Train show this sunday, and an underated superstar in my roster has the lime light today. I was disassembling my LGB Electric Work Engine to do some under Catenary dusting. When it hit me. Paint the Tool Box. Well I decided on a nice bleached Flat Tan from my Testors Military Paint set. It's the same paint I used as a primer under my Olive Drab station benches, my bus stop benches and my LGB Track Buffer. The Paint tore up my paint brush but the results over the orange were beautiful. The next step is to get some Pollyscale Roof Brown paint and paint the wooden cargo area. More Updates to come post Midwest Train Show.
Another Pre-Show update. On the videographers section you may or may not have seen my layout modification video log. Well poor lighting on that. But that's okay. I got to thinking about purchasing another LGB Station Platform set but to get one for 15, even used will be a longshot. I got lucky so I started re-arranging them. But all this came about from another idea. Those of you who are older and much wiser, most likely had a Lionel set as a kid. Grew up with Lionel too. Well being a G-Scale Generation, I grew up with LGB. So I love to watch LGB Videos on Youtube. Well I saw this guy's indoor layout with the middle platform section removed and thought I'd try it. Didn't work. Because my set was modified, the platforms need the center piece to stay connected. Enter the new idea. I took the outer platform pieces off and hooked them up to the side track. My siding is now designation Track 2. I removed the buildings and used the waiting platform as a guide. Now the platform sections come right up to the waiting platform. It also locks the side track in place and stops it from moving out of alignment. I used entirely LGB Track on my mainline section to ensure I could crowed the remaining platforms together in the middle of 2 straight tracks. The reason is the 1 foot sections are equal length and helped to make the outer platforms fit. The inner ones have a clip that locks the outer ones in place. I had to cut the clip on 3 of the inner pieces to ensure a tight fit and to keep the platform from rising up and hitting and derailing my trains. The second line is still useable. But this caused a bow. I have the track running on a ridge and styrene pieces holding it in useable place. But now the track is lopsided, causing me to need LGB's shorter track section, about half a foot, to correct alignment. As it stands, the ridge and misalignment causes the trains to derail. We can't have that. So operations are shut down until I get this piece. A Local hobby shop has it for new, but I'm looking at the train show first. Also one other note, Picture 2 is 5406, the largest girl I own, clearing the curve, shelf, and wall with her snowplow. This proves any rollingstock I own will clear the secondary line. Now the last part is the new platform idea, allows me to add piko's baseplate set to my Luggage and Station depots and move them up front to the platform. The new platform sections will be recieving a yellow caution stripe. Finally both platform sections will be attached by the Piko Nuestadt walkway bridge. Outdoors both ladders will touch the platform. Indoors only one will because of my tight space. You will see as soon as I find and purchase this. The Engine yard/switch track system is on hold because of a new need for a special piece. So now here are the photo's of the new layout: EDIT: PLATFORMS HAVE YELLOW CAUTION STRIPE; PICTURE UPDATED
Another Train show removed. A Stainz Tender found. But it was the 1980's vintage. I know I told L&B I was going to custom paint one if needed, but this is an old one that has value and even to add to my stainz, custom painting would devalue it. So I passed to wait for a gray or black motorized tender. However for 8 bucks I picked up a bottle of smoke fluid. It smokes great but is really hard to see. You can smell it. I have a video log in my video section on the Videographer's group if you would like to see, complete with better lighting. Sort of. Finally in HO news, I found a Rivarossi/AHM BN RPO for 3 bucks. I know that's not G-Scale but I felt like mentioning it anyways. Now on to some news that I wish I had taken my camera with to photograph and EMD Would be interested to know: The 2009 LGB Christmas Coach was in Stock at a local vendor!! I saw it. I touched it. I held it in my arms like a newborn child. Laugh if you want, I'm an LGB-Phile biggrin: It's green/red with "Christmas 2009" on it. And the box was trademark LGB Red with the Green & White Stripes and the Gold LGB Logo. Marklin didn't change the boxes. A Friend I met who runs LGB Trains in one of the buildings let me fire up my freight train for an hour or so. No I didn't get video or pictures. I keep trying to remember to take my camera along but I forgot yet again. Sales were up for All scales today. It's Christmas and things are looking up. Several S (40 vendors for S/American Flyer this time), O, HO, N, and G had 50-75 Percent off sales. Vendors who are just trying to make money were selling out left and right. A guy I met who sells vintage HO Locomotives with sound and DCC upgrades for 40 was selling out at 20 a pop and actually doubling his profits. I can't speak for the rest of the nation, but things here are looking up. It's great to see such a turn around finally. This was a great show. I didn't find the track piece I need but I will keep looking. Til The next monthly update~
Another Update you say? Why yes. Shortly after the train show this week, Tuesday, and was cruising eThief. Well I seached "LGB Short" hoping to find the piece of track that would correct my alignment. I found an auction for 4 75mm pieces of track, 1 standard foot of track (no rear track connector, my assumption is that it was a track buffer piece), and 3 standard LGB R1 Radius + a bonus of 2 LGB Track Connectors with their wires. It was 10.00 opening bid, 10.00 shipping. I figured what the hey and threw an opening bid on this auction that was ending in 2 days. I assumed that since most dealers go after full boxes of track to make more money. I knew no one would bid on this one, but despite that, I settled in my eBay perch and loaded up the eBay sniper rifle (a joke for those who use ebay alot and snipe auctions). Auction over, 20.00 paid and today the track arrived. I got to work installing my new short track when it hit me: "I just removed a good piece of track that works. I'm going to take my bad track out of my station siding!" So I did. Then I decided to replace the Aristocraft 4 foot radius track on my outer curve that faces the stairs. That meant that my 2 75mm pieces on the straight section I was replacing near the power connectors was still lopsiding it. I removed one of the 75mm pieces and that corrected the issue as most of the track was now equal length since it's all LGB. A couple test laps with my track connecters moved onto the first curve track going around the couch and the snow plow was no longer hitting them. The train rolled over perfectly and voltage has stabalized. My siding track past the cross track has no juice but I'll figure that out another day. Leftover were 4 pieces of Aristocraft 4 foot radius track and my bad piece of LGB Track. I am going to try to clean the LGB Track and put that on the track bumper siding and eliminate my Aristocraft straight section. But now this brings me to Wolfcreek Phase 3: The Yard Switches. My initial plan was to purchase 2 Aristocraft manual left switch tracks and an aristocraft manual right switch track. That has changed. My girlfriend decided I should pick up 2 LGB Electric Right Hand Switches, 2 LGB Electric Left Hand Switch, Extra wiring, and LGB's Switch Box or Aristocraft's Switch Panel to wire them into my transformer. The reason is, their switch motors are flat, wide turning equipment can run over it, and I just prefer LGB in general. I'll be purchasing LGB Straights as well and an RhB Concrete Track Buffer I plan to use when I aquire an engine shed to lay over the track. It took a while, but I have an indoor layout that I don't think needs much tinkering anymore, aside from a tunnel, bridge and maybe a deck underneath. Phase 4 or 5 will most likely be the outdoor phase, because it isn't going to happen in winter. Too cold up here to start laying track. But with Xmas around, I'm hoping to have at least part of my switch system in place before 2010. Many 2009 projects got shelved this year due to my layout issues, but in the end it was worth it. Until next update. EDIT: I would like to add that I also plan to purchase an LGB Electric Double Slip Switch to replace my cross track and make the siding 100 percent usable from the mainline. I did some research and came up with the track cost totals, excluding the switch box: LGB Electric Right Hand Switch 57.00x2 LGB Electric Left Hand Switch 57.00x2 LGB Electric Double Slip Switch 187.00 LGB R1 Radius Curve 5.60 LGB 75mm Straight 5.25 LGB 600mm Straight 14.00 LGB RhB Bumper Stop 16.00 __________________________________ Total: 455.85 An expensive project for sure. But I plan to do it little by little.
