Setting up a computer to be used mainly for JMRI

After being bitten by the weathering bug, I decided to dirty up my Atlas ballast hoppers.  The interiors were a real challenge since I lacked color photos of prototype car interiors for the late 50's.  A lengthy email exchange with a former BN employee gave me some ideas.  I armed myself with PanPastels, some oil paints, and a variety of applicators and set to work.  The following posts show my attempts.

Probably the result of staying up too late:

I had a few wheel sets to paint.  Rather than remove the wheels from their trucks, I thought there might be an easy way to spin the wheelset while holding a loaded paintbrush to the wheel.

I took a practice hockey puck, and drilled a hole in its center for a press fit on the shaft of a Switchmaster stall motor switch machine.  The Switchmaster was connected to a variable DC power supply.  The contraption is strapped to an L-shaped bracket made from scrap plywood.

Back about 15 years, Atlas introduced models of Hart ballast hoppers in HO.  I got all excited and bought a bunch.  My enthusiasm waned when I read postings on Yahoo's Steam Era Freight Car group (STMFC) describing design and manufacturing flaws that detracted from the appearance of the model.  

While using my Dremel Tool model 370 as a router, I misplaced the "Housing Cap Screw" --- ok, I lost it --- that screws onto the nose of the tool.  Emails to Dremel about a replacement part went unanswered.  Time to see if I could make one.

The nose is threaded 3/4" x 16 tpi.  A trip to the local hardware store yielded a 3/4x16 hex nut for a little more than a dollar.  I spent a little time with a lathe and now the Dremel has a shiny nose.

Here's another inexpensive, easy-to-make tool that is handy to have in a track-laying tool kit.  HC Haros gave some of these to members of our round-robin group, and I shamelessly copied his idea.  It's a small prybar/crowbar made from a double-headed nail.

The double head gives the tools a nice feel.  I used some 16d and 10d nails for my copies.  

A friend recently moved his layout to a new house. Portions of the old layout were cut free from the old benchwork, leaving some missing chunks of track where the cuts were made. Our round-robin group met to piece some portions of the old layout back together. The track was code 100 and had been secured to the roadbed with track nails.