pretty much all nickle silver, I think I have one brass switch left (and whadda know, its the one that broke!)
More progress! I had another switch bite the dust about 2 weeks ago right before I left for a trip to California. I was running the RSD on a local when it came to an abrupt stop. The DC power pack displayed overload so I figured it was due to the fact I had been running for so long. I took off the RSD and put on a GP38, turned on the DCC power, and...... The system instantly showed a short in the layout. Well great. Took out the voltimeter and cleared off all the rolling stock. Yup, I had a short across the rails somewhere. I spent about 8 hours split over 3 days determining where the short was originating from. Turns out the East end yard switch (an atlas #4 switch) was routing power through all the rails. A quick trip to the local hobby shop fixed that. any whey's, here's some photos of the update. Adding some class to the shed. Pictures and painted walls. A view down the other wall. The east end of the layout has a new addition. A station track for storing express boxcars and the doodlebug. I figure I can fit the doodlebug and one fifty foot express reefer in here. Just about all a small town like this would have. This track will have an on/off switch for when I run DC. The white thing on the layout skirt is a velcro sticky to hold the DCC throttle.
No the Bachmann S4 won't be staying. I was using it to test the layout tonight because I needed to break it in for use at the club. It should become the Taylor Yard switcher at the club. The staging yard is in! Here it is with the first track lined up. And the last track. How would you like to live in that house? Must get a fair amount of rail action! Looking at the layout with the new skirt.
The west end of the yard now has a crossover. This new track will lead to the new upper deck (another branch line) as soon as I finish the benchwork for the upper deck. Somebody mentioned I needed an engine facility earlier in this thread. Well now that I'm installing the upper deck, I have need for one. So right about where that caboose is, is going to be a switch that leads to a stub ended track just long enough for the RSD and a caboose. Thats where the branch local power will tie up. Only going to be basic, not even a concrete pad, just a spot for a truck to park alongside. Closeup of my scratchbuilt loading dock. I also have some interesting news. My local hobby shop has just hired me. That will give me two jobs to contend with this summer, making for less time with the layout, but a LOT of money for it. Nice thing is I get a little store credit in addition to my pay, so modeling has just become a bit easier! I also started volunteering with a friend up at the Colorado Railroad Museum. Going to be attending goosefest this weekend as a volunteer. Hope to see some of you there!
Looks to be your coming along. You are doing all the right things and these first steps will help you evaluate your techiques and gather ideas for how you will want the layout to look when finished. Looking good.
Boxcab, I'll try to any whey, I'm a volunteer and I think I'm going to be stuck as a grade crossing guard!
The RSD project for the layout has moved a long a little more. Now bearing numbers and a santa fe logo. Waiting on some proper Decals to do the side billboard letters. I ordered a microscale packet for that, the Alcos had smaller letters than EMD's and GE's. That ugly mess under the cab on the frame is some bleed through from the masking tape. Need to crack out a paintbrush to correct it. Some of the added detail includes brass horns, and a roof antenna.
[video=youtube;v2w3iXjpYJ8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2w3iXjpYJ8[/video] Yay, a video from goosefest.
Not precisely a layout update, more of an equipment update. RSD 5 #2135 has come out of the shop. However it's been reassigned to club service instead of home layout service. an SW7 is subbing for it at home for the time being until the hobbytown RS-2 emerges from the paint shop. This RSD5 will be assigned to grain service along with another members Santa Fe RSD5. Heres a small fleet shot from the club. Pretty much all the Santa Fe stuff is mine. and... at the other end of the facility. I started stockpiling materials for the upper deck. will commence construction when this 100 degree weather leaves.
sorry for the lack of updates recently guys, been hitting triple digits here, and now I have a wildfire looming about 20 miles from my house that has already destroyed a fellow model railroaders house. Will be out in the shed working again when this heat and fire die down.
I'd like to make a correction to the above statement. The Waldo Canyon fire did not burn down my fellow modeler's house. It did burn down majority of the rest of his housing development and came within two houses of him. Glad to hear his house is still standing.
ok, ok, ok. I know what your thinking. Another boring post about the fires. Well, I actually have photos of the layout this time around. Santa Fe GP38 #3520 and Doodlebug M-14 meet just outside Eureka. With the lack of run time in the past month since graduation (last operation prior to tonight was May 30th!), the track got REALLY dirty. I mean dirty enough to be noticed from looking through the window outside! I decided to clean track the lazy way. Put a paper towel soaked with track cleaning fluid across the rails, and run trains over it for a while. After a few laps with the wet pad. put down a dry one. this picks up a LOT of dirt from the tracks, and gets my rolling stock wheels clean. Takes longer than a bright boy, but I felt lazy tonight. Also did some ballasting experiments. Whadda think?
Is that tile grout? if so I'd say maybe wash of black that is really diluted and a dusting of brown chalk might give it some detail.
no, actually its woodland scenics fine ballest. I talked to a club member who also saw this picture. He said to try adding dishwasher detergent to the water new time around. Will have to do that. Also need to make it looks faded weathered like you said.
Entirely Pointless for a layout this size, but hey, it looks cool and was on sale at walmart! We'll have to see how long that little "Operations since last accident" stays climbing! Made up some car cards for the layout from 100Ilb card stock. looks pretty good. Eventually I'll get around to trimming off the excess on the top of the card, that's just a space the program leaves me with..... First Waybill. Its also an inside joke for the local club. Magic Pan Bakery is an industry on our club layout, and Phil is the person who taught me most of my modeling skills. I started putting together an employee timetable to give to visitors, I might have a PDF for that sometime soon.
alright, I finished the benchwork for the upper level....... and that looks like its all the update you guys will be getting for a while. I now have all the trackage I need to finish the upper level up until Climax, but...... Now I work two jobs. Both fast food and at a local model railroad hobby shop. Limits the amount of time I can spend in the shed. Spending my time at work from 10 in the morning until midnight of the same day. However I did whip up a trackplan during one of my breaks. Plan is not to scale, although if you drink enough it might look like it. This was mostly made for the shed divisions website www.santafesheddivision.com but I figured I would show it off. I added a new switch for the Mopac Interchange. I found during my mock op sessions, that I was storing more Santa Fe stuff on layover in the staging yard than Mopac Stuff, So I gave it its own spur. The Mopac GP15 I bought has been relegated to doing loops on the HO display layout at the hobby shop I work for. Oh Well. The orange lines (small ones) in the plan represent the split between towns. In total there are 4 towns now, Eureka, Hamilton, Small, and Climax. Not bad for 8x12. Small is going to be an interesting place. I can easily reach it based on where the benchwork actually is in real life (once again, plan not to scale), but I'm going to need roll away protection to keep the boxcars from rolling away. Although I guess downhill in comparison to Small is into the dead end of the spur, I could just put a rail end there where the cars could sit against. Not shown in this plan is the fact that I purchased a turntable. Yes, a turntable. I decided I needed a small engine facility on the lower level, and the hobby shop had an Atlas 9 incher on sale for $5, couldn't pass it up. Going to be installing a new benchwork section somewhere near the oil dealer on the lower level for it. Been trying to keep the plan still a little open for scenery. I think I've done a good job so far...... But that will be seen when I start laying track on the upper deck...... Still no heat kinks either guys. I temped the shed at being 104 degrees inside the other day. Laid the track in February with 40 degree temps. Not bad, not bad at all.
Good to see the shed is still having progress. I read the posts but don't always comment. I figure I can only say good job ten times before it gets kinda redundant. he he
