Welcome back to the gateway to the weekend. It looks like a lot of progress was made last weekend on layouts and projects, let's keep it going. Friday: Not a really early day today, but enough to eke out a few hours of soldering as the feeder project nears completion. It would be amazing to finish the DCC feeders tonight, but we'll see. Saturday: The stretch of warm weather has left east central Illinois with now record cold temps throughout the region. It's only going to be 46 so I'll stay inside and work on the N scale layout. If all goes to plan, I'll get all the rail line feeders done, then install the DC line and connect the three servo controllers. Once everything is wired, testing will commence as well as fine tuning the throws on all of the turnout servos. Doesn't look like I'll get to track painting as I will be at the Rocky Mountain Train Show in a few weeks and once back from that, my modeling time will be spent on the NTrak module for Galesburg RR Days. I also need to get the plates on the F150 and start making the list of repair parts, so it too is ready for daily service and hauling the module to Galesburg. Sunday: Not much planned as we have a family gathering celebrating Angela's grandma's 92 birthday. I'll start with coffee then get cleaned up and head the hour and half northeast to Grandma's, celebrate and visit and make the hour and half trip back home again. If I do any model railroading, it will be concentrated on the N scale. layout. So how about you? What do you have planned for this weekend? Let us know. We'll assemble again on Monday the 25th to see how we all did. Until then, have a great weekend, be safe, stay healthy and as always... High Greens!
To add insult to injury my wife received two red light citations in the mail that were from the time her car was stolen. She is going to try to get over to the police station so she can pick up a copy of the police report to send to the Philadelphia Parking Authority. Since Saturday is supposed to be a big wash out we will be working inside. There are decorations for Easter to put up and St Patrick’s Day ones to put away. There will be laundry. I am not sure if we will do our grocery, produce, pharmacy, and pets store runs on Saturday or Sunday. On the layout I am working on the two bridges. I need to carve out the foam for the thru girder and then place it. I can then place the Urban Steel Overpass and begin getting both in their permanent positions. I may need to get some additional retaining walls. I need to check the supply on hand. I hope to get things to a point where I can run trains.
Morning all and Happy Friday! Another long busy week will hopefully be in the books by 4 today. It was really nice here yesterday but rain is moving in today followed by some cooler temps across the weekend Tonight will be my best shot at some model time. I have another Kato C44-9W to put a decoder in so that will be my first task. I have an unassembled M/T transformer load that I bought a long time back to put in the electrical switch yard on the layout that I think will get started on after the C44-9W is done. Not sure if I will get to anything else. Saturday I will try and get maybe an hour in drinking coffee and figuring out what next before heading out for the day with the family. I hope to squeeze in a stop at the LHS while out to get some paint for a hopper car project but that will probably be the extent of trains for the day. Sunday is up in the air. Have to take the boy back to school. Depends on the time he wants to go and what stops he and the wife may have planned, I may or may not get any train time so it's just roll with it for now. Hope you all have a great weekend!
Good morning. And happy NCAA March Madness. Our NC State Wolfpack won against Texas Tech last night. "Survive and Advance" as the great Jimmy Valvano said. This weekend I have several things I want to do, probably wont get to all, but the wish-list includes: 1. Install TCS sound decoder in F7 2. Paint some puff ball trees (weather allowing) 3. Work on the barn project 4. Lay the foundation for finishing the west side of Monterey, VA. Plus there are 2 basketball games to watch tomorrow. The State men play Oakland and the women play their first game against Chattanooga in the Women's NCCAs. We'll see what gets done on Monday. Have a great weekend all! Here's a thumbnail shot of West Monterey (actually the north side of the layout room). Have to extend the framework in the lower right of the photo.
Happy Friday, friends. No modeling plans for me this weekend. An opportunity may arise for me to tweak the layout design a little, but I'm not at a point where I can build anything yet so all the "tweaking" I'm doing is really just for fun. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Good morning from cloudy and cold Northeast Ohio, wintery mix expected this evening. Friday we head to the Orthopedic Surgeon’s office for a post operative evaluation of my wife’s knee surgery. We have to remember to take the bandage with us as it has the Surgeon’s notes on the surgery on it. Later on I will try and dull coat a hopper car I decaled. Will also resurrect a GP7 I was working on and try to finish it. In the evening we have the last night of bowling for Friday night. Saturday, Railroad club meeting and possible op session and taking care of the wife along with decalling a reefer that I painted during the week. Continue working on the GP7. Sunday, laundry and other stuff around the house and continue with the reefer and GP7. Rick Jesionowski
Today (Friday) I'll be conducting a couple interviews at work and then trying to get outside and cut some wood for the RGS Telluride On30 modules before the rain gets here late in the afternoon (forecast is over an inch today and similar tomorrow!). If I can get those boards cut and painted then I should be able to assemble the first couple modules of the layout and start planning on how I'm going to go about laying and controlling a pair of three way stub turnouts and a couple left / right stub turnouts on these first modules which will be for Vance Junction. Saturday will be cleaning up my electronics workbench to assemble four more Nexxt Throttles to send out to testers, thankfully I have nearly all of the parts on the workbench already. But I need to modify the enclosure slightly to add a USB socket to it for charging and firmware updates "in the field". If I can get the boards assembled in the morning and kick off the printing of the enclosures I'll spend the afternoon assembling an HO scale building (seen here) as part of the prep for my NMRA PCR make and take clinic next month. Sunday will likely be the final assembly of the Nexxt Throttles into the enclosures (adding buttons, display, securing PCB to the top half, add battery, etc). I'm hoping to ship them out on Monday provided there are no major problems uncovered during testing. Oh and if I can get to it this weekend I'd like to update and post the track plan for the RGS Telluride branch in On30 that I'm working on. I've decided to adjust the footprint from 10x10ft to 8x12ft as it will fit better in my available workspace.
Well, work will take up some of my weekend. If I have any energy remaining, I might make a little progress on my HOn30 Forney. Am also fiddling with making a handrail for an HOn30 tank car. I didn't like the factory offering, so decided that giving myself a headache would be more fruitful. And then...?
Last weekend Scouts BSA Troop camping; this weekend Cub Scout Family Camp. Its something the youngest boy has been looking forward to - I used to take him when his older brother was in Cub Scouts, so now he gets to legit do it by himself. We will be back early Sunday, but with forthcoming family Spring Break travel, I suspect I will be squeezing two days of house and yard work into a half day. I shall look longingly at my layout over a cup of coffee now . . .
Happy Friday to Y'all I should finish up the H12-44's Some progress pics: Ready for decals: Decaled - ready for the add on details: As of today - details have been added. Next: - Detail paint, windows to be added and some final details Thanks, Wolf
Good morning everyone, This morning my wife and I are going to get another Covid19 shot. I think this will be our 7th or 8th shot. Hopefully no side effects because this afternoon one of the guys from the Ntak group will be over with a new module so we can do the wiring on it. We are also expecting more rain this weekend. We have had nearly a week of great weather and I took advantage of that to get the vegetable garden started and do other yard work. This weekend I'll likely stay inside and continue with the building I have been working on. Also, I'll start getting trains ready for a 5 day exhibit we have coming up in a couple of weeks. Hope you all have an enjoyable weekend whatever you are doing.
Looks like the N-scale layout is on the cusp of wiring completed. Bridges always add interest to a layout. I always love a good hopper project. West Monterey is coming along. Good luck with the "tweaking". Resurrecting a GP7 sounds extra cool. Stub turnouts, definitely from a bygone era. Handrail making definitely = challenging. Look and dream over the layout. Those H12-44's is keeping us in "suspenders". Five-day exhibit! Wow! Right now we are in the Spanish tile making business. This past week, I made a tile course gluing guide. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to glue the paper part to the clear plastic part. Just after I applied it to the plastic, I thought, "Why did I do that?" I immediately removed it and let it dry. This took a while. Since the glue was "puddled" on it, it dried curved. I went ahead and used it. The curve caused it to spring up a little which was frustrating. So, earlier today, I made a new guide. I also prepped walls for roof mounting and floor mounting. And, hold the presses, I discovered one wall was too short. I think a simple additional section will fix this. I planned to continue the roof making and wall mounting this weekend. Rain in the forecast. Have a dry as possible and fun weekend.
Made a list of 'to do'. Argh, still can't decide. --- Copy from my Build Thread: Possible Projects on the Grey and Grandure Visually Important Deal with the artificial strata as in above postings Start 'blocking out' buildingsx with foam Finish painting 'Simple Bridge' Start / build 'The Great Divide Mountain' using part of 'Old Mountain', (from N-Scale layout). Should it be high enough to act as a partial view block' Tedious Finish transfer caboose Fun to Do: Make rock formations for 'Monument Valley' including one formed like a 'Needle' with land speeder flying through. Change industrial area so it flows more easily Create removable modualr covering of Industrial area so I could put a town or mountains there. Electrically isolate yard / industrial area from main line.and add 2nd power supply Start painting figures for 'Long Horn Bison Ranch' Print 'GandG' logo and fasten to 'The Three Bears' Mystrium storage silos Go for a walk. I am not complaining. It is a luxury to have soooo many options. That is incomplete but will do for now.
Today I was setting up the club's traveling N layout for the local train show. Tomorrow I will be manning the club's traveling N layout at the local train show. Sunday? Well, that depends on how much I buy at the local train show.
This weekend I am making compromises. The new boiler is based on the prototype with accommodations to fit the Kato chassis. Now I need to finalize the placement of the domes. I do not have a builder's drawing to work from. The photos available are all from slightly differing perspectives, giving slightly differing looks to the placement. I am going to give it my best shot, drill some holes, make some domes where needed, and put together another version. It will be about getting the right look rather than an exact replica. Like I said, compromises. The next step will be milling out the cavity for the chassis. Much to do. Pictures on Monday. Of course, it won't all be fun and games. A few soccer matches to watch. Maybe some basketball. And Sharon is talking about yard work. Stay safe,
Hopefully, tomorrow, if the weather forecast hasn't been completely bollixed up, heading to Ottawa for the local club's model train flea market (now a model train event!). I know tomorrow morning when I get up. The weather system is tracking more south, so less snow from where I start (depending on which weather report one listens to) and in Ottawa itself. Heavier snow is to the south and east, and the farther north and west - where I'm heading, there's less. Apparently, New Brunswick is going to get plastered big time. This is the same event as in 2008 when I re-entered the hobby after a 30-year hiatus. I've never come back from those disappointed nor empty-handed.
