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mike g. posted:

Well I was doing some searching for Ed and his light plant for the last 2 day and found it today. After seeing what they wanted for one, which blew my mind I thought I would try and build one. Well here is what I came up with so far. Parts from the old Scooby Doo van, a light tower with LED's, a plastic box cut into 4 pieces and glued back together. I hope you guys like it. All I need now is to build a layout to put it on and some BNSF logs!DSC00158DSC00162DSC00165DSC00168DSC00171DSC00173

Mike, thanks for the post. It is most excellent!  Exactly what I had in mind. Knowing now how you did it, I'm inspired to try it!  

Busy bee's....

  Lee , Those pictures are some of the best you've come up with. I know you shoot up close a lot too to show off the details, but the  layout really has a good scenic character from a distance as well.

   Mike, That's very cool. I haven't seen a real one in years, but that's what I remember, right down to the big thick fenders.  An exhaust pipe out the side was the only detail I can think of to add, and that took some thinkin'.

Do you think you could add a set of hi-rail wheels? Lionel made a nice orange hi-rail MOW truck that would look perfect behind. Guess who owns one they don't run often enough?  Ill send a photo by email soon since I can't post pictures anymore, the attachment tool won't work at all for me and even text entry is going downhill n this android.  What a waste of money, ten year old lap tops work better. (E.g.- I added the O to the n above to spell "on" three times, but it keeps disappearing)

Trump train...7 hours, but that's still a ton for "the hand from the sky" to finish....

Hey, 7 days; 7 hours, a hand from the sky creating left and right,

....what kind of scale operation are you shooting for anyhow, lol  

 

 MO985 the paper towel area looks great. There's a place nearby called Bald Mountain, that's what I imagined it looked like my whole youth. ( I was dissapointed, it looks nothing like it's name ) ...but I'd paint it like solid stone and leave it barren there. It also kind of reminds me of the last time I saw myself from an overhead camera, but my bald spot is new, even though I'm feeling "old as the hills";..surprise!

 

Adriatic posted:

Busy bee's....

  Lee , Those pictures are some of the best you've come up with. I know you shoot up close a lot too to show off the details, but the  layout really has a good scenic character from a distance as well.

   Mike, That's very cool. I haven't seen a real one in years, but that's what I remember, right down to the big thick fenders.  An exhaust pipe out the side was the only detail I can think of to add, and that took some thinkin'.

Do you think you could add a set of hi-rail wheels? Lionel made a nice orange hi-rail MOW truck that would look perfect behind. Guess who owns one they don't run often enough?  Ill send a photo by email soon since I can't post pictures anymore, the attachment tool won't work at all for me and even text entry is going downhill n this android.  What a waste of money, ten year old lap tops work better. (E.g.- I added the O to the n above to spell "on" three times, but it keeps disappearing)

Trump train...7 hours, but that's still a ton for "the hand from the sky" to finish....

Hey, 7 days; 7 hours, a hand from the sky creating left and right,

....what kind of scale operation are you shooting for anyhow, lol  

 

 MO985 the paper towel area looks great. There's a place nearby called Bald Mountain, that's what I imagined it looked like my whole youth. ( I was dissapointed, it looks nothing like it's name ) ...but I'd paint it like solid stone and leave it barren there. It also kind of reminds me of the last time I saw myself from an overhead camera, but my bald spot is new, even though I'm feeling "old as the hills";..surprise!

 

Adriatic, Thanks I didn't even think about a exhaust pipe, but will now.

Last edited by mike g.
ToledoEd posted:
mike g. posted:

Well I was doing some searching for Ed and his light plant for the last 2 day and found it today. After seeing what they wanted for one, which blew my mind I thought I would try and build one. Well here is what I came up with so far. Parts from the old Scooby Doo van, a light tower with LED's, a plastic box cut into 4 pieces and glued back together. I hope you guys like it. All I need now is to build a layout to put it on and some BNSF logs!DSC00158DSC00162DSC00165DSC00168DSC00171DSC00173

Mike, thanks for the post. It is most excellent!  Exactly what I had in mind. Knowing now how you did it, I'm inspired to try it!  

Ed, I am glad your inspired, Makes me feel like I am passing it on. Cause that's why I built this from all the inspiration I get from all the great projects that all these great people do on here.

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

Someone on the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines mailing list posted a pic of an Atlantic City-bound train passing some telltales, and, well, I couldn't resist... PRR_945 K4 Delair Bridge mit gi-raffes

Mitch

Mitch;

I think it is (past) time to step away from the photoshop and start looking for a local 12-step support group!!! Now if you had used elephants instead of gi-raffes, I might have bought that this was the Ringling Brothers train heading out after it's Madison Square Garden run, but this is just too bi-zarre    

But seriously, love the pic - all that's missing is a cat!!!

Apples55 posted:
Mitch;

I think it is (past) time to step away from the photoshop and start looking for a local 12-step support group!!! Now if you had used elephants instead of gi-raffes, I might have bought that this was the Ringling Brothers train heading out after it's Madison Square Garden run, but this is just too bi-zarre    

But seriously, love the pic - all that's missing is a cat!!!

Gi-raffes Anonymouse?  ;-) 

And the PRR DID string cat-enary over that section of track some years later... 

Mitch

Created two new scenes.  This morning - a dairy delivery truck loading at the Lionel milk platform with milk cans, milk crates, and milk man opening back doors of truck.  Partially shrubbed around the base of unloading/loading platform.  Created a grade crossing so truck can navigate crossing the track and access the platform. 

This afternoon - pulled the passenger platform adjacent to my Atlas O station in back part of layout.  Populated the platform with people figures and a baggage cart ( using Sinbad glue ).  Re-glued the roof and gently placed the entire platform to its original position beside the station with my set of grabbers.  

Ran trains a bit in celebration!!!  YES!!!!

Last edited by trumptrain
M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

Gi-raffe burgers, anyone? 

Mitch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't tempt me, if it's meat, I eat!

Except hot squid in ink, and corned beef brisket.. What a Easter, Brisket is for BBQ , ink is for pens, and squid should be cold  

Ever hear the joke about Matches 3 legged giraffe?  ( I guess you Lit the stove that way Mitch)

It's not as funny as the auto correction above it. What's an Easter Brisket? And why would it need a the comma ....oh great I have an Iranian accent now.....,.. lol now folks won't trust me.......it was Italian a few seconds ago.... Gotta love android for the laughs at least

I can't even remember what I did  on my layout now, lol.

My bedroom Standard gauge layout is pretty much  finished and running.  Will add a few litho buildings if I can get one that fits and looks OK.  I do have a problem-I bought 4 pieces of new Standard gauge track 36" long. 3 out of the 4 have had shorts where the rail is crimped too tight to the metal tie. I repaired one but hve two more to fix. Found bad insulators on these two and replaced them but there are still shorts. Eventually I will sort them out but this is what you buy today. Have no idea who made them.

Finished the American Model Builders' Farmer's Stock Co. grain elevator  kitbash, right after the Markle Mill one, although progress on both was slow in the lazy, crazy days of summer.  Have now begun the Bar Mills "Majestic Hardware" kit, which, like the Menards' feedmill version, will get a much taller and enlarged elevator, and more emphasis on its grain business than its general store.  This is my last kit with elevator potential, so will have to go back to scratchbuilding them, if I blunder on an interesting one.  The Farmer's Stock Co.  elevator does have a smaller footprint after my bash, and could and can be made smaller still, with the elimination or shortening of the ramps into the unloadeing shed.  I did take the unloading shed and ramps down to ground level.

mike g. posted:

Looks great Lee, Its amazing what can be done in 2 short years!

Thanks!

It's funny, because some of the local guys can't believe I've gotten this far in such a relatively short time. Some of them haven't progressed one thing on their layouts in the same timeframe.

Frankly, I never understood those who get as far as the benchwork and track then never get any further. Geez, at least the 'painted green plywood' look you see with some 3-rail layouts is way better than that!

Last edited by p51
p51 posted:
mike g. posted:

Looks great Lee, Its amazing what can be done in 2 short years!

Thanks!

It's funny, because some of the local guys can't believe I've gotten this far in such a relatively short time. Some of them haven't progressed one thing on their layouts in the same timeframe.

Frankly, I never understood those who get as far as the benchwork and track then never get any further. Geez, at least the 'painted green plywood' look you see with some 3-rail layouts is way better than that!

 

 

 

 

 

Some folk touch paint and caulk to see if It's dry yet, even when warned it's not. They literally can't help themselves in refraining. We took to locking our work up till we knew it was ready.

    I think it's just some folks want to run them more than anything. And now!   That's why I often mention setting up a small loop till it's done.

I think I laid track at least 4 times before I was happy enough to add grass mat. A year I bet....but it was panted. day 1. I used all the half full cans of spray paint I had. Green, brown, yellow, red, blue, white, black, grey. My ground cover was painted scenery till I found grass mat under $10 a roll.

Frankly, I never understood those who get as far as the benchwork and track then never get any further. Geez, at least the 'painted green plywood' look you see with some 3-rail layouts is way better than that!

 

I would guess for a lot of people it's financial. My son's just starting a large basement layout and I'm sure unless I contribute to the cause it will run on bare plywood for a long time. My layout isn't all that big at 16x30 but the investment in many building kits and landscaping materials is in the thousands and I'm far from finished.

It is one of those things....you complete all this work with the benchwork, track and wiring and then you just plateau for a while.  I've often wondered if in some cases folks dream up and build this massive layout and then get to that point and just have no idea where to go with it?...or as stated...funds which never ever go as far as you would like.....   

Today I did yard work ... no ... not that kind of yard work. 

Got the shrubs trimmed and mulched.  I also completed ballasting the last of 22 switches (man, am I glad that's over).  This leaves about 4 foot of track to ballast and a girder bridge to set and detail.  Then on to either modeling the grate style roads across the bridge or on to the mountains.  Happy Friday Eve to all.

bd

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Thanks Mark & Mike.  I'm getting better ... the hedges only took about 4 or 5 tries.  LOL.  Quite a numerical improvement from my normal efforts.  Mark, right there with ya' on the grates.  I can vividly remember riding in the family car across that bridge and looking down at the Ohio river many, many feet below ... it was really cool to us kids.  But I think it left my mother a little white knuckled.

bd

Yesterday the last grandchild went back home. Nice to have a quiet house again but sure miss the little one. Anyways after getting the house back to normal I went to the basement and did some measuring for more lumber to make up  at least four more tables. At the same time I decided to change back to two TIU's on the attic layout so I can run trains on all four lines. I found a Z500 at Nicolas Smiths for a good price and ordered it. That will give me three. Two for the attic and one for the basement. Decided to buy another TIU with remote for the basement. I already bought another legacy along with another Z4000.  So that way I can run everything on both layouts..........Paul

You open grate bridge lovers ought to try a visit to the "Mighty Mac" that spans the Straits of Mackinac between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. Every fall there is a traditional bridge walk from the UP to the lower and thousands (about 50,000 average) gather to do this. I think it's still the longest suspension bridge built, a 5 mile walk, sister to the higher Golden Gate, My personal record is crossing 3 times in the time allowed that morning. By 9:30am your walk area is reduced to one lane, After 11am starting is forbidden. Buses run folks between the two to get to the cars again. This is the 59th annual, it happens every Labor Day. Google it or check wikipedia if this sounds like fun to you too.  There are lots of other things to check out too. Mackinaw Island, Fort Mackinac, shopping in little shops (lots) Trader Joes, pasties, casinos, fishing, Soo locs aren't too far off really neither is Hemingway's waters and Tahquamenon Falls little Toonerville train and riverboat tour...plan for weather; it might be 50 or 90 weather varies hard up there. I wish I could join you!

I wished I had cleaned up after that reefer build too, but I did it standing and paid for it with sore feet, so have been pretty lazy and ran the shelf layout and bedroom circle track a lot lately.

Par for the course here, I had six people visit that hadn't seen the trains yet. I could really only show off statically as the dogs needed to be in the bedrooms.   Ive recently reconnected with lots of old pals who've been making an effort to help me get out of the house more and the word is spreading fast now. So fast, they are wearing me out just running around town. These are very active folks from my outdoor life who missed my presence and hunted me down. But it's been a long time coming,(7 years?) so this is a happy exhaustion. 

Adriatic posted:

You open grate bridge lovers ought to try a visit to the "Mighty Mac" that spans the Straits of Mackinac between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. Every fall there is a traditional bridge walk from the UP to the lower and thousands (about 50,000 average) gather to do this. I think it's still the longest suspension bridge built, a 5 mile walk, sister to the higher Golden Gate, My personal record is crossing 3 times in the time allowed that morning. By 9:30am your walk area is reduced to one lane, After 11am starting is forbidden. Buses run folks between the two to get to the cars again. This is the 59th annual, it happens every Labor Day. Google it or check wikipedia if this sounds like fun to you too.  There are lots of other things to check out too. Mackinaw Island, Fort Mackinac, shopping in little shops (lots) Trader Joes, pasties, casinos, fishing, Soo locs aren't too far off really neither is Hemingway's waters and Tahquamenon Falls little Toonerville train and riverboat tour...plan for weather; it might be 50 or 90 weather varies hard up there. I wish I could join you!

I wished I had cleaned up after that reefer build too, but I did it standing and paid for it with sore feet, so have been pretty lazy and ran the shelf layout and bedroom circle track a lot lately.

Par for the course here, I had six people visit that hadn't seen the trains yet. I could really only show off statically as the dogs needed to be in the bedrooms.   Ive recently reconnected with lots of old pals who've been making an effort to help me get out of the house more and the word is spreading fast now. So fast, they are wearing me out just running around town. These are very active folks from my outdoor life who missed my presence and hunted me down. But it's been a long time coming,(7 years?) so this is a happy exhaustion. 

Speaking of open grate bridges, if you are ever near Reutte, Austria and visiting the Ehrenburg castle ruins,  you must experience Highline 179.   This bridge is the worlds longest Tibetan style pedestrian suspension bridge: length 406 m (1326') with a height 113 m (369') above the canyon floor.   It is quite an adrenaline rush!DSC06425DSC06386DSC06485

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darlander posted:
Adriatic posted:

You open grate bridge lovers ought to try a visit to the "Mighty Mac" that spans the Straits of Mackinac between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. Every fall there is a traditional bridge walk from the UP to the lower and thousands (about 50,000 average) gather to do this. I think it's still the longest suspension bridge built, a 5 mile walk, sister to the higher Golden Gate, My personal record is crossing 3 times in the time allowed that morning. By 9:30am your walk area is reduced to one lane, After 11am starting is forbidden. Buses run folks between the two to get to the cars again. This is the 59th annual, it happens every Labor Day. Google it or check wikipedia if this sounds like fun to you too.  There are lots of other things to check out too. Mackinaw Island, Fort Mackinac, shopping in little shops (lots) Trader Joes, pasties, casinos, fishing, Soo locs aren't too far off really neither is Hemingway's waters and Tahquamenon Falls little Toonerville train and riverboat tour...plan for weather; it might be 50 or 90 weather varies hard up there. I wish I could join you!

I wished I had cleaned up after that reefer build too, but I did it standing and paid for it with sore feet, so have been pretty lazy and ran the shelf layout and bedroom circle track a lot lately.

Par for the course here, I had six people visit that hadn't seen the trains yet. I could really only show off statically as the dogs needed to be in the bedrooms.   Ive recently reconnected with lots of old pals who've been making an effort to help me get out of the house more and the word is spreading fast now. So fast, they are wearing me out just running around town. These are very active folks from my outdoor life who missed my presence and hunted me down. But it's been a long time coming,(7 years?) so this is a happy exhaustion. 

Speaking of open grate bridges, if you are ever near Reutte, Austria and visiting the Ehrenburg castle ruins,  you must experience Highline 179.   This bridge is the worlds longest Tibetan style pedestrian suspension bridge: length 406 m (1326') with a height 113 m (369') above the canyon floor.   It is quite an adrenaline rush!DSC06425DSC06386DSC06485

Yikes!!  Neat to see the photos, but no thank you on walking across!  I'll stay on the ground!

I'd be tempted to camp on that bridge lol. Lunch at least.

Other than the Mac my first time, and a few high wind crosings in my van the o nly bridge that made me say "oh $41+" was the Chicago Skyway. A 55speed limit, I was doing 70 in the slow lane and being passed by traffic like I was standing still....in a hot rodded VW van with Porsche power train.

There's been family land in the UP O Mi for generations not counting my native blood. My pals family founded much of the land from Alpena to Indian River to Mackinaw City to Cheboygan and Mullet lake. Roads and beaches have their name. A long drive from Detroit too, but even just a night and a day on a weekend were always worth it to me. My love for upper Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota and even Canada is something that went unequaled till I discovered the mountains of the east. This wilderness is flatter, but equal in beauty. The glaciers really mixed the soils and terrain well and it's normally much cooler than even 30-40 miles south of the Straits. The UP tourist trade dropped with the use of air conditioning IMO. Imagine a quick dip in the 50 degree water of Superior during a heatwave while looking at the Pictured Rocks and snacking on wild berries of all sorts.. Its as much heaven as the mountains.

Another interesting spot near St Ignance on the way to Sault St Marie (Soo) is called Castle Rock. Privately owned for a token fee, you can climb it's stairs to look out over the land from the same place the native scouts did long ago.

Ask me  or DNR to find the good ponds in the woods near there if you fish and watch out for deer, moose, and logging trucks on the back roads! And mind the campfire status if at all dry, pine goes up easy.

Then there is the locks to the St Lawrence Seaway, the Soo RR, Pierre Marquette leftovers and narrow gauge ghost towns, boring to some, but not to me.

Mark I'd be dissapointed if you passed by and didn't at least say hello. Anything you need, if I can pull it off, you got it!!

Interesting in I revel in my being a little different sure. Folks tend to love me or hate me for it, lol. I'm usually quite till I break out of my shell, let loose hot air, then shut up again to gain steam pressure again. I've been told I missed my calling not being a teacher, or parent. I still often relate better with kids. I tend to treat them as shorter peers as I hated being talked down to by adults. It buys me respect and I seldom had to put a foot down.

I was once very active, and only needed a place to sleep, then would start again immediately once rested. I lost the majority of my more recent friends and family to various illness etc in a very short period of time leaving me with no real support and thought iId get back to work to "catch up". I've mentioned some other things privately that have held back progress and the fun" hasn't stopped, but I'm not giving up. Add that to my independent nature and you get a shut in with occasional cabin fever. My apologies to any victims reading.  

Which reminds me anyone hear from PW Pappy at all lately?  Even "elsewhere"?  I'd hate to think he's given up on sneaking trains into his room for himself.

Well this evening after dinner I was able to get my new shelf in for the Z4000's and the Z's screwed down in place. Took a while to get the shelf in place. Not much room to work in. Tomorrow morning I'll hook the wires up from the transformers to the TIU's. Did feel good to start working on one of the layouts again. Where the Z's were I will be putting a control panel for switches and uncoupling tracks. Pics of the progress............Paul

DSCN2450DSCN2451DSCN2453DSCN2454Pics of the progress.................Paul

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