Hello everyone, and welcome to a new weekend! I am very glad to be back and able to post again.
This week my share is a new brass flat car model project.
A few weeks ago I bought this brass model of a PRR well car. There are (at least) two versions of this model in brass. One sells for around $100.00, and the other for around $300.00, mine is an example of the less expensive version. It did not have a box, and I was able to get it for less than $50.00, which made me very happy.
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
A unique flat car like this needs a suitable load. As usual, Multi-Scale Digital Models had the perfect load for it. They call this a “Geared Belt Pulley”, but I think it looks more like a geared spool for wire rope. Either way, it is a great load. These guys make great stuff.
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
The load fits in the flat car well hole perfectly.
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
This is a picture from the Multi-Scale Digital page that shows the prototype load. I will need to build some blocking and supports to make it look right,
I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s photographs this weekend. This thread can always be counted on to be the best of the week. I sure did miss being able to participate.
Lets have fun!
-Kevin
Hey, Kevin, good to have you back! Thanks for opening up WPF, and great score on the well car. Nice load too.
Well, again, the HO RR has been way on the back burner. The railroadiest thing I’ve been up to is kitbashing my 1/1 retired Southern Pacific crane truck. (I featured that 1/1 scale last time I “weighed in” as per Bear)
It’s not sagging like the photo makes it look. It’s a 1980 C-700/ Utility Crane. Ford made those cabs from 1957 to 1990!
That 12 foot utility box was always in the way when maneuvering, and the crew cab was pretty pointless.
I removed both and built a far more user friendly shorty flatbed and an open platform in front of the crane rig. The toolbox kinda hides it.
Lately I’ve been building a man bucket WIP for it so I can limb up some of those Ponderosa pines. I use this rig a lot on my property and nearby friends places.
Oh, last week I placed some 1/1 railroad ties around, separating my driveway from the drainfield, but who hasn’t seen that done?
Dan
Thanks for starting WPF, Kevin. Good to see the banner again.
The well wagon and load look really good. Well done.
Dan. Doing some 1-1 stuff is rewarding. I’ll let you carry on. My time working on the Border Railway is over. I leave it to the young ones now.
I did manage to run a few trains this week, but did not take any pictures, so a few old ones from the ‘vault’.
A Wintry feel with a dusting of ‘snow’ as a Dewsbury Market Place to Leeds Central DMU arrives at Leeds Sovereign Street Station. Getting the ‘Leeds Central’ destination sign took a while to do getting it to fit the space.
IMG_5895 by David Harrison, on Flickr
A Leeds Central to Wakefield Kirkgate DMU passes behind Charlie Marston’s Salvage Yard.
IMG_5894 by David Harrison, on Flickr
Class 25 25237 On a Northbound freight near Calls Junction. Traffic on Crown Point Road (behind) is busy. (Go there today the real road is even busier.)
IMG_5918 by David Harrison, on Flickr
The weekend has jiust started. Let’s see your pictures.
David
Good morning
Good to have you back and Thanks for starting WPF Kevin.
I like your brass well car and that Gargantuan gear pulley load. What a find! I’d like to see firsthand what they lift with that thing[:^)]
I’ve been trying to find a double stack well car or complete set to confirm bridge clearance heights just for peace of mind. Outbidded on the last few as they went for a prouder price than new.
The old saying still goes. Big boys have bigger toys. Nice lift truck Dan.
P.S. I was typing while you were posting David.
Love the rusty RR Junkyard and rooftop scenes. Such realism! I had zoom in to make sure the guy leaning over with his suitcase by the Leed Central wasn’t. [bow]
Trying to finish up bridge number #8 and been ironing out some final detail on a couple others before paint.
It seems there’s two sides to everything except for N scale bridges. What’s up with that? [:^)]
I cut all the cheesy little nubs off of bridge #3 with a dagger blade.
Did some research on girder bridges and found the way the inside of this bridge is supposed to look.
Installed the angled struts at the sectional end locations that would typically support the parallel beams under the bridge deck per drawing. Also the other girder plate supports and plate joints for a tedious 105 micro pieces.
Fresh Out of #275 and short on #274 i-beams so I’m going to go get some more styrene to dress up the underside of the bridge in case I ever take a funky picture[(-D]
Hope to see the Bear here! I get sad when he ain’t ar
Hello April!
It is snowing like crazy out there! Sure glad I have a warm, dry place to spend the weekend! So great to have you back in the saddle again Kevin!
Excellent contributions, folks! I hope the BEAR can stop by…
I have a resin kit of a PRR well car but I’d sure like to find a brass one. Brass flat cars command a hefty price! I’ve seen that RailWorks Queen Mary go for nearly $800!
I’ll have to find the link to the 1919 MESTA machine works catalog. They had huge gears and castings that made some neat flat car loads.
[edit] Here it is:
https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/plantproductofme00mest
MESTA made nearly all the rolling mill machines for the steel mills. I’ve been through their plant, unfortunately, after they closed [:(]
Wire rope drives were somewhat common for power transmission in the early 1900s. Vee belts hadn’t come of age, of course.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope_drive
That Jib Truck sure looks handy, Dan. Nice job on the customization. The removed crew cab would make a nice ice fishing hut [:-^]
As always, your scenes are excellent and set the mood, David. I really like your salvage yard [bow]
Cheesy Nubs sound tasty, TF. Can you suggest a wine with those?
I’m still having fun getting the area between the city and Union Station and the Parcel Post Annex sorted out. Yesterday I fit (shoehorned) this little building into a spot and couldn’t figure out what purpose to give it. Then it dawned on me to ma
Good morning from cloudy, cold and snowy Northeast Ohio!
Thanks for starting us out Kevin, nice to see you back and that will be a nice load for that well car.
Dan, nice looking truck, reminds me of the ones we had when I worked at High Voltage Systems, we made a number of those for setting light poles, signs and transformers using GMC Cab & Chassis.
David, thanks for the scenes of you running trains, layout always looks good.
TF, Great looking bridges, people don’t realize how much steel goes into a railroad bridge, as they had to last and support large loads. A single track railroad bridge that was built when I was with the Highway Department had as much steel in it as a highway bridge that covered 8 lanes of traffic. Also they spent months welding all the steel plate that covered the deck and sides of the the bridge.
Ed, that area is coming along nicely, your right about the plastic quality today versus the original plastic from Europe.
Here are this weeks accomplishments:
IMWX 1937 AAR Boxcar kit, substituted a Des Plaines Hobbies Viking Roof for the kit supplied roof along with Yarmouth Models sill steps in place of the plastic ones. Car was painted with Scalecoat II Tuscan and Black Paints and lettered with K4 Decals. Car was in general service on the NKP as I am trying to expand my fleet of NKP rolling stock.
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Next, Kadee PS 2003CF Covered Hopper painted with Scalecoat II MofW Gray paint and lettered with decals from the Ann Arbor Historical Society. Car was originally purchased for use at the Dundee MI cement plant as there production sky rocketed with the building of the Interstate Highway System, after that boom subsided the cars were assigned to Yuma, MI hauling casting sand for the Ford Brook Park engine plant and the AA had to supply 20 cars of sand a day.
[IMG]https://hosting.phot
Thank you Rick. Interesting info on the steel. Your freight cars look quite impressive as always. You possess quite a talent for those. I also admired the MRR Club layout photo.
I could suggest something else to go with it. I knew better than to look for one of those little flippy things in the Emoji section[(-D]…[;)]
Not much into wine but when we go ice fishing, often times we have a shot of this with our summer sausage and cheese.
A good Wintergreen or peppermint depending on which one[:P]
Hope I didn’t offend you in some way or hurt your feelings. I’m sure you know that would never be my intent.
I’m a Scot and will always say it like I see it. Like I said in the diner I like how your city’s coming along and think it looks excellent. Took some screenshots and still quite curious what was used for asphalt on the streets, crossings and parking lots. Perhaps I missed that.
TF
Kevin, it’s great to have you back, starting the WPF again. That’s a neat photo of your flat car, and the prototype.
Dan, that’s amazing work on the crane truck. It’s too bad you’re not my neighbor – I could use you (and your truck) for some work around my house.
David, you’ve got a pretty realistic looking view of the salvage yard, including the hand-painted sign.
TF, more great bridge building photos. I’m almost ready to start, and I have several questions you may be able to answer. In your photo, for the roadbed, is that masonite or cardboard you used? How will you finish it? What did you use for the riveted sides?
Ed, that’s a neat scene of your postal workers union hall. I’m also a fan of evening or night scenes, so I really like the last photo with the lights on.
Rick, once again you’ve posted photos of your expert work on the cars. Very realistic.
I’m still working on laying track, so I’ll post again one of my first scratch-built efforts, the Bates Motel. The roof of the house gave me fits, and I never did get it to fit exactly right. Once I begin putting in some buildings on the new layout, if I find a place for the motel, I will try to fix that roof. It still bothers me.
I love everyone’s photos each week.
Hi, TF
Here’s a thread from a year ago that touches on road pavement:
https://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/287119/3324849.aspx
I “discovered” (in other words I saw someone else suggest it) stuff called EVA foam. This stuff is a boon to crafters and costume makers. I bought several varieties over the years.
I try to get either black or gray to simulate asphalt. I make a kraft-paper template of the area I want to “pave” then cut the foam to match. Then I give it a light dusting of a gray or black rattle can primer. I’ve used 1 mm thickness but that isn’t as easy to find. 2 mm is common.
The best adhesive I’ve found is the 3M photo mount “general purpose” spray adhesive, light coats on each side.
Below shows pieces of black EVA I’m test fitting:
Midplan_asphalt-truckway by Edmund, on Flickr
Here’s some EVA that I gave the preliminary dusting of gray primer and I masked off some random spots to look like “fresh” patches of asphalt:
Chem_pave1 by Edmund, on Flickr
Later I used gloss black paint to “seal” the cracks:
I posted a photo of my suburban station of West Chester near the end of the March Show Me Something. Here are three different vantage points of the same scene. I have been performing an extensive rehab on this area of the layout and realigned the track. The ballast was still wet when I posed these shots.
Evening Ed
Thanks for the follow-up on the asphalt information. Very impressive work with your products and techniques added to my MR log for when I get there one day. I can only hope my results turn out half as well as yours did.
I also really like that timber retaining wall you made. I’ve had an idea for something like that on a tall steep embankment that’s between a high and low track. Now I know what I’m gonna do thanks to a little help from my friend[swg]
Hi John,
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The bridge base is Masonite painted on both sides at the same time. I found (high density cardboard) as I call it, convexes on the wet side if you don’t treat both sides at once. It hasn’t warped but if I had to do it all over again I would probably use a thick styrene.
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The Masonite will be ballasted. I guess some girder bridges we’re open and some had steel plating on the base, especially lines with hopper drags or where they didn’t want things to fall through to the traffic below. The curved bridge would have looked a lot more interesting built open but would have took three times as long to build helping in the decision made.
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The girder plates are 2 dissected Kato bridges cut with a fine-toothed razor saw to different panels lengths to fit.
Love the Bates Motel scratch model you created. Your probably the only one that’s over critical about the roof. I don’t see anything wrong but only the fantastic job you did on it. Very admirable model to say the least.
I don’t know of anything I ever made that I don’t have an issue or two with. My Grandfather used to say “Don’t tell anybody and you’re the only one that I will ever know”, some good advice. I think everyone is over critical about their own work.
Excellent modeling on your West Chester Station John. I can see you put a lot of
WELCOME BACK SEE YOU 190 !!!
I havent had a lot of time to myself lately, but I DO have some randome scrap parts sitting in front of me…
I “hacked-N-slashed” a new window opening for the plateform end.
And I’m currently working on shortening the body and roof…
I’m thinking about a plank wood floor on the open end, and maybe turning this into a paycar for my newly named logging line.
The Totempole Tramway.
Kevin,
What scale is the Geared Belt Pulley from Multi-Scale Digital? They don’t have an HO one listed. What are the dimensions of yours?I have one of the Alco flat cars to load.
Mark Vinski
Kevin, Good to see you posting again, and thanks for opening the WPF with some heavy metal.
TF, Like those bents, they add a lot of interest.
John, Hitchcock done right, great Psycho’ scene! I can envision a 57’ Ford out front or sinking into a nearby bog.
Thanks to all the contributors and viewers. Have a good weekend. Regards, Peter
I was just reading about the history of that house. It was built for the movie Psycho and was inspired by a painting Alfred Hitchcock saw called The House by the Railroad. The painting was by Edward Hopper who is more famous for his Nighthawks painting. If you want, you can read the whole story here:
Good to see Kevin is back from electronic exile. Liking Dan’s truck a lot, it’s very modelable.
Here’s my big grab from last week’s train show, an AHM straddle carrier (seems to have originated as a Cox model?)
I weathered it a bit after adding an exhaust stack, a ladder for crew to board, some rearview mirrors and lights. Then I rearranged the sawmill dock so that the straddle carrier can bring in timbers from the drying fields out back. I also built a load of lumber for it to carry.
Then I finally got the insight of what I was going to do with a City Classics #107 Carson St. Rail/Truck Terminal kit. I’ve had it for some time and just couldn’t find the right use for it. Then Jim Sacco passed away and things started coming together. I’ve been wanting to do something to make my Western Grocers distribution center look better than the converted Walthers freight station it’s based on. This is the before pic.
I added a bunch of doors on the “blank” side of the kit and placed the awning over them. I managed to hack the rest into shape to make a more presentable warehouse.
The somewhat more compact arrangement also offered the opportunity to place a few more trailers to make the place look busier. Still have some more detailing and landscaping to finish up, but I’m happy with it. It will make me smile when I see it thinking of Jim.
Hello again everyone. I sure am happy for all of the participation this week.
Dan: I remember (not fondly) the C series Fords. Back in the late 1980s I overhauled a J series Cummins engine in one of them. I might be the youngest person around that overhauled a J series. That experience with that engine helped get me into the Cummins Society Of Technicians early. What engine is on yours? Have fun with that. Stinger cranes sure are useful to have around.
David: Thank you for sharing more scenes from your wonderful layout. I always enjoy looking at your pictures.
TF: Your bridges sure are looking better and better. That is amazing work. I miss Bear too.
Ed: Thanks for the welcome-back. I sure did miss participation. Snow? Keep warm. I don’t know why brass flatcars are so pricey. I have seen brass UP and ATSF “normal” looking flat cars sell for hundreds of dollars. Thank you for the link to the MESTA catalog. That stuff is incredible. Your city scene looks incredible. I too find eBay very useful.
Rick: Great job improving the IMWX kit for the NKP boxcar. I picked up a few more Des Plaines Viking Roofs recently. Variety never hurts. I don’t know how you manage those Yarmouth steps. They look great, but that is so much work. Thanks, as always, for sharing your modeling.
John (York): Buildings with unusual roof lines sure can be troublesome to scratchbuild. I hope you can get yours to the point that you are happy with it.
John (NYBW): Your passenger train scene looks great. I love the wooden houses in the background with the stairs down to the sidewalk. That is beautiful.
Timmy: I can imagine you look at a box of random scrap parts like a painter looks at a blank canvas. I love what you do with these, and look forward to more amazing models of your creation. The step-by-step in progress shots are very w
Thank you, Kevin, and it’s good to have you back.
I grew up on such a street in Omaha with sloping front yards held back by retaining wall and concrete stairs leading to the front door. I’ve often considered scratch building our family home. I think I could do it from memory and know the approximate dimensions. The stairs with the railing down the middle would be perfect because I remember we added that to our stairs while we were living there.
Newest addition to my NYC stable: An undecorated PSC NYC F-12e 4-6-0. The backhead detail blows me away:
Will be preparing it for DCC, sound, and lighting sometime this month…
Tom