Ray’s been in touch with an update – have a look at his HO scale camping scene:
“Hey Al,
Here’s some updated pics on my 3 Loop Layout. I’ve made a lot of progress with 2 sections of my layout!
The side with the cattle corral and the side I call the residential area with pond and camp ground. There are still lots of things to do, so I imagine this will be an ongoing project. I have learned so much from reviewing your posts and I get a lot of great ideas.
I’ve done a lot of work on my HO camp ground and residential area, I do need some people and vehicles to enhance it. I realize the campground is up against the tracks and may be unrealistic, but I have limited space. Nothing like sleeping in your camper while a train comes rumbling by!
The side with the cattle corral and farm has come along very well! I found some cattle for a reasonable price on Ebay! Notice the green John Deere tractor, I swiped that off of the light pull chain you had pointed out in the past!
I do plan on putting some ballast down, all in good time!
I appreciate all the comments, they were very encouraging and I love looking at all your posts. There are a lot of talented model railroaders out there, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for reading!
Take Care & God Bless,
Ray”
A big thanks to Ray for sharing his HO scale camping scene update. It’s really taking shape and I’m already looking forward ot the next one.
Dan’s been back in touch with different uses for his model train box cars:
“Just because a piece of rolling stock has become less than useful, consider making it useful in another way. I was even able to use a “gift” from a well meaning relative.
This reefer car was part of 10 I bought to fill out my reefer train. A friend’s dad passed ans was taking down his layout. It was a type that was incompatible with the others.
I needed something for my module at the club I belong to. As the railroads phased out the older ice bunker cars, they sold them to rancher as out building, sheds, and storage of all types. They are still seen allover the west in the U.S.
The support for the car are railroad ties (sleepers). I distressed the sides with fine grit sand paper. I cut holes for the windows. This is the rear side.
Finished product. The windows were from the ever ready boxes of left over parts. The awnings were from a corrugated roof. The privy was scrap pieces of wood.
The owner is resting before getting back to work. His truck has more awning material for the rear windows.
You can see the reason he needed a new house. (The dilapidated house was an old kit someone gave me.) The scene is of a sho-fly, the railroad is replacing some older bridges with new ones. The work has not been completed yet. The construction crew had to go to a wash out and will return when that work is done.
If you think the sunset is overdone, Google Arizona Sunsets. I have been to Arizona several times, once for a month. They can look this way.
I painted the backdrop with craft paints. I got the colors about where I wanted them and then used my fingers to “blend” the colors. Good old finger painting came in handy.
Model train box cars:
This is my grain elevator. The the silos can are Pringles potato chip cans. The STAX can is a different can. This is the one I had in hand used as an example. The cans are a scale 85 feet tall. I wrapped them in teletype paper. This probably no longer exists. Construction paper should work. Then I sprayed grey paint to get a rough concrete look.
I had an old tank car and needed an oil supply for my steam locos that visit Burnt Lake. The western railroads used oil because it was plentiful and did not cause fires in the dry western US as coal sparks could. My trestle experience made the project easy. Sprue pieces made most of the piping. The red coil at the lower end of the long pip is a short length of solder.
I cut off the legs of a switch tower and made it a shanty for the switch men.
Photo 11 and 12 A length of “welded” rail ready for replacement of an older worn piece. These can be in place for up to a year before installation.
A well meaning relative gave me the “Street Car Named Desire” as a Christmas gift. I do my best to keep theses things from happening. They know not to give me train gifts. So, I made it a car load on the way for a repair job.
You have seen this car before. The load is a leftover piece from a building…in the parts box, where else?
This is a Rail Diesel Car (RDC) used as a yard office.
An old box car for storage.
An old time passenger car as a diner.
A caboose used as a lumber yard office. To the far left these is an old boxcar used for storage. A bonus for building layouts for others, your name shows up!
Always time for a lying session.
Probably enough.
Dan*”
A big thanks to Dan for sharing how he repurposes his model train box cars.
One thing I do like about this hobby is nothing ever goes to waste with a little imagination.
Ned has been in touch with his model train lift bridge module:
“Hello again Alastair,
The recent post about moveable bridges helped me decide to submit the two methods I built into my developing layout.
Since I wanted two full circuits for my layout I initially conceived a complex system of gears and long screw mechanisms to lift both bridges.
Recognizing the more complex anything is the higher the likelihood of problems and since this is my first attempt at a large layout, I decided to keep it simple.
One bridge blocked and wedged to provide longitudinal and lateral stability and one bridge on a cart with cabinet magnets and blocked for stability.
Electrical connections are a simple plug.
I think the photos explain it best.
Ned”
A huge big thanks to Ned for sharing his model train lift bridge module. There’s quite a few of them on the blog now, one that always springs to mind is John’s:
Like most, if not all railway modellers I periodically clean the wheels of my model train locomotives to ensure good electrical connection with the track.
I recently discovered that I was failing to do the same for my rolling stock and carriages and I was shocked to see how much dirt could be found on the wheels: – See attached photos.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew in Oz”
A big thanks to Andrew and Ned.
Andrew’s pics show just how much dirt you can lift of the wheels – that’s why track cleaning comes up so often on the blog.
