What did you do on your layout today?

Mark Boyce posted:

Jim, I’m glad the float and participation went well!  I agree with Mike, in Cub Scouts we may have had 30 boys and 20 in Boy Scouts.

We have a large and very active pack.  78 scouts in total.  We usually get a large turnout to pack events.  It's all about the leaders.  We keep things interesting and new for all our meetings / events.  We also schedule some large annual events that the scouts look forward too.   Our pack has been around for almost 40 years, and has a large number of scouts who go on to be Eagle Scouts.  

Here is a few build pics.

mike g. posted:

Morning Guys, Its 3:25 AM here and its the only way I can get caught up with all the post here! LOL

Brian, Thank you! Love the close up, nice shot!

Jim, Looks like you had a great group of scouts! WOW 50, when I was a kid in scouts there were maybe 8 or 9 of us! LOL The engine looks wonderful and the whistle and smoke are a perfect touch! Nicely done!

Johan, great looking lumber car and your lumber yard/storage build is very cool!

Paul 2, I am glad you and Bryan had a great day and you got to see a wonderful layout! It sure was nice of Bryan to carry your package in for you, but then again he probably thought it was a nice jester for an older friend. The diecast vehicles looks great, what are you going to put on the flatbed trucks? Your Module is coming right along, looks like you might be passing Bryan! LOL

Dave, Thank you. I would have to say that 70% of all my rolling stock is kadee and 50% of my engines. That is because I have gotten some new to me engines and that I also have to order more Kadee's. I really like the looks of them and have less problems of them coming apart!

Lirr, wonderful looking bridge! I sure hope its going somewhere!

Mark, I am glad you made it there and back safely! I bet it was nice to compare notes with someone! LOL I know you probably felt guilty watching the kids move and load all that stuff, but remember they are YOUNG! LOL

Bob, WOW thats quite an undertaking, good luck! It sure is going to be a sharp looking train when your done!

I would like to thank everyone that commented on the new engine to me, its going to take a little bit to put kadee's on it and while I have it apart I might give it a fixed piolet! Its Sunday and there is nothing for me to do this morning so I think I will get some train time before the Seahawks game! Then the HVAC guys is coming back as he didn't get much done yesterday.

Well I hope everyone has a great day and your teams do well except  the BROWNS! LOL

 

Thanks Mike.

My thinking for the bridges is that create the sense that the Short line RR goes somewhere off the layout after enetering that commercial area on the upper level.

The Union station had enough room for a Third track which the Short Line railroad could use to run to the spur on the opposite side of the layout with the cabinet maker and the feed store. So it seemed natural to extend that track in the other direction, entering the Commercial area which will have a number of the Woodland Scenic buildings I have for this area. The real estate available at this location is not large enough to turn a train on a loop so rather than just having end there after the run from the Union station, I chose to have the railroad enter a junction with two branches both of which are meant to give the appearance of travelling to areas off the layout with the bridges as the scenic break.

There is quite a bit of room in the adjacent room so maybe someday it might extend into the sitting/TV area of that bonus room.

Thanks again

Jim, The photographs of the scouts in action are great!!    
I do have to add, I grew up in a rural community.  Nevertheless, your group is great.  I agree the leadership is huge.  My original Scoutmaster did a great job but he retired halfway through my time, and we never got someone else who could drum up adult support.

Jdevleerjr posted:

Thanks for the comments about the float.  We had a great time and it was a good experience for the scouts.  I can't wait for next year, as I have a new idea for the build.

Great job Jim. Looks like the boys had a blast too. So what happens to "ole 149" now?

Bob

One of the more interesting things I have thought to try.  I need some display space in my unfinished basement,  so I am trying to get some spare gargraves to adhere to a structural beam.  If this seems secure I will have gained several feet of shelving for next to nothing.   I am just trying rtv to keep the track down.   We will see how this turns out tomorrow. 

Neat idea to try to use the beam for display space!

RSJB18 posted:

Jdevleerjr posted:

Thanks for the comments about the float.  We had a great time and it was a good experience for the scouts.  I can't wait for next year, as I have a new idea for the build.

Great job Jim. Looks like the boys had a blast too. So what happens to "ole 149" now?

Bob

The pack is currently looking for a place to store it.  If non can be found, it unfortunately will be scraped on site.  

Jdevleerjr posted:

RSJB18 posted:

Jdevleerjr posted:

Thanks for the comments about the float.  We had a great time and it was a good experience for the scouts.  I can't wait for next year, as I have a new idea for the build.

Great job Jim. Looks like the boys had a blast too. So what happens to "ole 149" now?

Bob

The pack is currently looking for a place to store it.  If non can be found, it unfortunately will be scraped on site.  

No NO!  It's a great Christmas lawn decoration!  

Cheers, Dave

John, the turnout looks great!!

Johan, that was a great video Hannu shot. He had nice scenes throughout it. I turned up the volume for the coal train startup........awesome.

Today I had a lot of time to work on the module. I figured with Bryan tied up for the weekend and having to go to work on Monday I should of jumped ahead of him. I added the last pieces of foam, Then I trimmed it up. Removing all the excess I then applied to plaster tape to all the exposed wood. I am glad I ordered two rolls of the plaster wrap. I pretty much used one whole roll. I hope it dries completely tonight so I can start adding the plaster tomorrow. First thing in the morning I have to go next door and see what rocks I can get out of their driveway for around the waterfall. Pics.............Paul 2

Looking great Paul!  So where are the tracks going to go on this module?

Mark, I am using the module as a work bench. The two tracks are behind the backdrop of my scene. They are permanently screwed down on the front of the module so my scene will be sitting on the backside of the module...........Paul 2

Johan, Thank you for the wonderful BNSF video! I have been to all the locations in the video more then once! Its really a sight to see when everything is covered in snow! Thank you and your Friend Hannu again!

Jim, Looks like a good group of kids and leaders! Congrats to you all! I sure hope you find a place to store the engine, I would hate to see it get scraped!

Lirr, sure sound like a good plan! If you do expand please be sure to post more photos of that also!

JHZ563, Nothing wrong with iron as a display shelf! Plus if it works then you can do the same thing on the other side!

John, Wonderful looking work on your new switch!

Paul 2, The module is really looking good! The lake is really going to be an amazing addition ! Great work!.

Well I did get out to the train room after the Seahawks win!!! I started working on the fixed pilot and Kadee conversion. I forgot how hard can bee so it will be a slow and careful project on my half. I am sorry Lew I did not take any pictures, maybe tomorrow there really isn't a lot to show!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and your teams did well! Yes Brian I see your Browns Whooped some Butt today! LOL its about time! LOL

paul 2 posted:

Mark, I am using the module as a work bench. The two tracks are behind the backdrop of my scene. They are permanently screwed down on the front of the module so my scene will be sitting on the backside of the module...........Paul 2

Ah ha!  Sounds great!

I changed out the factory red LED marker lamps in my Premier GS4 for green LEDs. Looks much better. 

paul 2 posted:

Johan, that was a great video Hannu shot. He had nice scenes throughout it. I turned up the volume for the coal train startup........awesome.

Today I had a lot of time to work on the module. I figured with Bryan tied up for the weekend and having to go to work on Monday I should of jumped ahead of him. I added the last pieces of foam, Then I trimmed it up. Removing all the excess I then applied to plaster tape to all the exposed wood. I am glad I ordered two rolls of the plaster wrap. I pretty much used one whole roll. I hope it dries completely tonight so I can start adding the plaster tomorrow. First thing in the morning I have to go next door and see what rocks I can get out of their driveway for around the waterfall. Pics.............Paul 2

Paul. Thank you. I am glad you like it. I just love those hard working locomotives.🤝

Johan

mike g. posted:

Johan, Thank you for the wonderful BNSF video! I have been to all the locations in the video more then once! Its really a sight to see when everything is covered in snow! Thank you and your Friend Hannu again!

Jim, Looks like a good group of kids and leaders! Congrats to you all! I sure hope you find a place to store the engine, I would hate to see it get scraped!

Lirr, sure sound like a good plan! If you do expand please be sure to post more photos of that also!

JHZ563, Nothing wrong with iron as a display shelf! Plus if it works then you can do the same thing on the other side!

John, Wonderful looking work on your new switch!

Paul 2, The module is really looking good! The lake is really going to be an amazing addition ! Great work!.

Well I did get out to the train room after the Seahawks win!!! I started working on the fixed pilot and Kadee conversion. I forgot how hard can bee so it will be a slow and careful project on my half. I am sorry Lew I did not take any pictures, maybe tomorrow there really isn't a lot to show!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and your teams did well! Yes Brian I see your Browns Whooped some Butt today! LOL its about time! LOL

Mike. Thank you Sir. Also Hannu has visit there about 3-4 times. He has build some realistic's places he's Great Northern H0 -layout. The latest engine the layout is a EMD SD7.

Johan

Paul 2, I am glad you explained it to Mark, I also thought the track was going to run along the back of the lake area over a bridge where the river will be coming in.

Lou, The green light really stand out! Great idea!

Johan, If you ever get a chance even though its HO I would love to see some photos of your friend Hannu's layout!

Well I am not sure how much I will get done today as we have to go to town and get a new windshield put in the wife's car and get some supplies from the store. Then I have a guy coming to check out a shop Heater I have for sale. I guess anytime is better then none!

I hope you all have a great Monday and find time to enjoy your trains and layouts!

Finally finished up my last major wiring project. That’s it for the big stuff on my layout, now one year after I started.

Then decided to put down some greenery so roamed the garden till I found what I wanted. 

Finally, got to sit back and run a train with some new cars I picked up on Craigslist here locally, some K-Line tank cars. 

Brian, nice Southern day!

Kevin, you have done well on the wiring and scenery!  Nice tank train!

mike g. posted:

Paul 2, I am glad you explained it to Mark, I also thought the track was going to run along the back of the lake area over a bridge where the river will be coming in.

Lou, The green light really stand out! Great idea!

Johan, If you ever get a chance even though its HO I would love to see some photos of your friend Hannu's layout!

Well I am not sure how much I will get done today as we have to go to town and get a new windshield put in the wife's car and get some supplies from the store. Then I have a guy coming to check out a shop Heater I have for sale. I guess anytime is better then none!

I hope you all have a great Monday and find time to enjoy your trains and layouts!

Mike. Here you can see some pics of Hannu's GN H0 layout. Hope you like it. 🤝

Johan

Hannu has done a superb job, Johan!

Well, I finally installed two more can lights above the layout and added two more uncouplers next to the power plant!  It feels good to get a little done on the layout, but................................................................................unfortunately my big butt knocked over the crane.  Thankfully there was extra nuts, bolts, and spare parts for the crane, and the jib boom and the heavy hook will need to be restrung (major PIA).

Brian, Nice looking southern train Photos! I guess you want to head south for the winter! LOL

Kevin, Nice, really cleaned things up! I like the new trees and tuffs of grass you added and the new to you tank cars look wonderful !

Johan, WOW Please tell your friend Hannu that his layout is very impressive! That coming from a guy who live here!

Thaddeus, I would have liked your post, but its hard to like what happened to your crane! I am glad you will be able to fix it! I do have to say the can light looks good!

Well I guess my train room time is done for the week as were heading to the store tonight so our employees can have time with there family's for the Thanksgiving week! LOL Then our kids are coming Friday till Sunday to spend with us! I will be watching what others are doing and commenting when I can!

Mark Boyce posted:

Hannu has done a superb job, Johan!

Mark. 🤝 Hannu has now been building his layout for over 15 years and construction is continuing.

Johan

mike g. posted:

Brian, Nice looking southern train Photos! I guess you want to head south for the winter! LOL

Kevin, Nice, really cleaned things up! I like the new trees and tuffs of grass you added and the new to you tank cars look wonderful !

Johan, WOW Please tell your friend Hannu that his layout is very impressive! That coming from a guy who live here!

Thaddeus, I would have liked your post, but its hard to like what happened to your crane! I am glad you will be able to fix it! I do have to say the can light looks good!

Well I guess my train room time is done for the week as were heading to the store tonight so our employees can have time with there family's for the Thanksgiving week! LOL Then our kids are coming Friday till Sunday to spend with us! I will be watching what others are doing and commenting when I can!

Mike. Thank you Sir. I will.  Maybe I visit there some day with Hannu. He has asked that a many times. 

Johan

Thaddeus posted:

Well, I finally installed two more can lights above the layout and added two more uncouplers next to the power plant!  It feels good to get a little done on the layout, but................................................................................unfortunately my big butt knocked over the crane.  Thankfully there was extra nuts, bolts, and spare parts for the crane, and the jib boom and the heavy hook will need to be restrung (major PIA).

Oops!

mike g. posted:

Kevin, Nice, really cleaned things up! I like the new trees and tuffs of grass you added and the new to you tank cars look wonderful !

 

Thanks, Mike. Today I took my first shot a building a tree based on a YouTube video I saw. For my purposes, we’ll call it good enough!

CoastsideKevin posted:

mike g. posted:

Kevin, Nice, really cleaned things up! I like the new trees and tuffs of grass you added and the new to you tank cars look wonderful !

 

Thanks, Mike. Today I took my first shot a building a tree based on a YouTube video I saw. For my purposes, we’ll call it good enough!

And here is one my daughter just did using the same technique. So fun!

Well Bryan had to work today so I think I may still have the edge on him. With what I want to do I may not get it all done for Friday night. Today I was ready to do plaster but first I went next door and walked their stone driveway and found some nice rocks for the waterfall area.. This time I decided to color the plaster first when I mixed it up. Before I was putting the plaster down then going around adding the color after the plaster dried. Took a trip to Menards and was lucky to find these bottles of color. The mixing came out pretty good. Now I have the basic earth color down and where there is still white I am going to go back mix up some grey and apply it for rock look. Maybe after dinner I can look for the grey I have somewhere. Pics..............Paul 2

Lew, Much better than the rats nest!

Pail, Looks great!!

Paul,  got to admit you are way ahead of me now and it's really starting to look great.  If not done for this Saturday you should be done by our 2nd show on December 15.  I was able to get all my front done and all my walls printed out.  I'm aiming for that to be done by Saturday and then get the high rise and basketball court in by the 15th.

Looking great, Bryan!

You and Paul will have modules that are an asset to the group!

Well, the track felt pretty secure this evening, so time to get some good stuff up on the shelf.   Fyi, everything up there runs, even if some pieces need a little TLC.  I hope you can see the pano photo 

Just finished building The Christmas Story house....out of cardstock. The real house is just a few miles away from me.....

gandydancer1950 posted:

Just finished building The Christmas Story house....out of cardstock. The real house is just a few miles away from me.....

That is just great...looks like you even have the lamp!!

Fendermain

Gandydancer1950,  The Christmas house is very nicely detailed.  Excellent work.

Is there a turkey on the table for Thanksgiving? … or a pumpkin pie cooling on the window ledge?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

John Rowlen posted:

Gandydancer1950,  The Christmas house is very nicely detailed.  Excellent work.

Is there a turkey on the table for Thanksgiving? … or a pumpkin pie cooling on the window ledge?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Thank you John and to you and yours also!

Johan, Wonderful scene! I love the shot into your engine shed!

Kevin, You better have your daughter help you. It will cut the time in half with both of you working on them! They both look great!

Lew, Looks so much better! I would try the same thing on my layout, but I am scared that things would stop working and I would have to start all over again! LOL

Paul 2, I love the idea of coloring the plaster first, looks great! Are you mixing dry plaster?

Bryan, The wall looks great! What did you use for printing the wall, IG; Program?

JHZ563, Looks good, I am glad it worked out for you! Are you going to use both sides also how many feet of I beam do you have to use?

Howard, Just wonderful! You have done such a great job you cant even tell its card stock from the photo!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and fids time for there trains and layout!

mike g. posted:

 

Bryan, The wall looks great! What did you use for printing the wall, IG; Program?

Thanks Mike,

I use this website textures.com.  They have thousands of images of real life textures.  I combine a few items together in Photoshop to create a wall with a heavy stone top.  They also have rusted rebar pictures so I was able to add a few of those on a couple of wall panels to give it a maintenance needed look.  As for the graffiti I just search google images and then take the images to Photoshop and using the background eraser tool I can eliminate the background so only the graffiti remains.  I print everything card stock and then spray adhesive it to foam.  

                  Marci wanted a new couch...

                                                               I wanted more shelves...

        win, win...   will fill them up tonight       flowers are on the way to Marci

Thanks Mike g. Years ago I used to use drywall compound. Then I switched to Gypsolite and have used that since. I like it because it is porous after  it dries and accepts coloring good. But this time I decided to mix in some color. I mix one batch at a time using a ratio of one cup water to two cups Gypsolite.

Lee ( p51 ), nice find.......Paul 2

paul 2 posted:

Well Bryan had to work today so I think I may still have the edge on him. With what I want to do I may not get it all done for Friday night. Today I was ready to do plaster but first I went next door and walked their stone driveway and found some nice rocks for the waterfall area.. This time I decided to color the plaster first when I mixed it up. Before I was putting the plaster down then going around adding the color after the plaster dried. Took a trip to Menards and was lucky to find these bottles of color. The mixing came out pretty good. Now I have the basic earth color down and where there is still white I am going to go back mix up some grey and apply it for rock look. Maybe after dinner I can look for the grey I have somewhere. Pics..............Paul 2

Good progress Paul, looking forward to more updates.

You may want to try something in addition to coloring the plaster. I use powdered plaster (dries quick, I have no patience), coloring added, but I also add about 25% scrounged sawdust. Gives a little texture.

John, thanks for that info. One of the reasons I have liked using the Gypsolite is because it has a rough texture to it when dry. Not sure I will have to check the jug but I believe it contains pearlite in it. I get it in gallon jugs from Scenic Express. It is a bit pricey but I like working with it..........Paul 2

.

Mike G.,

 I can really only use one side of the beam as the other side is largely up against the hvac ductwork.  I think I will have about 25' all together.  Even though this is a purely temp solution, I was also thinking about a row of led Christmas lights to illuminate the shelf to enjoy the trains a bit more.  

I had intended to put my 816/2816 hopper collection up there but the width is just a hair too narrow to get them on the tracks without the dumper handwheel mechanism shaft hitting the beam.

Bryan should of jumped ahead of me today. This morning I had to get the leaves out to the street for leaf pickup tomorrow. So I had only the afternoon so far to work on it, After that I turned the module around and place the lift off section in place. I had some 1/4 inch balsa strips so I laid them down in front of the scenery. Then I put down the plaster tape. Mixed up some plaster and got it all down between the tracks. I was going to add  ballast to the track but decided against it because not knowing what modules would be butted to me I went with the fast track as is. Still looking for my woodland scenics grey so I can do the rock areas next. then onto the river bottom. Pics......Paul 2

Paul, Now I understand much better what the module is coming to.

paul 2 posted:

Paul, nice to see the track in place.  I had the hardest time trying to imagine how you were going to add two rail lines to the water falls and stream section.    I didn't realize that your styrofoam section was only half of the puzzle piece.  Nice to see the whole picture.   I really like the forest backdrop you painted!  Well done and looking good!

Cheers, Dave

Fendermain posted:

gandydancer1950 posted:

Just finished building The Christmas Story house....out of cardstock. The real house is just a few miles away from me.....

That is just great...looks like you even have the lamp!!

Fendermain

IT'S A MOMENTOUS AWARD ! 😂

Bryan, Thanks for all the information! I will have to give it a try!

Brian, WOW Your right, its a win win for you all! Marci and Izzy are really going to enjoy the couch and you get more shelf's!

Paul 2, Thanks, How much color do you add? The module really looks good with the track in place! Nice work on the plaster. But I still have 2 more questions. 1) Is everyone using fast track? and 2) what is your plan to hide the seam? It's really looking great!

Johan, wonderful scene! I love the concrete bridge and pillers!

JHZ563, any spare shelf's are better then none! LOL

Here I am stuck at the store, but Mr. Brown did bring me something new, I got a new Band Saw to use on my build of my layout. Also I was thinking how I was going to make the parts for a fixed pilot and Kadee coupler pocket. Come to find out Shapeways makes just what one needs for that project. So I ordered a pair to see how thing work. If its nice and ease I will be getting more for my other engines!

I hope everyone had a great day and some fun with there trains and layouts!

geysergazer posted:

What'd I do today? Something I'd been thinking about since making the decision to standardize on PS3 motive power running under DCS (Remote Commander). With DCS wiring can be pretty simple and I like simple so I ripped out various vestiges of no longer needed wiring. Also, as everyone here knows, over time and tweaks wiring trends in the direction of rat's-nest so it was time to really clean it up.

Rat's nests:

                

                

You can see evidence of 4 track-plan tweaks what with 3 empty holes.

                

The dark area to the left of the Z-1000 brick is a mass of wires and wire-nut junctions.

 

Out with the old!

                      

Much more tidy.....and easier to follow/troubleshoot/modify:

                       

                  

                   

                   

One 14V buss (the red/black #10 wire pair) powered by the Z-1000 brick runs everything: power drops to track, switch machines, structure lighting and, of course, the venerable 282 Lionel Electromagnetic Gantry Crane.  The Z-1000 has a quick-pop circuit breaker and I wired a TVS diode across it's output terminals.

Still more tidying up needed:

This rat's nest is after simplifying the wiring. So I used some of a favorite modeling material:

Heh. Cardboard and thumbtacks!

Neat&tidy 

Lew, Looks great! I never thought about using cardboard under the layout, but that's  a great tip!

Lew, Is that the super strong,all around construction grade cardboard I've heard so much about?

Steve

Lew uses cardboard like Red Green uses duct tape.  Spare no cost as Red would say.  It looks great, Lew!

Howard, the house looks great even though I have never seen the movie.  Mrs. B always has Hallmark Christmas shows on instead!  

I’ll just say I like what everyone has done.  I still can’t sit at the computer desk for more than a minute at a time, and my pointer finger is getting tired typing this on the iPhone 6s.  LOL

Mike, as long as it stays dry it's stable! 

Steve, of course it is! Flexible too.

Mark, it is indeed cheep, cheep, cheep.

jhz563 posted:

One of the more interesting things I have thought to try.  I need some display space in my unfinished basement,  so I am trying to get some spare gargraves to adhere to a structural beam.  If this seems secure I will have gained several feet of shelving for next to nothing.   I am just trying rtv to keep the track down.   We will see how this turns out tomorrow. 

Don’t put your best stuff on the beam until you know if the activity above it will not cause the trains to jump to the ground. 😜

I learned that the hard way.

Not "on the layout" technically, but work on mine is beginning to pick back up again! I've finally settled on a track plan for the expansion of my current 4x8 layout to an 8x11 layout. The terrain of the actual thing is not accurately reflected in this SCARM illustration, but is not of utmost importance to me anyway.

The next phase of the project is to resolve the power issues I have with my current setup, as well as getting some long-overdue scenery projects done on the side. My goal is to have the layout functionally complete by Spring. Excited to see everything come together!

Many interruptions lately so little accomplished on store into water mill/store bash.  Separate gas island with PVC section office and a miniature water mill as a sign are almost done and will finish.  Found some different Frontier Oil signs to print, so that is the brand it will sell.

Guitarmike posted:

jhz563 posted:

One of the more interesting things I have thought to try.  I need some display space in my unfinished basement,  so I am trying to get some spare gargraves to adhere to a structural beam.  If this seems secure I will have gained several feet of shelving for next to nothing.   I am just trying rtv to keep the track down.   We will see how this turns out tomorrow. 

Don’t put your best stuff on the beam until you know if the activity above it will not cause the trains to jump to the ground. 😜

I learned that the hard way.

Hopefully you don't live in earthquake country

        thanks Mark...  found out the new couch is good at holding train boxes,

                          while I'm loading up the shelves... 

briansilvermustang posted:

 

        thanks Mark...  found out the new couch is good at holding train boxes,

          as I'm loading up the shelves...  

 

 

 

LOL

Actually, It was 2 days ago when I installed an Erector Set Bridge across the Harlem River between Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds. LOL.

Here is a photo of the bridge, given to me by Leroof, when he and his lovely wife stayed over at my house on the Saturday night before the recent train show in White Plains, NY:

Below is a video of an MTH Proto 3 CSX diesel pulling oil tankers between the baseball stadiums and across that bridge:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Arnold

Before I start I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.

Got a late morning start because I couldn't find my woodland scenics grey. I did find a tube of Mars black. It was a trial and error. I made a regular batch of plaster up and thought it was a tad too dark so I found a tube of Titanium white and started adding a bit at a time. Got to the color I was happy with. Once the grey is dry I'll apply a diluted black wash to it. Still have to do something with the falls area and the river bottom. After lunch I'll start making up the water fall out of clear caulk. 

Mike g, I'm still mulling it over about the straight line as to what to do with it. Plus I noticted I'll have to screw down the scene in the front because it has bowed.........Pics............Paul 2

briansilvermustang posted:

 

        thanks Mark...  found out the new couch is good at holding train boxes,

                          while I'm loading up the shelves... 

 

 

 

That is what basement couches are for when the train crew is not visiting.

Mine currently has a large box of Flyer S gauge on it waiting for my closet branch conversion to S gauge, a Plasticville Interchange waiting for a place on Warrenville and a few tools that I will use today to finish some wiring.

A happy and healthy Thanksgiving everyone!

PS: Cool pic Brian

Nice run Arnold!  Besides the bridge from Leroof, both ball parks show off nicely!

Paul, it is coming together nicely!

Longtime readers will recall Santa's helper, Mary Christmas (aka The Flatcar Floozie With The Floy Floy): 

Well, Mary has now come in out of the cold...  

When the kids are around: 

When they're not:

Mitch 

Arnold, thanks for the cool video!

Odenville Bill posted:

Good morning all.

My wife and I will spend the day with my parents.  No trains today.  At 2:33PM central time, I will be 60 years old.  That is 420 in dog years.  Please send O gauge engines to.....

Bill

Happy Birthday and many more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After puting on the grey while it was drying I had some old white latex and put a thick coat down on the river bottom. After dinner the grey was pretty much dry so I did a black wash on it. Then I took the tube of clear caulk and made my waterfall on wax paper. Tomorrow I am going to dry brush white on the grey and add another coat to the river bottom. Pics.............Paul 2

Looks nice, Paul!  The clear caulk works out nce for the waterfall.

I had some time this morning before we have to head out. I put a second color of earth on both the scene liftout and the module with tcks on it. Also got down some secenic foam. When we get home later tonight I plan to glued that down. The caulk for the waterful is still curing and it hasn't turned clear yet. Pics...................Paul 2

Ran trains, snapped some pics, changed out some trains, lubed 5 locomotives and a trolly, had a major derailment, left the train room... and still had fun!!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! 

Guys....the mods have reported to me that we have gotten quite a few alerts on this thread over the last few days and especially the last few hours.  WHY? ....well, because this thread is beginning to become a free for all...chit chat sub forum.  I remind you to read the title and stay on topic.  By the way, we have several Happy Thanksgiving, etc. threads going on now so this does not have to be one of them....  This thread is too good to turn it into a "coffee cup chat" sort of topic.  Help keep it on track and don't derail it please....

Amen -- We can always chit chat online and off the forum

Alan, yes we are guilty as charged!  Thank you for the warning!

Johan, Great looking scene!  What is this great looking unit?

Mark Boyce posted:

Alan, yes we are guilty as charged!  Thank you for the warning!

Johan, Great looking scene!  What is this great looking unit?

Mark. Thank you. It's a Boston & Maine Doodlebug #181.🤝

Johan

Didn't work on my layout but I did work on a Christmas tree o27 layout on a 4ftx4ft board for a sweet little old lady from church.  She wanted something to run her deceased husband's old Lionel trains on under the tree.  Should brighten her Christmas.  I know it has brightened mine just building it.  Will finish it tomorrow and deliver it and set it up for her.  Pay it forward.

Chris S. 

Al

I worked on my restoration project a bit.

I took the observation car apart and washed the pieces. The jewels were black before I washed them.

Bob

I wanted to see if I could duplicate an earlier night pic I took that had the light from car windows reflected by the train-room windows. This is how it turned out:

Nightime running under the Christmas tree 60yr ago was more dramatic and I find the same thing now.

I did something to my layout today.

I rearranged a storage shelf to put my 1928 Lionel set in the front row.  Then I tackled the big job.  I cut one large piece of wood to support my East and South elevation.  Photographic evidence attached.

Prewar in front

New elevation

BIG mess in yards

Bill, I am thankful for my Wife

Looks great, Bill!

Updated my $2.99 thrift store Xmas tree with some Hallmark Lionel ornaments... 

Mitch

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

Updated my $2.99 thrift store Xmas tree with some Hallmark Lionel ornaments... 

Mitch

Mitch, I have two beautiful Lionel train ornaments, and I never thought of setting them up under a small Christmas tree. That will be on next year's Christmas train lay-out.

About three hours of (mostly) pleasant work assembling this Chinese Lego knock-off of an L gauge train. Because the "steam" locomotive on my Disney train doesn't work well, I took a chance on it.

Poorly-fitting parts, two missing pieces, mistakes in the instructions, AND IT WORKS GREAT!  Then I kit-bashed it into a Disney locomotive, and there we go!

After Thanksgiving dinner I installed one of Gunrunner John's #15010 YLB Rechargeable Batteries in my Lionel 1931800 New York Central Hudson #5416 from Pat's Trains.  The engine's tender had no difficulty with sound drop out on my outer mainline, but I wanted to put the battery in the tender to help the sound system over my double cross-over and other gaps in the center rail.  The YLB is available from Henning's Trains website, under heading "Electrical".

Sincerely, John Rowlen

My son came home and we shot a short video after dinner.    He brought his new camera and lenses, it was great to have someone to take the video while I worked on running 2 trains on the main.    We also took some still shots.  

Happy Thanksgiving to all. 

Put some switches in place to go from outside to middle to inside tracks and back again. Trying to get that done, then I will start on the rest of the layout. 

I might even do a 4th loop with just two switches to get me there and then have to back out to get back to the main three. Not sure yet. Thinking of putting my transfer table at the far right of my layout, and then maybe a turntable on the 8' x 8' addition that will come in time.

Chris, Your son did a great job with the video.  Thank You for the video and the wonderful photographs!

Mark:  Thanks very much.  I'll pass along your complements.  

              last night after a long day of good eating...   and a short turkey nap

                         Marci wanted to get out some of her Dad's trains...

                we also checked out this cardboard bridge

                                               that we just got,  pretty cool...  thanks Alfred !!

                  filling them up...      &  putting the tree up tonight 

Dismantled and cleaned the Observation car on my M-10000. Some dish soap and a old toothbrush later....

A lot easier to take one of these apart than a modern loco.

The jewels on the tail were black prior to cleaning

Bob

          that is very COOL Bob

Thanks Brian.

          Very cool will be when I get it running.....

I like that old Scout set too.

Brian, So I see Marci comes by trains honestly!  Nice shelves 

Bob, That is really a great improvement!

I finally  finished up the repaint of the ACL tender. It appears that there was a difference in heights between the trucks as I masked the stripe along the foot board of the tender on the repainted one which is where it starts on the factory paint job. At least it matches the white stripe on the loco walkway  even if it misses the cab stripe. I want to shoot a coat of dull clear on it after I ease some gray paint into a couple of spots. I may add the ACL trim to the steam boxes after lunch. I have to narrow them down a little to make them fit. And after that perhaps replace the track on the living room floor with a passing siding so I can put up the tree and run the trains again. 

I unpacked the Williams AA F7s and found that they were way too nice to try to improve. Two tiny, tiny chips on the fairing around the fuel tank on the dummy unit that I daubed  spots of Pennsy Tuscan Red on and it's near mint again. The powered unit had a faint mar on one side that almost isn't, so I got a real buy on them even if they aren't striped. ($83 plus postage.)

The ACL tender and engine look very nice!