Following

Following

Still working on the Eureka Mine

This is the last of the four iron mines on my layout all of which are based on prototypes.

Scenery

 
period scenery for my 1953 era layout

Trying Some Structure Weathering

The main item remaining for my layout is structures.  Trying out some weathering techniques after a course at YouTube community college.  Starting small...

Some Support buildings for my Refinery project

An office and a loading dock/shed

@David Karkoski

David,

Nice in-progress shot of the Sylvan autos.  I'm just finishing up two Sylvan's myself.  They are great vehicles to build.

Question:  I see your paint codes, but what brand of paint are you using?

Thanks,

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA

My main project lately is

My main project lately is this HOn30 diorama representing a portion of the Iron Mountain Mining tramway near Superior, MT, ca. 1890s.   I posted a couple of shots I took Sunday on the diorama in the Weekly Photo Fun thread, but thought the overall view of the 18" x 54" diorama would be of interest here too.  It's still a work in progress in that I have to add more logging slash and some down-scaled trees along the ridge line, and I need to saw off the right end of the diorama base and install a lower deck to get enough slope in to model the ore dock transfer to an incline that carried ore down-slope to a concentrator mill. 

Assembling gondola kits

I've had six Bonsall Scale Car Shops Pressed Steel Car Company 36' drop bottom gondola kits sitting around for about a year and decided it was a good time to finally start knocking them out. This model represents the as-delivered 1908 version but BSCS also offers them as a rebuilt version suitable for the 1930s through the 1970s for those that model the Transition era or later.

DCC sound on an old Atlas/kato GP-7

It was easy to install in this old Geep.

Now, I have to modify the CV to obtain the same very smooth running like when this loco was only DC.

Paint

I have a large selection of Vallejo paints. I look up period color charts and try to match those colors to the Vallejo paints. Given all of the variables in paint color matching I am satisfied that my matches are close to the prototype colors but they are certainly not exact.  Of course weathering changes the appearance as well, a car from the late thirties and forties will be a little faded and rusty as compared to a late model (1950-1953) car.

djk

WifiTrax & SoundTraxx on my WORKBENCH

My current workbench project is a test of direct WiFi control of a DCC locomotive with DC track power. I have no layout and no DCC command station. My very old locos are DC. I have installed a WifiTrax DCC interface module and a SoundTraxx DCC decoder in a loco. I'm now testing this without a conventional command station. As best I figure, the WifiTrax Loco Operator App and the WifiTrax DCC interface module operate together like what I would call a "micro command station." I started with a total lack of knowledge about and experience with DCC but my first DCC loco works.

Here are the listed elements that made up this test.

1. Loco is a Mantua 4-6-2 Pacific with a Mabuchi SF-266SA square can motor
2. Loco has LED head and rear lights with resistors
3. Loco is NOT DCC Ready so NMRA 8 pin socket harness soldered to the eight loco wires per the NMRA standard
4. WifiTrax interface module is a WDMI-35 SN 31600101 Firmware 1.1.0  no wrapper
5. WifiTrax Loco Operator App 3.5 (Android or Windows 10 smart device required.)
6. Amazon Fire HD10 Tablet used in this test
7. The WifiTrax 8 pin module plug connects to Loco's NMRA 8 pin socket harness
8. Decoder is SoundTraxx MC2H1040P P.N. 852003 (Non Sound) in purple wrapper
9. SoundTraxx NMRA 8 pin plug harness connects to WifiTrax NMRA 8 pin module socket
10. The tender has removable oil bunker top for "stuffing" the electronics.
11. A test stand that suspends the drivers is used.
12. MRC Tech II 2500 power pack set to 14.5 volts with alligator leads to loco and tender is used.

The following documents were used in the test. Also, during the initial start-up the App has on screen instructions. All in all, both the WifiTrax module and the SoundTraxx decoder have excellent documentation. The step by step actions beginning with the set-up will not be described because the documents below can be readily accessed on their web sites.

• WifiTrax WDMI-35 WiFi/DCC Loco Interface Module Getting Started
• WifiTrax Loco Operator Online Help
• SoundTraxx Mobil Decoder, MC2 Series, User's Guide

The upper panel of the photo below shows the electronics set-up while the lower panel shows the test in progress. It took several days with lots of unsuccessful test runs to find and fix the one problem that was caused by me (see below). The motor controls all worked and it all was pretty cool to control using the Direct WiFi connections mode from the App to the loco. I was pretty excited learning while not having to invest in a conventional command station.

The two panel photo below shows screen shots from the Amazon Fire HD10 Tablet showing the module's SN31600101 and running the loco. The left panel shows the Function Keys on its left and the throttle and motor control buttons on its right. The right panel shows the Direct CV Programming mode on its left and the throttle on its right. I was able to read and make CV changes. I will not get into the details of everything on these screen shots because they are fully explained in the WifiTrax web site's Loco Operator Help file. It works and I am impressed. All the light and Loco Driving tasks are pretty cool. I have read some CVs and written some too with the App.
 

MY ONE BIG PROBLEM: In my first test run of Loco Driving the motor speed was erratic and the motor would not stop. Power had to be shut down to stop. Subsequent runs required a full restart only to have the same result. During one test run when it would not stop, I closed the App and shut down the Fire tablet but the motor continued to run - it was obviously running in DC mode. I did all kinds of electrical checks - found nothing. I did countless net searches that made me wonder what I had gotten myself into because so much of what I read was over my head. Then it hit me like a thud - I had a BEMF issue! My 79 year old brain began working again. When I first learned about the Mabuchi SF-266SA motor on the "Remotor-Regear Groups io" site it was stated that it had internal capacitors that might need to be disabled for some DCC decoders. However, other posters in that site stated they had no problems in DCC. Since I was going to use these motors in DC locos (I have 3 locos powered by this motor), I never thought of it again. I had originally purchased several SF-266SA so I got a new one out, uncrimped the metal end cap from the case and cut the circuit board wires leading to the 2 internal capacitors. After reassembly of the motor I used a spare NMRA 8 pin socket harness and attached orange and gray to the motor and plugged that in to the WifiTrax module/SoundTraxx decoder set up. I powered up the 2500 and booted the app. Motor speed was smooth under throttle control and the motor stopped as required. I immediately took apart the test loco and switched SF-266SA motors. Every test run since has worked perfectly.

Now I must study and learn how to fine tune the loco via CV changes (I need to update from the linear speed curve too). Also, I need to set-up an oval of track and pull some heavyweight passenger cars. I'm learning something new, DCC. It's FUN!!
 

WifiTrax

I was really impressed by WifiTrax when I saw them in Salt Lake City. I'm way too invested in DCC to change (yeah, I have a RailPro too) but it was a near run thing for me to get one just to play with. 

Trees

I am making more trees. I follow the Luke Towan method and will finish this 38 in the next few days working at the modeling bench. Starting tonight I will make another 62 wire armatures looking for heights in HO of 35 to 70’. The armatures will be made watching the Stanley Cup NHL playoffs. During a game I can generally crank out 30 pieces, so a couple games for the amounts I want. Tom

tank hopper cars everywhere

I have been decalling the latest 5 CN and CP tank hoppers I recently painted.  First sides are done, working on the second side.  

Powering Points.....HO

As I am not a fan of relying on the switch point contact with the stock rail to power the points, originally I had soldered jumper wires on the underside of the turnout,

This is some what finicky with having to bend the wires just right for soldering and dig out the roadbed for the jumpers to set in, but, they are 100% hidden when installed. If there is trouble with them after installation, good luck!              So, with some new turnouts, I thought I'd attack this at a different angle. First, I took a couple pieces of styrene & centered the points and them clamped the turnout in the vise so the switch point/closure rail are on a horizontal plane. I used a fairly long jumper wire to help avoid the capillary action of the solder, and to keep solder out of the joiner. Also, a longer wire is more flexible than a shorter wire. No modifications were made to the joiners.

This last pic shows the spacer blocks for the points, and both jumper wires soldered at the points joint. I'm happy with it, with the blocks removed the points move very easily and with weathering I think the jumpers would be next to invisible....I'm going after the 3 foot rule....

Every body be safe out there.......

Casting, and more casting...

I recently noticed that my resin was showing signs of going bad so I figured I better use it up before it all went bad.

RTV molds of the following: Aristocraft 1/29 70 ton trucks, boxcar doors, tack boards, brake equipment, and coupler box parts.

Here's the stack of raw castings.

A few parts are set aside for current/pending projects, while other stuff was just made to use up the resin. I figure I can't ever have enough brake parts laying around. When I do a resin pour, I typically have a spare RTV mold laying around that I pour any excess resin into. They slowly get filled.

Street construction

This week I am working on Livernois Ave, a place to situate the autos I was working on last week. 
 

This photo shows the street section. It is built on a 1/16 basswood base using Monster Model Works roadway and sidewalks. 

 

Although not on my workbench these are the steel rail grade crossings.  They are modeled using a Wabash standard as a guide.

This is an asphalt road section fabricated using a piece of old T-shirt as a substrate.  Using a pallet knife I applied molding paste tinted with Mars black.  This will be used to fill between the crossings and on the approaches.

Test fit of roadway sections.  Next step is to cut and fit the asphalt crossing approach.

Start of a Build

I recently realised that Bachmann sell complete chassis assemblies through their spare parts store, and so I've started sourcing them from there for my On30 builds.  I've been wanting a 2-6-6-2T since I got into On30, but struck out with trying to adapt the Mantua HO mechanism.  After my 3rd failure, I decided to use the chassis from a Bachmann USRA 2-6-6-2 instead.

It arrived yesterday, and so the first thing I did was give it a test-run on my track, to ensure there were no trouble spots.  I usually use a Digitrax DZ123 decoder for this, as it's got no keepalive or BEMF.  So here it is being tested:

Update:

I've now completed the pilot deck:

Columbia Marine

I am currently kitbashing Irish Rose Antiques and Gleason’s Garage from Railroad Kits into Columbia Marine. This is a small to medium size boat repair and builder. The structure consists of one large construction/ repair bay. A smaller repair bay with upstairs office. The rest of the structure will have a woodworking shop small machine shop. The remainder of the building will be offices and other facilities. I plan to have an interior in much of the building. 
 

model of 250-ton steam-powered wrecking crane

This work-in-progress is my detailing and painting a commercial model. It follows an E-L wrecker that had very sparse lettering. It represents a steam-powered derrick of 250 tons capacity.

CSX MOW fleet

mixing and matching Walthers/Boley parts including kitbashing a boom truck from a tree trimmer truck, decalling and adding details to all

Jeff 
 

Street Construction Finished

The roadway and aprons are installed.  They still require finishing weathering, I will get to that when I do the final scenery pass. 

(No subject)

Rest Haven magic

Dave, that looks great. And creepy...

Well done.