Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a productive weekend and some fun in the process. Let's get started. Saturday: I had a chance to look at my recent order which this time is HO. I picked up the new Tangent 40' PS-1 boxcar and a gondola. Very impressive models and will look great with some weathering. I then worked on the N scale GP30 and apparently had forgotten how to build the simple Micro Trains 1015 couplers. After an epic struggle, I got a set built and installed into the GP30. Hard to believe that I once could build these almost blind folded at a show on top of an N-Trak module. Course that was 20 years ago. I then cleaned and organized my plastic bin used to store and organize my couplers, both N and now HO. The wife took me to one of our favorite supper clubs for Valentine's Day. It was a nice quiet dinner in a relaxed setting. Her gift is late, but I'll be making her dinner tonight. Sunday: Work continued on the GP30. By then end of the day, all decals were done, new grab irons installed, and the frame was complete with all the details such as air hoses and MUs. I'm on the home stretch on this and hope to finish this week as we are running out of winter and time to work on the layout. I also tried my new weathering paint set on a Primed for Grime Athearn FMC Railbox. I think I went a little too heavy but overall, the weathering looks okay. I'll keep practicing. All in all, a productive weekend. So how about you? How did you do? Let us know. Don't forget that today is an important holiday for our significant others if you're not a bachelor. Do something special and kind. We'll assemble again on Friday the 18th to start the process all over again. Until then, have a great week, stay safe, be healthy and as always... High Greens!
needs couplers, a pole and handrails…The good news, I do have all of the needed Shapeways parts for the second loco, and I decided that it will be numbered 1627 since those numbers are all together in the decal sheet.
Good morning to Y'all, Well, my weekend went as planned (For once) Absolutely no MRRing for me. Changed the oil in both vehicles. Cleaned out the kitchen sink pipes. Visited a few high school buddies. (What a great time that was) Went to breakfast with two other couples (Sunday mornin) - another great time. Watched the Super Bowl - except for half time. Finished installing my hunting rifle's new stock. So, hope Y'all had a great weekend, Wolf
Happy Monday. Weekend was so, so. But I did get some things done. Saturday: Wanted to get a great start on the "EL", but hit a couple of stumbling blocks and found I have to change how I planned on doing the track. I will wind up hand-laying it with a custom built turnout. I did sort out all the pieces and got a good understanding how it will go together. I spent a lot of time Saturday "putzin'" w/ the thing, but it was worth it. I have an "end game" in mind. Sunday: Went into the train room and decided to plant a hedgerow. Planted 538' of hedges. (Busy day) Actually 6.1 feet of hedges along the Albemarle City Station wall and in front of the C&O Albemarle Division office next door to the station. Have a good week all!!
Spent some time fiddling with a tank car kit. (HOn30.) It has a hand rail which wraps completely around the tank. No template provided. Trying to decide how to bend it, then neatly attach the wire ends together. Hmmm. ??? Installed some fish line truss rods on another kit. Add the stirrups and it is ready to paint. Managed to stay awake and see the start of the Bowl game. But fell asleep when the score was 13-3. Another weekend done.
Like @SP-Wolf and @BoxcabE50, watched some of the Super Bowl (fell asleep during an endless ad break and woke up an hour later, and avoided the halftime show in its entirety). The local Fresh Market had a neat Valentine's Day supper idea, offering a package price for two entrees, sides and desert, fresh, uncooked and ready for the oven. Had a nice meal with no hassle. We have little tolerance for long restaurant waits and figured they'd be at their worst, along with the added pain of inflated pricing. Started to drill holes in my HCD table top and dropped some track feeder and turnout control wires below, plus spent some brief time railfanning.
Wow what a weekend! Thursday through Saturday was spent in Kanab, UT at a train show running trains. It was Utah Free-moN first official setup. Two of us brought modules and were running trains Friday morning. We started setting up at 4 pm Thursday. Friday Nland Pacific Free-moN from LA showed up with another thirteen modules. They are the center leg in the layout diagram. Now we had a decent layout. We had the largest layout of the show. And of course the most popular. Hopefully we were able to grow some interest in the group from the southern part of the state. One gentleman from Vegas asked a lot of questions. We were able to get him a contact for Mojave Free-moN in Vegas. Sunday I spent the day streamlining my tool box for the set ups. Now to start prepping for our next set up in Wendover, UT in March. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Good weekend. Even the weather cooperated. Friday: Got through the tax checklist. Several documents are yet to be seen so that is on hold. Started tearing into the "broken" Dremel tools. Saturday: Listened in on Lowell Smith's Train Talk, went for a walk with Sharon, had some coffee and stopped at the barber on the way home. Did a deep dive into the Dremel tools and decided to attempt to refurbish both cordless models. The 750 Mini Mite, ca 1990, came with Ni-CD batteries. I was able to replace those with Ni-MH cells in the original case. Cleaned up the contacts and it works great. However, the old charger is not Ni-MH friendly. After pondering a few options, I ordered a charging circuit pcb off eBay. Will let you know how this adventure turns out when the board arrives. The 1100 Stylus is powered by Li-ion batteries. Somewhat more complicated because the batteries are built into the unit. Removing them was straightforward. I fiddled with the batteries on the charger and suspect that the batteries are OK. Managed to get them charged and reinstalled. Unit works fine. Now I need to troubleshoot the charger. In any case, I have both battery-powered Dremels working in the short term. Sunday: My son came over to watch soccer. Then waffles and bacon! The weather was beautiful, so Sharon and I took advantage and walked down on the dock and waterfront trail. Stopped by the local market on the way back for a couple things. With the game on in the background, we started putting together some stacked enchiladas. I like those things way too much. After dinner we once again attempted air-fryer tortilla chips. No joy! Finished off the weekend watching "All Creatures Great and Small." And that was it. Did not find time for several projects. Did make some progress and had a great time. Stay safe,
We did a few things around the house. Watched a few minutes of the big game. I weathered the office building, shed, coal trestle, and fences for the O. L. King Coal Company. I also made the base for the coal yard.
Saturday saw me part of the Dojo expansion crew for my kids. We have the main wall down between the two units, the electrical cleaned up and most of the ceiling reinstalled. Next weekend we expect to finish up with installing the header over the larger opening and at least putting up the sheetrock to cover the remaining open wall studs. Also did a Lowe's run for supplies for the pool and garden (!) and then went across to Bay St. Louis of Second Saturday with Electric Sheep covering 70's rock outside. Sunday saw a lot of chores, grocery shopping and a Superbowl party. Watched what turned out to be a defensive slug fest wrapped around an iconic halftime show. Now back to work . . . .
As expected much of the weekend was taken up by outdoor chores but I did get some time in the train room. Got the basic structure of the Railroad rooming house kit finished. The peel and stick stairs that came with the kit were giving me fits and I finally gave up on them and used styrene strips. Don't know why I had such a problem, the tower seen in the background of the second photo was built 24 years ago and has the same stairs and I did that easily, getting old I guess. With that done I was able to get the base color sprayed and begin some of the detail painting. Windows and doors will get painted separately and added later. Also started some base scenery in the area around these railroad structures. Also got the base color on the yard office which will go in that empty space between the tower and the rooming house.
Oh. Was there a ballgame this weekend? Mixed bag of projects on here for sure. It was an outside sunshine weekend for me. Dropped into the local model RR club for a visit Sat. and Sun. Earlier, I did a test application of car side railroad name graphics. Looks like more fun headed my way. I hope everyone has a good week.
Good afternoon, Friday went as expected with the Bowling Meeting, then taking my wife to the doctor and then bowling on Friday night, where I had a 204-210-209 for a 623 Series. Saturday, went to the club and tested out my new Bower RS-3's they really look and run great. Saturday night I ended up building a 1937 AAR Boxcar kit, and adding some more parts to the Tangent PS Combo door boxcar. Sunday, laundry along with painting a rebuilt USRA boxcar in boxcar red, decaling an Exactrail Evans 4780CF Covered Hopper and finished the underframe detail on the Tangent car, would have shown a picture but I cannot get it uploaded. Also took apart an Atlas Caboose to get rid of the window glass and attach all the necessary grabs before painting. Changed out the Accubreak couplers which was a real pain as the assembler used a 90# torque wrench on the screw and I ended up stripping out the head, then had to drill out the head and then drill a tap a new hole for a 2-56 screw. Rick Jesionowski
Per my anticipation, Nada, nothing, not even a painted figure. I might make up for this week but we shall see her
I tried out two new metal nippers/nibblers that I bought by trimming a new lead weight for my next flat car conversion. MUCH nicer than snipping with shears. Then finished a 60 ft. acrylic track test car that I cut from scraps being thrown out by our club. I also spent a little time at my ongoing project sorting and organizing rolling stock on my late father's layout. I also brought home a few more of his tools, plaster for scenery, etc. Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk
