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Topics - ACL1504

#101
Okay, it's not a kit as in it has no walls but it is a kit none the less.

The Rules Master said and I quote, "I forgot to mention you can build the kit stock or change is up as much as (you) want."

So, this is what I want and I'll kit bash it into a brass lamp post with LED lighting.

Reading Bob and I have been discussing this for the past several years.

Here's a look at the kit.



More in a few. I need to get a cold Diet Pepsi and give ya'll time to stop laughing. ;D ;D
#102
Okay, I guess I have your attention now!

I've made several brass repairs over these long years of working/playing with brass locomotives. I guess I could have extended the Baker Brass thread but I want this one to be a stand alone.

The original thread is here.

http://modelersforum.com/rolling-stock/fixing-a-brass-erie-2-8-4-class-s-4-for-erieman/

The reason this thread is separate is I've never come across an issue with brass like I have with this one. I want to show ya'll the problem and how it was fixed.

This loco is a very good piece of brass. It is a United/PFM and was built by Fujiyama (Japan) in 1966. So, keep in mind the loco model is 51 years old. It is older than the prototype when they were all scrapped.

Here is the loco-



More in a few.
#103
I've been posting pictures on the morning thread of various cars and trucks by Danny Raymond. I thought I would post a thread to showcase his wonderful models.

If anyone has any of his vehicles feel free to post them here.

It will be interesting to see what layouts his creations are traveling.

All Raymo vehicles are my favorites. Here is one that travels the back roads of the Atlantic and Southern RR.



#104
Okay, the Atlantic and Southern build thread is now officially off and posting.




#105

Throw Back Thursday -

I moved this thread from the A&S RR thread as I felt it didn't really fit. I don't like the fact I can't resize some of the pictures. I'm still on the investigative side of that issue for but for now you'll just have to click on the picture to bring it to the correct size. I apologize for the inconvenience.

I thought it would be a neat idea to show old photos of some of my old layouts.

You can see the George Sellios influence in the next few photos of the harbor scene.

The viaduct was built using one block at a time. I think I had over 6,000 blocks. It was detailed on both sides as well as under the  arch.







More in a few.


#106
I'll start us off in this gallery. One of each!

ACL Herald from the tender of ACL pacific #1504 in Jacksonville.



ACL 4-6-2 in Jacksonville, Fl.at the old ACL Union Terminal.



ACL Geeps at the Florence, SC shops 1953.

#107
Kit Building / Kit bash AMB ACL Depot
April 10, 2017, 06:44:21 PM
I need a small rural depot for my rural Florida pine forest. I was going to scratch build one but remembered that American Model Builders has an ACL depot kit.

The full kit is just over 96 HO scale feet. I need/want mine to be around half that. I'm thinking about 45 HO scale feet. I'll use the main passenger waiting room and a very small portion of the original freight area.



More in a few.
#108
Last week I purchased a box of Scenic Express Super trees to start a new forest area on the Atlantic and Southern RR.

I got the box home and opened it to check out the trees. I found the trees in the box to be damp and very limp. I picked a few out of the batch and they felt a little like rubber.

It's been two years since I purchased any SE super trees but decided I wouldn't be able to use any of these. In addition to them being limp, they wouldn't stand up straight.

I called Scenic Express, and was told for the better part of the last two years they have been taking the raw trees and boiling them in hot water and then boiling them in  Glycerine.

I was told they do this as people complained the trees were to stiff.

So, just so you know, I'm not even sure Walthers knows the trees are cooked in Glycerine.

In the photo below, the tree on the left is raw and the one on the right is treated with Glycerine.



When I went to pull off a few branches, the whole armature bent and stretched. As I said, a little like rubber.

I had SE send me a huge box of the virgin/raw trees.



I'll probably be able to get 500 to 600 trees out of this batch.

Some may like the new Glycerine trees but just wanted to pass on the information.

You can get the untreated trees but only from Scenic Express.

Tom
#109
Rolling Stock / Passenger Cars, Prototype and models
March 21, 2017, 06:54:21 PM
Well, we have a topic for almost everything so I figured it was time for a passenger car showing.

Here are two from Jacksonville Union Station. Not really passenger cars but I'm getting close.



#110
Thom, tct855, and I were discussing the quality of paint. Specifically we were discussing the new vs. the old Scalecoat paints.

Scalecoat could have a thread of it's own but for the purpose of this thread we'll be discussing 1:1 locos and paint fading.

The ACL used a Dupont paint for the purple diesels. The paint was referred to as Royal Purple. It was a deep purple and in the sun looked almost metallic. This paint proved to not hold up under the Florida sunshine in the  Southern states. We used to say that no ACL diesel looked the same as within months of the new paint it started to fade badly.

Here is an ACL GP diesel with the royal purple. It's a fairly new paint job.



Here are a couple of samples of where the purple had badly faded.



In the next photo you can see area the ACL herald where the paint is milky and almost looks chalky.



Thus are the effects of the Florida Sunshine on some colors.

More in a few.
#111
Back in the early 90's there was a whole bunch of brass on Ebay. Since the late 80's the brass and secondary brass market has gone up and down like a Yo-Yo! I'm talking about the price and not the availability.

Back then, the late 80's to early 90's, brass commanded a fairly decent price. These were locos in really great condition.

On the other hand, brass locos in disrepair and in very poor condition were another story. These were also abundant on Ebay and commanded a very low price and often didn't sell at all  or rarely sold. You can still find these on Ebay if you look and are patient for one to show up.

This is a thread of one of those low priced brass locos, the Southern Ry. Ms-4 class Mikado, 2-8-2.

More in a few.
#112
Many months ago Erieman, Frank Baker, purchased a brass loco from a dealer. The loco is an Erie S-4 class 2-8-4 Berkshire. This brass locomotive was imported by PFM/Pacific Fast Mail and built by Fujiyama (Japan) in 1966.

Fujiyama was a high quality builder in the 1960's. This loco was built in 1966 and only 445 of this model were built.

Here's the kicker. It sold for $55.00 in 1966. I was just out of high school and in my Freshman year of college and $55.00 could have been a thousand dollars as far as my budget was concerned.

In 1998 the secondary market listed the loco value at $440.00. Since then the brass market has gone up and down several times.

I told Frank I would make the necessary repairs, touch up the paint and add a few details to make this model a show piece for his Morristown and Erie Railroad.

Since I'm still in the recovery mode, now is a good time to sit at the workbench and help out a great friend.

Now you have all the superfluous minutiae necessary to follow along. 8) 8)





Continued after a nice cold Diet Pepsi.
#113
Kit Building / FOS Bud's Bait "N Gas Dock Challenge #2
September 12, 2016, 04:29:00 PM
This Gas Dock is also needed for the Suwannee River Basin. I'll be building this one along with Delwin's Boat and Net Storage and the CCK Lucama Fish Camp.



Pre-construction picture -

#114
Kit Building / CCK Lucama Fish Camp - Challenge #1
September 12, 2016, 04:22:59 PM
I'm working on the Suwannee River Basin on the layout. There will be several back water structures in this area. Carolina Craftsman Kits Lucama Fish Camp #1 will be in the river basin. This will also be my first challenge build for the forum.



Pre-construction picture -

#115
Kit Building / FOS Forley & Co. Lithographers
August 05, 2016, 06:14:48 PM
My next build for the Atlantic and Southern RR is Forley & Co. Lithographers. According to the FOS site, this kit is no longer available. It is kit #60.

It is a background flat structure measuring 11.5 inches wide and 1.25 inches in depth. Of course I plan to change the structure, just a bit.

I hope to start the kit on Sunday afternoon.

I believe Postalkarl and Dr. Jeff (Zepherus52246) both built this kit.



It comes with a nice spiral bound  9 page instruction manual.



Continued in a few
.
#116
Kit Building / FOS Juniper Freight House.
July 21, 2016, 07:01:10 PM
I have some real estate set aside for a freight loading platform. I'm going to use the FOS Juniper Freight House for the build. Here are the obligatory start photos.







This will be a quick build and I won't be spending a lot of time covering all aspects of the build. This will be a PostalKarl type build. Progress photos and a little narrative. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D


Tom 8)
#117
Kit Building / FOS - QK1 Varick Freight Co. kitbash
June 28, 2016, 06:58:22 PM
I have a location for a small structure on the A&S RR and Varick Frieght will fit the space perfectly.

Varick Fridght Co. is a background Structure which measures only 1.25 inches deep. I plan on kit bashing it to fit my own need and space.

Here is where it will go.



And, here is the kit. I checked the FOS site and this kit is no longer available.





#118
Scratchbuilding / DPM Small Diesel Lubritorium
May 01, 2016, 04:03:34 PM
I have a need for a small diesel lubritorium or small maintennce service building if you prefer. I need it to be a two stall facility with a footprint of about  6"W X 14"L. Oh yes, and single story.

I'll be using the DPM Landmark Structures Modular Building System for the build.

Here is what I'll need:

Part #30107   Street Level Open Arches            (1)
Part #30117   Cornices Plain                              (2)
Part #30131   Street Level Rect. Entries            (1)
Part #30173   Dock Level Steel Sash Windows   (3)

This will get me started. I'll list more parts later in the build.

#119
Scratchbuilding / Jim/James Lucas where are you now?
April 14, 2016, 01:01:56 PM
Some 18-20 years ago a Jim/James Lucas sold scratch built structures on Ebay. I never won one as the prices really went high as you will believe when I post a few photos.

When I built one of the Boiler Makers kits for Jimmy D., he also had a Jim Lucas build one. I don't know if this is the same Lucas or not.

One build went on Jimmy's Pennsy Middle Division. I was happy to see Jimmy used my build of Boiler Makers on his layout. The one Mr. Lucas built traveled with Jimmy for a year or so to the trade shows.

Anyway, I was curious if anyone has any of Mr. Lucas' structures or knows if he is still building.

Here are several photos of Mr. Lucas' scratch built Earl's Auto.

I copied the photos from the Ebay sales auction.



#120
I've started the process of lighting my cabeese. I guess cabeese is plural for caboose. 8) 8) 8)


Tomar Industries now offers LEDs instead of the old 1.5 v mini lamp. Kadee also has a set of trucks with axle pick ups.



Here is what comes with the Tomar lighting kit. You get two marker lights with nano LEDs, wire, two resistors and a bridge rectifier. A bridge rectifier acts as a constant lighting unit.

NOTE: If you are using DCC, don't use the bridge rectifier. The track power on a DCC system is AC power and a non DCC, or DC layout is DC power. I just put the rectifier in the electronics part bin.

The wire is to stiff so I put the wire in file 13.




Continued in a few.
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