Tornados and trains...

 We're under a 5 out of 5 threat for tornados today so no better time to work on the layout!

Today, I finished getting the small trestle built and roughed in place. It'll stay this way until I start on the hard shell scenery base.

On the locomotive front, I ordered some DCC decoders to replace some decoders that don't seem to be working. Hopefully they'll be here this weekend. I'll post when I start on the install.

Trestle construction moves forward

 A tip for you married modelers. If you can't find a tool in your train room, tell your wife you looked EVERYWHERE for it and it's just not there. She will find it in less than five minutes!

The trestle bent jig was found and the first bent is in and the glue drying. 

13 year anniversery!!!

Today marks 13 years I've been working on the layout. I should be a LOT further along but.....

One of the worst things about the six year break is finding tools I used years ago. For example, I was planning to finish that trestle I started this week but I can't find the Black Bear Construction Co. Bent Jig I used. It was a six piling jig. I found my five piling jig that came with the jig pack but don't know where the six piling jig is. So, the hunt in on. I've been through the workshop and under the layout once but a second attempt will be made in case I over looked it. No reason it shouldn't be in the workshop. I've also got a search on eBay for one just in case.

I did make a little more progress on the trestle. The deck is from a Walthers Trestle kit but I'm using balsa wood for the stringers and bents as they look more natural than styrene. Here, I've added the balsa stringers to the bottom of the deck. Hopefully I'll find that jig and can get going on the bents soon. 

I also checked on the GP7s in the IPA bath. With a light scrubbing from a toothbrush, the paint just peeled right off. I'll get these cleaned on up and ready for primer soon.

 

Well, that's a quick post. Back to the layout room to continue the jig hunt!

Cutting in a trestle

The locos are soaking, so back to some layout work. 

Today, I'm cutting in a trestle on the upper deck just West of Starkville. I've cut the track and glued the trestle deck to the rails. I'm using the deck to measure where my cuts in my spline roadbed need to be.

Aaaaaaaaaannnnndd.....after lots of sawing with a small hand saw, my cut is made.

Calling it a day today. Other tasks call. Tomorrow I'll start gluing together the trestle bents and get it looking like a bridge again. Or maybe I can sneak back upstairs later today and get the first bent glued and drying.

Going loco!!!

 Posts two days in a row! It's a six year record!!!!! LOL

Today, I decided to start on a locomotive paint job I've had on the list for about a decade. It's a pair of Proto 2000 GP7s with QSI DCC/Sound. These have been sitting in their box since new probably 8-10 years. Just like everything else on the layout, they need some attention to get them back running.

As you can see and hear, the motor was bound. Help from Facebook told me to check the worm gears for dried grease. Sure enough, the factory grease had set up like glue. I added a little Wahl Oil and now they run smooth.

Time to start on the shells. After disassembling most applied details, the shells have gone into an overnight 99% IPA bath. We'll see how they come out in the morning.

WOW! It's really been 6 years?????

Lets see if I can learn how to work Blogger again. HA!

So yeah, life has kept me away from the layout for basically 6 years and the layout room became a storage room filled with junk from the whole family. It was like trying to walk through a landmine laden maze to get through the room. 

Last week, I decided to tackle the mess and get the room back to the way its supposed to be. It took several days and many loads to the trash but the room is back spic and span. Time to run some trains again!!

Six years sitting wasn't good for the layout. Since I wasn't running the HVAC system, changes in temp and humidity caused some track to buckle. The damage has been assessed and repair crews are on the way. In the mean time, it was time to get some track cleaned so a train would run. It's amazing how much grit gets on the rails just from sitting. I couldn't get a loco to run 5 feet without stalling. A good cleaning got trains running on the main like a dream! Here's a nice consist of Intermountain Railways GP10s pulling the track cleaning car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of the Intermountian GP10, as you can see in an earlier post, these were announced in 2013. They actually released in 2017 with my pre-orders showing up in March of 2017. Sadly, they went into a box and got shoved under the layout. They didn't come out of their box to go on the layout until this day! 

After some hand scrubbing of the rails, the GP10s pulled a cleaning car with Whals oil to further clean the rails. Here's a video of the consist crossing Tibbee Creek.

 

After cleaning, it was time to run a train! Using this same consist, I switched out and built a 50 car train. It made several laps around the layout with no problems. I got a nice video of it but this blogger said the file size was too big. I'll have to figure out how to reduce the file size.

I had an issue with my DCC system and a stuck function. After some help from the company's Tech support, I got the system reset. This led to some programming issues as the system, after reset, wouldn't recognize locomotives that had been programmed into a consist. So, I spent a few days individually reprogramming each locomotive. This led to finding several DCC locomotives that my system won't recognize. These were some of my favorite locos and were some of the last run before my break. I'm still trying to figure out the issue. 

Anyway, that's an update. I do plan on there being more as I get life back into the layout.

I'm Back!!!!!!!

WOW!!!! I can't believe it's been over a year since my last post! Life has been so busy, I've not had time to work on the layout. Well, yesterday and today, I found some time!!!

As I started working on scenery on the lower deck, I realized how messy it was. The thought of working on scenery on the upper deck over a finished scene on the lower deck concerned me. So, I stopped work on the lower and am concentrating on the upper deck! My main focus for now is Ackerman.
First up, I started working on a photo backdrop for the Georgia Pacific Chip Mill near Ackerman.I've got it held in place with some spray adhesive. I'll blend the edges with backdrop color paint next then add foreground structures and vegetation to hide the edges.

Next, I wanted to continue the pavement along Downtown Ackerman. I started with strips of Komatex for my road. I painted with some Ralph Lauren latex paint called Rock Chasm. It has a gritty texture to it. Here you can see a section of completed road next to newly painted road. After the paint dries, I'll lightly sand the road then paint on the stripping. After that, it gets an India Ink airbrush wash and that's it!

This next pic is of the scene with the old and new section of road in place. Turned out pretty good! As you can see, there is another new section of road temporarily in place awaiting stripes and weathering.

My roads have reached the end of the business row so before I can move much further with roads, I needed to complete my next business, a Gulf Service Station. This is a model originally built by Rich Cobb for me. I wanted to have more parking and side walks so I've added those. I don't have any paint to match the concrete Rich used so I'm waiting on the Postman to deliver it.

While waiting on the Postman, I decided to continue around the upper deck and get some more foam scenery base in. I've been needing to do this for a WHILE in case of a derailment on the upper deck. Long tumble to the floor!!!!!