# Planning the diorama,knowledge needed!



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm thinking of starting with a setup for steam locos. I have a 3'x2' table to work with,I have a sanding tower(which you guys have to tell me what its for?) a water tower & a coal tower, would like to put in an access road to the area,the order in which they should be lined up & what else I need to give it a realistic look! 
Any pics of your yards would be a great help! Thanks,Rich.


----------



## broox

Check out the crane thread (in general or union station) theres a few pics/links of/to shays diorama, looks sweet as. Not sure if theres many steamy buildings on it though. I must check it out again myself.


----------



## broox

I'm not sure what a sanding tower is for either. but my thinking is it might be sprinkled on the rails to aid in traction for certain situations? starting / stopping / hills?
The reason I say this is that on an episode of chugginton, one of the engines got greedy and took the whole load when it should have been shared between two engines. So one of the engines had the full load and the other only got the dust that was left over. Anyways, they are going down a steep hill (more than the proto 2% I might add ) and the greedy engine couldnt slow down or control his speed! Well lucky the other guy had a bunch of coal dust in his hopper he nipped in front of the overloaded train (convenient passing siding, huh) and dumped dust all over the tracks. The greedy engine could stop, and they were all friends again. lol

I'm pretty sure the greedy engine was Brewster (the red one?) he seems like a cheeky ****.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

He does do impressive work!
I'll get some pics of the buildings I have here, next week i'll pick up the coaling tower, I saw that at moms house. Now that i have a little more space I can bring over some of the bulky stuff!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sanding tower


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Water tower


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sand storage & shed.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

2 sheds with lights


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sheds with no lights


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I think this might go with the deisel tank, but i like it & if it can sneak into the steam one i'll use it!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& a lighted tower!


----------



## Prospect193

cool stuff!!!!


----------



## broox

Maybe sanding towers are also for extinguishing the firebox once the steamer is ready for bed or maintenance.
Someone will chime in with their actual use, which will dictate the proper place on the layout.

Bttw, love the water tower in the forst pic.


----------



## C&O Railfan

Sand was used on the rails during slippery conditions or on grades for traction, I'm almost positive


----------



## buck71usa

Sanding towers are used for traction i believe. I think they load a lil on the loco and dump a lil on the tracks for traction in wet conditions


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

over the next few nights I'll start just laying some loose track & move some buildings around, try to get something that looks decent before I drill any holes for wires, pics will be posted to see what I have out of place if you will! Now i can't wait till next week to bring more stuff home! Rich.


----------



## tjcruiser

Yes ... most steam locos carried a load of sand. The "sandpipes" were often exposed on the outside of the boiler, and ran from a dome on top of the boiler down to a nozzle just above or aside the drive wheels. The sand would be slowly ejected on the wheels, causing increased friction / traction on the rails.

TJ


----------



## shaygetz

Sand is used as a traction aid to start trains and on hills, it goes into a dome on top of the boiler or into boxes on diesel locomotives.

For your diorama, you'll want the sand house, water tank, fuel tower, be it coal or oil, a small boiler house with standby track to keep steam engines warmed up should they have to hit the rails soon after and an ash pit with side track for a gondola to carry off ash.

Now you know why steam died, diesels can be tended from a spur track by a fuel truck with the crews humping bagged sand up to the sanders. Any water needed can come from a garden hose.


----------



## C&O Railfan

On your steam engines, you'll probably see domes somewhere on top of the boiler. Those are sand domes which were used to hold sand to blow onto the rails when needed. I'm not 100% sure where a sanding tower should be placed, but, if I had to guess, I'd say near a coaling tower and/or water tower in a yard or somewhere on the mainline for re-filling


----------



## shaygetz

RUSTY Cuda said:


> & a lighted tower!


...with that water spout, you won't need a water tank as that allowed the water source to be located well away from the track..:thumbsup::thumbsup:.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yea but that water tank, it's just too cool to leave out, the spout can wait for another yard! 
that sand storage also has its own "spout" but the tall metal one is so much more intracate, I may hide the little spout & put the sand storage behind the big sander, mock ups to come soon! Rich.


----------



## tooter

Here's some diesels pouring on sand for traction. Closeup at 2:50...





 
And an old steamer really sanding and slipping at 1:20...


----------



## broox

That second video is a shark, right? see I am paying attention here


----------



## norgale

Love the sound of the old projector clicking away. I have my grandfathers old Kodak projector and screen and it makes the same noise when it's running. Neat old machines and yes that is called a 'Shark' because of the shape of the nose. That was Mr.Raymond Loewey attempt at streamlining the engine. Pete


----------



## tjcruiser

Fabulous steamer vid, Greg! Gotta love Loewy's eye for styling!!!

That said, these thoughts from the jitterbuzz website:

"The Pennsylvania Railroad's 52 T1 class duplex-drive 4-4-4-4 steam locomotives, introduced in 1942 (2 prototypes) and 1946 (50 production) were their last-built steam locomotives, and their most controversial. They were ambitious, technologically sophisticated, powerful, fast, and uniquely streamlined by Raymond Loewy. 

However, they were also prone to violent wheelslip both when starting and at speed, complicated to maintain, and expensive to run. In 1948, the PRR reluctantly made a commitment to place diesel locomotives on all express passenger trains, leaving unanswered whether the T1's flaws were solvable."​
Link ... http://www.jitterbuzz.com/stream.html

TJ


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok put these pics in the wrong post! Instant replay!
Wow 2x3 is not a lot of space, even for HO.
I was going to curve in from the open end against far wall ,even with 
18" radius I was halfway across the 3' span.
Just laying stuff around to see what it looks like!
I need wile cayote to paint some tunnel openings on the wall! Rich.


----------



## broox

You need a "General Lee" car to go on that nice 'flat' road surface


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I've had weights on them for a couple a days now to no avail, there stick ons but I'm not even sure if I can use those, but I need to figure out an access road & a parking lot.
I may remove the front track, move everything foward & see what that looks like!


----------



## jaymack1

Put the road in the sun! That always seems to work for me.


----------



## norgale

You can also try to iron the roadway. Not too much heat but some may press it flat for you. However that's the least of your problems. 
You are about to contract the dreaded "bigger layout' disease and there is no cure for it. You ain't even started yet and your already out of room. Better start thinking about what your gonna bribe the better half with so you can hook another table up to the one you grugingly have permission for now. It's in the blood Rich and nothing can be done about it. 
Oh boy! This is gonna be fun to watch. Ha! Pete
Also the 18" radius is times two for a half circle. You'll need 36" minimum for the curve and an extra inch for the ties. That's where the next table will go.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well I didn't exactly get permission  so i'm on shaky ground to begin with already thinking move the work table & add another 3'er where that is, so at least i can get some length on the track & some longer sidings!
Bringing home more boxes of stuff this weekend, gotta grab the other 2 tech 2's too, I figure I will use the power command & if needed one of the tech 2's, I have a bunch of cheapies in there too ,but don't want to chince on my own setup!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Didn't get to the extra table, but got some more decorating stuff,the table is actually45" long so two of em will give me almost 8' to play on.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The coaling tower!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A one bay engine house, perfect for my skinny setup!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Couple a rolls of grass,two variations!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& some senic "views" for the walls, may cut the bottom buildings off the mountain & paint phony tunnel openings like road runners buddy! meep meep!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

something for the other wall?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So while i had no power I got to play with the diorama a bit more, laid down some meadow grass & a new track configuration.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Had to pull off the outside rail, just not enough room, put some stuff back on , gonna move this table out of the corner & add another behind it later, for a better run into the "yard" but it's shaping up a little!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sunset in la la land!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pulled out some engines a coal car & an empty gondola for the ash!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Need to work on the backround scenery, 1'st attempt!


----------



## jaymack1

Love the work your doing on it! Looks Great! Road did happen to lay out flat!

Jay


----------



## norgale

That looks great Rusty. The background poster is super. Love the countryside. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK really got to work on my photo skills, can't even get a straight pic, placed some more decorations, moved the backround over & put in a few trees & cars.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now all this will come up in a week or two when i get another table over to my house but it's keeping me well occupied till I can go back to work, maybe monday i hope!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I can play with the little stuff, get the population working & some little odds & ends! then I'll shoot 100 pics in the hopes of getting 2 good ones! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Good weekend to have the extra table to put up, more time to play! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK I need some creative thinkers to give me ideas on how to lay out the track . I curved in with 22* on the outside, & cheated on the inside w/18* goes off the table at quite an angle but keeps my second track more towards the front. 
Just thru some stuff on to get it off the bed.
My other idea is to skip the cork roadbed & tack the tracks right to the green press board & decorate around it, pros & cons of that if you will! 
Thanks,Rich.



















definatly have to rethink the work bench back to no room to work.


----------



## PRR975

does the new table connect to another table (i.e. is it modular)? otherwise, i would suggest making a loop of track around the switches, maybe it would make it a little more interesting? since, the sidings as they are are fairly long, but this is just personal suggestion. btw, great work on the diorama, that background really came out nicely!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

For now it's just a longer diorama, someday I hope to continue a short 2' table where the work bench is & have that meet the 8x4 sitting kinda in the middle of the room,at that point I would probably use these tables as a yard of some sort but that may be a long time comming! 
I'm not visualizing what you mean by a loop around the switches, I'm new at this game. Thanks,Rich.

I'm working with 2'x almost 8'. 90" to be exact . would like the back to be the steam area & maybe a deisel area up front or a passenger station, all ideas are welcome.


----------



## PRR975

oh, i see that sounds awesome! What I was saying was if that was all you were going to connect to, then you might have wanted say a curved turnout on the track going off the table with the inside turn being connected to the siding and then creating a loop that would circle the edge of the table just for running longer trains, but your plan sounds great too!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Putzed around a little more, made the first table a little more like it was, with a 4th track added, might not leave enough room for decorating, so before I drill for lighting I'll keep moving things around to see if I like it better, may be trying to cram too much stuff into such a small space! Came up a little short on my backrounds!
I definatly need a WIDE angle lens for this setup!


----------



## santafe158

I know your question about the sanding tower was already mostly answered, but yes, the sand was/is used for traction. On steam locomotives it's held in the sand dome on top of the boiler, and diesels and electric locomotives have "sand boxes" located in various places within their hoods. They are filled from a sanding tower such as your model.

As to the comment about the possibility of the sand being used to extinguish a locomotive fire in the firebox, I don't really think it was done that way. The fire grates were shaken off and the ash pan dumped and cleaned out. Whatever flame was left just died out on it's own. Putting water or sand on a fire would cool the boiler down too quickly, and the stress on the metal could cause cracking which would not be good.


----------



## Kwikster

RUSTY Cuda said:


> I'm thinking of starting with a setup for steam locos. I have a 3'x2' table to work with,I have a sanding tower(which you guys have to tell me what its for?) a water tower & a coal tower, would like to put in an access road to the area,the order in which they should be lined up & what else I need to give it a realistic look!
> Any pics of your yards would be a great help! Thanks,Rich.


I like what you're doing very cool.

Now to the sanding tower. They were (and still are) used to store sand which was then loaded into the sandboxes or domes depending whether steam or diesel. Much the same concept as the coaling and water towers. Sand is used both during starting and on grades when extra traction is needed to get those behemoths rolling. Even modern diesels still need sand to improve traction. I didn't see a conclusive answer, so thought I'd toss that info in.

I don't think sand was ever used to snuff the fire box due to the fact it may contaminate mechanical stoke mechanisms on those equipped. Imagine having to clean a firebox filled with sand, yikes. Most steamers had dampeners similar to a wood stove and would simply choke off the fire if need be. Once they became available, chemical extinguishers were used to put out fires. 

Carl


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok took the UP mountain out for a test spin, she runs good, while I was out decided to top off all the tanks so to speak! Rich.










think I'll grab a burger while she's being serviced!










ready to roll out! :thumbsup:


----------



## PRR975

Really love the diorama! Great engine!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

She's going up for sale soon, getting the next batch ready to post, not a lotta luck with the last few sales, just trying to avoid the ebay headaches, here even at a discount to ebay prices I'm happy cause I know there's an honest guy at the other end & sometimes I get vidios of Dads stuff in action, great to see them running again! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok got a little more play time, instead of putting the gears in the other norfork I decided to play with the diorama, trying to set up the residential section, got another house with lights out & some of the picket fence stuff, kinda tight spot, gotta figure out the driveways & access road, but it's a start.
houses set & some fencing ideas.








Planted a few trees, got some yard goodies in a kit to build, swing set & such, next free time I get, then I can mess with the lawn.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Redid some ot the track again, pulled off the outer curve to make more room by the houses & switched after that to the rear rail, now they are all on one circuit.










built some of the playground equipment , don't know what some of the red things are, weird kit, had plumbing stuff in the same kit, now thats a combo!










I think I'm gonna bring home some paints next trip, for the little stuff & to paint on some roads & driveways, those prefab things really don't agree with anything I'm trying to do, just stuck em on to see how much space I had. 










The homestead is gettin a little homier! Rich.


----------



## New Berlin RR

broox said:


> I'm not sure what a sanding tower is for either. but my thinking is it might be sprinkled on the rails to aid in traction for certain situations? starting / stopping / hills?
> The reason I say this is that on an episode of chugginton, one of the engines got greedy and took the whole load when it should have been shared between two engines. So one of the engines had the full load and the other only got the dust that was left over. Anyways, they are going down a steep hill (more than the proto 2% I might add ) and the greedy engine couldnt slow down or control his speed! Well lucky the other guy had a bunch of coal dust in his hopper he nipped in front of the overloaded train (convenient passing siding, huh) and dumped dust all over the tracks. The greedy engine could stop, and they were all friends again. lol
> 
> I'm pretty sure the greedy engine was Brewster (the red one?) he seems like a cheeky ****.




sanding towers are used to reload the locos with fresh sand which is used for extra traction, water towers are what they are...water replenishment places for steam engines, coal....refilling coal for coal power steamers....


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some time to play, put down the grass, the house lawns are ok, i wanted them greener, but my 2 rolls of meadow grass were 2 different shades  so the drought starts about 1/3rd off the wall!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

laid down some tape where I think I want my roads & parking lots, my just try & paint them on for now, considering this will all come down , if & when I get another table over to add onto the system, trying to figure a way to have an actual loop on my skinny tables, maybe lay the 6 x2 next to it the long way 










couple a houses for those RR guys who ike to live close to work!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Did a little census on the population, we got the workers & the sitters.
Have to paint up the swingset for the back yard, can't find any kids to play out there though, maybe a young couple just starting out! 










then we have the travalers & walkers.......










Finally the RR folks...... Have some more workers & some ice scaters still in the boxes, no rink on this diorama!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Trying to figure out the roads, to do it in a way I can remove when I get the next table & save whats under, tape stuck to the grass pretty well, so I filled in the parking lot at ho jo's & painted the tape black, see what it looks like when I put down the striping for the parking spots & get some cars in there ? Rich.


----------



## tjcruiser

Looks like you're the Emperor of the populus! Great group of peasants ... uhh .. people!

TJ


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

King of my castle, I think there's a revolt, the workers only work when I move them  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

1st I have a question, going to start wiring up the lights, on my tech 2 there is a D/C constant & an A/C set of terminals, (besides the track terminals)which to I hook up the lights to 
Got the roads in, all I have to do is get the lines on & work on the crossings, the tape idea seems to be working out ok, just peel up all the roads when I add my next table!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Houses are ready for some people! Painting those little accessories is interesting.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& Ho JO's is open for business!


----------



## Gansett

Ho-Jo's, are they still around?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Honestly don't know? But since all my stuff is at least 20 years old it should fit right in!
Any ideas on the lighting terminals? Rich.


----------



## Gansett

You're asking me about 'lectrical stuff?

I guess if you follow this plan you'll be ok.


----------



## Big Ed

JackC said:


> Ho-Jo's, are they still around?



I think only 2 are left.

A copy and paste from HOJO land.
These closings leave only two (2) HJ Restaurants.


http://hojoland.homestead.com/history.html


----------



## Big Ed

JackC said:


> You're asking me about 'lectrical stuff?
> 
> I guess if you follow this plan you'll be ok.


At last an electrical plan I can read.:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Scarry part is I can follow it!
Ok, so all this trivia is great but....................... the question still remains, which terminals, A/C or D/C 
I've got all the holes drilled & wires dangling under the table, gotta splice a few at Ho Jos & drill that, should be at the transformer around 6pm, so no pressure here, but I want to light her up tonight(without blowing anything important up) hwell: Rich.


----------



## broox

AC for accessories, DC for track, isnt it?


*never wired anything up on my own layout. proceed with caution


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, I'm gonna try A/C , it also has DC uninterrupted, I guess for a DCC loop??? 
If I'm not back with pics in a half hour call the fire dept. Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

There be lights! Pics are pretty bad but you will at least see lights. 
Quite a lack of lights in the left rear, though I saw some street lights in a box, if i can find em i'll put a row down the back. Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Dug out the lights, should be plenty here to light that back street & the parking lots! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some more lighting on today, parking lots & back road lit, also put up some fencing around the left edge of the table.
Was going to use a chain link kit he had in the back area, Wow is that a tough builld, when the rods didn't fit & it says drill out as needed,I decided to wait till my skills improve, drilling out holes I can't even see is a tad beyond me right now!hwell:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ho Jo's lot is lit up nice too!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

They really need to put longer wires on these things, the most I could do at on splice was three, gotta be 30 splices under there, now this is all tempoary so no solder, just lotsa tape!   

 Lights went out on house #2 already, have to pull that out & see whats up  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put down some walk ways to keep the guys outta the mud.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Waiting for the train.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

dinner time.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Night shift comming on at the depot.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Big ed, took the twin out for some coaling!
Sad to say the other twin (clemitine) went as a gift to the guy who helped me sort out the stuff when I took it out of storage. hwell: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now we know what country I'm modeling, just gotta settle on some roads now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Found some pastel sticks He had at the house, tried it on the roadway, looks like it will work & if I screw up(like I did) I can just wipe off with a wet paper towel. but here's the idea.


----------



## Mustang Gregg

Yep, that's the purpose of sand.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My wife comented that the pile is getting smaller, there's actually floor showing by the door & there not double deep up to the window.
Moved the steamers & the freight cars up to"the train room" 
a couple of the smaller boxes are packed up to ship out, soon she'll have her room back!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now My room(train room) on the other hand is getting a little cramped, a little more room in the top of the closet, & a little under the benches, that will go quick when I bring up the rest!


----------



## ssgt

Locomotives use sand for traction.there are usually 2 domes on top of a steam locomotive.one is a steam dome,the other is the sand dome.the sand dome is for storing sand to use for traction.there are pipes running from the sand dome to a point in front of the drivers,where it is dispensed onto the rails when extra traction is needed.the sanding tower is for storing a filling the sand dome of a locomotive and sand tanks on diesels.


http://www.google.com/imgres?q=anat...w=260&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0,i:99


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Train rooms in shambles again


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK pulled all requested freight cars out & cleaned up the room(well a little) & lined the roads & 2 of the parking lots, I think the crew forgot to put on the beer goggles, but every time I switched directions I moved the road over, good thing it comes up easy!:laugh: Rich.


----------



## New Berlin RR

looking great on the layout!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got Bored & took out all the tankers for a spin, which in turn got me some more little repairs to do, amazing the little things you don't notice in the box, a loose piece here a coupler spring missing there, anyway enjoyed a few hours of tinkering. Rich.


----------



## norgale

That looks neat Rich. I think you should add another table to it and make them so they can hook up to each other but come apart for moving. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm pulling down the rest of the tables next trip over , got 8x4 8x2 6x2 & 4x2 , need my truck to get em home though, the 8x4 will be the last, but if I can get all the skinny ones I can go around the room & have something to actually run a train on.
If all goes well maybe by next christmas! (shrugs shoulders) Rich.


----------



## New Berlin RR

RUSTY Cuda said:


> I'm pulling down the rest of the tables next trip over , got 8x4 8x2 6x2 & 4x2 , need my truck to get em home though, the 8x4 will be the last, but if I can get all the skinny ones I can go around the room & have something to actually run a train on.
> If all goes well maybe by next christmas! (shrugs shoulders) Rich.




lucky Rusty, that 6x2 would fit perfict in my space for a train table...wish I could have the amount of room you do!!

Looking great tho!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

In between disasters with the flyer I did somee more minor repairs, found & put on the last ladder on my tanker kit, so thats done. took another ladder & cut it up to make steps for my other tanker, all 4 steps & the brake wheel were missing. steps are pretty fragile, but there on, hopefully they will stay on.


----------



## norgale

RUSTY Cuda said:


> I'm pulling down the rest of the tables next trip over , got 8x4 8x2 6x2 & 4x2 , need my truck to get em home though, the 8x4 will be the last, but if I can get all the skinny ones I can go around the room & have something to actually run a train on.
> If all goes well maybe by next christmas! (shrugs shoulders) Rich.


Oh Rusty Cuda. You got it bad now. I warned you that the first table was just the beginning and now you have gotten the ModelusTrainus Syndrom and there is no known cure for it. First it's "I'll only use one little corner of the bedroom" and then it's "I'll only go around the walls" and next will be "Honey we have to leave the cars out at night now". HaHa! Your hooked old man and more power to ya. If you ever regret selling anything that I bought from you, I'll sell it back to you in a heart beat. Meantime if you have a basement or a nice big garage you may as well move to one or the other right now and save yourself a lot of work down the road. :laughete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Basements a cellar,useless for trains, garage is my business sheet metal shop, half taken over by 'Cuda parts, My 'Cuda is not even in there she sits behind under a tent(with no canvas in the winter) 'Cuda will get that when I retire.
I called it the train room from the begining, once mom said shes not comming to live here, soon the bed will have to go, trouble is I have no place to store it.
I'd just chuck it,but then my son would want to move back in or something.
Started looking at freight cars again, looking for more projects, found a couple of couplers sans springs or popped off, fixed those, need MORE TABLES I'm bored & too cold to mess with the car! :laugh: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

NEED MORE TABLES................ running out of things to tinker with, started pulling out the buildings to see what needs fixing.
put the roof back on the lumber shed & put the stairs back on my wooden building, gotta go dig some more.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pulled out all the buildings, lookin for little repairs to tinker with. So here's what I have to work with, plus the 2 above i posted earlier. 















































Plus the ones already on the diorama



















Parts that need to find there home


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Took the NY central out for a spin she runs good & smooth in foward, but has a gear noise in reverse, oiled wheels & running gear still there. Did not venture into the gear box, little springs going to the trucks on the screws & I didn't want them flying off into oblivian!
I will get braver as I learn more.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Packed away all the good buildings, couple more out for small repairs & one for paint.
So then I dug out all the bridges & trestle sets, looks to me like all the bridges work with the concrete lookin trestles except the big gray ones(forgot to try the skinny ones with the bridges)
here is city viaduct is not built, a major bag of truss supports & the skinny trestles.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

extended set of the concrere trestles & a few of the bridges.










instructions from the box on the left, other bridges fit into the trestle & the unbuilt one on the bottom, not sure if that goes with the rest.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

More black bridges










&The gray ones


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Some upcomming projects, first the little red house, needs at least the trim painted cause it looks to much like well PLASTIC.










then the unbuilt corner store kit, but should i really build another with all thats lying around? 










These little guys I can probably do now, don't take up a lot of space. Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm paintin the house,don't tell the wife, I HATE painting! (well my house anyway) 
Wanted to stay with the red/green thing, so I put a coat a paint on to see if it takes away the plastic look, roof seemed to but I'm not sure on the walls. I guess I'll paint up the rest of the trim & see what it looks like done, can change the red walls later if I hate it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Little more trim done, painting the flat panels is gonna be interesting.


----------



## cv_acr

Needs a hit of Dullcoat. The problem is that it is too glossy...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmm have to look through the stash, saw some different clear coats in there. thanks,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Did not run across any dull coat, but I finished off the trim, If I stick it in a dark corner on the diorama it's looks pretty good, just don't get too close 
can always shoot the dull coat later.  Rich.
Still have to decide on a color for the stone stairs, might go black on the railing. 
this is worse than me & the wifey at a paint store trying to decide on a color for a room!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Putting a roof section back on the lumber shed I just happened to glance over at the can full of scale wood, next project? stock up the building?


----------



## ssgt

mask off any clear parts before you dullcote,it will make the windows translucent.you could do a wash,will make the building a little more realistic,but it does look good.


----------



## coupman35

Nice lumber yard building LOL


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

ssgt, what's a "wash" ? 

Coupman, it's your buildings twin brother!


----------



## coupman35

There you go they look good to


----------



## ssgt

I use acrylic paint thinned about 3 parts distilled water or isopropyl alchohol to paint.I would use a light grey .load up your brush,brush the wash over the building.It will flow into the low spots.after the wash dries,you can dry brush with whatever color you want to bring out the high spots.I use a fairly wide flat brush to dry brush.dry brushing is nothing more than dipping your brush in paint,then wiping almost all the paint off the brush with a rag.then you lightly brush over your project.It will bring out any raised detail.I usually paint brick buildings the color of the mortar,then dry brush boxcar red or a similar color over the bricks to make it look like a real building.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drybrush


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK thats gonna require some reading time, at least now I know what your talking about. 
I need to hone my skills a bit! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started cutting up wood to stock the building, pretty good assortment of sizes.










Pulled a few box cars to check my assortment, branded ones & a few different size units, still a pretty good assortment. got plenty of brown ones, some red & some blue with the road names, seems like no one needs em so I may end up with tons of extras.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tried to consolidate the freight cars, my keeper box already overflowed. small box on top has 3 hoppers & most of the branded freight cars, main box has the pensy work train, tankers, whats left of the hoppers, all the regular pensy freight, a few gondolas & a couplel of odd cars I thought were cool.










one more box to thin out










That little box on top replaced this, if i sell maybe ten or so more I can get them all in 2 boxes, save a little more much needed space.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I need more projects, got the lumber shed stocked up, have no work lined up, so I'm off for who knows how long & these idiots keep saying the recession's over, phuey, it isn't in my world, the real world that is! Rich.


----------



## Grbauc

RUSTY Cuda said:


> I need more projects, got the lumber shed stocked up, have no work lined up, so I'm off for who knows how long & these idiots keep saying the recession's over, phuey, it isn't in my world, the real world that is! Rich.


funny stuff..that's why i love my rail road world its a happy place!!!

Looks great btw...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Starting to think about the next phase, after drawing out something I think might work I'm wondering if it's not crazy to set this all up, just to be torn down 6 months or a year later. Not even sure I'm gonna get that 8x4 table in there in any configuraytion that will work. It will kinda kill my work bench too, might have to use that far corner of the train tables & make that the work area.
For either of these the bed will have to go, What to do with that is a problem, just no good place to store it!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

What the 8x4 set up might look like, maybe I can throw out my youngest & take his room, it's a little bigger!:laugh:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

*Sorting out the KD's check my identifacation on some loose ones?*

Did a little inventory on the kD's, some are in bins that are numbered, others no tags, but look like tagged ones, see if I got it right,thanks rich.
#4=6 (plus maybe a lot more(see below)
#5=18
#6=6 style C (again maybe more below)
#7=4 style C
#8=5
#9=5 style B
#16=2 style c More below?
#26=11 style B
#27=13 style B
#28=2 style B 
#38=30 
506-7=2
505-8=7 

Now here's the loose ones, one shorter than the other, the shorts look like #6 the longs look like #16










16's ? 










6's ?










found one of each the look like the side spurs were removed, any purpose in that ? (bottom of first pic)

Now these 2 batches all look like #4's



















they were in this unmarked bin, what are those tiny pins for? Thanks,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Any ideas on those couplers? 
Pulled out the pensy rolling stock to check it out, made some more minor repairs.
Got 5 cabooses, all 4 small ones lighted, 3 the same, one a bit different. & a worker


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Rolling stock, short on hoppers, so I may redecal the two brown conrails at the back to pensy


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

One of the gondolas had a stripped truck screw, got lucky was able to tap the plastic a little deeper & use a longer screw.
Now on these brown trucks, any reason I shouldn't paint them black, the brown just looks out of place, they are sprung trucks so no need to change em?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Found my next project, got 9 super bowl cars to convert to kd's, Ran the engine & it looks like my truck repair is holding up so I might as well get the cars ready to run. 
Looks like # 5's are what he used, have just 18 of those, but I have 30 # 
38's, I put them side by side & they look the same to me, is it the boxes that are the difference??????? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

If so boxes wont be a problem, I found two bags full of those


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

One on 17 to go, think I'm gonna build a bunch & then put them all on at once, if my eyes last that long.
Oh yea I found the box he was storing the originals, they might need a bigger box.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a bunch of #5's built & greesed ready to install, was able to use the #38's too so no shortage, if I run out of anything down the road I think it will be the brass centering springs. 
waiting on an answer to the spacing question before i install em, built a couple of extras for future use. 










Spacing issue? too thight , med, or even more of a gap? where to set them?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

All couplers on in the original holes, gaps a bit wider, not sure if it's not too wide(exploring options in gap post) she's ready too roll, too bad there was enough room left to go about 2" back & forth! hwell:
I NEED more tables!










Post this here too, to make it complete I need a front side hand rail, what # diesel is this & would an athern set of metal rails for the same type engine work,or maybe a plastic off a junker? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Side view for gap.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK back to the house, only dark gray I had was gunmettal, great if I was painting a challenger.
Only game in town so I painted the stone with that & the railings in black.










Did an experiment on the back wall, top is flat hull red, too brown, so I mixed some of the orig red with that (bottom half) knocked down the shine a bit, might repaint the bright red parts with that? hwell:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finished off the house in the new color, tones down the shine a bit?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put the new gears in the Susquehannas & greesed em up,got another frankinstien, had to rewire one of these too,cabin light was out, no power through the diodes, so I direct wired it, both lights on all the time.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& finally, I found some scrap metal so I decided to try & bend my own rail for the super bowl engine, not too shabby, bends aren't real "crispy" but lookin at the other side it's an improvement 
The loop in the short one would have been interesting, but I had one last leftover from the switcher, saved my butt, just had to rebend the bottom. 
Will paint it black later & see what I got. Rich.


----------



## cv_acr

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Finished off the house in the new color, tones down the shine a bit?


Not really. The colours are darker, but still glossy. The brown parts look reasonably matte, but the red, green and black is pretty shiny.

A FLAT (matte) clear coat will kill the glossiness. (But you don't want to spray the window glass with the matte coat, because that will make that dull too.)

You've done a good job with the painting, pretty clean, no stray paint from one part on the part next to it. If you're happy with it the way it is, it's glossy but overall looks pretty good.

However if you pick up a spray can of Testor's Dull-Cote and give one of your shiny parts a clear coat, you'll see a huge difference.

At the end of the day you only need to please yourself to decide what is good enough, but it's a technique worth considering because the results are very noticeable.

The house looks good, the only real downside is the gloss finish of the paint used.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yea, it's ok for a dark corner, in all those paints he had, very few flats, the hull red probably would have been ok, just playing with it trying to stay as red as possible. I've never seen metallic stone either, only dark gray left(the reg. dark gray dried up) out of maybe 35 jars, only had to throw away 7 or 8 that dried up.
If it's like a regular house in a few years I'll have to do it all again anyway:laugh: Rich.


----------



## cv_acr

RUSTY Cuda said:


> If it's like a regular house in a few years I'll have to do it all again anyway:laugh: Rich.


Well, our model houses have the advantage there because they're not exposed to the sun and wind and rain. If you want something to look weather-beaten, you gotta do it yourself!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Paint didn't go on so great, but she looks ok, reglued couple seems to be holding, so I'll have 2 engines to pull that long train.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So in digging out the tender I had the steamers all over the room, started testing, not doing too good. How much does sitting around affect these things, anything I should do even before I try em on the tracks.
So the cammel back was ok, needed a little help to get going.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gotta get a better pic of this, but the mantua Boston albany runs good


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not so lucky with the big boy, even with a little help, she did get moving but seems slow to me, oiled all the outside running gear & a drop or to down the lower gear box, still slow, motor felt warm after running it back & forth for 5 mineuts or so?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No luck with the bachman, wont run at all, wheels turn freely(drive wheels) & just screaches when you put the power to it, sounds like stripped gears to me, thats my next project, open her up & see whats up? Rich.


----------



## Grabbem88

Bearings need oil on the motor most likely.. I lube everything that rotates or has some form of motion other than the motor itself obviously.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK little better luck today, got the big boy done, still seems slow, but I'm noticing a big difference in speed as I go through these, two mantuas from the same erra(blue boxes) the chessie 4-6-2, runs much faster then the Weyerhaeuser timber 2-6-6-2 the timber runs around the same as the big boy? 
K so the ?rubber? shaft looks warped on the big boy & looks like rub marks on the high spot, anything to be concerned about?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Trying to improve my photo skills, to no avail so far, messed with lighting from different angles and such, just don't seem crispy, worse after I crop.
using the camera on med setting, on the "best" the pics are HUGE, do I have to go there? 
Any tips appreciated, thanks Rich.
Oh almostforgot,the berkshire needed a little nudge to get going but ran good after, the IHC pensy unit ran great.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tried these on the highest resolution, maybe it's just me I can fix some of em but I cant shoot em.hwell:
First up the challenger, worst pic & worst runner of the day, some nudging to get her going & slow like the big boy.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Next up the pere marquette, a little nudge & she took of, ran well. a little better on the pic?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The Alton ran like a champ right out of the box, might have gotten a little too close, but pic is at least clear.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Cresent runs good, couple more photo speriments


----------



## ssgt

nice pics,If you ever want to part with that PRR 4-8-2 I'd like to be first in line.I like it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thats the one my oldest son picked as his keepsake of grandpa.:thumbsup:
It probably will stay here quite a while, he's getting his new house set up & first christmas under his tree will be the last 027 set my dad traded me for an HO set, he figgured the 027 would survive the kids better! It was under my tree for 25 years or so, made it through me & my three sons (sometime I'm worse than the kids):laugh: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I gotta dig it out, something to add to Dads post.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now that I know my camera is just fine & the idiot using it was at fault 
I will try to get better pics to put up, this time I only wasted 3 or 4, one out of focus & the others I just didn't like the angle. 
Hopefully a little easier on your eyes! 
took the little switchers out for a spin & lube job,two of em needed a little nudge to get going but ran well after lube job. :thumbsup:


----------



## New Berlin RR

looking really good there! much better pictures by the way, flash is a bit of a wash but some other lighting would help that (lamps, overhead light ect) and give a bit more even lighting for your pictures


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Some I turned the lights off,some i turn the flash off, angled my work lamp, just expeirmentimenting with different stuff.
I like to show the dioramas lights, flash just overpowers them, It's an improovement at least going in the right direction.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The Shays last slow & easy test drive, packed away till I get more experiance, then I may finish off the repairs. she's 90% complete.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got everything train up in the room, living room is finally cleaned up, all boxed up & under the diorama table.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I have a really big problem, put a new cover on the work table, got it all cleaned up for the next project & ........... & ............. &.......... I have nothing to do  there's gotta be some stuff I can mess with, maybe I'll open up the rest of the freight cars & look for little repairs to do.hwell:
Took apart the 8x2 table today at Moms, so one of these days I'll get em home, till then I need busy work.
No work bench should ever be that clean for more than a few mineuts!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Took the flyer out for a spin, still messin with lighting, but at least there pretty clear.
Gotta wash that green car!


----------



## Grabbem88

I like it!! Plus the little G.E. Switcher!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

took the flat cars out , lookin for little repairs, not much there, couple a side posts needed gluing. coupler to put back on.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

repairs done, cept for that sprung truck, gonna start a post about those cars.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Like these cars, but the brown bottoms , just look out of place.


----------



## Grabbem88

I those springs to fix or tell me what style of sprung truck it is got three mismatch might be the one you need has kadee wheels on them


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Grabbem, check out the walthers post, we'll dig into it there, i do have more questions now. Rich


----------



## Grabbem88

Already on it bud!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So since all the wood load cars were out I decided to mess with a lumber yard, took out the steam area, spread the back 2 tracks a tad & got a few different buildings out.
Luckily none of those were wired, not gonna do any more lighting till i get some more tables up. 
here's the start, like to get more workers around, a couple of engines to pull the trains & putz with it from there. 



















I really gotta redo the road stripes 










Backround works well with these 2 angles


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Painted a couple more trucks & bottoms,can only do a couple till the eyes start fading. so I'm still looking for projects, so in diging around some more looking for flat car loads I came across some can motors, some of these look rather large for HO, maybe the 2 bigger ones with bases for a load?
Anyone know if anything I have even uses can motors?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Looks like I'm gonna hafta make some signs, found these little gems while digging.
just too retro


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got snow, found a jar of plows, was hoping one would be my next project, not so sure now, will post that up in the TLC diesel post.


----------



## Grabbem88

I'll take two plows please!!

Those motors look like turn table motors or some other motorized kit display


----------



## ssgt

Rich,My layout is going to based on the PRR from the 20's through the early 50's.If you want to part with any of those signs please let me know.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Didn't look real close, if there's any doubles in there I will gladly send em to you,I have no idea now what I will be using down the road when i finally get a layout going, so it's hard to know if I'm giving something up I may need? Rich.


----------



## ssgt

I may have sme newer stuff to give you in trade.


----------



## Grabbem88

I did my layout in the 30-50's era and have coke-cola ford and a sheet of cut outs more odds and ends really..


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I gotta start making some kind of plan,but without knowing just what tables & configuration they will be in it's hard to picture any layout, got so much cool stuff, I know I can't use it all, but which pieces will end up on it is so up in the air right now, as for eras, wow, I have so much steam,a ton of diesels, I need a friggen time warp setup to take me back & forth 

All I can say,by the looks of my roads it's based in the north east, at least I have an area Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yea I did it................. but I may have put the wrong ones in, look kinda big & later found other metal sprung trucks that have that spring?
smaller ones should be easier I hope.hwell:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Stripped down some broken trucks, don't know why I'm saving the plastic wheels, must have over 100 sets


----------



## New Berlin RR

RUSTY Cuda said:


> I gotta start making some kind of plan,but without knowing just what tables & configuration they will be in it's hard to picture any layout, got so much cool stuff, I know I can't use it all, but which pieces will end up on it is so up in the air right now, as for eras, wow, I have so much steam,a ton of diesels, I need a friggen time warp setup to take me back & forth
> 
> All I can say,by the looks of my roads it's based in the north east, at least I have an area Rich.


Get a delorian and that problem will be resolved.... or maybe a time train would work...hehe


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now these look & sound like metal wheels but I can't see any isolators ?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Took out the santa fe fleet for a workout, no pass set for the line & maybe 7 or 8 freight cars. mix & match time.


----------



## shaygetz

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Now these look & sound like metal wheels but I can't see any isolators ?


Those are Kadees, they have a plastic axle for isolation.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, then I can use them as I update my freight cars,looks like that will be one of my first expenses, buying metal wheels, even with those tons of plastic lying around seems like a lot of the cars still had plastic wheels on them.  Rich.


----------



## Grabbem88

I really like kadee wheel sets although when I first started messing with trains I learned to never modify the sharp pointy ends to mske them fit lol live and learn!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ssgt, saw these on ebay looks like some old ones in the mix?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/35-N-TO-G-S...405345?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1c303d4261


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put on acouple small details, fork lift, pipe rack & vise & a little more junk
Yes I'm that bored! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Takin the truck in this weekend, hopefully more tables to work with next week!
put one of the senic kits together & started painting, my eyes hurt.


----------



## norgale

Rusty in the first picture it would look a lot better if you could get the ground cover to cover the edges of the building bases and add some ballast to the track. It's really a nice looking diorama and the people add a lot to it. I'm wondering if the fork lift belongs to the older era that the rest seems to imply? One thing about the detailing,it's never done. Ha! pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Note taken, I was holding off on stuff I can't just remove, it's all comming down (SOON) 
If I get all the skinny tables over this weekend I'm going for a layout, then I can do the ground work, well after I figure out the tracks, the themes, etc etc etc!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

moved some of the workers over to the lumber yard, lets call this honing my skills getting ready for the layout, workin with what I have, some pieces(as norgale noted) may be out of the time period, but I don't know the time period yet  so all generations will get a spot just to be used for now, hopefully I'll get a feel for what fits & what should be removed over time. 
the guys are workin late tonight!


----------



## csxmandave

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Put on acouple small details, fork lift, pipe rack & vise & a little more junk
> Yes I'm that bored! Rich.


Man I forgot all about the tool conex, you can"t rebuild a turbine without a tool conex at the power plant.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started taking apart the diorama, getting ready for the tables, now it clean except for the outside track so I can test run the junk diesels that came today.
Will pack up the rest tonight.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tables cleaned off cept for the test track, ready for the new arrivals!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tables are here, 8x2 6x2 & about 4x2, out in the garage for the moment, trying to bribe my son to put the extra bed back into his room to keep the peace with wifey. 
The way I'm thinking I'll have 6x8 with a 2x2 hole 2' off each wall near the corner & a long yard area off to the right about 4x2.
clean out starts tonight!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Graduation day,from diorama to layout, it's not gonna be easy, got the 8' table in, but my 6' is gonna have to be shortened 4-1/2" because of the window trim & 4' is too wide, leaves no space behind my bench, gonna cut the 6 first & try & get the biggest gap between the 2 & still have good work area by the bench.
trying to leave 20" access between tables for workin on the far corner.


----------



## coupman35

cut the window trim make it bigger LOLOLOL


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Everybodys pissed at me, but the tables are up, it's officially the train room, for how long ,who knows. put the extra bed back in my sons room, cramps him up a bit, but hey, the rooms plenty big, that kept the wifey from going over the edge, at least I didn't throw it away!.
here's a pic from the doorway in.










closet corner across to the other corner.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some work ahead of me, getting it level, replacing the plywood & press board on the darker table( must have gotten wet it's pretty warped) 
8x4 table is out of the question, so I will dismantal that & cut up for the pieces I need to repair what I have, might save a 2 x6 section for a return on that bench side some day.
So this will be my layout, first thing I'm gonna do is get one loop up so I can actually run a train all the way around in one direction! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a test track down :thumbsup: tried to use the most level connections between tables, ran the sante fe around a few times, wow,made it all the way,no incidents, track seems pretty stable, will put a few tacks in if needed. only have to use reverse to get back on the siding! :laugh:
Now I have to wait 2 weeks till I get back for the repair tables, I guess it's time to put some plans on paper, lack of a center yard may be a problem? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Toying with some track, got a passing siding in, trying to see if I have room for a yard of some sort in the middle, sidings look too short to me.
I'd like to have 3 loops, maybe one with some elevation, gonna pull out the trestle set & bridges next , see if I can expand from my 2 dimensional thinking.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Maybe I'll stay 2D 
I think I figured out which bridges work with what trestles,the gray set up looks way overpowering for the space I have.
Black ones probably could work if I can figure out what I'm trying to go over & if I have enough space to get up to it & back down again 
Last time I did this I was like 13, put down an oval & started playing


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

One thing I can't figure out is gray & black go on the trestles differently, how do you convert back from the connectors on the gray bridge back to regular track 
the little gray pieces in the foreground, seems like you slide those on the trestle & then you can lay track right on top,is that what there for? thanks,Rich.


----------



## ssgt

would you be interested in selling the gray bridge?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

there's a good chance, are you talking middle (arched) section, I have 2 of those, I only have 2 of the low ones I connected on each end?


----------



## ssgt

I was referring to the center bridge set up in the picture,I'd need the approaches too(the low ones)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

2 things, first it's a set of 2 & 2 if I sell the approaches both arches should go with them as a package.
2nd,I'm just getting warmed up here gonna need some time to lay things out & make decisions on what I will be able to use. 
My comments on the bridge are just my first impression, probably correct but I'm really in new territory here & honestly have no idea what the heck I'm doing, As of now I don't even have a plan, just dropping track to see what it looks like.
Patiance will be needed with me,sorry,  Rich.


----------



## ssgt

I understand about not knowing exactly what you want to do.I am interested in either one (both arch bridges or the black bridge),even though I don't know exactly what I'm gonna do yet either.I am going to have a double track mainline,doing 2 loops around my layout.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I have a serious lack of imagination  I now have the bridge over nothing, was trying to go inside on half & outside the loop on the other side, so I'd have one track & maybe a road going under the bridge. could not get it to go over the tracks right.
So I stuck it on the outside & did a test of how long it takes to get back to earth, well pretty much the whole table. back to the drawing board!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Round 2 , wondering how many times I will do this before I get something I can work with, but way more fun the a pad & pen 

K trying the bridge on an angle, where I ran out of table I had 18" turns in from the bridge down & it did fit on the table, ran a couple a diesels around & it worked ok, but figured if I want to run anything big up there I better go 22.
used the ebay tyco santa fe for the test(didn't want one of my good ones flying off the table) stopped dead on the bridge, cleaned the track a littlle, still had power pick up trouble, used my ahm sante fe, that hesitated but made it thru the bridge, dug out one of the home made track cleaners, & let those run around a while (all done before I switched to 22" ) not running anything over that corner 
If I end up with something like this I can add some table over there, either an angle cut or make the whole area a little wider(which would give me a bigger yard)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

All comentary, advice, ideas are welcome & needed, tell me what you think,good or bad.

So I'm trying to get two tracks into the long yard on the side. problem there is the track starts to drop off, just clears the diesels, besides a crane are all the trains about the same hight, if anything is taller I have to change that right off the bat 
For now I stuck one siding into the back corner entering from main area under the bridge.

gonna see if I can get the second loop set up & figure out how to make it so I can get from one loop to the other.
I think I'm creating a wiring nightmare


----------



## shaygetz

That arch does add much needed drama to the scene, wherever you place it...mitering that corner would be easy. Those black bridges ain't got no snap...:thumbsup:


----------



## norgale

Back off and see if you can get a picture of the whole table. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

One thing I could do is remove the approaches, that would make it much easier to fit in, but it would also reduce the "Drama" .
on the connection to the gray, it has connections that sit it up higher than the trestle (rather than the track sitting right in the slot) is there a conversion piece, of just put the track to it & adjust height(like I did with the hunk of wood) doesn't seem right?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

pete, it's tough, tried from the hall & even getting in the closet, I don't have a wide angle setup on the cheepie camera.
Messed with a little more track, I'll get some picks up in a while.thanks,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, this is with me stuffed as far back into the closet as I could get


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

life in hands,on a chair with the camera held up to the ceiling, took 5 shots to get the angle right, point & shoot you say!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Standing at the top of the stairs, putting camera just inside the doorway.


----------



## coupman35

I think you need a bigger room LOLOL


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh how I wish, still have an 8x4 table at the other house.hwell:
I haven't even dented the the track I have , I could probably do what I did 3 more times & still have some left.
Well so far I have two loops that can run at the same time, I don't think a 
3rd is gonna be possible, I may already have too much track in the middle, not leaving much room to decorate.
loose laid some track in the center & in the long yard, pics in a little while, have to go test the inside loop. Rich.


----------



## coupman35

Looks like your still going to have lot of track and use lot of train on them.My 4x8 got about 30 trains on it .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the yard section, was thinking that long passenger station I have between the back 2 rails & the diesel depot up front, maybe add one more siding?
only problem is the outside rails go to the inner loop, I can switch to the outer but not sure if that can be wired, how do you take a train, going through a switch to another transformer, or can you? 
I guess I could reverse the order but the back siding is a longer straight line & the station is that big!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now you need a little imagination(my shortcomming) took these pics while the train was running on the inside loop, if you print them out & flip through you'll have a vidio! :laugh:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

they also show the 2 inside sidings, too much? takeone out & leave more room to decorate? 
Then I have these goodies, some even split switches & all the crossings, besides a figure 8 what can I do to incorperate some crossovers?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tore down most of the inside stuff, inside loop was sharing a section of track with the long approace to the outside loop, was hunting around the layout section trying to get ideas, yards & such. that helped some.
here's take 4, or is it 5. 
one of the things I saw was a reversing loop, don't think I have enough room in here, do I really need one? Rich.










middle of the table


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back corner of table, could add another short siding there?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

long yard area, pass station can go front 2 or rear 2 tracks now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I think I have it set up so track 1 & 3 can get to either loop the long way around the table 
track 2 & 4 to either loop the short way(in opposite direction) 
Nows where you guys have to chime in , anything look like an obvious blunder, something missing, to hard to wire up in dc, 
lack of imagination.
all coments & ideas are needed & welcome, even if you say trash it & start again!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Speak to me guys I'm making a mess of this!
1st I noticed I have no real place for any roads, cross multiple tracks many times to get anywhere.
So I decided to pull buildings out just to see what can go down.
So now I notice I have close to zero straight areas on the loops for stations.maybe a little town.
Steam yard needs more sidings, maybe elinminate that entry to the lumber yard use that for more steam spurs & try & get to that from the other end.
So I'm thinking eliminate on or two of the entries from my pass station corner & also eliminate one set of entries to the loops 
Here's some pics of the mess.










Pass/diesel station/yard?










lumber yard










residenyial area


----------



## coupman35

That starting to look good just moving a few thing around make a big deferrince to.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK round 7 (6 I just skipped over) removed one whole set of lines to the loops & one siding in the long yard. Had to shorthen the pass station by 2 sections, only way in now is long way around, starting in the long yard, all the way around to the front edge & hit either loop from there, trains are pointing engines first to all the sidings though. Maybe I'll just start backwards :thumbsdown:
Roads are still a problem, the subburban corner is the only thing I think works ok, still need a road in & out though, thinking of tighting up the inner loop a tad, I'm at 49ish inches now? 
urban section in middle is just plopped to see if I can do something there? 
Steam yard better, wish it was longer & lumber yard I think is ok.
What do you guys think, any suggestions  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Brain storm or is it just a brain fart? 
the 19 x22 cubby hole has to be covered with something, maybe a thin sheet of plywood a little bigger, build a little city on that & either hinge it or just lift it out for access, a lot of space wasted there.


----------



## norgale

Now your cooking Rusty. What your doing is the best way to come to a conclusion on how you want the layout to look and work. There is no right or wrong for any layout. You set things out and think about what could go there with what you have to work with. Develop the idea as you go along. The next thing to do is tack down the track here and there and run some trains on it.After all running the trains is the reason for all this and until you actually run them you won't know if you can get to where you want go or not.A few tacks in the center of curves and at each end of the curves so the track cant separate on you and the trains will run. never mind about turnouts and sidings for now. Just fire it up and run some trains.
One thing I notice is in the yard. Most yard tracks are very close together in order to use as much real estate as possible. The more yard sidings you have the better and you have room for about six or seven. Pete


----------



## norgale

I wish you'd look at what happened to the three foot long test track. And this is a guy who said he didn't want to make a layout,just be able to test the locos to see if they run. I love this. At least I'm not the only crazy person in the room. Ha! Pete


----------



## blackz28

PETE im thinking the same thing , i want a small diorama for my steam , tommorrow im going to the scalerails club in ft myers to do satisfy my need to do mainline runs with articulated power but i still want to build something till i get a house , sucks they have no basements down here


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Was running a couple a diesels around already, dragging a home made track cleaning car & today I pulled out the pere Marquette & 2 penn pass cars & ran them around the inside loop to make sure everything cleared, of course then I changed everything.kinda pulled that piece hanging over the corner in a bit got the other 3 trestles on enough to put some pins in one side,gonna run one of my ebay cheepies over it first & see if it derails onto the floor  I will be there to catch it! :laugh:
was thinking of redoing inside tracks in that front corner for decorating, maybe if I can get enough shift I can move the yard over & open up some space on the other side,if I can move the first switch back a little ,longer sidings too.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OH yes Pete, it wasn't that I didn't want a layout, just the space issue, at least my wife still talks to me, well once in a while anyway  Rich.Well I have tonights work cut out for me, more pics a little later.:thumbsup:


----------



## norgale

I always start with a loop around the outside so I can have a nice run for a long train like a passenger train. Then I go to work on the inside and that's where the fun starts. If you notice in my BGC thread I've changed things INSIDE many times trying to get what I want for switching industries and then making up trains for the long haul around the outside loop. You have to try and get the track where you can run two or maybe three trains at a time and switch them back and forth between loops and sidings without crashing into each other. With all the crossings you have it will be interesting to see how you run the trains and keep them straight and not have any collisions. It's tricky but it's fun to try and do that. I like what you have so far so just keep working with it and running the trains. pretty soon you'll have what works for you in the space you have. 
Glad to hear the wife is still speaking to you "once in awhile". You can't help it if you have diesel oil and coal in your blood. Ha! Pete


----------



## blackz28

rusty , nice setup !!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Reversing loop would be nice, maybe moving that side over will open up enough space, heading up there at 7 ,start ripping track again!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, got the entry track & the inner loop mover closer to the outer loop, now I have to figure out a support for the track comming off the bridge, had to remove one trestle.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

did the same in the back corner, more room in front of the houses now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

moved the station back to the rear, can add one,maybe both sections I left out.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

another corner to add in, gonna make my removable whatever a little more complicated.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

thats for the reversing loop, now matter how I tweeked & kept moving the switches on the other end I just couldn't clear that corner,those are 18" curves, so far only ones on the board. 
All was going fine till I decided to do the test run, she some how ran both loops, when I went to test the reverse loop, lights started a blinkin, engine stopped, totally forgot it would reverse polarity DOH! Just seperated the tracks for now.
How do you wire that up???????????? 
2 really short sidings will be for cabooses.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Forgot to mention, now that I removed the second set of switchovers, the only way off the raised loop is reverse, another DOH! 
The reverse loop also takes away that straight inner track I worked so hard to get, I think I have a smaller building that might fit. 
This gets pretty complicated, everything you change affects 5 others! 

Something to ponder over the weekend  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the switch back to the lower level in, tweaked a few more tracks & started to see where some roads can go, that bridge is tough to get around .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

station /diesel area


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

residential dead end street.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

lumber yard & the proposed city( where the cubby hole is)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

train yard


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

overview, bout all I can get in one pic.


----------



## coupman35

That looking nice you have a bit of every thing in there i like that and still room to add on


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, so after looking into reversing loop wiring, which I'm still fuzzy on I realize once I reverse there is now way to reverse back with out backing up, so I think I'm going to remove it, bring the steam yard in from the other side, so both yards will come out in the same direction, make the entry from the long yard in the back of the board to shorten the backwards trip.that SHOULD ????? simplify things.


----------



## broox

remember that in the real world you might have to back up quite a ways to hit a wye/baloon loop.
Especially if your moddeling an era, like say in England in the 60's (?), when they were ripping up tracks and branchlines at a rather quick rate... not sure if the US had a similar story too.

All depends on how you think you would feel running it though. I designed 2 reverse loops in my layout to make it feel more "right".

Its all about making it more fun for you though


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Brain storm or is it just a brain fart?
> the 19 x22 cubby hole has to be covered with something, maybe a thin sheet of plywood a little bigger, build a little city on that & either hinge it or just lift it out for access, a lot of space wasted there.



I have not looked at this thread in a while.
What the heck did you do! 
I was just going to suggest making the hole a town, add some kind of lifting points on two of the sides to lift it out. 

If you could work some water into the layout going under the bridge you could make that a lake. Add more bridges on the other tracks.
Did you think about laying foam board before you did all this?

I kind of liked the bridge where you first had it, but I think it needs some water running under it. I was going to say get the bed out of there too, but I see you did that.:thumbsup:

Pay the kid off and switch rooms?  ( how old is she/he?)

I got to go back and look, let me think a little.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bridge against the wall didn't make much sense to me, even though it would solve a few problems.
Going up there now to start rippin, first I'm going to try 2 things, first straighten the angle of the bridge to make my pass thru/s a little easier, if that doesn't work take the access ramps off & just use the arch, that will fit much easier, even thought of cutting one approach in half, but don't want to destroy anything just yet.
Hopefully back with some pics later today!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I think I'm answering my own question, but arch only, looses a lot, moving it over lifts all the track on the right side real hi in what should be the switching area, gonna go try against the wall again & see how that works out? 









added some black bridges on the outside.










too high here, for my switches unless I ramp up to them?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok round 10, gettin a little punch drunk,got the whole outside loop elevated, creating a landscaping nightmare, but 2 loops are in, going to back into both yards from the far end of the table, I can lay out a couple of roads without crossing 23 tracks.
siding is between the 2 loops by the gray bridge, workin on the yards now, see how they turn out.
seems I ran out of right hand switches, have a ton of lefts ,making my yards a little harder, seems there's only 6 or 7 rights & probably 12 or so lefts, I guess his yard spread the other way? Rich
here's where I'm at.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gonna run the trains counter clockwise so I can back into the long yard


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

back into center yard


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gotta add 1 more set of switches under the gray bridge so I don't have to go to the upper loop to get to the lower. then I'll run some trains & see what I screwed up!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

All righty now, yards are in, may get a little tweeking as I try out the decorations.
She's pretty simple & since it's my first I think thats a good thing.
Got a few work errands in the am then pull out the buildings & masking tape again start laying stuff out. 
That was a long day, I'm actually tired! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I really need MORE Tables & the space to go with it, I've got a ton of unused track, switches got a little thin,just a couple of extras,mostly lefts.
A shame all this is just gonna collect dust.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

messed with the long yard again, thinking freight yard now, that may change again in an hour 
started on the roads, then I'll pull out the rest of the buildings & see what else I have room for.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the long station on the main board now, shortened by 3 sections this time, may give up on that if my city doesn't pan out & just go to a regular station, I have some choices there.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Moved the steam yard over some to get the road in, gotta pull out some rolling stock & steamers to see if it works like this?


----------



## Big Ed

OK, how about an ideal for the bridge over nothing? 

It is too bad you couldn't add some bridges to the lower line but that is out of the question I guess.
I asked before if you thought about using foam board before you laid down anything but you didn't say nothing.

You could make under the bridge water with a bulkhead somehow, I took a second look, I am not sure it would look right, since the lower track is kind of close to the bridge.

If you had laid down foam board, you could have carved a river under all the tracks and bridge and added a river. But all the track would have to be just straights on the bottom by the long bridge to make it work, do you see it? Do you know what I am trying to say? 

A quick painting, blue water, (or any color you like) , red arrows make some boulders/rocks for there, and where your bottom tracks are, add some bridges. Crude drawing but you get the ideal. Run the river to the hole in the table and make a nice lake scene there?












Maybe the bridge would be better back over in the other spot?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Have been trying to work with whats here, I like the water idea & can move some of the black bridges around, maybe keep it down to 1 9" section. I'll have to convert one to a car bridge too my road goes thruogh there too
He has some kind of fiber board on it already but it's only 3/4" thick. Foam wasn't around back then.
If I really want to get crazy I can cut that & the plywood out & drop it down some.
I think I'm gonna get boared with this in no time, so I'll stay 2 dimensional for my starter setup, get it to where I can run some trains around, tried to pull a freight consist around just now, derailing nightmare,with only a few things tacked down it's not too stable. 
Gonna put some new pics up in a min, changes were made. Thanks,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

First up is that long station, already reduced by 3 sections, I like it but not feeling it on this board, I have a nice building that could go there & open up space for one or 2 more? first the station, then 2 of the building.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So building or station?????????
Trying the long yard as a freight/diesel yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

other angle on the steam yard


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Couple of overall views.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK gonna try that bridge one more way, on the angle like before, but on the other side, might give me a better angle for the underpasses getting into the long yard.Take 36 comming tonight . Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here we go again, I think if I don't find any big problems with this, it's the one I'll decorate. got some bad & some good by movin the bridge to the other side.
The entry to the long yard is further back so I added I more siding.
(forgot to spread out the diesel buildings in the back)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Center yard is pretty much the same, I lost the long straightaways, so the long pass station is out, will pull out the station buildings tonight & do more work in the center of the board.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My little cul de sac got really little, might put a scrap yard back there or something you'd see behind the tracks as it were & move the people to a nicer neighborhood.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Might have to tweek this end a little,diesel barley clears the bridge & it's comming out of a turn, will try a steamer later.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ed my man there's still a slight chance for water, thinking from inside edge of table under one of the main arches & into the center, gotta see how the rest pans out first, it will be a lot of extra work.


----------



## Big Ed

Besides the roads under it, the long bridge is not really crossing anything yet over there.

What are you planning for the hole?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The hole was going to be the urban area, now it looks like it graduated to subburbia.
So I moved the lumber yard to that back corner, put in a few small stations along the route, going to have to tweek the roads a bit more.
The houses around the hole will be spread out over that area when I get the rest of the table tops over here to make my access panel.
I wanted at least the road & maybe one track under the main parts of the bridge, no matter how I tried it just didn't pan out, no track can go over the hole, road I guess I could.
I'm still a long way from a plan, this is my pen & paper & I'm dooddling away!
Going up to shoot the pics of the changes,BRB,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Lumber yard is moved to the rear corner...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

long yard, may interchange a few buildings but thats pretty close................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

long station is out, two buildings are in , small station on the other side, have to tweek the road a bit................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gonna go play with paint for a while see if I can make water, longshot here but I will try! Later,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I don't want anybody gettin hurt here, try not to laugh too hard.
A VERY feeble attempt to put a small lake & stream over to the edge of the board, me thinks I'm keepin both feet on dry land, build a junk yard or construction co under there, something you'd see under a city overpass???
water is gonna be too much for this setup(& ME)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Derailments & uncouples not too bad this time, after a few extra tacks & some leveling I got the santa fe to pull 2 cars around for quite a while, these things don't like my switches:thumbsdown: , a lot of trouble getting in & out of the yard, one of the switches would derail one of the cars almost every time.
Gotta check out the cars too , all different weights, trucks(some sprung) & wheels, tommorrow I will try to put a long consist of good cars together & see how they do.
pere marquette made it around both levels pretty good, it did hit that bridge, but on the way out, got the clearence right & it should be ok.:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started inspecting the freight cars, I've got some work to do, of all those cars I had out there's 2 at 4oz & 1 has plastic wheels.(all about 6" long)
Going to start going through another batch, just want to put together a consistant batch to test the track.
At least i have some busy work till I get the rest of the wood.
results of the first batch...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Quick question, if I find 10 or 12 3 ouncers with metal wheels will that be a good test or should I hold out till there at 4 oz? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, put together two consists, one each car (4) around 4oz with metal wheels & one with 6 cars all around 4 oz with plastic wheels.
couple more tacks & adjusting some grading & I have the inner loop working better, not so many problems at the switches, thats down to once in a while & usually going through the switch the wrong way.
Another problem I'm going to have, seems my dad & his friend set up the KD's at different heights, that was more of a problem than the grading itself, once I saw that matched cars & used a quieter engine (could here the bumps now) after that loop is pretty good :thumbsup: 
Going upstairs is another matter, not even gonna mess with that till I fix the tables & get ready to really lay down the track!  Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

If you cut the track right you can run a piece over the hole.
Just power it separately. 
But you have to cut it so that it is real close to the other tracks.

Once it is built how often do you think your going to need access through the hole?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'll eyeball that idea when I go up, I haven't moved the road yet, got sidetracked with the freight cars, first the road & maybe a junk yard & see how that looks.

The way I manage to derail things I may need to leave it open forever! 

I was thinking of adding a 1ft board over my work table from the corner & back on to the end of the big table, chew up some of that leftover straight track, that would have given me a 10 x 8 loop to run some long trains on, but when I looked it over & reality hit, the rooms just too small, work table is only 2 ft & cramped as it is. I'd have to crawl in, ok now but in a few years?????

I think I should work this with what I have, start the decorating process, I'm sure with my non existant experiance it's gonna be a lot of redos, so practice on this, hone the skills get it lookin as good as possible  then tear it all down & start over! 

Gonna go play awhile, I'll post some pics if I haven't decided to tear it up & start over! :laugh: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK tweeked the roads, got a main road under the arch bridge & added some parking lots.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

parking lots & the street comming across to the hole will be an entry to a residential cul de sac, you have to envision the houses spread around a bit.



















might put a little park where that gray house is?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Found my long/consistant consist, the super bowl set, all cars weigh in at 4.4oz, there's 13 cars + caboose. all have plastic wheels.
I think I need a longer yard. engine pulled with ease.










Takes up half my inner loop,nascar at bristol?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gave the pere marquette a test too, also pulled well, a bit slower than the diesel.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Backed into the yard & picked up 3 more 4 ouncers with plastic wheels no problem, went back in for the 4 4 ouncers with metal wheels, pulled out no problem, but the last 2 gondolas had derailing problems so those came off & I ran it with 5 extras with no problems, I'm getting there, inner loop looks good to go.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Stuck down some piles of wood to see what it would look like, I'll build more major league racks when I decorate.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My little construction area under the bridge, gotta get more stuff, but I have a chain link fence kit that would be ideal for something like this.


----------



## Big Ed

You know with all the sink holes opening up all over, the one in Florida that took the poor guy sleeping in his bedroom, (they probably will never recover him) and the one on the golf course in Illinois yesterday that swallowed a golfer your houses sitting next to your hole look like they are sitting on the edge of a giant sink hole.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmm leave it like that with a giant beware of sinkholes sign hanging off the edge.


----------



## Big Ed

Just make something to look like a muddy sink hole and prop it up on a box underneath.
Add a few junk houses and pieces in it (fences, cars, trees etc) for realism.

Rescue vehicles top side, trying to save the bloody people it swallowed up.:thumbsup:


----------



## coupman35

That looking great .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the 8' table dismanteled, cut 2- 23" x4' sections to bring home & some of the leg braces to build my cubby hole cover. the other section will be the new top for my warped table.
the big engine house & turntable bridge are here too, after I get the tables done I my just wire up the house just to see it in all it's glory.
All thats left over there are some more tools, saw a truck cleaning gismo, misc building stuff(the scale wood rack) tons of sandpaper, some what I think is gold leaf & other stuff I don't even know what you use it for & 2 8' long track beds, one flat one with cork & track & the other just the wood with some risers glued under it(might be useful around all my hills)? 
Too bad I actually have some real work starting tuesday, life sure does get in the way of the hobbies!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the table repaired & the cubby drop in made. would have been a lot easier if I wasn't such an idiot. was supposed to cut 4'x 25" sections to make up for the one out of square, at the house I cut the 23" one for the patch first then proceeded to cut another 23" DOH 
At this end I managed to miter the wrong corner on the patch, If I can't glue it back somehow I have another piece big enough to start over on that.hwell:
clean up time, then I think I'm ready to lay some track!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hole cover is in place with a few houses, I think it works pretty good, after tacking down the track on the inner loop & adjusting all the angles I mitered out more than I had too.
Gonna try to have the grass sheets a little bigger than the cover so when I drop it in it covers the gaps. The roads I'll have to get creative.
Inner loop all tacked down & running good, gonna take a while on the raised loop, some will be hillsides, trying to figure how to make curved sections for the exposed areas, with just a short guard rail type thing.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Looks like the overhanging grass should work out ok for covering the seams, now I realize I'm gonna need some kind of electric quick connect for the houses, will rummage around my furnace harnesses , should have something laying around.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I'm at the point I have to decide if I'm laying roadbed or just tacking it down & decorate as is.

Is that black rolled up stuff any good(also saw a box of 2footers) ? 

I really don't want anything permenant , starter setup will probably undergo many changes & I'd like to keep the tables free from too much glued down stuff.

I'm looking for too many things to do, anything to delay time to start wiring, I'm not lookin foward to that, 1000 hours crawling around under the table.

Speaking of which, I hooked up My super hi tech  Hogger today, crawling under, fix the train, crawl out only to find another car off the track, now I bring it with me and test as I go! 
It seems to have more power than the tech 2, trains run a little better.


----------



## norgale

Looking great Rusty. Run the trains as much as you can to decide if what you have is what you want to keep. Laying the track and making it operational are sometimes two different things. As for roadbed your really better off without it I think. It's extra work and extra money but if you tack the track down onto the table and set ballast on it then you'll have a realistic railway anyway. The roadbed is ok if you want it to deaden the sound of the trains but that's really all it does. Personally I like the sound of the trains running on the table. Easier to hear if something is going wrong too.
The thing is to work with the track as you progress to be sure it will work the way you want it to. Then nail it down good and add the ballast. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Funny I was looking at my long yard , gonna take a trainload of ballast for that.
I may put down that rolled grass almost everywhere & then glue all the ballast, dirt & such to that, then I can just roll it up & have a clean table to start over with.
Long yard & inner loop are tacked down pretty good, workin on support ramps for my risers to the upper level.
one corner will be a hillside, the rest I'll have to go back to your post, see how to make those curved bridges, gonna need a ton of those , 3 corners to wrap, thinking low guard rails maybe with a walkway on one side.
Keep the tips commin guys, I need all the help I can get! thanks,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Managed to tweek the first switch into the steam yard back a little, moved the caboose section to the other side & got a couple of longer sidings in & added 1 more,decorations will be tight, but at least I can display a few steamers right out in the front.


----------



## norgale

That looks fine Rusty. Now how ya gonna get that engine off the shelf on the wall? Ha! 
Now you have to figure out where each of your power blocks will be and put in the insulating rail joiners before you tack anything down. Otherwise the whole thing will run all at the same time.Think control panel. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I was actually thinking of a display on that wall it's the only long wall in the room, engines would have to be on the left near edge of table & pass cars towards the corner, pull off an engine, then roll the cars to me & take off one at a time, or pop the cubby hole & crawl in, still can't reach all 8 feet.
Now the only way to get it down is thru the cubby hole

Would you believe I can't find the insulating joiners, I'd swear somewhere I saw a box marked for both, got 2 tons of metal but cant find the others, when I get some time I'll have to go thru every box with accessories & see if they pop up, you know the mineut I buy them they will magicly reapearhwell:

The long yard I may isolate 2 or 3 for the deisel engines, was even thinking split them in 2 pull out first engine, move to another siding & then power up the one in the back & pull that out.
The steam yard at least the 4 long ones,maybe one more for a switcher, so I can park 4 steamers & pull out any one.
inner loop & yard I'm thinking on one transformer, the outter(upper) loop on another.
How do you take a train from one transformer to another? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Next trip over I'm bringing back the board he had set up, it was on hinges & had a section made for that long switch board I have, only catch is finding a place to mount it, space is tight.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Found the isolator pins, one step closer to wiring!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Decided to start small, got the roads & parking lots painted in the long yard, going to lay down those rolls of grass to decorate over, glue the ballast & such to.
On the ballast, how do you glue it between the tracks without getting glue all over the ties? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some grass down, gonna hafta buy a few rolls I have a lot of area to cover. But this is the idea, then glue stuff down on top where needed? Rich.


----------



## shaygetz

Looking real good there...:thumbsup:

Here's how you ballast track... http://www.psmrc.org/public/education/ballasting/ballasting_track.html

It's best to use loose grass and set it pretty much the same way you ballast.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK thats a good lesson, I think I already have a bottle of the glue mix, went to use the elmers & it came out way too easy(all over my hands I may add)  
My idea is to make it easily changeable without gluing a lot of stuff to the table, thats why I want the rolls of grass down. when the changes come I just roll it up & have a clean table to start over, there will be some sections where the grass is the cover.
Now the question is, will the track be easily cleaned off to reuse when I make a change 
watered down glue,sounds like it will scrape off fairly easily?
I have no idea how this first layout will turn out, I kinda know I'm going to want to change things down the road, judging by the time it took to do that corner I may not be so quick to make changes after the long decorating process but want everything easily dismanteled, the room at some point may be lost to a human occupant.
Once I get enough area out towards the bridge covered I'll lay the yard track, wire it up & start decorating that corner, my test area to see if the idea pans out


----------



## Big Ed

Why don't you hold off on the ballasting.
The way you change things it would be a waste of time. 

Just fool around and get things to your liking first?


Edit, never mind I just reread it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just got home with another load of goodies, will post some pics tonight, few more things I didn't know I had.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Posted the goodies in the new begining thread, this one gettin long enough
But the control board is here, gonna hope it folds down flat, too big to leave straight out. 









All this stuff is gonna make workin under the table a little tougher, have to do areas then move some stuff & hit another area.
Gettin crowded down there. 






























The end table & 2 plastic bins are not my stuff, gotta find a new home for those, get me a little more room to stretch out in.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Power & isolation, check me on this guys.
Track to the back is isolated twice, park two diesels, pull out front,move to another siding & then power up the rear to get that out.
4 sidings in the center are isolated at the incomming switch & front track is my power supply to everything for now, once I get the control board up I can add feeds around the table, & isolate the raised loop at that time.

should I tack every hole in the tracks, or is 1 at the end & then one middle next piece enough, the curves I tacked about every hole. 

finished the engine house, gonna pack that up to get it out of the way, then run the trains in & out of the yard to make sure theres no issues.
then play with a little ballast!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Need to make a bunch of the power fed leads, I found a bunch of brass connectors with a little tab on one end, should be easier to solder too or should I stick with the steel? Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

Real quick, got to go.

Just enough to secure it so they are tight (don't move) that should be good.

Suggestion, drill holes and bring your wires up from the bottom so they are hidden?

Late, zoooom gone now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Will do on the wires, the trans is on my work bench, to test I had to wire nut all the feeds together, much easier up top than under the table for testing! 
I ran a few box cars in & out of each siding a few times, seems good to go, so I'm gonna throw in a few more tacks & play with a short section of ballast, see just how messy I can be! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, with some help(thanks guys) I got a little ballast down, borrowed the eye dropper /syrenge idea & went at it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Only problem so far with my grass roll idea is it gets pretty wet & bubbles up a little have to wait till it's dry to see if it flattens back down, if so away we go.:thumbsup:
about 2' done & only 24' to go & thats only the 4' yard! 

Doesn't look like too much cleanup needed, just a few spots where it got on the wrong places.


----------



## Big Ed

Let it sit now for at least 24hrs to let it dry good, and don't try to fix any after gluing as it will clump up and make a mess.

Looks good, you look like you did that before. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

1st timer, but thanks for the kudos.
You deserted me, where were you when I was pulling those clumps out of my hair! :laugh:
I found that out real quick, used a small paint brush to dab around & flatten em back out again, then I ran for the hills! Rich.

Hey, like I did with my car saga, gotta post the good & the bad, so others can benefit & not make the same blunders  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the backround back up, corners don't match but both sets came up short of doing that whole side.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

On the yard side I'm gonna hafta cut down one or add sky to the other, not sure if i have enough lenght left to cut the sky off & add it, if not I'll cut the other down.
Time for my sons matchbox to go!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now am I getting a little nit picky, should I be scrounging ties to fill in these wide gaps  or just fill with ballast?  Rich.


----------



## DonR

Rusty 

As much work as you're putting in on your
layout...do it right...YES...(not shouting tho)...
you do want to scrape the spikes and plates off the top of a tie so
it's smooth across, then slip it in the blank space with
a drop of glue before you ballast...you'll like yourself
in the morning.

I save every tie that I pull off...those not used to
fill in the blank spaces make nice stacks of ties to
be placed somewhere in a yard.

The same with scrap pieces of rail...rust 'em up
and scatter around the layout...I used 'em also
to make track end bumpers.

Don


----------



## Big Ed

Nothing is ever thrown away by me. 

Sometimes I don't know if that is a good thing. 

Put the ties in.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not too much new stuff accomplished today, made a new cubby hole cover since it doesn't need miters anymore. played with the control panel board, way too big, have to figure out how much I can cut it down but still have a little spare space leftover.
did a little more balasting, mostly good, but between the rails it kinda looks flat(no texture) must have patted it down too much? Rich.
Almost forgot, filled in all the gaps in the ties in tha yard, so thats done.


----------



## norgale

Good on ya Cuda. Nothing look worse than empty tie spaces. With the ballast don't press it down between the ties. Take a small paint brush and just lightly drag it across the ties until you get all the ballast off the ties. Then do the glue thing. Looks better if you can see all the ties and theres no sprinkles of ballast left on them.Try different kinds of brushes too. Some work better than others. PITA slow work but it's worth it. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now to the control panel, need to know how much I can cut off & still have room for my layout & maybe a little extra space, need to mount one transformer for the upper loop on the board, the hogger I can mount under the table it's pretty big.
So here's what I found so far, don't think I need any of the reverse loop controls & the ones next to them.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I have 18 switches on the setup, he has some of the controls jumped together, so I should need one of these for every switch?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& then theres these two kinds, can I rig something with these to control lighting?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

And finally the switch panel he made up, looks perfect for my siding isolation, 11 switches & 11 spots I want to isolate, I have more switches & the material he mounted on so if the other switches don't work for lighting I could make another of these?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Then at the bottom of the box I found 10 more switches, 5L &5R these are a little longer & the turnout comes off straight, do you see any benefit to these on my layout, I was thinking closer sidings in my yard, but the length would probably shorten my sidings quite a bit? Put one of the switches I used in the center to show the difference. Rich


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Control board musings, am I covering the bases, anything else I would want on there.
Left some room for labeling & maybe a few more controls.
The yellow ones look like simple on off, don't think I need that many for lighting , should I eliminate the brown bar & use these for the isolation switches too. or.......
Another option is to remove the top section where the brown panel is & mount that directly on the board. might get it to lay down flatter on the hinges? 
Ideas,comments, what ya think? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back to ballast, is this a good way to do the switches, avoiding any glue, seems he applied black take to the botton & just sprinkeled in a little, this is old & seems to have held up well?


----------



## Big Ed

I think the ballast is coming out good. I like the green you left in the middle you can add a few weeds there later.
I do see ballast laying on the ties on real RR's. You need not be that fussy, it is looking good the way it is coming along. :thumbsup:

Yes put the ties in.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Laying out a little more ballast as we speak, found some grass mats on line, going to order tonight.Then I can start the basics on the main table.
Any thoughts on my control panel ? Rich.


----------



## coupman35

Nice wory it getting there .Here a pic of what am working on right now i making it so i can take it done when summer come am butting it away so i have to be able to take it aport.Am not don i still going to add light to it .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thats nice, no pitures for me, just written directions so I don't have a head on with my trains, rail 2 dummy!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

yard experiment as far as I can go for now, gettin close to the switches & need to finilize isolation of the back rail before I go on, & figure how I want to tackle the ballast around the switches.
Didn't do the final clean up yet, here's how it looks at the moment.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now if anyone lookin at the layout could see it from that veiw it makes the backround really look good 
from human vantage, not too good. Rich.


----------



## norgale

Your on the right track Rich. Looks good to me. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the cleanup done on the tracks, antique glue is fine, getting the misplaced ballast out was a pain, it's like scraping rocks! 
Found some yellow pin stripping tape so I played with the road in the yard, much better than my by hand attempt.










Darn I missed a lot of loose dirt away from the ballast area


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I have some spots to touch up & some glue on grass to give some texture to the grass stripes. kinda cleaned it down flat with all the brushing 
The matt thats comming is on vinyl, so hopefully the water won't create as much havoc? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some paint down for the lumber yard & back road.
I think I found my first scratch project, loading dock next to the station building, on the curved track, along the lines of the gray one I have, too bad it's straight! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not so sure my keep the table clean idea worked, tried to peel up a corner of the grass matt paper , either the ballast is rock solid or the glue seeped through & stuck it to the table anyway. hwell:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I'm no arcitect but I hope this will hold some balsa wood & a few plastic people.
Made my template , was a little thin, then took it as far as the rough wood would allow, used the skinny one for what I hope will be the ramp, just cut the front & rear caps, waiting for glue to dry.
If I measured right it should butt right up to the station, the gaps at one end are to clear the switch.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK she fits, got the outside cover on, gonna put another layer on top, make it a little stronger.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put a extra blob of glue inside all the supports,got the second layer on now I just have to make my receding supports for the ramp,make the cover & add a platform & stairs to the rear of the building, maybe 1 step up in the front & possibly a few handrails, paint it gray , stick a light on it & wa la, we have a loading dock! 
Now I feel better I made use of a little wood.
Toying with the idea of trying a mini(compared to alex's) engine house, maybe 2 bay & get that plastic thing off the table, I have some true talent to copy from, if it's 1/10th as good it will be fine by me! when I get to this, who knows? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Stairs are built working on sanding in a curve to match the ramp, ramp supports & cover on, going for the railings next.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

She's a bit rough, but ready for paint. My railings are a bit crude & the trim pieces are a bit large, good thing it's on the back of the board.
Now do I go gray & match the building platform or stain it wood color?


----------



## Big Ed

Nice, if you ever put a water scene on the layout you could use that as a bulkhead with a boat launch ramp too. :thumbsup:

Painting it?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

You gotta read my comments, Pictures are nice but they don't tell the whole story 
Yes, have to decide gray to match the station platform or walnut stain (have some of those colors in the arsonal.  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tried the black tape method of ballasting the switches, nice & thin, does not interfear with the frogs, got 4 more to do then i can start drilling holes for wiring & finilize( well for now ) that corner.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the entry to the yard back together, ran the proto norfork & 3 freight cars in & out of all the new ballast switches & the areas I have the ballast down, no problems.
Now I can start wiring the yard up, between that & the lumber yard area I should have plenty of work till the rest of the grass mat arrives. :thumbsup:
Oh yea, gotta make the control board up too. 
tomorrows gotta be productive, weekend is shot with family visits & monday I finally get back to work a little, got a rough in for a couple of days, then hopefully back to the other job if they get the siding up, I can wrap that one & hope this year I get a spring rush, last few years it just never came!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sanded down the tops of the trim pieces, looks much better to me now, not so overpowering.
decided to go gray, got a coat on, see how it dries, i want it to look a little "used" so if it doesn't show too much bleed thru I'll leave it one coat.



















Still wet here I hope it will even out when dry.


----------



## coupman35

Nice job on the dock like it


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pulled out the wires, I think I can use these rolls & the folded ones in the cigar box for the switches, they are 4 wire one extra is better than one short
the red & black used loose rolls will go on the building wiring to extend them before I set them, then try & put a strip for the main near each area.
the rest I'll run the from the rolls.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got all the extensions on my building lights, start drilling holes later. & the dock is placed, has a slight warp to it but a couple a pins should hold it down.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Is this wire anything special or for a special purpose, it's solid wire,not regular insulation,very hard to scrape off ?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the lighting wires drilled & the center rear track wire. the ones at the end i may find another way to hide, there right over the table frame, I only have to hide a few inches or run the track right to the edge & drop em out the bottom?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

gonna go cut down the control board & find my mounting place, then I can start dealing with this!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Control board is cut down & mounted, cut the length to 28, but left it full the other way, decided to mount the switch panel right in the board.
Now what other project will I come up with to put off the wiring!
To Crawl under I have to get pretty low, still a spot the long way I can get in, it'll work one way or the other.
I'm sure I'm gonna wack my back on that a few hundred times, it's real close to my work bench chair.
Couple of boards on a screw with washers for the supports, pick it up swing them out & drop it on, as long as no one tries to sit on it it should be fine.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Whew, I'm tired, got a lot done today, a little more time figuring out my panel layout & I'm done for tonight.
Ran one set of lighting wires to the rear row of buildings & one to the front, the terminal board is for the yard track power, the hanging reds will go back to the board into the long switch panel.
Gotta either get my wire ties or some small staples, they hang too loose for my liking in the hooks. hwell:












there be light in the yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

1st shot at control layout, might see if there's room to set the switch controls up in the shape they go into the yards, would mean more wiring, but simpler instruction sheets.
As they are I was trying to use as many of the pre drilled holes as possible, not a big deal but save the board from lookin like swiss cheese.


----------



## shaygetz

Your dad would be pleased...:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK secondboard layout, kinda placed the controls in the order they enter the yards & the loop as they sit on the table, more power feeds but a little bit of a visual aid? 
may split the lighting & accessories to 2 feeds, there will be a lot of lights, how many on one transformer, I know I can't give you watts of bulbs ,but as a general rule? Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

Your not going to leave the tape on right?
Maybe one of those cheap tag making machines (you know what I am talking about?) would come in handy.
The way you put masking tape to use you keep the tape companies in business. 
Label machine, I don't know what they are called.?
They make digital ones now a days also.

They do make cheap ones, (not saying this item is cheap just an example.)
We bought the kids one years ago when they where young, all you need is a cheap one. I don't know the price on this but the ones we got were real cheap, but did it's job.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yes I do by the tape in large lots, but for the cars originally, since I'm between cars & have 6 or 7 rolls left it's a great way to mark things out temperarily.
You are not gonna believe what I picked up at the other house today, pics up in a little while!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

De ja vous..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

He set me up pretty good with labeling options, just gotta mix & match to try & get a neat,well labled board.
Gotta check the stickies, some of them may not have held up this long, am tossing guite a few rolls of all different kinds of tape, they don't age well (yea,Like I do! )

Also gonna slop a coat a paint on it before I lable it, all in good time! 
anyway, here's some other options.


----------



## norgale

Rich I know you have at least one extra transformer. Attach it to the table underneath or on the side and use it for your lights. You can attach some lights to the 'track' side of the Tx and control the level of light in the buildings with it. Then attach any other lights to the 'ac' side of the Tx and they will be on steady all the time.
Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Dimmers! 
I'm still loaded there, hogger will run the yards & inner loop, one tech 2 for the upper loop.
still have a bunch of extras, might put dimmers on em all! :thumbsup: thanks for the idea,Rich


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got my terminal block on for the freight yard, ran the wires over to control panel area, put in a couple of loose staples just to tighten things up abit.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Soldered all my extensions onto the yard isolation switch panel , now i have to crawl under & raise & lower the control board & see how to run the wires under the table & not kink em up or anything.
the connections I'll make under the table.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Only had a little train time today, finally got some work,hopefully continue into a good spring season, it's been slow way too long.
So I took a bunch of loose wires & soldered em onto the connectors, should be close to what I'll need for the steam yard & extra feeds to the loops.
moved all my leads in the freight yard right to the edge of the table, very little to hide now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got bored & decided to can the main table & start from scratch!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just kidding, the new grass matt came today, cleared the front half & got that down, I have the tracks off the back side now ,have to figure out the transition places to the much darker meadow grass in the freight yard. 
I like it, does not shed, vinyl backed, cuts easy but it's a bit fragile, vinyl shows through pretty quick if you scrap it on something.
Still better than the old paper stuff sheding all over the place! :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the rest down, really a lot browner than I expected, was going to use nice green lawns on my cubby hole street of houses, now I'm afraid the contrast is too much , the meadow grass is even way greener.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Lumber yard area shold be good, paint the rest black for the yard in the corner & buildings & roads will cover the rest.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

this is gonna be the hard part, got some roads for seperation, but a couple a spots where I'm gonna need some decorating miracles, or just buy a little more & cover everything but the ballasted areas in the same color?


----------



## norgale

To blend the grass area into the brown area get some "grass" in a shaker bottle and shake it onto the brown a little here and a little there. Mush it around with a small paint brush until the blend looks good to you.Woodland Scenics sell this stuff for $10 a bottle and a bottle goes a long way.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sounds like a plan, I have a bunch of the loose grass, gotta see what colors they are, I'm running in too many directions at once 
keeping busy till the matt came i started like 5 different things, today I built the shelf under the table, to put the extra transformers on...........










Built it almost 2' x4' It's right behind my work table & might be handy to store the more used stuff, I'm running out of big pieces of spare wood, got enough for maybe I more 2x2 shelf, gotta see how bad it restricts my work under there before I hang another.
luckily there's not a lot of wiring in that section.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Which brings me to the controls, I thought I had a dual tech 2, turns out it's a tech 3, has the volt meters & puts out about twice the output, so I think I'll run the upper loop off that & do your (norgale) lighting "dimmers" with a tech 2 & this little brass one.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Also found this little control, looks like it is used to convert a plain transformer to a momentum & brake unit??????????? 
have the two cheepie set transformers also.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I have to figure out what I work on tonight, got 17 unfinished things. .................:laugh:


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Now I have to figure out what I work on tonight, got 17 unfinished things. .................:laugh:



Put numbers in a train hat and pick one out.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Decided to try & get power back up & wire in the yard area, so far I got the wires pulled through the hole & the terminal board mounted, really moving at light speed here!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Marked out all the wires from the switch panel & brought them to the terminal board & cut down.
Freight yard & 1 feed to loops are in,tied into the hogger, when I get the table cleaned off I can see how my yard works.
Steam yard wires just hanging for now, & 2 lighting feeds to the freight yard wrapped around the leg. Not sure how I'm going to do the lights, direct to the extra transformers or through the switches first? 




























Looks like no stress at all when I raise & lower the control board.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Played with the lable thingie, thought yellow on brown would be ok, I'll do a little red & blue to see which stands out the best.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Run test , everything worked , no smokin wires or engines, ran a surge supressor over to where all the transforners will be, gotta figure a way to mount it with the switch easily accessable.
So I tried a little experiment with the new matt material, they said just scrape it off for roads or water areas, gave a little piece a try, just scrapped it actually looks like a pretty good dirt road, with paint the problem I see is getting clean edges, but not too bad


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wow good thing I didn't cut the control board the other way, tech 3 is WAY bigger.
Had to redo the whole board.
Started to wire in the switches, figgered I better test em all before I really nail the track down.  So here's the new board layout...........
Oh yea, slopped a couple coats of old house paint on the board.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got a few screws in to hold in place, main labels are on, the switches I will label later when I figure out what I'm going to call each section..........up/down inner/ outer, whatever, just something simple my feeble mind can comprehend!
Ready to drill some holes now & pull wires! YEA :thumbsdown: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wired up 2 switches & brought the power over for the test, geeze they work!
they actually switched in the direction I had all the tracks marked, so I didn't have to reverse any wires, miracles do happen 
So cept for my layout on the board ,I have to run 14 power feeds instead of 5. I do like to torture myself  looks like a GO :thumbsup: Rich.
Wish the labeler had arrows instead of dashes, but I know what they mean! 
Union break time, back at it after my sons H.S.ball game. Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

You heard of the duct tape guys?
You are the masking tape guy. 
Write a book, 1001 ways to use masking tape on the RR. 

What is the stuff you rubbed a road on?
whoops I better go back and read......Nope you did not give a manufacturer or a name or how much you get for whatever it costs.

Looks like a piece of sandpaper.

Do yourself a favor and make sure you unplug the power supplies you use when you leave the RR alone.
I recommend everyone to do that, an added safety measure.

Labels look much better.
Looking good man. :thumbsup:

Don't worry about no one commenting.
JerryH has the same problems here, http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=14852&page=4

I don't know why all the HO men/woman won't give him/you some answers, I noticed you don't get many either. 
Maybe they are bashful? 
I don't know what that brake box is?

But....your both getting the views I see from the thread count? 

Continue.:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

it's a senic grass matt, vinyl backed, here's a link to it..........
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/woo/woorg5124.htm
As far as answers go, it seems not many on my long posts. if I really need the info I put up a new post on just that subject, there I seem to get answers, whats the difference, beats me? game is in 4th inning 8 to 7 us, gotta get back! later,Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

The address on that control box rings a bell now, after looking a the company name and Edison address.
I think that box was talked about here, years ago.
Or something else was on the company? 

I thought maybe one of the electric gurus would know.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thats probably because its MRC, I'm still thinking it's an upgrade to a plain old transformer, maybe I should read the darn paperwork, but that would involve less chat time on the board here!  Rich.
they lost, 14 to 12, at least they went down fighting!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the power leads to all the switch controls & the 2 lighting sets from the yard over to their switches, over the weekend i'll clean up the wiring, power up those lights & maybe finish off the freight yard.

edit.........

Wow Ed, I just looked at jerry's post again, now I feel I should rewire my whole thing, he does some nice work, technically out of my league, but super clean none the less.
Think I'll double up my efforts to clean up that wiring!  Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> edit.........
> 
> Wow Ed, I just looked at jerry's post again, now I feel I should rewire my whole thing, he does some nice work, technically out of my league, but super clean none the less.
> Think I'll double up my efforts to clean up that wiring!  Rich.


Did you comment over on Jerry's post?
He has asked questions and no one answers?

He needs someone with a track planning program.
Me....I never used one. 
I just fiddle around with the track till it all works. 

He used to have his thread in the layout forum, even after he had it moved to the HO forum no one answers.
Looks like spring is finally here! :thumbsup:
I am not looking forward to the hot 7 humid summer though! :thumbsdown:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My lack of experiance doesn't allow me to be of any technical help, mostly I help with spare parts & such when I can. 
I like you(I guess you've seen) just keep laying track, see what it looks like, rip it up & start over, the table is my scratch paper.
Research, isn't that one of the reasons for the forum, unfortunatly reading 30 pages of text lookin for a 2 word answer isn't my strong suit.
Maybe later when I get back I'll at least suggest the seperate question post to him, seems like that results in more direct answers. 
My 'Cuda build spanned 10 years & thousands of posts, a lot of help came from board members there,the internet can be a wonderful thing! Rich.


----------



## norgale

I've noticed that sometimes guys ask questions that just don't have answers. Take track planning for instance. There are an infinite number of track plans that you can come up with and no two people will do the same thing. Too many variables like space and what you want to model. Passenger lines are different from freight. They both run on the same track but it takes a much bigger yard with longer sidings to store passenger cars than it takes for a bunch of freight cars. There's just no plain and simple answer to all the questions and everybody wants something different. This is where a drawing comes in handy to start. You have to begin by putting your ideas on paper so you can step back and look at it to see if it's going where you want to go. Changes are inevitable so the drawing is just a guide. Make them as you go along. Wiring is the toughest part as it can get very confusing. Run one wire at a time and hook it up and work it so you can see if you did it right. When you have a whole bunch of wires to hook up at the same time you waste a lot of time figuring out what wire is next even if it is labeled. Some guys are good with a whole bunch of wires but most aren't including me.
KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID! (KISS) Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thats my motto! 
When I look at the complexity of what some of you guys are doing, well I'm in awe, looks like the control panel in a commercial HVAC unit, I just want power to the darn tracks.
Just my simple layout is going to take some real time to wire up & I kept it simple, pretty direct & no reverse loops or anything too complicated, if I live long enough & get more space, maybe I'll move up a notch, for now KISS will do nicely! Rich.


----------



## norgale

That's what happened to the second BGC. I wanted all kinds of lights and controls on the trains and I did get some hooked up ok but the overall job was too much for me. It all got too complicated and once aggravation sets in you know your on the wrong track--so to speak. Someday I'll have another house with a nice big living room and that's where the layout will go. It will be built so that the entire thing is accessible from all sides and it will be right next to where I park my 60 Lincoln. Yes--- in the living room. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the power up,Strip is as close to the edge as I could get it & still hide all the plugs, easily reached & even has a dum dum light so I won't leave it on, wasted half my shelf, but really can't get to the back half easily anyway & this is why I built it! hwell:
gonna go wire up my yard lights & test our pete's dimmer idea.










the tech 2 & the brass mrc will power up most of the accessories, switch machines are on the hogger.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the power to the accessories switch, I can run 6 items or areas on each transformer, should be plenty to give me some variations on lighting things up.Pete, thanks, the dimmer idea works cool!

laid down some more ballast in the yard,the rear track I used the black tape under the track & the bead of glue on the outside "skirts" see how that comes out, if good, thats how I'll do the inner loop.
didn't clean up yet it's still wet.


----------



## shaygetz

Think of the lack of comments as the stunned silence that can only come from a gathering of neophytes in the presence of the master teacher...:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

See now thats what I miss, a little banter to liven things up.

My only response to that has to be or they think ......................

This guys a hack & beyond help! 

Either way I'm not blind, I see what other people are doing, we run the gauntlet from a simple loop to a serious model railroad.I don't mind being at the lower end of the curve, you gotta start somewhere.
I'm having fun, like the conversation that goes with the work, so all is good in my little "experimental" railroad world!  Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

What is the one black section by the road? 
Rerailer? 
A road crossing section?
Some kind of dump car activation?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Rerailer, in all my lack of planning I had no place to put trains on the track,those are the only straight tracks I can reach easily, also forgot the uncoupler magnets, I think I can add those on top of the ties, he had 2 versions, glued onto the ties & a couple where he cut out the ties.
Other wise I'll have to figgure out how that stick method works, like in the instructional vidios jjb posted!


----------



## Big Ed

OK, what did you do with the custom loading ramp/dock?
Move it?
It used to be right there, right?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thats in the back corner by the lumber yard,for some of the pics I just laid it in that area for quick pics, I can reach it from the work bench.
here she is>>>>>>>>>>


----------



## Big Ed

The picture I was looking at it was over by the yard, but I see now it was not stationary there.
It was just sitting there, I went back and see where it is now.
OK, end of questions, for now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Heck, it was just getting interesting  now I have to go up there & actually do some work!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Cleaned up the loose stuff, I think it looks pretty good, so now I have to tape off a couple a hundred tracks  figure out my grass transition , how I will support the tracks under my little hill  then I can lay out & nail down the inside loop! 
Sounds simple, see yas in a few weeks!  Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

You got to dirty the ramp up some, the picture makes it look like a giant piece of cement.
I know pictures don't always show exactly how something looks.
Maybe weather it up somehow? 

That is it I am gone, Poooof, Later, got work to do.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

All in the detailing, I'm a long way from that yet.
The yard is pretty much done(cept for the detailing)wired up, run tested & the main decorations in place.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I cut in the roads comming out of the yard, this transition of different grass matts is bad,I'll play with sprinkling on some grass tonight & test that scrape off for a road in a bigger area, if that doesn't pan out I'll order the larger roll & cut out where the roads will go. if the road works I can get the smaller roll & just cut in the yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The roads a no go, first scrapin that stuff off isn't all that easy, getting crispy lines near impossible & the paint shines to much on the vinyl .
So the cut em out method will be used.










The grass is also a no go, had some really green loose stuff & a small batch with colors in it. 
top is the green bottom is the colored stuff & in the middle I tried to mix them, I suppose if I play for hours I could get em close, but there's so much area to do it's just not worth it, so I'm ordering a small roll of the vinyl matt & piece in the back & yard areas . 









So in the last few hours all I've gotten done is I got the ballast on the 10 full size curve tracks I need for the inner loop.


----------



## norgale

I think that for a guy who had no intention of building a layout and who had never done anything like this before you have done a very remarkable job here and It looks great. I've seen a lot of great ideas here like taping the back of the track and sticking the ballast to it. Beats the heck out of all that gluing and such.
We all have to deal with different problems when building a layout and there are usually as many ways of doing this as there are layouts. It's all in what suits your image of a railroad.
Keep up the great work Rich and you'll have a prize winning railroad in no time if you don't already. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got my little hillside all shimmed up, now I don't know how to procede, I'm thinking from the road just inside the inner loop a gradual upgrade to a small hill in the corner, ending at the black bridges on both ends.
gonna try the heat gun thing with the grass matt, so do I have to build that whole road bed out of solid wood? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The first time I took these out of the box the foliage was droppin all over the place, put it back figuring it dried out & was no good, after perusing the senic website & watching a few vidios I wasn't so sure anymore, so I decided to try & make some trees.
Put the loose stuff in a cup for now & got the trunks bent & painted, will play with these later!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a nice surprise in the mail today, the bachmann UP (warrantee replacement ) came today, write up in the norfork western repair help post!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK got side tracked with the steamer test, my track does have some issues but the bachmann handeled them the worst.
But while they were out I ran em around a little & they do make my yard look cool  wanted to take them into the steam yard but I have all kinds a crap piled over there! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

During the run test a couple of the units gave me a big clunk when they hit this switch, curved turnout, I think it's this metal diverter in the center, did not derail em but seems they hit pretty hard????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

If I wasn't so lazy there should have been six of em on there, soon there probably will be, the first day I hit a snag that stops progress! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

quilty, I couldn't resist , I just had to pull out a few more steamers & play some more, so the trees got cut off at 2 test models, the one with a little color added is the shread & dip technique & the plain one is the stretch & wrap, I suppose if I bury it in the middle of the forest...................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Play time, the gray fleet is up & the pere & the alton for a little contrast. 

Of coarse I had to notice my sons UP overland is missing the light plate on the center of the boiler cover 
You did notice I said my sons unit & not mine! :laugh: Rich.

I am gonna haveta detail the front of that bachman, looks pretty plain jane next to the others.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Had a little time to play before my pm service calls, laid out some scrap wood & tried the heat gun on the matt, will play some more with shaping after I see if the tracks work ok.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bad day in trainland 
Guess I'll start with what I thought was going ok,the hill seemed workable,got a few dips in the track to shim up so I tacked down some tracks to test the loops & my new little hill, all was going well, tested 2 diesel engines, tweeked a few spots & all was lookin good until..................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I pulled out the up overland to test the upper loop , lower first, that curved turnout on the lower loop is still a bit of a problem, derailed the tender a few times, ran without it & switched over to the upper loop, didn't get far, the pilot hit's the switch machine on the curved turnout......................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

If that wasn't bad enough I put it on after the switch to test the rest of the upper loop, didn't get too far 
engine locked up, hit reverse went a little & locked up, pulled it & took a look see, seems the drive wheels got disloged, did not dig in yet, any advice will be helpful on that.


----------



## norgale

Got the same problem with the engine I got from you. If you can't run a piece of straight track before the turnout then you'll have to put an under-the -table switch machine in for that turnout. Otherwise it's smaller engines only in that area f track. 
On the loco wheels it looks like something came loose in the part that holds the wheels. This will be fun. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wait Pete it gets worse!


----------



## norgale

Oooooohhhhhhh nnnnnooooooo!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I pull out my engine, (my poor son his engine is takin a beating) to continue the test, mount it past the switch & procede, didn't get too far again  seems any of my bridges near a turn(most of them ) wont clear, don't think I have enough room to get straight approaches, the little ones I could pull, but darn it the big one was the whole point of this thing.hwell:
I do have a couple of the under table machines, but not sure if they will work on the curved turnouts,if not my whole hill is fubar, next chance I get it's back to doodling with tracks again.
Good thing I got some work in the next few days, give me a chance to chill a bit, what ever I do, I have to make that yard in the back work with it, that would really be the kicker if I have to pull that entry up! 

Oh yea, when the time comes he will get the good one(well if it's still good) I won't be around to use it anyway


----------



## norgale

The bridge on the first BGC was like that. It worked ok because I didn't have those big engines then but the track moved a tad sometimes and then a car would hang up on the inside of the bridge. The new bridges are much wider with a straight approach so they should work better. On the last BGC before I had to move it the outside loop with 22" radius worked fine for the big engines that I got from you. However they did not work well on the inside loop and hit the switch machines and derailed on the #4 turnouts like yours is doing. Narrow tunnels would be a problem too if I had any.
Your yard looks like it will work ok especially with the slow speeds associated with it. However with these big engines you really need at least 22" radius on the curves and a section of straight track going into and out of bridges and tunnels and turnouts. Turnouts should be #6 or #8 too for the most trouble free action with the big guys.
Now your into the fine tuning area of your track. Some changes are certainly required and that's why you haven't nailed down all your track--I hope. I would work on the outside or longest loop for the big guys and for them to enter and leave the yard. Use the rest and any switching areas for the smaller engines like the real RR's do. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Next test (if & when I get that far) I'm pulling out the big boy if that works I'm half way there.
I added 2 short straights & it does fit on the table(but not tested if it's enough) but kills the lumber yard corner
Only way I can save the big bridge I think is to try & make the approach bridges shorter gonna make my own to test, maybe half the size & then half straight track entering, then I will have to adjust everything that goes under it.
both loops are 22 inch, but a lot of S curves & a ton of tight switching, so it's back to the doodling board!
Back to work, hopefully some play time later!  Rich.


----------



## norgale

I was going to suggest moving the track into the lumber yard area but figured you would see that or be able to make room in another direction. Even a half a piece of straight will give you more clearance so like you say you'll just have to try it out. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I got everything to clear(well cept the switch) but I'm starting to doubt this whole raised loop, watching my best stuff roll around up there inches away from an almost 4' drop is making me Quite nervous.
Did get a pleasent surprise though, put the big boy on the inner loop just to see, forgot to switch the exit switch & she went to the upper, cleared the switch box & proceeded to run the loop with no problems except me running alongside making sure it didn't take a fatal tumble.
put it back on the lower & she ran it better than the 4-8-4's, I think the smaller 8 wheel sets is the key there, gonna test the cab foward later.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Lost power for a couple of hourssneeze around here latley & it goes down. just came back, so bored I attempted the other three trees using a flash light, gotta go see what they look like in the light of day.
I'll put the cab foward on for it's test too.
Dramatic results in a while,stay tuned!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Without further adieu here's the trees!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So the Cab foward was a little twitchy on power pick up, even on the lower loop it bangs the curved turnout machine, I didn't even try the upper with it, wasting time, gotta decide what to do there. now it pushes the track right to the edge all the way around & destroys the lumber yard area, I was kinda set on that, I actually had an idea in mind, rare but true!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So now I'm down to just plain showin off Dad's stuff, 
she is a looker!  Rich.
forgot to pose the big boy, i'll get it next test run.


----------



## norgale

That cab forward will prolly make it through the bridge ok because it's articulated. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I'm gettin twitchy  was running the UP overland again & it stalled, started glowing red near the rear truck  I killed the power & took a look, it was just the spring came loose & rested on the power pick up ,the spring acted like a heating coil, thats all I need break both units in two days:thumbsdown:
I think I'll use the bachman for any further 4-8-4 tests! it's the touchiest on the tracks, so if that runs good the rest should too(I hope) Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just read jjb's post on 22" curves again, gonna get that new bachman out & take a look see at the truck screws, then dig into the UP that the drive wheels came loose on, wish me luck!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

There is hope in the world, after a bad day, truck broke down , after unloading, getting it towed in & loading up the pickup I did manage to get some work done, but it seems I just can't catch a break latley.
Was almost afraid to go play with the trains, because of the snags latley,hwell: but I did & actually had some good results, My sons UP was just a loose nut, it was binding on the running gear, when I poped it off the bar the wheels snapped back into place, so I snugged down all the rest & she ran good:thumbsup: now I just have to find the boiler plate piece & she's 100% again.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pull out the bachman, she did run a bit better after the adjustments to the tracks I made the last few days, but front & rear truck are still derailing a lot, looked at the tightness of the screws, on this model it shouldn't matter, they are spaced to leave the bar free to rotate, but darn they just flop around no tension to adhere to track at all.
Did a compare with the rivarossi, they also flop around easy but have that spring to put a little downward pressure on them, absence of any such thing on the bachmann.

Riva springs............





Bachmann, well nothing>>>>>>>>>>>

would bending the bars a tad create enough downward pressure????? 
Or maybe a shim or 2 around the screws to firm it up a bit??????????


----------



## norgale

Rich your using the wrong focus on your camera again. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tryin to get too close I think, overcompensating for the tiny parts I'm trying to picture!
more commin, if there that bad I'll go reshoot!

the darn camera doesn't know what piece I'm trying to focus on!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tried a couple of shims on the bachmann, partial success, rear truck works great, no derailment, just one shim below the screw that holds the bar to the chassie.
limits up & down movement but still moves free side to side.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Front truck better but still looses it quite a bit, tried shims on both the truck screw & the chassie screw, that was not good, removed truck shim & just used chassie one & I thought I had it, made it around a slow speeds prettygood, as soon as you hit about 3/4 speed she doesn't hold. I'll keep playing there's gota be a simple way to overcome this? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Played on the hillside a bit, I'm thinking just bushes & weeds, maybe a couple a small trees, for this I just spread out a mix of what was handy, laid down some trees to imatate bushes


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Messed with the bridge a little, got a temporary fix to the clearence issue. disclaimer>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NO pieces were broken or permanently altered in this operation>>>>>>>>>>>>>> procede................ notched out the slots for the walkway & the last one is outside the base, side is snapped into the first two normal slots & just lays against the inner walk the rest of the way, the Up rivapossi 4-8-4 clears with ease, may even be able to bring it back in a little, looks funky close up, far off not too bad?

Next I have to see if my under the table machines will work on the curved turnouts, if not everything changes.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Played with the bachmann a bit, put a slight offset bend in the bar for the leading truck, that seemed to work better than the shims(rear truck shim is doing fine that has not been off the rails once )did find another slight problem on the track too that was popping the truck, so slowly but surely between tweekin on both it's gettin there. 
Ran it for quite a while, i see what you mean with the smoke stacks, there's a lotta heat building up there, just for kicks I'm gonna try the smoke & see if there's less or more heat buildup?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Lookin at the bridge, maybe if I paint that extra gray area near the walkway black it wont look so bad?
Waiting for some glue to dry on my first cut track, trying to glue the proper end ties back on so it will rest in the trestle, then I can test the 4-8-4 & see if I can bring my offset back in a bit.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So the reason for that is I tweeked the tracks a bit & got it off the dead edge, now only by an inch or so , not enough to really stop any catastrophy, funny but at least it looks safer.

Got the other grass matt , so before I do anything with it I have to finally make up my mind if this is it, tonights test with the tilt will tell me, gonna pin everything down pretty good & see how they run!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So my weekend relaxing with the trains so far as turned out to be everything but relaxing! 
So I tack & I tweek, try & make sure everthing is aligned properly Run the riva 4-8-4 around(if it's already on the upper loop it does clear the switches) lookin ok so I pull out 4 riva pass cars & get those on the track, go to back up to them & the running gear locks up again, not that loose nut, something else is asque in there. got it free for now & put it in the box.
A diesel was handy so I start with that, besides uncoupling (eng to cars,the cars stay together) on some of the changes in incline the steps on the cars actually bump those switch machines.
For the next test I pull out the other riva 4-8-4, even the tender steps hit that machine, tender derails once in a while. 
Never even pulled the big boy, I know that handeled it well before, so what was the sense.
I'm starting to think its can the bridge & got back to a ground level operation! 
I just may not be ready to deal with all the complications the loop is providing me with hwell:
will veg out a while & take a good look at it ,K.I.S.S. must be gotten back to. Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bridges are down, trying to work flat is already messin with the switching into the yard! 
to be continued.........................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, down to earth, gonna try & save my pathetic little hill, but if it goes it's not the end of the world.
what I'd like to end up with is 2 loops ,a fairly long siding & save the yards as close as I can to what I had.
I'm going to try the X'ings to pass through the yard tracks, that will open up the size of the loops (I hope) 
So the doddling begins............... again!  Rich.

[/URL


----------



## Big Ed

I have been trying to figure out a way for you to tie in the backgrounds.
Hope you don't mind? 
Just a few ideals for you.

I like this shot with the back ground. :thumbsup:














Maybe you can hand paint something like this into the back ground to join the corner together? (I couldn't match the colors.hwell Paint in a little white on the clouds on the left side to blend in (just a little) with the right side clouds?
Then add a tall tree right in the corner?










This one will be hard to blend in, maybe just paint in a small part of the hill coming down along side in the back the building?
Then add a 2 story shed right back there in the corner, a water tower, or something? 
The seam at the top in the sky you can't do anything unless your good with art.
Behind the track bumpers just add some bushes down along the bottom seam?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ed my man, the backrounds are the least of my problems right now!:laugh:
If I put blinders on all guests, & point them at one wall at a time, they will never even notice 

So the doddling began in earnest this am, first round on. have to get an exit back from outer to inner, boy I miss those curved turnouts they save a lot of space. I need the extensions they have for the straight ones to move the machine away from the tracks, if I rememer correctly they cleared if you were on the outer, so I might be able to at least use one for an exit ? gonna try one & see if the stuff clears, then the only disaster is my entry to the freight yard & the loss of one siding in the steam yard


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, so I think I have something that should work.
Inner loop & steam yard on one trans. & outer loop & freight yard on the other, It has a nice long siding which I will isolate, runs from the rear to the front, providing entry from the freight yard to either loop, once the trains are on the inner & outer loop , inner train can run around the short way or use the siding which is slightly longer.
Might be a use for those A-B controls, supply power to it from either transformer, gotta study that idea a litte more?

Roads & decorations will change a lot, my home made loading dock may not fit. balsa wood easy to cut, if theres a need for it, I will adapt)  
I used 2 of the curved switches, one on outer loop, mounted where the train is already on the loop, there's about a hairs clearence on the steps of the 4-8-4 tender  other is in the freight yard where it shouldn't matter(no long cars on the first 2 rails)
Got all the sidings back in the steam yard & the freight yard the back 2 are a little longer. 
Saved my little excuse for a hill, but some of the wood underneath has to be redone.Not sure if it's even worth it


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The one curved turnout for exit from the outter loop.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The steam yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the freight yard


----------



## Big Ed

Freight yard, I don't see any freight?
Switching yard, yes I see that. 

OK I won't think anymore, but I still think this is a nice shot. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

There actually in the wrong yard, at the time the steam yard was cluttered with all my junk & I was too lazy to move it.
Those low down straight on shots do make the backround work.:thumbsup:
Now I can move on to the tack down & test time, see if it works the way I think it will. now thats askin a lot!:laugh: Rich,


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here's some freight cars for ya Ed, so ya don't think I'm imagining things.


----------



## Big Ed

I thought that was the locomotive yard?
You have the water tank and the other stuff there? 

I will stop thinking now, I am getting dizzy trying to figure out your layout.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Deisel engines on the back track or maybe two.

Ed you have to remember who your dealing with, total amature, I'm putting down the stuff I have, there really is no rhyme or reason.

Measured that second track, just under 5' before it would block the next siding, might be able to park a passenger train there. that would make rear track 2 diesel engines ready to go(track is isolated twice) pass train track 2 & the other 4 will hold freight cars. 
Or split the passenger train to 2 tracks & leave 3 for freight cars, guess it depends on which I run, some are only 4 or 5 cars, 1set I think I have 9 cars for. So as you see, I make it up as I go along 
this way there's enough on the board to make a couple a nice trains & back into the sidings to pick em up, I doubt I'm gonna do a lot of cherry picking , just hook up & pull the consist!
steam yard I can display 5 steamers righ up front, thats where the center of attention will be, pull em out, back into the other yard, pick up a train & go for a ride! :thumbsup:

So I tacked everything down a bit & started with a diesel engine, got some leveling to do, some clickity clacks to work out, but it ran pretty good & only derailed on a couple a switches that weren't fully closing, everytnings dirty now so a major cleanup is in order. 
I've been at it for about 12 hours, didn't dare take out the steamer & pass car for a test, was afraid I would ruin a petty good day


----------



## norgale

Rich your idea for two Tf's sounds good to me. Hook it up and run with it to see if you like it. I ended up with four Tf's on the last BGC and it was very confusing as to which one I wanted to work with. Some times I was going from one block to another and I'd forget which Tf I was supposed to use. I will have only three with the BGC that I'm building now----I think. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

4-8-4 test went pretty good, put on a penn pass car & ran it around awhile, had more trouble backing into the steam yard(tender kept derailing) than the freight yard, that went smooth. :thumbsup:
Had a dead spot near 2 short curve tracks, actually dimmed the lights & stopped or hesitated engine(depending on speed) replaced both & looked em over, still don't know why but the replacements did the trick 
I'm going to try the new bachman after dinner & see how that does on better tracks
there's a few spots to be leveled, but I might as well wait till I get all the grass down & hopefully that will be it, tack it down test it out & start wiring the main table, ugh! 
Now the camera IS in focus, the trains just movin that fast! 



comming up to my little hill..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yo Ed check this out, a steamer actually in the beginings of a steam yard.


----------



## Big Ed

Is that your caboose hooked to the tender?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Isn't bigger better? 
Speakin of big, got out some more steam power & ran em around a bit, the bachmann did much better on my somewhat improved tracks, still the front truck seems twitchy.
did you say big...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I was supposed to be ripping up all the track in the rear to put down the grass mat 
after the bachmann test I had 2 on the tracks, big boy & cab foward within reach & it just mushroomed from there, guess I'll rip up the tracks tomorrow hwell:
didn't want the mantuas to feel neglected so I put a couple in the mix.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back to the table work, pulled up all the track where the new matt has to go,workin on that now, still no work so more train time!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the yard area covered, had to put the track back & pull out the buildings to see what fits & where the roads will go, less decorating space to work with.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

not enough room for my little statio& the road, have to tweek those outside lines & switches & or the siding in the steam yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

overall view of the new mess!


----------



## thetramp

What do you use to make the streets? At a Model Railroad show, one person said they use black roofing shingles cut to size.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Right now I'm just painting them on the board, I've heard of the shingle use, I noticed my Dad's friend used sand paper for roofing shingles, it's adapt as you go , see what works, see what other guys are doing, with me, I also see whats laying around & try & make it work. 
But I'm probably not the guy to copy right off the bat,since I rip out more than stays down, if you can find a good idea I had(that actually worked) your welcome to it) Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the tracks tweeked & made room for the road,messed around getting wood under the track on the hill(it's probably not worth the work it's making me do) I'll try & make it work out . 
Now I have to cover up the rest of the spots that need matting ,then back to tacking & testing the track.


----------



## Big Ed

Now it is looking more like a train yard. :thumbsup:

But.
I was thinking. 

I see a freight station in the steam yard and a switch tower in the freight yard. 

The stairs crossing over the tracks, they would not need them there in the yard, they would look better over the main line somewhere. By a passenger station if possible. 

What do you think?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Stairs might go by the lumber yard in the back, on the mains there's not a lot to cross over to(same as the bridge over nothin)
freight yard has switches too 
the "freight station" is the yard office.
steam yard has it's own tower, but it's tight in there not sure it will clear the trains, it's the little yellow dot in the big pic, here it is from CLOSE up.

I think they made it in piza or is it pisa...... whatever......


----------



## Big Ed

Now that you pointed it out I see it. :thumbsup:

I was just yanking your chain, the way you build by next week everything will be in a different spot anyway. 

But the stairs should be over the main line somewhere, you really wouldn't see them where they are now.

The bridge over nothing?

I am sure something will materialize there.
Have you finished going through all you have yet?

I will think about what could go under the bridge.
I got 500 miles to go tomorrow, a lot of time to think. 

How about?
A scrap yard of some sort, fill it up with broken HO parts.
Things like old couplers, broken train trucks, some pieces of track, some old train shells cut up, an old box car worked into the scene ( off the trucks and used for storage) and old steam engine boiler, etc. 
Make it the yards, scrap yard, everyone had one.

That is why I never throw anything away, you never know how you can use it.

Dam I went back to look at your bridge over nothing and it is gone?
What happened to it, I wrote all that for nothing?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

With me, if you blink you will miss a lot.:laugh:
Well when there was a bridge, I was doing a construction site/yard type of thing,like you'd see in the city. 
Saving the bridge for the grand layout, after I will the lottery & buy a grand house to put it in!


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> With me, if you blink you will miss a lot.:laugh:
> Well when there was a bridge, I was doing a construction site/yard type of thing,like you'd see in the city.
> Saving the bridge for the grand layout, after I will the lottery & buy a grand house to put it in!


Well you can still plan in a scrap yard somewhere. 

Add it by some rail and you could park a RR crane by it, leave enough room for a couple of gondola cars for the scrap.

Enough thinking for me today, I got to leave some thinking for my tomorrow.

Any requests?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Think about how I can display dads collection, Just so much, with 6 or 7 engines on the table, that leaves 40 or so wasting away in the boxes, I was in the cubby hole today & I can reach most of that wall(where the flyer is) it's the only long wall in the room, maybe just above my "sky" I could get a couple of shelves up, go 2 deep, raise the rear track a bit, maybe 2 or 3 shelves about 8'long , heck man draw me a picture!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Painted a little road, put down a few grass mat fillers, working my way over from the freight yard to the lumber yard corner, now I have to figure out some kind of curbing to edge it & seal the mat down.waitin for paint to dry. So whats new by you guys? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Enough for tonight, almost done in the back, don't know if my curb Idea will work, pins are splittin the wood, any bigger & I think is too much.
Got the road painted on the new cubby hole cover, will get the overhanging mat on tomorrow & see how it looks in place.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the mat on the cubby cover, hopefully when I figure out what I'm going to fasten it down with (tried silicone by the hill & it destroyed the beaver board when I pulled it up)the seams will be a little tighter. 
Now tracks in the back go down again so I can figure out the entry to lumber yard & decorations-roads in that corner.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put in that curved turnout, yard is longer & more space between it & the mains, so that under the table machine better work 
Been tweeking track joints, trying to make sure everything lines up, I'm hopeing this it finally it & want it to go smooth when I start balasting & nailing it down(I do believe in miracles)
here's the newest yard.(todays version anyway!) Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the yard tracks ballasted & nailed down, will do the outside bead after all track is nailed down & retested.
Maybe tomorrow I will drill some holes for more switch hookups & power feeds, maybe complete all the switching into the freight yard , work some ballast & roads on the main table.
I think it's finally comming together. Rich.


----------



## Lack Valley

Some trees,utility poles maybe a old rail fence.Take a look at HOBBYLINC.COM go to trains then scenery. What you have looks good.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm a ways off from the detailing, I probably have most of what I need it's just a matter of deciding what goes where , I'm thinking I'll do one section at a time & see how the supplies last.
Dad had a much bigger layout, but never got to the decorating stage, had lots of stuff on hand though, I'm trying my best to work with whats here, not a lot of hobby money these days, I'm workin more on the trains than at my HVAC business. 
It's both good & bad, having fun, but not makin much income! hwell: Rich.


----------



## Lack Valley

I know what your talking about!!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, a lot of distractions today, but I got some of the track ballast down, nailed down about 3/4 of the outside loop,a little of the inside loop & ran the 2nd power feed for the outside loop, one more on far side when I get over there.
couple more days & I should be able to test all the track again.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Working my way over to that curved turnout in the steam yard, might as well find out if the under table machine is going to work now,or plan x has to be implemented.
I'm running out of letters


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It works! 
Not easy getting it centered, used a 3/8" hole, now i have to be careful making my Xing it's right on the edge of the road. 
Wish I had more, beats the heck out of the machines all over the table. hwell:
now the ballasting & nailing can continue.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the outer loop, the bypass siding & 2/3rds of the inner loop ballasted & nailed down, power feed to bypass & another to the outer loop drilled in :thumbsupnot hooked up yet at power end) had to get out of the cubby hole, the back can only stand in one place for so long:thumbsdown: might hit the work table later & mess with that switch later.
I'll finish off the inside loop & power some of the leads up to test all the track before I do the steam yard.

So no pretty pics tonight (I think I over did the ballast on tracks already) so read baby read!  Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

Dam this is the first time I am seeing words in your posts. 

You get,

:ttiwwop:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I know that, thats why some of the guestions you ask are either answered in the text or changed so they no longer matter
I do like the suggestions though so keep em comming :thumbsup:
When I get some engines up there for the test I will continue the pictorial for you ed 
I think the guys are gettin tired of seeing a few more tracks with ballast,I guess I could go under the table & take a pic of more wires dangling, oh yea, did that a few times too 
Gotta get past all the stuff I did five times already, get some fresh photo opps :laugh: Rich.


----------



## norgale

One wire at a time Rich. Get each thing working well and then go on to the next thing. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

testing the track , some shims here & there, got one problem spot which showed up worst on the bachmann & the pilot truck on the berkshire, as I'm entering the switch every now & then quite a jolt & it bounces the front pilot truck off the track,diesel ran it fine & so did the riva 4-8-4, that I have a few spots that are getting that 50 wheel tender.
Most problems now are right at the switches. 

here's the bad switch entry, I already tweeked it a little, it was cocked more, have to redo that section of inner loop to get a smoother entry.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Some pretty pics for Ed! 
the bachmann test


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ed, 3 cabooses this time out! 
Pere Marquette test.................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

This thing has got me stumped, took out all the nails, it ran fine like 10 times around, so I started nailing down in the new position, ran through good a couple times after each nail, got half way around the turn & nailed a curved track & bam, it caught something & derailed again, I'm pretty sure that nail 2 feet away didn't cause it,filed a couple a joints close to the switch, can't feel anything, not sure if it's out of wack entering the switch or when it hits the plastic divider thing on the switch. 
So to add a little coal to the fire, now the berkshire makes a wirring sound & didn't move, like slipping belt, give it a little nudge & it goes again, something is comming loose in there! 
Just when I though it was finally comming together, guess I could try another switch in there, that will be a pain now that everything else is nailed in! 
No more tonight gotta chill before something expensive hits the wall! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I think I'm going to try to get a short straight track in at the entry to the switch, get the pilot straight as it hits the switch, I even filed down the switch "diverters", there actually metal on this switch, felt high as I ran my finger into the switch on top of the rail, no help there.hwell:
Again, track seems pretty good, everything happens at the switches & only once in a while which makes it harder to pinpoint the cause. 

Actually have a couple of estimates this am, 2nd visit on one, hopefully nail that down today , maybe I can actually make a buck this spring. 

Will hit the trains this afternoon & try that straight entry. I think I have enough room to change that angle in  Rich.


----------



## norgale

One problem I had was the cow catchers on my steamers catching on the switch machine. I had to remove the snow plow from the Seminole Gulf diesel too. One thing you can do Rich is stand back and eyeball the track looking along the rails the long way. Any little thing out of line or a joint that isn't seated square to it's neighbor can cause a problem.
Another thing is the #4 switches that most of us use are not good with the bigger locos and the triple axle diesels. Where I used #6 turnouts everything worked fine. Running double axle diesels went fine with all the turnouts. The more wheels the more problems. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not the machine this time, it's running the lower loop entering from inner track to the switch for the bypass siding, happens right at the entry, been staring at the trains as they hit, just can't seem to pin point what causes the bump, I did notice some worn down spots on the plastic front pilot truck on the pere marquette, that may be from rerailers & such but when I put that on a switch,it (the pilot truck)actually drops down in the little void in the diverter, not sure I'm even reaching that point when it "pops" ?
More up close study needed! Later,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The straight piece of track helped a lot, still had to shim a bit, so after that the berkshire pilot started popping comming out of the switch!
Pulled the switch & tried another,works good, I think that one is done, now I have to reballast the whole section.I might need to power that short section on the switch, isolated right after creates a fairly long dead spot. 
Seems I'm going to have to tweek around every switch, not often (like this was) but every now & then something catches & derails either the pilot or sometimes the whole engine, mostly at higher speeds. 

Ran the mantua chessie steamer around, no problems anywhere even at speed, much heavier engine?????? might be the reason?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still tweekin, wasted an hour changing out another switch only to find it was a bad wheel set on one of the freight cars
This is gonna take a while! hwell: Rich.


----------



## norgale

A bad wheel will do it every time. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The dead spot was the rivit area that transfers the power was loose, gave it a few taps with a punch to no avail, dug in the box found 2 more, one same thing, the last one had continuity, put it in & the bump on entry is back, will file down the diverter later & hope thats it,if all else fails I can put the last smooth switch back & solder a power bypass after the rivit 
So now the problem at the switches from inner to outer is back, that I don't understand, did nothing anywhere near there since I got it running smooth last night.
This may take as long as the last seven layouts I tried! :laugh: Rich.


----------



## DonR

Rich

If you're not already loco, those Atlas turnouts will
soon have you there.

I've been through every one of the mishaps you
are experiencing and finally gave up. Gave 'em
to my brother. 

I know you have a special attachment to those
Atlases but maybe you could create an imaginative
wall hanging with them.

Then take your lottery winnings and replace them
all with Pecos.:thumbsup:

Don


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Right now I'd just like to get my simple little layout running so I can decorate,no money to spend now.
This time its exiting from inner to outer, the drive wheels are now riding up when it hits the diverter in the switch , been shimming & tweeking 1/2 the day & can't seem to find the right combo. 
I can see what you mean, it's gettin OLD quick! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Another day of shimming & tweeking.
abandoned those switches for a while & concentrated on the loops, a little dissapointed, most trestles & all bridges are off the table, the berk was nicking the corner of the last bridge, the trestles because the tracks were actually dipping as the engine went over.
The main problem switch is ok now, all the #4's (I think they are 4's) are still killing me, straight thru is fine, crossovers I can now make, but at pretty slow speeds.
only tested the berkshire, will pull some other engines next play time & see if it holds true for the others.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got it as good as I can, Ran the rivarossi up 4-8-4 & a couple a diesels around, running at realistic speeds no problems, at super speed the 4-8-4 lost the pilot and the tender derailed a few times, way above any speed they should be running at anyway, so it's on to the steam yard, gotta make up a bunch more power feeds to isolate the sidings, then the ballasting , isolation & wiring can begin. Movin on,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Power leads complete, wired up 4 more switches for the freight yard, so cept for the drilling & mounting the under table machine for the curved turnout(gotta pull the track for that) the freight yard is done.
So I'll start working my way into the steam yard now, some progress at last! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Workin my way in, got a few tracks done & a couple of siding power feeds.
Trying to gradually change the ballast from gray to cinders, mixing in more cinder each lenght of track, but lookin at the last ones I did, I think I want to keep a little gray in, cinders are pretty dark, So vote for my idea.
A........keep a little gray in or
B........continue on with all cinders??? what ya think?


----------



## maddmax

i am sorry if i missed it But how big is your table now? Did you go by a certain layout?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The table is about 8' x6' & the side yard is about 4' x2' exact numbers are in here somewhere, back a bunch a pages.
You definatly missed a lot, this is the 4th or 5th layout,no plan, just kept laying track & trying things.
Have some big steamers so all radii is 22 & thats cuttin it close, switches are a problem, get the longer turnouts if you have a choice. Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No votes? I'm ready to get moving,speak to me guys! Rich.


----------



## norgale

The gray looks better. Cinders are black and don't show up very well around the track. Mixing the two is ok so you can make the ballast go farther but make it gray for sure. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The Rusty one only waits so long, went with a little gray mixed in, so all track is ballasted, holes drilled for all switches & power feeds dropped down. Will start the side beads after everything is wired & tested AGAIN!
gonna look into an A-B switch for the siding see if I can power from either transformer, then my switching from inner to outter transformers can be done on the siding.

The gray shows a lot more on the angle then straight on, I like it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well at least you agree with me, the cinders alone didn't look like much of anything. 
Better late than never.

So tonight I get to crawl around & try to clean up the birds nest.


----------



## Big Ed

The way you change things I think you should have waited till later on with the ballasting. What is your hurry to ballast? I leave that till the end in case something changes. 
But that is me, I wonder how many others do the ballasting first?
I would go with more gray and just a little splattering of the black in spots.

This track looks close here (with the custom arrow I made ) you won't have any problems here?


----------



## norgale

Birds nests are usually much neater. That's a rats nest. 
And ya he will have a problem there. Those tracks are way too close. cars will hit each other. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Isolated sidings only one at a time in operation, so hopefully not a problem.
only 3 wires dangling now, moved the rats nest up into the rafters!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just the tracks are ballasted with the tape method,beads along the tracks will be glued down later if all is good. no sense nailing it all down to pull up again, once I get it wired up & start testing my power supplies & sidings this should be it. 
figure out my roads & stard decorating! (I Hope)


----------



## norgale

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Isolated sidings only one at a time in operation, so hopefully not a problem.
> only 3 wires dangling now, moved the rats nest up into the rafters!


Hahahahahahahahahaha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

threw out the messy rat & found one that is a little neater, still a mess, but I think I know what I hooked up???????????
Forgot that now the steam yard is on the inner loop, had to cut the connection between the row of switches & power the first 5 from the tech 2, of coarse the orig feed was on that end, moved it down to the other end.
Man, thats a lot of wire, these are only the loop & yard feeds, I think I'll take a main for the lighting out to another board & block it out there.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

This is gettin nasty too, still have 10 or 12 switches to add to this mess


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Decided to go back to the tech 2, tech 3 overkill for a loop & a yard, gives me space on the board for the A-B control,( if I can figure out how to wire it) .
The power supplies are in , haven't turned on the transformers yet, checking that out after this little break, see what goes BZZZZZZZZZZZTT, in a few mineuts. 

Mount the A-B right above the tech 2.


----------



## norgale

Hey Rustolium the wiring looks great. I like to use color coded wires so I can tell the track feeds from the turnout wires but once you have it all hooked up and running nobody can see the wires anyway. Your control panel looks great too. I hope it tilts up so you can see what your doing but it looks to be well organized. It will take a while for you to learn how to "play" the console but if you don't make any changes to the "key locations" you'll learn it fast. Lookin' good Rich. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK nothing , blew, burnt,overloaded or started any fires 
So I pull out one of the ebay tycos for the first test (sorry tyco man) but you will be pleased to know it too survived the test 
the ultimate was going from outer to inner on 2 different transformers, first time tried to reverse direction, seems the hogger & the tech 2 have there positive on opposit sides, reversed the tech 2 wires & it was a smooth transition.
So now I don't think I need the A-B switch, just power the siding off the hogger , didn't try a steamer yet that has pickups in the tender don't know how that will react 
If it doesn't make the transition, then back to the A-B switch for the siding. 
Want to wire one more switch into the freight yard so I can hook up the 4 commons on the others that are dangling & test that batch.
then on to the mains & the steam yard. 
pull out buildings again & lay out the roads & parking lots & start decorating!:thumbsup:
wow that was easy to say, now lets see just how long it takes before I start decorating! Rich


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

You always post two seconds before me,:laugh: yes it tilts up, couldn't get the full pic without standing on a chair (& I'm 6'2) so I just dropped the board & backed up a little.
Black & reds are all the power feeds, switch wires are 4 wire, close ones I used 3 wire (red green & black)hookup, on the far ones I'm splitting off to 2 at a time & running a seperate common, save some wire that way. 
Tomorrow I have to test a steamer with tender pickups, rivarossi .......... oooh oooh wait a sec maybe I'll try a mantua first, don't risk my rivarossi's Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the last parking lot painted in the freight yard, so building is back & that side is wired up again.
Did that switch, all switches into the yard & the one from loop to siding are working, so to complete the yard all I have to do is mount the under the table machine, hole is drilled & wire is over there ready to go.:thumbsup:
It was time for a major cleanup put all tools , wires, misc stuff that accumeulated on the table, the floor the bench & on top of half the boxes, in their places, vaccummed the whole table, now I'm ready to start messin it all up again! Rich.



Try table in the upright position!


----------



## FranksHOLighting

*Sand Tower*

I checked it out for future reference if anyone wants to know more about sand towers. If you copy and paste this web address
http://wvrrmuseum.org/displaysite/html/38/index.htm 
You will find a little bit of info on sand use. Traction for wet rails and/or starting heavy loads.


----------



## norgale

Your on a roll now Rich. What is the name of your railroad? How about a logo? A few months ago you were gonna sell everything and now look at what you have. You got the bug man, big time. See how everything eventually just falls into place.? Neat huh? Pete
Just put a pin in the map for FranksHolighting. Welcome aboard Frank.. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A big mess in the spare bedroom!
Little more paperwork after my big 2 hour job, well at least it was some
work.
test a steamer & see what I decide to mess with, wiring? roads? hwell:
It wil hit me when I get up there!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

All I wanted to do was switch the siding from one transformer to the other with one switch, some how I made it work:thumbsup:
after flickin different switches twenty different ways, reversing polarity on one of the inputs I got the atlas controller to do it,  now all I have to remember is don't touch anything but the a-b switch on the control  might even tape off the others.
Now wether this was even necessary is unknown, the trains seem to go from one to the other on my outside switches with no problem, it does give me the off option though, so I can park a train there & still run the other two loops! :thumbsup: (well I think, haven't tried that yet) hwell:Rich.

Almost forgot, got the under table machine mounted for the curved turnout into the freight yard, so that yard is pretty much done with the big stuff, details to come later, at least I know now how to get them working if I ever need the other two!


----------



## cv_acr




----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Interestimg, more detailed that the pic on the back of the control package, not what I needed at this point, got two loops, two transformers to run the 2 engines, just wanted to isolate the siding so I could park there if I wanted to, now I have to go see if the center on that switch is actually an off position! 

Darn, not that I think about it, I have those switches on the right numbered up to 40 I think, that must have been some layout they came off!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It is off in the center :thumbsup: so my haphazard way of going about things worked  sometimes it takes a while, but I somehow manage to get where I'm going 
workin on some more switches now. later,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

geeze only got 3 more wired in, took me longer to try & figure out how to code my labels then to wire em up. 
I may be the only one who can run this railroad, thats if I can decipher my own codes! 
I'll post a pic later & see if anyone can understand what I did! :laugh: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Mains are wired tested & tagged, so here's my code,wanna run my trains, you must decifer first!


----------



## norgale

Christmas sakes alive! A Russian spy couldn't run that railroad. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well it looked simple enough to me 
Steam yard wired up, those were easy all just siding #'s find my #1's & the rest is easy.
Of coarse freight yard & steam yard are set up in opposite # order just to corn-fuse the unsuspecting.
Cleand up the wiring under the table some,some wire ties & plastic clamps.
So till I start setting buildings on the main table no more wiring for a while 
Hmmmm whats next  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Little hint, the later added M's are to designate switch set to mains on that side.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Played with switches & smoothing out track some more.
almost every track joint I had to put a nail on each side, wasn't much of a difference but I could feel it, one without nail slightly higher than with.
On the switches, it's nuts, they will run 10 or 12 times around perfectly then bam, catches something & derails.
still suspecting those diverters at the switches, drilled a few extra nail holes right at that point, grasping at straws here , thought it was worth a shot. didn't help much. hwell:



todays test fleet.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I've come to the conclusion that it's not gonna get much better at the switches, stay on the mains & switch as little as possible. Just take it slow.
with the diesel (it's nice & smooth & quiet) there's still a couple a spots to work on the track .
So decided to play a little & just relax, parked the santa fe on the siding & ran the chessie & the norfork around the loops a while.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Switching in & out of the steam yard not too bad,  a lot of switches to remember to throw!


----------



## maddmax

Looks great!!! This thread is keeping me motivated to get mine started!!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Don't let my mishaps scare you, I think thats just me & my jump right in there way of doing things.
things on the railroad may be slowing down some, finally got some worked booked & with the warm weather comming I should be busy at least for a while (I hope) .
Putz when I can for now, winter unfortunatly will be back with plenty of train time! Rich.


----------



## Sasha

*Santa Fe diesel*

Hey Rusty - what's the make/model of the Sante Fe diesel here?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thats an older AHM, the model I'm not sure , maybe one of the gurus can tell us? something like F7 A ?
Steamers I'm starting to recognize, diesels I'm only starting to learn the #'s, too many #'s & too few differences between them  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No trains today, just got home from the inlaws & my son's pitching tonight at 7, a whole day with no trains, probably a first in a about a year!


----------



## shaygetz

RUSTY Cuda said:


> ...maybe one of the gurus can tell us?


That is a Fairbanks Morse C Liner...



...obeisance, applause, plaudits and kudos are always appreciated but I also take checks and most major plastic.:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gettin a little frustrated, shims around the switch entries seems to help, every time I think I have one done, another one starts giving me fits.
Edge of the table I can live with, but the ones in the back by the cubby hole have to be good, once thats in place getting in & out to grab a derailed car is gonna be a royal pain!
Now every engine that goes over the switches you can hear when it hits the plastic diverter section,some worse that others, I even noticed it on the Black bridges & rerailer.
I've been sanding & filing a little here a little there, just can't seem to get them to run thru smooth. 
enough for tonight, browse around here a while & hit ebay & see if any more norforks have been listed!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Had to get away from the switches for a while, so, the smallest wood that will hold pins without splitting, painted a few pieces gray & pinned down, width looks ok to me, the height may be too much, the skinnier wood just splits, the purpose of this is two fold, edge the roads & at the same time fasten the edges of the grass mat.
What chyas think?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

found the traction tire stash,did both santa fe's since they were out. 
I don't think i'll ever need more hand rail material.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No work & all play can keep me from poppin a cork!
had the steamers out trying to repack the box & put away the ones I've been testing with, they have had enough abuse. challenger was the only big one I hadn't tried, it like the big boy ran fine & had no problem with the switches



then it was diesel time. the con-cor B&O ran flawlessly, no problems, the AHM penn unit could not get through ANY of the switches, so that was the only dissapointment of the evening! 
played around with my yard switching seems like a workable yard.


----------



## maddmax

Rusty is there a place i can figure out how to wire all the switches for the yard? Basically a wiring for dummies?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'ts pretty easy, using the atlas controls right?
hot & comm of the accessory terminals of the trans to the side of the control & the three on top to the switches, center is common, the other two just do them all the same, if switch throws opposite what you want, just reverse the 2 outer ones on the control. I'll see if the wiring is on one of my packages.
Center common you only need one to the panel the rest you can tie together anywhere. be back in a few! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here you go atlas control package label...........


----------



## maddmax

:thumbsup: thanks !!!! That is really helpful!!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Being fairly new at this it's nice when I can help someone out, I'm usually on the asking end of the deal!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Last day before I start the new A/c installation, 4 or 5 days work there, should be workin the track so I can move on, every time I get to the train room I find something else to play with  I admit it has me a little fried! 
So the rest of the liners came out got a little test run & posed for the pics.
the other 6 wheel truck unit (the amtrack) also ran fine & took the switches ok, penn unit still won't take a switch & even looses it on some of the curves??????????.
So more pretty pics & nothing accomplished.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Played with trying to make the drop off from the little hill more gradual 
smaller trestles with shims as I went, the drop off from one trestle to the next seems pretty drastic in a 9" space, so used a couple of each size, smaller shims as I progressed.
Not sure but they all might go in lieu of a wooden ramp because the track still dips a little when the engine goes over, still mulling that over.  Rich.


----------



## shaygetz

The piers on my N layout are doubled---that is, there is the usual pier per section of track, plus one in the center of the section, shimmed up about a 1/16". It is quite solid, with none of the notorious flexing between piers. The extra pier was left out for the truss bridge at the right. Maybe that will help in HO...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sounds like a plan, I'll give it a try next train time I get. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That was perfect, saved my baby trestle area & have a nice slow even decline back to the table, just have to trim my shims & paint em gray, thanks for the idea,:thumbsup: Rich.


----------



## norgale

Rich isn't this just like the 8444? Pete


http://youtu.be/vCaZgOOjNKE


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Closer to your mallet, I think thats the challe I have, like the mallet but 4-6-6-4
Very cool seeing the real thing in action! :thumbsup: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Actually had some real work, so not a lot of train time, had an hour to play tonight, decided to look into the slipping Pere Marquette, was hoping it was one of the drive shafts, no such luck here, it's the brass wheel set gear, she's stripped.Gear comming down from the shaft looks ok.
This baby had a lot of weight added, is this too much??????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Rummaged through the spare parts, no luck, any body make these parts anymore, or do I look for a parts engine & hope it doesn't have the same problem?  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally stopped procrastinating & laid out the buildings I think I'll use, now i can cut in the roads & get to work on decorating.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Managed to get a small section of the station in.
Will have to remove the back section of my dock, it might fit then, trying to squeeze it in. If not it goes in the box with the straight one hwell:


----------



## maddmax

Looks Great!!! Mine will slowly start to look like this!!


----------



## norgale

There ya go Rich. Your now in business. It does take some time but patience tells the story. I think your layout look super. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

There's still a few engines that won't run on it(mostly at the switches)but 90% seem to run fine, so on with the decorating.

Should have paid attention in arts & crafts 100 years ago 
A practical mind is good for most things, solves most problems, but when it comes to decorating, well , I ain't got no magination! 

was thinking of trying sandpaper for the roads, not enough black in the stash, found 30 sheets of the color in the pics, looks passable to me, or I could just continue to cut out the mat & paint them on .

who's for paint & who's for paper???????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Since nobody wants to go out on a limb here 
I'm going black paint, there I did it all by myself! :laugh: Rich.

Now this is just for curiosity, found this crocus cloth, what is it for?
I'm thinking if they had it, it was used somehow with the trains???? 
If it's a sand paper it's got almost no grit, pretty smooth to the touch? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started marking out & cutting in the main roads, gonna have to pick up some more paint to really get going, but it's a start.


----------



## DonR

Rich

Crocus Cloth is an abrasive. It's used in fine
finishing of precision things and gems.

Wonder if it had been used to clean armatures
in the locos? Or maybe glue or paint off rail tops. 

Don


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok, at least I know what it is now, he used some black as roof shingles, maybe was intended to decorate something else? Thanks for the info!:thumbsup: Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

Black. 
But not Black more like a Gray/Black, the Black is too black and gray is too gray, you need to come in between them.
But if Black is all you have I think the Black looks better then the Brown.
But some of the Brown would look good in spots like a lumber yard or maybe a driveway, simulating dirt.

You should have bought a roll of the non/slip tape made for step ladders and stuff. One of the O guys here used it and it looks good.
I will go and find it, hold on.

Here is a picture....http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showpost.php?p=196600&postcount=142
Another close up see the texture?, http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showpost.php?p=198035&postcount=146


His layout is O but you could put some of the ideals like the tape roads into your HO table. 
sometimes you ought to venture to other scales and see what is going on.

Here is his whole thread there are more pictures of his use of the tape for roads, check it out. (if you want)
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=15943


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Nice set up, I have to admit I don't cruise around the other forums much, have checked out a few layouts , most are way beyound my creative abilities.
I just got back from buying the rest of the paint for the roads, no more samples left I had to get a pint, now I can run the roads down the stairs, around the living room & back up again!
I may use it to do the edges of the table after I put my training wheels on(gonna run a board a few inches high around the danger areas, one berk made the plunge & had another close call) 
That stuff may work on my junk yard/construction yard if I find a spot for one or the other.
Lookin at the crap that accumulates on the table, the roads should age rather quickly, still have to find some more yellow & some white pin striping tape, I like how that worked for lining the roads.
Might have some extra train time this week, next job is a while off & too cold to start checkouts.Need the work to get moving but at least I have something to keep me busy while I wait for mother nature! Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

You probably mentioned it already but,

What do you do? AC work?

That anti slip tape is around $20 bucks a roll I think he said.
I like the textured look as you can see in his one picture.
I got to check it out next time I go to HD.


----------



## norgale

I used flat black on my roads and with the yellow centerline pin stripes it looked pretty good. That crocus cloth you can use on the track where it's really tarnished badly. Don't use it on wheels. Once the track is all nice and clean just use a soft cloth like a tshirt with regular alcohol on it.
Cutting out the sand paper is great for roads and you can paint it or leave it the tan color for dirt roads. I have used sandpaper for roofs too. Cut in scale widths and snip along one edge to simulate cedar shingles or asphalt shingles. Tan looks good as is or you can paint it. Glue the strips on the roof starting at the bottom and overlap each strip.Use one strip along the ridge line (top) with no snips to finish it off. Looks just like real shingles. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yes,I'm heating & a/c , sales, service & installation, just do single family homes now, no more commercial work.
Just got a call on another job I bid last spring, so there's a least some signs of life out there, this time of year I used to book out 4 to 6 weeks at a time, last 5 years pretty much week to week a lot of empty ones in there! 
I guess sooner or later it has to get better, hope I last that long!  Rich.

For now I'll go with the paint & pinstripping tape, easy enough to change colors later if I feel the urge 
I first noticed the sandpaper shingles on that engine house Alex made, Now I'm getting the itch to build a house with all that scale wood I have, gotta stay on track,  no pun intended,  get the roads in so I can set my buildings & drill for lighting! then I can run some trains again. :thumbsup: Rich.


----------



## csxmandave

I just made some roads and parking lots from roof shingles, came out pretty good. The pin stripe sounds like what I need now for some lines. I did my roads 3 inches wide, how far off am I? What size pin striping do you recommend?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

3" sounds good, I used 2 1/2 (measured the gray prefab stuff I had) put a truck on it & it's tight.
The pinstripe I'll have to measure , looks like about 1/16th but thats just a guess. 
Hopefully I'll have a little train time when I get home tomorrow, I'll try & remember to measure it for you. Rich.


----------



## norgale

1/16th is ok but 1/32nd would be better. I used 1/16" on my dioramas and it looks ok I think. My roads are 3" wide. Pete
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=25036&d=1360547561


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My yellow tape is 1/16th thick.
Got the main roads cut in & painted, I think I'm gonna pull off the engine house & a couple of little sheds, lookin crowded over there & when the trains finally get on the board thats what I want to see, going up to take some more pics with them off & post up what it looks like compared to these.............................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K pulled the house, 2 sheds one section of the station & the covered bench on the far side of the station building, only thing is I think the long station, already cut way down loses even more "effect",here they are............


----------



## norgale

Don't worry about the buildings for now. The main thing is running the trains. Get them running so you can see if you like what you have. The buildings you can move anytime and the more buildings the better. Your not placing the trains for the buildings. Your placing the buildings for the trains. So run the trains and then place the buildings. I see no trains there at all. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The Trains are safely tucked away, I have to move everything on the table around to work each area,once I get the lumber yard area set I'll dig some out again & see what things are lookin like.
I got the station set(put one section back AGAIN) & wired it back up, parking lot will go next to the station house.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

If you live in the area you might recognize the station.


----------



## norgale

BULLTWEET! Get the trains on the tracks so you can see what the buildings look like with them. For one thing that station looks great but it's too far from the side of the track. The train will look ridiculous letting people off onto the ground. GET THE TRAINS OUT NOW! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

SOON, SOON  messin with my loading dock to see if a cut down version will fit in, so far not lookin good for that  then I'll show off the fleet, get a pass & freight train runnin & some filling the yards. 
It takes forever to unbox & set em on the tracks, only to pull em off & rebox so they don't get killed while I decorate  don't want to do it 100 more times. Rich.


----------



## norgale

OK,OK. It's just a lot easier to place your buildings with the trains in the picture. Geeze!
Pete


----------



## Big Ed

Yes, you don't post enough pictures!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Darn switch machines ruin all my straight areas, gonna notch for the moving parts, don't want to cut up the whole bottom of the platform to cover half the machine. this setup may go away, next might have a straight section where the station could get closer ?????????????
Ed, I'll stop talking now & go shoot some pics!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete, I'm tired  that was a lot of work, but hey for you guys  what the heck! 
Ed after a brief note, no more talking just pretty pics! 
First ones for you Pete!:thumbsup:



Now some of these are with the 2 loops running & some the trains are parked, so with no further adieu, some steam power for your pleasure! :laugh:






















Enough you ok there Ed   Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sorry Ed, gotta talk now..............
Now tomorrow nights job will be to pack em all up again.
It was a little tricky getting the train off the siding once I had runners on both loops, gotta park the outter loop train in a yard, take the inner to the outter & then bring the siding train on to the inner loop, now after saying that I don't know how I did it! 
I will have a lot of work to do on the freight cars, at least 6 or 7 out of this batch had uncoupling or derailing problems, but thats a distant future task, got plenty to pick out the good runners from & save the rest for those boring winter nights!  Rich.


----------



## norgale

WOW! Looking good there Rich. Love all the steamers on there. AS for the station you could just eliminate the crossover in front of it as you already have one at the back and on the left end of the table for the same two tracks. Then you could put the station right up to the rails. It's funny that you mentioned that you " parked the trains just right but didn't remember how you did it". I had the same trouble with the BGC where I had about 25 turnouts and they ran off different transformers. I got pretty confused at first as to which train was running on which track but after awhile I got it down pretty well. The scary part was running three trains at once where two of them had to use the same track at one point. That's where you have to know your turnouts by heart so you don't have a collision. I had a panic button on the main electric feed to the trannies and I used it a lot. It stopped everything right now and I'm glad I had it on several occasions. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Funny, when I realized I didn't really need the ones in the back(by the wall) I didn't even wire them in, but Maybe I'll check into using those, problem is all the trouble I've had with switching I don't want derails back there, it's a pain now to remove the cubby & crawl in, now I can get it out the bottom, once decorated it becomes a 2 man job, one to push it up & one to hand it off to.

The other thing is the siding enters from the outside loop & dumps to the inside loop for a few feet before you can access the outside loop , so I have to clear the inside, pull on to that, ok if I'm staying there, but if I want to go outter I then pull that on the siding, & then can pull to outside, & keep the other on the inside, Now if you understood that your good, cause I just got a headache typing it!   Rich.


----------



## thetramp

Rich, you gotta love those steamers. For your access hole, why don't you put hinges on it to where it drops down when you unlatch it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It was a thought, but the frame is 3 or so inches thick so it won't swing, then with buildinds on it, well it just seemed like a no go. 
As long as someones around it's not that big a deal, but if I'm solo, it's turn it off till someones around.
So far since all the tweeking it's mostly when I have the switch in the wrong position & certian pieces that are a problem, just won't run those & after crawling in there a few thousand times maybe I'll remember to flip the switches back to the mains after there out of the yards! :laugh: Rich.


----------



## norgale

Put the long station landing across the road behind it ,next to the long straight siding there. Then put a smaller station next to where the crossover is. There's always a way.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK I'll give it a shot!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Moved some more stuff around & just threw on some fencing, I think that made a big difference, seperating the houses from the yard. :thumbsup:
Station looks out of place to me on the siding  what do you guys think, it did open up more decorating room on both sides of the table 
Then it became play time, just movin stuff around & shootin some pics (for Ed)  Rich.







that pensy unit my son picked is a nice lookin piece!



Moved the benches from the other side, still cant find a good spot for the cross over bridge



the mantua & petes UP gettin a workout.



More space on the far side for parkin lots or benches, whatever?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Side tracked again  at this rate I'll never get the decorating done 
Challe was running sluggish, even slowing down in a few spots, ran both track cleaning cars around the loops a while & it helped a little, decided to lube up the engine, noticed some crud on the wheels, took a tooth brush to that oiled up the running gear, greased the lower gears & WOW what a difference 
now that it had some speed I lost the tender every now & then  just laid some weight on it for a test & it ran like a champ & never derailed again, now I have to figure out how much weight to put in & how to open up the tender!  Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

What is it 12 oz of weight? 

Looks good where it is just paint it black. :thumbsup:


----------



## norgale

Weight in the tender is a good idea anyway. These plastic engines just don't weigh enough. The fencing looks good Rich. I need some like that too---eventually. I like the station where you have it now. There is a prototype for backing a passenger train in to pick up passengers at Tampa. The trains have to back several miles in off the mainline at Ybor City so yours will look ok. If you could turn that one end of the overhead walk way around to face the other way it would look great. Put a small station on the loop and the big one on the siding. Now lets run the trains. Where is your video camera?????Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Honestly didn't look just pulled the slabs & laid em on,so now you made me check, there are 12, but 1/4 oz each. so 3ounces of weight.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Have to enlist my son, he's my "tech" guy, I have enough trouble getting a clear pic!


----------



## Big Ed

Looking at them made me get a piece of gum. 

Isn't there only a couple screws holding the shell on?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yep so far every place I tried it it would be better in the opposite direction, maybe a blow torch & welder is in order!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ed, I didn't look yet, on one I had to pull the pin & slide it foward(I think) 
Need to figure out how much to add before I tear it up.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My son is uploading the vidio now, so I should have it up soon, now don't laugh too hard, this isn't pixar ya know! 
the only disaster besides my fumbling around what to say was using untested cars, lost one right in the begining, great start 
Well at least they made a few laps after that! :thumbsup:
Got out a few bench sheds for near the station & got one parking lot cut in & painted in between just playing with the trains!  
So at least a bit of work got done  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

If the link works...............here it is ...............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W8AOFDNs2s&list=UUW0jxOSBlTIbnor7VnGPI9Q&index=1


----------



## norgale

Yay! That's really super Rich. Anytime you can back that many cars up with no problems you've done a good job with your track. Thanks for the video. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Weeded out the rest of the problem freight cars that were on the table ,makin a box for future tinkering, couplings, weight & maybe bad wheel sets.
Seems the sprung trucks don't like my tracks , some of the light cars, gonna try all light together , maybe the heavier ones are pulling em off the track???
I guess a lot of tinkering to check out each one & try & smooth em out! All jobs for next winter. Rich.


----------



## norgale

One thing that will help with the cars is a postage scale. It measures in ounces and is really easy to use. Thing is to get all the same kind of cars to weigh pretty much the same. Also body mounted couplers are better than truck mounted ones and then metal wheels instead of the plastic. Gauging the wheels sets is important too. Lots of work if you have a lot of cars but a few at a time in the evening works for me. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The scale I have,I had weighed all the cars that were out a while back, all over the place, the front of that freight train were all close to 4 ounces, the back half were all mixed up & hadn't really been run tested after all the track work,I'm surprised I only had the one problem.
So thats about 20 Freight cars looked at & 130 or so to go 
When I start actually running some trains, I'll get a few consists up with the smooth runners & then as time allows work on the rest. 
Pass trains seem to run ok haven't checked the weight on any of those? 
Got some real work lined up, so the trains will slow down some, gotta make some real money this year, it's been a long time of month to month! Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

130 more to go.....your going to need a bigger yard. 

Good to hear work is starting to move for you.
Soon, everyone will be cranking up the AC units.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thats kinda the shame ot it, there's no way I can do justice to the collection, maybe 10% on the table at any one time, trying to get a few small displays figured out, at least show some of his favorites.  Rich.


----------



## norgale

Rich what about the displays your father had with all the trains on them? They looked really nice and you could see everything at a glance. Tuning your cars is a slow tedious job so just do the cars you want to run at first. There will be time for the rest later on. One thing I did was buy the sample kit from kayDee. It has all the different types of couplers and shims ect. that you need to tune the trucks. Lots of good info there and when you find the couplers that work best for you just order more of that type. However the kit does not include a gauge or any wheels sets. You already have a gauge so all you may need is some metal wheel sets. I got a hundred of them from Intermountain I think and bought them online (ebay). If one good engine can pull five cars with plastic wheels it will pull ten cars with metal wheels. Worth looking into. There are several good tutorials on Youtube about tuning the trucks and couplers. Pete


----------



## ssgt

You could always add another level over what you have set up.A shelf layout above your table.


----------



## thetramp

Rich, these are the intermountain metal wheels I have and they are excellent. I just ordered them again. Very good seller and the order is shipped right away. Frank

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140977105784?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

All great ideas & info, but your gettin way ahead of me, here's a quick rundown on the freight cars, there were 197 total, sold about 40 or so. So approx 150 left.
Most have KD's already but it seems my Dad & Alex set their KD's at different heights, so I will see which I have more of, where most engines & pass sets are & then buy offsets to make everything match. when I'm ready to run I'm sure I can find enough smooth runners to get the yards filled, the rest will be future winter projects.
The display is MIA, can't even find the wood. I would have had to section it anyway there's no wall left in the room big enough, got a few ideas rattling around in my head, but again down the road.
There was a small set of shelves in his workshop, might get that here & set it on the wall by the freight yart, can get maybe a dozen steamers on it, a place to highlight the brassies.
Now I'm going to mostly try to work out the decorating, a small area at a time & see just how things line up & look together.
I've got a long way to go, keep the tips comming!:thumbsup: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Was planning on messin with the 'Cuda today but we have rain 
so the trains will get some time today!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Found the size wood I'm going to use for the curbs it's either 4x12 or 6x12 not positive which? 
So I got a batch painted up, put down a little pinstriping & cut a few pieces for my RR X'ings & started in an easy area to reach. 
Here's what it looks like, critiques welcome, even if you hate it!  Rich.





third crossing is gonna be a prob, it's the moving parts of the switch



was actually cutting down straight pins for my nails, decided to dig a little & got lucky again, found a box of real fine track nails, tried a few & they worked ok, just a few small splits in the wood!:thumbsup:



Small section almost done!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a little further down the road, pulled out a few cars & trucks for effect.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Glued the track pieces for the crossing together, will paint later & start workin on the ramps.


----------



## shaygetz

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thought I had more stain, had teak & walnut in the stash, the walnut didn't make it through years the of storage, gotta figure a way to darken this up a bit. 
Now if it was one of Pete's boats I'd be good to go!

thought I had some stains in my house stuf, but no luck, so unless I paint gotta wait till I get to a hobby shop to finish these off. 
Guess I should run some trains over this before I glue it down!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ran a diesel & a steamer over the crossing wood, looks good to go!:thumbsup:


----------



## norgale

Paint the crossings the same color as the road. Curbs look good Rich. Have to send you something with the BGC colors for your layout. MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Was trying to stay with the wood look,found some cool scale wood to make the ramps from, next I have to build a wood caboose! Well some day down the road that is.



Made the ramps & got another coat on the track pieces, I might wipe some watered down black on em & see what it looks like?



If I dont go black I may have to fill in the corner by the turn in.



One of the scraps should get that done.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the main roads done, still deciding if I stripe the residential road, maybe white? 
moved some trains around, no trouble at the crossing.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Last chance for the wood look,stained, painted flat black & wiped off, too dark, wiped with thinner. the last piece needs to be evened out a bit, but this is what it looks like, there's always plain ole black, was trying to preserve some kind of RR tie look?
Now repeating this may cause a problem ? what the heck did I do??? 

So another question for the masses, like it is, or just go black?


----------



## csxmandave

I thought you painted the roads, they almost look like carbon fiber, what did you use? The crossings are looking good. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thats the texture in the pressed boards the tables are made from, Just flat black over the green he had on the whole table.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

going through withdrawal, no trains for days now.  , 
The last hot spell lit up the phones, very little time for trains & even less energy, the weekend is shot, a few service calls each day & tuesday already booked out.
Happens every year with the first hot spell, well at least I have a few estimates mixed in there,so there's hope that it will be a good season, :thumbsup: gets a little harder to handle as the years go by, not a spring chicken anymore. 
So I look in on em from time to time & try & think about what the next project will be, still have to figure out the lumber yard, if I can fit my cut down loading dock in some way, first cuts were made, still big for the area, anyway just checking in see what you guys are up to,Later,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put away the big steamers, pensy unit had a tender ladder off I had to put back on before boxing up,after I complimented the nice detail on this unit, check out the ladder on the right side, its a left side unit, is this normal (is there an actual right side unit & did someone screw up & put 2 lefts on it) or is it one side fits all & hope no one will notice???????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I'm supposed to be working on the lumber yard, just didn't feel like moving everything to pull the cubby cover, so I played instead, got the brass engines out, had never really run them, not a perfect experiance. the first two need cleaning up, they run but irratic, start & stop, tenders are real touchy, even with added weight I lost em once in a while.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The sunset 2-8-2 started to move & then just a motor spinning sound & no movement at all, hopefully something simple & not another stripped gear, should have a little time over the weekend to open it up & check it out.


----------



## shaygetz

Nice brass pieces...they always were finicky, built for shelf queens and not running most of them. A study some time back found that about 10% were ever actually run. Nowadays they are made for a more demanding customer.

That ladder is classic...somebody was asleep at the switch that day...:laugh::thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I may need some guidence on those, I have to see what kind of paper work is with them.
Pretty sure these were Alex's & seem to have some run time, first two look to just need cleaning up, the sunset will have to be opened up, when I get to that I'll post up what help I need or what problems I find & see where it goes.
So then I should assume there is a right side ladder for the pensey unit ? Rich.


----------



## shaygetz

RUSTY Cuda said:


> So then I should assume there is a right side ladder for the pensey unit ? Rich.


Yes...quality control wasn't firing on all cylinders that day...


----------



## Big Ed

Road planks look good. :thumbsup: 
Maybe they could have been a hair closer to the rails?
How come you came into the T intersection so far with the planks?

I see that you found a home for the pedestrian bridge at last. 
The layout is looking good. :thumbsup:


----------



## norgale

The road crossing look fine Rusty. They blend right in with the roads and you can still se that something is there to get over the tracks. I do love those brass engines. Take good care of the brass caboose as I just read recently that they are very hard to find and worth some good bucks. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I made the ramps & center sections to lay flat on the edge of the ties, any closer & they hit the nubs that hold the track down.
I have to fasten down the center pieces, one of the track cleaner cars dragged it down the track till it hit something & derailed em!
When I was checking my pricing on ebay I saw the overland caboose(the exact one) go for 134 bucks, but unless the bottom really falls out all the brass will stay! 
Should be done workin by 2ish today, maybe a little catch up nap & then hit the brass engines to see if cleaning does the job on the first two & open up the third for an exploritory surgery!  Rich.


----------



## norgale

Secure those errant road crossings with a few drops of Yellow glue. I like Titebond lll but any of those kinds of glues will work. A hot glue gun will work well too. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK here's what I have with the two that run, cleaned up the wheels & oiled up one, no real change in operation, so here's the vidio of the problem...........................

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZzOuHoUHwY&list=UUW0jxOSBlTIbnor7VnGPI9Q


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gettin this apart was fun, that motor is shoehorned in there, seems to be a broken drive shaft, so I may have lucked out there , but this nut fell out & I don't know where it goes, so going back together may not be easy?????????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Do you guys think the shrink wrap would work on this??????????
Curious to see if it runs good or will run like the other 2???????????


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Do you guys think the shrink wrap would work on this??????????
> Curious to see if it runs good or will run like the other 2???????????


Won't hurt to try the shrink wrap.
What is the threaded rod for? Does the nut go to it?
I guess the unhooked wire is the ground?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Only have one size of shrink wrap from the car, it's gonna be close will try in a few mineuts, the wire is the ground were the tender bar screws into :thumbsup:
the rod is actually a long screw that holds the boiler on, I probably took out one more screw then necessary & thats where the nut goes, will see which one it threads onto & hope I can put that back & then put the boiler back on, updates soon,later time,same station!  Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

I wonder if something like the clear, plastic, flexible tubing that one would use for a fish tank filter pump slipped over each side, then shrink wrapped on would work?

Matter of fact I wonder if the right size rubber tubing, like a fuel line tubing would work?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well it seems the brass are all shelf queens for now
had good news bad news about four times before the end of the session, too bad it ended on the BAD side.
Shrink wrap I had was a tight fit,took a lot of massaging to get it on.
the nut was for the tender bar wire , which didn't have to come off to get it apart, the good news on that is I could fix that first.



just before the test run the little wire that was still connecting the boiler to something on the frame popped 
don't know where it went, might have been wrapped around a screw?



just used a lighter to shrink it, so now comes the test run,it worked:thumbsup: butttttttttt
it was really noisy  made one loop & pulled it to lube up.
No luck there still noisy & made it bout 3/4 of the lop & stopped & squeeled a bit, seems I have another gear not meshing, wheel sets have to come off to mess with the gear box, not quite ready to go there yet 
So I'll box em back up, save em for display & the time when I have a little more experiance to work on these! hwell: Rich.


----------



## Rusty

Would small shim washer help with gear mesh? If it's too tight that makes noisy?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I have to get into the gearbox before I dare run it again,see if it's just loose, or if I lost some teeth I'm a little timid about pulling the wheel sets & messing up the quartering on the wheels, I guess I can't make something that doesn't run much worse ???????
Maybe the shrink wrap is either pulling or pushing on the top gear .
If I get brave I'll open it up after work tomorrow, got a couple a service calls in the am.
then i'm free> Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> I have to get into the gearbox before I dare run it again,see if it's just loose, or if I lost some teeth I'm a little timid about pulling the wheel sets & messing up the quartering on the wheels, I guess I can't make something that doesn't run much worse ???????
> Maybe the shrink wrap is either pulling or pushing on the top gear .
> If I get brave I'll open it up after work tomorrow, got a couple a service calls in the am.
> then i'm free> Rich.


You got plenty of other toys to play with put her back together and place it on a shelf. 

YOU WORKING TODAY!?
Or did you mean tomorrow?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yes, I mean today, got swampped with those 2 hot days then it got rainy & cold so nothing got done, a few calls a day is easier for me than getting backed up, I get way too much time off in the winter these days, money season is here, I work anytime there's something going to stay ahead of the calls.
With that said, I'm off, see yas later!


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Yes, I mean today, got swampped with those 2 hot days then it got rainy & cold so nothing got done, a few calls a day is easier for me than getting backed up, I get way too much time off in the winter these days, money season is here, I work anytime there's something going to stay ahead of the calls.
> With that said, I'm off, see yas later!



OK, make sure you charge double time or get holiday rates.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Didn't get to the trains till late in the day, was getting the sunset model ready to rebox & saw a bag of goodies in there squished in the foam, thought I hit the jackpot, drive shaft among the parts! :appl:

Till I dump the bag & see if the rubber's still good, snapped right in half! :smilie_daumenneg:



So she's tucked away , back inthe box till I get a display set up & more experiance with steam engines(well any engine for that matter)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Boxed up the other 2-8-2 & figgured I'd tinker with the 4-6-2 for a while before It gets stowed.
cleaned the wheels some more, weighed down the tender, it ran a little better, less dead stops but still pretty irratic, wanted to put it in the steam yard for a few pics & found it ran a ton better on the inside loop, still some hesitation, but no dead stops.
Maybe when the decorating's done & I do a real track cleaning I'll give these 2 another try.
Now backing into the yard was a disaster, couldn't get through any of the switches, tender kept derailing. finally placed it on the track I wanted & took the darn pics! 
So there all safly tucked away for a while.
Here's a few shots of the 4-6-2


----------



## Big Ed

It is a handsome Locomotive. 
Will look good sitting on the shelf. :thumbsup:

Make a small diorama under a plexiglass cover?
In your spare time. 

Something like this, (I should have cleaned it, but you get the ideal.)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Nice set up :thumbsup:

In my spare time, you are a joker!

With the trains now I don't have any of that, as long as there's a bit of life left in me after work I'm in the train room, if not I'm sleepin on the couch till bed time! this gettin older stuff is no fun! Rich.


----------



## norgale

Nice pictures Rusty and the diorama is nice too Ed. Lookslike room for another engine in there. Love the brass. Looks like solid gold. Pete


----------



## New Berlin RR

Rusty I just my self started the layout, so im going to use some ideas from your layout for mine  nice work, just read through the entire thread again and love the work!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Glutton for punishment ! 
So I hope you took notes of Rusty's miss adventures , the title should be the 784 things to avoid when starting a layout!
Good luck & post up the progress pics, Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Glutton for punishment !
> So I hope you took notes of Rusty's miss adventures , the title should be the 784 things to avoid when starting a layout!
> Good luck & post up the progress pics, Rich.



:laugh: I was going to ask him if he read through your whole thread. :laugh:
Thanks, I am glad you said that and not me, I refrained myself. :smokin:

But you have to admit it is coming along fairly nice now......right?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Only time will tell, it's all in the decorating, gettin some detail in, all new territory for me, I'm sure I'll do another 700 or so missteps.
thats why it took 10 years & a 143 page post to get the car done! 
Trial by fire, it's the only way to go!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Did a little alteration on the crossover, they didn't make it easy, had to cut the steps & landing railings off, the frame was one piece.
have to look real close to see that one gray piece thats out of place now, but it looks way better on the table now. (well at least I think so. )

after that I did a lot of staring at the table scratchin my head trying to decide what to do next, well I'm still mulling it over :dunno: Rich.


----------



## norgale

Great job on the stairs Rich. Now they look like they are going in the right direction. I think the whole layout looks super. When your thinking about details think trees, shrubs, people, vehicles, barrels, skids or pallets, weeds, abandoned cars. Bet you have a lot of stuff that will look great somewhere on the table. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

All kinds a goodies to be dug out & sorted through, not sure if I'll have everything but it will be next winter at least before I have to hunt for spacific items.
Sold another replacement job, got a bunch a service calls to get done, just got off the phones now, long day, hoping it continues! need a good season! Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> All kinds a goodies to be dug out & sorted through, not sure if I'll have everything but it will be next winter at least before I have to hunt for spacific items.
> Sold another replacement job, got a bunch a service calls to get done, just got off the phones now, long day, hoping it continues! need a good season! Rich.


Good to hear the work is coming in.
All you need is a heat wave and they all want their AC. :smilie_daumenpos:

Tell me why in the winter don't the heaters move?
Boost your business try to push a new heater install with the new AC.
Package deal. 
Push emergency, full house automatic power backup generators too, more work more $$$$.:thumbsup:

About time you found a home for the walk over bridge. 
Is it going to stay there?


----------



## trailrider

A sand tower is intended to fill the sand dome on a steam locomotive. The sand is sprinkled in front or behind the driving wheels to aid in gaining traction on grades or for starting heavy trains. The sand is controlled from the cab by the engineer, and is worked along with the throttle and reverse/piston stroke lever to prevent slipping the drivers, which is inefficient and also not good for the running gear.

Placement of the coaling tower, sand tower and water column (tower) depends a bit on available space. Ideally, the towers would be placed so that all three items could be dispensed without moving the locomotive. The problem with that is, that different size engines, and even engines of the similar class might have the sand dome at different locations on the boiler (depending on when and by what shop manufactured the engine), and by different tender lengths. Another factor is how the various materials are delivered to the towers. A small branch line might depend on dump trucks to deliver coal from a mine or distributor. A larger coaling facility might have a spur track where hopper cars can dump it load into a pit, where the coal is then lifted by conveyor or buckets to the tower. A water tower generally received water from a pipeline, but water might well be pumped through a pumphouse where anti-scale chemicals are added to prevent liming of the boiler flues in the locomotive. Sand is usually delivered by hopper or gondola (or possibly by dump truck) to the sand house, where it is run through heaters to remove moisture which would cause it to stick in the sand dome or the dispensing pipes. I use the same sand house facility on my layout for both steamers and diesels (which also use sand for traction). Diesels may also use water, especially if they pull passenger trains, using the water for a steam boiler used to heat and cool the cars. Not all diesels have boilers, however. Hope this helps.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Winters used to be busy too, but I stopped doing boilers after I bought my partner out
(1999) can't do em alone, hot air is my main heating income, & yes when it's a package system it usually all goes together, a lot of competition & I don't advertise anymore. All word of mouth.
Was plenty of work to get by before the crash & I enjoyed the time off , never got any in the summers.
Now without booming summers the winters are more of a struggle.
have been doing this on my own since 1976, at least 2 other downturns, but never like this it's been 5 years now!

So back to trains, all I can say is maybe Ed, if I don't find a better spot for it!

Good info rider, not sure I can fit my sand pit the way I put the tracks,but I'm thinkin of a pit to drop the ash near the bin in the back side of the yard? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a little train time this evening, finally pulled the cubby cover & put in the curbs, pulled off the 4th house, looked too crowded, just laid out the fencing to get an idea, have to cut in the drive ways once I finilize location.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Whats left of the loading dock will go back in a box, just to big for the space left, much more room for a lumber yard(with many stacks of wood) without it, parking lot will be between the tracks.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

at least I found a spot for the stairs I cut off it..................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

And just to keep Ed on his toes another possible location for the crossover!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thinking of adding a chunk of wood where the wall shows behind the depot, a little for space for the lumber yard decorations???


----------



## Big Ed

I like the other spot better. 
How many people are going to get off the train and go buy lumber?
The other spot was more functional.
If you add a chunk of wood there, add a road for lumber trucks to get in. :thumbsup:

What I really think is that you need 3 more walkovers for your layout. 
That will take care of the placement problem.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back to cuttin wood, dug out the scale wood that pieces had been cut off to use as stock for the lumber yard. still mulling over the setup back there, need a few stacks to see how they look.Rich.


----------



## thetramp

Rich, what is the radius of the curve switches you are using? Can you get an 18" curve switch?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Honestly not sure on any of your questions, so I laid 2- 22"curved tracks over it & the outside matches up pretty close , the inside comes off at a sharper angle, that may be 18, we need one of the yoda's for the exact answers. Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put up a temporary brace for the building where I'm thinking of adding a little chunk of table to cover that hole by the window. that opens up more room for the yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So now I'm thinking the wood looks kinda naked just sitting there, so my next attempt at a scratch build will be a big ole open shed to keep the weather off the wood.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the chunks of wood are 2 3/4" long, I can fit a 14 x 3 1/2 shed, so I can decide which way to put the wood in later, long ways for hand pulling, or cross ways so a fork lift can get em??????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No trains the last few days, got most of the service work cought up, a few more estimates out & managed to get some kind of nasty cold or bug just to make it all a little harder to handle 
One estimate this am, clean up a weeks worth of service garbage I've been tossing in the garage, one service call if the rain is done & then I'm free for the weekend, since I'm sick, my son is taking the wife out to LI to visit her mom , so I get a little down to to catch my breath. 
So if I can clear my head, maybe in between naps I can get some train time in!


----------



## Big Ed

Rain is over it went up to Jack and TJ's area.

Small chance of showers.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Cut in the drive & walk ways, marked the holes for wiring & started cutting up the fencing to get the gates in the right places.
Need to get some of senics spray glue so I can get the lawns down.
Might work on the wood shed tonight if I get the fencing completed.


----------



## norgale

Looking good Rusty. In a lumber yard close to where I live they had sheds for the lumber pieces that were put into the shed straight in on steel racks. Then the bulk stuff that the fork lift would handle was stacked in a part of the shed with no racks so the fork could go in and out without hitting anything. It would be easy to model both types of operation in one building. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Fencings takin longer than I thought, got the layout, a few more cuts & tie ins to get them done, so maybe tomorrow the shed starts? hwell:


----------



## norgale

That one house with the big yard needs a boat and a RV trailer parked in the back yard or the side yard. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thats the rich neighbor, maybe he should have a tennis court or a pool?
I'm the poor guy with the white fence, at least I only have a little grass to mow!  Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

The house with the big yard needs a white vinyl type fence.

Did you scratch build all that fence with toothpicks and used chopsticks?  :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Could have,there's no shortage of scale wood, just fat fingers & an abundance of fence kits made it easy to decide on prefab!  Rich.
There's always the yards to fence off, more rustic or chain link needed there?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the fencing done, white ones I could glue down(nice bases) the black ones have a lot of straight pins for now, gonna glue a few spots & see if that will do it? 
Drilled the holes for the wires & pulled those through, now I need to figure out the grass & some little details, then she's ready to go in for a test fit.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the wood shed is under construction, got all the rafters & end plates cut & marked out for gluing.



first plate on.............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

finished off the front plate & got the sheathing on the roof, started cutting the bottom plates & studs, got the corner studs glued.



estimated the lengths on the side studs now I have to figure out how to put it all together!
the racks I'll work on once I see how it fits & where the best access fot the fork lifts is.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Managed to get the plates & corner posts on without wrecking the roof 



Have to decide on shingle color, brown or black, blacks the easy way out, already have a bunch a precuts! 



Got the back wall studded out, this things starting to look massive, after the glue dries I'm going to put it in place, make sure I didn't over do it!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still have to figure on the siding, probably stay with the wood look, simple overlapping boards????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Holy crapoly, I think I over did it big time,  even if it didn't look like an elephant it would take me 5 years to cut up enough scale wood to fill it. :retard:
gotta rethink this baby!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Workin on cutting it down quite a bit, will set it near the other buildings & see what she looks like! 
might have ben ok on a super O guage setup???????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here's the shorter version, not sure if I'll put it there or on the other wall, but at least it's closer the size of the other buildings. got a few rows of shingles on, this is almost as tedious as doing a real roof!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Roof is on, siding will definatly be planks, no toying with seams & such, at least I got another stack of wood to fill it from the cut off legs!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Went with the rustic look on the siding, hand hewn planks, it's easy for me to make crooked cuts (even when there supposed to be straight) 
One more side to do then it's start checking out how I will store the wood, maybe like Pete suggested, one side bulk fork liftstuff & the other side for smaller hand pulling lumber?????


----------



## norgale

The shed looks fine Rusty. The roof could have been less of a pitch to give it a lower profile but what the heck, just put some tall trees around it and she'll do fine. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yea, I was worried the roof overhang would catch the trains, well after cutting it about in half it's still bout 2 trains high.
Seems I overdid bout everything on this, I have room in the buildings box if it annoys me later.
Started digging through a box of wood that had shorter pieces in it to load up the shed, now there's probably more that a couple a hundred of that one size in the bottom of the bigger box, every piece has glue on both ends, I can't imagine what was taken apart, it must have been massive??????
the smaller box is the wood I was cutting up for the hand pull section, just sorting this out & making stacks will keep me busy quite a while! 
So siding is on, once I get a bunch a wood ready I'll start building some racks, then I can get back to the cubby hole cover, just gotta order spray glue for the grass & then that can be decorated.





here it is on the other wall, I think the other wall had better access to it?


----------



## norgale

You have a lumber shed on the right in the picture. So why did you need the new one?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Because I have enough wood to build a small city 
lumber yard near me is like a city block, 4 buildings , the wood stacks are actually out in the elements, backs up to RR tracks(commuter line now) the small building is about what a hardware store would carry, trying to get somewhere in between? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Built some racks, all hand pull too much space lost if I stack em longways for a fork lift.
not sure if I will partition off the second shelf?



still have to plywood the top shelf............



beginings of the stock, now what color to paint it??????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some paint on, some of the stock in, now I have tobuild the board extension, figure out ground cover & lighting in that area & the yards pretty much done.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got most of the stock in, maybe cut a few more stacks , this is how I think I'll set the buildings...........



now lookin at these 2, I think if I paint the inside gray it will match up nicely with the smaller shed, this evenings project!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK she's all painted, made a sign with the labeler, opposite colors of the smaller building, this may be the cleanest looking result with my limited detail abilities, sooooooooo I need harshly honest oppinions, passable or just toooooo cheezy lookin ?????????????


----------



## norgale

I like the gray inside the new shed and the sign looks ok but would look better if you had some white tape with red letters to match the other building. Either way, once you get the lumber back in the new shed it should be fine. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

this weekend I'll try & make that small extension for the table by the window.
I think I'm ready to start wiring up the lighting , do a few more parking lots & then the landscaping begins.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

For now the sign is just taped on , will dig through all his lettering decals & stuff to see if theres something that will work.
the other detail that might help is a thin wood border around it, make it look more like a sign? Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

My 2 cents? 

Though nice, :smilie_daumenpos: I think it is a bit too big, maybe because it is sitting by the smaller one?
Move the smaller shed closer to the other building on the right?

Have you ever used dry transfer decals?
Instead of your tape letters?

I did this for another site, I won't mention which one. 

I took a piece of wood and tried to make it look old, I then added dry transfer letters.
I tried to get the hand painted old look, some are crooked I should have straightened them. I thought maybe it would make it look more like someone hand painted it.

The point I am trying to make is do you think it would look better then your tape lettering? You could try it right on the wood itself.
And make them straight.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Have not dug around yet, the labeler was handy just thought I'd give it a dry, thinking of a road sign at the entry to the parking lot too.
Got the table extension on , now there's room for some outdoor piles & maybe some workers,machinery etc etc.
the parking lot will be extended to the station building.


----------



## shaygetz

big ed said:


> I did this for another site, I won't mention which one.


So that's where Serg dumped his overstock :laugh:

He learned the first rule of model railroading the hard way: *To make a small fortune in the hobby, start with a large one.*


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

toying with some homemade light poles to go up the corners of my big shed, dug out some bulbs & pieces of the different brass thats in the stash, see how thin a ploe I can snake the wires through?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

First attempt a little shabby, went to thicker brass for the second one, now my square stock is too big for the base, so I have to figure something out there, wanted 2 lights on each pole, one pointed out & down & the other towards the storage area but it may not fit the wires through, still messin with that idea.


----------



## shaygetz

I use sequins for the lamp shades and the wires of the bulbs themselves as brackets, just stiffened up by gluing them together with a gel crazy glue. Solder one lead to the top of the mast and pick it up again at the bottom, that way you only need to feed one wire down the tube, making it easier to use smaller tubes...


----------



## Big Ed

shaygetz said:


> So that's where Serg dumped his overstock :laugh:
> 
> He learned the first rule of model railroading the hard way: *To make a small fortune in the hobby, start with a large one.*


I think he still has some left. 

I would have took 6 from the get go and save on the shipping but there was a strict 3 car limit so all the members would be able to purchase one. Years later they are still some left.  

I felt sorry for him, so I got 6 of the cars. :smokin: Like potato chips I can't just have one. 
Most likely the first and last of the special run from the site. 

Like his HO site which no one ever is on anymore, the N site is not far behind.
He had a flower site but that went MIA.
When you go there now, your lucky if 8 members are logged on and maybe 15 hobos lurking about.
A far cry from when it used to be active.
Plus with everyone either dying or getting cancer or a host of other problems it is downright depressing to go there now. 

I heard he got rid of some moderators too. 
Takes months to get a picture approved as he doesn't trust the mods to approve them.
What you hear a lot for every problem there is, "the Serg is a very busy man"'.

I had 3 pictures of the N scale Detail shop in one of the contests, (that is what I labeled it) I think I got 3 votes. The CNJ rented a wash bay along side the detail shop.:smilie_daumenpos::appl::smokin:
I never belonged to any the clicks there. 


Cuda, the light looks good, but isn't it facing the wrong way?
Your supposed to light up the area where the people walk.
No?
But I guess if you made enough lights, you could light the tracks too. :smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## Big Ed

Rusty... the last picture looks like a big house barge sitting on the tracks. :laugh::smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Notes taken, I was going to "goop" the wires once I had the shades pointed in the right directions.
I did get the 4 wires through when the tubes were straight, not sure after my bends, but I've been workin the brass, found a couple of small ones they made in the light box, reverse engineered em & got the technique down, got 4 close to the same size, some day I'll get the compass out & make them exact (on the next layout!)
So 4 glued down to hold shape............



made the bends in the poles, trying 2 kinds of bases, the big ones I can solder the tops & a dab of brass paint, the others are just angles, cut down & glue to the wood, decisions decisions??????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ed, you have to get used to the way I work, closest place for a test, in a progression of 30 or 40 pics it might end up where it is actually going to go! 
the light is just stuck in a switch wire hole so I could be near a track to pick up power to test it, they will be mounted on my lumber shed, if it works the way I plan, one on each side, 2 lights each, one pointed at the lumber & the other to light up the area in front of the building. (I hope) 

Tornado got the cubby cover, next stop OZ  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here's the almost finished lights, gotta paint the solder joint at the base & glue the light wires at the top to hold the position, might try & get the front ones pointed down just a bit more.




No flash on camera & just the little ceiling light on in the room...............



total blackout no flash.............


----------



## Big Ed

They are really bright, lights up the whole area. :thumbsup:
Ninety eight more to make.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a bunch a pre fabs in the stash for roads & parking lots. 
Since the building was scratch built I wanted to stay with homemade on that, see how the final product turns out, next chance I get I'm gonna dig around to see if I can make up some better signs, one for the top of that & one for the entry to the lot, then I'll need 2 more home made lights, the center of the building looks like a dark spot hwell: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Building 2 all lit up, the corner is comming together.


----------



## shaygetz

:smilie_daumenpos::smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## Big Ed

That looks nice. 
97 to go. :smilie_daumenpos:

I say the more lights the better. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not a lot of train time last few days, but I snuck in a little, got the last lumber shed lit. Painted the wires & solder joints on the brass poles & made one more light for the center of the big shed I made which should fill in the dark center & also light up whatever sign I end up with.
And finally laid some wood around the labeler sign to see if it helps, still have to dig around & see what other sign makin goodies may be in the stash? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some more lighting tempped in, this shot's not too bad, but it's hard to show the lighting from a distance , flash washes em out, room light is to much, gonna go expirement a little more, here's the lumber buildings.................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

view from the station to the back ...............



got the station in front of the lumber yard lit



angling towards the freight yard...........



& the pass station..................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got 2 more buildings lit up, how do you guys insulate your solder joints, I used a piece of bigger wire insulation & goo'd it on, wire nuts are too bulky & tape, well it's tape.
here's the stores with the goo job.............



here's the bigger station building, 1 in each section & 1 hanging over into the front entry way, still have to add extension wires & solder up..............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Im starting to put a serious dent in the lighting stash hope I get everything lit before I run out.

I think these are some kind of indicator lights, but does anyone know what the yellow base with extra wires do???????????????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, I more question, seems some lights blow out when I test em on track power, there's no markings in some of the bins, what would those lights be for & is there anyway to tell before I test & blow one out?


----------



## Hutch

I would use a variable supply to test them, like a DC controller and start low, raise until it lights. Then measure the voltage with a meter.

Heat shrink tubing is what you want for covering wire joints. You put it before soldering the joints and then slide it over the joint and hit with a heat gun.


----------



## golfermd

Looking good! :thumbsup:

Dan


----------



## ssgt

liquid electrical tape works for me


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the 3 buildings tempped in.....

.......................

lookin a little more lit up, the 3 houses on the cubby would help, but a pain to put in & out so that will wait till later...............................



the wood building in the steam yard may need a second bulb, looks ok in pitch black but any other light kinda kills it
street lights & parking lot lights should brighten it up a bit??????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

cut in some parking lots, got the holes drilled for some street lights & lot lights, these are NOT gonna be fun to wire up.
still need some lighting ideas for the steam yard, not a lot lit in there.


----------



## Big Ed

I like lights on layouts, I say one can never have enough. :thumbsup:

Throw a couple of yard light towers for the yard?
You also have the little buildings by the sand tower that you can light up and add a few outside spot lights on them too.
Is the little switch tower lighted?
You have other structures in/around the yard that could use some lights? 
Plus all around the structures could use out side lights for working at night.

The bumpers light up?
Blinking light on top of the water tank?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bumpers, just a few all the time, the rest are isolated with the track for parking engines.
I found some blinking lights, but the bulb is humongus, (like the skinny Christmas lights) can't hide that on the tower.
Yard spot lights sounds good , might be a home made job, like the brass ones for the lumber yard but taller, I'm out of parking lot lights, only white street lamps left(maybe one or 2 clear) I have to get em wired up & see how many more I need, maybe move the prefabs to darklots & make my own for the one or two lots. 

gotta look over the coaling tower & the sand tower, see if I can light them up, water tower's all wood so maybe hang something on it????? Get it bright enough to take pics in a dark room with no flash!  Rich.


----------



## norgale

That layout is really starting to shape up. The lights are super Rich and some street lights and yard lights will be great on there. It's all big enough for lots of lights. A few LEDs in some of the smaller structures will be good too like Ed said. Don't forget to use resistors with the LEDS. Great work Rich. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Don't know if I have any LED's, he has some resistors laying around, maybe those are the ones I fried when testing on full track power, gonna separate those & see if there is any microscopic markings on them. 
then I have to ask, how do I use the resistors 
Well gonna go crawl around & start wiring in the lights, a circuit just about all the way around the boards, see ya's next week!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK this mess is wired, I really got to work on a plan before I start stringing wires 
I'll clean em up a tad later after I add in the rest, need to get skirts on the tables so no one can see..............................this............................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

street, parking lots & the one station which was not hooked up yet, got lazy, wires for street lights were right there so same circuit.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gonna need more transformers hooked up, as I switch on the next section they dim a bit, a little more with the next section. actually overloaded the tech 2 once  
street lights on the ac term. & a couple of building sections on the dc track control for dimmers(thanks Pete! ) 

everything done so far lit...................



I like these guys, playin checkers!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Picked up the shelving for the small display, looks like I can get 3 rows on each shelf, will play with elevating the back 2 , should be able to get quite a few on there, then I have to figure out some kind of cover, still have the rolls of clear plastic He had on the big ones.
proto norfork on for scale......................



too big for over the freight yard, goes sky right to the ceiling...................



have to remove more of my sons stuff & put it next to the work table near the closet.........................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Found some track plans, these should be His, fit the way the train area was shapped..............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Final remnants of the boys stuff out of the room, the takeover is complete 
How long it will last who knows.:dunno:
Anyway messed with the leftover ramps I brought back a while ago, trying to get enough height to see each row fully but not make it a royal pain to get the top ones on, running out of scrap stuff, might actually have to buy some wood. 
Could only catch one stud, hope that plywood backing is well fastened 
so shelves are up & I started to mock up the track beds..........................


----------



## 05Slowbalt

I like the book case idea that you are using.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

They were hanging in His workroom, looked like I could fit it in the little room, worked out ok, Should be able to get some of the engines back out into the daylight & on display like they should be! :thumbsup: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Found a use for the brass track He had in the back of the box (brass on the left) , got enough road bed for 1 more shelf, I will seal off the fronts on the back 2 shelves for an all wood look , then I have to decide if I ballast or not??????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK think the heights are good, straight on they block the wheels a bit, but standing in front you see everything(well maybe not the upper shelves? 
Pete, these are for you Bud.  Rich.

straight on................



looking on standing in front........................


----------



## norgale

Those engines take up a lot of room. Looks like you could get a caboose behind the Pere but that's about it. Still it's a good use for a bookshelf and you do have lots of room for more stuff . Good idea. 
MAN! We are getting beat to death with a thunder storm right now. Rain is coming down big, big time and the wind is shaking my trailer. Just like in a hurricane with lightening and thunder. 115 strikes in the last 15 minutes. Crazy. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

23" is not a lot to work with, the brass should fit the cabooses, the little guys I should be able to get two per row, but I don't have that many small steamers.
there's one more book case down there, but he stained it a dark color to match his big displays, if I can find a spot to squeeze it in I may hang that for the diesels?
As always I need more space! 
Don't know if I can play with the trains tonight, just finished cleaning up after todays work & still have the phone calls to deal with, was just going to cut the brass tracks for the other 3 road beds & maybe put fronts on the other rear display ramps???? long day, tired, Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Dragged my old bones up there & played for a little while, got the track nailed down on the last 3 pieces of the old ramp & glued on the legs & front covers for the raised ones on the 1st shelf.
Now I'm gonna need some time to dig around & find some more wood, there's still some in the rafters of his shop, gotta check what sizes are left.
Looks like diesels 2 normal & a small switcher on each shelf, the longer ones, maybe 2?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No progress to report, just played a while, limbered up a few steamers for a few laps & ran the track cleaning cars around the loops & long siding.
Did mess with the new bachmann 806 a while ,got it to track a little better, just put my finger on the front truck & pushed down, bent the bar a tad & it seems to stay on better, still touchy though, but got a few laps out of it without derailing, when I picked it up, the smoke unit was hot(not in use) 

More picks of random lights  the yellow arrows on the dark ones are above the norfork P2000 diesel


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My wife will be proud of me, I made the beds tonight 
Road beds that is. 
Just the cork & track on the top shelf back row & they are done, only problem was the plywood I used was a little warped, hope it will settle down over time & not get worse????????? 

Soon some steam power will be back in the light , gotta see how many will fit & choose which ones get the first shot, tough decisions, maybe between that & the yards I can get most out for viewing pleasure :thumbsup: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some steamers back out into the light, gonna have to rotate , not enough room for everyone, but plenty to please the eyes. got most of the rivarossi up, some of the different cool stuff, brass was in another box & when I ran out of space so quick I decided to save them for the next round, more mantuas & the brass will get the next round. 
Yea, maybe I'm showin off a bit :smokin: but heck, He spent many years putting this collection together, I have to do it!  Rich.

shelf by shelf, had to add height to the rear shelves as you go up, they started to block each other(less viewing angle) hwell:









the whole display..................


----------



## shaygetz

Nice work...you going to stain them to match?:smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Maybe someday, have to adjust the heights on the third shelf, I keep taking these detours & I'll never get the decorating moving again. 
Now I can go back to mulling over what to do next, want to finish off the back corner, ground cover & some outside decorations have to be decided on :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK back to the table work, got some lumber stacks made for outside in the yard, painted up some more curbing & some parking spot bumpers. 
Another side track came up, have to ballast 4 or 5 sections of track on the back wall, going to just fill the gaps underneath with ground cover.
So plenty to do for a while without scratching my head for hours getting nothing done! :retard:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

workin on some of the parking lots, got 3 done, I think I want something rougher for the steam yard, gotta mull that over a bit.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Think I found a way to deal with the height difference on the tracks along the wall, leftover pieces of the matt, little hill to decorate later.
going to run some of the ballast beads along the tracks in the corner later to see what it looks like.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

This ground cover is going to take some experimenting, gluing is also an experiment as I ran out of full strength elmers white wood glue, I'm trying the old kids white school glue, don't know how that will react to the wet water spray, so I did a small section of ballast & for the little foliage test I brushed on the watered down elmers & then wet water sprayed that, wont know till tomorrow when I hit it all with the vaccumn if anything stuck :dunno:





brushed on the watered down glue & put med cinders on in front of the sheds(a lot more than the glue) lookin for worn down paths between buildings ?
I have some fine cinders if those are too coarse & some brown med so I can mix it up if it looks ok & sticks when I hit it with the vac


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Did a real light sweep with the vaccumn still not sure if the kiddie glue will hold, lost a couple a clumps, but with a lot of filling in to hide the wood & the seams it should work out ok.


----------



## norgale

Your really looking good here Rich. That first picture of the lumber yard is terrific. Looks so real. You might try just using a small brush to clean the area between the tracks. Better than a vacuum so you don't lose any ballast. Parking lots look great. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Picked up a couple of bottles of fresh elmers, balasting can start in earnest now, still need to find an online place to buy the senic spray glue, need that for my bushes & trees.
things are moving along again.


----------



## Gansett

Somewhere around here I have a mini-vac used for cleaning crumbs out of my keyboard.  Wonder how it'd work for picking up stray ballast?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I have a dust buster type thingy, but I'm a slob  I need the full size model, there's probably more ballast in the vac then on the tracks, good thing he had a large layout, I should have more than enough even accounting for the stuff that didn't stick. 
Gonna go play some more, just doing service calls this week so I should get in lots of train time! :appl:


----------



## shaygetz

http://youtu.be/_r472H_eYmg I have the article within easy reach when I get home...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmm maybe I'm not such a slob, gonna go shoot some pics of my "rough in" ballast & yard trails,a little foliage, the first two stuck well, the bigger pieces of foliage are my first try, so no results till late tonight or tomorrow on those..........be back in a jiff!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK maybe I am a slob  got everything everywhere, cameras too good shows all the scraps floating around. 
Once I can vac up the loose stuff I'll get the after pics up.............. to be continued!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Didn't get too close with the vac but it cleaned up pretty good, now I have to decide what to fill in in the empty spots in the lumber yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a few spots on the raised track that need another round, not too bad for the gap I had.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A little surgery needed, I yanked the wire out of it, wonder if I can fix it???????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Movin along a little, got most of the loop track I could reach ballasted & a little more ground cover on the hill, a few tracks heading into the steam yard have to be gotton to from the cubby, then I can work the loops around the table.
gotta mash up more of the senic tree stuff ran out of green for the cover.


----------



## norgale

Hey! What happened to the crowd at HoJo's? Must have run out of clams. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Almost vaccumned em up, had to evacuate!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Side track over for now, Dads 610 is back on the tracks & ready to run. :thumbsup:
switch shells on the Pere with the NYC at a later date.


----------



## shaygetz

RUSTY Cuda said:


> A little surgery needed, I yanked the wire out of it, wonder if I can fix it???????????


Freeze it...(yes, freeze it), then pop the top off at the seam with the globe, using an Xacto knife, then put in a new bulb. The freezing makes the plastic joints more brittle, making them easier to pry apart...:smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Freezing as we speak, see what pops in a little while 

Trying my hand at some bushes/weeds & another color ground cover for the yard, guess I'll keep filling in the bare spots with different covers as I work with them? 
the bushes are senic tree material chopped up pretty fine.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:thumbsup: You Da Mann, operation successful, :thumbsup:
you did fail to mention   the bulb would not want to come out, after scraping around the edges & gently prying back & forth it finally broke, dug out the remains & had to redrill the hole to the pole, 10 mineuts of sheer bliss, I saved a light from the scrap yard!  

new bulb going in..............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

4-8-4 norfork up on the display, just edged it on with the long range tender.
the engineer made me point it the other way, wanted his ugly mug in the pic.


----------



## shaygetz

RUSTY Cuda said:


> you did fail to mention   the bulb would not want to come out, after scraping around the edges & gently prying back & forth it finally broke, dug out the remains & had to redrill the hole to the pole, 10 mineuts of sheer bliss, I saved a light from the scrap yard!


Well...I'm not gonna just hand over EVERY hobby secret free of charge...:laugh::cheeky4::laugh:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ahhh geee Yoda, I thought your main purpose in life was to train the paddywans.


----------



## shaygetz




----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Did some more ground cover in the lumber yard, pics up after cleanup. then I diverted over to the steamers again, put a couple away, put some new blood out on display & am working on the Berkshires to get them on the tracks for a workout, for now I have the Pere shell ready to go on it's new chassie, the old is weighted down pretty good, should I add some weight to the new chassie, or leave it be??????????? Rich.
this extra tender will be towed behind the shelf queen NYC for now............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Played with the steam display while waiting for the glue to dry, put a few away, pulled out some different ones, the look for the next little while....................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the 2 1/2 Berkshires are on display in the steam yard, put an ounce & 1/2 in the Pere tender, waiting to see how much to add to the engine.............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Did a minor cleanup in the lumber yard, think I'm ok with the ground cover, now I need to get some workers out there putzing around.


----------



## shaygetz

Nice lineup there...:smilie_daumenpos: Weights in the tender help with electrical pickup. When doing the engines themselves, just make sure the drivers can slip under load and the motor stays under amp ratings, until then, the more the merrier.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK since I have no idea how to do those tests I'm going with about half the weight that was in the original.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

between getting ground cover down I'm going to make some light poles for the steam yard, measuring the wall of a building 2" tall I'm assuming bout a 1/4 inch a foot is a good scale (normal wall bout 8') so my light poles will be about 9" high(going for a 35' pole)
Need to light a large area.
Am I close??????????? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

oopsie..................OK did some measuring, 9" is in the stratosphere, thinking 5 or 6" now, gonna make one 6" if it's too high I can cut it down. :dunno:


----------



## shaygetz

An easy "close enough" measurement is 1/8" per foot in HO scale...:thumbsup: That equals about 1:96 scale vs. HO's 1:87.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, so even my cut down to 6 wasn't enough, kinda got stumped at what to do at the top, wanted like a T with 3 lights, messed with trying to cut a hole in the bottom of the tubing & that's where I needed a break, it just wasn't lookin good.
So I finished off the parking lot for the steam yard & stuck the one pole I started for a height check. 
My idea here is to put about 5 of these around the yard, on a separate switch for night work in the yard? 
So I'm gonna try 4 1/3" on the next one, then see how much area I can light , I'm actually running out of bulbs, might be the first HO things I have to by, rather than just bought for the heck of it. 







from this angle it don't look too bad


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Never got back to the light poles, did a few of the bigger sections of ground cover & planted a few trees, not to mention played with one of the berks for a while.
Got the lower level between the tracks covered............





got some bushes in behind the parking lot & grass & trees in the bigger areas..........





Berk going by at sundown.............



last train for the night & last call at ho jo's ................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm gonna need more people, even with the amount I have, just not right for some of the scenes.
put out some & added more cars & trucks, lookin a little better.


----------



## norgale

One thing I can think of is a stop line where one street meets another and stop signs like in real life. The parking lot lights at HoJo's look great. I'd stick with that design and add some more to HoJo's. Put one in the corner where the green car is,one in the opposite corner behind the van,move the one on the right to the back corner and add one more to the corner where the sign is. Going by the spacing of the lights at the shopping center I used to manage that would be just about right for that sized lot. 
Love all the green things and the trees look great. All this adds a lot to the layout and with more vehicles and people your trains are coming to life. I think your layout should be featured in MR magazine. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Haven't even dug out the street signs, RR Xings & such yet, lights are what I had, got one more of the little angle parking lot ones & about 6 street lamps left & still some bulbs for homemade, want to get the cubby cover on & lit up to see where I'm at back there.
bout 6 sg ft ground cover done, just 50 sq ft to go>>>>>>>>>


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Workin my way back to the freight yard, still have to run the ballast beads on a few tracks back there.............


Had to get out something classy to run around awhile, went with my favorite color & used the alton , she's perty! 





She's a little long for my station, but I can park it on the siding safely



these are the first senic trees I made a while back, look better in the dark or far far away


----------



## shaygetz

Nice...everyone should own at least one set of steam powered matched varnish...:smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## norgale

Go out in your yard and get some small stones to put around for boulders. A little of the green stuff at the base and they look neat. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thank you! 

Pete, that will work great when I get to my little hills on the other end.
I'm takin notes!


----------



## Grabbem88

I like the shrubs and green work with the color mixed in..

Now if you need people I got plenty from soccer players police passengers oh heck I got people!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Seems all my workers are RR related, need some mechanics, lumber yard workers , pipe fitters stuff like that.
I have a bunch of regular folks, RR people.
Oh yea, I have no kids either (to play around the houses or the park I'm thinking of adding????? Rich.


----------



## Grabbem88

I think I got kids and a few cats/dogs one worker that was driving a backhoe 

I can sift through and see for ya


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Cool see what you have extra of. I'd be interested. Thanks, Rich.


----------



## Grabbem88

No problem and I got baggies full lol I came across a guy sold sandwich bags full of people for a 1.00 a piece so I got a mix of generic to highend kind


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just a little train time so far today, but I got the ground cover on over to the yard, tried to mix in more color as I got closer to transition to the meadow grass in there, won't know till it dries?????????
maybe tonight I can run the ballast beads & plant a few trees & that will be done till the little touches start going on.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back to some home made lights, this time trying to make more parking lot spots............ like this one...........



first thing I learned is pull the wires before you bend the plastic



used my cig lighter to make the bend, the base I drilled out some square wood stock....................



cut it to size & whittled down the top edges................



slightly bigger, but with a little silver paint & a different spot on the table...wa la I have another light, now I have 3 more spot bulbs but they have short wires, don't think a connection will fit through the tubing


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not much play time, but got the ballast down over to the yard, grass still wet so transition grass color dark, I think it will be ok. 
once everything dries I'll hit it with the vac to pic up all the excess.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Trying to fab up a sidewalk to go from ho jo's to the stores , found some wood about the same thickness as the base of the stores & started playing, marked out the pattern & on the small piece I cut em in with a fine saw, the other piece I just drew them with a pen trying to press hard & create a little dent? 







Pen bled thru way to much..............So back to the saw

.


So looks like no more pen, just cut in the notches, 2" done bout 4' to go!


----------



## norgale

Sidewalk looks good Rich and the light pole too. I like the little neighborhood stores. Looks like home a bit. Now, can I take the train to downtown for some shopping? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

1st pic, the train is at the station between Ho Jo's & the stores! 
Might get some play time tonight after I chill out a while, been a long week.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the sidewalks down, now what to plant between them & the street?



Ho Jo's base was quite a bit darker gray so I painted that too.


----------



## Big Ed

Are you ever going to be done? 
Then you can start all over. 

I have not bothered you in a while. looking good man. :thumbsup:

You better have some AC work with all this hot humid weather we been having!
More on the way next week. :smilie_daumenneg:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's why the progress is slow, trying to at least get one small thing done each nite, but some nites I'm just out of gas. hwell:

got most of july booked & my contractors are talking action soon, but nothing now, which since I'm booked is a good thing, one definite double replacement in the fall & another double heat & cool all new I'm bidding on with a foot in the door, so there's hope for a good season! 

I dread the day it's done, then I'll be ripping it up & trying to figure a way to go around the room with my work table in the middle, so I can get bigger yards & longer loops, my trains look like a dog chasing it's tail! 

I did miss you , somebody's gotta keep me on the right track  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started on finishing off the side wall area, got the grass down around the buildings, may add a few worn down paths between buildings in the back?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

trying to add a little color to the bushes, start with a piece of senic tree material & some colored cover, wet water the piece then a couple drops diluted glue & dip it in the mix.



might be too many different colors, but that's what I have to work with, as I go along the sidewalk I'll add a few small trees, trying not to block out the view.


----------



## Grabbem88

I think it looks good and I havnt forgotten about ya I even went to one of my lhs and he had woodland scenics people for 5 bucks a package but couldn't decide what you would like.. Lol


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Those people packs are spensive, was just crusin ebay for old junk accessories, watching a welder set & a dock workers set which look generic(could work anywhere) don't go out of your way I was thinkin more of what you just have laying around. A few kids is top of my list, didn't see any on ebay? Rich.


----------



## Grabbem88

I think I saw people and there pets dock workers police hobos and funeral scene

Those were all 5 bucks by woodland scenic 

I'm gonna take a pic and let you see if you like what I got


----------



## Grabbem88

http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af158/countrygurl78/Train table/IMG_1361.jpg

http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af158/countrygurl78/Train table/IMG_1362.jpg


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Looks like a big storm hit, gotta get the street sweepers out & the repair crew for Ho Jo's wall 





now I have to dig out the street signs & such, hopefully finish off that area.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

ooops!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Grabbem, the blue sitting guy in the 1st pick looks like he could drive my frontloader, hard to see whats in the second pic, the guy in the upper middle with the plaid shirt looks interesting.
I think I have the sitting man with his daughter, only kid I can pick out?? 
Animals are cool, but I have no farm  thanks for lookin, Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK been digging around, here's the peeps I got, plus a few on the table, many of them are doubles & triples of the same figure.
A pit crew from some really old time racers by the looks of the gas can & tires! 


2 sets of rail workers, these I can use, I'm thinking remove the end of one track in the steam yard & set it up as the last rail to be laid , so I have a work area. 



regular workers, most of these are doubled on the board already.



then there is the ice skaters, hmmm I'm a little short of ice.



& the generic population, big bin are all rail related.



grabbem, I think this is the farther daughter you had........


----------



## Grabbem88

Yep sure is and you can have my last worker I got all my tractors and trucks fitted with driver/operators already

And I think people brings out the realism of the layout without them it's just a layout with decorations


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Signage, a few newbie questions here also..........
what is & where do you put a yard limit sign?????


these will make my eyes fall out trying to paint.



these are nice & crispy, I like this set.



where do I put the brush thingies, in the diesel yard? 



then there's the A&P lighted signs in the last pic & these exxon ones, don't have a super market or gas station, gotta see if I can change the signs to something I have?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:rippedhand: if you missed it go back to exxon signs, check out that price per gallon! :smokin:
I'm old enough to remember a pack a butts about that price, .27 I was 10 or 11 & used to pick up for Dad, before I started doubling up & getting one for myself too! :cheeky4:

Gas I think was around .79 when I started driving??????? that's a little foggy, but it was a few years before the first gas crunch, with the rationing. Mann I'm getting old!


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Signage, a few newbie questions here also..........
> what is & where do you put a yard limit sign?????
> 
> 
> these will make my eyes fall out trying to paint.
> 
> 
> 
> these are nice & crispy, I like this set.
> 
> 
> 
> where do I put the brush thingies, in the diesel yard?
> 
> 
> 
> then there's the A&P lighted signs in the last pic & these exxon ones, don't have a super market or gas station, gotta see if I can change the signs to something I have?



A yard limit thread was here just recently.
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=18906

Your eye hurting signs you could paint then take a sharpie pen and do the letters.
They are raised right?

The hairy things go before something like a tunnel or before an underpass.

The Exxon sign? And the other one, it would be easier to relabel the gas station or building I think.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yep raised, I'll use those when I run out of easy ones! 

Darn, no tunnel or overpass, guess those stay in the pack till next layout. 

No gas station or supermarket, the A&P are cardboard I think, might be easy, exxon on the other hand, I may just leave alone & maybe pick up a station for the next layout, see I'm not even done yet & I'm talking the next one! :retard:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thought I found a use for one A&P sign, clock tower over near the big building next to HO JO's, but the cardboard just blocked out the light 
Might still be possible if I find something lighter, there is some clear sheets around, & I think white, I'll dig out the white & see how the light goes through, more detours from actually workin on the landscape!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

found some red dry transfer letters, so I'm going to attempt a red on white lumber yard sign for the big shed to match the smaller building, the red pack is unopened & says shelf life indefinite if in orig package, hoping so, I played with an open gold pack to practice & didn't have much luck, got some to transfer, but they rubbed right off, it doesn't say anything about coating them when finished, am I missing something.
tried on plain wood & then the side of a gondola? Rich.

they are probably 30 years old?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

True to their word, the red seems to have worked, run out of letters real quick though, had to fab up the last L in millwork, will glue it on the building when the paint dries on my final edge cuts.



I'm off to plant more grass...........................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK sign is hung & the back corner is starting to come together, got the 2 grass sections in front of the station done. 
that center light I added is just enough to fill in the dark spot that was in the middle of the sign, sometimes I see the light!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Since I had to remove the engines from the display to get a coat of stain on the fronts, it gave me incentive to get as much as I could on the tracks, used every isolation point & two of the live yard tracks, can't do any changes of who's running till at least 2 are pulled, but it makes for a loaded table.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So that in turn opened up the display for the rest of the steamers, everything I have is out cept the poor little John bull, some day I'll get a new cow catcher for it.
Cut down one of the plastic rolls Dad had over his displays, try & keep the dust & nicotine off my babies.
Cuts the top shelf down to one track, but it's worth it!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Some day I'll have to see how many of the diesels I can get up on there, figure I'll give everyone a few laps before I box some up again. 
I'll never get back to decorating! :cheeky4:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Since all the steamers are out I decided to work on the problem children, opened up the grayhound & found the driveshaft was stripped, probably because of the running gear locking up on me, I had the gear running smooth again when this started, trying a drop of super glue on each end to see if it will hold, drying as we speak, next I'm going to give the big boy a good wheel cleaning & see if it improves like the challenger did.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not much luck there, she's still slipping somewhere & I can't pinpoint it, opened up the gear box & gears look ok.
the big boy didn't improve much, runs ok, just seems sluggish to me(& compared to the challenger)
weighted the cab forward tender with an ounce & 1/2 cleaned that up, again runs ok, but a little hesitation every now & then.
back is killing me, enough for tonight!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

wheel set for the berk came today 
after the no success last night I wasn't sure if I should even attempt the transplant, still draggin a bit from all this heat, but I went at it anyway, took it apart real slow & marked down where everything went, got all the running gear on & turned the shaft real slow with a screwdriver & holy cow, it works 
put it on the track for a test & the only problem was the outter rod wasn't tracking right, got that squared away & put it off to the side to test the other berk I used to set all the parts back, same problem, but now I knew how to fix it 
so I put the chassie on for one more triple check & it gets half way around & derails 
Pick it up & the screw had come out, rods poppin out all over the place, second one of these that I've lost (there in that room somewhere! :dunno: so I pulled the wheel set that I stole the last one off & got another screw :thumbsup:
For the life of me I can not get it started, tried for a long time, finally gave up for tonight, have to go digging & see if I have a tap for that size screw.
getting a little frustrated, so I'm still at 2 1/2 berks!


----------



## Hutch

Poor guy. Only 2.5 Berks. So sad:cheeky4:

I wish I had 1/4 of your collection. Nice stuff.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks,Dad spent many years building up the collection, my frustration is from my lack of ability to make some of the repairs to get everything back into good running order, I'll keep plugin away, at least the gear switch part went well, didn't screw up the quartering, just hard to take when you get it running & the one screw that has no collar flies off into space!


----------



## Big Ed

You need another shelf now?
You got more to sit on one?


I like all the brass sitting there. :smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## Hutch

One of those brass trains is going on my bucket list. Not sure where the money will come from but I gotta have one. I'm drooling. excuse me.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Give me an excuse to drag this up again, some of you will recognize your new trains on here.



I couldn't even fit the small display in this room.


----------



## Big Ed

I ought to make me something like those. :smilie_daumenpos:
Did your Dad make them? 

Put them in your living room. :smilie_daumenpos:

Then the maid can keep they dusted for you. :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Displays were made by him, but sad to say they are long gone, he must have pulled em down after he boxed up the trains for me, I never saw any leftovers, he must have either given them away or dismantled & got rid of the wood? 
She would wear them out , hand me little pieces every night like she did with my models, she's not allowed in the train room, she tried to dust once & was banned!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Senior moments! 
Guys, I'm loosin it, you would think I would remember doing the same search a month or two ago & finding a parts bag with the proper screws in it! 
Now I'm down to 2 spares, which I will promptly forget I even have hwell:
So the screw I thought I had used last time was one size too big, no wonder it wouldn't start  
I did actually find a tap, ran that through & when I pulled out the proper screw It went in nice, took a while to get those outter rods on right but I finally got it, so the NYC is up & running again with the Pere chassie & new gear, I also pulled out half the weight that was in there, just in case that had anything to do with the stripped gear 
So, now do I go nuts & try & find the proper tender, or just run it with my spare harbor freight tender ?
Here she is :smokin:


----------



## Grabbem88

Hey where's my Amtrak gp7???? I never got it..lol

Just trying to rub that scenior moment in a little deeper ha ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK lookin at the display gave me an idea for another detour from decorating  pack up the alton for a while & pull out the work train & park that baby on the siding, after all there's a ton of work to be done! 
no pics just yet, got some service calls to get done before play time!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh my, I'll send it right out! :cheeky4:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just ordered some peeps, welding assortment............

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130944311614?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2648


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK rearranged the steamers on the display & left 4 on the rails in the steam yard, the challe, one berk, the UP grayhound & an 0-8-0 switcher.
Packed up the rest , want to pull out a few diesels & get something going over there.
The display I think I'll leave up awhile, shows a good mix of what's in the collection.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The alton went across country, the work train has taken it's place, have to decide if I use the pensy steamer on the display to pull it, or get out some diesel power, for the moment the norfork is on the job(it was out!)



parked on the siding now.........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

there's another bigger crane, didn't seem to go with anything & the strings kept rolling out, so that's still in the box


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Really nice details on these cars..............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& this one just because I like the shot :smokin:
gotta work on the cubby hole area, cant take a pick without that getting in


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started on the lawns for the cubby cover, still don't know what I'm going to do to transition back to the main table?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Grass is on , decided to try plain grass as transition on the back sides, the steam yard overhangs yet to be determined. 
maybe try a test fit tomorrow night if it's dry, don't know how it will hold up on the overhangs???????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

steam yard by the buildings still has to be done from the cubby, the side facing the controls can be reached from outside.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still messin with the night work lite idea, got my tee soldered together & tempped in the 3 spot lights I have left. put some of Ed's favorite tape on to try & point the bulbs in the right direction.............



Quite a bit of light, now I have to figure out where the work area will be, it's gonna need a pretty big back plate to keep all the light directed to the area.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bout the same shot with & then without............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK cubby hole is stuck in there to see what I have, not too bad, the overhangs got quite crispy, & the grass on the table is pushing them up a bit, hopefully with some tweeking I can get it to lay down flatter? 
I have to add more grass on the outskirts, a few light spots & get my road lines back down, think I'm going to use that last single light I made at the inside corner of the street & add a regular street light on the town side lawn, then it's time for the little touches, maybe some bushes, people, cars & such.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So that's about one third of the main table done, looks like the diesel yard will wait till last, only fitting, it was first on the original diorama, my how we've grown!


----------



## Big Ed

3 days and no pictures?

Must have broke the camera.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not a lot of train time the last few days, no life left in me after all the work in the heat, today I got a break, cool out & we had the unit blowing in the attic while we finished up, what a difference at the end of the day! :smokin:
So I crawled under the table & wired up the cubby cover. 



Gotta take a closer look at the house by the steam yard tower, I think I'm missing the party???????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete............ here's how I ended up doing the disconnects for the cubby, after going through all my harness pieces I realized they are all male ends, the female parts are on the circuit boards or parts that went to the scrap yard.  
but a simple male & female spade setup did the trick, nothing fancy but quite functional.


----------



## Big Ed

That house needs a few shades? 
Or are there some and I can't see them?

Your going to need an electric plant with sub stations on the layout soon.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Was crusin ebay accessories area & came across these babies. 
don't wanna buy em  but copied the pic to see if I can make something like em, in my quest for some homemade spot lights, I have a whole bag of truss supports that might just fit the bill, next time I have a few hours I'll dig em out & see what develops


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hey Ed, you ALWAYS post while I'm typing or uploading pics. 
I've been workin OT the last few days & had nothing left for the trains at night. 
I am going to take a closer look at that house & see if there stick ons on the windows or what????????????? 

Every section I turn on dims the others, already running 2 transformers for the lights, some sections off the ac terminals & some off the speed controllers for dimmers(thanks Pete)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh yea I did break the camera, lost the little pins that hold the battery cover on, so from now on, dates will probably be wrong again, tired of resetting that!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Forgot to retake the pics of the 2nd crossover after I dropped the camera. 
I built the other the other kit , it's a little wider than the gray one, just have to run some long pass cars to make sure they clear before I decorate around it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Workin on lighting the sheds by the little station, workin my way down the pole with some clear glue, should not be visible from the front when done, had to notch the base on the bigger on so it will sit flat when done. think I'm going to work the edge of the table for a while, nice & easy to get to & work on!



once I get the wires nice & tight on top I'll goo these into the notches.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finished gluing down the wires, can push up he light bulbs if they show, kept em as far from the plastic as I could & not see them from the front(won't really know till their on the table)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the ballast down on the loops, only part I can't do is the back side of my funky hill, the base is not fastened down & I need to fill in where the chunk a wood is.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Noticed another thing, started just placing some signs out & most of them face away from where someone viewing the table can see them, do I just put them in backwards, like yard limit facing the yard ,not trains entering yard???????????????


----------



## Big Ed

How come you didn't add some shade covers for the lights?

Yard limit?
Did you see this? 
They say they are supposed to be posted out on the main lines.
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=18906&highlight=yard+limit

If you want, post them where you can read them, who is going to know besides a rivet counter. 

The home pullout works nice, how do you get it up from underneath or can you lift it up from the top?

Get the street sweeper to clean up all the ballast on the roads please.





By the way did you know your signs are facing the wrong way?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Lights will be hidden up in the rafters when on the table, just dropped enough to not melt the roof (I hope) 
I don't have a main that passes the yards, so I figured near the entry is as close as I can get??????????
2 person job, crawl under & push straight up, hand it off to assistant outside the table. right now I have 2 cars stranded in the back on inner loop, was backing up the work train to ballast & forgot to switch the switch :retard:
Cleanup crew comes in when I get home this after noon, might finish the steam yard ballast tonight. too bad I'm the only one on duty!


----------



## Big Ed

I forgot what kind of room your in but was thinking. (smell the smoke?) 
Maybe put some small screw eyelets in each corner and one directly center in the ceiling.

Set up some kind of small cables/rope/string with clips and run them up through the ceiling eyelet. Put another eyelet on the outside of the table so you can pull her up. (two eyelets on the ceiling)

That way when you want to lift just hook up the cables and thread it through the top eyelets and pull it up from the outside of the table, after you pull it up just tie it down somehow. 
When you done working just lower it down and remove the cables/rope/string.
You can hide the eyelets on the table with some bushes.

Maybe? Smoke cleared now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I can see the smoke from here, wild fires in Jersey. 
A lot of work & holes in the ceiling for a set up that will last a year or 2 at best. 
I've already been thinking I'm wasting all the decorating stuff, but It's a great learning experience & I guess worth the materials. 
Nothing is really functional, can't get a lumber train near the lumber yard, can't get a full pass train near the station & after a few laps running the trains in circles gets old quick.
the around the room design is already taking up some of my pondering time.
So I'll finish this off, get the engines & cars tested & tuned ( that alone may take years) & then start tearing it down hwell: Rich.


----------



## norgale

Yup that's the way it goes. Build 'em up and tear 'em down and each time you get better at what your doing and make all kinds of changes. Bring In new stuff and take out old stuff ,make it bigger or make it smaller and on and on it goes. No model railroad is ever finished. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yo Ed, the party's over, we missed it. Took a close look at that house, just window shades, I think it's haunted!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

finished off the shed lights, took all 3 bulbs from the same bin, all look the same, but the one in the small shed is dimmer, may redo it if it bothers me later.
Have to get pretty low to see the bulbs...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the ballast down in the steam yard....................



& made a little coal mess around the tower.................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The taped off track will be removed & the rail crew will be set up there laying the final track.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started to set up the work area on the final track, put out some misc decorations to see if I can make the area look nice & busy.



Haven't decided on ground cover yet, wondering if it will look ok as is & just add some cover , gravel or something around the buildings & beaten down paths??????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

dug out some more detail pieces & ran the little work train over to bring some fresh workers & supplies.
It had some trouble on the switches(wheels ran up the sides) but it made it from outer to inner & then backed to the yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Getting a few more ready to join the work force, next layout I have to work that little coal car in somehow?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

In my diggings I found all these plastic pics(for the lack of the right name for them) what are these for?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Found some things I think I can use for power & switching boxes around my crossings, is the red thingie a manual switch lever ??????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

last thing I messed with after sorting out some loose parts was the berk that took a nose dive, glued the bell back on, so it just needs the front pilot & coupling fixed(could not find the pilot steps) & it's 100%
also glued back 2 of the chains that had come loose on the tender trucks, now is this something you'd see out there, never noticed them in the pics of real steamers? Rich.


----------



## ssgt

The picks are manual uncoupling tools to seperate your cars without removing them from the track.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wow, quite the assortment for the same purpose. Now I have to test which type works best on KD's


----------



## spoil9

Some of those plastic screwdrivers are used to tune coils in RF circuits since a normal screwdriver will change the tuning once it's removed from the circuit. 

As for the new siding your crew is laying down. You asked about ground cover? Remember that the real rail roads never lay track on plain dirt. They always set up a gravel roadbed, then lay the track down, then fill in with more gravel.


----------



## norgale

I like the track laying scene Rich. Looks cool. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I was pondering a pile of ballast with the crew following after the rail was down(just move the others down the track a bit, so now they will be first & last! Thanks.

Thanks, Pete, you back to tinkering yet? Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Worked on getting the ballast crew into action.



the push is on to get the rail finished..............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

work train returned with the next shift.............



must be the supervisors playing checkers over there.............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I have to help out that lonely tree(that was my test hole to see what size bit I needed) & get some people wandering around the yard where the steamers will be awaiting there next run..................


----------



## shaygetz

Coming together quite nicely...:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My first attempt at a brass shield for the spotlight, looks like hell a tad on the crude side, but that baby puts out some light...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pulled out the truss supports to see if I can imitate the ones I say on ebay, trusses should be fine, but what to put the bulbs in????????
took a few barrels & drilled a hole in each, all solid, rats, then I found a steamer light I think I have a few more black ones somewhere, looks like plenty of light, was going to ask if it would melt the plastic, but got that answered real quick, she started smoking right after I took the pic!  didn't melt yet but almost burnt my fingers picking it up!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

pulled out the chain link fence kit , thinkin behind the steam yard parking lot from the road over to the rails.
Found the right drill bit to open up the post holes, but it took a while lookin through all the handles trying to find one that closed down small enough to hold it!
Probably no gate needed here, save that if it ever goes around a factory or something.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wow this is going to take longer that I thought, put a little Goo on the top rail at the spacing I worked out, & slid the posts on, dug out some fine wire He had & decided to try & wire tie the chain link in rather than glue, well after about an hour & a half I got two of the 3 sections I need started, the eyes & the back were cryin for a break! hwell:





got about 16 more tie off points & then cut off the excess & hope they don't unravel!
then start on the last section


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put up the first 2 sections to see how it looks, may need a few more tie off points 7 a way to get the posts straighter, but I think the effect is there. One more section to make to reach the rails, don't think I'm gonna mess with the barbed wire on this one, maybe next time!


----------



## Big Ed

I finished the road for you.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I told you the earth was flat! 
Reminds me I have to restripe the roads on the cubby cover! 

railroad work came to a screeching halt, ran out of masking tape


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

While the glue was drying on the posts I decided to go ahead & do the gates for future use, even tried the barbed wire on one, what a PITA, don't know how I'd get that to look decent on 3 or 4 feet of fencing, or even keep the posts steady enough to pull it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the fence is done, got the last section up, now what kind of landscape around it ??????????

 

looks pretty good(well at least I think so  ) 
got one post to pop back in the hole!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a little surprise, was checking out a few lights that went out & when I took apart the parking lot spot I realized it was homemade & very similar to how I made my copy, de ja vous , Alex must have rubbed off a little on me too!



with the long wire from that I may be able to extend the wires on my short spots to fix that & make one more.


----------



## Grabbem88

Tumbleweeds dried grass/weeds brownish shrubs... Cut up some tissue or newspaper and fold it up like somebody littered.

Layout is looking great!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

pretty cool, the wire from the burnt out bulb was long enough to get all three of my remaining spots extended enough to make 3 more spots.
(I don't have any wire thin enough to fit the poles)
So now to the connection, nothing much bigger would fit either, so I just cut the wires at different lengths twisted em real good & pulled them into the plastic shaft, pretty tight so I think the pole will be my wire nut!



Just have to whittle down the last 2 bases & get out the silver paint & they are ready to light something up! :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

found a barrel that's a looser fit around the light bulb , only have three, wanted to do 2 poles 2 lights each, something else will turn up I hope, so now I have to start cutting the pieces & get the wires through, see how it looks


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the spots painted, pulled out a few more street lights for some bare spots & fixed the other building light that went out.

Butttttttttt..........................

That around the room layout has been poppin into my head way too much lately, thinkin about holding off on any more decorating & going right to testing all the rolling stock, give me time to decide if I finish this or just start tearing it down, I feel I can make use of so much more stuff with longer loops & real workable sidings/yards??????????????????

Seems like I'm wasting a lot of materials to continue on this knowing it will come down soon, am I nuts :retard: or just practical? 

looks like the silver paint got a little thick over the years..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh forgot to mention, the barrel melted, back to the drawing board!


----------



## Big Ed

Those Gandy dancers are sure taking their time carrying the rail! 

Did you buy them? 
I never saw that before. :smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

If they were in the right box they are Merton, made in Germany.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

just checked ebay, one of the first to pop up under HO trains merton...............

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TWO-MERTON-...126334?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item20d1a3cc7e


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Had to take a little break from the trains, had a friend over & was showing him that cool little work train & it fried right before our eyes.  RIP
Between that & the constant thinking about the round the room idea I just had no ambition to do anything. hwell:
drew out some sketches , it's not going to be easy. Getting a workable spot for the work bench, & something of a pretty big yard in the middle & still be able to reach all points is proving more trouble than it should be.
first scetches coming soon!


----------



## Big Ed

Too bad you can't incorporate some of what you already have into the around the room plan.

Did you buy the rail carriers or was that in one of Dads boxes?

When it fried, did he think at first that it was a special effect you built into it? 
What fried? Do you think you can fix it?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That was an early thought, but I have to cut in a space for the work table, that's probably the biggest drawback, but a must have!
I would end up with 7' or so straightaways at the far end (great for my passenger station) & longer radius outside loop, maybe even get a third one in.
Got the first rough sketch of the tables finished up will post up in a few after I get it scanned in.

rail carriers were in the collection one set still boxed & the other in the box with that little work train (from Alex I think )

I looked at it, it's basically some small chassie assembly with all the custom stuff glued on, can't see an easy way to separate it, as time goes on & I get better at this stuff I'll find a way to get it back up & running. Maybe buy one of those rail cars & transplant the body?????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here's the first draft, open space too big, but this is all the tables I have, even thinking of putting the work bench back into the tables & making a new work table, that would give me another 2' x45" section.
another idea is to bridge a pretty wide gap with my bridges, gotta get some of those back into the plan. then decorating under them might be a major project?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally got my white pinstriping tape, gonna mess with a few intersections & see how it looks. maybe paint up some road signs, will need them either way. 
decided to run some trains around a while as I ponder the future of the railroad. challenger pulling a bunch a freight trains & the norfork is still pulling the work train.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Test cross walks are down, road crew had lunch at the tavern again, but I think it works ok?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

then it was just play time, ran the trains around & took a few long range pics, I need a camera that will catch the lighting & see what I see when the flash is off, 1st pic flash on, 2nd I had to auto correct to get it brighter.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Recruited My Son to shoot a little video for me, got one of the brassies to pull the work train & the Challenger is pulling the freight.
Brass still has little hesitations, but did not overheat, did slip the wheels a little trying to get started.
Still trying to show the lighting, first vid no lights, second is just with his phone light, it lets the lights show up pretty good. 
Gonna have to paint the underside of the roof on that red building in the corner black, can't have a glowing roof! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thzqgyoyhl8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1ozmhW6Z6g


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The brass is safely back on the display, got the IHC pensy steamer out to pull the work train.................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

lookin a lot busier these days, think I'll play some more before I tear it down!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the more I check out the work train, the more I like it, didn't even realize it was a kit, saw one on ebay the other day!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

next project, got all the makings & finally know what a KD coupler guage is, saw it in the tool box & had no idea what it was! gotta cut a chunk a wood for the base, the postal scale I have a nice digital one.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

only found 2 stop signs so far, got the red on, poles & base will be green then I'll do the white letters.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Challenger warming up at sunrise for a run.....................


----------



## norgale

Rusty make the cross walk narrower and the stop bar for the traffic should go from the yellow center line all the way to the curb and be two tapes wide. The whole thing looks great. I saw your videos and made a comment on them so you will get that soon. Love the Challenger picture. Very life like with the tree and the backdrop. You've come a really long way in a very short time old buddy. Your Dad would love what you've done with everything. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm getting lots of practice  just went searching under table switch machines for the next setup, get some more usable straightaways & better ground cover I hope.
For now I'm just going to do signs & stuff to decorate without glue, make everything reusable for the next layout.
I wonder how many times I will lay track & pull it up????????? :retard:

I tried to toy with those computer designs , I couldn't even get my tables laid out  so I guess for me it will be trial & error, maybe a few less errors than the last go round! 

yea, the first was too dark, we were trying to see what the difference would be, the phone "flash" did the trick. :thumbsup:
brass engine ran pretty good too, I know most don't run them, but by the spare parts I found I'm pretty sure these are well used, still get occasional sparks, probably oily parts passing current from trucks to body, seems mostly on turns, (that last one on the video was the worst, mostly just slows a bit in spots)
Anyway a pretty good train night, ran a few different engines, did some tinkering & nothing brunt up or broke!  Rich.


----------



## Hutch

I was going to reply to this thread yesterday with "It looks fantastic, what now. You'll have to start over". Then I see this


> lookin a lot busier these days, think I'll play some more before I tear it down!


. Arent trains fun!:smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## cv_acr

Well Rusty, looks like you're still having fun with this!

Work train equipment certainly can be interesting. Often (except for the really specialized stuff like the crane) it's all rebuilt from older freight cars. (Flatcars and gondolas turned into crane support cars, tie cars, wheel cars, rail cars, etc. Boxcars turned into storage cars, workshop cars, bunk cars, etc.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I've always had some kind of hobby going, mostly different things as the kids grew up, always model cars,did the radio control planes for a few years, till the guy that was teaching me to fly moved away, still have 3 of those in the basement, all unfinished & probably warped beyond use, legos (still have the giant collectors X-wing somewhere) football cards, last 12 years or so it was the 'Cuda, the 2nd one's now been sitting back there almost 10 years with very little done, I have to sell the first for the funds to work on the second, but I'm running out of years. 
the planes was the same reason I never did trains, no space, if things worked out differently that room might have a 6' wingspan P40 hanging from the ceiling. :smokin:
I really like fixing & making things, my major setback is creativity so I've been checking out other layouts, crusin youtube for train vidios, lookin for ideas for the next layout.
So much cool stuff have to find a way to get more of it on the tables in the space allotted, first thing I'm going to try is that 4 bay engine house, that is just to good to leave out if there's any way possible!
Supposed to have a free weekend, lots of train time, see where it takes me! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here's a couple of the more recent cars, maybe 10 years ago ??????????
You can see some wings from the planes in the backround.................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Found 2 more stop signs at the bottom of the box, bases broken off, so one's a tad short, started to paint the one that dried, original 2 are painted & on the job.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

messed with a few freight cars, adjusted a few coupler heights, mostly by shimming or removing shims from the trucks.
found if I ran the lighter cars at the end of the train I had less problems with them, one gondola I just threw in a few lead weights & that ran better, how do you hide weight in a gondola? I guess I have to figure out a heavy load for it!
So next I dive into the box where I threw (well placed gently)  the ones that were out & giving me fits, see how that goes. 
So I got a fairly long freight train to run around for quite a while without any uncoupling or derailing, progress is being made.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thought I found why the sound car did not work, was checking it out & saw no pickups on the wheels, so I opened it up, too many years boxed up...........
got a new battery & cleaned it up, but all I get is a humming sound?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finished off the freight car tester & got the first batch of problem cars out, once I check all the coupler heights I'm going to run them & make sure it wasn't my earlier track problems :dunno:


----------



## Gansett

Maybe it hums because it doesn't know the words?




RUSTY Cuda said:


> Thought I found why the sound car did not work, was checking it out & saw no pickups on the wheels, so I opened it up, too many years boxed up...........
> got a new battery & cleaned it up, but all I get is a humming sound?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:laugh: :smokin:

Got another still in a plastic box, do a quick hookup & see what comes out of that?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Dug out the other 2 sound units, first is a steam chugger, battery op & the bare metal spot on the axel closes the circuit , faster revs faster chugs! 



the 2nd unit has 3 wires, touching 2 to the battery just a static sound, the other wire is just kind of a click or tap sound, so without papers, unless one of the old timers has this unit I'm at a dead end.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

checked couplers & weighed in that batch a freight cars, took em for a spin & most are still troublesome on the derailing end, will go back over & check out all the wheels, for now any not so easy fixes will go back in the box, pull out another batch to test, so much to choose from no need to get crazy unless there's one cool one I really want on the table. Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Issues marked out on the first batch, this is gonna be a long term project, hope when I pull out the good stuff(roundhouse & blue box) there's not so many issues. 



just a few more letters to paint & this batch of signs are ready, another a little at a time project...........



off to paint the letters & check the wheel sets on those cars! later, Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still playing with some freight cars, after weighing down some ,managed to get a few more to stay on the track, I'm going to need a lot more weights.
the gondola has got to be way over 4 oz's , but at that weight(will weigh just for curiosity later) it stays on. hwell:
A few just won't stay on & I've checked everything I know of, so back in the box for now! 



Found the limit of the proto, bout 16 cars (about an 8' consist )at 4 ish ounces each, started slipping trying to go up my slight grade, pulled out the other so as not to overload it, the one I've been running is quite a bit faster then the other, hope it will loosen up with use. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here we go again :retard: started to prep for tear down  all rolling stock boxed up, all loose details put away, will start disconnecting the wires later today, hopefully have all the buildings boxed up by tonight, hopefully by next weekend I'll be moving tables around to see how the new plan looks?:dunno: 
wonder if I should start a new thread or continue here, make a 10 year ongoing saga like I did with the 'Cuda!  tons a fun :smokin: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

teardown's goin pretty good, all accessory wiring on the main table loose, will pack the buildings & lights up after the ebay auction for the under table machines goes off at 6:30 so far so good.
then I can clean out under the freight yard & start over there.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got em, now back to work!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the badlands are here  ran out of boxes for the houses, just the 3 on the cubby cover, that's on the side for now anyway, when I can straighten out my back I'll crawl under again & undo the track feeds & switch wiring, then it's track removal time.
It sure came down a lot quicker than it went up  almost a year of practice, wonder if anything sunk in :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I weighed up that gondola just for the heck of it, it was well over 7 ounces, I'll try it at 4 in a year or so when I can run on the new layout  & maybe go for new wheels or trucks & see if that helps.  Rich.


----------



## DonR

Rich

I just went through a frustrating problem of a brand new
DCC FP loco that was derailing for no apparent reason. 
The lead axle of both trucks climbed the rail and went off.
No other loco or car was derailing in these areas.

Checked the gauge of loco's wheels, and whether wobbling. All OK.

Finally, one by one, switched the wheel sets front to back...then
turned them...Left wheel to right side, etc.

And that did the trick...even tho nothing was apparent to the
naked eye, it made a difference in running. The loco stays on
the track now. 

That might be something to look at in your derailing problem
but you sure won't go wrong going to good metal wheels.

Don


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Might have gone a little to far  but I got tired of all the hand work, hired a crew to get the project moving  by the time I came back to check on em the first few machines got across the crossing, caught the ballast grader in action. :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

finally got back under the table, all wires lose & removed..................



cleaned that mess up a bit & got the wires back in a box.................



Got the track up where the tables meet, have to decide if I pull everything on the outer tables up to pull the ground cover roll up in one piece or just cut it on the seams so I can start moving tables around, leaving the wall tables alone, chances are they will not be usable the way they are, but at least I can see if my idea is going to pan out before I tear em up?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

This ain't gonna be easy, thinkin bout the work table cut into the train table, all the spots where I had supplies ,tool boxes, etc etc are going away, the display on the wall will have to move over, lighting for my bench will be down to one bench mount & that will stick up over the train table.
I have it ready to move tables, so I'll play around & see what happens, just not getting good vibes as I look around the room.


----------



## norgale

HOLY CRAP! What are you doing? Where are we going with this? You got a permit for this remodel? Ok where is the proposed plan of the new layout? I assume there will be a new layout? Ohhh me! What next? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I posted up the table idea back on page 96(if you use the same post per page# ?)
But as I just stated, my easy access storage & crawl in spaces will mostly be gone, just the front to get in, , now I have over 10' of outside edges, the new plan is down to a couple of feet at each wall(bench in the middle, got the rest of the day off so I'm going to try the one I drew first & then go from there. :dunno:
As for layout, I have no idea, but this time I will mix tracks & buildings as I go to make sure at least some of it looks functional!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Rooms in shambles again  plans changed a bit already  moved in a bit more with the 6'table to meet up with the old 22" cubby cover, going to either use the 19" for my work table or to fill in more of the center & make a new bench,work table will connect the window side to the 2 tables, workin on takin that apart now!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well after a lot of hours the tables are finely up, not real sure how much of an improvement it will be, now there's 2 cubby holes, this time they will stay open, maybe some light drop in scenery piece way down the road.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

just short of 6' from work bench to window & just short of 10' wall to wall , with the skinnier work table there's 39" clearance behind the work table, so no more crackin my back on the control panel.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

had to can the idea for the other extension (on the right of the work table, not enough room with the panel & work table. 
also that lets my display stay where it is.(no extra holes in the wall :thumbsup: )


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Work table is cut down from 24" to 19" have to rethink what's kept on the table, all the stuff above it on the train table used to be on the work table, the high can of wood & the plastic drawers may go after I get the layout moving along a bit.
I dropped the back splash a bit so after I move one leg on the train table I can push the work table under to work or just to get a cleaner look when running the trains.
My only good crawl in space now is under the control panel.
Going to start moving boxes around under there to get the workin stuff as handy as possible.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok, off to move stuff around & maybe strip more of the tables down! :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Never got to strippin the tables, rearranged all the boxes, got most of what I work with near the work table, gonna haveta move more things to get to others, but it's workable. 
took over the top of that old end table, now I gotta empty my sons junk out of it & the takeover will be pretty much complete :cheeky4: still need the closet, but top shelf is all I can get for now! 
got track boxes & switches up on the table, as soon as I strip the rest of the tables the experiments begin!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

track & underlay all removed, got a couple small spots where the ballast was glued to the table to try & scrape off, then a massive cleanup & I can start pondering the new layout.
Gotta make a list of the things I missed last time around, rerailers, uncouplers, a good place to get the trains onto the track(a decent straight away with a rerailer near the front edge) ash pit, & get any industries off the main with some decent sidings that work for things like the lumber yard. 
Maybe a few more attempts at some elevation, that killed me last time just could not get it where I was satisfied.
So time to chime in with ideas, comments, things to avoid & help me get something decent going . 
back to the cleanup hwell: later, Rich


----------



## norgale

Put the work table against the wall behind the chair. Now your looking at nothing but trains. On the wall by the window and the opposite wall put in two 4'0" square ends for 22"r return tracks. Then you can reach everything all the way around. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmm, work table could be reversed, but all the tool boxes & materials are now within easy reach under the tables, no way to set that up along the wall, entry & closet doors are in the way. Once I get that leg moved I can slide it right under, completely out of the way.
As for the 4' I'll look it over, still trying to work with what's on hand, had to cut up the last piece of fiberboard(off the new work table)to get my last fill in in the center. I can do my turnarounds though the middle of the board , from the walls to the insides of the 2 cubbys are about 4' :dunno:
I got most of the cleanup done, workin on separating out all the switches now, will start plopin down track shortly!
I have to order a few rolls of the ground cover, getting the parts up that were glued to the table was a pain, for now loose track, some of the buildings I want on there & see where it takes me. 
how many mockups did I do last go round, this time may be worse! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now He posts a pic :laugh:
can't get that close to the closet on the one end, I like the 10' runs I have on both sides, it will mean a lot of crawling , I think I can deal with at least for a few years.
It would provide a nice place for my bridges though


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So after separating most of the track I got out the long station & the engine house, 2 things I really would like on the table but Geeze , Alex's layout must have been huge, even with a 10' space that station is gonna need a curved turnout at least at one end to get the inside siding in, might even put the siding on the outside to make it longer for a good sized pass train??????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The first spot I'm trying for the house is along the wall where I have that extra 2' overhang, figured that would be good for the steam yard, but it screws my long outside loop, unless I go up & over .  that's askin a lot of me 
mull that mess over a while, tomorrow I'll try it in the middle of the table & see what that looks like. not sure there's enough room for entries & exits :dunno:
I thought it would be easy to get 3 trains/loops running on this, not gonna be that easy! hwell:



tryin to get 4 tracks in is going to be tricky too? 
still thinkin this is just to big for the room I have  but it's just too cool not to try! :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete, your makin me look bad  you edited & put the pic in the original post, I was answering you before the pic came up, I'm not that senile  well yet anyway 

All good ideas , the other thing I was thinking was add in 6 or 8 inches across the front where the work table is, go from 24" to 30 or 32" wide, that would still leave me almost 3' to the empty wall, that would give me even longer loops & more room to decorate, I'll play with it the way it is for a while & see if it works as is. 
Too many conflicting ideas floating around this old head, gotta narrow it down a bit & get crackin!

heading out to visit Mom, will get back to the mad scientist experiments later this afternoon or evening! :retard: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here's some rough corrections to the first plan, some day I'll learn to use paint better!


----------



## Big Ed

Oh My LORD........ WHAT DID YOU DO!? 

I am gone a week and it looks like a storm blew in onto your layout. 
You going to try to use the existing track?
How about tearing up track up and start all over to fit that house in somewhere?

You could sell the house? 
End of problem, I will give you $20 bucks for it.
It will have to include the tank and shed though for that price.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

screwed it up, that middle section between the cubbys is about 40" wide.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ed go back a page or 2, I'm outta here catch you guys tonight!


----------



## Big Ed

Page 2! 

OK, $30 bucks, my final offer.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gotta get you some new glasses, A PAGE OR 2! 
:thumbsup: I'll send you a few samples of the shingles for that, the estimate for the full roof to follow!


----------



## Grabbem88

Did you make your turns first or did you start from the shed then work your way out?

I'm glad you ate trying to use that shed if I had it...I most likely use it as my starting point then work my way out


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Plopped the shed & then started to put down track, 2 tracks go all the way through & the other 2 are just to pull an engine in, the workshop at the other end.
got a couple more table legs at Moms , going up to play now, think I might lay down the outter loop so it's as long as possible & then see how to work in the house. 
maybe one crossing off that loop & make that corner the lumber mill/yard? 
So many choices, so little imagination!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So the angles if I put it in the middle didn't look promising, figured I need a long straight for the entry & all the switches, so I plopped it in the middle of the front straight away & worked on the entry first.
had to keep sliding down the switching takes a lot of space...............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Laid down the outer loop around the perimeter, got the siding in around the station & the tightest inner loop that would get me behind the engine house,had to do a little woop de do on the inside to get past, stuck the start of a siding or reverse loop near the cubby, didn't think that far ahead yet!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So the steam yard might be squeezed between the loops, or extended to that table extension if it's too tight, if not that might be the lumber yard, 25 or 30 changers down the road i'll figure it out! 
I'm proud of myself, I used a crossing, now whether it's a good Idea & will work ok, I have no idea


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It's a great spot to show it off, right up front, that 6 or 8" extension on the front is lookin like it would really help to open things up, I'm commin up short on spaces for a viable road system, but I'm early in the test phase, hopefully it will develop as I play around.


----------



## Big Ed

What are you going to put in your access hole now?
You think the houses would look good there? I don't. 
A good place for a scrap yard.  
Whatever you put there, just make it with some kind of lift points so you can just lift it out when you need to, instead of how you did it before. Make the lift points permanent somehow, work them into the scene. Like maybe some telephone poles?

Edit, I see where it is you still wouldn't be able to lift it huh? Oh well. 

Maybe you should paint some before you tack the track?
Get rid of the roads to no where, or work some into the new layout?


----------



## norgale

Looks like Rich is a builder and not a train runner. Nothing more boring than watching a train go round and round a layout. What I think Rich needs to do is compress his town scenes to a smaller configuration and use more of the buildings that he has. Also a lot of track isn't necessarily a good thing. Track that goes somewhere and track that serves a prototypical purpose is good but more track for tracks sake gets complicated and too busy. 
Looking good Rich. There's always room for improvement on any layout. Pete:appl:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'll start with Ed,
cubbys will stay open till everything else is a perfect as I can get it & then if anything some kind of ground cover just laid on a piece of plywood, no wiring & hefty weight this time.

the whole table will be covered with that vinyl ground cover, nothing glued directly to the table this time, roads will also be on top of that, material testin down the road.

 only have 4 or 5 rolls of masking tape left, so I have to get it right pretty quick!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete, you are correct, I have mentioned my lack of imagination a few times so......................................
Today first I'm going to move that table leg so I can see how my slide under idea works :dunno:
then see if I have the materials to widen out the front run a bit, I'm already not liking my steam yard stuffed in there, gotta see if I can tighten up the switching going into the engine house to move it more to the right.
then the bridges & trestles come out. some elevation, maybe a mountain/ tunnel in one of the back corners, I just have a real hard time getting the track right on the rises.

I had envisioned 3 loops to run at the same time, 3 massive yards, steam, freight & passenger, there's just not that kind of space, in my next 39 mock ups maybe I can do better, pass siding is in, I also want a siding that will work for the lumber yard. :smilie_auslachen:

So a lot of grand ideas, simple as they may be, well I'm off to find out if any of them will work out!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Moved the leg, table is under, that was easy. makes my access to tool boxes harder, but I guess I can keep them where they were till I need to push the table under. hwell:
Still workin on the extension, made a project out of a simple task!  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

wow, wasted a good part of the day for a 6" extension, hope it was worth it, take a little check in break, get some chow & start playing with track again tonight! 
with the table out still have decent access to the closet...........



once the bench is under just have to move the tool boxes under it...........



all that for this little extra to work with??????????????


----------



## norgale

Six inches will get you three more tracks. You'll be surprised at how much that little extra space will give you. 
Prolly not enough room for the steam yard in that location but I think your lumber yard will fit in there and with the siding it should look good. 
Take the door off the closet and put it behind the door to the room. No more problem opening the door. Who's going to see it anyway? 
Is that a dresser or something against the wall under the engine rack? Get that way under the table and put the work bench in it's place. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

that's just an old end table, I'm going to box up my sons junk & use it for train stuff, nice & handy next to the bench, I think I'm done with building, the tables will be made to work as they are now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Never got to the bridges & trestles today, but I think I'm close to a fall back layout if all my grand ideas don't pan out.
managed to get the house more to the right by moving the first switch way back in the turn & the extra 6" got it quite a bit more towards the front edge, widened out the space between the loops so I think the steam yard will do, I'd like longer & may still be able to tweek back some, but it looks workable.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got something of a freight yard in the middle, have to reverse the direction, came in from the wrong direction  but I want to get in a long siding off that loop so all is not lost.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still have to get a set of switches for inner to outer & back again, but since I'm sure I'll tear 80% up tomorrow playing with the bridges it's no great waste. 
Most I could get in 1 pic, overall view? 
I tried a figure 8 in the middle, but that just kills the whole area!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

must have been burning some wood in my dreams last night  came up with a few ideas that help the steam yard, give me a much longer inner loop & the chance for at least a great siding to switch freight cars if not a long yard behind the engine house. :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K so I think I did well for less than buying 10 under table machines I got those & all these other goodies plus the stuff I posted in the payback thread, sometimes I get lucky.
the machines & the switch controls all look like brand new(bags unopened & boxes seem to be unopened, harder to tell) 
2 more bumpers, bag of switch control nuts & screws, some wire & some oil.
2 switches are code 83 so they are over there too.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Made the changes so now I have to store all these pics so after I fail at elevation I can fall back on this, I think it will work well. 
made the switching changes going into the house...........



that gets me a much longer steam yard, long track is about 40" will have to play with spacing between the tracks to get the decorations in, but if I isolate right I can get at least 5 to 7 steamers on the table. also connected the inner loop on this end, so trains can run in front of or behind the house.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got all the inner to outter & back switches in..................



the three sidings behind the house are 3' or better, 1st one could be switched back to the inner or left as a dead end, not sure which way to go yet?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

did some more tweeking & got it to where it will be a nice FLAT layout, roads in the middle no prob, getting out of the loops another story, well maybe I won't try! 

So after that I'm sitting there, staring at the unopened box of bridges & trestles, back at the table & so on for about 20 or 30 mineuts , Guys, I'm just not seeing it, if it takes 8' to get up & down I have no section to work in a 36" bridge clear of a mess of switches, it's just not coming to me, no visions, not even a mirage :retard:
So I'm gonna go browse the layout section & see if anything knocks me over the head, hate to give up so easy, but after wasting half the winter last time I may just not be ready for it yet? :smilie_auslachen:
So go flat & be happy  or tear out all the track  set up the bridge & work from that :dunno:


----------



## Hutch

Can you make some track go into a valley?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I guess on the wider end of one of the cubby's but I can barley turn around in them now.
Haven't seen anything I could do yet , I'll keep lookin around & mulling it over, don't wanna give up too easy, maybe after a little break  tearing the track off won't seem so bad as it does after 3 days of laying it out!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Almost went right to pulling out buildings & seeing how this layout would look, but I bit the bullet while under the table with the bridges box calling out to me, :smilie_auslachen: at least try you lazy bum 
so out they came, first thought was a mountain/tunnel in the one corner(where the wood is piled) bridge over one cubby edge & work down from there, just not enough room at the other end to get to ground level, if it's gonna work, gotta use a good part of the table & rethink all the rest, I'd like it to be somewhere that I can pass at least one track under & maybe a road, really fighting the idea of pulling up all track  & starting from the bridge, with that engine house in mind. hwell:


----------



## norgale

One thing is clear, if you want more RRing on that table you have to go up since you can't go out. However bridges do take up a lot of room where a raised track, maybe four inches high, would not if it went around the walls and cut back across a road or another track and settled down near he opposite end of the table. Otherwise I would suggest that you either break down an adjacent wall and go into the next room or start looking for another house situated on high ground with a huge basement that is air conditioned. Ha!
In this picture you can see the outer track,the inner track and the inner,inner track. By raising up the roadbed I got some extra room for the inside relay track for the coal company. 
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=25819&d=1362603797


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

darn, you have good ideas, why didn't that appear to me in my dream last night :laugh: I was thinking it would be nice if I could run one under the other at some of the high point, but it would mean some fancy bridge support building :dunno:
Was just looking at the far wall where the station is, if I could bring the station into the table more I could do the down hill on that wall & move the switching to the other window, might just make the 2 8' sections if I move the bridge here...........



maybe bring in the feeds to yard from under, that would take a complete redo of the loops & cut down the tracks out of the back of the house just enough to park a long steamer???????



think it's time to clear the track off the table  put up the raised stuff & then see if I can work in decent loops ,sidings & yards


----------



## Big Ed

You do it the way I do it. 

Did you ever think about some kind of computer planning program?

You probably already said it but do you have plans for the hole yet?
Your going to leave it right?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

messed with one program for quite a while, couldn't even get my table layout drawn, it's trial & error for me, mostly errors it seems! 
cubby's open till the very end, then some light scenery maybe on a thin piece of plywood, light with no wires , so I can push up, angle them & pull out the bottom.(I hope)


----------



## norgale

Here's a picture where you can see some of my raised roadbed in the background. I cut out road base three inches wide and as long as I needed from paneling that I found in a dumpster. Made a large compass out of some string and a pencil to draw the curves in 18" and 22" radius then cut out with a band saw. A jig saw is good too. I let the end of one piece of roadway overlap the next piece and drew a line. Then cut the ends so they match and are nice and tight. clamp and glue a scrap piece of paneling under the joint till it's solid. Make the whole ramp and lay it on the table to where you want it and then go to the highest point and prop up the ramp. Then just keep adding pieces underneath until you get down to the table top again and there's your raised roadbed. Allow 3.5 inches clearance wherever the top road bed goes over a lower roadbed.
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9435&d=1303653537

This next picture is of the present BGC although it's ll on hold for the time being. I used 2x4 or anything else laying around to cut the road supports from. Glue or screw the roadbed to the support and glue the support to the table AFTER you have the roadbed where you want it. I hook everything up and run the trains before I glue the supports down. Gives you a good solid base for scenery too. Pete
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff287/norgale/BGC002-2_zpsfaed25a7.jpg


----------



## norgale

I think the rise was 4" and the run was 8' including the curves. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's what I was trying to picture, where you have one track under the other in the back with the plywood arches :smilie_daumenpos:

OK tore everything out, just played with the raised area, trying to keep one end all elevated so I can go under anywhere looses so many feet that I only hit table for a couple a tracks & they are curves, loose my switching in & out, loose my siding & pass loading tracks so I'm thinking the only way a 3' bridge is going to work on this is on the long straight aways.

I did notice that you did do some switching on the risers, so if I do that on the far end maybe I can at least get in & out of the loop, maybe do the passenger on the inner loop.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My current mess, whats left for switching area..............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

From the front curve going into the bridge to the 1st trestle after the wood pile in the back is full height, next time up I'm going to measure just how hi those bigger trestles are??????? 
At least I remembered to put a short straight in front & after every bridge!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

so I have a pass station & the people need a ladder to get on the darn train.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& look where some idiot put a bridge  right in front of the houses work platform, that bridge will be blown. :cheeky4:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Think I have one more attempt in me tonight, off I go to tear it up again!


----------



## norgale

The pass station goes on the inside track with crossover turnouts to get out onto the outer track where it can run for awhile and not interfere with the rest of the operation. No? Those little bridges go over roads and the big one goes over a river or several other tracks.
I see another problem too. You need more ice in the coke. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So 3 pepsies and about a pack a butts later...................ahh, let me answer first before I get dazed & confused. 
originaly the station was on the outside loop, closest track on the inside was the siding & the next one in was the inside loop, so if on the siding I just hit the switch in front & was on the outside, other 4 switches took from inside to outside & visa versa.
I can still get it on the outside but have to go 3/4 around the layout to the switches at the other end, the siding is lost.
the switches in front now will either go away along with the inner track or I can squeeze in a third loop, what I might try is to just make it a long siding & tie back in behind the engine house, I have no place to park a long train now, mann it can get complicated quick!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

....................... I started going down in the turn, makes it to ground level behind the station, but siding is lost, whats left in front is now the inner loop & what used to be the switches back to the outer.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

when I convert to under table machines it will be a little tighter to the station & look a ton better.
So then I got all the switching outer to inner & back & reworked the 4 tracks going into the house.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete I got 5 tracks going under the bridge, well maybe not all thru tracks, but tracks non the less! 
as for roads, maybe but it will be a long plunge to the floor for the drivers!
whats left is at least a decent sized steam yard, center of table is still wide open, maybe a siding for the lumber yard?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

After all this I'm kinda liking what I had before :retard: much more functional, a lot less complicated & without the headaches of getting all this elevated stuff supported so the trains will run right  I would say if I don't do something like Pete did & build some wood risers & maybe a thru tunnel or somethin :dunno: I'll probably end up back on the good old FLAT table!  Rich.


----------



## norgale

I don't know Rich. You have a lot of spurs and switches going there, most of which you probably won't use very often. Maybe the space to the left with the four short spurs would be better used for a town or an industrial area with one siding and a bunch of buildings and stuff. You already have plenty of room in the steam yard for your steamers and you can't put all your stuff on there because you have so many cars and engines. You also have way more track and switches than you can use in that space and it's getting pretty crowded and complicated looks like to me. 
You have the track for the passenger train to come and go from the station and back out onto the mainline and then the secondary track for the freight runs and there's plenty of room to switch the trains from the main to the secondary and back. There's still more room to operate some switching in the middle and you havn't started with the buildings yet so you need space for them.
What you have there looks interesting and you'll refine that as you go along. Forget the third loop inside. I had that at one time but it didn't work right for me although I didn't have the depth on the table that you have. One thing I found fun was having to share the secondary track with the switching locos. Had to figure on stopping the secondary train so the switchers could use that track to go from one side of the table to the other. That took a little planning in advance and could get pretty hectic sometimes. With the block system like we are using it takes time to know what switch button to press and when to press it to avoid collisions. I didn't always get the switches aligned right fast enough. Running two trains is fun but three trains can really put you to the test. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm trying to use too much , have to remember He had twice the table area & much longer runs, his back wall was 16 or 17 feet. 
So I think I'll clean up the table a bit after work today , sit there with pepsi & smoke in hand & contemplate what I want to do, :dunno: I know I'll never get all the stock on the table, just hoping for a good sampling to highlight the collection. 
Keeping it flat would make my life a lot easier not sure I have the patience to do all that wood working at this stage, many more changes to come, stay tuned for Rusty's what not to do tutorial.  Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

You could have elevated the passenger station if you liked that track plan.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

took a break from the actual table work & drew out the tables, 1"= 1' & then did my best with paint program to draw out the flat layout.
I can use the siding off the main by the station for the main, if the train is longer that I want to park, I can sit it behind the station.
maybe 2 industry sidings, 1 in the center & one on that extension by the steam yard. 
the track is not to scale, might be able to get one more long siding behind the engine house, not sure yet. 
for sure the big bridge is going back in the box(again!)  might try something small over a road or something if I find a good spot for it :dunno:
So here's the rough sketch, I did write in there but for some reason it came out tiny unless you blow it up 100 times.


----------



## norgale

How do you get from the green track to the red track?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

forgot to draw the switches between the main siding(purple) & inner loop, like it was before bridges. I have to see how it works better, I made the inside siding longer this time, but it might make more sense to use behind the station as the siding & run the trains thru the inside, gotta see how they look going through the switches.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

so bridges & trestles are back in the box  got most of the loops done & after this break I'll work on the switching into the house & yards, no need for new pics, just go back 4 pages & make believe I posted them again :sly: 
might be a few slight changes , but pretty much what I had. 
So far.1st improvement is the outter main siding is longer, next I will see how tight I can get the switching into the house, every inch adds more to the steam yard.:smokin: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

here they are, corrections in blue, I also noticed I drew 3 tracks in front of the engine house, I only have 2 now, & house is closer to the edge, , but the third gave me a spot to park some work trains, gotta see if it will fit again??????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK Pete , here's the switching to change loops, the siding now runs back into the turns at each end of the table,probably better that 8' in length, so I can get a full passenger train on both sides of the station & not hit the switches.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

steam yard is down to 6 sidings, but the long ones I can isolate twice, I sure hope I can run the engines thru that building or I'm screwed 
I can expand to that table extension, but trying for an industry there :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got 3 long sidings behind the building for freight cars, the 2 short in the middle might be my lumber yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

was able to widen out at this end, leaving more decorating space, think I got a couple less switches too?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Only concern is to make sure the trains clear the corner of the shed , pass cars seem to be the worst offenders so I'll try one of those tomorrow.
So I'll order my rolls of ground cover soon, cut the house into the table, then it's set in stone, will work any problems around that!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

noticed a couple of switches I can't use the under table machines & of course there right up front (table framing & supports ) 
will start laying buildings out soon to see how they pan out? to be continued!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

First question answered, trains will clear the house shed :thumbsup:



steam yard still needs a lot of work, major tweeking just to get the coaling tower in, still have no room for the ash pit. 



this corner looks well like nothing much, might make it the caboose yard & free up some space in the main steam yard :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back corner will be a small mountain, rear main track through tunnel



I think the center of the board is ok, might eliminate the one building I put the yellow X on, too much back there? 



Residential area, that back corner I'm thinking park or maybe a little league field, maybe both if there's space, up front that little station may go away too, kinda out of place 
I'm sure I'm not done changing things, after I cut in the engine house I will lightly tack down some tracks, put power to it & see how things run.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It's going down.......................literally.............. dug the foundation so to speak,

cut out the beaver board where the house goes, still tweeking the hole, have to set up the wires & drill those holes, then I can drop it in & test the drive thru feature, if that works ok then the tacking begins.
put the wire in there to help lift it in & out, the base is the only beefy part to lift from.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

things were going pretty well got the wires soldered in with extensions, dropped it in place, it's a tad high all around & the front shed droops in one corner hoping a little shim will fix that..............


& then the good ended real quick, hooked up some track & power to it, & went for a drive thru, well I got 1/2 way in the door & dies, checked track, power to it, so I tried the other end, same thing, went to pull the engine out & it spun the wheels when I lifted the rear, so definately power in there.
I think the wood is lifting the wheels up & breaking contact, so it's major decision time do I rethink the whole track layout in & out, basically that whole side of the table, or do I mess with this building, the whole roof comes off, just have to figure out the chains, then I can shave back the wood on the inside edges of the track , I think that's all it will take?????????? 
So, dare to mess with a masterpiece, or leave it as a show queen & work around it?????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Don't leave this up to me  vote often & vote loud :thumbsdown: :thumbsup: but it will be a major setback to the layout if I can't drive thru. 
HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Rich.


----------



## Hutch

If all you want are votes then I vote to get it fixed. It's too nice not use it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

1 up! that's a start!
Did a little messin around, noticed the one side where the pit is I could reach in & remove the wood with an xacto knife , that gave me a little space to test, still had to clean the track but she went in a little further ok after that, so I cleaned the track on the other end as far as I could reach & it also went in a little further, so it's a good news bad news deal, either way the roof has to come off, don't know how else I would get the track clean all the way through, so clean track first, then test engines, the wood may still have to be trimmed for all the pie cutter wheels I have, gonna check out those chains & see if I can figure out how to get it apart.


----------



## spoil9

You could attach your track cleaner to an extension stick or something to reach further in the engine house. Even if it's just rubbing alcohol on a paper towel with a T-handled stick of some kind. That way you don't have to remove the roof, which I'm assuming doesn't come off easily. 
Or run a couple track cleaning cars if you have them or can get them cheap.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well I got the chain off, if the little door will ever actually work again is a ? , it goes through 3 pulleys & over a bar to drop to the ground for operation.
other than that it was just lift up, still had to come up with a variation of your idea, back 2 tracks I could get my hands in & do a few inches at a time, front 2 had that overhead roller, so I made it up on my screwdriver! 



gave me a new shot of the full interior, this thing is just too cool! :smokin:



the drill press came loose & tipped over, it's made of metal :thumbsup:



so I glued that back in , the belt for it is just kinda hangin there (it split at the bottom, but you have to magnify to even see that) Couple of new angles on the work shop area........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok strayed way off there, back to the job at hand, so the trains will run through without removing the wood, but you can definatly hear that their running on the wood.
I'm not going to cut anymore out, I have to assume the way Alex did things that long long ago, in a far.......... opps,  he ran his trains through there, lots of rivarossi, so after I make a few more repairs I will put the roof back on. 
I ran 2 diesels, an athern & a tyco/mantua & then the rivarossi 0-8-0 switcher thru, 0-8-0 hesitated in there but with a nudge made it thru. 
So panic attack over, it will take all day tomorrow to clean up the mess I made & get back to workin the steam yard! 
But was well worth it, if that failed the whole plan was fubarred! :cheeky4:


----------



## norgale

Very nice engine house Rich. Lots of detail and excellent construction. What all do the chains do?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The ones in the front open the door for the overhead roller thingie, the ones in the building open the skylights (they all actually work!) :appl:

Pete, you didn't see this? 
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=17676


----------



## norgale

Yes I did see that but I had forgotten. Must be a senior thing. Don't know if that was a kit or not but if it was it probably came from Campbell. I'll be looking for that building in my old MR books as I go through them. I'll be looking for some of that machinery too. That is really neat stuff. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Cool post up some pics if you find it.
I Just went up to untangle all the chains for the skylights, got a few hinges to glue back up & then I can get back to the steam yard mess.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK interior chains all set (something on those to follow)
shimmed up the low side of the front platform, now the shop side looks a tad high 
so now I have to try & layout a good steam yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So while the roof was off & I'm gluing microscopic pieces of wood back on I notice metal hooks by the window, the one on top would be for those big old window poles we used to use in the schools, but what is the one on the side for :dunno: then it dawns on me they are pretty close to all the chains that are hanging Hmmmmmmmmm so I try one near a door, pain in the butt but I finally got it behind the hook, looks like a match to me


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That in turn may have solved another mystery, there was a long T handled rod laying on top of the building, had some funny bends at the other end, I'm now thinking it was to stick in there & set the chains.  even if it wasn't, I think it will do the job!:smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

removed a few buildings, the pass station up front & the freight station in the rear & converted the extension in to the caboose yard, switched out loading dock by the lumber, getting close to what I will decorate.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

messed around with the sidings in the steam yard, down to 5 in the center so I could fit the accessories in, but since I used the ext for the caboose area steamers can fill all five.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A little guidance needed here, I want to cut in an ash pit,in what section of the engine do they drop from & with the pit the sanding tower & water tower, any order they should go?


----------



## norgale

Dropping the ashes in the yard would have been done in a designated spot so they can be removed easily. I would think that anywhere in the yard where the engine was on the way to a storage point would be fine. The engineer would drop the whole fire somewhere before going into the engine shed for maintenance. It's then refired when it's ready to go again while it's still in the shed. Took about four hours to fire up a steam engine before it had enough steam to move. The ashes are dumped directly out of the firebox which is just ahead of the engineers compartment where the fireman shoveled the coal in. Ashes can be dumped while the train is moving along the track from inside the cab or they can be dumped from outside the engine by a man on the ground. Back in the day when I was a kid I could find all kinds of interesting hunks of the burnt coal between the tracks in my back yard. I think they called it 'clinker' or 'coal cinders' but not sure about that. 
Looks like your making good progress Rich. Pete


----------



## Big Ed

OK Rusty....$40 bucks for the engine house. 

Tell me you left the roof unattached?
You could then get in and out for maintenance or for adding detail or even for pictures.

Do you think that was a kit of some kind at one time?

It looks like the roof would just sit on there nice without securing it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK so I can cut it in pretty close to where it is, now I have to dig out the conveyer to see if I have clearance to the next track, really wanted it to go to the track after that (coal cars parked behind tower & ash pickup next over) but the long skinny yard prevents that.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Did it again, posted while I was typing! 

I'll send you the drill press for that! :cheeky4:

Roof is loose cept for the chains that operate the door for the overhead rollers, so yes really just sits there.
As for kit or not, don't think so, so far no one posted up anything like it, some day when I have some time I'll search engine houses & see what pops up. :dunno: Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

Maybe it is lead?

You do know there are sites where you could pick up some more detailing items to add?

OK, $50 USA American dollars. 
You can keep the press. For memories.

I like that. :smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So here's the pulley system, from the top it drops down behind the pulley on the door, then up over the one on the center bar through that to the one on the building then back over the bar to the ground & back up to the bar with a little hook on the end of the chain, leaving a loop at ground level to open the door!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Cut in the pit, will build a wood wall frame for in there similar to the one on the board, I'm workin on a rectangular one, will need a double conveyer system, pitt to box & box to rail car.
Now after cleaning the old one I noticed one side is coal the other ash, with the coaling tower right there I don't think I need the coal half, don't the coal cars dump right at the tower? 
then another smaller one for sand up a little ways by the sanding tower.







Am I on the right track (so to speak!)


----------



## norgale

It's your railroad so any track is the right track. If you look at ten different steam yards your going to see ten different setups. Since no two steam yards are the same then there is no way you can do this wrong. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well that's good to know, something I can't mess up.  you guys know me by now, I'll find a way! 
Gotta order my ground cover today, really can't do much till that is on the table.
So I've been playing with the ash box between the tracks, the angle one I have is homemade so I'm copying the design & reverse engineering a few of his tricks, at first I thought he made the walls out of sticks, lookin real close, he just drew them on the wood before staining it! tricky little devil. 
just have to figure where to put the entry & draw out the bottom planks, then I can put the last wall up.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ash box cept for door is ready, the pit is done & got a good start on the sand box, need to get some dark stain maybe Tuesday in my travels I can stop at the paint shop. 
A little deeper might have been better but I only have 3/4" to play with, the guy I stuck in there is a head over the tracks, gotta find a short worker!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ordered the rolls of grass, went with a greener color this time, hope I made the right choice??? This color...........

http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/woo/woorg5122.htm


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

took a long break & went hunting engine houses, I gotta learn to search better found a few nothing great, but I did run across a cool coaling tower, wondering if I could get away with adding a pit, & building myself a shed & just add them to my coaling tower?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hey Pete, remember this.................

" I don't think that's a kit but the builder had to have an engine shed nearby to get all that detail. That's one amazing piece of work and you should never part with it ever. I would find a place for it even if I had to rebuild my whole layout---again. Meantime since it's too big for your layout Rusty you can send it on to me any time. Ha! Pete "

I think I took your advice!  Rich


----------



## norgale

Sure your going to send the engine house to e. I've been looking for it for some time now. Ha! Nice picture above. You can Google "coaling yards" and get tons more pictures too. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

What do you guys think of the pit & shed idea, will it work with my tower?


----------



## norgale

Here's an ash pit sorta kinda like yours. 
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/...OXcq5BWE1YJgaNiJb0NFw3MyOEn1jqPROD6blC8vxDWKL


----------



## norgale

It will look a lot better once you get some ashes in the ash box and some sand in the sand box. How does the sand get to the sanding tower? The sand has to be dried too before it can be put into the engine or maybe that happens in the sanding tower.?
Right now the scene looks pretty plain ad sparse. Later when you flesh it out with tools and people and vehicles ect. it will look a lot better to you. A few trees would look ok there too. Has to be a couple of guys in the shack or near it and a pickup truck for them to ride to work in. Maybe a wheelbarrow or a small front end loader to move the sand and ash around with too. Once the ash is out of the pit and into the box where does it go and how does it get there? You can doo a lot more with that scene as you go along. Pete


----------



## norgale

Ok! I'm thinking that the little shed connected to the tower is the drying shed and then the sand it pumped up into the tower from there. So turn the sand box around so the open side is facing the drying shed and figure out some way to get the sand from the box into the shed. maybe a driveway into the area for the pickup truck and maybe a few cars in the mix too. that will mean more people around the buildings for the operation of it all. Nice. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The ash was going to get a second conveyer & go right into a gondola, the sand I think goes into the building to be processed for the tower, there's a pump between the building & the tower (at least I think that's what it is? ) 
That's why I ask you guys! 
Right now I want to get all the stuff that gets cut into the table & the buildings set to make sure I'm not moving tracks around anymore, then the grass goes down & the track work & wiring can start .
like last go round, the scenes will get set as I work my way around the board, it will take more time this time around, but that's ok, I don't want to tear it up again when I'm 1/2 way done! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

wow, email notification came just as I hit post!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started on the second conveyer, found a long set of steps & cut that down to the size of the one I have & started to glue some balsa in shapes as close as I could cut to the originals.





Had some steamer wheels with spokes but they were quite a bit bigger


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Haven't figured out what to do about the motor & the pulleys yet, those will be tough.



if it comes out too shabby I can stick that in the lower pit & use the prefab up on top.



got a little paint on it...........


----------



## norgale

That looks great Rich. Good idea using the steps. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks, Pete, before dinner I pulled out all the little jars of detail pieces to see if I can use anything for the motors & pulleys. hope I find something, just too tiny to make up I think?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Geeze, they had everything! 
sifted thru & actually found an electric motor, a pulley that fits it & 2 pulleys to hang on the conveyer, mine will be a little different, exposed belt system, but should look cool? 
so here's some goodies............



steam goodies, nothing for this project but some interesting stuff for detailing



Found the motor in with a jar labeled pumps (had trackside junk in there too)



the idea.........mount the motor & pulley underneath & belt to 2 pulleys on the side of the conveyer.............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

motor & pulleys mounted, I'll let that set real good before I attempt the belt, hmmm black thread, thin wire, don't think I have anything to give it a flat look? 
Any Ideas?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, operation conveyer complete, still need to fine tune my skills, but not half bad for a freehand copy,just have to paint the belt black & touch up some glue spots.


----------



## norgale

Doesn't it run?:cheeky4:


----------



## Hutch

This is a real nice piece of work. I can't wait to get my layout done so I try my hand at some of this. Great job.

How do the real ones work? Does someone stand at the bottom and shovel. I doubt it but that's the way it looks to my inexperienced eyes.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

In the olden days, now they probably mechanized it?


----------



## Hutch

I'm still trying to make some sense of this. You have two of them, one feeding the other? It looks like it will transfer coal from one car to another which I don't understand. Was there a need for that on the railroad. Someone need there car back? Even if it doesn't happen like that it still looks really coal! Did I really say that:retard:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I would think it would go from the ash pit right into a gondola, but the distance from the track made that impossible for me  hence the double system, it may make more sense when I have ashes in the boxes & the gondola with just a pile in the middle :dunno:
Just hit the paint store, a pint of stain to do those 2 little boxes, anyone need an end table stained  Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:smokinete I didn't wire it up yet! :smokin:


----------



## Hutch

All that for ashes? Now I'm more confused than before. Ashes from what? You're dealing with a complete idiot when it comes to trains so please bare with me.

Maybe I'm just a complete idiot


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No problem, I'm right behind you, I had to ask too, the steam engines dump there ashes from the fireboxes, if they do it in the yard, they have to be hauled off, hence, pit, conveyer & ash car.
I'm only at this about a year now, still got lots of learning to do, so ask away, I will too, there's a lot of info here at the board, the guys have been a great help top me. Rich.


----------



## Hutch

Ding Ding Ding Ding. Thanky I'm more smarter now than I was this morning thanks to Rusty.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& I'm smarter than a couple a days ago thanks to Pete, we're spreading the word!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the stain on, gonna hafta be a little more frugal with the glue, stain doesn't like it, touched up with some brown paint, still a few spots I missed, so a few paint touch ups 1 more coat a stain & then just hide the rest with the ash! 
steamer row is commin together!


----------



## norgale

That will work. Nice! pete


----------



## norgale

Unexpectedly I found an article in Model Railroader, March 1995 issue of a scratch built engine house very similar to yours Rich. The article written by Gerry Gilliland who also took the photos shows a building that's a lot like the engine house you have including the shape of the doors. Yours has a lot of features not found on the magazine item but the similarity is there non the less. Gerry says that he wanted an engine house from about 1929 or so and this is what he came up with. I would think that the design was not just off the top of his head and there probably was a prototype of this model somewhere that Gerry was able to see and photograph and measure or an article in some magazine to work from. Anyway thought you'd like to see this and maybe somebody will take the measurements and build one for themselves. It would be super if Mr. Gilliland saw this here and would comment on it. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pretty cool, that one would have fit my small area quite well, He has a little more tools along the long wall & less of a machine shop.
His steam turns a generator I guess to power electric tools, mine turns a steam engine that powers the tools directly(belt system) but pretty close in ideas.
lighting, beams, flooring all look pretty close in design, I kinda think scratch build, but with something to model off, I would think if you looked at enough pics of different houses you could custom tailor one for your own needs.
Hopefully some day down the road when modeling takes over as my full time efforts (if I can ever retire!) I will attempt something on a grander scale than my little trinkets for the layout.


----------



## Big Ed

Hey Rusty the conveyer you made looks great. :smilie_daumenpos:
All but the wheels.
The ash boxes too. :smilie_daumenpos:
All but the rail in the one.

Why don't you look for some wheels like what is on the other one.
how hard would it be to swap the wheels?

Everything looks great but the rail in the box doesn't. 
The only purpose it serves is to sit the conveyer on but as for functionality the rail serves no purpose. They didn't move the RR car to load they moved the conveyer.

If you can't find the wagon styled wheels maybe just grind off the flanges and sit it in the box without the rail? 

Or just tell me to shut up if you want.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The work with what's on hand theory, no wagon wheels in the stash.
Agreed ,it looks bad, but the rail does serve the purpose to back the conveyer out to get the train past, I may do away with the ties, just show the metal & then dirty it up pretty good (I also screwed up on the height a tad, the rail helps lift it up) bout 10 years from now when I get to the fine tuning I'll come up with something better.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm a bad man, packed up my sons stuff that was in the old end table, it's mine now! 
used the drawer to clear the bigger items off the small work bench, giving me a little more work area & yet right there next to the table.



Now what to store under here!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tweeked the tracks up front, switched into the yard before the big house, that gets me one more siding. 



steam yard pretty much laid out.(well for now, hey, you guys know me by now  )


----------



## norgale

Looks better every day Rich. What's that three story building on the left side of the last picture? Looks cool or is that "coal"? Ha!
And why is that picture out of focus? Hope it's not my eyes. Geeze! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That would be it, the coaling tower!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got my training wheels on the back of the table ,don't want anything takin a dive back there  thinking some kind of retaining wall paint job? :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

decided to make up the long station in 2 pieces, me handling an almost 5ft long skinny piece of plastic is perilous! 
just need to fasten down the last few wires & it's ready to go.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Was Running out of little projects waiting for the grass mats to come, can't do much till I get the tables coated, then I decided to remove one house & pull out the under construction one, another work site to decorate, now how to make it look more like wood & less like plastic!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Been crusin ebay lookin for something to add to my bowker train, not sure what cars would be appropriate ?????????? 


Something like this?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181178815694?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648

these look a little to big to me? 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300887054825?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648

new check in came up with these..........

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AHM-Rivaros...572468?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item258229e074

this looks cool.............

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AHM-MILWAUK...928807?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1e6d3ffc67


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

what do you think............. trying to make the house under construction look less like pinkish plastic & more like wood, only 2 colors I found even closeto what I need.......... the darker color on the ladder & horses, the lighter color on the plank on the horses & about a 50/50 mix of the two on the roof planks, rafters are the plastic , have a pinkish tint to them. 
the plank one has a yellowish tint to it, yellow pine??????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete you made me dig out one of the old books, 1940's railroad era, interesting stuff.
I think I found what we need for our DC control panels! ...............................


----------



## Hutch

I think it would look really cool if wrap the house in TYVEK.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmmm now where to get mini tyvec, good way to cover up the gray plastic walls.

Was toying with the idea of ripping off all the plastic framing & actually doing it in scale wood, 99% sure I have all the sizes, one thing for sure, the plastic framing is not to scale, much wider than my scale 2x8's.

mats aren't even shipped yet, need some projects for the weekend. 

So a question comes up, what glue to use to glue wood to plastic, I know the GOO would work, but real hard to control, Elmers white glue? I have wood model glue, good old plastic model glue. 
 hmmm, mix the 2 & half will stick to each! :retard:


----------



## Hutch

I have used super glue to glue plastic bindings on guitars and mandolins. Works great.


----------



## Gansett

http://www.thistothat.com/cgi-bin/glue.cgi?lang=en&this=Plastic&that=Wood

Super glue and Gorilla glue also


----------



## norgale

On the retaining wall go to Google and look up 'HO scale rock walls'. Find a good picture and print it out. Cut the picture into strips and glue them onto the wood retaining wall and Walla! a stone wall.
I'd buy the set of 8 cars for the $32 and the vinegar car. 
That control panel is cool. I've seen those pictures before and wonder how the guy can remember which lever to pull?
The yellow color looks most like real wood and I wouldn't bother with rebuilding that roof. Use some flat paints though to get a realistic finish. The 'shinny' is what makes it look toy-like.
As for the glue Elmers will be fine for that work. Holds good and dries clear. 
God it's hot. 92 and it's only eleven o'clock in the morning. Yuck! Gotta go bring the dog in the house. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Damn Pete I'm going to have to send you consultant fees! 

Ok a lot of glue options, have super glue & elmers, so I'll test those out first if I decide on the rebuild, might just do it to pass the time till the mats come, good practice & if it comes out like crap, just put the plastic back.

Put 2 strips of 2 different real wood next to those color samples, none are even close.

Another oppsie entered my feeble mind, I built the ash pit out of wood  hot coals & wood don't mix too good, well unless your lookin for a bigger fire! :smilie_auslachen:
got some brick sheets, will try lining it with that first, if that looks bad I can do natural stone with some coarse ballast. :dunno:

It's cooling down some here , actually started up the "Cuda the other day, gotta get workin on that before the snows come. 

On the bowker, how many cars would that normally pull, no lookin to go crazy, but one looks a little short, vinegar car is cool. :thumbsup:


----------



## Gansett

norgale said:


> hwell:
> God it's hot. 92 and it's only eleven o'clock in the morning. Yuck! Gotta go bring the dog in the house. Pete


41 degrees today at 5:30 am, 66 at noon.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

quick trip back to the house wood................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now on to the walls, Pete you da mann! 
first test, just have to print out 20 more.



there's a bunch more I can try, like this one, without the seams?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K tried the second one on full page, would have covered a lot more area, but the bricks came out way to big, have to use 4x6 to keep it in scale.


----------



## norgale

A rock wall would have some pillars every twenty feet or so for strength. Just take a wide piece of balsa or something and glue it every 8 to 10 inches for pillars or where your printed sheets come together and then paint them concrete color. If you have the wood you can put another strip across the top for a tie beam to finish it off.
The wood sample you show in the picture is not the kind of wood that would be used to frame a roof or anything else for that matter. Too expensive. Your sample is hardwood and framing would be done with Douglas fir or pine or maybe both. They don't build homes like that anymore but I remember as a kid my dad built several homes at the Cape and they were all built with boards. No plywood back then.
Also the hot coals are dumped in the pit under the track. They would be extinguished before thy were moved to the storage pit. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, so the first sample has the pillars, plenty of wood for the cap, just need to get the color right.
The ash pit I was referring to is the small one under the tracks, one on the table will stay wood.
On the wood I just threw up 2 pieces that were close by, the smaller sample is closer to what I need,my grass mats shipped today, so I probably won't get em till mid week, I may try the wood roof structure just for the heck of it if I don't find another project to putz with!
Station is all wired up & set in place, measured it out, the darn thing is almost 5' long, can get a full passenger set along there & not look like overkill.:thumbsup:


----------



## norgale

'You threw up two pieces that were close by"? You don't supposed to eat that stuff ya know.


----------



## Big Ed

The wall and the house look great. :smilie_daumenpos:

Why don't you dirty up the ash box some? 
Dump some "ash" around and blacken it up?
Looks too clean?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks Ed, the makin it look used comes down the road in the decorating phase, still workin on figuring out my areas & themes, once the grass mats come then it's back to laying track & wiring, ugh on the wiring part 
once the track is all proved out then the decorating begins! :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete! .........................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Of all the models, the one I want to take apart the glue is stickin like a rock, every other one I touch the pieces just fall off!  Go figger .
Anyway decided to try the smaller roof first & see how it looks, if I decide to do it all this will eat up some time, took like 15 mins just to cut the 18 rafters & the ridge board I needed for the small roof, now I have to make a template for my spacing & then test the different glues that I have, found another household that mixes different materials & it's clear, so trying that first.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

This will definately take time, can only put up 2 at a time, wait for glue to dry, so I painted all the internal wood & the window & door frames with the lighter color, started on mr green jeans & the work materials too.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

ok rafters are up, looks good to me but in the grander scheme of things is it really worth it, guess I just have to see how bored I am tomorrow! :dunno:
My first peeps paint job, looks like a zombie, maybe an apocalypse theme somewhere on the board.


----------



## norgale

Your rafters look a lot better than the original ones. Now you can pop off the rest and replace them. Make some sheets of plywood for the sheathing pieces or use the same wood as the rafters. The stuff that's on there now looks too large. Pedro


----------



## norgale

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Pete! .........................


:lol_hitting:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:cheeky4:

Yea, way wider than scale, I used scale 2x8's ,getting the rest apart aint gonna be easy he glued the heck out of it,the small roof didn't come apart easy.

Got most of the retaining wall up, thanks for the Idea Pete, looks great, just printed out the last 3 sheets needed to finish that off. :thumbsup: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the stone liner in the ash pit, fire marshal had work stopped!


----------



## norgale

Get some kitty litter and crush it in a plastic bag with a hammer or put it in a blender for the ashes. Stone looks good too. Pete


----------



## spoil9

Or light up a cigar and relax for an hour.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:smokin: for a moment, I was thinkin what better than real ash, didn't last long, the mess it would create  too bad, unfortunately for me there's always plenty around!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No going back now, demolition is one of my strong suits! 



got most of the rafter supports in, now I'll spend the next 3 days cutting rafters!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the rafters all cut & the first few up, was thinkin it really should have collar ties in there, not so easy now, decide on that later, might be getting too nit picky?:dunno:


----------



## norgale

Ohya! Looks much mo better. Put a few planks on that second floor. ya don't want your guys falling to the ground. I like the porch roof too. What's a collar tie? 
Real wood ash won't look like the stuff that came out of a steam engine fire box. After the coal burns there is some ash but most of what's left is called cinders. They are impurities in the coal that don't burn but melt together to form chunks. Kitty litter looks just like it although the color of the real thing is a sort of rusty color. Real RR's actually used what the engines dumped for roadbed ballast. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Collar ties go side to side on the rafters under the ridge to keep everything together.
A hunk a 1x6 or 2x4 like the yellow lines but inside the building .............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I gotta go hunt down ash pits & get some pics of what it looks like!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wait a sec, did I not just ballast my steam yard with cinders, got bags of those, but they just look black to me, post up your ash pics guys, what did you use??????????


----------



## norgale

Google "cinders" and look at the pictures. Pete


----------



## Big Ed

I never saw anyone model an ash bin. 
You said that the real ashes would be a mess.....that is what you want for an ash pit.?
The whole area around it would be a mess too.

Use real ash........then spray it with a clear matte? :laugh:
Take a video when you spray it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

ever sneeze around an ash try! 
Don't want that on my train table, it will be a mess, but a controlled mess!


----------



## ssgt

*cinder pit*

I am using real cinders picked up in cumberland md,crushed with a hammer.I do the same with coal.


----------



## WaltP

RUSTY Cuda said:


> ever sneeze around an ash try!
> Don't want that on my train table, it will be a mess, but a controlled mess!


Especially with ashes 1/87th the size of your ashtray ashes!!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

tryin to think of the scene, carpenters putting up the last few rafters, so in the back leaned the shed roof rafters on the horses, trying to make another set of horses for the main roof & lean the long rafters on those, another ladder going up to the high roof & some workers milling around, don't know how long those scale 2x4's I used for the legs will last, pretty skinny wood? 
need to do something about the old glue marks on the gray plates.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

almost ready for the table, got the second set of horses done, found a perfect ladder for the back roof, just need a little longer one for the top, more workers & some piles a dirt & it might actually look like a construction site!


----------



## shaygetz

Love that house...you know I'm a property inspector... Spraying it with a coat of flat clear (I use Krylon 1311 Matte Finish) will take care of the glue shine...and 2x4s are regularly used for saw horses in real life...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Will I fail inspection if I don't put the collar ties in 
I have made a few horses over the years, but when you scale down a 2x4 to 1/87th there ain't much left!


----------



## norgale

That house was built in the fifties when they didn't have all the silly rules and inspections. If it was a newer house it would have trusses for roof rafters and plywood sheets for the roof covering and the floor covering. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Plywood for sure, but they do still stick build around here & thank the powers that be, ever try & put an a/c unit in a truss attic, well I have, pain in the butt moving around on those 24" spreads & trusses in the way all over the place! 
Did a 16,000 sq ft house a few years back, all stick built, nice job, 7 units, 35 tons of a/c, nice to have bucks.
My contractor was bidding Phil Simms house, but didn't get the job, that's the one the scaffold collapsed , guess it's good I wasn't there!


----------



## norgale

I'm glad they still stick build somewhere as like you say the truss are a pain to work in or with. Need a crane to set them too but they are faster. No stick builds around here at all. Maybe the strict hurricane engineering has something to do with it. Pete


----------



## shaygetz

RUSTY Cuda said:


> ...ever try & put an a/c unit in a truss attic...


8 years, in attics, crawl spaces, closets...single, multi-family and High rise condos---even 3 McDs, a hatchery and grain mill--probably 2000 systems more or less. Still have all my tin knocking tools as well. My knees scream every day for it too... :laugh::thumbsup: If it weren't for that, I'd probably still be doing it, I actually quite enjoyed it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

only 8 years, your still a rookie, somewhere around forty for me now, started out mostly service, then installs, did some commercial, but dropped it, no more rooftop work for me, mainly single family homes, but today some of those are bigger than the commercial we used to do, now, some constructuion, some geothermal from another contractor(I do the ductwork & refridgeration lines )replacement units & yes there are some houses still left that we add central air to, & the service that goes with it.
my knees were fine till last year, now I have a second knee cap (nice & soft & gooshy) just below the first where you kneel, still don't hurt, gotta get 10 more years out of em, if I can't retire at 70 I'll just go on welfare!


----------



## norgale

You will not be allowed to retire anyway. You must keep working so the welfare people can keep getting their checks. Ha! Pete


----------



## shaygetz

My regret is that I didn't learn service when I could have, but I was quite handy with the sheet metal--refused to work with duct board--my boss swore I was paying customers to ask for me by name...:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

As in anything, do a good quality job & people will notice(well some anyway)I stopped advertising back in 1999, all word of mouth from what today has got to be a pretty big customer base, been around long enough I'm doing replacements for my early customers, a lot of their kids are buying houses & using me, my kids & their friends are a new growing area, but I'm down to just one a week or so depending on the size of the job, work alone most of the time, down to 7 hours a day on the job(still service,phones & paperwork after) but manageable most of the time (last few days were crazy though)hwell:
But for the first time in a few years I have lots of work coming up in the fall, haven't had that since the crash, maybe I'll do better than survive this year, can only hope! 
It's killing my train time though, peek in every night though lookin for the next project when I have time ( or is that energy ? ):dunno:


----------



## norgale

Make it while you can Rich. There will be a day when you won't be able to. Pete


----------



## Gansett

Tin knocker huh Bob? I did the same only on aircraft, completely different but somewhat related trade.
Ray drove our race car was a 'knocker. Made a fan shroud going from roughly 24 inches square to a 17 inch circle. And only 4-5 inches deep. 
He made a few panels for race cars at the local track and it turned into a very lucrative business.
http://www.raylinebodies.com/


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yea, Pete, I know, was just tellin the wife, I think I'm turning into a turtle :smilie_auslachen:seems everything takes twice as long, got home after 6 on a job I should have been done 2 or 3 in the afternoon, didn't finish yesterdays rough in, gotta go back for a few hours Monday,hwell: but the one I was trying to squeeze in next week decided to wait, so I'm back to just busy, not crazy, that I can deal with! Seems like things are getting a little better, or people waited so long they have no choice now, either way I just want to work at a nice(fairly slow) even pace, not easy in my business, has always been feast or famine, well after 5 years of famine I'm ready for some feastin! :laugh:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So for all the train buffs who have been watching my escapades, SORRY, all I could do this week was give them a thought now & then, maybe sunday if I don't just sleep all day I can mess with something. :dunno:
So after the hell week, I thought I could relax a bit, yea right,  the wife tells me around 7:30 we have no hot water, take a look & my sump pump crapped out & have bout 10" of water in the basement, so I spent the night replacing the pump & blowing out the water heater & the boiler, just lucky, they both started up again ok.
Good thing I had the next pump ready to go.
couple a service calls this am, clean up the disaster I made of the shop during the week & then its a couple of hours of R&R (I hope).

So how was your week! :retard:


----------



## norgale

Ha! Looks like you have your hands full right now. Ya can't just do trains all the time anyway. You have to take a break and do some work sometime or it all gets ahead of you. I need to wash and wax my trailer and my truck. Both are filthy and the trailer has a sort of green moss growing on it and the truck is getting moldy from sitting under this big oak tree. It's all from the humidity we have in the summer and I'm just waiting for the fall cooling and a reduction of the muggies or else it will all come back before the winter season. Too hot outside for now so I stay in the house. Pete


----------



## Big Ed

Too hot outside for now so I stay in the house. Pete
Pete....You have no house to stay put in. 

Good thing the layout wasn't down there!

If I had a sump pump I would have another installed next to it, just in case!

Everyday when I come home the first thing I do on the way to my den to change clothes is to open the basement door and sniff for water.
I can smell it right away I am like a hound dog.

Then after I change I take a walk down to inspect it, back when I was taking water on through the back corner (only during a heavy over 6" storm) I dreaded looking. I don't have a sump pump or any kind of way to get rid of water, but I am in a high and dry area. One of the things I looked for when I was looking for a house, it was a must, far away from any flood zones.

I fixed that and I should be good now but other things can happen. (can't find the link I have on the site somewhere of the pictures of what was wrong)
And as I have no sump it could accumulate fast.
It took a while but I found where the pictures are, here, http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showpost.php?p=86739&postcount=349

In my Where do you think I went thread starting at post #349 there, http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=3529

I could not get a saw in to cut through the paneling, I HAD TO DREMAL IT ALL OFF! To get to the leak. Why would anyone do a job like that? 

10" of water Rusty?! How often do you look down there?
What do you have a river running by the house?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Rivers actually under the house, water table is high here & can't take the flash flood times, half the town drains through my property, sump pump is workin all year, even in the dry spells it will kick on once in a while, had the replacement ready to go, only time I ever had the basement actually flooded was Floyd, & that's because it pushed the old windows open, have since taken the window wells out & put new skinny windows above ground level, still water seeps in many places when the table rises, dug up & tarred what foundation I could get to, all to no avail, house has been here since the 20's, hasn't caved in YET 

When I dug the 3' footings for my garage, the bottom foot was always full of water, had to pump them out just before the concrete pour! :retard:

hopefully the cool day will give me a break on the phone calls & service so I can chill a bit & then get ready for the next push, got 3 weeks booked & no room for service! hwell: later, Rich,


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

still lookin for something to putz with till the ground cover comes, thought it might have come today, so I fixed a few steps on a building, moved some stuff around, but never latched onto something to work on a while.
In my staring at the board, noticed that just cutting the engine house that 3/4" into the table helped quite a bit in reducing it's overwhelming appearance on my small layout.
couple a long shots...................


----------



## shaygetz

Glad you have a good home for the engine house...quite a piece of work:smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Me too, it's now the centerpiece, can't wait to light it up & run some engines through it.:smokin:
Checked on my rolls of grass mat, made it one town over from me, darn, I actually have a day to do anything I want tomorrow & no mats to put down, holding up the works.
maybe I'll clear the first 4' section, get it all cleand up so when the mats come I can get right to putting them down.


----------



## norgale

Home is where the heart is Ed. Mine happens to be a fifth wheel. No basement but it's three feet off the ground so no water here.
Rich the only thing overwhelming about your engine house is the color. I noticed that on the BGC when I painted my engine house yellow to match the BGC colors. Yellow is a very "large" color and is the most visible color. That's why pawn shop signs are all yellow so the shop is easy to spot. Your engine house isn't really too big at all for the size of the layout. I think it looks great. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Crusin ebay to get some ideas & ran across this, not for ash, but at least makes me feel like my double conveyer idea isn't too far fetched


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I got to spend a couple of hours with the trains, not a lot accomplished but at least a break from the craziness! :thumbsup:
So I decided to pull apart the entry to the engine house & inner yard, big mistake,  I was trying to tweek back the switches to get a longer run into the yard, well when it didn't work out I had a had time getting them back the way they were  finally got it & proceeded to clean off the first 4' of table for the grass mats, so if they ever arrive it's roll out cut & tack & move everything over & hit the next section.



In between all that I was gluing a post or two at a time to my railings for the ash pit, just need steps down & a center support for the track & it's done.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Mats finally arrived, got the first one down, moved all the stuff vaccumed the table & ran outta gas, this real work stuff is cutting into my train time!  
Got a few easy days comin up to get ready for the big job starting next week, so I hope to have the mats down & maybe start laying a little track soon.:thumbsup:


----------



## norgale

Nice Rich. Looks nice an smooth now. Did you have a tornado there that ripped off the roof of the engine house. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just got in, still have a piece of duct to make, get some chow & call a few customers,  then if I can get my dead butt off the couch  I'll try & get the other roll tacked down, then it's just fill in a few small pieces in the center & the mats are done! :smokin:


----------



## spoil9

Don't rush it. Remember, this is suppose to be fun, not work. If you're tired, relax for a night. The layout will still be there tomorrow.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It will but I may not be!  
Gotta play a little, got the mats down, now it will slow down a bit, gonna take the track laying real slow, try to get it nice & smooth the first time out. After all the moving around I'll need to change out most of the connectors, then tack a few put power to it & test some trains. :thumbsup:



Got another nice shot of the detail in the house while the roof is off.................



At first glance I though the guys were playing with their car when things were slow...........


----------



## Hutch

Your benchwork looks great with the mat down.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Does clean things up a bit :thumbsup: with that down the table will be protected from all glue this time, no more scraping stuff off the beaver boards & loosing the top layer 
Gonna see if I can get all the track laid out again, spread out the buildings for a final check & then I can get into changing loose connectors & tacking down a few tracks so I can test the trains.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Didn't do much tonight, hwell: just loosely laid the tracks back down, pondering a way to make that middle section (lumber yard & diesel service areas) a little better, diesel buildings were kinda squshed in there. Maybe eliminate one switch behind the house & bring in the spur for one or the other from the other side(buy the long station) :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Another not much done nite, just got the lengths right going into the engine house & tacked down near the first two switches, getting those lined up right moved my connection to the inside loop in about 1/2 inch, have to see what that does to the loop, not sure I have enough front to back clearance to just work backwards from the new switch location ( 22" turns might not fit on the front section. :dunno:
Won't have much time today, but tomorrow I hope to be free to relax & spend at least a couple of hours with the trains.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still tweekin track, did ok with that lost 1/2" but had to tweek the rear runs back a little more to get room for my road, took the lumber spur off the back side of the inside loop, still tight in the lumber yard so I pulled off one of the buildings, still have to spread out the buildings along the back by the station & figure out roads & parking lots, but I'm getting close.



residential section is a bit tight too, no room for a nice back yard, might do 2 at each end & remove the stores at the other end, or just live with only 2 houses??????? 



I think the steam yard is good, gotta put some stock on & see how it looks?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now one of them had this transformer, darn thing gotta weigh 7 or 8 lbs.
haven't tested it yet, but I'm thinkin it might have been Alex's to light up all the lighting He had, gotta get out the meter & see what comes out, looks like at 120 volt 12 will be the output, if so then hook up a few bulbs & see what happens!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tacked down the inner loop, both in front of & behind the house, ran 4 of the ebay diesels around & only one derailed once, didn't do it again it that spot though & it looks good by eye :dunno:
Next will be the ebay berk, save the good ones for after testing is done.
then I'm gonna power up that massive transformer & see what I get, if that's as stout as I think I may be able to do most of the lighting off one trans. :smokin:
So far just one of my long switches is dead on the short frog, got 3 more to try before I solder a feed in there.


----------



## norgale

:appl::appl::appl:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Switch is a mystery, checked continuity on another & put that in, then tested the one that was in it had continuity also, don't know why the diesel stopped on it? 
outter loop runs ok, but my steamers don't wanna run, tried the Bachmann norfork & it crawls, won't pick up any speed, then the mantua chessie, it ran fine forward, gave me some lockups trying to reverse, now it won't go either way, the only one with no hitches was the rivarossi 0-8-0 I tried, back to playing after dinner!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tried a mixed bag of cars ran around ok, a lot less troubles than the last time out, maybe I'm learning something!  this was before the mantua started locking up.


----------



## ssgt

check the side rods on the mantua.You may have a loose side rod or it may be out of quarter.


----------



## shaygetz

Love the tunnel...is that code?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

tried oil on both the mantua & the Bachmann, no luck, I'll check the rods later(thanks sarge)
The berk ran well, tried all my switches, outter to siding to inner worked ok, backed into the yards ok, only problem occurred when I tried to leave some freight cars on the sidings behind the house, derailed on one of the switches, didn't really dig into that yet.
backed thru the house on both thru tracks ok, little hesitation in the house on the back rail, On the short side both doors the tender is not picking up power in the house, if I lean on it a little it does, not gonna worry bout that for now, but the wood against the rail may have to go :dunno:
didn't get to the super transformer yet, gonna chill a while & then test that & check the rods on the mantua.
Not to far off from drilling holes for under table switch machines & wiring the power feeds, the spaghetti begins (will try & be a little neater this time)  but 10,000 wires are hard to control! 

Rusty's Code! guess I could have put it to the outter track but my mind was on testing the inner first didn't wanna pull up all my tacks to switch it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Transformer works, puts out 12volt ac , now I tried 1 16volt bulb, lit up ok, then I tried the engine house & that seemed to light fine, maybe a dumb question but do these bulbs know the difference between ac or dc, seems I've used the same bulbs for some engines that I used for house lights???????????????

Oh yea I weighed that sucker just for the heck of it, 10lbs!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

On to the mantua, can't see anything wrong(hanging up & such) I pulled another & took a pic side by side, seems like the black one has much more of a difference between right & left sides than the chessie does, does it look like the quartering is off, how do I fix something like that????????????? 
On the chessie both sides seem to be near the bottom???????????


----------



## shaygetz

Quartering looks good...one side should be 90 degrees from the other...:thumbsup:


----------



## spoil9

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Transformer works, puts out 12volt ac , now I tried 1 16volt bulb, lit up ok, then I tried the engine house & that seemed to light fine, maybe a dumb question but do these bulbs know the difference between ac or dc, seems I've used the same bulbs for some engines that I used for house lights???????????????


If they are bulbs, then most wont care if it's AC or DC. If they are LED's, then they will only work on DC.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

pulled the mantua apart, problem is in the motor, if I rotate the stator the wheels turn freely, first I pulled the brushes & filed em flat & cleaned the rotor, seemed to be a lot of front to back play in the motor, could get it running if I pushed it in & out a little till I hit a sweetspot, so I went digging & found some motors, one looked exact cept the windings looked slightly smaller, in testing those I noticed they spun a lot easier than mine, took a close look & mine seemed to be rubbing on the housing instead of hanging free, was gonna take it apart & see if I could sand down the housing & when I loosened the screw it turned more freely, pushed back down on it & still free, so I put the screw back in & now it spins free, what was in there or out of whack I don't know , but I put power to it & it runs fine now, both forward & reverse, now I have to put it all back together & see if the engine will run! :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Proving my amature status  put it all back together & made it bout half way around & started to slow down pulled it apart again & found not enough tension on one of the brushes :thumbsup: put it all together AGAIN  & finally the mantua chessie is back in the lineup! :smokin:
So I move on to the Bachmann, spinnin my wheels here too  norfork that was crawling along, pulled that apart & there's not much in there I could mess with, so I cleaned everything I could get to, greased & oiled it up & no luck, still crawling, then someone smacked me in the face :cheeky4: dummy,:smilie_auslachen: didn't another engine do this  so I just let it crawl around wasn't getting overly hot or anything, after about 2 or 3 laps it started to loosen up, so I wasted an hour or so on that hwell:
Seems to be ok now 
Here's where I start doing a thousand little projects to put off the drilling & wiring!


----------



## norgale

Do one wire at least everyday. Pretty soon it's done. Now wasn't that easy? Ha! 
The last BGC had a high enough table top so that I could sit in an office chair on wheels and lean way back in the chair and ride around under the table all day. That was neat. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm just delaying the pain, trying to figure a way to be a little neater under there, with 50 or 60 things to wire & all the separate lighting joints to make every 10 or 12 inches it just seems like the birds nest will be worse this time! 

The job I'm on is trying to wear me down,  the drillers have the driveway blocked,three rigs in there) so I'm walking my stuff up a pretty good hill to the front door, then two stories up to the attic pull down & finally up into the attic, 3 days of that, with 2 truckloads of material, now I start the first floor, 2 or 3 more truckloads of ductwork, same routine cept down the stairs once in the house,think I'll leave the 20 5' lengths of trunk in the bottom of the truck till I have my son with me on Friday, I'm getting too old for this! hwell:

conveniently left my drill on the job, so no wiring tonight, I'll find so little chore to keep me busy , or maybe just run a few different trains around for a while!


----------



## norgale

What? You only have one drill? You need at least three, two battery powered and one plug in for when the batteries go down. HA!
Check out this video Rich. This layout is bigger than mine and yours combined but it shows what you can do for raised rails with the Woodland Scenics Styrofoam ramps. It's amazing how many cars he pulls with no derails. Must have done a super job in laying down the rails. Pete
http://youtu.be/0eKoTo8Nk18


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Only one I want to use, probably if I dug deep I could come up with 7 or 8 :dunno:
One of my 2 battery dewalts decided to go funky right after I bought 2 new batteries, hence 1 good one to work with, my drill of choice. power cord milwalke is used with my sheet metal hole cutter, haven't used it for anything else in years I think there's another in the garage. The bigger milwalke angle drill stays in the truck for the heavy jobs same with the AEG hammer drill. I'm sure there's others laying way in the back of the shelves that were stored years ago & forgotten but when you don't wanna start something you leave the favorite on the job, that's the only one you think of! 
OH yea, a small AEG I use for wire-wheelin on the cars, that's in the garage too, that's what .......... 7 off the top of my head, doesn't make me want to pull one out though 

I did bring it home for the weekend, :thumbsup: but that doesn't mean I'll get it out & use it!

the ramps are cool, but doesn't look like a lot of room left to decorate?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Having lived with myself for all these years hwell: I'd say tonight I was true to form, drill is still in the truck & I'm digging for materials to make my fence for the proposed little league field I want to put in the corner. 
screens not a problem, one of my sons first joe homeowner projects was to replace a bad screen on a sliding door, well he bought a 100 ft roll  so we have just a little left over!
the stock for poles is gray plastic in 3 shapes, I beam, angle & T, round wood & round plastic, the thinner one has a metal rod in it, tested 3............ the I beam cause it gave me a nice slot to glue in, the smaller plastic & the wood
Haven't pulled em off the wax paper yet, I beams should be fine(not laying in glue) the wood looks too fat & we will see if the plastic holds when I try to move it:dunno:
So here's what they look like.
The backstop, now that will be a challenge!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I have the field dimensions somewhere for a little league field, from the coaching & field work days, just gotta dig around the arcives to find em, then shrink em down & see if it will fit in the corner?????????


----------



## norgale

Try some 1/32 wire for the posts. What size are those wood ones? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmm, don't know exactly, have to dig out the measuring tools & see.
just by eye ball I would think 1/8th or so. 
Guess I could build a log cabin with those!


----------



## norgale

Ya the dowels and the I beam look a little too big. You look at a chain link fence and the poles are only an inch and a half diameter. That means 'pretty small' in HO so maybe wire would work better for you. Try a wire coat hanger. That would look ok I think.
7 or 8 drills is too many. Sell 3 of them and use the money to buy some trains. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still use most of em, the backups ain't worh much...........so I was measuring out my LL field, don't think it's gonna fit, min is about 180' down the line, my calculations come out to 30", now I'm no math wiz so if someone could check me on that , I only have bout 10 1/2" to squeeze it in. :dunno:


----------



## norgale

Shoot! It doesn't have to be regulation size. Just make it a sand lot where the local kids play ball in the afternoon after school. My home town had a nice ball field that cost a pretty penny to maintain in the summer. All the kids played in empty lots in their neighborhoods including me and we played each other on Saturdays in one lot or another if it was nice weather. In all the years I lived in that town growing up I never once saw any of us play on the well maintained town field. You had to have permission to play there, have adult supervision and smooth out the field after you were finished. A paid town employee had to be there too. Too many rules and certainly nobody wanted adult supervision. Regional high schools used the field maybe ten times in the spring and fall. All the rest of the time it just laid there costing the taxpayers money. What a waste. 
Anyway I vote for a sand lot. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just got home & I live behind the two main town fields, fall ball game going on as I type.
I did the same Pete, but these fields are well used now, but baseball has also changed, we now have spring, summer & fall leagues, soccer uses the big out field & now I noticed pee wee football has been on here too, & I get free lighting in my yard when there out there.

well the yard looks much brighter in person.
So back to trains, I'll measure it out, but have to have a decent outfield or it won't look right, some kinda major park/playground will be the next choice.
But I still don't have any kids so maybe I won't rush that too much.


----------



## Big Ed

I have the high school stadium about 3/4 of a mile away from me.
The drums, horns & cheers sound like they are right in my back yard!

I was looking at houses in that area too, I am glad I didn't buy one.
Seems like every weekend they are playing something there, the soccer stadium is there too.

The noise would drive me nuts!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No bands here, these are town rec fields, HS is a few blocks away, JV & freshman use this field in the spring season, varsity is at the HS field just to the right of these 2 there are 2 more, HS soccer plays on those, for some reason they don't use the football field over at the HS.
It can get a little noisy when they have all 4 going, & special occasions they have music & announcers, but mostly it's just the crazy parents!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ends up wood posts were 1/16th , so the white plastic would be closer to 1/32nd , here's the field dimensions, area I want to put it I can just about double what's on the paper, 200 to the foul poles can be cut down some. Our LL field is about 180' might try a cardboard template & see what it looks like?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

First test, just some old paper bags cut up to approximate size. will try putting home next to one of the tracks & the outfield towards the wall, grow some ivy & put on crash helmets.
No kids to work with so so adults for scale, half people size might just work :dunno:



Outfield is probably 2/3rds of what it should be, but being in the back corner I may just get away with it.:sly:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Can't turn it not enough angle for the foul lines, but pulled out some of the old decorations to see if I have enough room as things are laid out now.
Might straighten out where the fence meets the wall to give it the impression of being bigger?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

If I cut down to 2 houses I have some room for a road in front & some decent back yards .



lumber yard should be ok, road will go between the back of the small buildings & the ones along the track


----------



## norgale

We're having fun now. What's that long thing with the lights on it for? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Loading dock , I think it was part of his station setup, there is another section still boxed up? 

I wanted to go nuts with the LL field, dougouts, score board(lit up too!) concession stand, bleachers,the whole nine yards, I may end up with your sand lot idea,throw down bases & dirt. gotta see what I can come up with. :dunno:


----------



## norgale

Save the LL field for your next rebuild. Looks like you'll need a lot of room for it. Meantime you can work on building it. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still thinkin bout that, might shrink it a little & just leave the people off so there's no way to scale it in the back corner there. there's always the park/playground time will tell.
I haven't had a lot left for the trains, 2 more days on the big job, then get stuff ready for a bunch a small ones, nice to be busy again, but it's takin it's toll , I'm getting to old for this! 
The only thing I did with the trains was drill a few holes for the power feeds to the sidings, think that was sunday night. 
did bid on a nickel plate tender & a couple of pocher cars, out bid on all so far, I'm in no hurry on those & they seem to come up often so I'll wait for a lower price.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the first track isolated-powered up, black tape center ballast & tacked down, going to do the other one out of the house & then go to the entry side & work from the house out onto the loops & other yard.
Hope to get in a good couple of hours on the trains this weekend.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the other side of the house started, 4 power feeds & one of the holes for under table machine, got a few pcs ballasted, so I can tack down once I mount the switch machines.
The thru tracks on the house I put a feed on both sides since I had some hesitation in there.
Made myself a little ballast box, thought it would contain the mess better than the can, well yes somewhat but that stuff still gets everywhere!


----------



## dannyrandomstate

Lookin good!!!

That baseball field reminds me of the field used in the movie Brewster's millions.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmm, if he had millions why would he cut up an old paper bag for an infield!


----------



## dannyrandomstate

Simple! Low maintenance so he doesn't have to pay anyone to groom the field!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:appl:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I picked up a few more things from Dads stash, now I have no more left my drill on the job excuses, & can't even use a power failure as one! 
Goin oldschool, did a test hole on a 1x3 & went thru like butter & a very clean cut(nice & sharp) & just as fast as electric drill(well with my old dull drill bits)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A couple of patches, pretty sure they are railroad related ( NMRA ) but zephyr I don't know?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Anyone know what these are, is this the KD like in couplers????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

And a couple of lights that look like they came with a display case, will splice em off the plug in & se if they work on 18 volt??????????


----------



## norgale

The NMRA is the National Model Railroad Association and the Zephyr patch is probably a reference to the Zephyr train of long ago. The auger drill set is great and the drill will handle twist drills too. Nice set. Don't know about the parts and the lights but the lights look useful. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Funny I was thinkin of ebaying that drill figuring I would never use it, then my Mother gave away the other bigger set of brand new bits, an old electric drill set in a heavy metal box & a big tool box full of all kinds of clamps, she told the guy take whatever you want! He did some electric work for Her, just glad he didn't clean out the basement, there's still a ton of good stuff there, he was honest & refused any money for the little job he did, so not a total loss, So I had a little chat with her after that,please let me go thru everything BEFORE you give it away!

Just set my first 2 under table machines, gotta adjust positioning only switch one way, then I can tack down all tracks entering the house.


----------



## shaygetz

Parts for snap ring pliers... http://shopping.yahoo.com/44227565-...le-points-snap-ring-pliers-set-k-d-tools-447/

Love the brace and bits, nice set.



RUSTY Cuda said:


> Anyone know what these are, is this the KD like in couplers????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, now I have to look & see if the pliers were in the same tool drawer ? thanks guys!:thumbsup:
got the first switch lined up, second one is being a pain, can't get it lined up.


----------



## norgale

Don you got a big Ford hammer? Ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yea, but then I'd be filling the dumpster & starting all over! :retard:
Finally got it, I had the switch stressed too much, pulled the tacks & changed the angle & it worked. Drilled a few more holes & got the next few tracks ballasted, tomorrow I can figure out my main power feeds & work on the inside loop, gotta decide where I change ballast, might just do all mains in the gray, but make it a little darker & all the sidings & yards with the cinders, but that means I have to redo all the light gray tracks :dunno: see how lazy I am tomorrow


----------



## norgale

I don't think the color really matters much. You look at the real rr's and their ballast can be almost any color from white to black. Older ballast will be a darker color than new. Maybe there was a wreck along the pike and that area will have newer ballast so it will be lighter. In that case the color will change abruptly. Ballast in a yard will tend to be darker if not totally black in places where mechanical work is done but right next to that will be some new stuff where some ties were replaced after a loco went off the track.
I had a bag of light color ballast and a bag of HO scale coal that both got holes punctured in them. I mixed them both together and poured it into a zip lock bag to save it and then used it on the second BGC and it looked fine. So I figure you can use any color ballast anywhere you want and it will be ok. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Maybe I can take most of the ones I saved from the first setup & use them towards the rear & put the new mix up front? 
I was surprised how much you have to add to get the color to really change , more experimenting later.
got an hour or so of paperwork I've been putting off for estimates, then it's train time!


----------



## norgale

I've got a lot to do on the BGC but it's already hot out and muggy today too. Guess there's only one thing to do--NAP TIME. Ha! Pete


----------



## Big Ed

The California Zephyr.
A famous train don't you know? :smokin:

http://www.amtrak.com/california-zephyr-train

Still can ride the route today I guess.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Zephyr

Tell me what do you do with the ballast box? 
Do you somehow ballast the track then put it on the layout?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Going way back I found a couple of their switches sittin in the box with ballast on them, they put black tape on the bottom of the ties & then coated them from the top, a decent amount of ballast sticks to the tape ( for the purest probably a little thin) but for me & my massive changes it was ideal, tracks don't get bent when trying to pull them up, if you need to change anything, just peel the tape & start over & a lot less mess on the table with tons of ballast going into the vacuum.
that's why I left the small curve track undone so people could see the tape.
Like the ballast thread, a lot of variations, I do the beads with a thin bead of full strength elmers , put the bead of ballast down & then spray with wet water. seems to work ok for me.


----------



## norgale

Tie a piece of cheese cloth over the pickup on the vac. Everything stops at the cheesecloth and when you shut the vac off it all drops off where ever you want it to. Saves a lot of ballast. Use panty hose too if ya want but not while the lady is wearing them. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Whew, I didn't become a car mechanic cause I didn't like workin upside down, & my 2 hobbies are cars & trains where I'm workin underneath half the time! hwell:

So I got 7 machines mounted & 1 more ready to go in, only 5 left, so now I have to choose where I use them, 3 up front can't be done because of the framing, got the yards done, so there's one half way back on the doorway end I'll hit & then see where the rest are necessary for clearance, back of the table will stay table switches again except if needed for clearance.
Counted up 23 switches in the new layout, gonna be fun wiring them up, getting those wires on those little screws , while standing on my head, in the dark , with blinders & welding gloves on , well that's how it feels anyway :retard:
So that's 1 already earmarked, hope I don't need too many for clearance issues :dunno:


----------



## norgale

"Quitchabellyaching" You love it and you know it. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

When I lowered the a/c & put it on manual fan I knew I was in trouble, I'm workin in heat all the time, when I start sweating when I'm supposed to be enjoying myself the voices in my head :retard: are telling me somethings wrong with this picture 
Gotta get the inside loop done so I can run some trains around & ease my pain!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got 12 mounted was going to save one for a spare & on my last look around I noticed a curved turnout, the ones I initially needed the machines for, so I'll drill that out later & put in the last one. 
I got quite a bit of track tacked down, if I get a couple more good nights in I should be ready for some test runs :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Some decent progress, all under table machines mounted, inner loop about 3/4 tape ballasted & tacked, on this end outer loop is also tacked down from front to rear, so in the back all I have left is to add one more isolation point & ballast & tack down the track behind the station.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

at the other end I got just past the switches, think I'll try & finish off the inside loop up front & behind the engine house & get them powered up, trying to set it up so on the outside loop I can park on both sides of the long station, got the feeds & isolators in, just have to figure how to wire them up so I can kill either section. Shooting for the same on the inner, park behind the house , or a long work train in front of the house??????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got home early & was moving right along on the inside loops, then my son calls & needs a thermostat installed, was hoping to start the wiring of that loop tonight, maybe I'll get the track finished tonight & wire up over the weekend. hwell:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the track done pretty quick so I just tied the 3 sections together & powered up the loop, the ebay santa fe & the mountain died on the back section a couple of times, other times it would run right thru, the newer proto norfork had no problem at all ,so that loop can run behind the engine house or in front, both isolated so I can park a train on one & use the other section.
Also did some of the outside loop, behind the station & sides are tacked, so the front of station & front edge of the table need ballast & tacking then it's on to the yards.
made up a bunch more power feeders, haven't counted how many isolation switches I will need this time, looks like a few more than the last setup.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The nest has started to form 
todays project will be to mount the control panel, drill out holes between the table sections that were butted together & didn't match up & try like hell to route the wires in a facsimile of neat. 
this is just one side, 2 of the wires are the engine house feeds, at the other end there's 10 or 12 more


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

then someday it's on to the switch machines, 23 this time, that's gonna be fun


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got started on the wiring, ran them towards the control panel & marked em as I went, once final connections are made I will go back & add a few wire ties to tighten em up a bit.



pulled the control panel out & decided to finish the steam yard first I have to lean over the panel for that, so tracks are tape ballasted, isolators & feeds in & tacked down, next round will be hang the panel.


----------



## Big Ed

Thank God they make the frog tape huh? 
What do you have 1000 foot?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Black tape I had to actually restock,on 3rd roll this time around, the masking tape still have 4 rolls left out of the 12 pack I bought for the car. 
Speaking of the car, went out to start it up & charge up the battery , started up fine, was running on high idle, went around front & saw this...........




So that ruined my little relax time with the 'Cuda, someday I'll catch a break!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Control panel remounted, gonna need 3 more switch controls, 2 more isolation switches for the yards & 4 or 6 for the mains.
so tomorrow I hope to finish off the track, yard in center & lumber yard spur are all that's left, have to make more power feeds before I lay the track, then I'll do a few more test runs & the wiring will get into full time job mode.


----------



## norgale

What is that thing that melted on the car?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's an early electronic ignition box ( I think?)

Got most of the yard done & drilled for feeds, extended 2 of my sidings around the curve, so there about 6' long now, can park a good number of freight cars now. 
Next trip up I'll make up all the power feeds & finish the center, caboose yard is the last thing on track to do. movin along pretty good now, too bad it's back to work tomorrow!


----------



## norgale

You are making good progress Rich. Looks better with every picture. Hope your having fun now that your totally down and out with the Railroad bug. Ha! Pete

That box on the Cuda should have a cover over it I think.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The box is original, no cover, the other car is the same way & all the pics I researched to set up the bay were the same, pretty sure it's "correct" as it is. 

All wire feeds are in, there tacked down now, caboose yard will wait a little might do my track laying scene there if there's room. 
Got the extensions on the sidings done too.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's a lot of wires, just the track power feeds, can't wait till I get to lighting & switches


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I did a pretty good cleanup & put the buildings approx. where they will go, gonna lay down my tape road mockups before I drill for lighting. can't get the whole thing in one pic so here it is in sections.


----------



## Hutch

Like magic you went from tearing down to this. It's looking really good too. 

Later on when my cell phone recharges, I'll post some pictures of my pitiful progress.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Don't know if I'd call it magic :dunno: about 2 months of quality time with the trains 
last son is in college, no more coaching, workin on the fields, running from one ball game to another.
I ignore my lawn, if you could call it that now  there might be 3 or 4 shows on tv that interest me a little, and the family running around has quieted down for now, just Mom left to take care of now, We are becoming the old folks now. 
Since I keep putting off dealing with the car my free time is spent with the trains, amazing how much you can get done when you can put in 4 or 5 hours at a clip. 
If it wasn't for work this would have been done & I'd be tearing down for the next go round! :retard: Rich.


----------



## norgale

Sell the car while you still have something to sell, go for the trains until you get sick of them then you can get another car.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gotta repaint before I can sell , I already have another 74 'Cuda that's sittin & waitin on me to get movin on it, money was the problem before, still kinda is, that's why I decided to sell the 73, but without a decent paint job it won't sell for enough, put in 3k more & I'll get 6 more for the car(still not what I have in it but cuts the loss a bit) you never get what you put in, but I need to maximize it's value & recoup as much as possible.

here's the 74 shortly after I got it, now it's been sittin rusting away before my eyes since then, it ran at that point, but stole a few parts for the 73 (74 was gonna get new) so now she's a roller.


----------



## shaygetz

Awesome...:smilie_daumenpos:

I have those 3 switch controls you need--and 2 switch machines for any unforeseeable future magic blue smoke episodes--they're just missing a few screws, I'm sure you've got a few of those, just PM me your addy and they're yours...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks Shay, I have plenty of switch controls, 10 more came with the under table machines, if the switch machines are under table mount I will gladly accept those, if you need some on the table I can send you those in return, I had to cut off some of those extended side rods, so they can never go back.
I'll get my address to you, let me know if you can use the others. Thanks, Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a couple of hours in, most under the table 
put lights in the 2 new bumpers & got last of the tracks are tacked down, started workin the feeds over to where I will mount the connection strips, shortened one of Dads strips for the commons on the inner loop & all sidings, will run those off the hogger, has the most power of my transformers, gonna upgrade the outer loop to the tech 3 (or was it 4) anyway the one with the voltage meters on it. 
Managed to get the commons hooked up before I had to get out from under there. 
A little neater so far, if you can see thru the hot wires, but I don't know how it's gonna look when the other 6000 wires come thru there!


----------



## norgale

I did my track bumpers the same way Rusty but when that track wasn't used and shut down the light went out. So I took an extra transformer and screwed it up under the table and ran wires from it to the bumpers and then they stayed on all the time. I like lights that burn and the more the merrier. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I use em as a visual aid, helps me keep track of what's powered up in the yards so I don't run one that's parked into the bumpers.
I swear when I woke up the other day someone told me I should have lights on my switches, now you know I got it bad! :retard:
I do have a ton of red & green indicator lights, figuring how to use them is another thing! 
Might just sneak the greens into the scenery just to at least let me know the mains are green, but that's way down the road, gotta get up & running so I can test all the track & switches. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, cleaned up some of the spaghetti & got the steam yard power feeds in, took up my whole switch board, have to decide if I use the yellow switches under that for the freight/lumber yard & loop isolation points or make another board up, wiring on this one is gonna take some time. 10 more power feeds, 23 switches & I don't even want to think about the lighting & the mess that will create!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put up a small block for the commons on the outer loop, I will use the first 2 yellow switches (under the toggles) for the loop feeds, 3 sections to each loop.so all that's left is 5 feeds to the inner freight/lumber yard, have to hang a shelf to set all the transformers on & then I can power up the track & run some test trains.
did drill in the lighting holes for the long station & a couple in the diesel area, need some roads laid out before I hit the rest of the buildings. 
& then there's the 23 switches, NOT looking forward to wiring those!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Separated the 2 yellow switches I'll use for the loop power feeds & drilled for incoming power, made my shelf for the transformers, good thing there's an outlet right there I can mount another power strip on the table leg.
If that monster transformer works out for the lighting I'll only need the hogger & one of the tech's for the track & switches.
Gonna pick up some smaller wire ties to tighten things up a bit later, the ones I use at work are too big for this stuff.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I'm checkin out that massive transformer, it is 110 or 220, puts out 24 with 220 in & 12 with 110, it made me think of my work transformers for the control circuits, there 24volt with 40 va output, I have 110 & 220 versions, so if I use one of the 220 volt ones & hook it up to 110 I should get 12 volts out, is that correct? :dunno:
there peanuts in size compared to that antique , but heck if it does the job I don't even have to try.


----------



## norgale

Doesn't sound right to me but what do I know? So what happened? Did you burn the house down yet? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Are you kidding it would take a little extra effort to dig one out & do the test. 
While pondering it I remembered a problem job I had may have answered the question, was called back on a new installation a few years back & the new condenser had a board in it, code reading extreme low voltage, was getting around 12 to the control circuit, after digging around it turned out the electrician hooked the air handler(where the transformer is ) to the wrong breaker (110 instead of 220) now I don't know how the blower motor actually ran & didn't fry but I traced it out & got it on the right breaker & it fired right up & ran fine. Now the other side of that, the 110 motor he hooked up to 220 fried instantly 
Have to decide when I get home this afternoon weather I work on the switches or just power it up & run some trains around to see how I did laying the track. :dunno:


----------



## norgale

It ain't no fun if the trains don't run.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

You convinced me(wasn't hard  ) I hot wired everything to the hogger & pulled some trains out to run. found out the yellow switches only break power on one leg, first test could not turn my sections off then I switched to the other terminals on the switch & solved that. :thumbsup:
Decided to stay diesel & give new haven pass set the spot light, the station is perfect for five cars & since the norfork was already out that's pulling the freight .
Has some uncoupling issues on the outer loop with the pass cars one spot was a little difference in height from one table to another, just pulled a tack on the lower side & that's ok till I shim it, found 2 missing coupler springs & got it down to one car, the last car would uncouple in the back behind the station, can't see a track problem coupler looks ok, reversed the car & it was fine, so the problem is in the truck or coupler, too bad it has the rear railing, otherwise I could just leave it reversed.hwell:
This set of freight cars no problems forward, but they do NOT like reverse, many derailments!  that could cause issues since all my yard entries are in reverse!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh cool it just hit me now I can use that test track with the KD bumper I made, see if it's the height or maybe the bottom loop hitting my rerailer I placed back there


----------



## norgale

You may need to change all the cars to body couplers instead of truck couplers. I hear people here all the time saying that's why cars can't be backed. They push each other off the rails with the truck mounted couplers. Looking good Rich. Really shaping up now. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Freight cars are all body mounted, didn't check weights or anything just pulled out the unboxed ones that were on top. Maybe I had some light ones in the middle, will fool around with those some more tomorrow. 
Funny though, I backed up the pass cars just fine & they are all truck mount, but all the same cars in weight & such, one didn't roll all that free, gotta lube that up & look into the last car otherwise they were fine.


----------



## Big Ed

You might have said this already.

What do you have planned for the access hole this time?

I just noticed you have 2 access holes now?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

As of now not a thing :dunno: but whatever it is it will be light with no wires! 
Heading up there in a little while, think I will try & get my switches to the 2 loops hooked up so I can test those & then change tracks without crawling in to hit the switches manually.
so far I have 2 bumper lights that are not lighting up, after I get the last 4 hooked up to check those , then I'll pull the bad ones & fix em up, used those down to the last one, have a bunch of snap ins but trying to keep them all the same.
If that's accomplished early enough I may pull a bunch a rolling stock & see how she looks with the tracks chock full a trains.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So in an attempt to keep things a little organized under there I'm going to try some leftover 8 wire stat wire I have, too short for a work run, but plenty for a few runs here.
it's 18 guage hope it's not too hard to get on those little screws, but if I use one common I can hit 4 switches with each run.
experiment to commence........................................ now! 
see ya's later if I can stand up after a couple of hours under the table.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got 4 switches wired over to the control panel, now I have to set that up, want to do a few at a time so I don't mix up the wires, got the tech 3 & one row of switch controls mounted. break time!:smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Switch controls are all mounted & drilled, tech 3 is wired up to run the outer loop , 2 more switches to wire & I can test the inner to outer & the main to siding switches on the outside loop, I'll get some pics up later but it's getting busy under there! 

And the Jets got handed another victory , now will the Giants wake up :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

busy you say, well I regret it's only the beginning, still 17 switches & 5 power feeds to add. lighting I will move out to another table section, just too much in one area, a little neater than my last attempt, but seeing what some of you guys do, I'm still a hack!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Control panel is pretty much done, how I'm going to mark my switches is beyond me, need some kind of shorthand code .:retard:
Ran the trains around a bit, a few derailing problems on the inner to outer , parked the freight & tried the pass, same thing till I removed the one car that wasn't rolling freely than it was fine. Gonna pull the super bowl train for more testing, that seemed smooth, all cars exactly the same weight so I can narrow it down to track problems instead of rolling stock of all different configurations. 

the panel.........................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The 18 guage wire is a little tough to get on the little screws but manageable , save me a few long wire runs. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a few more switches wired, now I can run inner & outer loops, switch between them & switch between front & rear tracks on the loops.
Takes a little fancy switchin to get the inner train to the outer with one on there, but if I run both on the outer for a while then I can side the first train & continue with the second, don't think I'll need to do that much, but it works if I need it.
The test was mixed, had a few derailments & not always in the same spot, but the super bowl train took it pretty good, smooth rollers & all the same weight, so I'll run that while trying to find those little bugs! :sly:

the more trains I put up the better the setup looks!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

5 more switches wired, found 2 bad switch controls, will replace after I test the rest, got tired of crawling around so I ran the trains around for a while, 1 super bowl car, the dang colts derailed a couple of times ,why that one I have no idea, all others ran fine & the other train kept leaving the caboose, I think there's a low spot there, but the caboose coupler didn't match up well to the car in front, so adjust that & maybe the low spot will be ok?


----------



## norgale

When the BGC was up and running I had trouble with remembering which button ran which turnout so I got some colored dots (price stickers) about a half inch diameter and made all the outer buttons and the controller yellow and all the inner buttons red. You can stick the sticker right on the switch machine so you can read it from the control panel. That helped me learn which button was which and pretty soon I didn't need the stickers. Might help you a bit too. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

workin on those last 5 siding power feeds, about 10 switches left, some pretty close to the control panel , then I can start checking out the headaches, backing up trains onto the sidings & yards, hope it's not too bad ?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Whew! got it down to the last 5 switches, had to add I more control there is actually 24 on the board, I can't even count. :retard:
with the trains that are on the board the loops are running pretty smooth, I did pull a few freight cars that were giving me trouble, but if the rest run fine I'm going to blame the cars & not the track work 
as soon as the last switches are wired I'll start backing into all the sidings & see if there are any bad spots, will use the smooth super bowl train first. 
Then it's lay out my roads so I can set the buildings & drill for lighting, just started a big work project so trains will slow down till the weekend, think I'm free this weekend hopefully lots of train time!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

took a break from wiring & ran some trains around awhile, tested my backing up into the yards, found one switch that wasn't fully engaging the side rail, had to tweek incoming & outgoing tracks a bit & one more bad switch control, pretty sure it worked when I wired it up the other day hwell:
since the freight was on the inside loop I did the test with that, backed it through the engine house, got about half way through before the caboose reached the bumper, still under power & no hesitation.
On the steam yard I made my ash box too big, when I reset the tracks they were a little closer together than on the rough draft so I have to make it skinnier!
backin in.......................



caboose against the bumper engine bout half way in.................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I decide to play with the rivarossi pass car that was giving me problems, now I think I'm going nuts! :retard:
found a couple of wheels out of guage, thought I had it, but they still uncoupled in a couple a spots, run the train right up front & check all the couplers, one set visibly off, either one hi or the other low, get out my little KD test track & both cars show almost perfect, whats up with that, put on track & they don't match up, pull that car out, move it back one put the other back in, & now on the tracks they are all perfect, rear car which I had to run backwards now is fine with the railing in the rear as it should be.
I wish all problems would solve themselves like this, but I'm still scratchin my head sayin what the hey! :dunno:


----------



## norgale

You mean that you didn't know that trans in general have minds of their own? Just like a computer, does whatever it wants whenever it wants. Ha! Love that engine house. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yea, can't wait to pull out some steamers & make em look right at home in there.:smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally finished off the switches, now I have to work on my marking code so I have some idea what I'm switching! 
Also ran some power to the buildings that are set in place, basically the station, the house & a couple of the diesel yard buildings, set up a feed block under the center section of the table under the diesel yard for some of the lighting will probably will need another one or two somewhere , will hang a while on those till I get some roads laid out. 
So only one problem cropped up in tonights test, the other track going through the building is dead & I have a feed on each end of the house, started tracing but too tired tonight, get a fresh look tomorrow. :dunno:
Finally some steam in the house, the berk's in for a complete overhaul, 0-8-0 a quick check before she hits the road!







lighting........................



diesel yard area..............


----------



## norgale

That barn is great. The lights really add a lot to the pictures as do the steamers. Pete


----------



## Ranger

Nice!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Been playin with the real rolling stock around here that I've been ignoring for too long, started up the "Cuda, waxed up the Charger & my son finally decided that it was time to buff out that last quarted panel on the pickup I left for him to do 2 years ago when I painted it for him! 
now he has to wash the whole truck from all the flying compound!

Maybe back to the trains later if I don't conk out on the couch for too many hours! 



He's a tad taller than when we were workin that "Cuda fender


----------



## norgale

At least the paint has had enough time to cure and dry. Ha! Nice truck but what's that red thing? Looks like a Charger. That's nice too. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's my 07 charger, picked it up in late 07 when the 8's were already out, the wifes daily, I get to drive it on the weekends. the pick up is a 99 , cept for a few low body rust spots & a chunk of plastic broken out of the dash It's in great shape, only 110K on it. 
He's out there washing the rest of it now, all I have left is to pack up all my sanding & buffing stuff than it's hit the couch for some football, some racing & maybe( well probably) a little nap! :laugh: that was a lotta work for one mourning.  used to do that stuff all day hwell: getting old is no fun at all! 

All shinny................



hmmm must be a fun house shine, I'm getting chubby!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pulled out a bunch a rolling stock to see how it looks with some trains on the table, I am a lousy pic taker, but at least you get the idea, some steamers , a long tanker train, highlight the new haven diesel power & misc steamers. 






steam yard looks nice & busy..........



new haven in the yard............



pulling the tanker train..........


----------



## norgale

She's really starting to shape up now Rich. Looks great with more trains on the tracks and the rest is coming along nicely. I didn't realize you had so much NH stuff. JackC is gonna be watching that. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not on the table at this point there's a nine car new haven pass set in the silver, orange stripe trim. 
Had a little trouble teaming up the orange & green ? RS3's ? in the middle, they were fighting each other, separately they seem to run ok, together one spins it's wheels & the other hesitates a lot ???????? 
Maybe after they run a while & loosen up they will be ok as a team?


----------



## norgale

If they havn't run in awhile make sure the track is clean and the loco wheels. Then get it running and let it run for awhile. Maybe that will help. Otherwise it's take it apart and clean the wipes and the armature. The steam stuff looks great. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gonna have to work on that one a bit, she runs but speeds change by itself, slows down a while then speeds back up, will give it a good cleaning & see if it helps.
Got the 2 wiring problems figured out, diesel yard the wire pulled off my connector & the other track through house was the solder joint on the long switch board, so then I gave the other new haven diesels a workout, flashman pulling the tanker train 7 the two black beauties pulling the pass set. switcher & other rs3 are workin tank cars in the yard........





Big Boy warming up for a run.................



at rest in the yard..........



Works pretty busy so I'll just play with little things & run em a bit, when things quiet down I'll get back to roads & setting buildings & then wire up for lighting.Till then it's play time!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Found a good home for another of Dad's items, He had a little rolling seat for under the tables, I'm just to tall to use it, was over at the friends house who first helped me go through all the trains & saw his benchwork (& his height) & offered it to him, should be a good fit & it won't rot away useless in the basement. :thumbsup:
I will get some pics next time I go over, pretty impressive layout He is planning & has tons of space. I'd say as a guess one of his els along the wall has to be about 10' on one leg & 18 or 20 on the other. He is going DCC & has collected a good bit of rolling stock. 
So I ran a few different engines & trains & we BS'd for an hour or so & had a good time with the trains. :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So that got me in a play with the trains mood  packed away the super bowl train & pulled out the other new haven pass set, got a pleasant surprise, another black car was mixed in there that I forgot about, so the black set is 6 cars & the silver set has nine, these( the silver) are blue box units.
Had some of the same uncoupling problems, heights were all good, so I moved the problem car around, reversed it & finally found a spot where it stays hooked up, had to do 3 more coupler springs, but she's running good now & the RS3's are working together nicely, I had been running the one in question quite a bit & it has loosened up some.
Some day I'll get back to workin on the layout 

2 cars are rigged up with tail lights, the center car has 2 set on each side of the door same copper sleeve on the axel electric pick up...................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Switched the black train to the inside loop & did some crusin around.............



She's about 10' long ,wonder if one of the RS3's will pull it? 



Passin by the steamer base..............



This end of the table gets neglected, so here's the token shot!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh forgot to mention, the second pic shows where they were uncoupling, track is not perfect have to shim it, but again it was only the one car?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started laying out my roads to no where, just not gonna worry about it this time, the tables have to end somewhere! :dunno:




got the between the tracks ash bin cut down to fit...............



caboose yards a little short, was going to do the track laying scene where the curved track is, but then there's one caboose in the yard, might move it back on that last angle track in the steam yard? 



diesel & lumber area look ok, so now I'll start drilling for the building lights.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Had to end on a sour note, started to pull out the litte Bachmann switcher for a little exercise & it started smoking, I think she's fried, turned it off quick but I don't think there's any coming back from that!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got all the holes drilled for the buildings, hope to have those wired up tonight.:smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got most of the buildings wired up, blew the 2 amp fuse in my super transformer, found a 5 laying around & tried that to see if the last wires I hooked up were crossed, nope, lit right up, added in the last 5 or 6 buildings & she's still going, left em on while I cleaned up & then ran the trains for a while, she's not even warm, now I'm wondering why so small a fuse, I will keep an eye on it but the lights are nice & bright. 
night view, got most of it in this one.........



twilight at the house...........



night shift in the yards............



It's startin to look like something! ..............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

then just some random pics, trying to get some that don't have a door,window or cubby hole in them! 
roundhouse tankers are nice, I likey! 



local & express heading out............



action in the yard...........





top a the mournin to ya! 



gotta make up a couple of wood load cars, seems someone bought all the loaded ones I had, switcher needs some work............


Pensey getting some TLC.............


----------



## Ranger

The lights are awesome looking!!


----------



## norgale

WOW! You sure have done a lot with that layout. The lights are awesome and everything is starting to come together now. Good work Rich.
Take that smoking loco apart and check for a bad wire. Usually it won't hurt the motor that bad as long as you shut it off quick. Hope it's not totaled. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks guys, the work is payin off, startin to shape up, not a lot of train time , work is staying busy, just booked another 2 jobs, that should take me right up to the holidays, so I spend a little time turning on the lights & running different engines around, maybe I'll finish off wiring the caboose yard this weekend, other than that too tired in the evenings, so just play a little.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just playin around & found out why the hooks on the windows, was running the BigBoy through & it hung up on one of the chains, took a little while but I finally got the 4 on this side behind the hooks. 



Big boy in for a checkup! (well kinda?)



the tender gets left half out in the cold! 



still workin on the berk............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Took a couple of hours off this afternoon to regroup, so tonight I went up to wire the caboose area & play a bit, ended up there for 4 hours. 
So it looks a little sparse right now, hopefully fill in while decorating..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Went looking for some flat cars for lumber loads & got a pleasant surprise, still 5 that I didn't sell so all I have to do is make the loads for the loading dock & fork lift.........



pulled out a trailer train too , they all ran good with no problems..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

steam yard needs some lighting, that's next after I figure out what I'm using for roads this time................



gotta hook up the tender & run the bowser LI, blow off some of that dust!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Passengers starting to gather at the station............



tankers refilling the diesel yard...........


----------



## norgale

Lots of action going on. I only see two people at the station Rich. Ya better do some more advertisin'. Pete


----------



## norgale

Got some good news today. My bankruptcy auction will be on the 19th of this month. It has been left up to me to list everything I want to give up and take pictures of it and give some details about the item and email it all to my trustee. Then whoever wins an item has to get in touch with me to pick it up. This may sound like a lot of work for me especially when I'm the one who's stuff is going up for grabs. However I figure that for all that work I'll just keep everything that I want including all the trains and boats and give the court everything else.
What this amounts to is that the court doesn't want any of my stuff but they will take some and have an auction to satisfy the letter of the law. Thing is the trustee takes my pictures and has the auction in his office. Another fact that means that this is no big thing. Then everything that doesn't sell remains mine since it's in my possession and when anyone comes to pick up an item maybe I can sell them something else. It will take some time to go through everything but I need to do that anyway to see what I have. It's been six months of hassell over all this but I guess it was worth it. It's almost over and I can't wait. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The peeps won't come out till the detail work begins, once the roads are down, the ballast beads on all the tracks & the lighting is done then I'll start the "scenes".
I should have plenty to keep me busy all winter. 

As for your news, that is good, seems they are a bit lazy, bad for them good for you, does that leave you in a better position when all is said & done? Rich.


----------



## Big Ed

How much is the dog Pete? 
Does it come with a collar and food dish? 

Rusty.......you need some brown in spots on the green if you know what I mean. 
You have too much grass. :smokin:


----------



## norgale

They arn't lazy by any means. It's just that there's not enough money involved for them to go to the expense of a detailed appraisal and moving all my stuff to an auction site. However the law requires the trustee to seize all my personal property and sell it to the highest bidder to try and get something back for my debtors. So if I go to the trouble to do the inventory for them with no compensation offered then I feel like I can save my good stuff and give them the stuff I don't need. It lets them do what the law requires and lets me keep most of my stuff.
You can't out guess these people. If they want your stuff and your doing a chapter 7 then they WILL come and get it. I just happen to be a pack rat of sorts and I have a lot of things that I think are neat and they think are junk. Either way there's so much of it they don't see the value of spending the bucks to go through it all. They do know what they are doing here and that's good for me too.
So I'll take the pictures and make a detailed list as requested and see what happens. If I don't play ball they could change their minds. That would be bad for me and them Ha! 
Pete


----------



## norgale

That's not a joke Ed. The dog is listed on the papers as personal property and they could take her if they wanted to. However I made it very clear from the git go that the seizure of my dog would not be tolerated ( she was laying on the floor in the lawyers office at the time) and no more was said about that. They could still take her though but I doubt that will happen. I'll be so happy when this is all over. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The green is just a base, all decorating will go over that, like I did in the last version of the lumber yard, I'm still in the basic layout stage, decorating will start soon, roads will be first, then the rest of the lighting, then each area will get it's ground cover, grass will stay where grass is needed!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just putzed around a bit this evening, fixed a few freight cars, found another box car with a home made track cleaner on it , fixed the coupler & dragged it around behind a pass train to give the outside loop a little clean up.
dusted off the bowser & pulled a few cars around, side rod screw worked its way out, had to mess with that a while, lucky I found the brass spacer all the way at the back of the table.



then realized I don't think I pulled anything with the Big Boy yet, so I backed it in the yard & picked up a few freight cars, started to pick up an electric odor after a while, hoping it's normal, motor did not seem hot when I pulled it over to check it out. 



stopped off for a little refreshment..................



then back to work in the yard...........


----------



## dannyrandomstate

The layout is coming along great!

The big boy.... That's the last one on my list to get. I finally got the cab forward, turbine, and the U50. It's almost like the big 4! :laugh:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I need pics, I have the 2 steamers, what do the turbine & U50 look like ?
I'm startin to recognize more as time goes by but I'm still pretty new at this game.


----------



## norgale

Danny are you talking about the steamer turbine or the diesel turbine? They did make both and they are something to see I would imagine. Not sure if the steamer turbine was ever made in HO but it was made in real life. 
Do a search on Google Images and there are quite a few steam turbine engines there. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I have been saving foam pieces out of my shipping cartons & found this little gem in one of them, gonna go see if I have my tunnel entries.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Worked on getting the tracks shimmed where the tables met & were a little off...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

cut up those foam pieces, going to try & make the ridges blend in with my tunnel, sky color is off but for now it will stay.



the entries are about 4" high, might cut em down to 3 1/4, that will also narrow up the base a bit, so I'm thinkin stone for the entry/exit & some kind of wood retaining wall across the front :dunno:



might be a tad more than an inch where I marked it


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a basic shape worked out, lots of tuning to be done, but I'm not sure I want to work with this stuff, been cleaning up foam droppings for an hour now 
bagged the parts & put them in the garage, will glue some together & see if I get some kind of coating on it to seal it up & explore other options.
So tonight I will just play with some more trains!


----------



## Big Ed

Glue it together then just either get some plaster cloth or paper towels and plaster for the outside coating.
You won't get anymore little pieces once you stop cutting it.

For the portals faces you can carve in lines to make it look like rock, then just paint it. The foam takes paint fairly well.

On my David Stockwell bridge the bases are that foam, I did not prime them either I just put the paint on.
The rock going up the sides David made with the trays that come with chicken parts. The yellow foam trays after you wash them take paint well too.
You could make some up and just adhere them to the portal fronts if you want. It would save you from messing with the little piece debris from working with the white packing foam.










I have since decided that the bottom abutments will be used for another project I have in my mind. I have since used old mushroom containers and made some smaller ones.

There in here I don't want to post too many pictures in your thread,
http://www.ttender.com/


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:smilie_daumenpos: Nice bridge! :appl:

I'll play with it out in the garage, see what happens, still need more foam to fill in & cover the top.


----------



## dannyrandomstate

RUSTY Cuda said:


> I need pics, I have the 2 steamers, what do the turbine & U50 look like ?
> I'm startin to recognize more as time goes by but I'm still pretty new at this game.


The Veranda Turbine is on top and the U50 is below.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ahhh super diesels, gonna be a long while before I can go there, I'm more partial to the steamers, one of these days I'll switch out the display for the diesels, nothing massive in the collection but a lot of nice 60's thru 90's stuff.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

For playtime I decided to give the mantuas some table time, redid the display, one step closer to doing the diesels up there....................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

New blood out is the camel back, the boston Albany & the timber loco..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

oh, the bowser is still in there, oh well extra exercise for it...........





all ready for a workout............


----------



## SR KARALIS

you are the king of the models railways!!
you could recreate the railway network of a whole continent lol


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I think Alex was King, Dad was the crown Prince & I'm just the court jester trying to do justice to their years of modeling!


----------



## dannyrandomstate

That is a nice collection of steam!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The problem everybody would love to have, I don't have the space to get them all out on display at one time.
I packed away all the big rivarossi engines to get these out, just did a quick mental count & there's about 24 all totaled.
Sold about 8 mostly double rivarossi's except for the Con-cor sets , 1 or 2 mantuas & the Bachmann clementine I gave to the guy who helped me go through everything back when they first came out of storage.
With what Dad had & then the addition of the best of Alex's stuff the collection was pretty massive, well to me anyway.
Did I mention lately that I'm so happy that no one took me up on the original sale of 4,500.00 for everything, that would have been a great deal for them & I'd have nothing left.
Sometimes you get lucky.  Rich.


----------



## coupman35

Did you have time to ride the cuda at less this summer LOL


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Nah coupman, she's in comp only insurance limbo, start her up every week or 2, move it around the yard so the brakes don't rust up , but I need to get the paint issues fixed, just have not been feelin like stripping off my 3rd paint job! 
Some day I'll get to it, need some inspiration, or maybe just a swift kick in the butt, for this year it's done, to cold for body work, so maybe next spring.


----------



## coupman35

Got you I feeled like that for a bit but I got the push I needed .But now we are in the snow the cars are all to bed for winter .Now it train time am making 2 small 4x4 layout for the to grandkid the boy want one like granddad so am trying to get them don for chrismas .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ran the mantuas around a bit with mixed results, timber loco ok, the camelback & boston Albany do not like my tracks  will take a closer look when I have time but they both derail in a lot of places & at some switches. the rest all run good & can pull some cars. would have been a nice relaxing evening if I didn't have to crawl under & retrieve those engines, but to make me feel better after the tests I ran the good ones around a while to end on a good note!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

In tinkering mode tonight, packed away a couple of the brass engines but gave them a little exercise first, found the problem with the second one, tender was shorting to the grab irons on the turns, now all I need is a slightly longer draw bar. 2 up & running nicely, still need the drive shaft for the sunset .



on the turns the step on the tender rubs the grab iron...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Boston Albany, I found the pilot bent up under the front truck, got it out & ran a test run, much better now, but in gluing it back on it sits pretty low, I don't know if it just happened or was damaged in all the moving around, when it sets good I'll run her slow & see if it hangs up anywhere...........


----------



## norgale

Thought the BGC was on your layout there for a minute. What is that green engine Rusty?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Took the bowker for a spin too, gotta pull the steamer box to pack up the rest, but I'll run em all a while as I pack up, no actual layout work, just playing a little each night, see if I have more time on the weekend, want to bring out the diesels & play with those a while.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's a mantua, Weyerhaeuser timber co.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Boston Albany runs ok now, I guess that was broken out of the box?
started switching out rolling stock & had a lot of trouble with the mantua amtrack pass set, will mess a little more but if they don't behave I'll pack em & go with the pensey set, lackawana rivarossi set running fine. 
packing up the steam now, get some diesels out later.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

started on the diesels, looks like most will fit the display, with a few on the tracks to do the work, now which lines to run?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got most of the diesels, for the new haven & pensey fans they will wait till next round, ran outta space quick.












amtrack is workin the main load & lakawanna doing the other passenger service





got a few of the pass cars to behave, pulled 1 more after this pick, so I have some tinkering to do.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

display as a whole.............


----------



## dannyrandomstate

I like that display. Anything to keep the dust off.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I don't leave anything alone long enough for that  maybe once it's all decorated things will settle down & stay for a while :dunno:


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> :smilie_daumenpos: Nice bridge! :appl:
> 
> I'll play with it out in the garage, see what happens, still need more foam to fill in & cover the top.


You never saw my thread on it?


http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=13154

One thing you might want to do if you decide to build the mountain, is to make it so if lifts off the table. Since you have it in the corner it should sit good/well (take your pick) by itself.
Check the clearance's with some of your longest trains too.

Tell me do you have any more boxes to go through to find more hidden treasures?:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I like the pigeons , a few years back I could have had real ones, grandpa had dads Brooklyn homers in the garage coop in their new house, bread em there & trained & raced them from a friends coop. that poor batch never got to fly again otherwise whoever bought their house in Brooklyn would have a hundred or so pigeons on the roof! 

No more big boxes, now it's the little treasures I have to go through, tool boxes(train stuff not tools) & all the little trays & bags of parts, I've found a few things I needed, but a lot I don't know what they go too, over time I'll probably figure most of it out.

Yea, that was the foam idea, nice & light lift up, fix train drop back down.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got one more amtrack back on the track, replaced a non centering coupling & cleaned the wheels while I was at it, lights are much steadier now, 3 more to check & then clean em all up.
So here I go again trying to show lights in the dark :retard: 2nd to last car is the cleaned up one, hard to tell but the lights are better than the rest now.



the stripes in the backround are the train


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Testing out 400 grit wet & dry for the road surface, have a bunch left over from the car, tape seems to stick ok, these are 3" wide, my painted were 2 1/2, was ganna go 2 3/4 but the paper is 9", will get some cars & trucks out & see how they look.
Just seeing the dirt it picked up from my work station I'm wondering what they will look like in a month or so??????????? :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the rest of the roads & lots cut up, I'm thinking I better at least get the ballast strips down before I put these down, save them from at least that mess.
then decide if I try & pre stripe or do it once they are down? 







trucks fit much better on 3" wide so that's what I will use.


----------



## rrgrassi

That is coming along quite nicely!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

thanks , I don't know if the roads will work over the long run, but with me the long run isn't all that long! 
Went back to the amtrack cars, most of the problems were couplers off center, had to take the bodies off to get to the screw, so all 8 are now running nicely, found my problem on the rear track, missed on one of the connectors , so with the car work & a few tweeks of the track even the missed matched couplers seem not to be a problem with uncoupling.
wheels cleaned on those 4, 4 more to go then I'm gonna work on that first engine, had a spot on one of the switches where it stalled at slow speed, if cleanup doesn't help I may need to feed that section of the switch seperately if I test & it's dead? 
Progress is being made, maybe some ballast beads this weekend.


----------



## rrgrassi

I bought some crushed granite on Fee Pay, $13 for a 5 pound bag, with free shipping! I'll be using it some time this month. I bought 10 pounds of it. It has greys whits, some black and red. Best part, it does not float like Woodland Scenic's.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I don't know what brand mine are(I guess I will look when I dig em out) but as per that old post somewhere I have many bags & jars/cans of different colors , grays, cinders & brown of all 3 grades even one bag of course almost white(my use on the mountain/tunnel) if that ever gets off the ground.
So far I haven't had a problem with the floating? 
Went thru photo bucket looking for the pic,had to be in last album I looked thru, wow, I have over 2,000 pics on there, wonder when their gonna cut me off & send a bill!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I decided to start the ballast in the back first, then noticed the reach to the ballfield is long & I will have to work over everything near the cubby, so I cut in the infield & then did the ballast on the 3 tracks in that corner.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the mound in , will fill in the infield later, won't know how it came out till I hit it with the vac tomorrow. :dunno:

outfield is a little short but who's gonna measure .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

so after I put the infield down was pondering what to work on since I want to see the results after cleanup before I continue on, so I went back to the amtrack cars, cleaned up all the wheels & had to pull one apart again for a loose lighting wire connection. All 8 now up & running good.
The engine was next played with the KD wheel cleaner thingie & cleaned it up good, will now run across those switches at low speed, but found I still can't park on them stopped the train to back it up & dead, had to go & give it a nudge, the wheel pickups must be a dead spot on those switches? 



now I've created a ton of things to make, want to go nuts, scoreboard, bleachers, fencing ,backstop , maybe even a concession stand & lights for night games? 
All those years of baseball with the 3 boys ( youngest is still at it pitching for Bergen community) made me need a ball field on the layout!


----------



## Big Ed

A little short? 
The ball players are going to get run over by the trains. 
Make it wiffle ball park instead. :thumbsup:

You need a bigger table already, huh? Layout number 3 coming up. 

Looking good. :smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

there will be an outfield fence, but I can't save the trains from the homers! 

Must be the Jersey water, I was just thinking I don't have enough sidings to get any substantial amount of rolling stock on display, maybe a future yard off to the far side by the closet where my display is, or tear it all up & redesign :retard:
I'm about at the limits of the room & just can't seem to make elevation work out. 
For now I'll get workin on the decorating , keep rotating stock till I get most of it running smooth , that I hope will keep me occupied for the winter?


----------



## Big Ed

I know it is too late but maybe it would have been better to reverse the field?

Brown custom painted is dugouts, black bleachers, yellow hot dog stand, blue scoreboard.
More room in the outfield. Still tight on the sides but that is out of bounds anyway.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

You missed my cardboard cutout posts  the base line angles don't fit in.
I think I have this figured out , after all where not talking pro park to specs! close enough will be fine & it is way in the back corner so less up close & personal scrutiny


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> You missed my cardboard cutout posts  the base line angles don't fit in.
> I think I have this figured out , after all where not talking pro park to specs! close enough will be fine & it is way in the back corner so less up close & personal scrutiny


OK......I would get rid of the mess behind home plate then, any respectable ball park wouldn't have the mess there. 
Unless if it is in Jersey. 

Add some bleachers back there instead, and the batters cage.:dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Actually it looked like one of my fields during a project, but the vac was already out this am, all cleaned up & more ballast down towards the front of the table! :smokin:


----------



## Big Ed

I had to go back a ways but I found it. 
I forgot about that.

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showpost.php?p=232952&postcount=1250

A Pee Wee ball park then. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Workin on a test fence now, gotta go clean up some leaves & start up the 'Cuda just gonna use pins to see how it looks. 
Got the loop ballast towards & the yard cinders down on the house entry.


----------



## Big Ed

I was going to do the leaves too, I walked outside and it started raining. :appl:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wimp, I worked through the drizzle, just one more time, 2 slow trees in the back & I'm done with them, mother nature sure is a slob!
Now I have to wait till I can stand up straight again to go back to the trains.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

fence looks ok, gotta get the other baseline done.



Started on the backstop, found a use for that pack of 100 3' metal rods they had. 
need to tune up my soldering too many blobs, but at least they are holding........





now I just have to figure how to fasten the screen material to it?


----------



## coupman35

that looks good nice job play ball!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

skinned the backstop, a few more places to glue & it's done, made the dugout benches & one set of bleachers, started with thin seats & then decided to double them up, but it got quite a bit wider, will see how it fits when the glue dries, if it fits make one more for the other side.
scoreboard will take some head scratchin, thinkin a clear sheet up front, paint it & then scratch off letters & numbers with lighting from behind, this should be interesting, well for me anyway!


----------



## norgale

Ya ! Play ball. 'Crrraaaccckkk' and it's a high fly straight back to center field. Oh! The ball hit the engineer on the train that was going by and now the train seems to be out of control. The engineer is slumped against the throttle and the train is picking up speed. Huho! The train isn't making it around the far curve and the engine is now on the ground and the cars are sliding together like an accordion. Folks, this is just plain terrible. A disaster in the making but the batter has made a home run and knocked two other runners into home base. The fans are going wild and the Cuders are ahead three to nothing. Man! What a game.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bleachers are a little bigger than I wanted, but they fit ok, it's coming together. 





looks better from back here.


----------



## rrgrassi

What happens if one goes over the fence and hits a train???


----------



## shaygetz

If you build it...they will come...

Take a pic when Shoeless Joe Jackson shows up at your layout. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I think the train will win that battle, I don 't even want to count the # of windshields that I've seen broken by foul balls at the high school games I was at with the boys.

Worst I ever saw was a little 4 or 5 year old girl knocked right off her feet by a line drive foul, luckily all turned out ok, that one was scary.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Need someone to show up, got no kids in my population let alone ball players, thinkin sand lot stuff, uniforms optional!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a little nice surprise at work today, was pulling out insulation under a roof to run my ducts thru the space, looks like a nice tight celled foam board, about 2" thick & in 14" by maybe 24" sheets, it is blue in color. got out 6 or 7 sheets in one piece & took a few of the bigger chunks. 
Hopefully more user friendly than the packing foam I was trying to use for my tunnel/hillside.


----------



## norgale

It ain't no fun if the trains don't run. Videos please. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Had to clean up around 3 or 4 switches after the ballast, would not fully engage, got all but one workin, still won't go all the way to one side.
made up the other set of bleachers & got a coat of gray paint on all the seats, then just ran some trains around a while.
Now I'm itchin to light up the ball field, it's dark back in that corner!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'll have to bug my son again, maybe over the weekend. 
noticed a great difference in power, the hogger runs circles around the tech 3 , tech 3 maxes out at 18 volts with the erie kato, on the same track with the lighted amtrack it maxes out at 14 & the draw goes from under one up to 3 3.5 , I guess the lighted cars draw a lot, but why the voltage drop(guess I have to try that engine pulling the unlighted cars)
Just for the heck of it at full throttle it takes the hogger 3 laps to lap the tech 3, thinkin about switchin loops & run the hogger on the outside, won't really ever need full throttle but just wanted to see. :dunno:


----------



## spoil9

norgale said:


> It ain't no fun if the trains don't run...


But then his layout would be true to the name of the post, a diorama.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wow, that's how this all started on a 2'x4' table. Trying to display some of Dads stuff.
about 9 of those tables now & I'm still thinkin I need more room to really display Dads stuff. 
Long day at work, not sure if I'll get the field lighted tonight. :dunno:


----------



## rrgrassi

The voltage drop happens because you have a fixed amount of amperage output (Yes even on the variable side) with more items requiring electricity, so that is also a higher amp draw as well.

It's time to light up Cuda's Wrigley!!


----------



## norgale

Rich hook some of the electronics (lights) up to a separate transformer. You must have a few trans laying around with all your dad's stuff. That will take some of the pressure off the other trannys. Run all the turnouts with one and all the lights with another. That will leave your train transformers to just run the trains. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The tech3 if for trains only, runs only the outer loop, the lights I was referring to were the lighted pass cars, 8 on the tracks each car has 2 bulbs in them.

The super trans, that 5 lb monster I posted back a while ago is doing all the lighting so far & not stressed so far, blew the 2 amp fuse & put in a five, so 3 more amps to add lighting, she's quiet & does not even get warm. 

The hogger does the switches & the inner loop, switches should not be a problem, I'm mostly stopped when switching & that momentary burst probably wouldn't be a noticeable drain to the train?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Messed with the trains a while, moved the lighted train to the inside loop & ran the shorter lakawanna on the outside, the lights do slow it down a bit but still faster than the shorter train with no lights, the car lighting is also a bit brighter, I have to dig out the meters I saw in a box somewhere & hook em up to the hogger & see what the actual output is. Just curious now.
dug out my 5 spot lights, next time I feel like workin I'll get those drilled & wired to see if they are enough for the ballfield.
Gotta find a source for those bulbs they do put out a lot of light.


----------



## Lsmith

Wow nice setup.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks Lsmith, it's been a journey.
Worked on the field lighting, I'm gonna need more lights, good enough for a playground, but not for a high speed baseball game, I'll move on to other decorating for now, at least you know there's a field back there now.


----------



## dannyrandomstate

Even with that lighting the park looks sweet!!! The has inspired me to go ahead with the thought of doing one on mine when I get settled.


----------



## norgale

What a difference some lights make. Good going Rich. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finished off my duct work for Mondays job early & it was warm enough to stay out in the garage & do some test cuts on the new foam, much more user friendly & got to play with dad's jig saw(one of the few tools I didn't have) for a while.



clearance just makes it on the exit.............





Now the shaping & top have to be worked out



Plenty of room on the entry side..........



took out the 3rd piece up front was way high, might even shave down the next one a little up front, see how the top is going to be made first?


----------



## norgale

We're having fun now. Pete


----------



## Big Ed

This is way too close, you going to leave it like that?


----------



## norgale

Agreed. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Camera angle, look at the top view, closest spot is right at the exit.


----------



## norgale

Ho ya! Plenty of room there. Rich you gettin' any snow? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pretty early for that here, not like the old days, doesn't usually snow much before Christmas now (hope it stays that way) Now it just makes life more difficult I can do without!


----------



## Big Ed

I did the leaves today and put some summer stuff to bed.
Got my snow blower/thrower in the garage too. 

They are talking about a Northeaster this Thanksgiving....maybe. (as always they have to add that.) With all the technology they have today they still can't predict the weather! :smilie_daumenneg: 

Right when I got done it started hailing a little. :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hail, what part of jersey are you, granted I was not home today but over in queens it was pretty nice?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I was having some trouble with that S turn coming out of the station on the rear track(into the tunnel) with the amtrack cars, so I pulled the 22" curved tracks & used a piece of flex to ease in a little better, works great forward, but even on my regular curves they don't like backing up, soon as I get 5 or 6 cars on, cars in the middle get derailed in reverse, haven't lubed em yet. maybe easier rolling will help :dunno:
So after that I ran one of the atlas engines around awhile, backed it into the yard & picked up one of the siding trains, pulled just fine with about 18 cars, then I backed in for the other consist 27 cars now & it worked ok at slower speeds but started spinning the wheels & cutting out at close to top speed, stuck the other engine on & ran it with 2 a while & then parked everything.
Found a few repairs to do, couplers on a caboose, found where 2 small plastic pieces that were found on the table go(railings on top of one of the tankers) & one I want to do, add the red tail light to the trailing amtrack car, if it's nice out tomorrow I'll cut up some more foam & see if I can at least get the base to the hill/tunnel done?

No video yet my son took off to play roller hockey, maybe tomorrow?


----------



## Big Ed

7:54 PM it was snowing dude........x10 off the pike Rusty, Edison area.
It stopped now but it turned my freshly raked yard and the picnic table white. 

I was going to put off the raking till tomorrow, I am glad I did it today.

Didn't you feel the wind that blew through an hour ago? A cold front is coming in.:smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Darn, my son is down that way for his hockey game, 
I'll have to ask him where the rink is (Roller not ice)


----------



## Big Ed

It was cold and windy all day!
Welcome to my world, every time I blow the leaves the wind blows them back at me!
So I change directions and the wind changes with me!
Every year it is the same story!
Like you said when was it last week? I should have done them then.hwell:

Now the wind is probably blowing them into the yard again. :rippedhand:

He might be in Metuchen, I think they do that there, right down the street where the old (young) lady works.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the repairs done & started messin with the tail light, don't know if it will work out, those bulbs (tried 3 different red ones I had) get awful hot & have to be mounted real close to the roof & then isolated from the car, afraid it will melt the roof, first pick is trans at 1/2 power second is full.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hey Ed, He was in Edison, on inman ave, said about 4 or 5 miles off the parkway?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Brrrr it's chilly out there, but I had to be out a little anyway so I cut up some more foam to get the basic shape to my hill/tunnel.
Also cut the entry/exit out of the blue foam
So here's the beginings of what I hope will be a decent piece?


----------



## ktcards

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Got the repairs done & started messin with the tail light, don't know if it will work out, those bulbs (tried 3 different red ones I had) get awful hot & have to be mounted real close to the roof & then isolated from the car, afraid it will melt the roof, first pick is trans at 1/2 power second is full.


You need to change them over to LED's. They don't get so hot.

K


----------



## norgale

I wonder what "chilly" is to Rich? Chilly for me is about 70 degrees. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK I'll admit it was cold, 20 something, had to get a heavier jacket & some gloves when I went to run & then tuck the 'Cuda in for winter. 

Tacked down some of the roads, put down a few basic stripes & test glued one of the foam pieces with elmers(seems to be holding good) so I can use that to glue all the foam together. 



Thinkin of cutting a service window in this building for the concession stand, if not I'll build a slightly smaller one. :dunno:

Went lookin for those old time signs & posters I had, for the life of me I don't know where I put them, I'm getting old & senile!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Led's,  that might bring me into the modern age,  I'm workin with 30 year old stock so far I'm still in the black with this hobby (unlike the underwater cars) & would like to keep it that way awhile! 
I've constantly got 20 or 30 train related things on my watchlist at ebay, so far have mostly resisted the urge to buy, but at least I'm getting good info on what I should pay when I do pull the trigger. :retard: like I don't have enough stuff.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh Eddie, hope you don't mind, stole your idea for penciling in the stones. :rippedhand:



Got some gray paint on, an errant dip into the wrong jar started the aging idea, seems ok to me :dunno:



painted the gray on the other & then got the blackout on the underside of the first! :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

After all that talk about not buying I finally got my tank car for the pocher train, won by 2cents, put in a max of 10.52 & the other bidder went to 10.50 pays to use odd numbers!
here it is & one town over from me in jersey. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-SCALE-AH...BgcoIXgFRCutGgbQkKukQ%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

See how this comes out before I cut up the other shed :dunno:
No self respecting bld. inspector would pass my construction , but hey it's a stand!


----------



## norgale

In the twenties is cool? That would constitute a national emergency down here. If it goes below 40 they open all the hurricane shelters for the homeless and anyone who wants to get in out of the cold. Teens and twenties would absolutely cripple this area without the snow. There would be mass electrical outages , frozen water pipes in every house and all over the town and people would freeze to death in their homes with no heat. Older people that is. It's 67 now with a stiff breeze and that's ok with me.
The tunnel portals look great Rich. Penciling in the blocks is a good idea. However you would do well to consider using LED's for lighting. They really are a lot cooler and don't use hardly any power and usually don't ever burn out. They do need resistors though for sure. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

When I run out of stock I'll look into LED's I did find some resistors in the stash, but I think for those smaller voltage bulbs He had, but don't know what goes to what, just want to play with what is here first, so much stuff, don't want to let it rot away & go to waste.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

just a little putzin around, got the basic shed done, now I have to see what details I can come up with?



And the tunnel is all glued together, now how many thousands of pieces of scale wood to cut & glue for the retaining wall across the front.


----------



## norgale

For Heavens sake Rich,put some doors and windows in those buildings. Make a frame that will fit in the window opening and glue a piece of clear plastic to the back of it. Then draw the mullions on the plastic with a gel pen or an india ink pen. Same with the door but no windows. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Door I'll get to, the window is the service window, need some mustard & ketchup bottles on the sill!


----------



## norgale

Oh! It's a hotdog stand hey? Guess I missed that part. So what kind of 'dogs' will be sold there? I'll have one with mustard,catsup,relish and onions please. Chili too if ya got it. And cheese. I may have to go make myself a hot dog after this. Ha! Indigestion coming up. Ahh hu! 
Ok so you need a counter top sticking out, a couple stools, a striped canopy to shade the customers and a big sign that says "Rusty Dogs" up top. Good idea and the BGC may have to have a "Rusty Dog" place too. Mmmmmmmmmm Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Went digging for some white plastic sheets I saw, again, don't know where I put them, amazing, when I don't need em they will be right in front of me, that was to be the counter on the stand, so I switched over to lighting, got that done ,just have to figure out shades. also found some tiny brass door hinges, don't know if I can work with something that small but would be nice to have an operating door :dunno:



Tank car came today, even the box was in great shape, just have to figure out what KD's to use, new truck design for me, not one I've converted before, if it gets beyond me I'll do a post for help.
Now I think with one old time pass car I'll have a decent train for the 4-4-0 to pull!


----------



## norgale

You do know that's a pickle car don't you? Ha! Looks pretty cool. Pete


----------



## rrgrassi

Looks good there, Rich!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

tried a little yellow on the shed, not set in stone see, how it looks when I get the details done. got the door jamb in, now to see if I can actually get those hinges on & working.



Started cutting the wood for the retaining wall, wow, it's gonna take a while, had to stop & count em up, wasn't sure if I had enough wood to cut, need 156 or so pcs, wood on the table is good for 56 more, so I dug around & did find a stack of shorter ones, should just make it. 





it takes about 26 per section, might move that last short section to the middle, or maybe shorten up a little on each remaining section(wood I didn't cut yet?


----------



## norgale

I'm liking that hotdog stand more and more. Looks like an adobe building you might find in the desert. That color should look super once you finish the trim off and the door ect.
However I think your barking up the wrong tree with that wall. I'd find some rock wall pictures on the web and print them out for gluing on the wall face. I don't know,maybe I'll just wait till you get 'er done and see. Could look good either way. Lot of work cutting all those sticks. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

> Lot of work cutting all those sticks. Pete


Understatement of the year, but that's what it's all about, the details are what take the time & I need a lot to keep me busy for the whole winter.

Besides you've seen my scale wood stock pile, gotta use it for something.

don't you guys know me by now, if I get it done I'll be tearing it down & starting over! :cheeky4:

Already lookin at the marks on my sandpaper road, may no be the best material to use, all the dirt sticks to it real good! 

should have lots of train time this weekend, just emergency service calls to deal with gonna start blobing paint on the top of the hill & see what she looks like :dunno:


----------



## norgale

Put some dry wall mud on the mountain and mush it around to make rocky looking stuff. It hides the joints between the pieces of foam really good. Fun slapping the mud on. Use a kitchen knife or a putty knife. Kinda like finger painting when we were kids. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Takin a little break from cutting the wood, got 2 sections glued on, going back & forth so I don't go insane cutting the pieces :retard:
Should have em done tonight, then I'll try a coat of stain & see how sloppy I was with the glue! 

Painted the stand roof, when that dries I will attempt those hinges. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That went faster then I thought, retaining wall is all glued on, maybe tomorrow nite or fri I can get the dark stain on, I think it's close to what I had envisioned .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put the hinges on the door, won't know till I test it tomorrow if I glued it shut, actually had to pre drill the nail holes, then put a dot of glue on each & behind the hinge, those nails are TINY , door knob is a bit big, see how it looks from 7' away, or I'll go hunting for something smaller. 



Gathered up some goodies, garbage pails, 2 for the stand & 1 at each bleacher, a coke machine, a bell to hang over the door, pick a chiminey or stack & maybe the weather vane, that might be a bit much :dunno:


----------



## norgale

Heck ya! That looks fine Rich. The western railroads used walls like that to keep rocks from rolling onto the tracks. Looks better than a rock wall I think. You could try a large pin head for the door knob but what the heck. A door knob is a door knob. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just got my son to make a video, should be able to post up in a while, be patient with me, a couple of stopages & mixups. hwell: I'm starting to get the hang of it.


----------



## Big Ed

Anyone can use any of my ideas they want. 
I don't care, and I didn't patent any of them. 

The pencil works good on the foam, huh?

Next time I try it I am going to try a small burning tool.
And when using the pencil I think a dull end works better.

Portal looks good, add some soot from smoke. :smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Your a good guy Ed, no matter what they say! 

Here's the test Vidio, didn't come out too bad. :smokin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm1VXRn-JEc


----------



## Rusty

Try with toothpick to make a door knob.


----------



## Big Ed

When are you going to add some lights? 
Ballpark looks good lit up.

I still say that the yellow building looks too big for HO, how much do you want for it? 

Look at the 30 second mark in the video where the 2 trains go around by the tunnel. Where they are side by side, just outside the tunnel.
The brown box car just clears the passenger car right around the 29.6 second mark.
Watch what you run, a hair wider it looks like there could be a crash there. ( A sideswipe)

And.......SLOW THOSE DAM TRAINS DOWN ALREADY! 
G....I sounded just like my Dad did, way back when.:smokin:


----------



## coupman35

That is great looking Rusty, love the video great job!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still gotta light up the streets & the steam yard, PSE&G is gonna love me! 
Thanks guys, she's commin together!


----------



## cole226

:thumbsup:
nice looking layout


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Door knob & even the hinges are just a tad too big  will hunt for a smaller knob & maybe just paint the hinge bases & leave the joint brass :dunno:



At least I didn't glue it shut! 



That's some kind of supermarket scene in the back, but it had shelves with stuff on it, just call the Moms Little league volenteers! 



found some what I think are drug store bottles, gonna see if I can make some jars to put on my plexiglass counter?


----------



## norgale

That is just too cool Rich. The signs are super and painting the hinges and the outer ring of the door know would make it all look smaller. I still think an awning at the top of the building would look ok. Good work. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So before I head out for the day I had an hour to mess with the tunnel, got the stain on the wood & Yes I was messy with the glue , got some brown paint for those spots 
While painting the top of the wall got some stain on the foam, the more I looked at it the more I liked the color, so I decided to use it as the base color for the hill, to my amazement some of the uncut spots actually look like stone, holy cow this might be easier than I thought :smokin:



tonight I hit the missed spots ,touch up the glue spots & maybe dab on a few more colors!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete, did you see the Vidio, linked a couple a posts back?


----------



## norgale

Yes I did and I left a comment for you. Good video and one in the light would be nice too.
Damn that tunnel looks great Rich. I would have made it all crumbly with mud but you did the job and it looks super. Not to worry about the glue spots. Wood isn't all the same color anyway. You going to put some shrubs and trees on the mountain? Pete


----------



## shaygetz

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Your a good guy Ed, no matter what they say!
> 
> Here's the test Vidio, didn't come out too bad. :smokin:
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm1VXRn-JEc


Awesome work...good to see Amtrak can carry revenue freight instead of empty passenger cars. I suspect that lumber has fewer service complaints as well...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My matchups won't always be true to form, consists are Rusty's railroad & for me a lot of the time what is out gets used, the susquahanna got stuck in there cause I needed one more engine to pull a train & hadn't run that yet, while the amtrack sat tending the crane car in the yard, don't know if I pull the penseys next or santa fe off the display, maybe even a mix & match with the engines on the display I only have one or two of, gotta keep rotating to get them all some run time & see if there's any bugs to work out, as for freight cars, it will take me a long time to get them rotated onto the board, got 30 ish out & 120 to go, might be on my 4th layout before they all get some run time!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got home later than I thought , but did manage to get a little time in, pretty happy with the hill, the light gray looks to silvery to me & the couple of flat spots don't look right, but you have to be on top of it to see, gonna wait till I put on the shrubs & rocks then maybe touch up around them if need be, don't think I can do trees, the other backround ones are way out in the distance. :dunno:



Considering the next pic is as close as anyone else will get to it, I don't think it's too bad.
At least I got the heights of the conflicting backrounds close(remember that Ed?) 



painted the knob & hinges, lousy pic but again it will be 8 ft away in the back.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well I think my basic idea is ok, need to go a little bigger & find a paint that sticks to the plexiglass a little better, the tiny pieces of letters/numbers peel up when trying to clean them up.
Will build a box for it maybe with some tin foil lining to spread the light? 
That & some rocks & bushes on the hill are the goals for today, see how far I get.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Worked the hill some more, got some foliage growing out of some of the crevices & some loose rock & dirt over the flat spots.
The paint on the wood blends in better when you back away from it. 



It warped a little, the thin back corner on the right is off the ground by 1/4" against the wall .



looks good to me with some action around it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the stand is wired up & set in place, now I need some people to bring it to life. 
the paint on the knob & hinges works from far away, much closer to normal.


----------



## norgale

It all looks fine Rusty and I like the flag the best. Nice touch. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the box for the scoreboard built & did the rough lettering, gonna try & clean it up a little more before I mount it, just have to line the box with tin foil & mount the light to see how it shines through, I just know I'm gonna have a hot spot!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

While that paint was drying I got everything I could reach from the front ballasted, at this rate I'll be done by Monday :smokin: oh no, then it's tear down time again! 

Have 2 more full train days, absolutely nothing else I have to do! :appl:
first time in a long time.



Just ballast between the joiner ties & figure out the caboose yard & the front ballast is complete.


----------



## Big Ed

Need something to do?
The green still needs some more brown? :dunno:
You can use a few more lights too. 

Hey the mountain blends in with the backdrop now, did you plan that? :thumbsup:

The flag on top needs some rocks around it and a few Army men. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Actually did plan to make the hills meet, as for the green, little by little as I decorate each area it will get covered up, as I did say earlier it's a table saving base, only green that will be there at the end will be where I want grass. 
street lights & some work lights for the steam yard yet to be done it will be BRIGHT! 
I did have a thought about that flag scene, but I'm not modeling Iwo.
besides, Dad was in Europe, might make it the swiss alps!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Scoreboards ready, should be able to mount it tomorrow am, even with the tin foil I have a hot spot right in the middle, not too bad, see how it looks way way back there on the table.


----------



## shaygetz

big ed said:


> The flag on top needs some rocks around it and a few Army men. :thumbsup:
> 
> View attachment 31969


The Marines would beg to differ...


----------



## norgale

Ya well the Marines done good on Iwo and a lot of other places but they ain't the only ones can raise a flag. I'll have a flag on the BGC too once I get to that point. It's just plain a great idea. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Score board is up & running, tried the right field line behind the bench but the hot spot was too much straight on, seems better in the corner, just the angle you look at it sometimes shows a bright spot hwell:



While I was back there I switched out the backround, had just enough left to get a little past the field. 



I think it will be pretty cool once I finish off the details.


----------



## cole226

rusty,
ball field really fits the scene now with the background change. backstop, fence lights, scoreboard!
looks real good:smilie_daumenpos:

along with the rest of your layout:thumbsup:


----------



## Big Ed

shaygetz said:


> The Marines would beg to differ...


True. 

But most the MODEL men they sell, look like they could be either. (Except the Desert camouflaged uniforms.) 
They are all green in uniform, hard to distinguish between Army and Marine. :smokin:

I should have said a few soldiers, troops...warriors? :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks, can't wait to get some people back there, problem is I have no children, let alone Little leaguers .
every time I see 100 people for sale, there's one or two kids & one of those is with a 
parent! 

After I set the board I went back to ballast, got almost everything I could reach from the 1st cubby hole, there's not much more from the other, might have the main ballast done tonight, then it's just fill in the connectors & clean up for 6 or 7 hours!  That stuff gets everywhere! 
Ed, as I go there's less & less of your favorite color showing!


----------



## norgale

Yup! "A few soldiers" would have covered it but I like the Army pretty much. Pete


----------



## cole226

*ball players*

how about some N scale people fo kids.
paint ball uniforms on them?:dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

that's an idea, if I can just find enough kids playing I'll go with the sand lot idea, no uniforms necessary, got some time to hunt around, still a ton of other decorating to do.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No shortage of flags here, want to put one by the field but I think these are to big for that? 



OK main ballast is done, just have to go around & hit the rail joiner sections & a couple of tracks I missed the black tape method on, tried to get a few overall pics, starting to shape up. 











called out the crane for some heavy lifting......


----------



## Big Ed

I got a bunch of the toothpick flags off e bay a while back, now I can't find them. 
But I know I got them somewhere! 

You do know that BLUE is my favorite color? 

Get some HO people and chop their legs off at the knees, you can have a Midget league then.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sorry Ed, not a lot of blue in my layout, a couple of freight cars, I'll have to dig em out & make up Rusty's blue special consist for your viewing pleasure. 

Well at least the room is BLUE!  (& the smile!  & that one too  me too, but so is this one  well it's all  by me!


----------



## Big Ed

I just wanted to set you straight on my favorite color.
You did say this,
After I set the board I went back to ballast, got almost everything I could reach from the 1st cubby hole, there's not much more from the other, might have the main ballast done tonight, then it's just fill in the connectors & clean up for 6 or 7 hours! That stuff gets everywhere! 
Ed, as I go there's less & less of your favorite color showing! 

I didn't want you to think that green was my favorite color.

Hey....All that Rusty's Hot dog place needs is a bunch of HO scale roaches walking around.
What a dump! Looks like it floated in from Seaside Park after the hurricane blew by. 
Only in Jersey huh? :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's back in the day when us dads used to go out on the weekend & build it out of left over construction materials, now they hire contractors, put in plumbing , like the Ritz baby, our fund raisers used to raise 800, maybe a grand on a good one, now they do golf outings & the like & raise 5 or 6K at a clip. 

Was being :cheeky4: about the "favorite" color!


----------



## norgale

That layout is really looking great Rich. Every time you add something it looks better. I hope any new guys are following this as it shows what can be done with a model railroad. Your Dad would be very pleased with your work. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the bases down, soon the ump can shout out PLAY BALL!



need to come up with one more spot light so I can move the one center of the plate to the 2 sides of the backstop & get it away from the score board.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So after the massive ballast cleanup was done I decided to play awhile, switch out am track engines for santa fee , got my afternoon projects, first up, do all diesels have traction tires, this AHM unit has none on & I don't see a groove?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Others are my ebay buys & I didn't do the couplers yet, blue f unit needs one more tire too , I'll putz with those awhile all spinning there wheels, Dads tyco pulled with a little spin, his ahm spun a lot, too much train, trying to pull the amtrack pass train, 7 cars & the track cleaner?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The 3 runners on the table...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Watching a few ahm santa fee b units on ebay, to complete the A-B-A set up.


----------



## shaygetz

RUSTY Cuda said:


> ...first up, do all diesels have traction tires, this AHM unit has none on & I don't see a groove?


Judging from the part of your dad's parts stash that I got, he was resourceful enough to swap out traction tired axles for ones without them. Most AHMs came with at least two...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmm, but why, I'll try pulling less cars se what she does, gonna go play with them now, will report back on the results.


----------



## shaygetz

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Hmmm, but why, I'll try pulling less cars se what she does, gonna go play with them now, will report back on the results.


He was a real modeler... :thumbsup: There's always been a debate raging over traction tires. Mechanically, they inhibit electrical contact, they're not perfectly round, so they create a wobble---be it ever so slight, and they don't allow the locomotive to slip under load, creating a situation where the motor could overheat and burnout. Most long time modelers, myself included, will always swap them out whenever possible for regular drivers. There was a day back in the 70s and 80s where the better brands would actually include a tireless set of drivers for us. 

Operations wise, the slipping forces you to deal with it as a real railroad would, with load limits and multi-unit lash-ups...we just don't have scale working sanders...yet.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, left that one alone, pulled a dummy & 7 car freight train ok, and as you said, no high speed take offs. 
operated on the blue mantua/tyco, had to drill & tap the metal coupler frame, got lucky a #28Kd(off set up) in a #5 box fit the bill , stole a traction tire off the chatanooga & even that was to thick, the one on the other wheel is tiny? 
Moved the one good tire to the rear wheel & she pulls ok till I get the other.



just a tad off............





right is orig, left off the chatanooga..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK here's the antique transformer, has a kva rating if someone can translate that to amps? but I leave it on for hours, never gets warm, lights are all nice & bright & not even a hum out of it? 





next to the hogger for scale...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So Santa fee has the workload for a while, with the 2 AHM units I can pull the amtrack pass train.
GP38 (I think) can pull the freight with slow starts(no traction tires) the second unit is a dummy. 
the switcher the tyco chief & the atlas switcher run fine.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So in my search for traction tires I remembered I had a bunch of O rings in the garage, took the 4 boxes of leftovers & made it one(got some plastic boxes with trays for train parts now) but nothing that would fit the trains, at least I consolidated the mess! hwell:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I have to dig around & see if there's any horns in the stash, missing a few there.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Did all the wheel cleaning on the santa fee engines, what surprised me was the little tyco chief, Ed if you thought I was running the other trains fast  you HAVE to see this thing 
Had to see, full throttle on the hogger :cheeky4:
I thought it would fly off on the curve, it held but I slowed it down anyway, It must be Mopar, with a Hemi under the hood!


----------



## ssgt

about 41amps I(A) = 1000 × S(kVA) / V(V) kilovoltamps(kVA) looks like it would be wrong,voltamps =amps x volts I'd have to go into my transformer book to get it perfect.It may even be 4.16amps.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Looks like algebra, that's where me & math parted ways, letters & numbers don't mix in my head! :retard:
But I do understand 41 amps, I think I have a little leeway there! :thumbsup:


----------



## norgale

AAAwwwww come on. Algebra was fun and so was geometry. Too bad I can't remember any of it. Ha! Pete


----------



## ssgt

that would be fine to run lights and any a/c accessories,don't try and use it for track power unless you rectify it to dc and put a reostat inline.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Nope, that's just for lights, got plenty of track power, 2 tech 2's in the wings if I ever need em.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK ordered these lights, 12 volt so wire right in. 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161159804590?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
also got my santa fee B unit, well actually 2, anybody need one? 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321259989643?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Really lazy tonight so I just ran the trains around awhile & took a bunch of random pics, trying to highlight the diesels & a couple of the pass station, so for your viewing pleasure here they are!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

passenger station............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I said before my hill warped on the thin side, well it got worse, it was the same hight as the backround.................



the other day it was up 1/4 inch, now it's almost an inch, gonna put some weight on it now & see if it will settle back down.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got a little ground cover down by the diesel work area, just cinders here, will fill in & move out & away with some dirt next..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Glad I brought home the brass hunks last weekend, was going to put both on the high side, but the other side just went up, so I split the weight, looks like I'll need more, see if these do anything?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So back to playing with diesels, as I pulled em from the display I gave each a lap or 2 & then parked em, pretty much filled every isolation spot I have on the board. 



L&N runs nice with it's new drive shaft........


----------



## rrgrassi

ARGH!!!!! Earthquake on the hill!!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

NW gave me a scare, though I had to open it up, lit up & hummed, didn't move, gave it a few nudges & nothing, finished pulling the rest & just before I packed up for the night I gave it one more try, she took off slow & then loosened up, so now just a clean & lube.
That baby's got a strobe light on top too!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm just praying one of those weights doesn't fall on a train! 

Display is thinning out, might fit the pensy units up there, but that's a lot of packing back up, I'm missing the steamers big time!  Don't think it will be long before I do the switcheroo!


----------



## norgale

Cut the green stuff from under the two portal corners and glue them to the table with the weights on it. Otherwise the corners won't flatten out.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's what the green stuff is for, so nothing gets glued to the table 
I'll get it ironed out, hmmm irons are heavy but I digress, worst case I'll put in more tacks on the grass & then glue it to the grass, I've got some heavy stuff to put on it just gotta dig it out of the garage.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Since the wheel cleaning stuff was still out I decided to hit the switchers & get those cleaned up & lubed, then realized I never did the couplers on the ebay bachmann , so I did that first, still got some work, even with the offset up couplers there a bit low.
tried not to cut out the main plastic but it will have to go & maybe a slice off the body too. 
cleaned off the old post & a little extra plastic in the front opening, at that point it looked high enough next to the other one, cut the nubs off the #5 boxes & glued em on.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Good thing I didn't cut the ends off the bottom cover, they were lifted a bit by the box but held the axels tight. 
once I raise the couplers should then be no need to.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

so compared to Dads switchers they are a tad low



Put it next to one of Alex's & it's a mile off, I think with an offset down I can adjust alex's unit to match Dad's (if they make an offset down?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So before I operate what can I do to this to make it less toy lookin, I see it needs horns, what other detail parts does a switcher need ? what can you do to the paint to give it a more realistic look, short of canning it & buying an AHM



get it to look more like the new haven or the ge?


----------



## norgale

Those little engines always looked toy like to me in real life even. Thing you might do is google the type and road name and see what the real thing looks like. I find it's the paint job that makes them look thata way along with a lack of detail like the horns. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

B units came today, so I went right to getting some KD's on one, came with plastic wheels so I pulled the broken lighted A dummy I had, at first I was going to transfer the light over(don't know how much might show through the little holes but heck it was here) 
after lookin closer it will be a project, truck to body connector was the part that's broken, after transferring the wipers I would need to drill out the shaft up into the body, didn't want to ruin it, so I settled for the metal wheels & got it back together.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So what kid growing up didn't either have or at least know of this engine.....



Pulled the amtrack cars around & nothing fell out!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

did have a little trouble breaking one of the nuts loose, so I got out a little bigger wrench  after that I'm using it to try & settle down my warped hill.


----------



## spoil9

Off the top of my mind for the little engine...
Horn, bell, extra lights if used at night, antenna, weathering chalk, flat coat.

I think the flat coat will make a big difference in looks since the plastic won't be so shiny and toy like.


----------



## norgale

B units look great.


----------



## rrgrassi

Rich,

Get a Kadee coupler height gauge. It is money well spent. Before I had one, I used a box car that my LHS helped me set up to be at the proper coupler height. I used the box car as my height gauge, until I got the proper height guage.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok gotta dig around & see what I can come up with, he had 2 boxes of chalks, I didn't know what they were for ,I'll post a pic of them later. 
Hmmm got an hour, what to mess with now??????????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I have the guage, I built one of those test tracks a while back, was trying not to cut it up too much, was hoping the offset up would be enough, as for Alex's stuff, his were all set to that same height, bout half a coupler higher than Dad's stuff, now I'm curious, gonna put one of each on the test track, results to follow


----------



## ssgt

he probably used the chalk for weathering if they are earth tones and grey tones


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

On the money, now I have to go research how the heck you do it! 
underneath is the test track with the KD guage on it & in the tape bin I found 2 horns so far, I need 4, one santa fee is lacking horns & then the switcher.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I got sidetracked, was testing the B&O set & the dummy hit a crossing & popped off the track, spent an hour trying to get that fixed, where he drilled the plastic for the coupler was thin & broke, no way to glue a box on cause it has to slip through the front of engine first, glued up the hole, finally after many attempts got the screw back in & carefully snugged it down & then put a bead of glue on top of the box where it touches the sides, can never take it apart again(well till it breaks) but I hope it will hold, otherwise I have to find a new truck for it. hwell:


----------



## norgale

So you do have the coupler height gauge. If your father and Alex had both used that thing all the cars would fit with each other. Matter of fact EVERYBODY should use that gauge for all our cars and engines.
Rusty you asked back a ways if there was an offset coupler and yes there is. Kaydee makes them offset up or down so one should fit your loco with little problem. KD makes red and gray shim washers for them too which are very handy to have for that tiny bit of adjustment. They also make long shank,short shank and every kind of shank shank, EE-II-EE-II-OOOOOOO. Man! I'm good to go this morning HUH? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Went to the website & searched around a while found & Ordered 5 packs of the #45's last night, overset short shank (same box as the #5's) so most of the switchouts should go easy.
Got lucky they were on sale 1.50 a pack.
Will do the ones that fit those, then check what other #'s I need for the engines & some different style freight cars.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

B&O coupling repair held, but I found out even with traction tires it won't pull the long amtrack pass train, lots of wheel spin, one run on the table is slightly uphill, even when it comes around from the other side with a little speed it slows down to a crawl on the upgrade. 
7 cars 6.7 ounces each ,the dummy & a 4 oz track cleaner.
Just for the heck of it I weighed a rivarossi car, 5.5oz. So if I buy B&O pass cars they will be rivarossi!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back to the switchers, first I had to carve out a pocket in the Bachmann for the # 5 ended up with the center shank.Cut the ears off & glued them in. Now I'm gonna try my hand at detailing it, no better test piece than an ebay cheapie I picked up for a couple a bucks. 
May have jumped the gun on those over set shanks, turns out all I needed on the new haven was the center shank  hope I can find a use for them, 10 sets coming :retard:
so here's the project............





had to file the shell about 1/16th to fit flush. 



On the new haven just switched to center shank & they are good, didn't think that would be enough, that's why I ordered the 45's 
So all the switchers are on the same page & good with the guage.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Picked up some important supplies, elmers glue disappears fast & this should be enough matt clear to do my whole railroad! 



Oh lord I'm bad, just noticed on the can good for plastic I didn't even look, that would have been nasty if I melted the plastic with some nasty paint! :retard:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So in forstalling the decorating I started to rearrange the diesels again, packed a few away & pulled out the pensey engines & passenger train, switched the am trac for new haven.



wanted to pull the pass train with the maroon unit, but can not get it to stay on the tracks, something about those trucks, don't like my switches & even some of the turns
(22" radius) So at least one steamer gets back on the board, only pensey I have in steam & great for the pass set. 



freight yard gets a little help from new haven on the switchers.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Black beauties.................



new haven pulling out............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Putzin around this am, the hill is back to 1/4" up, don't want to glue it down then I can't access the train wrecks that are sure to follow the minuet the glue dries! 



So the Wife must have stuck her head in the room, a comment was made bout the dust on the shelf, (Her dusting tools are banned from the room!  ) So I figured it's time to clean off the Flyer & maybe the shelf too! 



of course it had to go for a spin while it was down & get a little exercise 



Did pensey use 4-6-4's, I might try some dry transfer on it & since I only have the one pensey steamer she can be added to the fleet. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got one horn on the switcher (other one broke in half when I picked it up with the tweezer) found a bell, & took some black chalk & dirtied it up a bit, she's drying the matt coat right now, hope it dries duller than when wet of it will shine more than before! 



Also tried a little on a short piece of road, see if I can seal the sandpaper :dunno:


----------



## norgale

Rich the tunnel is warped probably from the paint drying and shrinking. There is no way to correct that unless you remove it and twist it until something cracks. Then it may sit straight. 
That steamer looks super. How does it run? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Runs pretty good, needs a nudge once in a while, noisy as hell & fills the room with ozone, a taste of heaven from the old days!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just brought up the switcher from the paint shack(the basement) did dry dull & it worked on the road too, pics up in a little while! :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Matt worked on the road, now the dirt won't sink in, but how to get it on what I already tacked down. 
maybe spray some in a cup & brush it on :dunno:



got a little brass on the bell, had to reglue the horn already, paint that when it dries.........



tape off, glass back in, So what do you guys think of my first attempt ? 
still lookin for more detail parts.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started on my construction site, gravel drive & some dirt down............


----------



## norgale

The ozone comes from the wheels sparking on the rails. Used to be very common but not so much anymore.
I'll tell ya RIch your having way too much fun with your railroad. Ha! Pete Pete


----------



## norgale

The little B&O looks fine Rich but shouldn't the red stripe go around the engine cover too.? Looks like it's missing. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Didn't even notice that, don't know if my painting skills are up to that :dunno:
might see if I have a dry transfer stripe that will be a little neater? 
If I botch it up there's always black paint & a new road name available!


----------



## ssgt

As far as I know pennsy didn't run a 4-6-4 except maybe experimental.NYC did run the 4-6-4All prr locomotives eventually had a belpair firebox


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK so what road name is good for the flyer, considering I seem to be mostly set in the north east?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Painted the roads & lots that weren't glued down the basement, tried the spray in a cup & brush on for whats already tacked down, good thing I was ready for it, the bottom of the plastic cup did melt, I had it sitting on a stack of paper towels, switched to a glass jar for the rest, guess it depends on what kind of plastic the paint is safe for???????????? 
Got a little more ground cover down..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Jumpin all over the place, dug out the curbing from the last go round & used most of what I could salvage, set a few pieces of picket fence down, have to reconfigure most, a few pieces match the new layout. 
Should have the last of the roads & lots tacked down tonight, then maybe play in the little forest awhile?


----------



## ssgt

New York central rr was in the northeast.as was the central railroad of NJ.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Funny, being in jersey after I sold the 2 F40ph's (NJ transit) I have nothing from jersey at all. maybe NY central, I have a little of that?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Fun, That's the point of the whole thing, to do something you like to do instead of something you HAVE to do, I'm at the age now where work is no longer fun, I like what I do buy after 40 years, well the only day that's fun is when the customer writes the check!
got the roads tacked down, glued some fencing together & found a long ladder for my construction site. 
All the while that pensy engine that derails is buggin me, it's now the only thing that won't run on my tracks, gonna start a post on it later & see if we can't come up with something of a fix for it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

hippity hop, back to the houses, got the first house fenced off.............



& found some ladders for the house under construction, even found a step ladder!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

display is full again, this weeks shelf queens..........



then I messed with the pensy problem child, gonna start a separate post on that see if the collective of brilliance here can help me fix it


----------



## Big Ed

Are you going to run some rail into the garage in the house under construction? I see the ballast is in already.

Still finding stuff? 

Soon it will be onto number three. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Can't you tell the difference between gravel & ballast 

Yea I gotta slow down & play with the trains more, once it's done, well it might be on to the next :retard:


----------



## norgale

The Pennsy problem looks to be the long wheel base for the trucks. They appear to be longer than usual. You could check the wheel gauge on all six axles to see if they are all tracking in line. If one set was not gauged right that could cause a derailment especially at a turnout. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got that fixed Pete, it was hitting the steps on the far side, (posted results in problem child post) I did check your tip & wheel guage was good to go. :thumbsup:

now I have a choice, steam or diesel to pull the passenger train...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So in slowing down the decorating progress (long winter ahead) I thought I'd try detailing one of the pensey cars, had 2 interiors & one lighting kit, but alas the kit was not complete, the light wont light(board is ok) & the instructions were in Italian, but I am still gonna try & get one lit, got a ton of stuff to rig up something.
So dining car is it, it took me a while to figure out only the top comes off, then I went searching for parts, might even have trucks ready to go, more on that later, so here's all the metal wheels & trucks I found & some light bulb options..........


----------



## norgale

Geeze! You ought to be able to make something out of all that stuff. The diesel looks best with the pass cars since it's the right color but I think it would look even better with some newer style cars painted the maroon and leave the old cars with the steamer. Or paint the steamer the maroon color. That would be cool even if it wasn't prototypical.
Gotta go put up some Christmas lights. I string 'em to my flag pole so it looks like a big Christmas tree with the flag back lit from the top. However I have to go to Micky D's for lunch first. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok so here's my homemade light strip :retard:
4 of what I think are 1.5V bulbs, to be wired in series, got the floor painted black, gonna do the seats in tan & operate on a few more passengers , legs have to go to fit, so they will never walk again! 



"Christmas lights" I don't have to this year, just light up the train table!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the light strip wired up & the seats & tables painted, trying to decide if I paint the dividers , if I do this to all my rivarossi pass cars I'll be busy all winter just on that!


----------



## spoil9

I'd either paint the interior a custom fancy, up scale color, or copy whhat the prototypes did. I know its extra work, but it should be fun work, and something you can look back on later with personal enjoyment that you made it detailed and look so nice inside.


----------



## spoil9

But then again, I've been slowly turning a $5 caboose into a $90 model with all the details, paint, decals, etc so I shouldn't talk.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Almost ready to go back together, soldered the wires to the post, touched wires to the wheels & it did light, added a 5th bulb painted red & stuck it in the tail, drilled two little holes in the back of the car, I think a lot more will show through the back door, but I can maybe shade that off above if it's bad. 
so here's the next few bits, think all I have to do is extend one coupling & glue in some people & it's good to go .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

found these cute little disconnects, but I think I need one on one of Alex's engines so I just twisted the wires together for now, anyone know a source for these? .......



Almost there, top is not pushed in all the way, looks like the tail lights will work, but I'm gonna sheild them from the bottom before I close her up, if it's bright enough may go digging for some red lenses.. so here she is.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now that's a good way to kill a sunday, tails lights are a little shaky but I like the rest, just gotta see if I can get the rear top down a tad more.
So here's the days work, now what to work on tonight?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The only interior I have left is for a Pullman, are any of these Pullmans? 



So now I have 2 spare trucks to see if I can power them up, I think that plastic post would have to go if I'm gonna get power up through the chassie. will see if the wipers I have fit before I cut anything up.


----------



## norgale

That car really looks great Rich. Very real. I think all three of the coach cars are Pullman. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Looked at the new havens, all my rivarossi have interiors, the 2 atherns don't but they are shorter in length. I'll pop the top on my 2 longer pensey's & see if it lines up with the windows, then I have another project! 
not sure I'm gonna play anymore tonight, can't decide what to work on. 

Ran the trains awhile & practiced running 2 trains on one loop to switch one to the outside & bring the other out, so I can park the one I was running & work the other a while, works ok if the trailing trains not to fast & I can make it past the switch to the yard before it catches up.


----------



## rrgrassi

Those PRR cars are Pullman models. Who made them?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

those are rivarossi, so that interior should fit the 2 long ones?


----------



## rrgrassi

Yes, it should.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I have my next project, first I must see if I can convert the spare plastic truck to power with whats laying around! 
I'm not cheep, just have so much stuff here it's a shame to waste & I like a little bit of a challenge! 
you have to see my ebay watch list, with all this stuff I'm still lookin , but mostly broken stuff that I can tinker with.
unless it's something I need to fill a void, like the pocher car or the santafee B units I needed. 
I watch a lot of the pieces I sold too, almost bought an L&N U25C that I sold one of, but decided better, I have enough diesels for a while!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Cleaned up the 2 work areas & put down a few more details on the construction site, need more workers, gluing this stuff in place is gonna be fun, gonna see if I can power up one of the spare plastic pensey trucks now, maybe a little more decorating later, light week at work just tues & wed with work so far!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pullman interior doesn't fit any of the pensey cars, so I'm reduced to a taillight for the observation car for now, need to scrounge smaller wire connectors or solder a wire to a washer maybe, but the system should work, might not even extend the other pick up to the front wheels , just one set on each truck? 
also have to make sure the screw head clears the center axle


----------



## rrgrassi

Needs a lit drum head also!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K, newbie here, whats a drum head? 

Went through all my electyric stuff in the garage, might have 2 that are small enough, all my stuff is real life sized 
Got one more place to dig for small good stuff, that's my old RC boxes, if any of it's anygood now, been in the basement 30 years untouched. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK with just one set of wheels light was very sparratic, so I fabbed up a double out of sheet brass & tried using 2 opposing at the other end, much more stable now but don't know if the brass on will keep tension.can switch that to 2 more later if I need to.
Middle wheels are out, won't clear the screw. Even ran out of matching metal wheels, but I can order that stuff later when I go for the rest of the cars.


----------



## norgale

Grind that screw head down so you can put the middle axle in. Looks funny without it. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Nothing like that till I find a permanent setup, if I can find those trucks like I used on the first one all this will come out.
on the track you really have to be lookin for them to see there gone! 
After gluing in the tail light I jumped back to the table, drilled holes for the street lights & parking lots, street lights & some lot lights dropped through the hole, waiting on the other 20 lights to come so I can see which kind will go where.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, that's done, think I'll take a nap, these trains are hard work! 



Looks like the whole roof was clear, gonna need to put a little more black paint on


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:cheeky4: see Pete you can't even tell the wheels are gone when it's on the track. :cheeky4:


----------



## norgale

Some of these cars do have clear plastic for the whole roof and the windows. They are painted but some flat black on the inside roof only will stop the light from shining through.
See the wheels???? I can't even see the car. You got no flash???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's the point, can't see nothing in the dark 
Yea going to play awhile, might hit that paint, maybe even shoot that car with the flash, but really it's hard to see they are missing.


----------



## Big Ed

Mr lightman, 

Drumheads are lighted circular things that went on the back of passenger cars, I can only find a G scale to show you.
I don't know if they were lighted on the real cars?
But for you being the lightman you got to have them if they are out there.

Passenger car looks great with the people and lights.:smilie_daumenpos:
Maybe some shades here and there some half shades too? What is in the back of the compartment sleeping quarters or a washroom?

Drumheads, (I have seen these in O but I never saw any in HO, not to say there are none.)


----------



## norgale

Oh! So it's joke. Missed that one. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

oh I have some A&P signs that look like that, the A&P express! 

Pete! :smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

#45 couplers came today, so I started matching up the freight cars that were out, a couple I just had to remove shims, the hi center shanks I replaced with my new oversets & in turn used some of those to replace under set shanks, in all I used only 6 so far, but I have a ton of freight cars.
14 left, but I got some extra bronze centering springs now, the coupler springs they give a few extras too & my supply of center shanks is being replenished 
on the shell plastics car since the wheels had to come off I put in a set of the KD metal wheels it got rid of that wonderful wobble it had, added bonus. 



so now all the freight cars on the board are on the same page.........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the street lights set in, a couple of parking lot lights also, won't wire up till my new street lights come & see where they will go.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete, here it is in the daylight, you haveta squint to see the wheels are missing.Put a coat of black paint on underneath, got rid of most of the shine through. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I pulled out the other hopper to do the same & saw the box of freight cars that were troublesome on the last layout, so I brought them out too, see how they run on this one & then maybe attack some of the troubles.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

If anyone ever needs some boxes for the #5 type couplers just ask me, I just got 20 more, in all tonights work I used I cover, I must have over 100 of these, so if you need some just ask & I'll mail you what you need.


----------



## norgale

Those passenger cars will prolly run better with four axles anyway. But I know those middle axles are missing and I'm not forgetting that either. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Their not really missing, safely stored away in the tool box with all that other stuff I'm always digging through to find goodies!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Messed with those freight cars, got all the couplers done, got most to run good forward, but they don't like backing up, can't yet pinpoint which car or cars are the culprets, a couple do fine, as I add in & get up around 5 or 6 they start derailing , seems random, different cars in different spots in the consist?????????


----------



## rrgrassi

Blame the MoW department!!! The hoggers say it's a track problem!!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

these cars were always acting up, all the other trains on the table back up just fine, been in & out of the yard many times, these won't even take the loop backwards, pretty sure it's just one or two of them, just pinpointing which is the problem!


----------



## ssgt

A couple of your freight cars may be too light.


----------



## norgale

Or too heavy. Wheel gauge? Pete


----------



## Rusty

Maybe try the old metal wheels will help?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wow, another hour or so of running them over the trouble spot, took a spot light back there & found the main problem, the metal wheels I was so proud of putting on were part of the problem, the black section of the curved turnout(where the rails part) the wheels were dropping into the void, anything with a small pie cutter would really drop off & once in a while derail, removed the 2 sets of KD wheels & one other set of metal wheels, put the plastic with the biggest pie cutters I could find & problem solved, I have a bunch of other cars with metal wheels on the board which run fine, looked at the wheels & they have larger flanges than the ones I removed.
So I guess the KD brand is out on my tracks, gotta find what brand has big flanges.
only car I still can't get to stay on is the MSL box w/ track cleaner on it.

I even pulled out the other train with the shell plastics car I put KD wheels on yesterday, yup, same problem, so back to plastic on that too. 

Weights I still have to play with some are light, but so far the mix hasn't been a problem on the other consists I was running? 

Oopps no pretty pics tonight, nothing in the layout progress mode, waiting on my lights, just looked at the order, I ordered from china, dec 16th to 31st is the est, mann, if I saw china on there I never would have ordered, now I'm wondering what junk will show up!


----------



## Big Ed

:ttiwwop:.........

I just wasted my precious time coming to your thread tonight.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I said I was sorry! 
So look once more, then come back in an hour or so. :cheeky4:

just set up 4 freight trains, all running smoothly now, will get some pics up a little later, got the boxes out to dig for another caboose, mann I got some work to do!


----------



## Big Ed

That is past my bedtime.

I am normally in the sack by now getting my beauty sleep.
I don't have to get up till 3:15 am tomorrow, so I got an extra 1/2 hour before I am in ZZZzz land.

I am up most of the time at 2 or 2:30am weekdays.

Saturday I can sleep late, I wake up at 5 am or so. :dunno:
Then I can't work on anything to much because I will wake the house up. 

I give them till 8 am then I start making noise. 
Nice guy that I am.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, well if your already dreaming they will be here for you to peruse when you get up tomorrow without waking anyone up! 
So I can get 8 cars & a caboose on the sidings comfortably, set up 4 for now but then there's an extra train on there , gotta run 2 at once to make a switch from a yard train to a loop train.
So I dug out a couple of hoppers to add to the box cars,the tankers & the flat cars with wood loads. a better mix, but as I dig around in the boxes I'm sure the mix will change many times. 
the box car train............



all 4 in one pic..........



yard & inside loop siding full of action......


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

some tight shots of the diesel work area.....


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

nice tanker........



C&O hopper...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Future work, sorting these out & making sure couplers are aligned & they run good


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the stock in the building sorted out.........



Passenger trains commin around the bend........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So if the lights don't come soon I may start with some detailing & ground cover in the steam yard..........


----------



## norgale

Your really lookin' good there Rich. Your close ups of the diesel shop are super but the others are fuzzy. What's up with that? You sure have come a long way with this layout. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Lousy camera man!  I don't thi k my camera knows what to focus on on the long shots, at least (with some help) I got most of the close ups good :dunno:

So I went through most of the taller box, not to many problem children, last batch was all loose stuff, in here there were a few loose, but the rest were all in boxes .
so here's more freight! 
18 on the track now pulled another engine the sus was workin hard.



didn't dare back up with that many on, well I did short stints when picking up the next car.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

something for the Southern man!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

problem children so far...........


----------



## rrgrassi

Even though I have PRR in my blood, I grew up in the south. I likes me some SR freight cars.

Rich, if you do not want those problematic kiddo cars...I'll make a good home for them!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's my latest mission, seeing if I can figure out & fix the problems.
was about to post up the last of the work last night & my computer went nuts, seems ok this am......................
So I started on the cabooses but ran outta time, so did not run em for the test



another pensy & the maryland unit, nicely detailed



there is 2 of the new haven both lighted one has the high couplers......



If I get some time after work (kids are coming over) I'll test run those, there's always tomorrow :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

These cabooses are making me work, mostly mismatched couplers but they are sometimes different from front to back, got 2 atherns(the new havens) I can't see how to change them, will post up some pics later.
it's gets weird sometimes, turn the car around & the low becomes hi & the hi lo (when hooking up the same cars that were there before??????????? :retard:


----------



## Big Ed

What is wrong with the mountain?

Ya got everything but the kitchen sink on top of it


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

She warped on me , got it down some, need to go another 1/2" or so.


----------



## norgale

It ain'tgoin' down unless you glue it dowm.:SELLIT::retard: Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete you forget who your dealing with here, I will beat it into submission  been occupied with other things, my attention will someday return to the hill. :dunno:
Actually been thinking about how to light it up, want to at least get some spot lights on the flag, but I meander again, what's next, hmmm, I don't even know! :cheeky4:


----------



## apoc444

Hey Rich do you have more pics of the engine house? that looks great


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

There's a bunch in this thread back when I started the new layout & this thread I posted when I first started to mess with it.....

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=17676


----------



## norgale

"Beat it into submission" Huh? I tried that with one of my old girl friends and it didn't work then either. Pete


----------



## norgale

So what's up for the weekend? pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finished off the caboose's just a few small detail parts to glue back on, don't actually know, It's snowing here so I'm home for the weekend, plenty of train time. 
have the other box of freight cars out, but think I wanna change gears a while , maybe some more decorating? tune in later & you'll know right after I do!


----------



## norgale

HOLY CRAP! How many cabeeses do you have? That's a bunch. How about putting an engine or two or three in the repair shop? Those guys in there are sitting around with nothing to do. Awful waste of time. Pete


----------



## Gansett

Beat me Pete but I counted 15 cabeeses.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Close there's 16 , maybe you missed the little bobber 
Pete, the nickel plate berks been in there for months, complete overhaul :laugh:
It's waitin on me to find a tender for it. 



So when I pulled em down to box some up & repair the others, was lookin at the roof areas, look so much better with the black walkways.



So I tried it on 2, mucho betterer me thinks


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

apoc444 here's the dimensions on the eng house.


----------



## Gansett

15.5, because bobbers only count as half. 

Unless just out of overhaul where everything gets spray painted I've always though the walkways should be a contrasting color. Either as wood from what they were way back or metal later on and both should show signs of foot traffic/wear.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Should have left some of my finger smudges on then


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yea Jack guess half a caboose is better than none! 

Almost bought this the other day, it was relisted AHM unit...........

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231116060265?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Was going to box up these problem units for a latter date, than I thought of all the boxing & unboxing I've been doing the last few days & decided to just do em now, so 7 more cars are in coupler sync & running good, had to change out a few wheel sets, still need to add weight to some, but forward they all run fine.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put away some of the cabooses & put out an assortment on the table, pensy only gets 2 spots now, pensy new haven Maryland are lighted, santé fe, Up & amtrack not (well yet anyway)


----------



## norgale

The cabeese do look better with the roof walks painted and the ladders and stuff on them. All the rest of the cars will too. The picture above is super. Looks almost real. Good shot. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I think so to, gonna hit the new haven next, too bad I boxed up the other ones, but I can do em as I pull em out. 
once some steamers are back up I can at least try & get the same road name & match engines with most of the cabooses.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tried something with the N/H left some of the gaps unpainted, trying for the plank look ,but may just look like I did a lousy paint job . :dunno:



also did the blander santa fe, hi the grab irons too, with flat alum. I think it helps a bit.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

found I can't run that super long flat car, surprised it made it around 3 times before I noticed it was hitting the bumper from the steam yard. 



don't know how long that is, put a box car(that needed couplers raised & is now on the board running ) for scale, the green on does clear it, now what load for the green one?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

tables lookin nice & busy trains all over the place............. 



the house has another good purpose, I can use it to block out those pesky cubby holes! 





think I'm gonna pull the hill & see what a little gentle persuasion can do. :cheeky4:


----------



## Big Ed

That one locomotive in the last picture needs a little track under it.
Unless that is the engineers personal vehicle.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That was pulling all the test runs with the cars, had to clear the loop to run the consists on the board, it will get back on the display soon, wish me luck, heading up to deal with the warped hill!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well it submitted  I was twistin & pressin & it was a creakin & a moaning till finally it let out a major CRACK!  So it now sits almost flat, the portal & the thin foam in the rear cracked wide open, so I dabbed a little more paint on the crack in the portal & set her back in there, from the front of table you can't even see it, as long as the civic engineers don't condem it I'm good to go! 

amazing how bad it looks when you take it out! I guess it grew on me.



the light gray (wet paint) area on the right portal is where the front crack happened. 



tried a 2x digital zoom, still can't see it hwell:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not feelin it tonight, too tired after dealing with the snow this am, this getting older stuff is no fun! 
So I nailed down a few buildings, twisted the light pole wires that would reach another together & gave up on that, just couldn't deal with stringing 49 wires tonight so I started cleaning the glue off my parking lot bumpers & got half way through & just quit! 
Gonna go watch a crappy old movie & just chill, good thing I have tomorrow off, get ready to start a double change out on tues & I hear snow is forecast hwell: anything to make the job more difficult 
barring any more monkey wrenches tomorrow should be a good relax & play with the trains awhile day!


----------



## norgale

I refer you to page 159 of this thread, post number 1586 of 12/07/13. 'Twist until it cracks".I toll ya sooo. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hey not the first Idea of yours I stole  
My Chinese lights came today gonna go open em up & see what they look like, report to follow.
So I putzed a little today, decided to go to tommorrows job & pump out the Freon so I'll be inside workin during the snow, deal with the rest of outside Wednesday. 

Put down some parking lot bumpers & the fence for the second house............





Got the load back in the other lumber shed, had to pull the roof a piece of pipe got lodged in the back, lucky it came off with no damage. 



now I need to figure out a major RR Xing by the ballfield.


----------



## spoil9

Drywall patch and popsical sticks for the rail crossimg. If you want it less perminent, then popsical sticks all the way across.


----------



## norgale

I'd use the sticks all the way across. It will look wrong if the road goes up and down across all three sets of tracks. Fill the grade between the track sets with dirt and wet it with white glue watered down like you would ballast. Then lay the road planks down so they are level with the top of the rails. Leave lots of room for the wheel flanges on the RR cars. paint brown with a black streak down the middle and yer done.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Mixed review on the lights, quality seems ok, but not up to my brightness standard & have a blue tint to them, had to scrape some paint off the bulbs.
tried 2 by the field, the other lights make up for them, 2 in the steam yard, gonna take a LOT to get that as bright as I would like, gonna try the ac term off the power pack get em up a few volts & see if that's better & they don't blow out? 

this ones on tech 2 .........



now on 12 volt trans.........



about nothing in the steam yard.......



scrape the paint off..........



they did sent a bonus light. 2 10 packs & 1 extra ......



Well they were cheep (enough) hmmm price or quality :dunno:
 But if all else fails they were packed in a cute little sippy cup with a choo choo train on it, that may be worth the whole price, I can use it for my cookie & mook snack


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, they produce a little more light on the ac term of the hogger, first pic ac, second pic 12v trans.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I think if I supplement with more building lights I can get the yard lit up ok.


----------



## rrgrassi

Those give off the same color light as a sodium vapor type.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I think it's designed to ease the yard workers minds  provide a peaceful yin for their yen 
anyway switched gears again now I'm lighting up the sand tower with my good ole brighty whiteys


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:cheeky4: So this is how you do it Rusty style! 

one over the ladder at the top, one over the train & one at each end of the building........



only problem is top light needs a joint half way down, don't know yet how I will hide it :dunno:

Room pitch black & no flash, I could put in a coupler spring under these lights! :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm gonna need more bulbs, running the supply down low!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Set the sanding tower in place, ran all the wires down the back side of the pipe, pretty well hidden from front view, dabbed a little black paint over the GOO & wired her up, now the yard has a little light, another project will be the coaling tower sooner or later.





only view I got where the light shields did their job, one over the train is pretty small. 





almost same pic with the room light on, all others in pitch black room.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Crap I won another one, I'm a sucker for stray dogs 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171193228664?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648


----------



## norgale

That's just what you need Rich,a few more engines. But don't feel bad. I wanted to bid on a RDC last night but Sleazebay wouldn't let me because they had coerced the seller into stating that he wanted PayPal and since I don't use it they blocked me from bidding. Ebay is educating the younger sellers to only use PayPal for money exchanges and telling them that money orders ect. are not safe and they can't use them on ebay. It's just gone too far I think and now if you DON"T use PP you can't buy in some instances. I'd call it Gestopobay now. Somebody needs to start a new auction site and make it fair for everybody. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I was lookin for cheep small steam switchers, smallest I have is the 0-8-0's , one of those others is penn & looks like an athern, the caboose, geeze that I could live without I may send that off to one of you guys for Christmas.
the santé fe switcher is a mystery, see when it gets here? 
Honest ebayer too, sent me back 3.50 on the shipping charge! 

Pete, if you ever want something like that just give me the #'s your workin with & I'll bid for you.


----------



## ssgt

that locomotive is an 0-4-0 saddle tanker.(docksider?)


----------



## norgale

I apprecieate that Rich but what kind of an a$$hole company would not let me bid just because I don't use their payment system? What the hey? I just won't use the idiots. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

When I was sellin, I preferred paypal, fees suck but it just made things so much cleaner & faster. I've been seeing adds for some other selling site, bid right or something, what's on there I don't know, I haven't checked it out yet. 

Drilled in the rest of those lights, now the tedious 1000 joint wiring begins.


----------



## norgale

What galls me is you pay for the listing,then the picture then the value added fee and then they want to make you use them for handling your money for more fees. These guys have a license to rob everybody and that's the truth. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

BUY the stock! 
I got ya Pete, I used a lot of the free listing specials, sometimes free pics, but they still get you good, then they added the value added to the shipping too, that pissed me off, they got a money makin platform, then they get greedy, but they sure aren't hurtin for business, the young'uns just consider it part of doing business.

I wired up about half the street/lot lights, I'm makin a mess under there again 

the new lights I'm gonna hafta wire to the hogger to up the voltage a bit, on the 12volt you can hardly tell their lit  (got 4 to rewire now) 

if my knees can stand it I'll get a few more done tonight! :dunno:


----------



## norgale

Oh geeze! Lets not bring up knees. My back is killing me too.
Rich do you have all these lights hooked up to separate transformers? Are they bulbs or LED's? The sanding tower looks great at night. Just right. Maybe you could direct the light downwards more . Some of them need shades on top I think. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So far the mega transformer is doing all the lighting, have not blown the 5 amp fuse yet, rated for 41 amps so I got a ways to go before I overload that baby! 

All my bulbs are regular, the new street lamps are 12 volt LED bulbs. 

I pulled the new lights of that & am going to wire them to the ac on the hogger, their a little brighter on that, will be 19 of those, the 2 by the ballfield I won't rewire(way away from all the rest.) yea, I'm lazy, but there like 8ft away from the batch at the steam end. 

the lights are shielded, but the one over the train is too small the bulb sticks down below it, camera angle means a lot, only way all the shields work at once is that top shot I took, all the low angles get one or two of them unshielded. :dunno:

so I disconnected a few of those, then finished off my regular street lights, should have those done tomorrow nite, gotta hit a radio shack or something, I need small wire connector stuff bad, it's lookin nasty under there!


----------



## norgale

You might look for telephone wire connectors in Home Depot. There are several sizes and shapes that could be useful.
I see what you mean about the angle of the camera and the lights. Makes sense so leave 'em like they are. I don't think a whole yard would be that well lit but the areas where men would be working like the fuel or sanding towers would be much brighter for safety.
The narrow shot of the SF caboose and the tank cars is super. I have that on my desktop as wallpaper. looks cool. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well I may have the chance to put a bigger shield on the one over the engine, I went to adjust the angle last night & it got a lot brighter, just turned em on to scan the blank spots & that bulb blew.
Rough day today out in the cold, not sure if there's any play left in me, check back with yas later!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Radio shack was a bust, did have a few 12v bulbs ,most colored & real short leads, a mixed box of shrink wrap, but only a few pieces in there small enough, so at 15 bucks I passed.
Might have some time to hit an old hobby shop this afternoon, see what he has laying around?


----------



## spoil9

I always get my heat shrink tubing in bulk online from Mouser, digi-key, ebay, etc. If i need it in a hurry my local home depot usually has some in stock at a fair price.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Heading out to the hobby shop now, see what he has laying around, so I was just about to toss the empty spools when that green flat car caught my eye, might make a good load for it???????????
(under the car is my list for the shop, the lighting stuff & light kits wheel sets & interiors for a bunch of pass cars) see If I get lucky on anything.


----------



## rrgrassi

The scotch tape is a nice touch! Is that the new model RR duct tape?


----------



## norgale

An excellent load for a flat car. If you get some coated leader line from a tackle shop and wrap the spools with it, it will look just like real steel cable. Block the spools at the bottom and secure with some chain and walla! A neat flat car load. 
That's a long list there Rich. You planning to be back today? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm back, could have spent hours in there, it's an old place & stuff is just piled up everywhere, might have lucked out on interiors, gotta see what they fit, but 2 con-cor kits, 15 each, each box was a little different so I assume somethings missing but the price was right. I've seen en asking 15 for one piece! 



No luck with bulbs or wipers for the pick ups but got a bunch of little goodies.
the tractors & fork lifts are metal, & best price, 4 something for the tractors & 2.75 for the fork lifts, he's still got a bunch. 
other lift was 5 & the pickup was 5 
shrink wrap I got at the hardware store, got an address for an electronics store that may have the bulbs I'm lookin for????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

rrgrassi ? I'm missing something, I don't even see scotch tape in any of the pics?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Stuff review, the metal equipment is good, another flat car load, the 2 dozers.......gotta dirty those up some! 



the pickup I call false advertising, the only thing metal is the axles & the screws that hold the chassie on :smilie_auslachen: it's pretty big too, almost the same size as the dozers but says 1/87 :dunno:


----------



## ssgt

Rich,what hobby shop did you go to.I don't remember a hobby shop in Emerson or Westwood.I do remember highway hobbies on rt 17 north in Ramapo?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

so my seating is not going too good, only 2 fit that I'm sure of, the observation car & the mail car.
observation....



mail.....


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

car on the top is a little shorter, might hack one up for that & the one on the bottom can't figure out how to get it open.



I got 2 dining car sets, & 7 of the others which don't seem to match the windows on my cars?????? 
the others (stuck in the observation car)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Down in bogota, palisade ave just below main(near bogota high school)
old shop, he's only open couple a days a week. 
stuff piled all over the place,almost have to ask for every little thing, then he scrounges around & somehow comes up with some of it.
gotta have time & patience in there. but I like the little guys & will deal with it.


----------



## ssgt

The car on top looks like an AHM and is a coach,the one on the bottom is a sleeper and looks like a Riverossi or Walthers.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'll check the short one, but it came out of a rivarossi box, I have 2 atherns in the new haven set, they are shorter too. 
my engines came today, of course the only one damaged was the rivarossi, the santa fe is Bachmann & the penn is athern I think, gonna go test em out see if they run.


----------



## rrgrassi

RUSTY Cuda said:


> rrgrassi ? I'm missing something, I don't even see scotch tape in any of the pics?


The middle spool on the flat car looked like a roll of scotch tape. Upon closer inspection, I can see it's a translucent empty spool...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ahhh, had me going there, I'm lookin all over for scotch tape, only place I used it was the backrounds & it sticks out like a sore thumb! .

So the good news is the rivarossi & the athern run, the Bachmann is in pieces, no screws holding the motor in & when I moved it to try & set it in place both wires poped off the motor, so something to putz with on a quiet nite.
the caboose is pretty much junk, might make a good yard building?
But hey for 8 bucks I got my first little steam switcher, the rest is gravy.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK where to start, first, that shorter penn car is a rivarossi.
Then I find out the seating that I have 7 pieces of is for a Pullman car, the one piece that I already had & didn't fit anything I have, go figure! 
the new haven already had one in it. hwell:

So if anyone has an extra sleeper car one (if I can ever get it open) & needs a Pullman the trade is on!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I now have a bunch of little projects to work on any time I don't feel like wiring & decorating. 
Can't do the observation car interior yet cause of my rinky dink lighting, the nuts from the wheel sets are in the way. 
1 redo the light over the train on the sanding tower, already made the bigger shield....



play with the Bachmann switcher, if I don't turn it into spare parts. :dunno:



glue back the front step & see if I can fab a rear step for the B&O .........



clean this up & fix the pickups...........





paint & install interior on the mail car & maybe light it up.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OH yea, gotta do couplings on the stray dogs too! 
hmmm, what to play with now, maybe get the sand tower finished & back on the board?


----------



## norgale

Everybody that makes something plasters their name all over the product except for trains. Just how much trouble would it be to put the mfg's name on a car? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

rivarossi does! 
the penn switcher has couplings , fixed up the pick ups & greesed the gears, got some of the slime off it, now I need another horn , that's about 4 I'm short.

sand tower is setting, should be back on the table tonight, when I'm under there wiring it up maybe I'll stay a while & get a few more light done?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sanding tower is back in operation, the B&O is almost done(just need to fab the rear step) & the penn just needs a horn. 
lights off no flash




room light on no flash


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

switchers........


----------



## norgale

That sure is a cute little steam engine Rich. I like the diesel too. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I have a few hours this am , will see if I can get the new street lights wired into the hogger , trying to figure a way to use my last spot light to highlight the flag on the hill . 
that should be most of the lighting on the steam end till I try the coal tower. I have to either pull up a few tracks or work it on the table, I'll ponder that a while, maybe start on the table & see if it can be done without too much other destruction! 
the olny dead spot left is the bare corner at the front of the table on the other end, was thinking wooded area, so maybe put in some trees & see what it looks like :dunno:


----------



## Big Ed

Hey Lightman, The sanding tower is a nice addition. :smilie_daumenpos:

I always wondered that too Pete, you would think that they would want to identify their products somehow? :dunno:

You got the other passengers cars apart maybe that one has tabs like the Lionel passenger cars?
Something like in this thread?
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=8053&highlight=Lionel+passenger+cars


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

There's 2 little tabs where the body hits the chassie, but spread the body & still won't budge, the other cars the roof & glass were one piece, 6 tabs under car, no bottom tabs on this one. I'm under wiring now, when I get home tonight I may give it another look, will also hit the boxes & see if there's any paperwork? 

were those cresents HO?


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> There's 2 little tabs where the body hits the chassie, but spread the body & still won't budge, the other cars the roof & glass were one piece, 6 tabs under car, no bottom tabs on this one. I'm under wiring now, when I get home tonight I may give it another look, will also hit the boxes & see if there's any paperwork?
> 
> were those cresents HO?



No O gauge.
Is it a used car?

Maybe someone had problems and glued it on?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Either Dad's or Alex's don't see any glue, more tinkering later!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

New lights are up & wired, adds a little to the steam end, can't see it in the pics but they do light the ground up some. 




once I get some of my brighty whities on the coaling tower I thing the yard is done, maybe light up a work shed ?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I just laid the spot light on the hill for a test, it's on the track side so might be a little tamer when hooked up to the 12 volt.
Now leave it back low where it is, I do like a little of the hill lit, or bring it up closer & zone in on the flag more????????????? 



straightened it up a bit in this one.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some stuff accomplished, curbing is done, managed to finish it off with the scraps I saved from the last layout.......





need to get my street lights lined up, trying not to glue them down.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got the interior painted & slopped some on the load reels & cut my blocking wood. The wire in front is a test of my new heat shrink, those are light bulb wires so the thinnest I will deal with.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

night shot of the lumber yard just for the heck of it! 



& put the B&O to work bringing the mail car over for the seat install , have to see if I have enough parts left to light it up.


----------



## Big Ed

I always thought that the lumber shed you built was a little too big.
But now that you have the other things around it it looks good. :thumbsup:

The night scene looks good. :smilie_daumenpos:

Let there be light..............and there was light. :appl:

Still room for plenty more lights.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Main lighting is pretty much done, a few buildings/scenes I want to light up in some of the dead spots.
I getting nervous too close to finished (well there never finished) but once I fix up all the rolling stock & change the display/whats running a few times I'll get the bug for something different! :retard:  :laugh:

ED, it is too big, I just tell myself it's a BIG lumber co & they need the space!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

trying to make a step for the little switcher, dug out some black plastic junk pieces & started hacking away.............


managed to make something that resembles a step..........



the supports were a PITA when trying to glue em they kept poping out of the tweezers till I finally lost both, decided it was break time, or hammer against the wall time 
got lucky & found em both while cleaning up, gonna go charge up the battery on the 'Cuda for a while it's almost 70* today! I'll make another attempt later, even if I get em on I'm doubting their ability to stay on :dunno:



back to some easy stuff, got some more paint on the reels & glued down the first 2 chocks


----------



## spoil9

should you have maybe done a false floor from thin balsa or thin plastic prior to gluing the blocks? That way you wouldnt see the screws for the trucks and it would be removable if you needed access or wanted to change loads.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Good points, I was thinking planks over the 2 ends of the car, on the glue I'm using the GOO stays soft & easily scrapped off later(Did I say I love that sh....... ) 

Just finishing up with the car, heading back up there in a while, I'll lay out some of the planks & see what you guys think?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Little more work on the flat car done, got the planks in, loads set in place, now I dug out the chain, first pic is all copper & brass, second one has some black chain at the bottom. 2 pieces have some knots to work out , but they are long enough, just under the car there's some brass clamps & copper hooks, problem is only the largest chain(bunch of short pieces will co over the clamps, none will go over the copper hooks, so I still need a way to fasten the chains, couldn't find any tiny come alongs, geeze something they didn't have,whats up with that!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got the step on the little switcher, doubt it will stay on, gonna clean it up now & see if I can touch it without it falling off ?


----------



## rrgrassi

Depending on the glue you use, the step should be fine. It looks good so far!!

Oh,I second putting planks in the entire flatcar.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

too late! funny the orig idea was to keep the beat up look of the flat car, when I put the ends on ,wow, that would look good on the whole floor, but alas, I have the chocks glued in & was workin on the chains, so it will stay as it is, see how it looks (& runs) when done.
took a while to work the knots out of the black chain, one end is on, now to set the load & get the other end fastened. 
my feeble attempt to make something that looks like a handle to yank to tighten the chain


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, it's on the rails ,so now I have to raise my pedestrian walkway , the other day the amtrack crane stack hit it & the spools also don't make it, no biggie, build a concrete pad for it! 
BIG car little engine





So far the step stayed on.



waitin on the crane operator to get off lunch.


----------



## norgale

But will it make it through the tunnel? Pete


----------



## California RailFan508

Love the night shots of the layout, Rusty. Sort of makes me wish that I didn't give up on HO scale when I was nine years old (had a Bachmann Santa Fe GP-9 freight set that was set up on a 4 X 8 table in my room for almost 2 years from when I was seven to nine years old).


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Didn't try it yet Pete, but it clears the pass cars by a lot.

CRF508, thanks, I just wish the pictures would show what I see when it's all lit up, some day I'll get my bro in law over here, he's something of an amateur photog, maybe then I can get some overall GOOD nite shots.
It really lights up the table nicely..


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

You made me do it.................... I hooked it up behind the pass train, made it with a tad to spare! :smokin:

Have no idea how I'll store it safly when it gets rotated out of the line up, it had no box to begin with & would never fit now anyway!


----------



## norgale

Good for you. I like that load. Looks great. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Holy cow, on that last pic I just noticed that the 2 shades of gray I used on the portal blend into the back round perfectly , even the light & dark areas seem to blend right in, sometimes you get lucky!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, scrounged up enough parts to light the mail car, in order to use the plastic truck pin I had to solder a wire to the pickup & drill a little hole in the chassie, hopefully in a spot where it won't jam up (truck moves freely on the bench)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now these are 12v bulbs, if it's too bright or too hot I will wire the 2 white ones in series to tone em down a bit, got the bulbs & shields glued in & drying now, do the test run in a bit.
this system may allow me to get the interior in the observation car where the nuts from my screw in trucks are in the way?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got enough wheels for one or 2 more cars, have to see if I can hack up one of the interiors to fit that shorter car & make my brass pickups.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

May have found my spot light bulbs I've been hunting for, only 2 but at least I'll have a model # to search for. 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141122204523?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

combines lit, think I found a better way to black out that light showing through the seams, there's enough on the outside to run a bead of black paint all around the seam, it's drying now will see if it worked in a while. 






observation car redone, ready to go back together.


----------



## norgale

Rusty those are the same lights I just used in the Wynn Hotel. Found them in a box of junk under my work bench and don't remember where they came from. Nice and bright though and you can hook either wire up anyway and they work,unlike LED's and don't need a resistor.. I think they will work well for both of these projects. 

I also have some pass car lighting kits but I can't find them right now.All my train stuff is all over the place. If I can find them I'll let you know what kind they are 'cause they have the bulbs and the wipers in the kit which you could use. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The observation was too bright, wired up the 3 white lights in series, then blew a bulb in the diner car(that's 3 - 3v in series) will redo with 12 volt, again maybe in series, much more realistic with the dimmer light.


----------



## norgale

Probably needed a resistor on that string. 3 at 3v is only 9 volts and your using 12v arn't you? Would that blow a light? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I actually had 5 on there, thought it was three & the red one, but there were 4 whites & the red, was too bright anyway, going to redo that now, that's the end for now, out of wipers & seating , watching some lighting kits on ebay, but one at a time will kill me in shipping, need to find a bulk sale, went to pull the trigger on 5 the other night & they were sold(BIN for 60 ish bucks!)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK the big bulbs I need 3, 2 in series are just about the right light, 3 too dull, the red one has to be full on , so I can't do 2 & 2. So I went back to the stash & found a bunch of tiny bulbs with resistors, not a lot of light, but I put 4 in, getting ready to wire them up now. while the glue was drying I tinkered with the ebay tyco , got the leads soldered back on the motor, found 2 screws to fasten it down & went for a joy ride! whooooo she runs pretty good, now I have twins.
Well almost, this ones beat up, all the body hold downs are broken & it's short 1/2 a horn! 



So I took mine apart to see how they did the couplings, a lot of grinding on the frame(metal) not set up for that, they used a center shank, I'll try an off set & hope it's enough!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

added 4 more of the baby bulbs, if that's not bright enough then I'll go back to the big ones, add one more so I can do the white ones in series, 2 each is about what I need for a nice amount of light. 
So while that was drying I finished off the switcher, good thing I had all those files, filing down plastic for quite a while, but the overset's came out perfect & I didn't have to mess with the metal, out of the 20 I bought, I have 2 left & another box of freight cars to go through. 
So couplers on.................. 



Gonna need some birth control round here, these things multiply like bunnies, more than double the population in less than a year! front row are the ebay babies...........


----------



## norgale

I would think that Walthers or somebody like that would have wiper and bulb kits for pass cars Rusty. This can't be something that nobody makes any more. $60 bucks is a lot of money for one kit on sleazebay. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

60 was for 5 kits, best I've seen yet, most ask 15 each, then add shipping & buy one at a time & your broke!
Was lookin around their site last night, saw some at 24,looked like caboose setups, just one wheel set pick up? 

So even with 4 more of those tiny bulbs it's pretty dim, even coated the roof with tin foil, helped a little, but the amount of wires in there is crazy, bet it's almost up to proper running weight, gotta weigh those out & see where they are at.


----------



## norgale

Have you got any kind of a manufacturers name for these kits? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Been crusin rivarossi, ahm & ihc, I have some athearn cars too ,the lackawana set, 2 new haven black cars & the silver new haven set are athern, most of the penn, the alton & the ret of the black new haven are rivarossi.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

You guys thought I had a lot of cabooses, how bout these! 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-ahm...211308?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item4acde97dec


----------



## spoil9

The post lies! Theres 34 cars but a couple are boxcars. lol

Right now it's only a little over a buck a car (with shipping included). Might be worth the time to buy and resell piece wise. Take the to a local train show and sell for $2 or $3 a car, make a small profit for not much effort and possibly make a new modeler happy with his first caboose purchase at a cheap price.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete, I didn't see the part about the lighting kits, you do remember you have the rivarossi eagles to detail? 
If there athern & you don't need em I will be interested.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

messed with the ash pit, got my concrete track support in & made a mess with some fine cinders with some gray mixed in, only problem was the wet water turned all my stone paper green!  







little more ground cover in the lumber yard...........


----------



## norgale

Boy this is really looking great Rich. The first pic of the ash loader is another very good picture that looks pretty darned real. Your paper stone turned green because the water reacted with the printer ink. You need to spray that kind of thing with Crystal Kleer spray to seal the ink. All printer ink is water soluable so if it gets wet it runs or changes color. Just paint flat black streaks up and down the green. It will look like coal dust. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Trying to get a couple of walthers cars that were derailing all over the place fixed uo, checked the wheels, good to the guage, so weight was my first thought, but need a lot & how would you hide it, with weights laid on the cars are right at 4 ounces .



so maybe add a load, thought of those dozers I bought & dug em out, wow they are HEAVY, 2.4oz each, that brings the cars all the way to 5 oz's. 





AT 4 ounces(well & at 5) they run fine forward & reverse.
So how far over can you go without creating problems, if too heavy will they have the same effect as 4 oz cars crushing(pushing off track on reverse turns) 2 oz cars. 
If I run em right behind the engine with all 4 oz cars behind I would think it would be ok?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I found one brand of the spotlights I was lookin for, these have the short leads but the bulbs are what I'm looking for, the other ones are same shape bulb but had longer black leads.
So if anyone runs across these & does not need them please give me a heads up, I would like to buy about 10 more.
The place still exists went to their website but they only show full street lights(& none in ho) but none had these bulbs?


----------



## norgale

Four ounces or five ounces won't make any difference. Some cars are heavy enough with two or three ounces and some need more. If it ain't broke,don't fix it. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

tried to put a little age on the dozers, I need some more practice at this stuff.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got my spot lights painted, will work on the mount for the flag light soon & made the shields for the lights on the coaling tower, gonna try 2 on the sides of the top 1 round one out front at top & the 2 small ones at the ends of the lower building.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Coaling tower is all lit up, yard looks good now, just the work scenes to do, might light up the tool shed when I get the scene set. it's getting there!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

couple a random shots
back of the diesel area.............



heading into the work shop...........


----------



## norgale

This layout is starting to look like Wunderland In Germany. Very good pictures too. 
You done good Rich. Now I can copy you. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Too much egg nog ?????????????? appreciate the kudo's but I'm still in amateur land, workin hard to make it look as real as possible learning a lot as I go along, but that's out of my league & always will be. 
have come a long way from my 2x4 diorama, but I'm still in the ploppin track till it fits & then tweekin stage!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Spot light on the flag is in, hard to get a good shot, but it looks good in the dark.



was digging around the closet & saw the engine Pete was gracious to sell back to me after my sons pick (the gray one) started having problems(Thanks again Pete! :thumbsup: ) & decided to fix the front coupler that had come loose, so she's on the rails again. 




Well that got me in the mood to get some steam back on the table, so this may be the last full diesel display for a while, when I get tired of decorating this weekend I'll start boxing some up & getting out a few steamers! :smokin:


----------



## norgale

You do have some beautiful power there Rich. The UP looks great back on your tracks again. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK might be getting a little nuts here but played with the dozers & tried to letter them up. 




the flat car load had to be changed, it was hitting pedestrian crossing in the rear also, till I find smaller spools it will ride with whatever is laying around, did add the planking to the center though. 
as is the case with most of my stuff, it looks better from FAR away!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Jumped back to the empty section of the table, got my training wheels on the edge & my stone wall ready to go & put in the landscaping first(see I learn from my mistakes ) so I don't have to wet the paper.



laid in some stone to see what it will look like. 



thinkin a park bench along the path & maybe a young couple smoochin!


----------



## norgale

Stone wall looks great Rich. I had a scene with a station wagon parked in the bushes with a couple inside. Good for a laugh and to remind myself of the good old days. Ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started digging through the stash for decorating the lumber yard...........



got a little paint on the fork lifts, did a great job on the orange one didn't I :sly:



dug out some real hardware for the bins, but not so sure I want to glue those in there, that stash has saved my butt more than once!


----------



## Big Ed

The machines sure look dirty enough.
Looks like they rolled around in the mud for a while. :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's what they do! 

Got a little more ground cover in, might extend this type of cover right over to the brown bld. & shed area.


----------



## norgale

Roadbed now looks great. Amazing what a few shrubs will do. Pete


----------



## spoil9

Garden area looks real good. Thought about a chaib link fence to keep people from playing on the tracks or will you extend that path across?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No Idea, it kinda develops as I go, do have some chain link fencing, but might want to put that around one of the work areas?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the jumpin bean landed in the middle of the table this time, got some more parking lots done, have to make a few more bumpers, one more lot to do. 
spread out some decorations in the lumber yard, nothing is glued down, so no cleanups till I finalize the spots for the little stuff.


think I'm good with the lighting..........



like my drone fork lift, still need some drivers for some of my vehicles



just a few more workers humming around & they might make some money this year.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the new street lights do get some light on the parking lots. They put out a little more on the hogger than the 12 volt, hope they last.



from this angle it looks like not an inch to spare, it's done, hmmm, maybe I'll run the trains from the corner, never see the bare spots & just play a while!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I really don't want to sound like an idiot, but I really need more space, was lookin for a few more cars & dug out the trucks & construction equipment, on my one little skinny road I could put 2 up, trying to set them where they don't block out the stuff on the back of the table. hwell:
I need rt 80 running across my layout. 



& the machines for a major construction site, my little house project ain't gonna cut it!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I got everything I could reach from the front of the table to the building done, might need to move 1 tree, didn't see the stairs from the front


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

started to make a few fall trees.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So to end on a good note, I found this motorcraft truck, a little bigger than HO scale, but perfect for the little corner shelf, Dad was a motorcraft distributor!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

If I didn't have so many freight cars I'd buy this, must have sold 1000's of Lbs. of it over the years! 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141148911951?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648


----------



## rrgrassi

Wish I had some real tanks of R12!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

22 will be there soon, kept saying I was gonna stock up & just never got around to it, used to buy it but the skid, now I buy 10 or 12 cans a year.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

started the afternoon packing up the diesels, left a couple out for any test runs I need to make, actually bidding on a junk lot with a bunch of empty boxes, would like to box up a bunch of loose diesels I have.
the shelves are lookin sparse.
will get some decorating done in the steam yard before I pull out too many steamers.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So that brought the mantua tycos out again, decided to see if I can get the UP fixed up a little, it runs ahhhh ok, but it's the only other UP diesel I have besides the lionel got a bunch of steam. & it has the regular mantua motor instead of the pancake.
virg. is fried, the upside down mountain runs but is pretty stripped, the chat ran but derailed a lot, so that will be stripped for parts ( I have Dad's chat) .






Rails will go on the up & it will then just need one set in the rear .
Got the new light bulb in & soldered up........



started to put in the hand rails, had to redrill where they stuffed the metal ones in? 
just the back side to do..........1st hole was a tad big, tape holding while glue dries...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My horns & bells came today, right after I packed up most of the diesels, the santa fe at least is still out, can do a bell & one horn on that! 

Oh forgot I got the KD's on it too!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Crapola, someones bidding on the junk with the empty boxes, went higher than I wanted to, one more outbid & I'm out!


----------



## Big Ed

Is that you I am bidding against?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got all the prefab rails on & started to make up one for the rear, not bad for lookin at the other one & bending with a pair of needle nose. 



then I bent & cut the uprights gonna try soldering these, never did that before.:dunno:



not too bad, need to learn how to control the blobs.



little black paint & they will do 
then I put it on the track with the lionel & notice that's missing the rear rail too! 





a project for another day.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

tried out that fall tree, then I thought whats a wooded area without a dead tree, so I added one of the ones I was gonna make more fall trees from.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:rippedhand: ED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rippedhand:
well I hope your were at your limit, cause I'm at mine now + 5 bucks too much


----------



## norgale

Rich you are having way too much fun with these trains. I'm jealous. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:smilie_daumenpos: Yep, already thinkin of the next layout, this should be done by springtime when I get busy again, so I'll have all summer to play around with them while pondering whats next, gotta get on that car before another year goes by, that's gonna be a tough nut to swallow, bringing her back to bare metal AGAIN! 

So I made up a set for the hi nose & after painting the first set(on the wax paper) I switched paints, much better , so repainted the other one, that's drying now. 



next set I'll cut the uprights shorter, just wasn't sure how to solder if there low?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

found one motor that might fit the Virginian , have to find some screws for the side plate so I can test it, pretty sure if they saved it, it runs?


----------



## norgale

Don ya spossa have a pass through in the end gates with a chain across the opening? 
also you can file the blobs off and snip the tops off the uprights. Extra work but it works ok.Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmm I just copied the pre fabs :dunno: 
but I do have chain & a pair of track cutters! 

your talkin dead center front & rear where they would go to the next car right? 

Some projects if & when I get to the super detailing stage.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well thanks a lot Ed  you didn't out bid me, now I'm stuck with another load of stuff to work on! 

but I do need the empty boxes, that I paid too much for .


----------



## Lsmith

RUSTY Cuda said:


> If I didn't have so many freight cars I'd buy this, must have sold 1000's of Lbs. of it over the years!
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/141148911951?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648


We're do you work?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Self employed, heating & A/C work (service & installations)


----------



## Lsmith

Oh ha! The other side I'm an automotive painter I was looking at the DuPont


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Too bad your so far, could use a painter, gotta reshoot the 'Cuda one of these days after my por 15 debacle.


----------



## Lsmith

Best advise I can give there is you get what you pay for.


----------



## Big Ed

I like junk part auctions. :thumbsup:

Right now you won't have any competition from me.
I have not bid on any HO for a while now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ed, no problem, just having some fun with your post! 

Lsmith, I'm a stubburn do it yourselfer, did 90% of the car myself in the back yard, including paint, I had metallic issues , but it still looked pretty good, it's the por 15 which has caused most of my problems, spots I couldn't get to, places where the paint didn't stick to it.
going with normal primers & paints this time(if I ever get to it!) 
Live & learn. hwell:


----------



## norgale

Ed's gonna drive his truck up to your house and leave 50,000 gallons of sludge on your front lawn. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Might help my lawn, well whats left of it , been thinkin of tearing out the weed garden & trying to grow grass again! But that's a lot of work, which I have trouble getting motivated for anymore, to many years of growing & watching it all go to pot, my thumb is definatly not green!


----------



## Big Ed

norgale said:


> Ed's gonna drive his truck up to your house and leave 50,000 gallons of sludge on your front lawn. Ha! Pete


I don't haul that crap.



RUSTY Cuda said:


> Might help my lawn, well whats left of it , been thinkin of tearing out the weed garden & trying to grow grass again! But that's a lot of work, which I have trouble getting motivated for anymore, to many years of growing & watching it all go to pot, my thumb is definatly not green!


There is your problems your using the wrong seed.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:smokin: only if it grows like weeds, I'd find a way to kill those too :smokin:
Don't think the cop across the street would look too kindly on that crop, hey but in a few years it might be legal here too , supplement my retirement income!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, back to trains, few more days off, have no idea what I'm going to work on, thought I had a cool little project to start on last night, woke up this morning & the old noggins a blank, it'll come to me but who knows when. :retard:
So decorate around the steam yard? Pete's chain idea keeps poppin back into my head?
Add more landscape by the bench/park area :dunno:
Get out a few steamers, cruise around & take some pics? Pretty sure that will happen before the weekend is over. 
Oh well, head up there & scan for things to do.


----------



## norgale

Oh! Now he's an agriculture expert. "Shut up and drive." Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Jumpin around a bit, got some lights in the park, thought I hit 5 amps cause it blew the fuse, turns out one of the light poles was shorted. OK after I replaced that so still under 5 amps. 



some walking paths over to the engine house, some foliage to come........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Then Pete started bugging me again, so I made another set of hand rails, cut the uprights a little shorter & after they were all set I cut out the centers for the chain, popped 2 joints doing that. chain wouldn't hold in the solder(shoulda used brass) but I glued it on. 
little better than my first attempt. 



with some paint...........


----------



## norgale

Looks much better Rich. You do good work. Now paint the railings and the outer edge of each step yellow just where the guy would grab them as he climbs up the steps onto the engine. The chain looks perfect.

http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4833956841262506&pid=15.1


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK , your cutting into my decorating time, I need to get some pics of what the real thing looks like, super detailing will have to come after I get the layout up & running in full bloom. then I'll need those little projects to improve on the reality aspect of the whole thing.
hmmm, think I gots me some yeller paint though!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So back to landscaping, workin my way over to the engine house, finished off the first box of green tree stuff, have to open the last box & see how much is in that, 24 tree kit?


----------



## norgale

The paths look good. Makes a big difference with stuff like that on the layout. I put a link on my last post so you can see what I'm talking about with the railings. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Did some more ground cover, actually running out of foliage, used up most of the fall I bought & about half of what's in the 24 tree kit, did make a few trees, this box was a different method than the first kit I used.
the one fat one on the board & these three tried to go lighter this time so you can see some branches.



some overall of the area


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

some ground level views.


----------



## norgale

Trees make a big difference and those look super. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, so how long has it been since I actually had a train in my pics, so while I was running the track cleaners on the loops, I also pulled out the pensy train for a few pics.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Did a little landscaping back by the hill , not gonna go too crazy back there, leave a little more as just grass. from these you can see what the earthquake did to my entry. 






think I'm gonna go ahead & pull out some steam power for a photo shoot, see how they look with some landscaping in.


----------



## norgale

:SELLIT::stroke::hah::cheeky4::dunno:


----------



## spoil9

Time to start a new one. lol. Looks great!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

already thinkin of the next one :retard: but thoughts of the tear down keep me sober  still a lot of territory to decorate, scenes to add, should keep me goin a while longer!
tonight some steamers will come out, I'll play with those for a good while!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

thinkin of extending the third siding so I can get another full train on there, either make a curved bridge or close up a little of my cubby hole?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Spent the evening getting the steamers back into the limelight, BIG BOY was the first to get a test run & pose for some pics. 
pulling out of the yard..........



entering the main.............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the more steamers I put up the more rolling stock I had to pull off, they do eat up the space! 



heading up to finish off the display, more pics later!


----------



## Big Ed

You have a green thumb. :smilie_daumenpos:

Scenery looking good.
Maybe add some taller trees too, something like a big old Oak or Elm tree?

Spend a little more time playing instead of working?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That was the idea today, get out the steamers & play with them, took all night just to get em out & test run a few, set up the display & post some pics, tomorrow I play.

so here's the new display.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A good mix of workers on the board. pensy still at work & the challenger pulling some freight..............



the pacifics are supplying most of the power............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yards workin full tilt............



Pere's hookin up for a long haul...........



switchers movin some cars around..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the other switcher threw a rod on it's test run, have to scan the back of the table for another pesky little screw.............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Cab forward headin out to pick up a consist............


----------



## norgale

Love that steam Rich. Lots of action there. Do any of these locos have smoke? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Some do, none of the smoke packs were open, when I was selling I was trying to preserve them, I have one for my O guage lionel, is that the same stuff?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sometimes you get lucky, went searching for the nut for the 0-8-0 ,found the spacer at the back of the table where she came apart & the screw all the way around the front.
she's back on the rails.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So play time didn't come yet  well a little while run testing all the cars I pulled, went lookin for anything with up or southern, buy the time I packed away what was out, unboxed & tested what I pulled the afternoon was shot. 
So most ran pretty good, got 2 out of 5 southern stock cars that don't like one of my switches, of coarse at the rear of the table so after a few crawl ins to retrieve, there on the side awaiting more testing.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

little something for DT&I ...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

optional flat cars for my dozers?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

trying to recruit my son to get a new video done, might have that up tonight? 
A little action in the house...........


----------



## norgale

Hope ya put some locktite on it this time.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Can you do that on these little things, that's the 3rd or 4th one that came loose in the same spot. gotta see which colors(if any) I have left over from the car?


----------



## norgale

Sure you can. Just use a tiny bit on a tooth pick. Put it in the hole that the screw goes in and not on the screw itself. That way it won't get all over the rod ends. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK so the kid found a hocky pond that was open nearby, so the video is on hold, was out last night & is already there today, hopefully it will start raining soon & I can get the video done! 
So last night I was testing those 6 wheel flat cars, they seem like quality cars(no box so I'm not sure what brand) but they have some heft to them, metal wheels & they have truck mount KD's & that may be the problem, run fine forward, but give me grief trying to back into the yard. the ends seem to get pushed up & off the rails, I changed positions a few times, separated the 2 of them .
Didn't try adding some weights at the ends of the cars, will try that when I go up in a while, but if it works, how woud I hide it? 
the other issue I'm facing is most of the old steamers don't like slow starts, some need a nudge, can't use momentum, they start to crawl & just die.
will check my wheels for cleanliness, but I thought I had em all cleaned pretty good?


----------



## norgale

Clean wheels and track are very important but clean armature and good brushes are important too. If cleaning the track and wheels doesn't improve the performance then you need to check where the brushes hit the armature in the motor. The blacker the armature the less contact with the brushes. That black is carbon build up off the brushes and will come off with a little alcohol on a qtip. The brushes are held against the armature with tiny springs. If the brush is worn down a lot the tension on the spring is reduced so the brush doesn't seat on the armature hard enough so there isn't a good connection there. New brushes and springs are called for in this case. Thing is that the spring is so small that it's difficult to work with and if you let it slip it will fire off into the air and completely disappear never to be found again. From what I have been told,worn brushes and a dirty armature are probably the most common problems with these tiny electric motors. Worth a check in any case. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

messed with the challe & the 0-8-0 a bit, amazing how much crud gets on the wheels in a short time, I know I cleaned the challe last fall & not much run time since.
anyway, challe is much better at low speeds:thumbsup: 
0-8-0 was next on the track after cleaning & that friggen little screw came out again, going back up with my miners magnafiers to see if I can find it again! 
just hit the garage for the locktight, no luck there. pick some up next time I pass an auto parts store, what color is best for this


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No luck at all with the 6 wheel flat cars, did get lucky & find that tiny screw again, so I park that one & try the other 0-8-0 , now that's giving me fits at the switches backing into the yard, engine itself is jumping off at the frogs. 
Going to try a diesel now & see how that takes the backing up, I was in & out of there a hundred times, though I had it smooth as silk!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well that didn't go well 
My son finally got around to the video & everything that could go wrong did! 
even though I tried to prep & test each move I was going to make , murphy came to visit & he STAYED! hwell:
Don't know what it will look like, He's trying to edit it into something ( what I have no idea  )
So during the test phase, I could get everything in & out of the house switches, but the yard ones are picky, centipede tenders won't go, cab forward & challenger made it ok, one 0-8-0 & the mantua also ok, the other 0-8-0 not happening , played with removing nails, putting in nails, most of the cars go through fine (those 6 wheel flats won't) & the proto 2000 susqu........ is good, so I don't know if it's the switches or the cars, probably the switches.
Hope to have whatever came out up later tonight, for what ever it's worth :dunno:
Challenger got hooked on a chain in the house, now I have some tiny pieces of wood moulding & rails to try & repair in there.
So how was your day! :laugh:


----------



## norgale

No problems here. Took a two hour nap and all is well.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

shoulda done the same, just ran em a while with no incidents, these babies will test you once in a while!


----------



## rrgrassi

A lot of times, I wish Mr. Murphy would take a vacation!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

He did, He spent it at my house! 
Well my son wore himself out playing hocky, been sleepin for hours, so I have no idea if he even worked on the video, sorry, but I'm at his mercy  when it comes to that stuff so all I can say is it will be up when the mood strikes him! :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well here they are, he did it in 2 parts as I was trying to free the challe tender from the chains in the engine house 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T56xWqiTJtA&list=UUW0jxOSBlTIbnor7VnGPI9Q

part 2 , still some minor issues after I freed the challe. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7msZLezX5UY&list=UUW0jxOSBlTIbnor7VnGPI9Q


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I tried to start the pensy with the momentum switch, needed a little nudge , MUST work on my speed control, or I'll go through my coupling stash in no time. 
So maybe next time it will be more fun then groans 
gotta go pull the roof off the engine house & survey the damage! hwell:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Murphy is still here :retard:
pulled the roof & made the repair on the cat walk, top rail somehow got under the chain & when it snagged the challe it snapped in half. replaced no problemo ! :thumbsup:
So now I'm lookin for the piece that came off the door frame, last night I put it someplace safe, where I WOULDN'T loose it, guess what I LOST it! :smilie_auslachen:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Where was I, oh yea, the 6 wheel flats, so I thought I would try longer couplers, well not only did it not help but I broke one of the ears on a truck, so, I need to know what brand trucks these are so I can hunt some down.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

tried it with right weight, extra weight & no weight, won't run over most switches backwards.



in desperation I went digging for plastic wheels with big pie cutters, was a little better but still way too irratic, so I guess these go back in the box.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

while the roof was off I took a shot of the UP, pulling in for some service...........


----------



## norgale

I can't see but if those couplers are attached to the trucks, that could be your problem. You could try mounting a coupler on the body and see if that will help. Six axle cars and locos have always given me trouble. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmm, maybe I'll try some 6 wheel pass. cars with truck couplers on those tracks & see what happens, just a shame, their good lookin cars!


----------



## shaygetz

Body mount the couplers if at all possible...the forces applied during regular use are being put on the truck pivot point, forcing it from side to side, especially when pulling long strings behind them or backing the string. :smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, I'll try it on the one I broke the ear off, it would also save the truck if the coupler box is not needed.


----------



## shaygetz

Yup...I just clip the couplers...most times an Intermountain or Kadee wheelset will fit for an extra couple of grams weight to help tracking as well.


----------



## Big Ed

I think the engine house is bad luck on your RR. :SELLIT:


----------



## DA Cookie

*Wow!*

Mr. Cuda, (I know that's not your name but don't have time to read back through the thread, lol), you have done an outstanding job.

I just hope that my wife does not find the bookmark to this thread. just started modelling the local yard and if she sees this, she might through out the train stuff while I am at work!

Thanks for giving me the inspiration to get back into trains. This is the best thread I have ever read through on any subject on any forum ever.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:sly: OK Ed it's yours, 1000 bucks or best offer above 1K!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

DA, I'm glad I inspired you, I answer to a few names, but Rich(the real thing) or Rusty will do just fine.
Yea I had to kinda ease into taking over the room, just remember there are down sides too, I try to post the good & the bad, the whole story if you will, so anyone newer than me can avoid some of my blunders, I'm having a ball & this forum is a big part of the reason, help when needed, ideas all over the place & a little friendly banter to lighten things up.
So I'll keep this light & save my problem car story for the next post! 
enjoy, Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thought I was there Shay, did the body mounts (had to take a deep breath before each cut on the old couple boxes) one car had metal wheels so I started with that, ran it back & fourth through a switch right in front of me & it seemed fine  took it over to the yard & made it in the first time  that was about it  the other 3 or 4 times I tried it would either loose it on a switch or just after the last one, in the dreaded S turn. 
used KD's on the other but they don't roll as free as they should & that wouldn't even take the one switch up front, had to get out of there , will take a fresh look tomorrow when the boiling point as dropped a little! 

used a shim on the body to bring the couple down a tad..........



lined up nice.............only thing I didn't try yet is extra weight over the wheels, she right at 4 1/2 oz's with the dozer on.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tried the extra weight, almost 8 oz's  total, that seemed to get me through the switches, but first wheel still runs up going into the S , so I brought the passenger train to the inside loop to try that, NO Way couldn't even back through the first switch  had a long drive to & from a service call & mulled it over , passenger trains will never run the inside & don't need to get into that yard, so for 2 cars I'm just not gonna go crazy , just not worth it, So after I play a while I think I'll start decorating the steam yard.


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> :sly: OK Ed it's yours, 1000 bucks or best offer above 1K!


It is going to take me a while to shoot 1000 bucks.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:sly: No dead beats here, they have to be live bucks!


----------



## norgale

Rusty take the middle set of wheels off the flatcar and see if that makes any difference. These six axle cars need a long slow turn and maybe those #6 turnouts are just too sharp for six axles. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Junkbox came today, couple of box car bottoms, a bunch of trucks top rows have some metal wheels, KD 506 &7 coupler boxes, some cable/chain rolls, the three reddish brown things in the back look like some kind of windows.
American flyer pike planner, what do you do with that?
a few weights, the empty boxes & some n guage trucks I'll post up later see if anyone needs em. 



So 3 diesels have boxes, one box was perfect for my flat car, the rest on the left will get most of my unboxed freight cars indoors & on the right are just lids, can use those for ongoing projects :dunno:



So yep, paid way too much for a bunch a empty boxes! hwell:


----------



## norgale

You didn't know the boxes were empty?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yes I did, that's why I bought it :retard: I wanted the boxes, still need more, too bad 2 of the longer ones he had were lids only, the engines don't fit in the short boxes, I may try & make my own bottoms & have a home for 2 more engines, for now I just stuck a couple of long freight cars in them. 
Pete, I tried pulling the center wheels, worked on the outside loop reversed through all 4 switches, I have everything on the inside loops to clear the steam yard for decorating so I can't try the S turn for a while but hoping it will be fine, thanks Bud! :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK so I already used some of the metal wheels, used 2 sets on the other flat car, the KD sets went in rear tight & did not roll freely, so I figured I try these, went in nice & roll nice & free. 
Now I think the geared truck is athearn or AHM? the leading(or trailing) truck I have no idea, if anyone can identify? & some of those metal wheels anyone know what brand they might be? 



here's a better pic of those window things, maybe dormer wondows? they were in a separate plastic bag don't know if out of a kit or bought as they are? 



& the motor thingie, don't know what it ran, but it works & is noisy as hell.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So after packin away the goodies in my parts stash it made me think of my little motors & maybe trying to fix the work train, this ones too big, but a little oil to loosen it up & I got it running, thinking mantua/tyco truck??????? 


then the little car, it does run & even has a headlight, but front wheels are shot, again looks too big for the work train.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Looks like he used N scale wheels on the car.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

still haven't figured this out yet, the top part is a coil, hit it with power & it pulls in the rod, the rotor I hit on all the different terminals & it doesn't move , I have no idea what it's for???????????????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

here's the N scale stuff, anyone needs anything let me know, shipping & a cup of coffee & it's yours! 
grab irons & some kind of detail kit.



some trucks & truck pins & other bits of plastic? (I may keep a few pieces for the little tracks by the engine house)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& last stupid question, whats a pike planner & how do you use it.


----------



## shaygetz

A pike planner is a tool to help you design a layout using their track products...pretty cool piece of nostalgia there. The motorized work car looks to be bashed from a Bachmann handcar, the jeep is a Bachmann Speedster, those wheels are a common problem with them...










That is a TYCO/Mantua truck...save it for a rebuild. The geared truck is Athearn...nice little haul.:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not all was in that batch, I had the tyco/mantua truck & the speeder, the athern truck was in that batch.
I guess I did ok, I wanted the boxes, metal wheels & some of the trucks will come in handy & I spent 3 or 4 quality hours packin trains in the boxes, sorting out the parts & then playing with the motors, so with that said, let me go give the guy a positive feedback! 

So now I have to hunt for a Bachmann hand car!


----------



## norgale

The Jeep speedster and the work train are really nice. Hope you can get them running. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Might try & get that work engine apart today, seems everything is glued together, hope it comes apart without too much destruction


----------



## ssgt

RUSTY Cuda said:


> still haven't figured this out yet, the top part is a coil, hit it with power & it pulls in the rod, the rotor I hit on all the different terminals & it doesn't move , I have no idea what it's for???????????????????


That looks like it may be an actuator for a flyer or lionel operating car.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, keep that in mind if I ever decide to get something like that.

found a pair of wheels with a really thin axle that I could stick in the speeder for at least a test run, but they hit the body & it looks like it's doing a wheelie! 
electric pick up is sketchy but she does run, to be continued!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K, following a bunch of hand cars, there was a pic of the bottom on one & it looks just like my work train, thanks for the tip Shay, I may get that back on the rails now. :smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK one side track, made up the sound car for the chuff, primitive, but I have sound!
put it in a car with a broken door, just to be safe, just laid in not permanent .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

moved the wheels back on the speeder, runs a bit erratic but does run! 
Poppin a wheelie.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& as I feared, everything was glued on the work car, got the motor out replaced a bad bulb & now I wait for a doner motor!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Screw it, I couldn't wait , I bought these.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301063617604?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649


----------



## norgale

RUSTY Cuda said:


> still haven't figured this out yet, the top part is a coil, hit it with power & it pulls in the rod, the rotor I hit on all the different terminals & it doesn't move , I have no idea what it's for???????????????????


Could this be a mechanism for making choo choo sounds on a steamer? Pete
Just read SSGt idea for this "thing" and what he says makes more sense. It's a solenoid type setup of some kind. Pete


----------



## shaygetz

A 3000 watt stereo, ghost flames and tinted windows to go with that lift kit and you'll be stylin' ... :smilie_daumenpos:



RUSTY Cuda said:


> moved the wheels back on the speeder, runs a bit erratic but does run!
> Poppin a wheelie.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not my style, but I do have some spare speakers from a sound system. 
Maybe go for bigger wheels in the back, chop the fenders a bit & bring it into the monster truck age!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

finally stopped procrastinating & did a little cover in the yard, long way to go but at least I stopped side tracking myself & got it started.


----------



## DA Cookie

I have one of those gandy dancers. Mine doesn't have those markings on the bottom but other than that, and the colors it's the same one. I love it. I run it all the time.

I tried to post a pic of it but these $%#@* pop up ads are causing me such a problem I just gave up. I sure hope that gets fixed soon.

Your yard is looking great btw.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Took out the sand he used for the other sanding tower/house, looked way too white to me for sand so I'm trying a little experiment watered down some desert yellow paint & poured it & the "sand" in a cup & started mixing, if I don't end up with a block of cement I think the color looks pretty good.
you can see the white residue on my sand box.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

picked up some more foliage at the hobby shop, the wife is proud of me, that's what I went for & thats all I bought. 
But geeze he has a lot of cool stuff in there, offered me chessie engines(look like my long amtrack one, can't remember the #) 25 bucks a pop, looks like he has 5 or 6 
not sure if there rivarossi or the later maheno/ihc ones .

got some more ground cover on the yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

started on the track laying scene, not sure how to deal with all the exposed edges on that section?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, it kinda looks like sand, better than pure white, will get it on the table & make a little mess around it & see what she looks like.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sand box is in, got a couple of workers on the job...........



night shot....



train side............



and the night shot..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

started on the rail laying scene, still have to decide if I put the tool shed here or back over by the house, gonna light it up & set up the work bench & pipe rack, sparse over here, but nothing going on between the house & the water tank :dunno:


----------



## Big Ed

It looks like sand. :smilie_daumenpos:

Build a sand tower by the sand box and get a conveyor belt set up to feed the tower?
Your going to give those guys a heart attack.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Good old fashioned days work! 
Still wondering what they used, I have a little left, can't be salt or sugar that wouldn't take the water, but it did take the color, I was able to just rub the clumps between my fingers to make em small again, actually feels like sand, but I've never seen it that fine?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Went with fencing & trees to try & flush out that corner, will save the work shed for over by the engine house.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Trees by the control panel are gonna take a beating, glue wasn't even dry & I knocked 2 over! 

will light up the work shed & then start getting some workers in the steam yard, been putting off decorating the middle & back of the table, not lookin forward to all that crawling in & out!

So I'll set the shed & a few workers here.............


----------



## norgale

Amazing. Your having too much fun Rich or have I said that before? Ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

worked on the lights for the shed, while they were drying I decided to crawl in & work some of the area in the back of the steam yard, still a lot of ground to cover.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

yet more ground cover.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

other end of the table looks like a yard after a tornado, trains everywhere.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sheds in , steam yards startin to look busy, gotta get some more workers on the job.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

cab forward makin a pass................



sand tower at work.......


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gandy dancer came today, maybe tonights project.
putzed around today, got the directional lighting workin on the 0-8-0  & got a few more people on the board.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the welding scene has some real tiny pieces, gonna try a diorama on a piece of the grass mat, but the only place for it will be at the other end of the engine house, see if that pans out? (sorry Pete, but I'll work some more tooling into the shed  )
so I took the smallest wire I have, took quite a while to work the casing off the wire, got em hooked up to the tanks & the machine, don't know if the glue will hold :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK started on the work train, decided not to hack it as far as he did, the tan sides were left in tact & I cut the wood around it, will have to make new front roof supports & a longer step, but the basic car will stay in tack, up to now she still runs.
the other one is on it's way so I don't feel that torn about cutting up a brand new train. 
before tear down........



putting on some pieces............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

also covered the wood around one of the cubby holes, just bugged me lookin at that wood in every picture, now it will be a green sink hole! :retard:


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> OK
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [/URL]



Cool. :smilie_daumenpos:

I like the Woody too, put some surfboards on top.:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

light bulbs back in place............



front uprights in..........



lots of wheel spin, had to add weight to the front over the wheels, had trouble pulling the car.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

after the glue sets I will try my best to get those wires wrapped up the way he had them, that will be testing me.


----------



## norgale

That's a cute little train Rusty. Nice. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well thanks to Shay & the dancer tip, glad I could get it running again, it will be a little different, hopefully almost do justice to Alex's work.
glue on the last of the wood & the two weights, tomorrow I will attempt the lighting wires, that's gonna take some patience & tight work I'm not sure my hands can handle, wonder how many pieces will get knocked off trying to do it, lets start a pool, closest wins the booby prize, I'll start, I'm going big, the whole darn roof!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

workin on the wires for the work train & the welding scene, as each wire dries I glue something on the welding scene. 
got the tanks on the hand truck & some tiny brass wire to simulate the hose ties. 



don't know if any of this will hold when I try to move it, just trying to figure how to keep the black one in a tight loop to go into the hand piece?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Welders are on the table, so far everything stuck, have to decide if that's where they stay before I tack it down & ground cover the seams.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

first coat of paint on the work engine, one headlight works when it wants too :dunno: checked the connections 3 times, I think the bulb might be going, what a pain it took a long time to snake the wires around, now they are all glued & painted


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put an extension on the 3rd siding can get maybe 4 or 5 more freight cars in the yard now, not sure if the house will get a skinny yard or disappear for a work area?

so far nothing fell in the hole, may add a safety corner under it, just in case.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

put a little pastel on the new yellow to dirty it up a bit, but the work train is done & today the headlight worked all the time???



few more people hangin out in the yard..........


----------



## norgale

Nothing fell in the hole YET.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yep, that's a big YET. 

Bad day in train world, the new Bachmann norfork western died, up to now it ran slow a while then loosened up, this time maybe 20 mineuts, never loosened up & finally just quit, light lights not even a hum from the motor, afraid to send it back, will end up with another gray UP 
got it half apart, took the 3 side screws out of the weights but I'm stuck there, going up to dig a little more. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It's the motor, gonna see if I can just buy a motor from Bachmann, if anyone knows another source for the motor chime right in.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

well out of luck for a while, sold out, had to do a search by part # the one they showed with the engine had a flywheel on the back end.
good thing I got the papers with it.

#'s on motor are Kader 881 with an N at the bottom?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back to tinkering with the layout, got the welding scene scaped in & started on a little bridge over the corner track I just added. bottoms pretty easy, top railing should be interesting trying to get that curved.


----------



## Rusty

It will look good when the welding light is hooked but the price seems high to me.

http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/mtr/mtr10020101.htm


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Saw one of those last week when I was searching lights. Not going that far, at least for now, just got my tax estimate, broke again!


----------



## rrgrassi

Hey Rich, I love the diesel snowplow on your MOW equipment...


----------



## Rusty

I found other one to see if it will work to make look like welding light.

http://www.policecarmodels.com/wihetaliform.html


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That could work, one white for the weld & one red for the glowing metal between welds!


----------



## Rusty

I found the cheapest one for $5.50 for led,switch and battery.

http://www.policecarmodels.com/1flledliforp.html


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put that on my after it's almost done improvement list!


----------



## norgale

Rusty draw a line on paper to match the curve of the bridge. Pin one piece of lumber to that line and then laminate a second piece to the first. Let it dry well and then use it for the top rail of the fencing along the edge of the bridge. Once it dries it will hold the shape of the curve. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

ok, I'll give it a shot, got all the uprights on, fairly straight, not sure if the trains will clear people but it will at least simulate a walkway to the back of the yard, now I need to get another shed back there!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

railing is on, makin a little extension to get back to the diesel yard, should look like a nice walkway from one to the other next to the GREEN SINK HOLE  :laugh:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete, the 2x8's were just flexible enough to get on the top without too much trouble, just glued & pinned as I went along, used 2x10's for the vertical back board, should be able to slop some paint on before the nights over & maybe put it in place tomorrow.

On another note, I tried out the mantua Boston Albany with smoke, says it should start smoking at 6 volts, well it was closer to 10 & she's over 50 on the tech 2 at that point, so no low speed smoke from this one, a little shot of full speed, nice trail of smoke, but she's probably doing ninety  & the chug car sounds terrible at that speed! 

If I ever get my son on the video again  I'll show that & wanted to show the work train runnin again.


----------



## shaygetz

RUSTY Cuda said:


> #'s on motor are Kader 881 with an N at the bottom?


Aye...Kader Potaters...didn't know they did pseudo can motors too...:laugh:

Sorry you don't live nearby...I have a motor collection that surely has one that could work.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks Shay, sooner or later I'll find one, seems like this train wants to be a shelf queen, I've been through hoops trying to get it on the board, at least they show the motor, now if they ever restock (like the pilot for the john bull) thats another story??????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

She's painted, just have to sand the top of the posts on the extension then I can cap that & get it painted.
wonder what wonderful sayings will come out of my mouyh when I turn around in the cubby & smash it with my elbow (#^&(*_)()(^[email protected]^(())_((*(&^&**(&^%


----------



## norgale

Looks great. You putting some lights on it like street lights for the pedestrians?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

you know me & lighting, so probably down the road when I figure out the new decorations in that open area, I think the house has to go, in favor of some work area or maybe just a park, gotta see what kind of decorations/buildings are left.


----------



## rrgrassi

Sounds like Eminent Domain?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yep my uncle is out in the cold, wharehouse type building in the hood, might use the chain link fence to line the sink hole! 



probably not going to see much if any of it when a train is on that track, but at least it will keep them off the floor.


----------



## norgale

Looks great. Should work just fine.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Little video, sound & smoke test on the Mantua & the little guys on a test run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM66dd7PAbs


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bachmann is killing me, had 3 of their pieces & all had bad motors, work train, fixed with the new gandy chassie, the 4-8-4 for the second go round & worked on the smoking 0-6-0 tonight, first cleaned out the motor it was visibly sparking around the armature, still sparking, went to put in my spare & broke the pickups off trying to rebend, bench test the sparker again & the sparks stopped (maybe the cleaning fluid had not completely evaporated) :dunno:
put it all back together & she runs, no smoke, but now it won't do better than a crawl speed 
that I may send back, but their not getting the 4-8-4 unless they guarantee me a repair or another norfork western! :cheeky4:


----------



## norgale

I've read enough on this forum about Bachmann to where I would not EVER buy any of their stuff. Everybody keeps complaining about these products but they keep on buying them. So they will give you a replacement for your inferior unit, so what? Now you have a second unit that is defective. And your paying all the freight. Doesn't make sense to me.
Park the Bmann and forget it. Save yourself the money and agravation. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Somehow some day I will get that running(the 4-8-4) 
not too worried about the 0-6-0, lots of rivarossi to be had fairly cheep 
if I ever get back to where I can rub 2 nickles together I'll go back on the hunt for little steam switchers, one of the few things I'm short on. 
I'm already thinking too much about the next layout :retard:
this ones almost done then what do I do, maybe tinker with all the rolling stock again , clean up all the engines, something about me & building, once things are done I get antsy, for me it's all in the building & tinkering. :smokin:
like the car, 10 years of ups & downs building it(well the downs aren't over) & if I put 500 miles on it in the next 5 years it was a lot. :dunno:


----------



## norgale

So why should you be any different from the rest of us? Ha! The only big problem most of us have is having the room to do all that we want to do. In your case you'd better get back to work because you'll need a whole new house to use all the stuff you have.
I'd like to have enough room where I can expand my layout and not just keep rebuilding it the same size. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

trying to set up the chain link fence in the new warehouse area, have to cut that extension off the building & get a little paint on, the bottom half is brick. 


on the right side I may just take it straight from the gate to the tracks, just behind the bumpers.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yep, never enough space, but in the grand scheme of things more than some, less than others, maybe next time I can get layers into it & not give up too easy. But even that eats up space pretty quick.
I could probably spend weeks with pencil & paper then find it doesn't fit right anyway :retard:

Hey as long as I'm building I'm happy, when I'm too old to crawl under a lot, I'll stay with whatever I end up with & run the darn things!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some paint on the building, now I'm making up the second floor stairway, would have been a long jump!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Stair way is done, it's pretty fragile hope it lasts a while.



would like to cut the railing where it goes over the top & put a straight piece in but I'm afraid the whole thing will fall apart?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

2 more sections of fence to put the chain link on & then piece that together, using glue this time(hope I'm not too messy) the wire ties worked but the mesh broke in a few places.



made up some more bumpers for the new lot, while that's all drying I'll go watch a few innings of football & see if Paton has a chance to catch his little bro in super bowl wins!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Opps , he did it, missed the last 3 innings  400 yard game, not bad big bro!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

fences are drying, some of the glue shows, hope it's far enough away to trick the naked eye!  
on the other side I'm going to try a guard rail, have a small roll of this, just enough for that side & some nice I beams to pile drive into the ground :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

put the fence in with pins for now, a couple of lights, some ground cover & a few peeps & another section done.


----------



## norgale

You could put a school there too with no fence along the opening. Then tell the kids to stay away from the edge so they will all go there and then half of them will disappear over the edge. Neat Huh? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some lights & ground cover on, need some people & some junk for that corner & I think it's done.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

posts all glued on now I have to figure out how to install it, probably just pins for now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Guard rails up, not too shabby, might be a little tall, but hey it's guarding the end of the earth!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

no work tonight, just ran em around a while & setup some photo ops, so no meat just desert!


----------



## DA Cookie

Man that layout is looking incredible. It has been awesome reading through this thread and seeing the progress. You are doing some excellent work. It's amazing how much you have on those tables without it looking "too busy".

Keep up the good work, you are thrilling my daughter and myself, and scaring my wife half to death.


----------



## CSXDC

Awesome progress thread, and great layout!


----------



## DonyaRurles

Hair extensions and hairpieces really can help to improve the looking of people and help to change them a lot hair extensions and hairpieces if choosing the right type and right style of hair wigs for you, of course that you will look and become more and more attractive and also buy cheap hair wigs now is easy as you can just get the ideal style that you want online at online shops now. I have just buy me a *wigs online* and it is perfect.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks guys, it's more than I imagined when I started with my little diorama & I still have a wife! 

Donya the wig person's back!


----------



## norgale

Ya,the spammer is back. Ha!


----------



## Gansett

Reminds me, I need a haircut. Yes I'll head off the remark and say I'll get them all cut.


----------



## norgale

Heh,Heh,Heh.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

white stuff as requested, for some reason you crazy Florida folks actually miss this stuff!


----------



## norgale

Love that back deck. I'd be out there cooking burgers. Actually we miss the change of seasons down here a lot. Don't know if I could handle the cold up there anymore. I may be better off just staying here for the time I have left. At least I won't have to shovel my walks off. Thanks for the pics Rich. Snow is pretty even if it is a PITA. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yep, mother nature give you beauty for a while & then it turns to a big mess to clean up, even the change of seasons, nice colors & then you have to rake em up!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Too lazy to work so more pics, I am trying to get the focus better, seems to work sometimes? 



ignored back or the board........





smallest steamer I have............



to the biggest steamer.........



up at the crack of dawn...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the UP twins out for a shoot, trying to get clear pics with some of the scenery in there.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So more crazy stuff, last night when I was trying to get the motor apart while prying the metal case one of the brush caps popped & when the brush fell out it looked pretty dirty, so for the heck of it I stuck some wires in the holes & that baby ran, so after cleaning everything up, scrounging up a spring to replace the one that popped into oblivion the motor seemed to run pretty good, put it back together today, added in a smoke unit that was laying around in my motor drawer & tested it out, took me quite a while to get the quartering right, but now she runs, low speeds pretty good, still not sure just how fast one should go but it seems slow, & with no load. :dunno:
If I leave the smoke unit in I will use the undecorated extra shell just in case it melts! 

So I'll get that spare motor & when it comes I'll switch em out & see if there's any difference. :thumbsup:

hard to catch a pic of the smoke :smokin:



at full speed she smokes a lot, but the heater is also glowing pretty good


----------



## norgale

Great pictures Rich. Whatever your doing is working fine. Love all the steamers. Pete


----------



## dannyrandomstate

Awesome!!!! That thing sure is a smoker. :laugh:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete I just slowed down, try & put the camera down or as you said rest my hand on something, still took 20 or so to get 7 or 8 good ones. but I'll try not to regress & get in a hurry again. 
Danny, second pic is at full power, can't do that too long, but smoke at regular speed dies out pretty quick maybe 3 laps, I used the 6 props mantua listed for it's engine, gotta dig out the Bachmann papers & see how much they say? :smokin:
Alternate idea on smoke to be posted later! :sly:


----------



## spoil9

Rusty,
How does that UP 4-8-4 handle the tight radius turns? Im not much of a steam fan but that one with the elephant ears looks like something I would like to have in my collection.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

They are lookers! My turns are all 22 cept for the exit on some switches, the engine handles it fine, the centipede tenders won't back into my freight yard, make it backing into steam yard most of the time. thinking of using 6 wheel tenders on them when I'm pulling freight, watching one on ebay now if it's cheep enough maybe for a test.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Smoke made easy & no melted boilers! :laugh: :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

running out of bare spots, getting nervous, how long will it be before teardown begins! :retard:


----------



## spoil9

Awesome. Planning on doing 22" radius on mine. Although I would change it to an oil tender and say that this steam engine was converted to run on bio-diesel. Thanks for the info.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

was watching a vandy 6 wheeler, nice tenders, went for too much for a test mule. 
On these you need the tender with pickups.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put the spare shell on & ran it for a good 20-25 mins. it got warm by the smoke unit but I don't think too hot for the plastic. So I shot some pics & placed it back on the display before anything else goes wrong.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

then I just ran the trains around a while & shot some random pics, I don't want to decorate the last few places , getting too close to the end.

safe on the display! 



hear the chugging & imagine the smoke, they are moving .:laugh:



fading into the sunset..........


----------



## dannyrandomstate

Watch out the EPA is gonna stop by! 

I got something similar to this for my camera. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WT3110A-40-Aluminum-Tripod-Stand-for-CAMCORDER-Camera-DSLR-Canon-Nikon-Sony-/121234407271?pt=US_Tripods&hash=item1c3a223f67

My camera is just a kodak blah blah blah. It's not a point and shoot but one of the bigger ones like the high end stuff. I'm in the dark about all the settings and all that so I generally just keep it on auto. The little tripod does help a lot.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now that's weird, I just gave my dads tripod to my Brother in law, he's into all that stuff, some day I'll get him over here to shoot some good pics, till then you guys have to put up with my slow learning curve!


----------



## norgale

Rich your doing great just setting the camera on thetble. The shots are coming out way better. The daylight is beautiful. Ya done good son. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Getting some more detail pieces ready to paint sent me on a quest into the basement lookin for flat paints, my old modeling stuff, dug these up, amazing how many are still good. 



so jars in the box still good & an assortment of "junk" to get painted up & strewn in the junk yard! 

I once said they had everything but the kitchen sink, well they came close to proving me wrong, there's a bathroom sink (circled) in the plumbing "junk" !


----------



## norgale

I wish they made doll house stuff in HO scale. There is so much available for doll houses it ain't funny but the scale is just wrong. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh I'm not even gonna try & use that plumbing stuff in a room, it's going in the heap at the junk yard! 
got some paint on some of it..................


----------



## shaygetz

norgale said:


> I wish they made doll house stuff in HO scale. There is so much available for doll houses it ain't funny but the scale is just wrong. Pete


Back in the '70s, Scale Structures Ltd. used to make all kinds of interior detail kits that would rival anything offered to doll houses today...very sad they went out of business before I could buy their stuff...


----------



## norgale

Every RR needs a junk yard but I'm not too sure about a smoke in the smokestack. That was first for me. Ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Need to make the piles bigger for a real scrap yard feel, but that's all I came up with in the first scrounge around, I'm sure I'll add as I go.


----------



## norgale

Good place for a junk yard but one thing is missing--- a Ford. Ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Had to pull out the freight car boxes to get ready for the trade for the Bachmann motor, so I set up a hopper train & switched out for more branded boxcars.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

dug out a bunch more "junk" anything that looked like metal to throw around the junk yard, gonna go put that in now.
Might have found a piece of tubing I can use for a driveshaft on that last non running brass engine, wish me luck, think I'm gonna need it!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Next round of junk added, lookin a little more like a scrap yard, now I have to make up a sign, just put some letters on the pic in "Paint" see if I can make something decent.


----------



## dannyrandomstate

You're not scrappin the VW are ya?!!? Or is it a "company" vehicle?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Nah, he's droppin off a load of scrap, but back in the day, I would have told em, include the van! Now there like gold, people are pulling em out of yards.


----------



## dannyrandomstate

HAHA!!! 

Oh I know. I had 5 at one point. Even a rust bucket can bring several thousand. Ouch. So I sold off the collection and now I'm geared toward the water cooled VW stuff, and oddball stuff like my mail van.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Never had one myself, my brother had the beetle(the little bigger one) when he got back from Nam & a guy I worked with had the van, car pooling was a little weird, one day in the VW & the next in my 'Cuda! 
I always had big cars & muscle cars, smallest I ever bought was an 81 malibue  my first "family" car) so after 30 years of driving 4 door monsters (a caprice after that & then the marquis) now I have my 'Cuda back & the family car is still 4 door  but at least it's a charger!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So while I was digging for scrap I found the training wheels for the speeder, now I need the rears & to find some smaller front wheels.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I got up the courage to open up the sunset brass again, the tubing fit perfect & I opened up the gear box because it still had that groan , sounded like gears not meshing right.
All seemed fine in there so I ran it around a while, ran good for a few laps, then it did just one of those hesitation jobs, then after I soldered the step & bar back on it started to jump the tracks all over the place, checked all around where I soldered & found nothing to create this problem, so that's where she's at now, at least it runs as far as the motor & gears go, I did clean & lube them while I was in there. 









once I sand down the solder a little I'll hit it with a bad of gold paint.


----------



## norgale

Love those brass engines. They look like solid gold to me. Cost like it too.Ha! 
So tell me, what's a "bad of gold paint"? Your getting good with the soldering. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just gave it one more try, they are beautiful, but like a beautiful woman, finiky as hell ,
even took the leading truck off, the drive wheels still riding up on something & jumping the track.


----------



## norgale

Maybe out of gauge?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wheel sets check out with the guage, maybe the track, but it does it all over the place, switches, turns, even the crossing pops it.
I have the other ones if I really want to run one, would be nice to have them all track worthy, I got this far, thats something, someday I'll learn some little trick to make it work, till then, pretty little angle on a pedistill!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Cleaned up the solder joints, I think I'm just going to leave it, no paint.
then I started on pete's idea for the UP diesel, painted the step fronts & grab rails yellow, up front I cut out the plastic straight piece & put in the chain. So do diesels have the throw bars like the steamers, found one & have the chain, should I stick it on????????


----------



## norgale

Yes the diesels have the throw bars. Stick 'em on there. Google the UP engine with the engine number and you'll get a picture of the real thing. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, after an hour or so of just digging around I got back to it, could not find any good hoses, so I'm cutting up this pass car set. could only get 2 on each side, so few instead of multiple units! :dunno:


----------



## norgale

They don asposa stick up like that Rich. They sposa hang down.
Oops!They do stick up but the top of the rod handle is folded back on itself to make a big loop instead of sticking straight up. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Then maybe it's not what I thought it was, if they hook down the offset for the chain is inward, hey it's my first attempt with junk that was laying around, most people that see my layout would have no idea (Like Me! ) 
If it was metal I could bend it, but alas it's just plastic. 

Hmmm, now that I look closer maybe I could flip it, will check when I go back up later :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

spent a little more time on my $2 switcher, found some more uprights so I bent a new main & got that on, added the bell, now I just guessed at where to put it, the middle where I have seen them was out so off to one side I went.then I cut up some clear plastic that came in a recent goodie box & got some glass in, so what else was there, can't find the orig post?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Corrected the throw bar, thanks Pete, you guys keep me learning, sooner or later I'll catch on. 
then just posed the pere for a few pics.



pullin out of the car wash...........



lookin spiffy, ready to roll..........


----------



## golfermd

Salivating over that brass engine.


----------



## norgale

More like drooling. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

They are perty, too bad they don't run as good as they look!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, I got it bad  was actually thinking about bidding on this, lots of stuff I don't have, figured I could sell off the doubles, using average ebay prices, easy 900 -1000 worth of quick sales, get a few bucks back & flush out the rivarossi collection, which has become my brand of choice.  wonder how high it will go, looks like a real nice assortment. hwell:




http://www.ebay.com/itm/111266039671?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wow got 2 bids while I was typing, 920 now!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bored again, really fighting myself about putting on the rest of the small details when teardown is looming on the horizon. So I gave a few of the display engines a little run time & did a little photo shoot with the Cresent, I have to dig out a few more little projects while I mull over weather or not it's coming down now or wait till next winter?


----------



## norgale

I have a Cresent telephone. No tender but the top lifts off to call and talk. It has a bell fot incoming calls or you can select the whistle sound. Pretty neat. Looks exactly like your model Rich. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It went for 1100 with shipping, I think it was still a decent deal, if I counted right there were 20 engines in there, nice start or addition to a collection. 
I got to hit the lottery!


----------



## norgale

I didn't think that AHM was all that attractive. I don't remember them as being any kind of expensive stuff but I guess there was a lot there. Still a lot of money for used stuff. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It's all Rivarossi stuff pete. 
I did a quick low price calculation & you could easily sell that for just about what they paid, I was hoping it would go around 500, then I could fill in the blanks, get some parts units & sell some off to get a little back .
had a lot of little switchers in there & a couple of nice bigger steamers, mostly units I don't have. 
Oh well I still think someone got a decent deal.


----------



## norgale

It says AHM on all the boxes. OH wait,I'm thinking of IHC. I always get them confused. Ya that's good stuff but still that's a lot of money and you really don't know what your getting. Pete

Ok I hadn't read the whole ebay ad so I guess it's not a bad deal. Lots of good stuff there.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Always a crap shoot, the boxes look pretty good though, mine are all beat up from all the in & outs over the years(lots of usage) could be they were always out & used, or packed away in a closet with little use for 30 or so years.:dunno:
just that one stack of engines is around 1000 if you picked em up one by one, add in the switchers & the rolling stock, ahhh all speculation, anyway I can at least dream of having one of each!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got my spare motor (& some extra spare parts )thanks again Kenjuro4449 :thumbsup: motor runs good.  those frames are solid copper I think, they may end up in my scrap bucket. :laugh: but lots of other little goodies for backups , which with Bachmann is a must!


----------



## Rusty

The closed vent motor might get overheat. The vented motor is better. Thats what I thought. What do you think?:dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

In my A/c work I use both sealed & open motors, in that setting as long as it was designed properly & not overloaded in use it should not overheat, since I'm new with these little motors I have to assume protection was designed in. 
but yes, they would run hotter if all else is equal.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmm where to start,, well at Moms house there's a front room in the basement where we would go either to snake the sewer line or get the old Christmas decorations, which haven't been out in years( still have those glass balls I shot off the tree one year with my quick draw McGraw dart gun :cheeky4: ) anyway, My wife had been bugging me to clean it out, I just said leave it for the next owners, but she also thought maybe Dad stashed his original medals & the german bayonet I know he had, so just to get her to give it up I went in & hunted around last week, decorations still sittin as they had been for a long time, years ago they switched to the little table top tree, no hiding places found with Dad's goodies, but on top of a cabinet (with a bunch of popular mechanics mags in it) were the other 2 engine houses I forgot about, so I dragged those home today, so now I have 1-2 -3 & 4 bay houses, I think I should turn my whole table into a giant steam yard! 
2 bay, some weathering, & the stuff that accumulated on the roof actually looks like bird poop in places, natural weathering.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Had to pop the stacks to get it in the box, the 2 on there are just sitting for the pic. 
The 3 bay, that must have been in the turn table area.
not weathered, but one of them started to light & decorate inside.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm a bad boy  I stole the work bench & workers out of the house to flush out the work area on the table, moved the pipe rack outside & the bench in, now I'll stock the shed with barrels & crates. find something to work on , on the bench & that should be nice & busy lookin.


----------



## shaygetz

Awesome...:thumbsup: My next modeling project will be replacing my long lost 2 bay engine shop diorama with another one. I miss doing shots like these...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I miss doing shots like those too  because I'm a lousy photog 
Awesome pic, with all the pics I take someday I'll hit one that comes close to yours, as always, great shot! :appl: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some more details in the shed area, cept for signs & signals around the tracks I think we are busy enough.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Another snow day, was finally supposed to get back to work, rescheduled for tomorrow, but geeze the rest of the week doesn't look too good. anyway putzed with some more little touches for the table.


----------



## norgale

You keep looking Rich. Your father had a lot of stuff I'll bet you havn't found yet. Those little dodads are great to have on a layout and not cheap to buy. Vehicles especially are pricy. Can't imagine why you would even think about redoing this layout for the near future. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now it's just the little treasures in all the bins & boxes, at least I'm starting to recognize what some of them are, still some stuff I can't place.
As for changing the layout, I love the building once it's done(or in some cases almost done) I start thinking of what's next , still got a lot of trains to work the bugs out of that should take a while, but I have no one to run them for, no little ones running around yet (that's grand kids I'm talkin about  ) 
So back to tryin to fit bigger yards, maybe another shot at something with bridges & tunnels, switch out some industries, whatever, just something different. :dunno: :retard:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Picked up a NYC tender, see how it looks with the berk, might reletter to nickel plate, of just leave it NYC :dunno: 
will also try it to replace a centipede & see how the f3f's run backwards with it?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Decided to go ahead & put some more details on the back of the board, still thinking tear down can't be too far off  but I needed something to work on, too much sittin around getting fat the last few weeks. 
So put some trees, kids toys & a little signage out.


Couple a phone booths in front of the buildings, debris brushes on the entry & exit of the tunnel. 







workin on scoring the sidewalks, once they are painted I can put out the mail boxes & fire hydrants


----------



## norgale

When you run out of stuff to add to this layout THEN it will be time for a rebuild--maybe. I want to see everything you have that will possibly fit on this layout first. This thing gets better looking ever ytime I see it. pete


----------



## ssgt

is there a pic of your centipede?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

there's 3 on the board, one for the Big boy & the 2 for the F3F's 
I just need one 6 wheeler so I can run backwards into the freight yard, seem ok in the steam area :dunno:


----------



## norgale

WOW! Centipedes all over the place. Just call Hulett! Pete


----------



## ssgt

this is the centipede I'm familiar with and have.pennsy ran them in pairs only.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...54297D28BBC15496FC99833821FC&selectedIndex=36


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now that's a LOT of wheels!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sidewalk is in, got some more people wandering around, running out of things to do.


----------



## norgale

It's amazing what a difference the people make on a layout. Sidewalks,the mail boxes, fire hydrants are all things you see every day and never think about. Even the HoJo's is a reminder of the old days. Coffee was a nickle a cup but at HoJo's it was .15. When a cuppa went to .10 HoJo went to a quarter. Ice cream was great but cost twice what the local shop cost. How did HoJo stay in business? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Like my 3 legged mail box, looks like one that took a beating in the old neighborhood. 
Gotta search the bottom of the box & see if it's in there. :dunno:
The tender came today, if I don't conk out on the couch I might give it the backwards test run tonight.


----------



## Rusty

I saw one from railroad model craftsman about the tender, the fire car was scale kitbash designed for use in for fire service on the railroad.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

PETE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
You killed me Bud, you had to ask for snow pics, well we are getting dumped on again, went out cleared the pick up & went to gas up & pick up some breakfast , buy the time I got back about 45 mins, there was another 2" 


behind that hump on the lawn is where I shoveled out an hour ago! hwell:


----------



## norgale

Look at all that beautiful snow. Better your yard than mine. Ha! Thanks for the pics Rich. You do have your hands full with all that snow. Stay inside and do the trains. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yep today I can't get there anyway, but I'm in the middle of a construction job(already behind schedule)  & I have to replace 2 units for someone else next mon, tues & wed. they arranged to be off those days, units in the rear & I'm sure no path cleared from front to back, just make life tough,  have to finish one of em to pay the onslaught of bills coming end of the month. :retard:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Decided to try out that new tender, looks like if I keep it with the berk I'll have to reletter, gold on the engine & white on the tender, so then I'll just try nickel plate.
It won't run with the F3F , has a much thicker tender bar, guess I should have looked at my others before I bought it hwell:
just have to figure out a coupling , still watchin a few nickel pate tenders so I won't mess it up just yet, if I get the tender than I'll just have to hunt down a NYC Hudson steamer


----------



## Patrick1544

The sanding tower is filled with heated dry sand so it can be blown easily into the sand hatch on a steam locomotive or the sand boxes in a diesel. The sand is kept warm in both engines so it will flow easily to the drivers when the locomotives encounter wheel slip. Hope this explains it for you.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Lookin for some detail work to play with, I have one berk that's been nicely detailed, of course it's the one I had a little mishap with & broke the front pilot, been looking for a frame a while now, anyway I pull out the other berk & the motor is in the cab, is the first a remotor, or did rivarossi make 2 versions??


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I have a few sets of the pipes & valves for the cab, the men , enough to do an engine or 2 but the only open cab I found was the F3F, not sure I want that to be my first attempt ?




even the front end was either upgraded or came with much more detail


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

2 other options to work on, the bowser LI steamer, I have bouser detail kits to add, or back to something not so dear to my heart, the lionel UP, that could use # boards & everything.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Took the safe way out & started on the diesel, bent up 3 draw bars & started to get some of it on, this one may fit the MU hoses better, body mount coupler! 



replaced 2 pieces of broken hand rail..........



draw bar & chain on one end..........





safty chain & bar on the other end, tried some dry transfer for the # board, not too bad, but I lost 2 of the #'s for the other side while rubbing on the first, so I have to dig deep, not sure I have any more that small


----------



## norgale

You know for a novice your getting to be a real pro. Nice uncoupler handles Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So you can teach an ole dog new tricks! 
I'm learning, keep the tips coming. :thumbsup:


----------



## norgale

Here's a good tip,don't bet on the horses. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Almost done with the high nose, first coat of yellow on the steps & rails, for now just need the MU hoses unless anyone has more ideas for it?


Tyco man, question for you, the tyco next to it runs good, but I can't get the slow starts out of it, keep inching up the throttle , you can see the light getting brighter & then all of a sudden it will take off(like 90 miles an hour) 
once running I can slow to lower speeds ok, but almost every stop it does the same thing, any way to smooth her out?


----------



## Rusty

It looks like it is rubbing the bearing hard like dry up. Have you oil them? Maybe try to disassemble the motor, clean the bushings, shaft and gears. Polish the armature with light grit sand paper, clean with brake/electric motor cleaner.


----------



## norgale

Looks like your in competition with Sasha for UP engines. She has you beat by a long way at this point. Good pics Rich. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No competition here, she's got the diesels covered with good stuff :thumbsup:
I have the lionel from dad & the tyco that I got in that junk batch, I wouldn't be experimenting on a BLI or some other 200 buck engine. 
steamers I'm pretty good, the 3 big rivarossi's & one mantua, plenty to keep me going .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just played around with a photo shoot, trying to decide what to do next, so some more pics to peruse.


----------



## Ranger

Time to knock out a wall and expand the layout. looks great:smilie_daumenpos::smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## norgale

He's already thinking about that Ranger. Watch and see. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I think that would be a line better not crossed, no walls coming down, after all I build most of them.
The thinking is how to cram more into the same space, I need like a 10' long yard with 10 or 11 tracks to get some of the rolling stock out on display, but that's about 1/4 of the whole room!


----------



## norgale

Since you don't have room for all that you can send the left over rolling stock down here to me. I'll find a place for it all. HA! Pete


----------



## ssgt

You could always have a tunnel through the wall......


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

To where, bath rooms behind both out side walls, through the tub into my sons room , or the other would end up in my room, not sure the son or the wife would appreciate that! 

Wait a few years till my son gets out of college, his room is 16x10 & the closet & entry door are on the same wall ,so I would have 10 x 13 or so to work with, till then the little room is it, might dig out the pen & pad & start actually trying to draw a plan! (novel idea for me)
but that will kill some time, really want to save the next build for next winter, not sure if I can hold out that long, getting antsy already!


----------



## Rusty

You can do the second level layout.


----------



## norgale

Move the kid out to the garage. Anyone could understand the reasoning. Ha! Maybe an addition to the house Rich. Now that makes sense to me. If my house wasn't on wheels that's what i would do. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well so far elevation has eluded me, but that may be the only way , the main running up & over a humongus yard, just have a lot of trouble getting that figured out , I'd like some kind of elevated line like in the city with tracks or at least a road underneath, that may be next layouts attempt, that might take all winter just to get track down. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ha! Pete you dream big my man.  
Only if I hit the lottery big time!


----------



## norgale

Aim for the stars Rich. It can't hurt to dream. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back to the Bachmann norfork, ran it yesterday for a while & it was ahhhh OK, so I was gonna give it one more work out before I shelved it & it would not move, so since I had to take it apart anyway decided to put in the new motor, after my first rebuild it was running opposite my other locos, so I took note of the the little arrow on the old motor, set the new one in on the other side, darn, still runs opposite my other engines, but I'M NOT takin it apart again, getting all those little plastic insulators lined up is a PITA, new motor has a little better low speed response, a little more top speed, see how long this lasts(old motor did run with direct power applied so I don't know why it quit on the tracks? )
So now I'm trying to detail the 608 shell, gonna put on the detailed 610, so the 8 will be ready if the smoke unit screws up the 610.

Might attempt the bowser LI if this goes well.:dunno:


----------



## norgale

Your backward running engine has the pickup wires reversed. The motor will run according to these wires. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got some red on the controls & grab irons, need to find a hose for the front & some kind of seat for an engineer, all my engineers have the wrong arm out the window, just may use one with an elbow out.

610



608



Possible crew



grab irons, front hose



getting there


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the metal chassie sides are the contact points, now that I think of that rolling the motor over may not change anything, gotta ponder that a bit more?????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Project 608 complete, found a hose that looks a little like the other. 



got the cab painted up & engineer in.........



after all that work decided to run the 608 shell........



couplings were way out of whack, 1st tender high & long range low, added a shim to lower primary & went with body mounts on the long range, had to cringe again cutting up the trucks



2- 015 shims on each end to lower it from the body..........



all set to my cars now..........



already doing funny things when running slow, in this section it slows a lot or stalls till more power is applied, if slowed it comes out making a clunkity sound till the front straight & then it smooths out & takes off, at higher speeds it runs right thru ok ??????????? 



So one more smoking run & now it's going back on the display before anything goes wrong! hwell:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started on the bowser project, headlight ready to install, the interior is going to be more of a challenge , it's stark in there, nothing, nodda, ZILCH found some gauges & levers but I'm trying to figure out some kind of boiler cover for the center??????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Light is in, weird place to drill for wires but I followed the instructions :dunno:



got some paint on the controls............



decided to try & just paint on some rivets for the boiler cover, not much will be seen after it's together (I Hope) 



controls in, just have to get the back plate on & stick in the crew!


----------



## norgale

Pretty neat Rich. Looks great. For rivet heads try using a tooth pick with the pointy end dipped into the paint. Just touch it to the surface and the rivets will all be the same size. Easy to do too. The controls and levers look super. 
Is that Bowser engine a kit? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yes the Bowser was a kit, he had gotten the light & engineer kits, the controls I found in the steam "junk" bin.
So we have a headlight..................



crew at work.............



found one brass drop down step forbetween the eng & the tender, see if I can work that in? 



only other things I can think of is some grab irons & a #22 on the back of the tender.......


----------



## norgale

You do nice work Rich. The whole layout looks super. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks Pete, I do try my best, sometimes it's just not there yet!


----------



## wvgca

nice detail work.... impressive..


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got the 22 & the hand rails on the tender, now I have to shoot the whole thing with clear. 
looks like one of the guys was trying to bend coupler bars too.



got the hinge on for the drop down plate, just need some black paint & that can go on..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I'm humming along, got the plate done....................





got the grab irons bent & glued in...............



lookin pretty sharp!........................



So all that's left is the clear coat, should be a cake walk, should have known it was going too good  tender came out perfect :thumbsup: .................................



all that's left is the engine & damn if I don't screw it up, went way too slow on the pass over the top & ruined it  now I'm not sure if after I strip it I have the same black paint he used to match the tender  well at least I have another project 



So I'm outta there for tonight, go watch some crappy repeats on TV hwell:


----------



## norgale

So how does it look this morning? Sometimes things like tht will settle out after awhile and look ok. Happens to all of us at one time or another. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pretty bad. got the grab irons & little parts off, got the dentist at 10:30 then off to work, will see if I have any stripper left tonight .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No stripper to work with, sanded it out & brushed on a coat of black, then a shot of matt clear, colors not bad, but lost some of the detail, rivits & such, it will do for now, a future project will be complete strip & repaint. will get the "22" & the details back on & see how she looks.


----------



## norgale

Looks fine from here.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Messed up on the 2's a bit, was having a hard time getting them to transfer, ended up dabbing a little solveaset on before applying, of course I'm down to the last 2 on the sheet & put it on crooked, so till I do the complete strip down, this is how it will run,
grab irons bells & whistles back on...................


----------



## Big Ed

Looking good Rusty The mastercrafter, Maybe add a RR next to the Long island?


Got your snow blower ready for one more?


----------



## norgale

Rich where did you get the plate that goes from the engine to the tender? That's a very nice detail. pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Snow blowers at the Ready, but I'm NOT! 

that was in the parts stash, had bent brass rods soldered on for the hinges, could not find any more of the mesh material, on another one he used brass plating, I have some of that left, it's solid, looks like the plates they use on trucks, I'll post a pic later when I go up & try to dig out something for my next project. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

still learning, seems He had a couple of different methods, on the 0-8-0's their mounted on the tender, on the Berk it's on the engine & it looks like the one I used on the LI belongs to the 0-8-0 in the back, plate is MIA.
well at least another little project for me, make one for the 0-8-0 :thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So besides playing with pics today I got the plate & shaft cut out for the 0-8-0 



clamped up for soldering..........



tried to use the thinest solder I had, still need some work on my flow control, but at least no blobs............



just a little flowed thru to the front, if I leave it brass I'll sand it off...........



once the glue sets I'll see how it looks in brass, if bad I'll hit it with some black paint ?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Crud, went pretty cheap, lookin to get a chattanuga back in the collection & this ones was rivarossi! 
EDIT.......... OOps just reread, it was a tyco, no great loss! 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400668271652?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Plate is on, think I'll leave it brass for now I kinda like the look.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I picked up the NYC tender to see if I might reletter to nickel plate & one of the trucks fell off, got lucky & found the spring, but the screw & washer are MIA, went through all the stashes, no luck, this is a one of screw.

If anyone has an extra please let me know, pretty sure the Berkshire tenders have the same screw.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I also found this little goodie, what type of steamer would this go on, add a little more detail to something I have???????????


----------



## norgale

Goes on a 57 Mercury.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

flat on the trunk, rocket pack!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yo Art, finally got around to that NH switcher, one side decals on, workin on a bell & horn, then back to decaling the other side, looks like I need a little more solveaset on the edges.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Switchers done, decals, bell & horn are on.
So you guys have seen a lot of what I have, any ideas for some projects, the need to tear down is growing. 
was thinking about telephone poles, but if I'm gonna tear down soon, why??????????


----------



## norgale

Ohhh geeze! here we go again. If you tear it down and rebuild in the same space you'll end up with the same layout all over again. Got to find more space first. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

For the foreseeable future, this is it for space, lottery & a move to a Mc Mansion is my only hope for more space! 
The track plan can vary , maybe take the time to get some bridges in there even if only an overpass or two , or turn the whole thing into a giant yard & see if I can put every piece of muscle & stock up just for the heck of it, winter is just too long this year, need something major to finish it off. 
But this did give me an idea for another project there's 2 city viaduct kits up there, maybe build one to see what they look like???????


----------



## norgale

So get with it. Lets see what you can do with it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yes Boss!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Nothing, after lookin it over decided not to build it, besides reading the instructions & getting a big headache  the size of it was pretty big, no place to put the darn thing after I build it, will wait till it gets into a layout plan(well if it ever does :dunno: ) before I attempt it. so ran a few trains around, gave that switcher the track cleaning duty & mulled over what to do next, came up blank for now. :retard: Tomorrows another day!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Mini project, so after wastin a day & a half wearing out the couch watchin crappy old movies I decided to get off my butt & do something, anything with the trains, so I've had this old ? shed roof ? laying around, never did find what it belongs to, so I cut some posts & drilled em out to slip over the bent down brass rods, now I have to decide open shed roof or put 3 walls on , that should kill a whole hour or so, then it's back to what's next. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Maybe a little brown paint or stain, might be a spot in the steam yard to keep the rain off some sacks & crates?


----------



## raleets

Rusty,
Hey, man, you've just done your GOOD deed for the day! 
I'm sorta' in the same pickle as you......my layout is packed and I spend a ton of time straining what little brain I have left trying to come up with clever stuff to add to the mix. :retard: 
I have this little meadow scene in one corner with some cows and horses mixed in among the shade trees. So last week I scratch built a water trough, complete with some light blue "water" made from some goop I picked up at the craft shop. Turned out pretty good.
I got the brainstorm yesterday to make a little "animal shelter", but couldn't come up with a decent design until I saw your little building today. :smilie_daumenpos: 
VOILA!....just what the doctor ordered. Construction begins tomorrow!!! 
Many thanks,
Bob


----------



## norgale

Rich I have an idea for you. When trains are made up in a yard they are often brake tested before the loco comes to pick the cars up. SO there has to be a shed with a compressor in it and a hose that goes out to the train. The hose is connected to the air brake line and the whole train brake system is pressurized. Then yard men walk the train on both sides to see if all the brakes are applied on all the wheels to make sure all the brakes are working properly. Then the Loco comes along,hooks up to the train and pressure checks the brakes again before leaving the yard. Maybe you could use the shed you just made for this air station.Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bob, cool, glad my mini project gave you an idea, post up some picks of the shed. :thumbsup:

Pete , good idea, the yards kinda tight will check out the space between the main inner loop & the yard, caught me just before I was about to glue in those sacks & crates, was waiting for the paint to dry. still might do that, plenty of materials to build another, the compressor may be an issue though, haven't noticed one laying around, do have another electric motor(like I used on the conveyer) & a tank or 2, might be an interesting project.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not a spare foot in the yard for a compressor shed, but it will be an idea I will try and remember for the next layout! 
Shed stocked up & right at home in the steam yard.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wow, 6 days & nothing!  Thinkin of calling the only local guy that I know of that's into trains, gotta show someone before I tear it down  
Seems I'm at that point where I'm just not keeping the interest up, need something major to build.
So unless I come up with a major idea it's back to square 2, I think I still have to start with the engine house where it is :dunno:


----------



## norgale

That shed just cost you a 10k fine from OSHA if those are compressed gas tanks. ALL compressed gas tanks MUST be stored in an upright position. Yes it do! Pete


----------



## norgale

I have to say Rich that I had my layout for three years and I rebuilt it three times and now working on the fourth. Guess I understand the rebuild notion that you have. SOOOOO get on with it. Ha! This time go UP.Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

*O*h *S*hi....... *H*azzard *A*t the ready...
is banned from my private property.
But just so you know I care for my employees they are concrete & sand bags! 

The kids are commin over today for the old corned beef & cabbage repast, after that I'm thinkin tear down will begin. :retard:


----------



## Hutch

Rather than rebuilding how about getting some signalling working. That might be enough to keep your interest for a while and still keep this great layout.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh geeze, that would take planning on my part  not my strong suit. 
I do have a few signals & crossing lights but on the crossing ones(manual switch) I have to cut & extend all the wires, not ready to do that till I have something that I think I might stick with more than a few months :dunno:

I may even switch over & try & make a display case on that one long wall, to do his collection any justice at all I need to get more than 10% of the rolling stock out at any given time, besides, I really hate boxing & unboxing every time I want to make a little change, so much to think about, guess I just have to get off my duff & do something!


----------



## norgale

Rich when I get to having a lot of decisions to make I usually go take a nap. Ha! Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Can only sleep so many hours, used all mine up, so while hanging out today at least hutch gave me a little project to work on, trying to light up my 2 track signal tower, if it works out I have at least on more too build & light, should keep me going a few hours, problem is I need weeks of "keep going" :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got the plan worked out, brass tubing to sink the bulbs into glued behind the lenses, then wire em up opposite each other so red on one side with green on the other, then I think a simple double pole double throw switch should do the job .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K, lights are in, for the test I just wired em all together, the switch at the base should work & has an off position in the center, workin the wires down the sides now, then hit em with a little black paint :smokin:
not planning to try & tie in with track power, just a manual switch to show red one direction & green on the other :dunno:


----------



## Hutch

That looks cool. Now for some sensors to control them!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Beyond my abilities at the moment, save that intense mind stretching work for the last layout, because I never want to redo that kind of wiring, once is enough! :sly:


----------



## Hutch

Alright, but there's gotta be something big you could do for this without starting over. How about a tunnel?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's just me, I'm into the building, after it's done it gets old fast, I have to keep trying to improve on the setup, make something different, it's takin me a lot longer this time to start the teardown, maybe next one will stay up longer :dunno: the more complicated they get the more I'll hesitate on starting over!


----------



## Hutch

OK, Everybody has something different that excites them about this hobby. I'll be watching
For me it's the electronics and the layout software. The list of electronics that can be added is never ending so I can be content with my layout for a long time. I can play with layout software and try to come up with different ideas for extending what I have. I think I can go up if I ever want to. I'll probably never get the scenic part to look as good as yours but I'm OK with that.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& that's where you loose me, don't mind a little wiring, it's amazing how much it takes, now take my pretty basic 2 wire setup (power on or power off) & start adding in all those electronic controls & my eyes just roll into the back of my head till I irradicate the idea!

I started out with pretty neat wiring this time, but by the end there's just so many wires under there it started to loose that tight neat straight look.


----------



## Hutch

Fussing with neatness is not my way. I hook up the wires and then try to not trip over them.:laugh: I'm working on it. I've bought some bus connectors and plugs and I'm going to try and change my ways.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It's still up, haven't really done anything in a few days. When I get home today I'm thinking of packing away some steamers to avoid the mess of teardown & exercising a few diesels while I pack away the little stuff, still have no real idea of what I want the next one to look like, may just lay out a giant yard & put up as much stock as I can just for some display pics. That should keep me busy till spring hits for real, then the Car & work should eat up the daylight hours, this time I may actually try to plan something before I start plopping track, well you know me by now  so we will see how far that gets me! 

Did have an idea for future main lighting wires, might take some #14 wire I have in the shop & make a grid under the table might be able to at least cut down the # of splices if nothing else :dunno:


----------



## norgale

Now that you know what goes into a layout and the things you can run into you should put the next one on paper or at least the basic design. That way you won't have to do things over later. Your a glutton for punishment Rich. Remember,lots of pictures. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Crap, was at Mom's today, there's a pretty big drawing pad I forgot to get out of the work room! 
Your worried about pics with me, I shoot 10 angles of every little thing I do  till photo bucket tells me I overused my welcome the pics will keep coming!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally got off my butt & started packing away the rolling stock, have to rethink the giant yard with all stock out idea, it took 4 hours to put away the little that was out! 
Set a new display & am drilling the base of that signal tower so I can wrap that up, tonight I'll start packing up all the little details maybe some buildings that are not hard wired. :dunno:
So it begins............................................

the new display............................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some of the smaller details & the buildings where the lights were not connected to them off , trying to save the engine house ,it's entry tracks & maybe the steam yard, if it doesn't get in the way of whatever crazy plan I try . :dunno:


----------



## norgale

I don't think you have enough table to put all your stuff out. Besides the layout you have now is super. Can't imagine what you can do to improve on it. Pete


----------



## Dirtytom

Great train collection, and can tell lots of labor on your layout. Lights reall add great touch. I have lots of lights but wiring and controlling noy worked out yet?

DT


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yep, I need more table, but this is it , just have to figure out a way to get a good yard on it without blocking everything else ?

DT, your in for some fun, stringing all the wires takes some work, I don't even want to think about how many splices I have to pull apart, this time I'm leaving all the mains in to see if I can reuse at least some of it, or just go with my grid idea?


----------



## norgale

You might get a big yard on there but where will it go? At least now you have a couple routes to travel. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Whatever it turns out to be, it should keep me workin at it for quite a while, heck, looks like it will take a good while just to clear the back of the table.
Guess I'm more into the building, maybe slow down a little this time & actually plan something before plopping track!


----------



## norgale

Ya? That was 5 days ago. So what's happening? Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:dunno: Not too much, just cleared off the rest of the buildings & lights, next time I get the tracks start coming up.


----------



## spoil9

Tearing it up already? Did you at least get to enjoy running some trains?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh Yea, all engines that were out got some exercise, bunch a freight cars got tested, a few ended up in the future debugging box, couldn't figure out why they were derailing.
Gonna leave all the main wires under the table now, that's gotta be the worst part, this time I'll see if I can just reroute all the switch runs & save some of the lighting mains :dunno:
didn't count up all the lights, but there had to be close to 100, that's a lot of splices! 
not sure I can save the grass matts, was hoping the vinyl backing would be good enough to protect the table if the grass part came up, it kinda warped up where all the ground cover was glued down.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I've been staring at this for a while now, life's thrown a few monkey wrenches at me in the last few weeks & I lost all motivation, did get that big drawing pad last weekend , maybe today I'll try to figure out my scale to get my table outline on the pad.
Did at least sign up a few jobs, but none start till next week.
In all the staring I've had ZERO visions :retard: don't know where I want to go with it :dunno:


----------



## Hutch

I suggest some inclines with mountains, tunnels and bridges with a figure 8 in there. My favorite layouts to watch on YouTube are like that. One train passing over another adds some excitement. I know you have a tunnel here but maybe something on a grander scale.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Elevation gives me fits, I am trying to figure out something like Pete's working with one elevated & one running under it for a while. Just making my mind think in 3D is not easy!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

finally got the tables & the grid down, so now I'm staring at empty paper instead of the stripped layout! 

grid is 2" per foot..............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a little track up, not much else,not movin too fast here. had a couple a teeth pulled yesterday(OK so far?) & looks like with the decent job starting Monday work should be busy for at least a couple of weeks. Still don't know where it's going I'm trying to work in the over/under figure 8 that was suggested, one thought :retard: was run a track over the front edge of my little hill in the corner, & have it cut in behind the steam yard with the cross in the middle of the table, till I start ploppin track have no idea if it will pan out :dunno:

Hey, at least I had a thought!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The resident loon has the bridges & trestles out again, trying to see if anything can be accomplished?
If I can figure a support system for the gray bridge to let a train run under it, that will open up a lot of space, lots more track to pull up before it gets serious.


----------



## Big Ed

Take that piece of whatever it is off my engine house!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Don't worry Ed, that baby's built, it can handle a little balsa wood! :cheeky4:


----------



## bob from pdx

hello Rusty, Just wanted to say you have done one heck of a fine layout. Began to read all of them posts from beggining and am in ooh.Love it. The bottom of right Diorama looks like could be a Big River? also your layout of crossing in middle old plan could it be added a small sect. as leave and enter bridge on radius? I was for 14 years Diesel machinist and federal inspector for B.N. in Portland Ore. Just a little input on me. GREAT JOB.. BOB


----------



## Big Ed

Looks like a hurricane blew through your layout. 
O n to#3. 
Then 4
Then 5
Then 6
Then 7
Then 8
..........
.......
.....
...
..
.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wow Bob, your a braver man than me, I open an instruction book, read a few lines, realize it's useless & toss it aside, no wonder none of my machines run like they should. 
I do venture back to the beginning once in a while, it's been a fun couple of years, diorama gone wild!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I've been in a funk, got a darn contractor that owes me some money & is playing games  that kinda took the steam out of me for a while, did start workin on the bad paint spots on the 'Cuda & that depressed me even deeper.
So the trains are collection dust, gonna try & force myself out back to check out the last few spots on the car that need checking out, with work getting busy I think the trains will be little projects for a while, winters not too far off, so layout 3 is just a light at the end of the tunnel for now! hwell:


----------



## Hutch

I'd say go buy a train and cheer yourself up but you have so many already, I don't think it would help. See you in the fall.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'll be around, checkin out what you guys are up too, once I get some other jobs done things will brighten up a bit on the money front, just frustrating to do all that work & then have to fight for MY money!
maybe I'll post up a pic or 2 of the car disaster just so you know I'll still alive & tryin to be kickin!


----------



## norgale

Hope you have a contract with that guy. Otherwise you probably can't even sue for your money. I got stiffed a few time when I was a lanscape and irrigation contractor. Learned real fast not to work without a signed contract. If I didn't get my money within ten days of the job completion I put a lean on the job. That got attention really fast along with the money. If others are going to be aholes then I had to be too or work for nothing. The hell with that. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not on this one, was a last minuet add on for an on going job, gave him verbal #'s & started, end of the week 4K was due plus 600 or so from little stuff he owed me, been about a month now, was supposed to meet up wed afternoon, get the check & actually look at another job, still have more to finish up these jobs, outdoor units to buy & install to finish up, bout 9k involved there, told him I had to be paid up front BEFORE I ordered units, last I heard from him, meeting never took place & won't answer my calls! 
If it wasn't for the poor customers involved I'm about ready to tell him get some one else & I hope they screw the sh.. out of him


----------



## norgale

Yup! I would put the material on the job and get half. Then the other half upon completion. Sounds like your contractor is getting the work and subbing out to you and using your money up front. If the guy won't call you I'd pay him a visit. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

On normal jobs it's progress payments, I learned early with this guy to get more up front, get my profit out in the middle instead of at the end, just this last minuet job was only a few days from down payment to the next one, I'm only in about 1K on materials, but 3 friggen days of labor, so if I end up bailing out I won't loose on the actual dollar side too bad, but loosing 5 or 6 jobs a year may hurt, but the aggravation at this stage of my life ain't worth it, can only hope that the economy continues to improve & I get the work through my other channels?????????????? 

So, back to trains, your making me spill my guts about stuff I'm sure no one else on a train forum is interested in.
So I have actually done nothing with the cho choos since the last pics!


----------



## Big Ed

Make him swim with the fishes! 
Go and take all you did out!

I hate people who do business like that, and it would be worse if it was premeditated!:stroke:

What contracter is it? Maybe I heard of him?
That pisses me off and I had nothing to do with it! :dunno:


OK....trains. :smokin:
WINTER IS ALMOST HERE!?
Bite your tongue!
I have had enough of winter.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'll skip answering the first part & stick with the winter's almost here............................
Spring & summer go pretty fast for me, work is busy, so for me it's almost here, when you wake up one day & your kids are grown & you just passed 60 seems like everything went fast, even with all those days you thought would never end!


----------



## norgale

Next time he asks you to do another job you'll know what to say. Around here you can put a lien on the job if it's been less than 90 days since you were to get paid. You can get a judgement against him and seize anything he owns, the county will suspend his license as will the state and he can be brought before the Contractors Association and reprimanded for non compliance of their rules if he is a member and the BBB will crucify him in his county.
You pay your subs here or suffer the consequences. Pete


----------



## norgale

RUSTY Cuda said:


> I'll skip answering the first part & stick with the winter's almost here............................
> Spring & summer go pretty fast for me, work is busy, so for me it's almost here, when you wake up one day & your kids are grown & you just passed 60 seems like everything went fast, even with all those days you thought would never end!


Wait till you wake up and your 70. Then it really hits you. Ha! pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I do have one ace in the hole, he handed me a signed blank check a month ago, was supposed to call me with the amount the next day, that will go with me if I decide to get a lawyer involved, I don't know the legal ramifications if I put in the # he owes me & it bounces, I don't wanna be on the wrong end of that one! 
So Pete, you getting any work done on the bonita RR ?


----------



## norgale

I worked on it last night for a couple of hours mostly just unpacking wrapped up cars. I've been looking for my two good transformers and can't find them anywhere so now I need to start all over again looking in the boxes in the shed and all the boxes in my storage unit. Did find my Seminole-Gulf and UP engines and my hand gun so at least they are not lost. I'll put a picture in my BGC thread. Pete


----------



## norgale

RUSTY Cuda said:


> I do have one ace in the hole, he handed me a signed blank check a month ago, was supposed to call me with the amount the next day, that will go with me if I decide to get a lawyer involved, I don't know the legal ramifications if I put in the # he owes me & it bounces, I don't wanna be on the wrong end of that one!
> So Pete, you getting any work done on the bonita RR ?


Take that check fill it out for the amount your owed go to his bank and cash it if there's enough money in the account. If not them just keep the check until it is good or until the guy gives you the money.. Then you can give the check back to him. If he signed it then it's good for whatever amount it's made out for. Also he may have stopped payment on that check or the account is closed and he just did that to get you to do the work. Then I'd go see a lawyer.
Also you may be able to go back on the owner of the property where the job was. If your owed for the material as well as the labor you may be able to get the owner to pay you even though he may have already given the money to the contractor. The longer you wait the less likly you will get your money. You do need a lawyer too if you chose to persue the issue. 
You might also check with the sheriff's Dept. If he signed the check and even if you filled it out he may be guilty of writing a bad check. That can be a felony if it's for enough money. The sheriff will go after the guy and arrest him if they find him but not until you swear out a complaint. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the check, up to date for now, got a postdated for the next section, will do that till these 2 houses are done, then it's adios , just can't deal with this kinda crapola anymore!

Peek in on the trains every now & then, maybe when I get these jobs done I'll be in the mood for something , well anything that's not depressing, so how was your day!


----------



## norgale

Gotta make it where ya can Rich and the summer isn't really all that long. Maybe the guy is having trouble collecting his money so he can pay you. Happened to me with some customers when I was contracting landscape and irrigation. 
Worked on the BGC yesterday but got frustrated because there's a spot on the outside loop that doesn't have enough power to run the engines. Guess I need another drop in that area but there is so much stuff piled under the table I can't get to the wires. I'm going to have to figure a way to wire this thing so It's not all under the table where I can't get to it. Besides,I don't bend where I'm supposed to for getting under the table anymore. Pain in the back and knees does slow me down.
It's cold here this morning,down to 72. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

He's just a shady character , been talking to people & he's done this before, things are ok when the new jobs are rolling in but when it gets slow it seems the subs take it on the chin, now I do understand that, payroll to meet & all that but it's the ducking me that bothers me, just keep me in the loop, so I can make other arrangements, don't call a month later like nothing happened!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
I've had slow times too, but I was the last to get paid & never owed anyone a dime in almost 40 years of running a business.
I get your point, the 7 or 8 jobs I did for him did help over the last 2 or so years , I can only hope the economy gets a little better & I get enough work through my other channels that I won't miss him a bit, might just send a thank you for the peace of mind card next Christmas if I do depart, have not burned any bridges yet, he my be thinking of someone new anyway, how long will he pay in advance for my work :dunno: :laugh:

So was gonna work on the car today, but some rain is forecast for the afternoon, so maybe If the car doesn't put me in a funk (it is depressing doing this all again) I might get some train time later today .


----------



## norgale

Never burn bridges and sell the car. I hated to lose my Lincoln but I'm glad it's gone. It was just sitting there costing me money every month so I'm better off with out it. Besides I got 50k for it and a bunch of other stuff I didn't need. That was worth it to me. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's what started all this, I want to sell it, but with the defects it was not gonna bring much money, it's not a 50 K car, the way it was maybe 10 , finished I'm hoping for 20,it appraised at 32,500 when it was fresh a few years back, but that wasn't real world pricing, market then maybe 22,500 :dunno: 
So for a lot of labor & a couple a grand in materials it's worth the redo.
Remember I have another one waiting in the wings & I ain't getting any younger, took 10 years to do the first(well now I have to add another year) I may not have enough years left!

Oh yea, forgot, 72 is cold, maybe you better stay down there! 

top of hood stripped! 


& since this is a train board a repost of a train so you guys don't shoot me! 
A little sorry I sold these now


----------



## norgale

Don't be sorry for what you can't change. just be sorry for not changing what you can.
I guess if the Cuda is worth that much then you need to get to work on it.
I need a new AC and don't know where the first penny for it will come from.


----------



## norgale

72 is not a problem now. It's 94 instead. Yuck! I hate this place in the summer.Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I always hated the heat, now that I'm getting older I hate the cold too, so that's why I'm in hot attics all summer & open construction jobs all winter, couldn't have picked a more opposite profession.
Not raining yet, out there pullin apart the front end


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just lurkin around seeing what you guys are up to, works finally picking up a bit & some progress on the car, still hit the train room & stare at the mess I made, still trying to figure out a way to get some raised track in there without messing with the house area.
Spec80, love the rivarossi, that gray is sweet! :thumbsup:


----------



## Big Ed

RUSTY Cuda said:


> I stare at the mess I made, still trying to figure out a way to get some raised track in there without messing with the house area.


:laugh:

Happy Mothers day, lurker.


----------



## norgale

Hey Lurker! How about some more pics of the Cuda if your not working on the trains. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete, go here................. http://www.moparnuts.com/forums/sho...-very-quiet-cuda-progress&p=348057#post348057

If you want to laugh at me :smilie_auslachen: (or maybe cry with me) 
that's the build almost from the beginning & now the redo!


----------



## norgale

So is the Cuda all finished? Ahaaaa! Summer isn't as long as you thought huh? Ok it's time to put stuff away until next spring and get back to the trains.I gotta clean out my shed first. Geeze what a mess.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm not even finished with the hood yet, maybe ready for paint next spring, works still busy, a lot of family stuff on weekends & the fact that even when I get time I only last 4 or 5 hours out there all add up to very little progress, my van was down this week(tues) nice cool day, by the time I finished mowing the lawn I got about 3 hours of wet sanding on the hood done before the legs gave out, so half the hood is at 600 grit ( should be paint ready) still one color( that's a good thing) I again have no finger prints from the sand paper , still have a month or so where I'll be able to shoot primer, so hopefully the fenders will be there too???????????????? 
clean it up Pete, on of us has to have some kind of hobby progress!


----------



## norgale

Trying to sell all this junk. Got a guy coming this afternoon for a router and table so that will help. Take advantage of the weather while it's good Rusty. My summer is just starting so I'm hopeful that things will be good this season. See what happens. Pete


----------



## CTValleyRR

I have no idea how I ended up here.... started to post in a totally different thread....


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

lost in cyber space,  
I've seen threads hijacked, but this is the first time a post got stolen! :dunno:


----------



## norgale

It's your computer. It has a mind of it's own and if you push the wrong button it sends you wherever it wants.


----------



## norgale

So hey Rusty how goes the Cuda? Got to be cold up there by now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Mostly tucked away for the winter, front end is all primed & blocked out, rocker still needs some putty work over the welded repair , still have the little hole by the rear deck to deal with before I can even think about paint.
Hey Pete, was watchin this one, a way to get a mallet like yours for my collection & the camel back above it looked kinda cool, guy must have really wanted to unload, just lowered the price & then took a best offer, there will be more, ya think I really need more trains! :goofball:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161494828164?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT


----------



## norgale

Ya can't never have enough trains. Thing is to sell a few and buy a few thereby rotating the stock and keeping everything fresh.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I'm still not playing with the trains yet but I did order a new addition to the layout, think I mentioned before I worked at KFC for a few years back in the olden days, been watching a few & finally pulled the trigger, my son sold a phone & it went for less than average & ebay sent him a 10 buck coupon, had to use it before the 21st, so I found one for 17.99 with free shipping & then used the coupon, got it for 7.99 how could I not!!!!!!!!!

here's the auction. ............

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Life-Like-H...dwt3k9qrvOBRnmngDhdUM%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally got off my butt & messed around a bit, still have no idea where the layout is going, but moved all the junk to the middle & got out the track cleaners, Big boy seems a little sluggish, the almost free B&O runs like a top!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Was gonna use the berk but saw I never changed the coupler on the new tender, small project to mess with.......... wouldn't be me if I didn't try a twilight shot! 



fixed a broken piece of railing on the susque....... & glued my conductor on the lionel I had tried to detail............


----------



## norgale

Great pictures Rusty. I like that Suzie Q engine. Seems to me I remember you starting to tear up your layout last spring> Will you still rebuild? 
I was messing with the BGC the other night and found a stretch of curved track where the engines kept derailing. Got to pull that section out and replace it but not tonight. It's way too cold in my shed. 
Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh as long as I have the ability it will happen, just a matter of when I get the motivation to go at it full tilt.
decorations are off everywhere but the steam yard, just the inner sidings have been torn up, so I ran the track cleaners for about an hour on the two loops & the 2 passing sidings, ran pretty good for sitting almost a year.
Gonna start with small projects while I mull over what direction to go, it's either less track with some over & unders or just going for a giant yard somewhere to get some of the rolling stock up on the board & out for display?


----------



## norgale

Think "up" for some long runs around the edges and "down" for staging yards like under the table. The next BGC will be 4x24 so I've been working with that.


----------



## norgale

Rich, you seen this? Hit the replay circle at the bottom of the picture. Doesn't look like that engine has been sitting there all that much time. 
http://youtu.be/UDen_xpdPzo


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hope it's real, that's a cool car. wish mine looked that good when I got it!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

been in the train room a bit lately, which is good yes, but not at this time of year, I should be workin my as.......... off but things just went dead.
So I had taken out some trains to run for my grandson,including the super bowl train(cause it ran good & was colorful for the kid) noticed on the original eng one coupling wasn't closing right & the repaired end was drooping a bit, replaced the bad one & reglued the the other, see if it holds this time.



finally put the KD on the nickle plate tender.........



pulled out some pensy locos & ran each a while........








coupling workig now on the SB train, didn't pull with the repaired truck, that's up front...



back of the table is still a mess, but the loops are cleared to run em a bit!



& finally I reset the display, nickle plate goes in the empty spot.......




Still have no Idea where I'm going with the layout, I'll just putz with little projects for now, still lookin on ebay for junkers to toy with. :goofball:


----------



## norgale

Yayyyyy! At least somebody is running trans. Good pictures Rich. Hope the other guy who inherited his uncles trains can see this so he'll know what can be done with his stuff. Hate to see him sell all those nice trains.


----------



## traction fan

*Looking Good!*

Rusty cudda; 

Nice work throughout. Hard to believe you're a beginner. If you're still looking for things to do, you might want to try painting some of those buildings. A flat paint, airbrushed on can do wonders for a plastic model. Makes it look more realistic and less shiny. Just a thought. What you've done so far is very nice already.

Traction Fan


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks for the tip, did try a bit on that one house last year or so, been working with the paints that survived , out of maybe 100 jars 30 or 40 survived,do have an air brush but haven't used it on the trains yet.
Buildings are all boxed up for now makin room to work the track,still have the KFC building to put together, might hit that next, or just pull out some different trains & run them around a bit.
Still have a ton of freight cars that haven't been tuned & a million other things I could do, just gotta get in the mood, too many of life's other matters towing me down lately.
Always was a modeler just never thought I could do trains in this house, thank God the 2 older boys never asked to move back in after they moved out!
As noted earlier, the bedroom was a slow(well kinda) takeover, still not a popular topic but she still puts up with me! 
Hell maybe the living rooms next!


----------



## norgale

That'll be the day. better head on out to the garage. You'll be safer there. Ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally pulled the trigger on some trains, got 4 lighted rivarossi passenger cars with interiors for my new new haven fleet, might sell the unlighted ones later.
been trying to get these lit up & interiors in for a while now, but if you figure getting the parts, the shipping, it would cost 30 or 40 bucks to light each car, so I think i did ok, 86 bucks for the 4, just have to do couplings & there ready to run, I'll get some pics up when they get here!:smokin: Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hey guys, got the NH cars in, was looking at changing the couplers to KD's ,the one's I had used #505's on the trucks, is there any drawback to using #5's on the body & I can I mix body mount & truck mount on the same train( running my old ones with the new body mounts)???? 
thanks Rich.


----------



## DonR

You can use the #5s for your body mount couplers. 
I prefer #148 tho. They're easier to assemble before
you attach to the car. They use the 'whisker' springs
instead of that pesky brass 'box' to center the coupler.

Why not cut off those talgo couplers and body mount
them all?

Don


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hey Don, Thanks, for now I still have a stock of the #5's & if I'm lucky I don't have to cut up the trucks, just remove the long couplers that are there, I'll find out tonight if there's clearance when I attempt the first car.
Next time I order I'll get the 148's, out of all the stock He had I am running low on those brass springs.
Ill test run it with my 2 old cars with truck mount & see how the mix operates, pretty sure all my passenger cars are truck mounted & have run well in foward & reverse, so if it ain't broke I don't want to mess with all the other sets at this time. Thanks again,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK body mounts are on, tried a mixed consist every other car, body/ truck/body etc.......
foward was fine, but after a couple of clean loops in reverse there's one switch that caused a derail twice in a row, will have to play with running order & see if that cures it(ran fine in reverse when they were all truck mount) consist is too long for the station now anyway, get some pics up soon.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Messed with the cars a bit more, thought I had the backwards derail fixed when I redid the wheels on the car I messed with, all truck mounts at the back of the train worked fine, mixed em in & thought I was home free, after a few laps backwards the athern cars derailed. 
really wanted to have the lit & unlit mixed in, but till I go all body mount thats out, So now i have a nice rivarossi observation car I can sell,with interior, no lights.
So here's the fleet, was trying to show the lights but pics came out lousy!hwell:






On my 2 athern cars they have nice Boots (don't know what you call them) between the cars, are these available for the rivarossi, I think it's a nice touch? 



Well at least I can run these 4 with lights & the 3 pennsies I lit up for the little guy!


----------



## norgale

The "boot" between the passenger cars is called a diaphragm. I wish I were working on the BGC but it's still over 90 out there everyday. I can't wait for winter. Looking good Rich. Pete


----------



## DonR

Rich

As you've discovered, when backing a long train, the pressure against the
truck mount coupler on a curve pushes the wheels of the truck too
hard against the rail and up it goes. I've moved all my couplers to
the body. Have to. The passenger train must back around a curve to
get into the passenger station. Does so flawlessly with body mount
Kadees.

Don


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Seems to be more stress on them when there mixed, body to truck, running the truck mounts alone went backwards fine, even when I had them all at the rear of the train it did ok, I'll concede the problem but for some reason on my layout it takes the 4 corners fine, just derails on that switch when going off to the inside, hmmm never tried it using the outside half of the loop, maybe just that sharper turn catching it, no matter, that train will get the body mounts, now I have to scrounge up light for a couple more cars.

Another note in the mix, the 2 athern cars (with truck mounts) seem to be heavier than the rivarossi's gonna weigh em later to see how much?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

anybody try these light kits, will they work for rivarossi ? athern ?cars.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-11-10-LE...Starter-Set-/391126909678?hash=item5b10fb02ee


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Scrounging around I tried to come up with enough to light up one more pensy car, made my brass sheet pickups & got the bulbs ready to glue on my heat reduction strip, have some interiors left but none fit this car, thinking of hacking one or 2 of the doubles up to at least get seats in?????????? :dunno:


----------



## DonR

RUSTY Cuda said:


> anybody try these light kits, will they work for rivarossi ? athern ?cars.
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-11-10-LE...Starter-Set-/391126909678?hash=item5b10fb02ee


They are quite similar to the LED strip lights on a 300 LED roll. A bit less pricey
than what your link shows. You would have to fashion the brass power
pickup wipers tho.

http://www.amazon.com/Triangle-Bulbs-T93007-Waterproof-Flexible/dp/B005EHHLD8

You cut off as many 3 LED strips as you want. They run on 12 V DC. I used the
warm white version
in my Athearn Silver side passenger cars with a rectifier (I have DCC). The effect
is flourescent lights as those cars had.

I have been using the remaining strips for building lighting. 

Don


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Definitly a lot lower price, but I'm running out of stuff to make up the rest, might try a couple of kits & see how they go in.
Gota order some metal wheel sets used the last batch on that pensy car, might hack up some interiors to finish that off today.
What wheel sets do you guys use, intermountain ? KD ?


----------



## norgale

I'm using Intermountain Rich. They are the best buy (per 100 ) and seem to work great. On your lighting do you have to have one side insulated and the other side not? I'm talking the wheels now. I remember there being such as an issue when adding lights to a car.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

In my diggings I found my athern lackawanna set had metal wheels(yes insulated one side)so I stole those since they have no interiors.so I have enough for 4 cars.
Did find another couple with metal wheels but they used a plastic axle to insulate so no good for my home made pickups, would have to expeirment with wheel wipers??????
Any way when I got to the bottom of the pass car box I found 2 more rivarossi new haven cars I forgot about,they do have interiors so those will be the next to light up.

Another question, who are the people making rivarossi now, I see brand new engines in the wathers books, I wonder if I could buy the metal push pins for the trucks, it would make lighting them so much easier, I could pick up the power in the car instead of drilling a hole & running the wire through???

BTW I did find a guy selling diaphrams, couple of different kinds, not sure what to buy? 

Gonna go hit ebay, KD & intermountain sites today & see whats out there!I'm looking for 33" wheels Right??????

Don, heres a good one for ya, put the three truck mount rosi cars on the back of that train(with the body mounts) ran it backwards a long time, no derail, I'm wondering now if it was the athern cars that were the problem, them seem quite a bit heavier then the Rossi's!


----------



## norgale

33" wheels for freight and 36" for passenger cars I think. Yes if you don't have uninsulated wheels you can do wheel wipes. Lots of locomotives have that.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Saw a couple like that in the collection, problem is it will be more intricate to make those & figure a way to fasten them to the trucks.
gonna go searching now see whats out there.
Maybe count up what interiors i have & see if there's anyone that can trade for the ones I need, I know I have a couple of observation & I think 6 for the dining cars.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok need to know exactly what I have here, I think it's ahm, but in my search nothing matches, none of the ones I saw had this bottom or the long nose or the silver trucks, saw one ahm dummy with silver trucks but it had a short snout(I need a power unit) thinking of powering up my b unit, a alone has a lot of wheel spin when i added another car, my dummy weighs a ton & looks just like my power unit cept the trucks are not geared.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK found this, the guy has athern with ?? listed, looks like mine, has the flywheels but is only 4 wheel trucks & short nose. 
anybody confirm brand????????? 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-Scale-Pe...6-A-B-Units-/291555574361?hash=item43e2110259


----------



## norgale

Ithink I'd ask the seller if they run and if both units are powered.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Don't want those, would like to get an exact match to mine, was just trying to confirm brand & exactly what you call my loco, c liner, F7?8?9? fairbanks?


----------



## DonR

Could it be an E9?. F series locos usually had 4 axles, and your loco has
6, a factor of the E series EMD locomotives.

http://www.american-rails.com/emd-e9.html

That site has pics of all of the E series locos.

Don


----------



## cv_acr

That 5750 is an ALCO PA-1.

The E-bay link with F7s are altogether different.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yes I knew they were different, was just trying to confirm brand, I think it's an ahm but saw nothing like mine anywhere, all short snouts.
I'll try a search under alco pa-1 & see if anything shows up, thanks,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, it's not ahm it's an athern found this right away, now I have to find one with silver trucks, or maybe just paint em??????? 
Thanks for the info, searching the right name helps a tad!:goofball:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATHEARN-DUA...50-HO-SCALE-/151600489372?hash=item234c17e39c


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Crapola more decisions,I can get a pensy unit with black trucks & have an A-B-A setup, just try & paint the trucks silver for about 55 bucks or get a up with silver trucks & just power up my B unit,for about 40 bucks?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ordered 3 of those light sets, want to see how they go in & how good the lighting is, holding off on the wheel sets will use the ones I stole off the lackawanna set for now.
That will finish off the new haven set.
then I need to get a few more interiors & lights to wrap up the pensy set.
Alton set has interiors, if these kits work good I'll light that set up too! 

Also watching a couple of sets that come with metal wheels, not clear if there for 4 or 6 wheel trucks says IHC/Rivarossi on the listing ? 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252077967456?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, light strips came sat. little mistake, 2 of the strips were 6" instead of 11" emailed the guy & he's sending 2 more of the full strips, so I used one of the short ones for my first test, used it on the combine car, waiting for glue to dry to see how it lights up.
the strips...........



got the pick ups soldered, I'm getting a little better with my fine soldering.



Once the glue dries I'll pop it together & see how she lights up.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Set on full on(adjustable strips) it's a whiter light than the orig. units but a similar brightness.
Will try a full set next .


----------



## norgale

Hey, that looks great Rich. Must be getting cold up there if your working on the trains.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Nah, just haven't had the days to work on the car, needed something to mess with & the grandson woke me up to the trains again, wanted to get more cars lighted for the next "show" .
Pulled the trigger on a cheap PA1 with a bonus lionel, hope it runs & fits my B unit????

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-HO-LOCOMO...sB6cFn3MOxqVckeuMRiHk%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Toned down the lights on that & the full car I did, nice to have an adjustable strip, now I gotta dig out a caboose & use up that other short strip! :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So the santa fe's & the full light strips came the other day, the PA1 ran some, a lot of sparking at the wheels & it has flywheels but not the brass ones, don't know how much difference that makes, the lionel kinda ran, lurching , slow no light, ahh for 25 bucks + shipping I didn't think I could go wrong.
Turns out I did ok! 
First I gave the PA1 chassis a good cleaning, all the gears looked kinda dry, but at least they were clean, lubed em up cleaned the crud off the wheels & trucks, sanded the top brush flat, didn't get to the bottom not sure how to get that out, put the couplings & one truck cover from my be unit(front PA1 cover/coupler much longer) & removed the head light, now I have a powered B unit, a little slower than my A unit, hope I don't pull the couples off!
And a bonus santa fe dummy PA1.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

In one fell swoop I've doubled my lionel fleet! Now I know some of there stuff wasn't so great, this ones from japan I think, but it still has a nostalgic feel for me! 
So I pull it apart, again gears looked pretty dry, cleaned out all the fuzzies & lubed em up, put a droop of oil on each end of the motor, put her back on the track & that darn thing ran like a top, took right off , no more screeching noises & hit speeds way up there.



So I kinda made my own coupler setup, had a nice screw setup but no cover, so I started with #5's, took a cover & shaved it down to fit between the sides of the original loco box, 5's were low so I went to a 28(I think)with the underset shank! 



Perrrrr fection!




Put in a new light bulb & she's ready to enter service, add a little color to all my red sant fe units! 





So for 34 bucks, 25 + shipping , I've got power to pull my pensy pass train without wheel slip & a bonus little engine that runs pretty good, & the dummy!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So all I have left to do is light up one more New Haven pass car, I'll have one extra full strip & one half strip, maybe dig out a caboose for the short one.
Did order 2 more IHC/Rivarossi lighting sets that come with the metal wheels, paid too much but wanted to see how the right ones go in, if nice I'll save em & try & get 2 more for my alton set!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K, the ihc kits came today, all looked really good, started to put one in & all went well , nice setup, till I went to put the light bar into the clamps, a bit short, mounted it to the cardboard shield on the roof & all is well, must have been for a shorter wheel base car??? 

gonna go order a few more KD's will convert the last 3 new havens to body mount & I'll have a 7 car fleet!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well this didn't take long,  might be back to one lionel, was running em both around & my UP high nose died, lights up, not even a hum from the motor, took off the shell, power to the brush towers, didn't dig any further, worst case is I'll steal the motor out of the bonus blue one & get mine up & running again! hwell: 

Finished the new haven fleet, all body mount now also used the light shield that came with the IHC kits as a template & made some extras to use on my cars where the light was bleeding through, its some kind of plastic, scored the side lines & it should squeeze in the roofs nicely. (I hope! )


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just for kicks I went lookin, lookie what I found, now I don't think I'll buy itbut at least I know there's at least one out there! 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LIONEL-UNIO...ANDLE-IT-HO-/381382081669?hash=item58cc24bc85


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yo Ed, I finally had to buy more tape, working the body lines on the car again, should be enough left over for my next layout!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Weird, gave the lionel a little push back & forth & it took off again & ran good, back to 2! :dunno:


----------



## norgale

Check the wheels for built up carbon.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got my KD"s today, bunch a #5's & some offset(over & under) wisker couplers, but decided not to start anything, just play time, been too long with no steam power on the rails, so pulled a few off the display & dug a few more out, so tonight no boring little projects, just a bunch a pics for your viewing pleasure!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got out some smokers for the little guy....................... & for my grandson too!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Lotsa action in the yard!



a little at the back of the table...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just had to shoot the house!



& finally the new display, giving santa fe a little show time.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So after cutting the legs off  a few of my standing people to fill the passenger cars I realized if I kept that up I would have none left for the streets, so I ordered 110 sitting people off ebay, decided to go with a guy from greece, the paint jobs looked better than the chinese stuff, they came today, got a few bonus folks & an extra leg, didn't see any missing in the group but I'm pretty sure someone's one short! 

so my next project will be pulling some cars apart & filling em with commuters! :thumbsup:


----------



## norgale

Rich, did you finish the car this summer? Ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pete! how the heck are you? 
No chance, worked a little here & there, was trying to get a painter to look at it & never was able to connect, so it will sit for another winter! 
At least I'm running the trains every now & then, mostly for the grandson!


----------



## thedoc

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Good info rider, not sure I can fit my sand pit the way I put the tracks,but I'm thinkin of a pit to drop the ash near the bin in the back side of the yard? Rich.


On the B&O at Cumberland Md. the track that led to the engine house went over a large pool of water, and the ashes and fire were dropped in the water.


----------



## thedoc

trailrider said:


> A sand tower is intended to fill the sand dome on a steam locomotive. The sand is sprinkled in front or behind the driving wheels to aid in gaining traction on grades or for starting heavy trains. The sand is controlled from the cab by the engineer, and is worked along with the throttle and reverse/piston stroke lever to prevent slipping the drivers, which is inefficient and also not good for the running gear.



I don't know if this has been posted somewhere, I couldn't find it, but steam engines were equipped with "Rail Washers" that were simply a steam jet directed at the top of the rail directly behind the last driver and were put in operation whenever sand was being used on the rails. If you watch a video of a steam engine in cold weather pulling a train up a hill, you might see steam billowing out from the pipe right behind the last driver. The reason was to reduce wear on the rails and wheels of the freight cars by cleaning the sand off the railhead.


----------



## norgale

I've been itching to get back to work on the BGC but it's still pushing 90 everyday here. It's 87 right now and too hot to stay in the shed too long. Besides I have a lot of junk in the shed again so I have to go through all that first. Good to see your pictures again. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

You drug up the monster, now all the newbies have to dredge thru 3000 pages of tom foolery!:cheeky4:


----------



## norgale

Do 'em good. They might actually learn something from you.


----------



## norgale

Got the shed cleared and two locos running on two tracks. Had a short that drove me nuts (short trip) until I found a fried turnout motor. Don't know why it fried but my wires are a mess under the table so got to spend some time there too. I'd take some pics but the SD card on my camera took a crap so I wait until Wednesday to get my check and a new card. Can't believe how much I miss taking pics until I can't.
So are you going 'up' with your layout? If your out of space it's the only way to go. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still got all the bridges & tressels in a pile in the middle of the table,look at em, scratch my head, run the trains around a while & pack it up for the night!  
may have to wait till my 3rd son moves out, his room's a little bigger! still lacking motivation, someday I'll get back to it in earnest, till then I'll just putz. been crusin ebay for rivarossi junkers, some thing to tinker with, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.:dunno:
So up to you to make some progress now, waiting on your pics. Rich.


----------



## norgale

You still waiting for my pictures? Ya and I'm still waiting for your's. ☺


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still doing a bunch a nothing, works been busy & looks like it may run into the fall, that's good & bad, I'm beat, gettin a bit long in the tooth for this , anyway got a Kadee bag on the desk with the couplings I need to get a few more of those freight cars I got from that kid a while back, still haven't ordered , workin a big house the next week or 2, four units, nice job & another to follow in the fall. So if i survive that maybe back to the trains in the winter, might just redecorate as it is???????
Nice to here from you, any progress on yours? Rich.


----------



## norgale

I started to apply some mud for the ground cover but didn't get too far. Just too hot out there in the shed. The AC works ok but it runs up the bill too much in the summer. Not so bad in the winter. Glad you have some work. That helps a lot. Never mind about getting old, work till you absolutely can't go one more step. Once you stop there's no going back. I wish I could still be working but now I'm all stove up in the joints so I'm stuck.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Squirt some oil on those joints & get to it! 
Still got a ton of freight cars that the couplings are a tad hi or low, so far that's one of the few things I had to buy, when I get some time I'm thinking of reviving the payback thread, got some of that stuff from the kid I'll never use, we'll see if anyone on the board wants to tinker with it.
I'm usually around even though I'm not posting much, if you need something give me a holler! Rich.


----------



## norgale

Changing out horn hooks and setting everything at the right height is something I need to do too and that takes a lot of time. Changing wheel sets to all metal is another thing to do. I got a hundred sets of metal wheels for $65 which was a good buy I think but they get used up fast when there are four sets on every car. I'd just like to get a couple good running trains done so I can run them a little. All things in good time I guess. Maybe I'll shoot some WD-40 on my knees to get them loosened up a bit. Ha! Even my new old dog is limping around a bit. Getting old is not for the faint of heart.


----------



## norgale

norgale said:


> You can also try to iron the roadway. Not too much heat but some may press it flat for you. However that's the least of your problems.
> You are about to contract the dreaded "bigger layout' disease and there is no cure for it. You ain't even started yet and your already out of room. Better start thinking about what your gonna bribe the better half with so you can hook another table up to the one you grugingly have permission for now. It's in the blood Rich and nothing can be done about it.
> Oh boy! This is gonna be fun to watch. Ha! Pete
> Also the 18" radius is times two for a half circle. You'll need 36" minimum for the curve and an extra inch for the ties. That's where the next table will go.


Hey Rich, remember this from back in 2012?:appl::appl:


----------



## Rusty

Fish oil vitimans and walk exercise helps your leg's joints better. Sitting around too much make them worse. I have been there.


----------



## norgale

Too bad because I'm not going outside until it gets to seventy degrees. Too damned hot out.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh yea, now I have the whole room & still too small, need my last son to move out, his rooms a little bigger!! :cheeky4:
Wish I had that option to stay in till it's 70, tomorrow may be my only decent work day in a while & that's still high 70's ,still on open construction & rarly below 85 here, Fall get here quick.


----------



## norgale

85 is really getting up there for work. I used to build docks and in the summer the temp would be 100 plus in the sun. I don't know how I did that for a living but I did and it was really tough. I sure couldn't do it any more. This tropical storm we've been having for the last three days has cooled us of to the low 80's in the day time and that's a big relief to us. It will be back into the 90's probably tomorrow so I'm still in the house. If it wasn't for my AC I really couldn't live down here in the summer anymore. Oh well it will cool off in November and that will be nice. Take it slow in that heat Rich. Drink lots of water with ice if you can.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

85 not the half of it, most of my installs are in attics, probably 100 plus most of the summer ,  work less hours but even with that at the end of the day I'm wiped or whipped, well both! Got a real good assistant which helps me survive , hope he stays around for a few years. 
will be 64 in oct, will try & put off SS till 70, not sure if I'll make it, but the closer I get to it the better my wife will do when I kick the bucket. :laugh:


----------



## norgale

Attics are the worst places to have to work. Temps are way too high for people to work and I've been there too installing a central vac system ONE time. I never did another one after that. Good to have a helper that can do things like that.
By all means hold out for 70 on SS Rich. I would have if I hadn't lost my last two jobs to the depression which the Obama -ites refer to as a recession. When 40 thousand people in just my area ,lose their homes, I call that a depression. Anyway you'll need that extra money in the end so go for it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Had a thread somewhere on these trains I picked up, MIA soI'll wrap it up here, engines too far gone, did get the motors to run a bit but too much damage to the drives, will probably keep the NJC for show in the graveyard, don't have much from NJ.



Got some couplings on more freight cars & run tested a bit, forward there fine, a couple derail in reverse??????



did a little work on the wooden kit car, dug into the treasure chest for the wood to make a new cat walk



Cut it up & mounted it & a ladder that fell off, put some couplings on & just need to paint the new walk!





Wheels on the crane were really rusty, cleaned em up a bit & oiled, put coupling on & let it hit the rails to work the oil in.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I still need to work on all the trucks & wheels to get smooth runners out of em, but for the 100 bucks I gave the kid I had many hours of tinkering, got a bunch of freight cars, a couple of them are pretty cool, where the heck I'm gonna store them, that's a problem for another day!



2 freight cars probably too far gone & don't think the pensy cars are worth much effort, don't match anything I have, when I get some time I my put em on the payback thread:dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Digging around for projects to do I decided to fix the brass engines, the first I thought I needed a drive shaft , must be having senior moments, put it on the track & away it went, guess I made one up & forgot I did:dunno:
So back on the display after a little exercise 



Next one was shorting out on the turns, so I traded drawbars with the other one I had from the same co.
problem solved!  Again a few laps to loosen her up & packed back away.



Put the last one on the tracks to make sure it would be ok with the shorter bar, no problemo! 
few limbering laps & she safe in the box again.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Next I pull out the rivarossi FEF3 with the bad gear(at lest I think????) First I notice the entire boiler cover is missing, now I had it, all it needed was center light cover with the # plates, another senior moment, looked every where & could not find it.
No luck on the gears, tightened everything up, neither looked bad to the naked eye?????

 

missing piece was the lower headlight cover w/ # plates



found an extra 080 cover & stuck that on there to fill the hole
Guess it's back to ebay to see if i can find a junker cheap to get the parts.


----------



## norgale

I'll bet your glad you didn't sell all the stuff a few years ago. It sure is nice looking. Glad to see you back at the Railroading again.:appl: Must be getting cold outside. Ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

oh yea, did sell enough to make it a free hobby for years to come, now if I could figure out what to do with the back half of the table I might really get back to it?
Not that cold yet, but like the trains the car didn't get any attention this year either, someday maybe I'll get back in gear, till then I'll keep putzin along.
You get back out there yet, is it under 90 down there?


----------



## norgale

it's nice out now. In the 70's mostly but into the low eighties too. I have so much junk in the train shed I'll have to spend some time clearing it all out first. I'll get to it pretty soon now that the elections are over. Glad to say my man won this time.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I was giving some of the locos some run time got to the lionel UP & was running fine, all of a sudden it locked up. toyed a little & it ran again, then locked up again.
So against my better judgement I decided to pull the motor apart, was pretty nasty in there, got it all cleaned up , now will I ever get it back together!!! 



well I did manage it, no flying springs or such :laugh:
hot wired the motor at each phase of reassembly & finally put it on the track & wala running like a champ, butttttttt now its derailing at a crossing & a switch, at the switch I can actually see it pushing the inner rail out away from the main, pulled it apart a few times , couldn't put a finger on that problem then it started locking up again! 
So before I threw it across the room :cheeky4: I put it on static display a project for another day


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not getting the bridges onto this layout in this space, so I packed away all those boxes & decided to bring in a line from the inner loop to pull trains onto the sidings, rather than backing them in where I've had some derailing problems with all the switches & s turns.
So I dug out the switches & got lucky, one more curved turnout in the direction I needed! 
Got that in on the right end of the table.........................




will connect 2 lines all the way to the ends of my longest 2 sidings, now I can park 2 really long trains in there..................



got the 2 runs tacked down & started testing.......................



the last switch will cut thru the middle of the table, this one will be fairly short, but the spur was there on the other side, might as well use it :dunno:

So far the only problem is at the curved turnout, hoping a few shims will get that smoothed out!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That switch is still a problem for one car, funny it's the one with metal wheels, it rides right through the frog & misses the turn???
So all else was going well, got the tracks tacked down & powered up & was testing the trains to make sure they ran on all of the tracks & all of a sudden it stopped, seems to be something with my hogger control (the remote handle) might be the momentum switch, it doesn't light up all the time, jiggle a bit & shell run a while & then stop, got it opened up, can't find any loose wires or anything, hate to loose that it's my most powerful transformer.
so 2 more switches to wire up & need to squeeze in one more switch control on my overcrowded control board, might wire up a tech 2 & make sure it's not a track or wiring problem???????


----------



## norgale

Lookin' good Rusty. Switches (turnouts) give me a fit too and it's always a wire somewhere that gets loosened up. PITA! Built a shelf in the shed today so I can hook up a tv in there. 91 here yesterday and 87 today so IT'S STILL HOT. Did a little more with the scenery a few days ago but Mom is in the hospital so haven't had a lot of time to mess with the trains. Now it's Christmas and then New Years so I'm hoping to get to work after the first. Merry Christmas to ya buddy. To the family too. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hope Mom gets better quick.
At least you got some things done, just went thru a cold snap here, that's why I spent some time on the trains,Merry Christmas to you & yours too!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wired up another switch & ran some more test trains, that frog still a problem for some cars & engines.
Seems the center point (the part where it allows the train to go left or right) is a tad low & a tad short compared to my other curved turnouts, don't know if it's worn down or some one filed it down & an at a roadblock with ideas on a solution, 6 or 8 wheel locos seem to tip slightly as they go through, been playing with shims ,so far to no avail.
the hogger is fried, tech 2 works fine, gotta see if I can remove the momentum switch from the control, don't use that part anyway , & hope it works for just power & direction??? the wonders of modeling!!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got lucky on the control board there was an extra switch control , X marks the spot!
just have to wire it in.





So I pulled out the wathers work train set & a bunch of freight cars(19 cars, just have to check that it will also fit on the inner siding) to set up the first 2 trains, atlas & kato power.



started with my 2 Rossi 080's but have some couplings to repair, I'll use those to pull the 3rd train when I get it set up later
At least now I can get a little of Dads rolling stock on the board, Now I have to decide if I redecorate the back of the table or wait forever till I get more space.


----------



## Magic

Looks like it's really coming along nicely. Looking good.
I like the two crossings right above the control panel.

Magic


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

those get me into my little tiny caboose yard.
Gonna try & dig into the hogger a bit today, at least determine if it's the power out of the transformer or the handle, then maybe google it up & see if there's a repair or bypass I can make up.For now I've got a tech2 jumped into the track line & it sits on my work table.Probably only 60 or 70% of the power the hogger provided.
So after setting up the 3 long train( bout 16 on this one) I almost got one box of freight cars on the board, another box sits untouched!


----------



## norgale

Can't you check the output on the Tx with a volt meter? Boy it sure must be cold up thre with all this work your getting done. Sidings are good to have.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not so much the cold, work slows to a crawl around the holidays, just tried utube for the hogger, I can now fix from a door bell to the power co's main line transformer, but no hoggers! 
Yea, if I get off my butt & go to the train room I will at least make sure I have power to the controller handle.
Ebay has a couple on there, may put in a bid & see what happens


----------



## norgale

Isn't there a breaker in there that shuts off if there's a bad short? Maybe it's broken. Open it up and check the path of the power from the cord connection to the output. Also check the track itself for power. Could be the extra track you added is a tad too much for the Tx and you need to run some feeder wires to some of the track. There's always something that screws things up and it's usually some tiny little thing you can't find.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not a short, tech2 works fine.
going up now to dig around a bit!


----------



## norgale

Oh. Thought the Tx was bad. Must be some track then. Simple things first. Clean the track.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sometimes you get lucky, got no reading on any wire coming over to the walk around, just happen to have a spare (much longer wire) plugged that in & got some readings soldered it in & wala hogger is up & running.
Cut off about 10 feet of exta wire, left more than enough so when I have a problem at the back of the table I can bring the handle in with me!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K, hogger complete, good thing it was just the wire, the guts of this baby is way over my head! 

power for the 3 freighters........




all seem to be handling that switch ok, guess I just keep the longer cars off that loop?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Think my first decoration will be putting the long station back between the rear tracks, it ain't goin no where else!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still amazed at the detail Alex was capable of, this work train is cool!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gonna go dig up my Payback thread, got to clear out some space.
not the greatest stuff but maybe someone can use it! :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok, just bought another Hogger ,see if it provides that extra power to my outside loops.
One was up for 40 w/12 shipping. the other at .99 with 35 shipping, wow! 
so I bid to a max of 15& change on the .99 & got it for 5 bucks, so it beat the other by 10 bucks, guess the guy will make his money on the shipping end! 
glad no one else wants em, so far I've found it to be the best transformer I have, & I have a few!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

wired up the switch & siding, put the station back & wired that up, now I will drag out some buildings & get something going on in the middle?


----------



## norgale

You have a lot of real estate there that's crying to be filled in with industries and siding tracks.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put some buildings back up & my baseball field, not gonna go too crazy this time as i may just rip it up again, but wanted to get some things lighted up for the grandson, he was over today & we took a few of the consists out for a spin! I got a WOW out of him when I lit it up!!!  (he's only 2 1/2) 
I run train vidios on u tube when he's over too , He's got some of my blood, he likes the steamers . :cheeky4:
cooler down there now, you gettin in any train time? Rich.


----------



## norgale

Ya hell. It went from 85 to fifty today. No I haven't done anything yet but I'm thinkin' about it.☺


----------



## Lemonhawk

Florida is trying to freeze the Daytona sport cars to the track!


----------



## norgale

Could happen ya know. It does get pretty cold here and much colder north of me.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Took some pics & a little video, will get the pics up if any came out good, the video I have to wait to load up, I don't have a utube account.


----------



## DonR

norgale said:


> Could happen ya know. It does get pretty cold here and much colder north of me.


You said it, Norgale.

Back in the 80s, Christmas day, the palm lined streets
of Jacksonville were covered with a sheet of ice.

Most of the local folks had no idea of how to drive in
those conditions.

Don


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tried to get some of the whole table & some of the rolling stick I could fit & the lighting .
here they are!


----------



## norgale

There ya go. Lookin' better all the time.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

finally built the KFC building, now I need to figure out how to turn their phony spot lights into real ones & get some light inside ?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

next project will be to light up my work train, there's about 6 cars I can light, had one set of wheel pickups left & did a test run, the last thing I want to do is mess up this train! 
So I went on ebay & went a bit wild, ordered 13 lighting kits, 7 were 4 wheel sets with wheels, 2 more with no wheels & 4-6 wheel sets with no wheels, just need the pickups for the work train, hoping the rest will help me finish off some of my passenger cars, too bad I can't start till they get here, guess I'll mess with lighting the KFC Kit.


----------



## norgale

I could do some KFC right now. As a matter of fact I can do KFC just about any time at all. Yummmmm!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Me Too, & I worked there on & off from the time I was 15 till almost 21, from dish washer to manager. then I got canned!


----------



## norgale

Probably because you ate too much chicken. Ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got KFC lit up..............



shoulda used bigger bulbs inside outers overpower them.



oh well see how it looks on the back of the table with room lights off?


----------



## norgale

Keep it bright outside to scare off any muggers.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

lighting kits arrived today, looks like the 4 wheel sets will work for the pickups for the work train & the light bars to replace the led strips I put in the rivarossi cars, the walthers kits I'm not too sure about, electric picks & new trucks totally different, all my cars are riva or athern????? 

 

IHC kits



walthers kits?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

had to cut down the pickups a bit, & got one more pensy passenger car lit.
working on the work train now, 3 more done 2 to go.





not going to do anything permanent inside, a little tape to hold the wires & bulb.



4 lit, 2 in the backround to go!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Question for you guys, anybody got a source for these type light bulbs, all 12volt.......

about cleaned out after this project.


----------



## norgale

"Grain of wheat" bulbs.?Walthers for one place and Atlas along with any other train company.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a gazillion light bulbs coming, hope they are the right ones ????
So finally got my son to upload the little video, hopr this works, here's the link.


----------



## norgale

WOW! That looks great. That's a lot of lights too. Good show.


----------



## Magic

+1 on what norgale said. 
Nice.

Magic


----------



## jlc41

Let there be lights, looks good I like it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks guys, all this for the grandson! 

Still some dead spots where I pulled out the streets & all there lighting,just pulled those out of a box yesterday, not a lot of room left for roads, but can squeeze in a few I hope.


----------



## jlc41

RUSTY Cuda, yeah I use the same excuse, but what are grands for if not to let us play with them.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

At least He got me moving again, was sitting over a year with the back of the table down to just tracks, when I realized there's not much I can do different in this space(at least with my inability to get some ellavation 
So I just made 2 of my long inner sidings reconnect to the inner main so I don't have to back in. :dunno:
One more son to get rid of, his room is a little bigger! :cheeky4:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Grandson was over  & after a smooth start & a great light show things went downhill from there . hwell:
After workin the last few days to make sure everything ran smooth it did just the opposite! :dunno:
Couple of derailments, my new hogger went wild, full throttle I managed to hit the main switch just before the one running crashed into a parked train. 
left that off & just ran the inner loop for Him a while.
Went back up later after switching out the control handles,the wire plug in connector seem to be the problem, jiggled it a bit & now it's workin fine again. Guess I'll have to open it up & see if i can replace or fix the inner connection (the one on the transformer, it's just a phone jack???? 

& how was your day! :cheeky4:


----------



## norgale

Better than yours. Ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Spent a lot of hours in the last few days cleaning the crud off the wheels of all the freight cars on the board,46 cars on the board, dam that's a LOT of wheels! 
The light bulb order came in today, I think I'm good for life, 100 3mm. 30 3mm with short wires & 30 4.7mm bad news is they came form china but a hell of a lot cheaper the bags of 3 for 6 bucks. the 100 lot was 16.99 
here they be! 



So I did a real rough job putting on a few of my roads to nowhere that I ripped up earlier so I could put some cars & trucks out for the little guy. 





Now I need to find some more stuff to light up! :cheeky4:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok, tested out a few of the 3mm bulbs & replaced the tiny bulbs I had on the interior at KFC, mucho bettererer! :goofball:





startin to look like a little more going on up there!


----------



## norgale

Way mo bettererer. Need some people in there now.


----------



## norgale

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showpost.php?p=163873&postcount=26
Remember when you only needed a little track to test the loco's on? Ha!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So lookin for things to do I noticed the inch of dust on the shelf where I set the flyer I pieced together, so down it came the shelf go a dust off & the engine got cleaned & lubed & a little run time.
Ran pretty good, a little noisy, after 3or 4 laps the speed increased quite a bit & the noise went away, after I slowed it down the noise came back & so it went a few more times, this ones got me scratchin the ole noggin??? 



pulled out the AHM's for time warps post & then redid the display since I had the boxes out & about!


----------



## Magic

Nice collection of power there.
Like the Pennsy GG1. Great livery.

Magic


----------



## jlc41

What Magic said and the switchers are very nice too.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks guys, most are from Dad's collection, starting to get a few in there that are some of the strays I picked up for projects.
A lot of what were sold as junk I managed to get up & running again.
Worked on the UP Lionel that died on me & got that back on track along with one of those strays that the grandson opened up (he was just holding it & was left with the shell in his hand) 
It was the tyco sante fe switcher I got in a junk lot, the front steps(that hold the shell on) were already gone, now the rears went away, so while it was open I cleaned & lubed it added another light in the cab & drilled a screw in to hold the shell on.
Now He can manhandle it a bit! 
When he's over He just wants something that's hands on so I pulled out some of those cheapie strays that I can let him handle! 

Did I mention I LOVE to tinker  and yet am still nervous about opening up some of the better engines. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

totally unrelated, snow days made me finally build a 'Cuda model my son bought me a year or so ago,a nice level 3 kit some pretty good detail, here she is!

 





now after 50+ years of building models you'd think I'd learn not to get my fingerprints with paint or glue everywhere, but no I just don't wait long enough for the next step!!!!!
Good thing most of my smudges don't show in the pics.


----------



## norgale

I think that looks great. I see no smudges and the paint job is excellent. Love the engine detail. Wait! I see a picture coming up. ohhh Yaaaa! There's a real one of those cars in your future but it's also very close to you right now.☺


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

You mean like this............... when I had it finished(I thought) the first time, I still have the 74 out there I haven't touched it's more than 10 years now, someday I'll get on it!


----------



## norgale

Man, that is very nice. Good job Rusty.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back on topic, finally found a chasie for the berk I dropped, problem is the trim is yellow mine was gold???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K, so I'm trying to grandson my layout, basically put all the good stuff out of reach & reach into the less expensive stuff I've picked up in my junk lot purchases & also look for some projects for me to work on.
So far I have a bachman 060 with a smoking motor, one f7 that needs traction tires & then the tyco Ill. Central which I think I might detail, need to pick up a set of handrails is this engine an alco 600? it's marked (scratched in) on the bottom, I can make the coupler bars, might have so mu hoses laying around, any other touches I can put on it, with my luck I'll get it all done & then smoke the motor!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I put out the other set I got with that batch the bachmann santa fe, and a santa fe switcher I got in another lot, it already felt the drop, the body was loose & when he picked it up the chassis fell out, Ive since drilled & tapped it for a screw, now he can play with it (by the way he's only 2 1/2) & unless it really gets a long drop he's good to go.
spent most of the day packing & unpacking trains, now I need some tinkering time!!!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So tinkering with the burlington I added some weight,greased up the motor & wheel(it lowered the groan quite a bit! ) got a front coupler on & had to just clean the traction tires, I came close but the closest set i had was just a tad too big.Noticed someone had added grab irons & glass, since I was looking for stuff to detail the ILL. central I started digging around all the treasures I have boxed away, no hand rails but I found a stash of the glass inserts & grab irons, so I have a little project till i order the hand rails.
Picked the SP I got in the last junk batch to test my skills on..........
one test on the roof>>>>>>>>>>>


----------



## norgale

You sure are busy with all these projects. It's always fun to get a loco back to looking good again and even better if it runs. I like the colors of the Illinois Central.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just ordered 2 packs of stanchions (short & long) one 430 alco handrail set (hoping to adapt so I don't have to bend the long ones???) & a bunch of stick on lead weights,that should get some of my projects moving.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K, got all the glass in & the grab irons on, mow I have to get some pics of a real on to see what other goodies I can add.
In messin with this unit I was impressed with the size of the weight in it it must be a newer athern, had the brass flywheels, this thing might pull a horse.
So now I'm curious , so i weigh up a couple of other F7's I had out
the Athern 16.9 oz
the burlington from yugo not sure if ahm? 12.1 & I added 2 oz's to 14.1
A tyco 11.8oz
a bachmann (train set engine) 10.1oz
That's quite a difference. 

the project..............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I got some pics of F7's wow, there all different grab irons all over the place, think I'll start with left side mu hoses & irons & see if i can duplicate the fittings on the skirt that go to the middle??? 

some pics............................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

kit bashed some freight & pass car MU hoses to get those, & also cut up some pieces to get the piping that goes to the center, have no Idea what there for just copied off one of the diesels above???





First addition to the Ill central is an extra bulb to light up the number boards, had to black out the interior the whole front lit up.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sometimes I amazed at the stuff they had, found a squashed brush spring on the 060 that was smoking, had seen some springs in one of my KD assortment boxes, not only did I find a spring but a bag with the exact springs brushes & retaining rods for the pancake motors, had seen the parts before but till now I had no Idea what they were for, just a part # on the bag, now it's also marked bachmann 060 & pancake motor parts.

So I cleaned up all the motor parts, reassembled it with 2 new brush springs & put it back together, My oh my it actually runs & without smoking!


----------



## jlc41

You gota love it when stuff comes together.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally got started on the Ill. central, used a set from a smaller alco as a template to start my bends on the main rail, used athern short stanchions for the uprights.



used the prefab on the front but I may make my own it's a mile from the steps , I may do a 2 piece so I can hang a chain in the middle for access ?


----------



## Magic

The hand rails came out very nice.
Good work.

Magic


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got some time today may attempt to bend my own fronts & rears & see how they look, get the other side done & then I have to decide if I switch to KD's.
I had left this set & the bachmann set all original.
Because of the swing of the truck mounts MU hoses will not work, but hey since I detailed it it's not original anymore anyway!


----------



## ebtnut

As noted above, sand is used for extra traction, especially on wet or icy rails. On steam locos, there is usually a large dome on top of the boiler that holds the sand. It is located there for two reasons - it's easy to fill, and the heat of the boiler keeps the sand good a dry for easy flow. Diesels usually have sand boxes located under the running boards or within the body on covered wagon units. 

The first pic of the sand and storage shed is steam era. The sand in the storage bin was shoveled into the shed where a stove dried out the sand. Shop air was used to pump the sand up to the bin where it was fed by gravity to the locos. The other sanding facility is a later design but still usable in late steam era. In this case the shop air was used to pump the sand from the shed into the loco, hence the extra curled pipe.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wow, somebody went wayyyyyy back in the thread, your a braver man than I!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

After a couple of tries I finally got close enough that I can live with.......................



hand rails done, now I have to dig for the chain, not sure how to fasten, the glue does not hold to good on the other one I did, I may try to solder them on, see if I destroy the whole job! 



looked at couplers a bit, looks like body mounts will be way high have to check that out a bit more, any details I can add to the roof of this baby??


----------



## norgale

Only thing it needs now is this;


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Boy am I true to my word, soldering in the chains I used a bad angle & melted the front pretty good.



lucky the orange I just used on the 'Cuda model was pretty close, filed down the rough edges & dabbed a little on. For the coupler I had to build a shelf hope it will be strong enough ? Went with only one for now, this way I can pull it's original set without messin with that & some regular cars if I so desire! 



geez this don't look too bad, now to get the kids name off it, any trick to removing old decals? 



Noticed my new front light sheds a lot of extra light down low up front, instant ditch lights &#^^*&&%%$(&*^%[email protected]@#


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yo Pete, the Hemi I need for the 'Cuda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But as I was lookin at the progress on the shell I was wondering if that baby could be grafted onto something with a decent drive???? 
tyco/kato.......... tyco/proto 2K even tyco newer athern drive ???????? 
project for another day, after I smoke the motor!!!!!!!!


----------



## ExONRcarman

Very nice job on the orange and white. your layout look impressive too


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh crap I won, dropped a bid this mourning before I left, fully expecting to get snipped , well lets see what comes, the Ill central switcher caught my eye since I'm workin on the other. hopefully I'll get a couple running & a good parts stash???

http://www.ebay.com/itm/182523470364?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT


----------



## ExONRcarman

is that an e8 in the top right? nice score regardless!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Time will tell,the amtrack looks like the one I have, there's a couple of rossi's in there I could use for parts if nothing else, & a little brother to the Ill central I'm messin with.Just gotta see how bad the damage is & if I can get any of them running again?


----------



## ExONRcarman

Im sure you can get a switcher going between the two in the photo.the larger b&o could find a nice home here if you dont have plans for it


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok, let me see what comes & I'll give you a better description, I have the con-cor B&O set, but ones a dummy???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

They have arrived! Not as bad as I thought, description said none run, pleasant surprise, a couple do & i think there's hope for a few more?
here's the lot................



the Rivarossi true to form both seemed to run pretty good, the 0-8-0 & the 4-6-2, the pocher made some grinding noises in the motor tender so there's hope, but no driveshaft to the loco, it's also the exact one I have.



this is cool lookin, I think a track cleaner, the truck that's there was in the bottom of the box, other MIA, so I doubt I'll get it running, but maybe find a truck somewhere in my junk to have it on display? 



2 mantuas, the pensy lights, nothing else, the other nothing>



the amtrack looks like the one I have from yogoslavia, motor tries both directions so I'm hoping a good clean out of the trucks will get it going???



short some wheels & trucks on these babies, shame I have no trolleys



The Ill. cen. actually runs, the b&o just got a hum out of & the SP is a dummy.



Bad news EXman The B&O is a stripped chassis (rear steps broken on the shell) but the good news is the motor runs. motor runs on the bottom one too...........



So all the Rivarossi spare parts I was going to get vanished, now I need to use my 
spare parts to fix it, I have the small screw(think it's my last one) & boiler plate to fix the 0-8-0 & a spare Indiana harbor tender. For the 4-6-2 I can use the NYC tender anyone know what road that should be?? don't have a boiler plate for that!
She threw a rod while testing could not find the screw.



So I'm definitely gonna clean & lube the running gear, wondering if I should clean the outside or just call it weathered???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So a good night of tinkering, already worth the price.
So the amtrack was easy, a little light oil around all the gears a little hand turning of the motor & I got it freed up! 




The B&O switcher same thing, cept on truck wouldn't turn, found a bad gear in there, need some super duper glue! 



the trolley might come back to life, the motor does run & i actually found a wheelset with a gear that looks to mesh properly, need to find another wheelset & patch up the broken cover.



The shells cleaned up nicely too 



Not a bad start, instead of spare parts, I have more engines, that I really didn't need oh well!
So I'm gonna pull out my B&O set & see if the dummy has geared wheel sets,if so I may try & power it up with that stripped B&O chassis 
More fun to come!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A little more success , found a piece of driveshaft that fit that gear shaft, it only has one tab but seems to do the job.


oiled up, cleaned wheels & bent up a new hand rail for the cab, lookin at the guts of these things they look a lot like athern drives????? 



& finally the trolley , weirdly the wheel set I found to fit was off the trailing truck of a rivarossi steamer, had to glue some things that shouldn't be glued but it lives again! 



Think I'm gonna pull apart the mantuas next & see if there's any life left?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Both motors ran after some cleaning up, the pensey has stripped gears, the NYC did get running, I think I'm gonna switch the running gear to the NYC.
Got the NYC running, was putting it up for a last test before I switched the running gear over & it wouldn't go, something with the ground from the wheels, now I had them out & oiled the axles but the back was barking ENOUGH for tonight so I had to quit! 
To be continued, same time same station!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Put the mantuas aside for a while, cleaned the shell on the Ill.cen. & bent a new handrail for the cab, she's now in the fleet.



the B&O is definitly no match for the Con-Cor set.......



Amtrack has a little different paint sceme but it can replace my dummy & give me 2 power units.............

different drive setups?



will do the job!



gathered the parts for the 0-8-0 last brass bell & second to last screw, been through 4or5 since I started runnig the rivarossi's


----------



## ExONRcarman

mantuas are a bugger if its the ones im thinking of. not to one up you or sidetrack your thread, but if your interested why i'm broke http://www.ebay.ca/itm/332180827298 this is why. i couldnt help myself the dd 40 in the top left is worth what i paid.

for your amtrack or any other loco with the brass bands, i read here on the forum that replacing the bands for wires is a really good thing. i havent gotten to try it myself yet, but i will.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

0-8-0 is in the fleet............





now how far can I go with the detailing, the others have directional lights,chains all over the place, bigger headlights lighted & detailed cabs???






4-6-2 is ready to run, think I saw that road # for sale with a B&O tender, need a boiler cover & she's also in the fleet!



OK, so when did I get these, wednesday ???? down to a few things to tinker with, will be lookin for another lot before I know it

Whats left that has a chance...........cept the B&O, no parts for that.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

EX Man, I had that on my watch list, but got the other lot, good luck with them, let me know how you make out with those bachmann 4-8-4's I had no luck with a brand new fef3, sold the darn thing! (the new owner must have liked it, never complained about it )


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

After MUCH switching parts back & forth the Mantua is finally up & running. some how I lost one of the brass axle guides, of course it had a hole in it that fit over a little nub, the one from the other engine had no hole, so i filed off the nub & finally got it togethet, too bad I forgot to do the couplings while it was all apart! DOH!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

First upgrades to the 0-8-0 helper truck up front & better truck for the rear.........



made a wood shaft (A tad ROUGH) & glued the tender truck that broke in half (hope it holds)) she ran but bounced all over the place, then I stole the one from mine & it ran ok, a boiler cover, the drive shaft & a little oil & she should be fine!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So out of 13 units, 8 are running the cleaner actually worked if I can get some kind of truck for the other end, one mantua hopeless the sp was a dummy, the e8 & the gp40 just need parts.
Not bad for a nothing runs lot!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I needed a boiler plate for the mantua NYC, decided to cut the one off the penn.
boy that was fun, solid metal, have to grind down the weight in the NYC to get it on, gonna try & drill it out for the headlight while I'm at it, got the coupling on & pulled a couple a cars around, runs pretty good.............
So now I'm putting away the salvaged parts & found what I thought were 2 tyco motors, so I dug out the tyco's I got in the last junk batch, turns out they were bachmann motors but that got me to tinkering with the tycos, one with a stripped gear one with a fried motor, don't know why I didn't do this back then, a third motor was there & tested good.
So I put the good motor with the stripped gear into the casing of the fried motor & got the mountain running, put the third motor into the virginian & now that's running too, miracles do happen.





So 2 more classics in the fleet & more tinkering fun getting hand rails bent & on, some couplings & maybe extra details if the insanity continues! :goofball:


----------



## norgale

Your doing great to get all those running. Just goes to show you that a little maintenance goes a long way in keeping our locos working.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Help me out here, the tyco mountain runs in the opposite direction as all 3 others, so I go in & switch the wires on the motor, well that creates a dead short(motor side seems to get power through the frame) so what am I missing, how else can you change polarity???????


----------



## norgale

:SELLIT: Try turning the train around. :cheeky4:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Dumb Dumb Tried that already!!! :goofball:


----------



## norgale

Keep that one the way it is and change the polarity of all the other engines.
Actually there has to be a way to change that around. Do you see any kind of switch on the loco like inside the tender or in the smoke stack or behind the front smoke box cover?
Does it go backward and forward if it's on a track by itself? Even if it does get part of the juice through the frame you still should be able to change the polarity.


----------



## norgale

I'm thinking that if you change the wires to the motor you may have to reverse the pickup wheels like on the tender too.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It's the tyco diesel, the one I mounted the good motor into the fried motors case for the good gears, gonna open up the other to check out the wiring, just seems strange, everything looks copacetic!


----------



## ebtnut

Trying to motivate what's left of the little grey cells - IIRC, the old Mantua motors did indeed use the motor frame as one side of the circuit, which feeds one brush. On at least of some of those old motors the brush tension spring had a very small insulating tube (essentially a piece of wire insulation) so that the brush wasn't in contact with the frame. If you move the hot wire from one side to the other, that insulation needs to come with it.


----------



## norgale

So does that fix the problem?


----------



## Lemonhawk

Reminds me of the Mother that said "Look my son is the only one in the band in step!" You may have to swap all the others. It would be nice to check a couple of your engines on some one else's layout to see what is right. Especially before you start making any massive changes!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Have not dug any deeper yet, but all my other engines run the other way, so for 60 or 70 to be wrong would be a tad crazy.
the mantua I was playing with does use the frame for one of the power sources, didn't pull the brushes so can't comment on the insulator, on the tycos I had 2 apart & all springs & brushes look the same, no insulation noted.
might pull it apart again tonight along with one that runs the right way & see if anything is different? Thanks for the tips,Rich.


----------



## DonR

Rich

I haven't followed this closely so am assuming
this is a diesel loco. If so:

The right rail is positive for forward movement.
You can use your multimeter and see where this
goes wrong. The 'live' frame should be negative when
track is set for forward movement.

Check the trucks. They may have been turned
the wrong way. That could reverse the polarity
to the motor.

Are there wires from the trucks to the frame?
If so these can be switched which would change
the polarity to the motor.

Don


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Opened 2 up & dam, they look identical, but wait, in lookin REAL close my grounded pole is on top on one & on the bottom on the other, I put the cover on upside down. reversed the cover, had to mess with those pesky brush setups again, but wa la runs the same direction now, so I got the kd's on both, a horn for the virginian & started gathering materials for the hand rails.
Thanks guys, you made me dig deep! Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So does it make sense to spend 30 bucks on parts to detail a 10 dollar engine.:goofball:
Need to buy more stanchions to get the other ones going, should have enough for the mountain.........
Don't know about MU hoses, the swing on the coupler is pretty wide :dunno: 

one side bent & on...........


----------



## norgale

It's only a $10 engine if it doesn't run. If It runs ok then the details are priceless.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:sold: OK then, send me 600 & I'll detail it to the max & mail it off to you!  (I'll even pay the shipping!) :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I finally got the boiler weight ground off & drilled out for the headlight, even so the light does not show, but still a small victory the engine runs pretty good.



still workin on the tycos, more handrails bent & installed, the alco set I picked up on ebay fit the virginian, waiting on 2 more packs of short stanchions to finish these off.





& finally the B&O, added a light in the cab used a red bulb, looks ok I guess & a couple of crew members.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K, mr. do it yourself says I can make something for the 4-6-2 so I go diggin around looking for something round, found a tube cover that kinda fit on, a bit RED but maybe with a real bright bulb it'll glow like roudolf! A part of a rossi wheel & a chunk a wood????? 



Kinda like the jet engine look............



the wood might add up to something, be nice if I knew what the original looked like?



The jet intake is in trouble tried to pop out the brass center to make a better hole for the light & she split in three(^&*&^$) see if the glue holds?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finished up the tyco handrails, tried to shape my wood boiler cover ,I'll stick one of em on there till I find one, watching one now, but I'd rather buy a whole junk engine than pay 20 bucks for just the cover!!!
Gotta find another junk batch to play with, catch ya's later!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So for some strange reason I was watchin 2 more 080's & 2 tenders that were listed pretty low,ended up winning them all, so I actually have some of the broken parts, from the description I may be able to fix some of the other stuff, due in around thursday, so I'm in a little more than 60 bucks, see how this one turns out, will the luck hold! :dunno:

So I dug out a bunch of Rossi stuff to check the inventory.........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally got some time to check out the 0-8-0 strays I picked up.
the 102 is a pieced together job after what must have been a major drop, a melted glue mess up front but does have a front coupler(why that's important later)



tenders not too bad, fixed the broken rear steps need to make a bottom for one of the fronts & have a back up light ready to go, just have to decide if I go through the trouble of adding a light.





santa fe has one broken step & the side broken off above it, I have one chassie but it has no coupler hole & is slightly smaller than the others so I don't think there's enough meat to drill it out??? 



So I'm thinkin I'd like to have the santa fe because I don't have that one, use the new frame & just use it as a lead engine all the time? 

Then in looking close at the running gear the 102 is lookin much different, not sure if it's pieced together without some broken parts or is just a little different from the factory . but all four of the others are the same as the top one. more questions.

finally I could just run the 102 as it is till I need parts & have 5 runners!


----------



## norgale

You sure are busy this summer. You have any JJC sound boards? I have two and don't have the instructions to hook them up.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Post up a pic, not sure what you mean, I have a couple of chug sound boards in freight cars??


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I should be workin on the darn car!!!!!!!! the trains are more soothing!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So my simple chassie change just got complicated! so what else is new.......:laugh:
My spare has a gear in it that is absent on the others, so now what to do, since it's of no use as it is I decided to drill out the rivit & see if it frees up my front end......... 





Well of course not, just freed up the steam chest, so I figure I'll cut off the front end & if it goes well I'll cut the bad one off & glue it on????? 





committed now, glued it on now the trick is will it hold, maybe that no coupling feature will be a good thing, won't ever pull anything so better chance it will stay on.....



Just in chase the crazy man is watching another fairly cheap one on the bay:goofball:



giving it a chance to set than I'll put her back together & see how she looks? :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K,back together , running the glue mess with the coupler as is for now, another sante fe goes off in a few hours & it has the same drive as my odd one out, might work out to improve both engines, see if I get it???
got switching covered!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Front end holding up so far, seems pretty solid.

started on some detailing, gotta find the skipper & the coal man.........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Dirty old one I was watchin jumped in price almost 40 & not done yet, so I said screw it & bought a BIN for 35, listed as new! it also has that odd drive, but many more side detail pieces than my repaired one, also has the bell I'm missing, a chance to improve on both units.
Maybe now I'll stop :dunno: & use the extra for spare parts & NOT go lookin for another tender 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RIVAROSSI-H...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh my how did I miss this, again the same odd drivers & even has the tender & Box :goofball:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AHM-RIVAROS...355cd6&pid=100013&rk=6&rkt=12&sd=252973104629
HOLD me back this is gettin crazy! :cheeky4:

Edit...... I feel a little better it doesn't run, but of coarse that just sparks the save the stray in me!


----------



## Rusty

looks good and are you planning to add light on front?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

They have front lights , I was thinking of reverse lights on the tender & maybe cab lighting like the 2 detailed ones I had from Dad's collection.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the crew in, checking into the drop steps he made between the engine & the tender & I notice a big difference in the tenders, both of the new ones seem to be missing the coal doors & shelf, so drop step may not be possible.unless I fab something up? 

he even made coupler bars for the tenders, that I think I can do, I have some stanchions & can bend my own handles 



Difference in the front of tenders



got the light housing mounted on the one it was missing, it's drilled out for a bulb if I decide to light it. 



& finally anyone know where i can get these tiny plug in connectors, good for this purpose & I can find some other uses for them........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So anybody need an 0-8-0.  this one has the motor in cab (which kills the detailing) the chassie with that gear in the middle & no hole up front for the coupler, so cept for the bell & maybe the drivers the other parts don't match any of mine. 





so all I got done was to drill the stanchion holes in the tender & bend the coupler bar, trouble is once bent I can't get the stanchions around the bends,  so I have to make another & put em on before I bend. this is supposed to be relaxing!!!! :goofball:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Looks like Photo bucket's looking for some money, not sure what I want to do here, got everything for you guys & most of my car stuff on there. If I don't my 3 or 4 year saga here is kinda useless.
What happened to FREE hosting!!!!!!
Guess you'll know if the pictures come back, any of you guys use them & are your pics blocked?????????? Rich.


----------



## Magic

Man that sucks, got the whole thread.
Good luck with this.

That's why I use this site's photo hosting.

Magic


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not to bad, 2.49 a month, I think, don't have much choice. Paid it but so far nothing has happened, never said anything about hosting, just going add free, hope I hit the right option?????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK the old geeser screwed that up, that's just add free, they want 400 a year for the hosting, don't think I'm gonna do it, guess I'll have to learn the hosting on here.
Now lets see if I can manage to cancel the add free payment, sent the email see what happens.
Boy I hate computers!!!!

So 5 years of the saga go up in smoke,It was fun once in a while to go back & check out the humble diorama & the progress I've made, oh well these guys are tryin to make me a grumpy old man!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda




----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmmm this is weird fooling around with my son tryin to figure out why there all gone & went on & copied that old pic & up she came, so what's up with that??????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK it's also gone.
In the meantime I picked up a chassis for the berk that has the gold trim, arrived today so I have a little project when I get some time, works busy so less train time these days, see yas later! Rich.
Guess I'll see if I can figure out the photo hosting here for the future.


----------



## dinwitty

use flicker

247 pages...wow!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

*Richmond Berk*

OK see if the ole man can get the pics to work, worked on the Berk today, got the chassie on, fixed up the wires for the tender light, cut a pin & soldered the wire to the head,fit the old connector pretty well.glued the connectors to the tender bar & dusted her off a bit.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A lot of work for some gold trim, but she's all fixed up now & back in the fleet!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Still trying to get good night shots, maybe a little better????


----------



## Nikola

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Still trying to get good night shots, maybe a little better????


If you 'shop out the curtains it will look real.


----------



## Magic

Looking great Rusty.
A lot of work on the loco but worth it.
The night shots also great, nice work.

Good to see pics from you again, really miss the old ones, this is a might fine thread.

Magic..


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yea I'm a little pissed at photobucket, I can see a change in policy, everybody's got to make a buck, but it should have been going forward, not to hold everybody's pics hostage & wipe out millions of peoples efforts over many years.

Been wondering if I should just let the post die & start a new one.
Pretty boring story with out the pics?

I do have most of the pics on my computer, it would be a massive undertaking to go back & fill in some of the more important ones, ahhh that's right don't think you can edit old posts.

So what do you guys think, kill it or just continue on? Thanks,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, just went way back, the edit option is there, so how bored will I be this winter.
I'll wait till a few of you answer the kill question before I decide.


----------



## norgale

Don't kill it Rusty. Lots of good info there even if the pics aren't. I'd just continue on from here and hope it doesn't happen again. I'll bet that stinking Google is behind that. Got to check my stuff now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

There's Pete, long time no see, things coolin down a bit down there?
Was perusing the for sale section, looks like a lot of guys were using the bucket, still think it should have been a going foward thing, not to screw every user & hold there stuff hostage. I ain't payin & bet a lot of others won't either, see how fast there regular user #'s drop! I hope it hurts!


----------



## norgale

I can appreciate your frustration but in looking back on my Bonita Grand Central I don't see any problems. All my pics are still there and we posted our pics along the same time frame. I am having a problem changing my email since I accidentally froze myself out of the old address and couldn't get it back from Youhoo. My new email is [email protected] and I need to change it for this forum too but don't see how to do that. HELP!
Rusty do you think your account with Photobucket is full? If it is you have to pay to get more space or delete some of your old stuff to make room for new stuff. I had to do that last year but I didn't lose any pics because I didn't go over my limit. Might have something to do with your problem.


----------



## norgale

RUSTY Cuda said:


> There's Pete, long time no see, things coolin down a bit down there?
> Was perusing the for sale section, looks like a lot of guys were using the bucket, still think it should have been a going foward thing, not to screw every user & hold there stuff hostage. I ain't payin & bet a lot of others won't either, see how fast there regular user #'s drop! I hope it hurts!


Ya, it went from 98 down to 94 today but we still have another month or more of summer and then some cooling.Yuck. You doin' ok?


----------



## norgale

Just looking back at some of your pictures and the message says you have reached 100% of 3rd party usage. However the last four or five pictures you posted are there and look great. Maybe delete some of your pics and see what happens.:goofball:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I wish Pete, I was at 50 something percent on the old system, it all went away when the pay system was started.
The last few pics are hosted right here on the forum, I had done that on the car boards when I was building the cuda, but the boards would do a clean out every now & then to save space , I continue the same post for years, that's when I started to use photo bucket, one of the forums gave me a sticky post so it would not be cleaned out, it's the one on Moparnuts.com , went over there & most are still there.
Anyway I'll leave what's here & continue on .
I have all the pics on my computer , if I get really bored this winter maybe I'll go back & fill in some of the blanks, time will tell! Later ,Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here's an oldie, Dad's old display cases.............


----------



## norgale

hey, do these trains run anymore?☺


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

HUH?

was just running them a while ago, gotta keep em in shape when the grandson comes over.

still lookin for some tinkering projects, won't redo the layout till I get more space & untill #3 son moves out there's no other place, his rooms a few feet longer.

trolling ebay for another junk lot.


----------



## santafealltheway

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Here's an oldie, Dad's old display cases.............


love it. Im gonna have to do something like this soon.

running out of space..


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Never enough space, even the other room is smaller than the basement at dad's house, not sure of the exact dimensions , his table layout was close to this...........

forgot, the main table was 4' wide.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the other room I hope to end up in is 16x9'8" but there's another closet door that cuts into the 16' length .
So in the meantime I've been putzin with little problem cars & engines, still want to get some more junkers to tinker with, but lookin at all the ones I bought over the last few years, I really need to clean some of it out.
I've become a hoarder , the intention was to get my tinkering time in, then sell some off to buy more, well I haven't sold a thing ! :goofball:
Maybe it's time, see if I can let go of some of it to nake room for the next batch! :cheeky4:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK bit the bullet, went through some of the stuff I picked up & tinkered with, amazing how hard it is to sell stuff that really has no family ties or special meaning :dunno: anyway heading over to the for sale section to start listing them :cheeky4:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK so diggin around for things to sell I came across the amtrack I got in one of the junk batches, so I pulled it out & my ahm engine & dummy, the idea is to power my dummy (for the paint scheme)
The other unit is an athern?(I think)
they look really close in size, with some slight differences around the tank. anyone done this?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK gonna take a little surgery, the shell fits, snaps are in different places, easy work around, the problem is the front & rear platforms & railings are on the shell of the athern & their on the chassie on the ahm. 
gona try & cut them off & glue to the shell 
well if I screw it up at least I just ruined a dummy! hwell:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well I cut one off no turning back now.

Turning out to be quite the little project, got the holes for the tabs drilled WITHOUT drilling out all the way through the shell! :thumbsup:
but there's a lot of stuff in the way, had to remove some of the light bars in the shell, been filing on the platform for what seems like hours to get around the coupling & in the back so it won't interfere when removing the shell later, a little more tweeking & the front will be ready, gonna glue that on & see how she holds before I even cut the rear off 

the carnage....................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Almost there, got it all together & the rear platform got pushed out a tad by the chassis, a little more filing & it should be good to go, gonna hafta put underset couplers on there quite low.
Amazingly there pretty close in speed at medium speed the athern takes off a bit with more power, should be fine in tandem at normal speeds.!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK we have a pair! 
Now how long will the glue hold?????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No sooner do I sell a few trains & my son sells some junk am I back to bidding, missed out on a bunch of steamers/with a few diesels in there that would have gotten me the 4-6-2 front cover(well the whole engine) ,another 0-8-0 & a few more to tinker with.
Up next was a bunch of diesels, I made an offer & it was accepted, so looks like some good tinkering time commin up. 
will share the adventure when they arrive! 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-HO-Dies...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

They have arrived, the good news is I have my first BL2 the bad news is there's not much there!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I have less hopes for this batch, pretty beat up, did get all the motors to run, but broken mountings & such is gonna make it tough to get them running, the 3 in the middle did run out of the box, the rest I had to hit the motors directly to run them.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the southern switcher ran, very light, popped off the tracks, found a couple of weights in the box, front seems ok but the rear is probably wrong, goes up into the windows, but it ran well with the added weight, see if I can cut down the big weight?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The B&O runs, that will be a parts engine for mine too busted up in the front


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

couple more tyco's in there, if I can figure out the mounts I may get one running?????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well at least I'll have some tinkering hours, see what I can salvage out of this mess! later Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K so diggin in a bit, the Ill cen. has a warped chassis, seems after it was dropped it was put away(for a LONG time) without popping the chassis back in, gonna try weighing it down flat & see if it returns to orig shape?????? 
the motor looks a lot like a Mantua?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Anyone know who made this one, got it running but need 4 traction tires, so don't really know if it will run well, thinking evening out the drivers might just do it?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the southern switcher turned out to be AHM runs good all I need to do is get some weight in there. fits my dummy SP shell too!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

found some trucks for the BL2, no geared truck though. So that's a ways off.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the Atlantic coast running that's also missing the center weight, not sure who made this either, trucks are rivited together so not digging in there, just shot some oil in the cracks.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

didn't get too far on the tycos, dug out my spare parts but there gettin thin too, will clean up the motor/drive truck for the centenial & see where it goes from there?


----------



## time warp

Quite a group! I'm not positive, but I think the B&O is an old Cox model.
The ACL is a very early Tyco
The AHM Southern SW1 is correct with the big weight in the cab, and it does come up above the window openings. Looks like all the railings are broken off.
If the BL2 motor runs, I have the correct weight and the parts to repair the geared truck. You need to make sure the worm isn't cracked though.
The truck mountings for the Tyco 630 are different than other Tyco locos. They use a gimball type mounting with steel springs.


----------



## JNXT 7707

RUSTY Cuda said:


> K so diggin in a bit, the Ill cen. has a warped chassis, seems after it was dropped it was put away(for a LONG time) without popping the chassis back in, gonna try weighing it down flat & see if it returns to orig shape??????
> the motor looks a lot like a Mantua?


The IC is a Life-Like. I never knew they had any other type motor other than pancake drives - but they do. It's an improvement but they seem to be prone to cracked gears.


----------



## time warp

Ah, you nailed it, Jerry. I forgot about those.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yo thanks guys, that may be my only life-like, see how it runs after I get it flattened back out (well if I can that is.)
TW , that's something I've never seen, weights half way up the windows, but it did run well with it in there.
I'm looking at another junk batch with the same BL2 in there, goes off in a few days, in the meantime I'll check that worm gear, the motor did run & spin it but I didn't look for cracks, there's no wheels,gears or cover for that drive truck , I will try & convert the good truck I have from the dummy to the power pick up truck.
I'll shoot you a line if I don't get em & see what you have to get it running. 
I've had a little practice making railings, might have to pick up a few more bags of athern stanchions, they make it much easier, anyting I get running will need rails, couplings & a lot of TLC! Thanks,Rich.

Any Ideas on that B&O that's a drive I've never seen before???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Having decent luck with the Tyco, had a better power pick up truck for it so I switched that out & soldered new wires to the headlight.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Glued the light bulb in, tabs were broken.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Cleaned & oiled the motor, found a bottom cover with a good coupler housing(broken on the orig.) center gear is cracked but seems to turn the wheels ok, won't know for sure till it's back on the tracks.
they also glued the shell on so my side tanks broke trying to pop them off, might not need those pieces if the 2 pins hold?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I got the KD's on, glued on the truck sides that were popped, & dug out the stanchions , if the short ones are good looks like I have plenty, longs it will be close, have to bend the front & rear rails, but if I do say so myself I'm getting pretty good at those! 
Now just waiting for the glue to dry, gotta go hunt down the next batch, almost done already! :goofball:


----------



## time warp

I've got a good center idler gear to fit that motor.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

TW, you mean the metal one on the motor or the cracked wheel one,again, won't hit your spare parts stash unless I have too, the batch I'm watching actually has 2 Rock Island BL2's & a bunch of tycos.
Just saw one for 49 engines (mostly tyco) if I get that I will have spare parts for a while & something to do over the winter!!!! :smokin:
Thanks for the offer will keep it in mind,Rich.:thumbsup:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well I'm gonna need to bend all the main rails, stanchions are just a tad too long, she's not a great runner, see if the oil works in & loosens her up, a little squeal here & there & some hesitation


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Had to cut off the truck mounted couplers on the southern, a full coupling low, mounted one 242 box sideways on chassis to lower that(that was way Hi go figure.) then center set KD wiskers worked out just right.
front mount clip for the shell was gone, so I drilled through the shell & tapped the chassis to screw it down. 
railings will be tougher, have to drill all the holes, plastic must have been on top.


----------



## time warp

The Tyco '76 430 uses all the same length stanchions, and I was referring to the center idler gear set between the wheels.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmm I think I have 430 handrails somewhere, they were to short for the ill cen. that I did last month, I'll check those out for fit.
Ok good to know on the gear, Let me see what comes in my next junk batch, if it doesn't smooth out I may just switch out the power truck. (that will have to come in the batch too, I'm out at the moment.)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Just got the batch with the 2 BL2's in it, see what success I have with this mess, should at least be fun to find out & much more tinker time!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TYCO-LIONEL...3B%2F5NPKucDfLBuJX0Dc%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh well, missed the bid on the 49 junk engines, got up around 200 with the shipping, that would have kept me busy a while. still about 4 bucks an engine, not a bad price for all that tinker time.
the smaller batch should be here soon!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So had some time to putz with old photos , was debating weather to go back to the old post's & try to put back in the relavent pics up or just continue on from here & post up some of my favorites, opted for the latter. so it won't be 20 empty pages then one with pics, So as the winter goes on I'll update some of the old pics that were spread out on 1000 pages! 
So here's one of my favorite pieces , first up the hand build engine house the my Dad's friend Alex build, I'm still in awe of the detail!!!!!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

more to come


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A few more..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

even more..............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

getting tired, not done yet!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok were gettin there


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Too much??? just a few more.........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Sorry that was so long, Just So many details to try & show, I actually cut back by a bunch trying not to get too crazy. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok Ok that's it for now, gotta go see if I can make some progress on the last junk batch, next one's commin soon! Later,Rich.


----------



## time warp

Nice photos. Apparently you are yet another P-bucket victim?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh yea,I hope no one stays with them & they Disappear! 
The next to go was AOL, I can at least still get my mail, but it's more of a pain now, at a time when I'm trying to lower expenses for retirement everything is going up!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back to the junkers, the southern seems to be the best runner, had to adapt a little for the hand rails, drill all new holes(had plastic glued on) just need a bell & a horn & she's ready to join the fleet(or go up for sale) we'll see ?
it's got two holes I assume fopr the bell & horn, one up front on cowl & the other center of cab above the windshield, which one is horn & which is bell?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Found a bell that looks pretty good, all I had was a double horn, stuck it on for now, gotta pull out my other switchers & see where stuff is mounted?


----------



## cramden

Bell behind the headlight and horn on the cab. Just posted too late.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not too late, not glued yet. thank's for the correct position.
I have one with the horn on the cab but the bell is in the middle of the cowl, anyway I have to find a single horn or maybe cut it off the double??


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Junk batch just arrived, headin for the train room! will get some pics up later.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

This mess should keep me busy a while!:goofball:
this is the tyco stuff............
the bag of goodies is mostly tyco, found another one of those cox setups in there maybe it goes to the amtrack shell?
TW, there were six geared axles in there all were cracked cept one!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the steamers are pretty much toast, black is Bachmann blue is from yugo, maybe ahm? but it's really broken up, probably strip for parts.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the chessie is bachmann, runs ok, no broken rails, just needs traction tires & a lube job.
amtrack has no guts? 
milwaukee is a lifelike, no drive shaft
santa fe is an ahm dummy ,I think the chassis is ahm too?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

and finally the BL2's, think I'm in trouble, these are pretty beat too, good news is there's 2 geared trucks, bad news no body weights, maybe I can get one decent one out of the 3 basket cases i now have!:dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now I have to see what motors run & decide which tycos to try & piece together, the burlington shell is nice & is only missing one small hand rail, never had a silver streak??? 
hmmmm or a tyco Chessie???? 
Ahhh well, time will tell, the key is finding a couple of good motors !
should have some time to play over the weekend.


----------



## time warp

Sounds about right on the cracked wheels and gears. Seeing what you are doing is giving me flashbacks to the dread of my experiences getting those things running.:eyes:
Not that you asked, but I'd forget about the Streaks and just sell them as shells, fix the SD24 and the C-630's. The big 630's clean up pretty good with decent paint. Here's mine.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well those are beautiful, way beyond my skills.
I'll see what parts fit where , the burlington I'd like to do, that's pretty clean, I'll check out the chessies might be enough to do one.
Oh yea, forgot, I got my traction tires yesterday, put them on the centenial & the Squeel went away, so I may not need to do the gear there yet?
there's a couple of drive trucks on some of the engines & at least one in the pile, see what works & go from there.
I may be back in touch about the weight for the BL2 if I can get one decent one out of the parts. later,Rich.


----------



## time warp

RUSTY Cuda said:


> and finally the BL2's, think I'm in trouble, these are pretty beat too, good news is there's 2 geared trucks, bad news no body weights, maybe I can get one decent one out of the 3 basket cases i now have!:dunno:


Don't hurt the BL's! I've got parts to fix em, and friends that are looking for those.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Won't hurt em, will try & make one good one. maybe we can trade what's left for what I need to finish it???
I'm going to need to clean out some of this when I'm done anyway, all the better that it goes to a good home.
Already trashed the broken freight trucks & a bunch of plastic wheels that were in bad shape, the controls & switch machines went too.
Still trying to give away the brass track & the O guage trestle set, no takers?


----------



## time warp

If you want to PM me with your email, I think I might know someone whos looking for brass track.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Done, I'd say just go to my payback thread but all the pics are gone!


----------



## time warp

OK, I'm working on it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Most of the motors run with direct power, the bl2 motor runs but has no brushes or springs, the other one I can't tell no magnets either. The GG1 ran outta the box but squeels like a pig, I'll lube it up & see if it improves, it's pretty clean, just missing the electrodes.
bachmann motor tries to run , think that will free up with some oil.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

this is another tyco, it runs too, what was it, switcher? trolley? 
So that new lifelike also has what looks like a mantua motor, were they also connected some time back in the day?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the 3 BL2 shells are soaking in some warm soapy water, gonna wash those up & call it a night 
got my money's worth already! :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So it looks like I might get 4 tyco motors to work with, maybe 5 if I can piece back together some of the spare parts?
the front shell has both horns, the other 2 are missing the side one, looks like enough hand rails to complete one & come close on a second.
cleaned up pretty good...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, now I'm pissed at myself, out of all the parts it was a close call to even get one complete BL2 , had to move the electric wheel pickups to another truck, had 2 with good mounts but one had no hole in the center for the wires, the geared trucks I had to strip 2 to get the gears I needed, one had a broken gear axle , the other was missing all the transfer gears. So I get the side horn off the shell, take the preferred shell & clean out the hole for it , go to pick up the horn to glue it in & it's GONE :dunno: 
looked everywhere just vanished, it will turn up some day if the wifey doesn't vacuum it up first! 
the weight came out of that other ahm chassis that was in the junk lot! got lucky there!
So I'm one horn short of a complete unit! 

All of the other chassis had something broken .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Took apart the gg1 & cleaned & lubed it , traction tires were still pliable, runs decent.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

TW there's not much left that's any good, the shells have some stains on them, I will steal another horn off one to complete mine.
Here's a pic of whats left, if you can use any or all of it just say so & I'll send it over to you. Rich.


----------



## time warp

RUSTY Cuda said:


> this is another tyco, it runs too, what was it, switcher? trolley?
> So that new lifelike also has what looks like a mantua motor, were they also connected some time back in the day?


This is a Tyco tender drive for a steam engine. This is a unique motor block and it won't work in anything else.
I'd sure take the BL leftovers, but snag the horn you need first. You've no doubt noticed the front and side horns are the same.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, here's some pics of that brass track, did find one brass switch to go with it.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

maybe I'll throw that trestle set up again, maybe some one knows someone in need, pay the shipping on either & it's theirs! this is O or 027???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I've got 5 tyco shells soaking ,see how they clean up, the 2 chessies only have on set of truck mounts, so I'm going for the one with the hand rails, the other is pretty beat up, same with the burlington's, gonna pull any detail parts off & trash the broken ones, any good shells I'll hang on to & send em as a bonus to the buyers of the good ones, once I'm done tinkering & put em up for sale! 

So second junk batch helped fix the B&O from the first, took the drive wheels off the truck & switched em, now she runs ok , another groaner like the AHM's


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pulled the mounts out of the beat shell for the good one & cleaned up the other shells, so the chessie will be first, then the burlington, if there's enough parts left over I'll attempt a streak!


----------



## time warp

Geesh! Quite a pile of track!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yep, hate to see it just sit around, really don't want to trash it, was hoping someone could put it to use, great for a quick circle for the grand kids while they are too young for the good stuff? 
K, think I can complete the chessie, have to get the light in, switch out the truck sides & solder on all the wires then I can give it a test run.
Question, I have both the short idler axle & one with wheels for the center, any drawback from adding a third traction tire?

so far none of my truck mounts fit that burlington shell .


----------



## time warp

The 630 came with 6 wheel trucks, you just put a geared driver set in place of the idler.
I think the SD(Burlington) uses a unique mount.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Another mess I'm checking out????????????

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-12-L...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So the rear mount for the burlington has 2 pegs on the side & one in center of rear, I have 3 like it but all too short.
The front has 4 on the sides but the front 2 are wider, used the last one on the chessie.
so I'm playing with a streak, if I can get this mount to work , has a different style motor not sure if it's a tyco but mounts like one?


----------



## time warp

The motors in both pictures are Tyco MU2's. The mounts will fit the Silver Streak(really a Century 430) but not the Burlington or Chessie.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

oh well that batch got away!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Almost done with the streak, need to steal the horns off the other shell, glue on the truck sides & make up the handrails, not sure if I'm gonna do those on this one,is it worth 15 bucks in parts? 
guess if I run out of tinker time I'll do em .:dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

some of the junkers salvaged in the last few batches, less what I sold in the tyco stuff.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

renaming these vidio's don't know which will come up, any chessie test.........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

bunch a junkers from the last few batches. not exactly speed matched!


----------



## DonR

Wow Rusty

You done good.

Those old guys are smooth running AND QUIET.

Don


----------



## time warp

Typically, those Tyco locomotives won't bring much over 10 12 bucks, unless it's something unique or rare. I rejuvenated some that I had a purpose for, but I've taken a beating in the ones I fixed to sell.
The one that brought the most money was a D&H ALCO 630.
I'm glad you got them going, I hate to see model trains destroyed, even the cheap ones.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Don, I cheated, I didn't include the groaners in the vidio 
the Cox? B&O & the ahm BL2 would have drowned out everyone else! 

TW, yep I'm not lookin to make money on them, get my tinker time in & see if I can get a few bucks back to finance the next load.Sold all the tyco stuff I had last month, surprised no one bit on the rossi 0-8-0's those go 40-50 bucks on ebay.

TW, Shoot me a PM with your address & I'll get the BL2 leftovers to you.the one good pickup truck you could probably drill out that extra plastic piece for a wire hole, one side of the second T is cracked off anyway?? the shells will probably need your painting skills, the stains did not come off with soap & water?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

still piecing together tyco parts, got one drive truck complete the other motor's might get me one more, have one together with a broken gear stud & no pulley on the motor, the other has all the studs & one set of good gears(the other large gear in no good)
have a motor pulley but I doubt my chances of it being tight after I press it on???? 
Got the streak done except rails, still not sure if I'm gonna go there.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

not much to try & sell so far, gonna go post up a few in the for sale section & see if i have any luck.


----------



## time warp

Don't try to repair the one with the broken bull gear pin, the metal is bad(zinc pest).
The small pinion gear will need a dab of super glue on the shaft when you reinstall it, otherwise it will likely spin off.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh yea, I have no way to repair the pins , got one together & put a dab of gorilla super glue on it, see if it holds, did the same on the GG1 I'll test em out tomorrow?
forgot I have one more drive truck that came with the F7 chessie that was missing it's weight, if no other weights I have fit I can do another loco.
gathering the parts for the centenial rails, found a front so I just have to make the rear & bend new long rails to match the athern stanchions.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

TW BL2 stuff is on the way! hope you can make something out of them.


----------



## time warp

Great! They will definitely live on. Thanks.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well I've been digging around the tyco stuff for 3 days now, seems I'm down to completing maybe 2 more, but I don't want another streak, the B&O f7 has no weight , same with the other f7' the burlington that I want to do has no mounts, not sure about the weight.
Did find a really clean Chattanooga shell & actually have a set of side rails for it, so I'll do the chat first & then see what develops after that, also the more I look at it the more I can live with the side rails on the centenial, so I will finish those rails too.
Gonna come up short on the short stanchions, went searching last night only found long athern , saw some american ? 3/8" got to measure mine I see if they match up.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Commin up short on stanchions, will have enough to finish the centenial & do both sides of the chat, short 8 for the front & rear
lookin at that other brand but they state3/8" & the short atherns are almost a 1/2" gonna try a pack(35) sure I'll use em somewhere.
bent the rear for the 630 & got those on & one side of the chat..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not too much accomplished actually had to work a bit. 
Anywho I got the rails bent, finished off the centenial & got the other side of the chat done, now wait for the stanchions to come to finish that off, should have it back together & running by then I hope!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

finished off the centenial & the Chat, just need bell & horns for the chat, I have a bell & one horn somewhere if I can ever find them!
So I don't even remember where the chat came from, the rest are from the last 2 junk batches I bought, the glue seems to be holding on the GG1 , So 5 more tyco's back on the tracks, still have a lot of parts, not sure I can make any shell run cept maybe the Chessie or another streak, but had to clean up my mess, the Grandson's comming over tomorrow & need a clean table that won't attract curious fingers!


----------



## time warp

Keep chippin' away, you'll get there eventually!
The BL2 stuff arrived today, I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Much appreciated.:thumbsup:


----------



## jlc41

RUSTY Cuda, that's some bender you went on.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Darn, didn't think of that , if I had a few Rum & cokes the rails might be right on the money!
forgot to mention the stanchions came, they are the same length as the atherns but the holes are a little tight, pushed a small screwdriver between the end of the loop & the rod & that opened em up enough to fit.
these babies..........
http://www.ebay.com/itm/A-Line-HO-D...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

found a couple more junk batches going off tomorrow, one has 20 the other about 10, see how hi they go?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ooooh boy, didn't expect to win em both, ahh well guess I'll be busy a while..........

http://www.ebay.com/itm/h-o-trains-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649


http://www.ebay.com/itm/h-o-trains-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

somebody STOP me, got 30 junkers comming MUST NOT BID !!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Athearn-Tyc...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649


----------



## time warp

Time for an intervention! You gotta STOP!:hah::SELLIT:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Went outside with coffee & a :smokin: sat on the deck till it was over ! 
think I got the DT's!!!! :cheeky4: 
Now I just gotta stay off ebay till they come next week!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I had been eyeing these switchers for a while & finally pulled the trigger, nice lookin, runs like crap, cleaned & oiled, not much improvement  then I shoot some contact cleaner & get it on the body) ahh well it will make a nice paper weight!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

found some horns for the chat, will leave em yellow till the next junk batch comes, if there's no black ones in there I'll paint em black.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

life likes, have 2 now, the f7 needs a truck bottom & is noisy, the ill. cen. runs better but the shell is all busted up, gonna try & see if the parts interchange & get the F7 complete????


----------



## norgale

Well, there goes next weeks beer money. What you gonna do with all these engines? I know,build a BIGGER layout. Ha! Hope you don't mind sleeping in the Cuda out back. ☺


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

These are just for tinker time, if I can't sell any more here I'll make up my own junk batch & put em on ebay.To fund future junk batches.
As you said till I get more space (#3's room) I'm not gonna mess with the layout, was lookin at a display case to get more of Dad's stuff out in the daylight but it's no where near big enough. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-RR-Scale...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

wonder if I have a wall long enough for 2 next to each other?????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the mess has arrived! 
first up the steamers, the 3 big one's are die cast , one on the right is from japan,really broken up. I think one of the other 2 is mantua, the 2 small switchers are Lima Italy maybe get one out of the 2, not sure about the one with the broken cab, maybe mantua, tenders don't seem to match up ???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

mixed batch, the shark nose is from austria, southern is a penn line , chassis is broken in half hope the one under it will fit? 
2 switchers from yugo, different motors than the ahm's I have.
the shell, santa fe & burlington are ahm.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh yea, the santa fe at the bottom, nice lookin piece, another new drive for me & no markings, any Idea's ???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

bachmann to the top, life like toward the bottom all from china & all have the same drives (different from the life like's in the last batch) might get a couple out of those.
not sure about the 309?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the pieces that were broken loose in shipping , the box was 20 lbs wonder how many times they dropped it!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

last but not least the tyco stuff, out of this I should get the mounts for my good burlington shell & a couple of others running, Ill cen. shell is in decent shape if I get those mounts else where I will try & get that running.
the B dummy is actually mantua tyco, looks just like the AHM version.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So this mess should keep me in tinker time for a while, too bad I just booked 10 or 12 days of work! payin the mortgage sure does get in the way of the hobbies!


----------



## time warp

The 309 is a model power RS11 made by Mehano., The old AT&SF looks like a Lindberg, which is the Gem of the bunch.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

thanks TW, I thought the Santa Fe looked like a nicer piece, guess that'll be my keeper if I can get it going, where I'll get the other spring is another question!


----------



## time warp

There is sort of a Lindberg "underground". Ask around a bit and you'll find help.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started testing, that darn thing runs!!!!! (the Lindberg) 
The steamers run too to varying degrees, even the motor in the japan totaled job runs.2 outta 3 little guys tried to run.
the 2-8-0 ran to my famous derailing section & flipped over on it's side ( a spot where a few engines have had problems) but most run fine ?????? :dunno:
the 4-6-2 (with broken "2" removed) ran but needed a few pushes, should be clean & lube job.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

this batch ran or at least tried to run.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

maybe a light on some of these...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

good reason for light only, the darn thing's a dummy!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the model power motor ran but did not drive the wheels, opened it up & everything was just floating around in there, amazingly all the parts were there, put it back together & it runs, still need to clean & lube. started gluing back the broken rails & the last piece popped out of the tweezers,just found it on my final cleanup before I quit for the night, so that should be back together next chance i get to tinker.
the blue & yellow tyco mantua also ran if I powered the motor directly.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

couldn't resist went back up for a while, got a doner for the burlington shell, the UP didn't run, it's no wonder, someone had it apart, check out the motor windings & where the brush springs are!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the red Santa Fe was just gummed up, pulled the gears & cleaned & oiled added traction tires .
after the super glue sets I have to mess with those pesky brushes & springs, so at least 2 good motors so far.
the Ill.cen. motor still squeels badly after clean & lube, that may be a goner!


----------



## Cycleops

You might be able to remotor those last two with a CD drive motor. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll point you in the direction of some videos.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

thanks Mr C, I'll keep it in mind.
Found the squeal on the Ill.Cen. oiled the other side of the motor, actually a tiny felt pad in there, first I've seen usually just the shaft sticking through a hole.
So I got 4 back together & running...........
think I'll save the detail work till I've gone through the whole mess, definately hand rails on the central, see about the Durango & Santa Fe ???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

will open these 2 up next, motor ran on the Santa Fe with direct power, see whats up in the shell. Burlington motor runs too, think I have enough parts for that too.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

so the only good shells I have left (besides the 2 streaks) are these, any reason to try for one of these in lieu of the ones I already built (would probably mean stripping one of em back down)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the model power back together , that railing piece I found was not the right one, so I'm short 1 upright at the rear, runs decent.
Gotta glue on the side trucks, it has one broken step so don't know how much I'll bother with this, but I got the burlington running good.


----------



## time warp

RUSTY Cuda said:


> so the only good shells I have left (besides the 2 streaks) are these, any reason to try for one of these in lieu of the ones I already built (would probably mean stripping one of em back down)


The ACL is your better bet at resale. Its got an MU2 motor and relatively uncommon roadname.


----------



## DonR

I see a problem with the ACL. It appears that it does
not have all wheel power pickup. One truck picks
up right rail, other truck gets the left rail. 

Don


----------



## time warp

DonR said:


> I see a problem with the ACL. It appears that it does
> not have all wheel power pickup. One truck picks
> up right rail, other truck gets the left rail.
> 
> Don


It's the better bet for the Tyco fan, but it's still an old Tyco.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That one's pretty much all there, I think I have side trucks, just has no weight, but it has a metal tank that screws on, I could pile on those lead stick on weights I just bought a bunch of ?????
Don, the whole batch is like that , some of the other cheapies do left & right PU on one truck & traction tires on the other, so still not all wheel pickup


----------



## time warp

Take a picture of the bottom of the ACL, I may have that weight.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK here's the bottom, but there might be another problem, just noticed the traction wheels are all chipped, gotta dig around to see if I have replacements, then it comes down to opening up the rivited trucks? 
the Santa Fe is the same drive, so lookin at that someone had the motor truck apart,it's soldered back together!


----------



## time warp

You do not need to open it up, just change out the bad wheels. They will interchange on most all Tyco's.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hmmmm you mean pop the wheels off the axles ?

So since the Santa Fe was soldered I opened that one up to see why I had 0 power pickup from the wheels, well the gunk in there was unbelievable , only one set of wheels was turning with the motor, think a little bend of the brass cradle & a through cleaning got that solved , now I want to see if I can get the rivit stud out & put in a nut & bolt, on the rear I just roughed it up between the wheels & chassis with a long haired brass brush & got it to pick up power too.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

can't believe I had enough will power not to bid on this batch, actually looks like a few decent engines in there, hey, but what would I do with decent engines :cheeky4:https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ho-Scale-L...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Was lookin over the mess to see what projects I'd be doing this weekend, might delve into the Bachmann/lifelike batch to see whats up there.
Noticed for some reason(guess I never really looked before) almost all the tyco engines are # 5628 what's up with that????


----------



## time warp

The Tyco GP20's are almost all numbered 5628, the F-7's are 4015.


----------



## Cycleops

I don’t think Tyco ever bothered much with prototypes.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So here I am trying to clean up a bit, pack up the tyco's for a while & move on to some of the other junkers. Darn, I didn't realize how many engines I have added doing this, so I count whats on the board & in the display. Geeze! there's 31 engines & most are the ones that came out pretty good. 
So tyco's are in storage for a while..............
the good ones & then the leftover parts which will make 2 or 3 more...


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The penn line's not gonna make it, that extra chassis does fit the shell but I doubt I could cut away that much of the center pieces without it falling apart, so I'll stick the shell & the drive in the spare parts!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the ahm's are gonna be tough gonna need another batch of junkers to get them up & running, the Santa Fe has no springs & brushes, really gunky in there, the motor did try & turn when I hit the rotor with power, I'd do the Seaboard shell since I have the Santa Fe in A-B-A with 2 power a's 
the Burlington I did get to run, not sure if it's worth the effort, I do like the shell but I'll probably have to break off the rest of the plastic handrails & drill it all for new metal ones . get all new glass, some missing some glue covered.

question is that an RS3 ?

Anyway, next up the Bachmann/life like china junk!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Now lookin at the rest of the mess, I'm thinking the total may go over 40! :goofball:
Gonna hafta have a fire sale, I'm back over the total I had gotten from my Dad, granted most of this stuff is not the quality He had but add it to over 40 good diesels & 27 or so steamers I have left & I'm coming close to what I started with before I sold some off. :dunno:


----------



## time warp

On the Burlington the fuel tank casting is missing, it also holds the weight in place. Also, on that model the handrails are part of the walkway, which is removable. I usually source parts for those from dummy locos.

The Penn Line has parts value were you to list it on eBay maybe

As far as Tyco's go, I've noticed that when you store them in groups the junk ones reproduce, but the good ones don't! :dunno::laugh:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ahhh that's what it screws to, was lookin it over & there's no other end of the plastic shaft that's in the weight .
crap a dummy might just get me a better shell , or at least the glass & the rails.

Yea here I go lookin to buy more! 

Already went through 20 traction tires, 3 packs of short stanchions & if I do all the tycos I'll need 5 or 6 more packs.
Probably order a couple tonight & another pack of traction tires.

Speaking of , do you guys know a bulk source of tyco traction tires, all I've seen is 2 at a time for 7.50 & 5 bucks shipping, the calumet's Ive been using are not quite right.

Anyway, you've been a great help with these details, keep em coming & thank's a ton! Rich.:smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## time warp

The Powertorque use the Calumet tires for the Chattanooga Choo choo, I can't remember the number. Older Tyco MU2's use thin O-rings. Goody's hair bands from WM might fit, although I haven't tried them.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I bought the 505's 
yep the O rings are the one's I saw 2 at a time, can't pay 12 bucks for tires for a 10buck engine!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not so much luck with the Bachmann/Life like china batch, the three I could complete, after switching out broken trucks, soldering on wires & general cleanups , turns out the only smooth runner is the southern, the other 2 have clackity clak in the drive trucks, might have enough parts to fix that up not sure yet?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the other good drive chassis fits the broken up UP shell, looks like I can get most of the handrails from the up in the back & maybe even scraps to fix the broken steps?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I will have some spare parts, the motor does not run on the drive truck in the center, have not opened it up yet, but I already have some extra brushes & brush springs in the mess, those always come in handy!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not too bad on the actual amount of trash, 5 broken up shells & one chassis, might be 2 more bachmann added in when all said & done!


----------



## time warp

Live and learn, Rusty! Bachmann spelled backwards is cracked gears.:laugh:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

good spelling! you must have been in my english class! :cheeky4:
When I got to college they told me I wrote like a 7th grader,  I just smiled & said that's about right, did much of nothing in high school!


----------



## time warp

OK, RC. I digged through my spare parts and found a fuel tank casting AND the handrail assembly for the Burlington RS2. I do not have a weight to fit the ACL though.
I can get these parts to you in a week or two of you'd like.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK sounds good , you have my address off the package, if not PM me & I'll get it to you.
busy work week not sure how much train time if any, still toying with the bachmann's!


----------



## time warp

You don't toy with Bachmanns, you beat on em! The harder you smack 'em, the better they run!:laugh:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

bigger hammer theory! 
just ordered 3 packs of traction tires ,#505 #515(the chat ones) & trying 10 9mm in the black type.
saw some marklin that looked like the rubber ones, but had no idea what # to order & if they would fit my engines??? 
& 2 35 pc. packs of stanchions,that should be enough to rail 3 tycos


----------



## time warp

Kind of reminds of my old hammer. I've replaced the handle 3 times and the head twice.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not a lotta train time, but I had found enough parts to get both of those UP chassis running,put the second one on the track, all seemed good, got 3/4 around the table when the dreaded smoke started, ah well I do have one more full motor truck & maybe the parts for another motor, the saga continues!


----------



## time warp

Tyco's?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bachmann/life-like batch!


----------



## time warp

Ahhh, fire BAD!

I mailed your parts this morning, I'll put up a picture of an RS2 chassis for reference.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks, might have some time tonight to play, see where I'm at with the bachmanns, not to worried about it,the shells are pretty beat & nobody seems to want them anyway, might just make up my own massive junk batch when I'm done tinkering & put em on ebay !


----------



## time warp

If they run, just give them away to kids at the next train show. They'll be thrilled.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Never been to a train show,maybe when I retire I'll have more time for such things.


----------



## time warp

NO TRAIN SHOWS? What's the deal? You do not know what you are missing. Junk galore and bargain prices. I bought a box FULL of decent steamers last year for $15! You gotta hit the shows.

Here's the RS2 chassis for reference:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yep with knowledge like that I'd better stay away, I'd come home with my work van full of junk trains! 

So continuing on the bachmann saga, decided to go back to 2 UP's
the one one the right had the good shell lighting & the noisy gears, the one on left no light, but ran smooth & was actually wired for all wheel pickup! 
so I switched all the parts, stole 3 extra weights (amount that would fit under the screw)& cramed those in. So all I need is to repair the horn & put some couplers on if I go that far???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

went with the other model for #2, this is the one I thought fried the other day, stuck it on the track & it ran quite a while with no incident , but was sluggish, so now I'm going to put a better motor in it since it ran smooth, when I opened it up it was a little different, black gears & not cracked, all 4 of that particular gear I had were all cracked.
so the plan changed I pulled the spare armature & put that in with one new brush spring(one was kinda crushed) & replaced the burnt bulb, oiled it up & ready to go! 
the rails will not transfer over, so if I still have this in the dead of winter & run out of things to do I'll break off the rest of the plastic rails & drill it for metal.
will cut off some steps off the other shell to try & get the bottom steps that are gone on the keeper & strip any other part that comes off & send it to the recycle bin!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So in order to put this batch to bed for a while, I tried for that last Santa FE to be a smooth runner, only had one good drive left & it was a life-like, the mount into the chassis is different so no go.
pulled out the Chessie from the last batch & put in a new light bulb & added 2 leftover weights.painting a black horn set yellow to finish that off.
stripped down all the broken stuff for spare parts,I'll make up a bachmann/life-Like box to sit under the bench next to the tyco box till I get bored in the winter & start detailing $2 engines :goofball:
A decent parts stash for the future.............
5 smooth runners & the clackity santa fe in the back


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I'm already lookin for more, made an offer on this batch, pretty low see if they come back with a counter...........
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lionel-N-W..._trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&autorefresh=true

And thinking of bidding on a batch of 24 mostly tyco that goes off in a couple of hours
is this a curable sickness??????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

haggled back & forth & we settled on a price, one down, the other goes off in 25 mins. winning so far! 
garage sale next month, gotta clean some of this stuff outta here!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tyco's got away, snipped with 3 seconds left, the previous bidder was within 5 bucks of my top bid, thought I had it!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the bachmann group packed away & went digging for the next projects. removed the broken rails from the RS2 washed the shell & threw in the seaboard shell for future rebuild(not enough parts yet) but a few more junk batches should fix that up!
awaiting the donation of parts by TW to complete the RS2.
thanks again TW


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So now I ended up with 3 ahm B units, I have a nice A-B-A set with 2 powered A units, has anyone powered up a B unit, looks like I would have to cut off the rounded nose of the chassis to get it to fit. not sure what that would do to the coupler set up? 
enough extras to chance it, not enough power chassis though. hmmm, back to more junk lots! :cheeky4:


----------



## time warp

Powering those AHM FM- B's is a trick from the old days. That A unit chassis will fit.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

good to know now all I have to do is come up with 2 good A Chassis!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So waiting for 2 deliveries that will get my projects going I pulled out the Tyco's again, decided to finish off the Burlington.
had a hard time getting the right size rod out of the box for the rails, so I sorted them all out, top two seem the same but some go in the holes on the engine & the top row is a tad too big? the bottom 2 rows are too thin.
The good ones are under the engine so I should be good to go for quite a while.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got one side & the rear done, glued on the side trucks, once there dry I do the other side & glue on the horns.
these engines don't look that bad once you get some details on????? 
anyway another 15 bucks in parts on a five dollar engine!
But I just had 2 hours of fun, at 100 an hour I think I'm ahead of the game!


----------



## norgale

I never have heard of anyone being ahead of the game with model railroading. What will you do with all these loco's? I know, knock some walls down and build a bigger layout. Ha!


----------



## time warp

I guess it depends on your point of view.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hey Pete! hows it going. You gonna be able to work on the trains this winter with the storm and all?
What will I do, good question, the #'s are growing rapidly need to clean out soon.
See any Bachmann/Life-Like you want, say the word & I'll send em to ya! 
Probably get rid of most of them, once they have served there purpose , which for me is tinker time, I enjoy fixing em up, every now & then I get a keeper, something different that's decent, like that Santa Fe switcher in the last batch.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So the Burlington fleet will more than double once I complete the RS2 the 3 in the back are Yogo/ahm 2 in front are the Tyco's they may go away.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The finished Tyco's are already outnumbering the tinker time babies, finished on the left undetailed on right............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

little participation quiz, which one to do next, or even order in which to do em, I'm thinking Santa Fe or Ill.Cen. next?????????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So this is the next batch heading my way, what caught my eye was it had one of those roundhouse track cleaners in it, between that & mine I hope to get one Running, bonus, an AHM A unit, which I'll use my seaboard shell on or try & power my B unit????? 
Some cars for the Roads I no longer have on the board & a couple of other engines to tinker with.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Putzin around I got half the rails on the Ill.Cen. & noticed that Santa Fe switcher that came in the last batch, then the southern & the Ill.Cen. from previous batches, the only one I remember from dad's collection was the undecorated New Haven which I did a few years back. there were 2 but I had sold one eary on. not sure if there's any packed away in the diesel eng. box, I'll check next time I'm digging through.
Anyway, I'm getting a nice collection of switchers! :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

TW the parts arrived today, RS2 will move up the list, thanks again.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Had to adapt a bit, TW, the shaft on your tank had no threads, not sure what held it on on the original design, but I dug out my taps & junk drawer from the cars & found a screw & a tap that would work.............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I test run the chassis & the traction tires are just flopping around, dug out the rossi/ahm tire box, most were way big, didn't think the small ones would work, but after stretching on the calulets (sp?) I gave it a try, darn they went on pretty easy


----------



## time warp

The one I sent you used a bolt from the bottom with a nut to secure the ring terminal and weight. Sorry, I should have mentioned that.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

just have to figure out the couplings & find a horn & she's done! 
back to the Ill.cen. !


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No Biggie, I like a challenge,
the previous owner had added some weight, I had to remove the one on the chassie, it was long-ways & the main weight was backwards reversed that as per your photo , the "shot" in the shell was fine!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

sidetracked again, was putting some of the switchers back on the display & knocked over the BL2  got lucky & nothing broke, so I decided to go ahead & put on the KD's 
not much on the body to mount to so I went with truck mount, a lot of glue, 3 shims & underset couplers finally go em up high enough!


----------



## 89Suburban

Looking good.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the rails & horns (not tyco horns but any port in a storm) just need couplers & Ill.Cen. is done, started on the Durango, I counted up & I have enough to do that & the Santa Fe.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

couple a shots of the steam & diesel areas, please ignore the roads & parking lots just threw those down for the grandson to play with.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tyco fleet is almost done, got enough stanchions to do the Santa Fe, only one without after that is the streak, Kd's on everything except Durango,Santa Fe & GG1 
Anybody need some Tyco's?????????? gotta clean out, I'll let em go cheap!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Rails make it look much better!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the couplings on the RS2, thinking of switching to the Chessie shell, have Santa Fe's growing out of the cracks :dunno:


----------



## time warp

Those would make good starter trains for somebody. Layout looks good, RC.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Thanks TW, maybe if I get really bored this winter I'll redecorate the rear half, since the Bridge & elevation idea failed, I just added entries to the sidings I had to back into & that made them long enough to park any of my trains on, then I put away all the really nice freight stuff to save it from the grandson! (he just turned 3)
So I'm workin on the last Tyco, got about half the rails on, that next group doesn't get here till around tuesday ,what will i do all weekend!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm thinking of a little layout for the grandson, plenty of track & a couple of cheep transformers, might be too soon though, He does beat toys to a pulp. :laugh:

So here's the 5628's less Dad's chat,his had the plastic rails, the only Tyco he had, guess he was reminising about that song he liked!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

went with the Chessie shell, way to many red/silver Santa fe's running around.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

trying to figure out a way to show off :cheeky4: dad's diesel collection,my additions of decent stuff  & then the junkers I've been putzing with, :goofball: got all the boxes out, I think I need another room to spread em out in. this might keep me busy all night! hopefully I'll get some pics up tonight! :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK here's the lot, first up Dad's original collection  less 20something I sold off the first year.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

these are some of the better lookin or better quality I've accumulated the last few years.........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tyco/bachmann/lifelike...............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the whole mess, guess I can buy more  no where near the 100 I thought, only about 80, garage sale coming soon!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

see you guys in a week or so  I now have to clean up the mess I made, reset the display & get all the good stuff out of the reach of the grandson!


----------



## Rusty

Rusty Cuda,

Most of my HO collection is in a temperature controlled storage ... quality nylon or plastic gears which split when too cold but ... and would crack in cold weather this was quite common.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

They were in my attic for a couple of years, only craked gears in the orig collection were the proto 2K's , Dad had them in the basement, that was never that extreme in temperature.
there all in the same stolen bedroom now & will stay in the main house till I either die or pack them up to pass down to my kids.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

At least another day before the next batch arrives & no work to go to,So I pulled out the steamers from the junk batches to see if there's anything that's saveable, those last 2 I got both ran(bottom left) one just had a broken side rod, will take a closer look & see what else is broken or missing & check out the other more closely .


----------



## time warp

What is the one in the top right of the photo with the Vandy tender?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Why, what ya thinkin?? 
That's a Bowser 4-6-2 a lot missing on the running gear, motor should be ok, it ran a bit before the running gear locked up, was debating weather to strip it for parts or just leave it on the side for now.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I looked over that second runner from the last batch, cant find anything broken at all, she runs ok, but the leading engine truck & the rear tender truck keep poppin off the track, that I think I can fix.
So does anyone know what I have here, no markings.
tried to get a shot of the guts if that helps? 


The first one I took off the broken rod & cant seem to line up the tiny screw with the back rod to test it again. I'll try again after I cool down!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bachmann, Meheno & the broken up die cast from japan I stripped for parts, did keep the die cast shell, nothing broken on that.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

tenders all can be cleaned & repaired, the bottom one is perfect but does not match any of the engines, I think it's Mantua?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

first 2 0-4-0's run but shells are trash, one was a rossi, other unknown but looks like a Mantua type motor, stripped for parts.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the other 2 are out of Lima Italy, but have different motors than the rossi's anyway one ran good after cleanup & the other runs just has some wires to resolder, washing the shell as we speak!


----------



## time warp

I hope you haven't stripped the Bowser!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Actual stuff I could bring my hoarding self to throw away! victory for the cleanup crew!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No not yet, I know there good engines, but finding the parts & the instruction's from the kit will be a task?????????? 
What ya thinkin?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Lima shell & the tenders cleaned up nicely , bottom 2 are Bachmann, little one needs wheels & a hand rail, the con rail is the yugo one, probably can use with a rossi engine.


----------



## time warp

I'll PM you.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well guys, I think my junkman luck ran out, there may not be much to save let alone tinker with in this mess.
the round house track cleaner is a non power unit, so no drive truck for my other one. The santa fe A unit is a dummy so no power for my shell or b unit. the darn trolly is a dummy, never even heard of a dummy trolly !the NS is an athern thank God no cheezy paint on it at least I can try & get that up to snuff, the dummy behind go the paint smear job & the meheno also really bad paint! I did get like 15 really cheezy eldorados & 2 300 ft freight cars. UGGGHHHHHHHH:goofball:
Poorly packed, lotsa pieces in the bottom of the box!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Only bright spot may be the Meheno it's the same as the one in the last batch with the broken chassis, motor was good & I stripped off all the running gear & for some reason I saved the shell so maybe between the 2, I can get one out of it & some precious tinker time!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I put the 0-4-0's back together to clear the bench for the basket case batch, they do have some broken stuff, stack & a bell gone on one & no rear steps on the other, but I got em running nice & smooth!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I pulled apart the athearn NS, put a few pieces back in place & she runs ok, gotta clean out some nasty crud & rust off the electric pickup rods, but chassis should be good to go, washing the shell as we speak! might do all new rails on that !
the dummy ,really bad paint & the shell was glued on , so I'll steal the rails & trucks & probably trash the rest!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

TW, I found some trucks & wheels for the car transport, gave it a test run, got half way around before she flipped, anyway what parts you need, or i can just send you the whole thing, shipping might be cheaper if your lookin for small or flat parts????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So maybe I can at least get a track cleaner out of the roundhouse the search for a power truck for mine continues!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Will head back in there & see if i have any luck with the meheno!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

One step forward 19 steps back! 
meheno's not going so good, had the same broken steam chest as the other he glued it all together, did get it to run so at least that's a plus :goofball:
So check out the NS shell, cleaned the crud off & as it dried it just turned gray, so far a wire brush or a fingernail scrape are the only things that take it off. :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not positive but what I think I have there is a clear coat gone bad, the soap or hot water must have activated it, managed to scrape off a bunch but it would take days to do it all.
So If I remember correctly from painting the car they say wet it, if it looks black that's what the next coat of clear will show,do I risk it, or just use it as tinker time & by the time I'm 87 I'll have it clean!


----------



## time warp

RUSTY Cuda said:


> TW, I found some trucks & wheels for the car transport, gave it a test run, got half way around before she flipped, anyway what parts you need, or i can just send you the whole thing, shipping might be cheaper if your lookin for small or flat parts????


All I'm needing are the yellow end ramps, I noticed them laying loose in the earlier picture. I wouldn't mind the autos as well, if they are available.
I'll be starting the train show circuit in 2 weeks, so I can get hold of some more odds and ends to send your way.

The NS may be topcoated with future floor wax. Its not uncommon.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK I'll look for those, so is there anyway to get the wax off without ruining the paint?


----------



## time warp

No idea buddy.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I found 4 yellow end flaps, there's 14 or 15 eldo's , all together it probably weighs a couple of ounces.


----------



## time warp

Perfect! PM the details. Thanks.:smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No need I have your address in the old pm, I'll get em out in a day or 2, you can fill a parts need in the future!


----------



## time warp

I appreciate it.


----------



## norgale

RUSTY Cuda said:


> One step forward 19 steps back!
> meheno's not going so good, had the same broken steam chest as the other he glued it all together, did get it to run so at least that's a plus :goofball:
> So check out the NS shell, cleaned the crud off & as it dried it just turned gray, so far a wire brush or a fingernail scrape are the only things that take it off. :dunno:


Clear coat will blush like that if it's fresh, still wet and in a high humidity area. What you have there is a chemical reaction of some kind I think. Try spraying it with oven cleaner. That will take it down to the bare plastic with a little work.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

This stuff is old, the reaction was from me trying to was it in simple dish detergent & hot water.
trying not to remove the paint under it, scratching it of with a razor knife is working, as I said before it's gonna take a LOT of time that way, will play around some more if I find a cure I'll let you guys know!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So my first mistake was to take the parts out to the garage where my heavy duty car chemicals are , bad move, solvent took the "clear" off on a small spot, did not seem to hurt the paint,so I took a brush & brushed it on the whole shell, left it on a tad too long & it started eating paint, so now I have a gooey mess! 
paint thinner worked a bit too, got the paint off the handrails but in the effort lost one, will check in the daylight tomorrow, should be out there somewhere?
With the same thinner I then melted a few of the plastic pieces from the meheno, so I guess I'll have 2 motors & sets of running gear in the parts bins!
did get that little up running for what it's worth!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I'm not exactly in the mood to work on trains tonight,  gonna go find a movie to watch & just chill a while! :smokin:
TW, packed up the parts, will get em out tomorrow!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Not a lot of progress on the engines, ended up sorting out parts, have tyco, bachmann/life-like & ahm in different boxes so I can dig out parts easier!
2 hours shot, but I guess that counts as tinker time???????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Might yet be able to do something with those meheno 4-6-2's .
Was trying to research the die cast 4-6-2 & this popped up, was ending in a few hours so I stuck in a bid, I won , now lets just hope the dummy will take my power drive & I may get a decent engine out of it.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-SCALE-U...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648


----------



## Rusty

I've used alcohol several times with great results. I left mine in there for about a half an hour with an Athearn Blue Box factory painted shell, and it was about right. I did a good amount of cleaning with a tooth brush, and it went pretty well.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'll keep that in mind, thinking of doing my first complete strip & repaint, at least it's a plain black engine, good place for a newbie to start!


----------



## time warp

Super Clean works well, but test it first, it destroys some plastics


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gonna see if I have any luck getting some of this stuff out the door & maybe put a few bucks in the kitty for the next batch, first lot going on ebay is mostly tyco, bachmann & life like with a few amh & athearn dummies & some parts.
2nd pic is the runners, cept for the top one, that the motor does run, missing body weights.
Anyone interested, make offer's save me from ebay!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Back to putzin a bit, took a part the Lindberg for a clean & lube & check out that missing spring, turns out it's not a drive truck, no place up top for the spring , just missing traction tires, was not sure how to tackle that without messing up that spring, turns out if you pop the wheels you can work em out under the spring , so I cleaned em up put on traction tires lubed her up & she's backin action, not a bad runner, a little noisy. didn't do couplings yet so not sure about pulling power?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So these are the ones I like the best out of the junk batches, there's a couple of things that are boxed away like my athearn powered up B unit for the pensy set & the rebodied chassis for the amtrack pair. probably a couple of others I forgot, but these were out & easy to set up for a pic!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Display has a few new arrivals, need another display to seperate dad's classics from my newly acquired junkers!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK there up wish me luck :dunno:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/253256044890?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

TW, ran across this, I don't know if your oddessy is over? 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tyco-HO-MI...d=253159705096&_trksid=p2047675.c100012.m1985


----------



## time warp

Thanks, RC, I've got plenty of them. The original pair I started with are still going strong, and I kept one other good one for a backup. Those Midnight Specials and the New York Central Sharks are the only Tyco engines I keep around other than the N&W C-630. Tyco's are fussy and take more work to keep running than any of my other engines.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Conrail Dummy came today, after a lot of figuring out which parts to use I finally got her all together, So Conrail has a steamer in the lineup, but I'm out of projects again, the paint strip on the athearn's not going too well so far, gotta find another chemical!


----------



## time warp

Try some Super Clean. It works very well but you need to keep an eye on it, it's been known to (seldom) soften some plastics. I think Wal-Mart has it.


----------



## Cycleops

Or even brake fluid.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well the sale wasn't exactly a money maker, got a wopping 30 bucks back in the junker kitty! hwell:


----------



## time warp

Sounds about right. Large lots like that, in my experience, tend to go low.
But hey, 30 bucks is 30 bucks!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

well that cleaned out 1 box, might do the tyco's next, maybe the hand rails & KD's will entice more buyers?????????? there are all runners too.gottra check think I'm up to around 10 of em?


----------



## norgale

So now your into buying and selling? Will a hobby shop be next? You have enough stuff to sell that would last you a couple of years. Otherwise I hope you had a good Thanksgiving.  
It's finally getting pretty cool now so I'm heading toward the shed to dig out the trains again. Seems like every summer I pile stuff into the shed and every winter I have to dig it all out again and dispose of the junk like I should have six months ago. I'm so happy that we are past the high temps and the high humidity. This summer was a bad one with the hurricane and all. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Glad to hear you cooled off a bit, dig out the old camera & show us what your up to.
Just gotta sell all the strays I've been fixing up, why you ask? well to make room for more, I do enjoy getting them running again.tinker time at it's best.
Grandson was over today, rearranged some of my fences & vehicles , be a little cleanup there get em ready for the next visit, I love it!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A shot of his artistry & his little stool so he can reach through the cubby holes.........


----------



## ExONRcarman

rc, this a hell of a thread man. no, i havent read all 200 plus pages, just the last fifteen. i am inspired. you have several engines that i'm still looking for. rock island bl2, e7/8, chatenooga, and durango. overall a very nice collection. you are now a part of my subsribed threads. keep posting man!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hey, been a while, hows it going?

The BL2 is a keeper for now. which e7/8 ?

The chat & durango are going up for sale with the rest of the tycos once I get off my lazy ",,,,," 

I'll get some pics up of the next batch to go out , there going cheap . need space, watching a few more junk batches!


----------



## ExONRcarman

sorry, i didnt intend my last post as a " i wanna buy them are they for sale" i was just commenting on them. but now that you say they may go.........

things are going well for me for a change, hope i didnt jinx myself, new house, new buisness, new woman, and most importantly, new layout! lol. in process but pics will come to my thread soon enough


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's a lot of new"s" good luck with em all, Mine are all aging, same house, same business & same wife.
no pressure on buying anything, I'll post up the pics in a while, just say if you want me to hold any thing & what your willing to pay. Remember I'm selling as lots & am not gonna get much on ebay, I'd rather see the stuff go to a good home here.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here's the batch going out the door one way or another! 
took extra pics of the 2 you mentioned, all of a sudden the durango is loosing power on a couple of my turns gotta check that out, the chat has kd's the durango orig couplers. 
both of these shells are in nice clean condition.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the red burlington is missing one front side hand rail, they are the plastic ones, the green has home made metal rails. both have KD's


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

santa fe has one orig coupler & 1 missing, can put on KD's Or just the missing orig,metal rails, the chessie has KD's & orig plastic hand rails, also had a power pickup issue on this, will check into later?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

these have metal rails & KD's a little wear on the shells.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

finally the life like (southern) & bachmann UP I forgot to put in the last batch .both have no couplers, the UP has broken rails & steps.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

cleaning up for another visit by the grandson, packed away some , rearranged the display & ran the track cleaners for a while.
Made a shelf for the southerns, the only orig from dad's collection is the cab foward, the rest came in junk batches & the batch from my sons friend.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the new set up............


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the other 3 shelves...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

still amazed by the details on the brass babbies!


----------



## ExONRcarman

wow, very impressive collection!


----------



## time warp

It is a nice collection, something to be proud of. 
Rich, I still want that old CNJ Camelback. Please tell me it's available!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

TW, it's in really bad shape, metal cracked in many places, can't remember if the motor was ok, I'll pull it down & play a while, get you some pics of how bad it is, I just put it on display because I'm embarrassed , it's the only NJ thing I have & I live here!
Dad had 2 NJT diesels but I sold them in that first batch before I decided to keep the rest.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

might finally have my mallet, there's one in my next junk batch, but it doesn't run, must over achieve on that one! 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rivarossi-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648


----------



## time warp

That is a very good lot, RC. The Mallet and J-class are worth what you paid.

The CNJ is a tough one because so many are ate up with Zinc pest. I 've always thought they were nice looking locomotives, though.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm surprised I got it for that price, I really wanted this batch & was willing to go 300 total.
so I'm happy now, we will see if the joy continues when they get here & how bad they really are?
Off today I'll pull down that jersey central & take a closer look.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK here she is, did make some progress on the running issue, First hit the brush holders with power, dead short, power to the rotor?stator?(where the brushes touch) & the motor ran, lifted the closest brush & power to rotor there & the chassis & it ran again, still gears not meshing.
so I think the isolator on the brush spring rod is compromised, also found the motor mounts are adjustable & slid it back & wa la the gears meshed but the drivers bound up, found a smaller nut to put on the end & got that fixed, So I think it will run, but the shape of the shell is pretty bad, if I keep it a few feet away it would look fine, weathered like an oldie should?????


----------



## time warp

Don't weather it, that thing is a Classic. Imported from Japan by AHM way back when they were Associated Hobby Models.
The metal is repairable, I know people.


----------



## ExONRcarman

wich one is the mallet?


----------



## time warp

Say Hello to the Y6b Mallet ( pronounced Malley). The hardest pulling steam locomotive built. Hoo-Waa!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

TW, I meant the way it already looks, I can't find the other "leg" that goes from the steam chest to the boiler.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So now that I'm back in the tinkering mood but have to wait till next week for the shipment I decided to dig around the room & finish some of the other little pieces.
First the 4-6-2, this runs really nice, actually saw a boiler cover on ebay but wasn't around when it went off, so I stuck on the one I shaped out of wood, I think this engine# should have a B&O tender, but alas, the NYC was my only extra, I won't tell anyone if you won't :cheeky4:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Dad had a nice Mantua cammel back, undecorated, maybe I can make that a NJC, I have lots of lettering & numbers, doubt I have a statue of liberty though


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Then I pulled out the unpowered track cleaner, put couplings on & cut some fine emery cloth for the skids, a dab of goo & there drying now, see how it works a bit later! :dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Epic fail on the track cleaner so far, hits the screws on the above table switch machines & doesn't like the plastic on the crossovers, even trimmed down the pads a bit, still catches.


----------



## time warp

I think you just figured out why you see them for sale so often.


----------



## Lemonhawk

+1 for the track cleaner car ever working. I also think the emery cloth is too abrasive. I like a modified car washing pole with a small pad for alcohol. The HOG can apply more pressure than any cleaner car ever will. I have also been using just a light touch of ATF (The older cheap kind) and it seems to do the job of keeping the track clean and avoiding any real work. A few touches of ATF that the trains drag around is enough.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

excuse my ignorance but whats ATF ?

I have a couple of home made cars with some kind of pressed board to rub the tracks from the guys in the last generation that I run in the trains??? wheels do seem to still get dirty though.


----------



## time warp

ATF would be automatic transmission fluid. Actually a very light hydraulic oil with red dye added.
The cleaning pads are most likely masonite, and they work well.
It is imperative that you clean all of your locomotive and rolling stock wheels, then clean your track. It is likely the wheels are transfering dirt to the rails.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yea I got that,  few months ago & cleaned the wheels on like 47 cars,  everything I had out, then packed away the good stuff to keep out of the reach of the little guys claws! 
I can't even count how many wheels that is :goofball: it took a while! hwell:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I'm digging around to make up a big junk batch for ebay so I can clean out some space & get the extra freight cars & junk cars, shells & such I've accumulated out of here & make space for more junk to come :goofball: 
Anyway, I came across this old tanker,it's metal, looks like it was pretty cool in it's day, well beyond my skills to try & resurrect, but it looks like a candidate for a little project, scratch build a stand for it & make it a storage tank, it's already naturally weathered!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

threw the extra Rossi 0-8-0's on ebay, see if i can get a few bucks? 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/RIVAROSSI-...A-HARBOR-BELT-extra-AT-SF-engine/253292675233


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

consolidated a lot of boxes, kept a few of the more interesting pieces & am trying to unload the rest, there's actually a few empty spaces under my tables now! 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-trains-...hearn-rivarossi-others-mixed-lot/253292992775


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

found a pic of some tanks, not sure if I want ground level or up on a platform like my diesel tank ???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Slapped together a base for it, now I have to hunt through all my boxes to find my ladders,I beams & such to see what kind of platform i can make?


----------



## time warp

Looks okay to me.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Your too easy on me, gotta get some details on it, paint the base, but hey maybe that's a good spot for it????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Dug out all my ladders,railings,I beams & stairs, couldn't find the trusses though, now I just have to figure out what I want to do?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Decided to stay fairly close to the ground, might have to go thicker on the platform, went up one thickness already & it split again, got the catwalk started. now I have to get them on the tank get some stairs or ladders on & figure out how to tie it into the pumping station & the other tank? 
If i keep it there I will go gray with the base, some where else I can just go brown on the base.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K, no gray paint so brown it is, got the catwalk & the platform on, a little more railing work & I can get it set & then cut the stairs, might go hunting in my piping kit & see if I can tie it into the pump house?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

while that was drying went ahead & finally reversed polarity on the conrail meheno,ran opposite all my others, while it was open I installed a headlight, now I look at the tender that has power pickups, but the connection to the engine is a plastic rod??????? so I open it up, not connected to the chassis, so I stick a little light bulb in the housing & solder them in, worked great for about one loop, now it just flickers once in a while, guess I'm going back in!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK, just have to put in the step between the catwalk & the platform & it's pretty much done(unless I think of some other goodies to put on there)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

there is no self control, I did it again, well with this batch added in I should keep busy right through the holidays, merry Christmas to me! 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-107-18...ives-amp-Cars-/173004813283?&autorefresh=true


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

There here! First batch arrived, these babies are going to make me work .they were packaged very well, of course he came up a tad short on the front of the mallet, not sure if it was already broken or in shipment didn't find any pieces in the box?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

this one came from an old schooler I think, modified & stuffed with lead, it weighs almost 2 LBs runs real slow see what a cleanup& lube will do?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

here's where I hope to have some success , the E8 is a dummy I want to power it up, the one below is an ahm with a lousy shell,but runs good, maybe a switch over ,also have that chassis from the NS in the last batch maybe i can get it powered up,the shell is nice.
the 2 steamers both dead, power right to the motors & nothing so I'll do my first Rossi motor open heart surgery!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

cute little brass camel, it was in the bottom of a very dirty box for a long time, will clean it up someday even if only for a display piece.
The other is out of a F7 B unit, weird lookin drive. anyone know who made it?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

rest of the junk,might piece a couple together out of this batch, the hawthorn's both run, an Earnhardt for the kids, seem to be a little better quality bachmann???
signs of life here & there, plenty of tinker time here!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ive had some luck with the steamers, the NYC motor was rusted stuck, could not get the screws out so I pulled the back of the motor off ,wow what a mess, shot some WD40 & cleaned & scrubbed for a while, still looks red in there but I put the stator back in & with power right to it it does spin freely, could not get it to run with the cover back on & broke the brush so till I get some new one's thats on hold.
The Mallet runs :smilie_daumenpos: looks like a bad brush, so I'm off to ebay to see if I can locats some
Question, one brush looks like normal ,the other looks like a cooper mesh of some kind, is that what's supposed to be in there ??????:dunno:


----------



## time warp

You have to put something metal across the magnets when you pull the armature out or the field will be compromised, destroying or degrading the power of the motor.
The Camelback may be an ancient Mantua, definitely has value.
If the FA diesels are Lionel HO, and have good or running chassis, they are sought after.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

4 Lionel's, 1 looks older, other 3 have the same drives, don't know when I'll get to those.
parts missing on a few of the trucks though.
where do I put the metal, i stuck the armature back in for now?


----------



## time warp

Just some piece of metal, stuck across the magnets. A sheet metal weight would work


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

NYC power up is still up in the air, the 2 good running chassis I have the wheel base is too short, the crappy painted red engine that came in the batch has the right wheel base but was locked up, got it all freed up but runs pretty slow?
mabe switch a better motor in?
To get the shell on I'd have to cut the 2 mounting posts in the good shell, not sure I want to do that. So put it on hold awhile , ses what comes in the next junk batch.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Lionel, 3 from canada & 1 made in USA actually from N.Y. 
NY 1 runs, power pick up issues, if I touch both plates on the trucks where the wires are on it shorts, but if I touch one set of wheels & the chassis it runs, if I go to the side where the power pick up plate is it shorts, does not look like the trucks can be reversed, maybe someone turned the wheel sets to the wrong side???? more digging needed here.
The 3 from canada 2 the same, rear wheel drive, the 3rd has both trucks geared, a lot of missing/broken truck covers. might get one out of them till I find more parts.broken step on the freedom & all missing the horns.3 motors run fine, the one with 2 geared trucks is locked up, I think it's one of the trucks so motor on that should be fine too.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

back to the lionel's, the truck on the usa one was reversed, cleaned & lubed she runs ok, somewhat noisy(lower chassis in the pic). Got one of the others going, but had to dab a little GOO on the truck, tabs are broken on every one. on the other 2 I'm trying to build a tab with super glue, 5or 6 layers already & not much of a buildup, will probably pop right off later anyway????? 
So if I can get one of those to hold(or GOO that too) I should have enough parts to get 3 running. Not bad!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

older tyco/mantua is a junker, stripped anything off the shell & trashed that, motor truck is frozen up, might pull it apart someday when I'm really bored, it's rivited together!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

tonights finally is the life like, stripped/cracked plastic piece that connects the wheel drive, trying some superglue, otherwise it's a nice clean engine, even has the box on this one Yea!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

2 down 1 to go, the USA one was noisy, once I put the shell on it got worse, a real groaner , the other where I "GOOed" the truck I added 2 ounces of weight & she runs nice, think I'll use the great northern shell for the next one.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

second batch got here already, gonna go check em out now!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

First I popped em all on the tracks, some signs of life, the NYC RS2 both trucks locked up, that was the first I pulled apart, 1 freed with just a little oil, the 2nd is takin a bit more work, rust got under the bearings on the shaft, cleaning up now, that should be a runner & my 2nd ahm RS2:thumbsup:
the pile on the lower left is the broken pcs from bottom of box & he had em packed pretty good


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Rest of the ahm's were 4 dummies, the soo with no geared truck, which i may get lucky, had one from an old batch, the other power unit is new haven, did nothing on the track, haven't opened it up yet, so best I can hope for is 2 that run.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the 2 burlingtons which he called life like are from yugo, so might be another brand, one had life this one did nothing


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

of course the santa fe rivarossi is a dummy, not having luck(the E8 from the last batch) with those,the black steamer might just be for parts, lousy paint parts falling off & no sign of life(power direct to the motor)the 2 switchers both had signs of life, pretty sure i can get them going.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

little surprise in there, the mantua/tyco UP's are all powered, 1 A & 3 B's, the A & one B ran a little, the other 2 dead on the track, will dig into those some more, they are the older type(rivited trucks)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

1st success outta the batch, NYC is a runner, even quieter than the burlington (thanks again TW), just some glue marks on the railings, other than that a nice piece! 
It even has a horn, may be the only one it the whole batch though! 
Had to clean up the mess the grandson's comming over!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

this ones a little different inside, motor is the same, all parts were floating around in the shell, but the brushes seperated from the contact rods...........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Have one set from that other motor that was missing the spring & insulator .
Is there any way to glue those back on??(and still have electric pickup) could they be soldered back on???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So 2 runners, went with Milwaukee & seaboard, need to pick one more shell, not Santa Fe & the new haven is probably the most beat up????? 
That's if I can get the motor parts back together & the geared truck I'm piecing together to mesh right ?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

rolling right along, got the all wheel drive lionel going, my super glue worked on one truck, the second I added a sliver of plastic. the ahm 3 are going the 4th need the gears to mesh on the truck, haven't got that together yet.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the life like is still giving me fits, got the shafts glued, runs with a little clicking foward & the top gear tries to turn out of the truck in reverse & locks up.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Actually got all 4 of the older tyco/mantuas running, soaking the gears in light oil now to see if I can get em running a little smoother, this guy was a modeler, grab irons, made up coupler system, must have pulled a LONG train!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

If I dare say, darn I got all 4 of the UP's running pretty good,one of the problems was the pick up wheels on 3 of em were frozen, got em oiled & freed up, one still needs a little push once in a while but I'll just stick it in the middle! couplings spread em out quite a bit, most of his diaphragms fell off, but would be too short for that span anyway.


----------



## time warp

Quite an assortment of equipment, RC. I'm having trouble keeping up.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I've been jumping around a lot,still a bunch to work on hoping they will keep me busy at least till Christmas? The brushes for the Rossi's came today, so I'll make them my Sunday project, out of all of it the NYC would be nice, I do have one that has a story behind it(I'll spill it on a future post) but the mallet is the one I want as a keeper.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

My auctions go off today, doing ok on the Rossi 080's at 29 with a couple of watchers, but I'm gonna take a beating on the freight junk lot, started at 9.99, only 3 watchers & no bids,I've got more than that in there for the couplings I put on, if it goes that cheap someone's gona get a great deal, the box cars first row gotta be worth 25 or 30.
ahh well it will clean out some space!


----------



## time warp

I have better luck when I keep the lots to about 6 to 10 items. Seems to sell better and keeps the freight lower.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yea live & learn, just wanted to clean out, so it ends up I'm giving them away, if I had known I would have pit em in my pay back thread & given them to you guys for shipping only! Doing good on the 080's , just went over 40, that's what I was asking in my for sale thread.
So with another batch of tyco's going out, the 080's & that junk lot I might have gotta maaaybe 1/2 my money back to invest in the next batch. The tinker time has been priceless, learning the innards of many different locos, honing my talents for when my good stuff breaks & keeping myself busy! :smokin:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I decided to practice on the NYC hudson first, this is the new brush that came & that copper mesh one that was in there, put it back in & seems to work ok?
So yet another runner, still having power pick up issues with the tender, but that should be just do a better cleanup on all the contact points. I'm gonna leave the rust stains on for now, better weathering job than I can do.:smilie_auslachen:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Here's the back story on my NYC Hudson, when I was a smart alec teen, I was about 15, the ho's we switched to hadn't been out in a few years, my uncle was over had a younger son & I gave them to him thinking I'd never use them again, so those & a couple of other things went home with them.
That night all I got was a "THOSE WERE NOT YOURS TO GIVE AWAY" outta my Dad. OOooooppppsssssyyyyy
Fast forward 10 years or so & I see my Dad's gettin back into the trains, one of the guys I worked with said he always saw boxes of em at garage sales & the like, so I let him hunt for me, brought him a box or 2, after that he said don't bother any more it's mostly junk, but the guy already had the third box, so I brought that over & then stopped.
So out of the messes I brought him he did manage to get a couple of older mantua steamers pieced together & that NYC was actually still in a box, he took it to the hobby shop & at the time the guy said maybe worth 130. So I think I spent 200 on all the boxes, he got some tinker time & I got to not feel so quilty about giving away his stuff! 
So when I finally started pulling them out of the attic a few years back there was one box marked Richies train in here, so 
I guess it meant at least a little to Him.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

We have a mallet, it ain't perfect but she runs pretty good, really all I had to do was replace that one brush & bend the contact bar for the tender. the warp on one side also causes the shell to sit up a tad on the other side, but hey, not bad outta a junk batch!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the burlington's from yugo , the rear one runs, after clean & lube not too bad, but it pops the rear two wheels off every now & then, haven't figured that one out yet, the other was another motor with rust, this one's not coming apart so I sprayed the crap out of it with wd40 & worked it a bit by hand, gettin a little free but a long way to go.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

steam yards fillin up again!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK little test run of the UP's


----------



## time warp

Those big articulateds are sure fascinating to watch.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

see those babies along the highway pullin 100 or so freight cars!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

actually got that motor freed up, only to find both trucks locked up, got one free, the other is soaking in WD40, seems this stuff was stored in a damp place, the upper bearing shaft is rusted & the bearings won't let it turn.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Gotta admit defeat on that one(the 2nd burlington) coming apart a lot of the plastic hold down clips just broke, I did finally get the bearings free but alas the motor just needed too much help to start spinning, so I stripped everything off it, even pulled the brushes & springs & let the shell & the chassis go to that trainyard in the sky! 
Lots of spares for the runner, added 1oz of weight to that, won't waste couplings unless it becomes a keeper. learned my lesson with that 9.99 batch, I had over 20 bucks in kd's on those freighters.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Impressed by a Bachmann???????????????
these Hawthorne Village units have decent guts for a Bachmann! 
Got em both running smooth & they are pretty quiet too.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hard to kill these old Rossi's a little cleaning & oiling & both are running, the 060 bounces around a bit, I'm surprised it even ran, the040 looks well weathered with the rust on the running gear.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

this little athern switcher runs really nice, looks like someone was half way through a rewire job when they dropped it???? (broken cab) maybe that's why he stopped???? finished the wiring, cleaned & lubed & off she went! 
anyway I'm wondering if the cab from that southern I had? will fit, it's packed in that box of junkers that went for 9.99(your killin me!) anyway the guy didn't pay yet, I'm hoping he never will ,if not I'll separate that lot & I'll pull that out just to see.
next batch I'll do different, there was too many good cars in there.
so here it is , check out the cab damage.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK guys, if you see anything that interest in any of these, most will go up for sale(cheap too) so shoot me a line & we'll see what develops. The mallet is the only must keep (for now anyway) for me. Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

this one's a shame, it's a Rossi, runs nice, was a blue something, NJC comet , whatever, rear truck wont hold the wheels other than that the chassis is good, spare parts at a minimum , maybe a piece for a future shell. glued back a couple of shell parts, but that black paint?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

another Tyco, did the clean & lube & it was running nice, till it got to the back of the table, everything seems to break or derail back there to make me crawl in, anyway it did the loose motor gear thingy, dabbed a little super glue & back in action, another naturally weathered engine.
now I just have to find a truck cover with that color dirt on it!:goofball:


----------



## time warp

Don't give up on ole Blue, We've got some friends that can help with that.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I can't even get the paint off a shell  
So I'm out on me saving that one, if someone would like to do it I'd be willing to send it off for postage only with the promise of a thread showing the work & the results! Maybe I can learn something.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Might be going a little crazy on this one, but I'm grasping at straws, only 1 1/2 days work between now & the new year & I'm almost done with both batches I got! 
so this one the "arms" that hold the trucks in place were broken, 1 I re glued & then added a piece of plastic on top to I hope reinforce it, the other truck they were gone, so I made 2 out of some plastic I beams in the stash.
Doubt they will hold but I had to try!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Workin on this B unit, not sure what brand it is, is the Delaware collars?
anyway missing one drive shaft(none in the stash) & the rubber mounts chewed up where the screws go in, found a couple of perfect fit washers to fix the mounts but the drive shaft will be a hunt! 
& below, lookie what I found, Rossi brushes, after I bought some but they didn't come with those copper mesh types.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So not even close to christmas, about 40 engines in the last 2 batches & almost out of tinkerable units. 
So I started cleaning up that little brass camel, started with WD40, then took it out to the garage & hit it with engine cleaner, scrubbin & wiping for a long time, somewhat clean, but I think needs to be boiled in acid!
Got it in pieces & pretty clean, the motor turned in my fingers, so after I got it a little cleaner & dryer I put power to it & the darn thing runs, no I have no illusion of getting a running model at of this but maybe something for the back of the display? 
TW it is a Mantua.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I did it again, is there any hope for me! 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-Scale-A...3B%2F5NPKucDfLBuJX0Dc%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Little test vidio,was curious to see what the 4 Tyco's could pull,I had 20 something cars on the board so I hooked em all up, aside from yanking the lighter cars off on the turns & ripping out some couplings, I moved light ones to the rear, with all 4 engines on, then it started stopping & starting, would not pull, remembered one time I had a lot of engines on the track the same thing happened, so I pulled 1 b unit & let em rip
BTW ,These are going up for sale (gotta check, you guys have a for sale/trade section?)
Anyway here they are.........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the paint off the Camel & took a soft brass wire brush & buffed my fingers off, don't think it will ever be shinny but at least it'e pretty clean, now I need to re-bend some corners, solder up some popped joints & see if it will go back together??????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So this little devil might just keep me busy till Christmas, workin on a bigger piece a little scrub with 400 wet & dry got most of the tarnish off & didn't scratch too deep, I have up to I think 1200 so with that & a soft brass brush I should be able to spruce it up a bit, lookin at the boiler there was not much that was soldered together so I took it all apart, tinker time galore on this one, even if it won't run it'll sit & look pretty!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got it all rough cleaned, decided to put her back together(to see if I could?) & see if it would at least run with direct power, No go, can't seem to get the motor to mesh with the main gear, then both handrails vanished while I was rebuilding, had everything on a paper towel so I wouldn't loose anything, am having trouble soldering the back hood & plate(2nd pic) back on with my little stick iron, might have to try the bigger gun I have in the garage, anyway here it is "almost" back together!
did eventually find them about 5ft away in opposite directions on the floor???????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

there here already, so I just did an unpack & quick tests, but looks like a good batch this time.
as usual the AHM/Yugo/Meheno group all run & are in pretty good shape, the unknown trolly runs too will need some clean & lubes.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The top one's a Varney, motor runs wheels are locked, got em somewhat free but not there yet, wheels on other truck come out way too easy might be bent?
Bottom's an Athearn cast trucks but yet brass flywheels, think it's anRS3 ?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Top I think is a Mantua, painted half gray????????? but she runs
bottom is a Varney, don't think it's the right tender but it ran a little with some help?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Of course one of the ones that interested me came broken (always the ones I want get damage) anyway I might have a truck in the parts stash(I hope) it's a New one from Japan & it also ran a little with some help, so I hope clean & lube will get her going!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

a couple of camel backs, upper is a Mantua plastic shell & it runs, lower is mixed mostly cast metal with a few brass pieces, ran a little with help.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

top 2 are rubber band drives, middle is an Athearn top unknown, the bottom is a life like. all motors did run, no bands at all, life like was jerkey.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally a SP dummy, no damage here at all, at the least a horn for the southern from the other batch. A nice caboose athearn I think ? a decent coal car , 2 cute little cars, n scale? time to build a mine!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ok put the camel back together, did manage to get the hood soldered back on, didn't go after the gear mesh problem yet stuck it on the display near it's big brother another Mantua.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally got the B unit for the Sante Fe trio powered up, had to square off the nose & open up the holes for the hold down tabs a tad, added 1 1/2 oz to the front. Now A-B-A is ready to pull a LONG train!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the Japan steamer is cleaned & lubed, got a rumpity dumpity sound but does get around the layout, the tender I put a Rossi tender truck on & it works, I have the other to at least match em if I can't get the right one(which I highly doubt)
one of the wheels came off the "Rim" seems to be staying on now, if not can I put a dab of glue on it? 
anyway here she is.........


----------



## ebtnut

Those "cute little cars" are HOn30 Mini-trains. They're still around. There area an 0-4-0ST and a little Plymouth that went with them. They also made/make a tip car as well.


----------



## Nikola

RUSTY Cuda said:


> top 2 are rubber band drives, middle is an Athearn top unknown, the bottom is a life like. all motors did run, no bands at all, life like was jerkey.


My fist HO set, as a small child, was that unit in the center. Rubber band drive and all. The cars had sprung tucks - die cast with little coil springs. Tiny wheel flanges. I loved that set but we never had the right rubber bands.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Cool, I'm pretty sure my first set was rubberband too, but back then I didn't take them apart! Now I have to find some bands.


----------



## ebtnut

My first HO loco was also an Athearn Hi-F PRR F-7. When the old bands gave out, I used orthodontic retainers bands (wore braces for years). They worked OK but needed more frequent change-out. Not as robust as the originals.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Somebody gave me a link to hair bands at wally's, haven't had to to hunt around yet, I have a bunch of regular rubber bands that might at least give me a test run.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Little more putzin with the camels, the little plastic Mantua is running nice, it's actually made in USA & doesn't look that old? 
(top left) the metal one, not sure of brand I didn't open up, lubed what I could reach & it's running much better, not sure if it's up to full potential yet but both seem to jump the track at one of my switches, good thing it's the one right in front of my work table, short wheelbase? only engines that have trouble there all other switchers go through just fine?


----------



## ExONRcarman

RC i have a question about your a b units. im asking because i have a powered b unit myself. my thought was that you couldnt/shouldnt run a powered a/b unit together on a dc system due to different speeds between the two units and power draw would hinder the performance to start with. am i wrong?

ps the little engine in the above pic (bottom left) is really neat. what is it


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Don't know what the problems are, but I run a few different double engines, even had 3 Rossi 0-8-0's pulling a train, sometimes get some wheel spin on one of em but once it gets going it seems ok.
when I did that UP test (with the large consist 20 mixed cars) all 4 are powered, ran ok a while then all of a sudden it would start & stop & not be able to get going, Pulled out 1 B & it ran fine.
Don't know what that is but it also happened when I was testing a bunch of engines, all seperated a bit, got up to I think 7 when that started to happen there.

The little engine? the black camel? if so that is unknown to me, no markings & no one jumped up & said it a ....... , the other 3 are all mantuas.
If you mean the little work train in the other display pic, it was homemade by Alex using a gandy dancer chassis for power.


----------



## ExONRcarman

cool, ill experiment a little myself then, and i was asking about the fadded black camel on this page. it is similar to the others on your shelf but different


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

One more thing that may matter, I was using a Tech2 on one loop, My "Hogger" out preformed it by I'd say 30% picked up another on ebay & run one on each loop.
Plus the "walk around" controls are handy. the new one even has Hi & lo settings, it's on low when the grandson is over!


----------



## ExONRcarman

hogger?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The name of the transformers I use, seem to put out way more power than the tech2 I was using. search em on ebay, if no results I can post up some pics for you.
The control handle is on a wire(one's on phone cable) so you can move around a bit!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

any help Identifying the last camel, think the tender is missing.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I decided if I can get the Mantua running nice I'll make it a major project, strip the paint & try my hand at repaint & lettering.
Clean & lube all the outside stuff, hey it's running pretty good, so I start to dismantle & damn, I break off the arm the supports the running gear. It's cast metal, is there any FIX for this, otherwise the project is scrubbed.


----------



## ExONRcarman

something along the lines of jb weld?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Actually got some useful gifts, besides a nice bottle of Rum I got something to help me clean up these old motors!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A little better luck with the varney, fixed the frayed wire,managed to pull the lug thru some shrink wrap, got her cleaned & lubed.
Runs ok, just need to figure out a better power connection to the tender, the screw looses contact every now & then.


----------



## ExONRcarman

how does that loco do its electrical pick up? i ask cause all the brass wheels of the tender are on the same side.... just curious


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Loco picks up the other side, most steamers are that way.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Any Varney experts out there?
motor screw is loose ,it's under the shaft in the truck, how do I get to it? 
the other problem is the main gear on the truck seems to move in & out when you reverse directions, normal? fixable,if so how? I see a set screw on the truck (first pic) above the shaft , is that an adjustment screw? 
thanks, Rich.


----------



## ExONRcarman

i dont do steamers. but i know these little motors to a point. your motor shaft walking is most likely a thrust washer worn out. by the pics i would say on the brush end. and while the motor is apart for that repair ill bet you will open up the loose screw for tightening


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K, only problem is it's the truck shaft walking (BTW) that's out of the varney diesel switcher, so I'm back in your ball park! thanks Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a Lionel for christmas, but this one hangs on the tree!


----------



## ExONRcarman

awesome!


----------



## Kadotus

For the steamer a tiny little spring washer would help to keep pressure between the screw and the connector, while still keeping it flexible.









For the diesel, the screw on the top holds the motor together, and onto the truck. When the motor is removed the screw for the crossbar is accessible. The main gear will move back and forth a little in forward and reverse, if it's not excessive then it's sorta normal, all my Varneys do it too.
The set screws in the trucks are to keep the shaft in.

The zinc rot on that truck worries me.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

OK , thanks for the help, so that set screw holds in the bearing on the front of the truck, once removed I could slide out the bearing & the shaft, with the shaft out of the way I could tighten down the motor hold down screw, that shaft still does the in & out thing, soldered in a new pickup wire & she runs, nothin to write home about, but she does run.Zinc rot is I hope run it's course??? 
So now to do something about the paint!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wow, you guys who do this strip & repaint must have a ton more patience than I , this is after 2 coats of stripper with a solvent rinse, sitting in the third as we speak!


----------



## ExONRcarman

holy smokes, thats not plastic! cool!!!!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Nope, the varney steamer is metal too.
So here it is, not perfect but close enough, now do I have to prime this kind of metal or can I just shoot it?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

putzin in the project box I decided to get a rubber band drive going if I could, dug out the plain ole rubber bands, but way too long, doubled the shortest one, it kinda worked, then I pulled out the rossi traction tires, the biggest ones looked close, stuck em on, she does run but too much tension & the bands move around on the shaft, guess I'll have to wait for the right ones!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

There were a couple of nice cars in that last batch, so I'm getting them weighted & KD's on, I know I've asked a thousand times, but the extra weight should equal, 1oz + 1/2 ounce per inch
So 5" car should be 3 1/2 oz? 

The caboose is nice, gonna try & get light in before I close it up!A few of the "windows" fell out!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

workin that SP tyco, got the motor running & all cleaned up, someone already ground off the rivets, gluing a lot of stuff that shouldn't be, but I think it'll run!


----------



## ExONRcarman

if it were me id prime it before paint


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the AHM got here quick, they look pretty good, not fixer uppers, more like oil & go! get some details up soon!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

TW's tankers arrived(thanks again) got couplers on & there in the fleet!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The nice caboose & the erie coal car also on the board, added weight to both & a light in the caboose.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Tanker train too long to park on the inner section of inside loop, has to rest on the long siding, not sure it will fit even there when I put out the 7 nice roundhouse units I have(keeping away from 3yr old grandson for now! ) 
tanker & coal drags at rest on the long inner sidings.........


----------



## ExONRcarman

oh come on!! two bl2's! you hog. lol
is that an e8 as well? 
very nice lot! enjoy


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

One of the BL2's is a dummy! 
Very nice lot, whoever had these took real good care, no grime anywhere, all look well oiled & only the burlington had some damage. 
I already powered my NYC from the last batch with the E8 , so it's a dummy now.
here's a few as I test ran them. 
switched chassis & added weight, just needs couplers & she's a keeper!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

even got paper work on a few of them, the GG1 & the BL2's


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the burlington took the beating, broken & missing hand rail piece & the motor was out of place jamming everything up, set it back in & she ran fine, missing that front horse shoe clip that holds it down.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The little switchers are all very nice, no sign of crud anywhere, the center cab has 2 posts loose at the bottom, the B&O has one missing step(which I think I have) the new haven is perfect!
For a junk batch at 70 ish with shipping I think I did well on this one, but there won't be much tinker time, gotta go look for more junk lots!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

& finally the RS2 another clean unit, no damage, now I'm waiting on 1 penn unit & a power chassis to see what my RS2 fleet will look like!


----------



## ExONRcarman

thats a whole lotta rs2


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

3 of the NYC are dummies, 2 good shells & all rails are nice, I've got a penn central & an extra chassis comming, 
then I'll see how they sort out! 
So since I have Soooo many salvage jobs floating around I decided to pack away Dad's engines, thinking I could get most of the junkers on the display, wow, was I wrong, didn't realize how many steamers there were, only the 3 tiny ones are from the orig collection, rest are my salvage jobs.Only 2 don't run.
the display.....................& below what didn't fit, there's a few more floating around I didn't pull out, Time to take inventory & get some more up for sale.


----------



## ExONRcarman

i see at least four in the bottom pic that would find a beutiful home with me!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pretty sure I know 2  the E8 & the BL2, what are the other 2 some will go up for sale! :smokin:


----------



## ExONRcarman

well i think i see two red bl2, a grey e8? kiddy corner on the box and a brown pa? in its own box


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Ahhhh both BL2's, well you snagged one! 
the brown pen is the GG1 might go up for sale , but not for 10 bucks!


----------



## ExONRcarman

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Ahhhh both BL2's, well you snagged one!
> the brown pen is the GG1 might go up for sale , but not for 10 bucks!


thats ok, i dont want a gg1. What about the grey one?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That was the one I just powered up with the chassis of the one in the new batch which TW quickly snagged the remaining dummy, the NYC is a keeper for now!


----------



## ExONRcarman

RUSTY Cuda said:


> That was the one I just powered up with the chassis of the one in the new batch which TW quickly snagged the remaining dummy, the NYC is a keeper for now!


dont blame you. but if a rehome is required in the future.......


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The RS2 penn & extra chassis arrived last night,not as "together as the pics showed but both motors do run. On the dummies I got em all stripped ,amazingly none of the hold in clips are broken & & they had lights so I now have extra power pick up trucks.
Best NYC shell is the first runner, think I'll do the Penn next & use some other parts to clean up the ole burlington!
short 1 brush setup, gonna hafta try & solder the brush back on the arm I have that cane apart.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Looks like I'm going to need a motor to get another running, ahh well I guess I can't save em all!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So still pretty good results, these are the runners in an RS2 group photo, with the penn wanna be in the back round.the 2 newer versions up front will hit the for sale thread! (up & erie)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

pulled around the 2 atlas RS3's for the complete RS fleet!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I used some more of the spare parts to spruce up the burlington, front rails & a new horn, after all that besides trucks ,some electric parts stripped shells & chassis there's not much left! 
Had to glue a couple of the snap in pegs, no more snap!!!


----------



## ExONRcarman

i love your rs3's, i have a weak spot for orange and black


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Bad night in the train room, the little brassy won't run at all now, got some motors that might fit, but how do you get the metal gear off the shaft without killing it?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Amtrack also waiting on a shaft, ordered last night, seems reversing motor changes the length, but does look like it will clear the roof indentation.so the ones I cut would have been perfect, go figure!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

one bright note, is all I need is a smaller nut on the running gear, removed the outside rod & she ran & all the other rods behaved themselves, wiring , might need some help there, all wires gone, lots of solder spots , anyone have one to take some pics of the wiring?


----------



## Shdwdrgn

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Bad night in the train room, the little brassy won't run at all now, got some motors that might fit, but how do you get the metal gear off the shaft without killing it?


I don't have a lot of experience with different models, but the motor that I removed a brass gear from was actually soldered on. There's a fine line between getting the gear hot enough to pull off the shaft, without melting the enamel on the motor windings. Hopefully you can actually see the solder, in which case you can watch for it to turn 'wet'.

If the gear was press-fit into place, then again heating it up might help create another thousandth of an inch clearance so you can pry it off the shaft.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I'm gonna play with the motor a bit more, on the other one I can see the solder , I'll make sure the motor can't be saved before I attempt it, thanks for the help. Rich.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Amtrack back in the operating room, shaft in, soldered back up, shell fits with motor turned but it runs opposite my controls, would reversing the pickup wheels do it , can you reverse em(haven't opened the trucks yet to see if gears are centered) , rear 2 wheels on front truck are riding high(a little off the track)
Don't see anyway that motor clears the drop in the roof the other way?


----------



## Cycleops

Just reverse the motor connections.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I wish, all wheel pickup, bottom of motor is direct to chassis pick up, both truck wires are positive!


----------



## Stephenreef1!

A sand tower is used to load sand into the locomotive, which is for dumping on the rails when needed for traction. Typically, sand was delivered to the yard and stored in a bin. Next to that was a shack with a heater used to dry the sand. The dry sand was then moved to a small tank at the top of the tower. From that, gravity could feed it to the locomotive. On steam locomotives, there were several domes above the boiler. One was a sand dome - that's where the sand was stored on the locomotive. You can tell which on that is by a small pipe running from the dome to the driver wheels. This delivered the sand, when the engineer wanted, to the track in front of the drivers. I believe diesels have a similar use for sand, but am not sure of the specifics.

For steam servicing facilities, you would typically have water, sand, fuel (coal, oil, or even wood), and an ash pit to dump the ash and cinders from the fire box. You need a way to deliver sand and fuel and to remove ash (tracks for the appropriate types of cars). Another typical feature was a pit between the rails deep enough to stand in for outdoor inspection of the locomotive's under side. The engine house or round house was then the place for repairs (not really for storage) and had more extensive pits and cranes and machine shop equipment. Finally, numerous small sheds would be around for storage.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Wow somebody went way back, are you still able to focus my eyes would be crossed a couple of pages in! 
My steam yard has developed since then, all of the above & even added an ash pit! 
Hope you enjoyed the does & dont's of a seat of the pants modeler!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Might have gone a little nuts here, mega load & out of my comfort zone (not a "junk" batch).
Gettin nervous now, seller just emailed me, one box 39lbs coming fedx, cost 78 to ship(they charged 24) guess they didn't check. but one drop (if i'm lucky only one) can cause some serious damage, got my fingers crossed, due in monday!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-and-Us...3B%2F5NPKucDfLBuJX0Dc%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got the NJC chassis running good, now I need to come up with the front truck & try my hand at bodywork on the zinc rot???


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

didn't get back to that tonight, but the insulator was there, even moved it to the other side thinking I might have reversed the wires, got side tracked cleaning up & boxing the shipments. tried to consolidate my project boxes to save some space & saw the lionel box, big box with just the one engine & some parts, soooo................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Out it comes, figure I'll put the weight in & put it on the display(ooops another one I forgot about) anyway I'm lookin at the parts & say hold on, there's a geared truck in there I have the parts to make it all wheel drive.
But noooo it's all locked up, pop it open & it's full of glue, holy mackerel, what was he trying to do & you guys hate goo, at least that I can peel off, so hammers & chisels (exaggerating a little here) later I got most of the glue off, will see tomorrow if they mesh back in ok?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So after spending an freakin hour on picking out the glue, got it pretty free, on little hitch turning with my fingers, hooked it up to the motor ,it powered up & seemed ok.
So I got to to switch it out with the other truck, holy crap, it's reversed NOT GONNA WORK!
So I put it back together & put the Freedom shell on & parked it on the display!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Pulled out an empty box to pack up the spare parts in a smaller box & played with one of those foam trays my son brought home to make a cozy little nest for it. tucked away now awaiting one to pop up in a future junk lot!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally shot the Varney switcher, black was the only color I had that matched any road, so NYC it is..
my road stripping tape fit nicely in the slot under the walk, so I figured what the heck, I can always just peel it off if it's to much?
got some #'s on the little ones are tough, now I have to work up the courage to attempt the letters! (& the other side of the small #'s 

Stripe too much, or just a No NO?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Was thinking of stripes front & rear?

So someone needs a bit of practice on the lettering, should have had a rum&coke before I started this!

Did a little better on side 2 ?


----------



## Cycleops

A strip of masking tape under the letters might have helped.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

That's cheating, LOL I thought by lining up the strips it would be ok, ahh it's my first one I think they will peel off easy enough if I so desire, or start a First.... second & third series to see if I improve!


----------



## Cycleops

Put some gloss varnish where the decal will go and use plenty of water to manoeuvre it into place. You can flat it off with a Matt varnish to seal when dry.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

these are dry transfer , decals I might have gotten straight!
thanks for the tips, Rich!


----------



## ebtnut

Trying to get dry transfers straight and even on a model is well nigh impossible. Counterintuitive as it may sound, it is better to apply the transfers to clear decal stock where, with tape, light table, or whatever helps keep them straight, you can put them down much better. Give them a quick spray of clear sealer, then apply the decal normally.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally got the vid of the NJC camel chassis in action, fairly smooth runner!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Fresh junk batch in, the main reason for this one was to power up my Con-cor/rossi B&O dummy.
got lucky, it was dead on the tracks, but when I opened it up & hit the motor direct she lit up, started tracing back & found some of the wheels on the geared truck were reversed, reset them, greased em up & cleaned em, she took off & ran like a top! 
1 tyco ran but did not move, we all know what that is, 2 others had faint head lights, no other life on any the first time on the tracks, should get lots of tinker time from this mess!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Turned the B&O into a bit of a project, had to drill & tap for the front coupler, it has to be removed to get the shell off, added a headlight & Kd's we now have a AA power duo.
Dad's original had quite a bit of weight added got them to .1 oz of each other, the orig chassis is the back one.
the donner was the exact same shell, but had a different motor in it?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Quick test run..........


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hobbytown "Tank" is something else, built like a tank, got all the new fuel line replacements for the rubber connectors in & lubed her up & it runs like a tank, gotta weigh this thing must be over a pound.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got a couple of steamer batches coming in,these should be fun! 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-15-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648

https://www.ebay.com/itm/7-HO-SCALE...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

They are in, rossi batch a disappointment, no motor in the FEF3 & holy crapoli what he did to the 2-8-8-0 (2?)


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

the meheno runs & there's a couple in the other batch so I should get at least 2 of those going .
mantuas a little better luck, stripped down all the parts on the hand painted ones & got one good runner out of those, the Chessie I made minor repairs & she's a runner!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I pull out the little brassy for one more go to see why I can't seem to get it to work off the wheel pickups, hit them with power & holy crap, it worked, put it on the tracks, made one loop, so don't wanna push my luck here so I pulled it, put the cab back on & stuck it on the shelf! 
Made up the little engine that could shelf, eat your heart out Thomas!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

It's alive!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Lookin for something different to do I pulled out the piggy back kits, now I may be dense, but it just doesn't look right to me, there's gotta be a 1st unit right? to hook up to a train, but when I put the truck on the A unit it seems to ride high, slight uphill from rear truck to front on the body?, also they give you 3 chassis, but only 3 wheel sets, so how's that supposed to work???????????????????


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

try this drive by thing again.


----------



## rickbz28

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Lookin for something different to do I pulled out the piggy back kits, now I may be dense, but it just doesn't look right to me, there's gotta be a 1st unit right? to hook up to a train, but when I put the truck on the A unit it seems to ride high, slight uphill from rear truck to front on the body?, also they give you 3 chassis, but only 3 wheel sets, so how's that supposed to work???????????????????


That is the intermediate kit.There is an end kit that contains both ends which have the coupler mounting provisions.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

:thumbsup:Thank you, I thought I just wasn't getting it!:dunno:


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

K, just had to be told there's 2 sets, that's the intermediate set. back to it, got those built & then did the A-B set, the trailers were quite the challenge, snapped together in about 30 seconds each! 
At least now I can load up the mail trucks & make sure my packages arrive safely


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Shops gonna be back in full swing, just got these in, should keep me busy till work season hits! 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HUGE-HO-Sc...3B%2F5NPKucDfLBuJX0Dc%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

just gettin ready to dig in now!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Started sorting through the mess, this is gonna take a while! 
Switchers all show signs of life, one missing the geared wheelset, the cute little booger I though was bad gears, motor ran but no other movement, till I flipped it over, band drive, so she may be good to go with a little clean & lube!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

A lot of Bacccccccccccccchman stuff! didn't test these yet, most look in decent shape.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The C liners all run, only one has a broken truck clip, the blue one is a yugo it also runs.
The dissapointment is the RS2's, ones a dummy & the other shows no sign of life


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Mixed bag here
top row play art (runs) model power & con-cor from china?
row 2 one of those yugo not ahm units no drive truck, model power & made in macao steamer
row 3 Soo ?life like lookin? life like & life like
Bottom is the AHM out of a box, beat up more than any other in the shipment, will need much help if it is to survive?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

All mantua/tyco & all the diesels in the box are MU2 driven, 4-6-2 slight signs of life, Red steamer runs & pretty good shape signs of life in 4 of the 5 MU2's 

2 power torque, one runs the other just spins, hopefully just the motor gear deal?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Mantua Rock Island, might be a newer flywheel type, wheels so dirty & corroded no power pick up, gotta open that up to see, if it's like the Reading it will be a nice runner.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Last up, the NYC, needs parts, but the shell is in good shape just missing a horn, might have the driveshaft pieces, gonna need motor mounts!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So I pop open the RS2 & think this should be easy, the weight broke the mounting post & pulled the wire off.
Get the soldering iron warmed up, found a screw to hold down the weight, put the GOO back to the side ,fixed the wire, cleaned off all the crud, lubed the gears & wheel axles , laid the electric contact on the weight(didn't fit my new screw) & put it up for a test run, first the contact shorted it out, raised it in the air & it ran a little, getting sparks from the drive wheels to the chassis,(they are NOT power pick up) should they even be able to hit the chassis?? 
so I pull it back to the bench & almost seems I've reversed polarity, but lookin at the pics it is exactly how I got it, figured maybe the plastic weight mount isolated that wire connector, it runs in the proper direction, what the heck did I do wrong! 
Did at least move a set of handrails to a NJC!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Frankie nailed it, clips are gone, but it was still weird, So I pull one NYC & realize service will be a problem, I glued full box couplers to the shell gotta tear em off to get the shell off, go to the burlington & the other guy did a different box(WITH GOO) but still blocks removal, got lucky on the last ahm one they were truck mount so I opened it up, it's exactly as I thought it should be, so I seperate the truck so it won't short & start touching wires all over the place, now the lead connection on the weight doesn't short it, but still not right, I pull out the light bulb, test that,it works, but now it's not shorting so I'm looking around the light bulb mount & don't see any way possible for it to create a short, put it back together & all is good, so basically I fixed nothing (well cept my homemade truck brackets) & now it works? 
So I cut up a thin piece of plastic, super glued that on & put a dot of superglue on top to act as a tab, see if that mess holds up? 

So couplers & work the wheels a bit? (it derails in a couple of spots) & NJC joins the fleet!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Added some weight to replace missing rear weights & then some up front, cleaned & lubed, got my 2 complete cept for one set of horns, have a good pickup truck to replace the broken one, so all 6 should be Runners!


----------



## Nikola

How many engines does one person need? (Not a wisecrack or insult, honestly interested as I have never seen anything like this.)


----------



## ebtnut

Without sounding too snarky, you need as many as you want. Some folks find enjoyment in the hobby by collecting lots of items, like locos for instance. I once collected Ma and Pa brass models in HO and had all but one in hand (the one was a poorly detailed version of the Ten-Wheeler, and I had the much nicer Olympia model). Eventually sold or traded most of it when I went to On3. Now I have enough locos to operated the railroad with some spares, just like most prototype roads. Whatever floats your boat.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Don't need any or want most of em, after I get my tinker time in I sell em off, I've gotten attached to a few , then there is the occasional gem in a lot that I will add to the collection.
I have all my Dads trains, started with more than I could ever use, or even display, I just don't have the space, when the layout was "done" (they never really are) I got bored & started buying the junk lots for something to work on & found I really enjoy bringing them back to life.
When the time comes to sell I usually loose a couple a bucks on each one, that's why I stopped putting hand rails & KD's on 5 dollar engines. Once in a while I get a couple of really good engines & actually make a buck or two.
It's not a money thing it's just something to keep me busy & have some fun at the same time!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So speaking of 5 dollar engines, here's a couple of tycos I just got back on the rails, first 2 are power torques , waithing on super glue on gear to set on one unit! 
2nd 2 are MU2 powered, these usually are the trouble ones, but some cleaning , soldering a wire & a lube job got em back on the rails.


----------



## Nikola

RUSTY Cuda said:


> Don't need any or want most of em, after I get my tinker time in I sell em off, I've gotten attached to a few , then there is the occasional gem in a lot that I will add to the collection.
> I have all my Dads trains, started with more than I could ever use, or even display, I just don't have the space, when the layout was "done" (they never really are) I got bored & started buying the junk lots for something to work on & found I really enjoy bringing them back to life.
> When the time comes to sell I usually loose a couple a bucks on each one, that's why I stopped putting hand rails & KD's on 5 dollar engines. Once in a while I get a couple of really good engines & actually make a buck or two.
> It's not a money thing it's just something to keep me busy & have some fun at the same time!


That's cool.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

got the 2 mantua steamers back on the rails, the UP was just a bad connection at the tender screw & the WA just clean & lube & lower the motor a tad, still missing spacer for leading truck, both both run nice!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Finally workin on something for me, the Athearn NYC PA, got everything ready for when the motor mounts arrive (thanks Sandy!) This one will go in the collection! 
found the missing drive shaft part in my stash, tinned for the wires,cleaned the wheels & lubed her up. 
took it for a test run with a masking tape motor mount & then tucked it away waiting for the motor mounts to arrive .


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Little test run of a Proto E8 from a new batch, gotta catch up a bit, lots of repairs, but busy at work again so little time to post!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Been workin on a Big Boy that someone started to put smokers in, cut out the stacks & damaged the lower body a little before giving up.
As I'm piecing things back together I figured what the hey, let me try this out, what could be better than a big Boy puffing around the tracks! 
after about three laps I noticed a not so good odor, melting plastic, so I put on the breaks & checked it out, it actually melted a little of the stacks back to the boiler, so I got out the super glue & got them glued back, it's rough in there, gotta figure out how to smooth that down & a couple more little fixes on the lower body & she'll be back to normal!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

reached over & dragged the Big boy back to center stage, 
got the swivel base for the piping glued back in & the little box that the stack screw screws into. 
did a little filing around the rough spots by the stacks, a little better.
still some damage in there but should not affect operation, the cat walk repair ideas still elude me?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Got my tinker time in on the Big Boy, it's in the for sale thread to grace another layout.
Got in a few old Lionel units to toy with, used one to finish off my american freedom unit, got second one of those up & running & should have enough parts for a third. 
these are the newer made in Canada ones, too bad, all 4 wheel drive units.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The other 3 were the older made in NYC ones, band drive & all 8 wheel drive. Got the Geep (?) up & running, new drive shaft tubing & bands, but being the clutz I am, managed to break both of those humongous bulbs, stole the sante fe bulbs for now, this one I may detail, drill for hand rails & install some glass.
Santa Fe's should be the same repair process.
Actually have orig boxes for the santa fe's, gotta check the # on the other box & see if it matches the Geep?


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

They made these things pretty good back in the day, none of the plastic is brittle, with the proper bands they would probably run better, motors are quite warm after a few laps.
these are all 8 wheel drive.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Hey now photo bucket released the prisoners, see how long the old pics stay up. 
I'm still not going back?


----------



## Magic

They sure did, all the way back to your first page.

Magic


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

I actually went back to check out the humble beginnings, a 2x4' diorama, wow, what was I thinking, with all Dad's stuff & I would have to pile it to the ceiling to show half of it! 
But it got the juice flowing now I'm waiting for my last Son to move out so I can move to a bigger room!


----------



## jdr3366

Sand is loaded into reservoirs on the engine. It is sprayed through nozzles that hang close to the wheels onto the tracks providing traction when the engine first starts to pull the consist.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&sou...aw1kBFy0h1xkPYX_cpz6-_kc&ust=1528080467428184


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Somebody went wayyyyyyy back, does your head hurt yet!


----------



## jlc41

Very interesting and informative. Thanks for posting.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Been a journey, from tyro to half wit mechanic, but I'm learning.
Always try & post the bad with the good so any other newbie don't make as many mistakes as I have.


----------



## norgale

Nobody could make that many mistakes anyway.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Yo Pete, how have you been, long time no see!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Some recent strays that made their way through the shop, couple of nice runners in there, the burlington is a walthers trainmaster, got some heft to it & runs real smooth!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

couple of decent freight cars!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Been a while, busy at work this time of year & still busy with lots of trains moving thru the "shop".
This time I bought something for myself, I inherited this Berk which was detailed by dad's friend Alex(the guy who built that engine house.but so well used that the lettering was worn off the tender, picked up a non runner(or so he thought) off ebay.
So first I put power to the engine & it takes right off, hook up the tender & nothing, take a look & find the whole front truck reversed, easy fix & I have a nice runner.
Dad's berk with the new tender.................


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

The ebay unit came slightly damaged, bell mount broken & front coupler. got the bell glued back on & dug in the little Rossi corner of the KD box & found a new coupler.


----------



## jlc41

Nice, I like it. I also like the Vlasic car, sharp.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So the adventure to get there took a few hours, the tender was lit with reverse lighting & the cab lit forward & reverse.
Most of the details were on the chassis, so I just had to drill out the tender light hole & remount the scratch built lighting system.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

So of course somethings got to go wrong & I broke off the drop step he added on the engine. I couldn't even see the pin till I got it apart.
dug thru the archives & found some sheet brass about the same thickness, the way this man (Alex) manipulated metal in these small spaces still amazes me. 
make a rough cut & got the idea of how he did it, might take a few tries but I WILL get it sooner or later!


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

rough cut, but I have the system now all I have to do is make nicer cuts!


----------



## norgale

So what did you break now? While your at it hope you have a great turkey day tomorrow. Pete.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Well a lot of things, but fixed a bunch too.
Shutting down the business at the end of the year, retirement here I come.
probably been thru 20 or so junk lots since I've posted, hopefully after the business is wrapped up I'll get back into posting my adventures! 
Have a great thanksgiving guys!


----------



## norgale

Maybe it's time for the Cuda. That will keep you busy for awhile.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

Oh yea, gotta get those done before I get too decrepit!


----------



## norgale

Rich have you ever come across an SD70ACe painted up for President G.H.W. Bush? It's part of his Presidential Library set up and it was created by Union Pacific just for that reason back in 2005. I have never seen a model of this loco and I'd love to have one if I could find out if anyone makes it. Google George H W Bush train engine to see what it loos like. Pretty sharp I think.


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

somebody's got one! Sorry to say it's not me!


----------



## oa5599

RUSTY Cuda said:


> somebody's got one! Sorry to say it's not me!




Athearn is going to do another run soon since his passing. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## norgale

Rich there's a guy on page three of this site (HO) about two thirds of the way down the page and he wants to know what to do with all his fathers trains. Looking for advice. Thought you could give him the benefit of your experience with the same situation. I was looking for your thread when I saw his and was going to see how your getting along. Have you sold your business yet? Maybe not the best time of year to sell. Hear it's been pretty cold up yonder this winter. Hopr all doing ok. Pete


----------



## RUSTY Cuda

No sale, just closed it down, trying to sell off truck,equipment & inventory now, now moving at all.Almost enjoying the life of Reiley!
I'll take a look, but everyone has different hobbies & space allowed?


----------



## norgale

I see. Thought you were selling the business. So you gonna be a retired loco engineer? I love being retired even though I was forced into it by the sale of the business I worked for. It took me time to get to where I was ok with my SS for income and the few bucks I picked up on the side. Actually things are pretty much ok now since I'm used to it. I'm sure it will all work well for you. Keep in touch. Pete


----------

