Karma.
Gidday All, you may well wonder what on earth has karma got to do with WPF or has the Bear finally gone completely round the bend!!
Last WPF, with tongue firmly in cheek, I razzed a couple of contributors, in particular Rick J about his lack of projects. I should know better when I do this but it’s obvious I don’t.!! [banghead]
Of course this is where Karma intervened. I’m doing the stairs on the ferry but I’ve had to make the same simple part 5 times to get the geometry right, which doesn’t bode well for the other parts required for the assembly, and means that my progress, hasn’t. Also my card in my digital camera wouldn’t initialise, which I got fixed, and then, slightly later, my computer decided not to recognise my photos from my camera which I haven’t got fixed because my go to computer guy has changed occupations.[sigh]
The upshot is that here’s another one from the Show archives.
Hi Bear!
I sympathize with your electronic woes. I just installed Windows 10 on our home computer. So far, for me, it has worked fine. However, it has crashed on my wife three times. In fairness to Microsoft, its possible that it was our internet provider who was messing up, but it really doesn’t matter who the culprit was. My wife has a very low tolerance for misbehaving electronic devices and she has made that very clear in the past few days. That’s the reason I don’t keep a hammer in the computer room.
To continue with my last week’s WPF theme, I have made some progress on the McKeen car. I figured out how to attach the two side frames to each other. It turned out to be a very simple task despite my fears that it would be a challenge. The truck even flexes to allow the wheels to stay on the track. I amazed myself! I also did a trial assembly of the chassis and trucks. It took a little fiddling to get the floor level, but I actually have something that looks like it might be able to run on rails! That was also easier than I had anticipated. The result was that I amazed myself again! Twice it two days!!
Here is the front truck with the cross piece. No springs yet. It is scratch built:
The vertical bits above the cross bar will be removed.
Here is the trial assembly of the frame and trucks:
The cut outs in the middle are for the stairways. I had to add a center frame member to the chassis to keep it rigid:
The opening over the front truck is where the engine sits. The engine in the McKeen car was mounted directly on the front truck and it pivoted with the t
I posted this Earlier this week in the Layout building section
My version of the engine house in Thurmond WVA
I used drawings and photographs of the prototype
as I tried to make a selectively compressed version that would fit my layout
Photo found on the internet Circa 1920s
A US Parks Dept Drawing
I had to shorten and make mine a single stall version but believe it captures the flavor of the Phototype
Interior view showing studded walls and lights
It serves as my Programing track so I used rerailers to assure the loco was on the tracks
I also included a boiler that the prototype used for heat and ran the lighting wires up the smoke stack to hide them
A
Terry:
That is really nice! Makes me want to toss my diesels and do steam, well almost.
Dave
Thanks Dave
The engine house survived up till 1980 although it was leaning badly by 1978 when i was last there so you could keep your diesels
Good morning everyone, Bear thanks for starting again this week!
Dave, nice work on the McKeen car it is coming along great.
Terry, beautiful engine house, hard to work with having to cut all your own wood and come up with a very great model.
I managed to get some cars finished this week!
Intermountain Milk Car kit, painted with Floquil Pullman Green and Black Paint, lettered with Highball Graphics Decals.
Atlas 60’ ACF Boxcar Kit, Painted with Scalecoat II Boxcar Red and Floquil Platinum Mist, lettered with Oddballs Decals.
Branchline Trains 50’ Boxcar (Fishbelly Side Sill) Kit, painted with Scalecoat II Boxcar Red and lettered with Mark Vaughn Decals.
And as an added treat, had my NYC C430’s at the club last week and took a couple of pictures with a Flex-Van consist.
Thanks for looking!
Rick J
Dave, Terry, and Rick,
Nice, sharp work there from y’all.[:D]
Bear,
Yeah, some weeks are like that. This was a pretty good one for me, as I finally discovered just the quotes I need to revise my dissertation in some primary documents just declassified last October after flailing about ineffectually and frustratingly for a month. Now to get 'er done…but I digress.
Some of what was going on in the basement this week you already know about in this thread where you advised against the taking full advanatage of Bear-length arm reach. Fortunately, while tall, I ain’t that big[;)] For those who haven’t stumbled across it in the Layouts and Layout Building Forum, here’s the link: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/249387.aspx
If you’ve ever needed to squeeze in one more track close to the edge, this might be useful as it illustrates my technique for doing so in several forms. Here’s a pic of where things are with it now, with new ROW ready for when I scrape up some cash for track.
On the cork besides the train on the existing track will go a new siding and spur, adding as much as 20 car capacity to Silverton yard. To see how I did it, follow the link. I’ll be updating that post with full details later in the weekend, but there’s plenty to chew on now, as several folks have already done beyond Bear’s helpful reminder about overreach.[:)]
I also finished adding the control knobs to the manual switch throws on the new track at Snowden.
May have more pics later, but have a lot to do today getting ready for a garage sale on Saturday morning – gotta get some track money[oX)]
And, if anyone is local and wants to operate on what they see here, drop me a message as I have the first in a string of weeknight ops session coming up
Bear … Your ferry project continues to be challenging for you. It is testing your patience. Eventually, however, your ferry will be a world class model.
Dave - HOn3 … Your McKeen car is another great proect in progress. I admire your workmanship.
Terry in TX… Your enginehouse is a great model.
Rick J … I like your milk car, box cars, and C430’s .
Mike L… Great layout photos. I know what you mean about the need to squeez in tracks where there seems to be no room.
…
Here is a pair of SD7’s pulling a train of stock cars.
Great modeling everyone. Thanks to Bear for starting the thread once more.
I am currently rewiring the layout.
Contrary to the title of this thread, this is not fun at all.[:(]
True, but it is Great Stuff.
I’m all but certain you’ll be happy when it’s over. In the meantime, I understand your pain…
[soapbox] wiring!
Charlie Russell Chew Choo
I completed an upgrade to a P1K RDC 2 that we have had in our collection at Boothbay Railway Village for years. BM 6211 was originally DC with directional constant lighting. I added a TCS T1 decoder, painted the passenger compartment similar to some on-line photos I found, added passengers, lighting to the passenger compartment, and changed the headlights to LEDs.
Now all I need to do is finish the other RDC 2 and the RDC 3; it should go a lot quicker now that I have the wiring figured out. Hopefully by next week.
Edit: I neglected to mention, this scene is on the On30 Texas Outlaw layout.
Thanks for starting off WPF again this week Bear,
Dave, looks like you are making progress on your project.
Terry, great looking engine house. I love the boards and battens exterior.
Rick J, Love the NYC locos and the Flexi-Van train.
Mike, impressive as always.
Garry, nice scene, I like the backdrop sky.
Guy, I don’t envy you your task. The BRVRR needs the same treatment. Maybe someday.
GPain, Great job on the RDC.
A little much needed maintenance on NYC #4089. New wheels, axles, bearings and gears came in from Walthers for the front truck. The loco had a decided ‘thump’ which sounded exactly like a broken/cracked gear.
A bottom shot of the loco after repair. Kinda boring actually. The new parts cured the problem.
The same loco, right side up this time, during a test run at the head of a NYC Mail and Express train at the east end of the BRVRR layout.
Keep the photos and ideas coming guys. Thanks to you WPF is always the best thread of the week.
Bear, Thanks for opening the fun. “When it rains it pours”, and having a photo archive is a many splendored thing.
Was exciting fun putting the finishing touches on my carfloat harbor this past week, planting seagulls, a deck hand and three-part make-ups.
Thanks to all, regards, Peter
Last weekend I was at Horseshoe Curve and Altoona:
I found K4 #1361 in the new Roundhouse at the Railroader’s Memorial Museum:
And this scribbled on the tender:
A shot of GG1 #4913, which I have in N courtesy of Kato:
A overhead shot of the equipment on the spur to the main:
Interesting Graffiti:
And here is a video of NS trains 21E and 10G on the Curve, and 13G, 20R, 21M, and the Curve helpers at 17th Street in Altoona:
Dave, the McKeen is coming along nicely.
Terry, not only have you captured the flavour with the compression, but it’s also a darn fine scratchbuild.
Three completed cars plus a run at the club; you make me feel green Rick.
Probably just as well I’m only there in spirit Mike; I’d be the one who not only blocks the lead at the Silverton Yard but also derails ½ the train at Toolonga Reach.[:$]
Hobby or not, I don’t like making one mistake Garry though I will accept it as part of the challenge of expanding my skill range, but six!!! Yes I got another one wrong tonight.[banghead] I did get the next two right though.
JaBear: Yes, the boxcar is from the Florence and Cripple Creek railway framed by two Denver and Rio Grande drop bottom gondolas.
eric
Bear, rumors are its not looking good, time will tell. [sigh]