What did you do on your layout today?

@mike g. posted:

Dave, thanks but I do plan on putting in a few parking spots. Nice job on the new houses and grass. Things sure are looking great over there!

Strap Hanger, I am glad you were able to get it fixed!

Mike Wonderful job on the church and great scene's you have going on there!

Seth all I can say is AMAZING!

I worked in the garage on my airplane thingy, and as Dave posted up above, it was a trial and error and for me it was more error! The motor I tried just wouldn't work like I thought it would, so tomorrow I plan on trying something else! lol which means the grayhound bus station was on hold all day.

This looks pretty technical Mike. 🤤

Now this is what a shop area is supposed to look like .    Do you have a strong enough latout to hold that battery ? 😉

Not a "layout" project exactly, but it's now underway.

I own a "Lionel Steel" train set by Lionel. Each piece bears the nifty Lionel Steel logo.
* industrial diesel switcher, with TMCC
* three ore cars (the third one is an extra offer)
* gondola with culverts
* flat car with a "welding figure" aboard.

However, this set doesn't have a caboose. IMHO, Lionel probably won't offer one in my lifetime, so I decided to make one based on a B&M Transfer Caboose. I already removed the painted-on B&M name on the sill, and will soon paint the cab with silver gray paint to more-or-less match the ore cars. I found a helpful hobbyist on the Web who provided the "Lionel Steel" digital image for placement on this mini-project.  I hope to place the completed set on the rails as an actual and complete consist!

Lionel offered a "Lionel Steel" version of its Culvert Unloader and Culvert Loader action accessory, but I already own an earlier version. So I passed on those two pieces.

And so it goes ...

Mike Mottler    LCCA 12394

I learned that 91% isopropyl alcohol does a great job quickly removing Scalecoat II paint and Rustoleum "Ultra Cover 2X" primer from LIONEL baggage car doors.

Morning guys,

CR Cole, The Barn is looking  great! But if it was me from back in the day living next to a pig farmer, you might want a fence around the pen!

Dave, WOW your moving at lite speed compared to the rest of us and the amazing part is it all looks great Your the man at speed scenery! LOL By the way I got the ballast and it looks great should blend in just fine! Thanks again!

Dallas Joe, that is the work bench in my garage were I work on everything from train stuff to rebuilding lawn mowers! LOL I am sorry to say the last photo with the worm drive is not going to work, so I switched over to printer motor and got some done yesterday and hope to get it working today so I can move forward with this project! Photos below.

I hope you all have a great day and find time to have fun with your layout and trains!

Mike, fence is coming. I wanted to do the "mud" first before putting up the fence. I have been trying to think things through before actually "doing". Fat fingers work better with less obstructions!

@CR Cole posted:

Mike, fence is coming. I wanted to do the "mud" first before putting up the fence. I have been trying to think things through before actually "doing". Fat fingers work better with less obstructions!

Cole, I agree as I have fat fingers also! LOL are you going to scratch build your fence or buy it? I found that the tight weave metal trash baskets work great when you cut them in to strips that height of the fence you want to make and then just fabricate some fence post. I will get you a photo of what mine looks like a little later today. The nice thing is you can pick one up really cheap at Walmart if you want to scratch build a lot of fencing!

Mike, I am scratch building a wood fence from balsa. Simple 2 rail fence along the "concrete". Still playing with some ideas. I want to get barn done, so it all fits together. I am interested in the wire fence and I am not so far into the fence to switch gears. Already have some ideas about weathering a wire fence. This is my first layout and I have found it is not a race, going slow allows better development. For now the pigs are glued to the mud and can't escape!

A little prep work for new area. I'm still having trouble deciding what to put here. I'm also out of Realtrax grade crossings so I have to find a couple more.

    Working on my river scene.

    Recently grew a birch tree on the bank but the leaves haven't grown out yet.

Dave, Looking good, I am sure you will figure out what goes there in time! With your modeling skills you could always build some crossings! I am sure they would turn our just as good if not better!

fast freight, Thats a fast growing tree! Your river scene looks outstanding! Now all you need is a couple young ladies skinny dipping! LOL

Well guys, you know I have been working on the airplane take off thingy. Well I spent another good amount of time working on it this morning and was able to get the motor hooked up and just did a test run. I am just happy it is working like I wanted, just needs a little tweaking. Here is a short video of the first test run.

I hope you are all having a great day and hope you have time for your layout!

@fast freight posted:

    Working on my river scene.

    Recently grew a birch tree on the bank but the leaves haven't grown out yet.

Very , very nice river fast freight.    The rippling effect is first rate . 😉

@fast freight posted:

    Working on my river scene.

    Recently grew a birch tree on the bank but the leaves haven't grown out yet.

Really nice looking scene. Love the bridges and the water looks great too.

     Thanks for the replies.

     The water is simply waterglass, glass painted flat black on the bottom side. Very easy to do.

A 3/16' drill bit dabbed in a lime green paint for lily pads really brings it to life.

@fast freight posted:

     Thanks for the replies.

     The water is simply waterglass, glass painted flat black on the bottom side. Very easy to do.

A 3/16' drill bit dabbed in a lime green paint for lily pads really brings it to life.

Great idea! Looks wonderful!

Fast Freight, the river scene looks great.  The birch tree really looks real.

Dave, you are coming right along with your residential area.

Orville and Wilbur, I think you are ready to take that thing down to Kitty Hawk for a test flight.  Mike, do you have a lot of sand in case the first flight does a dive?  Your project looks great!

I have my AIUs prewired so that I can just throw wires from the temporary connections beside the TIU to the other side of the board where the AIUs will let me control power to each track block with the handheld remote.  For a detailed discussion, take a look at my Blackwater Canyon Line topic.

@Mark Boyce posted:

Fast Freight, the river scene looks great.  The birch tree really looks real.

Dave, you are coming right along with your residential area.

Orville and Wilbur, I think you are ready to take that thing down to Kitty Hawk for a test flight.  Mike, do you have a lot of sand in case the first flight does a dive?  Your project looks great!

I have my AIUs prewired so that I can just throw wires from the temporary connections beside the TIU to the other side of the board where the AIUs will let me control power to each track block with the handheld remote.  For a detailed discussion, take a look at my Blackwater Canyon Line topic.

Looks good Mark I wish I would have tried to get an MTH Remote Commander before they closed. Who know, maybe one day.

As for the sand, none on hand but it will be well rested before any plane is attached to it.

Everyone's projects are looking really good. Makes me want to at least go look at the train room. Fast Freight, please show more photos of your layout. From what you have already shown, it's a gem.

Dave

I got started at 4:30 AM got my second coat of paint on the lot. I decided this space will be a car dealership that I had on a previous  layout. I added guard rails behind it where it backs up to the tracks. My wife made the sign for me this morning. I'm waiting on some Realtrax grade crossings to cut down for the ramps into the lot.

@Dave Ripp. posted:

I got started at 4:30 AM got my second coat of paint on the lot. I decided this space will be a car dealership that I had on a previous  layout. I added guard rails behind it where it backs up to the tracks. My wife made the sign for me this morning. I'm waiting on some Realtrax grade crossings to cut down for the ramps into the lot.

Now that's my king of dealership. Lot's of MOPAR muscle!

@mike g. posted:

Well guys, you know I have been working on the airplane take off thingy. Well I spent another good amount of time working on it this morning and was able to get the motor hooked up and just did a test run. I am just happy it is working like I wanted, just needs a little tweaking. Here is a short video of the first test run.

I hope you are all having a great day and hope you have time for your layout!

I'm liking what I see Mike. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Bob

Dave, the dealership looks great!  It reminds me of Butler County Ford here in Butler before they put on a metal facade quite a few years ago.  Still as the only dealership still located in town, it always brings back memories of all the dealers in town.  Your wife did a great job on the sign!

I added in some LEDs to my father's old Lionel Dispatch Station, the speaker etc don't work anymore but I wanted the lights to show off the silhouettes in the windows.  Next step is to wire it into the layout.

Dave, that is one sweet looking dealership! I really like how things are coming together and nice to see I am not the only one who works on there layout before the sun comes up!

Thanks Bob, I liked how it was going also but I went out and did a few more test runs and found out that fishing line might not be the answer and I really didn't like how the motor was turning. So its back to the drawing board on old Printer motors. I have some honey do's to take care of and then back at it. If I come up with something better today I will post it later!

I hope you all have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend! Oh don't forget to try and find time for your layout and trains! Most of all try and have fun!

@ArtsModelTrains posted:

I added in some LEDs to my father's old Lionel Dispatch Station, the speaker etc don't work anymore but I wanted the lights to show off the silhouettes in the windows.  Next step is to wire it into the layout.

Now that outstanding looking! I bet its going to look great on your layout!

@mike g. posted:

Dave, Looking good, I am sure you will figure out what goes there in time! With your modeling skills you could always build some crossings! I am sure they would turn our just as good if not better!

fast freight, Thats a fast growing tree! Your river scene looks outstanding! Now all you need is a couple young ladies skinny dipping! LOL

Well guys, you know I have been working on the airplane take off thingy. Well I spent another good amount of time working on it this morning and was able to get the motor hooked up and just did a test run. I am just happy it is working like I wanted, just needs a little tweaking. Here is a short video of the first test run.

I hope you are all having a great day and hope you have time for your layout!

Really sharp Mike 😉

(  this might work for Santa's sleigh taking off too. 🤔 )

@Dave Ripp. posted:

I got started at 4:30 AM got my second coat of paint on the lot. I decided this space will be a car dealership that I had on a previous  layout. I added guard rails behind it where it backs up to the tracks. My wife made the sign for me this morning. I'm waiting on some Realtrax grade crossings to cut down for the ramps into the lot.

This is really something Dave 😉

Where did all the Mopar cars come from .?.......that is quite the variety.  The building and the sign are especially good looking .

If you and your wife keep this pace up .......you're not going to have anything to do on this layout during the winter..  😕

@Dallas Joseph posted:

This is really something Dave 😉

Where did all the Mopar cars come from .?.......that is quite the variety.  The building and the sign are especially good looking .

If you and your wife keep this pace up .......you're not going to have anything to do on this layout during the winter..  😕

Thanks, I bought them where ever I could a few years ago. I have at least a dozen extra. I'll go through them and get a nice smatering of colors that looks best. I'll be heading down now for todays prodject.

1. @Mark Boyce posted:

I have my AIUs prewired so that I can just throw wires from the temporary connections beside the TIU to the other side of the board where the AIUs will let me control power to each track block with the handheld remote.  For a detailed discussion, take a look at my Blackwater Canyon Line topic.

This really bothers me Mark......😮........how can you be so organized and clean looking in your control area in  this photo !?!

I have a pair of those red handled snips just like yours .........i just don't know where they are Mark. 😶

Really nice area. 😉

Well, Mike G. has been in my head all week about the pig fence. Last night I raided my wife's craft room and found some tulle ribbon, and the fence was created! The barn is almost done and ready for wiring.

@CR Cole posted:

Well, Mike G. has been in my head all week about the pig fence. Last night I raided my wife's craft room and found some tulle ribbon, and the fence was created! The barn is almost done and ready for wiring.

Nice slop pen the fence came out great.

Today I put in a frontage road, MOW signal department, switch tower and scenery.

6

@mike g.- the fishing line stretches when the spool picks up the weight. Try adding some weight to the carrier and get a little more tension on the line. Another idea is to add a idler pulley with a spring to keep tension on the line.

@Dave Ripp.- I plan to steal some of your ideas on your MOW yard and shanty (full disclosure)

@ArtsModelTrains- nice work on your Dad's tower. The colors are still nice and bright after all these years.

@CR Cole- looks like a happy bunch of pigs there.

Nice work everyone. I've been otherwise detained and haven't done anything on the layout lately. I hope to get my new Santa Fe F3's serviced and on the rails later today. My power problem on my upper loop still needs to be solved as well before I get back to scenery work.

Bob

@ArtsModelTrains posted:

I added in some LEDs to my father's old Lionel Dispatch Station, the speaker etc don't work anymore but I wanted the lights to show off the silhouettes in the windows.  Next step is to wire it into the layout.

I did similar with the lighting, but added an updated  sound system - see it here. Overall very happy with the look and sound.

George

@RSJB18 posted:

@mike g.- the fishing line stretches when the spool picks up the weight. Try adding some weight to the carrier and get a little more tension on the line. Another idea is to add a idler pulley with a spring to keep tension on the line.

@Dave Ripp.- I plan to steal some of your ideas on your MOW yard and shanty (full disclosure)

@ArtsModelTrains- nice work on your Dad's tower. The colors are still nice and bright after all these years.

@CR Cole- looks like a happy bunch of pigs there.

Nice work everyone. I've been otherwise detained and haven't done anything on the layout lately. I hope to get my new Santa Fe F3's serviced and on the rails later today. My power problem on my upper loop still needs to be solved as well before I get back to scenery work.

Bob

Feel free Bob. I got the idea from BNSF. This ones near me I just made mine geared tword my 1971 era.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

This really bothers me Mark......😮........how can you be so organized and clean looking in your control area in  this photo !?!

I have a pair of those red handled snips just like yours .........i just don't know where they are Mark. 😶

Really nice area. 😉

Dallas, I know.  It is downright disturbing!  If I don't do this, everything ends up where your red handled snips are.    I have things that I can't find that I remember where they were in the old house, but not here.  We've been in this house for over 10 years now.    Thank you very much!!

CR Cole, The pig pen is looking great!

Dave, the MOW area looks great!  It's not too messy.  I like a supervisor who makes his employees keep things neat and orderly so everyone can find them.  Oh that goes back to my comment to Dallas Joseph's comment! 

   I grew another birch tree for the other side of the river and threw in a couple of other photos as well.

   Hope you enjoy.

@fast freight posted:

   I grew another birch tree for the other side of the river and threw in a couple of other photos as well.

   Hope you enjoy.

Wow, what scenery & weathering !

Fastfreight, that is some sensational work. I also liked the weathering on the Milwaukee bridge.

Fast freight, that is some amazing detail work. Simply beautiful.