The "new" JJJ&E In N Scale

[Powersteamguy1790]

Great pictures.

Thanks Curt.    I used roofing tar paper for the Industrial Park parking lot. Fortunately the 30 foot roll I bought at Home Depot had no odor for some reason.

Stay cool and run steam.......

[Powersteamguy1790]

n Old Time Classic Of  A South Western Portland Cement Company # 12 Two Truck Shay.  This two truck Shay is on the long 1 1/2%  mainline grade in the Monterrey Mountains. The gears on the engineers side of the locomotive are fascinating to watch in person. The maximum speed of # 12 Two Truck Shay is 10 MPH. I placed a Lenz 521W decoder in the back half of the cab of the Shay. The Lenz 521W decoder was the smallest decoder available at the time of installation. There wasn't much room in the cab of this Shay for this decoder installation  which was done in 2005. I installed MT Z scale #905 couplers on both ends of this two truck Shay.




Stay cool and run steam..........

[Powersteamguy1790]

A closeup  photo of a SP AC-12 #4287 on the mainline track adjacent to the Switching Yard



Stay cool and run steam........

[Powersteamguy1790]

A color photo of an original run WM Spectrum 2-8-0 released in 2002. There is a Lenz 0521 decoder hard wired in the boiler of the locomotive. I installed a brass Feed Water Heater and detailed piping from the Feed Water Heater. There is a MT Z scale #905 coupler installed on the front pilot and on the rear of the tender. This locomotive has over 150 hours of running time and performs well at slow speeds.   



A closeup color photo of a MT Z scale #905 coupler added to front pilot of a WM 2-8-0. This is also a good photo of the brass Feed Water Heater and accessory piping added.   





Stay cool and run steam..........

[PRR Modeler]

Very nice detaling. You're right about Spectrums are nice running locos.

[Powersteamguy1790]

Very nice detaling. You're right about Spectrums are nice running locos.

Thanks Curt. In N scale Curt, this was the first run of 2-8-0 Spectrum steam locomotives. Quality control was an issue for many years as you had to physically in person run each locomtive before buying it. In the early days I had a friend who owned a retail shop in San Francisco and he would test run each locomotive before shipping it to me. It wasn't until the past 5 or six years, that Spectrum finally got its act together in N scale. Now all their steamers and diesels are top-notch.

Stay cool and run steam..........

[Powersteamguy1790]

A panoramic view of four ATSF F-7's on the outer mainline track in the center of San Marino. The ATSF "style" Santa Fe  station has passengers waiting to board the next train leaving San Marino. I am using special couplers to "close couple" the four ATSF units together.



Stay cool and run steam.......

[cuse]

Bob,


You've done some amazing work on those engines, particularly the fine detailing on the steamers, double particularly in N scale!


I see you run Kato Unitrack. I really couldn't tell except for a couple of exposed siding ends. You've done a great job of burying it in the ballast. When I was in N scale, my best running layouts were without a doubt using Kato track. What a well engineered product for a sometimes difficult scale. I too found that you can conceal the plastic nature of it with a little work and the results are excellent. I'll bet your layout runs beautifully.


John

[Powersteamguy1790]

Bob,


You've done some amazing work on those engines, particularly the fine detailing on the steamers, double particularly in N scale!


I see you run Kato Unitrack. I really couldn't tell except for a couple of exposed siding ends. You've done a great job of burying it in the ballast. When I was in N scale, my best running layouts were without a doubt using Kato track. What a well engineered product for a sometimes difficult scale. I too found that you can conceal the plastic nature of it with a little work and the results are excellent. I'll bet your layout runs beautifully.


John

Thanks John. I appreciate all your comments. I really enjoy detailing many of the steam locomotives on the roster. At my age 76, N scale is fun to work on and operate.
Yes I use Kato Unitrack. I decided to use Unitrack when I started my first N scale layout in 2000, after over forty years of being in HO scale and building my own track at times. The "original" JJJ&E ran flawlessly for over nine years. The "new" JJJ&E which I started in 2009 when I moved from Florida to Texas also operates flawlessly. I'm a firm believer in dropping feeders to every section of Unitrack. I've done this on the entire layout. The voltage remains constant on the entire layout and I check it regularly with a RRampmeter. 55+ car trains are the norm on the layout and derailments  are few and far between.

Thanks for looking in on the tour John.

Stay cool and run steam..............

[Powersteamguy1790]

A closeup view of the Idaho Hotel, a signature building on the layout. The Idaho Hotel was built in 2002 and I used it on the "Original" JJJ&E. All the side walks are in place and folks are watching ATSF F-7's on the outer mainline track heading east to the turnaround area in the Monterrey River Valley.



Stay cool and run steam.........

[PRR Modeler]

Great looking hotel.

[Powersteamguy1790]

Great looking hotel.

Thanks Curt. 

I appreciate your feedback. The Idaho Hotel by Bar Mills was a limited run for N scale ca. 2002 of 250 units. This kit isn't available for N Scalers today unless they find it on EBayor any other auction site. It took me about 20 hours to build and weather this kit which is now over 15 years old. This building was a signature building on the "original" JJJ&E which was in operation for over nine years. When I moved from Florida to Texas in 2009, the layout was completely dismantled. All the buildings, some scenery, all locomotives and rolling stock were saved.

I was able to use the Idaho Hotel on the "new" JJJ&E which has been in full operation in Frisco Texas for over eight years now. It is one of the signature buildings on this layout as well. In moving this structure some repairs had to be made. The corrugated roof is an outstanding feature of this structure.

Stay cool and run steam................

[Powersteamguy1790]

This is one of my favorite photo's of the Idaho Hotel.

An old sepia photo of a UP #3985 "Challenger" on the the inner mainline track. The Idaho Hotel with its distinctive corrugated metal roof is in the near background.




Stay cool and run steam........

[Powersteamguy1790]

Closeup of Initial Weathering of SP #3498 with the Bragdon Weathering System. All the pewter detail parts have been added.



Stay cool and run steam.......

[PRR Modeler]

Looks great .  I use AIM weathering powders, only because that is what I stated with for weathering.  Are the ones you use the ones that don't need to be over sprayed to stay on?