Texas T's Forays in 1:160

Flickr

2007-05-05T07:27:00.001-06:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

News and Holiday Greetings!

2006-12-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is having a Joyeaux Noelle!

I've sort of made a move from blogger to livejournal. The bulk of my posting activity is going on lj right now!

Have you got pictures you want to share? Have you got a flickr.com account? (If you don't have an account, it is pretty easy to sign up for one. And it's free!) I think if you have a Yahoo! photos account you can also join and post, but I'm not sure about that.

Come and join the Modelrailroading group and share those great photos! I started this group in 2005 and I also admin for this bunch of train-nuts!

This flickr group is about all aspects of Model Railroading - Concepts, design, planning, construction, running trains, models, scenery, you name it. This is the place for it! All Scales are welcome! Post photos, or start a discussion. Currently we have 26 members and are always open to more.

Here's a couple of my favoprites...

Come on! Share your Modelrailroading goodness!

Hope everyone is having a joyeaux noelle!

I've also posted an invite on my liverjournal page

http://texasts.livejournal.com/

as well as the modelrailroading community on LJ.

http://community.livejournal.com/modelrailroader/

Happy Holidaze!

from
TexasT's

Where Is TexasT's?

2006-11-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

He thinks he is moving to LiveJournal. com

Why don't you join him there? Same great taste, just more flexibility!

TexasT's Invades LiveJournal!

I will keep this semi active and probably switch to the NEW blogger because I like some of the features. Right now, though, the majority of my energy is being expended on LiveJournal

I will be adding quality MRR content over there, as well! Just haven't been doing much modelrailroading...

Join me! As usual, I've got a lot to say about everything!

Temporarily (I hope) Suspending Activity on This Blog

2006-07-30T13:23:00.000-06:00

Due to the lack of time or inclination, I have decided to suspend activity here. Hopefully soon I can pick it up again. Soon.

See my friend Jules' Site for a MRR fix...Brittish Style!
Model Tracks UK

So this is what this feels like...(Sigh) Check my other space:

Sound Off By TexasT's

So For Reasons Beyond My Conrtrol...

2006-05-23T10:13:00.000-06:00

I'm off to Chicago or thereabouts and the cheapest way to get there was...You guessed it.

By Train...

Pictures when I get back...But I've gotta drive to LongView Texas to catch the train so there's no time to lose...

See ya at the Station!

TexasT's

Not too much to report....

2006-05-21T15:52:00.000-06:00

Railroading wise.

That's because I'm not doing anything MR related. What can I say - It's springtime in Houston.

And. My yard needs a lot of work.

So...Spending all my spare time outside right now.

Before it gets really blistering hot!

If you'd like a clue as to what I'm up to, or just need a TexasT's fix, see one of my other spaces:

Sound off by TexasT's.

What time I can spare for blogging is spent mostly there. It's the best I can offer at the moment.

MR soon come...(I hope)

It's No Picnic on EBay!

2006-04-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Frriend, Jules, from near Birmingham, UK. Has put his nearly world famous No Picnic up for bid on EBay-UK. Readers of these pages might recognize Jules as this is not his first appearance here.

This amazing piece of art was built in a picnic basket. To see more pictures of the layout and other pieces by Jules go to Small World Layouts.

Tell 'em Texas T's sent you!

Photo by Jules

If you live in or near Birmingham, I suggest you check it out, before it's too late!

Jules thinks I'm upset about the sale. Initially I was just shocked that he could even think about selling it off. But if he can live with it, I know I can too!

Cabeese Update!

2006-03-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

My Trainboard friend in San Antonio, Flash Blackman, took pity on a poor soul and formed some caboose grabs for me out of .008" brass wire and snail mailed 'em to me. These things are so fine you can barely see them.

Hope I get a chance to paint some and put them on a caboose this week. That should be the last thing that needs to be done before they get re-assembled...I think.

I had oral surgery on Friday though, and I just wasn't up to the task this weekend!

More soon!

Speaking of Cabeese Part 4 - Good Idea - B-a-a-a-d Execution

2006-03-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

I decided to use materials that I had on hand for forming the grabs.

Found an old feeder wire, stripped the insulation. Voila! Stranded copper. The copper was easy to form into the semi-circular shape needed. They looked pretty good I thought!

Got the flat white spray out. Gave them a coating - All of a sudden these dorn't look so good. Stranded wire is twisted during the assembly and guess what...And that shows after painting. Looks all beaded and twisted up. Copper wire turned out to be:

A BAD IDEA!

Posed a query on trainboard: Grab Irons - A Problem
Turns out copper is not a good metal to work with for this type of application. It's too soft, for one thing.(guess I should have known that!) Stranded copper is even worse. (and that, too!)
Couple of suggestions were:

Music Wire
Phosphor-bronze Wire
Gold Medal Models supposedly makes them - Although I did not see them on their webpages
Craig Martyn of BLMA Models says they will be offering them soon
Don't forget to Clean the wire before painting

I've got some music wire in my Materials Stash. I'll have to see if it looks to be any where near the right size. Hopefully I can dig that out in the next day or two.

N Scale in a Picnic Basket! And It's For Sale!

2006-03-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

I've got a friend, Jules, that lives near Birmingham, in the UK. Readers of these pages might recognize Jules as this is not his first appearance here. Jules has built two very small NScale Layouts.

One in a suitcase and one in a picnic basket. If you really want to see what can be done in a small space, Go to Small World Layouts.

I hear through the grape vine that No Picnic is for sale. Well Actually I had an email from Jules....

Photo by Jules

Say it ain't so!

If you live in or near Birmingham, I suggest you check it out, before Jules goes to EBay with it!

By the way: My Caboose Grabirons - Completely Screwed - Copper wire should not be used for this....More later

Kato F7 Coupler Conversion Revisited

2006-03-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

Back in December I did a series of posts about replacing the Rapido couplers on my old Kato F7 locomotives. I have an "A" and a "B" unit. Replaced the couplers in the "A" unit. But boy did the front of that loco give me a hard time. Still haven't done the "B" unit.
Here's Part 1: Kato F7 Coupler Conversion Part 1.

And Part two: Kato F7 Coupler Conversion Part 2.

I also posted a series on the N Scale Forum on TrainBoard.com. This seemed to provoke a lively discussion about which coupler was best for what generation for what unit(!) This original thread Kato F7 Coupler Conversion thread has never really died yet. 3 months later.

Now my friend John Sing, N Scaler Extrordinaire, has made an exhaustive study for this conversion and posted it on trainboard. Click this link to view his findings: atsf_arizona's Kato F Unit Coupler Research. No wonder my conversion went the way it did!

Thanx, John!

Also here's a link to John's personal ATSF pages, featuring his NScale RailRoad! Check it out!
atsf_arizona's Pages

Speaking of Cabeese Part 3

2006-03-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

This is turning out to be:

"The Project That Never Ends"

I decided to replace a couple of the trucks (well, two) with MT trucks. After painting and re-setting the wheelsets, the Con-Cor gave me a ration of trouble while trying to make the car bolster work with the truck bolster pin. Had to use the MT step down bushing and the washer (BTW these seem to come with almost every set of trucks from MT). Getting the bushing to work with the bolster pin about wore a bolster pin sized hole in my thumb!

So that done, I got to looking at the carbodies again and I thought, "I bet I could make some grab irons that look better than the molded-on Plastic ones...At least for the car sides."

Another voice inside my head said, "OH NO! He's thinkin' again! Go to Red Alert!"

Now why on God's green earth would I try something like that??

But it does "seem" to be working. I'll try to get some pics up on this little piece of the project in the next few.

It looks like, however, the Queen has a full weekend planned for me though, so it will probably be slow going on my "project" work. Yard work Saturday. My back yard is just destroyed. And Sunday gotta drive to Nacogdoches to pick the daughter up for Spring Break. If I got up early enough, I could probably be back to Katy just after lunch.

IF! <= pretty big if.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chan-ges!

2006-02-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Made some changes here.

Went looking for some three column templates last week...Found some nice ones at Thur's Templates. Thur Broeders runs several blogs and sites, one of which he has a pile of nice templates on. He lives in Rotterdam, NL - GO ORANGE!

Thanx, Thur!

To summarize the changes:

Installed new template
Added My Links
Tweaked some pictures so they would work with the new template
Added flickr.com and trainboard.com (not sure about this one, yet) graphic links
Changed left side content titlebars from something and something else to messages and my other spaces
Added flickr badges one on the upper right - one in the footer
Added NScale webring badge to the footer
Added email link
Added the picture to my header and changed the font color and sizing. Added some coding to make it look the way I want it to look.

Been practicing my html skills can you tell?

Feel free to leave me comments on the new look!

Speaking of Cabeese Part 2

2006-02-23T19:18:00.000-07:00

I must say the level of detail is quite different on the end rails for the ca-bashes I've been working on.

Of course the original models were manufactured years apart as well. But let's have a look shall we?

By the way - looks like these will get another coat of paint....Jeeeeeeez.
On the left, here we have the MicroTrains endrails. 2d from the left are the ones that came off my Con-Cor Long Bay Window Caboose. Next up are the original Atlas ones that came off the SSR I'm working on. On the right are the rails from the Atlas EV hack I just bashed - which was pretty new. They'll go back on the car. The details while all containing basically the same components are much better on the MT rails. I think it's the Delrin they are made out of. As opposed to run of the mill plastics the other are made of.

'Nuff said.

Speaking of Cabeese - How About a Little Coupler Action?

2006-02-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

The LBW and EV Cabeese are ready for decaling. Wish (at this point) I'd have taken pictures of ALL the Cabeese before I started to work on them. C'est la vie!

Yesterday I worked on a MicroTrains coupler conversion for my MoPac Long Bay Window Ca-Bash. Thought I'd share that. The MicroTrains conversion tables say to use 1111 couplers.

I started this with an old Con-Cor Long Bay Window Caboose that was lettered for MOW.

Did this one on my desk, because my workbench in the garage is too cluttered at the moment and it was a little too chilly out there!

First I ensured that there was adequate lighting so I could see what I was doing. I also wanted to have a white surface to work on because these parts are microscopic and black. So I got an old, small sheet of styrene I had laying around to use as the worksurface.

I read the instructions completely so there were no surprises.

I disassembled the Caboose. Basically remove the Shell from the base of the thing. I'd already removed the trucks, Rapido couplers, and the ladder and platform from the end. Use a small screwdriver or hobby knife for that last. Attempt NOT to break this part (like I did on one end) while removing it. I'm replacing the ladder with a MicroTrains one so I cut the ladder off before I painted the caboose.

I then checked the draft gear adapter fit and like the instructions say it will not fit in the pocket.

Using a file, I trimmed the adapter so it is seated fully in the draft gear box. I checked the clearance often, because I didn't want to remove too much material from the adapter.

Here you see the adapter seated in the draft gearbox.

Tilt the adapter in the draft gear box so you can insert the spring and coupler assembly easily.

Assemble the 111 coupler as the instructions say to do. I use the MT coupler tweezers to hold mine together.

I've found the best way to handle these teensy springs is with a No. 11 blade.

Insert the spring into the adapter. And yes, a little saliva (yes, spit) on the end of the spring does help hold the spring to the back of the adapter.

Now insert the T-shanks of the coupler assembly into the adapter. Make sure the T-shanks are fully in the draft gear box.

Seat the adapter fully in the draft gear box.
Make sure the coupler has movement in the correct ways.

Replace the draft gearbox cover.

Repeat for the opposite end of the car.

Finis!

MoPac Cabeese Any One?

2006-02-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

Not much happening with my Test Track Project right now...

But I do have three caboose bashes going on.

I kinda got a little (Yeah...Right! A little...Hah!) sidetracked by a thread on Trainboard - Kitbashing a MoPac Caboose. I've been a little busy with these...

For the un-initiated, MoPac is short for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. It's one of my favorite roads.

The Colonel(administrator paul), an Aussie N Scaler of some note, resides in Sydney, Australia, started the thread. He started with a MoPac Short Bay Window Caboose or "SBW". He did 2 of these and then moved on to a modified cupola caboose and this is where I started really paying attention. He then went through a "Transfer Caboose" which looked to me like a modified Standard Steel Welded (or SSW) hack. Then an Extended Vision (EV).

By the way - Paul will have a published article in the next issue of NScale Railroading Magazine - Congrats Paul!

(All of the picture links in the above paragraph of "Preserved Cabeese" are from Elvin Klepzig's site on Preserved Missouri Pacific Cabboses on his Doniphan Branch Railway pages - Thanx Elvin! Except for the Trainboard link)

I thought to myself, "You could do a couple of these...Just for a stretch and something different to do.."

Well, it turned into another "Test" for TexasT's. Painting and detailing were okay, but decaling, Oh my God, you'd have thought I'd never built a model in my life. (well, it has been a while, but still).

So, I've got three in the pipeline now. A Standard Steel Riveted or SSR. A Long Bay Window (LBW) and an Extended Vision (EV). These are coming along nicely but it is taking longer than I thought it would. Mostly because of the atrophied modeling skills of your host. My SSR bash started life as a Atlas standard caboose lettered for Missouri Pacific. The LBW started as an Con-Cor, MOW caboose. And the Extended Vision Cab was an Atlas EV caboose lettered for Seaboard Coast Line.

I've had to, because of some silly assed mistakes, strip the Long Bay Window (Ithink I'm up to) three times now. And the SSR twice(!)

I was going to document these bashes, but by the time I remembered to get the dang camera, I was already too far along. So I'll have finished photos, but nothing in progress unless I start in the middle.

And Pilgrim, that just ain't gonna happen...

So I have these three in various stages of UN-assembly:

The LBW is awaiting yet another coat of Caboose Red. Roof has been painted Reefer White. Again (sigh) Some of the add-ons still need work.
The SSR is decaled - awaiting dullcoat and reassembly. All the add-on parts have been (mostly) painted.
The EV has been painted - Reefer White for the roof and Caboose Red for the body. The stock end rails have been painted as well. The trucks are still waiting for paint.

So there you have it...Hope to finish one or two this weekend...And pictures next week!

Thanx and a tip o' the hat to the Colonel for the inspiration.

World's Smallest Operating Layout??

2006-02-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

Now here's an intrepid modeller. David K. Smith has built what might be the world's smallest operating layout, "The Sceniced and Ridiculously Small Railroad".

This layout measures 4 X 8 feet in Nscale measurements. That's what I call small.

Check this link: The Sceniced and Ridiculously Small Railroad.

Finished Ballasting the Track

2006-02-04T23:51:00.000-07:00

Just thought to post a few pictures of the ballasted track. Here's how it looks at the crossing.

I don't think it's turned out too bad.

Here's just the track without any distractions.

And here is our new friend. Let me introduce you to "Mr. Ballasting Tool"!

And this is the top turnout. I put a Caboose Industries switchstand in here this week.

Got the magnets in too. Can you spot this pair of uncoupling magnets?

For my next trick Bashing a MOPAC Caboose! Next post

So I Chickened Out on Weathering That Flat

2006-01-22T21:36:00.000-07:00

Lest you think I have done nothing over the weekend. Just a quick post...

Test Track Update:

Ballasting was the name of the game this weekend. Using Russell Straw's suggested technique using a type of foam type painting brush to spread the ballast. Hope to be finished tomorrow and maybe I can throw up some pictures...Ballasting track, no matter how I do it, seems to be a slow business. And it should be too.

Track is a model too!

The crew over on the NSCALE forum on TrainBoard have really taught me a lot over the last few months. I think the track I laid on this test track experiment is probably some of the best work I've ever done in Model Railroading. It seems to be just about Bullet-proof!

Thanks, fellas! Couldn't have done it without ya!

...TexasT's

So Maybe I'm Just Not Ready to Really...

2006-01-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Beat up a perfectly good (and pristine) MT Car yet. But I did pose the question over on TrainBoard the other day.

" Okay fellas, now here's a bit of a problem that has plagued me since I started modelling. What is (are) the technique(s) to take molded plastic wood like on this car And make it look well used and abused:

That bunch in the NScale forum on TB are greatly knowledgable about hall things NScale. I got several good responses. Read on:

PowerSteamGuy says:
There is an article on how to age wood on plastic models in the February issue of RMC. It's very comprehensive and has quite a few pictures.It's well worth reading.

In summary you must airbrush different color paints to acheive a well worn look.

Yeah, I'd read that article. I think it's what made me ask the question. And I don't happen to own an Airbrush. There are people like me out there...Somewhere's

Fotheringill Says:
Or chalks.

Hmmm. Now this holds some promise. Although I know next to nothing about using chalks. I bet if someone pointed me in the right direction, I could figure that one out. I asked him how he fixed the materials to the surfaces. He had posted a great example of how he did one.

I actually have never used Dullcote or anything else on a weathered car. I just don't pick it up with a thumb and forefinger on its top and bottom. I never even needed a recoat and that is for a guy with lousy trackwork. The stuff doesn't seem to rub off when I do touch it.

Here's Paul Downs:
To add some wood grain, use coarse sand paper or the edge of a file. I like to paint the entire deck with an aged wood color, like an ash gray, and then dry brush the finish color over the aged "wood". Then you could add additional weathering, using paint or chalk.

John Moore goes even further.

John Moore:
I use a razor saw blade drug across the plastic to give plastic the grainage, Usually a fine tooth razor saw but a coarser tooth one will give some deeper grainage to the plastic. Then there is the old ship modelers technique after that. Thin coats of green, black, and woodtan, also maybe some grey, letting each dry thoroughly. Sand some off before each color application and you end up with a seasoned peice of wood. Lightly sand the final coat of color to let the others show through some here and there. Same thing can be done if one is good at dry brushing colors.
Finally weather it using anything from the dregs in the paint brush rinse jar to weathering materials to fill in the grainage created with the razor saw.

I would suggest practicing on a useless piece of plastic first before tackling that nice flat.

Now I really respect what this Master Modeller has to say, you should see his work on TB. I read ALL his stuff.

Then r_l_straw weighed in:

Russell Straw

Instead of chalk, I use MAC eye shadow makeup. It comes in some rusty, earthy and smokey colors and does not have the sparkle mica dust so is very flat looking. It does not seem to rub off as easy as chalk with my fat fingers. (I like to fondle my cars) It is more expensive than chalk however. I have found that when you spray Dullcote over any dry weathering it soaks up the pigment and causes the effect to almost go away. I have also found that over the years Dullcote can yellow. I suppose that is not bad for some weathering.

Now I've seen Russ' stuff Live and in Person. His NTRAK modules have won awards. Listen...to da man.

PowerSteamGuy came back with detail and a link:

PSG:
You can also try the Bragdon Enterprises weathering system. This material bonds nicely to any surface after it's applied and rubbed on.

Bragdon Enterprises weathering system

And Bragdon Enterprises stuff looks great. Next time I'm in a Hobby Shop I'll check them out.

But I just can not make myself do that to that car!

YET!

Until You Read the Manual - You Just Never Know

2006-01-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

What your equipment is capable of...

Remember the old adages, "Manuals? We don' need no steenkin' manuals"? and, "Real men don't read manuals"?

As with most of the pictures I post, click them for a larger (hence better) view.

I have been shooting pictures with a Fuji FinePix A210. It's a plastic bodied digital camera, nothing special. Wasn't expensive, and you can take a decent picture with it. Examples?? Okay, go to TexasT's on flickr and look at my photo stream and you'll see what I mean. It is also possible to take some very B-AA-A--D pictures with it that mostly no one ever sees. But that's the beauty of digital photography, now isn't it? A decent graphics editor, such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel PaintShopPro can make photos relatively easy to fix, provided you go up the learning curve to figure out what the software is capable of.

But that isn't what this post is about...

So I was reading the manual for my camera the other night...I learned a long time ago - Read the manual first! But I must have skipped though the manual part of the manual. There's is a menu setting in manual mode for different types of lighting. At least 5 different settings. WOW! "Shooting under daylight flourescents" is one of the settings. Now guess what kind of lights I have over my desk in the garage...

That's right, I've got daylights in that puppy. Now I won't tell a story here. Well, not a whopper anyway. Almost every picture I'd taken of the Test Track stuff had required some software tweaking. Unless I'd had the garage door open. And some needed A LOT OF TWEAKING!

Now being a simple kind of guy, I'd rather not have to tweak anything...If I ain't got to waste a lot of time doing that kind of stuff, I won't. 'Cause I ain't really got a lot of time to waste! Unless of course, I'm trying to learn something.

So this last batch of photos I took of my Test Track. I took a few in auto mode and quite a few with the white balance set for "Daylights". The difference was quite dramatic. It was so different in fact, I deleted the photos taken before I adjusted the White Balance.

All of the pictures in this post except this one, on the left, have white balance adjusted for daylights and you can (well, I can) really tell the difference! I don't think I "tweaked" one of them.

I don't think I'm quite ready for Helicon Focus. Well, I might be ready, but I don't think my camera is.

Right now, I gotta get back to my manual...

Next Entry: Plastic Wood??

Radio Shack's Rare Earth Magnets - Part Two

2006-01-15T23:17:00.000-07:00

Or Model Railroading Fun with Magnetism

As I said in the last post, the are two schools of thought on this on the NScale group on Trainboard

Here's the test bed. Track is Atlas Code 55. You can see the three sets of magnets. One set stacked, one set at the end of a curve, and one in the middle of a straight run.

As you can see in this next picture, the first set were mounted flush with the tops of the ties. When I stopped a couple of cars over them, MT Cars did not uncouple.

However, using an Atlas car with accumates - they did uncouple. But it was because the accumate trip pin was pulled right down onto the magnet, at that point it was low enough for the other coupler to clear it. It was stuck fast to the magnet. Not good. Could be a source for derailments.

Guess it works on unitrack. Just not my track.

As you can see the second set of magnets were mounted underneath each rail, but at the end of a curve. (Tracks at the top of the next photo)The cars uncoupled about 30% of the time - if you ran the couplers back and forth over the magnets...

The tracks in the bottom of the photo uncoupled almost everytime. Before I glue them in I need to "tweak" them a little, I think. The others will be removed or relocated.

You can see the couplers in the "Open" position in the somewhat blurry picture below:

Sorry about that last one. But there it is...

Next post: Playing with the White Balance on my Camera.

Radio Shack's Rare Earth Magnets - Part One

2006-01-15T01:19:00.000-07:00

There was a lively discussion, in the not too far past, on TrainBoard.com, in the Nscale group, about using Radio Shack's Rare Earth Magnets for uncoupling. After reading all of the posts I was still somewhat skeptical of magnetic uncoupling itself.

Before the thread on TB I had heard a lot of folks with a helluva lot more experience than me were using Magnematic couplers, but using Skewers or a Rix Pick, or the like to uncouple their cars. Because of the unreliability: No Magnets on the layouts.

I had heard a lot of negatives about Kadee (HO) and Microtrains (N) not to mention Accumates which are multiscale. Unexpected uncoupling, Exploding couplers, etc. The unreliability when I first started in MRR (long ago) was enough to make me stick to the Rapido type couplers. That and the fact that most equipment came with rapido couplers was pretty much a deal killer for me. Come 2005 though, and I see a lot of equipment in N Scale being shipped with knuckle type couplers.

A lot of model Railroad tech has changed in the last few years and I'm not hearing as many negatives about magnetic uncoupling as I used to. But all of the equipment I had up to this point, of course, had rapido couplers. Okay, I thought, maybe I should revisit magnetic uncoupling. I see a lot of experience on TB in the Positive, not all, but most, folks are using some type of knuckle or magnetic couplers with magnetic uncoupling.

Time for an experiment...This could be pretty interesting. Where to start? Well, (of course) I would need some equipment that has these types of couplers. So first I decided to convert my ATSF Kato F7's to MicroTrains couplers. Got some couplers for the F7's. The A unit was a real task. It was so much of a task it took 2 posts and a lot of discussion on TrainBoard.com to get through it.

Part 1 is here: My First Coupler Conversion for a Locomotive - Part 1
Part 2 is here: My First Coupler Conversion for a Locomotive - Part 2

I had found out about midway through the operation that the first generation Kato F7 coupler conversions was a real bugbear...And it was.

Shortly thereafter I picked up My First MicroTrains Freight Car.

And my curiosity was peaked. But I got distracted by some other projects for a while. Then I worked for WigWag at the World's Greatest Hobby Train Show here in H-Town and I picked up some more equipment. An Atlas Shell Chemical Tank Car and an Atlas MOPAC MP15. Both have Accumate couplers. I've also picked up some other Micro-Trains couplers too.

I was now ready to try this.

Went by the Local Radioshack and picked up 2 packages:
Rare Earth Super Magnets - 1/8" Button Catalog #: 64-1895 They are cheap. $1.89 per package. And quite small. As I said before, these tiny things are really powerful. Difficult to pry apart. Once I got the first pair apart and inadvertently put them together (or as close as they could get) on opposite poles, they literally flew apart. I found one of them on the leg of my chair and the other was stuck to the edge of my work table...three feet away.

So I started a new thread on trainboard.com about magnet placement: Where to place uncoupling magnets. The question was actually about where to put them. I never did get a real answer as to placement, but we did have another lively discussion about how to place them.

One school of thought is to put one disk under each rail at the point of uncoupling. On code 80 atlas track at the end of the rail there is a space where they just seem to snap in. This space is (of course) smaller on code 55 and the magnets will not fit there.

The other is to stack two between the ties with the topmost magnet about even with the top of the ties.

I tried it both ways.

Next post: The experiment bears fruit!

World's Greatest Hobby Show Loot!

2006-01-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

I worked for George of Wig-Wag-Trains on Friday before the show and Sunday after. As they said on their web page, the work wasn't too hard, but it was mindless. Pretty much for the crew that was helping them anyway.

We (Houston as a whole) didn't do much for 'em. I think they took way too much stock home. However, I think I can now recommend Wig Wag for your Nscale needs. They had about the best pricing I've seen. Pricing sure beats the hell out of our local guys (on most things). And they ain't bad either.

Have to tell George if he gets any additional H-town biz, he owes me a finders fee...

Doggone shame though about the locals. I mean I understand about overhead and shit, but damn, Wig Wag is Brick and Mortar too!

These guys brought more stuff than the locals stock.

Okay so, stepping down off the soapbox now...

Let's get to the good stuff.

Picked up an Atlas MoPac Standard Caboose, (Did MOPAC have any Standard Cabeese? Not from what I've seen) that will be a basis for a good kitbash, but not until after I ruin an old ConRail hack I've had around here for years for practice. It's got rapido couplers, but some pretty good low profile (plastic) wheelsets that seem to roll very freely on my test track. Didn't get a decent picture of the thing tonight, so that will just have to wait. Besides it's just a new caboose. Whoop-ty-doo!

Next wanger was an 11,000 gallon tank car (Atlas) lettered for Shell Chemical. SHPX1612. Now I dunno if the Big Clam ever used this car (couldn't find a reference for it by googling it, but that doesn't matter), but those of you that know me, know I like the Shell stuff. Dunno why...HaHa! This beauty has low profile wheels, again very freewheeling, and Accumate couplers. Not quite Micro Trains, but still very cool. Paint is real nice too. This car came in 2 road numbers and I meant to pick the other one up Sunday from Wig Wag. But by the time I remembered all the Atlas was packed up. Here's a quick pic:

But the real deal, was a new Atlas MP15, painted in UP Armour Yellow and gray, but lettered for Missouri Pacific. Runs Great, too. Creeps along at low power. Detail is nice with accumate couplers. Take a look at this brute:

I hear Atlas will be producing 2 in Jenks Blue in the next run. Sweet! These are some fine machines.

That's my haul.

In other modeling news - I spent some time this weekend playing with some of Radio Shack's Rare Earth Magnets. I'll be using those for uncoupling. Man, are they strong!

And Cheap too! But that's my next post...

Adios!

Idle Hands are the Devil's Workshop!

2006-01-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

So I've been a little busy...Tried to work up some rock faces today. 1.Start with an Acrylic Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Yellow mix...

YIKES! That is really RED!

Pardon my shadow in that shot.

Then work at burnishing the faces with... Would you believe? Poly Scale "Depot Buff"

After that another burnish with Poly Scale "Pacemaker Gray"

In this light though, it looks to be too much gray.

Maybe dry brush another coat of "Buff"

Oh yeah! Just for fun...Worked here too!

Happy 2006!!

When is Enough, Enough?

2005-12-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

I spent some time last weekend working on telegraph poles.

One might ask, "Aren't they good enough right out of the box? "

One would get the answer, "Maybe for some. But not for me."

How to detail a telegraph pole.

Materials required:

Telegraph poles
Xacto knife with fresh No.11 blade(s) - depending on how many poles you have.
Razor Saw
Polly Scale paints: Weathered (or grimy) Black, Rail Tie Brown , Some form of Bright Blue, and New Gravel Gray are what I used.
Maybe a fine Jeweller's file.
2 Paint brushes - one needs to be a 15/00 or better. About 7 hairs will do.
Pin Vise and a No. 57 Drill or whatever works for you.
Floral Wire or straight pins.
ACC cement.

Steps

Remove one set of cross arms - I usually take out the middle one. There are exceptions. Use the exacto knife or a pair of nippers. Option: The little "V" supports can usually be excised as well. Note: I haven't done this step yet.
Score the "pole" part with the razor saw by running it straight up and down the pole, all the way around the pole. Be careful not to exert to much pressure on the pole because it will snap!
Get out your trusty paintbrush and the rail tie brown (or weathered or grimy black for variety) paint and give the entire pole a coat. Set aside and do the next one.
Once the paint dries, get out your seven hair brush and your bright blue paint and paint the insulators Blue.
Clean the brush and get out the new gravel gray paint and paint the cylindrical transformers that are on some of the poles and set aside to dry.

Now you can be finished at this point. But I went a step or two further.

Snap off the flat base at the bottom of the poles.
Drill a hole in the bottom of the pole, large (and deep) enough to either stick floral wire in the end or the sharp end of a straight pin in the end. (I used both for testing purposes) If you used a pin, get out a pair of wire cutters and snap off the head. If you used the wire, cut it to a length you are comfortable with. Really depends on what your scenery base is.
Put a drop (a smidge really) of ACC on the end of the wire or pin and stick it in the hole you drilled in the pole. Set aside to dry and move on to the next one.

Now the poles are ready to be installed. Depending on your scenery base, you may need to pre-drill a hole to "plant" your pole in with a drop of white glue.

But the question remains:

But is it art?

Durn' tootin' it is, Bubba!

The Rest of the Layout Tours

2005-12-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Layout tours

My previous posts about the Fall layout tours were:

October 16th Visited A couple HO Railroads in Katy No pictures - just commentary

October 30th Saw 3 Nice HO Layouts in the Houston Area Yesterday Also no pics.

November 22d The Past Few Weekends I've Seen Some Great Layouts...Part I

I didn't get out to see as much as I wanted to but I did see some nice stuff. November 6 was about the last day I could really get out and see some TRAINS! Been so busy with life and holidays and whatnot that I have not had time until now to really put this post together.

So you can shoot me if you have to.

So...All Aboard!

First stop The HO Waterside Railway by Dennis Grigassy

Located in an air conditioned room in the rear of Dennis' garage. Hey! This is Houston you gotta have AC almost all year round. There's a price to pay for living in Paradise! The beginning of November and the temps were still somewhere in the 80's.

This is a bi-level, point to point modern railroad built for operations. Dennis has incorporated 1/2 dozen towns which have industries for switching. Tracklaying is complete and Dennis has plans to complete his scenery. He's even got an abandoned branch! There's an oval helix hidden (not really) in the garage. Most of his switches are manual with LED direction indicators. (I'll have to get him to show me that wiring trick one day). The ones out of reach are equipped with Tortoise switch machines.

The yard (Staging area) is equipped with a cassette type tray for building trains. Control is Easy DCC. Dennis uses RailOp to Generate Waybills.

Dennis was most helpful explaining how his layout was built. Even some of the pitfalls!

His co-engineer, David Ray (A well known O Scaler hereabouts) arranged meets for this amateur photog for which I am grateful. He even offered to stop the train so I could get the shot! But where's the fun in that!

Dennis even did a little demo for me on skewer uncoupling.

Photo 1 - Position your car.
Photo 2 - Insert the skewer
Photo 3 - Twist!
Photo 4 - Move the train away.

Wonder where he picked this car up?

Thanks Dennis! Can't wait to see how you've progressed next year!

12 photos of this layout on flickr.com

____________________________________________________________________

My next stop was at the Fort Bend Model Railroad Club!

The club has it's own website: FortBend Model Railroad Club. Located on the grounds of the Rosenberg RR Museum.

This is a group with a sense of humor. You can tell from their website. And from some of their modeling.

They are active at the train shows in and around the Houston area. In fact, their next gig is at The Worlds Greatest Hobby show in Houston at the George R Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston on January 7 and 8. I plan to be there on one of the days. C'mon down and show 'em some support. The club shows a 26' X 20' layout depicting Fort Bend County in the 1950's. The setup includes several award winning modules depicting the Imperial Sugar refinery in Sugarland, Texas in 1951.

On the left a picture I shot of the refinery.

I believe I got a history lesson about Imperial Sugar that day from Russell Straw, one of the creators of the modules. They have quite a bit of the history of the area as it pertains to railroading, of course, on their website and a lot of photographs. The modules that comprise the layout are well put together and show specific areas in the county as they appeared in the steam to diesel transition era.

On the right is a shot of the Richmond, Texas module.

On the left how about a shot of America's favorite pastime.

On the right some of that fine EssPee Motive Power!

On the left it must be Party Time!

Want to add a little sugar to your layout?

The first club car of the FBMRC (Fort Bend Model Railroad Club), a reproduction of of a tank car actually used by the Imperial Sugar Company in the 1950s and 1960s. Produced in a special run by Micro-Trains Click here to purchase this model. This is the first time this authentic prototype design has been available in any model scale. It has been produced with the authorization and assistance of the Imperial Sugar Company, the oldest continuously operating company in Texas. The initial operation that became Imperial Sugar was founded in 1843, in what is now Sugar Land, Texas -- the home base of the FBMRC club.The picture below is of one of the actual production models. The cars come as a 2-pack, packaged together with a custom-printed wrapper and then shrink-wrapped to preserve the "factory air".

24 photos of this club's modules on Flickr.
____________________________________________________________________

The last and final tour I managed to do this year was Rick Townsend's Santa Fe in the 1950's.

Rick has uploaded pictures of the layout on Yahoo! Photos

This L shaped 18 X 11 foot Railroad looks like a "built-in". It is built in such a way as to blend with the rest of the interior of the third floor room where it is located. Control is via dual Cabs. This is as good example of a "finished" layout as I've ever seen. If indeed a layout can ever be said to be "finished". Santa Fe in the 1950's is completely landscaped. At one end of the railroad is a good sized yard with a roundhouse and industries to be switched. The other end has a fully landscaped mountain with a town. He can run both around and point to point. Rick has put in a "Shell" refinery. I believe he said that it was a Shell because of the 2 large tanks he had acquired at one point.

I think, for me anyway, landscaping is the thing. Rick's layou is superbly landscaped. A very nice level of detail on this layout.

Look at the details in these 2 shots. These laser cut wood kits are Great!

16 Photos of this layout on flickr.

Weekend Exploits

2005-12-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

Or should I say weeklong exploits as I was off from work all week. Although I spent more time at it this weekend that I did all week.

Finally finished painting the rails "rusty".
Distressed and painted a bunch of "telegraph" or "telephone" poles.
Then I took a little detour and repainted a station I had, as my thinking is I'll use it for a cafe or "Greasy Spoon" trackside.

Looks kind of run down doesn't it? It may get a fresh coat after I decide for sure what to do with it.

After that I also re-painted a little freight depot I had on hand.

Still have to get after the rail ties this week because of the "overpainting" I did when I was painting the rails. Hopefully I can shake loose a little time after work this week to get that taken care of.

Also this weekend, I found in one of my myriad train "Stuff" boxes almost enough Atlas "Snap Track" to nearly re-lay all the track on my defunct "Scenic and Relaxed" Rail road.

Score!

That could be my next little project. I'll have to look more into converting it to C55 later. But I could probably do it in code 80 or 100 with the stuff I have on hand...

World's Greatest Hobby on Tour Train Show

2005-12-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

Heh Heh Heh...

Got a job working at the World's Greatest Hobby on Tour Train show coming to Houston. Show dates are January 6 - 7, 2006.

Working for one of the vendors at the show and they like to pay out in trains! Hot diggity! That means I get into the show for FREE! And I get the first look!

I can't tell you the last train show I went to...

I'll help them setup on Friday morning. And tear down on Sunday evening. I've asked if they need anything between then too. But I ain't counting on it...

Could be an interesting weekend...

Merry Christmas to all

2005-12-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

And to all a good night!

nuff said...

Painting the Rails (again)

2005-12-19T06:44:00.000-07:00

Decided I really didn't like the way "Roof Brown" looked on the rails. So I'm repainting them again with Polly Scale "Rust". I think this will look much better against the ties and ballast.

This is it! I'm done foolin' with the rails!

Still gonna have a few ties to deal with though...

DANG!

But as Flash (@TB) says, "This hobby is supposed to take time!"

Asphalt Modeling

2005-12-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

Still have a pile of photos to share from this years home layout tours to share.
Painting rails and ties is progressing.
Found a tub of "The Modeller's Asphalt" in one of my train boxes. You won't believe this stuff!
Got a paint scheme for rock formations that I like (finally) and can live with.
Ballasting has started. Got issues here...
Bought my first "MicroTrains" car. Woo Hoo!
Can I bitch about "NScale" magazine? Sure I can...
Have I done anything with the couplers I've got? No...
Give me a chance...I can crack my tailbone (OUCH!)

"The Modeller's Asphalt" made by Creative Customcraft in Edgemont, PA.

I must've bought this 1 lb tub in the mid to late 90's (right before my divorce, but that's another story). I never used it on my previous layout. I was using emory paper then, painted grimy black.

I found it in a box of my scenicking stuff.

Hmmmmmm. Laid a base of permascene down on a piece of paper. Had to let that dry overnight. The next day I laid a test patch. It looks like it is still viable. Better yet, it looks just like asphalt! Brand new, just laid asphalt!

I cannot find a viable reference for it, or the company on the web.

The road in the pics is about 18 scale feet wide. Has not been sanded or sealed.

Did some research trying to find the company. Didn't come up with much but Walther's had this to say:
Creative Customcraft is listed on Walthers.com along with I.S.L.E. Laboratories (Maybe owned by them?). Walthers Mfg # 473
Walthers Vendor 473
Same folks that bring you
Mountains in Minutes.
Various portals.
Scenery materials.
Rock castings made out of foam. Quite a few of these.
Some kind of scenery foam.

No Website as far as I can tell.

No one on the forums I frequent has seen or heard of the stuff either.

Here's a shot of the stuff on my module at the crossing. I sanded this application though, and it looks pretty good.

I can work with this. Still probably needs to be sealed though. Maybe a coat of Dullcote will do. I'll try that on my test patch jnust to make sure.

About That List

2005-12-17T01:01:00.000-07:00

Still have a pile of photos to share from this years home layout tours to share.
Painting rails and ties is progressing.
Found a tub of "The Modeller's Asphalt" in one of my train boxes. You won't believe this stuff!
Got a paint scheme for rock formations that I like (finally) and can live with.
Ballasting has started. Got issues here...
Bought my first "MicroTrains" car. Woo Hoo!
Can I bitch about "NScale" magazine? Sure I can...
Have I done anything with the couplers I've got? No...
Give me a chance...I can crack my tailbone (OUCH!)

Let's Do:
2. Painting Rails and Ties with 5. Ballasting Issues
Together. Because they go...Together...Sort of.

Painting rails with 18/0 and 10/0 brushes is: Let's face it...a good way to bring on a migraine. If you get them. I don't. But it didn't take me too long to find my super duper magnifying thingamabob! (Optivisor)

I decided after the fiasco with the so called "Brown" paint pen and the "Brown" Sharpie that there was just a little tooo much RED in them. So I am toning it down a little with Polly Sca;e "Roof Brown".

Why Polly Scale?

Well it isn't solvent based, so it's easier to clean up. Soap and water, friends and neighbors is all it takes. And good ol' H2O will do, in a pinch, with a rag. I'm using waterbased paint and acrylics nearly exclusively an this module. And my old Poly Scale and acrylics haven't dried up nearly as bad as my old solvent based stuff from the years in storage. The colors are as good as solvent based paints anyway.

And they are here.

Why "Roof Brown"?

Because it just looks better than anything else here on the rails. The operative word being "here". At this time of year there are really no spare bucks to spend on a "hobby" (The Queen thinks "Obsession"). And because well, I like it. It's my railroad!

You can see it in this picture. Front rail on the right.

Here's a better shot. So that decision is made. And I'm a little less that half way through that job. But it is moving along.

Now on to "Ballasting issues".

I haven't done ballasting in a Loooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg time. And it showed. I don't think true "Rock" ballast was available the last time I was buying. The last time I was buying, I bought alot of Woodland Scenics ballast. A LOT!

Rumor has it that WS ballast is made from CRUSHED WALNUT SHELLS. And guess what Walnut shells do if not properly "wetted" down with a "Wet" solution (usually water with a few drops of diswashing detergent to break surface tension -

I know about "surface tension because I'm a Model Railroader. Couldn't be, I've worked for a worldwide petrochemical manufacturer that makes "Surfactants" which by thier very nature break up surface tension in water. That's why they are one of the main ingredients in Detergents! For twenty-six years!).

Some folks use IPA for this step. That's right. Plain old, garden variety isopropyl alcohol. So I decided to use this as well. Nevermind the fact it took me two nights (part-time) to get the ballast spread "just the way I wanted it" on a twelve inch stretch of track! What I didn't know at the time was I needed a "mister" for this and not a "sprayer".

This shot is before cleaning

So as I "sprayed" my perfectly formed pyramids of crushed walnut shells, some of them MOVED. Up and over the ties (and Rails)(!!). HORRORS! Well by this time I was all in anyway. So angling my sprayer upwards, I continued until every thing looked nice and "wet".

Got my bottle of WS "Scenic Cement" shook up and eye dropped the stuff every where up and down the track. (not quite as chaotically as it sounds) and I still had "float" Glue and ballast were floating between the rails! My ballast was not "wet" enough I found out later. No matter.

After everything dried. And I let it go at least over night. Came back with a sharp instrument and removed most of the stray ballast from the sides of the rails and tops of the ties. Looks pretty good.

My special mix of fine WS ballast is 2 parts Gray, 1 part cinders, and 1/3 to 1/2 part Iron oxide. And it looks okay.

But there will be some procedural changes on the next section. I'll just have to see how that works.

Anyway I think it all came out (mostly) all right!

This shot is after the track was de-floated. And look at that rock face!

New ATSF MT Car

2005-12-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

Here's Number 6.

New Micro Trains Heavy duty Flat.

What a beaut!

Sitting on my newly BALLASTED Section of track, too.

Does that count as Number 5 in the list too?

Just So You Know

2005-12-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

I AM working on a couple of major posts.

All items from the list below. This weekend I should have some time to put a major dent in it.

But let's take care of number 9 right now.

Give Me a Chance...I Can Crack My Tailbone!

Was in the garage earlier this week before I went to work. Wanted to take a couple of progress shots. I was sitting at my bench after getting the shots I wanted. I knocked something off the bench. A paintbrush...A screwdriver...I dunno...and I bent over while still seated to pick it up.

...And...(I know better)

Who-o-o-o-o-sh!!

Before I realized what was happening, the dang chair flew out from under my (you know whatsis!) and I found myself sitting somewhat painfully on the floor.

This chair actually sits about barstool height so it was just enough distance to hurt really good. I pushed the chair caster out of my crack and lay back on the floor.

The feeling in my lower back was...familiar somehow.

Oh yeah! Now I remember...Damn Damn DAMN! Several years ago after a stupid stunt. I had cracked my sacrum. It took literally years before if felt good to sit, lay or even walk, comfortably, really.

As I lay there on the floor, hoping against hope that I had just bruised that pointy little piece of bone, I realized I still had to get my ass up and go to work...

Not a fun way to start your day...

Crap!

Busy Here - Busy There

2005-12-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

I've been busy with "The Project", around the House, and at Work. So, not much time for writing.

The Project

Got plenty of things done over the last 7 days (If you are a snail, that is). Work on the module (I guess "the Project really is a "Module") is progressing, but at a slower pace thanks to end of year stuff at work and (of course) the Holiday Season. Fa-la-la-la and all that happy crap.

I'll do a quick rundown of what's to do and done and hopefully post pictures and more details later.

Still have a pile of photos to share from this years home layout tours to share.
Painting rails and ties is progressing.
Found a tub of "The Modeller's Asphalt" in one of my train boxes. You won't believe this stuff!
Got a paint scheme for rock formations that I like (finally) and can live with.
Ballasting has started. Got issues here...
Bought my first "MicroTrains" car. Woo Hoo!
Can I bitch about "NScale" magazine? Sure I can...
Have I done anything with the couplers I've got? No...
Give me a chance...I can crack my tailbone (OUCH!)

Gotta run! More later...

Couple of Things Going on Here

2005-12-08T21:02:00.000-07:00

Rock Faces

So I decided (yesterday or the day before really) that I didn't like the way my rock faces were turning out. Too much gray I guess. Not enough of anything else. Plus I've done some other reading lately, that kind of made me decide whatever was wrong it just wasn't working for me. I just can't really put my finger on what it is that isn't working...I've been thinking about what I can do to fix this. So I repainted them with my tan base tonite.

Except for this piece, maybe I kept it to remind me of what NOT to do? I dunno, I kind of like this one. It's the one piece I've kept as removable rock. I'll put some kind of foreground feature on it and detail it out really nicely. Maybe a wood kit of some kind I can turn into some kind of greasy spoon for the train crews. Gotta have something on this side of that crossing, eh?

Civil Engineering Project

After I posted one of the pictures I posted here on Monday later on Trainboard, I got a few comments back. Notably one from PowerSteamGuy that basically said, "That's nice. Why don't you paint it with some Rail Tie Brown and after that dries, dry brush with some grimy black." Everybody that commented said it looked really bumpy...

Well that was the idea! It's supposed to rural and not that well maintained....

Hey, it sounded good to me...So I sanded it a little and gave the thing a coat of Polly Scale Rail Tie Brown. And puttered around waiting for it to dry.

I'm still trying to fix my fiasco of painting the rails with a brown paint pen that makes the rails look this awful shade of Red. I even took the paint pen and painted some of the scenery base with it to see if it just reacted with the metal to turn it that color. It didn't. It wasn't even brown on my painted scenery base. They shouldn't be able to sell that as a shade of Brown.

So I screwed around with that for a while and went back in the house after a while. Trouble was when I came back around to it, it was probably ten thirty or eleven o'clock. I must've been too tired. I didn't just drybrush the thing...I buried it in grimy black! My new found buds at TB wasted no time in telling me about either! PSG said, "Give it another coat of Rail Tie Brown and then DRY BRUSH it with grimy black." Flash said he liked it better BEFORE the paint at all. And skipgear posted a picture from one of his grade crossings! With pointers! It was Great!

It was all good in my opinion!

So after I got home from work I gave the durn thing another coat of paint waited around for that to dry and did the drybrush thing...And sanded it ALL off again. I think the two coats of paint were just too much for my liking.

Gave it yet another coat initial coat. Sanded a little bit And drybrushed...And this is how it came out.

Not too shabby in my humble opinion!

Can't wait to detail this out!

Today's Civil Engineering Project

2005-12-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

I played civil engineer today. Had an idea for a grade crossing. This is about 22 scale feet wide. Made from Micro Engineering RR ties. Now that I've got the thing installed it's probably a little wide for my original purpose, but it'll do, I think.

Once the glue sets, I'll sand the assembly a little. I just want to make sure every thing will clear it. Then repaint in grimy or weathered black, I think. The lighting in my garage really makes the track look awful. Looks like I need to take another look at that.

Also got the rest of my little project painted tan. I guess it is about time to think about ballasting the trackage. After I repaint the track...(sigh)

Project: Code 55 Test Track

2005-12-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

Made some progress this weekend in addition to the coupler follies...

Got most, if not all, of the scenery base down. Finally! Have permascene almost every where (don't ask!)

I've painted about 80% of that with my tan paint. Painted the interior of the tunnel entrance with Mars Black acrylic paint.

Glued in the over the tunnel scenery and covered that with my scenery material.

Been experimenting with painting various rock formations. Finally got a combination I think I like. We'll see after the base dries and I can paint everthing that's left with my base color.

Got one of my formations painted but I'm not sure I like what I've got. It's basically various shades of brown with a little rust color and black thrown in for competition. Then I dry brushed with 2 different shades of gray. Not sure I like what I'm seeing so I've decided to sleep on it. Haven't taken any pictures of it yet either.

Happy Trails!

My First Coupler Conversion For a Locomotive Part 2

2005-12-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

I'm told that the F7-A MT conversion is one of the more difficult conversions to do. Wouldn't you know that would be the first one I would do.

The pilot on my F7, while not exactly toast, does need some work at this point. But the coupler is in and looks like it will be functional when I go to test it. It is at the right height and angle. Maybe a little high but hey, it's in there! Thanks to the Nscale folks @ TB (TB = TrainBoard.com). They were helpful with advise and encouragement.

The rear coupler went in relatively easily (see last post). The pilot though, turned out to be a woolybugger.

The opening in the pilot needed to be enlarged. I had to do this several times. Upon re-assembly the pilot cracked. In three places. I'm told by Big Snooze @ TB that Sunrise Enterprises sells a replacement for a few dollars. I'll look into that the next time I'm at PapaBen's.

Plus the angle was all wrong and it wouldn't couple to the MT coupler height gauge. Because the height and angle were screwed. So I took it apart and the coupler fell apart. Got the coupler back together and checked it against the Draft Gear clip. The two posts that held the rapido coupler in place would not let the MT settle into place properly. Filed about half of those away, re-assembled the thing and...

Eureka! The coupler is in!

At almost the right height too. It does couple to the gauge. I don't really plan to couple anything to the front end of the F7 A anyway, so I might eventually take PowerSteamGuy's (@TB) advise and put in a ZScale coupler. But not right now...

Ahh...The sweet smell of SUCCESS!!

My First Coupler Conversion For a Locomotive Part 1

2005-12-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

With Micro Trains couplers...

I started this little project last night. And of course I picked the pride of my fleet to go first - A Kato EMD F7A Unit.

First lemme say these parts are Waaaaay too small to be screwing around with at 1130 at night!

So after reading the instructions all the way through and looking at these tiny parts, I (and using my better judgement for a change) decided to sleep on it after posting a question or two on TrainBoard.com in bold text below.

Looking at the instructions it says in Step 6 , "Trim original spring post to allow the 1128 adapter to slip into draft gear box. Do not trim more than is needed as this post will help retain adapter until adhesive sets." Adhesive?!? Who knew?

So how much to trim? It looks like I'll need to take most of the post off any way just so the adapter will fit. Do I saw it off with a no. 11 blade? or what?

In step 14 it says to apply a small amount of "Walthers Goo" Is anything a reasonable substitute for "Walthers Goo"? Or do I need to make a trip to LHS to get some?

"Flash" Blackman replied that I would indeed need to take most of (all, actually) the post off to make the adapter fit. Further I would need to enlarge the opening in the pilot in order for the coupler to fit. It said so in the instructions from MT as well.

"OH SHIT!" was my only thought. But in for a penny, in for a pound, as the saying goes.

And yes, "Goo" would be best as well, he said.

Taking this loco apart (this morning) was one of the scariest things I have done in a while...But I must say that went well...When the headlight and porthole plastic(s) fell off though, I decided THAT was not going to happen again, so I glued them in.

The Rear Coupler...

I worked on the rear coupler until I got to the point where I needed the "Goo". Made a couple of calls for that, only to discover I was gonna have to drive all the way across town to get it. Might as well pick up the MT Greasem while I was there.

Still, I got outta there for under 6 bucks. That's probably the least amount of money I've ever spent in a LHS. EVER! I should show that receipt to the Queen! "Take that! I can too get outta one of these stores without spending my paycheck!"

Meanwhile, back at the hacienda...

The rear coupler mounted to the truck without (almost) a hitch. The little T-bars on the end of the shank(s) gave me a little trouble. But then the thing just fell into place. Put the truck back on, and the shell went back on just like the instructions said. The rear coupler looks perfect. Needs some grimy black and some rust and dirt and... but that can wait for now. The durn thing is in!

I must admit to a boost in confidence since that went so well.

Now for the Front Coupler.

Comparing the coupler to the opening in the pilot, it looked like I was going to have to enlarge it quite a bit. So I got a fresh No.11 blade and one of my fine Xacto files and enlarged it.

And enlarged it more.

And enlarged it some more.

Until It looked like (to me, anyway) you could drive a truck through it. The coupler fit, but it was tight. Hmmm this is going well, I thought humming to myself...

Until the very last step when I cracked the pilot. It's cracked really good too! In three places. It's cracked on either side of the coupler as well as at the bottom. I figure I must've weakened it as I was enlarging the hole in the pilot. I don't think I can repair these...It cracked when I was inserting the pilot draft gear clip.

And another thing. The coupler is off at a really odd angle. Then, as I pulled the Draft Gear Clip off to disassemble my previous assembly so I could see if I could figure that out, the coupler came apart. I've got all the pieces, thank goodness...

Here's the thing though. There are three posts on the thing. The one in the center goes through the coupler. The ones on either side I suppose are to hold the coupler steady. However, these are what is interferring with the coupler sitting straight, I know now. There's another set of questions for my friends at TrainBoard.com.

Now I'll eventually need to score a new shell for that, I suppose. But the rear coupler works and is actually at the right height and everything. But it couples to the coupler height check gauge!

A learning experience I reckon.

Does Kato sell shells?

I Never Did Mind the Little Things...

2005-11-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

Just a small issue...

I noticed yesterday... As I threw the switch leading into the passing siding, it was floating. Literally. Floating above the cork about an 1/8 to 1/4 inch whenever the switch was thrown. It looks like the caulk I used has released the track leading into and away from the turnout. Must be a combination of the humidity and temperature fluctuations in my construction area (my garage) and perhaps not using enough caulk in the first place.

Just a small job right? (Not!):

Spray trackage with water (fill sprayer)
Find small spatula on messy workbench
Decide to clean messy workbench so as to facilitate finding said spatula
Put away tools
Put away supplies
Clean up foam debris
Sweep floor
Discover trashbag in trashcan is full
Change trashbag
Discover BIG effing hole in said full trashbag whilst removing from said trashcan
Sweep floor (again)
Pickup floor debris (again)
Put in trashbag
Put trashbag in trashcan
Remember original job
Get small spatula from toolbox
Slide small spatula between track and roadbed to (further) release the track
Let roadbed (and track) dry
Re-caulk roadbed
Discover track feeders are mangled
Get new set of track feeders (supplies on hand)
Install said track feeders
Re-install track
Clamp (gently) track to roadbed
Take (well deserved) break

Obviously some organization is needed here ?!?

Project: Code 55 Test Track

2005-11-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

Worked on the track today. Took the thing outside to take a couple of pictures. After I ran them through Paint Shop Pro though, I thought it came out a little too red. The camera (or the software) sees differently that we do.

Photo 1 - I ran this one through the one step photo fix in Paint Shop Pro.

Photo 2 - Almost the same angle but no photo fix.

Got most of the fascia cut. Nothing left of the wood to do except the front. I'm almost ready to finish up with the permascene. As soon as I finish the wood, I'll lay some more permascene and then I'll give every thing a coat of paint. After that maybe I'll work on some of the ties. Then it'll be time to ballast the track.

How about a few more pictures...

Project Test Track

2005-11-23T00:50:00.000-07:00

Rusting the rails.

I've never been a rivet counter as N Scale is pretty small. But was reading a discussion thread on Trainboard about weathering rails. Do I want to go to that much trouble?
Suggestions were:

To paint the rails "rail brown" with a 00 brush. Then individualize the ties with several drybrushed colors.
Find some sort of paint pen that comes in a brown color. Poster couldn't remember the brand though.

I thought we had a fine tipped "sharpie" in brown around the house. But no luck finding it. Hit the local Hobby Lobby Got a brown permanent marker that had a chisel applicator on one end and a "point" on the other. Found a fine tipped brown sharpie as well. Not sure which will win out in the end. I kinda like the color of the permanent marker better than the "sharpie".

The "sharpie" paints well but the color may be too dark. It looks nearly as dark as the ties...plus it seems to leave some kind of a sheen on the rails.

The permanent pen seems to get the color about right.

I painted two stretches of track. One with the "sharpie" and the other with the permanent marker. Gonna let them dry overnight to see which one has colored the rails the best.

The Past Few Weekends I've Seen Some Great Layouts...Part I

2005-11-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Running a little behind on postingAbout the layout tours I've been on. This is gonna be a big post.

I've heard that this is one of the only areas in the country to do a Holiday Layout Tours thingie. I don't know if it's true - But if it is - You owe it to yourself to get out and see some of these! I've been amazed. The weekend before last I was bemoaning the fact there hadn't been any Nscale to see. Well, now I've seen some "N" the past couple of weekends. And I took tons of pictures too. Of course one of the good things about digital is you can "delete" those awful shots before you have "prints". The original photos were taken with 3M setting on my camera so they are pretty big. 1280 X 960 seems about average. I apologize in advance to dialup users.

That said, let's see some layouts! By the way there are more pictures on my flickr account. I've organized some sets by layout. If you like what you see, click the link I'll post with the specific layout.
____________________________________________________________________
So let's start with Saturday November 5th.

First stop was Bob Werre's S Scale UP, CNW, SOO and Milwaukee franchise.

S scale is HUGE!! Layout has about 250 feet of doubleloop mainline with 5 small yards and a large one as well. Features are: Mostly hand laid turnouts, Code 100 and 126 flextrack, DCC control, Sound in many units, Dozens of scratch built, kit, and kitbashed structures. The detail level on this layout is amazing. So many little scenes.

Bob says the layout is about 80 percent scenicked. Looked higher to me. The man, in my opinion is an artist in the true sense of the word! My pictures do not do this layout justice...If you get a chance to see this layout - RUN don't walk!

10 Photos of this layout on Flickr
____________________________________________________________________

Next stop: Bob Barnette's River City Union Terminal Railroad.

This HO scale pike takes up one side of a two car garage. Represents a midwestern gateway terminal (St. Louis) and line extending Southwest. Missouri Kansas and Texas, Texas and Pacific, and MOPAC equipment. Built with a Helix and lower level allowing point to point operations.

Features:

6 track passenger terminal
A coach yard, mail, express with team tracks and freight houses
Control is DCC by Digitrax.
Scenery is 60 percent complete.

13 Photos of this layout on Flickr.

____________________________________________________________________

Next Stop - The Houston N'Crowd

Located on the second story of Papa Ben's Train Store the N'Crowd is in the process of building a new double decked layout in the clubroom.

They had a few modules setup (including an O Scale layout!) in the room next to the club room and were running trains via DCC.

Still have the famous "N to the Future" cars from the 2003 N Scale National Convention collectors cars available.

Guests can run a train on the Modules they have setup.

19 Photos of the N'Crowd available on Flickr.

Note: The club is not ADA accessible.

___________________________________________________________________

Last Stop for Saturday - Gordon Bliss' The Santa Fe / All The Way Railroad

I was getting kind of tired after my last stop at the N'Crowd's clubhouse. I asked one of the members that was there if it was worth the trip to Crosby to see this railroad. All he said was, "Gordon's? Oh yeah...It's worth the trip." Gordon is apparently a very active member of the N'Crowd gang.

So off I went to the east side of town.

Gordon's Santa Fe empire takes up the space of a two car garage and then some. This is one huge Model Railroad. The pike has a 20' x 30' main room, with a 8' x 13' side room (for dispatching and staging yards). This N scale double deck layout will feature operations on the SANTA FE from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1953. Gordon is very friendly guy and most knowledgeable. He should be...I think I heard him say he had been modeling since he was nine or ten years old!

Features:

Both freight and passenger yards in Kansas City are modeled.
2 double track helixes.
Blue foam 85% installed.
The wiring for detection is almost completed.
Control is Digitrax radio DCC.

Gordon's railroad is an example of what can be done given enough space! Very impressive. This is one large N Scale railroad. The photos I took definately cannot do justice to this pike!

Kind of off the beaten track, but if you get a chance to tour this one, do yourself a favor...GO! As the man says, You'll be glad you did.

21 photos of "The Santa Fe / All the Way" available on flickr.

Project: Test Track: Tunnel Portal – Weekend of November 19

2005-11-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

I had decided to install a tunnel portal in the end of my test track. This also turned out to be a test, as I had never used a tunnel portal on a layout before. The last layout I constructed was a cookie cutter type and did not include any underground track. Working with foam board was a new experience as well.

I had sandwiched 3 pieces of foam board together, secured by good old Elmer’s Glue All. I clamped the assembly together and let it dry overnight. I tried cutting or slicing the foam to shape. This particular attempt didn’t really provide the results I was after. It was just plain fugly. I could not seem to get the contour I was after for that area. So I cut to fit the space and glued together three more pieces of foam board and set them aside to dry.

I had heard in various places about a tool that could be used for shaping foam made by Stanley. I had seen what this tool was capable of at Gordon Bliss’ layout, All The Way With Santa Fe! His huge layout (Takes up the space of a 2 car garage and them some!) makes extensive use of foam.

I had to make a trip to the local Home Depot for some hollow wall anchors to re-mount a CD or Video cabinet in the den. My son (I wasn’t at home at the time) had the bright idea before the non-event (for us, anyway) of Hurricane Rita to pull both the cabinets off the wall and cart them upstairs along with the CD’s and Video’s. His mother, the Queen, endorsed this little project. Fortunately, for all involved, the task of getting even one of them off the wall proved to be more of an effort that either of them were willing to expend energy on at the time. I had used sheetrock screws to secure the cases at the time of installation and miracle of miracles, had hit a stud behind the top bracket. When the bottom screws were removed the top one had held. Now, however since I was going to have to re-do the work, the screws in the bottom bracket, of course would no longer bite as the holes had become somewhat enlarged when they were removed. Hence the trip to the hardware store for molly screws…

While I was at the hardware store, I decided to check out these tools. There are at least (just manufactured by Stanley, alone) half a dozen varieties of the Stanley Surform tool. The tools look like some kind of rasp. I picked a small one out that retails for under six bucks. Since I was unsure of the capabilities of the thing I also picked up a spare blade. For this particular tool the replacement blade (?) for lack of a better term, cost about three bucks.

What a difference! As you pull the tool over the foam, it shaves a layer off. It is kind of messy. But you are shaving foam after all. Depending on how much pressure is used you can shave a lot or a little off. In no time at all I had pretty much the shape I thought should be there. Cool stuff! I definitely, can now recommend Foam as a building medium for layouts. Check out these results.

Started a New Group @ flickr.com

2005-11-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

I started a new Model Railroading group in flickr today. Model Railroading. It is a public group - check it out!
I am a big fan of flickr. It is probably the easiest photo sharing / storing site on the web today. If you can't figure out flickr, then you probably shouldn't be using a computer at all. That's how easy it is...
This group will be a companion to this blog. Sent out a bunch of invites to it today. Like to see where this goes.

Link goes in my links section as well.

Project: Code 55 Test Track - Whotta Difference a Day Makes

2005-11-14T16:48:00.000-07:00

I am going to post some pictures of the layouts I've seen in the last couple of weeks- haven't had any time to get it all together.

Yesterday I got the rear and right side fascia almost completed - No pictures - It's a mess yet. May not EVER be pictures of that part. It has become apparent I need to invest in some decent $aw$. Not this pay period, though...

Click pictures for a bigger view.

Decided to definitely scenick this project. It was up in the air - I mean after all this is only a test track. But every thing else about this project has been a test, so why not test myself some more.

Got Permascene? I do. But I don't think I have enough for a full size layout, so I'm using it on this project.

Permascene is this wonderful stuff made by a company named Perma-Craft. I haven't heard anything about that company for a while so I suppose it's possible they went out of business. Can't find any real reference on the web, either.

What a difference spreading this stuff around makes! Sure takes the shine off. Seems to cover pinkboard just fine too...

Before...

....and after.

I had the tinting kit too, but whatever was in the jars had solidified and I presume are no good. I haven't pitched them yet, but they are close to the trash can. So I'll just paint everything. I may try adding some water to one of the jars...Just for grins. The material itself always reminded me of Vermiculite. I see in the latest issue of Model Railroader, Lou Sassi used fine vermiculite as a substitute for Permascene for his "Ground Goop" recipe, so I presume they are very similar.

So I mixed a batch just to make sure it was still viable. And it seemed to be doing it's thing as I spread it around. Before I knew it I was out and so went to the kitchen sink and mixed another container. Back out to the garage, where it became quickly apparent I had put in too much water (permascene should have the consistency of thick oatmeal for most applications). No problem though, just add another teaspoon and as Goldilocks said, it was just right.

I found a tunnel portal in one of my myriad boxes of supplies and decided to add it just for fun! Check it out!

Sure beats the hell out of the gaping hole I constructed on the end.

Did a little Railfanning

2005-11-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

While I was out and about this weekend. Honestly, if I have the camera with me, and I'm alone - I'll always be on the lookout for a good picture (not necessary to be Rail related either). If I can safely stop I will...

Shot of a BNSF SD38-2 in Rosenberg, Texas. Took this shot looking through the wrungs in the fence at the Rosenberg Railroad Museum.

The museum has a bit of equipment setup there on the grounds. A couple of semaphore signals. An old Speeder (maybe being restored) A Wig Wag signal. A Signal Tower(!). What looks like someone's old business car (Quebec)in the process of being restored. Haven't been inside the Museum. The Fort Bend Model Railroaders also setup there. (more on them later with pictures)

Wig Wag on the grounds of the Rosenberg Railroad Museum

Here's a shot of the Speeder

More pictures here in my Flickr Set.

Model Railroad Layout Tour Rules of Etiquette

2005-11-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

November is National Model railroad Month. Get out and see some Layouts. (This means you, Guppyman!) Get inspired and then build your own! Then we'll all come see yours as well!

I've had a lot of fun this fall with MR related stuff. Been in a lot of homes the last 2 weekends (with more to come!). And I've got a lot of photos to share. I just haven't decided on a format for these posts yet. Gimme a day or two...I managed to get a lot of nice pictures. Digital is a great thing. Same rule of thumb applies for digital as analog pictures, though. For me anyway, for every good shot it seems like I toss 5 or 6 bad ones. (Sometimes more!) I've probably taken over four hundred photographs. A fraction of which will be displayed here. The rest (Those worth keeping anyway) I'll have on Flickr with public access. That being said...

Based on what I've seen (and heard) I thought this would be timely. These rules are published right along with the 2005 Fall Holiday Layout Tour Information. My comments, if any, will be in Bold RED Text.

Read the rules! Know the rules! Share the rules! Be the rules!

Above all when touring other people's layout, be courteous and for god's sake use common sense! (Trying not to sound too preachy here, but...)

By simply following these rules you will enjoy our hobby more and (hopefully) the layout owners will continue to eagerly participate in future tours.

And now, here are those respectable rules of etiquette:

Use common sense. Think before you act is, by far, the most important thing. It really is!
Never pick up someone else’s model. Any model on the layout may have fragile details that could be damaged if mishandled. If you see a train derail or separate, notify the owner or someone operating the layout, as quickly as possible. They will either correct the situation or ask you to; then and only then you may do so. With advanced modeling techniques, you may not recognize the difference between a new model and an operating delicate antique or the difference between a store bought and someone’s “award winning” scratch built model. These things, by their very nature are fragile, don't touch unless asked to by the owner!
Never lean on or over someone’s layout with or without scenery. When carrying children, do not to hold them over the layout, dangling feet can do more damage than a Texas tornado. Sometimes pointing to details on a layout does not allow you to “see” an approaching train, and just because one train has passed does not mean another one may not behind it. Also, leaning over the layouts can make you loose your balance.
Don’t touch, scratch, feel, move anything, or reach over the layout. Loose articles of clothing or jewelry have been known to “catch” scenery and/or derail trains. If you lack self control, put your hands in your pockets or hold your hands behind your back. If you are really curious about anything, simply ask the host. The owner may be too polite to kill you on the spot, but I might not be!
Never smoke in someone’s layout room or home. If the host or owner isn’t smoking, don’t ask for permission. Good rule of thumb - Just don't ask and don't do it (and I smoke)
Don’t “nit-pick.” Everyone is entitled to their own artistic creativity, even if it is not yours. Some may historically model a railroad and others may make up their own.
Don’t be so quick to point out a “better way” of doing something. You may find it has been tried with failing or “less than satisfactory” results.
Be tolerant of all scales and skills. If you can’t say something nice, well…Some owners could abide by this as well. I had a sketchy experience at one place...
Do sign the host’s guest book.
Respect the host’s property, both inside and outside of the home. Duh!
Thank the host(s) when you leave, for allowing you into their homes.
Don’t dominate the host’s time, while you are there. Other people may have questions or comments too. The same applies to the best viewing or photo spot, let everyone have a turn and enjoy the layout.
Be patient. Many layouts will be crowded because everybody loves trains.
Know these rules. If you are bringing someone with you that isn’t familiar with the rules of etiquette, take some time and go over them together. You will do everybody a real big favor.
Have fun! We love our layouts and hope you will enjoy them as well. This is a wonderful hobby, meant to be shared, and it is intended to be lots of fun! If you ain't having fun, do everyone else a favor and STAY HOME!
While visiting a model railroad layout, if you get an uncontrollable urge to “do something” besides build your own layout, refer to rule #1.

Of all the rules, the one thing not covered is photography. If you must video or photograph your tour experience, do so with hand held equipment only. Most of the layouts have narrow aisles, to accommodate more model railroad real estate (you know, for more trains and scenery). Maybe consider this idea; leave the camera at home and ask the owner about coming back another time to video or take pictures when it is less disruptive and fewer people interfering with those “good shots.” There has never been a recordable incident of an owner turning down such a request. I personally have never been turned down when asking if I could take a few pictures while on the tour. But again use Common Sense - If it is crowded - Wait.

I even had one guy ask if I wanted a shot of the owner with his Railroad(!) I said sure, but all we got in the shot(s) were his hands. Next year!

Project: Code 55 Test Track - Progress

2005-11-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

I bought a gallon of flat tan latex paint from Home Depot today...
For 5 BUCKS!!!
Was in thier OOPS!! cabinet. Steal!!!

Project: Code 55 Test Track - Progress

2005-11-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

Been out on the last couple of weekends looking at folks' layouts and so haven't spent much time working on my little project.

So here's what I have managed to get done...My last post about the track indicated I had a set of choices to make. So I guess I went with choice "E". None of the above. What can I say?

Pardon my messy workbench.

I've laid the track, using latex caulk to secure it. The feeders are in and I've tested as I gone along. Looks like I managed to keep it all in guage as well. I've checked it with a NScale guage.

I've gotta confess...I couldn't wait. Pulled my Kato F7A unit out of the case. Set it on the track. Applied power to the raills...That F7 ran. OhMyGod(!) It ran..After years in the case.

Said a little prayer to the electricity gods...

It balked a little at the lined switch. I think I've got a break in coming. Might have to build a little loop on the floor for that. But she ran thru the curve on the switch like nobody's business. And just as quiet as the first day I put it on tracks.

Kato makes a great product no doubt about it. Wow!

Ouch! Looks like I need to shim that switchstand a little.

So, I've had some lessons in adhesives courtesy of the Nscale group on Trainboard.com. No problems with any of them, other than the white caulk sticks out (shows) pretty bad. Will have to do something about that soon. Here's the way I've applied them:

Used white glue to attach track plan (paper) to foamboard.
Used Liquid Nails to attach foamboard to wood.
Used Liquid Nails to attach cork Roadbed to paper covered foamboard.
Used Latex caulk (no silicone) to attach track to roadbed. Bought white 'cuz the local HD was out of (or maybe does not stock) the clear.

Saw 3 Nice HO Layouts in the Houston Area Yesterday

2005-10-30T22:50:00.000-07:00

Don't forget November is National Model Railroad Month The San Jacinto Model Railroad Club are sponsoring the annual fall tour. These tours start in the middle of October and end with the first weekend in December. See this Post for the 2005 Schedule.

Saw some nice HO stuff yesterday. Kind of early in the tour yet, but anyways...

The High Points

Met Loren Neufeld at Jim Lemmond's HO Cedartap Railroad. Loren is perceived as a Master among the Houston area model railroaders. His scenery designs are....Well breathtaking. The Cedartap Railroad is under construction with 30% of the scenery. What scenery there is is marvelous! The construction method is a continuous shelf around the perimeter of the building walls and a center peninsular yard.

Self contained in a 12' x 20' building.
Designed as both a continuous running, and point to point pike.
Operating DCC system is Digitrax and Team Digital switch controllers.Works with Standard ethernet cable.
Peco code 75 track (most of it weathered) and Electrofrog turnouts.
Scenery designed by Loren Neufeld
Features a out-and-back branchline under construction of about 75 feet with many tunnels and trestles.

The railroad features Santa Fe and Southern Pacific, both steam and diesel, during the transition era.

Next stop: Robert Ashcraft's HO Raton and Western Railroad. This is a 2 year old, 18' by 22' layout. It seems much larger though, as it spans 2 rooms! I'd like to see it when the scenery is completed!

Around (and through) the walls with a peninsula.
Continuous and Point to point running.
Bi Level with a 5 turn Helix in the Peninsula.
Track work is complete.
Train control by Easy DCC.
Signals throughout - Used to indicate turnout status - What a cool idea!

This is a stupendous pike even without scenery. Can't wait to see what Bob does with the scenery, though.

Last stop for Saturday's jaunt was: Eddie Carol's HO and HOn3 Glenbrook Valley Railroad. Branchline of the Denver and Rio Grande. Construction started in 1996. The railroad is situated over Eddie's garage. When completed it will be stupendous!. Hell, It's stupendous now! As you walk up the stairs to the train room, you pass under a double-track helix that looks to be completely hidden by a mountainous vista. The walls in the stairwell are partially covered with scenery and tracks. Eddie has made great use of almost all the available space for his pike. This not just your average around the walls model railroad.

Handlaid dual guage Code 70 track.
Handlaid switches. Some commercial used I think.
Scenery is 60% completed.
Train control is DCC by Digitrax.
Wireless walkaround throttles.

Eddie was there and had a friend assisting. These two had three trains running at once.
Eddie says the scenery is 60% done. All I can say is WOW! If you get a chance to see this dual guage railroad, I say GO!

People and trains - I saw some really nice model railroads and met some really nice folks this weekend. Never ceases to amaze me that folks will just open their doors and let you walk right on in...Most answer questions freely about what techniques they use and what equipment they are running. Plus the significant others of these artists are very tolerant (and friendly if they are in evidence) of thier spouses railway follies. Most MRR's are tolerant of other scales. (I've yet to see an NScale layout)

Pictures - I'm always a little leary of asking if I can take pictures (based on the Model Railroad Layout Tour Rules of Etiquette - more on these later in the week) and I need to get over that. The hard work and dedication these folks have put into thier hobby is evident in the quality that I saw this weekend and should be shared. I think I should start asking if I can take a few quick pictures.

I Made a Mistake in Last Night's Post

2005-10-28T23:04:00.000-06:00

I've had it pointed out that I left a link off the listing that should've been in there...

Jules, an Nscaling friend from Great Britain, who is a webmaster, web designer and Nscale Modeller, who's site I surfed onto from the NMRA site some time ago. I liked his layouts enough to send an email to tell him so. We have been somewhat regularly corresponding via email ever since. I had told him about this site and what I was trying to do. So I suspect he's been checking (perhaps) irregularly to see what I've been up to...Reminded me I was slightly remiss in my netiquette.

Jules has put together a couple of nice layouts with back storys and tips, documented on his webpage, Small World Layouts

And so...Laaaaaaaaaadieees and Gentlemen! Without further ado...I give you the Internationally Acclaimed, Fantastic, and Lilliputian (and two of my personal favorites):

Langwaithe
And
No Picnic
by Jules

Jules: Why settle for being a link in a list when you can have Top Billing!

How's about a few Links...

2005-10-27T22:07:00.000-06:00

Don't forget November is National Model Railroad Month

To that end members of The San Jacinto Model Railroad Club are sponsoring the annual fall tour. These tours start in the middle of October and end with the first weekend in December. Click here for the 2005 Fall Holiday Layout Tour Information (opens in MS Word) Freely stolen from the Lone Star Regions pages of the NMRA.

From Kalmbach Publishing - The Trains.com forums Active in the last 24 hours are here: Active Trains.com forums

From Trainboard.com one of the oldest railroad-related discussion forums on the Internet. 24 Hours of TrainBoard

The MyNscale.com forums. Your home for all things Nscale are here: Active Topics

The gauge.com. Model Train Forum

The Simply Trains site. European trains

The ModelRailRoadForums.com is a free discussion site covering all scales. Lotta different topics.

The Railwire.net a forum for modelers forums. Seems to be NCentric but all scales are welcome. Looks to be an international community.

The Nscale.net - Forum by nscalers for nscalers.

Now I haven't spent a lot of time on any of these sites with the exceptions of Nscale forum on TrainBoard.com and the Trains.com website (This site doesn't really separate by scale. But there is a heckuva lot of information available there). But as I do I'll add them to the My links section on the right. For your convenience (but mostly for mine).

How about an article about couplers from TheNscaleDivision.com (online Hobby shop). I found this article to be very enlightening (if you are into nscale couplers): Information about Nscale couplers.

Project: Code 55 Test Track Progress

2005-10-27T12:18:00.000-06:00

Last night and the night before, between innings of the World Series (sigh) I managed to get all the straight pins pulled out of my cork. Then I lightly sanded the roadbed with a medium grit sandpaper. Had to get some of the rough spots out. So now I've got choices to make as to the next step. And the weekend is coming up!

They are:

Lay the track and feeders(testing as I go along), ballast the track, get out the permascene, then paint and start terra-forming (landscape).
Get out the permascene, then paint, lay the track and feeders(etc), ballast the track, terra-forming.
Get out the permascene, lay the track and feeders (etc), paint, ballast, terra-forming.
or myriad variations of the above.

Now the real fun begins!

I also want to get out and look at some layouts. The Fall layout tours in Houston continue through the first weekend in December.

November is National Model Railroad Month!

Project: Code 55 Test Track

2005-10-25T06:37:00.000-06:00

Cork Roadbed

Well, I've pretty much worked my index fingers to the bone pushing straight pins through the roadbed. I need to get a thimble or something for next time. Or just let them callous over. But that stings! Didn't hurt too much last night - But this morning - Ooooooch! At any rate - Got the cork roadbed glued and tacked (pinned - OUCH!) to the subroadbed. This is harder than it looks. Even with an exact trackplan glued down, it was still a challenge to make sure everything is in line and aligned. And turnouts are a pain the royal Patoot! The next time I lay track I think I'll look into those ready made ones or buy some cork sheets and make them myself. All in one piece. Although by the time I had to cut cork for the second one I had pretty much figured that out (Again) too. Another skill relearned. (sigh) But that first one - It's just plain fugly.

Fugly switch work

Engineer's view of roadbed

When I get all the pins out of the cork, I can already tell I've got a date with some medium or fine sandpaper for a little light sanding on the roadbed. Got a few rough spots. (sigh)

Project: Code 55 Test Track: Roadbed

2005-10-24T15:10:00.000-06:00

Since I Didn't Have to Work Today...

I've been working on getting the cork roadbed down. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it! Just the sub-roadbed, a few hundred straight pins, some cork, white glue and me!

Looks Like We are Unglitched at This Point

2005-10-23T16:50:00.000-06:00

Here's a picture of the reason for the delay. The two pieces of the sub-roadbed somehow got out of alignment while they were clamped down in order to bond the wood with the sub-roadbed. In order to fix this, I had to move the tracks up a 1/4 inch on the track plan in order to make room for the switchstands I plan to use for the turnouts.

I also had to cut the track plan prints in order to make them fit the sub-roadbed. I designed this little jig to hold the paper and a scale ruler. As you can see from the pictures, it's pretty simple. Just a piece of pinkboard and a couple of straight pins. Worked pretty well too. Only slipped once and that was of no consequence.

As I worked at cutting the printouts to size, just for fun I guess, I went ahead and numbered them. Even though there was very little chance that I would put one of these on the sub-roadbed out of order. After all this would be the third time around with this little trackplan. I probably could have glued these down in my sleep...But old habits die hard so every piece got a number.

So here I am, a little further down the sub-roadbed and the difference in the two is becoming a lot more apparent.The difference now is at least 1/4 of an inch. But as I glue the new track plan down, I sight down the durn thing and ensure there will be no mistakes this time! Third time lucky!

The final shot shows the finished Sub-roadbed assembly.

Project: Code 55 Test Track - A Silght Glitch

2005-10-23T10:13:00.000-06:00

Got a good look at my test track this morning, and there's one teensy-eensy glitch. One of the pieces of the foamboard shifted a little (I suppose) at the time I was clamping it down. Now I need to move the entire set of tracks about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch up on the plan. If I don't, the turnout on the right hand side of the contraption will be too close to the edge and the switch linkage will actually hang over the side of the foamboard. (sigh).

^#@#(*_$(&!!!!

The new and revised track plan

Project: Code 55 Test Track - Construction Pictures

2005-10-22T21:17:00.000-06:00

1. Got a little over half already cut out. I managed to get the 8-1/2 X 11 Sheets glued to the foamboard mostly in line, I think. This is harder to do than I originally thought. Given the nature of the printout I used it took a bit of work to be able to get them to line up. XTrkCad left a half inch margin on the right. Used a razor knife to cut the sub-road bed to size. I called this Phase 1.

2. Phase 2. In this shot I've already glued the track plan to the foamboard I'm using for the sub-road bed. I'll let it dry a bit before I cut it (I have to go to the hardware store). This glueing on this part seemed to go a little smoother than the first time. I think I actually used a lot less glue on the backside of the paper. Didn't have near the wrinkling or sliding as I did with the first few sheets of Phase 1.

3. I'm about half way through cutting the excess foamboard on the far side of Phase 2. I've clamped my straight edge along the line on which I need to cut. I probably measured this four or five times. "Measure twice - cut once" is the saying of the day here. Some of my other cuts haven't been as straight as i've managed so far on this piece. I have to plant my thumb on the ruler to keep it from slipping too much and messing up the slice.

4. I've finished the cuts here. Sanded the edges where the two pieces of foamboard meet on the 1X(whatever) so that I'll have a fairly even join. After that I zig-zagged Liquid Nails down my plank. Pushed the foamboard on to the wood. Once I made sure everything was aligned correctly. I gently clamped the piece in my Workmate. (Thank the gods for Workmates, what a versatile tool) After that I clamped six Quickclamps on the thing at either end and walked away. Came back to make sure everything was still aligned. Then my son and i took off to get some dinner.

Next Post: Laying Cork (I hope)

Project: Code 55 Test Track

2005-10-22T20:41:00.000-06:00

I was able to get quite a bit done on the new test track today, in between trips to the hardware store.

The track plan glued to the foam board.
The foamboard cut.
The foamboard Liquid Nailed to the 1Xnot quite 4.
Clamped them and set them up to bond.
Clean off my workbench(!)

That last one actually had nothing to do with the TT. But something had to GIVE! It was completely covered in structures. I couldn't even put a tool on it for fear I'd BREAK Something!

Next Post: Pictures!

Decision Made I Guess...

2005-10-20T22:21:00.000-06:00

Last episode I had discovered that my brain wasn't quite working correctly. And I needed to do one of the three:

Try and scrape the pinkboard off my existing piece of 1 by and do it right.
Go get a new piece of wood and trash the other.
Keep going...

So I went with option 1 because of these...

I want to test my skills, but not too heavily(!)
I have the materials on hand.
It is as simple as it gets.

It quickly became apparent that Option 1 would be...difficult. (Liquid Nails bonds pinkboard and wood really well) But do-able. I decided to leave 10 inches of pinkboard on either end and around 4 inched about mid-board. And I would call them legs. Since I was going to paint the whole thing except the top black or dark brown. I will ballast the track, probably throw some scenery on there as well. I've heard it said (somewhere) that if you don't keep these skill developed - you lose them. Unlike riding a bike - which I probably haven't done for years but am confident I could if I wanted to...

So adding ballast and scenery will be another test, eh?

Here's a shot of the track plan printout I will glue to the pink board before cutting. Drawn with XTrkCAD.

After these dry, I'll get out the T-Square to help with the straight lines and cut them out. Then glue them to the (new) top of my (not quite) 1 by 4.

Should be fun, right? Well I think so...Because if you are not having fun...What's the point?

Might as well plant it in front of the tube.

Speaking of fun...How about a slightly blurry picture of a rusty ole pumpjack I weathered. I'll try to get a better shot of this soon. It's one of my favorite models. And a candidate for layout animation as well! Just too tired tonight to fool with the camera.

Didn't want to bail without posting something good! The rust on this model is real rust!

Sorry about that background.

Lessons Learned - The Hard Way, Naturally Part 2

2005-10-19T20:20:00.000-06:00

(This is a large post)

I wanted to test my rolling stock and locos on code55 rail. Been designing a test track with XTrkCad. Remember I'd bought some track. I'd designed a few things.
First there was...
Then there was...
And thirdly there was...

I was also asking questions on the Model Railroader forums. Also a site called NScale.org (They got hacked pretty bad and moved to MyNScale.com). And the Nscale forums on Trainboard.com. Some of the folks probably thought I was some kind of idiot.

Having taken a hiatus from the hobby for a number of years I decided to Use the KISS principle:

Keep It Simple, Stupid!

With that in mind, I came up with this design:

It is 3-1/2" X 68-3/4"

What is the deal with lumber sizes? When they sell you a 1X4, why can't it be 1X4?

I came up with this design because:

I want to test my skills, but not too heavily(!)
I have the materials on hand.
It is as simple as it gets.

So I cut my pink board to fit (so I thought - Ha Ha!) my length of plank. Can a 1X4 be a plank? Semantics...You figure it out. Any way I bonded the stuff to my plank.

And it fits - Almost (sigh). So what is the lesson learned here you might ask.

Well, after studying my two sets of printouts from the CAD program last night. On the way home from work this evening, it dawned on me...

Why didn't I glue the freakin' track plan to the pinkboard BEFORE I cut it?!? (sigh)

I must really be out of practice. (sigh) Apparently my brain needs some exercise.

So now I've got 3 choices:

Try and scrape the pinkboard off my existing piece of 1 by and do it right. I used Liquid Nails so this may not be an option.
Go get a new piece of wood and trash the other.
Keep going...

crap!

Oh and by the way, thanks Guppyman! You've lead me down another technological gardenpath - Blogrolling - neat stuff. I had heard of it. Just never investigated. Put a roll on Sound Off by Texas T's

Lessons Learned - The Hard Way, Naturally

2005-10-17T18:24:00.000-06:00

So I bought some of these Micro-Trains Trucks and couplers. Just to see if it was as easy as I'd heard to change them out from stock trucks. Of course the couplers were not attached to the trucks (Dang!). So of course, I had to try right off the bat...

Lesson Learned...

Do not let Micro-Trains parts sproing(!) out of your hand, bounce off the workbench, and fall (somewhere) onto the dirty floor of your garage. Twice! They don't call 'em micro trains for nuthin' folks...

Honestly, while trying to do a little coupler conversion this weekend, I dropped one of those Microscopic (read: irreplaceable Screws from MT. The little bugger jumped out of my hand, ( and I saw this in slow motion) hit my black workbench, and bounce to the floor in my garage...@&*(%^#$!! <=This is known as cussing a blue streak!

I felt like a CSI. (You can can learn stuff from watching TV!) I was down on my hands and knees on the floor, with a flashlight for at least 10 minutes looking for the little so and so...

I found the little bugger too.

But on the other end of the car....

The same part jumped out from between my index finger and thumb of one of my two left hands and hit the floor again...@&*(%^#$!!.

After at least 20 minutes (same drill - hands and knees with flashlight), this time, I found the little thang (whew!) got it into it's little microscopic hole and was able to walk away...

As I said, Dang! Who says you can't learn from TV. Thanks CSI!

Just what is the Code?

2005-10-17T17:19:00.000-06:00

Model railroad rails are sold in various heights. These are known as codes. The "code" indicates the height of the rails in thousandths of inches.
So Code 100 rail is 100 thousandths of an inch high. Code 80 is eighty thousandths of an inch high. So you get the general idea.
Here's a handy link to an article about this on the Trains.com website: Model railroad track codes defined
Anyway you look at it Code 55 rail is pretty small. It has a very low profile when compared to code 100 or even Code 80.

The illustration came from the Trains.com website. Give credit where credit is due.

So why did I come back to Nscale?

2005-10-17T02:21:00.000-06:00

The truth of the matter is I've never left. I bailed from active modeling for at time, but I think I am ready to go at it again. I've got some pretty good models (of structures, mostly) sitting on my workbench right now that I built before I stopped.

Why now though? Well really I think that I just happened to be paying attention again. Got to lurking on the MR Nscale forums. Nscale.org too. People were talking about this Code 55 rail. From what I could see it was a vast improvement over C100 or C80. But would all my old stuff run on it?

Also there were a couple of free CAD packages specifically for designing Model Railroads available.

The one from Atlas Mfg. available from their website http://atlasrr.com/ was geared more toward Atlas equipment (of course!). But it was free.

The other is a free download from Sillub Technology at http://www.sillub.com/. XTrkCAD. Not only is it free, but open source software to boot. It has quite a few libraries available as well. And for NScale too. Not everything, but you can add your own. Has it's own group on Yahoo! as well. And they are fairly active and responsive. You do have to join the group to pose questions though.

So the wife was out of town for a few days...

I sent a few emails out, checking to see who had stock on what. The idea was to buy enough track to make a simple test track to test my equipment on. Papa Ben's Train Place responded fairly quickly and with some good prices, too. So I cruised over there one Friday after work. Met the owner, That would be Ben(!).

My wallet was a little flatter when I walked out of there.

But I did close the place down. And I had a lot more information than I'd had when I walked in there. Ben was great. Very patient. Answered all my questions. Even the stupid ones. That's the way to get repeat business. Plus they've got a goodly amount of NScale equipment and kits.

So I had bought:

2 pieces Superflex (30 inches long)
1 Each No. 5 right turnouts
1 Each No. 5 left turnouts
1 pkg (6 pcs.) 30.609R (at least 2 pc. for the turnouts)
3 pkg 11.25R full curve
3 pkg 12.5R full curve
5 pkg 6in Straight.

I could make something simple, but it could cover a 4 X 8 sheet of plywood. After a while though, I ‘m thinking that I just need to setup a simple track using the switches something along these lines:

I may even get to start on this today!

Visited A couple HO Railroads in Katy

2005-10-16T17:08:00.000-06:00

For National Model Railroad Month.
Saw Mike Barnette's Pike. I was going to take a couple of pictures, but why when Mike already has some nice pictures of his home layout here.

MKT models from the Katy Model Railroad Club, Katy Texas

Mike has a very nice HO RR in a spare Bedroom in his house (Picture at right). 14' X11' with a duck under. Runs through the closet in the room.

Mike says (Don't we all) that his pike will probably never be finished. There is always something to do. Some little detail to add.

Also saw Louis G. Mahr's HO setup. Still under contruction. But he has laid a helluva lotta rail. Built a room in half of a two car garage. Climate controlled. Needs to be too. Summers are brutal in Southeast Texas.

I hope to get out and see some more next weekend. I wanna see some "N".

November is "National Model Railroad Month"

2005-10-16T11:34:00.000-06:00

To that end members of The San Jacinto Model Railroad Club are sponsoring the annual fall tour. These tours start in the middle of October and end with the first weekend in December.

Click here for the 2005 Fall Holiday Layout Tour Information (opens in MS Word)
Freely stolen from the Lone Star Regions pages of the NMRA.

Thought I might go out a see a couple of these today. There are 2 in the Katy area.

I didn't realize just how many MRR clubs there are in the greater Houston area. Maybe more on these later.

Today's Question

2005-10-14T23:40:00.000-06:00

Why on God's Green Earth, would anyone choose to model in N Scale?

For me, it was the fact that you could pack so much action and scenery into a much smaller space. I mean I could have gone with HO at the time I built my 1st Railroad. I had a lot more space then than I do now. That was the beginning to mid 1990's I guess - It's not like there was a lot of stuff out there - but I guess I could see the potential of it all and I figured it would be an ever evolving thing.

And it has been. I'm amazed now at the quantity and (for the most part) the quality of stuff that is available now.

But why did YOU do the 1:160 thing?

I posed this question to the NScale group on TrainBoard.com. What do you think they said?
Answers are here. Not surprising, a lot of them went along the same tracks as I did.

Ability to pack a lot of action and scenery into a smaller amount of space.
Space limitations.
The people involved in the scale.
The amount of detail not required(!)
The potential ratio of scenery to train.
NTRAK
The need for speed.(?)
No basement.
Space is at a premium.
More bang for the buck per square inch.
Long trains.

I agree with all of this. Well most of this...

t...

How about a link to: My Rail Images Gallery

Welcome to TexasT's 1:160 Adventures

2005-10-13T21:34:00.000-06:00

Since I've decided to foray into NScale model railroading once again, thought what better way to document my adventure(s) than a website on Blogger. After all I've tried to write books on Blogger, tried to write travelogues on Blogger, and just blog in general on Blogger. It's only logical to write about NScale on blogger, right?

I don't promise daily updates here. Just not possible with my crazy schedule.

I do promise not to write not just about the good stuff. We're gonna have the good, the bad, and the plug ugly here about doing the NScale strut.

I do promise to try and keep it interesting, informative, and hopefully fun. Or at least funny.

Click Picture for a larger view

I'll put in links and other stuff that I like as long as it's (mostly) 1:160 related.

So away we go! Feel free to leave comments etc...

Good, bad, or indifferent...all comments are welcome. I love comments. Hell I might leave myself a comment or two. But if you blast me too hard I might make it invisible. (!)

t...