MODELING It's Tuesday, September 8th 2020: Weekend Modeling Accomplishments

Jim Wiggin Sep 8, 2020

  1. Jim Wiggin

    Jim Wiggin Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a productive, safe and restful Labor Day weekend. Hard to believe that summer is all but over and we'll soon be entering the holiday season. Yikes! Let's get started.

    Saturday: After a successful trip to my favorite hardware store on Friday, I started by building the brackets that would be the other end of the layout. I did not get too much done however as I left for St. Louis at 3:00. The 2.5 hour trip was nice and my destination will be on-line in a few weeks. I got back about 12:30 and hit the sack.

    Sunday: I slept in until 8:00, something I don't normally do. As planned, I got ready for the day and made up some homemade biscuits and gravy with the sausage coming from our local butcher. Having a meal like this for breakfast guaranteed that I would not have to stop for lunch. The weather did not cooperate as it was rainy and so the Mustang stayed in the garage while I worked on other projects. I did finally manage to finally update our 12 year old TV with a new smart one and the old one is now in the garage which means I can watch Motor Trend while working on the Jeep. I was also finally able to call the garage project done.

    Labor Day: I waited on the weather again as they were calling for rain. I have to move the Mustang and motorcycle out for me to work in the garage, the joys of a small one car garage. Finally it looked like the storms were going to blow by us so I set the shop up and finished the brackets as well as got some pegboard up for the work shop area of the office. I then built the 1X3 frame for the second shadow box and placed it up stairs. I'll be ordering two more T-Trak modules or making my own 1 -piece module myself. Next, I carefully pulled all the servo controls on the two modules and ripped up all the track and sanded the tops smooth. I hope the Micro Engineering will be better as well as my new track plan. Over all, a very productive day.

    And it looked like based on Friday's posts, I wasn't the only one with a list. Now is your chance to tell us all about it. We'll gather again on Friday the 11th and resume our regular schedule. Until then, have a great (short) week, be safe, stay healthy and as always...

    High Greens!
     
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  2. SP-Wolf

    SP-Wolf TrainBoard Supporter

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    First - I hope Y'all had a great and safe weekend!!

    As for me - we had a very good weekend. Our Daughter, son in-law and Granddaughter came over on Saturday - to enjoy our A/C and pizza
    I did finish up my SW900 project.

    Sunday: My cousin brought my Aunt over for a nice visit.

    Monday: -- I did nothing! - And, it was great.

    [​IMG]

    Thanks,
    Wolf
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2020
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  3. minesweeper

    minesweeper TrainBoard Member

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    Good progress, but few things to see as it is now mostly planning and working on the base.
     
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  4. goatfarmer

    goatfarmer TrainBoard Member

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    Nothing over the weekend but I am in week 2 of self isolation so I should hope to get some track layed between chores on the hunny do list. I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.
     
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  5. nscalestation

    nscalestation TrainBoard Supporter

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    Quite hot here this past weekend but I still got a lot done. All the new cork in the entry to the staging yard got put down then got 3 of the turnouts in and the tracks connected to the sidings.

    TBWMA08Sep20a.jpg


    Also got 3 new MTB MP5 turnout motors installed. These have a plug so I made a cord up with a plug and a switch so I could test and fine tune each one as I installed it. The Tortoises that these are replacing are seen hanging by their wires. The Tortoises worked fine but to re-install them now with the new yard layout where they would fit would have been a real pain.

    TBWMA08Sep20c.jpg


    And when it got too warm in the train room I went into the house and worked on the design for a new control panel. This is what I came up with. The green dots are 2mm LED's, the red ones are push buttons, and the toggle switches will be part of a circuit to have trains automatically switch the tracks when they enter a siding. I'll use a copy of this drawing as a template to drill holes in an acrylic panel and another copy will be placed behind the finished panel.

    TBWMA08Sep20b.jpg

    Just a quiet weekend for us, too smoky out for a BBQ. Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2020
  6. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    It's been many months since I've done anything model railroad related. I found an Atlas DL&W Trainmaster shell I bought on eBay long ago and put it on ..... only to discover that one of its couplers was broken. I took a replacement coupler off a surplus Atlas body shell and all is well now. I now have two Trainmasters with different road numbers. :)

    Also dusted off my carpentry plans for the legs on my train table to verify all of the measurements are correct.

    2020-09-02 002 DLW Body Shell Swap - for upload.jpg
     
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  7. gmorider

    gmorider TrainBoard Member

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    Mostly worked on breaking in the new shifter. All good. Couplers may need some tweaking or it may be a railcar or two (or more). I have three cars in the shop for repair. One is a faulty retainer. Others have older equipment. Next, a mogul and two cabooses. Glad all are well and well "holidayed". :D
     
  8. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett TrainBoard Member

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    Only got to work on the layout Sunday afternoon, used caulking to attach rock castings on module 08 and moved lights from 01 thru 03 to 08.

    Next step is doing scenery on most of module 08, the steel trestle should arrive later this week.

    Joe

    20200906_174558.jpg 20200906_174607.jpg
     
  9. Kevin Anderson

    Kevin Anderson TrainBoard Member

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    Great weekend. I was able to finish the the second module minus the last structure which is under destruction. I need to order more windows. The module is now all buttoned up ready for travel to the meet on the 17th.

    Saturday I started out working on the cafe. I picked up a used structure that needed help. I did the repairs, added doors that were missing, added a bit of strip styrene to the door jams to get the doors to fit. Changed out the sign and added an interior. Wallah- it went from bank to cafe.

    I then started adding details to the module. Figures, telephone poles, finished gluing down vehicles, added decals, flag pole etc

    Sunday- more of the same. Added some photos to the fascia to mark what the actual location. Looked liked compared to my model. Attached the cap, added a sound chip and it’s done.

    Monday I didn’t do much. I made up some informational business cards on Utah Free-moN to hand out for those interested.

    Here is a before and after shot of the cafe.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  10. logging loco

    logging loco TrainBoard Supporter

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    Friday:
    NAPA for a spool of 18ga wire
    Figured out final track and building configuration for coal dealer spur. Decided not to shift mill area switch location as it would cause Mill Street hill to look too steep.

    Saturday:

    Cleared layout of all buildings tools and mock-ups.
    Work session cut short by K9 flatulence in tight quarters. Possible IDLH conditions!

    Sunday;
    Morning Field day in house. Sister came over for lunch and visit on porch.
    Hot knife trenches into foam for track power to mill area and lumber & coal dealer.


    MONDAY
    Lots of yard work during the day. When I went to work on the layout I was tired and didn't feel like soldering leads to rail joiners so I decided to cut out the mill pond. It took much longer than expected.
    Researched what old LVRR and S&NYRR sites to visit during up coming trip to Bradford and Sullivan Counties. Can't wait for leaf drop.
     
  11. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    Saturday was gone before I knew it started.

    Sunday and Monday I managed to get the propane tanker finished except for hazmat placards which I am completely out of. Started on a GHQ scrapper kit, finished the parking lot for the chemical plant building. Set up and wired interior lights for that building and one other, and worked on a base for my grain elevator. Didn't het to work on the scenic divide as I hoped.

    Wishing you all a great week!
     
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  12. Tompm

    Tompm TrainBoard Supporter

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    Had an interesting holiday weekend. The wood planter we had on the front patio decided to collapse on Saturday. It had been damaged slightly when Isaias destroyed the pergola. I thought I had strengthened and supported enough to make until the fall but apparently not. My wife and I transplanted the plants into pots. I cleared the remaining soil. I put the pieces away in the garage. Next year I am not relying on the tongue and groove. I am going with screws and glue.

    Started working on the master bedroom wall. We had it painted last fall before we discovered how bad the mortar was. We got blistering in the new paint. That is when we knew we had to get the house repointed which was finished in February. I scrapped and plastered a few spots. It is going to take me some time to get this done as my back will only allow so much.

    I completed weathering the following:
    · Athearn Burlington Express 40 Ft steel reefer
    · Athearn Pluto Water 40 ft wood reefer
    · Athearn Baltz Old Heidelberg 40 ft reefer
    · MDC/Roundhouse Union Pacific 36 ft wood reefer
    · Walthers Swift 40 ft wood reefer
    · Walthers Borden 40 ft wood reefer
    · Walthers BAR (State of Maine) 40 ft steel reefer

    These are in various stages of weathering:
    · 2 – Accurail CNJ 40 ft wood reefers – I renumbered one of them
    · MDC/Roundhouse Missouri Pacific 50 ft wood express reefer
    · MDC/Roundhouse KATY 50 ft wood express reefer
    · 4 – Bev-Bel/Roundhouse PRR 50 ft express reefers (8 car Bev-Bel set. One car is done)

    I built the following:
    · 3 – Bev-Bel/Roundhouse PRR 50 ft express reefers (last 3 of set)
    · Atheran General American Refrigerator Express 50 ft express reefer
    · Athearn CN 40 ft steel reefer
    · MDC/Roundhouse Lehigh Valley 36 ft wood reefer

    The Walthers Lackawanna 40 ft wood reefer did not get built. It is missing the underframe, trucks, and wheels. Not sure when it will get done.

    I still have two reefers on their way.
     

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