MODELING It's Monday, July 18th, 2022: Weekend Modeling Accomplishments

Jim Wiggin Jul 18, 2022

  1. Jim Wiggin

    Jim Wiggin Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    5,229
    6,224
    103
    Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend and got a lot accomplished. Let's get started.

    Saturday: As anticipated, I left for the lumbar store after work, trailer in tow and picked up the motorcycle parts I had needed the weekend before, then the supplies for stage one of the studio/layout project. Since I had the trailer, I picked up a few sheets of 4X8 plywood and a sheet of 2-inch, 4X8 pink foam for the modules. I picked up wall anchors as well as other hardware and set it aside. Saturday, measurements were made, plywood was cut, then resized again as the narrow staircase is not a straight shot to the upstairs.
    Room1.jpg
    Here is the space I'm dealing with. It is the old plaster on slat, balloon wall construction that was common over 150 years ago. By the way, nothing is level. The first task was to skin the two wall areas with 1/2-inch plywood in a 4X6 corner. While the task seams simple, it took me most of the day as the plywood had to be secured with wall anchors throughout.

    Sunday: I took Ang out for breakfast then to our monthly antique meet for date day. I finally scored a 2 cup, stove top percolator coffee pot that was made right here in Illinois. It doesn't even look used. For a $20.00 bill I was able to get a coffee pot that will outlast anything sold in stores now. After the show it was back to the subject at hand. 1X3 brackets that will hold the modules was next.
    Room2.jpg
    It took a lot of time with shims and levels to get each wall bracket perfectly level and by 8:00pm last night I still had one bracket to install. It's not pretty but functional and the plywood will not be seen once a valance, fascia and more is installed. I'm still not 100% sold on my idea as I might just frame up two walls from 2X4 and sheetrock the area (something I was trying to avoid). We'll see.

    So how about you? What did you get done? Let us know. We'll do it again on Friday the 22nd. Until then, have a great week, stay healthy, be safe and as always...

    High Greens!
     
  2. Tim Holmes

    Tim Holmes TrainBoard Member

    313
    1,154
    21
    Its been a productive weekend for me working on the new digital version of the San Luis and Rio Grande -- the layout is proto-lanced very loosely around the San Luis and Rio Grande railroad -- but pretty much only in the way of place names. The layout is also set in an alternate history line - which heavily features rail travel and rail transport.

    I finished the back end helix connecting the 2 staging yards -- East staging is done (at least for now) and the Walsenburg yard is laid out -- however engine and car service areas are not done -- nor is any of the scenery -- unless i get called for work today, im planning on working on large grain elevator complex and grain marshalling area

    Have a great week everyone
     
  3. Kitbash

    Kitbash TrainBoard Supporter

    2,089
    5,586
    73
    Good morning all. Spent Saturday and Sunday finishing the hill, left of the river bridge. Now just have to work on the ridge between the lower and upper tracks. Slowly but surely..... Pictures below. The first pict is when I started this area back in April when I put the backing boards up:

    Hope all had a good weekend of modeling or whatever you got to do. Have a great week!!

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2022
  4. MetraMan01

    MetraMan01 TrainBoard Member

    714
    4,931
    41
    I finished METX 11 (GP40 rebuilt into a GP23) a couple of Concor coaches for Metra, and then I got pretty far in repainting some FVM GEVOs as heritage units for my vision of a modern-day Wisconsin Central. I also took a bunch of BLMA detail parts and glued them into so River Point Station and Atlas Ford trucks.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  5. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

    4,333
    5,041
    93
    That stove top coffee pot has already outlived most.
    I have covered such wall structures. We mounded 1x3 flat on the plaster with cedar wood shingles used as shims to make it straight and plumb. The original studs were an uneven 24" so we spaced them 12" on center. Then attached drywall to those. Of course with shelving a layer of 3/8" plywood would hold the screws for the brackets better.
    I'll be clearing the room some more for mine. Ya'll have a nice time.
     
  6. SP-Wolf

    SP-Wolf TrainBoard Supporter

    2,585
    13,693
    74
    Good morning Y'all

    My weekend went as expected.

    The ops session went great. Fun was had by all. The railroad cooperated - for the most part.

    I managed to put together 14 Dimi trains (Tichy) - low side SP G-50-20 gondolas used for hauling beets. I have a total of 20

    Hope Y'all had a great weekend,
    Wolf
     
  7. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    Are lumber prices coming down much in your area? If not that little section of wall must have bruised your wallet! :eek:
     
  8. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

    4,333
    5,041
    93
    Framing and sheathing has come down drastically lately here in Appleton, WI. Construction has dropped off because of the banks prices.
     
  9. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    Interest rates are jumping, and that is not a good thing. I fear it will backfire, and am seeing reports of that starting, everywhere.
     
    rjthomas909 likes this.
  10. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,560
    22,735
    653
    I remembered to take a couple of photos, of my now operable little T-Trak empire:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Still cannot find those missing little structures.... Grrrrrrrr!!! :mad::mad::mad:
     
  11. nscalestation

    nscalestation TrainBoard Supporter

    1,560
    9,283
    58
    Good morning all,

    Had a great and busy weekend here. Got the 8ft long Carlin section installed and got a start on connecting track and wiring. Glad to hear plywood prices are dropping as the upper helix will be next. Lots of outside house work got done, and part of Saturday afternoon was spent at the Eurowest Train Show. It was a much larger event than I had imagined and I really enjoyed it. Wife ordered ribs from Costco to try out on the new smoker but they sent brisket instead so today will be smoking brisket.

    TBWMA18Jul22b.jpg
    TBWMA18Jul22a.jpg
    Airview1.jpg
    Swiss2.jpg
     
  12. Tompm

    Tompm TrainBoard Supporter

    2,648
    7,736
    78
    I had a productive weekend around the house. We got some gardening done on Saturday. I got the soap dish and wall prepped for reattaching the soap dish. We ran some errands. On Sunday I got the soapdish reattched and sealed. I got a bunch of laundry done and we deep cleaned our bedroom.

    I finally unboxed my new Penn Central Rapido EP5 and test ran it. It did well and I used it to pull some of the Tropicana Orange Juice Train. I also tested a new Atlas Penn Central GP7 that I picked up from that auction site to replace one that hit the floor a few weeks back and needs extensive repairs. The price was right and it runs well so I am happy with it. The broken one requires a new shell and some work to the motors so it is on the long range to do list.
     
  13. Pastor John

    Pastor John TrainBoard Member

    888
    4,509
    42
    This weekend included a number of things but only a few of them had anything to do with trains.

    The bird feeders got filled, a chair was glued, laundry got done, carpet spots cleaned, etc.

    Friday I spent the better part of the day wrestling with technology. I had hoped to resurrect an old tablet to use exclusively at the train club but all my efforts proved futile. I did, however manage to download all of the photos and videos from my two GoPro cameras, including stuff of mine that dates back three or four years as well as safari pictures and other stuff from the previous owners (I bought it used on eBay). Then I had to erase the old files from the GoPro cameras, and sort through all the stuff I downloaded, delete the useless stuff and label anything useful that remained. I'm mostly done. For now. At some point I worked on my camera carrier, shimming the coupler to lower it a bit. I also decided that some insulation was needed since the "shelf" where the camera sits is steel, and since it rides about an eighth of an inch above the tracks. So, I covered the exposed steel with electrical tape. In the evening, I dropped in for a while to socialize at a graduation party for one of the recent Eagle Scouts from our scout troop and we also unboxed our new robot vacuum cleaner that we bought on Prime Day.

    Saturday (and Friday evening) I spent a substantial amount of time "babysitting" the robot as it mapped the house, found places where it was going to get stuck, realized that it struggled with *some* of our area rugs but not all, that the problem was that the carpet padding was too close to the edge, and then spent too much time trimming the carpet padding so the stupid robot wouldn't get stuck all the time. In the morning I was increasingly convinced that we would have to send it back, but by evening it had finally mapped most of the house and was doing much better.

    Sunday: Church, then off to the Sebring Model Railroad Club, where no one else showed up and I had the place to myself. To understand some of this weekend's activity, it's helpful to know about the work that we did last Tuesday at the Sebring Model Railroad Club. Last week, when I ran my GoPro camera car around the track in a configuration where the standard GoPro was on its side ("tall-ways rather than "wide-ways" if that makes sense) it "found" one support under our new harbor construction that was lower than all the rest. So, Tuesday I returned to the club armed with a vibrating side cutter and trimmed it, as well as another identified by Mike, our club secretary, to allow more clearance. Then I returned again Sunday to run the camera car again to test that the clearances were adequate. They were. (Yay!) But I found a clearance problem in *another* place. (sigh). I also pulled up some new track for an addition that we decided was going to complicate operations, maintenance, and access more than it was going to add value, and began to work on removing the plywood on which that track sat. All of this is parallel to the mainline that will run *under* the new port facility (which is why maintenance and access are a big deal).

    The part that I ordered to fix my cell phone came but taking the phone apart enough to install that part proved to be impossible without breaking more stuff. So, now we're phone shopping. (bleah)

    Finally, there was more babysitting the new robot, but by this time it has become more of an occasional rescue than a regular babysitting effort. This thing might prove genuinely useful... if it can learn to reliably find its way "home" to its charger.
     
  14. Carl Sowell

    Carl Sowell TrainBoard Supporter

    3,032
    8,078
    82
    I did get some of my planned work completed. Here is an image of my tender/loco connection. I have decided to completely re-do the wiring in the tender and the wires from the boiler. I have ordered a much better, pliable 2 pin connector from Bryan, it should work much better. :

    [​IMG]

    PS: my wife is progressing extremely well, thank God!!!
     
  15. dti406

    dti406 TrainBoard Member

    1,389
    11,336
    56
    Over the weekend I got two cars painted and decaled. I also opened a mini kit for building a B&O M-55b boxcar, kit has the proper ends and roof for the car along with building a Duryea cushion under frame.

    Worked on masking some cars for their second coat of paint along with adding detail parts to GP35.

    Saturday went to the club so I could excercise some of my DT&I engines and cars.

    This morning was a visit to Cardiac Rehab and the treadmill and bicycle.

    Rick Jesionowski
     
  16. Daves_Trains

    Daves_Trains TrainBoard Member

    136
    1,811
    23
    Started my scratch build of the Colton Station in N scale. worked on walls, windows, patio and base. A lot of work remains. Maybe by next weekend we'll have a station for my T-trak mosule.

    Colton Station N 1.jpg Colton Station N 2.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2022
  17. rjthomas909

    rjthomas909 TrainBoard Member

    260
    3,881
    50
    Wow, nothing but awesome ahead of me this week!

    I managed some decaling of four cars (about 75% done) for the 1905-1910-ish fleet. Still trying to get them to lay down a bit better, but coming along. Here is a sample, a K4 Decals set, adjusted for the cars of the MJ&KC that were 34-ft examples in the ORER. The K4 set is for some 36-ft cars where there is actually a photo from the past.

    JMKC-decals-sm.JPG

    And an Iron Mountain car for the MoPac historians. Also a set from K4. I think this lettering style is up to ~1915 or around that time when changed to the san-serif style.

    StLIMS-decals-sm.JPG

    These are two kits from Bitter Creek models. I also worked to install a curved trestle on the new layout section, but found that I made one too few pilings. Doh! Another one in the making...gluing up tonight.

    Trestle-sm.JPG

    Hope you all had a great weekend! Take Care All,

    -Bob T.
     
  18. Mark St Clair

    Mark St Clair TrainBoard Member

    430
    3,064
    39
    As I wrote on Friday, I started the weekend away from home.

    Saturday: As part of my fatherly responsibilities, I stopped at Pie Bar in the Phinney neighborhood of Seattle to sample their pies. Necessary as my daughter and future son-in-law search for a pie vendor for the wedding. The sacrifices we make for our children!

    Sunday: Returning home, among my other chores I did get the chance to search my inventory of track and wiring. Found what I needed to start work on a pair of T-Trak modules. The plan is to model the raspberry farm of Sharon's maternal grandfather. She is invested in the idea and participating. Next up will be producing a plan for the scenery.

    DSCN2517.JPG

    I didn't have much modeling time this weekend, but it was productive.

    Stay safe,
     
  19. gmorider

    gmorider TrainBoard Member

    2,093
    6,282
    65
    On here a day late due to internet issue. (maybe got it fixed). :sick: Also, got fishing out of the way. :cool: I am astounded at the level of construction going on. Projects big and small. (y) Glad material prices easing down. ;) It seems that the Olds project is just barely grinding along. :rolleyes: Rest of the week should see the next attempt at least starting. :eek: Every one mind the heat and be safe. :D
     
    Jim Wiggin, Tompm, MetraMan01 and 5 others like this.
  20. Jim Wiggin

    Jim Wiggin Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    5,229
    6,224
    103
    It's been a week and I've decided to do exactly what you have described. Everything is salvageable so the only thing wasted is time.

    Yes, I put together a shopping cart for my local lumbar business on-line and framing lumbar is back to normal prices here. The plywood was $21.00 a sheet, 4X8X1/2-inch. I'll end up using this for another project. The 2-inch foam I'll be using for the modules however was close to $50.00 a 4X8 sheet!
     
    MetraMan01 likes this.

Share This Page