What's happening on your layout?


Takin', er down. Been talking about this for a month, here it is

takin er down.JPG


The heat is on in the new train shed and moved two totes over there today.

Dave LASM
 
What's been happening on my layout lately hasn't been very good. A rash of gremlins broke out that I've been chasing since Friday. The first incident started when I tried to send a passenger train up Ute Pass and the engine which has pulled the same train successfully in the past stalled with spinning drivers about halfway up. It turns out that the track had lifted on one side at a rail joint, resulting in the engine losing its grip. Surprisingly, it didn't lose electrical contact. I had to surgically remove the portal on tunnel 4 to fix that one. I haven't repaired the portal yet, as I want to make sure everything is working right before I fix it. Saturday, a coupler popped out of its gear box on a passenger car. The next incident occurred on Sunday, when another section of track went uneven at a different joint, causing derailments. That one, fortunately, was an easy fix. We went through a sudden cold snap, and while not by a large number, the temps in the basement dropped suddenly, and I think that it made the rails contract, and since it couldn't pull the soldered joints apart it made them buckle a little. Yesterday was a double whammy, but the victims were engines this time. One of my Alco PA "house diesels" popped its nose coupler and shorted on a curve. It was in an unfinished area, so the track needed a shim. After that, my PFM Berkshire started cutting out, and shorting. The problem in this case was with the drawbar. The retainer nut worked loose, and the contact point would alternately lose contact or hit something it shouldn't have and short. I fixed that by tightening it, and I added a bypass wire with quick connect/disconnect plugs. It seems ok so far.
 
Colorado Midland Modeler said:
What's been happening on my layout lately hasn't been very good. A rash of gremlins broke out that I've been chasing since Friday. The first incident started when I tried to send a passenger train up Ute Pass and the engine which has pulled the same train successfully in the past stalled with spinning drivers about halfway up. It turns out that the track had lifted on one side at a rail joint, resulting in the engine losing its grip. Surprisingly, it didn't lose electrical contact. I had to surgically remove the portal on tunnel 4 to fix that one. I haven't repaired the portal yet, as I want to make sure everything is working right before I fix it. Saturday, a coupler popped out of its gear box on a passenger car. The next incident occurred on Sunday, when another section of track went uneven at a different joint, causing derailments. That one, fortunately, was an easy fix. We went through a sudden cold snap, and while not by a large number, the temps in the basement dropped suddenly, and I think that it made the rails contract, and since it couldn't pull the soldered joints apart it made them buckle a little. Yesterday was a double whammy, but the victims were engines this time. One of my Alco PA "house diesels" popped its nose coupler and shorted on a curve. It was in an unfinished area, so the track needed a shim. After that, my PFM Berkshire started cutting out, and shorting. The problem in this case was with the drawbar. The retainer nut worked loose, and the contact point would alternately lose contact or hit something it shouldn't have and short. I fixed that by tightening it, and I added a bypass wire with quick connect/disconnect plugs. It seems ok so far.
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Sorry to hear about the misfortunes on the layout. Glad you were able to fix everything although some of them may have required
a bit of head scratching.

By the way, how is the track attached? Cork roadbed ? Foam or plywood base?
 
shortwrench said:
Sorry to hear about the misfortunes on the layout. Glad you were able to fix everything although some of them may have required
a bit of head scratching.

By the way, how is the track attached? Cork roadbed ? Foam or plywood base?
Click to expand...
It's glued to foam in most places, the Old Colorado City yards are on plywood. I think it was caused by the cold snap, I've been researching insulation types to see if I can keep the temperatures more stable. So far, everything seems to be working correctly again, I may repair the tunnel portal tomorrow.🤞🙏
 
Colorado Midland Modeler said:
What's been happening on my layout lately hasn't been very good. A rash of gremlins broke out that I've been chasing since Friday. The first incident started when I tried to send a passenger train up Ute Pass and the engine which has pulled the same train successfully in the past stalled with spinning drivers about halfway up. It turns out that the track had lifted on one side at a rail joint, resulting in the engine losing its grip. Surprisingly, it didn't lose electrical contact. I had to surgically remove the portal on tunnel 4 to fix that one. I haven't repaired the portal yet, as I want to make sure everything is working right before I fix it. Saturday, a coupler popped out of its gear box on a passenger car. The next incident occurred on Sunday, when another section of track went uneven at a different joint, causing derailments. That one, fortunately, was an easy fix. We went through a sudden cold snap, and while not by a large number, the temps in the basement dropped suddenly, and I think that it made the rails contract, and since it couldn't pull the soldered joints apart it made them buckle a little. Yesterday was a double whammy, but the victims were engines this time. One of my Alco PA "house diesels" popped its nose coupler and shorted on a curve. It was in an unfinished area, so the track needed a shim. After that, my PFM Berkshire started cutting out, and shorting. The problem in this case was with the drawbar. The retainer nut worked loose, and the contact point would alternately lose contact or hit something it shouldn't have and short. I fixed that by tightening it, and I added a bypass wire with quick connect/disconnect plugs. It seems ok so far.
Click to expand...
Are you sure you're not modeling Penn Central?😱😁
 
KriegslokBR52 said:
Not much going on Waldenburg Midland, except a brand new (old) Pennsy P70 coach joining the fleet. The coach still needs a few details, but at least i can run a local dairy/passenger service just like back in the day when it was common:View attachment 206454View attachment 206455View attachment 206456View attachment 206457
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That's a nice find. Is it a Rivarossi? I have a number of those P70s on my "bad order" shelf, mine are Rivarossi, that's why I was asking.. I can fix mine, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Like the old saying goes, I have too many irons in the fire at the moment.
 
Colorado Midland Modeler said:
That's a nice find. Is it a Rivarossi? I have a number of those P70s on my "bad order" shelf, mine are Rivarossi, that's why I was asking.. I can fix mine, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Like the old saying goes, I have too many irons in the fire at the moment.
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This is i believe Bethlehem Car Works kit. Rivarossi never made actual Pennsylvania Railroad P70, the standard coach they made is similar, but there are a few differences. The easiest way to spot a P70 are the specific trucks with rounded equalizer bar. The only other company which made plastic P70s (to my knowledge) is Bachmann Spectrum series. I'm not sure what the Rivarossi coach is supposed to represent, but similar commuter coaches were used on a number of railroads; Lackawanna, Jersey Central, New York Central, New Haven and many others. This was a basket case just like yours. I still have to make the end harmonicas for it, add the tiny little marker lights and maybe put in the air hoses at the ends. Those Bethlehem Car Works kits are apparently on the difficult side to put together, because i've ran into a few which needed to be basically taken apart and glued together from the start. Personally i think even the old Rivarossi passenger cars are better quality than these, but i wanted the actuall scaled P70.
 
Mopac Junkie said:
im ready for my first water pour. i saw a guy on youtube use white glue and toilet paper. I was considering woodland scenics realistic water. Any tips appreciated.
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I tried white glue and a commercial hobby water product, not Woodland Scenics. The white glue yellowed.

There is a two part epoxy called Envirotex light and I have used that with excellent results. I will be using that product again. May require multiple pours.

Dave LASM
 
Mopac Junkie said:
did you tint it by any chance? also what is the drying time?
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I did not tint it but painted the stream bed added some lichen and ground cover then mixed the epoxy and poured over it then I inserted my fly fishermen. I left it for about 24 hours. Here is a picture of what I was going for.
train5.jpg

Mopac Junkie said:
did you tint it by any chance? also what is the drying time?
Click to expand...
 
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