The SL&N is a freelance railroad set in the 1890s.  The railroad exists to connect the northwest PA oil country to New England mill towns, through the modeling mechanism of removing all the land between the Susquehanna and Merrimack rivers.  Primary inspirations are the Rutland and the Colorado Midland, in part because those run through mountainous terrain and in part because there's a lot of documentation on their 19th century construction, operations and rolling stock.   There's also an HOn30 line based very loosely on the Monson, that connects a slate quarry down to a finishing factory and the standard gauge interchange.  

When we moved back to NH, I looked for a house with a totally dry unfinished basement.  We finished 2/3 of the basement space into 2 rooms plus a 3/4 bath.  Half the expense was for the bathroom. I knew I wanted a sink, and that required an up-flushing system.  The toilet prevents me from tracking modeling dust upstairs, and the shower was inexpensive to add to the bathroom.  My thought is this would make a good in-law apartment or a 'lock the teenager in the basement' facility for future homeowners.  If you can afford it, a sink is absolutely worth having in or close to your workshop space.  

Unfortunately, the building inspector made us build a closet in one corner for the electrical panel, but I worked around that (literally) in the track plan.  I did some special things for wiring.  Both rooms (train room and workshop room) have overhead lights AND outlets for track lighting, switched separately.  The 'track lighting' outlets will be used for layout wiring.  And each pair of outlets has one outlet permanently hot, with the other switched.  So both rooms have a bank of 3 switches, for 'overhead lights', 'track/layout lights' and 'switched outlets'.  The latter makes it easy to turn off all the layout electronics, all the power tools, etc.  

The flooring is vinyl plank that includes a layer of cork, on top of the concrete slab.  This stuff has held up very well to the abuse I've given it, including spilling some solvents (wiped up immediately.)  I was able to dent it when I dropped a hammer claw-side down.  But more importantly, the cork underlayment part makes it very comfortable to stand on the flooring.  And the color is close to the red oak flooring in the rest of the house.  

dave

Stolen from the daily Far Side retrospective site.  I now have a name for what my trains encounter on my layout!

Today I might start opening the windows on the front of the main mill building.  I figure to try that one first.

dave

I think I'll try the South River Model Works Lamson & Goodnow project that I've been pondering for several years.  This will be a bash, both to make the main mill larger (kit looks too compressed to me) and to fit in the available space.

Here's the hole:

You can see, I still need to do rough scenery to the left side.  The green tape marks the main line.  There's a spur into the property, you can see its location on my template as the pink chalk running roughly in the middle of this photo:

I cut some rosin paper to the approximate shape of the hole.  I used pink sidewalk chalk to run over the location of the siding and the main line. 

Then I put the template on a workbench (specially cleared off for the occasion ) and started to ponder the structures:

My thought is to use the back wall sections, which are about an inch longer, instead of the front wall sections for the front of the mill.  This will add about 2", making the total length of the main mill about 11 1/2".  Note the end of the black ruler on the left of the white foundation template, that's the new end of the mill.  I can put that small (2") annex shown on the right of the mill on either side, or omit it all together.  I'll create a blank rear wall, which won't be visible.  The office building will fit to the left, and I'll construct a woodshed or something on the right side where there's some space to fill.  I could do a boiler house and make the end of the spur coal delivery...

I'll probably do some vertical arrangement, too, i.e. putting the mill or the office or both higher than track level. 

The next step will be to scan the actual wall sections and do a full-size mock-up on foamcore. 

At least this is my current thinking...

dave

Today is the first day of potentially record temperatures here in SE NH, and across most of the northeast.  It's muggy, too.  I'd be happy if you-all in Florida would keep your weather to yourselves!  

I'll work on the backdrop project in the basement. 

dave

I have the old Floquil paint chip card (actual paint colors painted onto chips of treated cardboard and then glued to the card).  But one color that's missing is Brunswick Green.  So if someone has a bottle of Brunswick Green, could you paint a bit onto a piece of photo paper (so the paint won't just soak into the paper and change the color), and send it to me?  I'll add that to the sample I'm preparing to send to KeepItRusty for his Floquil paint matching project.

I took the Floquil card to the local photo shop, and they did a scan and print using their color-calibrated systems.  The result is pretty close to the Floquil card (but the metallic paints don't have that obvious metallic sheen to them.)  

Thanks in advance!

dave

I'll start us off with some photos of rough scenery I did yesterday.  The idea is there's a road that starts between the buildings in the background, passing underneath the tracks on a trestle bridge.


I mocked up the contours in cardboard.  One consideration with the topography is allowing for the bridge abutment.




Then I laid down a cardboard piece to represent the road, and worked on the other side, which has tighter clearances.


Then I went upstairs to watch TV.  Today I'll head down, look at what I mocked up yesterday.  If I still like it, first I have to move the track feeders.  Then I'll work out the cuts on the spline and how I'll support the scenery.  I'll use the cardboard for now, but later on replace that with a hardboard fascia.

dave

I realized last night the bug my wife gave me has symptoms that match the "Springfield Crud" I brought home from that train show a couple years ago.  Ugh.  I am feeling a bit better, hopefully I'll be recovered by the weekend for our forthcoming trip.

Yesterday I did prime the Merchants Row II brick parts, today if I generate enough steam, I'll prime the bay and other parts.  

dave

I'll open for a change.  Weather here (SE NH) is sunny and seasonal, temps around freezing.  Tonight we get snow changing to rain, with more than 1" of rain predicted.  (I wish it was all snow, but I know that's not everyone's view.)  

The house cleaners are here now, so I sit with the dogs to keep them from pestering the cleaners.  They're happy to see the dogs, one told me "Seeing everyone's pets is the best part of the job," but they don't need ankle biters following them around.  

I got a survey from UModel, the site that will produce a 3D custom figure.  I suggested they also do custom dogs.  

dave

I saw an announcement today that Don Ball has passed away.  Don could truly be called the dean of late 19th century modelers.  His Stockton & Copperopolis http://sandcrr.blogspot.com/ set the standard for accuracy and period research.  Don wrote extensively on 19th century projects in model railroad magazines. 

Personally, Don was a great friend, always willing to answer a question (no matter how dumb) and share his knowledge.

dave

Is there a way to send a private message to the forum administrators?


thanks in advance    dave

For my B&M batch boxcar build, it was worth investing the time to do jigs to drill holes for NBWs, grabirons, etc.

The secret tool :-) for doing these small jigs is a really small square:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NEB185I I bought one when visiting Japan just because I thought it was cute. Turns out a small square is really useful! I also use my metal digital calipers to scribe lines that are parallel to the long side of the jig, and the little square locates the perpendicular lines. I scribe and drill the holes, then install the alignment pieces. The body of the jigs are done in either .040 or .060 styrene, it's whatever scrap I pulled out of my scrap bin. The key thing is to make sure one long end is smooth, and take -all measurements- from that edge. 

There are two jigs for the grabirons. One is for the ladder on the left side of the end (18" grabirons), and the other is for the grab on the right side of the end and the right side of the body (24" grabirons). Using the same jig for both ensures they're lined up. On the inside, there's a 1/8" square piece along the side and another along the bottom, at right angles. The holes are there to clear the truss rod ends, which I installed before doing the grabiron holes. (Should have done all the drilling first.) I did a similar jig for the truss rod NBWs. 

Of course, the more accuracy you get in the jigs, the better the results. I did throw away one jig that wasn't quite accurate enough. Also make sure to allow enough extra material to hold the jig into place, too often I've cut my jigs too small, where they have the measured holes, but there was nothing left to hold when drilling.

dave

For my B&M boxcars project, I want to be able to cross-cut a bunch of pieces of scribed siding to the same size (car body height.)  Here's my thought for a tool to do that.

I'll trim a piece of cutting mat to a bit more than 6", shown by the red line.  I'll dado the slot for T-Track into the fixture.  There's a wood stop glued to the right of the cutting mat, perpendicular to the bottom of the fixture.  I also glued a strip of wood along the bottom of the fixture, to hold the base of the square so the blade sits flat on the scribed sheathing. 

The T-Track stop is set behind the blade, because that's the more likely direction of thrust when I'm cutting along the blade of the machinist's square with an X-Acto knife. 

dave

I've just completed about 40 running inches of loading docks, and thought I'd show the process that I finally worked out through trial and error.

1.  Cut and stain all the parts.  A Chopper is necessary, a Shay Wood Miter is even better, because it gets more square cuts on the posts than the NWSL/Micro-Mark Chopper. 

2.  The key is this kinda-jig, that consists of a flat piece (here of plywood) and a taller piece to act as a fence/straightedge (here 1/2" x 1/4")   I hold the fence in place with weights behind it pushing it against the flat working surface.   Also, you'll need several small squares or angle blocks, a thick straightedge, and some patience :-)

3.  Construct the post-and-beam, here I'm using 1/16" square stock.    I mark the post spacing (here every 1/2" for HO, I've also done 4' HO.)  Put the beam against the fence, and on one end put a small square/1" angle block.  Using another angle block, align with the post position, put a bit of glue on the edge of the post, and push into the beam aligned with the angle block.    Continue, moving in this case left-to-right.  The very last post on the right uses the angle block aligned with the fence, rather than the beam.

4.  Let that dry a bit, then go back and add the cross-bracing on top of the post and beam assembly.  (Cross-bracing not shown here.)  Remove the post-and-beam assembly and let dry.  Make as many as you need. 

5.   Now for the frustrating part :-)  Align an angle block against one side of the fence.  Place the first deck plank down, push it against the fence and angle block.  Now add a second plank, etc.  After each plank, carefully push the plank tight against the already laid planks using another angle block.  You want them to be tight, but you do not want the planks to buckle up.  After about 2" of these, you need to add something to hold the already aligned planks into place.  I'm using a set of squares that I have.  After the planks are laid down, use the thick straightedge to push them up against the fence. 

6.  Place the straightedge on top of the planks to hold them down.  Now glue the back post-and-beam into place.  Slide the straighedge up against the post-and-beam, so it's flush with the edge of the planks. 

7.  Do the other post-and-beam assembly, using some squares etc against the outside edge of the planks to hold that plumb.   When both sides of the post-and-beam are in place, you can -carefully- add weights to the bottom of the posts (remember things are upside down) to clamp the post-and-beam to the decking.  Let that cure. 

8.  Cut and add the end beams, posts, and cross-bracing. 

9.  Cut a piece of thicker stock (I'm using 1/8" square) to fit inside the end post-and-beams.  Paint that a very dark grey.  Glue that into place.  This adds rigidity and a better gluing surface to hold the planks in place.  And it can't be seen at most viewing angles. 

And that's it...  The work goes quickly, unless your set of planks buckles as you're aligning them.  When that happens (after you stop cursing...), spread out the planks and reassemble/repush them back into position.  By adding weight every 2" or so, you limit the damage that buckling can do to your carefully assembled, but not glued, deck. 

dave

This is my visible staging yard, plus the SG/NG interchange (along the back edge.)  The look I'm going for is 'yard trackage, reasonably maintained but well used.'  It's the first part of the layout to get scenery.

In terms of process, the first layer was screened paver granite.  I probably should have used a finer screen, the 'rocks' are a bit too big.  Then (Az Rock) yard mix for ballast on the yard tracks.  Next I toned down the light grey granite with fine Az Rock cinders, and sprinkled a couple colors of Woodland Scenics fine and coarse turf.  At some point, the last step would be to use my static grass dispenser to put some weeds on the yard tracks. 

But I think the grey still stands out too much.  A darker fine turf color would tone that down, something like a medium brown? 

Comments & suggestions definitely welcome!

dave 

Here's a look at my visible staging yard, after laying down a base texture and then 'yard mix' ballast.  I plan to add some brown 'scrub grass'.  I'm after a 'well used yard' look.  Later on, I'll ballast the main line tracks to the right, and the narrow gauge to the left.

Comments and suggestions very welcome!  Since this is a staging yard, I expect the 0-5-0 will be active on at least some of these tracks. 

dave

I was thinking about this today, looking at the various recent kit announcements as well as recent builds.

Seems to me we still have a deficit of masonry (brick or concrete block) urban buildings.  That includes storefronts/city block buildings, small independent (standing alone) buildings, and factories (now that Bob Van Gelder has retired.)    My #1 choice would be a mansard roof 2-3 store wide brick block building (with cast iron storefronts.)  But that's in part because of my modeling era.

What would others like to see?

dave

The visible staging area is about 10' x 2', and has both standard and narrow gauge track. 

I've done some significant additions to the NG track along the back from the original track plan, adding 2 passing sidings, a spur, and a turntable/enginehouse.  Plus on the SG side to the front I added a turntable and siding. 

This is easily the most complex part of the layout from a track and control perspective. 

So I'm interested in thoughts about how to do the layout fascia.  The second photo shows some of the wiring behind the fascia, as well as the edge of the layout where the fascia would attach. 

My current thinking is to do 2 "control panel" areas, about 18"-24" apart.  One for the NG controls, and the other for the SG controls.  My reasoning is that everything is visible, the SG and NG operators would each stand in front of the control panel area to manage their turnouts.

The alternative, to put the turnout controls along the fascia in front of each turnout, strikes me as more confusing in the long run. 

Opinions very welcome!

dave

I hung the valence boards yesterday.  The LED lights are fed by the pigtail coming out from behind the valence.  The cord hanging down will eventually run along the ceiling to an outlet there (originally intended for track lighting, this is switched separately from the room's lights.)   The Wago lever connectors are there temporarily to check out the lights.

I want something small that also contains a switch, and that is 'legal' with the electrical code to make the connection between pigtails and lamp cord to the outlet.  Any thoughts/suggestions?

dave

That date has a bit of a ring to it, doesn't it? 

Anyway, we're up and ready for our home repair guys to come for a couple small projects, most importantly fixing a leak in the roof. 

Yesterday I drilled the grabiron holes on my MDC old-timer rework.  Today, after the dogs' vet appointment, I'll probably glue the grabs into place and start on the metal undercarriage.  Hopefully I'll get far enough to paint the car, too.

dave

We're still on vacation in Jan's time-zone.  I'm checking the forum before breakfast. Here the big news has been split between the Euro soccer cup and the Tour de France.  The tour passes through several towns we've visited, fortunately we're running a bit ahead of it.  Road closings, etc in the afternoon over roads we drove in the morning.  There were guys in camper vans parked along one route. 

So no modeling to report on my end.  But it's good to see others are getting things done.

dave