Coach, those are some great looking cars, I am going to have to build me an Alaska RR train cause I know they come to Washington!
Jim, great find! I know it will come in handy and Kudo's to your wife for taking charge!
Adriatic, I need all the money I can get so not even a penny goes in the dirt! Neat idea, but not for me! LOL
Mitch, not my kind of engine, but I do love the work you are doing! It going to turn out great!
M. Mitchell Marmel posted:Shell painted, assembled and stickered! Also, tidied up the workbench.
Since the factory brakewheel went AWOL, I superglued a postwar repro into place.
And, of course, ten seconds after taking THAT picture, guess what I see suddenly appear on the carpet...
Oh, well. I'll save it for some other project.
Onwards and upwards!
Mitch
I think we can all attest to this exact thing happening to each of us on more than one occasion.
I've "found" more tools and parts than I've "lost" over the years. 
Sometimes I can stare at the workbench for 5 minutes and not see the part right in front of me.
I have not seen Fortesque inspect your work yet Mitch. I hope he finds it acceptable.
"I have not seen Fortesque inspect your work yet Mitch. I hope he finds it acceptable."
I'm sure when he gets back from railfanning, he will check it out... 
M. Mitchell Marmel posted:Shell painted, assembled and stickered!
Onwards and upwards!
Mitch
Looking good, Mitch... not Tuscan, but at least not that obnoxious blue!!!
Heck with all that is going on on here I don't have time to work on the layout LOL. Today I had to take the wife for some tests so while I was waiting for her I was thinking about something I wanted to try. So when we got home I found some wax paper. My thought was I had a lot of the glue I bought for the cat tails left over. My idea was to lay out the glue on the wax paper and press small pieces of foam into the glue. I used a couple of different colors. I am hoping this will work to cover up where my tunnels join the brick walls because they are somewhat different the the edges show. I am hoping this will work to cover up the seams between the two. This is also my first time at trying to make this so it will be trial and error. After dinner I'll check to see if the glue dried. Pics.............Paul
Looks like an interesting idea Paul! I hope you will let us know how it turns out! So the rest of us can give it a try!
Brian, Mark and Mike, thanks for the encouragement. All that liked my post thank you all.
Mitch nice job. I was wondering why red in your earlier post because the Gi-raffe Central is two-tone blue. I forgot you said Razorback in your original search for a low priced RS-3.
Al, the casting looks great.
Paul I think it will look great! Maybe thin it out a bit. Easy to add to it. Harder to take away!
Jim
mike g. posted:Mitch, not my kind of engine, but I do love the work you are doing! It going to turn out great!
Thankee!
briansilvermustang posted:"I have not seen Fortesque inspect your work yet Mitch. I hope he finds it acceptable."
I'm sure when he gets back from railfanning, he will check it out...
Indeed!
I do think I'm going to hold off doing the chassis swap until next week. I wanna mask off the chassis and spray the handrails white, and it's too cold and rainy around here for that right this second... 
Apples55 posted:Looking good, Mitch... not Tuscan, but at least not that obnoxious blue!!!
Heh. Well, it WOULD be prototypical, but the RSD-4 doesn't like the gi-raffe ramp, so Razorback Red it is!
Here's a quick flashlight test of the painted cab windows...
Mitch
Heh. Well, it WOULD be prototypical, but the RSD-4 doesn't like the gi-raffe ramp, so Razorback Red it is!
Mitch
Prototypical... not a word I ever expected to hear from you Mitch
M. Mitchell Marmel posted:mike g. posted:Mitch, not my kind of engine, but I do love the work you are doing! It going to turn out great!
Thankee!
briansilvermustang posted:"I have not seen Fortesque inspect your work yet Mitch. I hope he finds it acceptable."
I'm sure when he gets back from railfanning, he will check it out...
Indeed!
I do think I'm going to hold off doing the chassis swap until next week. I wanna mask off the chassis and spray the handrails white, and it's too cold and rainy around here for that right this second...
Apples55 posted:Looking good, Mitch... not Tuscan, but at least not that obnoxious blue!!!
Heh. Well, it WOULD be prototypical, but the RSD-4 doesn't like the gi-raffe ramp, so Razorback Red it is!
Here's a quick flashlight test of the painted cab windows...
Mitch
I am thinking flamingo pink would have looked best. So the gi-raff went into hiding, huh
I advanced some infrastructure on my layout...I unboxed a recently purchased Lionel Grand Central Station.....I love it ...it compliments the MTH New York Yankees World Series Subway and the Dept.56 Chrysler Building nicely.... the train was stopping at 42nd Street Grand Central but the building was non- existent ...now the departing passengers won't be confused....
Moved a little bit of track around. Don't like the siding on the long wall on the edge of the bench. Still moving things and figuring it out as I go.
Got my toggles installed for the roundhouse.
carsntrains posted:Well y'all know that things been a little rough lately .. Soooo. I went down to Lowes and Home Depot to "look" at tool box-work stations. Lowes had some nice ones. Went to HD and they had the perfect one. I measure it and was walking away. Manager said "you take that with you, I'll give you 25 dollars off". Hmmm Wife grabs the handles on it and starts rolling it to the cash register!!! YAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And by golly that rascal fit just right.... with a little tuning! 38 inches tall, 46 inches long. Had to take the handle off of it.
Fits great, looks great!
Mitch, "What cracks?"
Carsntrains, TonyH stellar work gentlemen.
Thanks Mark! I got it about full now. Still some room for some tools. Got a bunch of stuff picked up that was laying around.
Jim
mike g. posted:Mark Boyce posted:decoynh posted:mike g. posted:Hi Matt, I was going to but the wife said that was stupid. Oh well I will make sure I put it somewhere when I finish the building!
LOL! At our last house in 2013, we were removing wallpaper and there on the sheetrock wall was "Waldo was here, Feb 1973"! When my dad was renovating our ca. 1870 house in Danbury CT, he found Indian Head pennies inside a wall with dates in the late 1800's. Maybe you could leave an old train car or a piece of Lionel 3rail track in a wall for a hint of its original design/use. Best of luck as you go forward!
I grew up in the house my great grandfather had built in 1888. We didn't know the exact year until Dad took the fireplace mantle down when removing the crumbling chimney in the mid '60s. Behind it in pencil was the man's name and date, "Lincoln Staley, November 18, 1888". A little history, the man was a noted builder of a simple two story rural house in the area north of Pittsburgh, and was named for Abraham Lincoln obviously. What I find interesting is that he married the daughter of a Southern planter who lost everything in the Civil War. This is the same house that my dad lived in his whole life until he and Mom had to go to a personal care home last summer. The mantle with the pencil inscription is still in Dad's outbuilding shop.
Mark That is a great story about your Grandfathers house! Some day when they open up the wall on my train room they will find a box car with a note in it! LOL
LOL !!
carsntrains posted:Moved a little bit of track around. Don't like the siding on the long wall on the edge of the bench. Still moving things and figuring it out as I go.
HA HA replying to my own post! The track on the long wall where the buildings are and boxcars are sitting has changed majorly! 
Steamer posted:Mitch I have had tools, car parts vanish......and they magically reappear after I either buy another one or after I get disgusted and head to the house for a break. I think it's my late Uncle Jim messing with me.
I blame gremlins.
As for me today, I figured out how to wire the 1122 switches @Apples55 was kind enough to send for my boys. Also used a Just Plug Nano LED to light the Marx Switch Tower I purchased as it did not have any internals.
I'm at the point where I really need to clear off the table and get ready to wire. I'm a bit hesitant because this means I need to drill through the table to run my feeder wires. Once I do that, there is no going back.
What do people use to "fill" the holes after running their wires? I was thinking of some black latex caulk.
I was looking at my water car, and it totally dawned on me. The thing doesn't have a brake wheel. That was quite annoying, realizing I had submitted an article on it. In real life, once the tender got disconnected from locomotive, it would need its own brake wheel to set. Anyway, I grab some pins that I had bought a while back, and whipped up a brake wheel and stand. It's at a slight angle, but at least it looks better than it did before. I gave it a quick blast of the same paint I painted the car with, then hit it with some Rust powders.
As promised, Patrick was here today, and as usual a lot got done. We started by finishing filling in between the tracks with plywood. This will all be riverbed, but because it's winter, it will all be frozen.
We moved on to the Cottage Grove scene. Here Patrick is installing 2x4 supports.
By the end of the day this will all be covered with the OSB from the old floor, which was swapped out for 3/4" ply.
With all of the irregular shapes to fill, it's almost like a jigsaw puzzle, no seriously, we used the jigsaw to cut everything. As you can see, Patrick grabbed my camera again.
The OSB is filled in between the mains from St Croix to Chemolite the full length of the scene. Here you are looking uphill from St Croix.
Here it is looking downhill from Chemolite.
Patrick is installing another support for the section between the main and the Chemolite spurs.
I'm stapling sections of cardboard to fill the vertical gap between the mains. This will get plaster cloth, and probably some carved rock faces.
There's still one little piece left to fill in here, but a small section will remain open for access. The plan is to have 3D structures on both sides of the tracks.
This is the real 3M Cottage Grove site. The Mississippi is on the right, and the BNSF (ex Cb&Q) main is right next to the river. On the other side of the plant, on higher ground, are the CP (ex Milwaukee Road) tracks. Both railroads share both tracks and are dispatched by the BNSF in Ft Worth, TX.
Here's a closer view of the tracks entering the plant.
More of the cardboard embankment is stapled in place.
I'll be back at it tomorrow. The plan is for Patrick to return next Saturday.
Jim, I really like where you moved the track to! What are your plans for the open space in front now?
Lee, the break wheel turned out looking like stock! Great job!
Elliot, what does one say? Another great post and things are really coming together! I know when you post an update I will always be amazed at what you have done and where you came from as far as when you first started!
Lee, The brake wheel adds the final touch to a great looking tender.
Elliot and Patrick in action!! The Dynamic Duo!! It is looking great, Elliot! I am glad you are getting to the end of so many facets of the layout, and beginning new ones! The overhead photos of the prototype really give a good impression of what you are working on!
Got my work bench cleaned off and organized yesterday. I picked up some small parts bins at HD to sort out all the small stuff that was in piles surrounded by other piles of junk.
Just in time too- the steam shop had to open up to service the ATSF 0-6-0. Seems to be stalling on some of my switches since it took a dive to the floor a few months back. Runs fine with the reverse unit off but when its on it stalls and reverses. Nothing obvious so far still digging.....
RSJB18 posted:Got my work bench cleaned off and organized yesterday. I picked up some small parts bins at HD to sort out all the small stuff that was in piles surrounded by other piles of junk.
Just in time too- the steam shop had to open up to service the ATSF 0-6-0. Seems to be stalling on some of my switches since it took a dive to the floor a few months back. Runs fine with the reverse unit off but when its on it stalls and reverses. Nothing obvious so far still digging.....
Good luck with figuring out that puzzle. It seems that trains gives us puzzles to figure out all the time.
mike g. posted:Jim, I really like where you moved the track to! What are your plans for the open space in front now?
Lee, the break wheel turned out looking like stock! Great job!
Elliot, what does one say? Another great post and things are really coming together! I know when you post an update I will always be amazed at what you have done and where you came from as far as when you first started!
Thanks Mike and good question. There really isn't much space. So maybe a road or something? I still have to put down some pink foam under all the track. Or something. And I need to get some more bumpers for the ends of spurs.
Jim
Looks good Mitch, but I have to wonder .....
I've improved the body of the bench work on Brian's design for Mike too. Running on beer seems to be the wave of the future 
need to change that to the SIVER BULLIT TRAIN...
This HAS to happen.
Adriatic posted:Looks good Mitch, but I have to wonder .....
OK Adriatic, that is seriously disturbing... I can't unsee that!!!
And if Mitch decides to go down this path, we will all hold you personally responsible
Deuce posted:
This HAS to happen.
Talk about an enabler!!!!
I’ve been workin’ on the railroad, all the live long day,
I’ve been workin’ on the railroad, just to pass the time away. . .
Putting the finishing touches on a family room display shelf. Will rotate engines/cars in as the mood strikes. Time to start taking over more of the house. 
We have zebras already. What harm could come of a Gi-raffe
And then LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS........OH MY
Adriatic posted:Looks good Mitch, but I have to wonder .....
I've improved the body of the bench work on Brian's design for Mike too. Running on beer seems to be the wave of the future
LOL thanks for the idea! Brian is right about the coors, but that's a lot of kegs!
TedW posted:Putting the finishing touches on a family room display shelf. Will rotate engines/cars in as the mood strikes. Time to start taking over more of the house.
Slowly I turn, step by step, inch by inch.....
Very nice work Ted.
TedW posted:Putting the finishing touches on a family room display shelf. Will rotate engines/cars in as the mood strikes. Time to start taking over more of the house.
Great looking display Ted!
very NICE Ted ! looks GREAT
This one is for you guys workin’ so hard on the railroad:
You guys keep it up and you will have muscles like them!
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