What did you do on your layout today?

Packed up my Preiser 65602 Seated People I painted and took inventory.  I combined the Chinese figures of similar people with the Preiser in individual boxes. There are 30 different people and three variations of the people.  The thirty-three boxes of people will be packed away until winter weather when I will continue painting.

Not only have I painted the Preiser 65602 Seated People, but I found 25 bags from Chinese figures that each had contained 50 Unpainted Figures.  That's 1,250 more people I painted.  As I organized my work area, I discovered 14 more unopened bags of 50 seated people from China tucked into the bottom drawer of my paint cart. . . . and I just ordered three more bags on Wednesday night.  Evemodel on Ebay has changed the figures in their packages, and I now get only two (instead of eight) of needed figures in each $9.99 bag.  Preiser stopped making some of these 1/50 figures that fit nicely in the Lionel Dining Cars.

Have a good weekend.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

John, have you ever used the 1:43 scale people from evenmodel? Their latest sets look better than usual. Their 1:50 are tall enough but no bulk to them so they seem too thin. Inside passenger cars, I think they are fine and fit well seated, but they look odd outside. The 1:48 people which come 25 (or more) to a bag seem to be bulkier and more usable, but need face detailing at least. Thanks ... Jeff

Urban Renewal for my buildings on the new layout. Using a damp rag I wipe off 15 years worth of dust from the old layout. Then replace bulbs and wire up. Shore up any needed repairs.

It’s rewarding making old favorites good as new. 

@ScoutingDad posted:

 

This is a shot of the external stiffeners cut to match up better. However there is no longer enough glue surface for the base plate (without the other side) so its hard to get a good fit here. In retrospect, I should have laminated the baseplate before attaching (would have been straighter) and anticipated the glue surface problem. Next time I'll put a angle plate at the bottom of the girder plate, like I did with the top plate. Still have to make a girder section for the other side of the track.  : )   

 

Lessons learned - CA is no friendlier with color laser ink than b&w laser ink. If it gets on the ink,  it it will smear.  Second - Especially for the stiffeners, color the white edges with a marker once cut and shaped, but before being glued in place.  So what takes so long? Each of the stiffeners needs 5 separate fold scorings, minute trimming, multiple folding steps and a 2 step gluing process. There are 18 of these bad boys.  Also buy another hemostat - really useful for locking the joints together.  

@ScoutingDad

 I like the bridge, very nice! I can see how folding those stiffeners can take some time. I've done a few paper builds and have found it easier to laminate the cardstock print before cutting and assembling if possible. Gotta keep the piece flat until it dries or it will curl too.
I used to work in theater set design and construction. Flat black was our go-to paint to make something disappear to the eye.

I just finished this building flat (all paper), and I wanted to raise it up off the board a little to get the height to look right against the factory building.  I used a black strip at the bottom to hide the wall behind.

Bob

In the proper lighting you don't really "see" it.

HI Bob, my 3 sons were all in theater in high school - on stage and on the sets doing all the background activity. I forgot about the flat black, amazing how the eye is fooled. Is the building flat paper or just the riser? I really like the darkened look of the window panes. My guess is the bricks are laminated on foam core with the edges wrapped and the inset is another piece similarly laminated. Nice detailing.  Jeff

Jeff- Yea I grew up on Long Island and did theater in HS and College. I wanted to work on Broadway doing lighting and set building. Getting into the stagehand's union (IATSE) was virtually impossible unless you had family in already. I did work for a local company doing trade shows and New York Fashion Week for several years but then I met my wife to be and became an electrician, the rest is history.
The flat is built up in a few layers to give it depth. Here's a few more photos. I bought the prints from a guy in the UK who runs this blog. He has lots of nice stuff. They are scaled for HO but I just enlarge the image before printing to get the scale right. I have a really nice ink-jet printer in my office that does 11X17 prints.

Thanks,

Bob

The fence is a print too, posts are 1/4" balsa and stringers are styrene.

Bob sounds like the large format printer is a real help.  I keep seeing several guys with their 3D printers and laser cutters. I think I am back in the stone age. I might still have access to the 3D printers at the university, I'll have to learn the CAD programs to print detail parts.

Last lesson learned on building the card stock girder bridges. DO NOT USE LASER PRINTING !!!  I was making the other side of my bridge and laid in a support section before I should have. So I was preparing to cut the section out. Much to my surprise, with some gentle pulling the section came off with minimal damage to the section or the bridge. The CA glue had bonded to the laser ink, not the paper substrate. I was able to pull off the laser ink from the paper. End result the joints end up being very brittle and will break when stressed. 

Good news, the finished girders look pretty good and are cosmetic only. I'll eventually coat with a dull clear coat after touching up the cut edges. Then wait to see how long they stay together. Never even thought about how weak the ink fusion process is. Strong enough to keep the ink on the paper but that is it.  Jeff

Jeff,

I have had to use Evemodel's 4802 1/50 Seated People because Preiser stopped making the six figures in their original 6-person 1/50 package.  I was fortunate to find some of the Preiser 1/50 factory painted figures five years ago, but have used Evemodel's since.  Evemodel has recently removed two figures from the 48-pack (8 of six different figures)  and put in two 1/45 figures.  Unfortunately I use the man with arms crossed and the woman/girl with her head turned to the left.

I now have to buy the 4806 pack of 1/45 seated figures with 2 of 25 different poses in the 50-pack. The Evemodel figures take an extra coat of paint to hide the fleshy plastic and an unusual greying that applying acrylic paint causes at the edge of the painted area.  It is a reaction of the paint to the mold oils used in making the figures I believe.  A second coat of paint eliminates the problem.

Unfortunately, the only way to get the people with the babies is to buy the Preiser 65602 24-pack with one of each figure.  The current price is $30.81 and $18.00 shipping for one pack, or $37.95 for the six people with babies in the factory painted 6-person pack, plus shipping from Germany.  It is expensive. I figured I saved $120.00 dollars on painting each 65602 Unpainted Seated People 24-pack.  The five separate Preiser factory painted six and four-packs cost over $150.00 plus shipping for the 24 figures, if you can find enough of them at one dealer. (They are often out-of-stock.)  The factory-painted figures only come in two color combinations, A or B.   I paint in five colors or more with often greater painting detail.

Have a good weekend.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

@RSJB18 posted:

Jeff- Yea I grew up on Long Island and did theater in HS and College. I wanted to work on Broadway doing lighting and set building. Getting into the stagehand's union (IATSE) was virtually impossible unless you had family in already. I did work for a local company doing trade shows and New York Fashion Week for several years but then I met my wife to be and became an electrician, the rest is history.
The flat is built up in a few layers to give it depth. Here's a few more photos. I bought the prints from a guy in the UK who runs this blog. He has lots of nice stuff. They are scaled for HO but I just enlarge the image before printing to get the scale right. I have a really nice ink-jet printer in my office that does 11X17 prints.

Thanks,

Bob

 

The fence is a print too, posts are 1/4" balsa and stringers are styrene.

Bob - ever print the windows with transparency film or vellum? I would think you could get a really neat effect with a back light.  I went to the site UK and will have to dig a bit deeper for the prints.

I was basically a stage dad, but stayed out of the way and helped when asked. Really fun to learn about how a stage really works. Have never gotten out to Broadway to see a show, that's on the bucket list. Saw many when they came to Chicago. One of my sons got accepted to the theater program at Michigan Tech (out of 4 incoming freshmen) and then decided theater was not for him. He now owns and runs his own coffee shop in the Grand Rapids Mi area. I ended up in engineering - paid better than marine biology at the time.   Jeff 

@ScoutingDad Jeff- I've only used the prints as they were produced. I could see printing on acetate for windows. May have to try that on the next one. Tx.

Still working on George HW Bush Funeral Train cars.  I have run the Dining Car and Dome Dining Car and see the need for some adjustments to the cars.

The Dining Car has a few more people installed since last seen.  I have posted pictures.

The Dome Dining Car has a lot of empty space and boring beige walls inside, until the six tables at the end of the car with seated people.  I am putting a few people in the Lounge Area,  Probably a woman smoking a cigarette and someone for her to talk to.  The flashes of color from the passengers makes the passing passenger car interesting.

The next/third car is the "Kenefick" Business/Observation Car.  The car will need major surgery on the Conference Table Area that is out of place and needs to be cut and rotated 180 degrees.  As manufactured, the people in the aisle-side chairs are obstructing the aisle.

My progress is slow, as other priorities have taken my time.  Added a Woodland Scenics figure to the Kitchen Loading Door.

Have a good week.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Hi guys, I have to make this quick as I am on my tablet. I was able to work in the train room today and buile a cart to store my off track cars. Here are a couple photos, please forgive the poor photos! Its hard to take them with a tablet as my Cell Phone died! When I get to my home computer I will check more things out! I hope you all had a great weekend!

Mike, That is super!  You sure did that quickly!  It would have taken me ages!  Congratulations!!!!

@mike g.

Mike:

Your cart looks to be great. It is a good idea for rolling stock storage.

Mike, I could fit more cars on one the same size, two bay hoppers, 40 foot boxcars, and short flat cars and tank cars.   Hmmm.

Hi Mike - nice job on the shelves.  If you build a general purpose cart without the shelves, you can store all the stuff on the floor.  As we get older, it's harder to crawl down there when you need to retrieve something that you need right away.

Nice job!  What will you be using to keep the rolling stock from rolling?

Mike G., another novel invention, a super space saver storage unit that makes good Sense. Yes, we’re getting older and this will not only save your back, but make it easy to add and take off the layout cars not needed. Your design is really neat, thanks for the pictures. Fantastic.  I just played with some switches yesterday. I hope everyone has a great week. Happy Railroading Everyone.

Yesterday my son did his first scratch build...he wants a tiki hut over our water scene...so started with mocking up a boardwalk section...Dad did the cutting of pieces (still not quite ready to let him use sharp blades just yet...almost there), Christian did the assembly...he's pretty proud of it!

Happy Monday........NOT

I had one of those OH S*#% moments that we all suffer through from time to time when working on our layouts. I'm almost done with the light pole I'm making for the new siding. I wanted to scope out where I can grab the power from yesterday so I turned on the lights for the layout and noticed that the light over the loading dock on the building was out. I started digging and my first stop was the terminals under the building to check power. All good there. I knew what was next, I had to take the building off the layout to dig deeper.
Here's where it gets bad. Against my better judgement, I glued everything together when I finished the building and couldn't take it apart easily to check the light. I basically had to cut all the wires to get the floor out and see what happened. I finally got the fixture out of the wall (also glued in place), and it looks like one of the wires broke where the hood meets the arm. The arms on these don't attach to the hoods and are very sharp. I know I've hit the hood more than a few times so it must have cut the wire.
So now I have to put it all back together.

OH S*#% 

This is the offender

This is what was left after dismantling the bottom of the building.

@Canes RR posted:

Yesterday my son did his first scratch build...he wants a tiki hut over our water scene...so started with mocking up a boardwalk section...Dad did the cutting of pieces (still not quite ready to let him use sharp blades just yet...almost there), Christian did the assembly...he's pretty proud of it!

GREAT work, Christian!!!!!

Adjusting the interior of the Union Pacific "Kenefick" Business/Observation Car.

The conference table in the Business Car is rotated 180 degrees as molded at the factory.  This puts the chairs for one side of the table in the main aisle of the car, obstructing people walking by.  I scored the floor along the walls and cut the section out, rotating it on 1/4" .060 Plastruct rails with Krazy Glue.

Now the serious detailing can begin.

Update:  I removed the seven Lionel Little People in order to paint the interior.  I need another coat of white and to razor paint marks off the walls where needed.  I will then place some Preiser 65602 Seated People in the car.

Update #2:  The people are in the car.  The seats, chairs and beds are three different heights that cause problems in getting the people to look good through the windows.  The beds are higher than other Lionel passenger cars.  The chairs at the conference table are very low.  I will have to check my "Lone Star" Business Car I did three months ago for height problems.

Have a good week.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

This past weekend I constructed an O scale code 100, two rail 19 degree cross track.
I have built several turnouts and shelved them for the future revival of my harbor front switching layout. Back  in 2006 the former  layout was decommissioned (to the dump) with a hope that simplification in the future would make it more useable. The cross track was the most challenging to make. It has eight (8) frogs that were cut, and soldered. This cross track build was attempted and failed several times about 8 years ago. So, it is with great pleasure that the final piece of the layout puzzle has come off the bucket list! 

Note: Happily  I ran my Lionel postwar layout during breaks from the O scale build.
The  Ozone tranquilization was definitely needed!

@RSJB18 posted:

Happy Monday........NOT
Here's where it gets bad. Against my better judgement, I glued everything together when I finished the building and couldn't take it apart easily to check the light. I basically had to cut all the wires to get the floor out and see what happened. I finally got the fixture out of the wall (also glued in place), and it looks like one of the wires broke where the hood meets the arm. The arms on these don't attach to the hoods and are very sharp. I know I've hit the hood more than a few times so it must have cut the wire.
So now I have to put it all back together.

 

Bob, I can sympathize with you!  This sounds exactly like something I would have done.  I 'paint myself into corners' all the time. 

Over the weekend I prepared to add the switches and track for the lower level car barn/car storage tracks.  I'm not going to report what I had to do to get the supports for my top level removed to open the way, but you can now see through from the tangent track to the storage location marked by the caboose in the distance.  The 054/064 switch will be removed and an 054 switch will be installed with the straight lead going away from the camera.

I did place an order today for the wye for the upper level and 2 switches I need to put in the lower level car holding tracks.

@mike g. posted:

Hi guys, I have to make this quick as I am on my tablet. I was able to work in the train room today and buile a cart to store my off track cars. Here are a couple photos, please forgive the poor photos! Its hard to take them with a tablet as my Cell Phone died! When I get to my home computer I will check more things out! I hope you all had a great weekend!

Excellent storage option.  Well done Mike!

Cheer, Dave

Guys everyone’s work looks great 

John. You have enough people to start your own nation lol

Christian. I agree that look very good

Mike. I made a rolling stock cart this winter I’m using my Grandma & Grandpa’s old TV stand from the sixties I’ll get you a pic of it 

Mark. Your switches look nice and tidy 

Leroof. The cross track looks like it’s coming along 

Bob. Hope you get that lined out that’s a nice building 

Larry. Nice pic and the switches look good 

Well I finally got this old Tootsietoy International RC done. I hand painted it Mopac Eagle  Blue and added some Missouri Pacific Truck lines decals  now for a piggyback trailer for it. This will be going on my new O27 layout I’m trying to keep it traditional as I can 

I added two more whisker tracks to hold my last two locomotive additions (Premier ATSF 2900 class Northern and a Premier SP ABB PA set). I'll figure out how I want to scenic it over the next couple of weeks. I've run out of storage room on the layout so I'm going to have to build some shelves for extra rolling stock and locomotive storage. 

Lee,  The MoPac truck looks nice. Have a good week.

John Rowlen

Still doing trackwork. I figured out that one switch I put in on a curve coming out of Avery yard is in a BACKWARDS orientation!! So now I have to rip it out and put in the correct switch. My 3-track passenger platform from TW Trainworx has one platform that fits between the tracks no problem. But the other platform is too wide and will have to be cut down widthwise to fit. No big loss. I sure can't relocate the track because it is track 3 out of 5 and would have a ripple effect requiring half of the yard to be moved!

I have the two Lionel Bascule bridges installed, face to face. They are behind (in the sense of how the fake river flows underneath) the **** Gate bridge and at the same height. So I figured out (call me rocket scientist!) that the whole installation MAKES NO SENSE. If the boats going underneath will clear the **** Gate bridge, why would they not clear another regular bridge behind it? The lift action of the bascule bridges is (prototypically-speaking) completely unnecessary. Also, they meet in the center of the "river" at a stone pier which in modeling terms is required. They cannot just meet over open air and magically lock together strong enough to support a train. So the center pier is a must-have. But again, this means that a standard truss bridge would have served (in a prototype sense) just as well. There is no justification for having bascule bridges there other than the fact that I bought them and I want to use them! I decided not to care. There they are and there they stay.

These are the perils of doing NO real track planning. But I decided up front that this thing was a toy, not a prototype model. I will still enjoy watching those bascule bridges going up and down even if the USS Missouri isn't going undeneath them to accept the Japanese surrender! Hmmmmm.....the Missouri....has possibilities....

All the best!

Don

@Loose-Caboose posted:

I am doing a 200 sq ft expansion on my 250 sq ft layout.  I got tired of tripping over extension cords going to my wire brush Dremel tool, solder station and vacuum cleaner as I was installing drops to my track.  So, I stopped the insanity and extended my run of 120 Volt outlets on my existing layout to my expansion.  The problem is I originally ran a twenty amp circuit to my layout which calls for 12AWG wire.  There is a world of difference running 12 AWG versus 14 AWG Romex to the outlets.  When I started the layout I asked for suggestions as to what to run to the layout if I was using Four Transformers (two for Track Power, one for powering switches and one to power my TMCC control boxes) and the answer was that I should use a twenty amp circuit.  Oh well, lesson learned.

As I mentioned, I am working on an expansion to my existing layout.  Since I am in the limelight of my years this will be my final expansion.  This picture shows 1 of the 5 outlets I installed to eliminate the need for extension cords.  Three of the outlets are installed along the perimeter as this one is demonstrating.  Two others are underneath the layout to provide power for the anticipated installation of some Menard's Buildings

Masked my two LIONEL 15" offset dome cars to spray the dark green for the Lowey livery.

Sprayed the pair (Scalecoat II) then promptly removed the mask at the color separation line.  Looks pretty good; minor paint lift on a plastic car end on one side.

Will leave in my purpose-built drying/paint curing room for 24 hours per Scalecoat's directions and remove the rest of the masking tape.  Then get on to the white, 1/16" Microscale water slide striping decals and see if I can make a straight, white line of 15" or so four times.

@Pingman posted:

Masked my two LIONEL 15" offset dome cars to spray the dark green for the Lowey livery.

Sprayed the pair (Scalecoat II) then promptly removed the mask at the color separation line.  Looks pretty good; minor paint lift on a plastic car end on one side.

Will leave in my purpose-built drying/paint curing room for 24 hours per Scalecoat's directions and remove the rest of the masking tape.  Then get on to the white, 1/16" Microscale water slide striping decals and see if I can make a straight, white line of 15" or so four times.

I just ordered scalecoat II PRR Tuscan Red on spray cans for my K-line projects. Let me know how many coats for coverage, please. 

@Don Merz 070317 posted:

Still doing trackwork. I figured out that one switch I put in on a curve coming out of Avery yard is in a BACKWARDS orientation!! So now I have to rip it out and put in the correct switch. My 3-track passenger platform from TW Trainworx has one platform that fits between the tracks no problem. But the other platform is too wide and will have to be cut down widthwise to fit. No big loss. I sure can't relocate the track because it is track 3 out of 5 and would have a ripple effect requiring half of the yard to be moved!

I have the two Lionel Bascule bridges installed, face to face. They are behind (in the sense of how the fake river flows underneath) the **** Gate bridge and at the same height. So I figured out (call me rocket scientist!) that the whole installation MAKES NO SENSE. If the boats going underneath will clear the **** Gate bridge, why would they not clear another regular bridge behind it? The lift action of the bascule bridges is (prototypically-speaking) completely unnecessary. Also, they meet in the center of the "river" at a stone pier which in modeling terms is required. They cannot just meet over open air and magically lock together strong enough to support a train. So the center pier is a must-have. But again, this means that a standard truss bridge would have served (in a prototype sense) just as well. There is no justification for having bascule bridges there other than the fact that I bought them and I want to use them! I decided not to care. There they are and there they stay.

These are the perils of doing NO real track planning. But I decided up front that this thing was a toy, not a prototype model. I will still enjoy watching those bascule bridges going up and down even if the USS Missouri isn't going underneath them to accept the Japanese surrender! Hmmmmm.....the Missouri....has possibilities....

All the best!

Don

Don, It is your layout and whatever suits your fancy is THE way to do it!!!!

@pennsynut posted:

I just ordered scalecoat II PRR Tuscan Red on spray cans for my K-line projects. Let me know how many coats for coverage, please. 

 

I'm the wrong guy ask about "how many coats?"  I paint with a heavy hand despite knowing better.

Also, I "sprayed" using a single-action Badger airbrush @25 psi. 

Good luck with your project.

Detailed the Bush Funeral Train Baggage Car.

I used a wet blend of Sand, Yellow, Dark Tan and Red Earth to create the floor. 

Lionel cut the door opening too deep, removing the bottom door track raised piece of plastic, causing the black chassis frame to show through the open door.  There is a plastic sheet as a protective window.  It could be a magnet for finger prints obstructing the view.  It is a nice car.  It could be better with a better cut door and the correct 50-star American Flag.

Have a good week.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Lou. Your track looks good and that’s a great pic of your Engines 

John. Thanks you as well.The Funeral car looks nice 

Jim  your expansion looks good 

Carl  keep us posted on your paint job I’m curious how it turns out

As for me nothing tonight just to tired to sit at the bench maybe tomorrow I’ll have something 

Set up the Gantry Crane Sound Work House by Lionel tonight.  Finally found a Work House at Phil's Trains in Wheeling WV.  I called so many places to locate the Sound House this summer and had given up and an OGR associate of ours put me onto one of our advertisers and fortunately Phil's had one in stock and at a really good price as well.  The decision where to locate the work house and drilling the holes for the wires took much longer than the connection,  installation, and programing the work house. 

Now my grandson will hear the men running the crane talking and the sound of the motors running as he empties the gondolas full of metal scrap! He was six when he began operating the crane and then the Texas Special with the Legacy Cab2.

I'm impressed with the work house sounds.  Just as I am with the sound diner cars from Lionel.  

Have a good week OGR Members

My friend's 1950s diesel hasn't run since the 1950s.  A little clean up and touchup got it going again.

Correcting my mistake from prior post.  OGR advertiser is

Patricks Trains located in Wheeling WV

Thanks,

Seth