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Post by mlehman on Feb 15, 2015 5:54:45 GMT -8
Greetings everyone. It was a great week in terms of achieving a long sought goal -- a brass San Juan consist running all the way to Silverton with only a K-28 for power. Here is a pic of it crossing the Rio de las Animas bridge just south of Silverton on the return leg of the trip.  Sounds simple enough. Design in a 2.5% grade ('cause I was too chicken to go steeper, like the real thing.) But I persevered, adding weight to my Sunset K-28. It now weighs exactly one pound although I was shooting for simply "enough" and not a round number. And I have been profiling the grades along the Silverton Branch. It can be ugly...  But smoothing out all the places where the rails are more the .010" out of whack, causing driver spin, paid off. Also happy to report the track gang has been working up at Crater Lake this week on the Cascade Branch. I sized up the ROW and decided it needed to be wider.  Used an old trick to add a couple of more inches to the width of the subroadbed, a relatively easy task with 3/4" plywood. I used a stick of solid lumber here because I didn't have plywood scrap long enough without cutting something new. It's glued and screwed and also helps stiffen this area structurally. Then I raised this section to ease a too steep grade and I have to finally set the riser height later today.  And the track is going down well...  |
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Post by dti406 on Feb 15, 2015 6:03:17 GMT -8
Thanks for starting Mike, for some reason I don't like the K28's, my first narrow gauge was a Westside K27 I picked up during the NMRA Convention in Denver at Caboose Hobbies in 1977.  Eastern Car Works ACF Covered Hopper kit, retrofitted with a Plano Roofwalk, A-Line Sill Steps and added airlines. Painted Scalecoat II MofW Gray and lettered with Highball Graphics Decals.  IMRC 12 Panel - 10' IH 40' Boxcar Kit, one of five I have done. Very few cars were painted in the Glacier Green Scheme with the modern Graphics before going to the Big Sky Blue paint. Painted with Floquil Paint and lettered with Champ Decals.  Robbins Rails (Lifelike) 50' Boxcar PC X72 Class, removed cast on Ladders and replaced with ladders out of the scrapbox, new A-Line Sill Steps, kit came with a detailed Details West underframe. Painted with Floquil PC Green & Platinum Mist Paint then lettered with Microscale Decals. Thanks for looking! Rick J |
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Post by atsfan on Feb 15, 2015 6:14:22 GMT -8
What is the connection with Robbins Rails and Life Like ?
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Post by riogrande on Feb 15, 2015 6:50:34 GMT -8
Mike, are those curvable turnouts? They look like they need to curve to fit the track configuration.
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Post by mlehman on Feb 15, 2015 6:52:09 GMT -8
Thanks for starting Mike, for some reason I don't like the K28's, my first narrow gauge was a Westside K27 I picked up during the NMRA Convention in Denver at Caboose Hobbies in 1977. SNIP Rick, Yeah, each class of K's seems to have its admirers. I'm partial to the K-28 because it's the first narrowgauge loco I ever got close to. Somewhere I have a pic of me and my brothers and sister with my grandma standing in front of 476 parked at Blair St in Silverton in 1967. I guess that has stuck with me.  And they're popular with the crews, according to one long time NG engineer who's an acquaintance, John Coker ( www.rrart.com/). I'm very much looking forward to Blackstone's upcoming version. I can say I've been really happy with the Blackstone K-27s I have. |
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Post by mlehman on Feb 15, 2015 6:56:22 GMT -8
Mike, are those curvable turnouts? They look like they need to curve to fit the track configuration. Jim, That Shinohara #6 is now officially a curvable turnout after my track gangs had at it... I snip the little plastic "bridges" between each tie under the rails of the diverging leads, as well as cutting some of the longer ties that web between the two leads. Really easy and provides a suitable substitute for a piece of trackwork otherwise unobtanium with RTR HHOn3 track. Even without cutting anything, these HOn3 turnouts have a limited amount of flex side to side, which can be helpful if you only need a nudge to take a kink out. BTW, the slight kink coming out of the #6 going into the #4 in the foreground has been taken out since I shot the image. |
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Post by dti406 on Feb 15, 2015 7:15:05 GMT -8
What is the connection with Robbins Rails and Life Like ? Don't know, All I know is that in the late 80's Robbins Rails bought the X72 bodies from Life Like and then substituted the Details West underframe and a set of Athearn trucks and screws and sold them as undecorated and with numerous Conrail #'s. The hobby shop up in Anchorage bought a set of them and since Conrail did not sell real well up there I acquired a number of them at a substantial discount. I strip most of them and they go back to their original Penn Central. Rick J |
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Post by TBird1958 on Feb 15, 2015 9:41:23 GMT -8
Nice work so far guys, I like the X72 Rick! I didn't have time to get an outside shoot in this week, hopefully this coming Thursday will allow that to happen - meantime I did at get a couple pics on the kitchen counter....... Here's a chalky Tangent GN 4740.....  This has been on my bench for a little while now, I'm not going to give too much away until I can post some better shots of it weathered and finished, suffice to say it started as an Accurail Pig that has a lot of lipstick on it   |
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Post by dtinut on Feb 15, 2015 12:20:58 GMT -8
Eastern Car Works ACF Covered Hopper kit, retrofitted with a Plano Roofwalk, A-Line Sill Steps and added airlines. Painted Scalecoat II MofW Gray and lettered with Highball Graphics Decals. Rick Nice looking car, i see you got the new set for the LO. How do you like them? Sean and I went back and forth many times to get this set done. |
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Post by Christian on Feb 15, 2015 12:38:02 GMT -8
What is the connection with Robbins Rails and Life Like ? Pretty much answered by dti406. Robin's Rails was mostly an outlet for Bill Glass's repaints of other folks models. Bev-Bel outsourced many of their repaints to Glass. Glass is best known for Eastern Car Works. Also featured just above this post by dtinut's hopper. ECW was a pioneer in affordable narrow gauge. And a few important cars from other eras. Bill Glass also was into Studebaker cars, t-shirts and so forth. "Bondo Bill" was his internet moniker. |
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Post by dti406 on Feb 15, 2015 12:53:53 GMT -8
Nice looking car, i see you got the new set for the LO. How do you like them? Sean and I went back and forth many times to get this set done. I like his decals very well have used a lot of them, I do give them a light coat of Mircoscale Decal Film to keep the decal from bending over on itself as it is want to do. The DT&I set was complete, although I added COTS and ACI plate from my stock of those decals. Now if you convice him to rerun Sean's D&TSL 50' Boxcar Decal,I would be thrilled! Rick |
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Post by Spikre on Feb 16, 2015 18:36:18 GMT -8
 Mike, still getting the "Lego" look on most of Yer Pics !! not sure why ? Rick and T-Bird, Great looking cars,as usual !!  atsfan,Rick,Christian, Bill Glass ran E&B Valley,then sold off the HOn3 kits to Rail line ? but did start Robins Rails about 82 with the 50' PS-1 kits,ex-AHM P-S 2893 Triple P-S-2893s, and the 60' Greenville Auto Parts boxes. around 84 Robins got the remaining Life Like Thrall Door Boxcars with the slide in ends as LL went to a 1-piece body with shallow ends.didnt know they also sold the X-72s,or forgot that ?? meanwhile the ACF covered hopper kits and 40' Single Airslide kits were sold to a new company,Eastern Car Works, or ECW run by Jerry ?, don't recall his name off hand ?? later Con-Cor got the ex-AHM P-S cars,and 60' Greenville Auto Parts boxcars,maybe the 50' PS-1s,or maybe Bev-Bel got those,or remaining kits that never sold ? unfortunately ECW closed about 2007 or slightly earlier,so finding the low run kits like the NYC/CN Enterprise Covered Hoppers isn't always easy.or the Depressed Center Flat, or the big PRR HD Flats. Spikre 
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Post by Christian on Feb 17, 2015 1:36:53 GMT -8
Railline did their own cars, still available. Much better kits and actually correct to prototype. Glass was in the ball park and did not have the fineness in his tools. As I mentioned, as a repaint company. Similar to what A-Line is doing now. E&B was one of the several companies caught up in the Front Range debacle. Glass was a regular on rec.models.rail and very open with his business. And quick to express his love for Fred Becker.As well as the many, many sideframes. Most are still not available in any form. Even important ones such as the 125 ton ACF. |
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Post by mlehman on Feb 17, 2015 8:21:04 GMT -8
Mike, still getting the "Lego" look on most of Yer Pics !! not sure why ? SNIP Spikre, Well, they're in hi-def. My crusty ol' XP box often times doesn't show all of them, not even the "lego" guy. But if you get that, have you tried clicking through to see if it'll take you to Imageshack directly and maybe the pic? Another option is to use the Quote button in the upper right corner of the post. It'll open the post up and show the img (image) links directly. Then you can cut and paste the URL only into your browser and it should bring up the pic. Other than that, you probably need to do what I need to do -- upgrade you OS or maybe the entire computer. |
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Post by riogrande on Feb 18, 2015 5:28:29 GMT -8
Mark, love your freight cars. Keep up the great work! My crusty ol' XP box often times doesn't show all of them, not even the "lego" guy. ... Other than that, you probably need to do what I need to do -- upgrade you OS or maybe the entire computer. Mike, Since Windows XP with Service Pack 3 ended April of last year, there has been no patches since then. I would be nervous running XP on the wild internet with no patches, but that's just me. My wife bought some decent used PC's with Win 7 in 2013 since we were/are trying to keep costs down. Picked up a couple of Dell OptiPlex 755's at a local computers store with Win 7 and duel monitor ability for about $180 ea. In 2013, our old, very crusty XP boxes were getting to the point they were balky and slow and well, end of support was right around the corner in fall of 2013 so bit the bullet! |
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Post by mlehman on Feb 18, 2015 8:25:29 GMT -8
Jim,
I know, I know. Wife tells me the same thing and XP is persona non grata on campus. Fortunately, the home network is locked down pretty tight because she requires a secure network for work purposes. The worst that could happen is I fry the box I'm on, but my surfing habits and years of moderating quite troublesome (at times) email lists make me pretty leery of stuff that could be infectious.
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Post by riogrande on Feb 18, 2015 9:00:43 GMT -8
I just retook the Comptia Security Plus I am required to have, so patching and updating your OS is right there at the top of the list to help protect yourself - just sayin! While it's part of the picture, I don't think you can count on a "secure" home network to protect you. I'm sure your surfing habits are a great deal safer than many teen-twenty some-things from what I've observed, which helps. |
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Post by Spikre on Feb 18, 2015 11:57:43 GMT -8
Mike, will see how the pics come in next time at the library. Christian, think You mean the ASF/Amstead version of the Barber 125 Ton truck ? Buckeye and National also cast them before they shut down. Barber is a Design Firm and doesn't do any Heavy Casting. Standard Car Truck Co,chief designer was a Mr.Barber. ACF stopped Heavy Castings sometime in the 30s. HOn3: someone got the E&B Stock cars and Caboose kits,dont really follow the HOn3 World,so could be wrong,but thought that originally at least Railline did market the kits along side their HOn3 DRG&W 30' boxcar kits. Railline itself was rather Odd,they sold X2F couplers and Dummy Knuckles for years.even a "Magnetic" X2F.sometime in the 70s they added the HOn3 Boxcars. so WHO did the Tooling on the E&B ACF 70 Ton 1958 CUFT Covered Hoppers ? know that CM Shops decorated some,but Ray said He didn't do the Tooling. Spikre
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Post by Christian on Feb 19, 2015 2:06:52 GMT -8
think You mean the ASF/Amstead version of the Barber 125 Ton truck ? Yes. Too many initials in this millennium. For my last millennium brain. Nope.Larry Jackman I believe. |
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Post by Christian on Feb 19, 2015 2:20:20 GMT -8
Railline itself was rather Odd,they sold X2F couplers and Dummy Knuckles for years.even a "Magnetic" X2F. Their X2F was arguably the only X2F ever manufactured to spec. Back in the day I made a tough decision to go with Kadee MK4 even though the Rail Line X2F was much more reliable. The spring wire X2F uncoupler just couldn't compare to the Kadee between-the-rails magnet. Kadee also made a magnetic X2F which made the cover of Model Railroader. And quickly disappeared. |
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Post by Spikre on Feb 19, 2015 10:42:54 GMT -8
Christian, wasn't Larry Jackman the Founder of "Smokey Valley" kits and parts ? sure sounds familiar. did He also do the 40' Single Airslide Tooling ? Rail Line used to supply the X2Fs to smaller companies thru the 60s at least.can recall two slightly different designs,one had a large hole and a soft copper spring,believe Athearn used this version for a few years in the early 60s. the other design had a small hole and a built in delrin finger spring. these would show up in craftsman type kits sometimes. cant recall any use of the magnetic version in kits, but am open to corrections on this. who did get the HOn3 E&B Valley kits ? do recall that Plastic kits were a hard sell with the Narrow minded crowd in the 70s,but they came around later. Spikre
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Post by mlehman on Feb 25, 2015 8:52:27 GMT -8
SNIP who did get the HOn3 E&B Valley kits ? do recall that Plastic kits were a hard sell with the Narrow minded crowd in the 70s,but they came around later. Spikre Spikre, E&B is now produced by Model Railroad General Store. I believe they acquired them from E&B. I'm not sure about characterizing them as a "hard sell." They were quite popular and still make good kitbash fodder, although Blackstone has superseded them. Sure, there's always a few crusty old coots who make a lot of noise about things not being done that way when they were young, sometime in the 19th century you'd think. Narrowgaugers as a whole are quite an innovative crowd. While not exclusive to NG, the PFM sound system meant a far higher % of NG layouts had sound years before that new-fangled DCC stuff came along. Bob Grandt pioneered high level detail in HO plastic. That whole prototype obsession thing had a very good example to spring from in the Colorado NG crowd. |
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And they're popular with the crews, according to one long time NG engineer who's an acquaintance, John Coker (
