MODELING It's Monday, April 8th, 2024: Weekend Modeling Accomplishments

Happy eclipse Monday! Well, I was a little lets say not happy with my results from the previous weekend so the plan was to just run some trains and not work on anything. I didn't even go to the train room Friday night. Of course once I got down there with my coffee, Saturday morning, I couldn't help it and dove in. Over the course of the weekend with an hour here and an hour there., I managed to finish all but 2 of the pipe loads I have in progress. Decaled one side of a freight car, finished up weathering one side of a gondola, installed a DCC board in a Kato SD70ACe, and installed metal wheels on 3 coil cars. Not a bad weekend after all.

Hope everyone has a great week! Be safe and enjoy today's eclipse if you can!

 

Thank you Jim for making the effort while traveling. In my experience, DFW has been one of the better places to have a layover.

My entire weekend was spent at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos with both an Ntrak layout and the AsiaNrail layout. At times I was running the AsiaNrail layout (DC) while at the same time running a train on the Ntrak layout using DCC / Wifi / and my phone. This was something new for us. We all had a great time and the show was well attended by both the public and our members.

The Ntrak layout.




And the AsiaNrail layout.




Cherry Blossoms are in bloom in the AsiaNrail layout, just right for this time of year.

 

Hey All,

Home enjoying the eclipse today, despite the clouds in S. Texas. Welcome back @Jim Wiggin.

Over the weekend, I worked on a 3-way turnout for and addition to the Brush Creek diorama. I am trying to do this one without buying the fixture...we'll see how it turns out. Since this photo, I have everything complete except the points and throw bars. The pre-cut ties arrived today, so hopefully done during the week.



Have a great week, All!

-Bob T.

 

Good afternoon all. Weekend was sort a wash out here. Even in basketball, both the NC State men and women lost their respective Final Four first round games. However, I am really grateful they both made it that far.

On the modeling front, I spent Saturday getting things ready for my much needed air brush session. Sunday afternoon I fired up the air compressor and "poof". The entire pressure manifold for system air and output regulation failed. The workshop was loud and windy for about 45 seconds. Fortunately, I got the tops of an ABA F7 set done before the failure. It is a Bostitch oil-less tank compressor that I've had for about 10 years. Spent most of the rest of the day researching the parts and they do not make this anymore. Went to several parts suppliers and the entire manifold (if available) is very expensive. So I had to make a "value" decision. Do I blow a bunch of money on an expensive part for an out of production, 10 YO compressor, or bite the bullet and get another one? So a short while ago I ordered a whole new compressor. This time one especially for air brushing and got a Master Airbrush Dual Fan II with buffer tank. Should be here tomorrow. So the goal is to finish this week what I wanted to get done over the weekend. That is, assuming I can get the new compressor set up and checked out first. So now I will have a new compressor and a big yellow, 20 pound paper weight.

So the Cliff's Notes to that whole affair is, this Monday, "I got nothin' ".

Have a great week all!!!

 

Didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped but that is ok. On Friday we cleared the tree from the roadway, our landlord dropped by after he dealt with a few downed trees on his driveway and a couple that took down power lines as well. He was able to trim a few bits that I didn't get to since I only had a bow saw and it's extremely dull.

Saturday we got up early and drove to the Xfinity office to drop off the old modem and then did a bit of shopping before heading back home. I was expecting a bunch of supplies to be delivered on Saturday via USPS but they opted to skip mail delivery entirely and rescheduled deliveries for today or later.

Sunday I didn't get much of anything done other than cut one board to use as a shelf for my laser cutter. I still need to find a model for adapting the 2 3/4in vent tube to a 4in vent pipe, I've found a few but none that are right angled. I may end up having to make my own model of some sort.

I also received a shipment of 11.75x19.25in MDF boards in 1/8th (3mm) and 1/16th (1.5mm) thicknesses which I'll use for the laser cutter while building O scale buildings (TBD if I'll offer them up for sale or free)

 

Happy Monday to Y'all

I completed the DCC/sound install in my friends On30 2-6-0

Worked a bit my AT&SF NW2 - (This morning I started decaling her)

And, I am working on long over due/wanted to do project: An ABB set of T&NO F9M's

Y'all have a great week!!
Wolf

 

The eclipse here was only about 5% coverage, but with 0% visibility it didn't make any difference. Hope you enjoyed it if available in your area.

Friday: While waiting for the silicone to cure, I was able to reconcile our financial accounts. While still waiting, Sharon and I had a productive exchange of ideas about our route for this summer's Road to Bethlehem PA.

Saturday: Enjoyed the morning soccer match, a win, as the silicone was still curing. I started working on an update to the stack for the as yet unmade boiler. Pulled a half-bushel of dandelions. We decided to watch the evening soccer match at a brew pub. Food truck was lumpia. Good beer, good food and a win. Silicone still curing.

Sunday: Last soccer match of the weekend. A draw. Tried somewhere new for bacon and eggs. Draw there, too. Pulled a bushel of dandelions. Finished the new stack. (See picture below.) Threw in the towel and cleaned the still partially cured silicone out of the GHQ boiler "mold." I should have known better. Silicone needs exposure to moisture to cure. The slug I am trying to make will be too thick for a quick cure. Moving on to latex.

Bonus time Monday: Finished cleaning out the silicone residue. Here is a shot of Stack A, on the left, versus Stack B. After I get a chance to turn the sand and steam domes, I may adjust the size.



Stay safe,

 

Well I ended up getting all the weekend chores done AND all my gardening/planting done. I even ran out and bought a new recliner to replace my old one that died after 16 years of faithful service. But I didn’t get any railroading done.

But with all that out of the way, next weekend I should only have to grab a few things from the grocery, run some laundry, and get some netting to keep birds off my new strawberries. And then I’m free for again from trains.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Finally had some success making "armature" (i.e. better detailed) trees to intersperse with my puffball trees. This is all new to me, so it's taken some time to learn the technique.

 

Spent a nice afternoon outside, at home, today watching the eclipse. Repurposed a shoe box a pinhole projection box and photographed a nice crescent sun in it:

Now the shoe box goes back to storing foam bits for padding inside freight car and loco boxes.

Right after a weekend where I totally tanked :

A mix of repurposed, recycled, scavenged and other bric-a-brac that got under my fingers...

 

I got a little done.
The first layer of the 'Great Divide' is in place and rather than make it removable I'll will put a removable cemented up tunnel portal at one end and a Mystrium Tipple at the other.
Pics / vid to follow um, sooner or later.

 

Yesterday was just a crazy day at work and home. I did not get a chance to respond here. We had a concrete pour that was supposed to be a couple of hours turned into an all-day thing. When I got home I had to help my daughter do her taxes. Since the dishwasher has been finally repaired, I had to load it up and test it.

I did get to see most of the partial eclipse for us. Here in Philly we had about 90%. We did not have total darkness but it was like twilight. The temperature did go down 4 degrees. Of course the maximum coverage was at 3:23, cue the heavy clouds at 3:15. I did catch a small glimpse of the maximum coverage. My wife and son in our backyard, 9 miles from me got some great pictures as the clouds broke for them at 3:23.

The weekend did go quite as planned. The dishwasher repairman came to finish the job but couldn’t because he found another part that was leaking. It was a common part but as luck would have it he had a bunch in the shop but none on the truck. He came back yesterday and finished. My wife and daughter went to Daltons Farms in Swedesboro, NJ and picked tulips. Once the repairman left I made my way to the local hobby shop in Claymont, DE. I picked up the foam board I needed and three Athearn blue box wood reefer kits for Heinz. Sunday I had to drop off a couple of Amazon returns; one to Kohl’s , the other UPS. I also stopped at the grocery store and the local Ace Hardware to get potting soil, mulch, and garden soil. I did not touch them with hernia. The store employees loaded my car and my daughter unloaded. My wife then planted our window boxes.

I entered a few cars into my inventory program. The only thing I did get to do on the layout was run a train. It was a 30-car mixed freight pulled by a B&O F7A and F7B by Walthers Proto. I did make a video but I wanted to do more photos, but I just couldn’t find the time.

 

Denver sounds like it was fun. Here's to diving in with determination. Wow! Two layouts for the price of one. One good turnout deserves another. Old air compressor = frustration. Laser cut O-scale buildings sounds interesting. Texas and New Orleans loco's coming out! Uncured silicone = now you know why R&D is so expensive. Chores out. Model railroad in. I understand taking time to learn new stuff. Tank adds a lot to the scene. I usually do later rather than sooner. Tender does indeed look old. A thirty car mixed freight sounds great around here. On here late to accommodate the "Denver Traveller". Early Friday I remember doing very little on the project. Left just after noon for the University of Alabama campus to see my granddaughter receive an honors award. First time to visit UA. Saturday saw a little more "progress". Had to completely remove the depot bay window and make a new one and install it and be glad about it. Noticed a too thick wainscoting and had to remove it and make a new set and glue it on and be glad about it. Had to lower roof supports on one wall and you know the drill. This week should see making the inside wall for the plain parapet and installing cap tiling. Plain parapet is a new term I "learnded". (Model railroading is educational. ) Wet and stormy tomorrow. So, all have a safe and stay dry week.

 

Good afternoon from sunny and mild Northeast Ohio!

A little late with my weekend report, with my wife's Physical Therapy appointment and the Eclipse Party I was unable to post anything yesterday.

Friday, managed to paint the Evans 4780CF Covered Hopper and that was it, looked for the decals I had to match the paint I put on the car but was unable to do so.

Saturday, had a great time touring the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad Shops in Brewster, OH learned a lot of things from the work they do at the shops that were originally constructed in 1907. Later in the day continued my search for the decals but was unsuccessful.

Sunday, did the laundry and a little work on the Moloco RBL kit, but was still looking for the decals but still have not found them.

Here is a picture of the shop trackmobile, along with a bunch of replacement wheel sets and a tank car in for minor repairs, the W&LE will not do any more repairs to the tank itself after one caught fire and then set fire to the roof of the shops.



I'll post a few more pictures one I get them downloaded from my phone.

Rick Jesionowski

 

Are you talking about Dougs

 

Friday, I had an early Zoom meeting with the other guys in my group project for school, then met one of our church folk to drive to the nearby retirement community to load my pickup truck full of stuff that they were donating to the upcoming church basement sale. I got home in time to meet one of my wife's co-workers who brought us a new cat. Apparently, they have a new family member who is horribly allergic and had to choose between fur-kids and human kids. So, Ivy is joining our pack. Pretty much the rest of the day was spent doing homework.

Saturday, we went to Mom's and met one of our sons, where we both took another load of stuff out of the house. On the way home, we picked up milk and a few groceries, then unloaded the truck once we got home. I don't remember what we did the rest of the day, but I think that a nap probably happened.

Sunday was busy. I slept in a little for a Sunday since it was Women's Sunday, and my only participation was to preside over the communion service. After church, I grabbed some lunch and headed out to the Sebring Model Railroad Club for our monthly business meeting. When that was over, my wife and I headed out (farther) into the countryside to attend a quarterly board meeting of the horse ministry that we are involved with where we had dinner with our meeting. Once we got home, I had a little more homework to finish, a little television, a snack, and then it was bedtime.

Monday, I went to work at church for a few hours, then met my friend Budd at home, and then he, my wife, and I, headed out to Mom's house which was in the path of totality for the eclipse. The three of us loaded up yet another pickup truck full of stuff destined for our house or for the church basement sale and then took a break to watch the eclipse from the backyard. Afterwards, we dropped Budd off at work, went home, unloaded the truck and relaxed a little before heading to the meeting of Scout Troop 50 where I also unloaded about half the stuff we brought back from Mom's house. There's still a lot of stuff at Mom's, but we're definitely making enough progress that we can "see the light at the end of the tunnel." That said, I have barely started on Dad's train room, and we still have to figure out where we're going to store his collection and his layout until we retire.




Okay, I don't know why it uploaded sideways, but meet our new furry family member, Ivy.

 

I managed to get the prototype version of my Queensland Rail 2000 Class rail motor assembled and up and running!

All designed in Fusion 360 and printed on both my Creality Ender 3 V2 (chassis) and AnyCubic Photon M3 (body) printers. It runs on Rokuhan Shorty bogies with the Shorty motor and a Rokuhan DCC decoder.

I need to make some adjustments as you can hear in the video that I've ended up with the motor's worm gear a bit too close to the bogie's spur gear, but it works!

A quick video here: https://youtube.com/shorts/idoSidJ7k94

There are more details of the saga in my thread in my signature.