Time for me to show off!

[DakotaLove39]

Yesterday my club managed to host a Covid-safe flea market and open house event.


I scored these three items for $55! Loco is a DCC-ready Athearn RTR. I've been wanting an SP or SSW Tunnel Motor based on this photo. If I can have interesting color with Rock Island, I will!


Otherwise, due to our layout's design we have several aisleways, which are unfortunate choke points for visitors which we obviously can't allow right now. As such we made some changes to the lights which allowed us to show off the layout's lighting in those areas.

 

[DakotaLove39]

Took two months off for other things. Time to show off some more!

 

[DakotaLove39]

Finally making some progress on my module.

I have glued my trestle deck to my rail and will be installing bents soon. Also starting the wiring soon.

 

[DakotaLove39]

WHEW have I been busy the last week. I got my own CMX track cleaning tank car, which I put to use on the Hennepin Overland club layout. Boy, that track was super gross! We had a ban on wet cleaning up until this year, so the dirt we're collecting with these CMX cars is really disgusting.

Otherwise, I've been running trains when able. Took my AFT out for a spin, being that it's the 4th this weekend.


Also gearing up to do a multi-layout video showing the relationship between railroads and the brewing industry. I, personally, work on the supply side of the brewing industry so I am pretty jazzed about this one. Four layouts in one video following a handful of cars along the process of how grain gets from the field to a brewery.

Besides that I got the bug to finally start modeling like I mean it. I got brave and began adding decals to a bunch of cars, mostly KarTrak plates. HO scale decals are easier than I expected. I was even brave enough to add "WATCH YOUR STEP" decals to my Milwaukee International Bay.

I have a few decal sheets in the mail so I can begin patching my BN equipment and apply more KarTrak barcodes to my collection. I hope to finally start weathering stuff before the end of summer.

 

[DakotaLove39]

Some sneak peeks from my video work this weekend

 

[ChinaHaun19]

That’s a pretty sweet array of locomotives

 

[DakotaLove39]

Well, the video I last posted about is running behind. I was hoping to knock it out as a July special video, but other things have been going on and I'm now starting to imagine it as an Oktoberfest special video.

I've been a busy boy, anyway! We had our first open house at Hennepin Overland, since February of 2020. We had a great turnout of visitors, and a great performance by our members (including myself).



Also for fun, myself and a couple younger members tried out the Hennepin layout in complete dark, using only the building lights. What a sight!


Unfortunately I am leaving North Metro club, as it's just too far from home to be worth it anymore, but there is another HO-scale club in South St. Paul which I just joined tonight! The "Newport Club" has a really fun layout, making up for in complexity what it lacks in size. I'm looking forward to familiarizing myself with the layout, and the members. A lot of these guys are older and have been railroading in some fashion for many years.

 

[DakotaLove39]

On the note of leaving North Metro..

I had one last hurrah, a seven-unit lashup on 50 of my freight cars. Made for a hell of a show! Late in the day, I broke the train into two and ran each part on different sections of the layout. In the process, I logged about 65 minutes of video capture, so I'll definitely be able to knock out a special from this!

 

[DakotaLove39]

I've started a mini-series on my FreeMo module progress. First video here!

 

[ChinaHaun19]

Find my YouTube channel here!: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwllFEdg1-mZlU5YgLpsSyg

Wow, It's been 10 years since I started my account on this message board, and I've come quite a long way. I'm now on my third HO-scale phase and it seems to be sticking hard. My collection has grown to something like 14 locomotives, and to think when I joined here I had just gotten my first 'nice' model, a P2K GP38-2 (now awaiting rebuilding due to zinc pest in the frame!)

Still no home layout yet, and that probably won't change for a while, but to get over it I've joined a nearby club; the Hennepin Overland Railway Historical Society, which operates a truly spectacular and large layout that is open to the public for viewing on weekends.

Somewhere around 2010 I learned about Milwaukee Road S3 4-8-4 #261, which is actually pretty sad since she 'lives' basically in my backyard. 261 almost instantly became my favorite preserved steam loco, and I had to have a model of her. She is the undisputed queen of my collection thus far, and her rake of Walthers Hiawatha cars is just icing on the cake. This is the Broadway Limited offering, and I am pretty happy with it although the sound is a little "meh" in my opinion.

View attachment 30226

View attachment 30227
Yes, the grabs need to be installed, and this Skytop Obs needs its mars lamp (and the Cedar Rapids name). I have EIGHT of these things out of nothing but luck!

I also just got ahold of these two Walthers Proto 2000 E7's. This was a lucky deal on eBay and I basically got two for the price of one. #18A seems to have some frame issues, though. I still havent decided what to do with it. Pilots were included, of course, I just had them out for a test run and didn't want to bother with installing those yet. The obvious benefit here is that my Hiawatha fleet can now pose as a Twin Cities Hiawatha train instead of just being an excursion fleet.View attachment 30228

I've also got myself a UP 1943. Could not resist due to my interest in military stuff. Plain DCC, no sound. Also have the gorgeous UP 1989 just because I love the paintjob.View attachment 30229
And along the same lines as #1943 I came across this boxcar on eBay and just had to have it. There seems to have been a set of these, but I was only able to find one other.View attachment 30230

And to pair up with 1943 and 1989 I have this Walthers Mainline ES44AH, which I got for a steal of a price at a train show in Eau Claire. $95 with Econami sound! All the grates are begging for weathering, I'm just waiting for a good day to get the Dullcote out.View attachment 30231

I landed this BNSF Pumpkin for a pretty good price also. Older Athearn Genesis with basic DCC. Photo from its test-run the night of acquiring. Snowplow snapped off somewhere and has since been fixed.
View attachment 30232

And then to go with my desire for Minnesota stuff, I put together a Northstar commuter train. I realize that Athearn was lazy and just painted up an F59PHI (Northstar uses MP36PH-3C's) But for its price I will not complain, and it looks pretty sharp anyway. This one came with Tsunami 2 Sound. The Bombardier cars can be finicky sometimes but since I always run pull mode they don't fight very often, and they look great at speed.View attachment 30233View attachment 30234

And of course I cannot forget my only working road-switcher at the moment, my ATSF GP60M. This thing acts kind of weird but after a brief warm-up, he settles into work. I believe a motor upgrade is in order for it, as well as detailing, ditch lights and some BNSF decals. View attachment 30235

I have also since acquired a slew of new and used freight cars, among them are three ScaleTrains Operator Trinity tank cars in black & white scheme. I should have bought more. I got a couple of ScaleTrains Operator Gunderson hoppers (KCS 'Belle' cannot be ignored!) and a mix of others. Too much for me to remember at the moment!

These are some killer diesels.

 

[DakotaLove39]

These are some killer diesels.

Thank you, too bad all of them are long gone. I do kind of regret selling my two UP heritage units. I'd gladly run the D&RGW one with my modern KCS stuff today. Oh well.

Anyway, I spent a few hours at the Newport, MN club yesterday after work. I hit our branch line for the first time, and talk about a fun route! I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

As I settle in I might do an exclusive video for my YouTube channel. Not sure yet, as the club generally likes to stay off radar for some reason.

 

[TLOC]

Excellent picture tour.

TomO

 

[DakotaLove39]

Excellent picture tour.

TomO

Thanks Tom. I think in the future I'd like to do a video tour of Newport. It is not often open to visitors due to space concerns in the layout room.

I haven't shared much for a while. I've been a busy boy again. I haven't even been able to work on my video stuff due to multiple projects going on. I've custom-decaled two locos for the Hennepin Overland club, as well as kickstarting our car department there to support future switching ops. We have about 120 freight cars ready to op, and our anticipated need is somewhere north of 200 to begin with. I'm also considering starting a semi-regular Hennepin Overland video series, like I did with North Metro. We've been undergoing a crapton of changes lately. If nothing else, it'd be cool to just show what trains appear on the layout each weekend.

I sent my NP Z8 to Milepost 70 Customs for weathering, and boy did it come back looking sweet! Check this out!

At Newport:




At Hennepin Overland:




Looking pretty awesome. She came back a real showstopper!

While I'm at it, I have an associate in town whom I chat with on the internets. He's training with Union Pacific for a couple weeks in St. Paul, so I was able to get him to come visit the Overland for fun. I believe we'll also visit North Metro, too.


(My SP&S ALCo, UP guy's GM&O, and my friend's DM&IR ALCo)

And finally, I got myself a Proto 1000 RDC lettered for Northern Pacific. This is so I can have a dodgy little thing to run during busy open houses, and to send up the Overland's logging branch line once in a while to show it off. I'm hoping to do a sound install and also have this lightly weathered. I need to get some riders in it, and I'm debating on interior lighting. The space available is very generous.

 

[Rico]

Very nice Steve, I can just hear that lattice bridge creaking too!

 

[DakotaLove39]

It's been a few months since I've uploaded anything to YouTube so I wanted to drop an update video just to talk about what I've been up to and what's coming soon!

 

[DakotaLove39]

Highlights from yesterday at Hennepin Overland. More to come later, right now my phone is mad at me.

GP30 #340 and F7A #47C, part of a three-unit lashup, working the grain elevator in Wobegon.


Rapido 'New Look' bus waiting for passengers at the Hastings depot.


Twin Cities Hiawatha meets and passes the Hennepin Overland passenger train


Soo #1776 Bicentennial leads two GP9's with a club freight train through Wobegon.

 

[DakotaLove39]

I haven't been doing any videos lately. Too much stuff going on and not enough bandwidth to sit at the PC for hours. Finally put together a video of my last big haul at North Metro club, though. After this and my Brewing Industry video, there will be no more North Metro on my channel.

 

[OBTC 1909]

Excellent video!

 

[DakotaLove39]

Video compilation from a couple runs at Newport club over the last few months.

 

[DakotaLove39]

After 14 months, I've finally received my ScaleTrains SDL39! No serious Milwaukee modeler can go without one!

(Unfortunately, they are arriving with hit-or-miss QC issues. Mine is g2g but some other folks aren't as lucky.)

I gave 585 a thorough shakedown run both light and loaded, then set it up to run permanently consisted with two of my F7's. All three units have ESU sound, and most importantly all three have drive hold. If you haven't played with drive hold or Tsunami's manual notching, you're missing out! Both modes allow you to set the train at a certain speed and then mess with the prime mover RPM's to simulate heavy loads or coasting.

585 put on a good show for visiting public for a while, then went along to running a switching job.