What did you do on your layout today?

Randy Harrison posted:

trumptrain posted:

Ran trains for about 30 minutes, replaced some MTH coal loads with new custom loads, crawled under the layout to organize and search through some boxes ( It seems I have an entire trains store underneath my layout&nbsp and having much fun while doing all this!!!

Pat: These are GREAT videos. The aerial view of Patsburg in the first video is superb. It shows off all levels of the layout including Mount Randolph. I also love the close up of the Maryland and Pennsylvania milk train in the second video. As always, your scenery is OUTSTANDING!

WOW !  Thanks so very much for your kind works Randy!!  I love sharing photos and videos of my layout here on the forum!

mike g. posted:

Alan, man what skills you have just wonderful!
Elliot I am so excited for you to be getting that corner done! Rock on big guy!

Thanks, Mike! Just having fun.....

Hey Eliott!!!!

You're going to get that new layout after all!!! 

Worked on building a roof for my junker 192 Lionel Control Tower.  I added a piece of aluminum flashing to shield the roof from the light that tends to melt the roof !

Spent the last day or so making a piece that supports the two control tower operators who chase each other around.  Got it to work okay as for as those magnetic vibrating motors go.

Then I have to add two new switches to the control panel and wire up the Control tower.  One switch for the light and one for operation.

Charlie

Here is my first attempt at weathering 

Set up all of the terminal strips and switches for the lighting on my layout. Set up and wired my Lionel Control Tower, passenger station, and MTH Switching tower. Prepped the street lights to install tomorrow.

Cleaned my new K-line B&O Chessie S-2 and ran trains for about an hour. All in all a great day. Photos tomorrow.

Mike g, I got the backdrops from scenic express. The one I just posted today I got at the TCA show today but it is a scenic express one too........Paul

Filled some space.

I finished up detailing the interior of a building. This was my first attempt, and I think it came out pretty good. I'm still on the fence about what to do about the interior ceiling...

This is the bottom floor, I'm still working on the top floor. I need to make or order some specific pieces for that, so I don't expect it to be finished soon. 

well I made some changes I moved the incline from behind the upper level tracks to infront of the upper level track and reversed the yard on the left side of the layout. I didn't just do this in scarm I physicly did this on the layout today just need to finish the last 63 3/4 inch's of incline. but that's 2 lionel bridges atleast 48 inch's of it is .

happened to find this old scarm file I created about 2 years ago it's funny how you can spend so much time in a layout on scarm but never build it this is a fastrack version of the walbash layout. with 2 added yards.

One more Amtrak car is near completion, the "Silver Club" Dome, Dorm, Lounge car. It took two days to paint the interior seats, kitchen, Dorm beds and two passenger sleeping rooms.  I then added the Preiser figures I bought or painted myself. The glue is curing overnight before I close the car up and run it.  

The Dorm floor now will rest on the top edge of the window glass, not screwed back in place on the original posts. Lowering the Dome floor on top of the window glass gives enough clearance for the seated figures heads.  I cut 1/4" off the stairway up to the Dome, then glue the stairway to the Dome Floor after I have painted the seats and glued the seated passengers in place. (See photos of floor underside.)  Two of the screws that originally fastened the Dome floor to the roof are NOT used. The light strip is held in place by three screws and also is supported by the wall top edges.

The Preiser 65602 Seated Unpainted Figures (24 poses) are easy to paint, and can be positioned so it looks like they are having real conversations inside the car. I also used 68209 1/50 Seated figures and 65355 1/43 Railroad Personnel that includes a waiter in my dining car.

Mo985 posted:

I finished up detailing the interior of a building. This was my first attempt, and I think it came out pretty good. I'm still on the fence about what to do about the interior ceiling...

This is the bottom floor, I'm still working on the top floor. I need to make or order some specific pieces for that, so I don't expect it to be finished soon. 

Mo, Here is an idea, why not cut some wood beams and just have an open ceiling with exposed beams.

RSJB18 posted:

Set up all of the terminal strips and switches for the lighting on my layout. Set up and wired my Lionel Control Tower, passenger station, and MTH Switching tower. Prepped the street lights to install tomorrow.

Cleaned my new K-line B&O Chessie S-2 and ran trains for about an hour. All in all a great day. Photos tomorrow.

Here's some photos and a couple of short videos of yesterday's progress.

I forgot how beautiful most of your layouts are!  

No physical work was done on my layout yesterday, I did sit down and worked out how my benchwork will look like.  Yes it is on odd shape, but there are some reasons for that. 

I am reusing a 5x8 table my grandfather built for me when I was 7.  I turned it on an angle and will be building some "wings" off the sides to make it larger.  

I also need access to the back of the layout because the water shut off for the outside bib is located there and I need to access it a few times a year to turn the water off for the winter and back on in the summer.  I also will be able to reach from the back side of the layout to do work on it without having to crawl onto the layout itself.  

The black box is a closet that I have not acquired land rights too.  When I get the layout up and running I plan to build another closet in another part of the basement so I can tear that one out and build a small yard there.  

I have an idea for my trackplan but I think I will do it the old fashion way, throw down some track and see what I like, what works, and what I need to change before putting it all on paper.  

Mo985 posted:

I finished up detailing the interior of a building. This was my first attempt, and I think it came out pretty good. I'm still on the fence about what to do about the interior ceiling...

This is the bottom floor, I'm still working on the top floor. I need to make or order some specific pieces for that, so I don't expect it to be finished soon. 

Dear Mo85

Your first attempt???

I started looking at your post and couldn't quit saying, "oh, my goodness!!!"

The folks here are mighty kind to me about my own work. Comparing my meager attempts to yours are like comparing a beginning violin student to Itzhak Perlman!!!

Please DO keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing!

ALAN

The videos never appeared in my last post for some reason.

Had a friend come visit the layout last evening.  He really liked what he saw and wants to bring his adult son over to see the layout as well.  Just as many of you on this forum, I love sharing my layout with others!

paul 2 posted:

Nothing on the layout yet but after posting this down to the basement do something. Today I went to the TCA show in Parma Ohio. Didn't find anything off my list but managed to find these two items. An old Atlas Bobber caboose for ten dollars and a backdrop for the same price. The Bobber is on the light side so I will see what I can do with it and the back drop is going to go next to my Menards power station. Pics of the super buys. My kind of pricing LOL.....Paul

Paul,

Nice bobber!  The power station reminds me of on I worked in back in the '80s, that will go well with the Menards station.  I have one as well!

mike g. posted:

Alan, man what skills you have just wonderful!
Elliot I am so excited for you to be getting that corner done! Rock on big guy!

Yes Alan, I agree with Mike!

Big_Boy_4005 posted:

The dispatcher's corner is coming right along. I gave everything a coat of primer.

I just got an email from Menards saying my counter tops are in. I may head back down and do the actual paint. It is going to look very different when the walls are black. Then I get to move and hang the TV's, then the counter tops. Hope to wrap all that up by Tuesday.

Elliot, your work on your dispatcher's corner is looking great. Your yards and the extensive yards of others' layouts are impressive and look great.

One thing that I now observe is that a "large layout" can mean different things.  I suppose my layout is fairly large as far as overall length, but not as far as trackage. That's because when I designed my layout, I was more focused on grades and scenic design elements rather than rr logistics from the real world yard/interchange/team track etc. operation.  Now that I have completed most of my major scenic elements, I have been researching card/waybill operations that might involve a couple of 2 track yards/sidings .  Obviously, I might have researched this aspect more carefully while considering my design but again, initially my focus was more of a point to point without extensive yards, leads, and team tracks. I think I can still use a modified card/waybill method to bring interesting if not complicated switching and train building operations to my layout so I don't get board running the same coal/tanker/freight through trains all the time. So, I am curious what operation methodology are you using?

played around in scarm alittle before taking grand daughter skating. this is what my train room looks like in scarm the room is a loft off of the living room . I heard I might be able to take over the room next to the loft too. so I might get a lot more room.

fl9turbo2 posted:

Here is my first attempt at weathering 

Looks to me like the first attempt was a big success!  You enhanced that fire house!

that looks very nice

Added skirting.

Just finished installing the overhead lights that will be directly over the layout.  I ended up using 4 2 bulb florescent fixtures instead of can lights because it is what I have.  I just orderd some Daylight Bulbs at 6000k.   

These are not dimmable but there is 3 can lights in the room now that are dimmable.  They will be operated off a separate switch.  If I want dim light i can turn off the overhead lights and dim the room lights.  It seems to be a good compromise since I only spent $25 vs $125 if I used all cans with dimmable LED lights.  

Got my piece of Masonite cut and a coat of white on. While that is drying I worked on the gate for the scrap yard. Went from a double gate to a single gate. Glued the pieces together and waiting for that to set........Paul

I took the panels of fence and decided to do a three panel section. Had cut it down and glued them together. I waited a while and added a second drop of glue to the sections. After the white paint dried on the  Masonite I put it in place and then put the coat of blue on it. It should be set for backdrops down the road when I get some. Pics.................Paul

Finally got the time to setup my LCS and two BPCs.

Gotta say it's pretty cool.  Next up, two STMs.

Ballasted some track on the module...And started some ground cover base. Relaxing stuff. 

Should get my Atlas 2 rail SD35 in the mail Thursday. Which is also my next day off so I'll post some further pix then.

Mark Boyce posted:

fl9turbo2 posted:

Here is my first attempt at weathering 

Looks to me like the first attempt was a big success!  You enhanced that fire house!

Did not like the way the base turned out so I did some moving around of items and now all missing 

FL9TURBO2,

I like the placement on the layout; yes it is always good to continue to approve.  The roof looks especially good to me!  Great effect!

Mark Boyce posted:

FL9TURBO2,

I like the placement on the layout; yes it is always good to continue to approve.  The roof looks especially good to me!  Great effect!

thank you I am always critical of what I do so this was something I wanted to do for some time I have a few more buildings I will do very soon

I have had a Lionel Standard gauge 318 engine for a long time but yesterday at the train show I bought another. Not quite as nice but I liked the dark gray color and I was anxious to buy something. After I got home I ran the gray one but it needed weights for adhesion. So I decided to switch bodies on the to frames. No sweat-right ?? Not quite but finally managed it. The big issue was the manual reverse unit. The gray one was not like the original.  Finally got it done and now with the original frame of the gray one open I can do some things to it that needed done. Interesting working on this old stuff that has, probably, gone through several owners.

pennsynut posted:

Elliot, your work on your dispatcher's corner is looking great. Your yards and the extensive yards of others' layouts are impressive and look great.

One thing that I now observe is that a "large layout" can mean different things.  I suppose my layout is fairly large as far as overall length, but not as far as trackage. That's because when I designed my layout, I was more focused on grades and scenic design elements rather than rr logistics from the real world yard/interchange/team track etc. operation.  Now that I have completed most of my major scenic elements, I have been researching card/waybill operations that might involve a couple of 2 track yards/sidings .  Obviously, I might have researched this aspect more carefully while considering my design but again, initially my focus was more of a point to point without extensive yards, leads, and team tracks. I think I can still use a modified card/waybill method to bring interesting if not complicated switching and train building operations to my layout so I don't get board running the same coal/tanker/freight through trains all the time. So, I am curious what operation methodology are you using?

Thanks, it is moving right along. I got most of the paint on yesterday, and by the end of today, I should have the TV's up.

As we spend more time in the hobby, our tastes tend to evolve. This has happened to me. I went from designing track plans with various types of loops and passing sidings using relay control, to actually modeling a specific section of track in the real world.

I like that term "railroad logistics". It really does describe what I consider to be the highest level in this hobby, a model railroad. A couple of years ago, our friend Chugman decided to up his game to operations, and has been reworking parts of his layout to better facilitate this.

My layout won't have a ton of scenery, and 3D structures will be very limited, mostly industries served by the railroads. Yes, railroads, plural. I will have six different railroads represented, four of which will own at least one yard. The operational possibilities are almost endless. The plan is very linear, it follows the track. There won't be things like churches, fire departments or even street scenes.

I'm going to be using the Micro Mark car card and waybill system at least to start. It is possible that I could move to a computer based system at a later date.

I have had the pleasure the last few years of attending several 2-rail layouts operating sessions.  It was the most fun I have ever had in this hobby, and I have been in model railroading most of my life.  Elliot said it very well, we tend to evolve as we age and are exposed to new things.   i designed my layout to operate unit trains and passenger cars with a big emphasis on scenery.  While I still enjoy all of those things, I found myself asking "isn't there anything else?"  Another thing I love is recreating vignettes of scenes from my past, where I met my wife, where I used to watch trains as a boy, and etc.

The two major 2-rail layouts are in many ways very much alike, but in others quite different.  They both were designed for operations and do it very, very well.  Both have single track mainlines with lots of passing sidings, are point to point, and you can't see the whole layout at any one time.  Both are operated by car cards and waybills and one has a fast clock system.  Both have a large number of industries and yards for endless operating challenges.  The hours seem to disappear when you are in a session and you find you don't want to quit even after several hours.  One layout is totally scenicked and the other is a work in progress.  I like the scenicked one a little better and the trains seem to run a little better too.  The other layout has three levels and a hidden storage level in addition and is so large that it can be very intimidating.  

On my layout I want to pursue getting the entire cycle of certain industries that have a lot of meaning to me.  One example will be the baking industry.  I will have local grain elevators where the farmer will bring his crops to, then the grain will be transferred by rail to a large regional elevator complex, from there by rail to the flour mill, and lastly by rail to the bakery and everything in reverse. 

I am very interested in seeing how each of my friends that are interested in operations will approach theirs and be able to learn from them.  My son recently attended an HO session in St. Louis where they used a computer program to generate everything and he was very impressed with that and has been learning it in his free time.

Art

I did this on my new postwar layout

Art, a couple of years ago before I started my layout scenic redo (not trackage) I made a start at the card/waybill operation. I am now going to try it little by little.  I think it will be fun.  Can't wait to see how you do it.

The fence sections dried and I cut one panel off. With the panel that is left I think it will be wide enough for a truck entrance/exit. The rest of the time I worked on the opening to the crawl space under the bathroom. Found enough scrap lumber to box it in and make it look a bit better, still have to trim it out. Once I do that I can paint that wall and move on to the next section of the basement. While walking by where I have the corrugated fence laying I had a thought. I was wondering how I was going to secure the fence posts. I came up with this. The tubing I am using is 1/8" and cutting them to an 8' length. I am thinking of a finishing nail long enough to nail into the table top. Anyways a couple of pics.........Paul

I did a video review on my MTH Golden Spike Engines. Also came up with a few ideas for future scenery and buildings.

I was testing out a 242 that I'm rehabbing for a future train show, when Shop Supervisor Norma Bates "Katjira" Kitteh decided to wreak havoc...

"Who, me?"

"Say, did you know that your train isn't running?"

"That gi-raffe looks mighty suspicious to me."

On the job, looking for clues!

"My verdict is that this accident occurred due to natural causes.   Around HERE, this is natural causes!"

Mitch