Nice stuff everyone. For me I finally finished my last Cotton Belt GP-30, painted rails and decoder so I decided to run a few trains and take the four, 2 SP and 2 Cotton Belt for a test run. They pull very nicely together and run as smooth as silk. Also in the go was the F7's. Great units these are. ATSF SD40-2 with a C30-7 in tow wait for the Geep's to move past.
Chad: Great looking loco shots. BTW, do you have a photo of the frame you prepared for a decoder in your ATSF F-7? Stay cool and run steam......
Great pics guys! This weekend I started building the background buildings on my HO scale layout. Here is the first one complete: Russ
Hi Bob, Here's a picture from the decoderizer website. This frame was milled by Aztec. I milled in the same place. Hope this helps since I didn't take any pictures when I did mine.
Tom and Mark, Thanks. The whole weathering thing is new to me. I tried to dust on a chalk blend. Looked okay until I brushed on some Dullcoat. Then it got way too dark. So I took a toothbrush dipped in alcohol and tried to scrub some off. Seems like I get better results by screwing something up then trying to fix it. PS - Mark, You had me fooled for a minute. I saw Mr. Beck and thought....Hey My Dad doesn't do trains.
Chad stated: "Hi Bob, Here's a picture from the decoderizer website. This frame was milled by Aztec. I milled in the same place. Hope this helps since I didn't take any pictures when I did mine." Chad : What is the website address for the "Decoderizer"? Stay cool and run steam......
Once again, Everybody, amazing work!!! What can I say! I'm green!!! BTW, Chad, thanks for posting the link to the decoderizer as most of my locos are not DCC ready. I have my work cut out for me!
Mr. Beck- Since your first name appears in neither your profile nor your signature, I thought it best to address you as "Beck" and not "Crazy".
No problem on the web link. Here is one that list the instructions for a variety of units. http://www.trainweb.org/nrmrc/dcc/conversions.html A few more, been running F units this morning. Great fun.
Must be spring, there are new trees everywhere.... With a little help from Smokey Bear and the dedicated hard work of the U.S. Forest Service, the Coconino National Forest is now a forest. 6 square feet ate up 120 trees real fast. The Heiki trees are a great value but very uniform, so the Model Power trees give a little added variety. This is the first time I've ever gotten to put trees on a layout so I'm pretty excited about that part. THe ponderosa pines that I need for this area should actually be a lot taller so in the future I may add some HO pines to the mix. For now it will have to do. I'm really impressed at how different it make the scenery look ones trees go in. Deffinately a big improvement.
A friend came over today and brought his Model Power steam engine. This was a great runner and looked good to.
It's been a while since I posted anything here. Since we awoke to snow in New Mexico, and a cold wind, I planned to photo all the new stuff on the layout. Except that I was reminded that I hadn't figured out my taxes yet, nor my estimated payment for the same dreaded date five days away. So, here's my scratchbuilt Coast Guard cutter. Yep, the paint scheme is inaccurate for my era, and the top of the mast stuff is also wrong--but those details have been broken off as I've leaned in to work on the deck above, and I have the accurate radars and radio stuff on my workbench. Off all the ships I've built, this is my favorite.
sitchad Great layout shots! The F-units look awesome! Russ Great pictures! Looks like the layout is coming along well! John Breen Great pictures! The caboose is really neat! NS Nice looking locomotive and bridge! Pete Awesome ships!
Since I finished re-weathering most of my hopper fleet over the weekend I figured why not run one of my favorite trains: a coal drag?