What did you do on your layout today?

what a bummer!!

FINALLY! I built a new building,  made it nice (IMHO)  heated airconditioned tile floor, good lighting,  (for me) lot of sq foot to play with, built a layout.  Put multimeter on it and all the places that had to have AC had AC, no switches powered yet but track is all hot.

got out my old Berkshire conventional; cleaned off contacts put it on track and let her rip

spun both traction wheels right off the hub,   Old ones that needed  to be  replaced anyway,  called Lionel and got told (we are out of them) i sez OK when (will you not be out of them) she sez (I don't know). 

 

I said "yeah, but you make them, when will there be some, can i order them and have you ship them?"  She says "I have no idea when?"

Starting to get a bit warm and i say "But lady, you make the darn things, if i can not get them from you what do i do, turn the engine into a door stop"

Her final advice  KEEP CALLING

Shut everything down, turned lights off and went to main house. just sort of disgusted

Pelago:

 

While Lionel parts may not have what you need, one of the parts dealers may.

 

One OGR advertiser who has gotten me parts Lionel is "out of" is S & W Parts. His phone is 518-280-5197 and the e-mail is:  trains@sandwparts.com

 

Tony

Up on "The D & H Bridge Line"

I'd drop Train Tender a line.  Jeff can fix ya up. 

 

Or, failing that:  http://www.bullfrogsnot.com/

 

Mitch

Last night I added more trees to a section I filled with pink board. It had been just an open spot. So today I just took a couple of pics of it so far. I still want to add a few more trees and shrubs, which I still have to order. Later today I decided to stop planting and start laying in the track for the yard on the lower level below these pics........Paul

Nice Paul. All I did was dust off my engines & cars. They do look better though!

Sent from my iPad

Today I fired up my Christmas-new Legacy PE and found the green marker lights are not on. Were they ever? Hmm. Can't remember.

Tried to adjust a Miller Engineering light and pulled the hot lead off.

Then my problem-child loco, Legacy Berk Boston&Albany smoke unit began whining again. Screamed at it,"Stop that whining!" It kept on whining.

Decided to move a few vehicles in downtown area. Tried to pick one of the high-dollar-but-gorgeous Bricklin models but tires stuck to painted road surface. Tire came off.

Good thing it's time to start supper or I wouldn't have anything left to break tomorrow.

I work on them all; sometimes I fix one.

 

 

Built another shelf for my trains.  I gotta stop buying them running out of walls.

In the last week I have added 34 more light fixtures.  Still having fun even with the crawling around under the layout.

 

Larry

 

PS And made sure my fire extinguisher was fully charged.

 

Great work, Larry. I love night views of layouts.

Very Impressive, Larry!!

The airport looks great!  You should have no trouble landing your Lear jet!  

I really like the effect of the lights in the background near the shelves.

Finally pulled the Christmas tree off the layout. Now the fun begins with rewiring lights and Track wiring.  

Let there be LOTS of light! That looks real good Larry.

Nah...Buy more walls!

 

 

 

Surely the landing lights work prototypically.

If not I wont stop calling you Shirley!.

(Sorry, I get like that when jealous)

   

What happened on my layout today? Had a chance meeting leaving the Home Improvement store with an old buddy...

Thanks guys.

Adriatic, it's definitely not prototypically correct. It's like the rest of my fantasy railroad just suppose to look cute. I always play in here with a little kids mindset. It's more relaxing that way.

 

Larry

 

Nice landing lights LARRY!!!  I think my Aliens have noticed.

 

 

 

Pretty much finished fine tuning the new Christmas layout. All of the design elements have been transferred to rosin paper mock-up and we are now ready to start construction of the benchwork.

 

For those who are considering building a new layout, the use of a rosin paper template makes it so much easier when it comes time for building your new layout.

Though having features on a layout that are proto-typically correct certainly has a happy place in our hobby, as does making the trains' environments as realistic as possible, mechanical wonders and playful features that wave at us, or wiggle, or take-something-from-here- and-put-it-there, and inspiring lighting can charm the pants off any of us, for sure. IMHO. Your lighting is wonderful. I wish I had it!

 

I love all the different interpretations of layouts in our hobby and have yet to see a layout - no matter what its size or wonders - that I didn't like and respect. Why? Because the layout gave a fellow-hobbyist just what you said your layout gives you - play and relaxation. If that were not true, are we not at work? Yet, work can be playful, enjoyable, rewarding, and relaxing, too, which is how I found teaching high school (for real, I swear).

 

Is there a point here, somewhere? I'm not sure.

 

Maybe, the point is that I agree with you, Larry Sr., applaud you for your spirit, and join you in the philosophy that we are at-play and relaxing, in our hobby, at an activity that gives us joy, infused as it is with its unique dose of fantasy.

 

I suppose it all has to do with how one approaches life .

 

(I'll shut-up, now.)

FrankM.

Great responses- having trains and working on layouts is definitely a
relaxing time for me and an opportunity to use my imagination and be
creative. A train layout is whatever you want it to be: it is your work of
art. Some days I don't know where I would be without it. It helps me
regain some of my sanity :-)


On Wed, Jan 21, 2015 at 9:11 AM, O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum <
alerts@hoop.la> wrote:

Larry,  How do you "crawl" around under your layout?  I found at my age, true crawling is difficult so I purchased a padded mechanic's creeper from Harbor
Tools.  Works great once I get on it but also can be difficult for one my age to get off of it!!

 

Jim

I'm still crawling around under there - just got back from such an adventure. There isn't a time I go layout-diving that I do not catch my noggin' on a track-screw poking thru the 3/4" plywood to say, "Hello, dummy." I know they are there but keep telling myself that, surely, this time I will not rip myself a new one - a new hole in the head. Oh well, at least I can still get to the upside of the layout.

FrankM@70

...the underworld...

layout-diving

 

I like that saying.

 

Jim

That looks like a good tool for that.

 

It's all carpet under mine and I strung those rope lights all over the place to help me see what I'm doing.

I just slide around with a big pillow. Probably be a little intimidating to me if anyone ever seen me looking that weird under there.

 

I did run a LOT of home runs to distribution blocks back to the main power source area prior to even putting the top on the bench work. That helped because I only have to work at certain terminal points to hook up anything. So, most of the crawling is short distances.

 

Larry

Frank you hit the nail on the head.......please excuse the pun!  Maybe we should open up a poll or thread to determine how often we bang our noggins under the train table.  I know I am always coming up from the basement with some kind of cut or bruise on my forehead after an afternoon of running wires.  My wife just smiles and says, I see you had another fine time running the trains today! Lol

 

-Pete

 

 

I have this same creeper and have used it for over 8 years. Really comfortable and high quality. 

 

Spent a good part of a snowy day working on track. Expanded my inner loop,#4, outward and turned a long siding in to a 5th loop so that gives me 4 O gauge loops and one S gauge.  Put in some remote sections to operate several of my cars. removed several items on the layout that were either not working or in the way. Nice improvement.

Larry, You know I love it right?  I hope so, it looks great of course. I couldn't pass the "Airplane" movie joke is all. The strobe would give me a headache in no time, more wiring, and another control board too? Can the strobe or put it on a switch

 

I've been gluing more foam, and watching the glue dry. No fumes, Elmers wood construction glue. I'll let you know, but so far it seems like a good bond. Appears to etch into the green foam a 1/64" or even less.

 

Found a good plastic candidate for a robotic arm for the Martian M.O.W. "thing". Its gaining more of the art deco cartoon look I want, losing the steampunk feel. Now I need a "Mickey Mouse" looking hand...

or three.

Hmmm! It seems most of us have a shared experience of injuries suffered while workin' on the railroad. During a physical my doctor asked me what happened to my hands. I told him that I had been wiring houses (and using a utility knife to strip insulation). He was concerned. I told him not to be. It goes with building an empire.

Maybe we should start a new thread;

"Things I've had to explain to my doctor/ER admitting nurse after working on the layout."

 

"Yessir, that really is a tiny (1/48th scale to be exact) door to an outhouse super-glued to my forehead."

I had bought two sets of steel weights with adhesive on one side, to weigh down the two (Peco) turntables on my On30 layout. Each rides on a set of contacts for the base, and those springs push the empty turntables well into the air due to their light weight. I didn't want to snip the springs, and weighing them down would provide a better platform for backing onto the tables with my relatively heavy Bachmann ten-wheelers. So now they ride low on the springs, the rails match for the most part even when the bridge is empty, as it should, and they also don't rock back and forth when a locomotive rolls onto them like before.

 

WOW! You sure know what you're doing when it comes to weathering sir. I'd say that wood on the turntable is perfect - a flawless job!

FrankM

Thanks!

 

Actually, those are coffee stirers (got a box of 1000 of them off amazon for less than ten bucks, great O scale lumber), ACC'd down to the plastic deck, then passed over with several shades of grey color artist markers. Then, I did the nails in ink, and did several passes with Floquil grimy black and some rust as well. Didn't really take all that long.

This thread shows you what one looks like out of the box: http://www.modelrailforum.com/....php?showtopic=16649

Once built, I don't plan to make any changes to the track plan. A few months ago I thought it would be a good idea to add a couple of stub tracks to the East Minneapolis yard to hold an engine or two and some MOW pieces. Since none of this has been wired yet, I figured it didn't count as a change.

 

I've spent the last few days working on this, and now I know why my shoulders hurt.

 

What did you put your track on? Did you have to fasten it down? I am assuming that it makes the running of your trains quieter. I will be doing a new layout this spring & hope to do it better this time.

Sent from my iPad

I like to call it "poor man's Homasote". Generically it is called fiberboard, and is manufactured under a variety of brand names. It is used to sheath houses, and is typically about one third the price of Homasote. 

 

I believe it has better sound deadening properties because it is less dense. The one thing it lacks is holding power for nails or screws. It also needs to be used in conjunction with some kind of supporting wood base.

 

We glue and screw it down to the plywood base. Then when I apply the track, I use a 1 5/8 trim head screw that is long enough to go through the tie, fiberboard and 3/4 plywood.

It is always a learning experience to find out what works best for different people on their layouts & ways to be just as effective and spend less. I am always for saving some money. Thank you for the info!

Sent from my iPad

Took it apart.

It's gone.

But not forgotten.

Attempting to make my own cell phone tower. Will show pictures when I get done. David

 

Replaced the badly frayed LIONEL RW transformer's power cord.  This was a childhood transformer, but I have no idea how to use it.  My only childhood memory of a small transformer is a 1034; mostly I remember the ZW 275W that I still have.

 

I hope to use the RW as a test bench transformer; with no permanent test bench I need something smallish.

Elliot,

 

  You need put wrecking crane with flat car there!

Today I ran my Christmas Train on the layout for first time. The K-Line Santa-Fe F3 had only 1 headlight, no number board lights. I had back when my arthritis was not a problem installed TMCC. The other day I felt good enough to finally go and instal cab lights, controlled by the smoke button, instal simulated MARS light and a lower light. This train along with 4 Williams passenger cars only ran under the tree each year. Don't have video of it running on my layout, but here's a short video of the changes I made, which it never had. I might try other things now.