What did you do on your layout today?

Scott, Fortescue is right.

What I did on my layout today was - pack up the trains !  We are changing basements to one 1300 miles away !  The new basement (trainroom portion) is 12 x 25 with an extra 12 x 12 room that my wife said I should take for layout expansion as well.  It will be awhile before track laying occurs as there’s always stuff to do to a new house but it’s exciting to plan for what’s to come.  Our new town has an active rail line (RC, P & E)  and a restored depot so that’s cool too.  So thanks in the meantime for letting me look over the shoulders of folks who are actively doing some modeling - I’ll join you as soon as I can !

Miggy . What are you asking. If it has to do with trains the sky is the limit. Two lines on bridges or whatever.

@farmerjohn posted:

Miggy . What are you asking. If it has to do with trains the sky is the limit. Two lines on bridges or whatever.

WHOA! My Fear-of-Heights-flight-button was hit with those awesome photos!! Well, John, With a bag of strips and a carpet layout, I want to try a "Baby Wooden Bridge Build".. crawling before walking.

So, ill look for a Photo of simple bridge, decide on what size timbers and height and width bridge so My Traditional Lionel O gauge engines looks like they fit, then start gluing? Yeah, scratch building is new to me. I guess i jump into the wrong part of the process and chuck it in the trash.

Lol, SO, ill try a two track bridge, span about 20 inches..... that looks cool... so I can post a photo to be proud of beginning modelling. <smile> (Hmm slice strips to 1 inch square? nooo, hmmm, rounded? no, hmmmmm, flush? nooooo.. (Fortesque , HELP)

WOW, I need to sit a min until my vertigo passes. Thanks, great photos

Scott, you and Jimmy Stewart with the vertigo! LOL.  You are on the right track, whatever looks good to you is correct.  If it looks good with your traditional trains, then you are good as gold.  As your skills improve with experience, then you may wish to replace it, or you may stick with this bridge for the rest of your life!  In O gauge trains, feel free to be creative.  Nothing is wrong if you like it.

My “Northland” project is currently at a standstill.    Discovered that the decals I printed were too transparent to show against the dark pullman green color of the car.  I need opaque print decals which required me to make a custom order.   Hard to find O scale decals for DM&IRR passenger equipment.     The car is painted and glossed and awaiting the decal delivery.    Since I will have extra decals, I bought another pullman coach on eBay to run as DM&IRR #33.   That will give me a 3 car train (local) when I am finished.

Got my second Covid shot!  Now I'm looking forward to the time we can all gather and travel safely and enjoy the new normal.   Until then, wash your hands, don't touch your face and wear your mask in public!

Cheers, Dave

Took a bunch of photos of TPRR and posted there. The paver sand worked out OK to fill in areas.  Regarding chicken grit - IMO - it works OK and looks pretty decent when down. However it is very jagged and makes spreading it troublesome and some are just the right size to lodge in frogs and points. Those have to be hand picked out. It is decomposed granite so I suppose it could be tumbled to round off the sharper edges and end up with a more uniform aggregate. Jeff

@ScoutingDad posted:

Took a bunch of photos of TPRR and posted there. The paver sand worked out OK to fill in areas.  Regarding chicken grit - IMO - it works OK and looks pretty decent when down. However it is very jagged and makes spreading it troublesome and some are just the right size to lodge in frogs and points. Those have to be hand picked out. It is decomposed granite so I suppose it could be tumbled to round off the sharper edges and end up with a more uniform aggregate. Jeff

Hey Jeff, your posting privileges on this thread should be withdrawn until you walk us through how you built that amazingly realistic girder bridge out of cardstock. It is a “what I did on my layout today” thread, after all. LOL!

You guys are a tough crowd.  Just posted an explanation in TPRR  - also I posted the bridge construction on this topic back on page 943. also I did get the idea from RSJB18 (Bob) The printable bridge was a download and cost a few bucks.  Have fun building - it is tedious - and you will glue your fingers together at least once.   Jeff 

@ScoutingDad posted:

You guys are a tough crowd.  Just posted an explanation in TPRR  - also I posted the bridge construction on this topic back on page 943. also I did get the idea from RSJB18 (Bob) The printable bridge was a download and cost a few bucks.  Have fun building - it is tedious - and you will glue your fingers together at least once.   Jeff

Who knew that making paper dolls when we were little would pay off later on life. 😂🤪😂🤪

Happy to inspire Jeff 👍

Darlander,  the Northland Observation car looks fantastic !!!  Really nice work..  Bummer about the decals, but you'll get there.

FarmerJohn, Keep sharing photographs of that amazing railroad, it's inspiring !!

RSJB18 (Bob) , you asked me about how the plastic does when I cut it on the table saw.  I have had an overall good experience with the Freud blades.  They are carbide tipped and coated with a teflon based coating (Red in Color).   I have been using a 60 tooth  7 1/4 inch blade can be bought at HomeDepot for $20..   Today I had to cut the entire back/front walls off the wings on the station.   Took a long time to set it up on the table saw so that I could rotate the building and keep the cuts aligned perfectly.  I decided after the first wall was removed to take out my favorite 10 inch Freud blade, and I was surprised how well it did.   It's a Freud  1084, it's made to cut melamine,  MDF veneered with a thin plastic formica like surface.   The 10 inch blade did a great job,  I ended up cutting through both walls full height and about 3 inches across the roof.  I finished cutting the roof with a sharp hacksaw blade 32 tpi.  Just didn't want a loose section of building riding between fence and the blade.   Accident looking for a place to happen !

I buy the Freud 1084 (10 inch diameter, 84 tooth blade )   on Amazon when they reduce the price to about $48 to $49.  It's an amazing saw blade with 3 different profiles on the carbide tips, but the resulting cuts are incredibly smooth.   I wouldn't say no melting occurred, but it was very minimal and I have found it's best to scrape off the little bit of melted residue with your fingernail or block of wood as soon as it comes off the saw while it's still warm.   I do use this same blade on the chop saw to make miter cuts, and it works great.

Not much to photograph tonight,  spent a lot of time cutting parts today and tried some ideas for the front upper facade which I thought would improve the front elevation, but "not so much"... That's OK, it was one of those ideas I really wanted to explore and there was only one way to do it and see if it added any value.  Will get back to it tomorrow.

Leapin Larry asked me about my coal mining area. I live in western KY so coal mines are everywhere. Underground and strip mines are the norm depending on depth. The coal on my layout came from under my family farm when it was stripped several years ago. If I had the time to do over I would have never signed the lease but so be it. Can't change it now.

@farmerjohn posted:

Leapin Larry asked me about my coal mining area. I live in western KY so coal mines are everywhere. Underground and strip mines are the norm depending on depth. The coal on my layout came from under my family farm when it was stripped several years ago. If I had the time to do over I would have never signed the lease but so be it. Can't change it now.

I grew up by gravel pits and my grandpa pulled the cars out to the main line. Great scene and I like the Super O track.

Morning guys, sure is some great work going on!
Chris a. Thanks for all the information you are sharing with the rest of us! Your train Station is looking amazing!

Farmer John, what a great coal mine scene! When I got out of the Marines one of my first jobs was driving off road dump trucks at a local coal mine.

Well I got a little time in the train room yesterday after my CEO list of things to do. Which turned out to be a winner for me. I was able to get a VCR/DVD player holder for the train room which gave me a work platform and most of the layout is taken now by scenery. Here are a couple photos so you can see what I did.

First off I am like the rest of you and hate legs on the layout as they always seem to get in the way, but I needed this one.

SO I could get my VCR/DVD holder mounted.

Now I have a nice little work station with power right there! I can now stop trying to find places on top of the layout to do  little projects.

I hope you all had a great week and even a better weekend planned! Please stay safe and try to make sure you find time to have fun on your layout and with your trains!

@farmerjohn posted:

Leapin Larry asked me about my coal mining area. I live in western KY so coal mines are everywhere. Underground and strip mines are the norm depending on depth. The coal on my layout came from under my family farm when it was stripped several years ago. If I had the time to do over I would have never signed the lease but so be it. Can't change it now.

WOW, Unexpected. "Bridges and trestles and Coalmines.. OH MY!" excellent.... just wow. wow

Cut a piece of .060 polystyrene to a 2" x 4" size and painted it to match my Lionel Ice Station. Added B&M signage in an old fashioned font printed on clear sticker paper and glued the whole sign to the side of the ice station.

That swing-out work area is a great idea, Mike.

I haven't posted anything in a LONG time because I was working for the past 5 months on a Great Lakes ore boat for my harbor area.  It all started with an idea and a set of plans I purchased from the Bay.  The boat is nearly 375 scale feet long and 50 feet wide in 1/50 scale.  LOA is 92 X 10 inches. Plans were 1/100th  and I enlarged them 2X on my printer. 

The keel is a piece of 1X10X1/2" OSB to which I screwed and glued 1/2X4" poplar.  The bow and stern was made from 3/4" aspen rough cut with a coping saw,  sandwiched together then all hand carved using only a 1-1/2 inch chisel.

Afterwards they were attached to the hull with many screws and wood glue. The deck is a piece of 1/8 inch hardboard glued and nail down to the hull. Holes were cut into the deck using a home made jig and a Mototool and a spiral up cutting bit.

The entire boat was skinned with 0.020 styrene I had from when I worked for K Mart that were signs they used to promote flu shots. They were attached with contact cement.

The forecastle and stern cabins were made from foam board also skinned with styrene.  The boat is nearly 99% scatch built with the only commercial pieces are the windows and doors on the cabins coming from old lionel 4 wheel  bobber cabooses,  the hatches from the same (cupola roofs), and the handrail stanchions and stairs from a Plasticville coaling station with hand formed rails. The smoke stack is a piece of plumbing pipe,  masts are dowels. The ore load in the hold is Styrofoam insulation formed into mounds then covered with plaster soaked handi-wipes.

Painting was accomplished using rattle cans with appropriate masking. The boat was then set into position and water was built up around it using white glue and toilet paper for waves then coated with 5 coats of gloss water based acrylic finish.

I still have a little bit of work on it, finishing the railings and adding a smoke unit to the stack.

I christened the boat the Kermit Lesocki, for our pest control guy's dog that passed away last year.  He was influential in getting my wife to open the purse strings and let me build my layout.

I was a little bit long winded but open you like it. Have many more photos but don't want to overload the post.

OUTSTANDING!! People don't realize how big those ore boats are until they build (try to build) one in scale. I knew a fellow who insisted on building one for his HO layout; After downsizing it a bit, it was 3' plus in length. I dubbed it the "Eddie Fitzgerald".

Nice job on the build.  The ill fated Edmund Fitzgerald taconite freighter was 729 feet long - imagine trying to dedicate over 15 feet of layout space to that! Of course if you model containers and want a port facility,  the large ships are now 1200 feet long - 25 scale feet.

Thirdrail   What a MAGNIFICENT modeling job, just outstanding.  My son who worked for the US Merchant Marine was crew a USNS fast logistics ship that he took me on a tour of once and it was only 450 ft long and I thought it enormous.  Modeltrainparts and Scouting Dad...if I had to model the Edmund Fitzgerald it would be longer than my layout and the stern would be in the backyard!! (LOL) .

Best Regards

Don

.

Boats of this size actually plied the Great Lakes before the construction of the Welland Canal.  They would bring ore from Labrador to the mills in Ontario or the U. S.. I have a book about early lake boats,  most were built in the late 1800's early 1900's. My boat plans called for an 8 foot length but I had to reduce the size by removing one hatch to the hold.

This was an intense build,  took a long time even though I worked on it part time.

Here are a few more pictures.

I need to rig the masts and spar, add more railings. I tried wire for the rigging but didn't like the outcome.  I'm off to Wally World to look for elastic thread or dark colored fishing line.

Thanks for all the positive comments.  Makes my work appreciated.

Try Scenic Express - they have some wire line that may work for you.

As mentioned, the Great lakes, and the winds, from the north, can be some of the most treacherous water, in the world.   The Edmund Fitzgerald went down, all hands on board, 15 minutes.  Great model, thanks you for posting the pictures.  Mike CT.

A discussion a couple of days ago, about a posted picture, of a blast furnace, on facebook.  Even today, we still do steel, from blast furnace/Basic Oxygen furnace production, to product steel, without the impurities, of electric arc furnace/scrap metal.   Iron Ore from the, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, would travel the lakes, to some steel facility.   

Again, great model, Thank you, Mike CT

@third rail posted:

Thanks for all the positive comments.  Makes my work appreciated.

An amazing build Bill. You should be very proud. As other have said that is a beast. I remember my Uncle Bill was doing a model of the USS Constitution. He worked on it for years, including all the rigging. It was an impressive model.

Bob

@third rail posted:

I haven't posted anything in a LONG time because I was working for the past 5 months on a Great Lakes ore boat for my harbor area.  It all started with an idea and a set of plans I purchased from the Bay.  The boat is nearly 375 scale feet long and 50 feet wide in 1/50 scale.  LOA is 92 X 10 inches. Plans were 1/100th  and I enlarged them 2X on my printer.

The keel is a piece of 1X10X1/2" OSB to which I screwed and glued 1/2X4" poplar.  The bow and stern was made from 3/4" aspen rough cut with a coping saw,  sandwiched together then all hand carved using only a 1-1/2 inch chisel.

Afterwards they were attached to the hull with many screws and wood glue. The deck is a piece of 1/8 inch hardboard glued and nail down to the hull. Holes were cut into the deck using a home made jig and a Mototool and a spiral up cutting bit.

Wow, you have been busy!!   Great and impressive project!!   Well done!    Thanks for sharing!

Cheers, Dave

@third rail posted:

I haven't posted anything in a LONG time because I was working for the past 5 months on a Great Lakes ore boat for my harbor area.

Exquisite work!  Bravo! 

Not much doing around here.  Got the gearbox cleaned and regreased on my Frisco Geep, so that's running smoothly, and the Texas Special is settled in at the museum layout. 

Does anybody have any spare whistle or horn relays?  I have some projects, but, being on a fixed income, can't really justify spending $35 a pop on eBay... 

Thanks!

Mitch

Excellent job Bill!!  Very impressive!

I finally got both my lift up bridges working.  I am following Mike g.'s design.  I'm very thankful he shared drawings and photographs with me.  I have not done any wiring yet.  The linear actuator is powered by my old Lionel DC Type 0100 variable DC power supply I bought to run my HO train back in the late '60s.  In the video I am holding the smart phone camera and controlling the supply so I don't crash into the ceiling.  I have not turned the track power on since I started this project, so don't worry about crashing trains into the gorge.

Excellent job Mark, you  should feel relieved and satisfied it turned out so well. Kudos to Mike g for the inspiration and direction.

Steve

@Mark Boyce posted:

I finally got both my lift up bridges working.  I am following Mike g.'s design.  I'm very thankful he shared drawings and photographs with me.  I have not done any wiring yet.  The linear actuator is powered by my old Lionel DC Type 0100 variable DC power supply I bought to run my HO train back in the late '60s.  In the video I am holding the smart phone camera and controlling the supply so I don't crash into the ceiling.  I have not turned the track power on since I started this project, so don't worry about crashing trains into the gorge.

Great job Mark. I bet your glad to have that project in the rearview mirror.

Bob

@Richie C. posted:

Try Scenic Express - they have some wire line that may work for you.

I've been using K&S 0.032 piano wire in 3 foot lengths.  It fits perfectly into the handrail stanchion "divot " . All the local hobby shops near me are out of stock.  Went as far as O'hare airport 50 miles to des plaines and also  Chicagoland hobbies for some. Only have 12" lengths in stock. Next time it's Walt's in Joliet.

@Mark Boyce posted:

I finally got both my lift up bridges working.  I am following Mike g.'s design. 

Very nice job.  I like the smoothness of the operation and the details.

Thank you, Steve and Bob.  Yes, I am glad, there was a lot of trial and error on this one.  I should have a better time with all the wiring.

Mark, nice to see the bridges lifting so cleanly. I though the actuators were pneumatic. Given enough pressure you could raise those bridges in about a millisecond. Of course the sudden stop might take them into the next room, so slower is probably better. Nice work.  Jeff

Jeff, the actuator can operate at 12 volts.  I was operating it at less than 8 volts.  Without the limit switches in service, I didn’t want to go too fast and hit the ceiling since my reflexes aren’t that swift.  LOL.

Actually the direction it lifts it would go into the backyard instead of the next room.  The squirrels wouldn’t be happy.  LOL

@Mark Boyce posted:

Jeff, the actuator can operate at 12 volts.  I was operating it at less than 8 volts.  Without the limit switches in service, I didn’t want to go too fast and hit the ceiling since my reflexes aren’t that swift.  LOL.

Actually the direction it lifts it would go into the backyard instead of the next room.  The squirrels wouldn’t be happy.  LOL

Mark, That is a work of art, Engineering Marvels, the 8th wonder of the world. Very Kewl does not cover it. Mark, the opening of "2001 A Space Odyssey"  is running in my head right now.

Great work Mark, thanks for sharing the vids , photos, and your kind remarks for others. Great craftsmanship my friend. Congrats

@Miggy posted:

Mark, That is a work of art, Engineering Marvels, the 8th wonder of the world. Very Kewl does not cover it. Mark, the opening of "2001 A Space Odyssey"  is running in my head right now.

Great work Mark, thanks for sharing the vids , photos, and your kind remarks for others. Great craftsmanship my friend. Congrats

Scott, I know the opening you are referring to.    Thank you very much for the compliments.  I certainly owe a tremendous amount to Mike and so many others for ideas.  I never was much of an idea person.  That's probably why I was an engineer who implemented others' ideas and not my own.

I was finally going to run my New Haven RS-1 today after doing a lube and checking the battery. Turns out the previous owner already installed a BCR-2 so off to the layout. Fired it up and around the bend until I heard a thud. The fuel tank doesn't clear my 5121 switches........
Strange since RS-3's and RS-11's and other 031 locos clear the same spots. Oh well- it still looks good on the shelf.

Who can I call at ALCO to register a complaint about the fuel tank design.

@RSJB18 posted:

I was finally going to run my New Haven RS-1 today after doing a lube and checking the battery. Turns out the previous owner already installed a BCR-2 so off to the layout. Fired it up and around the bend until I heard a thud. The fuel tank doesn't clear my 5121 switches........
Strange since RS-3's and RS-11's and other 031 locos clear the same spots. Oh well- it still looks good on the shelf.

Who can I call at ALCO to register a complaint about the fuel tank design.

Bob, That's a revolting development.  You could get out the grinder and...No better leave well enough alone!  It does look good though, and I'm not even a New Haven fan.