MODELING It's Monday, June 19th 2017: Weekend Modeling Accomplishments

Jim Wiggin Jun 19, 2017

  1. Jim Wiggin

    Jim Wiggin Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    We're back from another weekend, how did you all do? My Friday started by running the first trick of operations as well as breaking in my new BN NW2. It was a great stress less way to spend a Friday night!

    Saturday: was busy. I got up and got going and started working right away on the switch list for this coming weekend. I modified my switch list to make switching a bit easier, we'll see how it works. I next left for my "not so local" hobby shop and picked up a LED as well as a spare TCS decoder for another BN NW2 I picked up. I didn't spend too much time at the shop as I had a long list of things to do. Once home, I wrapped up the detail work on the GP30 and headed for the paint booth. The once wrecked GP30 looks better then ever in primer with all it's parts back on. I then started my LED project on the NW2. I had everything working great when "Mr. Dumb Thumbs" showed up. Somehow after carefully drilling a #70 hole in the cab and carefully soldering the LED into the decoder, I removed the lead from the LED. DOH! Now I will have to wait until Tuesday to pick up another, more like five more LEDs from my shop. After that I decided to call it a day.

    Sunday: was of course Fathers Day, I called my Dad to wish him a Happy Fathers Day and touch base with him regarding the move. Turns out Jess got her NH Moose Plates in the mail so they will be waiting for me to install on her when I get back in a few weeks. I then turned my attention to the second BN NW2 and it's decoder. I've done at least three or four Kato NW2 decoder installs and each and every one of them has been beyond easy. Not sure what happened but despite being as careful as I always am, pressed a bit too hard and "SNAP"! the decoder broke in half. Oh RATS! Not a good weekend for DCC. I ended up stealing the decoder from my Burlington NW2 since we wont be using it this weekend and then proceeded to program both BN locos as well as break them in. Looks like the last three days leading up to Galesburg will be busy!

    So how about you? What did you get done? I hope it wasn't as expensive as mine. Let us know. We'll be back here on Friday the 23rd to start the process all over again. A quick programming note: I will be posting from Galesburg Illinois once again so please bear with me as I may have limited internet capability and distractions.....mainly TRAINS. one way or another, I'm hopping to get next weekend started. Until then, have a great week, stay safe and as always...

    High Greens!
     
  2. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    I actualy got an hour in on Sat evening to get a little done on gcav17's Hiawatha. Here's those pics, PIC_0833 (1).JPG PIC_0841.JPG I got a little overzealous with the file on one cylinder and had to build it back up. PIC_0840 (1).JPG And yesterday the only railroading I got done was to replace my cheap desk with this NP Glendive depot 1905 era desk and chair! Now for a desktop protector and then back to work. PIC_0839.JPG
     
  3. SP-Wolf

    SP-Wolf TrainBoard Supporter

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    Managed to get a few small projects done. I installed 3 bill boards for Hwy. 101. Painted and installed a couple of sand towers. Work is progressing on my propane off loading facility. (At a snails pace).

    Hope ya'll had a great weekend,
    Wolf
     
  4. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Where or how did you find this treasure?
     
  5. MaxDaemon

    MaxDaemon TrainBoard Member

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    Well, not a LOT done, but I did finally get the biggest part of one passenger car repainted. I'd bought a couple Lionel HO PA locomotives off eBay, and while they'll never run on my layout I had been dreaming of having a static business car consist. I bought a nice heavyweight A10 GN observation car (Bachmann Spectrum) and was hunting for a couple other cars to go with it when I remembered I actually had two HW B&O cars that came along with a lot that I bought a month or so ago. Long story short, I decided to paint the two B&O cars up into Great Northern, mostly as more practice.

    IMG_3348.JPG

    I put a 1/16" stripe along the top to look at it, but I think I'm going to wind up pulling it off and either having to paint a yellow stripe or cut a piece of 1/16" stripe in half. It's just a bit too wide. I also see why manufacturers used yellow instead of imitation gold too - from any distance that gold almost vanishes.

    And of course, now that I'm actually looking at doing it - I'm thinking those two Lionel PAs may be too .. Lionelish to make me happy. I may be dreaming it, but they just don't seem to have gotten the details right - is that kind of the usual with Lionel? Are they mostly toys and like Tyco, should be ignored for "real" modeling?

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  6. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Lionel is certainly not the low end of quality, as with some HO manufacturers. But they are more toy-like than prototypical in appearance. Although through the many years, they have made some more close to scale items.
     
  7. RBrodzinsky

    RBrodzinsky November 18, 2022 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter In Memoriam

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    Was much too hot here to do anything this weekend (102 yesterday - no AC in either house or train shed)
     
  8. MaxDaemon

    MaxDaemon TrainBoard Member

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    IMG_3350.JPG


    I guess it's one of those things where if you don't look too closely, they don't look bad. I think if you actually set a good quality PA next to it, you could pick out a lot of oddities. A little weathering, add (and change) some road numbers .. maybe a few details ..

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  9. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    A PA would look a bit different, when sitting next to the FA in that photo... :)
     
  10. Kitbash

    Kitbash TrainBoard Supporter

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    Got nothing done. Still on vacation in Maine. Caught up on some MR Magazine articles I have with me. Rode by some old Bangor and Aroostook (Or Maine Central, not sure) tracks and bridges on the way to scarf up some dinner. That's about it.
     
  11. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Going to see any of the 2 Foot Gauge trains? WW&F? SR&RL?
     
  12. MaxDaemon

    MaxDaemon TrainBoard Member

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    I'm speechless. Which is a near-record. ;-)

    Funny, I actually have an ABA set of FA units, never looked at them closely enough to see. They're awaiting Great Northerning too.
     
  13. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    A customer of mine had it in his garage where he rebuilt classic and hot rods. He has retired and relocated and just couldn't move it, so....I relieved him of his problem. And it turns out that another mutual freind did the restoration of it when the NP or BN dumped it. I have to go visit him to get more of that story.

    Nice GN string!
     
  14. Mike VE2TRV

    Mike VE2TRV TrainBoard Member

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    Started work on a threesome of Roundhouse old-timer MOW cars.

    Un-stuck a Kadee coupler (#5) on a Kato NW2. Someone had used some kind of nasty solvent glue (probably plastic model cement:mad:) to glue the box in place under the clip that holds it down... Kinda redundant because of the clip, and it mooshed up the pivot inside, jamming the coupler. After cutting and filing out the remnants of the glued box, I slipped a #148 assembly in there. Good as new.:)

    At the same time I found out why that little bugger is so heavy - there's a LOT of metal in there!:eek:
     
  15. MaxDaemon

    MaxDaemon TrainBoard Member

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    I realize this is off-topic - but me being a non-Alco fan, how do you tell an FA from a PA at a glance? My understanding was that it was all internal and was mostly to do with whether it had steam generators or not?

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  16. RBrodzinsky

    RBrodzinsky November 18, 2022 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter In Memoriam

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    I thought the F vs P was simply the gearing (Freight vs Passenger with higher speed gearing).
     
  17. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    The pure PA was a six axle unit. Although never sold as freight power, as passenger days wound down, they did see such use. They had a longer frame and car body than an F, to accommodate the extra axles and steam generator.

    Those Lionel units pictured are a four axle "FA" pair. There were passenger units, but I believe all were sold and operated by Canadian RRs? Designation of those was FPA. A few survive in tourist operation.

    Picture of a PA1:

    [​IMG]
     
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  18. steveparkinson

    steveparkinson TrainBoard Member

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    Great stuff everyone!

    Went to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum with my son for Fathers Day and had a blast as always.

    Also found some time to get a bit of work done on the layout. Built this N scale Walthers Backshop.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Also managed to get another decoder installed on one of my GP-38's.

    [​IMG]

    Steve


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  19. MaxDaemon

    MaxDaemon TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks much! Looking at that picture, it strikes me that Lionel didn't do that bad a job - and makes me happier with my purchase. So, now I'm edified and satisfied - what great reasons to come to Trainboard!

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