First attempt at a Fast Tracks turnout. Needless to say, I'm going to try again. Ordered the stock aid for the stock rails. Did it by hand and the results weren't really that good. Used both a dremel and a file. Plus there are a couple of pinch points where the guards and wing rails are. Guessing there was a bit of shifting when I soldered them down. Was in a bit of a hurry to get one completed because I had to go out of town the next morning. I think I'm going to make up something to put everything into my suitcase so I don't destroy the rails/etc. and take the whole thing with me so I have something to do in the hotel room.
Working on an Atlas GP-7 painted in the last B&M paint scheme before Guilford and a matching caboose from Bowser. Both are just quick paint and decal as they will run on T-Trak and N-Trak modules. I only run the detailed stuff on my home layout.
No pictures yet. I have a project that may be a bit of a fool's mission, at least as far as return on time investment. But I am having fun. I have been selling off old forest district structures and pulpwood rolling stock from my old East Texas piney woods layout, that don't fit my island secoast N layout under construction. Selling on eBay. Got some price I didn't feel too badly about for superdetailed custom and partially-scratch models- though it didn;t really pay for the time I spent on them. Also selling kits that no longer fit my plans. Anyway, I found the fronts of an early N scale craftsman kit for "Three Olde Stores" from the 1970s, which I had used as background flats. Partly built. Had no use for them, but not in good enough shape to sell as a kit. Should I build them as complete old-time buildings, to sell? I remembered that just plain buildings did not get much interest, but unusual and superdetailed models did-- my hillbilly's cabin, Lumberjack Cookhouse theme restaurant, logging town saw shop with a display of antique lumberjack saws and tools. The old-time fronts looked like they would lend themselves to Hollywood movie set false front western buildings. I am building the fronts weathered, and the backs fully-framed with exposed framework, scaffolding, etc. A little bit of tedious scratchbuilding, but every bit of it will be visible without taking off the roof but there won't be any roof. I have been wanting to do something like this for 30 years or so but I never had a place for it. I have seen photos in the model magazines of modelers who staged a wild west movie making scene with old time buildings as real buildings. But I have never seen a model of a layout with false front movie sets that look real from one angle and completely fake from the back side. I don't have place for them on my layout. I'm just going to build them and eBay them, but it will be fun and I will clear the decks for the new layout.
I'v been working on an A/B set of Erie builts that will eventually be in Milwaukee Road colors. The A unit is a modified V-line shell on a LL chassis and the B is a JnJ shell on a Broadway chassis. Jim
Randy, The A unit had several mods. I filed down the cab roof to make the step, moved the headlight bezel up for the Mars light, added a second headlight bezel for the headlight, filled in the tops of the winshields to make the earlier version, added the class light "cheeks", filled in the oversized pilot opening, added a styrene anticlimber and mounted a Z scale coupler. I shaved off the cast on diaphragm and added an operational one. It has wire grabs and piping details. The steam generator details are styrene bits. I also have etched steps to apply. The B unit just got wire and styrene details along with operating diaphragms. Jim
Decals are finished on my B&M GP7 project. Dull cote and some small touch up and this easy project is done. First time using Tru-Color paint, awesome stuff.
Hi, finally finished painting my Old Time Bachman Bobber Caboose. If you forgot what it looks like, here's an image of it in all its hiedaous redness (cabooses are red, right?): (not my photo, I might add). And here's what it looks like now - possibly not very prototypical (anyone got a colour photo from its earliest days lying around), but looking much nicer to me (at least): Still needs some lettering (does this NEED lettering? Always?) and of course some additional weathering. Sven
I started work on a NS SD60E, #6908 to be exact. I scratch built the intercooler with styrene and extended the vents out like the prototype. The dynamic brake vents were also angled in the bottom corner to match as well. I'm waiting on some spare parts from Atlas before I start work on the cab. View attachment 51983
I got around to changing our some LED's on some of my locos. I changed the green LED's in my FVM CSX GEVO's to white LED's and also I changed out some yellow LED's out from my Atlas CSX YN3 SD50 to white LED's, now my locos look much better when I run them I can actually see the number boards and they are white not yellow or green.
