Norm's Train Blog

Youtoobage

2012-01-10T21:50:00.001-05:00

Residential and Industrial

2012-01-09T08:47:00.002-05:00

Changed my plans a bit for this section of the layout. Sheedy Gasket returns to employ the local populace. More progress shots to follow...

2011-12-31T16:43:00.001-05:00

OK last one, kinda cool. Droid pix.

2011-12-31T16:42:00.001-05:00

Sheedy Gasket reconfig (mobile lazy uploading)

2011-12-31T16:40:00.001-05:00

Bruce Bros. reconfig. (Mobile upload)

2011-12-31T16:37:00.000-05:00

Trying this....

Bluffs Progress

2011-12-02T22:14:00.001-05:00

Got a bit more done on the industrial overlook section. Also added a Walthers tower and shack that may or may not be seen once some progress is made on the street-level scenery here.

Industrial Bluffs

2011-11-27T18:32:00.001-05:00

The last two background/bluff buildings are in place after not being able to work on the layout for the past couple weeks. The Hile building is made up of two Downtown Deco wall sections with some windows snagged out of a train show junk box a few years ago. The unnamed building to the left is made out of foam core with windows made up from some window material made by Model Tech Studios. The front is painted with Polly Scale Aged White over rubber-cemented Concrete to represent a painted and peeling facade.

Maurice Mfg.

2011-11-03T08:41:00.002-04:00

A new wooden building in oxide red. I did a little more work along this section, lowering the two other buildings that were just put in, and slapping together a basic brick back wall to go alongside Maurice.

New Trackplan

2011-10-03T14:47:00.002-04:00

I finally got around to updating my new trackplan using RR Track. The biggest motivational factors for tearing the layout to pieces was to simplify/streamline my trackage and rework the scenery for a better overall presentation of my attempts at steam era modeling.

Some trackplan notes:

Eliminated all grades
Eliminated back to back O72 switch x-overs
Reduced mains from three lines to two
Widened max curves to O99
Relocated industry sidings for easier access and scenic interest
Removed busy looking and underutilized yard trackage at the front of the layout
All switches are #5s unless noted
Simplified controls to two PowerHouse 135s connected to a single TPC300
Switches are powered by separate source, controlled by 2 SC-2s

Some general scenery notes:

Expanded width of background space along top and left side
Removed/retired oversized background buildings
Goal is to have smaller background buildings mixed with natural features
Split old village area in center to two sections at ends of layout
New plan gives more detailing opportunities closer to front of layout
New plan allows for bigger open aisle in center of layout

A Railroad at Work

2011-09-30T23:13:00.000-04:00

Some new buildings along the line and a quick shot of a Decapod taking a spin on the turntable.

Quality Craft #606

2011-09-11T22:47:00.001-04:00

I have been collecting kits and parts all summer while avoiding doing any real work on the layout.

I put this kit together this weekend. I had been seeking this one out for a few months before finding it. Think I'll snag another one if it comes my way. I made the roof removable for future interior detailing and lighting options.

Played with the SX 30 a little more too. Found a custom color setting in manual mode that is intriguing. The new layout lighting has a lot more daylight CFLs mixed in with a few halogens. They look OK to the naked eye but tend to challenge the camera's color balance.

Industrial Zone

2011-09-08T22:12:00.002-04:00

New look starting to take shape along the back wall. Trying out my new SX 30 (quickie shots).

Company Houses

2011-05-10T21:58:00.000-04:00

A couple of modest homes for the layout repopulation effort.

Hemingray #42s

2011-04-21T08:23:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Dr. Neal Schorr for bringing these most excellent Weaver lineside poles to us. Also, thanks for schooling me on the proper insulator painting technique.

Look out for that bear staring at you.

Freight

2011-04-21T08:06:00.004-04:00

An L1s rolls out of the back of the mountain cut.

Current Progress Quick Shots

2011-04-10T08:09:00.000-04:00

Some quick shots of my rebuild progress. Note to self: clean the lens sometime.

Limited Railfan Access Restored

2011-03-08T07:05:00.002-05:00

I have been grinding out some progress on this rebuild when I can find the time. Everything is running at this point, and a couple engines were seen venturing out to test the new trackwork.

Fables of the Reconstruction

2011-02-13T13:37:00.000-05:00

Backdrop is up, basic benchwork is in place, and the track is starting to get tacked down. Improved yard lead is in along with the first set of O99 and O90 curves through the pass.

Layout DOOM!

2011-01-22T20:49:00.001-05:00

Time for some changes...

G&D

2010-06-05T15:25:00.002-04:00

What a cool car. Lightly weathered for a pal.

Rubino's

2010-03-13T20:49:00.004-05:00

Berkshire Valley #808 built up for the good doctor.

Dream Shack

2010-02-09T18:51:00.001-05:00

Machesky Refiltered

2010-01-30T19:00:00.006-05:00

A rework of a building that's been on the layout for a long time, comprised of four Lionel Substation and Municipal Building kits from a few years ago. The expanded footprint took out an old Korber structure that I've had forever. A freshen-up of the surrounding scenery is in process, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I managed to free up a small bit of real estate for another trackside structure that I will start soon.

Mountain

2010-01-29T18:04:00.005-05:00

Some quick shots of my latest motive power acquisition. More to come after I catch up on some other projects....

OST #29

2010-01-24T09:06:00.005-05:00

My first article is now available as a PDF download at OST's website.

Big thanks to Joe Giannovario!

Dual Decs

2009-12-17T21:50:00.002-05:00

On the Rails

2009-12-11T20:29:00.000-05:00

Got my new Dec all fitted up and on the rails. I still need to add some Artista cab figures at some point.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Cruise Commander in my new engine synched up well with my other 3rd Rail I1. I am running the Cruise Commander in 32 step mode, with cruise off. The other Dec is running with an older TAS SAW board with no closed-loop ability.

I1/90F82

2009-12-06T11:43:00.001-05:00

Took delivery of this near mint 3rd Rail I1 with the short tender. From what I've been told, there wasn't very many of these built, at least compared to the coast-to-coast tendered version.

It will receive standard weathering treatment as soon as the ERRCo Cruise Commander kit shows up and gets installed. Like my last project, I think this engine will be mute for the time being. I will pull the marker lights and smoke unit, glaze the cab and doghouse windows, add crew figures, shorten the drawbar and mount a Kadee. I expect to be able to doublehead it with my other Dec and it should be quite a sight to see.

E6 w/P70s

2009-12-02T22:23:00.006-05:00

E6 pulling GGD P70s.

3rd Rail E6

2009-11-30T21:38:00.002-05:00

I've had this nice little E6 since April, purchased at York. I put a Cruise Commander in it and got it going this summer but finally got around to weathering it tonight. This is the first steamer I've installed a Kadee coupler on, to go with the set of four GGD P70s that will be assigned to it (all set up with KDs too for close coupling). I have yet to install sound and I'm not sure I will for a while.

Yardmaster

2009-11-08T09:35:00.003-05:00

My first set - a Marx Yardmaster from the early/mid 70s.

Mountain Makeover - done?

2009-11-07T20:21:00.003-05:00

I am going to let the glue dry for another night or two, then I may plant a few more trees. Bummer - I managed to lose a very nicely rendered Artista bear figure during this effort! I'll bet the ol' Shop Vac took it as a snack.....

Mountain Makeover Progress

2009-11-06T09:10:00.002-05:00

...still hacking away....

Mountain Makeover Mayhem

2009-10-24T16:44:00.013-04:00

Some quick and dirty photos of a very messy do-over project. For the past few years my old mountain backdrop scenery has gotten on my nerves a bit. Having recently acquired some skill in the mangling and other abuses of extruded pink foam, I decided to go ahead and tear out all my old efforts despite questioning the returns on such an investment of labor and materials. It was also a good opportunity to correct some mistakes such as the 90 degree corner in my sky. I also made the effort to place a set of Scenic Express Pennsy Cut Stone Flexi-Walls around the inside of the front entrance into the cut. I think it will give me some good photo opportunities this winter and this part of the scenery was getting pretty trashed anyway due to the demolition and do-over efforts.

Photos show the initial fitting up of the first carving efforts (this started out as a 2' by 8', 2" thick piece of foam) and the installation process of it after each step of scenicking the section in my workshop. The next photos show the installation of the Flexi-Walls with some additional plaster rockwork and the construction of the corner (curved) mountain. The last photo is my box of Scenic Express Super Trees!

CTT Hirail Special November 2009

2009-09-18T08:20:00.010-04:00

Be sure to snag a copy of CTT's November 2009 Hirail Special issue to see my latest article. Congrats to senior editor Kent Johnson on his layout feature. Kent has been great to work with...

Here is a CTT subscriber-only link to some videos and photos.

Thirty Six 3-Rail Layouts Book

2009-08-31T09:46:00.010-04:00

I'm not quite sure how long this has been out but I thought it would be worth mentioning. I took the photos for the front and back covers sometime in early April of this year.

It can be purchased in Atlas' online store. Click the shop online link and navigate to the Layout Books, Atlas item #6008.

Manny's

2009-07-02T10:48:00.002-04:00

Steaming through the city...

2009-06-15T09:52:00.002-04:00

Decapod Rollin'

2009-04-30T18:10:00.002-04:00

Mullet River Caboose - done!

2009-04-22T20:26:00.006-04:00

Mullet River progress

2009-04-22T07:47:00.003-04:00

Other than some minor tweaks and corrections, this is how my Mullet River kit is looking right now. Some minor trimming up of the decals and a final pass of weathering (it is sporting a light wash of india ink and denatured alcohol now) will complete this project.

View showing 'service' end w/fat hirail coupler:

Right side view showing scale coupler fake-out on rear platform:

Mullet River NYC Caboose Kit

2009-04-14T17:51:00.006-04:00

I am in the process of carefully 3 railing a Mullet River NYC wooden caboose kit. Here are some quick shots of it as it sits now:

Wilfred Re-Gage

2009-02-04T16:11:00.008-05:00

A rework of a building that's been on the layout for a few years.

Legacy PRR GP7

2009-01-08T13:40:00.010-05:00

I've been enjoying this engine on my layout for the past several weeks. While the handrails and stanchions aren't true to the 7's pipe and fitting construction, it's a forgivable slip in an otherwise excellent hirail model.

CC2 Niagara, weathered

2009-01-08T10:55:00.007-05:00

A couple of quick shots of a Lionel CC2 Niagara chilling on my turntable. I weathered it a few weeks ago and have been running it here and there. I upgraded the closed-loop speed control to EOB and I'm trying to put together a decent mail/express consist for it to pull. What a beast!

N1s Trackside Rolling Vignettes

2009-01-04T11:28:00.015-05:00

Windows Media versions:
N1s Video #1
N1s Video #2

Silva II and neighbors

2009-01-02T15:08:00.006-05:00

Replacement structure and friends for the original Silva Spring and its immediate former neighbor. Both of the original buildings have found a new home on my influential pal Dan Machesky's hirail layout.

Six new structures are now in place of various sizes and styles. The smaller buildings to the left add depth to the corner, giving way to an access alley that wanders behind SSII. I thought of using some forced perspective here but I found that going with smaller buildings with smaller features was more effective.

The structures are comprised of a combination of different approaches and materials. The smaller buildings from the left are - a building made up of DPM modules, a hydrocal casting of a Downtown Deco Union Hall front, a Walthers flat. The walls tucking into the alley are plaster of paris brick castings created from a borrowed Chooch resin casting.

Silva Spring is named for my grandfather and is made of Elmer's 3/16" foam core, 1/2" MDF, Plastruct brick sheet, Grandt windows, and other junk box goodies. The smaller buildings live on top of a pile of 1" beaded foam, hot glued together and covered with hand carved plaster of paris rocks. The utility poles are some of my favorite details to whack together.

View from yonder. The concrete bunker building is similar to the spring factory in construction. Compared to the old curved buildings, I am liking the depth this scene adds to the rear corner of the city section.

FEF and Niagara

2008-10-22T11:19:00.005-04:00

Lionel Nation 2

2008-09-24T11:18:00.017-04:00

TM Books and Video has filmed my layout for a segment in the Lionel Nation DVD. Ordering info and release date is here:

http://http://www.tmbv.com/Lionel-Nation-No-2-DVD/productinfo/NATION2

For those unfamiliar, the Lionel Nation series is in a sort of video magazine format, usually running about an hour long. My layout is featured in a 25 minute segment. A separate 5 minute segment features the Lionel Acela (Bob Bubeck's) running on my layout too.

CTT Magazine November 2008 Issue

2008-09-23T07:30:00.001-04:00

Be sure to grab a copy of the November issue which should be out now. A big thanks to Kent Johnson and everyone at CTT for getting this put together - I hope everyone likes it!

You may also to check page 18 of CTT's October issue.

UP Building America SD70Ace

2008-07-23T21:07:00.002-04:00

Here it is. You should really be looking at this though.

Video 1
Video 2

Katy bar the door

2008-07-13T19:17:00.001-04:00

Modern railroading and modern 3 rail modeling at its best. This is my buddy's new Lionel Legacy SD70ACe in MKT Heritage dress. I have the UP Building America version on order and after putting this one through its paces yesterday I am not regretting the decision.

3rd Rail N1s

2008-07-13T18:15:00.003-04:00

I recently acquired an N1s from a pal of mine.

A couple of quick detail repairs were made before opening it up to install an electrocoupler and Electric RR's Cruise Commander.

I really like the fully modeled valve guides, which aren't rendered as carefully on diecast models.

Posing with an express/mail train on a test run before heading back to the bench for some weathering efforts. Once it looks the part, it will spend most of its time dragging less glamorous assignments.

Cruising through town past my latest building.

The new building out there to the right of Greenbrook Terminal Warehouse is the new 'CR Wilsonesque' complex.

Heading into the cut.

Here's a quick video of it after the installation of the Cruise Commander. I've still yet to add sound.

Weaver H10 vids

2008-03-15T09:38:00.001-04:00

Here are some videos of my Weaver H10 doing its thing. Speed control is Electric RR's Cruise Lite and the Lionel RailSounds are from Train America Studios.

http://norm.beesky.com/video/Consol1.wmv

http://norm.beesky.com/video/Consol2.wmv

I've also picked up a Weaver L1s that will receive the same treatment.

Legacy Geeps

2008-03-15T08:51:00.002-04:00

While I've been reluctant to pre-order Lionel diesels these days due to some recent questionable efforts on their part, I did ask my dealer to let me know when these showed up. I was more than pleasantly surprised to see that Lionel pulled off a very respectable hirail effort along the lines of their excellent F3s and GP30s. Ride height is just right, even taking into account these are sporting swinging pilots. Coupling gaps are still a bit lengthy, but forgivable. Detailing and decoration is top-notch, which is what I expect from them. At some point, I may lightly weather the pair. Here are some quick shots of them in action:

(Be sure to click above images for full versions.)

Legacy operation and sound is fantastic. Especially nice is the flange squeal at low speed and Train Brake-induced laboring effects at high momentum. I shot a little video of them cruising the layout:

http://norm.beesky.com/video/NYCGP7-1.wmv

Weaver H10

2008-02-11T09:09:00.004-05:00

I snapped a few quick shots of my latest motive power project, a Weaver brass PRR H10 from the early/mid 90s. Right now I'm running it with an ERRCo Cruise Lite through Legacy. Its 20:1 gear ratio makes for a smooth-running little machine and the Cruise Lite package should give me plenty of room left in the tender for the eventual addition of sound.

I added some pretty minor detail tweaks as this engine was already pretty well adorned. A brake hose was put on the pilot and I swapped out the cab figures for some Lionel 'bug-eyes' from my junk box that were reworked a bit. I also swapped out the red LED markers for clear 1.2V bulbs. Weathering is pretty much run of the mill airbrush-applied Grimy Black, etc.

I'm also expecting delivery of a Weaver L1s Mikado sometime this week and it will receive the same treatment before hitting the rails. When I get both of projects set up with sound I'll put together a video.

Greenbrook Terminal Warehouse

2008-01-15T20:27:00.003-05:00

A building I've admired for a long time in Toledo:

(Dan Machesky photo 2003)

Foamcore, Korber window parts, masonite and basswood strip, 2" deep by 31" long...my interpretation to fit the space available (still a work in progress):

Mikado Makeover

2008-01-15T19:51:00.002-05:00

K-Line USRA Mikado (former Pennsy version)....

...and matching caboose:

Latest Roster Additions

2007-09-27T21:44:00.002-04:00

Recently, I've been on a pretty serious Pennsy bender. With the lack of any decent PRR motive power being offered by any of the three rail companies recently, I found myself searching the secondary market for my needs. After geeking out to Don Ball's "The Pennsylvania Railroad 1940s - 1950s" for almost 10 years now and discovering Stauffer's Pennsy Power trilogy in the past couple, I was dead set on acquiring a set of Centipedes and at least one Decapod for my layout. Some recent dealings on some used equipment netted me a trio of interesting motive power projects.

I obtained this set of MTH PS1 Centipedes pictured below in the early 5 stripe scheme that had never seen the rails. After chucking an Energizer in it to see how it ran with its original electronics, I almost gleefully set about gutting it out to make way for some Train America Studios products. I ordered an EOB motherboard with Lionel RailSounds (Alco C420 set), a dummy board w/R2LC for the B unit and a set of triacs to run both smoke units from one R2LC in each unit. The dummy board with its own R2LC handles the rear headlight, coupler, and smokers in the B unit.

Installation wasn't too awful difficult as there was plenty of room to mount everything. The original four wire tether was retained to tie all the pickups and grounds in and to connect the B unit motors to the EOB now living in the A unit. A single EOB setup was able to power all four motors. TAS supplied me with some additional triacs and some pull-up resistors to allow control of both smoke units in each locomotive to be controlled from a single R2LC.

I added a Digital Dynamics bass-enhanced speaker and attempted to seal all vent openings with electrical to get the best possible sound out of the beasties.

Operationally, I assigned new engine ID's (same for both units) and found the default pulse tuning parameters to be perfect. I did discover one minor tracking problem over my Atlas #5 switches due to the forward-facing pickup rollers on the rear power trucks dropping down and causing the trucks to lift. I plan on adding a couple of short, unpowered chunks of rail to keep them up when traveling through the curved part of the turnout.

As required with all my equipment, a combination of airbrush and brush-applied weathering was added to give the impression of long hours spent in unforgiving conditions. Some photos are shown below. As usual, click on each image to view larger version and use your browsers's back button to return.

An engine that I've sort of been obsessed over owning for quite some time is a Pennsy Decapod. With it's ten drivers and no-nonsense demeanor, I felt it was a must-have for my layout. While I contemplated getting the recent die-cast MTH version with PS2, I felt that it would be too much money spent as I intended to convert it to TMCC almost immediately after getting a hold of it. Luckily, an older 3rd Rail brass version was obtained through the OGR Forum Buy/Sell board. This is my first brass acquisition and I found it to be quite the interesting piece. I took some time to acquaint myself with its full frame and sprung drivers, something sorely lacking in similarly-priced scale diecast steam.

This particular model came without any form of command control or sound. I opted for a TAS SAW board with Lionel Pennsy Atlantic RailSounds and decided against adding smoke. While the SAW board doesn't give me closed loop control over the speed like EOB, the Dec's 32:1 gear ratio gave me nice response to the CAB-1's speed commands and the low gearing helped maintain a fairly consistent speed without the need for electronic feedback to the motor driver circuit. I had to add my own Electrocoupler from one of my parts piles and changed out the headlamp for a 1.5volt one mounted to the back of an MV Models lens.

Aside from my normal weathering, I also applied a bit of weathering chalks to the running boards and also decided to add a fairly unique detail I've only seen in my favorite Pennsy books. Some photos of hard-working Hippos showed piles of cinders tucked against the boiler on the running boards. One extremely soot-blasted prototype in my Don Ball book showed a nice pile of them tucked against the front of the sand dome. I attempted to add this little tweak to my Dec to give the impression of some serious hard work being put in on the rails by using a bit of Woodland Scenics fine cinders fastened with some diluted white glue:

Before acquiring the above two behemoths, I also added another Lionel PRR M1a to my fleet. This one already had EOB and a Puff n Chuff board added by its previous owner. I made some minor mods to the smoke unit wiring which entailed removing the ACRG board (a serial-controlled 7VAC constant voltage board) and wiring the smoker to the motherboard 'smoke' terminal. I also removed the TAS 5VDC power supply for the PnC board and used the 5volt circuit Lionel builds into its smoke unit to run it. I also took a couple minutes to tweak the smoke unit itself using my simple mods. This setup gives me CAB-1 control of the unit while adding the TAS synchronized puffing effect that their board is so good at doing.

Weathered to represent some environmental epxosure, it now looks like this:

Being that it's the second one added to my fleet, a renumbering was in order. I used some Microscale decals to change the cab numbers along with the boilerfront Keystone.

I took some time tonight to snag some quick footage of these engines in action. The file is roughly 18meg so it may best to right click on the link and save it to your desktop for quickest download:

Video (.wmv format)

More Weathered Beasts

2007-07-01T09:12:00.002-04:00

Signal Maintainer's Shack

2007-07-01T09:08:00.002-04:00

Water Tower #2

2007-04-18T21:16:00.001-04:00

Some quick shots of the latest addition to my yard expansion.

As seen from inside the roundhouse:

And as seen from its normal viewing angle. I still need to make a ladder for it and blend it into the ground cover.

This shot shows the 4" PVC coupling and coffee-stirrer stick tank. The design is mostly freelanced using its little brother over in Greenbrook as a sort of template for its construction.

And here's a real quick throwaway shot of the roundhouse in service. A lot more detail will be added soon.

A Branchline Water Tower

2007-02-04T19:16:00.001-05:00

I got this water tower kit this week as I've always wanted a small one to sit beside Greenbrook station. It's made by JV Models and I got it from Valley Model Trains. The kit was built with a couple minor mods - I added a shelter around the water pipes to keep them from freezing and I put it on a concrete base. I will blend the base into the scenery some night this week since I think this is where it will stay. The tank represents a 60,000 gallon branchline prototype. This could probably be used as an S scale tower as well, due to its small size. I plan on using it as a template to build a larger version for my yard expansion.

While I was at the bench today, I got the aribrush fired up and finally got to weathering that Atlas RS-1 I bought last October. I also weathered both of the MTH N6bs I just got and put them into service.

A buddy of mine was wondering if there was indeed a prototype for the yellow version. I found this photo, courtesy of the awesome Fallen Flags site, with some different lettering. I'm guessing it was used in MOW service.

Buggin' Out in Greenbrook

2007-02-02T21:14:00.002-05:00

I found this great little Tamiya kit a few days ago. It's pretty hard to find decent 1:48 vehicles and this one reminds me of my first car, a totally beat '63 bug. This one is in much nicer shape, as witnessed by its light weathering. I dig the snow tires! I tried to replicate the severely oxidized blue mine was by mixing some Prussian Blue with a bit of Aged White.

Turntable/Roundhouse Progress

2007-01-27T11:17:00.001-05:00

Here are some construction shots of my new yard in progress. My Bowser TT has been in place for a couple weeks now in its close-to-final form. I may add a few more details here and there but this is pretty much how it's going to look.

Originally, I had secured a used 32" Bowser TT of an older vintage. After fitting it up temporarily, I discovered some problems and returned it to its original owner. After mulling over some options (Diamond Scale doesn't build O scale anymore and AAA was out of my budget), I ordered a new 30" Bowser. I went with a 30" as I felt it looked a little more realistic and would buy me a bit more room in the yard. I read that most of the larger TTs in the real world were 118 footers anyway.

Below are a couple shots of it in place on the layout. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Bowser made some nice aesthetic and operational improvements. When I used to participate in some online O gauge forums, I would never read anything real positive about this make of TT, but felt for the price it would be worth trying. Even though it was a lot of work to install and get running, the prebuilt pit saved me a lot of fabrication time.

Operationally, some improvements were made in the drive. The older open frame DC motor was replaced by a modern DC can motor for quieter operation. The TT bridge now sports cast metal wheelsets and the center bearing clamp is more robust. I didn't have to do any shimming for smooth operation.

In the area of appearance, Bowser supplied some nice cast metal handrail stanchions and bridge tower details. I'm not sure how these compare to the previous version but these components made for an attractive setup. The bridge girder sections are now ABS plastic with rivet detail cast in.

I mounted a section of Atlas track to bridge and painted the whole thing Polly Scale Steam Power Black with a light overspray of Grimy Black. Extender ties were made from 3/16"X1/4" basswood. I made some slight mods to the handrail and deck details and ran the conduits a little differently. Some Keil Line lampshades were added to the shack and tower. An access ladder was added for easier worker access to the pit. I then weathered the bridge with some airbrushing, drybrushing, and a wash of India Ink and denatured alcohol for the deck planks. A light spray of RR Tie Brown helped blend the Atlas ties in. The pit walls were painted with a combination of Aged Concrete, Grimy Black, and some off-white latex. A wash of flat black latex and some streaks of black, brown, and Dirt were added with a brush. The pit floor will have more cinders added along with some scraps of wood and metal for effect.

I am using a Lionel/IC AMC for control from the CAB-1 using an ENG ID. No indexing is being used as the gearing and the ARC control is fine enough to dial in the position needed. I am still in the process of adding a couple more storage tracks and fitting everything up for bumpless operation. I can turn everything in my current steam roster, the Allegheny and Challenger included. The JLC Big Boy that I have on order will probably use the TT for access to the straight-through stall of the roundhouse only.

Below is my Korber #304 roundhouse in its final position. This was a ton of work to get it to the point it's at now. I plan on adding more details to the walls as the surrounding scenery is put in place. The surrounding cement platforms will be the home of many old greasy and rusty details. I don't plan on detailing the interior even though the rear part of the roof is removable. I am still thinking about some lighting options at this point.

Expansion

2006-12-14T21:23:00.000-05:00

After spending the past couple of weeks reorganizing my basement's space, I have finally carved out a new section of floor space to pursue a fairly decent-sized expansion. What used to be a sort of gaming area consisting of my old apartment furniture and an Xbox will now be home to an engine servicing facility. A 5'X10' L-shaped extension will connect to the layout just west of Bruce Bros. and Carbon Controls. I am trying to shoehorn a 32" Bowser turntable and 3 or 4-stall Korber #304 roundhouse into the section along with my 'Grand-Trunkishesque' coaling tower. The challenge will be to arrange everything so as not to look overcrowded and awkward. I have been fooling around with some ideas and have come up with the fairly dull trackplan below. Right now, the drunken-looking TT tracks were just plopped in there to give some idea of how things will fit. The whole yard will be done using a couple of Atlas #5s, a LH O-72 switch and a combination of sectional and flextrack components. A lot of tweaking will occur between the time the benchwork is put up and the time the first engine finds its way into the bottom of the TT pit. The plan below is still pretty rough!

The benchwork can also be modified to fit more engine storage tracks without too much loss of floor space. The scenery for this section of the layout will probably consist of more warehouse/industrial structures and perhaps some cliff faces and retaining walls. So far the backdrop is already up and painted and the lighting installed.

City Curve parting shots

2006-12-14T21:08:00.000-05:00

Here are the final shots of the curve with all the scenery in place. While this section's improvements have been done for at least a few weeks now, I have finally gotten around to taking a few last shots of the area. Gaps in the walls were filled in with overhanging vegetation and my new Atlas SA signal is wired up and working. A few Scenic Express Super Sages were placed on the CC rocks and a bit of junk strewn about.

And here's a closeup of the Atlas SA below. I have it wired up toy-train style to just indicate block detection in the curve. The nice thing about these is the fade effect when the signal changes.

Carbon Controls improvements, Marcus II

2006-11-18T20:40:00.000-05:00

Just some quick shots of my ongoing City Curve improvement projects. I had to take Carbon Controls off the layout to move the right side of the building back away from the tracks so I took the opportunity to give it a minor facelift. Walls made from my silicone mold dress up the bottom, and the original rocks made from mostly Woodland Scenics molds were replaced by some hand-carved plaster rocks. Some Walthers and Sodders Enterprises detail parts were added to the face of the building along with some Model Tech parts on the roof. Next thing to add is some trees and possibly some other details as the mood strikes. Just to the right of it is my newest building just completed today, one of two new structures designed and built to replace the original Marcus Furniture.

Stepping back, here's the replacement for the original Marcus Furniture building, which has been in place for about a week or so now. Both of these new buildings are 3/4" thick, made up from foam core and basswood, with Plastruct brick sheet, and sporting windows by Tichy, Korber, and Berskshire Valley.

Some minor adjustments still need to be made to fit them up, then it's on to re-scenicking the surrounding area. A bit of work is needed to shore up some of trackwork through here and I plan on replacing the cement retaining walls with stone ones to match the background. Notice the Atlas SA signal, which will be installed pretty soon.

The FA-2 Project

2006-11-14T21:38:00.000-05:00

While these Lionel FA-2s were always a nice little set for the money, many 'WTFs' ruined what could have been a truly great out-of-the-box set of engines. With that thought in mind, my latest weathering project also entailed a few quick operating and visual improvements.

The first thing to fix was the huge coupling gaps. A couple sets of Kadees allowed me to push all the units together so the nice diaphragms Lionel tooled up could actually touch. With my layout's wide curves, I wasn't too worried about running these puppies on curves smaller than O-54. Because the sole purpose of mounting the Kadees was to get the gaps tight, I didn't set them up to standard height off the rail. Doing so would have had me grinding off the original electrocoupler mounts. That extra bit of work was skipped. Closeup below.

No major operational problems were encountered and these beasts even climb my toytrainish O-54 'back road' line which sports a roughly 3% grade at some points.

Another quick fix was to straighten the steps as seen above. For some really strange reason, the originals had an outward curve for what I presume was for coupler swing on tight curves. Why scale models have to be manufactured to traverse O-27 Christmas layouts is beyond me, but these were straightened very easily using a small hobby vise. Note the lit diaphragms and heat exchanger details. Lionel tooled these up quite nicely. It will be a real shame when they produce these again with their jacked-up single axle pieces of crap they are currently using to ruin what used to be viable models in their lineup.

The last thing (OK it should have been the first!!) was to yank those insane 'we are trying to burn through our supply of 6 billion' bug-eyed crew figures. A set of MTH cab figures filled in nicely. Lighting in the cab was also subdued (the real cause of the bug eyes?) by moving one of the overhead cab lamps under the cab figures, and removing the second one altogether. I also blacked out as much of the interiors with some Grimy Black to de-emphasize the interior and to help hide the many wires running back and forth in there. The rear-facing A-unit was depopulated and all the cab lighting removed.

Another strange feature was a backwards 'S' posing as a '2' in the numberboards and cab sides. A very careful scraping with a dental pick got the numberboards fixed and some gold paint applied with said pick also fixed the cab numbers. Look closely at the third shot to see what I mean, as I was too lazy to modify the smaller sets of road numbers.

Weathering was your standard dusting of Grimy Black, Rust, RR Tie Brown, and some hints of Dirt.

City Curve progress shots and more weathered steamers...

2006-11-11T11:01:00.001-05:00

I finally got around to taking some shots of my retaining wall progress around City Curve. The photo below shows the use of the SE Flexi-Walls beneath my two curved factories. Both buildings now sit on their own bases custom-fit to each one. The gap between the two bases was concealed with an old rusty drain pipe.

I also took the opportunity to add some cosmetic changes to these existing structures to bring them up-to-date with the level of detailing my layout now has. Silva Spring and Foster W&C were also slimmed down about 1/2" for more curve clearance.

...and here are some more shots of my growing fleet of weathered steamers. The J1a and Mountain now look like they've been earning their keep on the rails.

The J1a pictured below accompanied me to the HiRailers meeting where I used it as a sort of show-and-tell prop to talk about the new direction my layout is headed in. I could have sworn I heard an audible gasp when I plunked it upon the table. Maybe I did a bad job or maybe it was shocking to some to see weathering applied to what some may consider an expensive piece of hardware. These days, I could care less about secondary market value as I buy my equipment to run and look as realisitc as possible.

City Curve update....

2006-10-27T07:38:00.000-04:00

The city curve rebuild project is going well, although it is quite the mess! Silva Spring and its neighbor are now back in position sitting atop new bases sporting Scenic Express cut stone Flexi-Walls. While a bit pricey, they worked well, and with some of my painting and detailing tweaks, look a lot better than what I had before. I've also got more clearance around the outside of the curve through this part of the layout as part of the deal. To tell you the truth, I could only run my Allegheny and Challenger in one direction through here due to my shoddy construction! Eventually, these walls will skirt the bottoms of all the City Curve buildings, extending from Silva Spring to almost the front of the layout.

Silva Spring also got a much needed facelift, with new paint and weathering and some added details. Part of this building was also slimmed down for better curve clearance. Now it's Carbon Controls' turn and I'm in the process of slimming part of it down, adding cut stone walls (plaster copies of the above Flexi-Walls), and new hand-carved rocks. New details will also be added to make it more visually appealing.

The plaster copy walls mentioned above were created using GE Silicone molds using tips provided to me by my good train pals Bob and Dan. At some point I'll take a couple of quick shots of these in use on the workbench.

Photos are still in the works, once a little bit of the dust settles. Once Carbon Controls is back in place on the layout, I can get to work on Marcus Furniture II. All this effort just goes to show you that no layout is ever finished and everything can always be improved.

Where I'm headed.....

2006-10-05T22:27:00.001-04:00

I spent the past three nights weathering more trains. Eventually, I'd like to have everything on the layout sporting some level of environmental influence, whether it be a light dusting of soot or a heavy cloak of grime. Below are some photos I shot of my latest efforts using my new S3. I've come to enjoy working with this new camera and have learned a few neat tricks already.

I applied some dark pastel chalks with a stiff brush to this MTH N6b before lightly coating it with some Grimy Black and Dust. The pastel dust settled between the boards helping to give this plastic model a bit more depth.

A Lionel Pennsy K4 got the treatment. Here it leads a passenger train made up of K-Line and MTH heavyweights. Each car was weathered to a slightly different level of intensity to impart a sense of believability.

Be sure to click on each image to see the full version!

First S3 movies.....

2006-09-07T21:17:00.000-04:00

I have strung together some random clips taken on my layout during the past couple nights with my new S3. While I haven't fully delved into what this camera is capable of, I'm pretty stoked on the results so far. The S3's frame rate is a big improvement over my A80's and the clarity is quite nice, even after converting over to the .wmv format for playback.

The movie is now online. The file size is pretty huge (~12meg) so right-clicking on the link below and choosing 'save target as' (or 'save link as' for Firefox users) may be the best bet for quicker download.

http://norm.beesky.com/video/s3_0001.wmv

Layout Preview - OST #28!

2006-08-25T17:08:00.000-04:00

I have just received word that my layout will be featured in the centerspread of the latest issue of O Scale Trains! Issue #28 (September/October) should be out soon at your better hobby shops. I have yet to see it myself and can't wait to. I hope it gives OST readers a nice sneak peek at what's in store for Issue #29 when the full article on my layout shows up.

A trackside shack.

2006-06-18T10:35:00.000-04:00

I spent a couple evenings this week pawing through my boxes of detail parts. Here's what I came up with:

Bruce Bros. update...

2006-06-11T11:43:00.000-04:00

The BBG&A facility got hooked into the grid this week and freight traffic resumed as most of the scenery efforts wrapped up on the new mini-expansion. I am still fooling around with the lighting here a bit, trying to get the most out of my current setup. One of my many future projects is to add some new lighting across the front of the layout at some point. As usual, click on the above images for full versions.

Bruce Bros. surrounding scenery progress....

2006-06-04T19:48:00.000-04:00

Some quick and artless shots of my progress on the surrounding scenery for BBG&A. Fences, power poles, and more junk will be added to the mix over the next several evenings to help establish a sense of industrial activity.

By the way, for those unaware, full versions of the above images can be seen by clicking on the photos.

Almost there....

2006-05-30T17:27:00.000-04:00

Some quick shots taken outdoor. Bee seen in last shot is not to scale. ;-)

Bruce Bros. Gear and Axle

2006-05-27T17:44:00.000-04:00

Not much progress on my latest building, but I did come up with a name for it and added most of the details. I named it for some buddies of mine from Pittsburgh PA. Some additional minor details and a bit of final painting and weathering should finish this one up. Then I can work on the surrounding scenery to help blend it into the layout.

Weathering, first pass.

2006-05-18T20:12:00.000-04:00

Here's a couple of shots I took after letting the first pass of my weathering efforts sit for a bit. I drybrushed the brick with a combination of Polly Scale acrylic Special Oxide Red, Boxcar Red, Grimy Black, and some Roof Brown. I then washed the whole thing over with diluted flat black latex. I laid it on heavy with a brush, then quickly wiped it off with a rag, letting it settle into the cracks and crevices.
I also got started on the roofing using some black construction paper I picked up at Michael's. Next step is to apply another wash, add some finer weathering in the form of rust and grime streaks, then I'll pull the tape off the windows and start detailing.

New factory progres

2006-05-17T19:53:00.000-04:00

After letting this thing sit for a while, I decided to get back to work on it this past weekend. The above shot shows it sitting on the layout just after getting it prepped for painting. All of the doors and windows (properly set for masonry!) are in place and I've got the dock figured out pretty good.

At this point, it is now spray-bombed with my favorite concrete-colored paint. I use some ultra-flat camo stuff made by Krylon that Home Depot carries. After this cures for a bit, I can begin dry-brushing the brick colors with some Polly Scale acrylics.

Once most of the brick painting/weathering is done, I will move onto adding details, signs, etc. I am still in the process of figuring just what will be manufactured in this building and by whom.

New factory progress

2006-04-16T16:23:00.000-04:00

Got back to work on my new factory building that will sit at the front of my layout. The siding and switch has been on place for a couple weeks now and the factory's shape had been brainstormed and roughed out for almost as long. I got back into it today and worked the lower roofline and started adding the structural concrete features.

New Iron

2006-04-09T21:59:00.000-04:00

The latest addition to my roster is a Lionel PRR J1a, and engine I have wanted for quite a while. Check out this thread on MTJ for more shots, some info on upgrading it with TAS' EOB and Turbo Smoke, and some video of it in action on my layout.

More Industrial Development......

2006-03-22T20:48:00.000-05:00

With the major work just about wrapping up on Greenbrook, I have decided to forge ahead and add more sources of revenue for my railroad. This odd-shaped sliver of benchwork was added last Saturday and will be serviced by a curved siding coming off the inner loop. An Atlas O-72/O-54 curved switch will provide the access. I plan on scratchbuilding another concrete-reinforced brick panel structure that will have an outside curve to it that will match the arc of the siding. A straight platform connected to a lower section of the building will feature a straight loading dock. I am undecided as to what the industry will be or what I'll name it.

The funny thing is that the benchwork here was straight originally. I cut the benchwork to match the curves for easier access through a narrower duckunder. Now I'm finding the need for more scenery to outweigh the need for easier duckunder access.

The next couple of nights will most likely find me fitting up the new siding and tweaking it in. Then I can cut the foundation for the building and start on the skeleton. I've brainstormed a few ways of building this one and I'm looking forward to trying some new ideas. The building's shape will be such that it will play off the surrounding structures and give some much-needed depth to this section of the layout.

To the right of it I may add a small scrap dealer to show off all the odd detail parts I've been scrounging these past few months........

Sheedy's shack and another weathered car.

2006-03-14T15:48:00.001-05:00

I've been sort of slacking when it comes to keeping this thing updated, but I did snap off a couple more projects over the weekend. The first is a storage shed/light-duty workshop (perhaps tinsmithing, light machine repair, etc.) to match Sheedy Gasket. It's another odd-shaped building designed to fit a sliver of real estate left between the alley and the trestle.

These two buildings were sort of inspired by an uncle's carriage house located on his property in Pittsburgh PA. The shack is made up of Midwest 1/8" clapboard over foamcore with Grandt details. Northeastern stripwood, and various junkbox items finished it out. The chimney is a carved chunk of MDF, with brass strap and wire supports.

I also took the time to torture another unsuspecting freight car, this one being an Atlas O 40' single-sheathed boxcar. I'm liking the airbrush for toning things down. This was sprayed with Polly Scale acrylic Grimy Black, with some hints of Rust over the trucks and couplers, then oversprayed with Dust. I then drybrushed some of the details with Reefer Gray. While I know that weathering, especially of cars and locomotives in particular, is very subjective, I find myself mostly pleased with the effects. I think the trick is err on the side of understated effects rather than going for the nuked look.

Backalley garage for House 3...

2006-03-10T09:09:00.000-05:00

Greenbrook Update

2006-02-26T14:22:00.000-05:00

Some progress shots of House #3.

Shingles

2006-02-25T12:23:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick shot of my shingling efforts. Gutters, downspouts, and electrical service are also in place and I hope to start painting sometime today.

Greenbrook Update

2006-02-19T18:03:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick shot of a new house under construction for the Village of Greenbrook. It consists of Midwest 1/8" clapboard over foamcore with slightly modified Grandt windows and doors. The design is based on some nice old frame houses that stand in Plymouth MI's Old Village section.

More freight car weathering...

2006-02-16T17:17:00.000-05:00

Tried my hand at some more weathered freight cars using my new airbrush. I am far from an expert at this and my main goal is to tone down the colors of the cars and help them fit in with my layout's scenery. I am shooting Polly Scale acrylics, mostly Grimy Black, with Rust and Dirt. I drybrushed Reefer Gray on areas of interest to help pop out details like lines of rivets, etc., with the hope of making the weathering look a little less one-dimensional. I have yet to make a separate gallery for the website but I will eventually.

No other site updates right now although I have started a new house to sit next to Chinaski Liquors in the Greenbrook section of my layout. It will be constructed of Midwest 1/8" clapboard over foamcore on a 1/4" hardboard base. I poked around in my boxes to see what I had left in Grandt Line windows. I am going to put the airbrush down for a couple days and get back to work. Look for progress shots by the weekend.

Hello and an update......

2006-02-12T19:07:00.002-05:00

Hi there. And welcome to my blog. My name is Norm and I'm into trains. O Gauge 3 Rail trains in particular. I started blogging today in an attempt to update viewers of my semi-known website of what's going on with my train layout and to comment on other activities I pursue within my chosen hobby. I answer quite a bit of email about my efforts and try to post as often as I can on the Model Train Journal. Links to my personal website and my favorite forum are listed under the links. I hope to use the blogging format to keep a reasonable dialog about what I do in a clean and organized format.

That being said, I'd like to tell everyone that my humble 3 rail O gauge layout will be featured in a magazine later this year. Look for my layout and my train story in O Scale Trains issue #29, to arrive around November 2006. You can see what their publication is about here. I am proud to be featured among some of our hobby's finest 2 rail efforts. That should say a lot about some of the hard work I've done and it is also a factor pushing me to make myself a better modeler.

On the layout front, I just finished Chinaski Liquors and Manny's Pool Hall in my Village of Greenbrook section.

And, thanks to a good train pal of mine, I finally put to use an airbrush that he gave me. I gave a Rail King N5c some 'environmental experience'. I have much to learn about freight car weathering and airbrushing in general, but this was quite the fun experiment. Details can be read here.