I actually do this???
Honestly, I don't know. There's some appeal to it but I also dread the thought of another step backward.
At least this wouldn't require tearing out sections of the layout and rebuilding them - it's a change to the space more than the layout itself.
Key is to determine if the time/effort/expense is worth the benefit. We'll see.
Read More..
The first purpose is crass commercialism - a plug for my friend Bernie Kempinski's Upcoming book from Kalmbach - 45 Original Track Plans.
But one of those plans does have some bearing on this post and on my layout. It's Bernie's Magnum Opus du White River Junction�. or some such. Essentially the plan in the book features White River Jct. and several other CV towns in a massive dream layout scenario. He did me a favor and didn't design it for my present basement - a good thing since I'd likely be taking a crow bar to what I DO have had that been the case. Thanks Bernie!For frame of reference here's a snippet of the parts of the plan that apply to this discussion (reproduced here with Bernie's permission)
I've blogged about the issues with the White River scene on my layout before so I won't repeat those concerns. I might come to the conclusion that what it is is what it is�and it's not worth the time/effort/expense to change.
But, as Mr. Spock said, "I like to consider that there are always �. possibilities."
[Editor's Note: Of course that was shortly before he sucked down the Enterprise's main engine fumes inside a glass box that looks the smoking rooms in the airport, died, and then got shot out of the ship in a giant eyeglass case�.But I digress.]
Although the plan in the book is too large but perhaps I could take a kernel of an idea and solve several of the issues with WRJ by adapting it to fit my space.
The key would be the removal of the wall behind WRJ - completely - and finishing off the walls in the present workshop to match those in the rest of the layout room. (The workshop area is 6 x 11 feet).The staging yard which presently juts into the middle of the storage room would turn 180 degrees and end up along the left wall of the present workshop in this view.
A conceptual sketch of how this might fit the space is below.
Honestly, I don't know. There's some appeal to it but I also dread the thought of another step backward.
At least this wouldn't require tearing out sections of the layout and rebuilding them - it's a change to the space more than the layout itself.
Key is to determine if the time/effort/expense is worth the benefit. We'll see.
miðvikudagur, 22. júlí 2015
Key Pieces of White River Junction
I've had some inquiries from my post the other day showing one possible change to the White River Junction section arrangement. I think it may have confused some people - in fact I know it did! I didn't make it clear that the plan doesn't show the layout IS - and in fact is a compromise from the prototype.
In an attempt to clarify -
here's an aerial photo from 1953 showing the station area at White River Junction, Vt. From the UVM web site. I added the labels to show some "key" elements.
The orientation of this aerial photo is close to how my layout's White River scene is presently arranged - the station is to the left and the CV yard is north - to the right in this photo - as you look at the layout - and when you're standing in my aisle you're really in the White River.
Read More..
In an attempt to clarify -
here's an aerial photo from 1953 showing the station area at White River Junction, Vt. From the UVM web site. I added the labels to show some "key" elements.
The orientation of this aerial photo is close to how my layout's White River scene is presently arranged - the station is to the left and the CV yard is north - to the right in this photo - as you look at the layout - and when you're standing in my aisle you're really in the White River.
My main issue with the current arrangement is the staging yard - it's on a stub-ended shelf through the large mouse hole. And, speaking of the mouse hole, well that's issue #2 - but as we add more and more elements to the foreground and continue the scenery into the staging yard it becomes less and less obtrusive 
But it doesn't change the fact that the staging yard itself is a real problem�.And now here, for the first time anywhere - the "Backstage" View. I've lost count of how many times I've bumped into the end of this damn "temporary" staging yard.
sunnudagur, 19. júlí 2015
Operating Session Jul 18, 2015 - The Motion Picture
An experiment - I shot some video during yesterday's op session and pieced together a short film that's available on YouTube for viewing - CLICK HERE TO VIEW -
Read More..
Enjoy!
In no danger of winning an academy award but comments are welcome.
laugardagur, 18. júlí 2015
Op session preps and Waterbury Progress
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| Low angle aerial view of Waterbury. Filled in the gaps between the old scenery and new fascia, adding about 4"-8" to the foreground of scene. Time to call in the ballast crew and the static grass landscapers. |
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| Derby & Ball - ready for some final texturing and details. |
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| What's with this guy? Obviously my son Matthew's work�. |
Doing something I've never tried before - two op sessions in the same month. The smart thing to do would have been to leave the layout as-is from the last session. I find it difficult and somewhat time-consuming to make the shift between "construction mode" and "operating mode." Maybe as more of the layout gets "finished" this will become less time consuming. That's my hope.
Of course, in the two weeks between I redid some the fascia in Waterbury - which left a gaping hole between the old scenery and the "new" fascia.
I filled that in with foam and got a coat of earth-colored paint on it with some basic texturing in the form of sifted dirt.
I was going to repaint the fascia (it now needs it - badly!) before today's session but cooler heads prevailed when I had images of my operating crew members sporting spots of green paint!
Next on the agenda is finishing the country store for Williams Creek, getting Mrs. Griffith a house to go with the barn, and then a LOT of static grass work between the end of the peninsula and Randolph.
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| Possible location for the Griffith Farm house? |
Remind me WHY exactly I'm doing this?
miðvikudagur, 15. júlí 2015
fimmtudagur, 9. júlí 2015
Flipping the Yard?
I've discussed some of the frustrations I have with the main yard scene on the layout in previous posts.
Bob Sprague, who's had a number of layout designs published in MR over the years, came by a few months ago and after we reviewed the list of what was bothering me (outlined in more detail below) he prepared this drawing showing a possible solution. This drawing shows the "main peninsula" exactly as it exists. Changes to the main peninsula are off the table.
The top wall and left side walls (relative to the drawing above) basically the location of the main yard does not reflect the current state of the railroad. At this point the station "wye" scene (not actually a complete wye) is where the turntable is shown on this plan - the turntable is in the upper left hand corner.The south-end staging yard is currently on a stub-ended shelf that juts into the middle of the furnace room. This drawing shows a revision to the staging yard that wraps the line around the furnace and creates a double-ended fiddle yard on one end.The other change on this plan from what's in the basement presently is the right side of the room (relative to the drawing) - currently the north end staging yard is along that wall - I'd like to move that from the wall to another location. Pluses to the current arrangement:
1. Current arrangement represents the "prototype" orientation of White River Jct. - from the north you go through the CV yard, past the engine terminal and then arrive at the station.
Cons to the current arrangement:
1. The station in its current location is kind of hidden - the proposed plan would make the station - a signature scene - the first thing you see when you walk down the main aisle.2. The current location of the turntable is too far from the aisle to effectively work as the "hostler" and there's no room for the roundhouse - which means this section of the layout languishes simply because I can't figure out how to make it work. And frankly we never seem to use the turntable during an op session.
In essence the main issue is the station is a "curved scene" - the curve in front of the station is a longtime favorite of prototype railfans - and the same north yard is an inherently straight scene - (on the prototype it's arrow straight for a couple of miles).
Naturally, I ended up with the "straight" scene in the corner - meaning the yard has a 90-degree bend in the middle.
There is one "con" to the proposed new arrangement - actually two:
1. I'd have to scrap what I have and rebuild the thing
2. The orientation of the elements in WRJ don't match the prototype - you'd pass the station before arriving at the yard from the north - exactly the opposite of what really happens.
But, although the orientation will be reversed from the prototype the arrangement in the "new" plan has the yard and engine terminal in a "straight" part of the layout and the station in the corner.... I've been toying back and forth with these plans for several months - thought it was time to share it with the world and see what the reaction is.
Read More..
Bob Sprague, who's had a number of layout designs published in MR over the years, came by a few months ago and after we reviewed the list of what was bothering me (outlined in more detail below) he prepared this drawing showing a possible solution. This drawing shows the "main peninsula" exactly as it exists. Changes to the main peninsula are off the table.
The top wall and left side walls (relative to the drawing above) basically the location of the main yard does not reflect the current state of the railroad. At this point the station "wye" scene (not actually a complete wye) is where the turntable is shown on this plan - the turntable is in the upper left hand corner.The south-end staging yard is currently on a stub-ended shelf that juts into the middle of the furnace room. This drawing shows a revision to the staging yard that wraps the line around the furnace and creates a double-ended fiddle yard on one end.The other change on this plan from what's in the basement presently is the right side of the room (relative to the drawing) - currently the north end staging yard is along that wall - I'd like to move that from the wall to another location. Pluses to the current arrangement:
1. Current arrangement represents the "prototype" orientation of White River Jct. - from the north you go through the CV yard, past the engine terminal and then arrive at the station.
Cons to the current arrangement:
1. The station in its current location is kind of hidden - the proposed plan would make the station - a signature scene - the first thing you see when you walk down the main aisle.2. The current location of the turntable is too far from the aisle to effectively work as the "hostler" and there's no room for the roundhouse - which means this section of the layout languishes simply because I can't figure out how to make it work. And frankly we never seem to use the turntable during an op session.
In essence the main issue is the station is a "curved scene" - the curve in front of the station is a longtime favorite of prototype railfans - and the same north yard is an inherently straight scene - (on the prototype it's arrow straight for a couple of miles).
Naturally, I ended up with the "straight" scene in the corner - meaning the yard has a 90-degree bend in the middle.
There is one "con" to the proposed new arrangement - actually two:
1. I'd have to scrap what I have and rebuild the thing
2. The orientation of the elements in WRJ don't match the prototype - you'd pass the station before arriving at the yard from the north - exactly the opposite of what really happens.
But, although the orientation will be reversed from the prototype the arrangement in the "new" plan has the yard and engine terminal in a "straight" part of the layout and the station in the corner.... I've been toying back and forth with these plans for several months - thought it was time to share it with the world and see what the reaction is.
miðvikudagur, 8. júlí 2015
sunnudagur, 5. júlí 2015
July 5 - Progress Report
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| Progress on the hay barn at Griffiths Farm. I might add a farmhouse "up the road aways�." But I finally got the lower level windows, doors, and trim in place. And planted the wire tree. |
Even without the MMR certificates I'm so close to getting some sections of this layout "finished" that I'm determined to do just that.
The barn scene I've shown several times was one of those "90%" done projects - the doors and lower windows weren't installed, and the tree adjacent to the barn was simply plopped into place.
Friday morning was spent finishing up the structure itself - I even "dug" a hole and planted the tree.
The Williams Creek area has progressed with a creamery building (a Branchline kit with a scratch built boiler house addition). But the scene needs something else.
I can't think of anything more New England than a country store. I'd had the sub walls for a BEST Trains country store (The Trussel Store) on the layout for more than a year. Finally this weekend between other obligations I got the clapboard walls painted and painted and glazed the windows.
Progress!
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| Walls with windows for the country store. The mullions on one of the large laser-cut large store front windows simply wasn't there when I removed the pieces from the wood sheet. Need to repair it. |
Not entirely sure if it will be placed in front of the mainline in Wiliams Creek or between the track and the backdrop - either position will require "adjusting" the scenery a little but I think it will be a nice addition to the scene. I'm going to hold off selecting exactly where to place it until it's assembled. See the photo below for the two possible locations.
I plan on adding a simple interior and some lighting to this structure - partially for the MMR thing (you get extra scenery points for "lighting") but mostly because I think it will be neat to have a chance to do a "nighttime" shot or two.
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| A light construction project for this week. I've stripped most of the structures from Waterbury in preparation for a short work session Tuesday evening. We're going to re-do the fascia around the lobe end of the peninsula (above) to make it a smooth curve and straighten out of a reverse curve in the fascia to add a few inches to the scene at Waterbury (below). |
A little bit of major construction is also on the agenda for this week - luckily it won't impact the upcoming op session (actually should be finished well before then). I've never been pleased with the fascia on the lobe end of the peninsula. Frankly it looked awful. John Paganoni is coming by Tuesday evening to help resolve the issue with the curved portion of the peninsula. At the same time I'm going to straighten out a weird "reverse" curve in the present fascia - essentially making the fascia straight and adding 6" or so to the front of the layout. I'll save what I'm planning to use that additional depth until another post.
föstudagur, 3. júlí 2015
laugardagur, 27. júní 2015
Operating Session Report - June 27, 2015
UPDATE: Bernie Kempinski posted his report on the op session on his blog (CLICK HERE). He has better photos than the ones the crew took. Of he wasn't doing anything but talking, reading my books, and eating our food. (Only kidding�he didn't eat ALL the food�.;<).  |
| One of my favorite locomotives - Iain Rice built this model from a Bachmann 2-8-0 - but her old Soundtraxx DSD is simply not up to snuff. After failing her "preflight" she spent today's session in one of the house tracks. |
To summarize, thanks to an outstanding crew today's session was an unqualified success!
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| Train 303, the northbound Vermonter, pauses at the Waterbury station as the crew of X481N Rich Steinmann and John Paganoni (right) look on. |
1. Dispatcher
2. White River Yardmaster
3. White River Ass't Master
4. Southern Division operator/Crew
5. Three road crews (two of the road crews were two man crews) for a total of nine crew members.
The road crews didn't HAVE To be two man crews, but since both the north- and south-bound locals were operated in today's schedule, and since two people had never done much operating, it seemed helpful to put them under the tutelage of a more experienced crew member.
I think it also helped that several of the crew have been to a number of previous sessions, which meant I had fewer "basic" type questions to answer.
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| One of two Rapido FPA-4s premiered at this session to rave reviews. Yes, I know they post-dated steam on the CV. They run so well I don't care. |
Couple of things I noted from the session:
1. Some of the locomotives are older engines with a lot of hours that are starting to have "issues."And frankly some have never worked all that well. In the several months since the last session I've made a concerted effort to repair or replace those bad actors. This session showed few, if any of the motive power issues that have plagued earlier sessions. Does it suck to have to admit a locomotive that you paid a decent amount of coin for is worthless? Yes it does. But a session with top-performers makes that pill much less painful to swallow.
2. To date I've played the role of "Southern Division Operator/Crew since most of it takes place in the utility room. I'd like to train some other people to do this job so I can do other things from time to time but it's hardly an appealing position in its current state. It was suggested the job which to date has been part station switcher, part fiddle yard "mole" could be recast to add specific WRJ hostler functions - I need to look into this.
3. I don't NEED nine operators (8+me) but no one spend an inordinate amount of time waiting around. Honestly, the layout can readily be operated with six. One thing I think I'm getting better at is crew management. As a project manager in my professional life I have no problem telling people what to do but model railroad "people management" has proven to be an interesting challenge. This time I arranged the train schedule and crewing assignments so that once one crew finished a run they would have a short break (10-15 minutes max) - before running another train. And I based the train schedule on that approach - not simply the prototype timetables. The result paid off in a great session.
4. The "paperwork" - timetable, Yardmaster instructions, and the like seem to have enough maturity that I don't feel the need to alter them before the next session. (For example, I've hosted 11 sessions and today we used Timetable No. 10�. You do the math!) I did get some questions on "Is this town north or south?" a few times - I think a linear map showing the towns with a "You are here" highlight on the town you're standing in front of may help. Easy enough to do. Thought of doing it at one point. For some reason I never did.
In any event, a good time was had by all (lunch was outstanding, thanks to Christine's efforts!) and I'm very pleased with how the layout performed.
Now I'd like to get some of the scenery finished.
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| One of the new SNE RS-3s in action. Kind of reminds me of the rail fan photos I used to take with my Kodak Insta-matic! |
fimmtudagur, 11. júní 2015
Op Session Preparations
Time to put away the tools, scenery supplies, etc.. and get ready for my next operating session which will take place on Saturday June 27.
Christine has the most important responsibility - making lunch! Provided that goes well most of my crew are willing to forgive a host of problems!
Seriously, I do want the layout to operate well, and since I've been doing a lot of work on the railroad and the structures and I have something to show off to those who haven't been here since the last session.
In the meantime, I have to get the track cleaned, make sure the locomotives and cars are all staged. So there is paperwork and layout prep involved.
There are two or three little projects I want to wrap up on the layout - mostly adding some more scenic texture and trees in a few spots to make them look a little more finished.
The last few sessions I've been doing "preps" as the crew came down the stairs. Going to avoid last minute scrambles this time.
Read More..
Christine has the most important responsibility - making lunch! Provided that goes well most of my crew are willing to forgive a host of problems!
Seriously, I do want the layout to operate well, and since I've been doing a lot of work on the railroad and the structures and I have something to show off to those who haven't been here since the last session.
In the meantime, I have to get the track cleaned, make sure the locomotives and cars are all staged. So there is paperwork and layout prep involved.
There are two or three little projects I want to wrap up on the layout - mostly adding some more scenic texture and trees in a few spots to make them look a little more finished.
The last few sessions I've been doing "preps" as the crew came down the stairs. Going to avoid last minute scrambles this time.
þriðjudagur, 9. júní 2015
N&W 611 in action
Steve Daves actually had the foresight to shoot video of N&W 611 last weekend. Very, very brief runby as she passed through Gainesville, Va.
But hey, at least you get to hear the whistle.
Thanks to Steve for giving me permission to share it here.
sunnudagur, 7. júní 2015
N&W No. 611 in Manassas
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| The lettering on the front wall of the tender clearly reads "Black Smoke Costs Money." Luckily the engineer treated us to a little bit of "waste." |
The whistle sounded closer than the station - it was. The engine was near the grade crossing in Manassas Park where the fire department had a pumper stationed to refill the tender before she made her first run to Front Royal. 
She was due back from that run around 1230, so I jumped in the car maneuvered around the hundreds of extra people in Old Town Manassas (normally on a Sunday morning it's a ghost town�) and worked my way over to the station. I managed to get a couple of shots of the train pulling up to the station. The train actually stopped short of the platform and waited about 15 minutes for an Amtrak train.
I walked along the tracks and got close enough to the cab to hear the radio speaker - the NS pilot in the the cab called the dispatcher and confirmed they were to head just north of the station and use the crossover track there to get on the platform track and back into the station. "We'll be running up to Manassas Ave crossing to take on water" said the NS pilot in the cab.
"Roger, understood" the dispatcher came back. Then there was a brief (5-10 second pause).
"NS Train xxx �."You need to take on WHAT????"
Guess the dispatcher forgot for a moment this was a steam locomotive.
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| Waiting for Amtrak. I felt for the engineer of the Amtrak train - the guy in the orange hat (and a number of other folks) kept standing between the rails of the near track. |
All was well, the engine looked and sounded great - search YouTube for one of hundreds of videos and photos that have been posted -
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| I'd hoped I'd get lucky and one of the Amtrak "Heritage" units would be on the head end - not today. |
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| We clearly heard the dispatcher over the radio "You need to do WHAT???" |
laugardagur, 6. júní 2015
Stamping out the Shine...
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| The FGE car on the left shows the out-of-the-box shiny wheels and Accu-mate couplers. The MEC car on the right is an Atlas car that's had its truck sideframes and wheels painted Weathered Black and a new Kadee coupler installed. |
The "ready-to-run" Atlas and Accurail cars also include unpainted - very shiny - silver wheels.
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| I've found the Kadee couplers (right) are much more reliable than the Accumate couplers (left). |
Painting the trucks is the first step in weathering any car. I got extra motivated and did an initial coat of weathering on one or two cars - the yellow cars will be weathered at some point in the future.
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| I even managed to weather a few of these cars - including this Atlas B&O hopper. |
Even without the "full" weathering treatment they look a lot better!
fimmtudagur, 4. júní 2015
Wordless Wednesday #95 - The Story Behind the Story....
When I went to the Naperville RPM meet in October I took one of those "bargain" airlines that sell you a ticket for $49 DC-Chicago... and then charge you extra for everything from a cup of water to a suitcase... a "carry on" was included and since I was only staying one night I packed very minimally.
Of course at the show I bought some new kits and a few books...and I went up to the room to pack my bag and every time I tried I ended up with one thing not fitting - since the milk car kit was an old F&C kit I bought for $15 I almost pitched it. Then I remembered Pierre Oliver, proprietor of Elgin Car Shops was doing his clinic in less than an hour. So I went to the clinic and gave him the kit to bring home with him.
He delivered it to me on Friday at the Collinsville, CT meet. He did an excellent job on the model - so much so that I wanted to show it off. Since I was at the meet I put the car out on a table in the model display room. Got some nice compliments on it and I hope it drummed some business up for Pierre.
But the story doesn't end there - Pierre was also kind enough to bring me another winterization hatch to finish my ongoing RS-3 project. He put the part in the kit box.
When I was getting ready to pack up on Saturday the car was there but the box - with my winterization hatch - was no where to be found. I was beginning to suspect the milk car was somehow cursed, or at least didn't care to travel.
Pierre bailed me out with another box and some wrapping so I could get the car home in one piece.
Luckily the box turned up at some point (I suspect a local fellow accidentally piled it in with his stuff and realized it when he got home...) Dave Owens is sending the part to me so all is right with the world and order has been restored to the known universe.
miðvikudagur, 3. júní 2015
þriðjudagur, 19. maí 2015
Southern New England RS-3
As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been working on three different projects over the last few weeks as time, interest, and available materials dictate.
One of these is to at long last get some of the "orphan" locomotives (I have engines on the layout painted for everything from Reading to B&O to Erie, to Western Pacific�) into more appropriate colors. I apply the same rule to the diesel fleet that I do to the steam locomotive roster.
Locomotives that match a CV prototype get painted and lettered for their prototype (brass steamers, for example, like the 450 in the blog header art).
But if it's a Bachmann 2-8-0 fleet engine it will get some minor detail enhancements and get painted and lettered Southern New England.
That's the case with a quartet of Atlas RS-3s that I'm working on.
Yes, the CV had RS-3s, but they were Phase 3 RS-3s. The Atlas model isn't.
At this point the engines have had some "CV family" details added - primarily a new horn and bracket, a steam generator stack, lift rings, and a winterization hatch. (Unfortunately I ran out of winterization hatches, so I need to find some more or scratch build the things for two of the engines.)
My hope is I can get these into the paint booth and onto the rails in time for the next scheduled op session.
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