What did you do on your layout today?

sidehack posted:

John Rowlen posted:

Murphy's Law got me.  After gluing people on the Santa Fe Dome Chairs, I found that they were all too high in the seats.  I had to pry them off the seats with an Exacto knife and grind 1/8 inch more from the bottoms of the seated  figures. I had to stop grinding at the point where any more grinding would cause the legs to fall off.

The Santa Fe Dome Coach roof is very low, similar to the Wabash Vista Domes.  The UP Domes have much more clearance.  I will grind 1/8 inch off the top of the walls on the lower level to allow the Dome Floor to drop downward and give even more clearance in the Upper Vista Dome.  I had to do this with all of my Wabash Vista Domes.  I worked all night to correct the error and am ready for bed at 5:00 A.M.

Tomorrow/today I will add a few more Preiser 65602 Seated People to the lower coach area of the Santa Fe Vista Dome #500, part of the 1927040 2-pack.

Have a good day.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

John I've been down that road with drivers some times no legs and one arm for steering, at least they can park wherever they want

Me too

Bill and John, I feel for you both!!!  You work hard on something and find you have to go back and do it again or do something more you didn't think of.

John, Your passengers are the most realistically posed I have ever seen.  It seems everyone is alive and excited to be on the train.  No sleeping commuters on your trains!!

ToyFreak, 38 years!!  What a long wait!  Yes I agree you will have a mess on your hands and no place to build the train table.

I can relate.  Two nights ago, we heard a crashing sound, and I coundn't find what caused it.  I didn't even notice it all day yesterday, but my wife found it by accident.  I bought some custom painted backdrops from a Forum member probably 4 years ago.  Some may recall I started building a layout in an 11x11 room in the basement our older daughter vacated when she got married in 2016.  Then in 2017, my wife suggested I expand into the family room because with both daughters married, the room wasn't being used except for storage.  Well, back to the crash.  I have had cut pieces of the backdrop to size for one wall and had them sitting on the benchwork frame an inch below the table top.  Well they fell over after 2 years in that position.   I didn't think of taking a photograph then, but here it is now to show what a train room can get to look like.  I told my wife that is the trouble I get for buying too much stuff when I was still working, and haven't gotten to it yet.

Bob, Thank you for the Like.  Make sure you go back and check the photograph I just added.  

WOW Mark.  You have been busy! Time to get your knee healed and get to work. I haven't seen that room since you moved into the bigger room.

And I though I had bought a lot of stuff......

Bob, Yes a knee replacement, two slipped disks and damaged sciatic nerve, and carpal tunnel surgery in each hand for the second time have made layout building drag on and on and on...... LOL

Went from this:

To this...   “Oh the humanity”!   

TedW.

Ouch!

I know how you feel, my standard gauge is back in the display case until next Christmas season

Those are some great figures John. Too bad they will be somewhat hard to see inside the passenger cars.

Ray and John, I've cut up a lot of people to fit into automobiles on the layout. Why is it that most of the 1960's vehicles offered are convertibles requiring this? What do you guys do with the removed legs, I have a bunch of them

Ted, It is always sad to take down a beautiful piece of work!

OUCH Ted! Sad to see to see it go. That was a beautiful Christmas layout.

So.....does this mean you are starting on a new permanent layout and getting the trains off the floor????

Lionelski posted:

Those are some great figures John. Too bad they will be somewhat hard to see inside the passenger cars.

Ray and John, I've cut up a lot of people to fit into automobiles on the layout. Why is it that most of the 1960's vehicles offered are convertibles requiring this? What do you guys do with the removed legs, I have a bunch of them

build a wall that doesn't go all the way down to the ground and set up the legs behind it, will look like you have a lot of people back there. I think I've seen someone do this before.

sidehack posted:

Lionelski posted:

Those are some great figures John. Too bad they will be somewhat hard to see inside the passenger cars.

Ray and John, I've cut up a lot of people to fit into automobiles on the layout. Why is it that most of the 1960's vehicles offered are convertibles requiring this? What do you guys do with the removed legs, I have a bunch of them

build a wall that doesn't go all the way down to the ground and set up the legs behind it, will look like you have a lot of people back there. I think I've seen someone do this before.

This afternoon I will be standing in a long line waiting to pay my property tax. And I will spend my time wondering "Was Ray joking?"

I finished the detailing of the second Lionel Santa Fe 21" passenger car of 9, the Vista Dome #500 that comes in the 1927040 2-pack.  I lowered the people in the Dome Seats last night and began trimming 3/8 of an inch off the lower walls under the Dome Floor.  This will allow me to lower the Vista Dome Floor more for a better appearance in the Dome.

There are pictures of the grinding process and some of the finished lower Coach area.  After the glue and paint fully dry, I will assemble the car and pull it in front of the Great Dome for a test run.  The people in the Dome may be able to be lowered more after I get two longer screws to keep the Dome Floor positioned under the Dome.

I will need a shower to remove the grinding debris from my hair and clothes.  When I laid down last night I kept discovering little bits of plastic poking me through the night.

Have a good day.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Looking great, John!  yes, I hate those little bits of plastic as well!  

Another day at the wall, no not that one, this jig I made really helps corral all the pieces ready for clean up and glue

(I use a hot gun to blow off all the spider webs) 

Now on to the brick work

John Rowlen posted:

 

There are pictures of the grinding process and some of the finished lower Coach area.  After the glue and paint fully dry, I will assemble the car and pull it in front of the Great Dome for a test run.  The people in the Dome may be able to be lowered more after I get two longer screws to keep the Dome Floor positioned under the Dome.

 

John, the posing and painting of the folks, especially in the dome, is extraordinary.

I highlighted a portion of your text and request that you describe the use of screws to secure the dome "floor"-- better still would be a photo of the shell with dome floor installed.

Thanks, again, for the photos and descriptions--they are a treat.

I've reached that awful part of the year where I'm torn between leaving the Christmas layout up because it looks so great and I love seeing it in the living room as opposed to tearing it down so I can restart work on it and make it better

I finished this Colorado Midland boxcar kit, after problem of finding three rail coupler archbars for it.  Now have box, gon, and hopper ready to photo, if l can't find other CM cars squirreled away. There is another boxcar kit in NG&SLG, but it is $140!!, seriously, so....will have to scratchbuild a caboose.  And see if any CM engines can be bashed from something.

Hi guys

we are back on the Waxhaw division for a while. The MTH USRA mikado which failed in service on the Waxhaw disjoin has returned after major shopping which includes an upgrade to Proto Sound 3, A postwar celebration series Southern ABA set has been assigned to the division and should go into revenue service shortly. Finally , a LionChief plus B&M RS3 and a Bachman Canadian National 44Tonner are visiting the division for some fan trips. We will have some photos shortly. 

sidehack posted:

Lee that's nice...back in 2008 my son had a full calendar made up with all my layout pics

That is SWEET! Now we need to see more of your layout.

Dave

Dave it's not very big but I try to do a good a job as possible with the details.

Carl,  Here are two photos of the 1927040 2-pack Vista Dome Floor underside screwed onto the two posts designed to hold the Dome Floor with seats in place.  The space as designed has very little height for seated figures.  I back the screws almost out to lower the Dome Floor.  The screws in my Wabash were a little longer.  The two screws help align the Dome Floor forward and back to keep it from moving down the car.  The screws have a molded washer head.

By grinding some of the lower level wall under the dome floor, I am able to lower the Dome Floor to provide more height for the seated figures in the Dome.  I also have had to grind the bottoms of the figures to the point when any more grinding would distort the figure and cause the legs to fall off. I believe this car is like the Wabash and Amtrak Vista Domes.

I need longer screws to keep the Dome floor from skidding around inside the car on top of the lowered walls.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

The 3rd of 9 Lionel Santa Fe 21" passenger cars is the "Pine Bell" Sleeper, one of two cars in set 1927040.

The interior does not look like my Walthers HO Pine series 10-6 sleeper cars.  The ten seats are so-ooo large that they dwarf the Preiser 65602 1/45 seated figures.  The seats look like they could fit G-gauge people.  I thought the Pine series were 10-6 Sleepers, but the three bedrooms to the left have only one window for two rooms and no dividing wall.  There are no room walls as in the Walthers HO Santa Fe 10-6 sleepers.

I will paint the seats, but probably limit the number of seated people in the car.  The car is my least favorite Lionel 21" passenger configuration.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

John, thank your for the photos and text--I now understand the problem and your solutions.

My frame of reference for the dome floor attachment was L's aluminum extrusion which did not use screws to secure the dome floor to the shell; and, I didn't consider L had come up with a different approach; i.e., screws.

Thanks, again.

Today my buddy Kevin came over and updated my Ver 4.3 TIU to 6.1. I successfully commissioned the WIU that my wife gave me for Christmas. My TIU is a Rev 13a and I bought the USB/Serial adaptor cable and splitter off of eBay. I will admit to being a little nervous about this working together. I was anticipating having to buy a Rev L TIU.

Both of the granddaughters trains have run on G-Pa's iPad this afternoon. Life is good. While my DCS remote still works and I have a spare, this really takes a lot of pressure off. 

I tested twelve feet of new Menard's 30" track over the last few days. Ties are of a thinner metal than my Menards curves from a few years ago. You cannot step on these at all or tie's sides bend, lowering rail height overall to about 0-27 height..... convenient for me because I'm mixing 0&0-27 here, but far from the sturdy ties of my (older) Menard's curves. I'd say the new ties sheet metal gauge is about equal to those of lionel 0-27 ties.

...which all led to breaking out the box of extra track and forgoing any and all housecleaning since the year 2020 rolled in.

The Crumbville, Halloway, and Hermanstir Fork RR averages about a minute for a round trip. Unique; each reverse loop's hot power drop contains a single diode which randomly plays bell (or whistle on #2). The long connecting line between reverse loop & turnouts doesn't have a diode on it's drop. When close to the diode-drops you get a bell/whistle offset, and once about 15" away the sound shuts off again as the voltage offset weakens closer to the hallway drop without a diode at all. 

Sound system is Lionel Railsounds Berk. Engine is a RI dockside cab fwd with a flip phone, upsidedown and open at a 90° witha rubber band around it and the roof. I forgot to raise the resolution too, darn.

  "Brakezilla" sounds masks the cuff sounds dying....I didn't have brake squeel or chuff in my sound library;and well, you know the rule..... "no dead air" 😁

The rails themselves are still heavy gauge and if you notice it picks up a lot of speed on the new track vs old 0-27, even though all hot drops are only on the 0-27   😁  There is a common drop on the Menards; but I found removing it makes no difference;  new metal rocks "period";dot".

I get it Brian.  It's New Haven, not New Hampshire.

decoynh posted:

I get it Brian.  It's New Haven, not New Hampshire.

Brian, Now that's more like it.  I even like the colors.  Dark Pullman Green would be better, but I'll take what I can get.  

Moving on Hotel...still

Need to finish roof trim and may put basement floor in also which would show under elevated tracks

geysergazer posted:

Today the Postman dropped off a box and I unpacked it. This beauty was inside:

        

After changing out the couplers to the hidden-tab type (I have standardized on them because the remote-uncouplers&car-stoppers are spaced accordingly) the new car went into the interchange yard (fiddle yard).

This pic is for Mark:

      

"built by Pullman Standard Butler, Pa" 

I like the level of detailing on these MTH PS-2CD cars, nice paintwork&lettering but not too delicate for old arthritic hands to handle without [too much] damage. 

This car fits into my developing scheme of having a car on the PER for each road I have ridden. Still need Reading, Western Pacific, Mopac and Amtrak. Some small lines like the Apache railroad (White Mountains of Aridzona), the East Broad Top, the Penn View Mountain Railroad (Blairsville, Pa) and the Oil Creek & Titusville prolly not gonna' happen.

That looks like it says “Putler” not Butler.....😜

What'd I do? A recent equipment roster change meant I had to re-lay a carlength of rail that had been ripped up post-abandonment of the old Main Stem:

This because the Dinner Train now has three cars!

After the acquisition of the old business car and the subsequent refurbishment of wobbly-truck-syndrome there are now three cars available and Dinner patrons are happy because now you can usually get a table reservation with a day-or-three notice.

PER management and the Dinner Train concessionaire are happy too because revenue is up what with ten more tops (tables) and profit$ are up as well because with planning kitchen staff is able to handle the load so the increased expenses are more wait-staff and of course the car-cost. 

sidehack posted:

Dave it's not very big but I try to do a good a job as possible with the details.

Ray same here! 

Guitarmike posted:

geysergazer posted:

Today the Postman dropped off a box and I unpacked it. This beauty was inside:

        

After changing out the couplers to the hidden-tab type (I have standardized on them because the remote-uncouplers&car-stoppers are spaced accordingly) the new car went into the interchange yard (fiddle yard).

This pic is for Mark:

      

"built by Pullman Standard Butler, Pa" 

I like the level of detailing on these MTH PS-2CD cars, nice paintwork&lettering but not too delicate for old arthritic hands to handle without [too much] damage. 

This car fits into my developing scheme of having a car on the PER for each road I have ridden. Still need Reading, Western Pacific, Mopac and Amtrak. Some small lines like the Apache railroad (White Mountains of Aridzona), the East Broad Top, the Penn View Mountain Railroad (Blairsville, Pa) and the Oil Creek & Titusville prolly not gonna' happen.

That looks like it says “Putler” not Butler.....😜

Ha! You are so right:

It's a typogorical.  Oooooes! I wonder if that makes this car a rare collectible like those PW Lionel "production mistakes"?  Mebbe worth $$....A VL BB in my future?? 

The Lionel Santa Fe "Pine Bell" 10-6 Sleeper is finished, the 3rd of 9 cars.  I decided to add the normal number of people to this car even though the seats are very large and dwarf the passengers.  It would be odd to have seated people in all the cars except this one.

I took two pictures showing the painting of the seats. The middle Stateroom has one coat of paint and shows streaks caused by the oil used in the molding process. The left room has two coats, and the right has three in order to fully cover the seats.

I had to place the seated people on the edge of the seats in order for them to be seen through the windows.  If I push them back into the seats, they are not very visible.

I will assemble the car when the glue and Dullcote dry.  The next car will be the Santa Fe Dining Car in the 2-car set #1927020.

Have a good evening.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Been test running about 40-50 trains over the last 2-3 weeks to resolve all 'bugs' .

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...2#126296579530158642

Still tossing boxes... Ugh.........

I'll make sure to share some of my actual layout work this weekend, but more recently my trains have become a major test subject for my new camera. (My apologies for flash, the lighting in the room is terrible, quite frankly. I'll get around to solving that eventually.)

Guitarmike posted:

geysergazer posted:

Today the Postman dropped off a box and I unpacked it. This beauty was inside:

        

After changing out the couplers to the hidden-tab type (I have standardized on them because the remote-uncouplers&car-stoppers are spaced accordingly) the new car went into the interchange yard (fiddle yard).

This pic is for Mark:

      

"built by Pullman Standard Butler, Pa" 

I like the level of detailing on these MTH PS-2CD cars, nice paintwork&lettering but not too delicate for old arthritic hands to handle without [too much] damage. 

This car fits into my developing scheme of having a car on the PER for each road I have ridden. Still need Reading, Western Pacific, Mopac and Amtrak. Some small lines like the Apache railroad (White Mountains of Aridzona), the East Broad Top, the Penn View Mountain Railroad (Blairsville, Pa) and the Oil Creek & Titusville prolly not gonna' happen.

That looks like it says “Putler” not Butler.....😜

By golly, I'm looking at it on the computer now and not the old smartphone screen and it does say Putler!!!     Send it back!!  Just kidding, it is bigger than lifesize on the screen and I had to really focus hard to see it was a P.  My eye doctor wouldn't be surprised!    It's all right by me, Lew!!

geysergazer posted:

Guitarmike posted:

geysergazer posted:

Today the Postman dropped off a box and I unpacked it. This beauty was inside:

        

After changing out the couplers to the hidden-tab type (I have standardized on them because the remote-uncouplers&car-stoppers are spaced accordingly) the new car went into the interchange yard (fiddle yard).

This pic is for Mark:

      

"built by Pullman Standard Butler, Pa" 

I like the level of detailing on these MTH PS-2CD cars, nice paintwork&lettering but not too delicate for old arthritic hands to handle without [too much] damage. 

This car fits into my developing scheme of having a car on the PER for each road I have ridden. Still need Reading, Western Pacific, Mopac and Amtrak. Some small lines like the Apache railroad (White Mountains of Aridzona), the East Broad Top, the Penn View Mountain Railroad (Blairsville, Pa) and the Oil Creek & Titusville prolly not gonna' happen.

That looks like it says “Putler” not Butler.....😜

Ha! You are so right:

        

It's a typogorical.  Oooooes! I wonder if that makes this car a rare collectible like those PW Lionel "production mistakes"?  Mebbe worth $$....A VL BB in my future?? 

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

In view of the "Thomas the Tank Engine" layout shown by Vincent I thought I would share one of my more recent "junk" finds...a SMURF Train, complete with Smurf blue engine and tender and track!!  Battery operated, approximately O gauge or perhaps a little smaller, works, and was complete with box as shown.  Its  most certainly not high value but who among us can resist a full up operating train set in the box for 5$ !! 

Finally, in my "Grandson's" layout is my new Marx Union Pacific F-3 A / B pulling an all Marx freight.  Note it is passing a Marx "Frontier" litho tin log cabin in use as a station.  Like most all Marx, train was picked up for a modest price at a train show, put on track, immediately goes to work pulling trains!

Well, that's all from Waco folks

Don

I have Smurf Train envy!

Lew:  But of course!  thanks for the reply gave me a good smile.

Don

I started the 4th of 9 Lionel Santa Fe 21" passenger cars, the Dining Car #1489, part of 2-pack 1927020. The car arrived today from Gryzbowski Trains.

The Dining Car does not have sound, so the kitchen area is open and provides me with an opportunity to build a kitchen from Plastruct sheets.

I stated painting the table bases Testor's Flat Earth Red and the table cloth a Flat White.  (The tables have 1,2,3, and 4 coats of white paint starting at the far right and moving left.)  The tables will take five coats of flat white paint.  I cut the mold debris off the table edges to clean the interior appearance. 

I noticed that Lionel is now using a black steel 3/16" E-clip to hold the trucks on the 21" passenger cars.  It is an improvement.

This is where I end today. Until tomorrow.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Brian, Excellent down and dirty, weathered and worn railroad scenes!!

Brian....NICE

Finished the CAD design of the hotel facade, there are 33 individual pieces that need to be 3D printed

Not really on the layout, but I just finished making this 1950's store type display to hang over my new American Flyer alcove layout. I printed the decals too.

Lionelski posted:

Don McErlean posted:

 ..."about the same size as a telephone booth".  One day, in briefing some HS students, he realized from their blank stares that they had no idea what a "telephone booth" was!! ……….

 

Question, Don, where the heck does Superman go these days to change?

Which brings up another question; where did he put his Clark Kent suit when he did?

Rumor has it he stuck it up under the phone booth shelf and all the old chewing gum held it in place ...

I made some progress on the Santa Fe 21" Dining Car #1489 from the 1927020 2-pack.

The interior is painted and ready for me to place people in the car.  I added Plastruct seat backs to the cubes molded into the floor and touched up the seats.  It is nice to see a completed dining room with real chairs for the passengers.  It is better than a crate on the floor.

The kitchen area will get stainless steel counters, Refrigerator, stoves, ovens and grill with grill hood and sinks.  My Santa Fe Diner in HO has a counter mid-kitchen, blocking the cooking area from the plating and dish washing area. I am not sure how much Plastruct building I will do.  As long as it goes well, I will keep building.

Tonight I will place seated people in the Dining Car.  It is an enjoyable task, taking one person at a time.  I always leave a table or two open for more diners who just arrive.

Have a good night.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

John, the seat backs make ALL the difference; as you said, a chair instead of a crate to sit on.

Is there a Plastruct product number for the seat backs or do you fabricate them?  How do you attach them?  What adhesive do you use?  If you answered these questions previously, I apologize for not recalling the answers.

Looking forward to what you do with the kitchen.

Thanks, as always, for your photos and explanations.

John, I enjoy seeing what you do with the cars.  I have 2 sets of cars I want to add passengers and LED lights to some day.  I’ll look forward to seeing the kitchen too

I'm no carpenter, woodworker, never really modeled before but we needed to come up with some piers to support our bridge over the bay...took me nearly 2 hours to do this one (3 more to go) and it's not without it's flaws but I think with some paint to make it look like concrete this just might work (I'm open to ideas, criticism, etc. though...still need the boss [little man] to give final approval to live forward).

Hi guys- Took the Polar Express and Yuengling excursion train for one last spin before we took all the Christmas decorations down...... sniff Couldn't pass up a 55 deg day to take the outside lights down too. 

I hope to get some stuff done tomorrow. Need to power up the new siding and start leveling out the upper track to make the spur for the excursion trains.

Everyone's doing great stuff. John- the detail you put into your passenger coaches in top notch.

Bob

Just finished the project of die cast girder bridge for double main line. Bought pair of NYC girder bridges from auction site at very cheap price. Removed one side girder from each bridge into one wide bridge. Used middle metal plate from old Lionel girder bridge to fill the gap in middle. Sanded lightly to remove the prints, installed plastic plate on one side of girder for C&NW logo. Painted all. After paint dried, applied C&NW logo on the plastic plate. Used aluminum duct tapes under the bridge to hold together, painted it, installed under tracks. All done!

CGWforever posted:

Just finished the project of die cast girder bridge for double main line. Bought pair of NYC girder bridges from auction site at very cheap price. Removed one side girder from each bridge into one wide bridge. Used middle metal plate from old Lionel girder bridge to fill the gap in middle. Sanded lightly to remove the prints, installed plastic plate on one side of girder for C&NW logo. Painted all. After paint dried, applied C&NW logo on the plastic plate. Used aluminum duct tapes under the bridge to hold together, painted it, installed under tracks. All done!

Neat project that came out great GCWforever. It really updated the PW style bridge

Don McErlean posted:

In view of the "Thomas the Tank Engine" layout shown by Vincent I thought I would share one of my more recent "junk" finds...a SMURF Train, complete with Smurf blue engine and tender and track!!  Battery operated, approximately O gauge or perhaps a little smaller, works, and was complete with box as shown.  Its  most certainly not high value but who among us can resist a full up operating train set in the box for 5$ !! 

 

Finally, in my "Grandson's" layout is my new Marx Union Pacific F-3 A / B pulling an all Marx freight.  Note it is passing a Marx "Frontier" litho tin log cabin in use as a station.  Like most all Marx, train was picked up for a modest price at a train show, put on track, immediately goes to work pulling trains!

Well, that's all from Waco folks

Don

 

Don,

All I can say is wow! I remember as a child going to our local mall. That was back in the day when all malls had at least one toy store. I saw this train and wanted it, why, because it was a train. As I was being taken home that day I thought about it the entire time. When I got home I started to cry. Walter my "fill in" grandpa asked what was wrong and I told him. He told me that tomorrow he would pick me up and guess what I came home with the next day? You guessed it Papa Smurf and the gang!

Thanks for posting,

Dave

Lionelski posted:

Question, Don, where the heck does Superman go these days to change?

Which brings up another question; where did he put his Clark Kent suit when he did?

He wears his costume under his clothes and changes at super-speed so no one can see him.

He super-compresses his Clark Kent clothes and puts them into a pouch in his cape.

John, I love what you're doing with the Santa Fe...Santa brought us some people this year and I'm bringing home finish samples from work to try and dress our Santa Fe and Tri Rail cars up...hope ours come out half as good as yours!

John Rowlen posted:

I made some progress on the Santa Fe 21" Dining Car #1489 from the 1927020 2-pack.

The interior is painted and ready for me to place people in the car.  I added Plastruct seat backs to the cubes molded into the floor and touched up the seats.  It is nice to see a completed dining room with real chairs for the passengers.  It is better than a crate on the floor.

The kitchen area will get stainless steel counters, Refrigerator, stoves, ovens and grill with grill hood and sinks.  My Santa Fe Diner in HO has a counter mid-kitchen, blocking the cooking area from the plating and dish washing area. I am not sure how much Plastruct building I will do.  As long as it goes well, I will keep building.

Tonight I will place seated people in the Dining Car.  It is an enjoyable task, taking one person at a time.  I always leave a table or two open for more diners who just arrive.

Have a good night.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

John, I love what you're doing with the Santa Fe...Santa brought us some people this year and I'm bringing home finish samples from work to try and dress up our Santa Fe and Tri Rail cars...hope ours come out half as good as yours!

Dave:  What a great story, its always more fun when we can connect the toys we find to the joy that they must have brought to real young people.  If you still had yours, we could run a "double header" impress "Smurfette" for sure!

John/Lionelski/GeoPeg:  You bring up tough questions concerning Superman.  Where did he put Clark Kent's suit in the Phone booth?  The chewing gum under the shelf seemed just to "icky" to be the answer.  Besides the suit, where did he put Kent's Fedora Hat?? You know that in those days no gentlemen would be caught outside without a hat on...I have pictures of me, 5-6 years old, in about 1949-50 dressed for church and I have on my little hat!  I still have a Fedora, I wear it in the winter sometimes as I am mostly bald but really just to mystify my students...they look at me like I am from outer space...and they and their ball caps all worn with the brim anywhere but in front. 

My layout work today was to finally tackle a job I had been putting off for a considerable period.  I gathered up all my stacked copies of "Toy Trains", "Train Collector Quarterlies", "Lion Roars", "Toy Train Bulletins" , as well as my stack of catalogs from as far back as 2009 and organized them in a filing system.  I got these big magazine "envelopes" they call them but they are really just a magazine sized 3 sided box to hold them in chronological order.  Got rid of duplicates and sorted all out.  I really didn't get too much more room in the layout space but it certainly looks like there is more room and it enhanced the look of the train display and layout.  Now...where are those Tylenol for my back! 

Don

Don Mcerlean, I’m glad you mentioned cleaning your inventory of all the train books, it can get out of hand in a Big way, it ties up room space, and what you did is amazing. If possible, post a picture of the book holders. I did this 2 years ago and have all of a 23 plus years if Model Railroader, CTT, OGR, Railroad Model Crafftsman, Trains Magazine, Special Issues Of Classic Trains, Classic Trains, TCA, LCCA, and all the Kalmbach books on how to do this and how to do that, it becomes a Monster..... Yes sir, you worked on your Railroad today. What’d I do, lots of wiring, hooking up lights and accessories and it’s really Exercise. My layout is 23 years old, I’m 75 now, and it’s a good thing I go to the gym, or I couldn’t do this fun job. Thanks for sharing your and please post a picture. I’ve cleaned up my train room and now folks can enjoy videos, refreshments and train running time. Happy Railroading 

Vincent Massi posted:

Lionelski posted:

Question, Don, where the heck does Superman go these days to change?

Which brings up another question; where did he put his Clark Kent suit when he did?

He super-compresses his Clark Kent clothes and puts them into a pouch in his cape.

This was explained many years ago in one of his comic books.

LEAPINLARRY:  Wow, like your room.  Mine is more restricted as I share it with my Daughter in Law who is a fitness fanatic and keeps some of her exercise gear in there, maybe I will try some ... Ha!.  Anyway here are some pictures.

Space is long and thin, periodicals and books are at the end.  I named ,RR the "Lexington Park and Savannah" after some places we lived but more so that I could nickname it, the "long and skinny".

Other side of the room.  I just bought some train shelves from "Glenn Display Systems" and those are going to go on the wall with the picture to give me more shelf room and allow me to get more trains out of their containers so maybe I will be able to run them sometimes.

Here you can see the magazine "envelopes" and how they organized the periodicals. 

Here is what one of the "envelopes" looks like.  Its about 10" on the bottom but only about 4" wide

Maybe a better view showing how they hold the periodicals and in my case train catalogs as well.

Here is the product label from the envelopes.  I got them on line via Amazon.  They are shipped "flat" but are no trouble to pop open.  They came in a 12 pack at a cost of around 1$ apiece.  I priced them at "Best Buy" and they wanted nearly 5$ each for them. Delivery took about 3 days.  

Don, thanks for the pictures, I will take some of mine tomorrow and post them. I like your layout, your organizational skills to. If ever in Tennessee please come see me. We really have a great time in our hobby. I have been selling on the OGR Forum some of the train items I can’t use on my layout and there’s still lots to go. Then my train room will be a lot better. This hobby can be very addictive.... Thanks for sharing your ideas. Everyone on the forum has great trains and nice layouts, or nice collections. Amazing. Here’s rolling Thunder...Happy Railroading 

I'm playing around with where the railroad unit sign goes.

I think this angle make sense from the perspective of someone entering the area, as well as a viewer of the layout getting to see it.

This is the computer graphic I created for it.

Carl,  The seat back Plastruct is #90759 .060 1/4" (.250") White styrene plastic. There are ten strips in a pack.   I cut the height a little less than the large sofa seating in the center of the Santa Fe Dining Car.  I pre-paint the seat back strips with two coats of paint, and then cut them and touch them up after I glue them to the back of the seat cubes with Krazy Glue.  I let the glue dry overnight before closing the car up. 

Krazy Glue fumes can fog clear plastic if not ventilated until dry.

I placed seated people in the center sofa/booth seating area of the Sanra Fe Dining Car tonight. I took a break to watch football with Mom until Halftime., then went to work on the passenger car.  The people took extensive cutting and grinding.  The end dining seats will be easier and hopefully finished tomorrow.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Thank you, John.  Always appreciate your photos, text, and information.

Worked on painting and installing window sills on my current structure build as well as figuring out the last section of the city. Have to get some more track down before I anchor the base for the structures. 

Scott 

Morning everyone! Its been awhile since I have been here! I have been keeping up to date on my smart phone, but not on my computer. All I can say is WOW everyone is doing such great work!

John, the work your doing on your passenger cars is just amazing! Your detail really brings your cars to life and not just some steel rolling around the layout!

Brian, Great photos of your layout! I wish I lived closer so I could come and see it in person!

Larry, the same goes for you, I just love your train room and your layout is wonderful. One I would truly like to see in person one day if I ever get down that way!

Johan, your scenes are perfect as always! Great work!

I know there is a lot more to comment on but I am just overwhelmed getting up to speed on what everyone is doing. 

I haven't been in the train room for awhile as I am still working on the house. I hope to get out there today as I want to finish the fixed pilot project on my dummy engine so I can move on to something else. But first I have to clean up the mess made while putting in the mini split heater/AC unit.

I hope everyone has a great Sunday and if your football team is still in the chase they do well, unless they are going against the Seahawks! LOL

         was having some engine problems last night...                                        

          caught it on video...

                had to bring in some backup...

              have a great day everyone !

briansilvermustang posted:

 

         was having some engine problems last night...                                        

          caught it on video. Had to bring in some backup.

      have a great day everyone !

 

 

Brian, great choice on backup! Guess you couldn't find a BNSF engine to save the day!

I had a hour or so of free time before starting my game day preparations so I painted and assembled 18 pallets. Hey, every layout needs them.

Two busy days in a row, but I got a third train set up on my "Knights of Atlantis" lay-out. I also improved the looks of Sodor Island, I couldn't improve the looks of those two pirates though.

Vincent, congratulations on 3 trains running!  I like the Power Bridge in the first photograph!!  Everyone needs at least one. 

Today, I didn’t get to run trains or work on the layout, but I’m getting ready to wire up some MTH Passenger stations that make the folks disappear like there boarding the train. Anyone have advice on these accessories? 

Mike G, thanks for your kind comments, come in over to Tennessee, it would be nice to have you and your family visit, this is a great part of the country, middle Tennessee. Be sure and keep us posted on your layout progress, it’s a great layout.

Briansilvermustang, Wow, you have the Diesels, Steamers, and Simply a great Collection. Congratulations on a job well done. I love those Santa Fe diesels!

Vincent Massi, I like your unique trains, are they LEGO? They are very colorful and fun to see. Give a little more information. Thank you.

Strap Hanger, I like the idea of making pallets, cool looking. 

B&O Fan, I like your construction project and the pictures of your layout, keep them coming. I like the buildings in the corner scene, very nice.

P51, Lee, I like your pictures very much, a really nice layout and great scenic detail. Simply awesome. Thank you.

John Rowlen, I like the way you work on your new train cars. Amazing. I do not do any repainting or taking apart, my dealer installs my passengers, I admire your work and you must have a lot of patience. Great work.

Keep the great pictures coming, have a great week everyone. 

Thank you for your comments and questions as I continue to detail the nine Lionel Santa Fe 21" passenger cars #1927010, 1927020, 1827030 and 1927040.

I just finished gluing the last Preiser 65602 Seated Passenger in the Dining Car. There are 26 adults and 3 babies. I am glad that I had 20 boxes of 36 figures painted already.  It made filling the cars easier.  Most of the figures were painted last January and February, 2019 and stored in their packaging.

I still plan to detail the kitchen area of the dining car, but will move forward with the 5th car, the Santa Fe Coach from the 1927020 2-pack.  It makes sense to keep painting the seats and placing figures in all the cars, before I come back and build the kitchen.  Delaying the kitchen build gives me time to buy some thinner Plastruct sheets and think about the final design.

I posted some pictures of the dining area.  I can't tell if my eyes are overly tired or the pictures are blurry.  Maybe both.  One day I will read the big instruction book that came with the camera.

Have a good week.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

John Rowlen, Wow, the passengers are looking great, your placement of the figures is so neat, the woman holding the baby so real, the folks on cell phones, simply wonderful. Your pictures were clear. Thank you for that.I can see them at the station, ready for a long journey to points unknown. Enjoy.

John, wonderful progress photos once again.  Very well-planned to have a large inventory of painted figures on hand when your passenger cars arrive.

Also, what is the head count on painted figures you have done for your various passenger cars?  I lost track, but it is a stunning total by any standard.

Stunning total is right, Carl!

Larry, great populated cars also

leapinlarry posted:

Vincent Massi, I like your unique trains, are they LEGO? They are very colorful and fun to see. Give a little more information. Thank you.

 

 

 

Larry, the one train I assembled today is an L gauge Lego train. The other two I have running are HO. I have considered starting a thread on L gauge trains, which I THINK Lego has abandoned.

L gauge is 17% wider than O gauge, yet its curves are so tight that an L gauge oval is only slightly larger than an HO oval. You lose realism in exchange for flexibility (If you don't like any of the railcars, use your Legos to assemble them differently). Tracks are FAR cheaper than regular tracks because they have no electricity. The locos are run by 6 AAA rechargeable batteries and are radio-controlled.

Lego made three powered sets (One has a powered tender that pushes the steam locomotive) and a Hong Kong knock-off company made a very nice unpowered steam loco that I assembled.

My small house has a 6' by 8' train table, so I have to use HO and N scale rather than O. However, the tighter curves of L gauge track make the larger trains possible.

Strap Hanger posted:

I had a hour or so of free time before starting my game day preparations so I painted and assembled 18 pallets. Hey, every layout needs them.

I hear you on the pallets can't have too many, nice job

I had to make a lot also for the brewery and barrels of course

Interesting for me to see painted figures in passenger cars, which I have never done. However, I am on the lookout for nice, economical painted figures that are sitting.

This is why:

As you can see, I have a long way to go in order to fill the bleachers in my 2 baseball stadiums. LOL, Arnold

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Interesting for me to see painted figures in passenger cars, which I have never done. However, I am on the lookout for nice, economical painted figures that are sitting.

This is why:

As you can see, I have a long way to go in order to fill the bleachers in my 2 baseball stadiums. LOL, Arnold

Well, Arnold, if you lower your ticket prices, “they will come”  

Vincent Massi posted:

leapinlarry posted:

Vincent Massi, I like your unique trains, are they LEGO? They are very colorful and fun to see. Give a little more information. Thank you.

 

 

 

Larry, the one train I assembled today is an L gauge Lego train. The other two I have running are HO. I have considered starting a thread on L gauge trains, which I THINK Lego has abandoned.

L gauge is 17% wider than O gauge, yet its curves are so tight that an L gauge oval is only slightly larger than an HO oval. You lose realism in exchange for flexibility (If you don't like any of the railcars, use your Legos to assemble them differently). Tracks are FAR cheaper than regular tracks because they have no electricity. The locos are run by 6 AAA rechargeable batteries and are radio-controlled.

Lego made three powered sets (One has a powered tender that pushes the steam locomotive) and a Hong Kong knock-off company made a very nice unpowered steam loco that I assembled.

My small house has a 6' by 8' train table, so I have to use HO and N scale rather than O. However, the tighter curves of L gauge track make the larger trains possible.

Larry, thank you for asking.  I thought one train looks like LEGO.  

Vincent, so you said L scale is discontinued.  What scale are LEGO trains they sell now?

Larry, your more then welcome, its easy to make nice comments on your layout as it is one of the nicest ones I have seen! I can tell you put a lot of time into it! I am working on getting fixed pilots on my dummy ES44 right now so I can move on to something else. I am not sure what is next, but will keep you posted!

John wonderful job on the passenger cars! The pictures were nice and clear, maybe you need to take more breaks! LOL

Strap Hanger & Sidehack, great job on the pallets!

Arnold, great looking ball parks! Maybe if you offered free hat night or something like that you would get more people!

Vincent, nice job with the lego's! I don't thing I could do that as sometimes I have a shot temper! LOL

I hope everyone has a great day and enjoys time with there layout!

Before putting my Polar Express set away for another year I had to fix two issues with the observation car.

1- the lights kept flickering so I had two options, buy GRJ's passenger car cap kits, or go low tech and clean and tighten the wipers on the axles. Went with option 2 for now.
2- glue the &%$### observation deck on the back of the car so it doesn't keep falling off

Then I removed a trespasser from the layout

Happy Monday

I know what you mean about that observation deck, Bob!  It would fall loose but not completely down just running around the track on my old conventional set.  I sold it when I bought the LC set two years ago, and wondered if they would have done something different, but no it was the same.  All I can think of is they want it separate for shipping so it doesn't break off.  

I recall having a similar trespasser on my layout when I was a teenager.  My sister's cat would jump up until I moved the layout to a higher table in the basement.  My wife is a dog person, not a cat person, so we have not had any Catzillas since!

Three day report here.

In the past 56 hours, I removed the second level again.  I had to move a curve further from a wall.  I replaced the control wiring on two more switches.  I put a momentary switch for track power to two new spurs.  I modified the North end and wired two lighted buildings.  I put updated liquid smoke parts in my PW #736 and #671.   Lots of smoke from both.  Today will install my radio tower and a Lionel switch tower.

Gee, seven sentences does not seem like much words to describe what I accomplished.  Maybe I'll just run some 70 year old chain smokers.  I know.  I'll hook a prewar tender to #736 and pull some really old stuff!

Bill

NMRA MCR Div 7 layout visits after the meeting.

A very nice 3-rail layout by Bill and a picture of Jim of OGR was there. 

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...8#126859556543933508

      running some Amtrak with some private cars on the end...

Mark Boyce posted:

 

 

 

 

 

Vincent, so you said L scale is discontinued.  What scale are LEGO trains they sell now?

I'm not sure that it is discontinued, but the Lego store we visited last week did not have any of them. Lego has not posted any plans to make new ones. However, if you go to the Lego online store, you can still buy them.

Vincent Massi posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

 

 

 

 

 

Vincent, so you said L scale is discontinued.  What scale are LEGO trains they sell now?

I'm not sure that it is discontinued, but the Lego store we visited last week did not have any of them. Lego has not posted any plans to make new ones. However, if you go to the Lego online store, you can still buy them.

Okay, now I understand.  I didn't read correctly!! 

Bill, It sounds like you accomplished a lot!  Get something right before you move on in the way to do.  " 70 year old chain smokers"!  I never heard it that way, but you are correct!  Have fun running trains!

Mike,  I took your advice and rested my eyes today. I am taking Mom for a drive through the Cleveland Metroparks to Berea Station to see the NS and CSX tracks and hopefully some trains. Mom has been very patient with my detailing of the passenger cars.  She will sit and watch me work, but not for long. The cure for cabin fever is a nice car ride and a hotdog and hot fudge sundae from Dairy Queen.

Carl,  I honestly have lost track of the number of people I painted. The total was at 3,500 a year ago.  I bought 15 more boxes of 36 Preiser 65602 seated people in 2019 to go with five I already owned, but had not painted.  I also had some boxes from the previous painting sessions.  I stocked up on the Preiser 65602 people because they had been unavailable for a year or so in 2016.

Larry,  I like your passenger cars.  The layout at night looks very good.  I like to watch my passenger trains snake their way around my Valley of Bridges layout in the dark. I may never finish my layout, but at least I have a place to run my trains.

Mark,  I am doing my caregiver duties today with a ride in the park for Mom.  She deserves some fun at age 93. Trains and ice cream, at least the ice cream and a hot dog, make her happy.

Sincerely, John Rowlen