What's happening on your layout?

[TrucTrain55]

I am waiting for a new bag of hydrocal, so did a bunch of "piddly" stiff on the layout; stuff that has to get done but is barely noticable:

From Groningen to the bridge, I got all the spacer ties in place and glued down (between the flex track pieces), got all the track tacked in place and lined up properly that you can see here and tacked down

View attachment 209305

I actually got a box car out and checked out my track a little, this part is also nailed down and ready for paint and ballast:


View attachment 209306

Also got the bridge track cut to the right length and put down a little base ballast (filled in some spaces with glue and sand)

View attachment 209307

This track will be painted and ballasted. I had some gaps where the grade dropped down going into Grantsburg.

Dave LASM

Looks good Dave thanks for sharing.

 

[zzr1200guy]

Well I'm midway threw my free-mo build but I'm looking ahead at 3 builds one On30 based loosely of the EBT another base some were In Pennsylvania as a industrial switching segment for a bigger layout and the last is A Free-MoN build based in my home town on the Long Island railroad.
Heres the on30 layout from right to left staring at the siding the track is on a constant 1.5% incline up to the yard on the right.

 

[Blackburn R-1 blackburn]

Well I'm midway threw my free-mo build but I'm looking ahead at 3 builds one On30 based loosely of the EBT another base some were In Pennsylvania as a industrial switching segment for a bigger layout and the last is A Free-MoN build based in my home town on the Long Island railroad.
Heres the on30 layout from right to left staring at the siding the track is on a constant 1.5% incline up to the yard on the right.
View attachment 209324

very cool

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Well I'm midway threw my free-mo build but I'm looking ahead at 3 builds one On30 based loosely of the EBT another base some were In Pennsylvania as a industrial switching segment for a bigger layout and the last is A Free-MoN build based in my home town on the Long Island railroad.
Heres the on30 layout from right to left staring at the siding the track is on a constant 1.5% incline up to the yard on the right.
View attachment 209324

This should be good. I live about 3-3,5 hours drive from EBT.

 

[riogrande5761]

During the fall I painted and built the Walthers New River Mine which is reality is a selectively compressed coal mine on the Craig Branch of the D&RGW but has the general look of other mines. This is located on the mainline west of Grand Junction CO and into Utah.

 

[TrucTrain55]

Started a New Layout in the House in my little Man Cave Room. No more trying to stay warm in the garage on the other HO Layout. It’s in the beginning stages so be patient. Going with NH Railroad something fresh.

 

[TrucTrain55]

I upgraded the Switching Layout to a more modern one it will be the Chessie System. Added a Bridge today

 

[logandsawman]

I built this trestle bridge, started yesterday and installed today, loosely modeled after the prototype on the Northern Pacific:

(Sunrise River North of Wyoming, MN)

Quite a ways to go on this scene, but fitting the bridge was the main battle.

Dave LASM

 

[PMW]

Still plugging away with bench work and bus lines

My new industry came in and when I went to get it I couldn’t resist this boxcar. I’ve wanted one just like it for a long time

 

[John from Indiana]

Sadly, nothing is happening on my layout...still kind of burned out

 

[PMW]

Sadly, nothing is happening on my layout...still kind of burned out

I feel ya! For one reason or another I progress slowly. But hey, we can't all keep up with @logandsawman who's going at what I consider a break neck pace

 

[steelwheels]

Working on 3 projects, roads, power station, and track planning. I would be painting & laying track, but too cold tape won't stick.
Surveyor

Paved

Mockup

Pep

 

[KB02]

Working on 3 projects, roads, power station, and track planning. I would be painting & laying track, but too cold tape won't stick.
Surveyor
View attachment 211945

That's really clever. Nice!

 

[logandsawman]

I have been hooking up all the wires, so far about half done. Picture doesn't tell much unless you look close at the fascia and see the toggle switches and jack hookups,

Other than that, I did some major cleanup so I could comfortably crawl under the layout. Feels good to get the cleaning project finally going!

One photo faces in each direction, the door being visible on the top photo (red box)

Toggle switches on fascia on right, floor is CLEAN have not completed left side yet in this picture

I am checking the current as I hook up sections, working my way clockwise around. In the photo above, the left side is completed and everything has been swept and vacuumed.

Thanks for looking!!! Dave LASM

 

[Redrider]

I guess this is as good a place as any to post this. What's happening on my layout? Well, anyone who has read my prior posts is aware that after quite some time between running a train and running a train, I discovered my track had become quite dirty, some rust pits, and that black stuff that builds up. Anyway, some locos worked fine, others hesitated, lunged, and just stopped and shut down.

Ok, that's not what this is about. Thanks to a fellow O gauge member, I bought some Bachmann track cleaner that also enhances electrical contact to the wheels. I worked for nearly an hour rubbing as much as I had to use all over the layout. At least where trains weren't currently sitting. Then I ran four trains over the same locations with a track clean car and I have to say I haven't seen that kind of black on a white pad in years. But, even though my locomotives are now working fine again, there was a side affect that I didn't take into consideration.

Propane heater. I have a propane heater, one of those small wall mounted jobs that has a thermostat. One might ask, So? Don't you want the room to be warm? Yes, very much so. But, propane heating systems, like the one we have that heats the entire house, and the two we have that heat the train room and the tv room in the basement, love to soak in chemicals. I once cleaned a rusty chain hoist in my basement. Used cleaning agents, rust removal agents, WD40, you name it. Next day the house smelled just like a kerosene heater people use in tents when they camp. We used them when we'd weekend at Fort Knox in the winter. I was in the guard in a past life, and several of the pilots had kerosene heaters. Tent nearly made me sleep outside.

Long story shortened drastically. Be careful using chemical track cleaners on your layout if you have propane, possibly even natural gas heat in your house. Especially, if your train room or where you built your layout, is fed by the heating ducts. My train room used to be a water cistern under the garage, so no heating ducts from the furnace. Thank goodness, the whole house would smell like the train room. Not related to trains, but related to what I'm saying. We had a gas fireplace with fake log setup as a backup heat. Painted the inside of the house. Didn't cover the logs. First time that thing came on after we had a power outage, after we'd painted the house, all those paint particles that descended onto the logs were burnt away. I had to turn the thing off. House literally stunk. So be careful cleaning your track. Not sure how to solve this without getting electric heat, geothermal, or a fireplace in every room. Gas heat will combine with the fumes put off by chemical cleaners and stink up the place. Unless one of you knows a secret all of us can use to keep that from happening. I just dry clean my track using a velcro pad fuzzy side down, white in color. But then again I used to run my trains more often.

 

[shortwrench]

I have been hooking up all the wires, so far about half done. Picture doesn't tell much unless you look close at the fascia and see the toggle switches and jack hookups,

Other than that, I did some major cleanup so I could comfortably crawl under the layout. Feels good to get the cleaning project finally going!

One photo faces in each direction, the door being visible on the top photo (red box)

View attachment 212364

Toggle switches on fascia on right, floor is CLEAN have not completed left side yet in this picture

View attachment 212365


View attachment 212366

I am checking the current as I hook up sections, working my way clockwise around. In the photo above, the left side is completed and everything has been swept and vacuumed.

Thanks for looking!!! Dave LASM

I can picture you sitting in swivel chair in the middle of the room with a wireless throttle
in one hand and your beverage of choice in the other; watching a 30 car train making its
way through the various scenic and urban elements of your layout.

 

[RhB Michael]

I've finally finished the wall painting on the Schwarzburg station kit I bought back in December and assembly has begun. Assembly should move right along now that the tedious brick painting is completed.

The roof tile pattern is also completed.

 

[logandsawman]

I can picture you sitting in swivel chair in the middle of the room with a wireless throttle
in one hand and your beverage of choice in the other; watching a 30 car train making its
way through the various scenic and urban elements of your layout.

actually, it will be a corded handheld throttle in my case, and probably a cup of coffee. The 30 car train is definitely dooable, with a second one on a siding waiting its turn.

 

[Mopac Junkie]

Working on scenery in this area.

 

[RhB Michael]

Basic structure is nearly complete. Lighting and details have to be added, then the two structures on each end of the main building will be constructed. Roof is not attached yet.