What did you do on your layout today?

Threading wire through conduit around 135 linear feet of around the wall benchwork.

I completely tore up my previous track plan and went with a mix of operation and running. It's a dogbone with a few turnouts now and a connecting track! I'll post pictures soon, the 1121 switches all got converted to constant voltage and as soon as I drill the holes for the wires and plug everything in, I'll post pictures.

We finished our yard area yesterday. The snow blanket was placed and all of the yard track was screwed into place. We now move onto the 5' x 6' engine servicing facility area.

Busy day today! Finally got my Disney monorail operational.  I was at my local Walgreens when I saw a $10 RC car.  I decided to buy it and gut it for my previously installed monorail which only operated manually.  Well noone was more suprised than me when it actually worked. Now the monorail starts, stops and has forward and reverse direction. It encircles my layout and even the Wife has tried it out and she actually likes it!

Heres a short video if I can get it posted....Pete

One more pic in case video did not work out

Pete

Randy you guys are kicking some serious butt on your layout!!!  Photos of your progress look great!  Congratulations on making such tremendous progress in such a short amount of time.  You are getting much closer to driving the golden spike. :-)

Took down the Christmas layout decorations, did Maintenance on the locos,  lubed and test ran my new Williams scale GG1 (It's getting DCS, it's a jackrabbit otherwise)

I have a Disney monorail. Can you post either a schematic of the wiring or photos of the internal wiring to accomplish what you did?

Thank you.

Also, how do you get such good running operation out of your monorail? Ours, with the battery power, is very slow and stops on certain joints in the track.

Randy, I will e-mail you with the mod since I do not want to hijack thread with this.

Pete

E-Mail sent!

Today I primed a façade building (from Ameri-towne), added some sidewalk to North Center Street, and repaired a Corgi-Birney's electrical pick up(it lost a screw, all better now)/ Also painted some rattan seats for a Japanese plastic trolley kit's interior, the seats are from Q car as is the new power truck. It will be Corry & Columbus Car 11 when done.....

After what seems to be endless snow & ice storms and temperatures steadily below zero, I finally got out to the train room today and ran some trains. This really felt good! Also got to take some photographs for use on this Forum.

ok Elliot... just because it got a tad nippy up in your part of the woods how come Patrick didn't make it LOL.

I can remember those nippy days n nights palm trees stink but sure beats a shovel LOL.

layout is looking good maybe once you get all the switches going you can give us a new video of all the areas your manifest of freight can go.

$oo

Continue this week to work on one area putting some different color vegetation on the mountains. I think when I start  planting trees (some day) it will bring it out  better. Still having fun.

Today a had a few hours to spend on the Mountain Division.  Started off by running a coal train through Mount Randolph.  I next removed the train and went to work on partially scenicing the mountain.  Really got into and had fun.  No where near complete as of now but am a bit closer to getting the Mountain Divsion where I want it to be.

Here are two photos one with the Bollman bridge removed and the other with the Bollman in place.  Enjoy!

Have been finishing a number of projects; am about done with this New Haven RPO/baggage combine which runs a head end car on my "Merchant's Limited" string of Osgood Bradley coaches.

It started life as a Lionel Blue Comet baby Madison combine. i removed the steps, filled the  4 side doors at the ends, moved the trucks 3/4" outward (necessitating new short shank couplers), filled two excess windows, added window grates, added a mail door on each side, fabricated from brass appropriate steps, painted Pullman Green (Scalecoat II), and added decals (pre the late `30's - early `40's updating). I still need to fabricate mail pick-ups for the new mail doors when i get some more brass.

jackson

Worked on my Lionel Construction crane:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...14#24659873178231314

George

Yesterday, my son Chris got inspired and suggested we clean much of the CLUTTER out of the train room so that we had room to work. We did and found that much of what was there was dumpster fodder. Othe useable stuff was moved temporarily to our storage locker until we are ready to put it back into the layout.

After ther big cleaning, we had a clear path to our lower level scene, the city of Christopolis. Though it was not in our original plans, Chris decided to ad a bumper trolly route through the city. The track is in place but has not been screwed down and the bumpers have yet to bo installed. It looks great and will add a bit more animation to the city scene. Great work, Chris.

Pat: The mountain looks GREAT!!!!

Unfortunately, I am spending way too much time on the Forum instead of getting anything done on the layout.  I need to fix that right now.

Art

I removed a 4, 1- 3/8 section of fastrack to give me more clearance on a curve and a wall.  I noticed a little black line on the paint when the Big Boy went around the curve.  Now there are no clearance issues.

Me too Art, just can't seem to break free of its pull today. On the other hand, I have been pounding away at the layout since last Wednesday, almost without a break.

Rather than re-post, anyone interested can see what I've been up to here.

Finally got off my duff and got 2/3 of the decking done where I want to add a new grain elevator.  Plan to go back after dinner and finish it.  Be nice to get some of the elevator silos cut too.

Art

Today was for preliminarily laying out our engine storage/servicing facility with our Atlas O turntable.

Pete:

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. I got it.

Larry:

The scenery is looking GREAT!!!

Finally! Early today posted my very first YouTube video... naturally it is a trip on my Ironbound RR Layout. Keep in mind that this layout is not very large (3 walls in a garage) but is designed to give the look and feel of a large industrial/city setting... lost of clutter, rust and crowding ; ) I hope you like it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...amp;feature=youtu.be

~Andy

Andy:

What a great video. I hope this the first of many videos of the Ironbound. You really have captured the urban setting of Newark. This is from a guy who, as a younger person, worked in Bayonne.

Wow I agree.  What a great video and layout.   I hope to see much more of it!

Ironbound,

Absolutely fantastic railroad!!! The quality of your workmanship is superb. Any chance of seeing your track plan (even if you can hand draw it, scan it, and email it)?

Again great modeling.

jackson, CEO

Not-So-Great Eastern R.R. aka Never Done Lines

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...&feature=channel

Thanks Jackson for your kind remarks.

You can see the track plan of this modest-sized layout on my Ironbound website at:

http://trainutz.com/ironbound.shtml

~Andy

Ironbound/Andy - Very nice.  I have seen some much smaller layouts produce some spectacular photos.  Nothing wrong with your "modest-size layout".  I need to check out the 2-rail forum more often.  Also, I try to keep up with the "3-rail Scale" forum too.  Check out Norm's layout.  He is starting over after moving.  His old layout was smaller but he did a great job of generating the "feeling".  I enjoyed checking out your web site.  Your layout would make a great OGR article, many of us do not have a LARGE space nor the time to fill it.  It would inspire many modelers.

Dan

ON the layout?  Continuation of the big ZERO.  FOR the layout?  Much more progress

made yesterday...think I have found a source for the custom decals  I want, and I

found an obscure structure kit that I have searched for, for years.  That leaves only

one more obscure one to be tracked down.....as if I needed any more...like four flat

tires...now if I could only get back to building them...

We refined the slope on the ramp from the second to the third level of the layout. Now, all engines, both post-war and modern, make the climb with no issues. We also installed 2/3 of the substrucure of the mountainside into which the ramp will appear to be cut.

Removed a stuck coal train from within Mt. Randolph on the Mountain Division.  Ran the train for a bit afterward, stopping at times to change out the consist.

Made some tree choices for my next session of the continuation of scenicing Mount Randolph.  Spent time visualizing MR and how I want the end result to look.  This was a fun hour spent working on the railroad today.  :-)

Thanks so much Randy1

I cut and painted a piece of wood that will act as a form for the back side of my mountain and cut a mirror to size for the end of my new yard to give it the appearance of the yard extending.

Today was a good day!  I bought my last 'gotta have' engine.  I now have all the UP steamers I set out to buy.

Why does this matter?  Because now I can focus on finishing the design of my layout and start buying lots of track.  

Also, I did buy a couple of powerhouses today for the new layout!

I ran a mixed freight on the Mountain Division.  Ma & Pa diesel switcher by MTH  loco and 5 cars.  Here is a short video of the train exiting the tunnel at Mount Randolph.  Hope you like it.  I still have to finish the scenery so don't mind the bare spot.

Not sure how I missed your post Ray. Must have been unwinding from a very busy week on the layout.

Patrick lives almost half way to Duluth. On a good day it takes him a couple hours to get home from here.

I'd like to do a video at the end of the month, with a guided tour following the train around with narration. By the end of February, I might be able to do some kind of basic switching run.

Elliot... With the length of each page not hard to miss a post now n then. All 3 of you have been busy and the layout and areas around it show it.

the area you undid was that the area you had by the last helix you built? I think it had some scenery to it?

Patrick does travel a bit to work with you.

I see you like the tortoise machines and I never seen the setup you used in areas where the machines have to be mounted away from where the switch is.

have a great day run a train or two blow a horn for me. I would really like to see the S-3 with passenger cars run on that layout she could really stretch her legs!!

Ray

My Brother is a master model builder, and has had several of his military models featured in modeling magazines built me a Glencoe Models 1/48th #5301 US Coast Guard Rescue Boat for my harbor.  He even cut the hull so it sits right in the "water"

I placed it in the harbor heading out to the lake.  I also moved around some buildings to make my station in my downtown.  

Here are some pics of the harbor.  Don't mind the dust buildup on the water!

Patrick needed to stand on the layout to build that shelf above Red Wing, so we had to move the buildings and all the trains out of the way. They were only placed there to give the illusion of some completeness. There was never any greenery, just ballasted track.

Unfortunately, because not all the Tortoises are powered yet, it isn't safe to run trains this week. Matt is coming over tomorrow and the plan is to do a bunch more switches. The layout is going to get worse before it gets better. But when it does get better it will be fantastic.

My brother-in-law (wife's brother) is not a train guy. He's into ham radio as a hobby. Of course he's been over here a number of times over the years, and I seem to be rubbing off on him. All of a sudden, he's interested in learning to operate the railroad.

I'm hoping we could get some limited operations going by April. That would be Pigs Eye, Newport, Cottage Grove, Hastings and Red Wing. I expect there will be a ton of bugs that will need to worked out.

I went to Home Depot and bought a truck load of lumber. Construction of the table begins tomorrow.......

Ironbound: Nice video; great looking layout.

Wow!  That's an amazing layout and excellent video skills too.  That looks real.  I hope you'll post some photos or more videos.  It sounds like you've made good use of space in your garage.  Where did you get the UPS package car?  Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, you are very kind : )

I hope to do more of these videos by-and-by, now that I know what the capabilities and limitations of the software are.

I found the UPS truck on eBay a few years ago... it’s somewhat undersize for O scale, would be closer to S but in a background scene it works fine. You can see mony more photos, track plan, etc on my layout website:

http://trainutz.com/ironbound.shtml

I scratch built these 2 highrise buildings one is made of glass.

Nothing yet but in honor of all the snowfall, I plan to run the New York Central snowplow around a little when I get home from work!

How does that sound?

Mike Maurice

I spent the snowy Tuesday building my control panel for the new yard and engine servicing facility. Now that the wood work for the facility is done, I have to install the controls (on/off switches and remote throws for the turnouts, etc.)

Had to take some time off mountain building to work some on a small bridge area. Long way from the first pour of envirotex but some of the bridge has to be done to continue the mountains. Still having fun. Needed a break from those mountains anyway.

Larry:

Your are really progressing. Nice mountains! Do you have any plans or drawings that you could share for making the trestle piers? They look great.

Randy

These are store bought I'm cutting up to fit . I had a template and can't find it . If you have time to do a search here with trestle building. There is a unbelievable amount of information on how guys are building them. It's a simple template in most cases.

Larry

Wiring... *sighs*

Larry:

Thank you.

stripped and primed 2 Lionel F3s.....these beaters were 2333s.....badly abused....so they will be B&O in the royal blue scheme....capitol dome on the nose

Hey Larry I think I used the same trestles as you

I cut all mine to fit also, FYI- Ross Switches sells Gargraves compatible rail for the deck. 

Clem

Plan and performed a test AIU turnout set up.

Peter

On Monday my friend Randy came to visit me here in Patsburg. I showed him his namesake mountain .... Mount Randolph.   He brought a mirror that he cut for me ( and gave to me ) for use at the end of  Main Street in the West End of Patsburg.  This mirror really extends Main Street tremendously and make the street look fabulous! Just a little mirror can really add greatly to the square footage of a layout.

In honor of the snow yesterday I ran a plow extra ..... a MTH rotary led the way, followed by a flanger, two diesel locos, a caboose, and a jet powered snow blower.  I ran this on the Mountain Division.  Also ran my Lionel MPC RDC cars on the lower main line.

Sure wish those babies had a horn because they look great!

I worked on Mt. Randolph yesterday.  I added more trees, ground cover, shrubs, and what not.  Had fun doing it!  Making progress and it feels good.

This looks really nice.  Have you posted pictures of your layout somewhere on this forum?  I'd like to see more of it.

Clem

Your way above me. That's some very detailed and nice work.

Pat:

Your layout is really shaping up. The mountain looks great in photos, but, in person, it is breath taking. Your eye for scenery is superb.

Mirrors are a wonderful tool for the model railroader. As you know, I have mirrors meeting at a 90 degree angle on 2 sides of my city scene with streets running into the mirrors. With this effect, I have quadrupled the size of my city from a viewer's perspective. Even a well-placed small mirror can give a sense of continuance to a scene in your layout.

Clem:

You have a beautiful layout. Your command of scenerey is outstanding! I learn so much from the photos that you and other talented forum members post.

Larry and Clem:

What is the brand of the trestle piers that you guys bought, modified and used? Where did you get them?

Thank you.

Randy

I bought mine at a local train shop, however I believe Scenic Express carry's them.

The brand I have is Grand Central Gems.

Clem

Randy

Others have suggested www.grandcentralgems.com. Mine were purchased from a train store in St. Louis while I was visiting a few years ago.

Larry and Clem:

Thank you for the information on the trestle piers.

Working on a tinplate inspired gas station for my layout.

Andy

That is a very cool station.  Nice work

Al

I've been working on rebuilding this DPM modular building I built when I was a kid. I added the foundation, re-did the corners, touched up the paint, and did the weathering. When I originally built it, it was a "racecar factory" and had hot wheels inside.  On my current layout I'm going to mate it with another building which is the reason it has no stairs and the shiny green roof.  Is not going to win any contests but I've had fun practicing some new techniques.  Sorry about the terrible lighting, I have no access to good light in my apartment at night!

Put together this locomotive work platform.  Kinda fun to build.

Well, this week I worked on wiring.  I run conventional control with relays and buttons for automation.  My original layout only worked when there were two trains.  Last week I figured out how to put in a DPDT switch and override my automation so I can run a single train.  I finally got the switches installed last night.  Each time I modify my wiring, I try to clean up my schematic and the actual wiring a bit more.  I've now come up with numbering and color-coding for each of my CW-80s.  It's still a bit of a rat's nest under the table, but It takes me less and less time to figure out which wire is which.

J

Today I approved the proofs for my custom decals for the Great Western Railway, (Colorado sugar beet road) locos, including the #90 Decapod at Strasburg, and for the two sidedoor cabooses acquired from the Florida East Coast.  I will have plenty of these in the unlikely event anybody else needs decals for this road.

Still fooling with guard rails on this 50 inch 060 curve. Winging it as I go.

Took a little break from the job searching and ran my scale PM berk with a 4 passenger car excursion.   

Might do some some real layout work tonight after I send out more resumes.  

I started studding the walls in my new trainroom.  Feels good to be moving along with the project.

Finally finished my F3 B unit.

Moved the sounds from the A unit into the B unit. 
Put the speaker in a baffle I made, you can hear the sounds now.

well my layout would be the NJ Hi-railers, that is the only layout I can actually work on .A home layout is not even on the horizon..

what I did was drive 3 miles and get t-boned by a 22 yr old.. probably texting! so .... nothing! :-(

Looking good Charlie!  You will be running trains before you know it!

After a few months off for the holidays, it's back to work on the roundhouse.

Vacant wall space above the shutters now equals = more display/storage shelves

laidoffsick.....so jealous, BUT that already looks amazing!

as for me..... does brainstorming count?

Installed some chicken wire so Mt. Randolph can be expanded.  Also added some more scenic material to the existing part of Mt. Randolph. Temporarily placed a backdrop behing Mt. Randolph ... looks pretty darn good too!

mjrodg3n88 brainstorming certainly counts!  All great layouts begin with thought.  Keep brainstorming 

With the goal of starting limited operations by April or May, it is high time the layout had a working yard that does more than just store trains.

I spent 8 hours today and got the west ladder done, along with the ground throws for 7 of the 8 switches. I also laid out the track for the yard and tinkered with the design for the east end.


This was originally going to be a hump yard, because that's what it is in the real world, but it just wasn't going to fit and be functional.


Tomorrow I'll work on securing the body tracks.


That open spot in the center of the photo will be the engine service facility.


It should hold 50 to 75 cars easy.

That'll keep an operator busy.

Last 3 days.......wiring........running power line for my switches. Running an additional layout common ground.

Peter

Peter, where is a good place to buy wire?

I added a shelf to hold my transformer.  It has always been under the layout thinking I was going to use my CAB 2 100% of the time to run my trains.   After seeing my three year old son use the transformer to run his polar express around the Christmas tree this year I  decided he needed transformer control to run trains on Dad's layout.   

I also re-did the track going to the car ferry and changed the ramp up into the ferry so the cars do not have to go up such a steep angle.  

I built myself a small work bench to use in our Florida house.  It was built based on a magazine article from several years ago.  Now I can start working on buildings for the 9 x 34 layout I am planning to build in NJ starting this summer.

Added a carpet central for the great-grandson and me...and yes, the dog.

Continued loco repaint, installed holder for command remote, added bulbs to old plasticville signals so they light up in amber at all times layout is powered up and most importantly ran trains.

I called Lionel for a RA on my CAB2.  The boost/brake/fwd/rev button isn't working correctly and it applies boost or brake at random when running trains.

Busy day today.....redid a section of my layout to accommodate a Grand Central Terminal that should arrive sometime next week.  My recently purchased BNSF Dash 9 started to blink 3 times, indicating a problem with the smoke unit.  Happened a few times before but I was always able to reset the smoke unit.....this time no joy.  Lionel, as usual, was very  receptive to my phone call and issued a RA number for repair.

Pete

I ran some trains and mated my old DPM modular with my old American Flyer station.  I'm going to call it "Gilbert Scientific." Sorry for the poor picture quality, I have terrible lighting in my train room and I'm realizing I have a terrible camera!

Jdevleerjr, Did you try loosening corresponding screw on back of Cab 2.  Lionel advised me that sometimes these screws can be overtightened  and cause that button to stick.  

Just a thought.

Pete