April, oh how nice that name of the month sounds after the winter we have had! First, I apologize for the lack of a Weekend Modeling Plans thread on Friday. Unfortunately the trade show took over and time was limited. Despite my working four days at a Model Airplane show in Toledo, I did get some ideas for and discusion for Model Railroading. Many of the items sold at these Model Airplane events are perfectly fine on our model pikes. Afterall, heat shrink tubing and wire of just about any guage works well for airplane motor to motor controls just as well as bus to feeder lines. I even got a bit of railfaning in on the trip back. Right of Ohio route 24, I found a pair of Alco S4's, one painted up in a beautiful C&O paint scheme. I would post the pictures, but after two months, I'm still having problems with Railimages and have given up so you'll have to take my word for it. Work returns this week on the final touches of all three of my Maywood Station T-Trak modules. This coming weekend my club has a show in nearby Decatur Illinois and we will have a good sized T-Trak display there. So how about you? What did you accomplish this past weekend? Track work, DCC or painting? Whatever it is you have done, let us know! We WILL be back on Friday the 11th to start off another weekend of Model Railroad Plans, until then... High Greens!
Finally back in the train saddle! First up are a couple of rescued and partially rehabbed Ortner hoppers: The Conrail one is missing some end components, but I now have two of these for routine work on the line. I may try some of Ed Nadolski's etched coupler pockets on these bad boys so that I can file down the bolster - anyone have any other lowering hints?. And in case anyone thought the BQ project was dead: The large side logos are now on both sides, and my first cab number is on. Considering that I've had the decals for about 10 years, and that each number has to be applied individually, I'd say I'm good. Still to come are the cab numbers on the other side, the red and yellow stripes around the nose, and figuring out if I want to remove my carefully applied etched uncoupling levers and MU hoses on the pilots to install the zebra stripe decals. I also put up a couple of signs I printed from a model railroad Hobbyist thread:
Great idea, Phil! It gives you an excuse to run engines without bothering with putting engineers in the cabs. OK, by default, I'm back in Modeling Season again. Ski season has ended for me. The mountain is still officially open, but they've shut down the lifts that serve the interesting territory, so the 3-hour drive each way is no longer worth it. Time to clean off the off-season accumulation from the workbench!
Not much modeling this weekend. However, I did finish up turning all the wood parts and assembling them for the full scale velocipede that I am helping to restore. This is the propulsion lever assembly.
But, uh, who shovels the coal? I meant to ask about those FEC cars. I've seen them on trips to visit the in-laws in Florida. What do they haul in Florida? Is there any kind of mineable ore?
They are Ortner Ballast/gravel hoppers. There's a lot of open pit limestone mining in Central Florida.
I don't post much. But since your introduction brought up the subject of model airplane applications, I'll add my contribution from that venue. Turnout controls using Model Airplane control rods. My layout base is foam board over L girder benchwork. Top layer is 1" thick foam. I wanted a method for controlling turnouts manually and to provide indicator light capability, so I ended up with DPDT slide switches thrown by the control rods. I cut a 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" square opening to fit a block of 1" thick poplar. I drilled a 5/8" opening in the block with a spade bit and set the switch in the opening. I pulled power wires through the foam to the underside for wiring to a dedicated 9V power supply, and coiled the green and red magnet wires for future connection to indicators made from LED's. I'm fashioning an indicator lamp to be made from Bachman static signals, drilling out the dummy lenses and replacing them with 1.5 mm axial LED's from Miniatronics. I'll post on that another time. Before bending the control rod, slip a piece of styrene rod as a wire guide for the throw bar. I used .02" diameter piano wire. Drill the throw bar and the stem of the slide switch and fit it in place. Then I secured the switch to the block with small wire brads. For the control rod carrier tube I carved a slot in the foam, and set it in place, cutting it at the edge of the fascia, before the threading the driver rod in place and connecting it to the wire rod. Once it was all in place, I tested it to make sure the points operated cleanly and then glued it all in place with white glue with foam pins to hold it all while it sets. The travel on the DPDT switch seems to be perfect for the Shinohara turnouts. It's a little long for Atlas turnouts, so I recommend a "Z" bend in the throw rod to take some of the movement. Overall I'm pleased with them and I can't wait to hook up the indicators. I've got quite a number of these to put in, so I'm looking on eBay for a better deal on the DPDT's and the LED's. I'll try to post more as work progresses, however it's been inconsistent as I've had to work a number of weekends lately.
Finally, shoveling season is over! I went to a hobby show on Saturday and picked up six reefers (two milk, four beer - mmmm.... beer...) and a Kato SD45 that runs smooth as silk.
Weekend I'd rather didn't happen. Found out Friday that city codes wont allow me yo build a shed within 5 feet of a neighboring property line and within 10 feet of a permanent residence. So, that pretty much put the nail on the coffin on building any layout in the next 5-10 years. I had two sites picked to build on. One was an addition to the back of our garage. Wife and I decided we didn't want to lose any recreational space in our little backyard. Then the 8x18 shed idea that is now off the table. With no spare bedroom, no basement and no room for a shed the likelihood of any layout in the next 5-7 years is nil. I'm a lone wolf, any clubs are 100 miles away. Maybe time to find a hobby that is actually fun, because stuff sitting in boxes certainly ain't. Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2
Started to relay my track so I can wire my feeders to my bus line. Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
What kind of shed were you planning to build? We have a shed for garden tools that is close to the edge of our property, but it's OK because it is not "permanent." It has no foundation and sits on concrete blocks.
So if our wife was willing to add on the back, or consider a shed, how would she feel about a switching layout on top of a book case, or on shelves on a wall? Treated like furniture and properly finished it could be a really nice way to integrate the hobby into your space. Then stuff doesn't have to sit in boxes.
Pat, that stinks. Without getting on my soapbox about local laws and zone permits, I'll just say that a high percentage of those zoneing laws are hogwash. I have been in similair circumstances before, here are some ideas: Don't get so frustrated you sell everything and go to something else. True in 5 to 7 years, you may just have the room and will be looking for all those items you packed away. I know living conditions and maybe finances are tight, but being married is a two part system. If your wife has room for what interests her, you like wise should have room for your interest. Even in HO you can have a small shelf swicthing layout that will keep you busy building structures, doing scenery and even OP sessions for a while. Years ago, I built a small HO switching layout on a 80X18 hollow closet door. It wasn't based on anything, but it kept me happy. Take a step back, relax, don't do anything rash right now. Yeah it is frustrating. Coming from a guy who had a beautiful finished basement with a O gauge Highrail layout, four lane HO scale slot car layout and a 6X3 N scale layout then going to renting, yeah it sucks, but it really forced me to concentrate what I really want to do in N scale. I kept my O scale stuff cause I know someday I can not only rebuild the O layout but make it bigger. Consider storing your HO and look into N or even Z. Some of the most fun I had was built onto a 2X4 N scale layout. After you have had time to step back from the frustration, open up to us and between all of us, I'm sure we can come up with something. You've got some talant, lets help you keep what you enjoy.
Another word of advice: When you build a layout, you make mistakes. We all do. It's part of the learning process. The only way to correct some of these mistakes is to build another layout. When I retire, we will be moving to a more appropriate-sized house in a more tax-friendly place. I won't enjoy dismantling my layout, but I will enjoy building a better one next time. When I survey my layout, I see the difference between where I started doing scenery and my more recent efforts. Once again, it's better the second time around.
Thanks all for the encouragement. I had planned to build an 8'x18' on a permanent foundation "deck style". The 8' dimension was going to go in an 11' wide space between the back of the house and a chain link fence at the property border. I hesitated to build directly on cinder blocks as a foundation due to the wet nature of the particular part of the yard. I've been looking at metal sheds at Lowes and Home Depot. Sears has a 10'x6' shed kit for $219. Much cheaper than wood. I can build that on a 2x6 frame foundation and think plywood for stability and insulate with foam board. Unsure how I would install electrical outlets. I think a "C" shaped 2' wide switching layout, free-standing and built for mobility, would work reasonably well if I can insulate the structure and try to keep temperatures in the neighborhood of 50-80 year round. Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2
Don't mean to bear bad news, but building codes will not permit 'fixed' electrical service in a temporary structure, and a metal shed is considered a temporary structure. The work around is extension cords. I would provide a dedicated circuit from your panel board to a couple of exterior rated duplex outlets, and then run power to your shed with high quality extension cords to supply power strips. I would even consider making the duplex outlets 'switchable' so you can shut everything off when you head indoors. Of course you could also simply unplug the extension cords.
Might be better off with extension cords anyhow. Just mount then and use the like a normal service outlet. Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2
