Changed my switch at the end of the table and added one. The switch on the end will go to a Korbor grain elevator and the empty 2x 2 space is for a farm scene. Added one more switch.
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Hi all, decided to do a quick video of my progress so far. Been trying to figure out placement and potential structures especially for the town area. Finally figured out how to do a plug and play for my future building lighting, "Miller Engineering" signs and street lights. With the card stock girder bridge turning out reasonably well, I decided to take a try at interior detailing. I really liked the Walther's building because I could spray paint the brick and then install the windows later. Thinking about what I need for my first order from Evan's. Certainly will need a couple of flashing white lights in case we need to call The Doctor.
Got the crossing wired in, still does not work quite right. And then since I typically get my switching messed up, decided to redo my switch board so I can minimize my mistakes. I can run three trains or have a single train run on all three lines. I figured out the inner loop could handle a 3 track passenger station that doubles as a staging area. My 5 car Southern Crescent just fits in the outer section. Probably have my Santa Fe Super Chief cars on the second track but my ABA F7s probably are too long. Lastly the Chicago CTA subway should get interesting running on the inner loop with auto stops programmed in.
As always ideas are welcome. Hope you enjoy the video. Jeff
Scoutingdad: "Lots to do" Nice buildings and interesting layout. Never ending enjoyment.
Today I worked on my kitbash and ran 2 freights. A mixed train behind a PRR M1a and ten 2 bay coal hoppers behind a PRR Decapod.
I just got an email from one of my German Ebay sellers of the Preiser 65602 Unpainted Seated People. He cannot ship to the United States or generate an Ebay shipping label, He lists ten Preiser 65602 as available to the United States, but can't generate shipping labels to the USA. Another German seller who has six, has listed that his store is closed until further notice. My third German seller stopped listing on Ebay USA after blocking USA buyers for three months prior to disappearing.
The German post office is blocking mail to the United States. Maybe the German government is afraid that damaged packages will be returned from the USA to Germany with Covid 19 virus on them. They still don't let average Americans into Germany, but then neither does Canada. Mom wanted to visit Niagara Falls this summer, but we can't get into Canada. My neighbors have a time-share cabin in Canada and they couldn't get to go this summer.
Stuck in my basement in my imaginary world.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
@John Rowlen posted:I just got an email from one of my German Ebay sellers of the Preiser 65602 Unpainted Seated People. He cannot ship to the United States or generate an Ebay shipping label, He lists ten Preiser 65602 as available to the United States, but can't generate shipping labels to the USA. Another German seller who has six, has listed that his store is closed until further notice. My third German seller stopped listing on Ebay USA after blocking USA buyers for three months prior to disappearing.
The German post office is blocking mail to the United States. Maybe the German government is afraid that damaged packages will be returned from the USA to Germany with Covid 19 virus on them. They still don't let average Americans into Germany, but then neither does Canada. Mom wanted to visit Niagara Falls this summer, but we can't get into Canada. My neighbors have a time-share cabin in Canada and they couldn't get to go this summer.
Stuck in my basement in my imaginary world.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
Interesting info - I was not aware...
George
Excellent video Jeff! I did some work planning a town too. It can ve seen on this link to my Blackwater Canyon Line topic. Here is a teaser.
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More work on my 2nd kitbash project today. Got notice that my PRR Tuscan Red spray paint is being shipped and should be here next Tuesday. Hope for pleasing results with some paint on my K-line bashed baggage car. Then I will look for decals for that and project car no. 2. Plan to run some freights and the mail train tonight. So involved with rr car projects that I have slacked off my train order operating sessions.
Take a guess at what I did today for my railroad. Yes, I am painting people for the Lionel Vista Vision Dome cars headed my way. Figures are in Yellow, Violet, Green, Blue, Light Grey, and Pink. These1/50 figures are good for the 21" Dining Cars. Changing clothing colors helps disguise that these figures repeat in different cars throughout the passenger train.
I started with pastel color clothes for the women because when I first started detailing passenger cars it was spring, right before Easter. My scenery is set in spring/summer, so pastels worked well. The bright colors counter the dark suits of the men.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
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John, More great painted figures. Good tip on repeating in different cars. Those ladies remind me of what the Queen of England wears.
Mark, The woman with the hat is the most formal female passenger riding in my passenger cars. The matching shoes and hat go back to a time when vacationing was a major, more formal event. Some of my passengers are casually dressed. The businessmen have suits with ties. The parents with babies wear comfortable clothes with tennis shoes. Being a caregiver is a 24/7 responsibility. The parents grab their quiet moments whenever they can. As children grow, stuffing a bottle in their mouth no longer works to satisfy the child.
Have a good week.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
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John, since my era of interest is the same as yours, I didn't even think twice about the dresses and hats. It was the bright colors and coordination of outfits your ladies have, just like I have seen in photos of the queen (all lavender or all peach for instance). I do remember when anyone going to town dressed up as they did going to church, unless it was to go to the hardware or farm store. You are right, the family would be more casual to keep up with the kids. I even recall in our rural high school, all the boys had to wear slacks and the girls all had to wear dresses or skirts, and no tennis shoes except for gym class. Another example, for senior photographs in the yearbook all the boys wore jackets and ties. I was a blue collar worker like my dad, and I always cleaned up before going to a church meeting, for instance. I have a couple Menards buildings that have very nice figures, but I will have to alter some as they are not dressed for steam-diesel transition era.
Evening guys. I hope you all have had a good week sofar!
Rusty and Lee, I have always been able to get train stuff from Menards anytime of the year after my first visit. I went there and there were no train stuff out, I sent a message to Mark the Menards guy via Cabinet Bob here on the forum and he contacted the store to inform them to tell me where I could find the train stuff on the second floor and ever since then no problem!
Dave R. looks like you have a great start! I like the new switch location and the purpose for it!
Pennsynut, wow looks like alot of custom work! Cant wait to see the finished product!
John R, What a wonderful Alaska train you have put together! Really impressive! I kinda feel for you, one minute you think your done painting people and here you go again!
Colorado Hirailer , Nice work on the Caboose shops! I hope you will post some photos of your engine house kitbash!
Jeff, Thanks for the outstanding video of your layout and the progress you have made sofar!
Mark, what a tease! LOL But I have to say things are really looking nice on your layout! Keep up the great work!
Well I guess more then me have been working on there towns lately. Here are a couple of photos of what I have sofar!
Last time I was here I told you all I was working on a scratch built box car/container. well I got it done and want to give you all a little back story of it. My son came to me with a broken Quad copter and wanted to know if I could fix it. long story shot there was no way to fix it, one of the motors heated up and melted the housing for it and it was done flying. He said if I could use it for my train layout I was more then welcome to it. So here is a few photos of what I came up with.
Made my own track video car from the camera from the quad copter. I had to make a mounting plate to it was at the right angle as if it were flying. I made some videos but cant seam to get them off my phone so I have to get a SD card and try it that way. Once I get a video I will post it for you all!
I hope you all have a great weekend and find time for your layouts and trains! But most of all I hope you all have fun!
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So, Dad and I have been taking the layout down over the past few weeks. We are building a new one. We had this layout for 20 years and it gave us a lot of fun but we felt we had as much as we could with it. This new one will be more based in operation with more switching (we've been researching over the past few years about real railroad operation and watching lots virtual railfan lol). I'll keep posting as construction continues but we've already got trains running again...
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WOW Cody, thats quite the undertaking! I dont know if I will ever get to that point but if I do, I am sure it will be when I get a lot more time with the one I am building now! Good luck and please keep us all posted!
@mike g. posted:WOW Cody, thats quite the undertaking! I dont know if I will ever get to that point but if I do, I am sure it will be when I get a lot more time with the one I am building now! Good luck and please keep us all posted!
I sure will. Dad kept saying for the past few years that he wanted to do something different and we finally pulled the trigger.
Got some new arrivals today. 2 new engines and a used Atlas double bridge.
First engine is a Norfolk Southern AC6000 by MTH.
The bridge is beautiful, sadly has some minor repair needed but it should be no problem to get looking like new. Will be using this and an atlas single bridge to have a walkway into the middle of the layout.
Finally I got these drop dead gorgeous K-Line Pennsylvania F3s that were factory sealed, Not only do they look great, they are so far running flawlessly.
Today UPS dropped off my MTH EP-5 in the M & M's paint scheme. Brand new in the box. Made in 2010. Now I have the beginning of a candy train.......pic Paul 2
Very nice work being done by everyone. I need to revise my new layout track plan through the yard along the wall I cannot reach.
Until then, I am painting more people. Here is a picture of last night's work, Nineteen people done. The woman is a figure I seldom use, She is short and her rear end does not fit well in seats . . . unless I grind a lot off her back. But, I have her finished if I need another passenger. To make the woman more interesting, I painted a Chrome Silver bracelet on her right arm.
Have a good weekend.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
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With people social distancing, the model train business is booming. So management approved a building rehab project. New paint, tuck pointing and LED lighting so customers can see the detail on the inventory.
Here is the 15 year old version with windows removed for dramatic affect.
Here is the new version up and ready for more stock.
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Put this puppy on the rails for the first time.
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Working on the next group of seated passengers. UPS dropped off a large box that contains three Vista Vision Dome Camera passenger cars. My focus will probably change to detailing one of the cars.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
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I have been working on an expansion to my existing layout. I finally got all the track laid, the switches correctly wired and the Blocks wired. So this morning I moved all of the locomotives I had on the existing portion of the layout to the new area. It took along time because I had to refer to my cheat sheet of which switch number was for what switch. There are now 52 switches on the entire layout and 32 blocks
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A few odds and ends like people, a couple of cars, and started placing a few trees. Also picked up an additional animated track gang and lights. I hope to get the lights wired, a street through the small town and continue to work on my 'yard'. Running out of space quickly and I'd like to expand my loop eventually since I have plenty of track, but that's not in the cards anytime soon. Stay safe everyone, fingers crossed for spring York!
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Mike. Sounds like you got a key to the mint.
John the figures look great as always
Steve. Those buildings look nice and yes the guy I’m selling my HO stuff to says it’s been a lot more busy
Jim. The bench work looks great
Bob. That’s a nice loco enjoy it
Today I made a gravel side road made from sand I got about 10yrs ago where my oldest Daughter was playing Softball. I plan on this being a team track road
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Lionel 2027160 Alaska 21" Dome Coach Vista Vision camera passenger car arrived today. The car is a Dome Coach with the camera boards hidden behind walls in the lower Lounge. I do NOT recommend disconnecting camera wires, but rather unscrew LED boards and Dome Seating Floor in order to paint and add Passengers.
I will add pictures as my interior painting progresses. The Dome Camera is in the center front as seen in the first picture. I need one more coat of paint on the seats.
UPDATE: The car detailing is finished. It is time to close the car up and test run it.
Have a good weekend.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
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John, I did not know there was such a thing as a camera passenger car. That is slick how they hid the electronics and the camera! It will be another great looking interior when you are done!
Lee Drennen: I like your side road for your team track. Good idea to use natural materials in some cases, that mean something, to you! For instance, I think you'll think of her and where you were at, when you see the team track road.
I went to Arkansas two years ago, for my 99 year old Grandfathers funeral and picked up rocks, and some dirt, while there, to put on my layout when it's built, eventually.
When I see those rocks and red dirt, I'll think of him.
Rusty
Diverging Clear. Thanks for the complement and the kind words. Yes I will always think of that day she was playing up town at the sports complex after the game I seen that old pile of sand and took a cup of it. Now she’s in College working at our local Grocery store and part time at the Middle school I’m very proud of her
John - thanks for the pictures of the interior of your beautiful Alaska Camera car. No Lionel people? I’m sue you’ll fill it up. Maybe you could leave a seat fo me and Brian Silver Mustang? LOL 😝
John Rowlen, that’s fantastic work on your Alaska Camera Vistadome Passenger Car. Beautiful. Lionel has made a lot of really cool cars for our enjoyment. Happy Railroading Everyone.
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Yesterday I received the GarGraves 042 right hand switch from Sidehack Ray that I needed for the yard. I assembled the tracks for the yard and placed 40-foot boxcars on to see how many the yard will hold. It looks like 8 if I foul one switch with a car. If I filled the yard with 2-bay hoppers, I should be able to get one additional car on each of the two longer tracks. It would be nice if the tracks were longer, but this isn't bad for a small layout that I want to emphasize mountain scenery. None of the yard tracks are wired or fastened to the roadbed yet. I did run a train both ways through the new 054 right hand switch leading off the mainline and all worked well. I still have lots of wiring to do.
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Getting ready for more sanding before I spray this with Rusto flat red primer. That should highlight areas that need more sanding. Hopefully I can get a first Tuscan red gloss on it in a week or so.
I forgot, I need to make postal doors too.
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I've been busy all summer, which has kept me away from OGR for much too long. Here's a video to make up for it:
Leapin' Larry,
Your Lionel Dome and Theater cars look very good. I just started putting people in my Alaska Vista Vision Dome Coach. It will be a busy and late night of grinding, touching up paint, and gluing.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
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I recently finished adding details to my PRR passenger shelter. You can see more and read about it here.
Ran trains last night and made some videos. Several of the engines are from my Christmas in July and had the engines in MU or lash-up. All units powered. Featured roads are NYC, Union Pacific, Conrail, Southern and Burlington. Freight cars are either MTH Premier or Atlas O Master Line. Really enjoyable time relaxing in the basement.
Ever since I bought my Premier ATSF 5011 class Texas the incorrect black smokebox front has bugged me. Today I painted it the correct gray. Looks 100% better and is now prototypical.
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Waiting for parts to come in, l found I had two Oakridge Corp. kits for "The Old Mill". Guess l better build one, and began to. Naturally, unable to leave well enough alone, l am bashing away, and have lengthened the building, and deleted and moved windows. These are not shake-the-box kits as walls have to be pieced together, and windows cut out, all a good excuse to bash. I will probably make other changes. Some years ago l visited the kit builder on the south side of Chicago, and last heard of them with a shop farther north.
@BruceG posted:I've been busy all summer, which has kept me away from OGR for much too long. Here's a video to make up for it:
Great video Bruce. Looks like your grandson is enjoying himself too.
