rail joiner thumb already! 22 sextions of track has taken me and the pocketdog 4 hours but its smooth and flat and even straight
are we having fun yet???
heck yes we are…
[tup][tup][tup][tup][tup]
Good for you, John! [:)] Straight, flat, and smooth - that’s what counts! [tup] Just take your time…and do it right. Keep us posted, John…
Tom
Great! Laying the first track on a layout is always my favorite part of construction. Of course my favorite part overall is finishing it and doing some ops[:D]
Thanks for the update. How would you say your scenic work went? Last we heard, you had dumped a bucket of paint on the foam and shaken a whole bunch of ground foam over it. [:D]
What’s the plan now?
Interested parties want to know.
hehehe you guys 
i was all artistic with my paint application ill have you know it was the gallon of ground foam i dumped 
its ok i had fun doing it. it went too fast . i guess i was fearing track
shudder
it came out ok by blind boy standards. i do find some shiny places when im right over them that will need another shot of foam. as bad as im knicking it up there might be quite a few. but nothing i cant fix.
right now im trying to see what will fit where and keep my curves broad as i can and still have room for industry.
its all going to be on the flat (this time) im just happy i can still fit an N scale rail joiner
in place. that was what i was worried about.its not easy but my sense of touch is better than before i got hurt. explains why the rail joiners smart so bad when they poke me.
i found a product in my shop and did try it a little on some real nasty track that came from some where mybe my friend swapped me?? but the cleaner is called "never dull "
it really works good at shining up the track but leaves a slight oily coating. takes crud and rust but i get this coating. it smells kinda musky but not caustic. i wanted to ask you all if you ever heard of it. its big with motocycle folk for cleaning aliminum and metal.
all in all it was great day on the RR i got about 50 peices of track in place and pushpinned down . im going 1" as i cant see 15/16" no more
best rregards friends and much thanks. john
Never dull was also a favorite when I was active duty on the ship. Great brass polisher. Used to go through cans of the stuff. Had the funkiest smell in the world.
Yep, all too familiar with the stuff, too. It was chemically impregnated cotton that you pulled off from a rolled up bundle that came in the can. I used to polish up my trombone with it. Definitely had a unique odor to it. Worked great!
Tom
Good for you. Can’t wait to see a photo!
morning all and thanks as always.
before i get started i wanted to thank Mr. B for the advice he gave in another thead that made my day. i was all concerned about my old engines that wont run and most likely not worth making run. Mr. B said to make them dummies. bravo sir! ive found the path that will work .im the kind of guy that hates to trash anything as i THINK i might will need it. also comes from my possum mentality of “making do or very little” well thats all i got so ihave to.
but putting the old ones to service as dummies is a very very great plan. Thank you Mr. B
im struggling with pics. you guys dont really wanna see a flat oval RR via semi blind guy. 10 year old could do much much better. wish i had a nephew or uncle that liked trains i know some rail joiners id show em
my old digi cam seems to take small pics unless you are right on top of something. my canon ae1 even being old can make a dog whisker look like a pine sappling but have to get them developed and scanned. ill try to take progress pics with digi
cam just so you all can see as without you all i would not even have begun flat RR or any RR again im pretty sure.
and i reckon there no ugly railroads and messing around in shop on RR gets me outside and happy so even if ugly its therapy. i told my fla. blind services coach about the trains and he wants to come see what im doing so thats cool. unless him say you do good enough you dont need us
unoh! whatever supposed to happen is way i am now so i dont care im railroading one way or another. heck with em
best regards friends im off to the RR “ima a working on …”
John, I like to think of those old “dummies” as “honorary” engines. The 2 I’ve put back into service like this are old rubber-band-drive Athearns, one fat-hooded Geep and an F7A. The Geep looks great sandwiched between a new P2K Geep and an Alco RS-3, while the F7 backs up my lone success at engine restoration - another Athearn F7A (this one’s a gear drive) in passenger service.
I like to keep the old equipment running, too. These models have been in service longer than their prototypes, so I’m happy to give them a few more trips around the track.
John, Mr. B’s idea of towing dummies is found in the real world, too. Just take a look at this fellow’s timely video of UP 844 in Cheyenne, WY. What else would you call those big yellow things it is towing…? (hint: I’m a steam fan)
http://video.freevideoblog.com/Player.aspx?fileid=F0D5941A-7715-42A3-BBD8-90B1B3D889C2
If the pic includes the owner with a big smile on his face - then it’s a layout pic I want to see as I would classify it as a successful model railroad - oval or not!