I got my 6-11th Fast Tracks turnouts done this week. The 11th was my first under 1 hour. I have one more to go and I get to lay track. I’m really getting excited about running trains at home. It will have been 18 months. Lucky thing I have been running ops on other people’s layouts.
I won’t bore you with more pictures of turnouts. Post away. If I get track layed tomorrow, I’ll post a pciture of that.
Did this get lost, or is everyone too busy to post anything?
Anyway, I decided last night to place a new parking radius track/RIP combo off the turntable with a backstop. It is still damp, and the backstop needs to be darkened to resemble creosote, but here is what it looks like. I wired it and proved it with an engine before I added ballast and weathering. The rails still have to be done, but that will have to wait until everythng dries and hardens at the foot of the rails.
Well, we had a chance to run some trains again today, and once we got over a couple of technical glitches, things ran along fine. Tom Mann, Brian Carhart and Ed Kapuscinski worked through a schedule of about a dozen trains, keeping traffic flowing around the n scale Western Maryland. I really enjoy having these sessions, because it makes me really think about how my railroad works. Here’s a couple shots, and there may be more later from the rest of the crew…
Here we see Tom staying cool and running steam…
Some midwestern rolling stock courtesy of Brian
Brian and Tom vye for the right of way…
and you know Ed can’t be far away when you see this…
It was fun, but my one regret is that I didn’t get a chance to shoot some of Tom’s fantastic rolling stock… Amazing work.
Lee
Either this thread is not catching on or not many of us have been working on the layout.
I finished the final turnout, but did not get any track laid. Instead I negotiated space for the switching layout and cleaned the space. That took all day. I literally have a load of old toys that my son finally gave up going to Goodwill. It also marks the first time since my mother-in-law moved in 6 years ago that we are back to a house of one set of furniture, one set of household items, (one toaster, one vacuum, etc.)
Anyway, no need for pictures for that, but it was major. I do have to make a major compromise on the layout for the time being. I will not be able to use my idea of sliding staging until I build my office. There is a pole in the way that just won’t move. Instead, it will have to be a fiddle track. Oh, well.
Just one of those weekends for me. I knew I wouldn’t do much layout work Sunday, because I was off to an open house at the South Shore Model RR Club, a good hour away. Saturday turned out to be an impromptu dinner get-together, so there was food shopping and cooking to do. (Thinks like Hot and Sour Soup are my job.) I did get some light bulbs installed in the Penny Lane station, finally:
I actually like the idea of this thread. My layout is in a state of rapid change(mess). I like the idea of being able to post progress shots. The wpf is nice to look at for inspiration. Whenever I post a picture there, I look at what everyone else is posting. I realize that my pictures are severely lacking. I’ll have to start taking more pictures of my progress for this thread.
Okay, here is the track looking more natural. First shot by itself, second with a TH&B J1d Hudson parked on it.
wm3798, that looks like a most interesting layout you have there. I am interested in the depth as the terrain falls away from the viewer…very appealling.
Mr. B, I can tell that you have a determined approach to your hobby. You have been dealing with lights for some time now, and I must say the results are definitely worth the effort it must be taking you. Very nice images with lots of ambience.
Lee,
I’ve never seen a serious N-scale layout–not counting modulars at shows, but you know what I mean. I’ve certainly never been to an N-scale ops session.
Corey,
This thread (when it was wpf) used to really get me motivated to get something to post. Now that Wpf runs all week, there wasn’t that drive. I did some major work on the layout this week and weekend, just nothing worth showing. Clearing out a mountain of old stuff was a son-of-a-witch.
Got the plywood cut to fit the top of three HO modules. Frankly, I’m lucky to get that much time in daylight… most of my modeling gets done after the wife and kid are asleep, and somehow, running the table saw, router, circular saw, etc., are all problematic then. [?][sigh]
Also got some gravel roads placed on the “home” layout- at least that I can do late at night.
Paint that pole flat black and pretend it is not there! [:D]
That’s not the problem.
The problem is that the transverser won’t roll through it.
This is what I’ve been working on for the past week. I wanted headlights in the nose AND the top of the cab, just because I wanted them.
The bulbs are Radio Shack 12v 60mA terminal base types. They’re connected so that they get their power directly from the wheel pickups (you guessed it, they don’t dim and can’t be controlled from the throttle) and have a brightness that commands instant respect. To deal with the heat issues of the cab light, I wrapped the bulb in aluminum foil that extends one inch back over the wires, acting as a heat sink. This dissapates the heat without harming the plastic shell. It also directs the majority of the light forward.
This is how it looks in the dark.
I have since blocked off the light shining down onto the track.
Nice work, Jeffrey. I like the effect, and would like to see another image with the drop-down light blocked.
-Crandell
Here’s two with no drop-down light. One pulled back, the other close-up.
Depending on who you ask, N trak modules aren’t really “serious model railroads.” Sure, there’s a lot of very serious modeling going on, but the trains on the bus go round and round… and that’s about it…
Thanks for the compliment on my layout. It’s certainly been a labor of love. I’ve just started trying my hand at “serious” operations, and I’ve got some great help thanks to the guys in the pictures. I would argue that N scale is the best way to have a convincing operating session, because you have enough room to model a railroad, not just a scene or two with a few trains. (Sure, you can do this in HO… if you have a barn!)
With smooth running newer equipment, DCC and excellent track products, N scale can host an operating session every bit as entertaining as any larger scale.
Lee
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Love the lights jeffrey. Are you using the bachman decoder or is it already hard wired into the system. Just curious because I just ran similar lights in my gp-19 and Hooked them into the bachman decoder blue and white leads. Now I can turn them off or on or dim them to a lower effect. The only thing I haven’t figured out is how to wire them seperately so that I can have forward and reverse light seperately. How much were those bulbs at radio shack and did you have to use a resistor?
rs2mike
The lights aren’t connected to the decoder at all. At 12v, 60mA each they pull to much for the cheap Lenz decoder to handle. That would be 120mA for the bulbs alone and the decoder function output is 50mA. They get their power directly from the trucks. I don’t remember right off how much the bulbs cost. Less than three dollars for two, I know. As for resistors, I would only use them if I wanted to connect the lights to the decoder, which I don’t. That would cut their brightness way down.
Jeff; if you wanted ground lights, it would be pretty easy to drill hoses in the side of the cab; I saw a photo of a loco that had them, and it looked awsome![2c]
Here’s what I’ve been working on; New Poland, NH. I added the depot; old water tower, (still hasn’t been torn down in 1997; my story is it’s being preserved![:D]) roads, and paving for the team track, and ballast and ground foam for part.
Still left to do is the highway bridge disguising the entrance to the staging yard, the rest of the ground foam, and the buildings in the town.
This view is actually lookng toward the aisle, the backdrop is being held up by yours truly. )Yes I know the sign on the station needs work, I’m going to trim it tonight.
That track in the foregroung is a spur to New Poland Cement, the caboose is on the mainline switch from 1 to 2 tracks.