A thread for Shay Pictures
This one is in Cadillac, Mi.
   
   
   

Hello, I'm a new member of this forum, my name is Serge and I live in St-Lazare Qc, about 30 min. west of Montreal and about 45 min from Hawkesbury Ont.

My main interest is modeling an Ho scale 12x13 transition freelanced layout.
At the age of 6, I received as a Christmas gift an O gauge Lionel train set, kept it for quite a few years, built a 4x8 layout with real dirt and rocks including my Eldon race track set.

I started HO model train modeling in December 2009 after I gave up Discus fish breeding.

For the moment my layout does not have any landscaping, the reason being is that it will be moved to an other location in the basement in a couple of years from now.
I have quite a few buildings on my layout, mostly plastic kits, I have one Craftsman kit and intend to build a few more.
Most of my buildings have lighting ,shadow boxes and some have interior scenes.
I will eventually post some photos of my buildings.

A special thanks to Dr. Wayne who encouraged me to visit this forum, I was really impressed with the pertinence of the posts and available information on the forum.

Thank you for letting me join this forum and I hope I will eventually meet other fellow modelers to exchange ideas, visit layouts, swap stuff etc,
I'm quite alone in my neck of the woods, luckily I have my wife who supports and encourages me in perusing my accomplishments in this wonderful hobby.


Have a nice day.

Hi!

I'm actually pondering about logging railway operation. I mean how locomotives were run. I've read quite a lot about the subject recently and viewed hundred of pictures. My question isn't about shays, climax, heisler or locomotives builts specifically for the task like 2-6-2, 2-8-2 and mallets. I'm talking about 4-4-0, 4-6-0 and 2-6-0 we often saw on very old pictures. On many line, these oldies survived quite a long time. My question is about running them in reverse.

I've seen a very few pictures showing them shoving log trains with the boiler facing the consist. You can explain that with the fact they wanted the crownsheet to be covered in water, which make sense when running against a steep grade.

However, many other pictures show you the locmotive pulling a loaded consist, face forward like a real mainline train. Clearly, that means there was a wye or another way to reverse the engine.

Here's my question, was it "common" that railroads devoid of any reversing device would run "standard" locos? Wouldn't it have been wuite risky to shove trains for miles up a hill then run back to the mill or the log pond the tender first? Sounds risky to me. I can understand they could build a runaround somewhere to make sure the locomotive pull the train uphill with empties. The, on the return trip, we would still have the tender running first.

I hope I'm clear in what I'm saying. I know a few railroad had locomotives facing the same direction all their life. I'm just trying to figure out what would have been normal for a logging operation using second-hand ex-mainline locomotives.

Thank you!

Matt

I know this subject has been discussed many times but I am still trying to find a kind of cheap method that works.
I have read many threads about the use of track cleaning cars that use a specific chemical for cleaning, cleaning blocks, cleaning pads that are suspended from under a car and
the use of both a metal cleaner followed up with polishing the rail heads with a stainless steel washer. I know that these methods and others all have their merits and that it depends on what works
best for each modeler.
Last night I was watching some model rr videos on youtube and ran across one on track cleaning and the person in the stated that he swears by the use of automatic transmission
fluid that he dabs on a rail and lets his locos and cars spread it around the layout. He states that with this meth0od he can go up to a year without having to re-apply the fluid and
that he has had no problems with dirt and the trains run fine.
In my opinion this method kinda scares the hell out of me. I was always under the impression that the use of something like ATF would attract dirt and dust transferring them to the wheels
causing operation problems.
I have been messing around trying to come up with something that meets my needs. What I did was to mount a piece of bass wood under a gondola. The wood is cut slightly larger
that the width of the rails. I run this car from both ends of my switcher. The car could be left on the rails and used as an idler for my car float or removed until the next time it is used.


You will notice on the underside shot on the top and bottom of the wood block that there is a light gray streaks that shows me that the block is picking up dirt on the rails.
This method works for me.
How about the rest of you modelers,what method do you use to keep your rails clean?

I have an airbrush and I've been using cans of air without the best of luck. I'd like purchase a compressor to use. Wondering if anybody has any recommendations. Before I buy I wanted to double check as well, I have a small pancake compressor that will run a staple or nail gun, it's a small one so I was curious if I can turn down the psi and get proper airbrush fittings for one?

Hi all
I'd like to share my latest exhibition layout with you all

http://youtu.be/VmXiJpVZ_gA

Your comments are welcome

Thanks
Chris

It's been a while since we've had any kind of challenge here. Over the years, we've challenged everyone's photography skills, building and creative abilities, and even your railroading knowledge. This time we want to challenge your thought process, in this, our first ever; "Suppose", or "How about renaming a line?" challenge.

Let's just go back in time and suppose that it were you that started a popular railroad, and it was you that had chosen the name. Pretend you were the Rockefeller of the day and the railroad had the name that you wanted, not the name that was picked by those that started that railroad. We want to know what name you would have chosen for that particular railroad that coincides with the real name in some manner, be it similar, opposite, or even some odd interpretation of the real name.

As an example, suppose you were to have started the Rock Island Line, you could have called it, the "Pebble Beach Line" instead. (Get it?). Or maybe the Baltimore & Ohio might have been the "Maryland and Dayton RR". (Little thought, but an example anyway). You pick the road, be it active or a fallen flag; you can then assign whatever name you want to it.

You can carry it a step further, how about adding a tag line for your new railroad?

Sound challenging? Here are the rules:

1. Pick an actual road name from anywhere in the world, it can be active or a fallen flag, just that it has to be a real railroad at one time or another. Assign a new name to this road that coincides with the real name in some manner be it similar or opposite, or even your own interpretation of the real name. Humor, tongue-in-cheek and off-the-wall names are worthy competition, but anything you come up will qualify.

2. You can create the new name for a specific road, but anyone else can also create an entirely different new name for that road, just as long as it is substantially different than yours.

3. Adding a tag line for your road name is not a requirement, but it should really wow everyone if you do. It can refer to the freight or passenger aspect of your road. Again, humor will go a long way in this challenge.

4. Want to add a herald or logo for you RR? Go ahead, we won't mind at all.

5. You can post your entry in this <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=8159">viewtopic.php?f=37&t=8159</a><!-- l --> thread that's been opened only for this challenge entries. Just post the original (real) road name, followed by your new name, and tag line if you have one. Please keep your comments and questions in this thread right here.

6. You may have up to five entries, each one will be judged on it's own and not collectively.

7. This challenge will run for six weeks and will close on March 29 at Midnight GMT. It is important that you pay attention to this time since I'm sure that I'll still be sound asleep around then.

8. We will open a voting poll to find out which entries gave us the bigger smile or were the most original. The winner, now get ready for this, will receive a genuine Big Blue Anniversary coffee mug left over from last year. Consider this a genuine keepsake that will only increase in value because of its rarity. The first and second runner-ups will receive a certificate suitable for framing.

9. Since we are awarding a prize, members of the Big Blue staff can enter for the fun of it only and will not be eligible for entry in the voting poll.

Good luck to you all

This thread is for challenge entries only! Please open another thread to comment on entries.

About this same time for the last 5 years, we have asked for anyone that could contribute, to please think about donating a bit to maintain Big Blue, without us digging deeper into our own pockets.

We have had many of you contribute through the year, plus a few auctions that have all helped us keep Big Blue afloat and we sincerely thank all of you that have contributed in any way! Always remember, we made a pledge when we first opened, not to resort to ads or sponsors, and thanks to you, it's been easy to keep that pledge.

That having been said; While donations are always gratefully accepted, we find that this year, we will be skipping our annual fund drive, due to the tremendous support we have had in the past few years. Yes, that means you all get a break from us asking for donations.

We would like to say right here and right now, that you are all the greatest members that anyone could ask for!!

~~~ ezdays and ngauger