CN Blackwater division
#91
Thanks for that info, Glen.  You're right about the 8 hatch reefers, as they were used by both CNR and CPR, so it's surprising that they'd ignore those Canadian icons (unless, of course, they couldn't acquire the rights to them).  I have one slab-side hopper, as they're among my favourite TH&B cars, but they're too modern for my layout's late '30s timeframe.  Mine was built from a Sylvan kit.
The stockcars are of interest to me, as the TH&B used them, although I was always under the impression that they simply removed every other board from a regular 36' Fowler boxcar, to convert them into stock cars.  I have several 40'-ers from various manufacturers, and am looking forward to pick-up 3 or 4 of the shorter cars.

Wayne
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#92
I've built a sylvan slab side hopper (In PGE scheme) and because I'm a glutton for punishment, there's another on my shelf to be started.
I've also built a westerfield fowler stockcar, both challenging and a bit of fun.
I assume that the tooling for True line's the Canadian specific rolling stock is still out there, I wouldn't mind to get a couple of the miniboxes if they ever surface.
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#93
(05-12-2021, 10:21 PM)cnrglen Wrote: I hear you. Spring finally came around here a month ago and the time in the workshop has gone down accordingly.

I've also been working on a true-line 8 hatch reefer:


Back-dating it's paint and decals and adding a charcoal heater

 

It's taken a month to get this far but it's almost finished.

How did you strip the paint off?  I have two TLT CNR Reefer in Maple leaf livery but the Grey paint is much too dark for my taste.  I would like to redo them in the right shade of Grey.
Guy from Southern Quebec.
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#94
Guy, for stripping paint off plastic, 99% alcohol, available at any drugstore should probably do the trick.  Another option which also works well on plastic is Super Clean.  It's available from Walmart, but there may be other sources, too.

I usually use a plastic container like this for alcohol or Super Clean....

   

...although it's sometimes difficult to find ones tall enough for passenger cars.  It's a good idea to keep the lid on the plastic containers, too, as it helps to limit evapouration and the chemical smells.  An old toothbrush is useful for getting the paint off in tight areas

Alcohol and Super Clean work on most paints, but not all of them.  Some modellers also use brake fluid, which often removes stubborn paints, but it can also severely damage some plastics - years ago, I use some on an Atlas switcher, and the body shell was distorted almost beyond recognition

If I'm stripping a metal item, such as a brass locomotive or one made of cast metal, alcohol and/or Super Clean work well, but another option is lacquer thinner.
Make sure that there are no plastic details, as the lacquer thinner will destroy them.  I use a canning jar with a screw-on top, as the thinner is quite volatile, and will not only evapourate if left uncapped, but will also stink-up the whole house....

   

Wayne
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#95
(06-14-2021, 08:47 PM)doctorwayne Wrote: Guy, for stripping paint off plastic, 99% alcohol, available at any drugstore should probably do the trick.  Another option which also works well on plastic is Super Clean.  It's available from Walmart, but there may be other sources, too.

I usually use a plastic container like this for alcohol or Super Clean....



...although it's sometimes difficult to find ones tall enough for passenger cars.  It's a good idea to keep the lid on the plastic containers, too, as it helps to limit evapouration and the chemical smells.  An old toothbrush is useful for getting the paint off in tight areas

Alcohol and Super Clean work on most paints, but not all of them.  Some modellers also use brake fluid, which often removes stubborn paints, but it can also severely damage some plastics - years ago, I use some on an Atlas switcher, and the body shell was distorted almost beyond recognition

If I'm stripping a metal item, such as a brass locomotive or one made of cast metal, alcohol and/or Super Clean work well, but another option is lacquer thinner.
Make sure that there are no plastic details, as the lacquer thinner will destroy them.  I use a canning jar with a screw-on top, as the thinner is quite volatile, and will not only evapourate if left uncapped, but will also stink-up the whole house....



Wayne

Thanks Wayne for the reply.  I already use 99% isopropyl alcohol for most of the paint stripping I have to do.  I was wondering if it worked on True Line Trains paints.  I’ll give it a try.
Guy from Southern Quebec.
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#96
Sorry I've been out of the loop for a bit. Summer's here and it came in with a heat wave here in the interior of B.C. For the past couple weeks I haven't had alot of inclination to work on anything Model related until today.
I did finish up the TLT 8 hatch reefer. I stripped the paint like Wayne said and found that Kylon Paver gray was a fairly close match to the original CN paint. It seems like it's a difficult color to nail down as I had a hard time finding a sample to compare it with.
      

after some weathering it's ready for the road. I also replaced the cast plastic brake rods wit some brass wire
   
The originals were broken and too thick for my eye.
While I had my airbrush out for weathering the reefer, I figured I'd weather a couple other cars at the same time to save paint.
   

   

I've done a bit to the layout as well.

   



I painted my hardshell in tan and attached the sawmill section to the layout. I've started to place out the track the main sawmill structure to see how it will all fit. I'm not all that happy with the mill that I had on the previous layout. I find it a bit too big and it overly dominates the scene. It is a JV Models Lucas sawmill that I built over 15 years ago. I scratchbuilt all the machinery in it using some old (1960's) Model Railroader articles by Jack Work.

       

This on the other hand, is KMP Models Sawmill with planer in the same place. I like it's smaller size and how it fits in the space much better. It came from my friend who passed away last year. I don't normally use structures that I haven't built myself but having this on the layout is a good tribute to him.
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#97
Before I start any more ground cover, I thought it would be best if I ballasted the track. I find that ballasting is one of my least favorite things to do when building a layout, but it's a necessary evil to make things look right. I want the ballast in first so my ground cover will cover the edges and any ballast spillage for a neater look.
   

I used woodland scenics ballast. Fine grade for everything so far. I used brown for the branchline and a gray blend for the mainline. I haven't ballasted the yard yet but I'll be using the brown for that as well. I like the look of the fine grade as it looks like ballast that has been there for awhile and has decomposed over time. Layer I'll add some dirt and weeds to the edges.
   

   

I haven't ballasted track in a number of years so I had to learn the whole process all over again. I had forgotten about 'wetting' the ballast before adding the diluted matt medium and my initial efforts resulted in a mess where the glue didn't sink into the ballast and the finished result just crumbled when I touched the dried ballast.
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#98
Today I cleaned the track and performed some 'fine tuning' to the ballast. That is, picking out stray particles with a dental pick so the trains can run without bumping over bits.
Then I ran a train:

     

I also trimmed out a bit of ballast for my station and toolhouse buildings.  I'll have to make a foundation for the toolhouse yet.


   
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#99
Glen:
I mist with alcohol (denatured) using a spray bottle from my wife's hairdresser. When I said what I needed, she had an empty one available. Anything heavier does bad things to the ballast.
Then I use an eyedropper to add Scenic Cement to the ballast -- very carefully.

Finally, when I'm all done we sell the house and move somehwere else.
David
Moderato ma non troppo
Perth & Exeter Railway Company
Esquesing & Chinguacousy Radial Railway
In model railroading, there are between six and two hundred ways of performing a given task.
Most modellers can get two of them to work.
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Thanks, I started to use alcohol wetter and it worked much better.
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I found that even WS's spray of the cement pushes the scenery around. For ballast, dropping it at the side or gently between the ties lets it soak in. And you don't get glue all over the rails and switch mechanisms.
David
Moderato ma non troppo
Perth & Exeter Railway Company
Esquesing & Chinguacousy Radial Railway
In model railroading, there are between six and two hundred ways of performing a given task.
Most modellers can get two of them to work.
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I prefer "wet" water for ballasting (and all ground cover scenery work, too).  If I'm ballasting 20' of double track, the alcohol would be evapourated before I get even halfway-done.  I use a fairly large sprayer that somehow followed me home from work, many years ago.  It has an adjustable nozzle that offers everything from a concentrated stream like that from a water pistol, to a very fine mist.  In many places, the ballast might be a half-inch deep where the trackside land forms drop considerably...

   

Those locations may take several days before the glue mixture fully hardens.

The jug of white glue offers a good comparison of the size of the sprayer...

   

...and the bottle beside the jug, which originally held matte medium, is filled from the jug, then used to fill the little dropper-type bottle....

   

Ballasting (along with painting the rails... and sometimes also the ties) is actually one of my favourite parts of model railroading, as it lifts the bare track from a piece of model equipment to a stage on which the trains look so much more realistic.

Wayne
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Well I can confirm that since I pre-wetted the ballast before spraying/dribbling the glue it has stayed down. I had to rewire a bit of the layout this evening due to a pulled wire but it was an easy fix. 
This weekend I continued with scenery work around the tunnel portal and Meadows station.
     

I cut a piece of 1/8 plywood to act as a foundation for the tool shed. I'll paint it shortly.  You might also notice that I'm looking at adding my fascia in the meadows area. More on that soon.

   

I glued the retaining walls in and added a foam scenery form between the tunnel portal retaining wall and the other. I also glued a rock casting to the other side of the portal. The foam 'hill' above the portal isn't finished or finalized, I'm just using it as a visual reference for now.

   

And finally I added the last section of plywood base in the area. This will allow me to start roughing in hill/mountain sides around my future engine facility. The card on the deck is the floorplan of my planned enginehouse.

This past weekend I noticed how cluttered and messy both my layout and workshop have become. I think I need to spend some time cleaning and organizing before I continue with layout construction.
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I figured that now that I've cleared several other projects off my plate I can start work on my layout again. I've made a few decisions regarding my initial plans. 
First, the drop gate is not going to work in long term. It's much easier to duck under the layout for me. In the time that I was using the drop gate my jeans have caught the track on the lowered gate twice and ripped a rail out. Also I'm constantly trying to keep the rails in alignment due to the movement of the layout from a number of factors. I've already screwed the gate shut and will be re-laying the track across it to eliminate the gaps.
      

My change involved the track to the future engine facility. I'm going to run a line from the main to the engine facility right beside the station instead of running a line from the other side of the station and behind it. this will make more sense and keep the area that I plan to use as my city free of track.

   

With moving the engine facility turnout to the other side of the station, I will be able to eliminate the crossing that I had planned and laid the cork roadbed for. What I see now is the one turnout facing away from the station which will have a wye attached to it. One side of the wye will go to a yard beside the mainline, the other will go to a waterfront/ industrial area.

   

I haven't forgotten the other side of the layout. I fabricated and installed the platform for the stamp mill feeder track, which will also double as the scenic form beginning for when I build the mountains in the area.
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Some reconstruction
   

I removed the one turnout and moved it to the other side of the station, relaying the track as I went. I also took the opportunity to replace the turnout on this end of the passing siding as it was a bit damaged and it would be easier to replace it now. 

     

Now that the crossing is eliminated, I will just be adding the wye right off the mainline turnout and saving at least 6 inches of wasted track space. I'll be able to run the line to the other side on the layout easier as well as build a slightly larger yard with a possibility of a run-around track. I now have to remove the cork roadbed that I glued down for the original plan but I should be able to sand it away fairly easily.

     

I've also laid out the basic outline for my engine facility. The turnout has been moved over from the other side of the station. My plan is to have the three tracks for the enginehouse/car repair shed and one on the outside. At one time I had envisioned a turntable here but I don't think it would look quite right.
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