What did you do on your layout today?

Well I survived delivering Saturday's soldering clinic at the NMRA division meeting. The first part went rather well. When it came time for the demo portion, let's just say that could have gone a bit better. You know when you have guests and the trains don't behave? The old adage "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." came to mind. In the end a good time was had by all. I'm not very good at public speaking, but with about 20 guys, most of whom I knew, that wasn't really a problem. I do feel better now that it's over, like the weight of the world is off my shoulders.

On the health front, it's always something. I had a root canal today, but it didn't relieve all the pressure from the abscess. I have to go for my third visit on Thursday. Hopefully this thing will finally clear up. Been on antibiotics since my first visit last Thursday. It's just annoying.

I finally went back downstairs today, to change out that bad breaker on the house panel. I have a tattoo on my left forearm. It says "Nothing is easy". The tattoo was an homage to my dad, who always said that. And he was right. Everyday events are always cropping up, causing me to point to the tattoo. So, when Comcast came in and installed their alarm system, a few years ago, they used the wires from the previously installed sensors. Unfortunately, the wires were a bit on the short side, so thoseidiots mounted their box where it was most convenient for them. There was a nice clean piece of plywood in place, just to the right of the electrical panel. They hung it on the plywood, mostly. It was hanging over the edge by about an inch, covering two of the screws of the electrical panel cover.So I had to move that, before I could replace the breaker. And that's my nothing is easy story for today. New breaker works great. I can turn on the track power without having to reset the breaker every third time.

After spending an excessive amount of time on LIONEL's website making sure I was ordering everything I wanted from North Lima Train Works, emailed the order to John at NLTW; he phoned to go over the order; he invoiced me via PayPal; I paid; he shipped--a very good day for getting some neat stuff for my passenger train paint projects--photos to follow upon their arrival via FedEx.

Still more filling, sanding, priming and repeat--but it's getting close on four, smooth-sided passenger cars.

Also, putting together a package for Christine's painting and lettering skills this evening.

Almost time for NCIS--taking a break.

Elliot I feel what you are saying! Keep on keepin on!!!    

this is my birthday cake!!!! Choo choo!!!!!!!!

The MOW fleet is growing! Got to test the lights in the new bunk car! Works great!!

Bob the work looks good! I have those erwin clamps! I'd like to see some more pictures of your layout! 

I tried to load a 14 second video but it says its too big.   

Jim

 Sorry guys I try to post pictures with my tablet.  Cant type worth beans on it.  

Elliot, you just have to keep at it!  Yes some installers take the easy way out.

Carl, I’m sure it will look great after Christine is done!

Jim, nice cake!  Nicer MOW fleet!  100 percent DC!  Sounds like my HO days!

Final step of my air operated Wilesco steam engines was to pipe in the steam whistle. Works as I had hoped it would.

Jeff B. Haertlein posted:

Final step of my air operated Wilesco steam engines was to pipe in the steam whistle. Works as I had hoped it would.

That is cool!  Can you video it so we can hear it? 

Mark naaaa better than that HO days!   

I went through 3400 box cars on ebay today!   Looking for a car I had seen a few years ago on there.   Never did find it.  Seems it was a rebel oil or rebel something.   Maybe even confederate.  I remember the car was a deep red with a gold stripe.  Couldn't find it so I bought a NC&STL Dixieland boxcar lol   Anybody have any info on the poor description I gave I would greatly appreciate it! 

Jim 

Jeff, That’s great you got it working!

Jim, Better than HO!!!!!!!  That’s a lot of cars to look through on eBay!!  You sound like you are retired already!  LOL

Mark Boyce posted:

Jeff, That’s great you got it working!

Jim, Better than HO!!!!!!!  That’s a lot of cars to look through on eBay!!  You sound like you are retired already!  LOL

I wish I was retired!   I do get a bit of time on some days to look at things.   We had a huge storm and flooding today so it was super slow at the office.  Good for doing research! 

Jim 

Jim 

I don’t think I’ve looked at 3400 cars on ebay in a 6 month time and I’m a eBay junky sometimes anyway enjoy your birthday and have fun 

Jim writes: "I went through 3400 box cars on ebay today! "

Jim, you are an inspiration to all of us to be better railroaders than we are!

Hi guys-  A little more detail on the RS-3 (I was posting from my phone and my thumbs were getting cramps).

I had tested the loco several times on the bench with alligator clips on the trucks and it ran fine. Put it on the track-nothing. I finally realized after several attempts, which included putting the shell on, that one truck was shorted and the other was fine. Both motors ran when I tested but once on the track the common wheels of the trailing truck would cause a short. At least I know where to start when I go back in.

Glad you guys like the old school clamps. I got them as promotional give-aways at work. They have come in handy several times. You should see the old bar clamps I have. They belonged to my wife's grandfather- 4' long and they weigh a ton. Probably 80 years old by now.

Elliot- Glad you got the power issues solved. We had a old electrician's joke when wires were short- go get the wire stretcher out of the truck . And you are right- nothing is easy, if it was everyone would do it.

Jim- Nice Southern equipment. The box car looks sharp too. Hope you enjoyed your cake.

Ping-man- progress photos please?

Jeff- very cool whistle, how loud is it? We need a video of the factory in operation. That looks like a great project.

ANYONE HEARD FROM MIKE G? Hope he's OK.

Bob

RSJB18 posted:

Hi guys-  A little more detail on the RS-3 (I was posting from my phone and my thumbs were getting cramps).

I had tested the loco several times on the bench with alligator clips on the trucks and it ran fine. Put it on the track-nothing. I finally realized after several attempts, which included putting the shell on, that one truck was shorted and the other was fine. Both motors ran when I tested but once on the track the common wheels of the trailing truck would cause a short. At least I know where to start when I go back in.

Glad you guys like the old school clamps. I got them as promotional give-aways at work. They have come in handy several times. You should see the old bar clamps I have. They belonged to my wife's grandfather- 4' long and they weigh a ton. Probably 80 years old by now.

Elliot- Glad you got the power issues solved. We had a old electrician's joke when wires were short- go get the wire stretcher out of the truck . And you are right- nothing is easy, if it was everyone would do it.

Jim- Nice Southern equipment. The box car looks sharp too. Hope you enjoyed your cake.

Ping-man- progress photos please?

Jeff- very cool whistle, how loud is it? We need a video of the factory in operation. That looks like a great project.

ANYONE HEARD FROM MIKE G? Hope he's OK.

Bob

Cake was good BOB : )    I think there was a massive wet snow storm over where Mike G. lives. I hope its not a health related issue for any of his family!  

Reckon you can find that short?   And shoot us some more pictures of your layout! 

Paul I hope you got us some good pictures from the layout you visited! 

Jim

Brian, I really like the train pics you provide, some are just stunning!

For me, just a test fit of building placement today.  Bunch more work to do.

Mayor Magoo posted:

Brian, I really like the train pics you provide, some are just stunning!

For me, just a test fit of building placement today.  Bunch more work to do.

          thanks Steve, great looking building, very nice !

Steve, the building looks great!

RSJB18 posted:

 

Elliot- Glad you got the power issues solved. We had a old electrician's joke when wires were short- go get the wire stretcher out of the truck . And you are right- nothing is easy, if it was everyone would do it.

 

Thanks Bob, and that is the second part of that expression. Dad said that sometimes too. At summer camp we always talked about the "smoke bender" and the "sky hook" , not much call for the "wire stretcher in the woods". I just moved the box up a little, then over enough to expose the screws. I'm just not sure why I should have had to. Dummies! At least I found it before an electrical inspector did.

I'm starting to get worried about Mike too. Five days away from the forum isn't like him. 

Here you go Jim- my little slice of heaven on a 4 X 8 board.

Bob

                                    https://youtu.be/u7QCnv0Qpfg

CSX AL, your mill project is impressive.

Brian, never ceases to amaze me you have not got to the end of engines but keep em coming.

Bob, the last engine I took apart and put back together ended up with some of the things not working but it ran and had sounds so I left it alone.

Steve, goo looking building.

Jim, happy belated birthday. I wish I could be 53 again.

Elliot, I always hate it when something not related to trains comes up and takes me away from the trains. But it is important to resolve electrical problems. So with that taken care of, the tooth getting better and the soldering class over with you can get back to your layout.

Mark, that was nice to get a windfall and be able to use it for trains. Hope you are feeling better and able to move around with less pain.

So today I started off with a bang. I started laying in the base foam board but that is on hold because now another quest has started to find out where the heck I put my package of hot melt sticks for the glue gun. Guess for me it never fails when you are a person who just piles up everything and expects to find what you need right away. Pics......Paul

RSJB18 posted:

Here you go Jim- my little slice of heaven on a 4 X 8 board.

Bob

Bob very cool!   Some nice trains on there too!  I see a ton of toggles and such, what are you running for power??  And nice that you have your layout schematic handy to post!!! 

Chris that is a nice building!  I put my main lines way out near the walls ... Looks like you thought ahead with your track work and put a siding there.  I did not think to do that! 

Elliot I checked the TV station web page for my weather and they had a story about the snow storm where Mike G. lives!   They are talking FEET not inches!   Folks stranded all over the place!  Said its the biggest snow there in 50 years?? 

Jim

Here's an early picture of command central Jim. All old-school conventional control as of now. Haven't made the jump to DCS or legacy, or bluetooth, or LC or LC+.......  One day....

Brian - Alaska RR, the real thing in wilderness railroading today.  It must be a lot of cold hard work to keep them going.  Thanks for the shots.

paul 2 posted:

CSX AL, your mill project is impressive.

Brian, never ceases to amaze me you have not got to the end of engines but keep em coming.

Bob, the last engine I took apart and put back together ended up with some of the things not working but it ran and had sounds so I left it alone.

Steve, goo looking building.

Jim, happy belated birthday. I wish I could be 53 again.

Elliot, I always hate it when something not related to trains comes up and takes me away from the trains. But it is important to resolve electrical problems. So with that taken care of, the tooth getting better and the soldering class over with you can get back to your layout.

Mark, that was nice to get a windfall and be able to use it for trains. Hope you are feeling better and able to move around with less pain.

So today I started off with a bang. I started laying in the base foam board but that is on hold because now another quest has started to find out where the heck I put my package of hot melt sticks for the glue gun. Guess for me it never fails when you are a person who just piles up everything and expects to find what you need right away. Pics......Paul

Ah shucks I know where the glue gun sticks are!  Over there next to the flux capacitor and that old can of steam you have sitting there lol   OH man I spend more time looking for stuff than I do working!  I know what you are going through!

Bob what is the power pack??  I take it you havent tried any of the Lionchief stuff yet eh?  At any rate very cool!   This here is my power source! : ) Kind of dull looking aint it?? lol

Jim

RSJB18 posted:

Here's an early picture of command central Jim. All old-school manual control as of now. Haven't made the jump to DCS or legacy yet. One day....

 

Same here. AC motors. The only electronics are the Liontech electronic E-units, a Liontech horn&bell and an old MRC AC101 power pack w/ a  walkaround throttle.

paul 2 posted:

 

Elliot, I always hate it when something not related to trains comes up and takes me away from the trains. But it is important to resolve electrical problems. So with that taken care of, the tooth getting better and the soldering class over with you can get back to your layout.

 

Well Paul, it's all loosely related to trains and the layout. It seems like any disruption when I'm on a roll, it takes a long time to get back in the mood. That's exactly what I need to do. I have a few critical repair issues to deal with, that may test my knee a bit, because I need to sit on the floor and get back up a few times to do them.

The tooth is doing much better this morning. He injected some bleach solution into the canals to sterilize the area, but some of it went up into the abscess. Last night some of it managed to drain out through the tissue. That tasted nasty. With the pain and swelling down by about 90%, he should be able to backfill the canals tomorrow, and put this thing to bed. Then we just have to do a crown, think large steam engine for the cost of this project to save a tooth.

Jim, I hope that Mike is just incommunicado for technical reasons due to the storms, and it isn't related to his bout with the flu. Not a good double whammy.

Brian, that is an impressive set of Alaska Railroad photos.

With sporadic diligence, l have this cook house roofed...."wood" shingles, with patches of corrugated roofing over kitchen, chimneys, and stacks.  Need some O scale 1930's kitchen dollhouse furniture....dry sink, icebox, cast iron wood stove, etc. to complete...oops, rough dining room tables/benches, too.

Vincent Massi posted:

Brian, that is an impressive set of Alaska Railroad photos.

          thanks Vincent

The layout details are amazing in the photos posted.  I like P51's narrow gauge railroad videos.  All of the layouts are taking shape and showing care in adding interesting features to the layouts.

I finished painting another box of 24 Preiser 65602 Unpainted Seated People for 21" Santa Fe and Canadian Pacific passenger cars arriving around Christmas 2019.  This box is pink clothing for the women and medium brown for the men.

The eleven new Preiser 65602 packs are on the way from Questmark and Frankarts in Germany.  I have four more boxes at home to paint before they arrive.  The next box is Yellow for the women's clothes.  (Blue, green, pink, yellow, lavender, then repeat.)

For a break, I am converting two Atlas O B&O Trainman Box cars to three rail.  That will give me all four road numbers of the B&O Sentinel 40' Box cars.

Sincerely,  John Rowlen   (2-13-2019)

Kon112H posted:

carsntrains posted:

 

 

Bob what is the power pack??  I take it you havent tried any of the Lionchief stuff yet eh?  At any rate very cool!   This here is my power source! : ) Kind of dull looking aint it?? lol

  I can’t stand fast track but , I’ll  say they do a great job marketing to entry level and people who are not good with electrical stuff.  

 

We are all different! And I have seen some amazing Fastrack layouts!!   Sean's trains for one.   BTW I watched your video on FB last night!  Some good looking Southern equipment rolling around!  Does your KONWAY sign not light up??   And does that Southern TOFC have any dates on it that might indicate its era?

Jim

carsntrains posted 

 

We are all different! And I have seen some amazing Fastrack layouts!!   Sean's trains for one.   BTW I watched your video on FB last night!  Some good looking Southern equipment rolling around!  Does your KONWAY sign not light up??   And does that Southern TOFC have any dates on it that might indicate its era?

Jim

Thanks, funny the other silver trailer cars have dates 55-56. There Lionel PS-4 cars. I feel these cars  where used mid 50s to late 60s . In the 70s you see the double trailer flats.   Trains or classic trains did an article about this in the last year actually.  

The Konway sign is not lighted.  

Kon112H posted:

carsntrains posted 

 

We are all different! And I have seen some amazing Fastrack layouts!!   Sean's trains for one.   BTW I watched your video on FB last night!  Some good looking Southern equipment rolling around!  Does your KONWAY sign not light up??   And does that Southern TOFC have any dates on it that might indicate its era?

Jim

Thanks, funny the other silver trailer cars have dates 55-56. There Lionel PS-4 cars. I feel these cars  where used mid 50s to late 60s . In the 70s you see the double trailer flats.   Trains or classic trains did an article about this in the last year actually.  

The Konway sign is not lighted.  

Kon yeah I went over one at the hobby shop..  kind of in a hurry...  and didn't see a date on it.    So the other cars just like that say 55-56 on them?   Do they also have TTX and Trailer TT Train on them?   

Oh and my brother is an electrician.   I have been wiring layouts (HO) since the mid 70's.  And if you check out Sean's trains you will see he is no slouch in wiring at all!   LOL    I will give you one though.   They put that Fastrack in the starter kits.   You get a couple then you add to it.  Before you know it.... You have a Fastrack layout!   If I knew what I know now before I bought the first piece of Fastrack I would have looked into Gargraves with Ross turnouts.   BUT nobody in my area carries GG or Ross.  One place does carry Fastrack and the other doesn't carry any O stuff.   

Jim 

I must of looked for 45 minutes for glue sticks in the basement. I finally gave up and headed up to the attic to look. 10 minutes into looking up there I found a package of them. I was back in business. So after a late lunch I have managed to get the one side of the gorge roughed in. Tomorrow I hope to get the other half done. Then I can worked on the small island to separate the upper falls into two. Pics.............Paul

Looking good there Paul!   Glad you are making progress and found the glue sticks next to the canned steam!!! : )   

Jim 

paul 2 posted:

CSX AL, your mill project is impressive.

Brian, never ceases to amaze me you have not got to the end of engines but keep em coming.

Bob, the last engine I took apart and put back together ended up with some of the things not working but it ran and had sounds so I left it alone.

Steve, goo looking building.

Jim, happy belated birthday. I wish I could be 53 again.

Elliot, I always hate it when something not related to trains comes up and takes me away from the trains. But it is important to resolve electrical problems. So with that taken care of, the tooth getting better and the soldering class over with you can get back to your layout.

Mark, that was nice to get a windfall and be able to use it for trains. Hope you are feeling better and able to move around with less pain.

So today I started off with a bang. I started laying in the base foam board but that is on hold because now another quest has started to find out where the heck I put my package of hot melt sticks for the glue gun. Guess for me it never fails when you are a person who just piles up everything and expects to find what you need right away. Pics......Paul

Thank you, Paul.  Yes, little pain; just my foot tingles some when I stand up.  My last PT is tomorrow.  Then I just have to work on my endurance and floppy toes.

The gorge area is looking great!

And the train kept a GROWIN all night long!!!!!!

Got that green caboose today in the mail! It's a K-Line caboose! Very nice too!

Jim

Everything looks great nice work as always guy 

Brian it amazes me  also how many Rail pictures you have 

 Paul that bench work looks very nice 

Konway  I like that southern 40 foot piggyback trailer and that trailer train flat car. Is that a new  Lionel they just came out with?

All the talk about conventional old school control, I thought I’d throw in my current control box. It’s the same size box that my grandfather ran since the 50’s or so. Last year I rebuilt it with plywood.