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.

Hello All
Have for sale 2 kits :
Ambroid B&O cushion coil car $10.00 (3oz)
E&B Valley RR Co. ACH 70 ton 2 bay covered hopper $8.00 (4oz)
Pix are in Photo's under  Andy's For Sale 1-27-19.
Both kits come in original boxes + instructions. Neither kit has couplers or trucks. Their weights let them (one or both) be sent USPS First Class.
Asking to be paid PayPal only as it's the easiest way for both of us. Will put in mail the 2nd day after receipt of payment.
If you have any questions about the items or shipment, please email me at lajrmdlr AT gmail.com. That is also my PayPal addy.
Postage is extra. USPS says First Class postage for both across country is less than $5.00.
Thanks' for looking.
Andy Jackson
Santa Fe Springs CA 90670
   
   

been gone south of the border for some time, been back for a while and looked here off and on , and find that there is not as much activity as there use to be . is it just the seasonal slump or is this what's it like all the time ?

Dock Street's leased MP15AC makes a pick up at Pier 7.

Bruce

   

The streetcar phase is going to end soon. I miss switching and smooth running engines. Both is conceptual hard to do with streetcars and the Luna track system (German fora are full with warnings to use Luna tracks. I ignored the warning and learned they are very valid the hard way).

I will go back to a freelance switching layout. The row of the urban buildings will be moved to an elevated background. The design point of simple hand thrown switches with dead frogs will be kept from Freelance 2018-1. But I am going to try Peco this time. Two sets of #5 and #6 switches and some flex tracks have been ordered an hour ago.

I hope to get the streetcar installation clean and easy off the bench work some time during next week.

Recently, a friend contacted me to enquire if I had any interest in some LaBelle kits for old-time passenger cars.  Apparently there are some which have been started but not completed (not his work, but supposedly very nicely-done so far) and some are new-in-box kits, unstarted, but apparently complete. 

I have little interest in wood kits since discovering the joys of working in styrene, but wonder if there might be any interest here.  I haven't yet seen these kits in person, but if there's sufficient interest, I will get them and provide photos.

He hasn't indicated what he expects for them, but assured me that prices (if there's any interest) would be very reasonable.  He feels that he won't have time to ever get around to building them, and is more interested in seeing them go to people who would, as he put it. "Enjoy building them and give them a good home."

In case there's more response to this than I anticipate, I think that the fairest way to handle this will be on a first-come, first-served basis.  He seems uncertain as to how many kits there are (I've seen the shelves of unbuilt kits, so I'm not surprised by that), but I get the impression that there are at least 5 or 6, and perhaps more.  He may also come across other long forgotten stuff, which might be available, too. 

As I mentioned, pictures and more info depending on response from Members.  There is not, at this time, anything for sale, I'm simply looking to see if there's any interest in these older types of kits.

Wayne