beardog posted:how about the "FORT FLAMINGO RAILWAY AND DISTILLERY MUSEUM"
Fortescue and Friend approve!
Mitch
CHRIS A, your kit bash came out great. Wish you lived closer you could do mine for me LOL. But no beer till done. Tonight I got my little pull out shelf in. Still have to paint bare wood. At least now I have somewhere to work on kits and engines. I was going to start working on the building flats but decided to call it a night. Still thinking about how Brian has a whole house for a layout. Pics.................Paul
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Looks great Paul!
uh oh
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Great job on the structure, Chris. 
beardog posted:uh oh
Don't worry. Fortescue and Friend can hold their ginger ale. ;D
Mitch
Chris A- the building looks great. I like the dock and how you notched the posts to take the beams. Very nice little detail.
Brian- do you have a big roulette wheel with all of the RR road names on it to pick what you are going to run each day???? 
Paul- With two layouts in your house I think you are running a close second to Brian. The shelf looks good.
Bob
RSJB18 posted:
Brian- do you have a big roulette wheel with all of the RR road names on it to pick what you are going to run each day????
.... that is IZZY's job of the day... 
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Bob, thanks. No way am I a close second to Brian. Although I have tried to negotiate trackage rights through the other rooms the CEO has declined the requests so far. Got to cut grass now but after that it is work on Korber flats and getting them ready for paint......Paul
RSJB18 posted:Paul- With two layouts in your house I think you are running a close second to Brian. The shelf looks good.
no... Paul has me way beat with all his scenery and detail !!!
looks GREAT Paul !!
Great work Chris! If you don't mind me asking what is your mixture of ink and alcohol?
Paul, your shelf turned out nice! I like your thinking on having something to do projects on instead of the layout!
Nice Picture Brian! You must have one heck of an ventilation system to clear the house after running trains! LOL
LoadMaster posted:briansilvermustang posted:
Brian, I just love your pictures....
Mike
thanks Mike !!
briansilvermustang posted:
Brian, Now there is a view I do not recall seeing before! Very good composition.
Paul, I agree you can't come close to Brian in square footage and number of rooms, but he has a good point your scenery is really good!
briansilvermustang posted:
Brian, Your photo library is just as impressive as your O gauge inventory!! I enjoy your photos.
Dave
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Pat thanks for the kind words....
Bob, thanks for the positive feedback on the loading dock construction... It took longer notch the legs, but it made it easier to assemble and keep the legs straight while the Gorilla Super glue Gel cured and the joint is a lot stronger. I made a small jig (1/4 inch luan and some 3/4 inch pine which I can push through with the miter gauge on the table saw) to cut them and make the notch cut safely on the table saw, so once I got going it didn't take too long. Just made the one blade-width cut for the notch and then clamped them 3 at a time in the vise and used a utility knife blade to remove the rest of the material...
In a prior post, I mentioned that for cutting all these small pieces of wood and styrene plastic parts, I changed out the 10 inch table saw blade for a 7 1/4 - inch 60 tooth Freud blade. It slows the blade speed down and the kerf on the Freud blade is really thin less than 1/16". Removes less material and feels much easier to control the material during cutting.
Mike, I am not really sure about the ratio any more. I made up two olive jars of the wash, one is very diluted and not too dark, the other is probably 2 to 3 times as dark. Some jobs and materials get too dark and I didn't want to keep changing the strength, so I figured better to have two different strengths..... I make them up in small Olive jars. I switched over to using the stronger 91% alcohol about 6 months ago, it dries faster, and then I have from time to time had to replenish it, so I just kind of "wing it"..... I think if you do a google search, you'll find some recommended ratios to get you in the ballpark....
Thanks Chris! I just ask cause you and others here are full of such great information!
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Proving Marx's well-nigh unkillability once again, here's a B&O powered A unit a buddy sent me today. Straightened out the front truck frames and axles, resoldered the headlight lead, new bulb and a few drops of oil later...
Mitch
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Some good progress on the layout as of late, I’ve been derelict in my duties posting updates. Most of the work has been focused on "invisible" things making mock-ups more permanent or wiring under the table:
- Applied Appalachian Mountain Backdrop from Backdrop Warehouse
- Glued down elevated table supports to Homasote using LiquidNails
- Added a second AIU to the layout
- Wired all 16 Fastrack switches to MTH DCS AIUs so they can be controlled via the DCS Wifi App (I got tired of having to pull out my 90s-era CAB-1 remote every time I wanted to throw a turnout and I like the ability to set up routes)
- Ensured track power drops are all connected correctly (with track shifting during adjustments, the spade connectors often disconnect)
- Painted remaining BridgeBoss supports as well as scratch-built truss bridge supports flat black
- Mocked up locations for buildings
Next steps are as follows::
- Begin ballasting using Brennan's Better Ballast
- Build tunnel and mountain structure, likely using the method outlined by @ericstrains.com in his videos
Here are some photos of the layout as it is today:
That's a lot of items you worked on Matt! Yes, many are somewhat invisible, but they really make for a nice running layout! Looks very good!!!
What did I do today on the layout! Made some space for the new layout.
Before
After 
Slow and steady win the race!
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Mark, you are making headway. Tedious work but what you end up with is a larger layout,,..,.....Paul
Thank you, Paul!
Mark Boyce posted:What did I do today on the layout! Made some space for the new layout.
After
Slow and steady win the race!
Mark;
Allow me to offer you some sage advice from a former boss... if you haven’t looked at it in 6 months, you probably don’t need it, throw it out. If you haven’t looked at it in a year, you definitely don’t need it, don’t even look at it, throw it out
Full disclosure... her desk was always totally clear and she had a closet in the office that Imelda Marcos would have envied.
Paul, I need to get my wife to cooperate on that one! LOL
So the former boss was a closet hoarder?
Great start Mark! One suggestion, get a flat screen TV! LOL
Thank you Mike!! ;-) Actually, we don’t need that television. It’s another refuse from my mother-in-law, just like the furniture! That’s what we get for buying the house from her. She left all kinds of stuff there and it’s taken 7 years for my wife to finally say we’re getting rid of stuff. Mum says here take this stuff, but you can’t get rid of it! Coo coo! LOL
Mark Boyce posted:So the former boss was a closet hoarder?
Oh no... no... no... hoarder would never apply. If you opened the left side of the closet, you would assume you had strayed into the storeroom of a shoe store. There was a four foot high by three foot wide VERY neatly stacked collection shoe boxes (unlike many on this Forum, she would never throw out the box...). If she came in wearing a chartreuse outfit one day, I am sure that she could have picked a perfectly matched pair of shoes!!! I believe the proper description would be collector.
Collector!! Yes that’s the right word! I was looking for a different word than hoarder, but that’s all I could think of.
So, if she had that many shoes at work, how many did sh have at home????? Yes Imelda would be jealous indeed!!!
no wife, happy life!
I'll keep the wife. She's the one who has encouraged my hobby all these 34 years. It's the mother-in-law that is the problem. Actually, for years she was a good mother-in-law too. In recent years, she is getting goofy as happens to some people in old age and drives my wife crazy too.
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Brain, would give some information on those Alaska Railroad bi-level cars, please?
Larry
After about 6 weeks of putting the new downtown/terminal together I finally ran some trains, for the first time since I started the project.
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Today after a trip to the grocery store then some yard work I set up a painting table and spray painted a bunch of building flats out under the car port. I'll let them dry and see how they came out. Tonight the wife will be tied up with her Cavs game and I can adjourn to the basement and do the rest of the building flats getting them ready for paint...........Paul
