The transition from January to February is complete. Before we know it, we'll be thinking about spring. My weekend was good, got a lot accomplished but not as much as I had originally planned but isn't that always the case? Friday I was ecstatic to find out that Microscale did indeed have the Maine Central and Burlington decals I needed. The Burlington decals was a huge hit as I have had the locomotive and all the detail parts I need to do it up right for a few years now. I might even try to get it done in time for Galesburg. After doing some writing and working on replenishing my stock of items I need, I turned my attention to my office which was in dire need of re-organization. It took all day Friday but the results were worth it and I now have a work shop/office in which to do custom painting again like I had years ago. I have not had a dedicated work shop like this in over 6 years. Saturday was a work day. Sunday was a nice family day with copious amounts of railroading. I started by making breakfast for everyone, then turned my attention to the layout. I was able to finish the main trackage for module two and get the drops soldered to the main bus line. A quick test showed that all my connections were good and track was free of derailments. Finally, both modules were placed into there home in my office, leveled and clamped together. This took longer than the wiring because the house we are renting is as level as Chicago politician. I hope to test run a loco later today. Finally, I spent the rest of the night watching a nail bitter of a game between my Pats and the Seahawks. Butler saved the Pats bacon in the end and New England got another ring. Now I get to wear the jacket and hat for another week before transition into my Red Sox gear. All in all, a great weekend. So how about you? How did you do this past weekend? Let us know. We'll come back on Friday, February 6th and do it all over again. Until then, have a great week and... ​High Greens!
I decided last week to build legs (instead of sitting on saw horses) for my HCD N scale layout, so I am going off MRR's plans (I think it was the Feb issue) so I started cutting the legs. I'm in a 1BR apartment and didn't want to take my car out of the garage since it was snowing all yesterday, so I made a shop in my living room by covering up with tarps Hopefully will start leg assembly one night this week.
That one building has taken longer than anticipated, and it's been spread all over the place for a long time. I finally got it wired and assembled. It's not totally done, as I've got some gooseneck exterior lights to add, but I put it together loosely and used blue tape to hold a couple of corners that I can't glue quite yet. The power supply should be here later this week, but for now I hooked up a battery with clip leads to get this night shot: I turned the lights on to get a better picture of the Miller Engineering sign and how it's mounted on the roof. I built a wood scaffold for it with balsa strips and coffee stirrers. I love these signs. When lit up, the "rays of the sun" rotate around like the spokes of a wheel, with the right side going clockwise and the left side counter-clockwise. It's animation with no moving parts.
I was able to build 6 more hoppers and start decaling them. The seventh is on hold due to the kit is missing a whole sprue. All that is left on them is to put numbers on them and they are done. I have 5 more to build next week. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
I continued assembly of my 6-pack Tichy Panel Hoppers; I painted the B end underframes after I installed all custom brake piping and glued in weights. I'm not comfortable bending my own grabs, I need to measure the holes and try to find some aftermarket grabs with the right width. I was going to have a really great opportunity with Friday to make some significant progress, but that is out the window as my wife's car need a new alternator, that is sure to be an all-day job on Friday instead.
