Timmy's American Flyer Trains

A Couple Of Work-Arounds For AC/DC

2011-12-05T09:16:00.001-08:00

I like running my trains on DC track voltage. It gets rid of the pesky mechanical reverse unit and I can dynamically control the direction the train travels. However, I like running the action cars off of AC voltage. I have found out two things that I will share.
1) When a track trip is on a mainline: I use a dedicated transfomer that I have put in phase with the track transformers. I connect their base posts. Now I can run an AC lead from the dedicated transformer to the car trip. The action car energizes when I push the car trip button and the current returns back via the common base post rail to the dedicated transformer. AC and DC voltage can co-exist on the same carrier.

2) When a track trip is on a through siding: When the action car is set out on a through siding and the switches are thrown to the mainline, the common base post connection is broken. I have found that I can use yet another dedicated transformer that I put in phase with all other transformers as a common practice. I do NOT, however connect the base post lead to the other transformers. Instead, I solder a wire to the base post rail on the through siding and take it straight back to the base post of that dedicated transformer. When I activate the track trip with the button, the car energizes and the current flows through the base post rail to the base post on the dedicated transformer via that wire. Also, if one of my locos is on that through siding when I activate the car trip, it stays motionless when power is applied to the mainline. This is because the base posts of the mainline transformer and the dedicated transformer are not connected. When I move the switch frogs to their divergent route, the base post rail connection is re-established and I can run the loco out onto the mainline. Obviously here again, AC and DC voltage can make nice with each other on a common carrier.

To confirm that I haven't set myself up for an electrical disaster, I recall that that is how vintage American Flyer on-board whistles operate, by sending a DC pulse over a common carrier with the AC track voltage.

Information for Newbies

2011-11-27T08:44:00.001-08:00

Terminology:

1) Mechanical Reverse Unit: It is not called an "e-unit". That is a Lionel name for a Lionel product. If it is American Flyer, then the correct name is reverse unit.

2) Transformer lead posts: The AC Gilbert factory did not use the terms "positive" or "neutral". They used the words "variable post", "base post" and "fixed post". The variable post is the AC voltage supplied to the track and is regulated by a throttle. The base post is the common wire and it completes a circuit from the variable post. The fixed post is the terminal with a fixed voltage and is usually used for accessories. They complete a circuit from the fixed post to the base post.

Repair Tips:

1) To service the reverse unit, you will either have to open up the tender or the loco, depending on the year the loco was manufactured. Here is a link to loco wiring diagrams. You can download this and print it off. I keep a copy on a clipboard, along with other info that is useful to me.

http://www.portlines.com/portlinesclinic10.htm

2) American Flyer Repair Manual: Here is a link to an online copy of a common Flyer repair manual:

http://myflyertrains.org/gallery/GilbertFactoryManual

3) Reverse Unit: You can determine if the problem lies with-in the reverse unit or the motor by removing the male end of the jack panel from the female end at the rear of the loco and jumping the leads. Here is a link to a diagram for that:

http://www.trainweb.org/s-trains/diagram/jumper.gif

I'll add other info periodically

One Way to Internally Wire A 751 Log Loader

2011-11-26T14:09:00.000-08:00

When I bought my 751 Log Loader, I noticed that the internal wiring had been changed to permit it to run on a single-button controller. The only problem is it's requirement for a transformer with a lot of wattage, since two coils are being energized at the same time at some point. I bought a 2-button controller and changed the internal wiring on the Log Loader so I believe it pretty much runs as the factory intended - back in the day. Since my 2-button controller may be wired differently from yours, I am going to narrate this post for you to see the technique I used. My narrative is written using American Flyer terminology.

By observation or by the use of a continuity tester, either determine a common wire that will power both buttons in the controller or make a lead that splits and attaches to one of each of the pair of clips and to the fixed post of your transformer. When either the red or the green button is pressed, power is routed. With this particular accessory, a fixed post lead is routed - rather than a base post lead being routed. The Log Loader is wired with a base post wire connected to the base post on the transformer all of the time.

Take a motor lead that does not connect to the traveler clip near the flywheel of the Log Loader. Attach it to the wire coming out of the controller from the red button. When the red button is pressed on the controller, power will be routed to the motor via the fixed post of the transformer. The traveler clip is on the side nearest the flywheel and has a delicately-bent brass or copper strip that acts as a spring. When the raised tang on the flywheel presses the spring clip together, a mechanical/electrical connection is made. The lead from the wire on the rear side of the spring clip is the motor lead wire that goes straight to the base post of the transformer. The other side of the spring clip now also becomes a base post wire, but only when the spring clip is closed. That transient and intermittent base post wire goes to one of the wires coming out of the coil on the underside of the Log Loader. It is the coil that powers the lift, raising a log up to the cradle. The other wire coming out of the coil goes to the green button of the controller and when the flywheel is in it's proper position and the spring clip is closed and the cradle is ready to accept a log, stop pressing the red button and press the green button instead. The green button powers up the coil to lift a log to the cradle. Once the cradle is loaded, stop pressing the green button and press the red button again to move the log to the car on the track that is ready to accept a log. Continue pressing the red button until the log is dropped and the cradle is back down and ready to accept another log. Continue the process until you are happy. lol

OBTW: I made sure that the spring clip I mentioned was bent for a "hair trigger" contact. I felt it made everything work the best it could - given the rather clever, yet primitive design of the accessory.

2011-10-02T09:12:00.001-07:00

My Use of Oil on Vintage Track

Keep in mind that I run vintage Flyer on vintage re-bent steel sectional track. All my observations on based on that system. My layout is five scale miles, with no switches (turnouts) and my locos run in forward only. After I first built the hirail layout, I cleaned off the track rails using a rag dampened with 90% alcohol. The rails were as clean as I could get them; IOW's, free of dust and grease. I found that my vintage Flyer locos would make only about a lap or two around before I had to clean off their wheels. Also, there was a lot of sparking between the pick-up wheels and rails. To my dismay, the locos ran a little erratically, as though I needed more feeder wires to even out the current on the track. I was unhappy with the way my trains were running and I started to consider upgrading to a newer track system.
I remembered reading in some old Gilbert factory literature about cleaning the track rails with kerosene. I reasoned that what made kerosene different from other solvents was that it had oil in it. Out of desperation, I applied a light coat of 3 in 1 oil to the track rails. The difference was like magic. The sparking stopped. I was able to run the locos for a week or more without cleaning the pick-up wheels. The speed of the trains evened out and I was able to reduce the throttles on my transformers from around 80 to 60 or less. Naturally, there was a loss of traction on the 2% grade. However, after about 2-3 days, that improved a lot. I'm thinking that the oil dried some and soaked into the rails. Now the traction is okay. It's not terrific, but I can haul one action car and three others including a caboose, using vintage non-pulmor steamers with diecast boiler shells (I don't run diesels nor steamers with plastic boiler shells). So my conclusions are that on my RR, the oil improves electrical continuity, reduces sparking and acts to keep the pick-up wheels from collecting dirt.
I have a small jar of Bullfrog Snot on order. It is used on the rear drive wheels to make traction tires. Since it isn't a modern electronic devise, I will allow myself to use it on my all-vintage pike. When I have observations on it's use, I will post them here.

My Use Of Bullfrog Snot On Vintage Steamers

2011-10-02T09:02:00.001-07:00

I run classic linker American Flyer steamers on vintage steel track. I keep a light coat of oil on the track rails to aid electrical conductivity, electrical pick-up and to retard corrosion. However, classic linker steamers do not have Pul-mor traction wheels and that presents a problem for me with a 2% grade on my 5-scale mile hirail branchline layout. I decided that I have the following options:

Use Bullfrog Snot
Swap out the rear drive wheels for Pul-mor drive wheels
Remodel my layout to eliminate the 2% grade
Sell off my classic linker steamers and go with all knuckle coupler steamers with Pul-mor drive wheels
Put rubber bands on the drive wheels

I discarded ideas 2-4. Option 5 is a good one, if the rear drive wheels have the extra-large flanges. One of my locos do, so the bands are on order. More on that when they are tested.

Since this is a retro-style vintage layout, I reject the notion of using modern electronics on it. However, Bullfrog Snot is not a modern electronic component. So, I bought some Bullfrog Snot and applied it according to the directions. It went on green - presumably so one can see what one is doing during the application process. It dried clear, which is nice because I didn't want green drive wheels. I put two coats on, with about 10 hours dry time between coats. I gave the final coat a 24 hour dry time.

Without Bullfrog Snot, I could haul one action car, two freight cars and a caboose, with a lot of wheel slipping. With Bullfrog Snot, I can easily haul two action cars, two freight cars and a caboose, or two New Haven action pax cars and two New Haven coaches with no wheel slipping. I'm guessing that I could haul more, but it is not really necessary, so I am satisfied. The only question that remains is how long this treatment is good for. Today is May 7, 2011. I'll revisit this post when the Bullfrog Snot needs replaced. STAY TUNED! lol

May 09, 2011 update: I found that I can tow five linker action cars + a caboose up my 2% grade with my non-pulmor Hudson. The rear drivers have Bullfrog Snot as a traction aid. Now I can do a little ops session by loading those cars at various places and unloading them at other destinations around the RR.

June 02, 2011 update: Still going strong!

How I Run Bus Wires

2011-04-21T04:17:00.001-07:00

I run a continuous set of bus wires and cap them at their ends. Then I splice all feeders into them. Of course the variable post bus wires are broken and capped at the ends of their blocks. But the base post bus wire never gets broken, except at it's very end. Equally acceptable, IMHO is to cut each bus wire and use wire nuts to join the feeder wires to the ends. For all practical purposes, that still represents and unbroken wire because it's an unbroken contact. I don't see any problem with joining the ends of the base post bus wire to create a loop. Electricity always takes the shortest and easiest route, so it just may be that the short and easy route is from the end that would have been capped. I have heard the argument that the base post bus wire ought to be at least 12 gauge because of the combined current it carries. In my case, I don't buy that. Again, electricity takes the shortest and easiest path. So a section of track returning 0 volts back to the base post won't send the current all the way around the layout, it will send them straight to the base post that is closest to where the current came from in the first place. In my arrangement of 8 transformers, each transformer is getting current back from the block it sits on. There isn't a combined load. The only way that it would be a combined load is if I had a separate transformer with a base post lead dropped straight down to the base post bus wire and I used that transformer to run an accessory way down at the other end of the layout. Then that current would travel back along the base post bus wire with the track current until it got to it's rightful transformer post. If there were a lot of transformers for a lot of accessories, lights, etc and they were all active at the same time, then I would agree that a heavier bus wire would be appropriate. At any rate, it won't hurt, if the wallet can stand the extra cost of a larger gauge wire. That's how I understand it all. OBTW, physicists are still debating if an electrical charge runs over the surface of a wire, through it or both.

Tips on Resurrecting An Armature

2011-04-15T05:59:00.001-07:00

Assuming that the problem is not with the reverse unit or field, then the best way to tell if an armature is fried is to swap it out for a known good one. If the problem is solved, then by the process of elimination, the problem has been isolated. Measuring the resistence of the poles with a meter is a little tough. I would use small alligator clips to get a stable measurement to help confirm that it is a weak pole. There is one other thing to do with that old armature before having it rewound or discarded. You could try flattening out the face of it. The problem could be from a cupped face on the armature. At any rate, what do you have to lose by attempting to flatten its face? There are several ways to do it. I chuck up the long shaft of the armature in my drill press, then hold a piece of very, very fine Emory cloth wrapped tightly around a small, narrow block of wood up to the face. Or, you could just drill a hole in a wider block of wood to accept the short end of the armature shaft, wrap the Emory cloth around that block of wood, poke a hole in the cloth and present it to the armature face as squarely as possible several times. Don’t worry too much about wearing the face away to nothing. It can take a good pollishing or three. This is the home repair guy’s way of leveling a cupped armature face. The professional train repair guy would mostly likely put the armature on a lathe and present a micro-cutting bit to it to level it, then pollish it. Make sure you clean out the slots afterwards with a toothpick or something like that.

Reverse Unit Repair Tips

2011-04-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

Although lots of people refer to the American Flyer mechanical reverse unit as an eunit - that is a misnomer and a Lionel term. American Flyer trains use a mechanical reverse unit. If your loco is not running, here are some things to check.

Make sure it actually IS the reverse unit at fault. Do that by disconnecting the tender and jumping the ports on the jack panel. Jump port #2 with port #3 (two inside ports). Feed your transformer leads to port #1 and port #4 (two outside ports). The loco should run in either forward or reverse. You can wire the male part of a jack panel as a tester for future use. If you do, use a red wire on port #1 and a black wire on port #4. That way, you can first check for forward by putting the red lead on the variable post and the black lead on the base post. Swap them to test for reverse. Let's assume the loco works just fine.
Are the fingers actually making solid contact with the drum. Sometimes it looks like they are, but they actually are not or not enough to make good electrical contact. The trick is to have the fingers make solid contact, but not SO solid that they impede the drum from revolving.
See that the fingers are in alignment so as to make contact with the metal parts of the drum.
Check to see that the wires are soldered on their contact points securely.
Look at the little contact knobs on the reverse unit fingers. Are they worn through? If they are, a dab of solder will fill and fix them.
Does the drum rotate freely? If not, there may be dirt, lint or animal hair tangling the pivot points.
Does the flapper fall back down or hang? Sometimes a small nut or washer taped or glued to the underside provides enough weight.
Are all the metal parts clean and shiny? Contact cleaner is usually all that is needed to clean the parts.

Tips On Tuning Up An Animated Guilford Platform

2011-04-14T05:03:00.001-07:00

I suppose they still exist, but I have never seen one operate correctly after being in storage. Here are some bullet points on what I have done to get them going.

Make sure the mat is not stuck down to the metal base anywhere. The mat must be completely floating on the metal base
A mat can be made to look “like new” again with a coating of liquid black shoe polish. When it dries, make sure it isn’t stuck down anywhere
The metal guides are there for a reason. Oftentimes they need re-bent a little to keep the little people on track. Especially critical is the turn they make to go down the ramp. There needs to be a little curl at the end of that one guide
The mohair or fiber “feet” of the little people sometimes gets so worn it needs replaced. Our parts dealers have that material. On the one I just installed, I needed to stroke them down the face of a steam iron at a slight angle to “set” the fibers in the correct direction for them to travel forward and hug the guide rails
The intensity of the vibration needs to be regulated. Some guys use a small, dedicated vintage AC transformer, which is a great idea. There should also be an adjusting rod coming through the one side. Turn that rod with a pair of pliers to adjust the coil so the mat is vibrating with the correct amount of robustness. Too gentle and the little people won’t move well. Too much and they go spastic. If there is no adjusting rod, then you can make one with wire from an old coat hanger
The Platform must be level. Use small shims on one or more sides if it is not
Sometimes, but not often, the coil needs rewound. Those coils are pretty robust and engineered to work for long periods of time. But they are also 60+ years old by now. Rewinding is easy. Just discard the old enameled wire and match it to gauge at Radio Shack. You can go a wee bit heavier and it will take a few less turns, but I wouldn’t go lighter.

The action car that comes with a Guilford Platform usually always works “as is”. Test yours with leads from a transformer to make sure it does. The linker couplers can be adjusted and made to work reliably. I have a post on that elsewhere on my blog. I use a drop of oil on a Q-tip on the axels, then a wire wheel on my Dremel to remove any corrosion on the axels. A hair dryer turns the white residue into a transparent substance. 90% rubbing alcohol on an old rag removes crud from the plastic wheels. A wire wheel on my bench grinder shines up the metal wheels and the underside of the activation lever. Some oil on an old rag goes a long way to remove corrosion and helps to protect against further corosion on the metal chassis. Pledge spray furniture polish restores a nice shine to the painted shell. Floquil maroon paint is an exact match for any paint loss.

Tips On Repairing Vintage Diesels

2011-04-13T07:09:00.001-07:00

Here are my thoughts and tips on repairing vintage diesel motors. Take the easiest approach first and carefully work to the most difficult. It could be as simple as spraying a volume of Radio Shack tuner cleaner on it to clean it, then lube it and test it. Usually, that is all that is necessary. I can't tell you how many times I have smoked a motor and feared the worst. A burnout does happen, but usually it can be saved to run another day - for a while. So first, lube & clean all motor parts. You should also check the gearbox. They sometimes have age-old encrusted grease that needs cleaned out and re-lubed with something such as a white lithium grease - or nothing at all but some machine oil. I would not use Vaseline - except as a temporary measure to rule out a gunked-up gearbox. Also oil the pads that lube the shaft. If there is sparking or arcing of the wheels to the frame, it could be from a chassis that needs re-bushed, but hopefully you won't need to go there - although that is a common enough problem in old diesels that have been run to death. Next, you could examine the brushes to see if they need replaced. Check for any broken wires. Use a good light to look at the motor and shafts. I have pulled cat hair off of axles by using a pair of forceps with the non-running problem solved as simply as that. Lastly, try re-centering the commutator in the field by way of the small setscrews on the top of the yoke. If these things don’t get the disel motor running, then tear it down & rebuild it. If the commutator is shorted out, then it probaly won’t turn at all. More on that later…

I can't remember if the commutator is one continuous winding or three separate windings. The field is one winding and when it goes, it goes. At any rate, there should be continuity between all three poles on the commutator. Bob Hannon's repair manual can tell you what the actual resistance value should be. Determining if an armature is shorted is tricky. An armature winding can be worn on one pole so as to have a different resistance than the other two and the motor will still turn, albeit not all that well. As mentioned in the above paragraph, some might say that either the commutator works or it doesn't. That actually is over-simplified reasoning. If one pole is slightly or totally burned out, the motor may still turn - depending on the size of the motor and how well it overcomes friction, but it won't be good. Probably the best way for us home repair guys to determine if an armature is toasted is by the process of elimination. Check everything else and thoroughly service the motor, including checking for worn or broken brush springs, the possibility of a cupped armature face or worn shaft bushings, which would knock the armature out of line a little. If you have done everything and the motor still does not turn - guess what; it’s probably a bad armature. Diesel motors are tougher to get running well than steamer motors, IMHO. When I ran diesels on my layout, I always kept a good spare motor or two to swap out when all else failed. A field can be rewound at home with good results. I never tried to rewind an armature. It’s just too difficult to do at home.

When buying a diesel loco at a train show, turn it over and see how much – if any – lateral wiggle there is on the wheels. There should be very little or none. The more wiggle, the more the axel has rounded out the axel hole in the chassis. That’s not good. It will result in increased friction on the motor, as the worm gear gets thrust into the motor and/or it will result in sparking between the wheels and frame. In this case, the best thing for that diesel is: either a drill-out, re-bush of the axel holes or replacement of the whole motor & chassis. For most home repair guys, a drill-out is not too practical. It requires a tool-up and skill set jack. Consider that you will have to pull the insulated wheels off and tap out the axel from the gear and chassis. Then, after a successful drill-out and pressing in of new bushings – you will have to press the axels back into the gears and insulated wheels. That can often – very often – be much easier said than done. More often that not, the wheels will not be true to the axels and they will have a wobble when they turn. The amount of wobble may be slight or severe. Either way, it’s not good. And even if all the above can be accomplished by the average home repair guy, how often would one do it? Real repairs guys do it often enough to know all the sublties of how to do it right. Home repair guys don’t. Bottom line for me is that unless I am willing to stock another inventory of repair parts, tools and jigs and I’m willing to go through all the difficult repair steps necessary on the worst cases – then I’ll just stay away from vintage diesels and only run steam. The exception would be to buy a diesel in E or E + condition. They are a little expensive. However, in the average life span remaining of an old baby-boomer, I probably will not have to do an extensive repair on it.

Timboy's Tips on Cleaning

2011-03-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

This is a post about cleaning American Flyer trains. American Flyer trains are finicky. They are just like me; old and they work when they want to. I never want to. lol So IMHO, keeping all critical components scrupulously clean is of paramount importance. Big words. Following are tips on keeping American Flyer trains clean and therefore working optimally.

There are a variety of products to clean the 60+ year old crud off plastic wheels. I have tried most of them and I have found two solvents to be the best: "Contractor's Solvent" is available at True Value, Ace and probably most other places. It is citrus-based. I spray some on a paper towel and use my fingers to rub the crud off plastic wheels. It still takes some effort, but it does work. The other is 90% alcohol. Same technique. Why bother to keep plastic wheels clean? I believe the crud we see on the plastic wheels is dirt, dust, oil and smoke fluid that finds it's way onto the tops of the rails and gets carbonized when the metal pick-up wheels spark. That carbonized crud then gets picked up by the wheels and evenly distributed over the rails where it causes loss of electrical pickup by the metal wheels.
I clean the metal pickup wheels with a brass wire wheel in my Dremel. It spins fast enough that I don't believe it scratches the wheels. Rather, it cleans and polishes them.
I have switched from sandpaper to a 1000 grit Emory cloth to polish the rails of the track.
I use 90% alcohol to clean the rails of the track as needed.
After the track is clean, I use a rag to oil the rails. I've seen guys swear by one oil or another. Whatever. I use machine oil. Trick is to get a light coat on but not make the grades too slick. I find the oil makes a world of difference on vintage track. It greatly helps with electrical conductivity. I wouldn't run vintage American Flyer trains on vintage track without a light coat of oil on the rails.
Before I put a train with it's consist on the track to run, I do all of the above wheel-cleaning techniques. I also service the loco, to include lubrication, cleaning adding smoke fluid to the smoke box. I also adjust all whees on all pieces to make sure they are in gauge. I make sure all couplers are free-working and adjusted if necessary.

Building a Deck Bridge

2011-02-19T11:41:00.000-08:00

Someone asked me how I build my deck bridges and if I would post a how-to. I am delighted to do that.

I use balsa wood slats that I buy at Michael's. I either use a section of Luan for the face of the deck bridge, or in the case of the following pics, the subroadbed spline itself.

I found an old pic of the subroadbed spline that acted as the basis and provided the faces of the deck bridge.

This pic shows a piece of balsa that I cut to length for the uprights. I use a pair of locking forceps to hold it. I apply a thin bead of Super Glue on it's edge. It attaches to the face instantly.

I use a piece of a paint stirring stick as my spacer gauge as I glue successive uprights.

I leave a small space from the top of the slat to the top of the deck facing for a long piece of balsa that I glue with the flat side against the tops of the uprights. The bottom slat is done the same way. A little patience is needed here to let the Super Glue bond while I bend the slat around as needed.

That done, I then glue another slat on top of the first slat. This second slat is glued on with the narrow edge on top of the wide edge of the first slat. It creates a rail to contain the gravel. I don't glue down ballast as a rule because it's heavy and it won't really go anywhere. Also, if I want to make a change to the track by - say, putting a track trip in later, that is easy to do if the ballast isn't glued down. Gluing down ballast when using vintage steel track is problematic. The water used in the gluing process rusts the track.

When it's all glued up, I go check my emails or something for a few minutes to let the glue finish curing. Then I come back and spray wet-on-wet spray paints. I use cheap flat black and Rustoleum primer. I like the color combination.

And here is the finished facsimile of a deck bridge, all dry, ballasted and the track rails cleaned off.

Total build time - given that the face was already in place - about one hour. You may notice a few imperfections on the deck facing. That is no accident. I distress the facing a little bit before I begin the process, if it isn't already so. Since I don't bother with super-detailing rivets and such, I like the defects and feel that they add a "weathered" or "old" look to the bridge. There may be some who will mention that a curved deck bridge is utterly preposterous in prototype. The weight and vibration of the train would tear it apart. And they would be right. Deck bridges that span a curve are really made up of several or more sections of straight decks upon which curved track is laid, with pillar supports underneath. This is a toy hirail layout. I doubt my family will ever notice. Shhhhhhhhhh! Don't let on. lololololololololol

Test Video

2011-02-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

I have uploaded a test video to YouTube. It shows two trains running around most of my new layout. It is short and to the point. I didn't use a fancy camera and there is no long intro with intensive graphics. Here is a link to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYWJtyLdvTU

OBTW: I added some livestock to Jonesy's Farm

I also squeezed in some storage for my meager roster.

I'll add one more slender set of shelves below the light switch.

I spent the past hour building a deck bridge. One more to go.

Here is the last one to do, when I get all the dang Super Glue off my fingers!

Someone was sharp enough to point out to me that I don't have one scale mile of track on this RR, as I had previously thought. I really have FIVE SCALE MILES OF TRACK!!!!!!! So this RR really IS a branchline! That's great news!

Some Maintenance Issues

2011-02-16T16:32:00.000-08:00

I had to replace a 6' section of curved track today. When I hand-laid it, I knew I would have to replace it someday and it turned out to be sooner, rather than later. In general, I'm not real happy with my hand-spiked track using short, vintage rails. It's proving to be unstable as to gauge and I think it will only get worse as the weather changes. True, I could spike down the rails at every tie, but that is quite tedious. All-in-all, I gotta say that the appearance of the hand-spiked track is not appreciably better than sectional track, once the sectional track is fortified with added wooden ties, spray-painted flat black to cammo the tie insulators and ballasted. I don't think the appearance of the hand-laid track is better enough to justify all the effort it takes to lay it down. So, I'll pick up a box of junk track at York and use that to slowly replace the hand-spiked track with re-bent sectional track. An upgrade to Gargraves would be nice, but expensive; especially when you consider all the cork roadbed I would need!

I also went around and did a lot of paint touch-ups to my "oatmeal". Now that it is fully cured, there have been cracks opened up that need colored in. No big deal. Actually, it was a good opportunity to add some color to areas that I thought were a little drab anyway.

Well, real RR's have on-going maintenance and so does my hirail RR! I wonder what future maintenance projects will entail. We'll find out soon enough!

My "Oatmeal" Recipes

2011-02-09T04:35:00.001-08:00

I’ve mentioned many times how I build scenery by using ”oatmeal” that I make. Several people have asked me what that is. I thought I might as well publish it. There are several variations.

Paper-based blow-in insulation, water, Plaster of Paris, white glue. The mix should be wet, but not dripping wet.
Sawdust, water, Plaster of Paris, white glue. This recipe will yield a sharper or more rugged terrain.
A combination of 1 and 2 above.
Same as 1, 2 or 3 above, but with ready-mix joint compound added to make it creamier.

I think you will be surprised at how much water it needs to make a good mix! This recipe needs about a month to cure fully. But I paint it and apply ground covers after a day.

I apply one of the above mixes over a hard-shell base. It can be used to create texture by leaving it very rough, or it can be used to make very rough places smoother. I think of it as a “poor-man’s Scultamold”.

When I want rock faces, I either stick plaster casts on the terrain with big globs of “oatmeal” or just make rough rock-like shapes out of the “oatmeal” itself as I am working to cover an area.

02/15/2011: Sorry folks; not too much going on right now that shows. I just got done either throwing away or selling some residual items left over from building this RR. I don't believe in keeping anything around that I'm not actually using or have no plans to use. Look at everyone else's train layout. Tons of boxes and crap under the table and stuffed everywhere. Not this guy. The only thing on my York list this April is a linker Hudson in excellent or better shape. I should visit some toy stores and doll-house miniature places to get some whimsical stuff for the RR.

Upgrading Electrical Pickup on My Steamers

2011-02-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned a few times about upgrading the electrical pickup on my steamers. Here is how I do it.

The first pic shows a truck with slider pick-up shoes. This truck was harvested from a junker #293 steamer. Otherwise, the sliders are available as repro items and if you have a truck with a post, or mount a post on a truck (I have done it, so it's possible), then you are in business. Notice that I have also soldered a wire from the pick-up and taken it inside the tender to the other pick-up wires. It probably is not needed, but I figure that everything I can do is a help.

This second pic shows diesel shoe boxes cemented in the truck. To make an even more solid connection, I thinned the metal tabs down a little on the shoe boxes and drilled very small holes through the sheet-metal truck side frames. Then I inserted the tabs through the holes and bent them over. A dab of flat black paint makes them virtually invisible. Next up will be to solder a wire from the shoe box to the inside of the tender. Note that these diesel shoe boxes will not fit into the knuckle truck sintered side frames.

02/08/2011: Just finishing up on the accessories, etc. I installed a semaphore in case I want to run two trains. I'm currently using two pressure track trips and it seems to be working reliably. I figure that any vintage animation or illumination that I can add is a good thing to add interest - as long as it isn't too expensive. I believe that I have that Semaphore located in a good position. I think I will be able to stop a given train anywhere on the layout to do something and not have to worry about a collision. I'll have to experiment with parking a train at various places to see what happens. Hopefully, the other train will always get stuck at the Semaphore until I release the held train and it finds it's way to the Semaphore release trip. I wired the Semaphore base post wire through an on/off switch so I can turn it off if I only want to run one train. Anytime I wire up something to get activated with a track trip, I also wire it through an on/off switch so I can stop the madness whenever I want. lol

Starting To Upgrade...

2011-02-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am upgrading my steamer locos by removing the reverse units and hard-wiring them to run in forward only. Works on this RR.
The slider shoes I've added are enhancing electrical pick-up nicely. I'm further enhancing that by adding a wire to run from the slider shoe box to the pick-up wires inside the tender. I'm not leaving anything to chance - electrically.
It is now becoming fun to stand in one spot and watch the trains recede away from me - towards a far corner of the large layout - sometimes disappearing briefly. Nice. Then they emerge and slowly start coming towards me, chuffing huge volumes of smoke all along the way. Nice. Now I'm thinking that it would be a good idea to sound a whistle in a far corner of the layout. I have an activating button for that whistle in the far corner, but how hard would it be to wire a whistle button in at the other end of the layout. Not too much. I have the wire. I have the technology. We can make him stronger - faster. Wait a minute. Wasn't that the tagline from the Six Million Dollar Man?

A Good Place to Recap With Pics

2011-01-31T15:37:00.000-08:00

I thought this would be a good place to recap my progress with a series of pics that show where the layout stands right now. I'm doing this because the under-the-table wiring is very boring and I can't think of anything to show on that phase.

So on we go, around the room. From one dogbone on one end to the other dogbone at the other end and all the vistii in between. Or course, this RR build is nowhere near done, but some basic scenery & stuff is laid in and I can run 'em! I would like to take a series of short videos in the next month to post on YouTube and point to from this blog.

02/01/2011: I finished with all the drop-down feeder wires this afternoon. Now I'm wiring up the accessories I have. I would also like some illumination for the buildings as well.

02/04/2011: I have a lot of the accessories wired up and working. I still have illumination and a semaphore to connect.

On this essentially forward-only running layout, I decided to remove the reverse units. As we all know, they are tempermental. They are also electrical junction boxes. Their job is to flip polarity on the armature while holding the field polarity constant. But sometimes full voltage does not get passed through and that can cause some problems. That can be fixed, but in may case, why bother? After I did all the drop-down feeder wires I thought I needed, I still had a problem with inconsistent speed on my die-cast Atlantic. When I took the reverse unit out and hot-wired the loco for forward-only, it greatly improved the consistency of the speed. I also took the smoke leads straight from the tender and now get full smoke. Hot-wiring the loco only needs two wires from the tender. I used the two outer wires on the jack panel for that. I used the middle two wires on the jack panel for the smoke box.

My First Clean Run!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-01-30T12:37:00.000-08:00

I had my first clean run this afternoon with a linker K5 towing 4 linker cars!!!!! WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I added 6 grams of weight to the front pilot and fixed some out-of-gauge track sections. No break-aways and no derailments of any kind. Next up will be to add more drop-down feeder wires and get that part of it completed. I am on my way to a "working" RR!!!!!!!

1/31/2011: I'm in the middle of some boring work on the RR. I have 1/2 of the drop-down feeder wires installed. Ho-hum, but very necessary. At least when this is done, I'll be able to wire up some action accessories. Just for something to show, I took two more pics of the RR.

OBTW; the easy modification to linker couplers that I showed a "how-to" on a previous post works marvelously. Ever since I did that, I have not had a single break-away. Linkers rule!

Linker Coupler Tips and Tricks

2011-01-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

I like the look of vintage Flyer linker couplers. I think it is the only vintage way to couple passenger cars because the spacing of the cars is much closer than the knuckle couplers can do. But a lot of guys don't like linkers because of the problems they present. Sigh. Linker couplers are so misunderstood. Sigh. Here is how I adjust and modify the ones on my fleet to operate more reliably.

1) The linker must rotate up and down freely and I mean freely. If it doesn't, then touch a hot soldering iron to the bar head and wiggle the linker until it is free. Don't melt it! Clean off any oxidation or mold-release agent that has rendered with 91% alcohol and/or a hair dryer set on high. Careful of the paint!

2) Adjust the linker so that it rides just a tad above the track rail.

3) Adjust the linker bar to be level

4) Now comes a little Timboy Magic! A typical linker has a straight edge at it's notch. I use a small, round jeweler's file to back-cut a groove at the base of the notch on the linker. That notch creates a hook which couples to the adjacent linker bar more firmly.

The Final Push

2011-01-22T07:05:00.000-08:00

I have this control panel to finish installing. There is some more work to do on the 15 amp dedicated household circuit. This circuit is running under the train tables and will plug in to a GFIC outlet with the power leads going directly back to the main electrical panel. That should provide adequate protection if the worse happens. After this control panel is energized, I have the rest of the blocks to install. Then I'll have to debug the track system.

01/22/2011:

Dead short! Dead short! Dead short! As I tested the new circuit I ran, I came up with a DEAD SHORT!!!!!!!!!! I'm used to wiring up household circuits "hot", so I didn't get shocked. But I am an IDIOT! That dead short was a no-brainer and I have no brain. Duh! Anywho, I found it and corrected it. Maybe I should stop wiring up circuits hot. I'm an idiot.

01/24/2009:

I finished wiring the circuit under the train table. I have active outlets at all three control panels now. Each control panel can be turned on or off independently with the use of an on/off switch. I also finished wiring the GFIC outlet that the circuit plugs into. It is under the train tables on a wall and is not noticeable. I'm glad I am done putting that GFCI circuit into my panel. I hate taking the cover off the panel to insert another circuit breaker. I just don't enjoy sticking my hands in there. But it is done and it tests safely. So now I am wiring the track, one block at a time and working my way around the layout in the process. No pics to show on this part.

01/25/2011:

I'm still working my way around the RR wiring in the blocks. I have two left to wire in and section of track to repair already! It must have expanded some after I laid it and a section buckled! So that is what I'll be doing tomorrow. Snore...

01/26/2011:

Here's a pic of the track that buckled. I'm in the process of repairing it. I think I'll shave the back cut back a little as well.

Okay; so much for the speed bump. I hope there is enough lateral clearance.

01/28/2011:

I'm still working on getting my first clean run with one train. I have all the blocks wired up and they all work. I'll need additional feeder wires for places where the track voltage is a little low. That's to be expected, but first I have some track issues where there are break-a-ways of my linker couplers. I'm solving them one-at-a-time. I also discovered that one transformer was bad. Bummer. I usually don't try to repair a transformer, unless it's a faulty circuit-break, or on/off switch, or light bulb, or handle, or primary coil, or secondary coil. AHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOTCHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Otherwise, it becomes a brand-new boat anchor.

01/29/2011:

I'm still working on getting a clean run as far as the front pilot wheels on my K5 is concerned. There are still a couple places where they like to jump the rails. But I have a clean run on a consist with linker couplers! Linkers are nice couplers, but they are also finicky. I have developed a technique to help them stay coupled together. Of course, cleanliness is paramount and they have to rotate up and down absolutely perfectly. They also have to be adjusted to the correct height and the link bar has to be level as well. If anyone is interested what other step I take to help them stay coupled please let me know and I'll post a "how-to".

I made a small set of shelves to store my little roster. It is on one side of the entrance door. I want to make a similar set of shelves for on the other side.

Laural Mountain

2011-01-03T13:21:00.000-08:00

A TREMENDOUS Happy New Year to all Flyers!!!!!!!! It's gonna be a GREAT year! 2011 will see this project completed, wired up, debugged and run. I'll be buying a video camera in the coming months to post some videos of it in operation. HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the start of Laural Mountain. I'm back to the cardboard strip basket weaving technique that I excelled at in college. lol There will be a plaster hard shell over this framework and my "oatmeal" over that. I'll be putting some rock faces on it and there will be PLENTY of vegetation and maybe even a snow cap. Time will tell!

The ladies at Micheal's want to know what I'm doing with all the glue sticks I'm buying. I tell them I've kidnapped a spy and am torturing him for his sekrits for Wikileaks. lololololololololololol

01/04/2011: To the untrained eye (lol) it might appear that I have been slacking. Well, I have! lol But what I did get done today was to establish the basic shape of the mountain. It is stable, so I took out the tent pole in the middle. I also have all the fascia board installed. There is a lot more work to do on the webbing.

I am done lugging plywood up and down the stairs to measure, cut and then measure & cut again! There is a little carpentry work to be done yet on the two tunnels. I like them totally enclosed, even though they are inside the stand-up mountain. I have the tunnel portals roughed in, but they will need defined.

01/05/2011: I have the one side pretty well woven in now. The other side needs finished off. Then I'll need to enclose the insides of the tunnels and I can start covering it with hard shell. I'll do the mountain, then the next level down and so on until it's all done.

I know it's a little tough to imagine how this is going to work out, but it will.

01/06/2011: I have all the basic construction completed and all the areas filled in. Next up will be to do the plaster hard shell.

The newspaper is the same newspaper I've used as bulk filler in other sections. When the plaster is dry, I just pull it out from underneath, leaving a hollow hard-shell. I'll do the same on this section, then discard the newspaper wads. I'll leave the cardboard backing, however. It will bond somewhat to the plaster, so trying to pull that down would be disastrous and not necessary at all.

There will be some clouds to paint out when all is done and there will be sky touchups to do as well. Routine.

01/07/2011: I got plastered this morning! The section is now covered over, with the usual amount of slop from slinging plaster. I'll let it dry a while and start in with my "oatmeal" covering. I don't know how much I'll get done this week-end, due to all the televised sporting events.

In the process of getting at the top of this mountain, I had a slight mishap. For the first time, I used a stepladder. It slipped on the newspapers I had on the floor to catch drippings. I crashed down on an small adjacent "finished" section. It got bunged and splashed with wet plaster. No big deal. I'll fix it when I paint and cover the present section. If that is the worse that happens to me building this layout, I'm good.

01/08/2011: Thanks for all the well-wishes. The crash reminded me of when I sometimes took a foul tip under my chest protector. No harm, just a nice mouse. Even at close to 300 pounds, I still have cat-like reflexes! So it's back up on the horse. That was my mantra in my youth as a wanna-be rodeo star. Anyway, I got a little "oatmeal" applied this morning. I had to stop and go out to a big-box store for more material. Bowl and playoff games this afternoon, so this is where I stop for today!

I'm a little concerned that the top ridge looks a little too straight, so I'll "correct" it with some gobs of "oatmeal".

01/10/2011: Happy Monday, Flyers! It's back to the grind! I finished up with the basic shape of this mountain by covering it with my "oatmeal". Overall, I am satisfied with it's shape. However, there is one view of it that I need to enhance. I'll point it out to you in the upcoming pics.

I'm okay with this side, although some rock faces will help.

Starting to have a problem with accepting the shape on this right-hand side.

I'm also good with this side. Texture will augment it.

My "problem" side on the left.

Here we go. This side is way too symmetrical. It looks like an igloo or egg. I gotta do something about it.

If anyone has any productive suggestions, I would be glad to entertain them. My current plan it to give that side a new face with a lot of rock outcroppings. Keep in mind that this mountain will have a very thick cover of vegetation over it. I can also use those vegetation mats to add thickness in some places so that the symmetry is not so pronounced. I'm not opposed to building this side out and creating a tunnel for the trains on both levels. But that tunnel will have to allow me access to the track. So if I go that route, then I have to put a large fascia on this side with an access flap. Not exactly the look I want. So, let's see what happens tomorrow when I add rock ledges!

01/10/2011: I think I have made a step in the right direction. I broke up the surface smoothness and some of the symmetry with a very rough coat of "oatmeal" and debris for rocks. I'm out of scraps to use, so I'll make up some plaster rock faces this evening for tomorrow's session. When I'm reasonably satisfied that is has a chance, I'll go ahead and paint it all and cover it with ground foams. That will be a little bit of overkill, since I'll be going back over it to weave in massive amounts of vegetation mats. But I think the underpainting will help to give it depth.

I need to texture the area between the upper and lower track. A small hill where the track goes through might be in order here.

01/10/2011: There was a special request for me to back up and show how this mountain interacts with the other sections and the RR on a whole. A little impossible to do, really - but here is my effort. Please excuse the construction clutter 'n@.

01/11/2011: I may not be finished for today, but I thought this was a good place to stop and take a couple pics because my next effort should change the look of this mountain a lot. I added a bunch of texture and rock faces. I built out the middle tier as much as I could so that the mountain has a little more natural shape and look less like a wedding cake (not that there is anything wrong with cake!). I also re-established the graded right-of-way for clearance and cleaned up the fascia board. I spackled it as well.

I'm still not completely satisfied with this view, so hopefully the paint & such will improve it.

I'm pretty happy with this view now.

With all the added rough texture, I'm afraid I won't get a good paint job by using even my largest wall brush. I hate to break out the Hudson sprayer to paint it, but I think I'll have to. Using the Hudson sprayer is tricky. First off, the paint has to be diluted, then strained through a stocking. Care must be taken to only give the sprayer a couple of pumps of compressed air. Too much and the paint can get propelled with too much force and splatter all over everything. I'll have to cover what I don't want splashed and use a lot of caution. But it is a way to paint a large area quickly and get good penetration into all the cracks and crevices that I have created. All this said, I'll still be covering a lot of it with vegetation matting. But I think by making as good an underpainting as I can, will allow the veg mats to blend into the terrain more convincingly. Let's see...

01/11/2011: I may have to stop here for a couple days. I ran out of ground foams. They are on order for delivery ASAP, so I should be back in business in a couple days. While I am far from finished, there is an improvement in the right direction. I can't apply the vegetation mats until I get the ground foams because that is what I top them with.

01/11/2011: Lionroar88 suggested that I add a rock slide with a tunnel bored through it to the side of this mountain and I thought that was a great idea. So I tried my hand at it. It's not exactly like the pic he sent me, but I think it fits in with my style the way I did it. Of course, I'm not done painting and decorating and I'll want to add vegetation, so I'm not done yet. But here is where it rests for tonight.

I think it brings relief to an otherwise roundish mountain. It isn't too long, so I should be able to service track in it from both ends. Maybe I'll do another one in a different place.

01/15/2011: I completed the painting and sprinkling phase. Next up will be to glue down some vegetation mats. I added another tunnel.

I could use another light on this side.

Funny thing about the technique I use; as the "oatmeal" dries, I find I need to touch up areas that have opened up. That's okay, though. I use a grayed-down orange paint for that and it adds more color.

This time after I was done painting and sprinkling ground foams all over, I hit it with some spray paint; black and primer. I like the added effect. Maybe tomorrow, I'll get the fascia sanded and painted while I'm waiting for the mountain to dry a little more before I start putting vegetation mats on it. Interestingly, experience has shown me that simply painting the fascia makes a world of difference as well.

01/16/2011: I think today's effort frames it in quite nicely and makes it pop. I still have plenty of touch-ups to do and I still want to glue down some vegetation mats; although perhaps not as many as I originally intended! I'm also glad I added that last tunnel. I think it helps to make this mountain look less like an inverted coffee cup! lol It was a tough mountain to build. I had to make it big and tall enough to stand up inside of, yet attempt to texture it so that it didn't look like an igloo. I'm all-in-all pleased with the result. OBTW, the benchwork is level. The camera angle makes it look a little slanted.

I have cleaned up the train room quite a bit in the past week. If felt good to put the gallons of paint away and to use up the last bit of plaster. Truthfully, I'm a little tired of doing scenery work and laying track. I want to run some trains!

01/18/2011: Uh-oh! There's trouble on the RR!!!!!!!! It looks like the RR crew built a tunnel portal out of spec. The conductor is out looking and is that someone from ABC news taking a picture? Or is that an insurance adjuster? Uh-oh!!!!!!

01/19/2011: There's a party going on right here; a celebration to last through-out the year! The fun folks in Timboy Town don't need any excuse for a party. Timboy Town is actually a drinking town with a railroading problem!

There is plenty of lateral clearance now! Richard was the winner of the raffle and he got to ride the cowcatcher as the K5 made a clean trip through Laural Mountain Tunnel #1!!!!!!!!!!!!

01/21/2011: ALL THE TRACK IS LAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I now have to wire up the remaining blocks and de-bug. Hopefully, the trains will be running again within 2 weeks.

Next up will be to build the third and final control panel. After the trains are running well, I'll want to come back to this section for more building. I have two deck bridges to build and some vegetation to install on this mountain. But those items are purely cosmetic.

My Previous Hi-Rail Layout

2010-12-31T10:04:00.000-08:00

If you have been following this blog, then you saw how my toy train layouts evolved from smallish to large. Now I am posting pics of how the large toy train layout evolved into a large hi-rail layout. This hi-rail layout was torn down by me last May and I have been working steadily to rebuild a new and different hi-rail American Flyer layout. Here are the pics of that previous hi-rail layout:

Some serious mountain building!

I experimented with bird cage litter as ballast. Fair results, at best.

Still firmly into my DC phase with conventional block control.

I think you can see that there are elements of a toy train layout and elements of a hi-rail layout.

Here are some of the ('niff, 'niff) final pics of that hi-rail layout. The quality isn't too good, but you can see what I was aiming for...

Here are a couple videos of my previous hi-rail layout in it's final stages:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVk7ugzEwYs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yb0UNZyMUE

I hope you have enjoyed the "story" I tried to tell this holiday season. On Monday, I will resume building my current hi-rail Flyer layout. I hope to complete this project within the next 6 weeks!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Largest Toy Train Layout I Ever Had

2010-12-29T07:09:00.000-08:00

When I bought a train room with a house over top of it, I decided to build a large toy train layout. This one was the last toy train layout I ever built. This later became the basis of my first hi-rail layout.

This was the 12X32 table I built

Notice the use of Erector bridges and cut-down vintage switches

Here is an articulated loco I made and an old Comet I repainted to New Haven. Here is the link to YouTube for a short video of the steamer running. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIZzCVXhv1c

Dual smoking smoke stacks!

Notice the unique way I used trestles; up on risers for more clearance and one trestle per pair of metal ties as track joints and one trestle per tie in the middle. I liked the look and OBTW, I achieved a 2% grade! That mountain was my first attempt to build one. It was large, but portable.

Repainted 355 Baldwins into Seaboards.

I built that Circus Set from an old Royal Blue and various cars that I repainted and decaled.

Here is a long Erector ramp

Again, I used risers to fill in all the track ties with trestles. I think I used 4 sets of trestles to make the up and down ramps plus about 30 high trestle sections.

My high trestle sections.

Those are G gauge power packs. This was my DC phase. It later turned into DCC. Now I am full-circle, back to unaltered vintage.

I had so much junk, I decided to display it!

I built that crossing and it worked quite well!

You might have noticed from some of the pics that this basement was initially wide open. I later dropped a long wall to completely enclose it into my train room.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!!

Yet Another Old Layout of Mine

2010-12-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

I'm still on a holiday break from building my Flyer RR. I thought you might like to see some pics of an old layout I had in a former house. On this layout, I am just starting to teach myself how to construct scenery.

I think the colors looked pretty nice.

Notice the repainted New Haven set.

AHA! An Erector Bridge!

It wasn't a real big layout, but it sure was fun!

Look at the unusual use of Erector Set parts to make a ramp!

Repainted Branford Diner.

A fleet of repaints- including Royal Blue coaches.

A Very Early Layout of Mine

2010-12-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hey Boxcars: I'm taking a break from building my new layout. Meanwhile, I thought it might be nice to show a few pics of a toy train layout I had a long, ling time ago, in another universe. This was before I taught myself how to make "oatmeal". LOL OBTW: I "carpentered" this room and all storage shelves/cabinets. I'm not a carpenter, but I carpenter on occasion. LOL I'm also not a chef, but I chef on many occasions! Budda-bing!

Three of these were powered up and hard-wired for forward. Two are dummies. Not exactly prototypical, but lots of fun to drive!

Notice the risers I made to place one trestle under each tie!

Look at all those high trestles!

I re-built this junker RB I bought on eBay with parts I bought from Flyer vendors. Flyer vendors; I encourage you to embrace eBay. It's here. It's queer. Get used to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought junker accessories off eBay and meticulously restored them!

This was a duck-under to get into the room.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The M&M Mine

2010-12-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

This morning I roughed-in a new section. It will feature a Coal Loader that will load M&M's into a dump car. The M&M's will come from an M&M mine. There will be a ramp from the Coal Loader area, down to the mine and also off the RR to another road that goes who-know's-where. LOL

After I had the above roughed-in, I did some more shaping. It is now ready for the hard-shell and "oatmeal" treatment.

This is the next-to-last section to build on my RR! So, I took the time last night and this morning to re-organize the train room. I reduced the clutter and building materials. I pretty much had to do that and actually, there really wasn't too much stuff left. I've done a great job of re-using the wood and stuff from the RR I tore down. I'll need to buy a couple panels of 1/2" plywood to finish the fascia around the last section.

12/18/2010: So here is the same area slopped, er I mean expertly covered over with hard-shell. LOL I'll let this set up while I do my morning 3-mile run. This afternoon, I'll get at it with my "oatmeal".

I laid in a good supply of "oatmeal" before prices skyrocketed after the recent M&M rush that created havoc.

Hmmmmmmm. Kinda looks like that Sphincter over in Egypt, but without it's head.

12/21/2010: THIS SECTION IS DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will need a Coal Loader and of course, the M&Ms.

Here is a preview of THE LAST SECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It will be a huge mountain. There will be some track concealed in it, but the mountain will be tall enough for me to stand up inside of and it will be hollow - IOW's: just like the first one on the other dog bone. I'm going to take a break now for the holidays, so I will not start working on this for a while. Thus, there will be no further updates to this blog until I do. That should at least make Mitch happy. Hah-Hah-Hah-Hah-Hah! Merry Christmas to everyone and your families as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a link to pics of what I have accomplished so far: http://timboytestblog.blogspot.com/

I'll keep moving this link down to the bottom as this post grows. When this section is done, I'll add that pic in logical sequence with the others.

Green Mountain

2010-12-14T10:24:00.000-08:00

New section up on the block! This is the area I have to work with.
Your basic cardboard framework. Not even a lattice for this application!

Wadded up newspapers shoved in-between the cardboard; cardboard that I recycled by pulling it out of completed sections to make them hollow.

Your basic hard-shell

Your basic Timboy "oatmeal" covering; a fascia board and more wadded-up newspaper. I just put a couple pieces of cardboard over the benchwork underneath to hold the paper from falling down through. All of that can be pulled out in a few days when the plaster is dry and the "oatmeal" is set up some. Don't be too concerned about the raw green paint on the mountain. That is just a base coat. It will be covered with a green vegetation mat, except for the lower cut part where the track goes through. I didn't even use any of my precious "oatmeal" on it. LOL There will be a Whistling Billboard.

I don't want to cover over the lower part yet until I have the work completed on the top. I finally learned how to make a fascia. I cut a piece of 1/2" plywood 9" wide, screw it on and sculpt-cut it with my saber saw. I end the cut 1/2 way on the 9" wide part of the board = about 4 3/4" wide. That way I can flip the waste piece over and match it perfectly with the installed piece. Result = 2 for one. LOL

12/14/2010: I created a pictorial blog to show a recap of the work that has been accomplished so far. Here is a link if you would like to get a sense of how all the sections connect to each other:

http://timboytestblog.blogspot.com/

12/15/2010: Completed a lot today! I'm waiting for glue, paint and "oatmeal" to dry.

I would like to see if I can get the bottom part covered tomorrow so that I can get some track laid down before the week-end.

12/16/2010: I finished this section, so it's time to send in the trains!

Time to move on to the next section. It's a somewhat long, straight section. There will eventually be an M&M mine on that section. I can build that right now, but it will take me some time to find and buy a suitable Coal Loader to load those guys up into a dump car!

Here is that pictorial overview of all that I have constructed. I copied it from above.

http://timboytestblog.blogspot.com/

Guilford & Crane Section

2010-12-10T10:46:00.000-08:00

I roughed-in a new section. There will be a Guilford Station and a Crane on the lower elevation track. There is also a peninsula coming out from this section. That will be a town and it will get built after the RR is built because it is not necessary for the trains to run.

So, this is the rough space.

Here is that space covered over.

Tomorrow, I'll paint it up. There will be a road in the very back. It is the same road that comes from the previous section. It will disappear into a tunnel in the next section. The peninsula will have it's top level with the top on this section. That blank space will be a large lot and road intersection, for the Guilford and Crane. I cut the track section off the Guilford so it will look better. I'll make a trip rail out of a rail section later.

OBTW: I mentioned this on another forum and thought it would make an interesting side-note:

I am on my third bale of paper-based blow-in insulation, at least a dozen large bags of Plaster of Paris, 6-8 tubs of ready-mix joint compound, four large bottles of white glue, 4-5 large bags of black polyfil, maybe 20 large bags of lichen I bought at a train show a long time ago and 3 five gallon pails of ballast I have harvested locally. None of that stuff is especially expensive - even in those quantities. Imagine buying all that ballast in those little bottles! The shipping alone would equal what I've spent on all the rest of the stuff. LOLOLOLOLOLOL

12/11/2010: Today saw a huge cosmetic improvement on this section. I spent the morning painting, applying ground foams and my vegetation mats. There are a lot of places where the glue/water is seeping out. I'll put a fan on it and let it dry. Then I'll touch it all up and lay in the roads and gravel lots. I like to get all that done so that the last effort is laying down track and ballast. Keeps the track & ballast from getting messed up with the wet-on-wet technique I use.

I'm curious to see how this looks when it dries. Maybe this will be a "happy little accident". Maybe it will look like water drainage or seepage from the hillside. Maybe it will look like crap and I'll want to paint it out and hide it. There's one way to find out... LOL

My second work session of the day cleaned up a lot of messy areas. The glue is pretty well dried now and for the most part, it looks just fine. A couple places that I wasn't happy with got touched up with some darker dirt-colored paint. It's an old furniture-maker's trick. If you have to hide some blemishes in the finish, do it with a darker stain. It's okay for wood to have dark areas. They suggest knots or something. So I applied that technique to my "oatmeal" and I think it looks like a variation in the "rock" or something.

I'll need to populate these areas and buy a crane somewhere. But there is plenty of time for that over the next few years. LOL

Next up will be to let this dry overnight, then start laying in the track. OBTW, the front fascia will be hidden by a raised section coming off this section as a peninsula. The peninsula will be a town. I took the siding out. There will be a road running parallel to the gravel lot and a road running down the center of the town to intersect it. I think I'll make a creek between the road and the lot and put a bridge there for the road. But that will be after the rest of the RR is built. So, I just painted the fascia black for now. Looks like the team is on the road and headed for Cincinnati. LOL

12/13/2010: I completed this section by laying and ballasting track. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I cut that track trip side off the Guilford Station and just used a conventional car trip.

Some day I'll want to build a boardwalk around the Guilford Station so it doesn't look like it is just plunked down there. I also need more people and vehicles.

Here is space for a Crane. I'll pick one up at a train show this winter or at York in April.

Onward to the next section which I will call Green Mountain. You'll easily see why I'm calling it that when I have it completed. LOL

Timboy's Vegetation Mats

2010-12-08T07:25:00.000-08:00

Box Cars: By popular request, I have written this post as a show 'n tell on how I make mass vegetation mats. I'll do it with a series of pics and explanations. Here we go:

Area I wish to cover:

The black polyfil I use

A wad of suitable size and mass

White glue and water bath

Black polyfil hydrated with glue/water

Squeezing glue/water out: not too much and not too little

Ready for top-coating

Some ground foams added

Rough placement

Edges tapped down, ground foams and some lichen added

AHA! Too much glue left in mat. Just pat it dry and cover with ground foams

Finished?

Tips: Sometimes I will stretch it out flat and sometimes I will hump it up. Sometimes I will overlap pieces, add lichen and anything else I can think of to make it look interesting - like green polyfil for vines. If I squeeze too much glue/water out and it won't tap down around the edges, some cheap hairspray will take care of that.

Total time to do this: about 45 minutes, stopping to take pics, etc. I would love to see if anyone can take this concept to a higher level. If you do, please let us all know with posts and pics, etc.

Here's a couple more close-up pics. Click on any given pic to enlarge. There should also be a magnifying glass in that larger pic to allow you to really zoom in. How do they compare with the very top pic?

I'll let it up to you to decide if this technique has merit on your layout...

Irwin's Farm

2010-12-05T07:02:00.000-08:00

This corner section will have part of a farm in view. I have an N Gauge house that I cut in half and will position as far back as I can. There will be a road on the one side along the wall. I am tapering that road down as it goes into the corner. I'll plant small trees around the house and larger ones up front. Will this forced perspective actually fool anyone. I doubt it, but it will be fun to try! LOL Here is a pic of the area I have to work with.

So next up will be to fill in all the spaces with wadded up newspaper and hard shell over that. Then the "oatmeal" of mine will cover that and finally, paint & ground covers of various kinds including my "vegetation mats". Let's see what happens. LOL

12/06/2010: The area is now covered in with hard-shell, "oatmeal" and some rock faces. Tomorrow I'll get at the paints and ground covers.

Gonna be tough to get at the very rear of the corner, so I'll do that first and hopefully it will be a long time till I need to get back there again - till next Tuesday at least. LOL

12/07/2010: Well, here is my forced - forced perspective. LOL I tried to plant smaller trees in the back and larger stuff in front. I tapered the road and put a larger car up closer. Here are pics from a bunch of different angles. I'll let you be the judge. LOL

Next up will be to do some painting on the lower elevation rise and put some "vegetation mats" in with a few pics that shows how I do it.

Stock Yard Section

2010-11-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

This new section has a Stock Yard on one of the lower level tracks. It is the last straight section on this long back wall. I am glad that I had the foresight to gather the tracks together on both levels so that there are less terraces. The Stock Yard will have a parking lot to it's left and a road that crosses the tracks. It disappears into a tunnel to go under the upper elevation tracks. We don't really know where it goes, but that access road must connect out there somewhere with at least a secondary country road that also connects to Irwin's Farm on the next section that I am planning.

In the very back, along the wall will be some basic scenery with a few trees. Notice that this Stock Yard is right along the tracks and not on a siding. That may be a little odd, but consider that my whole layout is actually not a mainline. It is a mostly rural branchline that is not very busy. It still may be a little odd, but that is the way I want it.

11/30/2010: I was energetic today and got a lot done. This new section is all covered with hard-shell and my "oatmeal". Tomorrow, I'll see how far I get with painting it.

12/01/2010: I had a tremendous building session this morning and got all of the scenery completed on this section. Notice that I cut off that ugly pick-up section on the Stock Yard. I'll build a track trip out of rail when I lay the track.

Up next is to lay down some track.

12/03/2010: Speed bump! I ran out of wooden ties. It is time-consuming to plane down, rip, cross-cut and stain 1X4 cedar into wooden ties. But I took the time to do it and now I have a paper grocery bag full of them. I also ran out of ballast. My truck has been in the garage for a couple days, so I haven't been able to harvest gravel for screening, washing and drying. However, I do have the track laid down. I have to paint it and ballast it and drop down some feeder wires to the bus wires. I also made several trees and "planted" them. I think I pretty well have perfected making large-area "vegetation mats".

I think while I'm waiting to get more ballast, I'll get a leg up on the next section that I will call, "Irwin's Farm". I want to maintain my pace of one 8-9 foot section a week. I have a couple ideas I want to try out on the next section.

12/04/2010: Hey Box Cars! I got my truck back and harvested some gravel. It's screened down, washed, dried and applied I will now call this section DONE (for now) and it's time to send in the Royal Blue and K5 LOL!

Up next will be a corner section I will call "Irwin's Farm". When I make that post, I'll show the roughed-in area I have to work up. I think NOW is the time to take my technique of creating "vegetation mats" to a HO 'NUTHA LEVEL. LOL

Twin Lakes East

2010-11-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

11/22/2010: Today I cut a piece of 1/2" plywood and fit it in for the base of the lake. Then I wadded up newspapers to act as backing for the places I wanted to cover. The hard-shell went quickly, working from bottom to top and letting each layer cure a little before continuing upward. Then I mixed up 3 large batches of my "oatmeal" to cover and texture. It also fills in large gaps and can be used to tie everything together. I put a layer on my lake bed, then sprinkled sand over it to level and smooth it out some. I already had the subroadbeds built and the Erector Bridge installed a long time ago. I'll need to convert the subroadbeds to deck bridges. The following pics show all of this in a "raw" state. Paint, sawdust and ground foams will make a big difference. Lastly, lichen and or black polyfil topped with ground foams will help to hide the back edge on the wall and anyplace else that didn't work out real well.

11/23/2010: Today's work went well. I did some painting and ground covering. The scenery isn't anything fancy; plain and simple. I cleaned up and touched up all around. The lake bed I did yesterday didn't work out, so I scraped it up. It doesn't always work out, folks. I'll have some spackling and sanding to do tomorrow. Right now I'm waiting for the glue to dry and "fix" the shoreline. I have deck bridges to build and track to lay down. The last thing I'll do is paint the lake bed, then pour the "water". Then it will be time to move on!

11/24/2010: I had a productive morning today. I made up the three deck bridges. I cheated. I just glued slats on the sides of the subroadbeds using CA and my fingers. What can go wrong there! LOL I used a paint stirring stick as my gauge for the slats. Then I spray-painted them with primer and flat black; wet on wet. Now I have to de-glue my fingers! LOL I also got the track laid down, painted and ballasted. Notice that I have the track on the deck bridges ballasted. Not exactly prototypical. I didn't glue it down. I almost never do. I just arrange the structures or scenery to "trap" it. It doesn't go anywhere unless I pound on the bench work under the table. LOL Maybe this evening I'll be able to paint the lake bottom and then pour it tomorrow after I have our TG meal well in hand. I'm the Chief Cook and Bottle Water in our household. LOL

11/27/2010: I'll call this section done for now. Twin Lakes East is a deeper lake than Twin Lakes West. It will be a popular destination for sailboats, once word gets out. LOL Twin Lakes West will be a sport-fishing paradise. The lower water level in the upper region is an excellent spawning ground for large-mouth bass and crappie.

Time to move on to the next section. It is about 4-feet long and is the last straight section on the long back wall. It will connect Twin Lakes East to a corner section called Irwin's Farm. On this next section will be a Stock Yard on one of the lower elevation tracks. So I guess I'll call this section Stock Yard (quite imaginative, no?). I have no idea how the Irwin family will get their cattle to the Stock Yard for transport. I guess I'll have to build some kind of a road. Perhaps someone like Billy Crystal could take part in a cattle drive on his summer vacation! LOL

Timboy Town East

2010-11-12T06:49:00.000-08:00

Twin Lakes West is completed for now. The main control panel is in the foreground. Timboy Town East is on the upper elevation. I have one tier with "oatmeal" on. On the other tires, I'm trying a new technique. I'm using cheesecloth, stapled to the benchwork and fascia to act as a base for the plaster hardshell. There will be lots of dripping, but I have newspapers put down on the floor. Let's see what happens.

This is the rear of the cut-in-half Union Station. I added a planter in front with some upright arborvitae. I made them out of some kind of tree blossoms I found. I stabilized them by dipping them in white glue and letting them dry upside down. Then I sprayed them with hairspray and covered them with ground foams. That is the front of the hospital I cut in half to use as a clinic on Timboy Town West.

You can see the rear part of the jail. I'm using it as a generic maintenance building. I think the Oil Drum Loader will work okay on the upper level. It's reliable and usually only needs either more barrels to load or just a little poke to get the barrels down the ramp from time to time.

11/14/2010:

I made some progress this week-end. I'll have to continue to run my household circuit to power up the bank of transformers on the main control panel. Each #15B controls a block. The #8 on the right will will be a light circuit to the right part of the layout. The #8 on the left will be for a light circuit to the left part of the layout. Neither light circuit will interact with the track transformers. The #8 in the middle will be for my Talking Station, Water Tank and Oil Drum Loader. None of those accessories will interact with the track transformers either. Any action cars that I want to activate along this back wall will go to one of the #15B transformers. I have a couple electronic track trips laid out. I'm not sure if they will get used on this back wall anywhere or not, but at least I see I have plenty of room for them. OBTW, the cheesecloth experiment worked. The "oatmeal" will take about a month to fully cure. I had to be careful when painting this section that I didn't put too much pressure on the scenery. It worked out fine, tho.

Notice that I kept the scenery rather simplified on this section. I guess I'll take a little break from all the scenery construction this week to do wiring and lay in some track.

11/19/2010: I am finished with Timboy Town East - for now. I still need to paint the buildings, add illumination, etc. - but I will let that for an upgrade.

This is my central control panel. There is a smaller one at each end.

I am at the half-way point! Onward to Twin Lakes East! OBTW; in case that sign for Timboy Town is unreadable, it reads, "Timboy Town East - Please Leave Quickly". LOL

Twin Lakes West

2010-11-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have begun working on the next segment I call Twin Lakes West. This is the westward lake of two lakes. Admittedly, it is difficult to show with pics and with the four bridges. One will have to look from several different vantage points to see it all. I'm okay with that. It is what it is. I don't think a good model RR should have everything all up front that one can see from a single commanding view. I want whomever might come to look at this to walk around to see it all. I have one side pretty much completed. The fascia board will need installed before the "water" is poured.

I use sifted dirt, sifted sand, grass-colored ground green foam, lichen, polyfil, etc.

A couple of fascia-board level pics showing the length of the lake, with it's tributary and a side bank.

I remove the middle two deck bridges to work on it. Otherwise, it would be a nightmare!

This pic shows the other side. I use wadded-up newspaper with scraps of burlap over it. The plaster hard-shell goes on, then a thick layer of "oatmeal" to blend in and hold the plaster rock casts.

I did the other side this morning. I've included a pic or two of the lake and cliffs with the two middle decks out. I think it gives a clearer image. I also thought it would be a nice idea to add a couple of islands.

I have to let this dry before I do any more. Next up will be to wet the edges of the lake and islands, then apply glue-water to stabilize them. Then I'll paint the lake and by that time, my "water" should have arrived at my door.

I've been looking at these pics and my "lake" and these pics and my "lake". I'm starting to think that alls I need to do is just pour "water" and let it be "Twin Rivers West". Sure looks like a river right now!

11/10/2010:

WHEW! I was very nervous about doing this water thing on my layout. Now that it's poured, I'LL TAKE IT! I'm not gonna make any claims that it's wonderful or whatever. I'll just say that I will take this effort as a noble attempt and happily move on. LOL

After it fully cures, I'll need to repaint the fascia board, re-install the bridges and touch them up, lay down the track, etc. But I can do all that stuff in my sleep and sometimes I do. LOL I'll rationalize that this is still a lake by keeping in mind that it is the upper-most part of it. Since it goes to the edge of the layout, the implication is that it keeps on going for who knows how far. It could be a 20-mile long and 8-mile wide lake. It could join up with Twin Lakes East to form Twin Lakes. We don't know and we don't care. LOL

DONE! HAH! I've got depth! No one has ever said that about me before! LOL Look! Here it is!

Time to move on to Timboy Town East!!!!!!!!!!!

Timboy Town

2010-10-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

I have started the vista that features Timboy Town on the upper elevation. Obviously there is a lot of detail work that remains, but I must push on. The detail work will be put off till later and done as an upgrade. This must be familiar to you guys who are in model RR clubs that have a permanent, not modular, layout. The club gets the construction, track laying and some basic scenery let in with the thrust being to get the trains running for operating sessions. Refinements and upgrades can then begin and that is usually a never-ending effort. So, while I could put in illumination, windows, a backdrop and custom paint job on all the Plasticville structures so they don't look so much like, well - plastic; that will have to wait. Notice that I cut my Union Station in half lengthwise, as I did with all the Plasticville buildings. That "Clinic" is actually the rear of the Hospital.

I have finished - for now - the Timboy Town West vista, or section. It's a four-tiered segment. It's time to move on to Twin Lakes West. Here are three pics that show the "completed" section.

This may be as good a time as any to try to give a pictorial overview of what has been completed so far. Moving counter-clockwise from the west-end dog bone to Timboy Town West...

As an aside, some folks have commented on how neatly I work. I wish to say that the reports of my neatness have been greatly exaggerated. LOL Here is a pic that shows the whole rest of my layout, under construction.

As I complete a section, I use up materials on hand and I just push everything else down into the remaining "empty" space.

Rolling Hills

2010-10-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

Time to get this thing going again! I'm changing the geography from high dessert to gently rolling hills.

The first pic shows wadded-up paper on top of a plywood platform. I spritzed the paper with water to help form it.

The second pic shows wet burlap draped over the paper to make it smoother.

The third pic shows plaster hard-shell covering the area. I kinda like the burlap look, but I need to make this a more permanent landscape. There will be more vegetation than the other areas I've built so far as well. I'm figuring on placing a Whistling Billboard in this area.

I am also in the process of building a strip town on the upper elevation track against the wall. To that end, I cut my Union Train Station exactly in half lengthwise. I need to put the window inserts back in, but I think it looks cute. I can also use the back now as a factory, warehouse or even a high school. Two for one special today! LOL

Changing geography now. I had to lift the clouds up! LOL

More progress made. This part is going a little faster. I discovered that I can contour the cut hills with wads of newspaper, spritzed with my spray bottle to hold their shape. After the plaster hard-shell dries, I can reach up under it and remove all that newspaper, which allows air to get up under there and help to dry my "oatmeal" topping a little faster as well. Goes faster than cardboard webbing, it does. Adding more vegetation, I am. Yoda helping me, he is. LOL

A mini-control panel. There will be one the same size at the other end and one twice as large in the middle. Each 15B controls a block. The pre-war Flyer transformer controls a Log Loader and air chime whistle. The camera shows that I need to do a little more touch-up painting .

I am finished with this section for the time-being. Later, I can come back and do some upgrades, but I have to push onward if I am ever going to get my trains running again!

Next up is to build Timboy Town - a strip town along the right-of-way. However, there is a speed bump. I have used up all the wooden ties I've made over the years. So I have to rip and plane down some cedar and stain more wooden ties (sigh).

How I Hand-Lay Track

2010-10-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of kinds of track to use and plenty of ways to use it! Here is how I use old vintage toy train track on my hi-rail layout.

First, obtain the track. Here you see a typical section of "crapped-out" track that I pick up for cheap.

Strip off the ties. I use a small flat-blade screwdriver to pry open the metal tabs.

Some of the ties and insulators removed.

Straighten out any warps or unwanted bends. Here the rail is bent vertically instead of laterally, so I apply pressure on the area with the end on a hard surface.

I remove debris with a wire wheel on my bench grinder. I'm not too interested in getting all the rust off down to shiny metal. Rust doesn't adversely effect voltage conductivity, I think.

Sometimes some unwanted solder needs to be removed. The soldering iron is at the end of this rail section.

I melt the solder with the iron, then quickly whisk it off with an old toothbrush.

Okay, here you have to pretend there are two hands at work, gently coaxing a bend in one end of the track. The vintage Flyer track is hollow, so care must be taken not to get too aggressive, but to rather work it or coax it into the shape you desire.

There is most of the bend at one end done. But the very end still needs bent to form what I call an "easement".

That is done by pressing the end down on a hard surface and applying hand pressure at just the right spot. Practice makes perfect!

Pretty good.

Wooden ties cut out of planed-down and ripped cedar lumber, then stained with ebony wood stain.

Sometimes one rail is longer than the other. A cut on my bandsaw with a metal-cutting blade fixes that.

I remove the burrs on the end after cutting.

I drill a hole in both ends of the wooden tie on one side only of the track.

I use long, ringed panel nails to spike down one end. I'm going through glued-up homosote subroadbed. As I lay the track, I'll use the insulators as shims to level the track under the ties and additional nails if necessary to hold the track true to level.

G-gauge spikes hold the rails to the ties. I spike at the ends and two other places; about 1/3 of the way in from each side.

There's one of the little devils.

Can you make out that this is one jaw of my needle-nosed pliers? I file two slots; one across and one intersecting. They hold the spikes and keep them from flying off to Mexico. LOL

Good old trusty NASG track gauge.

Okay, ignore the ballast for now. It comes later. What I'm showing here is soldering one rail to another as I go.

A small file section to file down any humps at the track joint. Contrary to popular belief, vintage Flyer track is not "tin-plated". It's solid steel, so you don't have to worry about filing through to the base metal. There is no base metal. But you CAN file down through the hollow rail. You don't want to do that, obviously. But if you do, all is not lost. Just clean, flux and solder. Then reshape it with a file and sandpaper. Creases in the rail tops can be fixed the same way and as careful as I usually am, there are some I've found that I will want to fix.

Sand joints down smooth to remove file marks.

Paint sides of rail. I use Engine Black. It's Floquil that I buy from Testors. You may want to use a rust-colored paint.

Wipe wet paint off the tops of the rails.

Sand rails smooth again to remove paint residue.

NOW apply ballast. I harvest gravel locally, then wash and screen it down. It comes out to about G gauge. I know it's way large, but so are the wooden ties and rails! Works for me.

Finished section. I don't glue down ballast, as a rule. It's stones. They're heavy and the way I construct my landscaping, there really isn't any place for them to go, unless they are on top of a deck bridge or something. In that event, I will glue down the edges. Not gluing my ballast down makes changes to track so much easier. What changes? Maybe I might want to place a track trip or something.

Here is how I rebend curved sections:

I have found that by putting a curved rail section upside down into my vice and by tightening the jaws and releasing them and working the rail down that way - it comes out at about a perfect 54" diameter! Obviously, you don't want to over-tighten the vice to where it mashes the rail. LOL

There it is!

Another way is to lay it down on a hard surface and flatten it down. I'm showing using my finger tips to get a good shot. Actually, I use the palms of my hands to force it down flat, let it spring back up; force it down flat again and repeat process 3-4 times to coax the spring out of the metal.

But, it will also over-bend at a weak spot! Not to worry. Gentle pressure by hand forces it back to a better curve.

And there it is.

That's about it. Questions?

One-Fourth Done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

I am basically 1/4th done with this build. True, I have to wire it up, but unlike when I started back in May - I don't have anything to unbuilid. Here is a series of pics that shows it from different angles.

OBTW; the billboard on this next pic is my Jay Leno ticket at Las Vegas. LOL

Compare the above pics with the "raw" benchwork below

Next up, as I leave the high desert mountains behind that I constructed, the geography will change up to more of a rolling hills scenario. Oh yeah. I'm the Train-master, baby. I'm the Master of Trains. LOL

Building a Mountain (To see the most current update, just scroll down)

2010-09-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

Since there are a lot of guys watching this blog, I thought it would be interesting to open up a new post and show my step-by-step process for building a large mountain. I anticipate a lot of elements to this mountain; deck bridges, tunnels, rock ledges, etc. I know guys like to see the process. I sure do! I may not get it right every time, but I'm not afraid to experiment and re-do if necessary. So, follow along. Here we go!

First up is basket-weaving the support. I have a wooden flag pole set into the benchwork for an elevation gauge and a place to work to. I think it will get removed as I progress. I need to be able to stand up inside this mountain to service hidden track and that is why it will be hollow and high. LOL I built the tunnel framework to hide and protect the track. Not sure what kind of topping to give it. I anticipate I'll need to remove it easily. I'm thinking cardboard, tied around with shoelaces. It's constructed of insulation board and the inside is black. Any suggestions for the "roof"?

Hey! It's a start. LOL

SEPT 23: I can definitely stand up in this beast! Time to step back and sleep on it and connect it to the wall tomorrow. Then I'll decide if the basic shape is okay or not. If not, I'll re-weave it until I'm satisfied. I already think I don't like how the one side seems to cave in. But first I'll connect it to the wall, then be judgmental of it.

OBTW: One thing I've learned. If you are standing inside a structure like this - building it, using a hot glue gun and wearing flip-flops; be very careful of glue drops. Hee-Hee-Hee

SEPT 24: I'm pretty much done with the webbing on the mountain. Those strings you can see on the first pic when you look at it enlarged, are anchored to the wall. I'm pulling the webbing on this side out a little bit. This week-end, when I get plastered, I'll cut the strings and see what happens. LOL There will be more webbing of course, as I roll this down to the other track levels. But I do one thing at a time, so next up will be to do the hard-shell on this part.

Hmmmmmmmmm. I think I'll elevate the right hand edge of this mountain at the upper tunnel port - rather than rolling it down is it is right now. I think it would make this mountain look a little less like an igloo. LOL

SEPT 25: I got plastered first thing this morning. Now I have a fan on it to dry. I rolled the mountain edge over as I mentioned above to see where it would go. I have the excess cardboard strips bundled up. Next up (after it dries) will be to texture it with my "oatmeal".

I guess I've found the upward limit for my mountains. Rafters and reach. LOL It was all I could do to get the plaster-soaked paper towels at the very top. Once this mountain is done getting decorated, I don't figure on fiddling with it up there at the top too much. There are a few rough places that the "oatmeal" will fill and even out. That process will take a while to to build the texture I want.

SEPT 26: I have two sides of this mountain textured with my "oatmeal" mixture. I'm refining the "recipe" for it as I go along. I have it to the point now where it's creamy smooth. It sticks a lot better when applying it and I can spread it out thinner to cover more area. It doesn't need to be thick, unless I am simulating a rock out-cropping or something. I'm leaning towards calling this mountain "Sandy Hill" because there won't be any rock faces or hardly any vegetation on it. It will just pretty much get painted and further textured with sawdust.

It looks a little moon-like right now with all the wet and dry "oatmeal" covering it. LOL

SEPT 27: The "oatmeal" mix now covers all. Dry time is needed, so painting will probably take place tomorrow.

SEPT 27: Judging from the number of visits to this blog, I would say that most guys like to see the process as well as the finished product. I know I sure do. To that end, I am putting up some pics of today's work. I'm not done painting and decorating yet, but I think it's interesting to see the transformation taking place.

I have some touch-up work to do and trees to plant.

Sept 28: Today's work saw some clean-up and trees planted. Also the fascia board has been installed all around and webbing to close in this part. The webbing will continue tomorrow. There will be a deck bridge on the upper loop crossing over the lower loop. I don't want to add any more detail to this part yet until all elements including track are installed.

Sept 29: Today's work put more fascia and webbing up. I'll be happy to have all this subroadbed closed off at this area!

SEPT 30: This morning, I finished with the webbing and fascia. Next up will be to get plastered. LOL

SEPT 30: I got plastered this afternoon. Mercifully, it needs some drying-out time. LOL

SEPT 30: I've been in a funk for a couple days when this mountain didn't show the kind of detail that I had in my head when building it. Then it occurred to me that the problem wasn't technique so much as lighting. Here is what I see with the "wrong" lighting.

And here is what I see with the kind of lighting I had in my head while building it.

I need an overhead spot. That and some shadow underpainting to show depth.

OCT 1: I had a huge helping of "oatmeal" this morning. I mixed it up richer than normal so that when it dries, it will be harder, since there could be some pressure on this front part.

OCT 2: We got all painted and some decorations done. I repositioned a light overhead to give more contrast. It's only florescent, but I think I should go to one bulb instead of two. The top is washed out some. The roadbed has been graded and there's a work crew finishing up. LOL Next up will be to lay down some track.

OCT: 4 I'm now in the process of laying down some track with the aide of my little helpers. LOL

OCT: 5 It took a couple pots of coffee and the threat of floggings, but we got the work crew out again today. They are busy securing a sign to the side of Sandstone Mountain. They also built a retaining wall and put up some fencing.

Handmade Turnout

2010-09-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

What makes this segment noteworthy is the hand-made switch, or turn-out if you will. I made it out of vintage Flyer rails. I didn't know if that was possible. I knew it could be made from solid rail stock, but I didn't know if one could be made from vintage hollow rails. It can. My original inspiration for the design of a faux-open frog is from this source: http://www.trainweb.org/crocon/sinfo.html - scroll down about halfway. With vintage rails, it's a very tricky and difficult process, but it can be done. Cars roll over this turnout more smoothly than any of my old vintage Flyer switches. I'll use a DPDT toggle switch to dynamically power up the frog and insulated inside rails. The outside rails are contiguous, so they are good to go - electrically. The next problem to work out was how to move the frog from straight to divergent route. I ruled out any method that would use something not available to me back in the 50's. I solved that by making it a manual turnout. I made up a switch stand from brass rod and styrene (for the flags). I simply "plant" the switch stand in one hole for one direction and the other hole for the other. Simple AND it locks the frog firmly in place. Okay. Now for the pics. If anyone has any questions about this, please don't be shy.

OBTW, I used a perspective trick with the evergreen trees. I planted taller ones low and shorter ones up higher. Well, anyway it's supposed to work. LOL Next project will be to make a HUGE mountain for the doggie bone end, with tracks running through tunnels on both elevations.

Completion of Beacon Hill

2010-09-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

Done! Time to move on to the next vista. Here are the best shots I can take of this project.

Construction of Beacon Hill

2010-09-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

I think I have the basic shape I want (pic below). Now I'll put a few more rocks on the face, put a fan on it and let it dry overnight. Tomorrow, I'll try painting it all up. The clouds will have to be adjusted now.

UPDATE !: Sometimes it's best to just step back and let it dry, then look at it again fresh and make ajustments. The other thing I've found is to take a pic. Bad places will jump out in the pic! I believe I have kept to my concept of slowly increasing the amount and variety of vegetation. Next up will be to roll the scenery down to the next level of track. That will permit me to lay track on the upper level. I lay track last. In real life the land comes first. Then comes the grading for the roadbed. Then the track goes down and lastly, the track is ballasted. I try to follow that when I build. That keeps the track from getting messed up and the ballast is fresh and covers the scenery.

UPDATE 2: I have to buy an airplane beacon top and build a beacon for the top of this mountain. The electrical leads are there for when I do. I spent the morning tweaking the track gauge so that a variety of my loci will run well over the track. I also had to drill down through and blast off a couple rock faces that were overhanging the track. I added a billboard. It was my ticket to the Vette show in Carlisle, PA one year. Next up will be to roll down the scenery to the next track level.

UPDATE 3: The "oatmeal" and rock faces are in place. I really try to embed the rock faces into the "oatmeal" so that they are a part of the terrain and not look at though they were just stuck on. Next up will be the paint job.

UPDATE 4: Yet another section of this vista is completed with the track hand-laid and ballasted. I painted the sides of the track rails flat black. Most guys would paint them a rust color, but of course I have to be different. LOL Next up will be to roll the scenery down to the lowest level and hand-lay a double track. OBTW; I'm not sure where that K5 is going with a caboose in tow. LOL

UPDATE 5: The plaster hard shell is complete and the "oatmeal" is applied. The station platform is on the left, where the road comes up from a lower level. I won't be able to paint it all until at least tomorrow. It will be nice to lay down the track and have this section closed off and finished for the moment. I'm getting a Flyer revolving Airplane Beacon for the top of the mountain. I plan on cutting it in half and just use the top half to make it a little more real.

UPDATE 6: I have the lower part painted and such. I used screened-down gravel that I harvest locally and screen down. When I need more, I take back the over-sized gravel that I don't want and bring more "raw" gravel back. Anyway, I used gravel for the Wayside Station parking lot and access road. The gravel is still wet. It should dry a little lighter. Next up is to lay down a double-tracked mainline.

A Start To Beacon Hill

2010-08-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

I'm using conventional cardboard webbing with a plaster hardshell for this. Why - when foam would lend itself very well? Because I have access to free cardboard and can easily rip strips down on my bandsaw. Plaster of Paris is relatively inexpensive as are paper towels. Anyway, I used my hot glue gun to tack the cardboard strips up to the wall. Someday I'll want this to come down easily with nothing to patch. I don't know if the hot glue will withstand the changes in weather and humidity on this wall, but once the plaster hardshell is dry, it shouldn't matter. The sides of this mountain are very sheer, so I'll have to use up some of my inventory of rock faces I have from my previous layout. I may want to experiment with covering a part of it with polyfil. I don't know if I can make this look plausible, but hopefully I can make it look interesting. Once this back wall is completed, I shouldn't really have to access it again for a long, long time - I HOPE! And once it's done, I'll continue with this scene down to the front fascia - transitioning from the previous geography to this.

I ran out of plaster, so that's all for tonight and a trip tomorrow.

Log Loader Mountain Completed

2010-08-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

For the most part, Log Loader Mountain is now completed. The ballast I used is what I harvest and screen down locally. It is about G gauge, I believe. However, it is exactly what I want for my over-sized track and ties. Up next will be to start work on an adjoining vista that I think I will call Billboard Mountain, since it will feature a Whistling Billboard on a much higher mountain.

Here is another pic of the other side. I added a billboard that is a memorable event for me.

Benchwork with Track Subroadbed Completed!

2010-08-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

I have all of my benchwork and track subroadbed completed. It looks like a lot of track. When the scenery is done, it will not look quite that way, because the subroadbed is wider than necessary and the scenery will hide a lot of it. I made the subroadbed wide to allow me to plot the most gentle curves that I could around it. There are a few more deck bridges to make. The bridges that I have in now do a lot to hide the "X" that the ascending and descending grades would make where they meet. Mountains on either side of them with tunnels for the trains will do more. You can get a better sense of the layout by going back a post to the pics of the other parts and mentally connecting them, or by going all the way back to my trackplan, which I deviated from a little. There are only 3 switches on this whole layout! The peninsula shown here will have a huge mountain chain, concealing a Log Loader. Those early Flyer Log Loaders were out of scale. You won't see mine until you are right there. On the other peninsula (shown in a previous blog) will be an Amish farm community. The logs will get off-loaded there and probably lumber, cattle and barrels of cider will get picked up. Those items will be off-loaded on-the-fly, so to speak along the mainline at various points. There will be a train station and wayside stations around the layout. A Talking Station will be on the upper level, along the back wall - as part of a strip town. Next up will be to actually place those and other accessories and buildings.

My Track Power Plans

2010-08-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

My layout will be retro-style; all vintage and all Flyer. I will however, modify the original vintage sectional track to suit. More on that later. Right now, I would like to establish what my plan is to power up the track. Many people have suggested I go to either DCC or some version of TMCC. No thanks. Been there and done that. Not this time. Not on this layout. I have - by process of elimination - determined that I will be using an "old-school" Flyer system. I will use 15B transformers, one per block to control this layout. The 15B's will be scattered around the layout at convenient locations to control that block. When I want to exercise local control over a train, I'll simply walk over to the block where the train will be and use that transformer. This will minimize the load on the transformers as the train will get passed off to a "fresh" transformer when it enters a new block. I'll want to invent some kind of block control to keep two or more trains from rear-ending each other at the worse. I also don't want a transformer struggling to power two trains in the same block. Simple. Brilliant. Effective.

11/12/2010:

Per special request, I am elaborating on the above. I believe the above narrative explains my block system and power requirements. One thing that should be noted is that I am operating all original vintage pieces, with no new modern electronics of any kind to replace such things as the original open-frame motor or mechanical reverse unit. I have been advised that - even with the transformers in phase and the throttles set identically - there will be a very brief voltage spike as the loco pick-up wheels cross the insulated rail gap, each side of the gap powered up by a different transformer. I see no problem when running original vintage pieces. However, that voltage spike may be enough to fry circuit boards on electronic reverse units and/or embedded computer chips - such as DCC control. So don't follow my power- up plan under those circumstances!

As far as wiring the layout, it is simple. I run a continuous and unbroken base post wire and all base post rails are connected to it. Those rails do not have any insulated gaps, unless I will use a 5-digit track trip or a semaphore block. Each variable post on each transformer controls a separate block. So, those wires only go from the variable post of each transformer to just the section, or block that it controls.

Sometimes I will want to dedicate a transformer to a certain accessory or group of accessories. If those accessories do not connect to the track in any way - accessories such as the Barrel Loader or Sawmill, then I will not connect the base post common with the other transformers. Same with a light circuit. I'll use one or more dedicated transformers for a separate circuit that does not connect to the track power circuit in any way. Obviously, those accessories that DO connect to the track in some way - such as the Guilford Station or Cattle Mooooover - will get powered up by a transformer that is in phase with the track transformers and it will have it's base post common with all track transformers.

I can't use Signal Bridges because the Gilbert Factory never made them. I could use their block signals, but try to find one and if you do, try to afford it! I may use the standard Semaphore, with pressure trips to avoid a rear-end, but since I'll only be running two trains at a time, through 8 long blocks on my shelf layout in my 20X40 train room, I think a rear-end is a little remote anyway.

OBTW, I use 14 gauge wire for the track bus wires to/from the transformers and 18 gauge drop-down feeder wires every 3 feet or so.

That's about all I can think of right now. If anyone has any further questions or needs clarification on anything above, please don't hesitate to contact me - either through this blog or one of the four lists I belong to.

Upper Elevation Dogbone Loop Completed

2010-07-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

It was a bit of a challenge getting that homosote to co-operate. Pre-bending it helped quite a bit. There will be a huge, hollow mountain in the middle of this loop. I'll need to create an access panel inside that mountain for track maintenance in a tunnel going through the rear of it. There will also be tall, sheer, verticle rock faces on some parts, between the upper and lower tracks. The lower elevation loop will be extremely close to the edge of the benchwork, so I'll have to sculpt a fascia and take the scenery from the track up to the top of the fascia. That will prevent any derailment from hitting the floor. There will be some scenic challenges but I'm confident that I can work-around them.

Space! At Last!

2010-06-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

I finally have some wide open space to work in! Now I can build again! I'll run 3' wide shelves down the long walls and build a 6X6 dogbone near the door.

A Few Things I've Learned

2010-06-21T17:14:00.001-07:00

I'm learning a LOT from tearing down this "permanent" layout. Here are a couple of tips:

1) Build your scenery with someday tearing it down in mind. I'm finding it a little difficult in dealing with the some of the techniques I've used in the past.

2) Minimize the use of glue and nails and staples. They sure make tear-down a pain and have a way of hiding in wait to attack saw blades and maybe planer blades. I use a stud-finder to locate those *&^%*#/$^&'s and a good set of pincers to get them out.

3) Use screws when building benchwork. Don't use glue or nails. Tear-down and modifications are much easier if everything is all screwed up.

4) Mind where you place the screws. I wasn't mindful when I built the one I'm tearing down now and it's a nightmare jigsaw puzzle. I have hidden toe-screws and hidden face-screws on that monster. I'm anticipating uncovering that one screw head which will make it all collapse like a house of cards. With my new build, the only place I face-screw is to mount a framing member to a wall or to anchor one bench to another or to the very front. All the rest get toe-screwed (pre-drill a counter-sink hole first). The point is not to hide a screw head with other lumber or put one so close to where another piece will go that that piece must first come out before you can get a driver on the one you were after in the first place. So, disregard the conventional construction technique of building a bench on the floor and setting it in place on the wall. You will surely have hidden screw heads that way. Build it stick-by-stick in place and use clamps if you have to. Some day, I want my widow's handyman to say, "Wow! That huge layout came down sooooooooo easily! That old guy knew what he was doing when he built it." Or do I...

An Alternative to Table Legs

2010-06-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

I decided that the bench on this wall will need support in the middle. It will have support on both ends from the bench on those walls tying into it. I want to eliminate or at least minimize the use of table legs in the front on these shelves, so I'm trying my hand at making brackets out of plywood. It took me two tries to get a usable template and it uses up a lot of my plywood, but I have a lot of it lying around. The plywood I have is 1/2" thick. I made two pieces and face-glued them together. I believe that two 1" thick plywood braces on either side of the middle will support the middle, once I have the shelves anchored to the wall in the back. Time will tell! I hope they are not too skinny. I want to preserve as much room as I can for wiring runs, etc. I think the real strength in these brackets is in the gusset. I'm using a saber saw to cut them out and it's going okay, if I keep in mind that I'm not building a piano. The idea is for them to be under the shelves and under the scenery. I'll paint them black and they should pretty much disappear. If I had a flush-cutting router bit, I could use that to cut them out - if I only had a router. :) :) :) :)

Picking and Sweeping

2010-06-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

The tear-down and re-build of my large Flyer layout starts with picking off all the accessories, buildings, control buttons, transformers, lichen, matting, etc. Then I swept up all the loose stuff, including what loose ballast there was. Next will be to take down all the wiring underneath. After that, the track will get picked up. That will take some time, as I want to clean and sort it along the way. Here are some pics of what the stripped-down layout looks like.

Plans For My New American Flyer Train Layout

2010-05-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

This is basically the track plan I will be using. Just click on it and you can enlarge it. The layout will be a 3-foot shelf around the perimeter of my 20X40 train room. Key to it is the dogbone design which will permit me to walk into the room and walk around the inside of the layout. There will be two levels with all of the track being inter-connected to give a tremendous amount of open running track. I may not have any switches on this layout at all. The yard may just be unconnected storage tracks. Color coding: green = upper level; red = lower level; blue = water; black = scenic elements and structures. Notice that the green merges into the red and vice versa. Those are 2% grades between levels.