# My Loop has Started.



## T-Man

The preview: I am leveling and attaching the supports for the first turn. A link to the table building. This is just my break. Enjoy!


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## Reckers

Great news, T-Man! I can't wait to see more!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Reckers

I think someone of T-Man's ability could build a mobius-loop layout.


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## Big Ed

I see room for a N line too!
And maybe a Z line squeezed in too!:thumbsup:


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## T-Man

One at a time.

Another break, the other curve is supported. I have little room to adjust so I will have to cut some track soon. I am using scrap lattes from sheet rocking I got from a neighbor. A little glue and 1/2 inch staples do the trick. The best part is working closer to the edge so it won't take 50 posts to complete. It may however take 5o to get the engine running. Here it is.




















I went 5 inches on height. I had a few close calls.










One rule I have, is that the outer loop has to be high sky for the yacht.


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## T-Man

*The trestle is done*

When I made the curve I used the track as a template and screwed them at the ends. Then I fit the structure in place with supports. I did this at both sides first because of the lack of space. Then I fitted the sides.


The far side fit with three track section. Unbelievable!


















The close side I was about 3/4 of an inch off so I will release the screws and play before I nail them down. Now I have four sections I can paint up and get ready for track after that.









I think the track will be fine The inside is over the edge after I completed the loop but I should just have enough slop for the track to fit. Talk about luck. Using the lattes the structure is steady and may not need to be tied down to the table.
Every post was fitting so everything would be flat with no rocking. After all, everthing isn't level. At least I don't have to look at pink!

My question, from reading the masters, Is my loop worth soldering up?










Then the paint shop.




















Paint and wood putty hide all the mistakes. I am surprised at the joint strength with just glue and staples.


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## tjcruiser

T-Man,

Congrats on going S !!! And, not that you'll hear it from me, but I'm sure some S-inclined "others" here on the forum will pat you on the back for "placing the S track elevated above all other scales" ... or something to that effect! :laugh:

Have fun, and keep us posted!

TJ


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## T-Man

I just wanted it out of the way.


How about sharks circling it's prey.


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## Reckers

TJ, I thought that was understood from the start. *L* T-Man, you threw that together fast! I wonder why mine is taking so much longer?


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## T-Man

Your layout will come out just great. You have some nifty features.
Today, I surprised myself with the stapling. The trestle will work. I am not sure about painting. I like my rock look. Seen any good stone/cement blocking wallpaper I can print out? My 300AC will run again!

Glad you took a break.


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## Reckers

Here's (download "A") some roof tile that can be used for brick walls:

http://www.thortrains.net/download25.html I'll see if I can find block or stone anywhere. That trestle looks good!


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## T-Man

Thanks for the suggestions.
I found two, stone and brick,but I need to process through paint.
The cost is good too. All scrap, and some cull lumber. I have never shown it but I have a small table saw. Just right for small work, The motor can barely get through a 2 by 4. Got that at the dump years ago.

I am going to use a freestock image. What I did was search Google images of brick and found this. I just copied it since I do not need the high resoltion. THen with paint I reduced it to 20 percent and cut and pasted to fill the page. I finished with two pages, This is how it looks. 










I settled with 15 per cent reduction. 20 was the same as my stone so I opted for a smaller brick. I did notice that once the image is modified in paint it has to be printed with paint.


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## tjcruiser

T-Man,

I assume you're talking about brick "wallpapering" the wood trestle supports? Great idea ... gonna look very nice for relatively easy effort. Looking forward to the updates!

TJ


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## Reckers

That's gonna look good!


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## T-Man

*Brick and Stone*

Here I have samples of 20 per cent and 15 per cent. Using 15 per cent I run the risk of washing out the image. Working with trestles is easy since the structure is small sided so the bricks will fill it in nicely. The repetition will be practically unnoticeable.











I used a yard sale Sherwin Williams,pottery urn,satin paint. I may keep it for he top. THe wallpaper will be only for the track siding and the trestle posts.


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## Boston&Maine

I definitely like the look of the bricks better... I also do not see any problem with using the 20% size... Since they are not all red, they could easily be interpreted as larger square building stones


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## T-Man

Here is a comparison of what I have to the old stone. I have used 12 sheets already. The print was 6 by 4.5 inches. With that I covered 6 posts. I have 6 square ones left.

I may print up some 20% to run the roadbed just to have some definition.


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## tjcruiser

T-Man,

I like the brick ... great look. What kind of paper are you printing on? Regular / cheap printer paper, or something more special? Just curious.

Cheers,

TJ


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## T-Man

My paper is ordinary. I need the paper pliable to wrap it around corners. I work fast because the glue will break down the paper. I cover the backside and the wood with glue before applying. Very occasionally, a piece will break but it goes back together well if you hide the white seam. On the stone, I used my wife's book binder glue at 6 bucks a bottle. Now I have a super secret replacement. Walmart school glue two for a buck. Ooops. Then I use a Mat Mod Podge to water proof and keep the colors in check. I apply both with a small sponge brush from the dollar store by the bag. Low budget all the way. In most cases the glue hasn't dried when I podge it up.

On the trestle I used a wood glue applied with gloved fingers, smoothed and primed with Kilns with the putty still wet. The paint is satin, pottery urn, an 800 ml sample. Then I felt guilty and sanded and touched up with spackling compound before the last coat. I did use a belt sander to round off the outside edges.

This technique was used on my backdrop building project. I may lay down some foam core and coat it with some paper finish. Maybe around a building to try it out. For the downside, the inkjet cartridge has suffered the most. The stone trestle link.

The cut and paste also made my Grand Hotel. I couldn't find the thread on but it is in my gallery.


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## tjcruiser

T-Man,

Thanks for the paper/glue info above. You've mentioned the Mod Podge stuff before. I've never tried it. It sounds perfect for sealing the outside of the paper. Great tip, and nice hotel, too!

I've always been impressed with the ability of a simple paper building to convincingly fool one's eye. When I visited the Hartmann Model RR museum in NH earlier this summer, they had a whole room filled with paper building, cars, etc. Incredibly detail ... or one would think ... via simple printed paper facades, scenes, etc.

Cheers,

TJ


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## T-Man

*Brick work*

No union trouble today. The 20 % stone work went around the outer perimeter.

Remember this?










Is now this!










And also this too!


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## tjcruiser

Bob the Builder says "We can do it ... YES WE CAN !!!"

Looks great, T-Man! I see you rounded off the outside miter corners of the raised platform, too. Nice.

TJ


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## Big Ed

Hey T, for the road bed, how about some of the spray paint that ends up looking like crushed stone?


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## T-Man

The top, I haven't thought about much. I may go with pop sticks for the board look. It would offset the brick. The spray sounds interesting. I could flatten the metal ties of the track. I would stain the wood. Nothing is too good for the T-Table. 
The track has enough clearance for foam core.
My oval is not in sync with the track, so sticks may look odd by not being parallel. I was going for an older construction look.
Mobius, I had to look that term up. Len, that was my 50 cent word for the day.
Also if any of you do woodworking, this applique fits with homemade Thomas the Train sets. Make bridges, houses, or whatever, to please the upcoming generation.


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## Reckers

This is going to end up being the Jewel of S Scale, T-man!


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## T-Man

Not if Sir Toppan Hat has anything to say!




















The fit up.


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## tooter

Hey T-man, 

Your town looks like a really *dangerous* place to live. 










Little Johnny: "I'm gonna go play in the front yard."

Little Johnny's Mom: "Don't play on the tracks." 

Greg


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## Reckers

Place is fulla thugs!


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## T-Man

What's a few dinosaurs. monsters, gators, plenty of giraffes, pirates, cavemen, bears, sesame street gang, lego warriors, and ninja turtles? It's a happening place. Bob just builds around them.

The engine should be shipped in soon. The Thomas uprising was squelched.


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## tjcruiser

T-Man said:


> "The Thomas uprising was squelched."


:laugh::laugh::laugh:

Looks like we have a winner for the Forum Quote of the Month! :thumbsup:

TJ


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## T-Man

*New Arrival*

Old Timer: Look at that!, I haven't seen that engine in bout 25 years.
Other Old TImer: Suuuure needs some cleaning if she's gonna run again.











Track is on and powered. Top of the picture.


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## tjcruiser

*The Emperor on his Throne*











(Cartoon image stolen from www.CartoonStock.com ... it had to be done.)

TJ


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## Reckers

*ROTLF!!!* I was just sitting here thinking, "Wow! She's a beauty! It looks like the Queen parading through town on Coronation Day, waving to all her subjects!"


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## T-Man

The Jewel Trestle is done for now. Using the lattes did create some uneven sections. The four sections, Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald are free standing. I you noticed the ties are metal, I used a long nose needle pliers to spread out the ties on the high side. This way I took most of the bounce out of the track. The corners were the worst where the sections meet. If I had centered everything perfectly, I could have the rails directly on the trestle, but the angles just didn't line up.

The Princess engine is still sleeping (waiting for the Prince). The bench test failed, no surprise there. Cleaning should do the trick.

The Parade complete with drummer.


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## T-Man

*More Pictures*

I added some more pictures on some of the older posts in this thread. Enjoy.


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## Reckers

Nice job! The Queen of S scale will enjoy her Crown Jewels!


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## T-Man

The 300AC is stubborn, an S trait. All I have is a jabber from the e unit. Still cleaning.

At the end of the evening got the motor to turn backwards. The e unit is dirty but I also have a lot of heat from a brush tower on the motor? Any thoughts? I am not sure if it was the one the spring came out or not. 

Today I got forward. I recleaned both tubes that still get hot. The e unit is getting better. I am giving the ATF a chance to clean it. 

The armature









The brush tubes









The e unit









The tender with more cleaning here too.


















Then I have to get it back together. Maybe Humpty Dumpty wpuld be a more appropriate name.


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## T-Man

*News Flash*

10:52 am, Eastern Standard Time, the Princess gracfully completed her first royal circuit.
A Lionel KW had to be used to provide the gusto. The Little AF didn't have the juice.

So the Princess is in training.


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## Reckers

Those lightweight trannys are a pain. GLad to hear the Princess is happy, now!


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## T-Man

*The royal engagement photograph*

The set as bought many years ago. The coach is missing two axles. These are all latch style. The shell had Mar 1950 stamoed in the inside. Runnig is ok but is taking too much power. I will run it a little while and clean it again. I will have to do the same for the track. Maybe polish up the pins.












In case you missed the prince in the first photo.(Hitching a ride)









Every car has the "AMERICAN FLYER" logo.


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## tjcruiser

T-Man said:


> The shell had Mar 1950 stamped in the inside.



T-Man,

Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1953 ... your Queen has her beat! Nice to see her ruling the roost! (Well ... sort of ...)

Cheers,

TJ


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## Reckers

Very nice, T! I think I have all those cars except the hopper!


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## Big Ed

looks good t:thumbsup:


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## T-Man

Reckers said:


> Very nice, T! I think I have all those cars except the hopper!



I will look at the trash bin the next train show. 
I do need two conducting axles with wheels to get the red coach up and start passenger service.

I have to fit in the little Gilbert Erector house. I have it on my list.
The faux brick did work out nicely!


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## T-Man

*Tune up*

The 300AC is still running on the KW. I cleaned the track which helps. THe tender connections needed cleaning on the axles, ialso cleaned the copper wiper and bent in more tension. Now I have an overall improvement. For now, I keep running it.
I started on the 307.
Problems are no motor springs, ( used a Lionel pair)
broken wheel on the front truck,
broken screw on the drawbar.

All I did was cut the screw 4-40, with the Dremel wheel and removed it with a screwdriver.


















2nd layer, and finish.


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## tjcruiser

T-Man,

 WOW! You're rebuilding a WHEEL?!? Now I've seen everything. You ... are ... the ... MAN!

*"To bodly go where no man has gone before."*

Very neat ... very neat!

TJ


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## T-Man

I didn't have a spare, they're plastic and you have to keep busy.


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## Big Ed

The epoxy man strikes again!:thumbsup:


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## T-Man

You just gotta Love the Stuff!












The epoxy car











On the serious side the 307 is moving right along. It ran in reverse today. I need to work on the drawbar and look at the drum connections for forward to work. I am getting close. This motor appears to run better than the 300AC. I'll know more later.


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## tjcruiser

Complete sidestory ...

There was a story on the news the other night. Some retired woman went to put her daily eyedrops in her eyes ... and accidently grabbed the bottle of Super Glue, instead. Dohhh!!! Both eyes, too, I think. Doctors at the emergency room got her all fixed up, and she's gonna be OK ... but, Jeez ... keep the super glue AWAY from the Visene, people ... AWAY FROM THE VISENE!!!

TJ


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## T-Man

I have noticed that the latest super glue container is a tad smaller than the visine but very similiar. I like the container better than the tubes. It has worked out nicely.


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## Stillakid

If you get a chance, try, *Loctite, Super Glue, Control-Extra Time. *Works well, and the containor is shaped to fit the hand better. It gives you a second or two more before it sets.


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## T-Man

To make it official , I introduce the Parts Box.


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## tjcruiser

T-Man said:


> To make it official , I introduce the Parts Box.


:laugh::laugh::laugh:

Say it's NOT SO !!!!

OY VEY ... What's happening to this world?!? Everything is changing so quickly. One minute we're watching Lawrence Welk ... the next, everyone's talking about Justin Beaver. One minute we're joking about "those crazy S guys" ... the next, T-Man's enshrined his S-Queen, and given her a dedicated box of pampered parts and goodies.

I'll tell you ... the world is changing much too fast for me. 

TJ


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## Stillakid

*Ahemmmmmmmmm...........*

Ya'll did notice that it's a "fine" wooden box, with the word, "Legend" on it


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## imatt88

T-man,

Got any spare wheels for rolling stock laying around?


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## T-Man

The AF are mostly plastic. Make a mold and use bondo or epoxy. I have no extra wheels. Sorry I intend to keep the parts box small. You can do it with plastic pipe with a 1/2 outer diameter. If it exists. To experiment there are dowels and plastic tubing of different sizes too. Nails will work as axles if you keep them insulated from the track.


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## tjcruiser

Ian,

Per your AF plastic wheel sidebar, I see that the Train Tender has " AF PA9990 plastic wheel reproduction $0.35 " ... not sure if this is the right one, but you might check them out.

TJ


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