The page is turned, a new month is here and with it are five modeling weekends wrapped neatly within the month of March. It's time for Weekend Modeling Plans! I anxiously await a package from New Jersey to start my weekend off right. Over the last few months, I have been gathering detail parts, paint and a locomotive for my latest detailed model. The last item on the list was an undecorated GP40 non dynamic shell. With any luck, this item will come today and I can start my Rock Island GP40 I have wanted to do for a number of years. Saturday morning my club has a work session on our newly (almost) completed N-Trak yard modules. We plan to give the modules a shake down with trains and see if any track needs additional attention and then work on the plexiglass shields and skyboards. The rest of my weekend will be spent (I hope) working on the Rock Island GP40 as well as my T-Trak module project. One last indoor soccer game on Saturday means that spring is coming and so is Galesburg. I have a special CB&Q project that needs to be done for Galesburg so that may get put on my list as well. So how about you? Do you have a busy weekend planned ahead? Club meets, Historical meets or shows? Are you preparing for any shows? Track work, DCC work, tree work, whatever you may have planned, let us know. We'll all come back here on Monday the 4th to see how we all did this first weekend of March. Until then, have a fun, productive and safe weekend and... ​High Greens!
I made a batch of 11 five-inch home brew bottle brush trees last night, does that count? Here's a shot of the first 2:
It will be another ski weekend for me. But, I did have another sitting-on-the-pot Eureka! moment for controlling the turnouts in the car float zone. I'd originally planned a local control panel near the car float, but I now realize that the clearance in there will be too tight to do that realistically. So, I'll accomplish the job by DCC control of those turnouts, two Tortoises at first, and then maybe the 4 nearby twin-coils a bit later on. I've never used stationary decoders before, so it will be a new challenge/toy to have fun with. I've already done the decoder reserch and decided on the NCE Switch-It for the twin coils and the Digitrax quad decoder for the twin-coils.
I finished a crossover that I have been making for my club. I'm going to my club tonight to install it. The switches are thrown with R/C servos. They are Peco switches mounted on a cork over 1/4 inch plywood module, with the servos mounted underneith. This weekend i'm going to start making another switch module and try to get another piece of ductwork made up for the clubs DCC buss which runs around the facia of the layout.
I've been looking through any little box and corner for a spare diesel shell. Stashed it away too well, and I cannot find the darned thing. So at least hope to accomplish bringing it too light again.
Hoping to get to track laying sometime this weekend, but while I wait for paint to dry I'm working on some necessary structures, like this Bachmann sand house.
Yesterday I continued with what I started on Wednesday, that is painting my back drop. Almost finished and I should say that I am most impressed with myself at painting this. Especially with the detail that I put in to it. I hope to have it finised monday evening. Then it is time to install track lighting and continue laying foam board.
Yeah, I will take some when I get home sunday night. I am out of state right now. I was going to try to take some when all was finished, but I will see what I can do. Here is the start of the back drop from wednesday. View attachment 52435 View attachment 52436 View attachment 52437 View attachment 52438
My wife used her phone to get some shots of my backdrop. Next on the list to paint is desert scenery. View attachment 52450 View attachment 52451 View attachment 52452 View attachment 52453 View attachment 52454
My big plan was to repair a speaker on my N scale GS4 that buzzed when the horn or whistle was used. I suspected there was no enclosure on the speaker and I was correct. So I replaced the speaker and added an enclosure. This 1" oval benefited big time from the enclosure, and I read somewhere to try mounting it to the enclosure with the magnet out. I did and the sound is great. I did have to replace the original weight, but no biggie. The motivation came when one of my clubmates ran his GS4 and it was quite a bit louder than mine, so I couldn't let his sound dominate. Right? My sound was cruddy anyway so it was a good kick to get me going on it.
If you have pictures, I would love to see the install. I would love to add a sound decoder in my Kato N GS4.