need opinion as to what would look better on chopping block on back porch of farmhouse. The small single bit axe or the large double bit axe? I know the photo isn't very good.
   

Let's see if we can beat last week

   

Right now, I've got all my roadbed down on my new layout and I'm ready to lay some track. I've got enough manual and remote turnouts that I need with a few extra of both kinds if needed later on. I know which type I'm going to use, but I'm wondering what type do you use on your layouts. Manual is more realistic, remote electromagnetic is a lot more convenient if you run trains often and do a lot of switching.

I don't think we've run a poll since changing to the new software, so this is a good test to see how it does. The question is, what type of turnouts do you use?

This one was bashed late last year and will be the main switcher locomotive at our Donohue paper mill. It tries to replicate this ex-CP MLW S2 as it looked in the mid-2000s. This particular locomotive was acquired second-hand from Merrilees who shopped with a lower cab roof to fit tight clearance at the mill circa 1986. In the early 2000s, the engine had to be rebuilt after a serious incident (I believe a piston went through the headblock... sorry my understanding of motors is minimal at best!). When it returned from the shop, the hood Alco-style fan was replaced with an EMD GP one, giving it even more character.

It was a fun built and I weathering a black engine was quite a challenge. Since this unit was always extremely well maintained, I had to exercise a lot of restrain. In fact, the locomotive isn't painted black but rather a brownish grimy black so details can pop. Color pencils were also used to highlight panel lines, door handles and grilles. Once again, subtlety was primordial.


While the locomotive is completed, I'll need to take apart the truck sideframes and clean electrical contacts. Even if I was careful, it seems paint ended up there and kind of ruined the electrical pickup. Except for that, this Atlas locomotive is an excellent runner and equipped with a factory installed Loksound decoder.

For the anecdote, when I purchased this locomotive, it came painted in CP paint scheme and sported exactly the same roadnumber than the real locomotive when acquired by Merrilees. It was a pure coincidence!















Matt

Not a lot of interest here anymore, so here's an older shot that has been posted before.
Dock Street's leased MP15AC doing some street running on Delaware Ave.

Bruce

   

I know  some are waiting to see farmhouse bash but while waiting for parts order my ADD kicked in and went on to finish  the log hauling flats I started some time age.
this is the prototype .
   

this is the basic tichy 53'6" flat  I started with.
   

this is what I did. the logging co bought the flats and for railroad shop adding the bunks and bulkhead ends for a grantee of 6 loads a week for two years. the deck was noched and uprights welded to the side frames , the H beams fit around the stake pockets. the logs are cut to 22 to 23 '
   
the mill wanted no more than 47 ' between the bulkheads to keep loads more compact for unloading reasons., that why there set back from end of car.
   

the next stop will be the paint shop
   

now I can get back to the farmhouse

One of my friend is in the process of building a small switching layout based on an agricultural community located in Southern Quebec. It used to be a MMA branchline.

The fleet is made of old Athearn Blue Box kits, Accurail and Intermountain. The weathering was intended to blend together the cars, thus narrowing the huge difference in detailing. The weathering is based on real prototype pictures shot circa 2002-2006. It was extremely fun to try to replicate the effects using various techniques. I also tried my hand at graffiti even if I'm not particularly fond of that kind of "art".

I believe nice weathering can truly bring back to life old freight cars. Taking in account how much a new grain hopper cost nowadays, we can no longer afford building large fleet without using some ingenuity.

I'm also impressed by Accurail's ribbed hopper. They really did a great job in terms of balancing fine details, easy assembly and affordable price. Their new toolings are particularly interesting and I hope, one day, they will bring some of their classic boxcars up to the same level of quality. 















Matt

It has been a while I posted here, but under the positive (and welcomed) pressure of Doctorwayne, I thought it would be nice to post about some of my recent projects.



Many years ago, I acquired an Atlas GP40-2W. Like many people, I was a little bit disappointed by the crude cab thought I loved the smooth running drive. It stayed in my drawers and I almost bought an Athearn GP40-2W later until I found out their drive was not as good as Atlas and the fine details were far too much fragile. At that point I had no use for CN GP40s since my layout era was changeg to the early 2000s. Then I discovered GP40-2W did in fact visit my area in 2002 and that it could fit my layout perfectly. Back then, CN 9423 ventured in Clermont for a while as a backup locomotive.


Thus, I added a Loksound decoder in the locomotive and new speakers. I renumbered the locomotive using Sean Steele excellent CN diesel locomotive decals. These decals are hard to find are cost much more than your regular decals, but it is well worth the price. Sean took the time to replicate CN fonts instead of using generic Helvetica fonts. And yes, it matters because CN had quite a peculiar number "2" design that other sets generally fail to replicate. Given there is a "2" in 9423, it was important to me to get this right. In my mind, people won't notice a 2" lower frame, but will easily find out lettering isn't prototypical.

Atlas numberboards are factory painted white and a black layer is painted over it. This ensure they can be backlighted. Since I wanted to preserve that function, some Solvaset was used to remove the black layer. Once done, a new black decal with transparent numbers was printed then applied on the model. This way nothing is lost! I also went an extra step and created the numberboard artwork using a real picture of CN 9423. Can't be closer to the prototype! And makes aligning decals far much easier.

Interestingly enough, the prototype was heavily weathered and I though it would be a nice project to try replicate this. I used online pictures of CN 9423 to guide me. I was astounded by the amazing weathering pattern that developed on this particular locomotive. Both sides of the locomotive are heavily weathered, but not in the same way, which I find particularly challenging in a positive way.

So here are the results:

Ah, we're just upon the day where everyone is Irish, St. Paddy's Day. Wearing of the green, green beer, corned beef and cabbage and trying to speak like you just got off the boat. All myths, but that's OK as long as we have a good time.