Layout's back up and working....sort of. Power's dead. Not sure what's causing it but the circuit is not connecting itself. Working on that at the moment. Next is a jump and a stretch. While the GP40 Custom Run and the Great Northern 2-Bay Hoppers (Custom Run and Aristocraft normal Run) are being held by my friend, My tax return next week will be giving me 60 bucks to play with. I made a couple of calls and tracked down the vendor. Next Sunday (not today) I'm bringing my AC Great Northern Boxcar Home. I will not lose out on a chance for this. My girlfriend suggested I should nab it. AKA She can't think of a birthday gift for me and she wants to play with it too Heh. Works fine for me. My friend and I are setting up a G-Scale 2 track mainline. So I'll be breaking in the boxcar. 6 foot radius so FA/FB/U25B + my USA Trains Boxcar, Garden Railways Boxcar, and my Bachmann PRR Piggyback will be joining my mainline freight as they run past his SP Daylight set. Powered by an Accucraft 1:32 GS-4 Steam Locomotive, Electric. I rigged some brass mesh to cover the damaged grill vents of my FB-1 and it's painted black and not going to be photographed until the real etched metal grills show up. Now here's where things get tricky. The above tax return is this years. We just paid 2008/9 this year. 2008 will show up in 12 weeks. With that brings home the last BN Long Steel Caboose and hopefully some LGB Track to get rid of the AC Track I'm using now. And 2 Sets of the New Kadee G-Scale Couplers for the FA/FB and the U25B. The normal Kadees on the FA/FB will be used on the coal hopper and the tank car respectively. Then the last phase for the indoor layout. Based off an article in the last issue of Garden Railways, I'm buying plastic Banquet Tables, several, and placing the layout on top of them. This gets it up off the ground and no longer a target for my furry companion. Boxcar photos to come next week, layout operation is TBD. Weather Permitting we paid for an outdoor set up so if it's too cold we can't run.
Saw the same article and would like to know how it turns out. How big? L x W? I'm thinking of doing that too (living in an apartment). Good luck, GovB
I also saw the article also, it was very nice looking and I originally thought they were set up at a show, but looking closer, this was done in someones house and looked good.
So I resubscribed too late to Garden Railways to get this month's issue. So I bought it on the retail stand. Flipping through it, I found several interesting articles, like using Tin Plate accessories and using Bachmann Plasticville O-Scale fencing for stations. Well I went to the local hobby shop and browsed the O-Scale section. Model Power 60" fencing will be adorning my station as it fits more with G-Scale then it's assigned O-Scale. Next I picked up a bottle of PollyScale Reefer White to start on the roof of my MOW Diner. The black underframe needs to be started on last. Looks like one more project is going to get done after all. With all the rain tomorrow, we will not be running outside after all. But I will still pick up my boxcar and attempt to photograph it with the blackberry and upload that from the blackberry to this thread. Otherwise Digital Camera time. Any further news to be posted post Great Midwest Train Show. EDIT: Layout is wonky on power, but it's running. LGB Units make laps without failing. My aristo units begin to fluctuate on electrical conductivity. We're still sorting out the power issues.
DragonFyreGT, I didn't know if you liked USA Trains or not, but there is quite a few nice Burlington Northern USA Trains going thru the E store. But then I realized you hate the E store, but figured I mention it anyway. I always enjoy that ALL Burlington Northern train at the club display at the East Coast Large Scale train show. The guy has only Burlington Northen trains from what the club president told me and nothing else.
I appreciate the suggestion, but to be honest, the only USA Trains I'm going to even focus on is a pair of F3A&B's for MOW Use, the 2 BN WV Cabooses, the BN & DTTX Intermodals and the (Hoping Charles Ro will spill the beans on the roadnames) DTTX/BN Auto Carriers (when their ready). I don't want to go too modern since my G-Scale layout models the BN era of 1970-1995 and Aristo has pretty much covered that, although USA has helped in other spots too. Also out the door and off to the show! To quote AC/DC "STAAAAAART THE SHOW!"
I remember you saying you were ditching the Aristo track and going all LGB. I don't know what radius you picked out, bbut remember the USA Trains intermodals require at least a 10ft diameter minimum curve to run right, there is way too much over hang on a 8ft curve. Also the Auto Carriers will require 10ft minimum diameter curve. I hope you take some pictures of the show for us to see here. Have Fun
10 Foot minimum for the outdoor layout. There's a company that is making a wide switch in the LGB Radii numbers. This actually makes it easier for me and it's made in Germany with European Brass Standards. Until that point, I'll be sticking with LGB. And as for the boxcar, Someone got to it first. All the great northern modelers showed up and I got short changed sigh. On the plus side, my girlfriend bought me an Atlas Articulated BTTX Auto Carrier in HO Scale. I'll post pictures and such in the HO and the album later tonight. On a much more positive G-Scale note, the Grab Irons & Speed recorder cables from Ozark Miniatures are on order. They'll ship today so I should have them in a few days since they use Priority Mail. I'm really loving their parts. So the FA-1 project will move forward slightly. On a semi-related note, I did some digging around so I can reference my FPA-4 Fuel tank to scratch build. I came across a photograph from 1997. New York & Lake Erie FP4-A's pulling some very modern grain and tank cars. Units built in the 50s that are still surviving and are in Pristine condition. That really does say something for the FA-Series from ALCO.
Ozark sent my parts and they'll be here today or friday. In the meantime I took advantage of my new PollyScale Reefer White. Now I'm not sponsered by them. But understand that I love this paint. Water Based and cleans off my brushes and it dries better then standard testor's paint. So I redid my step ladder edging and painted my handrails. Enjoy this preview shot of my girl: EDIT: My other girl is finished too! Same modifications. Enjoy!
It actually dresses the locomotive out quite well. I noticed that the only time USA Trains ever painted the hand rails white was on the Heritage series SD-70MAC. Since how USA Trains uses metal hand rails, will this piant you are using work on metal also since it's water based?
I didn't think that far ahead. I had a few mistakes that had to be erased in hot water. I got tired of trying to find a white permanent marker and went for the paint. I would assume that it would work on metal but would need to be sealed as well.
I promised updated shots so here they are. As for the Speed Recorder Cable, the unit needs to be lowered so it matches properly. I believe that Ozark had designed that part when Aristo started lowering the diesels more prototypical. My drilling was off on the third set of holes but that's okay. The lower holes were measured wrong back last year. But there's a seller on eBay who sells ditch light kits for the FA-1 so I'll be building a styrene box like VIA Rail did and mounting the ditch lights there. Also Ozark only ships one speed recorder cable per order so later on next month I'll order a second. So without further momentary delay:
Last update for march and it's a big one. This normally wouldn't pertain to model trains except my girlfriend and I are going to spend it on model trains. I met with my lawyer from New Orleans on Wed. He flew up to a visiting office to take care of some matters. After going over the paperwork against Ely Lily, he informed me I had a case to sue for more money but because of missing information from adoption, it might be a game of russian roulette and I'd lose everything. So. I decided it wasn't worth the risk. He has cut the lawyer fees and out of 150k I'll be getting 100k. here's where it gets interesting: It's tax free and my girlfriends father had set up a savings account on his military account. Even though he passed away that account is still valid and if I drop the money in with her, I can touch it, she can touch it, and the Government cannot. Money by April 5th. So here's the upgrade plans: Aristocraft Train Engineer Revolution recievers in the FA/FB Bridgewerks Power Supplies LGB Track Including a 4-way crossover switch and curves/straights Piko Baseplate kit RLD Hobbies Custom Run Great Northern 4 Bay Hoppers (4 road numbers) RLD Hobbies Custom Run Burlington Northern GP40 Ozark Miniatures Detail Parts: FA-1, FB-1, U25B, and GP40 Aristocraft Burlington Northern Long Steel Caboose (Second Road Number) Aquisition of East Coast Frisco Double Doors (All 4 road numbers) Kadee G-Scale Type E Couplers Ball Bearing Freight Trucks w/ Metal Wheels Sound units in FA-1 and FB-1 FA/FB will be lowered Life Like Crossing LGB Short Bridge Banquet Tables to raise layout up Piko or Pola Single Engine Shed Piko Diesel Fuel Station Piko Nuestadt Foot Bridge South Bend Signals Aristocraft Signal Bridge Aristocraft Switch Wiring Board FA Ditch Lights FA Headlight Upgrade Donation to Trainboard.com Because I can afford it and you all deserve it. And the most important thing: A Trip to Washington via the Empire Builder for my g/f so we can enjoy the scenic route that made the Empire Builder Legacy what it is. Hey she's put up with a lot of my broke off my butt crap, I can get her something nice~ I should have around 97/98k left over. This is Phase 4. Phase 4 has been a long time in the works. It's about time. Also add in a new bigger digital camera memory stick because There's going to be buttloads of photographs for this one. Maybe even a video log~ Til Next Month~
DragonFyreGT, good for you, you really went all out on the trains I see. Brdiegwerks is a really good choice. I would love to have that Piko fueling station myself. I hope everything comes thru for you.
