Atlantic, Gulf & Western (AG&W)

[PNKFLOYD]

Last week's yellow structure needed repair. Here is the result of hours of glue drying.

Even the stairs are secured. The young gentleman did a great job, and no glue smears!

I mentioned before that we acquired a way to have vehicle movement on a section of the layout. Here is the first trial placement of components to see how much rum is needed for placing the track.

I regret to tell you that the pictures of the box and other placement pictures were too blurry to show you. Next time I will review the pictures before leaving the club room. My apologises.

 

[troyphoto]

I mentioned before that we acquired a way to have vehicle movement on a section of the layout. Here is the first trial placement of components to see how much rum is needed for placing the track.

I regret to tell you that the pictures of the box and other placement pictures were too blurry to show you. Next time I will review the pictures before leaving the club room. My apologises.

Perhaps less rum before taking the photos?

that's why I never drank when photographing weddings!

 

[Espeefan]

Coming along nicely! I saw the layout when I visited McWayne with the Grandkids earlier this year. I met Larry & Carey and they gave us the fifty cent tour. I would have liked to visit Saturday, but too many family obligations. Trips to Birmingham are fun but intense. So many people to squeeze in!

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Perhaps less rum before taking the photos?

that's why I never drank when photographing weddings!

Sometimes the only way to get thru these sessions is by drinking.
However, fat fingers lead to typos. Nice catch!

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Here is the brand of movement system we will be using.
Invisatracx is not being product recommended as we have only seen it demonstrated. BUT, it shows promise to add more interest in our layoout.

We have laid oout some of the components and picked a path through an urban area. There will be two tracks so traffic can move in both directions.

In addition to the traffic movement, we have begun setting up other scenes with the help of our apprentices.

Nt all the work in being performed on top of the layout. Some modules are being rewired to make additional lighting circuits avalable.
Our young helpers are much better at running wires than certain older members.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

We had a lot of activity this weekend.
We began gluing magnets to vehicles to be moved by the Instatrax system That is why some vehicles are upside down in the picture. The magnets are small, about a 1/8 inch cube.

We continue to repair buildings so they may be added to the layout. Several of our apprentice members are taking the lead in making repairs and regluing these salvaged structures.

We have decided we need more electrical drops for some of the sidings. Youthful enthusiasm help make the work go quickly. The youth is the one on the left.

Our fleet of magnetic vehicles now includes a couple riding a tandem bike.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

We had a very busy day this week and I forgot to take pictures as the work progressed. The main progress was under the layout with the wiring of the controllers getting done. It is amazing how much wiring an eleven year old can do under a layout. And not just one, as a girl started the job and a boy finished the connections. We did find a spot where the track needed to be cleaned here.

I was kept busy trying to help with 2 building projects. One building finished staining with an alcohol/ink wash and installing blinds in the front windows.
I found another kit being assembled as the walls were glued together. I asked questions about painting, trim color around windows, installation of windows, if curtains or drapes were to be added , about roof braces and when these items should be done.
The nine yo son did a good job painting the building with just a little help from his father. The trim color to be applied next time.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Had a little delay today due to access to the forum. This week, I managed to get a few pictures of some of the activities going on in the club room.
One large project under way is a large court house kit. We started out painting the windows and other white trim to get rid of the plastic shine.
This will not be a shake the box project.

It seems like we will need a million trees for the layout. This patient lady is selecting small trees and bushs to start the tree making process.

This is the 2nd revision to the Instratrax route and building combination today.

This is the 4th revision to the pathway today. We have to be flexible to get clearance from the buildings.

We have some good help to add more wirin for lihting accessories.

The back drops and view blooacks are going up. Most back drop will be photo scenery of similar terrain in central Alabama.

 

[santafewillie]

Looking really good Mikey. I wish that I had some helpers like that, especially for some rewiring and the trees.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

I will try to get this week's activities posted while I have access to the website.

Somebody decided to move the coal barge terminal to another location, so the tracks are being rerouted. The boys are supervising a dad on cork installation. Next week, he gets to learn to lay track.

At the other side of the room, a little conversation makes the straightening of tree armatures go much quicker. Mom is getting pointers from her son.

That ugly green roof of the court house is getting another color. It will definitely need two coats of paint.

Some buildings were blocking the Instatrax movement along the stree, causing route revision #9. But who is counting?

If you have spent the time and effort to put together a wooden caboose kit, you might as well install a lighting module in it. Yes, he did test the module to see if it worked before he installed the module.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

i finally managed to get on the forum when it was responding normally.

This is the first time the young man operated a power tool! He managed to cut the flex track with a Dremel tool on his first try.

The track work continues with the proper installation of the track nails. As you can see, all our young people are learning all phases of model railroad construction.

This seems to be the best location for the meat packing plant, Hillcrest Packing Company.

We will have to have a new sign printed for the backdrop.

The reluctant black and white hog is on the right trying to slip past the two men. Did he google the name of this plant?
Going to have to find some more pigs to go with this scene.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Today was graduation day for all the Wrecking Crew apprentices. We started with 24 people who were interested in model railroading .
We have 13 that we could not run off with our old fart teaching methods.
We have a nice mix of young people and young adult parents.
For their dedication, everyone received a club shirt and paid up dues for the balance of 2026.

We had to have railroad themed refreshments.

After the pictures and cake, we put our free labor back to work on more siding track work and we have 5 structures in various phases of construction.

Our youngest member has gotten good at painting details like window trim on his building.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

i managed to get back to the club this Saturday and took pictures of some structures and businesses that are being trial located around the layout. Two buildings were moved around during this meeting.

As you can see, the layout is losing a lot of empty space. And there are many more structures to be located.

The pink home in the above picture was scratch built by one young lady who was one of our apprentices. She learned to operate an airbrush as part of her construction process. Her father is a long time Wrecking Crew member, so she got some excellent building advice.

Guess who is the proud builder of this industrial structure? He painted and glued the building together with only a little help from his father on the small details. I am going to have to take lessons on installing the decal signs from him.

None of these buildings have been permanately attached , yet. We sit a business in place, then try to check clearances between other buildings, moving trains and vehicles. Structure kits arre still being built by members, so there may be relocations of several structures.

 

[westtexjohn]

What a fantastic operation !!!!!!!

A great way to help young folks perfect their skills instead of of holding a cell phone in their hands all day or sitting playing games on a computer for hours.

It does my heart good to see this type of activity going on. And the photo with the young man using a power tool for the first time is just outstanding. What a treat for that young man. That one opportunity may open up a whole world of projects, giving him confidence to learn more.
And the young lady who scratch built that house.........just great.

Thanks for posting and sharing these great photos with such great content.

Carry on.......John

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Although I have permission to use the photos with new members, I have purposely not identified anyone. The young man operating the Dremel tool for the first time is also the builder of the blue industrial building . As a 9 yo, he has taken to doing as many tasks as he can. From track work, electrical wiring and building structures, he has gotten his father more deeply involved in model railroading, also.
This hobby is truly for people of all ages.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Work continues on the court house.
There are lots of pieces that have to be painted and then assembled to the walls and glued in place.
This is NOT a shake the box project.

The project table has people working on essential projects and also has people who just talk about working on things.

This is not a subway system. As we get a little further along, I will tell what is going on. After I find out my self.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

We had about half of our members attend the NMRA national convention In Chattanooga, TN this week. We worked on structure building, under layout wiring and scenery. We had a quick small tree/ shrub making clinic.

You begin making the tree in his right hand by taking a 2" 0r 2-1/2" piece of sisal twine, untwist and spread about half the length of the twine as shown in the left hand.

Spray a brown or dark green paint to give the tree a dark interior.

Sprinkle static grass fibers on the tree to add more limbs or a dark ground foam.

Spray glue, or hair spray or clear varnish on the twine armature, being careful not to clump the strands together.

If you use static grass, give the tree a few minutes to dry, then spray your adhesive again and sprinkle darker green ground foam.

Carefully set aside to dry for several hours to dry thoroughly. After completely dry, spray with a final protective coating. Hair spray will protect for a couple years, Dulcoat or clear varnish will protect for about 5 years. Our instructor uses a 5 to 1 up to 10 to 1 mixture of water and Liquatex matt medium mixture for his personal layout. He has trees over 20 years old that are still pliable.

Sometime he adds a light sprinkle of lighter color ground foam to look like sunlight on leaves.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

This is the last weekend before school starts in most of Alabama next week. Most of our school students and their parents were were AWOL from the club house this Saturday.
We mostly worked on structures and wiring under the layout again.

Our surviving Master Model Railroader took second place in model structures at the NMRA convention in Chattanooga, TN. last week.
His fully detailed inside and outside saw mill was completely scratch built, except for the wheels on the log boggies.
When asked where it would be placed on the club layout, he stated it was going on his home layout. He has over 100 hours of labor in this model.

Another model was brought in for placement on the layout. This is the first kit assembled and paited by this moodeler.

We may have a future MMR if she keeps up her modeling skills.

 

[DeaconKC]

Tell that young lady "Well done!" That is very impressive work.

 

[migalyto]

Great to see the young ones involved in this build!