Well I was working on the last part of my scissor's Cutting's project when I got distracted by the mess in my workshop. It seems that I keep collecting new tools, books and other parts but am quickly running out of room to put them.

My workshop was a bedroom in my basement that I re-purposed. It measures out to 10 X 13'. The left side has my workbench (office desk) and a set of Ikea bookshelves that contain my Model railroader, Model railroad Craftman and other magazine collection as well as other books. Lately that magazine collection has bee spilling out onto the floor.
On the right side was an old dresser and a low cabinet that I used for storage.

I recently got rid of the dresser as it's a rather inefficient way of storing small boxes and such. I want to keep the low cabinet as it's still useful.
In the center of the room is my airbrush booth. it was sitting on a 26" x 66" table that was taking up too much room and I was having difficulty getting around it. So that too was given away. I managed to find the blue stand that you see in the pictures at work (they were just going to throw it away.) I then went to work building a new set of shelves on the right wall.

I built the shelves you see here in a few weekends of work. most of the lumber is salvaged from various shipping crates and pallets that came from work. The taller section's shelves are 2 X 4' with one shelf being used for my miniature drill press and sander.

The narrower shelves are 4' long and 16" deep. they also straddle the lower cabinet.

I still have quite a bit more to put away. and I also need to invest in some trays to put all my model paints. I probably have more that 200 bottles of floquil, scalecoat, polly-s, and model master paint as well as all the rattle cans you see in the photos.

Cheers Lutz

Since I'm at kind of at standstill with my "get off you duff" challenge, I decided to see if I could make some progress on another project that has been sitting on my workbench for a while. It's 3 Bachmann Spectrum GP30's for the Reading Line. I got these off of Ebay at a respectable price but they all require some work. Especially in the paint department. Also, they all had the same road #5513. I don't have any picture of these assembled when they arrived at my house but all the cabs had the yellow paint peeling off them.



I've since stripped the paint and added drip rails and repainted 2 of them Pollyscale Reading yellow.


I also stripped the paint off the GP30 shells and where the yellow paint was flaking off the cabs, the yellow paint on the shells was a bugger to get off.


Also on the unpainted shell I have removed the dynamic brake shrouds and radiator shroud to correct what is called the "fan mistake" on these particular shells. Proto2000 has corrected this mistake with their GP30's. Also, I plan installing sound in these and right about where the fans are, I see the speaker going in.

More up date on this project later.

I am reposting a letter from the board of directors of the Anthracite Railroads Historical society about a dispute that we are having with a supplier called Big Dog Originals. I have received permission from Ed White to post this here to inform others of what is going on .


March 30, 2017



Dear ARHS Members and Friends,



Back in 2007-2008, as a fundraiser for the society, ARHS invested substantial time and resources in the development of an HO-Scale Baldwin DR-4-4-1500 “Babyface” model shell that could fit on a Life-Like Proto 2000 FA2 chassis. This involved researching the Babyface designs at the PA state archives in Harrisburg, PA, working with CAD designers to appropriately scale the shells, working with resin mold casters to alter the shells to “lock” on to a FA2 chassis, and procuring the necessary detail parts to accompany the shells (windshields, steps, horns, etc.) All of this time was invested by the Society to further our mission of historical preservation and to support the Society financially through sales of this model.



In January 2017, the ARHS was contacted by Mr. Bruce Gavin of Big Dawg Originals (BDO) (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.bigdawgoriginals.com/">https://www.bigdawgoriginals.com/</a><!-- m -->). Mr. Gavin informed the ARHS he was selling copies of the shells which he had made from a mold he had taken of one of our shells. To justify this piracy of our design, he alleged correctly that the design of the original locomotive was in the public domain, but incorrectly that the design of our HO scale model was also in the public domain. It is not. Mr. Gavin is presently promoting his pirated copies on BDO’s website (link above), via eBay here and here, and via Facebook here. Apparently sales have been substantial enough to justify a second run per BDO’s Facebook and web pages.



The ARHS takes the position that Mr. Gavin's actions constitute theft of our design. Apparently this is not the first time that Mr.Gavin has attempted to pirate someone else's work. Our claims of theft are echoed by reputable manufacturers (Athearn, Rapido, etc.), and have been posted or quoted in reputable online forums (i.e. Model Railroader here)



So where does that leave us? The ARHS has contacted Bruce Gavin of BDO directly stating our position and requesting he and his company cease from these illegal activities.



We are also asking for your help and cooperation by not patronizing this illegal activity, and spreading the word to other modelers of BDO's questionable reputation. Companies like BDO only have a market for their product if there are customers out there who support them. Margins in the model railroading industry have shrunk so much in recent years that the only manufacturers left are those that would not be in it except that they enjoy the hobby as much as the modeler does. As if the financial pressure on the industry from overseas manufacturing wasn’t enough, now we have issues from companies like BDO on the home front to deal with. Specific to the ARHS, it was our hope that the investment we had in the Babyface models years ago could be used to benefit the Society down the road with additional HO models, including double-enders, and possibly runs of the Babyface shells in additional scales. The actions of BDO have put these future opportunities at risk for the ARHS.



The ARHS board of directors requests your support in not patronizing companies such as BDO and encouraging your friends and family to do the same. There is nothing original about BDO. Their work is theft of another’s investment, design, and hard-earned ideas, plain and simple.



Warmest Regards,

The ARHS Board of Directors



Although I have no control over how people spend their money , I would like to ask the members here to not purchase our copied shells from Big Dog Originals. We are a nonprofit group that has spent a huge amount of funds and time on this project, for someone to copy them for profit is a real slap in the face.

Thanks for your time in reading this.
Steve Olear.

As shown in Lutz's 4-4-0 thread, I recently purchased an old AHM/Rivarossi Big Boy. It had sat on a shelf for several years, so the first thing I did was clean and lube it. It ran, but the square 3 pole motor was quite noisy and rough, so I decided to remotor the locomotive.

   

I Googled some threads on remotoring http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/193714/2115155.aspx and http://www.tycoforums.com/tyco/forum/top...C_ID=10100, so I went ahead and cut the frame down, modified the drive shaft, and installed a Canon DN22 motor I found on eBay. The motor is quiet, the locomotive runs smooth, but it's very s-l-o-w. I had looked at specs https://www.canon-prec.co.jp/english/pro...ncore.html from Canon, so I thought it would be ok, but I suspect the motor I got is a 24v motor, not a 12v motor, as it seems to be running at about half speed with the throttle all the way up.

I used a scale speed indicator, and it seems to top out at 38 MPH. My layout doesn't have grades, but I tried to pull 12 freight cars around the layout and it could barely do that, plus I ran it on my friend's layout last night and it nearly stopped going uphill a few times running light.

I'm trying to pick a better motor (without going broke), so I'm looking at a Canon EN22 and a Mabuchi FK-280. Any advice? Also do these locos pull very well with a new motor? Do I need to add weight, too?

Fellow modelers,
Sunday, March 26th, about 4:00 in the afternoon, my favorite uncle passed on. It was no surprise as he'd been fighting for many years. All the same, that did not make it any easier to accept. I think he was about 65 years old, married, with one surviving son. His name was Daniel MacDonald and he is the reason I am so hopelessly obsessed with this great hobby we all enjoy. He got me started in N scale when I was only 10 or so. He never forgot my birthday and always got me something having to do with trains for each one... diesel spotters guides, N scale trolley, coal tower kits, a boxcar here, a gondola there... etc. etc. etc.
He was an avid armchair railroader himself and was also a rivet counter! His passion was the logging RR's... steam... although come to think of it, he liked the old diesels as well so maybe he was a transition era kind of guy! He would spend hours and hours and hours getting the handrails just right, or the chains to hang just so. He would take an old steam engine and set the throttle to 1 so he could see how long it would take to travel from point A to point B grinning from ear to ear the whole time! I'll miss him something terrible but let it be known, his passion lives on through me!

I've been trying to replicate some hopper door latches and they're not turning out so well.

Here is what I'm trying to replicate.



Here's how they've come out. I've painted them so I could see the detail or other imperfections.


If you look closely, you'll see air bubbles. Either molded on or small cavities. Some maybe usable but many are not.

I've been using this to make the mold.


And using this to make the casting.


Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thx,

Mark