Pat- How solid is the lock in each thrown position? Most locks similar I have worked with, have a bit play. Does the throw rod have enough spring to it, to keep point rails firmly against the outer rail?
So, I hit a wall today....literally. I finally opened up a hole for Westbound trains to leave Ravenswood into staging (Louisville & Chicago). As I was finishing up in the attic where the staging will he located, I realized "Hey, I might have trouble making the Eastbound staging work." I drilled a test hole just below the knee wall where I thought the Eastbound staging entrance would be on the upper level. I check in the attic, but no hole. I drilled another test hole from the attic back (as high as possible) out to the layout and ended up two inches lower than the first hole. So the problem is, I didn't realize when I designed the layout that the upper level staging would interfere with a permanent object....the roof! Argh! I'm not sure what my options going forward are. I think I'm going to have to redesign the top level and "relocate" the layout to a branch line. Sent from my LG-UK495 using Tapatalk
I initially installed lighting on the Chicopee Road using Sylvania 8.5-watt LED bulbs in 4 foot spacings. I quickly determined the light was inadequate for photography and adjusted the fixtures to 2-foot spacings. This greatly improved the photography, but many of my images were still too yellow. I knew I was buying "warm" bulbs with a color temperature of 2,700K. I found on Mike Deverell's blog about his Colorado Front Range that he was alternating cool and warm bulbs to strike a balance. But his lighting was far more than 30" from his backdrop, as in my case. So I purchased some GE 10-watt Daylight LED bulbs with a color temperature of 5,300K and gave them a try. As you can see, the difference of color temperature is remarkable. The overhead bench work for the upper level was originally painted a sky blue with the intent of doing a blue sky before I changed my mind a few months ago. However, the difference is too remarkable. I'm going to have to choose between one or the other. Initially, I was more comfortable sticking with the warm Sylvania bulbs....but I'm leaning towards the GE Daylight bulbs now....especially with the eventual "dead winter" scenery. Lets look at a side by side comparsion of the same locations with the different bulbs. These are at the tunnel to staging to the west of Ravenswood. The first image is with the Sylvania LED bulb from a few days ago. The second, the GE Daylight LED bulb. Besides the obvious hot wire work on the scenery, the difference is quite noticeable! Now comes the price point. Lowe's sells each bulb, a three pack of the Sylvania LED bulb is $7.38 and the GE Daylight bulb is available in a three pack for $8.98....fairly comparable in price. I'll probably convert to the GE bulbs and use the others around the house.
I have a couple older "DCC Unfriendly" Shinohara turnouts that have been giving me fits with the points shorting on occasion. In an effort to avoid ripping out the whole turnout and building a new one, I decided to make Fast-Tracks style points with their point and frog jig and fit them into the Shinohara turnout. So far, so good. After soldering feeders to the rails, the rails were glued with CA to the ties. I still need to solder the points to the PC board tie, but this should work out really well.
Painted clouds on the backdrop on Friday night. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. Also painted some mountains on the backdrop az well. These will be covered by the trees, but they will provide a distant horizon seen through the trees. Sent from my LG-UK495 using Tapatalk
I cut a couple pieces of scrap cardboard out (freehand) that looked like the top edge of a cloud. Simply used one hand the hold it against the back drop and the other hand to shoot flat white or gray paint upwards "under" the cardboard stencil. I believe Miles Hale put out an overly-technical video several years ago using this method and an air brush. My own simplified spin on his method.
Thanks, Pat. If you happen to recall a link to that Hale video, please let me know. Apparently I have not seen it.
I only saw the video on VHS at a club meet last summer. I think I'll make a short how-to video if someone else doesn't already have a decent one up that is similar on YouTube.
TrainMasters TV little bit of cloud making by Miles recently. He put out a VHS at least 20 years ago using an airbrush and brushes.
I decided over the weekend to do a significant realignment of Ravenswood Yard on the bottom level. Right now, there is a straight 37'-6" run from Westbound staging to the first curve at Silverton. I've never really like this arrangement as it felt too "linear". I also had concerns with being able to reuse the sections I already had built. Here is the lower level track plan today: After measuring and thinking over the last two weeks, I came up with this realignment. I'm hoping to be able to put the realignment at a certain grade so that I can squeeze staging underneath the engine facility and the lift-out. I'll build another lift-out for staging if necessary. My only concern is the 22" and 24" radius curvature of the main tracks at Ravenswood. I shouldn't have any problems here, the rest of the layout has 30" radius curves or higher.
After several months of reflection and contemplation, I have decided to redirect my attention away from the CHL&C. I was born and raised along the B&O Cowen Sub during the CSX era. Until about 3 years ago, I had no interest in modeling the Cowen Sub in any era. However, with the downturn of the coal industry and the reduction in operations on the Appalachian & Ohio (PAL subsidiary operating the Cowen Sub since 2006), I finally realized I did have some love for this coal hauling route. After nearly 3 years of study, research and collecting of photographs, I decided to model the Cowen Sub from Grafton to Burnsville in 1974..... GP9's galore with a few GP40-2's sprinkled in. As much as I enjoyed freelancing and "doing things my way", I enjoyed prototype research and I felt that I would be more satisfied with a prototype-based layout. As of March 7, 2017 (1970) the Chesapeake, Huntington, Louisville & Chicago ceased operations. In order to utilize what has been planned and constructed, I am focusing in a proto-freelanced subdivision of the B&O along the Little Kanawha River between Elizabeth and Glenville. While building this layout, I am researching and planning the next layout 5 to 8 years in advance. That one will represent the B&O Cowen Sub between Grafton and Burnsville in 1974-75. I have two new blogs I am working on. I encourage you all to check them out: lkrsub.blogspot.com cowensub.blogspot.com Sent from my LG-UK495 using Tapatalk
