Hi Guys,

so i have been staring at my Walthers Cornerstone Series FORD Auto Plant structures for the past 2 days. I had 2 Stamping Plants, 2 Assembly Plants, and 1 Distribution Facility. I still need to get one more Distribution Facility. Anyways, i was sick of just looking at them sitting in the boxes in kit form, so i cracked them open, here is what i have come up with so far in the past 3 days. Ive spent most of the last 3 days building these 2 MASSIVE buildings

I combined both my Stamping Plants to make a longer structure. I added in 4 Shipping and Receiving dock doors for rail cars, and 2 shipping dock doors for trucks. The Assembly Plant was a bit of a challenge, and i had to arrange the doors in a way that would work for me. I combined both kits, one kit along builds a HUGE building measuring 23-1/8" long x 11-13/16" wide, i doubled the length and kept the width. On the second part of the building, i made the wall go in to half of the 11-13/16" to allow room for the depression of the sunken truck docks for Shipping and Receiving. This way, i can have a full 53' trailer sitting at a dock, and still have plenty of room to pull a trailer out of a dock next to it, make the turn and travel down the side of the building, without having the truck go off the module lol.

The Distribution Facilities will be located in 2 different parts of the modules. One will be in front of the blank wall on the right side of the Assembly Plant, and the other will be behind the Stamping Plant, both will load Auto Rack Train Cars and trucks.

on the very right side of the module, where the "office" part of the Assembly Plant is, there will be a small parking lot. Here are some pics of the start showing the placement of the 2 buildings. THIS IS BY FAR THE LARGEST BUILDING I HAVE EVER BUILT lol




Showing the overall of the module. its 7' long x 2' wide




Overall view of the Stamping Plant








Close-up of the Shipping and Receiving Docks on the Assembly Plant for trucks. The docks are at ground level, and i will have to carve a depression for trailers to be at the right height for the docks




Assembly Plant has Rail Access too




Wayne Assembly Plant




Random FORD Sign lol




The side of the "office part" of the Assembly Plant




And here is what the front of the "office" looks like, i couldnt get the camera over there for a shot cuz it was on a tri-pod lol


Whatcha Guys Think? There are some areas on the Assembly Plant that need some touch up painting too....

More pics and progress to come soon

post 1
Big Blue "Pennsy Power", Pennsylvania railroad locomotives
post 1, A Class, Switchers. A5 - Hobbyline, A5 - John English, A5 John English box.
post 2, B & C class, Tankers, A5 Mantua, B8Bachmann
post 3, B Class, B6sa Gilbert 155, B36 P2000, B6sa HO train Co. brass.
post 4, C Class, Marx kit bash C ?
post 5, D Class, D16sa Gem Brass, D1 Mantua
post 6, E Class, E8 Penn Line, E4 Mantua
post 7, F Class, F3sa Gem Brass, F1 Mantua
post 8, G Class, G5sa Liliput, G5sa Westside brass, G5sa Bowser.
post 9, H Class, H3 Model Power,H8 Penn Line, H10 Gem brass
post 13, By E-Paw, K4, K4 ,C liner
post 14, By Charlie B, M1 Broadway limited.
post 15, By tomustang, B36 USRA Bachmann
post 21, By tomustang, PRR Lima A class
post 22, By tomustang, PRR L2sa, USRA 2-8-2 6 photos of this loco.
post 24, By Charlie B, Baldwin BF16 A & B Sharknose (RF16A & B)
post 27, By herc driver, C Liner
post 28, By herc driver, Kato GG1 in N scale.
post 29, By Charlie B, T1 Broadway limited
post 31, By Charlie B, I1sa Broadway limited
post 32, I Class, I1sa Penn Line, I1sa Westside brass, I1sa Cary-Penn line
post 37, By Selector, J1sa Broadway Limited
post 39, By Charlie B, E7A
post 40, Class J, J1sa HO Train Co brass, J1sa HO Train Co. brass, L1sa Broadway Limited.
post 42, Class K, K2s lionel, K3s Cary Mantua.
post 43, K Class, K4sa Penn line, K4sa United brass.
post 44, By spurlines grandson, PRR L2s USRA
post 45, By Green_Elite_Cab, GE 44 tonner, Silverliner 11s, PC E44
post 47, L class, L1sa Penn Line, L2sa USRA Athearn, L2sa USRA front end Athearn.
post 49, A Penn Line K4 on a turntable.
post 50, A Penn Line L1sa in my Frankford yard.
post 51, A Penn Line GG1
post 52, By Charlie B, PRR PA1, FA1.
post 58, By Selector, PRR T1 Broadway Limited.
post 59, M Class, M1a Bowser, M1a Broadway Limited, M1b Broadway Limited.
post 60, M Class M1 Gem brass.
post 61, By Charlie B, PRR L2 USRA Blue line.
post 63, N Class, N1sa Cary Penn Line stock, N1sa Cary Penn Line custom, N1sa Westside brass.
post 64, Q Class, Q2s Imperial models.
post 68, S Class, S2 Custom Brass on NJ.
post 71, T Class, T1 Broadway Limited
post 72, CC Class, CC1 Rivarossi.



A Place to show your Altoona rail busters. A place for the Short and the Tall. The Big and the Small.
I'll start with Pennsys "A" class. the 0-4-0's. Well I never got one of those new Bowser A5sa. But I have both the HObbyline and John English A5sa's.
The Plastic HObbyline A5 is first. You can see I am missing a firemans side main rod and piston. Oh don't worry about the tilted headlight, it is that way for going around corners. This loco was made in a nopowered kit form as well as a powered kit and ready to run in a set.

   

The John Enghish Yard bird die cast A5sa. all metal.

   

The John Enghish Yard bird Kit Boxed

   

There were two pretty much certain attendees for the Owosso events this summer. There were a few more long shot options. None seemed like more of a long shot than the 4449... :jawdrop:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.trainfestival2009.com/">http://www.trainfestival2009.com/</a><!-- m -->

So we now have PM 1225, NKP 765, LR 110, the new 4-4-0, three 0-4-0ts, and the SP 4449!

This will be the greatest weekend of my life to date!!!

Hi All,

I have been adding the details to my Kato SD40 snootnose loco but there are no hose fittings provided in the box ... is there a hose set available for it or is it a case of a scratch build of them ....... i would like to add dtich lights to it but need better reference pics of a close up of the lights from the rear of them ........ also i found the horns are missing from the fittings pack.
The main lights are between the number boards on the kato here not as in the picture ..... is this the mid production version of the loco in the pic not the snoot nose ?

My sons & I recently visited Hamilton (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1058">viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1058</a><!-- l -->) and, driving around the downtown area, we couldn't help but notice all the railway and grade crossings throughout the city! We saw several and it seemed that there was a railway crossing at every other block. One crossing ran diagonally across an intersection -- even through the sidewalk, as my sons pointed out.

This obviously makes sense. With Hamilton being a steel town, the freight trains need to get to the various industries. You can even see several sidings and lines marked on the downtown maps. We also noticed 3 diesels parked down a siding near the escarpment. It's probably a great place for train fans to explore and observe different kinds of railway activity. Can any forum members, who live in or near Hamilton, comment on this? I guess it was a great place to view trains during the TH&B days.

Rob

My two sons & I visited the Hamilton Museum of Steam & Technology on Saturday. This is the site of Hamilton's original steam-powered pump house (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://old.hamilton.ca/myhamilton/CityandGovernment/CultureandRecreation/Arts_Culture_And_Museums/HamiltonCivicMuseums/Events/SteamMuseum.asp?site=STEAM">http://old.hamilton.ca/myhamilton/Citya ... site=STEAM</a><!-- m -->) and it's a great place for railway fans.

Outside the museum, the Golden Horseshoe Live Steamers have a huge amount of outdoor track for live-steam locos. We saw at least two different gauges there and were amazed at the number of buildings and the size of the track area. I've posted one pic of this below -- I'll try to post others later.

Inside the museum, the steam engines are spectacular and date back to 1859. The outside of the building is also impressive. There were also several small model steam engines inside the building, which were demonstrated to us. And, being a fan of British model trains, I was really surprised to see a display of Hornby, Triang and Wrenn trains.

At any rate, I can't believe I haven't been here earlier with the kids -- we hope to return in May when the live steam engines will be running & taking people for rides. FYI, I had visited this museum and railway with my parents back in the '70s.

To the Mods: I was in a rush when I posted this thread. Feel free to relocate it as I realize it doesn't quite fit here.

Rob
   

Index of photos.
******** Oldies but Goodies thread photos posted here in Big Blue ********
******Person posting is listed. If no name it is my listing . ******
post 1, Lionel 4-6-2 Pacific, SP # 0635LTS.
post 5, MARX 4-6-4 Hudson, NYC # 6096.
post 6, By Running Bear, 2 photos, Bachmann 0-6-0 switcher, Loisiana & A.
post 7, Revell 0-6-0t OMAHA, UP.
post 8, Bowser 4-8-2, bronze mountain, NYO&W # 325.
post 9, Bowser 4-8-2, bronze mountain, NYO&W # 325 and second with unpainted boiler to show bronze casting.
post 10, By FiatFan, 2 photos.
1- Athearn 0-4-2 Vulcan.
2- Lindberg SW 1.
post 13, Mantua - Tyco 4-6-2 Pacific. Old all metal version.
post 14, Mantua - Tyco 2-8-2 Mikado. Old all metal version, CNJ # 922.
post 16, A C Gilbert 4-6-4 Hudson drive. Old AC drive. 2 photos of.
post 17, A C Gilbert 4-6-4 Hudson drive. Old AC drive. 2 more photos of.
post 18, A C Gilbert 4-6-4 Hudson, My repaint, NYC # 5052.
post 19, A C Gilbert 4-6-4 Hudson, My repaint, NYC # 5065.
post 20, A C Gilbert 4-6-4 Hudson, 2 photos.
1- Original NYC # 443.
2- Original NYC # 31005.
post 22, Fleischmann Electric locomotive, My repaint PRR.
post 24, HObbyline FM H-10-44, 3 photos.
1- HObbyline # 1000.
2- Pennsylvania # 1000.
3- Lehigh Valley, Drive is shown.
post 25, Marx 0-4-0t, NYC # 20.
post 27, Marx F3, Santa-Fe.
post 28, HO Train co. PRR J1 in brass.
post 29, HObbyline B&O FM H 10 44
post 30, Silvine 0-4-0t's
post 31, 2 CNJ surburban tankers.
post 34, John English Pacific 4-6-2


A place for old HO trains. The stuff that sturs memories. A.C.Gilbert, Revall, Varney, Penn Line, HObbyline, John English, Those old Brass Lines like HOTCO - The HO Train Company, Jem, Aristo Craft. And every other one you remember.
___Here I hope Is the Lionel Pacific # 0635LTS.
frank

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Do any of our members have experience with silk screening?

I ask this for many commercial decals are silk screened. From looking around the web at hobby silk screening, it seems quite doable. It seems to very much be kin to photo etching at home...something else I intend to explore at some point. The only issue for me is that it is doubtful that it would make more sense than custom decals...as my On3 fleet won't need more than a few custom 8.5"x11" sheets. (I currently have enough decals for all of my present projects...except for my passenger cars).

Out of nowhere the other day, my wife announced that we could clear out the spare bedroom - that would be the one without the snakes and other critters - and give me room to put up my layout. This immediately gave rise to mixed emotions, as when someone you hate backs your new car over a cliff. The reason for this emotional dichotomy is simple - the room is a utilization nightmare.

It contains four doors, an entry door, a pocket door to a bathroom, a set of double-wide closet sliding doors and a set of patio doors. The only long wall not pierced by other openings is home to a 45" window, and the entry door opens into an alcove formed by boxing off the space needed to form the walk-in closet. It would be a hard room to set up as a bedroom, but trying to envision it as a 'layout room" is taxing my mind to the utmost, despite the dimensions being a healthy 14.5' x 12'.

Nevertheless, what I see is as good as it will ever get, so...I will try and draw up a crude plan to post here in the hopes that some hardy soul with a lot of creativity can offer some badly needed advice,m like moving to another house. :?

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://coppercountrypreservation.org/index.html">http://coppercountrypreservation.org/index.html</a><!-- m -->

I found out about this plan to save the Quincy Smelter in Ripley (Hancock) MI a few months back, but never really thought twice about it. My dad worked there when he was younger, so we got to talking about it today, he said they got enough money to place a roof on s few of the buildings, to stop any future damage. They still need more money to preserve the site and turn it into a museum. From the site:

Quote:Why Is It Important?
The 1898 Quincy Smelting Works is the best remaining example of a turn of the 20th century copper smelter site in the United States, if not the world. The smelter complex is within the boundary of the Quincy Mining Company National Historic Landmark district and the Quincy Unit of the Keweenaw National Historical Park.

What Condition Is It In?
The smelter closed in 1971. The buildings and equipment have deteriorated since that time due to vandalism, theft, lack of maintenance, and an especially harsh winter climate; one of the site’s two smokestacks was demolished in June of 2008 due to structural damage that appeared during the previous winter. In addition, encroaching commercial and recreational development also threatens the integrity of the site. Time is running out to save this iconic complex.

Why Should We Act Now?
Today, the smelter site is especially poised for rehabilitation work due to the recent completion of minor structural stabilization and asbestos removal projects performed by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. By 2009, the EPA will complete the remediation of other contamination issues thus clearing the way for further site stabilization and preservation.