My Big Shed layout

[cmaceeepc]

Update

A very mild workload during the week, mostly just bits of fiddling, tweaking here, nudging that.
I did manage to mock up a backdrop from a photoe the wife took last weekend
The original

After I printed and stickytaped together

And a second shot with annother loco

The difference it makes - gives the layout a bit of soul - not just some wood and plastic

Well lets see what I am allowed to getup to on the weekend

cmaceeepc
Craig

 

[wpkelley]

The back drop looks pretty good. I'm going to have to try that.

 

[cmaceeepc]

Update

The weekend was one of catching up on little things I overlooked or crept in while I wasn't looking!!
I changed out 2 small sets of points on the mainline for 2 medium sets to make things a bit smoother.

I ran a new bypass line on the upper deck - which will accommodate a station and small community style fittings.
I replaced 20 sets of bogie's(old Rapido type) on my rolling stock with MTL and accumate bogie's (picked up on flea bay as a bulk lot).
I replaced bogie's on my Con-Cor Norfolk and Western Passenger cars with MTL bogie's(old Rapido type).

Whilst in maintenance mode I decided to clean all the wheels on my DCC loco's - the previous owner had admitted they needed to be cleaned - All my DCC locos have been recently bought.
As i had the locos down I gave them all a dab of lanolin on their gearing and I think they appreciated it as they did not squeal at me after.

Gave my newly acquired Bachmann Spectrum 2-6-6-2 B&O Articulated Loco DCC its maiden run around the layout. It handled my tight switch combination excellently - better than I expected - This is my first articulated loco.

I have decided to install a TCS CN decoder into my old Atlas RS-3 CSX - this will be my first install.
Also will get a sound decoder fitted to my j Class 4-8-4
Picked up 6 CSX Bethgon Hoppers and still awaiting delivery of another 15 Hoppers to complete the consist.

Other recent purchases have been
Doodlebug B&O DCC LOCO & 2 lighted carriages
Kato B&O CSX SD80MAC DCC & Sound decoder
This will probably complete my diesel fleet - probably and will start to put together my fleet of steamers headed by the 2-6-6-2 and the 4-8-4

Any one got info on small steamers with DCC

Well i will have nothing to update this week as I will be taking some leave from work and having a bit of R&R down around the south coast of Victoria - The Great Ocean Road

catch you all next week


cmaceeepc
Craig

 

[TrinityJayOne]

That's the USRA H4 steamer yes? It was actually my first train when I started up MRR again with N scale, but I returned it as I had some problems (which I could've easily fixed with the knowledge I have now). This may not even apply to yours, but the main issue I experienced was the screw holding in one of the tender trucks working itself loose and snagging on switches and crossroads. If you find yours derailing for no apparent reason that'd be the first thing to check.


Regarding small steamers, this may not be your definition of small but Kato's Mikes are near universally praised as the best steamer available in N scale. B&O also happened to be a big fan of the design. A slight problem here though is that Kato's model is the heavy Mike, whereas B&O only ran light Mikes as far as I'm aware. The main difference is that the heavy had a fatter boiler. Unless you're regularly going to have rivet-counters over I'd say you could get away with using Kato's model, but you'd need to patch it for B&O (wouldn't be too hard seeing as US steamers generally shared paint options with the Model T ).

Smaller again is the Consolidation, one of my personal favourites. Bachmann made one and so did Athearn, and both of them are apparently good. Both of them have also had revisions, so if you go to buy one make sure it's one of the recent models with knuckles, not the original release with Crapidos (goes for both Bachmann and Athearn). Only Bachmann released a B&O livery so you'd probably be looking at theirs.

 

[cmaceeepc]

TJ1
Yes it is a H4 and yes the screw came loose - fixed with a screw driver and an extra tweak.

I will hunt for some Mikes's (Mikardo) and Consolidation locos and see what is around

cmaceeepc
Craig

 

[TrinityJayOne]

Well there you go! Good old Bachmann. I tried tightening the screw on mine, but couldn't reach a balance where the screw was tight enough to not undo itself while also allowing the truck to actually rotate. Some Loctite would do the trick if you still have problems.

 

[cmaceeepc]

Update

Had a good break away from everything - made it hard to get back into rhythm - work,layout,wife,work,layout,layout,work, wife etc etc etc


Anyway while I was away I was still able to dabble in the fine art of flea bay and managed to pickup some old locos(diesels) which will let me dabble in decoder installs - I like a challenge

• Bachmann N&W #8079 ​
• " C&O #8210 ​
• " N&W #1642 ​
• " P&LE #747 ​
• Bachmann Chesapeake & Ohio EMD GP-30 Diesel Locomotive​
• Bachmann EMD-F9 Diesel ​
• 10 freight cars​

Also picked up some new locos and some more coal carriages

Bachmann N Scale Train 4-6-0 DCC Equipped Painted, Unlettered Black 51451
Atlas BALTIMORE & OHIO B&O SD7 DCC & DIGITRAX CUSTOM SOUND
Bachmann Model 4731 0-4-0 " Baltimore&Ohio" Dock Side Switcher
Spectrum N 89654 Baltimore & Ohio Slope Back Tender (to match with the 0-4-0 and install a decoder)
KATO BALTIMORE & OHIO CSX SD80MAC DCC & SOUND DECODER ​

I have also been gathering some structures to add around the layout to give it some life - So while it looks like Iam buying a lot of rolling stock I have been buying to support the idea in my head ​

Attached is a photo of the rake of CSX/B&O hoppers now adorning my layout (photobucket is broken)

Again I will see what happens tommorrow

cmaceeepc
Craig


​

 

[railfan]

Had a good break away from everything - made it hard to get back into rhythm

Attached is a photo of the rake of CSX/B&O hoppers now adorning my layout (photobucket is broken)​

Again I will see what happens tommorrow​

cmaceeepc
Craig​

Craig, nice selection of new gear you got there! Everything is looking good.

I see in this photo.....the paint on your layout platform matches the color on the wall right next to it. Is the platform plywood or foam?

I'm using plywood....and I'm going to put a coat of white primer on it.


Mike


Mike

 

[railfan]

Ok, I remembered, went back and looked at previous photos........plywood. Looks like you painted it white or light gray.

I like to paint things/projects white first.......because whatever color goes on top.......or a thin layer of ground cover will look brighter......from having the white base coat.



Mike

 

[cmaceeepc]

Base coat

Railfan

The base coat/undercoat is both white and grey - available stock from some work on the house.
Of the previous painting on my other layouts the grey is probably best as in real life there is not any base ground colours that are white - so if you miss abit the white will stand out - where as the grey would blend better-

Note: Everybody has ther own preference at this stage of painting - some light colours, some dark brown to black - The choice of base colour should at best be based on layout theme - If desert country even a beige base would be Ok - I high mountain/coal mining a dark colour would be Ok.

As does the where and when you do the painting - me operation first scenery second - others scenery first operations second - Good points for
either method

Yes my fleet is growing (the wife is really checking my paypal now!!!)
but over the next few weeks should start to put some fixtures around the layout - probably re direct some track - but isnt life grand when things come togther.
When I built my first layout I never had a 2 bob to rub together, now the odd purchase can be accomodated without any body wanting to take the house back.

Well I have a rainy day here so will force myself to work on the layout again! (LOL)

Be good and Work Safe

cmaceeepc
Craig

 

[cmaceeepc]

Update

Again a day of tweaking around the layout
Fitted actuators to the last points motors on the main deck and connected them to the temporary points controller(stripped from original layout)- powered by one of the old poweer supplies from the same layout.

Fitted a trial backdrop (black & white) on one side of topdeck - see the photo(need to fix date on camera)

I have decided to build an incline (over/under style) to allow access to roundhouse via a turn table - Anyone got some ideas of what to build the incline with?

Here is another shot of the topdeck

See what happens this week

Work hard - Work Safe

cmaceeepc
Craig

 

[TrinityJayOne]

Looking very good indeed. That H4 you discussed previously is going to look great thundering down the straight sections.

For inclines you can't go wrong with Woodland Scenics riser kits.

 

[railnut49]

meters, yuk

Man, how can we figure anything out, I thought I lived in the USA where we deal with feet and inches. This other stuff is a pain to try and figure out. How about giving us dimensions in feet and inches? Otherwise it looks like you have a neat deal going. Hell, I don't even have a shed for a layout yet, count yer blessings.

 

[cmaceeepc]

Metrically Challenged

Railnut49

For our metrically challenged US friends the shed is 49'(15m) x 18'(5.5m)


cmaceeepc
Craig

 

[cmaceeepc]

Update

Not much progress this week - spent a lot of time getting the garden in to shape with summer coming on here in Australia.

I did manage to pick up some town scape models via fleabay
I picked these more to give some scope to ideas i have for the look of the layout, others were a bonus in the lot.
Here are some shots of some general placements of the models
Top deck

These on the main centre an left of layout

I did notice some nasty soldering on some of the joins - I will have to tidy up now I have my new soldering iron.

Also set up a couple of pieces of old track and connected up my old controller, to allow me to test run my old DC locos after being in mothballs for 3 - 5 years, before i ran them a dab of lube and off they went - the old 2-6-2 needed a bit of a fiddle with the running gear before she took off - all had their wheels clened as well.

Apart from that not much action on the tracks


Again lets see what I can get up to next week


cmaceeepc
Craig

 

[cmaceeepc]

Update

Well it s been very productive - not much on the layout but working in decoder installs in my 0-4-0 and 4-8-4 J class

Both worked well - see posts in the DCC section


I have been thinking about signals for the layout - What do I need for DCC???????????????

Anybody got advice - I am a sponge as I have got no idea about signals and DCC


cmaceeepc
Craig

 

[cmaceeepc]

Update

Well guys its been awhile since my last update but I have been busy with wife and work.
But that has not slowed me too much, I am still moving the scenery houses etc around and am getting a better understanding of what I may set it out like.
As per prevoius post I am still looking at signalling - probably going with digitrax/loconet so by looking at the multitude of info on the net I can understand why people skip past details like signalling as most info is super technical or says squat about how to wire it or set up.
I have found out things like you can use a digitrax DB150 as a booster for NCE PowerCab systems.
I have purchased an NCE mini panel, a NCE USB interface, Locnet interface, a DB150 and DCS50(to use on program track) and i am looking for a reverse loop controller for the 1 rev loop I have got.

When I have needed some shed time lately I have fitted a couple of decoders into a few of my old locos - the TCS Z2 are so easy to fit - actually uninstalled the one I fitted to my old 0-4-0 and fitted it into an old LifeLike Diesel - it required a bit of attention from the grinder to make room but I went first go.
I am waiting for some sockets with wires to help fit a sound decoder into my 4-8-4 J Class.
Apart from the above I actually got to run all of my trains - see some ofthem in the videos below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDtk9NPCnrk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znQDAWQc2W4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j0RcrF9qvA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDp3-4oG4BE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdsOEfH2muE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0Xp7Y-d8i0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y1FU5exr4Q


Well I will see what this week brings

cmaceeepc
Craig

 

[TrinityJayOne]

Man, how can we figure anything out, I thought I lived in the USA where we deal with feet and inches. This other stuff is a pain to try and figure out. How about giving us dimensions in feet and inches?

Don't be so close-minded; the Internet is a worldwide presence, not something unique to America. Us non-Americans don't complain about the use of imperial units in the threads by American members, do we? If you should happen across the issue again Google can help you, just type something like "7.5m in feet" in the search bar and it will convert it for you.

Moving right along, it's good that you can get your trains running while you work. Is the backdrop going to stay in the current format of multiple pages of A4? I can't recall who off the top of my head but one of the HO regulars here had some wall scrolls done professionally that came out very well indeed.

 

[cmaceeepc]

Back drop

The backdrop (A4 sheets)is only temporary - just an idea I had to give some depth to the Layout


cmaceeepc
Craig

 

[cmaceeepc]

Update

I started to tidy up the layout and decided to get my fleet of locos out for a photo shoot - any distraction from tidying up
Heres the fleet

All but 5 older ones shown are DCC

And 1 more Kato EMD SD80MAC to consist with its road mate (4594 & 4599)

See what happens next!!!

cmaceeepc
Craig