Welcome back everyone! I hope you are doing well despite weather, fires and medical procedures. Let's get started. Saturday: I finally got the work bench / office desk completed: Where the company lap top is sitting is the office and to the left of the chair is the work area. This is much more comfortable then the metal work bench I had been using. Out of view, to the right of the filing cabinet is the airbrush spray booth and the N scale shadowbox. I have the bridge built that will span the gap between the two modules. To yet be built, is the second shadowbox above the office section and the yard which will be built above the workbench area. Sunday: I started my day by taking the Mustang out for a drive to the automotive store after making French Toast for the Domestic Goddess and I. Once home, the garage project started. A lot of re-organization and putting work benches on wheels to make things easier was accomplished. Still not done but I'm getting closer. So how about you? What did you get done this weekend? Let us know, maybe with an image or two. We'll assemble again on Friday the 28th to start the process all over again. Until then, have a great week, be safe in all you do and all you face and as always... High Greens!
I got a couple of things done but not all I wanted. As the Division Super, I make my plans. However, the CEO and President had other ideas on the best use of my time regarding cabinet door hardware maintenance in the kitchen and laundry/mud room. Nonetheless, I did manage to get several C&O cantilevers built to ship off to the signal guy. Only need to add the railings on 2. Also need to complete 3 more. They don't take that long. Also managed to put a tar and batten roof on the gray shed portion of the C&C Dog Treat building.
Finished the truck and trailer wheel painting project. Don't even what to think about the number of wheels I painted over the past few weeks. Ran some trains and started a grin elevator scene on the layout. Also started and finished up a 3d printed bulk dry goods trailer from Royale Models. Hope you all had a great weekend and have a great week. If you are in the path of the storms in the gulf, stay safe and we'll be thinking about you all.
I refreshed my super glue supply and looked longingly at my workbench while getting the house ship shape for Marco and Laura's visit. Marco has cut himself in half at mid altitudes due to wind shear, so he will be a rain making tropical storm later today but not much threat. Laura, on the other hand, remains a hurricane and didn't loos any strength on Hispanola's mountains as she was expected to. We will have to see how unsettles Marco left thew Gulf as she roars north. Flooding is still a major concern by the end of the week.
Phillip H stay safe. I finally fixed a kitchen cabinet door that would not stay closed. I had to replace the magnetic stopper/holder. Chalked the window in our bedroom that has our air conditioner. We have been getting water under the window sill and I am at a loss as to how. Worked with the new Pan Pastels weathering chalks I got. I finished weathering two cabooses, and five MDC/Roundhouse express reefers, two Accurail outside truss boxcars, and a Bachmann 50' steel reefers. I started weathering a Walthers steel reefer and two wood reefers, and an Old & Weary Car Shop/Branchline wood reefer. I also built two more MDC/Roundhouse express reefers and sprayed three Athearn reefers and a MDC/Roundhouse wood reefer with Dullcoat preparing them for weathering.
I didn't get as much done over the weekend as I had planned but that is ok. As of yesterday morning the Moc Fire has not changed in size and finally there is some containment! Early this morning though there was a lot of loud thunder and lightning and there are at least five new fires reported so far this morning with the spotter planes planning to head out this morning to search for any others. Thankfully the wind blew most of the smoke out of the area by late afternoon yesterday but I'm expecting it to return sometime today. That sounds like some good news and maybe not so good news. Stay safe! Check the weather barrier on the top and sides of the window on the outside of the window, it sounds like possibly it is penetrating there and traveling down the sides.
Once again I did nothing related to MRR. I survived the Colonoscopy. Glad to have that behind me. Awaiting the test results. Lots of cooking was accomplished. I'm well stocked for the week ahead. I need someone to kick me in the rear to get back to modeling as I've got plenty to work on. So I'll get off of this board and get to work. Stay cool and be well.
Yep - this sounds like a window that was either not properly flashed on installation, or has damaged flashing that allows water where its not supposed to be.
Same here - not much accomplished. I did finish my friends Model T REA van - And - just about done with the SW-900 (Had I worked a bit longer - she could have been finished) Hope Y'all had a great weekend, Wolf
Got the new bridge installed and some basic scenery done under the bridge. The main line is now re-opened. The smoke from the fires was present in varying degrees all weekend. In the house we ran either the A/C or just the fan to filter plus two air purifiers to keep the inside of the house clear. Some small ash as been falling as well. Did not spend any time outside just going between the house and the train room. Here are a couple of photos. Still have much to do. Want to add the guard rails and some brush to the scenery in this area. Also need to ballast the track between this new bridge and the skewed truss bridge. Then will be ready to start the next expansion soon.
Saturday morning I installed a blue point switch machine then while the glue was setting up I pulled out three structures I am using on the module and the vehicles I had completed to get an idea how everything was going to look. After the visualization I got to work. By Sunday night things had come together. I still have a long ways to go but the module is nearing completion. The crossing is almost done, the road needs to be laid, and two structures finished. I am awaiting materials that I ordered To arrive so I can finish one. I also need to draw up plans for the second and start building.I was also able to finish the last of the vehicles assembly and painting and paint the gas station details. With all that finally done I finished the gas station and put it in place. Now all that is left is to layout the road down.
Well, I spent the weekend at 6900' at Bull Trout Lake with my son Jon's family. He even got his mom, my first wife, to go on her first camping trip in over 25 years. We had my favorite camp dinner, tacos with home made salsa, and my dad could not get enough. It was his 82nd birthday Sunday, and he still rides the quads! We did all the normal stuff, Fishing, Hiking, ATV Riding, Shooting, and SMORES of course. It was a little smokey from the California wildfires, even up here in the Sawtooth range of Idaho, but not bad enough that we could smell it, just enough to cause a haze. The weather was good, reaching almost 80 in the day and the 40's at night, I slept great in the cool weather for once, having escaped the mid 90's in the Treasure Valley. The 4 year old refused to share the little quad with the bigger kids without a fight, but they all took turns riding, In fact the rode all day every day. Why didn't they have toys like that when I was a kid? So, as is obvious, I didn't do any model railroading this weekend, but I did order a pair of Brass SW1200 shells from The Z Maker's Shapeways store so I can build a couple Z Switchers this winter. I hope he finalizes his new GE 44-ton switcher so I can get one of those on order too.
Your trailer sure is shiny, it looks like it was chrome plated. Friday I modified module 08 benchwork. Spent the next two days measuring, cutting and sanding Masonite fascia for the remaining modules along the walls, then applied Gesso. This morning I painted the fascia forest green. Went through four sheets of Masonite to build what has been done so far and only have a few scraps left over. Joe
Great looking projects. Happy 82 years to dad. Hope medical results are good. Question. Have you ever thought that you would be much farther along on the current effort and then had to admit that you had a lot more to do? So far we have frame, couplers, cross head yoke, cross head guides, cross heads, drive wheels, drive rods and side rods done. In the works: the cab. Next: boiler jacket, fire box, stack, bell, domes and whistle. Slowly moving through all this. Will be cutting top radii on front and rear cab walls as actual next step. Main obstacles: chores and "nappage".
If you have the style of window air conditioner we usually know, it will have times when there is condensation or frosting melting. This collects in the bottom, which is essentially a tray. Your conditioner should be installed with a slight slant downward, on the outside. Not level or tilted to the home interior. Outside there will be holes in the bottom of the tray, where the moisture can drain out. They will be far enough out to the back edge, so water is not dripping on the wall. If you've had the conditioner for a while, those holes can plug with dust, dirt and other debris. When this happens the tray fills with water, and.... Also, with any heavy rain or snow event, (with or without winds), you can get water inside the air conditioner, which needs to drain away.
I achieved zero. With my injured hand, (of course the 'good' one-ha ha), in a brace, it was too clumsy, and my left hand is not cooperative enough. *Sigh*. Maybe by next weekend I can take the brace off long enough to hold a pin vise well enough, or a paint brush...
These pictures show why I can't seem to find time for model railroading. I've spent months scanning my railroad and family slides and thought I was finally complete ..... until I remembered a large box of "seconds" in the closet that I'd planned on throwing away. I looked them and I found that the passage of 30 to 40 years has made these shots more interesting than I thought they'd be. So, back to the scanner I go. Not so notable when I took it and the lighting is poor, but worth scanning I think. [Knoxville, TN - Nov 1978]
Accomplished my big objective: Getting a coupler in the front of the NP 4-6-6-4. However, it took me until Sunday night to get it done. Those of you unfamiliar with the N-scale NP Challenger won't know that it is a beautiful locomotive with a checkered reputation. I finally found one I think runs well and spent the money. One of its quirks is it comes without a front coupler. I called the manufacturer and was told MT 1016. They would be happy to send me one. I said thanks, but I had plenty already. Armed with that information I flipped over the loco to install a coupler. The cast pilot is a thing of beauty and the opening is true to scale. Meaning there is no way a standard N-scale coupler knuckle is passing through it. The draft gear box is even larger. So what to do. I took the McHenry coupler off the tender. The shank would fit through the opening, but is far to short to work. I had a longer shank E-Z Mate coupler from the Model Power tender project. With a little trimming on the springs it fit through the opening and operated in a limited fashion. The knuckle is even larger than MT knuckles and just looked way oversized. MT True Scale coupler: Heavily modified draft gear box and sanding down the bottom of the knuckle so it can slide through the opening. Looks good, but not so much for double heading with standard coupler equipped locos. Double heading is definitely on the list, so what next? I was looking longingly at the Z-scale couplers, wishing for a long shank option. Decided to cut down the knuckle on a 1016 and try that. Got it in there with a modified box. It worked, kinda, the shank was rubbing against the back of the pilot. Seemed worth a try. Backed up a Kato Mike for testing and discovered the Challenger coupler nearly passed over the top of the Mike's coupler. Need to lower the pilot. Turns out these things are glued together. Oh man, I should have known when I couldn't find any references online to installing the front coupler. Several threads where folks asked the question, but I could not find a single answer. So turns out the glue is pliable. With a little patience, a little scraping, I found the place where the headlight wires pass through the mechanism and up to the circuit board. Did you know they use those delicate little magnet wires on this loco? Neither did I. It is possible to do some serious material removal without destroying those tiny wires. I did not find it to be easy or quick, however. Got it back together eventually. With a lowered pilot, too! Decided to try a different approach. I ground away some material from the back of the pilot to improve clearance for the coupler. Then modified a second draft gear box for a 1016 and put it, the empty gear box, in upside down. Actually downside up in this case. I slid an unmodified 1016 coupler through the pilot from the front, used a small jar to hold it in place, installed the spring, set the lid and screwed it closed. It is still not perfect. It does work. Not likely I will use this for switching so the front coupler doesn't have to be perfect. It double headed through some too tight corners without speed matching to the other loco, so hopefully it will be OK. Here are the before and after of the pilot modification. Here's a shot of the various coupler iterations: I think a True Scale coupler on a flip up panel could be made to fit under the headlight where it belongs. Or a long shank Z-scale coupler? Anybody know where I can get one of those? Oh, I also made a little progress on the tender project. Away from the workbench for the next two weekends. I hope everyone stays safe until I return.
Can't wait to see what's next! Even the most crappy, sometimes blurry old shots back then, are the best to find nowadays.
