# Coastie's build log



## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

Hey everyone!
Like many, I grew up playing with trains with my father, but moved on as I got older. Well I now have a son of my own, and got the bug again. My dad recently gave me all of our old HO trains, which had been sitting in an open box in his shed for the last 20 years or so. My father-in-law is also interested in model railroading, so we went to work on cleaning and inspecting everything.










After about 3 hours of troubleshooting we got the Santa Fe running. Turns out the track just needed serious cleaning. I have another Bachmann engine that is still not working; it's getting power, but the wheels aren't turning. More to come on that I'm sure. Here is the Santa Fe rolling.










Anyways work is going to begin soon on a 4x8ish layout. About 3/4 of the rolling stock needs some type of repair and new trucks/wheels, and all will eventually need modern couplers. I'm not sure what type of track I have, although I know that some of the track is Life-Like (it has bronzish tint to the track) and Bachmann (which came with one of the sets). So a bit of ground work is in order for the next few weeks, but we are off to a happy start.

And so the journey begins...


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Good stuff....FYI - the old Bachmann stuff I got from my father-in-law had grease that had gelled up inside over time (stored a good 15 years) I cleaned out everything and re-greased and they run fairly well.


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

Looks like you are getting a great start. The track that the Santa-fe is running on looks like steel or aluminum track. If it is steel you are prolly gonna need to replace it since steel track does not like moisture. Aluminum track is ok but not very durable. The bronze track is just that... well it is brass but what is a little zink? Anyway the track used today is the best of all worlds it is a Nickle Silver alloy that uses nickle and brass to create a strong, durable and corrsion resistant track. Good stuff!!

I agree with SST about cleaning every thing up and re lubing it all. 

Welcome to the forums and keep us posted about your progress.

Massey


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## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

Okay so first update. Yesterday I went a little crazy on Ebay and picked up two Athearn Southern Pacific engines, a Trainmaster and a GP-40, and three pieces of John Deere rolling stock. I also picked up some woodland scenics foam risers, since the seller made me a great deal. 

I'm not a stickler for time frame, although I am looking at post '50s to just shy of current. I am however a little more concerned with geographic location. I plan on running with a South Western theme, so you can expect to see mostly Southern Pacific, and then some Rio Grande, Union Pacific, and Santa Fe. 

We are planning on building the layout in my dad's garage, mounting it to a pulley system. 4x8 is just a starting point, not sure if it will increase or decrease or change altogether. The pictures above don't represent any plans, we were just testing everything out. It will most likely be a DC build, but I am still learning about DCC and I am really impressed. Just not sure if I want to drop the $'s on it yet.

I was up late last night scrubbing down every inch of track with Rail-Zip. I preferably do not want to have to buy a boatload of new track (yet ), so if I can make it work I will.


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## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

Apparently you guys reply quickly over here! 

@sstlaure, thanks for the info, I'll tear it down further today and see what happens.

@Massey I'm hoping that because my dad and I live in inland Southern California, the extremely dry weather helped preserve the track. It's going to be a few weeks before anything goes down permanently, so I've got some time to test it. I'll happily replace it with better quality track, but my wife might not sympathize...


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Coastie,

Welcome to the forum ... great to have you onboard. Nice to see you guys have a multi-generation thing going!

Are you familiar with these guys:

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=8898

They've posted here several times, inviting any members to their So Cal meets. Seems like a great bunch of guys with some impressive talent and layouts. Maybe hook up?

TJ


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## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

Thanks TJ, no I am not familiar with them, but I will keep an eye out.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Coastie,
Do me a favor and maybe yourself one too. Take a magnet and see if it sticks to your rails?
I have a sneaking suspicion that you have steel rails. 
Let me know what you find.


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## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

Yes, magnet sticks to rails. Please enlighten me on the meaning of this 

ETA: Just educated myself, as Google is my friend. Hmmm, the steel track is the majority of what I have... Might be a good time to start collecting some newer, better quality track.


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

Newer nickle silver track would be a great idea. Steel track was great to use with the old Tyco Turbo Trains which needed the steel tracks to allow the train to go through the loop and up the walls but the humidity in the room would create havok with corrosion.

Massey


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

More beer will help! :laugh:



Coastie said:


> Hey everyone!
> Like many, I grew up playing with trains with my father, but moved on as I got older. Well I now have a son of my own, and got the bug again. My dad recently gave me all of our old HO trains, which had been sitting in an open box in his shed for the last 20 years or so. My father-in-law is also interested in model railroading, so we went to work on cleaning and inspecting everything.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Coastie,
That's what I thought! The color of the rail almost always gives it away!
Yea running on steel rail can be a real headache and best to avoid it if at all possible! It can give you some real erratic operations!


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## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

You know, I've looked at some of my other write-ups (for example http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1522942), and beer seems to be a common theme in the pictures. Makes me wonder how much more we could accomplish in our day jobs if they would just let us throw one or two down...

Ok, well it looks like I will be on the hunt for some new style track. If anyone is looking to rid themselves of some extra track, let me know!


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Some us on here can do a lot more on other fuel!


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## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

WOW! If I was running on that type of fuel, I'm sure I'd be sprawled on the concrete in minutes. As much as I love good beer, it doesn't change the fact that I am a lightweight!

Alright so a couple new (to me) toys came in the mail today. These are my first new trains, and the quality has improved significantly! Ebay is my friend and enemy...

Figured the pumpkin added flare!

First up is the Athearn SP GP-40.









Next we have the John Deere rolling stock.









I'm waiting on one other item, thinking it should be here tomorrow. Probably going to order some new track as well today. I like the idea of flextrack for the main line, and will probably just use what I have already for the yard. Getting excited to start the table work next week.


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

Now those are tank cars... If you were to empty them you would be tanked!!

Love the GP40 and JD cars are always a good thing.

Massey


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## bradimous1 (Mar 3, 2010)

is it me or do the JD box cars seem very close together... seems like they would have a tough time with 18" curves... they are awesome though


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Those 40 footers don't overhang too much. Pretty sure they'd be fine. My shorter boxcars sit pretty close together as well. (Of course I don't have any real tight curves either.)


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## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

Thanks for the compliments, I'm really happy with the quality of them. I don't normally do special editions, but I make exception to John Deere and Beer. I've tested the JD box cars on an 18" curve and they seem to do just fine(although close!). Maybe under power it will be different, but seems fine for now.


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## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

Good morning!

Ok did some more testing of equipment last night. I'm pretty impressed with some of this 20 year old stuff. The DC is crap, but it works; it has two speed fast and slow apparently, but it does go forwards and backwards. I also only used the non-steel track, and that really increased smoothness of operations. But the biggest improvement were the new trains; they ran right off the bat, no issues. Here are just some random pics/video. Pardon my lame attempt at photo and video, I swear I will remember to grab my camera at some point...

New engine, an Athearn Trainmaster alongside it's Southern Pacific brother.









The Santa Fe GP40 is rolling smoothly, although it has very little traction when pulling anything.









The Athearn Southern Pacific GP40









Current test track in my dad's garage.


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## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

Now that I have my engines running, I'm going to spend the next few weeks upgrading the older cars (trucks, couplers, etc...), get them up to date. I picked up two packs of the Kadee #5 couplers to test them out and really like them, although I still have some learning to fine tune them. I'm not sure all of the cars are worth fixing to a operational state, but maybe I can find a static use (read severely weathered and damaged car) for them in the display later on. I also plan on putting some layout plans on paper, so look for those in the next few days. 

On a side note, my brother-in-law was tracking down his old HO set that he had loaned to a friend for his kids to use. Turns out the guy might have sold it! A bit rude if you ask me...


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## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

Ok, been a busy couple days for me, and looks to be another busy weekend, meaning no train work for me other then tomorrow. I've picked up a few things off ebay and craigslist (way more then I should have allowed myself, but I think I got some good deals either way), I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.

Alright, so here is my proposed rough layout. It is a 4x8 that will have a 4x4 extension containing the yard. The upper half is the 4x8, while the lower square is the 4x4. The layout was made on SCARM using Atlass Code 100. It's ultimately going to come down to what I already have, and what I am willing to buy. I also have a lot to learn about switching and wiring, so modifications are sure to come.










The overall theme will be high desert/low mountain farming in the South West US. I've settled on Southern Pacific and Santa Fe running the track, and the yard will be "owned" by Santa Fe. The north side will be elevated, simulating a mountain slope. The center to south of the map will be flatter, and simulate a high desert flat for farming, mining perhaps. The yard will be a desert train yard (think Barstow Station-ish).


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## Coastie (Oct 24, 2011)

Still here, but I'm just finishing up an unforeseen move. Hope to be back on track this week!


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