Well we are back from another summer weekend. Hard to believe that today is the last day of July. Before we know it, we'll be cussing at the cold again. This past weekend was to be expected. I spent all Saturday working on the garage and it still looks like a mess. I really need to get rid of a lot of items I no longer need. Still, some progress was made with areas devoted to the RC planes (yes I still do it occasionally), to wood work complete with power tools to Jessica's section which includes the compressor, power tools and her cleaning supplies. I still need to make room for Jessica's hard top hoist so I can have a place to store the hard top when the weather allows me to drive topless. Sunday was a lazy day and with the exception of some light reading on model railroad operations, not much was done. So how about you? What did you get done this weekend? Let us know. We'll come back on Friday, August 4th to start off another weekend. Until then, have a great work week, stay safe and... High Greens!
I did manage to get another oil derrick assembled. I have a few trim pieces to install - then some weathering. That's about it, for my weekend modelling. Hope Y'all had a great weekend!! Wolf
Didn't get in all I wanted to do. I did start the scenery and track where I plan a 9 to 10 car active interchange. This will probably be an NYC interchange w/ the C&O. The NYC actually did share some coal operation lines w/ the C&O and I've always been fascinated by that. I also got some minimal wiring done. Yesterday afternoon I got pressed into service by the Mrs on some gardening harvest duties. Some weekends, I have to do as I'm told.
There was a C&O/NYC interchange between a subsidiary (NYC?) company, in Virginia or West Virginia. Do you possibly recall that company's name? For some reason it is escaping me at present.
Boxcab.. yes, I believe that was the line used by the NYC to get into C&O area coal fields, not 100% sure. But I believe you are correct. I have it somewhere in my C&O Historical Archive. I do have the Clear Block Video "Vignettes of the Chesapeake and Ohio". The video shows a NYC coal train in C&O territory and I'm pretty sure it was in Fayette County. In fact, Clear Block shows the NYC twice in that area. Once w/ a NYC Mikado during the steam era and once with an F7 (if I recall correctly) lash-up, lightning stripes era. The interchange is certainly plausible given the 2 railroads came very close together in and around Fayette County which is relatively close to White Sulpher Springs, WV which is one of the "glory" stops on the C&O.
My three-week weekend continues. I have to admit that I've been in a layout designer's block for a while (a looooonnng while... ). Draw this, imagine that, tear it all up, start over, tear it up again, ad infinitum (tearing things up is less messy since the digital age began). Add to that the day-to-day grind of real life, and I've been more of a railfan and a collector than an actual operator. And had plenty of fun painting and detailing. Until today at 2:05 pm. I ran my first train on the main line of my new 6'x8' layout (still under construction). A short, eight-car consist with a single Athearn GP40-2 at the head. There are still tweaks and adjustments to be made, but it's coming along nicely. I just decided to stop planning and make a checklist of what I want and start laying track free-style, first pinning it to the foam base with silk pins (from the fabric store), then using No More Nails when I'm satisfied with the alignment. But no track plan. Just lay it, test it, tweak it, and set it. Completely spontaneous creation. Best fun I've ever had with trains. Best vacation time I've spent ever. I just have one Atlas #6 right turnout that's causing me trouble by derailing one car in particular (I haven't yet tested all of the numerous cars and locomotives in my collection) right over the switch points. It seems to be right at the pivot on the straight-through part. I don't see any significant problem with the turnout, and to my eye, any alignment issue between the moving part and the fixed rail seems to be minuscule, at least to my eye. If it is alignment, then it's very selective as to which car the resident gremlin decides to derail (in this case, an Accurail 40' wood reefer). Investigation continues, and any suggestions/leads would be welcome. I decided on 6x8 as I live in an apartment and it's in a spare room. It can be disassembled into two 4x6 parts which are more easily maneuvered through a doorway if need be. The size allows me reasonable radius curves. The "benchwork" is a pair of 2x5 folding tables (which don't fold anymore, save for the legs) with three 2x4 MDF panels bolted onto them. There is a 1x4 foot panel that links the two halves solidly together. 2-1/2" thick foam insulation (cut into 2x4 foot sections) was glued on top of that. The two halves can be taken apart by removing six nuts under the layout. I've come to this point thanks to Trainboard, which has been Model RR University for me (plenty of study materials in magazines, too). I applied and adapted what I've learned here and it went fabulously. Many thanks to everyone who has shared their knowledge and experience here. Now back to building my railroad!
You rang? Current state of layout - at this point it's a mess, but that's its bad point: IMGP3017B by Mike VE2TRV posted Aug 2, 2017 at 3:46 AM Its good point? It's a mess! Ever notice that anything fun is usually messy? Right now almost all track is glued down and won't budge. I have two focus points at this moment: a slight kink in the rails on the main just around the bottom center of the image, where the two short pieces are laying (right at the red pushpin), and the junction point at the right, on the branch line that will serve industries and the local passenger depot. That's in addition to debugging the car derail problem on the #6 point at the far end of the photo (so far, no problems with any other cars, but it will take me some time to go through the whole motive power and rolling stock rosters). At the junction of the branch line, I expect one of the lines to be street running, just for fun (not a planned action, I had the idea yesterday ). What I'm guesstimating now is how to place the crossover and what I need to custom-cut to fit all that together neatly. Well, I still have until Sunday before I go back to work. I'll try to get as much trackwork done as possible before then so the big pressure is off. Once the track is all laid down, I'll decide and do the necessary cuts to isolate the circuits and start wiring the track. But before that I'll stop rambling...
