It's Monday, 07-02-07 - Weekend Modeling Accomplishments!

We had a busy weekend with yard work and grocery shopping. We visited my wife’s new place of employment the Delaware Museum of Natural History so she could try out her knowledge on the kids. We caught a movie; Ratatouille. We finished up the weekend by attending our town’s 4th of July Fireworks.

With all that we were doing I did not get much time at the trains. I was going to do some airbrush weathering last night but I realized that I still had a few things to do on the Athearn flat cars. I forgot how much. I had to change the couplers to Kadees, remove the old damaged brake wheels and add new ones. I also had to do my normal maintenance of the trucks before I put the wheels back in place. By the time I finished with them it was too late to fire up the airbrush.

 

Finished hanging my flourescent lighting. It had to be moved as the layout footprint has changed. Lots of nice light over the layout now. Also, about half of the pink foam is glued down. Will finish this part up on Wednesday. Then I can draw centerlines!

 

Got started on detailing the Porter. Wow there are a lot of parts and they are made for the Grandt Line Porter, not the Bachmann Porter. Not only that, but the instructions ONLY address the backhead and piping...not the lever gearing or anything in front of the cab!! Talk about playing the "I think that's right" game!! Needless to say this slowed me down to a snails pace!
John

 

Benchwork finally complete. I now started on doing my planned work on the expansion. I sanded all screw holes holding up the backdrop and will fill in with wood filler and resand. Then, I am ready to paint the backdrops.

 

I think my glue problem is solved. We had a 2 day dry spell and things seem to be holding up. Only had time to lay some of the yard track-bed because with the break in the rain, outside yard work took precedence.

 

I stopped by my local hobby store of choice and discovered a pair of Walthers rolling mill kits from the Steel Mill series for 35 dollars each.....needless to say I bought both and a pair of Proto 2000 gons.

Went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Station Square on Saturday, watched a CSX freight roll by at the sqaure after lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Even saw a pair of hobos in an empty boxcar on that train, im not a city boy so that was a first for me.

Appointment tonight to look at another house, im getting impatient with the lack of luck we've had searching for a home.

 

I finally finished my coastal freighter. Also added some rigging to the other ships. Cleaned the layout room.

 

Didn't get much done, bought a new car instead, that took longer than expected, as I should have expected, and was tiring as well

 

Saturday I took the San Diego Trolley from Old Town to La Mesa and stopped by Reeds. Got a good haul for $45 including to MDC TankTrain kits (one already assembled) from the used shelf another pack of Proto2000 33" metal wheels and various coupler odds and ends.

I quickly mounted all the wheels. Then I took some of the coupler odds and ends and found a solution for couplers on my Superliners. Unfrotunatly, they're still coupled too far appart, so I'll have to keep looking.

Finally, I did some more sanding work on some old Bachman tank cars that I'm modifying to look vaguely modern.

 

I've finished my Goofy's Scrap Yard.



BTW, this dog is the scrap yard security dog, and it's called Goofy. :angel:
What else?

Wolfgang

 

Wolfgang-

I may now rest easier tonight knowing that the world is in perfect balance because Goofy has found a home and a purpose in life, guarding a junkyard.

 

Very good! :angel::angel::angel::angel:

Wolfgang

 

Elevated or cut support for 100 percent of all track that required it.
Ran 1 loco with 2 cars up and around 1/3 of said track including a 6 percent grade.
Broke my power supply by putting it down too hard. oooops

 

Huzzah! <modest self-pat on the back> I think this is the first time in living memory that I actually got everything accomplished that I said I would on a weekend project!

I intended to pull up the old track and roadbed and lay new unitrack, and all that got done, plus some new lights in buildings. I did run some trains to check things out and all is well. Now comes the (for me) fun part... scenery. I needed to move one building, and much of the trackside vegetation will need to be replaced/renewed; but I am pleased with the results.

Track pulled up:


This area got widened and straightened somewhat:


The new wiring for track, turnouts, and new building lights in place:


And the first of the new ballast in place:


I'm chuffed!

 

what are you building .. a roller coaster?

 

< Deep Rolling Chuckle >
I'm an inovator. I know the rules say you can't do that and the "rules" might well be right. Then again my father always said:
"First you must know the rules before you can break them".
That included knowing _why_ the rules were established in the first place. Mind you he was fired from Lockheed, NASA, Brown N Root, and Analog Devices among others for breaking rules once too often.
Here is the thread:
http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=89461

 

Bookbear, I used the exact same material to make a lip/edge around my layout to prevent fall offs. GMTA!

 

^5's, Geeky! :thumbs_up:

 

What is the material? The GandG is looking for just such an item:

As you can see that edge is just asking for a high dive.