Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend and got a lot done. Let's dive in and see how we all did. Friday: I was able to clock out early and head to my not so local hobby shop and pick up the cork roadbed I needed. While there I picked up the last unopened box on N scale cork as I will probably be building some other modules this summer. I also picked up another Brekina HO scale Jeep Wagoneer as well as a Wiking CJ-5 for the HO layout and ballast for the N-Trak module. I talked to the owner for a bit then picked up dinner on the way home. Saturday: I slept in till 7:00 then we got up and ready to meet Angela's dad at the big box store for new tires for the station wagon. They told us it would take a few yours so we had breakfast and ran errands at the local stores until they were done. While in town I purchased some heat deflector material for the Falcon and we headed back home. Once home the heat deflector material was applied to the choke tube and fuel line to prevent vapor lock. It was a success as the temps were close to 80 and we drove around from back roads to highway with no hiccups. Ang then had a dinner with her coworkers, so I came along for that. By the time we got home it was almost 10:00. Sunday: I got up, made coffee and stumbled into the workshop. All the sanding on the NTrak module had paid off. I had once section that needed leveling so sheetrock compound was carefully applied and spread to fill in the small void. Once dried I was able to re-lay new cork roadbed. I set some heavy boxes on the roadbed and got cleaned up. I then went to Normal to join the Athearn service guys as well as some other old friends to operate on a HO layout. Alan was nice enough to host us and set us up on three two-man crews while I had a small section to myself. It was so nice to operate again. We ran trains from 12:30 to 4:30 then I came home and took my wife out to dinner and then just like that the weekend was over. So how about you? What did you accomplish? Let us know. We'll assemble again on Friday the 12th to start the process all over again. Until then, have a great week, stay safe and as always... High Greens!
Good mornin to Y'all Making progress on my SP utility truck project: I decided to remove the racks. After seeing them in the up close photos, I didn't much care for them. Thanks, Wolf
Good morning. Weekend went about as I thought. Friday afternoon, the Mrs and I prepped for having folks over for dinner. No modeling. Saturday, I cleaned up some engines and then "meandered" over to the train show. It was a disappointment. It was in a smaller building this year w/ very few layouts. Mostly tin-plate vendors with a few scale rail vendors. Walked around for an hour or so. Been going to shows for 30 years or more and this was the first time the only thing I had when I got home was the $10 admission ticket. Didn't purchase anything Sunday worked some more on diesels. I took a few engines I had that had the windshield wipers popped off and put on new Cal Scale wipers. That went well. Then I got out the Digitrax DT602D which I haven't used much and ran trains with it. Works like a charm, just takes some getting used to. The DT400 and DT402D's have become second nature to me. Here's a shot of some trains running:
Saturday was spent cheering on my daughter during a softball doubleheader. It’s her first season playing and it’s a rec league and a lot of learning is going on, but they are 3-0 so far and she’s gotten walked or hit with a pitch (so far 2x) every at bat. But she’s got a few stolen bases under her belt now and crossed home a couple of times so she feels like she’s contributing to the offense. Sunday we relaxed and I got almost done with the pedal box for my co-worker. I finished graffiti and weathered with some oils. Once it’s dry I’ll hit it with some weathering powder and it should be done. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We had a very good weekend. Friday started with the cardiologist clearing my for surgery next week. They found no problems. I pulled the heater out of the fishpond and moved the waterlilies out of the deep end and into the shallow end. We have some future work to do on them as all four plants are intertwined and need to be repotted. We finally determined where the ants are getting in and did some basic things to temporarily lessen the problem. Saturday, we ran to the produce store, grocery, and hardware store. When we got home, I got to spraying the outside of the house for ants and placing traps. I brought the plants down from the attic and placed them on a table to get some sun and fresh air. My wife will clean them up this week. Sunday, I brought the outdoor table for the front patio down from the attic and put it on the front patio. We use the table to keep the potted plants on for the winter. I did a heavy-duty cleaning of the kitchen and breakfast nook floors. I helped my wife with repotting a couple of plants and the first harvest of some herbs. I washed the dog’s bed much to the displeasure of the dog. She finally forgave me around bedtime and went back to using her now clean bed. I finally finished the Morgan House. Friday, I glued the window frames into two walls. I also painted the roof. Saturday, I added the air conditioning unit, chimney, and vent pipes to the roof. I installed the glazing on all the windows. Sunday, I assembled the walls. I had an issue with the roof as I had to cut it down to size. I still have a few paint touch ups to do but my first resin building kit is done. It was something of an experience. While waiting for paint and glue to dry I finished putting away the last of the rolling stock from the last run by. I also began working on the next run by. Thank you for all the well wishes for my wife's upcoming surgery in Friday's post. The surgery is supposed to be routine but then again is any surgery routine? This the third time she has done this in the past 2 years. Hopefully this time the results will still be negative for anything and that they can finally install the device that will deliver the medicine that should stop her bleeding. This will be the third try for the install as two in office procedures failed to have the device deploy in the correct way so it could administer the medication.
Well, here we are at Monday yet again. The weekend went sort of as expected. Yard sale and errands took up a little bit more time than expected so there's that. Finished up the tie downs on a flat car load and a gondola load, finished up a 3 bay covered hopper I've been messing with. All 3 are on the layout now. Got a new coupler installed on my mystery balloon car and set it up on a display shelf. Thank you to Micro Trains for the great customer service on replacing that part! Started on the tie downs for the pipe load I am working on. Thought for sure I'd get that one done but it needed more time to let the glue set so I guess it will get finished next weekend. Other than that, did some organizing and the work bench is the cleanest it's been in a really long time. All set for guest in a couple of weeks. Continued to work on installing more metal wheel sets. Very close to having all my coal hoppers upgraded. Speaking of those, I never got around to checking out some others I am having issues with. Another thing I can do next week without making a mess maybe Hope you all have a great week!
Good morning everyone, We had off and on rain all weekend so I alternated between being in the train room during the rain and getting some yard work done when it was not raining. Most of the train room time was spent going through all of the Ntrak club's DCC stuff as planned. Replaced the coin batteries in the primary and backup command stations, and the programming box's command station. Went through all of the Loconet cables and replaced a total of 11 connectors that were either loose or broken. Tested each of these components on my own layout before re-packing them in their storage box. The lid on the box has never really fit right or stays on the box so I came up with a way to make it more secure. Also got a start on selecting what I will take to the convention to run and picked out a couple of things to enter in the live auction.
Good morning from sunny and warm Northeast Ohio! On Friday I did some more work on the Moloco PC&F RBL and painted the IMRC 5283CF 50' Boxcar. Also got ready my new Rapido Wabash E8 and the Bluebird Passenger cars to take to the club Saturday along with putting away the PC Cars I ran the last time I was at the club. Saturday, went to the club and got to run the Bluebird, engine ran and sounded great. Later in the day went to Costco for needed groceries and then in the evening worked on the Moloco PC&F RBL. Sunday, did the laundry and had choir practice, also spent the evening with the Moloco PC&F RBL, not an easy build as there are no directions so I am using the directions for the GATC car with modifications to match the parts that came with the PC&F car. Here is the complete underframe with all the brake air lines and rodding installed along with the couplers in the wonderful Moloco coupler pockets. I have completed the A end of the car and attached everything except the uncooupling lever which I will add just before painting. Rick Jesionowski
Go Falcon! (We have a Normal, Alabama, too ) Believe me, I understand about the not liking the close-up. Mine are usually a horror show. I hate it when a train show doesn't work out. Groovy graffiti! Here's to found no problems! The Morgan House debut! Outstanding! I heard "covered hopper"! Go ahead and "mess". @nscalestation, love your innovation. (It rhymed. ) Well done underframe detail. (Did I hear "laundry"? ) The front tender steps are done. Just before getting on here, I began making the 2-8-0 and 4-4-0 frames. Then just continue until done. Fishing may interfere. I hope all have a great and successful week.
Moose's weekend included the airbrushing of copious amounts of primer to rolling stock and -- surprisingly enough -- an application of final finish to number of passenger coaches. And -- no surprise -- once again, Moose has run away from experimenting with masking & airbrushing for multiple color paint schemes like the scaredy-moose that Moose is...
With my research paper and my five other (shorter) papers turned in by Wednesday midnight, I finally relaxed a little but knew that much of this weekend would be consumed by catching up on things that had been put off until the semester's end. Thursday I went to work and finished my sermon and then went home, had dinner, and... did nothing. It felt wonderful. The only thing we really did was to stop in at our church basement sale to pre-shop for bargains before they opened Friday morning. Having a key to the building is handy sometimes. We bought some work pants for our son-in-law, a few miscellaneous tidbits, and a couple boxes of beautiful wooden ships that were marked $3.00 but could easily have sold for $50 or $70 or more down in Amish country. Friday, my wife and I went out to breakfast/brunch in Hartville, and in the afternoon, I ran around to parts stores trying to find a new seat belt buckle for my truck. O'Reilly's auto parts didn't carry them because they are a "safety device" so I headed to our GMC dealler. They wanted $180 or some such for the little thing, so I went back to O'Reilly's for a seat belt extender (since I can buckle it using a screwdriver), that would have worked, if it had been the right size, so I went back again to return it. I found a decent replacement online for $23 and it should arrive by Thursday. Until them I'll be using a screwdriver to fasten my seat belt. In the evening we went over to our son's house in Akron so he could listen to her brakes (that he replaced last week) because she was concerned about a noise they were making. He determined that nothing was wrong, that the noise was probably just the new ceramic brake pads wearing in, but if it's still making noise in a month, to bring it over again. On the way home, while my wife drove, I found all the paint that I needed for the port project at the Sebring Model Railroad Club, determined that ordering online was cheaper than driving to any of the stores that carried it, and ordered it all from one of the big craft store chains. Saturday, My wife and I spent two or three hours weeding in the church garden in preparation for spring planting. You'd think that we'd be there already except that it snowed just last week so everyone is a little apprehensive about planting. After that I worked to unclog a patio drain that my wife discovered behind our house. We always though the patio needed one since it pools water whenever it rains hard. She started digging so that we could backfill gravel around the edges and was surprised to find a drain that had been buried and overgrown. After that, I attempted to repair a (single-Mom) friend's lawnmower handle. It was supposed to be a simple job of replacing a couple screws or bolts. But wouldn't you know, these newfangled all-electric, battery powered lawnmowers are all plastic and use some weird size, super course threaded, pan head, star screw that nobody carries. I finally found it on the internet and six screws, plus shipping, is over $20. Hopefully they'll arrive this week before her grass gets too long. Sunday, was church, then out to Sebring for the monthly business meeting of the train club. We discussed, at some length, the three quotes that we had for insulating our crawlspace and finally decided that some of the other members will try to get additional quotes. In the end, all of these will probably be more than our budget will allow, so we will have to do at least some of the work ourselves. I also revealed the club stickers and patches that I had purchased (out of my pocket) and the club approved my proposal of selling them. Once the sales earn enough to pay back my original expenditure, all the rest of the proceeds will benefit the club but will be maintained in a separate fund for the purpose of acquiring and selling club branded merchandise. After most everyone had left, two of us remained behind to replace a cooling fan on one of our layout power supplies that was making noise. I did not get to work on any train stuff on my workbench but I feel good that a lot got done. This coming Sunday I won't preach because it's "Music Sunday" but I'll be busy all week getting things in order before I leave for Israel next Monday for two weeks of study with my university class. I hope you all have a great week.
Well this past weekend was one of the best for us in a very long time. First and foremost Diane & I were able to go see a production of "CATS". Great show. Great evening ! Model work, yes but I did not complete my project as hoped. However, I did get the wiring circuit completed and tested and now all I need to do is add the car shells back on. Here are 3 images: And finally one in the night time. I wanted the bright lights in the kitchen car to show through the windows along the top of the car sides. I did learn something from this weekends work and that is that #38 magnet wire does not play well with me. So I used some very nice flexible wire. Live & learn !
I got to the Raleigh train show Sat., soon after it opened. The May show is always in a smaller building than the November show and there just isn't as much room for layouts. There were wall to wall people and I was surprised to see more than the usual one layout. I expected the N-Rail TTrak layout, but there were several Tin Plate layouts. This is the show that the local club took over from the TCA, when they couldn't find anyone to run it. It has evolved over the past few years into almost a combined show. Lots of Tin Plate vendors. Although I'm not involved with Tin Plate, it was fun to look at the old stuff. I took a gentleman from my neighborhood that I help with his Swiss themed layout. He doesn't drive much anymore and can't get to shows unless someone takes him. He found a vendor with lots of foreign trains and picked up a car he'd been looking for. Overall, we had a good time. I'm sorry Kitbash was disappointed with it. The November show will be a lot bigger. Don
Video update for this weekend: I didn't get done what I had planned but made some different progress!
My weekend went about as expected. No modeling. I did use the work bench for a minor household equipment repair. Scanned a bunch of my BN train orders. Listened to some good music. Even just sat down, relaxed and watched a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory. Nice. I could use more weekends like this one!
Ken - May you enjoy many more weekends such as the last one ! ! ! It tool more than the one weekend for my project BUT I have finished the articulated 3 car diner set. All diffusers are installed and I think the couplers are on correctly. These articulated cars are bitches to get back together so that they perform properly. Here is daylight (ceiling lights on ) : Night time, I got what I was striving for with bright lighting in kitchen car and subdued in the coffee shop and diner : Now, I only have 4 articulated chair car sets to do ! I Better get it on !
Are they called Articulated cars, as I have Kato ones I thought they were passenger cars, just wondering the difference, if any?
