Here are my first attempt at a pair of SD45M's these are from a pair of 1960 ERA GP40'S.

ERIE RR Aka Tom

You might have noticed, we have a new look at the top of the page. A new logo and logotype. This was custom drawn by our own webmaster and my son, Pat, aka: Duffy or Flatt Bear... (please, take a bow Pat. , and thanks ) We thought we needed a bit of refreshing and updated look, it started a few months ago with new forum software and a new basic look. We are, after all, approaching our teen years, we reached puberty when we turned 10 years-old just about a month ago. We have other things in store, we'll be announcing those as we go, but for now, we hope you like what we've done so far. The thing that we won't change is the use of the nickname that we acquired many years ago when we started out as "The-Gauge". We were "Big Blue" back then and we will remain Big Blue. We were all blue back then, and we are still all blue. Our motto then was, "Keep it gauged" and it's still part of us today.

Anyway, keep looking for more things happening as we go through our tenth year. Spoiler alert: we may have some contests, we may have a few auctions and who knows what else we can cook up. Suggestions are welcome, we are here for your fun and enjoyment.

anyone here remember what rolled roofing that was split down the center to make a decorative edge was  called ? or do you have an old photo showing it ?

The Canyon State RR was formed back in 2002 located in a garage and on a door mounted on a mobile base. A few years later, we moved and the CSRR was made more permanent since it had a room all its own. Eventually, it was doubled in size to a U-shape and even had a backdrop. Unfortunately, when we decided to downsize in 2014, I had to put that room back the way it should be. For some stupid reason, I removed what I could from the layout and brought what was left to the local landfill. I would like to think it got destroyed in an earthquake, but that’s just my world. Everything that was not destroyed by that really localized quake was packed up and remained that way through four moves. I still miss that layout and I miss building things, but I now have the time, space and desire to start again, and I hope that I can document my progress from a thought to  sketches to reality.

Here are a few photos of my old layout, like most layouts are, it was a work in progress. I hope I can reuse most of the structures that I was able to save, especially the scratchbuilt ones:

   

   

   

   

   

have  4 Walters cornerstone kit's that I decided to sell , Walters lists l 3 of the 4 as discounted ,  all kits are complete  price includes shipping by usps ground  to lower 48 Alaska and Hawaii will be 5$ more , pick up addable I will knock 10$ off price. out of the USA contact me and will give you a price including for shipping to your location but these are large heavy kits  photo's addable on request .

Miranda's banana's box (OOP) open 1 part off sprue but there instructions and sign sheet  included  40 $ gone
Milwaukee beer and ale  box opened but all parts on sprue's , Walters has it on sale for 65$ , my price 50$ gone
Midstate marble products (OOP)  box open all parts on sprue's with instruction sheet and sign's 35$ gone
Headquarters building (OOP) box open  inner plastic bag  not opened  50$ gone

A GP10 and slug will be handling the switching at Mannheim Yard.

Bruce

   

I’m no longer satisfied with doing touch up jobs on side rods, valve gear and drivers with paint, I remember there was a product called Blacken It, but it doesn’t seem to made anymore. Was wondering what product you guys have found to replace Blacken It? I found a product online called Jax which has blackeners, has anyone used these? If so, which one? I’ll be using the stuff on Bowser, Mantua or John English running gear. Which I believe is brass at the core and is tin plated? I don’t think I’m interested in using Neolube because I fear it won’t play nice with DCC.

Thx,
Mark

A friend sent me this LINK.

I'm surprised that no one else seemed to react....perhaps asleep at the wheel?

Wayne

Over on my Andrew's Trains site I've been working away at (and writing up how I've been) upgrading the Athearn Blue Box XAF10 Railbox cars 
(and yes I know they are not exact - but they're cheap and I have a few of them to upgrade and add to my fleet).

For more information you can head on over to the main site but I wanted to share some photos of the progress so far. 
This is a multi-part project that I've been working on for some time as I get a few moments.

Here are some excerpts from the article on adding brake gear (as art versus science):

"This article provides a method to model the brake rodding of an AAR AB air brake system to get the maximum look with minimum effort. 
Train lines and brake-system piping exist on all freight cars; 
the design of many car types (especially boxcars, flat cars, and gondolas) makes it difficult if not impossible to see in regular operation. 
Providing simplified brake gear without all that piping, and the time and materials required to install, 
improves the look of your freight fleet and can be done in a short time (usually an hour or so)."

"I’d like to thank Tony Thompson from the ‘Modeling the SP Blog’ who was the inspiration for this article. 
(See the Resources section at the bottom of this page for a link to Tony’s original blog post.) 
Tony’s minimalist brake line modelling omits piping and any other items of brake gear that are out of site on freight cars as we would ‘normally’ view them. 
Tony’s approach makes sense on a running model; after all if you can’t see it then why should you model it?"

I took my inspiration from Tony Thompson's excellent article on his blog. 
All of that detail is in the original post on my site. 
Let me know your thoughts. 
Images in the next post.

Visit the original post here using WordPress short codes: https://wp.me/P47pPY-Sz

some time ago I was given this
   
as you can tell its a Revell farm house well past its prime .some one had removed most of the wrap around porch
   
a sad looking mess.

I striped off the 4 layers of paint and removed the cast on windows and replaced them with tichy ones that fit the openings
   
then to replace the missing roof on the kitchen I added a sleeping porch
   
the windows are not attached yet as I need to put another coat  of color on the walls. will add  more as rebuild progresses.