I've finished track work with my Diamond Valley. Now I can start with the "other side" of the segments. Turnout actuation device, wiring.... Here're the last pics. The attached scrap yard segments. And this part bolted together as the fifth part in a box for transportation. This was an idea from my son Benjamin. Wolfgang
Worked on various parts over the weekend. KB Started landscaping the WSSB's Bill Yard. Landscaped around the future Georgia Pacific site.
Showing, not building We were showing modules and trains at the Arctic Run model railroad show in Stevens Point, WI, over the weekend. With air temperatures no higher than -5F, the show lived up to its name this year. Rather than building anything, I got a chance to practice a little more with my new 105mm macro lens, getting images from the NTrak layout like these... There are a few more in my Arctic Run set at Flickr
I finished a concrete bridge. It carries 5 tracks (main and yard) over the 3 tracks visible in the photos. I used masonite, basswood, latex paint, and watercolors. Total cost is somewhere around $2.
Well, my business trip was unusually taxing this year, so I did not make the train show on Saturday as planned. I did manage to make it out there on Sunday though, and I enjoyed it overall. It's still the second best show I attend regularly, and I found a couple of good deals but ended up buying more than I intended. (big surprise!) I attended Intermountain CEO Frank Angstead's presentation about the history of Intermountain and it was quite interesting. He was very forthcoming with their sales numbers of freight cars and locomotives and basically answered any questions we had. After speaking with Frank and other manufacturers over the past few years, I find it hard to believe that most people follow the proper channels before just bashing models to bits on these forums. The message I get from most manufacturers is that the same "nitpicky" items we bring up are even moreso important to them! I did get some modeling done. Last night while watching the NFC championship game, I continued work on my Walthers truss bridge, mainly assembling the sides, and filing off the sprue "nubbies" and sanding off all the mold artifacts from everything. (still have a few of the x-braces to do...they were kinda tedious)
Well, I got within inches of completing the scratch-build of the saloon. Hope to have some pics soon...
Having the day off and finally getting a chance to sleep late. We had a somewhat busy weekend. My daughter had softball clinic and basketball practice. We did a few chores around the house and finally got all the Christmas decoration put away. We had to get a couple more storage bins. I finished weathering the wheels and trucks for the Athearn blue box TOFCs. I installed the wheels and converted the couplers to Kadee couplers. I also painted the wheel hubs on the trailers to match the trailer bodies. Since we are home today we may go the movies later. I hope to do some more work on my son’s pinewood derby car and maybe weather the TOFCs and trailers.
Had a 4 day weekend and still didn't get around to do any railroading. There is a huge train show in Maryland, the first week in February, so that should get some motivation to do some modeling in the up and coming weeks.
Well. I accomplished what I wanted to given that I only had a few hours Sunday to be in the work shop. I worked on my HO Scale "American Brewery" building by Custom Model Railroads (CMR). I finished applying the brick sheets to the wall panels. Then, I sorted the other sheets that have atleast a couple of hundred detail parts. I sorted them by which wall they are supposed to go on. Then I put each group in its own envelope labeled for that wall. That's the only way I will be able to keep all of that stuff straight. Last night I thoroughly read the direction booklet that came w/ the kit so I can start getting a good mental image on how all of this "Schtuff" is gonna come together to make this monster. Its acrylic world to be sure. >>>Here's what the ultimate goal is when I am done<<< .
Did the last 0.01 percent of the major household projects: painting the magnetic strips that hold the thermal shades in place, installing and painting a few minor bits of trim for the granite countertops; flushing out the limed-up faucet aerators, etc. Then I started, and nearly finished, an Admirable-class minesweeper. This was a freebie from digitalnavy--a drawn-up cardstock kit. I used styrene instead of cardstock. Without having to calculate everything myself, it went very fast! A better report, and more pictures, when I have more time.
Had to do some household chores, mainly assembling some new dining chairs from IKEA (do they exist in the US?) and numerous trips to the local dump to get rid of cardboard packing I've been 'collecting' for ages. Did manage to get some feeder work completed on the layout, including a separate power source to the DS64s. Attempted my first F7A/B unit speed matching session with decoder pro, took me a while but now I can run a longer Empire Builder. only slight problem is that I now need to extend the reversing section as the EB is now too long and keeps tripping a short. Still it's a learning experience!
That's using the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro that I bought off eBay earlier this month. I really like what I can get from it so far, and I'm still learning what this lens can do. Some of those shots were pushed up to f/45 for the wide depth of field. I've got other test shots in my Flickr photostream from last week too.
Busy building a Walthers Diesel House. It is slow going, as I've only just now got the main walls up after a few weeks of on-again off-again building sessions. I hope to get all the interior details assembled and completed this week, and then finish the exterior roof details this weekend and then finally installing it sometime late next week after re-routing some trackwork to get it to fit. Sorry no pics yet. :hmm4er:
I was able to get my SD40-2 primed and ready for paint, my SDP-40 ready for primer and get my layout benchwork up.
I was busy finishing my AC-6 Modernization project. I took an early AC-6 from key and added details for late 40's and 50's operation. Mostly brass turnings and some piping. I finished the decals and paint this morning. Now I need to get it dirty with a bit of weathering.
