Freight Car Friday

 Well folks here it is , the last day of 2021. Lets all hope that we get this pandemic finally behind us in 2022, so we can all get on with our lives - we sure all deserve it after the last 21 months dealing with this. Speaking of a long time, if I showed you todays freight car without telling you the story behind it, you would soon forget about it ( and you might still after the story!). This car is one of only a few pieces of modeling railroading items that remains from my collection from the late 70's - early 80's when I was a teenager. Most of the items were either lost when my parents moved a couple of times ( I was living on the other side of the country by then and the collection was in a couple of stored cardboard boxes at my parents place)  in the late 80's early 90's and what items I did salvage, I sold off as a lot to a guy that I worked with, as I was no longer in the hobby then. There was nothing special , some Athearn locomotives and rolling stock (Blue box type back then) and some structures that were less than ideally put together ( my modeling skills were not that great back then). However it sure was nice to have held onto a couple of mementos from back then - I am glad I did. So the boxcar is a 50 foot Southern Pacific ( which was the line I modeled back then) with the addition of Kadee Couplers and Kato trucks ( both added a few years ago). I also gave it a light coat of Floquil grime to give it a dusty look - this was done when I upgraded the couplers and trucks. Like I said nothing special, but a subtle reminder of how far back my model railroading days go. Wishing everyone a happy New Years and all the best for 2022. Till next time...

Freight Car Friday - Big and Small

 Hi Folks:

I received a new freight car (kind -of) in the mail today. While browsing the internet recently I came across pictures of a MEC O scale Caboose by Atlas and I must say I was impressed with what I saw, so I went to see what was available. As luck would have it , I found a new unused one that actually has the same road # as one of my HO scale Atlas MEC caboose (cabeese???). I pulled the trigger and ordered it. The plan is to use it simply as a shelf display unit. I was impressed with the model as it has working lights (including a rear end of train light)and a fully detailed interior. It sure has a hefty feel to it compared to the HO scale version. One thing I did notice however is that even though both the O scale and HO scale are from Atlas, the color is slightly different with the O scale version being more yellow appearing and the HO version more orange in color - at least to my eyes anyway! Here are some pictures. 

Big and small

O scale 

Flour Mill

 Hello folks - more work was recently completed on one of the 2 main industries on my revamped portion of the layout. The as yet unnamed flour mill is essentially completed except for some weathering and a few more detail parts added to the loading dock and around the facility. I added some of the Woodland Scenics Just Plug goose neck lights to the loading bay area and entry way door as well as an interior light to the recently added loading bay interior . It does indeed add an extra dimension to the look of the structure. The flour mill is a kit bashed Walthers kit - I took the kit which was meant to be put together as a four sided structure and turned it into a shallow relief version, splicing the 2 side walls together. Searching the internet, you can see that this is a very common bash of this kit. As well, I added a Walthers Surge Bin  and a Rix Grain Conveyor to join the 2 pieces. It was  a fun build and I like the look that it gives -i.e a significant sized structure that will be able to accept a couple of different car types for this part of the layout. Till next time.

The "Mill"

Parking Lot

 Hello folks - this past month, I created a new parking lot /roadway on the layout. It was built in such a way so that a new structure (brick walled factory) I am planning will be sitting on it as well - You can see the wall parts being test fit in the pictures below. The first step that I did was to remove the existing ground cover materials followed by using N scale cork roadbed to build up the area of the parking lot. Then I used balsa wood "forms" to create the outline of the parking lot area. The next step was to use premixed joint compound as the "poured cement". A couple of skim coats were needed after the initial "pour" in order to get it as smooth as possible  - I did use fine grit sanding paper to smooth it out even further. The road did have a few small cracks in it, but as it turned out , they actually enhanced the look after I painted the parking lot. For that first I used Woodland Scenics "Asphalt " stain and once this was fully dry.. I used a small sponge to apply the Woodland Scenics cement color. This was done in a manner almost like dry brushing i.e. most of the color was blotted off on paper towel before I used the sponge to blot on the color over the asphalt color - you want very little cement color left on the sponge when applying. You might have to apply multiple coats in this manner to get the effect you want. Doing this caused the initial black layer to stay in the cracks and show through the blotted on cement color - I was pleased with the results. Afterwards, I assembled Rix Products guard rails and applied them to a couple of areas of the parking lot and alongside the grade crossing. Finally Woodland Scenics "Just Plug" street lights were added in a couple of places. One last thing I want to do is to apply a small wooden person crossing from the factory area across the rail siding to the main area of the parking lot. As they say "details make the difference" Till next time....

New parking lot

Parking Lot/Grade Crossing

Freight Car Friday

 Well folks here it is October all ready - what happened to the summer! Seems like I blinked and it was gone. The first half of summer was carefree and my wife and I spent many lazy days enjoying the great summer weather on our back deck ( with the occasional adult beverage), but the second half was kind of full with family commitments and such. I have however managed to get some modeling time in when we had the occasional rainy day - updates on layout changes coming soon. Todays freight car Friday has the spotlight on paper cars. Back in the early 2000's, Life Like ( now taken over by Walthers) had a line called Proto 1000 - it was suppose to be an economy line of locomotives and freight cars with less detailing and such. Included in that line were NSC 50 foot boxcars that were models of the cars produced in the 1960's that were used to handle large rolls of newsprint that papermills shipped to their customers. The proto 1000 line were actually very good considering they were suppose to be an "economy model" - in fact the price stickers are still on some of the boxes of mine from my local hobby shop and it reads $8.99. When I insect the cars and see that price, all I can think is that in todays world what a bargain!! I have 9 of these cars in various paint schemes that would have been seen in the area that I model. All the modeler had to do was add on the ladders and door locking bars and the model was ready to go. One of cons of this model however is that once the door bars are added to these models, the modeler has to be very careful when sliding the models back into the box (once they are in there protective trays). The door bar roller assembly at the bottom of the door is very (and I mean VERY) fragile and if it even rubs on the flap of the box as you slide it in , it will break it off. Other than that , these models were ( and still are ) a very nice model for the price - however like most model railroad equipment I see them for sale on the internet with the asking price several times what the original owner would have paid for them. Atlas has recently announced that they will be producing this same model of boxcar -they bought the tooling from the now defunct True Line Trains, before True Line had a chance to produce this model for release. I ordered a CN version (yellow door) and a Canadian Pacific Pine Tree loco one. It will be interesting to do a side by side comparison of todays new release with the older Proto 1000 release from ~ 20 years ago. I have a feeling that the old boy on the block will still hold up well in comparison especially given the price I paid for them. Till next time....

Proto 1000 Newsprint Cars

Central Vermont #402706

Track Weathering

 Its now mid August and the process to get all the newly installed track weathered has been completed. I found it a bit tedious as the track was installed back in June and its seems like it has taken me a long time to get this done. I guess due to the fact that I only spent a couple of hours per week on it for the last month and a half is the reason. Summer is definitely not model railroad season for me! I used the same techniques for weathering the track as I used back when I built the layout and it had On30 track initially - after the track was painted and installed, (and here's the scary part) I used suede colored craft paint to paint every tie. Next comes "painting" the rail (again) with a color made as a slurry of Rust colored weathering power and 70% rubbing alcohol. This was applied to both sides of the rail and to the tie plates as well - at this point ( see picture below) you will look at the track and think to yourself  "What the hell have I done!!!" but bear with me. After that, go back with the suede craft paint and a square tipped brush and touch up the ties, especially around the tie plates. Let this dry for a day or 2 before proceeding.

Once the paint dries and the track looks terrible, the next step happens which really is the transforming piece of the weathering process. Take a soft brush ( use one that you don't mind destroying - as after this you probably wont use it again) and apply a liberal dusting of soot black weathering powder over the entire track. Then you want to use a sprayer that can produce a very fine mist and mist down the track with 70% alcohol and watch what happens!!!.  The weathering aspect is then complete.

Next the track can be ballasted using a normal method that I described on my blog entry back on 22 Jan titled "Sharing". As a final touch, I spray the track and ballast with a India Ink/ alcohol mix. Be sure and give your track rail heads a good cleaning afterwards to get anything off the railheads to ensure good electrical conductivity for your locos. As mentioned all these steps add up to a time consuming process, but I am happy with the way my track looks afterwards. Our track is a model too and it deserves to not have a toy like shiny appearance that distracts viewers of our model railroads. Till next time...

Track after seude painted ties and rust colored rails

Track after dusted with black weathering powder and misted with alcohol

Final appearance of ballasted track 

Change is good

 Hi folks - well as I mentioned on my last post, I wanted to share some big news for the Nottingham Subdivision - I have decided to revert back to HO scale ( from On30) for my home layout. I will continue to be a member of the On30 modular group that I have belonged to for the last 10 years or so , but have spent considerable time thinking about my direction for my home layout. Although On30 locos and rolling stock are not much bigger than HO scale, the big thing for me given my space constrains was structures. O scale structures are generally 4 times the volume of HO and so I came to the conclusion that I just don't have the space to continue down the O scale road. I have spent the last month ripping up my old On30 trackage and turnouts and they have been replaced with H scale Peco code 83 flextrack and # 5 and #6 turnouts. I liked the track configuration that I have for On30, so no changes were made there. The new track was painted Camo dark brown after it was cut to size and soldered ( remember to leave every third piece unsoldered for expansion purposes). Once that was done I used DAP clear colored sealant to fix the track to the existing N scale roadbed (this was a new method for me). Next I will be adding Caboose Industries ground throws to activate the Peco turnouts - an easier method is just using your finger to push the switch points themselves, but I didn't like the idea of pushing on those parts, as I think over time the stress on them will take a toll. Once that is done I will be further weathering the track before ballasting. In between this I have managed to be able to build one good sized structure and have just received another kit that I have ordered from Otter Valley Railroad. By this fall I hope to have the layout back to "normal" with everything being HO scale at that point. Below is a picture of what I have done so far and the first loco ( and boxcar) to ride the new rails. Till next time....

Model Railroad Organizations

 

Hi folks - due to the recent weather here in the Maritimes of Canada, my model railroading season has been extended. Although we have had a couple of nice days, it seems like rainy cool days have been more the norm this spring so far. My modeling is continuing and it seems like there has been just enough decent weather to get most of my outside jobs done so far - so yes a happy balance. Recently I decided to join the NMRA National Model Railroad Association (nmra.org)   As of 1 May 2021 , I am officially a member. I have always known about the NMRA, even when I was a young modeler in the late 70's early 80's. Back then I was a member of the TAMR - teen association of model railroading and wrote an article on my  layout for the Canadian Division  newsletter (The Intercolonial) that was published - I still have a copy of the old black and white newsletter. I found it on the archives of the TAMR website as well:
8103.pdf (teenrailmodel.org)
 I have been a member of the MFMR Maritime Federation of Model Railroaders (mfmr.ca)  since around 1998 when I got back into the hobby. When I joined that organization, the NMRA was inactive in this region of Canada, so joining the NMRA then was not something I considered. That being said, the region has been "reactivated" approx 3-4 years ago and having recently become curious about it, I decided why not. Eastern Canada Division – NMRA ~ NER (wordpress.com) I attended my first on line meeting this past week - it was the annual general meeting and I must say I was impressed with what  saw ( and heard). I am looking forward to becoming an active member and have already volunteered to do a product review for the newsletter. Stay tuned for an update on my layout work -big project! Till next time...

New DCC System Part 2

 Hi Folks. Since my last update,  I have installed the new Digitrax DCC system a couple of weeks ago and as well have found a buyer for my old Lenz system. The installation was pretty straight forward and getting it up and running didn't take much time. I must admit having wireless throttles is a cool new feature for me! That being said, as with any new DCC system, there is still a lot to learn and become proficient at. I have joined a Digitrax support group and have already been able to learn a few things from that. Along with the new Evox D system, I installed just one UP5 fascia mounted jack ( powered) so if a visitor brings an older plug in Digitrax throttle, it can still be used - also gives me an outlet if I have to synch any duplex throttles - avoiding crawling under the layout to hook up to command station. Shortly after I ordered the new system, I decided that I wanted to add wireless capability for visitors by means of adding the Digitrax LNWI module to my system. Most folks have smart phones nowadays and a lot of the model railroaders I know have a throttle app on their phones. The added benefit of this is fewer throttles to buy ( they aint cheap!!). I have a Samsung tablet that can be used as a throttle as well, so that was tested with the new LNWI Module.  Initially I kind of wondered if having both the Duplex (UR93) module and the Wireless module (LNWI) operating at the same time might cause issues. I went on the Digitrax forum and was able to see that some users of the older UR92 duplex module did indeed have issues. Part of my installation process was to load the newest firm wear updates to both the modules in hopes that Digitrax had figured out any bugs and that I would not experience any issues. Well I am happy to report , that after installing the LNWI module, and using my Samsung tablet ( with the Engine Driver App), that things worked just fine and I was able to control one loco on Duplex throttle and one on the Samsung tablet (LNWI)....Till next time - happy railroading.

Digitrax DT602D throttle (Wireless) and New UP5 Jack

New UT6D utility throttle (wireless)

New Digitrax DCS210+ Command Station

UR93 Duplex module (Left) and LNWI wireless module (Right)

Engine Driver App on Samsung Tablet

New DCC System

 Hi folks. Back about a month ago, I decided to make some major changes to my existing shelf layout. I don't want to tell all at this point, however at the top of the list was updating my DCC System. I currently have the Lenz LZV 100 command station and an LH100 and LH90 throttle. I bought these approx. 18 years ago and although the system has undergone an upgrade ( around 2008) from version 3.5 to 3.6, I felt it was time to move on. One of the reasons was that although the Lenz system is solidly built and works very well, I felt that the support was just not there - other systems continued to do upgrades and come out with new components on a regular basis but Lenz just did not keep up the pace. Recently Lenz did come out with a new command station (LZV200) and updated throttle (LH101) and as a current Lenz owner, I could have participated in their trade in program, but I opted not to and changed paths. I have decided to take the "Digitrax Road " and purchased their newest Radio (Duplex) system , along with their updated throttles . I will be putting my old Lenz up for sale and hopefully will find someone who wants a low usage system that is complete with command station, power supply, throttles (x2), fascia plug plug in connectors and all cabling. When I sell something , I have always been reasonable on what I ask, so hopefully this will be appealing for an all in system for a reasonable amount. Now to get to work hooking up my new system....till next time.

Another new Loco

 Hi folks - well we have had some enjoyable sunny warm spring days as of late - nice to see winter behind us. Recently I purchased (from Georges Trains in Toronto). a new Rapido M420 locomotive. The prototype was a Canadian made locomotive and saw service on Canadian National here in Canada up until approx 1993. In fact I remember seeing a few here in my area of Canada. Some examples went to the US ( and Mexico I believe) in very small numbers. This loco has never before been done in plastic and it was great to see Rapido come through and meet the demand to produce this locomotive. I had not pre-ordered, but after the model came out and I saw some on the internet, I decided "why not". I selected an ESU sound equipped version and I must say it is very impressive ( this is my first Rapido locomotive) and it runs very nicely. Besides the great sound, it features working class lights and truck lights as well as a lighted control stand in the cab interior ( can you get any better????). Any way , I very much like it and am glad to have picked up this iconic Canadian Locomotive. Till next time....

Freight Car Friday

 Hi folks. Well I thought winter was finished with us here in Nova Scotia for this year. The ground was bare and we have had a couple of days where it was pleasant enough to go for a walk with a lightweight spring jacket - NOT!!. Overnight / today we had approx 20 cm of snow here in my area of the province. On the bright side the temperatures are suppose to go up significantly in the next several days along with rain , so I suspect this snow will not be here for very long. Bring on spring!!. Todays Freight Car Friday spotlights 2 Kadee hopper cars. These cars where bought shortly before I switched over to On30 scale approx 10 years ago. As such , they were never used and are essentially like new. They remained as part of my small HO scale freight car collection when I sold off the vast majority of my HO equipment. I am glad I held onto them. I must admit even with the plethora of new manufacturers high quality RTR cars, these Kadee cars are still very high quality and impressive. The hatches even open on these ones (as shown in the pictures). I plan on picking up a few more in the future. Happy Friday everyone.....

Dont wait....

 Hi folks. Most of us have at some point in the hobby experienced buyers remorse and the opposite which is where we see something we like and wait or put off till tomorrow to buy and then poof -its gone.. Well I don't know about you, but as far as the latter I have experience it many tines. For some time now, I have wanted to purchase an Atlas Classic GP7 in the Bangor and Aroostook scheme. Recently there have been several releases by different manufacturers of Bangor and Aroostook GP7's , but they have all been in the Railroads newer Orange, Blue, and Grey scheme. I wanted the older Dark Blue and Grey scheme which I liked better - looks classy to me. Well to that end, Its been probably approx. 15 years since this was last done by Atlas. I saw one about a year ago that looked in "as new condition" but I hesitated  and then you know what happened - poof! So for the last year or so, I have been keeping my eyes open on eBay, and various on line second hand dealers. About 2 weeks ago , late one evening I was on the following site:

Model Train Market | Buy Model Trains Online - Railroad Accessories and Train Stuff

 and there was not one , but 4 listed. 2 were the older Atlas/ Kato variety , 1 was an Atlas classic that had a dcc (only) decoder in it ( the handrails were broken in the pictures ( I suspect this was done by the previous owner while converting to DCC as the handrails on these are fragile)) and lastly there was an Atlas Classic that was DC only and in the pictures all the handrails were still in tack. I immediately ordered the last one. I did not hesitate and I am glad I did not - I checked back the next day and both the Atlas/Kato ones were gone and a couple days later the one with the broken handrails was no longer there - poof all of them gone!!!. So yesterday the postman arrived and I immediately opened the box and did an inspection - I believe I lucked out in acting as quickly as I did - although the model came with no box (grrrrrr), when inspected there were no broken parts - the end handrails were still in the small factory sealed packet and the wheels looked to have virtually no wear. I think I got the best one of the bunch. I checked it out on a piece of flex track hooked up to my old Tech 2  2400 power pack and it ran flawlessly - yeah!. I swapped out the Accumate couplers for Kadee Scale Head # 158's. The loco will be converted in the future to sound - another sound project for my list.....so moral of the story is don't wait - if you see something appealing so are 100 other modelers.

BAR GP7

BAR GP7

BAR GP7

Another Sound Conversion

 Hi Folks -- So this particular DCC project has taken me awhile to finish. I have 2 Atlas Classic (Maine Central) GP-7s that I bought new when they were first released back around 2004. I converted them to DCC back then using a TCS 2 function decoder. They have always worked very well with excellent slow speed performance. Finally it was time to bring them up to date with sound. I decided to select Soundtraxx Econami decoders and give those a try - they are considerable cheaper than that companies Tsunami 2 decoders so this was appealing to me given the age of these 2 locos. I ordered the decoders back in early December from Yankee Dabbler - a train shop in New Jersey ( I bought some stuff from their booth last year at the Big E show in Springfield, Mass and was impressed with them and have ordered a couple of times from them now) - I highly recommend them. As luck would have it (or otherwise), I ordered when the huge pre Christmas rush was on and from the news reports, the mail systems in both the US and Canada became "grid locked" due to the season and ongoing Covid 19 pandemic. It was not until the middle of January when  I finally got the parcel. In between ordering the decoders and receiving them, I was originally going to use a Soundtraxx Sugar Cube speakers, however I was doing some research and found out about speakers from Scale Sound Systems and decided to order speakers for these two locos from them. There are lots of rave reviews on the web about them. Here is a link to the model of speaker that I ordered:

Atlas Classic GP7/9 | website (scalesoundsystems.com)

So I received these speakers around the middle of February and went to install them. What I found out was that because of the size of them, you have to modify the lighting in the loco - using Surface Mount LED's  because of the stock light pipes. I didn't have any of these LED's on hand , so another mail order was necessary. I received these about a week ago and was finally able to finish up the project. So morla of teh story is its a good thing to have multiple projects in progress, so in the event you get stalled, you can still work on your other projects. Till next time folks....

  

SRY #151

  A couple of years ago when I decided to get back into HO scale, I was browsing on Credit Valley Rail website The Credit Valley Railway Company Ltd (cvrco.ca)   ,   I came across this Atlas MP15DC locomotive and noticed it was ESU sound equipped, it was from a Canadian Road (Southern Railroad of British Columbia), and most importantly it was on Sale. It was on a bit of an impulse buy, but at the time I didnt have any experience with ESU sound decoders (which i wanted to get), and I thought that because I was getting such a good deal on it that worse case scenario that I could sell it in the future and get my money back. I say this as even at the time, I knew that a release for a Road Name for a small Canadian Short Line such as this would be hard to acquire in a few years time once they were all sold out - this seems to be the case with what I have been seeing on Ebay and the like lately - Locomotives that were released years ago are going for prices above what they sold for new! As an ESU equipped Atlas, it runs exceptionally well and I have fine tuned the programming to make it even better. The only modification I made was to swap out the plastic couplers for Kadee Scale Head couplers. The model mainly sits in my display cabinet and I take it out a couple of times a year to give it a run. I like it very much and have decide I am going to hang on to it for now...you never know where my modeling direction will take me in the future. Till next time....

Freight car Friday

 Hi Folks. Well browsing through my recently received March edition of Model Railroader magazine ( I have been a subscriber for ~ 25 years). I came across an article by Lou Sassi on modeling a tractor load for a flatcar in On30. I myself did this several years ago and pretty much did it the same way as Lou did with the exception that I only had one tractor as the load, not two as Lou did. My On30 layout is suppose to be set in an early 50's timeframe, so when I decided to create the tractor load, I had to go on the internet and find a suitable tractor to fit that time period. I was able to find a McCormick -Deering WS6 model and after researching it , I was able to see that the last year of production was 1953, so it would fit right in. Here is a link to the history of this tractor   TractorData.com McCormick-Deering W-6 tractor information

Once I received the tractor, I used one of my existing Bachmann On30 flat cars - already lettered for NBR&N and with a Laser cut wood floor already in place. I cut suitable wheel blocking braces and glued these into place so that the would secure the wheels of the tractor . I used Tichy brand NBW casting (painted a rust color) and glue them onto the tops of the wheel braces. Pre blackened A -Line chain was used to "tie" down the tractor to the deck. The ends were glued into the side pocket stakes of the flatcar. This was a pretty easy one night project , and the result is an eye catching load for a flatcar. Take a look:

McCormick Deering WS6

Davenport #16 shoves the flatcar with the new tractor

On30 Climax

 For the locomotives in my collection that are normally not on the layout, I take them out of their boxes and give a run at least once every six months or so. I do this to keep the mechanisms freed up and to hopefully prevent any "lack of use" issues down the road. For my On30 locos, this usually isn't a problem as there are a sufficient number of train shows in a given year that they are run on the modular layout of the On30 group that I am a member of. I was on vacation at the time of the last show and then we had a winter break followed by the pandemic, so in total its been approx. 18 moths since the last show that I was a part of.  That being said, it was time to dig them out and give them a run on my small On30 home layout. The Bachmann Climax ( factory Soundtraxx Tsunami equipped) was one of the first On30 locomotives that I purchased probably about 10-11 years ago and although it ran well for the first couple of years, it did eventually suffer from the notorious Bachmann split gear issue. After enough complaining from buyers, Bachmann came out with a program whereby you could contact them and they would send you new sets of gears for any On30 locos that you had in your possession free of charge. That was back around 2015 I believe and I don't think it is in place anymore. I received the new gears and they were tucked away for when I had time to do the replacement - well that end up being about 3 years before I got around to it. Bachmann provided instructions and there were plenty of users who documented the replacement with pictures and posted on the internet. The most common problematic gears were the bevel gears located inside the trucks of the climax - so a relatively easy swap out. When Bachmann sent me the new gears, they sent me everything including a gear replacement set for the gear box as well as the entire drivetrain. After doing the gear replacement, for the trucks, the model ran better but still had a slight growl to it when running ( which you couldn't hear when the sound was on by the way) so, I made the faithful decisions that I would also do the gear box as well, even though I was unsure if there was anything wrong with those gears but assumed that this was the source of the growl. When I disassembled the gear box, it came to a point where all the bell cranks and "moving parts " located under the boiler basically fell out in a pile in my hands. To make a long story short, over the course of the next year or so, I attempted several times to reassemble the model and on several frustrating occasions came to the conclusion that the model would end up regulated to a display shelf, however after stepping back and waiting a couple of months between tries, I was finally able to get everything back together. The end result is the model still has a slight growl heard when the sound is turned off, but slightly better after replacing the gear box gears and using a new high quality gear lubrication. I used JMRI decoder pro to tweak some of the advanced Tsunami "Hyperdrive" CV's and am now pleased with how the model runs. Here she is on my home On30 layout. Till next time....

Bachmann On30 Climax

About to cross over the level crossing

Sharing

 Hi Folks. Last week, the Model Railroader association that I belong to had an online Zoom meeting in which several members gave 5-10 minute presentations. I volunteered to give one on my method of ballasting. I explained how I do all my scenery first as well as tracking weathering, before ballasting. I passed along some methods that have worked well ( and I feel look pretty good) for me. I initially use a cinder type ballast along the margins of the N scale cork ( that I used on my On30 switching layout) and  glued this down ( and let dry) before proceeding to add the Woodland Scenics Medium Grey Blend between and along side the ties. I think the medium size from a size perspective works very well for On30 track ( doesn't look too big or too small) - if I was doing HO scale , I think I would use a N scale sized ballast. I work in 12-18 inch long sections, as using my method of ensuring ALL the ballast is off the surface of the ties and the web of the rail can be tedious and time consuming. The benefit is that once it is done, it looks great to me (neat and tidy!!). Once the ballast is down and ready to secure, I first use eye droppers to apply alcohol followed by Woodland Scenics scenary cement. I never spray with spray bottles as this will just blow the loose ballast away if too much force is used. Some folks use the "wet water: technique first , but I find that by using alcohol, it dries things out much quicker - left overnight , things will be dry in the morning unlike the wet water method which may stay wet for several days. I find the key to adding the alcohol or glue is to have the nozzle of the eyedropper facing the web of the rail, so when the liquid comes out it is not flowing directly on the ballast disturbing it - also using a slow steady squeeze of the eyedropper bulb is important. Here are some pictures that I used during my presentation. Till next time...

Freight Car Friday

 Happy New Year folks! I am sure we can all agree that we are hoping for a much better 2021 and that the world ends up in a much better place than it was during most of last year. Todays freight car spot light is on converted Bachmann On30 18 foot flat cars. These flat cars were released by Bachmann several years ago and it wasn't long afterwards that several manufactures started developing and releasing conversion kits in various formats. I decide to convert a couple that I had into side dump hoppers using a kit by  Train Troll   The kit comes with all the laser cut pieces to convert 2 of the Bachmann flats - (the flats come as a 2 pack as well). It took me a week of evenings to complete the models from start to finish. I followed the well explained instructions and prior to assembly, I lightly stained the laser cut wood parts using a mixture of India ink and alcohol. The hardware parts (hinges, levers, etc) are all of the peel and stick variety  - I used flat black camo type paint to paint these prior to assembly as well. Even though the hardware parts are peel and stick, I used a small amount of white craft glue to ensure that they would stay in place.  The flatcars themselves were weathered by a friend of mine prior to mounting the hopper bodies to them. I liked the end result and ended up buying 2 more packs of both the flatcars and the hoppers so I could have a small unit train to be pulled by one of my small Whitcomb diesels. I often take these cars to run at Train shows as part of the On30 modular group that I belong to. One of the things I like about On30 is that the smaller manufacturers' have been good to bring out kits to modify existing On30 rolling stock into something unique - fun stuff!!. Till next time....

Side dump Hoppers

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