Modeling topic
Am really enjoying this collection of industry articles.
I noticed it at Walmart the other night, so bought a copy.
It’s a new publication, a “Best Of” based on a collection of previously published articles plus some new tips and techniques (like putting a layer of tempered glass over the grid of a self healing cutting board when glueing parts so as to not wreck the board),
Lots of insight into the workings of these industries, flow of inputs and outputs, switching them, some track plans, etc. A very useful reference book, IMHO.
"Kicking" freight cars (was "Launching...")
Since there is a lot of experience available within MRH forum I'll ask this here. What is the deal with switching cars by pushing them into a free rolling collision with the rest of the train?
I don't know how, or if this could be modeled, or even if such a thing would be wanted; but I have now seen GP locomotives "launching" freight cars in three different states of the union.
Is this legit? Legal? Widespread? Or were these guys taking big risks?
6 Axle Loco vs. 4 Axle Loco Power Pickup
Does a 6 axle Diesel have any advantage over a 4 axle Diesel with electrical power pickup?
Dose it matter if it is DC or DCC? (Would the results be different between DC and DCC?)
The New Colorado Front Range
Well we made are move across the country and here is a look at the new site of the new Colorado Front Range.
Spectrum J class 4-8-4's
Just happened across this older posting on a MR forum. Wonder if any others have comments/observations about these engines?
I have a brand new one that has never had a chance to stretch its legs yet.
A trip around the layout, May 2, 2021
This is mostly a test of the 4K capabilities of my cell phone, as well as combining my stabilizer rig with the cell phone. Seemed to work pretty well.
I think I've figured out why I'm going so slowly on the scenery on my layout - I'm not very good at it yet, and I want to get better before I start going whole hog. I also want to get the railroad operating, which at this point is a combination of data entry and getting enough locomotives set up to my satisfaction.
Prototype Comparisons
Its always a unique experience when you work with the same locomotive on your day job as the one you model at home. While its always tricky to capture the correct angle one would get from a ground perspective, I tried to match them as much as possible in the following images...
Metal Barrier Wall/Fence
Looking for ideas,..graphics, etc....
In the corner of my steel mill scene I have my mainline tracks making a large radius curves behind the mill sructures. Naturally I want to hide the mainline trains from the mill components. The blast furnace (to the left) will have a large mirror behind it hiding those mainline trains, ...and making it look like 2 blast furnaces and 2 highline tracks in a row.
May Day Layout Update
Some incremental progress on the layout as a whole. As mentioned in the previous post, some major trackwork was necessary for operations to continue in any reasonable manner. Namely, I had to elevate the crossing tracks about a half inch above the roadway to eliminate a peak in the rail joints that was causing all sorts of mayhem.
As work was ongoing, I took the opportunity to rearrange the office structures around the main entrance. I also made some progress in replacing the manual snap switches with caboose industries hand-throws.
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