(minus Chevy Chase)
Rainy Saturday, so we got a lot done on the layout! All those missing ties, from cutting them away on the flex track? They are missing no more. Looks 100% better. Also got the last two Tortoises mounted, roadbed in, and some of the track laid for the last set of sidings on the back side of the layout. Only the yard remains.
Today we took a trip to the LHS, I got a set of Kadee conversion kits for my Stewart F7’s, wow! Close coupling is great! No stock on the Detail Associates detail kits for them, so they are on order. I DID get most of the parts for my Roundhouse RS-3 project though. Once the wind died down I went outside and painted the weights for the 6 new Accurail hoppers I have, plus the set from an OLD Stewart hopper I put together many years ago, before I knew any better and left the weights unpainted. Installed P2K metal wheels and it’s almost ready to return to service - still needs replacements for the ‘door latch’ details which I had to cut off to remove the underframe and get to the weights, and a replacement interior brace. Also assembled the 6 pairs of Accurail trucks with P2K wheels. When I get a chance I will assembly-line the construction of all 6 and grow my hopper fleet even more.
Hopefully this week I will be able to order the additional DCC items I need, and it will be time for real walkaround control.
–Randy