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I'm happy with this new leveling job. Now to the tricky stuff.
To get the original 'hump' out of the track is the goal here. So I also had to redig the subroadbed for my piece of flex track from the turnout to the bridge. Originally I figured I would start the descent of the track from mid bridge. I figured I would have to shorten the bents and that sort of thing.
I decided on carving and sanding down the end of the trestle to begin the down slope. This modification would have been SOP out in the boonies. Heres a photo:
You will notice I've carved out the buttress log a bit and made the 3 bridge pieces fit. I will still have to glue down the bridge pieces because they move up and down and I don't want that. They must be solid. Jim
I ran my Climax all around my track work as I built. All good.....till I ran the Mallet the other day. Transition problems to fix. As in real life, geared locos handle rough track where others fear to tread.
JPIII, Yes you are correct. These geared steamers do the job on the layout the same as they do/did in real life. My 4-4-0 has the most problems.
Johnie, Glad you could make it. Ask questions and make comments. That is what this thread is all about. Thanks. Jim
While waiting for another round of WS Foam Putty to dry I shot this photo a couple of minutes ago. I got these 36 footers at the trainshow last weekend. I like the smaller size for this layout.
Heh, my 4-4-0 has trouble also. Just for the hell of it , I had the Climax drag the dead (drivers not turning) 4-4-0 up a 4% grade....no sweat. That surprised me and also convinced me to keep the other Climax (NIB) rather than sell it.
I read in an old book that the 4-4-0 was the mostly widely used loco on logging roads.....probably cause they could get them cheap.
Jim I like those 36 footers, they seem to fit right into your layout. It’s surprising some times what you can find at a good train show. My layout is even smaller than yours and I have found the old Mantua 1860 series of flatcars, boxcars, horse or cattle cars are 30’ long and can be lowered and weathered quite nicely. But yours really look nice on your layout. - Chris
JPIII, I added some lead to the top of my pilot wheels. Performance has improved. I only haul about five cars anyway. I love the sound.
Chris, Check it out:
At the trainshow I got four cars, three 36 footers AND an old time flatcar. Great minds think alike. Got 'em for $25. I didn't have the flatcar lowered or painted when I took the previouse photo of the boxcars. So here you are. Jim
The 4-4-0 is a Bachmann Modern. It's been nothing but trouble since the day I bought it........lousy QC. ....good looking rig tho.The pickups are on the tender.....they weren't touching the axles...there's more whining but you don't wanna hear it.
Seems like the white caps on the sea have settled down Jim, (not so much wind about that day?).
Nothing like lowering a car to make it look and handle better, some polished alloy wheels, fat tyres and metalflake paint (Ooops, I'm getting my hobbies confused)
Jim, I really like the little one truck bobber caboose. What was it originally? I assume as creative as you are, it started life as a larger caboose. - Chris
toot, I've missed you. Yes it is all dried now. I'm disappointed in my 'bottom' paint job and somehow I didn't do the waves the same. I should do it all over again frankly. But I don't think so.
Chris, I think I showed how to shorten this caboose into a bobber. Maybe we have a searcher lurking who may want to find out??? This little guy was once a standard caboose. They are on epay all the time. Bobber Caboose.
JPIII, Lead in the tender probably won't help will it? The engine drivers do the work. See if you can get the boiler off and put lead inside.
It doesn't have a problem de-railing, but looses contact.....it wants spotless track or won't play so I clean the track and run it some more. After a 5-7 minutes of running & pulling some cars, the light starts flickering and it loses the fire again. It is the only loco that misbehaves in that manner.....thus the lead in the tender plan (where the pickups are located).
Seems like I got the hump gone. Now I have to level the tracks across and glue it down. I will have to glue the inside edge of the turnout down. I'm not opposed to adding glue, carefully, to turnouts if I need to.
Here are the weights holding down the track to the glue I just put down. I always use Woodland Scenic Foam Tack Glue for these projects. I've used it so much that I'm familiar with it and trust it for my usages. Should be dry enough by tomorrow to begin scenicing again. Jim
Some of the still photos there show the gawd awful mess those boys left in their path. On my RR, I have a few sections that are basically "done" with the exception of that aspect. I fella once wrote that realistically modeling chaos is very difficult.....and he got no argument from me. I keep going back to add natural junk ....the more random the better, but it never looks to be enough. I did find raw Caspia to be a good additive. I do need to add more weeds & bushes......but first I gotta make em'. That is on a back burner.
JPIII, While I think I have this scenery stuff pretty much under control and really don't care much for 'clean' layouts this has always bothered me however. For example: when is enough enough? Looking at most of those photos it reminds me of Hiroshima after photos. I'm always wondering if I should add more junk? Plants I don't have a problem with. More is always better. Fallen trees damaged by the bigger tree falls is another thing. I guess I don't model that 'cause most folks don't know what these old camps and areas really looked like and wouldn't like the junk. Jim
Jim: You're right. Many folks don't know the size of the trees them old boys were dealing with. In that first tree falling section of the vid, when that monster falls over it snaps off what appears to be an 18'- 2 foot diameter neighbor like it is nothing..
I guess I'm looking for a happy medium that doesn't yell out "I've had ehough ot this &/%#." but gets the point across. Even that is tedious, me thinks..
I haven't watched it all yet but so far the 2 pics that have impressed me the most is that seemingly hugely overloaded horse drawn sled? and the loco that's sitting on top of another???????????????
