What did you do on your layout today?

Jon, nice work! Way to think out of the box!

Thanks guys.

Yesterday I worked on a few things. I started with the girder on the back side of the bridge, and got it glued in place. The big cars were still OK for clearance, but of all things, the track cleaning car was hitting in a couple spots on the newly installed back girder. The car is only six inches long, but it has thumb screws sticking out the side, that were the problem. I just popped the glue joint in those spots on the bridge, and solved the problem. There are still some cars that will need testing.

I got my paints out and weathered the bridge. I only used two colors to do all of this, a bright rusty red-orange, and black.

Blending the two colors together, I got a range of rusty browns. I used a stippling technique to get this effect. I think I over did it on the piers though. I'll have to go back and fix that.

I spent a couple hours over at Hoffman, cleaning track and switches after ballast touch ups. Nothing like a dental pick for getting switches unstuck. Then I touched up paint on guard rails and frogs, where the track cleaning car scratched it off.

I just used a foam scrap as a pallet for the afternoon. The small brush was for the rail touch ups.

Finally, I totally switched gears, and soldered some plugs on one of my signal bridges. Seems like forever ago that I touched the signals. I'd like to get these off my workbench and onto the layout. They will make things look better.

Here's the best picture from Tuesday's photo session. I wish I could have had the signals lit up. That's a lot of work, but if I plan my time carefully, it could be done.

Good question. That was lifted from an email sent to me by the photographer. I'll have my wife check it out. If she can't see it, I'll try and fix it. 

She couldn't. I'll work on it. Check back in a little while, it's worth it.

Ran my MTH UP passenger train with Lionel Station sound diner, finished filming my video review of diner sound car.  

started the wiring for the upper level today. Have the holes drilled for the power leads from below and the jumper leads cut from the number 14 stranded reels for 6 or 7 connections planned. Installed and soldered two of the connections and ran some temp connections from the track below with alligator clips. Just to check out the running of the train.So far so good.  

It's fixed.

clem k posted:

Let the trains run as I do physical therapy for my rotator cuff injury.

Work hard, Clem!  I went through is about 10 years ago!  Fell on the ice.  The rotator cuff still gives me pain when I move a certain way.  Let the trains run!

Elliot, the bridge is really taking shape. You did a nice job with the painting. I really like the pic of the finished cliff area with one of my favorite railroads going through....CP Rail. Tonight I got a chance to work again on the layout. Wife watched the Cavs, Because I had the table top pretty much cleaned off I finally decided which two buildings I would put in that area. The Sur Sweet and the creamery from Walthers ( now Atlas ). Once I got them positioned I laid down some cork and glued it down. Once I lay down track I am going to extend the rail loading dock so I can spot two reefers there at one time. Then I glued down the ground turf I put down yesterday or the day before. Tomorrow morning I can pull the nails and paint the cork and should sometime during the day put down some ballast. Pics........Paul

Elliot, thing are looking great! Love the picture of the signal bridge! Who could ask for more!

Paul, I think your trying to give Elliot a run for the money! Things are looking great at your place! I bet you guys have been trading secrets! LOL

Got the new terminal tracks ballasted and repaired the scenery damaged by removal of the mountain. Glue is still wet in the pictures. I've got to paint the underside of plywood base for the downtown area before I mount it. Also paint "rust" on the rails of the new track. Not bad for two weeks of progress. I probably won't get much done this week as I'll be busy. I'll hopefully make some progress again next weekend. 

Lou- looking good. Amazing want we can accomplish when we put our minds to it. Helps to have the free time too.

Paul- I notice mostly ground throws on your switches. Are you leaving them or adding motors? Can't believe you have another new area under construction

Elliot- the cliff photo looks great. Really brings your masterpiece to life.

Bob, this layout will have mostly manual ground throws. However there will be a spot where the switches will have switch motors  because they will be out of arms reach. Paul

Lou, things are looking very nice! You cant eve tell there was damage from where the mountain was! Great Job! I cant wait to see the city growing above the tracks!

Got the cork roadbed painted. Now just waiting for it to dry. Pics........Paul

Looking good Paul! While your waiting you might as well go up stairs and run some trains! LOL

The ballast is down and glued. I'll have to let it dry a bit before I start to put down track. So mike now I will go up and run some trains for a while. Pics...........Paul

Looks good Paul, I just have a question for you, do you go back and Ballast between the ties and rails?

Mike, I do not ballast the track. I just ballast beveled sides of the cork.............Paul

The buildings and spurs look good Paul!!

Remember this dummy? I rounded up some more LEDs and added headlights & ditch lights. There's a selector switch in the chassis that turns on either red for stop/reverse or headlights for forward/go.   Whenever I convert a powered unit to a dummy and I see a slider switch I leave it there for future use - like today!

Ralph, great job! All I can say is it looks wonderful!

Looking good John! keep posting!

I sure like the looks of that scene taking form, John!!  I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops!!

If I may, today its not so much what I did ON my layout, but what I did FOR my layout.

I finally purchased a MTH Premier Bombardier 4-car set for my local South Florida commuter railroad, Tri-Rail.  Got it today in the store from Bill and the guys at Ready To Roll in Miami.  No place or space to run it yet (we're in the process of moving again) but these items sell out quickly and when they do show up on auction are ridiculously overpriced.  Don't have the locomotive to pull it either .  I'll purchase the GP 40 in the next month or so. 

Now I have both an O and HO (which the coaches are illuminated inside) Tri-Rail sets!

Looks great, Kevin!  One piece at a time!!

I’m out of town this weekend, so the only work on my layout gets done in my head! But the advantage to getting out of town is visiting other hobby shops. And I found a Williams six car NP aluminum set. I thought I was in heaven till I noticed the trucks - they’re milky minty green! And  they are molded inexpensively too. I’ve got to open my books, but I don’t believe the NCL even ran on silver trucks, I’m sure they were black. So if I make the purchase am I headed for a really painful job of truck replacement or painting - I am a three rail toy train operator, but my heart is still in St. Paul!  (Lionel’s zephyr cars also had cheapened trucks if I remember correctly) the trucks from the 2500 series aluminum cars were the best! WhT are your thoughts guys?

I am kinda partial to the trucks on AMT aluminum passenger cars. Nice detail, flexible for track deviations....

Never got back to the layout last night but this morning I got the track down. Marked off where the buildings will be in pencil and then got the plaster wrap out and covered the table. Now just waiting for the plaster to set up and dry and I can start laying down Gypsolite. I have some Balsa wood left over so I am going to make a curving dock off the Creamery so I can set two cars there. Pics.............Paul

Last night I unpacked the rest of my York loot.  Ran trains and took a few photos.  Had BIG fun!!! 

Railroad PETS!

Cat begging for food from roof worker.

BAD boy!

Can I have an ICE CREAM?

Vegetable dog.

Dog teasing cat.

Bad KITTY!

All those scenes look great, Matt!

Latest addition to my construction area

fl9turbo2 posted:

latest addition to my construction area

Man, talk about some heavy lifting...!

Mike 

I didn't do much.  I just put in my first power drops to one location and fastened down the track with GarGraves track screws.  I used 4 screws here at the joint where my power drops are, but only 2 at the other joints of my 3/4 curve.  They seem to hold the track down fine.

After supper, I decided to bring my buildings down out of the attic, where I put them for safe keeping while heavy construction was going on.  I arranged some of them on the lower town site along with a few operating accessories I had in a bin in the garage.  I have more, and I will have an upper town.  This is just to start thinking again about what will go in each town and how it may fit.  The two sidings are not fastened down and can be moved to accommodate other building arrangements.  It was a happy time getting a start at visualizing what it may look like.  One thing I do know is that I want the operating accessories near the front so this little 61-year old boy can play with them, and the more realistic buildings and scenes in the background so the adult me can overlook the accessories and think he is up in the West Virginia mountains along the Western Maryland or Baltimore and Ohio back in the 1950s.

Ok Guy's a lot has been done today! A lot of great work! So here I go if I didn't like your post its because I am tired and missed it! LOL

Paul, the track work looks great! I also like the placement of your buildings! Things are coming right along. You blew me away with the Crane, man is that so cool! Where did you get it? Please don't say Menards! LOL

Patrick, I sure enjoy all the pictures you post of your layout! I can tell it would be a fun place to relax!

Matt, I just love how you have pets on your layout! Sure brings thing to life!

Mark Power to the rails is a great step in the right direction! Then the building is just and extra for the day! Great Job!

All I did was open boxes I have had packed for over a year just to see what I really had! After I packed everything back up I noticed I missed 4 more boxes that were full of box cars! LOL Here are a few pictures of what I have!This doesn't include the stuff in the house! Once its in the new train room the CEO is going to be so happy!

Thank you, Mike!!  Yes it wasn’t a great day to be outside, so good day in the train room.  High was 43.  Snow flurries when we went to church.  I let the dog out and she didn’t stay out long.

Mike, so you had stuff stashed away in boxes too!  Nice!  I have a crane too, but don’t think I will use it on this layout.

Spring has finally arrived and I have been taking advantage of the warm weather to complete the Minntac taconite plant which is located on the summit of Mountain Iron.  The summit has been in the garage for electrical work, ground cover and forestation.   It even spent some drying time out in the warm spring sunshine.  The building and yard lighting is functional and more than 125 trees have been planted.  It will soon to be back on the layout awaiting final landscaping and additional forestation.  I received one loan palm tree amongst a mixed order of trees from Amazon.  I will plant it on the layout as a challenge for visitors - Find the lone tree that does not belong in northern Minnesota.   The palm will move around the layout from time to time.  This will be my version of “Where's Waldo.”

My next step is to relocate the summit back on the layout for additional tree planting and landscaping.  Then I plan to hookup wireless DCS.

Cheers to all and to the progress that has been recently posted.
Dave

Cork foundations for some of the plant buildings.

Building placement - final check.

Added ground cover after completing electrical wiring.

Enjoying some springtime sun drying.

Lighting check - daylight.

Lighting check - nighttime.

Beginning of forestation.

Wayward palm tree in Northern Minnesota!