What did you do on your layout today?

Oh don't worry Matt, he has to come back for Final inspection! He just signed off on the framing part! Of course it didn't hurt that we were both in the MARINES and I have a Bull dog! LOL

Mike, it’s looking good, really good. It’s appearing to look larger now than when you first started posting pictures. Keep us posted as more progress is made. I wish I had your carpentry talents. Happy Easter evening, God is Good! All the Time..

Looks great, Mike!  I’m glad the inspector was happy.  Good think Tank was on the job!

I did a bit of home improvement myself!  My front doorbell button was deteriorated to the point where a gust of wind would ring the bell.  

So, until I can get to Lowes for a replacement... 

Mitch 

looks good to me

Thanks Larry and Mark! I was lucky when I first got out of High School I went to work for a custom home builder and he taught me everything I know! Been trying to improve my skill ever since!

Mike,  Really great to see the train room addition is moving along.   Looks great, and seems like your getting to the home stretch.   

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

I did a bit of home improvement myself!  My front doorbell button was deteriorated to the point where a gust of wind would ring the bell.  

So, until I can get to Lowes for a replacement... 

Mitch 

Why do I get the feeling that you will never make it to Lowes??? 

Happy Easter Mitch 🐣🐇🐣🐇

chris a posted:

Mike,  Really great to see the train room addition is moving along.   Looks great, and seems like your getting to the home stretch.   

Thanks Chris! Things will be a little slow for a little bit. The siding is $35 per sheet, so I will only be able to get half of them one payday and the rest of them the next payday! But that's how life is right now, and I am ok with it as long as I keep moving forward! I hope to have the outside and inside done before end of summer with a little bench work already up. We will see how that goes!

Did some break in running on my "new" MTH GT SW9 and MTH C&O Berkshire on the layout while I was home for the Easter holiday.

Apples55 posted:

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

I did a bit of home improvement myself!  My front doorbell button was deteriorated to the point where a gust of wind would ring the bell.  

So, until I can get to Lowes for a replacement... 

Mitch 

Why do I get the feeling that you will never make it to Lowes??? 

Happy Easter Mitch 🐣🐇🐣🐇

That's really cool Mitch. Now you need to hook that up to a old air-whistle tender......

Gotta figure out how to get the CEO to let me do the same........

Bob

mike g. posted:

Hi everyone, So today its raining, so what do you do when its raining? You go outside and put gutters up! Well atleast that's what I did for Easter! Now I have 90% of the roof done, the gutters up, all that's left is to side it and it will be ready for final inspection! A couple pictures for who wants to see.An of course the inspector had to check things out, He doesn't look to happy but lucky for he he is an easy bribe! LOL

The train room is looking good Mike. I hope Tank does more than sit around and watch you work. Gotta train him to bring you a Coors Light once and a while.

Bob

OK So I hope this is a REALLY BAD APRIL FOOLS JOKE

The scene out my living room window this morning. 2"-4" expected. Where the H..l is Spring!

Wired up my first dwarf signal yesterday while dinner was in the oven. This is just the test unit but I think I've got it with a little fine tuning. Gotta trim the board down to size and figure out how to cover up the back. I think I'm going to make a small base for them to sit on too.

Mitch -- cool door bell button !!  Next time use a ZW.

RSJB18 posted:

Apples55 posted:

Why do I get the feeling that you will never make it to Lowes??? 

Hee! 

That's really cool Mitch. Now you need to hook that up to a old air-whistle tender......

Could be doable.  IIRC, these things run on about 12VAC, so...

jim pastorius posted:

Mitch -- cool door bell button !!  Next time use a ZW.

LMAO! 

Mitch

chris a posted:

 

WOW. Scenes like this make me wish sometimes that I wasn't modelling a backwoods railroad in the mountains where buildings like this never were.

Great work!

Bob, Yes we got about 6 inches of snow too!  Oh well!  

The signal light is coming along nicely!!

RSJB18 posted:

OK So I hope this is a REALLY BAD APRIL FOOLS JOKE

The scene out my living room window this morning. 2"-4" expected. Where the H..l is Spring!

Wired up my first dwarf signal yesterday while dinner was in the oven. This is just the test unit but I think I've got it with a little fine tuning. Gotta trim the board down to size and figure out how to cover up the back. I think I'm going to make a small base for them to sit on too.

 

 

Bob, thanks for the kind words on the train room! If its ok I want to shoot you an e-mail as I have a few off forum questions to ask you. For the Coors, last time I let him get a hold of a Coors can, bang 4 holes and beer flowing everywhere! LOL

As far as Snow! Sorry buddy, but better you then me! LOL The signal light looks great, what are you going to be using to trip the lights?

mike g. posted:

Hi everyone, So today its raining, so what do you do when its raining? You go outside and put gutters up! Well atleast that's what I did for Easter! Now I have 90% of the roof done, the gutters up, all that's left is to side it and it will be ready for final inspection! A couple pictures for who wants to see.

          looking GREAT Mike, getting CLOSER

Thanks Brian! Every step is a step closer to getting a layout! The cool think is the wife has become even more supportive now that she can see the building going up!

Finally... after nearly 7 weeks of rehabbing my basement after the flood I am finally finished and ready to start railroading again.....

Sure looks like a nice place to relax and run trains! Great looking job!

Just a couple of pictures of the area under "The Eastbridge Viaduct" heading toward the Lift-Out section.  Added a bit more scenery and an old boxcar that the railroad uses as a storage shed.  Hope ya'll like 'em.

Chief Bob (Retired)

Yesterday I finally bit the bullet and started assembling the 4 modules for my layout. Each module is 2 ft x 7 ft plus 2  4x4 ft. spacers between the 2 rows of modules. Got 3 modules finished yesterday, hope to complete it today. I might cut the length back about a foot though.

mike g. posted:

RSJB18 posted:

OK So I hope this is a REALLY BAD APRIL FOOLS JOKE

The scene out my living room window this morning. 2"-4" expected. Where the H..l is Spring!

Wired up my first dwarf signal yesterday while dinner was in the oven. This is just the test unit but I think I've got it with a little fine tuning. Gotta trim the board down to size and figure out how to cover up the back. I think I'm going to make a small base for them to sit on too.

 

 

Bob, thanks for the kind words on the train room! If its ok I want to shoot you an e-mail as I have a few off forum questions to ask you. For the Coors, last time I let him get a hold of a Coors can, bang 4 holes and beer flowing everywhere! LOL

As far as Snow! Sorry buddy, but better you then me! LOL The signal light looks great, what are you going to be using to trip the lights?

Mike- on the lower section they will be controlled by a toggle switch corresponding to which side of my KW is powering the track. I am considering block relays for the high line. I have a Lionel 153-IR relay box that I may try too. Saw your email- reply sent.

Bob

PUFFRBELLY posted:

Just a couple of pictures of the area under "The Eastbridge Viaduct" heading toward the Lift-Out section.  Added a bit more scenery and an old boxcar that the railroad uses as a storage shed.  Hope ya'll like 'em.

 

Chief Bob (Retired)

Looks great Bob! That pick up truck needs a serious bath though

We ran trains for friends several times in the last few days, do my Retiring from my Job. Now, we can spend many fun hours finishing this layout.

I had to catch up on a few days so some of this is a little delayed.

Bryan I like the structure in the corner next to the Menards building under construction.  Is it an apartment building?  it sure looks like one.  Scratch build?

Chris A nice work on the shallow relief backdrop building.

Mike you're doing a great job on the train room.

Mitch, why do I get the feeling there was nothing wrong with your old door bell?  You just got bored because Fortesque was playing with the Easter Bunny.

Larry, The layout looks great as always!  Congratulations on your retirement!!!!!!!

Chief Bob, looks good, its the nice little details that make a big difference!

Jim, sounds like you have a good start! Don't forget pictures along the way so the rest can drool! 

Bob, thanks for the update on the information on the signal lights!

Larry, spending many hours to finish a layout? Looks like you have a great layout as is!

Thanks for the kind work Coach Joe!

coach joe posted:

Bryan I like the structure in the corner next to the Menards building under construction.  Is it an apartment building?  it sure looks like one.  Scratch build?

 

Funny story about that building is that is was originally designed to be a hotel is s scale.  I first saw this from a vendor (David Blum, American Flyer Trains) in the orange hall at york.  He sets up near Sidetrack Hobbies.  When I first saw it I said it looks like a prison (which is what I had been looking for)  The vendor said No, its a hotel and I wasn't trying to be rude because I just thought I could convert it to a prison.  I asked if they could upsize the kit for O scale and he said he would see what they could do.  I paid for one and he said if they couldn't do it he would refund my money. About 3 months later I get a package in the mail and sure enough it was that building in O scale.  The key was spray painting it with a texture/flack paint that looks like prison gray.  I liked the look so much that I ordered 2 more stories to give me a total of 4.  I have seen him at a few other shows and he mentioned to me that others have also remarked that it looks like a prison so he can market it both ways and asked if I could send him some pictures of my completed project.  

As for that area I still need to add the fence and barb wire around the entire structure as well as many more prisoners.  

Here are 2 close up pictures before I added on the 2 additional stories.

mike g. posted:

Hi everyone, So today its raining, so what do you do when its raining? You go outside and put gutters up! Well atleast that's what I did for Easter! Now I have 90% of the roof done, the gutters up, all that's left is to side it and it will be ready for final inspection! A couple pictures for who wants to see.An of course the inspector had to check things out, He doesn't look to happy but lucky for he he is an easy bribe! LOL

WOW Mike !! Your train room is looking great !  Your going to have a big area for a big layout.. keep up the great work.

Bryan, that is a great story of how you got the parts you made into that great prison!!

Thanks Bob, it looks big now, but when things get inside I bet it will shrink really fast! But that's ok, its just for train stuff only! No storage for anything else! In exchange I have to build the wife a Green House but that will only be 8' X 6' nothing big!

You know Bryan I did think it looked like an interior of a cell block but I never thought about an open air cell block.  Nice imagination.

leapinlarry posted:

We ran trains for friends several times in the last few days, do my Retiring from my Job. Now, we can spend many fun hours finishing this layout.

Leapinlarry - Congratulations on your retirement!!  Your layout looks fabulous!!! Wishing you many years of fun with your trains!!!

Ran trains last night for a long time while creating scenes and doing some photography.  Also ran trains for a short bit today.  Had lots of fun!!

Installing sewers on Front St.  This will really tie up traffic during rush hour.

Now it's time to rewire the yard.  Not my favorite job on the railroad.

Trumptrain,Nice looking scenes! I sure hope they were able to get all the cars back on track ok!

Decoynh, Looks like you have a great crew working there, They might get done by the time your done with the yard!

Today I have so far attempted to install the track into our Walthers Engine Shop. 3 hammers, 2 pieces of flex track,and a helper (Henry the cat) have all been used so far

leapinlarry posted:

We ran trains for friends several times in the last few days, do my Retiring from my Job. Now, we can spend many fun hours finishing this layout.

Congratulations Larry! I'm sure this is an exciting time for you. Now it's time for the real fun.

PUFFRBELLY posted:

Just a couple of pictures of the area under "The Eastbridge Viaduct" heading toward the Lift-Out section.  Added a bit more scenery and an old boxcar that the railroad uses as a storage shed.  Hope ya'll like 'em.

 

Chief Bob (Retired)

Nothing like seeing that beautiful blue on the rails.

NS6770Fan posted:

Today I have so far attempted to install the track into our Walthers Engine Shop. 3 hammers, 2 pieces of flex track,and a helper (Henry the cat) have all been used so far

Looks good, but you forgot to give the pliers some credit! LOL

leapinlarry posted:

We ran trains for friends several times in the last few days, do my Retiring from my Job. Now, we can spend many fun hours finishing this layout.

Congratulations LeapinLarry! Enjoy your your retirement and the extra time with the world's best hobby!

1934 Ford pickup truck.....before and after weathering...

mike g. posted:

Hi everyone, So today its raining, so what do you do when its raining? You go outside and put gutters up! Well atleast that's what I did for Easter! Now I have 90% of the roof done, the gutters up, all that's left is to side it and it will be ready for final inspection! A couple pictures for who wants to see.An of course the inspector had to check things out, He doesn't look to happy but lucky for he he is an easy bribe! LOL

Fantastic work Mike. Looks like a new Menards structure, Mike’s Train House

Made signs

For my granddaughter 

JD2035RR posted:

mike g. posted:

Hi everyone, So today its raining, so what do you do when its raining? You go outside and put gutters up! Well atleast that's what I did for Easter! Now I have 90% of the roof done, the gutters up, all that's left is to side it and it will be ready for final inspection! A couple pictures for who wants to see.An of course the inspector had to check things out, He doesn't look to happy but lucky for he he is an easy bribe! LOL

Fantastic work Mike. Looks like a new Menards structure, Mike’s Train House

Thanks JD, I thought about that name, But some company already took it! I think they make trains! LOL

another flamingo frosty bar

randr posted:

Made signs

For my granddaughter 

Randr, really like your billboards! They really turned uot looking great!

randr posted:

Made signs

For my granddaughter 

If you can give me a mailing address, we can get you a flamingo to go with your

grandaughters flamingo frosty bar '

John

been super busy at work re arranging the shop for a new machine center, long days...

   before, shop a mess, stuff everywhere...

  after, getting this part of the shop re arranged...

         the new CNC machine...  will start setting it up today...

  the shop some what back together yesterday...  I'm tired...

              now hopefully to get back to some trains...

                            probably  after a long nap...

        can't wait till things are some what back to normal...

beardog posted:

randr posted:

Made signs

For my granddaughter 

If you can give me a mailing address, we can get you a flamingo to go with your

grandaughters flamingo frosty bar '

John

I always had flamingos  in the front yard, but now I live in a condo and there are probably restrictions in the rules and regulations

Continued working on my layout. The major components are made and assembled now I must add bracing to the bench work for stability and bear the weight.  Not heavy lifting but tedious and time consuming. No really good place to cut wood which is a bummer. But I will have some track down soon.

Due to medical problems, l just barely got my order in for two 3rd Rail HW RPO's, for the mountain prairie states ,for D&RGW and Burlington.  Also wanted Mopac and RI, not offered. (and C&S) for a postal dist. ctr.

Brian, That is a great looking shop, and nice CNC machine!  Do you own the shop?  I can see that would take time away from trains!!!

no, the owner lives in Florida,

          I take care of things here for him...  I am usually here 7 days a week...

briansilvermustang posted:

been super busy at work re arranging the shop for a new machine center, long days...

 

        
the new CNC machine...  will start setting it up today...

  the shop some what back together yesterday...  I'm tired...

              now hopefully to get back to some trains...

                            probably  after a long nap...

        can't wait till things are some what back to normal...

wow now thats a CNC! where in Ohio are you?

Toledo, Oh.

      Amtrak station here...

briansilvermustang posted:

no, the owner lives in Florida,

          I take care of things here for him...  I am usually here 7 days a week...

I would say he has full confidence in you!  Great job!

thank you Mark !  been here going on 27 years now,

          started here with Bridgeport mills that didn't even have digital readouts on them...

              we now have 10 CNC machines; 4 wires, 2 lathes, now 4 mills...

RSJB18 posted:

OK So I hope this is a REALLY BAD APRIL FOOLS JOKE

I also made my own dwarf signals.  Check out page 206, 4/23/16, page 221, 6/30/16 & page 231, 8/16/16 for details.

You should be able cover the back with sheet styrene.  I would suggest using cat5 wire and conceal everything in the body of the signal.  I installed my signals to indicate switch allinment.  Good luck with the snow and your signals.   Dave

 

Brian, the shop looks great! How did you move everything and keep the floor looking so good! I bet you had a good night sleep after that!

Bob, I was watching the news this morning and they said you could get more SNOW on Saturday! Sorry !

Recycled unused plasticville and accessories 

briansilvermustang posted:

thank you Mark !  been here going on 27 years now,

          started here with Bridgeport mills that didn't even have digital readouts on them...

              we now have 10 CNC machines; 4 wires, 2 lathes, now 4 mills...

I worked at a tool and die shop near here in Saxonburg, Penna when I couldn't get work in electronics back in the mid '80s.  About 2 years ago, my friend showed me CNC machines at the shop where GE made the prime movers for their latest Tier 4 diesel engines where he retired from last year.  Amazing!

mike g. posted:

Brian, the shop looks great! How did you move everything and keep the floor looking so good! I bet you had a good night sleep after that!

Bob, I was watching the news this morning and they said you could get more SNOW on Saturday! Sorry !

Last year we had a freak snowstorm that gave us a good inch of snow on May 15th.  It is still early!!

beardog posted:

randr posted:

Made signs

For my granddaughter 

If you can give me a mailing address, we can get you a flamingo to go with your

grandaughters flamingo frosty bar '

John

randr posted:

Recycled unused plasticville and accessories 

the flamingo I am talking about is about 2" tall

randr posted:

Recycled unused plasticville and accessories 

Very nice! Great way to seed the young mind with train items first then trains! LOL

mike g. posted:

Brian, the shop looks great! How did you move everything and keep the floor looking so good! I bet you had a good night sleep after that!

         a lot of scrubbing where the machines once sat...

               this stuff was a pain to get off the floor...

        you can still see where the machines were...

    I came in Easter morning and gave the floor a good  mopping and send him some pictures,  the floor is one of the owners pet peeves... which I found out the 1st week I started here, dropping a 12' I beam, chipping the new finished floor, he still hasn't forgotten...

   I called the owner once the machine was set in place and checked out,  to tell everything looked good, one of his following questions was,  " how does my floor look, good ?"  kinda' funny...

Well Brian, I sure hope you sent him the pictures, cause from what I can see the floors look GREAT!

Hey guys, I shot a bunch of before and afters for "show and tell" this weekend at the Modelers Retreat. There are 40 pairs in the slide show, here are a few of the most dramatic. Before was done for last year's retreat, 13 moths ago.

Here are the latest of the bluff. I worked on it all day yesterday. I ran out of already made trees from enterTRAINment, and finally found my buckets of material.

I had a huge box of already shaped Woodland Scenics armatures. I just slather contact cement on the branches, and dip them in the bucket.

Nothing like having individual trees to make a big impression. I figure there are over 100, I didn't count.

As I approached the carved section, I started using clump foliage instead of trees, hot gluing it in place.

I got that seam to almost disappear.

Still have some work to do.

Should wrap up this project Thursday, then I can start on the ground. I just picked up my last construction vehicle at the post office this morning. It was tough finding this one with the fork attachment. Got it on the bay, from a guy in the Netherlands.

Yes, some big differences Elliot!  100 trees sure don't go far, do they!  But they sure look great!

Wonderful work Elliot! You got more done in a year then I ever got done on my last layout, before we moved! I hope to fallow in your footsteps with this layout as far as working on it as much as I can! Thanks for sharing!

p51 posted:

I’m working on changing the “Stoney Creek Road” on the layout. It never looked right to me, and I recently read where someone made a decent looking paved/gravel road with 100-grit sandpaper. I bought some a couple of nights ago and gave it a try. I did all the work with a couple of uncut sheets of it on the table, working on it with paints and such. I think it didn’t turn out half bad, better than it is right now, anyway. Now I just need to figure out how to scrape down the existing road surface and get this cut out and then glued into place.

You can sort of tell the layout of the road from the edges I drew (wider than I think I'll need, just in case). The bottom right corner on the right sheet is to cover a corner right up to the grade crossing this road spans. It was just short a tiny bit for the one sheet to cover the longer of the two segments. I also put in lines from cars turning out of the driveway to a depot as well. I wanted to not to have to do much of anything else other than gluing it down and getting the edges matched to the rest of the layout (which I assume will be the hard part).

Looks good Lee! Please keep us posted on how you get the old road out and some pictures of the new road in place!

p51 posted:

I’m working on changing the “Stoney Creek Road” on the layout. It never looked right to me, and I recently read where someone made a decent looking paved/gravel road with 100-grit sandpaper. I bought some a couple of nights ago and gave it a try. I did all the work with a couple of uncut sheets of it on the table, working on it with paints and such. I think it didn’t turn out half bad, better than it is right now, anyway. Now I just need to figure out how to scrape down the existing road surface and get this cut out and then glued into place.

You can sort of tell the layout of the road from the edges I drew (wider than I think I'll need, just in case). The bottom right corner on the right sheet is to cover a corner right up to the grade crossing this road spans. It was just short a tiny bit for the one sheet to cover the longer of the two segments. I also put in lines from cars turning out of the driveway to a depot as well. I wanted to not to have to do much of anything else other than gluing it down and getting the edges matched to the rest of the layout (which I assume will be the hard part).

I used 3M non-skid material that is used on stairs. It has a very sticky backing that settles down nicely. It can be painted to represent the age of the road. The material is black so I applied a coat of a grey-black paint. After that I dusted a grey chalk over the road to the degree that I felt I was looking for.

The Two Percent Tunnel is complete at the JRM Museum in Springdale!  

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...e-two-percent-tunnel

Mitch 

Ran trains with the 4 yr old twins again. they sure have a lot fun, give each one a DCS remote  and the only accidents where caused by me  Of course three trains on one loop is alway fun

Been busy installing barb wire..........

Lee and Howard, the roads look great!  

Watching Mitch's trolley on the linked topic was great!!

p51 posted:

I’m working on changing the “Stoney Creek Road” on the layout. It never looked right to me, and I recently read where someone made a decent looking paved/gravel road with 100-grit sandpaper. I bought some a couple of nights ago and gave it a try. I did all the work with a couple of uncut sheets of it on the table, working on it with paints and such. 

 

Well, the Sandpaper idea failed miserably. I put the paper down, weighted it, and something about the backing didn't want to stick to anything. Then, it looked exactly like what it was, a flat piece of something with relief painted on it. So, I scraped everything clean again and put a very thin layer of fine ballast down in it's placs. It looks a lot like the tar and gravel roads that were there anyway. I will eventually put some weathering, for exhaust stains and oil spills, and some cracks in the surface after the glue dries, sometime tomorrow or later. In other terms, the normal debris on a country road. But still, it looks a lot better than it did earlier today.
The white car is where it is in the shot to keep the photographer figure upright while the glue dries. I had to remove him during this project.

This is actually the look I was looking for, anyway. The actual road this represents was not paved at the time the layout takes place, and instead was a gravel road held together with oil and tar.

p51 posted:

p51 posted:

I’m working on changing the “Stoney Creek Road” on the layout. It never looked right to me, and I recently read where someone made a decent looking paved/gravel road with 100-grit sandpaper. I bought some a couple of nights ago and gave it a try. I did all the work with a couple of uncut sheets of it on the table, working on it with paints and such. 

 

Well, the Sandpaper idea failed miserably. I put the paper down, weighted it, and something about the backing didn't want to stick to anything. Then, it looked exactly like what it was, a flat piece of something with relief painted on it. So, I scraped everything clean again and put a very thin layer of fine ballast down in it's placs. It looks a lot like the tar and gravel roads that were there anyway. I will eventually put some weathering, for exhaust stains and oil spills, and some cracks in the surface after the glue dries, sometime tomorrow or later. In other terms, the normal debris on a country road. But still, it looks a lot better than it did earlier today.
The white car is where it is in the shot to keep the photographer figure upright while the glue dries. I had to remove him during this project.

This is actually the look I was looking for, anyway. The actual road this represents was not paved at the time the layout takes place, and instead was a gravel road held together with oil and tar.

I like it Lee. I made a dirt road, (made of real dirt) also in my town of Coalwood. I may have to borrow your idea of a gravel road for my town of Walnut Creek.

Water cured on the new layout. Picked up this reading gondola when grabbing something else I ordered last night too.  

darlander posted:

RSJB18 posted:

OK So I hope this is a REALLY BAD APRIL FOOLS JOKE

I also made my own dwarf signals.  Check out page 206, 4/23/16, page 221, 6/30/16 & page 231, 8/16/16 for details.

You should be able cover the back with sheet styrene.  I would suggest using cat5 wire and conceal everything in the body of the signal.  I installed my signals to indicate switch allinment.  Good luck with the snow and your signals.   Dave

 

 

Just looked at your old posts Dave. Exactly what I'm going for. I think I will stay with the boards though. I thought the shrink tubing would get too bulky.  The signal bodies are square so the styrene will fit right to the edge. The tubing is a good idea to act as a stand and to hide the wiring. I'm using some old 22/4 phone wire. The colors are right and its stranded so it takes the solder better. Thanks for the reference material.

Bob

We’ve made a fair bit of progress on the layout since the last update:

• Removed all track, bridges, and accessories and painted homasote and plywood to seal and prep for scenery
• Painted elevated bridge sections in flat black
• Cut Gargraves track sections to connect track to switches
• Installed Ross O-54 switches and wired up the DZ2500 Switch Motors for non-derailing operation
• Wired up first two drops for the elevated section

We painted the homasote and plywood to seal out moisture and give it a more dirt and stone look. Given that homasote is a compressed paper product, we want to ensure as we’re adding scenery and gluing it down with white glue and water, the homasote doesn’t swell.

The elevated section is coming along nicely, we’ve been able to run a test train around to test connectivity and the non-derailing features of the switches.  We still have the following to do for the elevated section:

1. Extend insulated rail section for non-derailing operation to allow for faster trains on the upper loop
2. Wire two more power drops for the elevated section
3. Cut, paint, and glue track support girders under each switch curved section
4. Glue down bridge supports in their final locations
5. Figure out how we want to wire up the DZ2500 switch motors for remote throwing

One “lesson learned” from the Ross switches, or rather the Z-stuff DZ2500 switch motor, is that unlike the DZ1000 motors, the DZ2500s throw at a prototypical speed (read: slow).  While I’m sure it looks great for switches closer to the observer, it’s not really needed for our elevated section since the switches are at the back of the layout and we’re really aiming for fast performance rather than prototypical operation.  What I may do is wire up the non-derailing wires (green and yellow) rather than the Thru and Out wires (blue and white) so the motors will always throw at their fastest speed.

Once the elevated section is complete, we’ll have all tracks operational and be able to run four trains simultaneously with no operator intervention (and five trains if we keep an eye on it).

Yes, we realize there’s some odd consists running on the layout (a 2-10-4 Texas with Intermodal cars and an O-27 Lionel 2037 with a scale Superliner), but that’s just to test overhead and curve clearances :-)

Brian, once again some really nice BN/BNSF pictures ! Love them!

Matt, things are really looking nice! The elevated section is going to be fun to watch, and with being able to run 4 trains is great! Keep up the good work!

                                       pretty busy at the station today...

Matt,  The layout is looking great!  I haven't used the Z-Stuff switch motors, but have some DZ1000 switch motors to install on my new layout.  I think I'll be happy with the faster action.

Soldered wires,  drilled holes, feed wires , hooked up to terminal strips. 

New layout with rail yard, turn table and operating accessories, 

Accessories 's 21 thru 24, couple more to  go.

Jushavnfun posted:

Soldered wires,  drilled holes, feed wires , hooked up to terminal strips. 

New layout with rail yard, turn table and operating accessories, 

Accessories 's 21 thru 24, couple more to  go.

Sounds like a good days work! Better take a break and relax! It will be there tomorrow!

Finished the bench work on my new layout and couldn't stand it so I  flattened out about 9-10  heavy duty shipping boxes I had from moving. Covered the bench work and put down a loop of Standard gauge track then O gauge. Ran trains !!   Not pretty but it works until I get my Homasote. My first Lionel engine, a Standard gauge 318 had the honor of running the first train and my 2018, first  Lionel engine I ever bought ran the first O gauge.  Second train was my M1000 to test the curves, it hadn't run in almost a year. All went well, a good day. Will take some photos  tomorrow.

Jim, You are really making progress on that new layout!!  Congratulations!!

Chaos theory? String theory?  I'll ask young Sheldon.

Ok now I wish I never watched that! Now my head hurts! LOL

Whatever it takes to get the job done!

Storage yard tracks done  and here’s a cool pic I took.

Excellent, Kon!!

mattrain posted:

We’ve made a fair bit of progress on the layout since the last update:

• Removed all track, bridges, and accessories and painted homasote and plywood to seal and prep for scenery
• Painted elevated bridge sections in flat black
• Cut Gargraves track sections to connect track to switches
• Installed Ross O-54 switches and wired up the DZ2500 Switch Motors for non-derailing operation
• Wired up first two drops for the elevated section

We painted the homasote and plywood to seal out moisture and give it a more dirt and stone look. Given that homasote is a compressed paper product, we want to ensure as we’re adding scenery and gluing it down with white glue and water, the homasote doesn’t swell.

The elevated section is coming along nicely, we’ve been able to run a test train around to test connectivity and the non-derailing features of the switches.  We still have the following to do for the elevated section:

1. Extend insulated rail section for non-derailing operation to allow for faster trains on the upper loop
2. Wire two more power drops for the elevated section
3. Cut, paint, and glue track support girders under each switch curved section
4. Glue down bridge supports in their final locations
5. Figure out how we want to wire up the DZ2500 switch motors for remote throwing

 

One “lesson learned” from the Ross switches, or rather the Z-stuff DZ2500 switch motor, is that unlike the DZ1000 motors, the DZ2500s throw at a prototypical speed (read: slow).  While I’m sure it looks great for switches closer to the observer, it’s not really needed for our elevated section since the switches are at the back of the layout and we’re really aiming for fast performance rather than prototypical operation.  What I may do is wire up the non-derailing wires (green and yellow) rather than the Thru and Out wires (blue and white) so the motors will always throw at their fastest speed.

Once the elevated section is complete, we’ll have all tracks operational and be able to run four trains simultaneously with no operator intervention (and five trains if we keep an eye on it).

Yes, we realize there’s some odd consists running on the layout (a 2-10-4 Texas with Intermodal cars and an O-27 Lionel 2037 with a scale Superliner), but that’s just to test overhead and curve clearances :-)

I have both switches on my layout and while the 2500's do throw slower, they have a quick throw when wired for non-derailing.  Honestly, I can't tell a difference between the non-derailing speed of either of the two switches.  

Everything is looking real good.  Good Job!

That’s good information, Thaddeus; since I am new to Z-Stuff!

I disassembled the Joustra Silver Arrow I recently got after it toasted itself. 

I am not sure what this motor is, any one have any ideas? The train came

from France so it could be anything. 

I used to rewind and balance Mabuchi can motors back in my slot car

days in the 60's, but that has been a looooonng time. 

Kon,your yard looks nice! Keep up the good work and pictures!

Ok, take right hand, firmly slap forehead. Its a DC motor, they don't run real well

on AC. When the seller said it was electrified for three rail I didn't even think DC. 

Lots of you guys are familiar with how DC motors can run on AC, what do I need to have to make

it run on AC, or should I just hook up a DC powerpack when I run it. 

beardog posted:

Ok, take right hand, firmly slap forehead. Its a DC motor, they don't run real well

on AC. When the seller said it was electrified for three rail I didn't even think DC. 

Lots of you guys are familiar with how DC motors can run on AC, what do I need to have to make

it run on AC, or should I just hook up a DC powerpack when I run it. 

https://www.radioshack.com/pro...0v-bridge-rectifiers

The two contacts in the middle go to the AC.  Wire one to the pickups and one to the ground.   The + contact goes to the red wire on the motor; the - contact goes to the blue wire on the motor.   Your DC motor will now run fine on AC power. 

Have fun, and good luck! 

Mitch 

A friend of mine is very into Star Wars, and he just did up a rendition of Fortescue as a Clone Trooper... 

Note the armor trim; perfect match for the blue of 3376/3386 gi-raffe cars... 

Mitch 

Over the last two days, I decided to rip up the road surface on one of to grade crossings on the layout. The road surface was a work in progress that I never liked. The real road was gravel and tar, and the black surface I had just didn't look right. So, I ripped it all up, laid in fine ballast for a new surface, let that glue dry overnight and I just finished placing paint and powder highlights to look like a well-travelled but still relatively decent road surface. I even dry-brushed signs of someone having to stop quickly for a train at the crossing the past.
These shots show the progression at the same point, in order:

And finally, a side view showing the painted detail and weathering:

Thanks Mitch, I went to the RS link, says they are sold out online. So

I just searched online. Got 10 of them for $3 on ebay so if you need 

any let me know. 

p51 posted:

Over the last two days, I decided to rip up the road surface on one of to grade crossings on the layout. The road surface was a work in progress that I never liked. The real road was gravel and tar, and the black surface I had just didn't look right. So, I ripped it all up, laid in fine ballast for a new surface, let that glue dry overnight and I just finished placing paint and powder highlights to look like a well-travelled but still relatively decent road surface. I even dry-brushed signs of someone having to stop quickly for a train at the crossing the past.
These shots show the progression at the same point, in order:

And finally, a side view showing the painted detail and weathering:

Lee, how did you do the oil spills?

beardog posted:

Thanks Mitch, I went to the RS link, says they are sold out online. So

I just searched online. Got 10 of them for $3 on ebay so if you need 

any let me know. 

Thankee!  I've got a few yet, but I'll keep your kind offer in mind... 

Mitch 

Lee- the new road looks great. We had tar/ gravel roads in my neighborhood growing up.

You nailed it IMHO.

Bob

Little train time this week except for surfing the forum. Been working on a project for the CEO- finishing the closet in the den I renovated last year. Bottom is done just gotta install the hinges and paint. Working on the top door now.

Ordered the styrene pieces I need for my signals.

Lee, I think the road turned out looking great! Nice weathering !

Bob, the closet is looking sharp! The CEO should be proud of you!

Brian, I have been kind of keeping track, I think you need a few more engines! LOL

gandydancer1950 posted:

p51 posted:

 

Lee, how did you do the oil spills?

Tell you what, I'll go over the whole thing, just in case anyone else was wondering about other details:

I put down as fine ballast as I could get, then sprinkled in a few cinders and placed larger ballast on the sides of the roads (for the little rocks and debris you see on the sides of roads, knocked there by traffic), and some ground foam.

As for the oil stains, they were painted in. I also cut to parallel lines on a sheet of paper and used that as a stencil to dry brush a skid mark in place.

Note the lighter color lines where the majority of the tire contacts would be. That's a feature of every gravel road I've ever seen, so I dry-brushed white into two parallel lines in that spot. You can't really see it until you back up.

I then dry-brushed some general stains and grime (using mostly Floquil Grimy Black) in random spots on the surface. I also did some drips and marks coming in/out of each side road.

Oddly, the tire marks on the road from the above photo don't seem to match the marks on the crossing planks, but I think it's the angle of this shot. When you look down the road from a O scale driver's perspective, they do line up.

Lee- the new road looks great. We had tar/ gravel roads in my neighborhood growing up.

You nailed it IMHO.

Thanks much, Bob!

Lee, I think the road turned out looking great! Nice weathering !

Thank you very much, Mike! If you're heading to the model train show in Chehalis this weekend, I'll have a sales table there tomorrow. Be sure to say hi if you see me (I'll probably be wearing my NASA jacket)

We are building a winery/vineyard on the layout. It's far from being complete, however when finished there will be a wine tower to dispense real wine. It's my wife's idea and her winery.

p51 posted:

gandydancer1950 posted:

p51 posted:

 

Lee, how did you do the oil spills?

Tell you what, I'll go over the whole thing, just in case anyone else was wondering about other details:

I put down as fine ballast as I could get, then sprinkled in a few cinders and placed larger ballast on the sides of the roads (for the little rocks and debris you see on the sides of roads, knocked there by traffic), and some ground foam.

As for the oil stains, they were painted in. I also cut to parallel lines on a sheet of paper and used that as a stencil to dry brush a skid mark in place.

Note the lighter color lines where the majority of the tire contacts would be. That's a feature of every gravel road I've ever seen, so I dry-brushed white into two parallel lines in that spot. You can't really see it until you back up.

I then dry-brushed some general stains and grime (using mostly Floquil Grimy Black) in random spots on the surface. I also did some drips and marks coming in/out of each side road.

Oddly, the tire marks on the road from the above photo don't seem to match the marks on the crossing planks, but I think it's the angle of this shot. When you look down the road from a O scale driver's perspective, they do line up.

 

Lee- the new road looks great. We had tar/ gravel roads in my neighborhood growing up.

You nailed it IMHO.

Thanks much, Bob!

Lee, I think the road turned out looking great! Nice weathering !

Thank you very much, Mike! If you're heading to the model train show in Chehalis this weekend, I'll have a sales table there tomorrow. Be sure to say hi if you see me (I'll probably be wearing my NASA jacket)

Thanks!

mike g. posted:

Lee, I think the road turned out looking great! Nice weathering !

Bob, the closet is looking sharp! The CEO should be proud of you!

Brian, I have been kind of keeping track, I think you need a few more engines! LOL

Lee, Bob, Brian, What can I say except ditto to what Mike said?  

Thanks Guys. Got the top door assembled. Waiting for the glue to dry. How many clamps does it take to glue a door? 

That many....

Bob, you are a man of many talents!

Now I know the true meaning of "slow boat from china". The bridge rectifiers I ordered yesterday

shipped yesterday. ETA 4/29-5/29

Mark Boyce posted:

Bob, you are a man of many talents!

If only I used them for good....not evil 😈🤣

beardog posted:

Now I know the true meaning of "slow boat from china". The bridge rectifiers I ordered yesterday

shipped yesterday. ETA 4/29-5/29

One of our daughters buys a lot of fiber art supplies from China.  The prices are dirt cheap, but you had better not be in a hurry!!  I think they still go around the horn!!  

beardog posted:

Now I know the true meaning of "slow boat from china". The bridge rectifiers I ordered yesterday

shipped yesterday. ETA 4/29-5/29

Yeah, if you're in a hurry, click "3 Day Shipping" in the search.  Pricier, but it won't take a month to get here...    

A couple of my more recent projects:  

A cracked caboose shell and a beatup flat car combine to make a transfer caboose, and a couple of Fasttrack bumpers made with #26 bumpers.  Tried a couple of different methods:  The bumper on the left has been trimmed down to fit on the track, while the bumper on the right has had holes hogged out of the road bed to fit the tabs on the bumper.   I think I prefer the right hand method, as one can readily reuse the bumper on tubular track should the need arise... 

Mitch

Mark I like your way of thinking! tomorrow I get to Ditto you! LOL

Bob, things are looking very nice at your house! What's next for the CEO before you come back to the dark side!

Mitch, the things you think of is just amazing!

Interesting evening planned.  My son is coming over after work and my wife is fixing a nice home-cooked dinner.  Then we are going to have a small family operating session.  My wife jokingly said that maybe she would want to learn how.  My son and I jumped on that like "a dog on a bone" or "a duck on a June bug" depending on your favorite saying.

So I spotted cars, developed and printed some schedules, and we will see how it goes.  I was experimenting with my new Eola Yard this week and was reasonably happy with the results.  I am going to try having my wife start out as engineer with my son as her conductor.  I will run the "meat train" and the locals while they are busy making up trains in the yard and switching some local industries.

I'm excited about this for many reasons:

• Trying to get my wife more interested in trains.
• Having a fun family night.
• Practicing operations to work out the bugs and improve the experience.
• See which method of train control is preferred, handhelds or PC tablet.
• Take a break from just working on the layout every day lately.

Art

mike g. posted:

Mark I like your way of thinking! tomorrow I get to Ditto you! LOL

Bob, things are looking very nice at your house! What's next for the CEO before you come back to the dark side!

Mitch, the things you think of is just amazing!

Roof siding and kitchen.......trains too!

Pray for me 🙏

mike g. posted:

Mark I like your way of thinking! tomorrow I get to Ditto you! LOL

Bob, things are looking very nice at your house! What's next for the CEO before you come back to the dark side!

Mitch, the things you think of is just amazing!

Mike, Ditto!

LUKE, THERE IS NO DARK SIDE..........ONLY THE FLAMINGO SIDE

Bob, I pry for everyone on here! But I have a special prayer for you and your honey do list!

Art, sure sounds like you hit the jack pot! Trains, the son, and the wife all at the same time! Take time and enjoy it!

RSJB18 posted:

Thanks Guys. Got the top door assembled. Waiting for the glue to dry. How many clamps does it take to glue a door? 

That many....

Bob;

You can never have too many clamps (nmp)...

Not for my current layout, but for a small one I'll build when I retire this summer. Son and I began working on a Korber O scale grain elevator. We got the silos done today . Also began putting together a dust collecting cyclone kit, HO scale from Walthers (Wish I could find a O one, but the HO one should work since cyclones come in a lot of sizes.

New recruits arriving daily............

ten HUT!!!!!

I wanted to go out and hunt flamingos but instead went to  Home Deot in Carlisle, Pa. and got my Homasote. They cut it for me which saved a lot of work. Had to trim two 2 ft wide pieces and a sharp utility knife took care of that. Brought it back and soon had it down with track on it. Ran some teast trains. Next is the green indoor/outdoor carpet and figured a way to put it down with minimum fuss and bother. It was mild today and snow tomorrow morning  !!

It is noted that some are not going to come to the flamingo side easily...........

M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

beardog posted:

Now I know the true meaning of "slow boat from china". The bridge rectifiers I ordered yesterday

shipped yesterday. ETA 4/29-5/29

Yeah, if you're in a hurry, click "3 Day Shipping" in the search.  Pricier, but it won't take a month to get here...    

A couple of my more recent projects:  

A cracked caboose shell and a beatup flat car combine to make a transfer caboose, and a couple of Fasttrack bumpers made with #26 bumpers.  Tried a couple of different methods:  The bumper on the left has been trimmed down to fit on the track, while the bumper on the right has had holes hogged out of the road bed to fit the tabs on the bumper.   I think I prefer the right hand method, as one can readily reuse the bumper on tubular track should the need arise... 

Mitch

Mitch I've got some more busted SP shells, plus a box of S Gauge Flyer busted caboose shells if you wanna make more...

just more hiding places for them terrorist gi-rafs, i think

beardog posted:

just more hiding places for them terrorist gi-rafs, i think

That's peace loving freedom fighting gi-raffes, if you don't mind! 

Mitch 

Brian:  That wooden obs looks like a really nice car.  What make is it?  Do you have a complete train of those old woodies?  Prototype for that style of car would have been about 1895 to 1905.  I've always felt that this period has been neglected by most manufacturers, both for cars as well as engines.  The only similar car that i'm aware of was made by MTH and then, I don't remember if it was ever made as an observation car.

Paul Fischer

I'm pretty sure it is a MTH car, I will check after work tonight on that, I think I have a 3 car set of these cars...

Working on switch inputs to signal system. Once I get the signals working properly, I'll hide/conceal the wires on the bridge.

Nearest track is east yard lead which ends at this interlocking and gets the stop signal since all switches are lined for the mains. Track 1 and Track 2 both get clear signals through the interlocking.

Throwing the switch for the cross-over from track 1 to 2, gives a medium clear signal to track 1, and stop for track 2.