No much posting,,,,

Sorry for the lack of posting here. It is not due to inactivity on the layout or model railroading in general. I just find it much easier to throw out an update on my Facebook layout page, than to take the time to post here. I will admit that this blog is a little easier to search and write longer form, but it definitely requires setting aside a segment of time to prepare and upload pictures, and then do the writing. So probably will not be as much here regularly, but I will try to post now and again.

Recent work has been on getting North Stratford started. Until recently it has been a shelf only, good for storage and initiating/terminating the MEC TY/YT trains to St. Johnsbury and back. I have now gotten all the track in place and run to Beecher Falls and the Ethan Allen plant to be serviced by the North Stratford Railway (using a little license here on the timeframe of when MEC operated to N. Stratford and when NSRC was in operation).

ABOVE: The start of North Stratford comes through the wall of the closet on the elevated shelf above Groveton. I added some scenery to disguise this opening. I have also been working on a Sheepscot kit, acquired in early 1990s, for a Maine Central freight house. Here I am checking the placement. I have since moved the spur in front to make more space for the loading dock (not built yet).Behind the depot is the MEC main line, and behind that are the Grand Trunk tracks.

ABOVE: The corner of the shelf section, I have the station I built earlier this year in place to represent the Grand Trunk's North Stratford station. The 2 tracks here represent the GT. The one closest to the wall will be non operational. I plan to stage freight cars there to help hide the transition to the photo backdrop. The very corner itself will get disguised with some trees. The closer track is operational and will be used as the interchange between MEC and GT.

The 2 tracks in front of the depot represent the MEC Line up to Beecher Falls and a passing siding.

ABOVE: The end of the shelf will terminate with 2 tracks serving the Ethan Allen Furniture plant. The rear track will be inside the factory (a shallow building flat) while the front track will be for overflow car storage. The NSRC will need to switch cars for the plant, pulling loads out of the building and spotting empty 40' boxcars inside. The loaded cars will then need to be delivered to the GT/MEC interchange.  A true short line operation! Below is part of the paper mill building mock up for Gilman VT, served by the MEC.

As of right now, all track is in place, wired and painted and weathered. I did test runs and applied CRC 2-26. The turnouts (6 total) have ground throws installed, pulled out to the front edge. I also installed magnetic uncoupling ramps to make things easier on the operators. The height makes them hard to see from a scenic perspective, and should reduce needing to reach in to manually uncouple. I tried to strategically place the magnets so they can serve multiple purposes using delayed uncoupling.

I need to update my paperwork for the NSRC train (which has never run yet) and the MEC TY-2 train, which will need to assemble its cars into a train instead of just pulling out from what was essentially a staging track.

ABOVE: Overview of the corner of the layout, with the paper mill in Groveton NH seen below, and North Stratford NH above. To the right is Beecher Falls. I had to pull out all the buildings in Groveton to do the wiring above. Really, it makes sense to do the upper levels first before the lower levels, but alls well in the end!

I'll probably hold off on any scenery until I get another Op session in and run up top to see how things go. But it won't take much really to get scenery in most areas. It will just be dirt and static grass mainly. There will be a need for trees near the station and out to the Ethan Allen plant. And then the plant structure itself. We'll see how that goes as I do need a number of trees in other parts of the layout to get them looking more finished.

Wordless Wednesday #27

TBT - Kadee Ad 1980

I was going through the October 1980 issue of RMC to get an article for someone, and while paging through I cam across this ad from Kadee. It really took me back to my earliest days in model railroading with the simple fascination of a working coupler like this. A huge leap from the X2f couplers I had on all my equipment.

Also interesting to note the style of the ad. Look at all that text! You never see anything like that today. A lot of information and salesmanship going on there, but times sure have changed in advertising!

Interesting to note this is the days before the Kadee patent ran out and no one but Kadee made these couplers. A point they mention. The interesting thing is that I (and many others) still feel they make the best version despite new competition. I think that only helped drive them into new products, lie the scale head coupler.

I like the line that you should use Kadee couplers because your friends are!

Homabed

A question came up on a comment about obtaining Homabed, as I mention it own some posts and it shows up in photos.

July 15, 2003 - Homabed on top of spline in Hardwick Vermont. Homasote section to left is staging for Richford VT.

I first ordered Homabed in the early 1990s when it was made by B.O. Manufacturing in New York. Later it moved to California Roadbed company. I believe CA Roadbed is out of business.

April 10, 2009 - Homabed installed on my Woodstown Jct. Free-mo module 

But good news! A new source of Homabed is Cascade Rail Supply. You can get to it easily using homabed.com. They have been around for a few years now, and I have heard positive things about their product, although I have not had the need to order myself (I still have a little Homabed supply to use when needed). They also seem to have a much larger catalog of products.

Cascade Rail Supply - https://cascaderailsupply.com

Springfield 2019

Yes, it is that time of year agin, the Springfield train show! I'll be attending again with my Woodstown Jct. Free-mo modules in the Mallary building. Hopefully if you are attending also we'll get a chance to say hi!

Here is the working plan for the Free-mo layout this year, as designed by James Koretsky of New England Free-mo.

My Woodstown Jct 3-section module is at the lower right, a separate peninsula to itself

End of 2018, into 2019

First off, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to all of you who follow along with the blog, and for some who also see the layout in person. I'm glad to be able to share what I am doing with you and I enjoy the interactions and friendships that have developed over the years.

As I wrap up 2018 and move into 2019, I thought I would share a couple photos and some information on recent work. As noted earlier, I focused on some scenery prior to the November open house. I also did some work on the town scene for Whitefield. I have had mocked up buildings there for a while but I decided to start roughing in the roadway and sone of the scenery. I also finished off a couple buildings adding some interior details and lighting with LED strips.

I roughed in scenery tasing foam, then added some Sculptamold to smooth the contours. I applied another coat of Fast 'n Final to the road, using a much lighter color to better represent older asphalt.

I restaged the buildings I have and plan to use. The first 3 from the left are essentially complete. I created sidewalks using a photo from actual concrete, wrapped around gator board. The interior for the diner was finished and I paved the parking lot with newer looking asphalt. The second building was completed well over 20 years ago and is just dropped in place on the sidewalk section I created for the diner. Across the B&M tracks I created the Whitefield Tavern, finishing off a DPM kit with signs and interior details. Inside a band is playing. The remaining structures are loosely placed and will be worked on over time. The white farmhouse will get a prominent spot across the road up on a hill side.

I should mention that the photo image I used for the sidewalks came from Lance Mindhiem's site. He has lots of great information and also some nice images to download.

Here are a couple of close up shots showing the interior details a little better.

The darker section in the middle of the road is from  a gloss coat I sprayed as I get ready to apply yellow stripe details.

A band is playing inside on this Saturday afternoon,

I have my layout open for the New Jersey Division Meet coming up on Saturday January 12th, so I've held off doing to much other work. With holidays, there was not much time to work anyway.

After the open house, I'll start getting ready for the Springfield show at the end of the month. I'll be taking the modules on the road again to include in the large, multi-group Free-mo layout in the Mallary building. Stop by and say hello. Although I may be away from the layout at times, but hopefully I will not miss seeing you.

Back to Christmas, and I got this really nice Exactrail bulkhead flat from my wife,. I confess that I did provide her a wish list, but still I had not seen the car in person and sorta forgot it was on the list, so it was fun to open on Christmas morning.

The wood deck is a separate laser cut piece that I look forward to weathering before applying. Note that the 2 consolidated lube placards came off (see the white spot to the right. These seem to have been glued with a less than stellar product, but luckily I retrieved both small pieces before they were lost.

I received a really nice Christmas card and layout update from Greg McComas who lives down in Texas. It was a really nice picture he staged with his Michigan Interstate Railroad locos in the snow. Check out Greg's blog, it is really interesting how he keeps the railroad up to date and writes about the projects for his layout with a prototypical slant.

And finally, my wife and I visited Longwood Gardens during the holidays. It is a really spectacular location with gardens, fountains, a spectacular conservatory and much more. I particularly enjoy the outdoor beer garden and food. We are members and go often - I highly recommend a visit if you live in or find your self in the Philadelphia area.

For the holidays they have outdoor lighting that was the main attraction for us. But we also got to check out their garden railway display, which is set up just for the holidays. Really nicely done, and lots of greenery despite the cold winter weather.

Multiple trains running at once on what I believe were 5 separate loops. You can see part of the beer garden buildings and tents in the background.

Really nicely done as I would expect from Longwood. I'm just surprised that do not have a garden railway all year long given the work involved in building it.

A railfanning break

It was a good open house last weekend. I had 50 or so people, some who had not stopped by in a few years, and some first timers. Glad to talk and share the layout with those who made it.

Taking a break from the layout posts, here are some pictures from a rail fanning excursion. 2 years ago in October 2016 I was up in Bethlehem PA for a work event. I had a few hours to get trackside before the evening's events so I drove around a bit and found some good spots to catch trains. I saw plenty of trains, all  Norfolk Southern. But lots of activity.

Going through pictures in my Photos app, I came across these and did a little editing on them and trashed the ones that did not come out too good. Here is a quick look at some of the shots from that afternoon.

It was a nice fall day to be out, a warm mid-October day, with some good colors in the sunshine. I came across these GP38-3's in the yard at Bethlehem.

Driving a bit further west I found a good spot where the main line came right up to the road. I'm sure it is a popular spot to watch trains, but I was the only one there that day. I saw quite a few trains and some light engine moves while I was there.

And plenty of crew around as well, doing various things.

Here was a crew change in progress. A van had pulled up and a crew came out. The crew on board had just dropped a trash bag out the locomotive window (the white spot in front of the lead truck). This was cool to watch the changeover.

Further to the west was a large yard but I really could not find a way to get anywhere to easily take some photos. I could see things from the road as it elevated on the adjacent hillside, but there was not a good spot to pull over. A lot of engine movements came in and out this end of the yard.

Hey, got one of those Spring Mill Depot PD3000 covered hoppers that needs some current day weathering? Here is one in a plain NAHX paint scheme.

This was an interesting movement. This was an RPU6 slug, attached to an SD40-2. More info on the RPU6s here.

The steel mill stacks in Bethlehem are easily seen from all over the area. 

The old mill is now an interesting area with a museum, an outdoor theater, bar, restaurant, and more. It is adjacent to the casino. I have a lot of pics of the museum, but that could be a separate post really. Well worth a visit. 

A nice elevated "park" gets you up close to the stacks and other parts of the mill. There are even a few old hopper cars here on some elevated track showing how coal was delivered.

Open House Sunday November 11, 12pm-5pm

Just a quick note that my layout is included in the NJ-PA-DE-MD open house schedule again this year. I am open on Sunday, 11/11, from 12 to 5. See the full listing with maps at the web site http://modelrailroadopenhouse.com

Here are a few pics of things I completed since last year. This is not everything, just some of the highlights.

I'm looking forward to seeing you!

I've enjoyed finally getting to work on this road scene for Whitefield. Two buildings here have interior details with lighting. Just getting started overall, but nice to move on from the exposed foam!

For whatever reason, this scene in Hardwick was never finished and remained in brown painted foam board for the past 12 years or so. I decided to at least add a basic ground covering to the area and re-install a weathered version of the old creamery building. This will no longer be active, but I plan to use the half the track as a team, track, and later add a simple unloading platform for transferring boxcar loads to trucks.

I noted this scene ion a previous post, but it too now has a finished look, making all of Hardwick now looking much more complete.

This side of the Whitefield diamond was done earlier and also brings a greater level of completeness to the layout. The other half is getting started as seen in the first photo with the road and buildings going in.

Over ibn Johnson I completed the background and roadway. Not seen is the area in front where I did paint the exposed plywood and foam a solid color. I still need to build the talc mill and then finish the scenery, but this now looks a lot better overall.

Not really changed, but I did cleanup a few details here. Still real happy with this initial scene when you first enter the layout area.

Fall scenery work

I've spent bits and pieces of time during the summer and early fall doing some light scenery projects. I also finished off the New England Farmhouse kit, minus some details once I determine the exact layout placement.

Here is a look a the finished farmhouse from Mount Blue Model Co. And a link to their website.

http://www.mountbluemodelco.com/structures.htm

I have an open house coning up on November 11th (see http://modelrailroadopenhouse.com for a full schedule). With that n mind I've turned my attention to trying to add some scenery into places where it will help make the layout look more finished.

One conspicuous area is the pulpwood loading siding in Whitefield, right along the edge of the layout. I put in dirt, stone and ground cover to finish what was started on the other side of the diamond earlier this year.

Basic ground cover and sone piles of pulpwood go a long way to ,making things look more finished. In that big open area, I'll drop in a piece of foam painted an earth color, until I work out the final scenic treatment.

For the look of bark that comes off the pulpwood, I use tea leaves, emptied from inexpensive tea bags.

Over on the other side of the layout, the Hardwick scene on the Lamoille Valley had scenery put in well over 10 years ago. It even has some details added including figures, vehicles, telephone poles, etc. But as I never worked out the final idea for the quarry and the area between that and the church, I never finished off the scene.

To the left of the church, I placed some structures and vehicles, but this is just painted foam. I wanted to make a more elaborate quarry scene, so I held off doing much else here.

I decided that investing a few hours into making this scene look complete, even if it may not be my final idea for this scene, would go a long way to making this how section look complete. I decided to simply add a gravel parking area where trucks would be turned and stored, plus a small shanty. The rest of the quarry would be further down, somewhat obscured by trees.

It was fun bringing this scene to life, adding the utility poles and wires, and stage a few vehicles. I need to get some appropriate dump trucks but for now I'm happy with the results.

At first I did not have that pine tree at the area where the road leads into the gravel lot. But after adding it it really helped the scene, adding some vertical element to this area.

I have more things to do in the next couple weeks before the open house. I also had a light fixture fail, so that is next up to fix. 

Free-mo pictures from NER Convention

I posted pictures of the Free-mo layout assembled at the NER NMRA Convention in Mahwah, NJ on my Flickr site. Click the link below to view the gallery.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskKefY2b

It was a good weekend. Set up went pretty well Thursday despite a few unplanned physical obstacles. We ran plenty of trains created with the ModuOps software which generates switch lists for the crews. Convention attendees as well as the Free-mo crew ran over 2 dozen schedules trains Friday and Saturday.

There was talk of maybe having Free-mo at the Syracuse convention next September, but that will probably depend on space available. But certainly it was well received again by the convention attendees. Going back the last few years we've had a Free-mo layout at the Laconia NH convention in 2013, the joint MER-NER Mt. Laurel convention in 2015, the Newport convention in 2017, and now this year in Mahwah NJ.

NER NMRA Convention, Mahwah NJ

I'll be at the Northeastern Region NMRA Convention this weekend in Mahwah, NJ, September 13-16. I'll mainly be on site at the convention hotel coordinating and operating on the Free-mo modular layout. We have modules from NJ, MD, NY and MA coming in for the show and we'll be operating Thursday afternoon through Saturday afternoon.

If you are at the convention, stop by and say hello!

Here's a look at the layout we will be building for this event:

If you are free over the next few days, its not too late to join in on the fun of the convention. For more info, check out erielimited.org.

The Good, the Bad...and...the Lightning?

I've been fairly busy with summer activities for the past few months. That has meant not too much has gotten done on the layout. But hopefully things will get back into swing as we move into the fall

I did complete my kit of the Grand Trunk station I plan to use for North Stratford. Although I started the kit in January, and quickly made progress on the walls, windows, foundation and platform, I got hung up a bit on the roof and this sat a while. After finally getting the cardboard roof form cut, bent and fully built as a single piece, I painted and braced it and got it installed on the building. This finally allowed me to start the slow and tedious process of shingling the roof. I used peel and stick strips that I pre-painted. I actually ran out of shingles and had to get more to finish it off. Once done, I did some extra painting of the roof to break up the overall darkness. So that was good progress to get something completely finished.

The finished station. Lots of shingles!

This is the approximate position of the station on the layout, the upper shelf representing North Stratford and Beecher Falls. This is an elevated photo view as this shelf is closer to 66 inches off the floor. With the station in place,  I'd like to work on getting the track in up here. The far track against the wall will be the Grand Trunk. I plan for this GT mainline track to be non-operational and will in fact stage extra freight cars here to help the transition to the photo backdrop. The curving track will be the North Stratford line to Beecher Falls. It interchanges with the Maine Central to the left.

Another good thing that happened was during one evening when I had some time to tend to some small layout tasks, cleaning things up, etc. I decided it would be a great time to run a train around the layout while I worked, as it realistically had been many months since a train moved.

As many can attest, trains and rail that sit for a while tend to have issues with electrical conductivity. As I have treated my rail and loco wheels with CRC-26 a while back, I wondered if it maybe had been too long to get the same results I had been seeing for well over a year when trains last ran.

I pulled the CP local out of staging and ran it into St. Johnsbury. The sound-equipped RS10 did not have any issues moving smoothly over the rails while maintaining the sounds of the MLW Alco prime mover. This was indeed very good!

But I cannot say I did not run into an issue. It just wasn't with the train, the rail, the sound, or anything I would have expected. As I routed the CP train onto MEC rails and started to head towards Whitefield, I noticed I needed to align the turnouts in Whitefield to the MEC main line.

These turnouts are controlled by the excellent Berrett Hill Touch Toggles. The problem was that as I touched the glass over these toggles, nothing happened. I tried all 6 in Whitefield and found only 2 worked with 4 non-responsive. A quick check of my 19 toggles on the St. Johnsbury panel confirmed that they were all working well. So what was up with the Whitefield panel?

I took the panel off at Whitefield and examined things. With nothing obvious I started doing some testing. I quickly learned that the 2 working turnouts were attached to a 2 output panel, while the 4 not working were attached to a separate 4 output panel. I tried moving the toggles and turnout connectors around (easy to do as everything is plug and play with these boards), and found that indeed the issue was with the 4 output panel only. Why would this panel suddenly stop working? This was the bad, certainly.

Luckily I have a separate 8 output panel I have not used yet, so I swapped out the 2 and 4 output panels and reattached everything to the 8 output panel. Testing went well, so I re-installed the panel.

Here I am swapping the Touch Toggle leads from the panel (the orange/red/brown wires) from the 4+2 output panels on the right, to the 8 output panel on the left. The wires to the turnouts are attached to the blue connectors, which were also a simple matter of removing and plugging in to the new board. So at least this process was easy, a little good with the bad.

Here is the Whitefield panel re-installed and working properly. I took the time to drill and install 2 screws which make for a better solution than velcro strips. Now the panel is solidly in place, and working well!

As I worked I thought what might be the root cause. Unless the board just up and died, the only other thing I could think of was a recent lightning strike. A few weeks back we had a pretty active storm while we were at home, and one lightning strike seemed very close. The next day I noticed that our outside lighting wasn't working. I finally traced it to the one GFI outlet in the basement that was tripping the breaker in the circuit box. After replacing the GFI outlet, everything was back to normal. I don't really know how this happened, and nothing else was at all affected other than the GFI outlet.

So perhaps this 4 output board also was compromised by the strike? The board is plugged into a power supply and that goes to a line that is always turned off except when I am in the basement working on the layout. That line has other power supplies on it, like the DCC power supplies. Nothing else (so far) seems to have been affected. But like the GFI outlet perhaps one item in a connected chain could take the brunt of a surge?

Not sure. But anyway, there's my update, the good, the bad and the lightning!