| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| masonamerican |
Posted - 12/10/2011 : 06:01:09 AM
Hi All,
below there are some pictures of my layout the freelanced California Railway & Navigation Company with its subsidiary Smith-Kingsley Logging Co. It is set in Northern California around 1890-1895. It connects the small sea harbor Innsmouth with the inland terminal Dunsmuir where it connects with the Southern Pacific. The main reason for its existence is transporting goods from Innsmouth Harbor to Dunsmuir for transport east. Connected to it is also a subsidiary logging company which operates its own equipment but uses the C.R.&.N.Co right of way.
This is my first layout since I was a teenager and I started the layout about 2 years ago. Before that we lived in an apartment so then it was only building of houses and rolling stock. It occupies roughly 4x4m (13´x13´) in my basement. The benchwork is L-girder and the track is ME flextrack code 55 and 70 which lies on plywood+cork roadbed. Turnouts are made with Fast Tracks jigs and their laser cut turnout ties. The trains are controlled by Roco’s DCC system. The maximum grade is 2% and the minimum radius 24´´. To get a long mainline I have separated the two end stations by about 12´´ vertically and let the mainline do a double turn via a helix before it reaches Dunsmuir. Much of the track will be hidden from view to avoid a spaghetti bowl kind of look.
Scenery which I just have started with is of the conventional kind with plaster cloth on a support skeleton. The plan is to finish the scenery in 4´ segments and gradually work my way from Dunsmuir to Innsmouth which will be finished last. Scenery has been hard to make and at the first part at Dunsmuir I have tested a lot. I hope the scenery gradually will be better and better as it comes along.
Trees are a combination of homemade and commercial. As the railroad is modeled at its peak and fairly new most of my buildings only have a light weathering to show the passage of time. My engine house for example is only about 5 years since it was built so it has not got that dilapidated worn look yet. The depression is many, many years ahead. Also the management is keeping everything in good working order.
My freight cars are a mix of for example Labelle, BTS, Alkem Scale models, Central Valley, Rio Grande Models, Silver Crash Car Works, Art Griffin and old IHC, AHM cars that I have modified.
The passenger fleet which I about to rework with better paintjobs and more elaborate decals consists for example of Westwood, reworked Model Power cars, and GEM (brass).
The locomotive fleet is just as diverse and consists of a lot of brass Balboa, PFM, Gem, Ken Kidder, NWSL (Shay). Some kits I have assembled from Arbour models kits a 2-6-0 and a 4-4-0. Also I have some commercial RTR locos from Bachmann and Roundhouse.
Please excuse the disorder on the photos as I’m using the part of the layout which I’m not building on as storage for the scenery stuff. I staged some of the buildings for the photos and the Engine house is not finished but it all hopefully gives a view how it will look when finished. There is also a lot of detail work to do but the scenery has to be somewhat complete first.
I hope you will find my description and photos of my layout of interest and that I haven’t bored you to death. Comments are always welcome. Thank you,
Best regards
Håkan
Dunsmuir on the right with the helix below
Dunsmuir on the left and on the storage mess that is to become Innsmouth
Spagetti bowl trackage for the time being
Yet more spagetti bowl but the 2 first tiers will be hidden behind the foredrop.
Dunsmuir
Dunsmuir again. Sorry some of the trees has not yet been planted.
The unfinished engine terminal at Dunsmuir with my Arbour 4-4-0, a Roundhouse 2-8-0 and the Arbour 2-6-0.
The turntable (Diamond scale) with my Arbour 4-4-0
The unfinished engine house with the Arbour 2-6-0.
The Dunsmuir station with my Ken Kidder 2-6-0 and a Balboa 4-4-0
Dunsmuir station again
My trackplan |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| masonamerican |
Posted - 05/19/2013 : 03:19:45 AM
Thanks George and Bob,
It runs quite good even that in the video looks like its jerking from time to time which is because of the recording quality. But it has a very small hesitation going forward which I could not get rid of. If one turned up the decoders fine tuning back-EMF values it actually got worse. It runs best on nearly pure DC.
Today it will be rolled into the paintshop.
Håkan |
| railman28 |
Posted - 05/18/2013 : 11:09:56 PM
Has to be the best Arbour built I've seen. |
| George D |
Posted - 05/18/2013 : 4:29:18 PM
Håkan, it looks like a nice smooth runner.
George |
| masonamerican |
Posted - 05/18/2013 : 3:01:53 PM
Hi All,
My wheel sets from NWSL arrived some days and I could continue with the Arbour 4-4-0 project. The status is that I have assembled everything mechanically and wired the ESU Select decoder in the tender. Today it took its first revolutions on the rails and after some tinkering with the decoder settings it ran quite good. The suspension with the first driver being able to move laterally worked well. Here is a Youtube video showing the locomotive running:
http://youtu.be/zkQdBi3iHyc
As you can see in the video the front of the locomotive doesn't swivel out as usually is the case with average HO 4-4-0 model.
Picture are merciless to detect things and one thing I noticed in the video is that the pilot sits to high. Hard to change now but I'll see if I can come up with something. Otherwise there are some details still left to add and then it is time for painting. I will try to paint everything mostly in pieces to avoid doing some extensive masking. The loco will be painted black in a freelance Pennsylvania livery theme with gold striping and gold letters on red background
Håkan |
| masonamerican |
Posted - 05/15/2013 : 08:53:34 AM
Thanks Adrian! This will give some interesting reading.
Håkan |
| dnaldimodaroloc |
Posted - 05/13/2013 : 10:03:10 PM
Hi Haakan,
here is a link to the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City. They got a grant from BNSF and digitised a huge number of 19th century RR journals:
http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/rrjournal
You have to be patient with their search engine. It is fussy about capital letters and suchlike.
For National car builder, try this:
http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/search/collection/rrjournal/searchterm/National%20car%20builder/order/nosort
Then if the search function says "within results" you can simply enter a year and get all the issues for that year. They have a couple dozen other journals digitised as well, not just NCB. God fornojelse.
Adrian
|
| masonamerican |
Posted - 05/13/2013 : 3:01:47 PM
quote:
Originally posted by dnaldimodaroloc
The most extensive discussion of the red trucks is in National Car Builder, April 1884 p. 47. Describes trucks painted all red except for wheels and axles. Does not distinguish between front and rear of wheels. Apparently the red paint helped inspectors see defects in the trucks.
Adrian Hundhausen
Thanks for your answer Adrian.
Do you know any online source for the National car builder?
Håkan |
| masonamerican |
Posted - 05/13/2013 : 2:57:58 PM
You're probably right Bob and Grandtrunk.
Thanks Mike, it feels a lot better now .
The material that I ordered and they used in the 3D printing process is called FUD, fine ultra detail. Here is a link to what it is composed of.
http://www.shapeways.com/materials/frosted-detail
I can't attest to how well it holds up as I have no operation hours on any of the 3D printed trucks just yet. To compare it to another material it feels a little like resin but not as brittle. It is quite hard but is easy to scrape with a Xacto knife. I believe it will give many, many miles on a model railroad.
There is a lot of stuff on Shapeways for model railroaders, go to their shop pages and you will find the Panamint shop and some others sellers.
http://www.shapeways.com/gallery/miniatures/model-trains?sort=newest
Håkan |
| Tyson Rayles |
Posted - 05/11/2013 : 4:45:08 PM
What is the material the truck is actually made of? And where do you get it? How well will it hold up to hours of operation? Thanks
Hope you head is feeling better! |
| railman28 |
Posted - 05/11/2013 : 4:15:14 PM
quote:
Originally posted by GrandTrunk
>> The printing process is very clear in the surface. I'm thinking of ways to diminish it
It's visible in the close up photos, and it probably bothers you because you know it's there, but the overall look is excellent and I doubt you'd notice the texture when the truck is under a car.
Yes, on my monitor the image is a 3-4x enlargement. In the shadows of a Car painted in nice period colors I don't think it will at all be noticed.
AND; A brand new truck after just one mile in service is absolutely filthy. A little dry brushing with dirt and grime and those imperfections will look real good. |
| GrandTrunk |
Posted - 05/11/2013 : 12:24:36 PM
>> The printing process is very clear in the surface. I'm thinking of ways to diminish it
It's visible in the close up photos, and it probably bothers you because you know it's there, but the overall look is excellent and I doubt you'd notice the texture when the truck is under a car. |
| dnaldimodaroloc |
Posted - 05/09/2013 : 3:58:42 PM
The most extensive discussion of the red trucks is in National Car Builder, April 1884 p. 47. Describes trucks painted all red except for wheels and axles. Does not distinguish between front and rear of wheels. Apparently the red paint helped inspectors see defects in the trucks.
Adrian Hundhausen |
| masonamerican |
Posted - 05/09/2013 : 3:35:19 PM
Thanks, it sounded in my posting much worse then it really was Frederic .
This is a new media that is great to explore. But it takes many hours in front of the computer instead at the work table.
The DIY 3D printers are also coming down in price. I saw an ad for one in kit form for approx. $700. Although crude for HO work perhaps it could be used for the larger scales.
Håkan |
| Frederic Testard |
Posted - 05/09/2013 : 04:38:54 AM
Håkan, sorry for the head...
The trucks look very nice. It's amazing to see how modern technologies can shift the modelling process from something related to hand-craftsmanship to something much closer to intellectual craftsmanship. |
| masonamerican |
Posted - 05/09/2013 : 03:48:44 AM
Thanks Bob, the head is feeling better. I'm lucky hardened masonite isn't so hard after all I hope your "wounds" also are healing!
Thanks Frank, I could not complete the other truck as found out I had no more wheel sets at home.
Thanks Adrian, I missed that on Early rail. I must go back and look it up. The grimy black I put on just to see the detail as I did some dry brushing on it also. Bright colors you said, red sounds very nice. Was the wheels on the outside also usually painted in the same color?
Håkan |
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