Can anyone help me out as far as telling me what I should look for in an air brush? I would like to purchase one, and the prices seem to run the gamut. I've found them from $11.99 to more than $300. I don't really wish to spend to much on something that I'm not real familiar with, but is there anything special that I should be looking for?
Try this when painting your rails: Put a light film of oil on the rail tops with your finger tip. Paint the rails, wait till they are completely dry, then wipe off the oil with a rag. Most paints don't adhere to oil, and will bubble up on top of it. Use the Bright Boy to touch up any that did set. There was an article in a recent Model Railroader that covered painting rails, maybe someone can dig that up. Or, go to http://www.trains.com to search for it.
Jeff, for rail all you need is the cheapest one. You are not overly worried about coverage as you would with a locomotive. Keep in mind you need a propellant, either a compressor or "canned air."
What is the recommended way to connect the foam to the benchwork. I am using 2" foam and my benchwork pictures can be viewed in earlier posts on this page. I didn't know if I should screw it to the benchwork or possbily use some type of glue. Also, I'm wider than 4' so I have an extra 20" piece of foam side by side of the 4x8 piece. What do you suggest in pulling this together? Is it wise to maybe put some kind of plaster between the two to get rid of the cracks? As always I appreciate your help. Jeff
You guys asked for a layout design. Here is the best I've been able to come up with yet. I'm using the freeware RTS 5.0 software (and I'm not real good with it yet) as a matter of fact as I was saving the file I noticed that the height listed is 5' when actually it's 5'8". So of course my curves aren't correct. I just wanted to get a rough drawing down so you guys could take a look at it and critique it. Let me know what you think. JLN layout design The complete length is 16'. Take it easy it on me.....
Another question.... When you use a turnout for a yard, let's say a #4, are you supposed to use #4's for every turnout? Just wondering. If I stay with my design I'm gonna have to purchase 11 or 12 turnouts.
I can answer the foam gluing question... many people use Liquid Nails. I use "Good Stuff" minimal expanding foam. It's the stuff in a can that you can seal doorways and windows with when replacing them. I just squirt a toothpaste thick line of it around, don't take much, and put a heavy weight on it like a paint cans.
msg4jeff, here is a thought for you. If you move the bottom track to be straight in line on the left, then curve it up toward the center of the turn table, it will give you an inch or so more space. Then re-locate the other track as shown, and start the yard off that crossover track, you can have lots more yard spurs. Now you have room for run around track, caboose track, whatever. Maybe even move the turntable up and make a loop around the turntable and have continuous running here too? Just brain storming. [ 11. March 2003, 06:50: Message edited by: watash ]
Jeff- Now, keep in mind that I really don't know too much about track plans or prototypical operations. But I do have an HO layout that I like and I've modified your design a little to make it something that I would build. But there is always room for changes. Also I've never used a turntable, so I'm not exactly sure how they work. I do know that because you had a turnout right before your turntable, that would require reverse loop wiring (assuming you're DC) aside from the turntable I believe. It also looked like your other turnout on the leg of the table (not the turnout leading to the yard) might be some sort of a reverse loop, although it isn't very clear. I do know that you'll want to get your yard as long as you can. It always looks on paper like you can fit more cars into it than it does in real life. I've drawn some gray boxes to represent average length boxcars, and red boxes to represent cabooses. Nothing's exactly to scale or proportionally exact, but it should be close enough to give you an idea. CLICK HERE FOR TRACKPLAN The orange track I've drawn was the most difficult to decide where it should go. At one point I had it link up to the yard feed, and then I had it connected to the other track that comes off the turntable (blue track). But I think that if the orange track connects to the blue track in any way, it will require reverse loop wiring, which can be a pain. Everyone here can probably give you advice on that though if you need it. In trying to foresee how operations would go, it looked like the path it takes an engine to get from the roundhouse to the yard is a little longer than it should be. So I drew in a track (in red) connecting the roundhouse area to the yard. I've also removed a yard stub in the oval and made one stub double tracked. This would give you more room for a town (fun for the kids), and it makes the double-track stub more fun to work with than a single one. Anyway, good luck and definitely plan plan plan while you still have it on paper! It's so much easier that way. Picture how trains would move and what they would need to do to get from one point to another point. Something that I like to do when I'm the only one operating (which is most of the time!) is run one train continuously on the loop. Then I switch other trains with a second controller, trying not to have to interrupt the main train. this makes it interesting. [ 11. March 2003, 15:26: Message edited by: daveheinzel333 ]
Robert, Thanks for the info on the liquid nails. I thought about that but wasn't sure it would be strong enough to hold things together by itself. Sounds like it should be fine though. I also saw in a different thread that there is some type of filler to fill in the cracks between foam panels that are butted up against each other. thanks Dave/Watash: thanks for your input. Dave, I've seen your layout on the web and I respect what you say. As I ponder both of your responses I must say that I have erred in not showing on my design where I intend for rivers, cities and other structures to be located. I don't think I'll need the extended yard. I was only really thinking of enough room for maybe 10 or 12 cars. Between the bridges and the yard is where my city will be located. Watash, I liked your idea of the continous line around the roundhouse, but I'm not sure I'll have enough room (unless I add on a few inches just for the radius, that's an idea...). That part of the layout is only 31" max, I don't think it would leave me a large enough radius. Question: How much room does an HO roundhouse take up? I wasn't sure of this and it may have an impact of whether or not I use one. thanks for your input. I'll post an updated design as soon as I get it made. Jeff
msg4jeff, a roundhouse does not have to take up much room for four or five stalls if you are running medium to small engines. I run several large articulated engines and my roundhouse has 33 stalls, so it measures 7 feet in diameter over the building, and I have a 134 foot long turntable for the 4-8-8-4 Big Boys. I made it to park my engines in to keep the dust from settling on them when not out on the line. each stall track is 6 degrees from eachother, so about as closely packed as I could get it and still park the Big Boys completely inside. Here is a photo of it before the pit hole was lifted out. You can get some idea of the size if you see the 50 foot Santa Fe box car sitting just to the left of the pit. [ 14. March 2003, 05:32: Message edited by: watash ]
Watash, When I first saw your roundhouse my mouth just dropped. WoW, that's huge!! I've tried to take into account all of the great advice I received. Here is my next iteration of my layout design. It seems like it's been forever since I last posted. We have had so much snow and now the weather is great and I'm having a tough time staying inside. Stayed up late tonight to do a redesign. I've also tried to label and draw what I had planned for the layout. The roundhouse and yard area is the main area that I'm not sure about. I would like to have a larger yard than what I have projected on the design. I'm looking forward to your comments. Click on the image for a larger version. Jeff
Jeff, Railimages keeps locking up my computer this morning, so I am emailng you a suggestion direct. Let me know if you get it. Thanks.
