What did you do on your layout today?

@ScoutingDad posted:

Mark, what are you using to oil friction areas. I have a reasonably small oil dropper, but no matter what I do I end up with oil migrating down the wheels and onto the track. Obviously applying too much oil, Is there some type of micro oiler around?  I already repack white grease into curved small tip syringes for the gears - works well.  Jeff

Jeff,

Adriatic gave you a good description.  I use MTH Lubricating Oil in the squeeze bottle with the long tip applicator.  It comes in the Lubricating Kit MTH part number 30-50051.

• As in metal tipped, maybe glass body syringe.
• I use gravity a lot, sometimes dribbling down an axle to an unseen bearing and waiting to see oil build and puddle between bearing and wheel. Then it sits.
• Flushing is important. That black oil is abrasive. 

I have a needle-tipped oilier I found on ebay a while back. Works well but the bottle sweats and I always have an oil stain on the paper towel under the bottle. I've probably lost more from sweat that I've used.  I agree with Adriatic- don't rush oil, and use it sparingly. I use toothpicks to apply grease to gears.

Mark- better late than never

Matt- good to hear from you. Have fun cleaning track.

Ray- one man's junk.....Love the grain sacks too.

Paul- Apples- hope your brother is on the mend. Please share some pix of your ARR consists when you get it running.

John R- sorry to hear you are our of people.  A break is probably best anyway. The cars look great.

Bob

Last night before running trains I made a walk-around video of my layout, and then continued running the trains, and took more videos.  Take a look:

https://youtu.be/vcemh0Qbiq0

https://youtu.be/QiiKdpCaj0M

https://youtu.be/eF9rJrT3YoA

https://youtu.be/qG_S3oPnd8s

https://youtu.be/NTlY4lDy0mU

https://youtu.be/xOpE42Or0hU

John

John, thank you for the walk about video, very nice layout and collection

After procrastinating for several months and after much trial and error, I finally was able to complete a custom illuminated sign on the layout.  I can still remember the sign from the 1950's lit up at night and as shown by the B&W photo, which is dated 1911, it was there for a very long time at the corner of Vincennes St. and E. Main Street in New Albany, Indiana as the south bound entrance to the K&I Bridge.  Sadly it has since been removed.

Barnum, What an excellent job in recreating that scene in the photograph!  That is neat you remember the sign to Louisville form over 40 years after the photograph!!

Steve, your Turnpike interchange looks so much like the Pennsylvania Turnpike when they still collected cash 

@SIRT posted:

139B to my old work location on Mountain Rd. ,Springfield.  You'll have it completed in order to add "construction ahead" signs  lol

Great work!

Over this past months I have not done any work on the layout. But I have tried to keep up with all the great work everyone is doing here. I did restock supplies a month ago. So now I have no excuse not to do something. So today I measured for another table. The first one to go across the back of the basement. I should be able to knock it out quickly seeing it is only going to be 8 feet long and 18 inches wide. Tomorrow a trip to the depot to get the plywood and a sheet of Masonite for the backdrop and I can get to work. I already had the 1X4's for the frame work. The wiring that is on the wall I plan to cover with a building, eventually. A pic of the area where the table is going. Of course the lights and the Keurig box will be moved first...............Paul 2

@briansilvermustang posted:

  

                             

              

                              Marci helped me put in some more shelving...

 

                                she also got me this cool looking taxi...

 

                      then we ran some trains,   have a great weekend everyone !!

 

 WOW" what a collection' and a great wife too'... Nothing better than these two things in life'.....😀👍👌

Paul, I’m glad to see you are stocking up on supplies for an addition!  I’ll be glad to see you get started on the project!

Working the Road Orders tonight. The daily commuter (RPO, Combine and 2 coaches) started its return run EB from the Lillian Glen Depot toward Elliottville. Paused at a rural station and eventually made it to Elliottville. After passengers and mail were unloaded, the E6 #460 spotted the cars on the passenger team track. Meanwhile, a wb Isa enroute with 10 coal hoppers traveled from the coal yard team track through the countryside and eventually into Elliottville. After the decapod stopped for water, it continued to the Port yard. The engine will uncouple and head to the engine facility to take coal soon. 

Edit: I switched out an N6b cabin car for a Weaver N5a for the coal train.

The night time is the right time.

ordered about over 200 interconnect cables for my signals. Yeah I was shocked at the number, but it's what it takes if you're doing switched route advance signaling.  This is LIT  ....LITERALLY!  If I turn approach mode off, my layout should glow ... but then i was always fascinated by the signal lights I saw in rail yards near the big train stations of Europe in my early teens.  

Probably could have saved a bit of money doing my own cables and just ordering a spool wire and RJ12 ends, but my past experience trying to do this with some cat5 cables told me "NO. dont be stupid, you'll mess up a wire or 2 along the way and be peeved while trying to locate it."

Cable zip ties are my friends.

@ScottV posted:

ordered about over 200 interconnect cables for my signals. Yeah I was shocked at the number, but it's what it takes if you're doing switched route advance signaling.  This is LIT  ....LITERALLY!  If I turn approach mode off, my layout should glow ... but then i was always fascinated by the signal lights I saw in rail yards near the big train stations of Europe in my early teens.  

Probably could have saved a bit of money doing my own cables and just ordering a spool wire and RJ12 ends, but my past experience trying to do this with some cat5 cables told me "NO. dont be stupid, you'll mess up a wire or 2 along the way and be peeved while trying to locate it."

Cable zip ties are my friends.

 

Scott, Having crimped on dozens of RJ_ connectors over the years while I worked for a telecom company, I can tell you that I agree with your choice for buying ready made cables.  We had a need for reversed CAT5 cables, and I made many of them.  I ended up throwing away a lot of connectors, and documentation stated a home made CAT5 didn't have the same qualities as a factory made one.  Later we were able to buy reversed cables.  Of course you don't need to be up to CAT5 standards for your RJ12 cables, but you are correct, home made ones will become a thorn in your side as you have trouble locating a defective one after everything is installed and working.

Barnum, l remember early trips west beginning across the K&I bridge from Louisville, and passing that station on the Indiana side, for which plans were offered in an old issue of MR.  After much free time was blown in C-19 downtown, l am making progress on this O B Long box co. kit, making it a caboose shop, probably adding on a car shed.

Got to the Depot this afternoon and got all the lumber and Masonite I needed plus they did all the long cuts for me. Saves me from trying to cut a 4X8 long ways on saw horses. So tomorrow I can start cutting the frame work for the table. Pic.............Paul 2

Swapped shells on this RK F3 (Santa Fe) to create a 2nd Penn Central F-unit. The PC shells are Williams and are an exact fit on the RK chassis. There is some internal trimming required and opening up of the exhaust stacks. Mounting holes, headlight, marker lights, etc all line up perfectly. Now I have an A-A lashup with both units powered.

Geez Lionelski! Sorry to hear about your fall. Since my back went south, I've been trying to be extra-cautious. Luckily, my dog is way too lazy to get up just to trip me! Take care of yourself! And maybe to your list of things to do add "build some kits"? Just a thought.

Don

I am finishing the very last Preiser 65602 seated figures.  The next two days of high heat gives me the excuse to sit inside and paint.  There are five cars that need people: two NS coaches, an Alaska Coach #202, and the UP Excursion 2-pack #3.  Legacy Station has the George Bush Funeral train in, and I am interested to see what Lionel has done with adding people to the four cars: the Station Sounds "Overland" Dining Car, "Council Bluffs" Baggage car with casket and Honor Guard, "City of Portland" Dome Dining Car, and "Kenefick" Business Car Observation. 

This is the end of my passenger car detailing.  It has been enjoyable, but new projects are on the to-do list.

Have an enjoyable summer.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Been busy with work and outdoor projects but too hot for digging. 

Finished up rehabbing an old used model I had and got my switch tower wired up.

Got my Cincinnatian running pretty well, now more ground cover, ballasting, and track.

Stay Safe,

Scott

leaving Elizabeth Station.....

Slowly, working Road Orders in Session no. 2. In the Port yard, M1a no. 6759 backs on the team track to couple to lead car of a 10 car EB mixed freight train including four full reefers that today will travel into Elliottville to take water. The weekly freight run frequently involves a stop in the industrial/warehouse district to top off the tender with water to make the rest of the journey non stop except for block signals encountered on the way through Lillian Glen to the final destination, a classification yard several cities East. But the train is paused until the B6s switcher no. 505 pushes a N8 cabin car to couple to the rear of the train. 

Hey  everybody. This is not train related but is super . This little bird was in a tobacco barn on my farm.  A family of five made there home there. We put up barn owl boxes in the 80s for these birds. Have only seen 8 in all these years.

@colorado hirailer posted:

I have two projects stopped dead for parts, a 2-4-4-2 being bashed from a couple of Marx 999's, stalled until l can figure out reverse wiring, four cabooses stalled until l can get Grandt Line windows and doors, so l began a Brennan O B Long box kit.  Now this kit is different from dozens of  other structure kits l've built, as it builds up in press on layers =less glue, more thought.  I am considering enlarging it as I plan to make it a caboose shop, a smaller one that was intended, but lost space to the creosote plant.  Many kits use metal corrugated siding; this uses paper corrugated.  Back to work ...

love to see a photo of that 2-4-4-2

                                                 More lights..

We ran a few trains in the last few days. Yard work takes so much time now, we have to wait on rainy days to play trains. Happy Railroading 

SIRT- great lighting on the vehicles.
Larry- The UP 4141 is a sharp looking engine
Farmer John- very cool. They look like ghosts up there. Looks like they're all watching you too. I'm sure your mouse population has decreased significantly with 5 hungry mouths to feed.

Finished the fence yesterday. I have to shorten the posts but I wanted to see how it looked on the layout before cutting them. Way too hot to do anything outside today....

Bob

Farmerjohn, amazing pictures of the owls, so cool, maybe you could model them somewhere on your layout, near the beautiful trailer park area. Here are some pictures I took of your layout last week. Farmerjohn, a Kentucky gentleman.

Added LED headlights and interior light with on/off switch o this MTH B&O GP9 dummy. I sometimes run this as the lead unit and when I do I run it long hood forward and therefore that's where I put the headlights. I also added cab figures facing in the "correct" direction.

I ran trains last night and made some videos.  I replaced all the engines and cars and went with some more modern era trains.  In these videos you will see engines from MTH, Dash-9 and a SD 70 in Santa Fe war bonnet and Union Pacific respectively.  Rolling stock for these videos include some never run Atlas Hy-Cube cars from the Bob Thatcher era as well as a lot of cars from @MrMuffin'sTrains.  Enjoy

https://youtu.be/2Kg9bwHRsS4

https://youtu.be/dbBc4fAYK8w

https://youtu.be/ZeWqg5Xqero

https://youtu.be/prfJdlpYM8s

https://youtu.be/FwoC8L8H9lM

Comments welcomed and appreciated.

John

added 3 yard lights

ran a string of custom reefers......

I have not spent 3 hours in one evening working the layout for so long I can't remember. I continued working the Road Orders in session no. 2.  The Decapod and hoppers had trouble on the ridge trackage where it transitioned to a girder bridge and it also labored and jerked a bit so I stopped the train where I could remove the engine and tender to inspect and clean the wheels. After that it ran much better so I ran it over the same route again. I shimmed the track with a few popsicle sticks and that worked for now. The M1a hauled the mixed freight smoothly. I connected a track cleaning car to an H9 Consolidation and ran it around the layout for a good cleaning. Then I ran a 5 car mail train behind a K-line K4s.  The only accurate cars are two Weaver B60s. I can live with the K-line baggage car but the two K-line RPOs are bugging me so much recently that I am tempted to try a kitbash of one as an experiment. I need a plan.  

...while I'm waiting on connectors to arrive for my signals project ...back to creating more foil-based rock lining for my tunnels!  

Drying on the back deck before another light spray coat to mute the strength of the white accents on the rock face.  I just need to remember to pull it all in before the typical afternoon summer thunderstorms.    What I love about this technique is that it's so easy to work with. Foil can be cut with scissors to required size, and can be easily adjusted/molded for small mods or clearance issues. 

Hi Everyone,

I just completed an apron/retaining wall for my overpass. Still need to add some bushes and small trees to the hillside and surrounding area. Have to do the road and grade crossing on the other side of the bridge too but that's for another day. Oh yeah, have to put the bridge in too. If you look closely you can see some pin holes where I used T-pins to help hold the wall in place until the adhesive cured. I will "patch" those up as well. 

Yeah, I know the track is a mess. Put ballast down for an open house but didn't secure it because I knew I would be doing work on the other side of the yard. I've "hoovered" most of it up after several projects  around it.  I almost wish I never put it down. Oh well!

Dave

Found an old Model Power lighted figure at a great price at my local hobby shop. Cost me half of what the new Lionel figures will be. I hope to go back and pick up a few more while they last.

I actually completed this Brennan kit, except for lettering, which l plan to make a railcar shop, after l find a structure l can bash into at least one more track bay to add to it.  These kits are different, but went together well.  I like the looks of the packing house, too,but l want it for meat, not veggies. Better to the bash first.