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deemery
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 03/24/2015 : 11:31:42 AM
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There used to be a hobby store at Shoppers World, I remember riding my bike there when we lived in the north end of Sherborn in the early '70s. There was also a little hole-in-the-wall hobby shop in downtown Framingham, where I bought my PFM 4-4-0 Reno model. I saved a lot of allowance for that one...
dave
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Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 8982 |
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Orionvp17
Fireman
   
Premium Member
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Posted - 03/24/2015 : 12:22:16 PM
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Fitts Photo and Hobby in SW, and Joe Brown's on Kendall St. in Framingham. Discussions available off-list-- this is James' thread.... 
Pete in Michigan
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Country: USA
| Posts: 7585 |
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jbvb
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 04/01/2015 : 11:25:41 PM
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Thanks; I dug up an appropriate thread if you guys want to bump it: http://www.railroad-line.com/discussion/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=32743&whichpage=1
After I got back from the Finescale Expo, I buckled down to clean up projects ahead of Saturday's op session. First, I made a canopy out of JTT corrugated styrene and Evergreen .080 and .125 I beam for Acme's newer dock:

Then I built a dock to match it:

Scalecoat 'Aged Concrete' is a little darker than Floquil 'Concrete', but the design is intended to suggest the curved dock was added when Acme moved in. Paint's drying now, I'll assemble it in the morning.
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James
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6915 |
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Orionvp17
Fireman
   
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/02/2015 : 12:37:27 AM
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Looks good so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing the "assembled" photos.
But right now.... 
Pete in Michigan
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Country: USA
| Posts: 7585 |
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jbvb
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 04/02/2015 : 8:51:29 PM
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Thanks, Pete. There's more roof work to be done, window glazing, some attention to the doors, then signs and finally detailing. But the canopy and dock are done:

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James
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6915 |
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Orionvp17
Fireman
   
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/03/2015 : 7:18:00 PM
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Like.
Pete in Michigan
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Country: USA
| Posts: 7585 |
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nhguy
Fireman
   

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Posted - 04/03/2015 : 7:33:48 PM
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Yup. I agree. Nice work. Oooooo.look. An X29 boxcar!
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Bill Shanaman New Haven RR Hartford Division in Colorado. |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 4763 |
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Mike Hamer
Engineer
    

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jbvb
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 04/03/2015 : 9:02:23 PM
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Thanks, Pete Bill & Mike. The X-29 is an old Trains-Miniature car with simple modifications to improve the looks: I filed the running board down to about half it's original thickness and trimmed the door 'claws' down to minimum size. It doesn't stand up to the Red Caboose die work, but it doesn't fail horribly as part of a mostly 'Green Dot' fleet on my layout.
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James
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6915 |
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jbvb
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 04/05/2015 : 9:12:35 PM
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Since Saturday's op session I have: - Fixed the turnout that bothered the passenger cars - Loosened the truck pivot screw on the Rapido Osgood-Bradley coach - Fixed the yard throat turnout lever - Re-switched the misrouted freight cars - Restaged passenger & freight - Organized my timetables better - Charged the radio throttles
Since I won't get the replacement PSX-1 circuit breaker till the middle of next week, I moved on to other projects:
Initially on kitforums and now on modelersforum, Tom Langford has organized a 'Traveling Freight Car' using Atlantic & Southern 3667, a loaded 55 ton hopper car. I picked it up at the Finescale Expo in Scranton and it finally made its way across the Hudson and up to Boston today:

Setting up for the photo shoot, I spent about three hours with four colors of paint on the DPM leftovers kitbash visible to the right of 4012. It's my first attempt at beige brick, using Floquil Depot Buff. It still needs mortar, when I figure out where I put my paste away.
Finally, a brief note about my 'Floquil Life Extension' technique: I dip my brush in lacquer thinner and then in the paint that collects in the Floquil lids. I keep doing this till the lid is pretty much paintless, then start taking it straight from the bottle. The model gets essentially 'free paint' which would otherwise dry in the lid, the lid goes back on clean and none of the cheap lacquer thinner gets into the liquid paint itself, so it doesn't curdle.
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James
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6915 |
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jbvb
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 04/09/2015 : 1:21:11 PM
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My upbringing didn't give me much knowledge of 'sin'. It wasn't till I was working as an engineer that I really came to understand how careless or convenient actions can have a price which WILL be paid someday:

In 2007 I decided I really wanted an operating layout, which ultimately led to me building the Saugus Jct. turnout across the joint between some existing track and the new roadbed. And I sinned, twice: First, I didn't move the shelf bracket. Second, I decided to just drill through it and make the point rod hole oversize, using only the air gap to insulate between the two rails. I didn't apply insulation, I didn't even drill both holes oversize; the shelf bracket is at the potential of one rail.
I am repenting (and re-doing) my sins now, after this led to a short circuit taking much longer than it should have to debug.
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James
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6915 |
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jbvb
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 04/27/2015 : 4:37:51 PM
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Last week I completed the Acme Fast Freight kitbash. It still needs a billboard on the roof, but I need to learn GIMP better to get the colors more uniform.

This also shows Busch flexible self-stick cobblestone (Walthers #189-7078) in the area between the two team tracks. I'll post more when my experiments at coloring it are thoroughly dry.
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James
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6915 |
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jbvb
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 04/28/2015 : 07:40:50 AM
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An intermediate step in last night's GIMP activities produced this, which I post here for pre-1970 B&M modelers and anyone else whose prototype used similar signs:

The original is at a museum in upstate NY, Steve Labonte gave me his photo. This isn't shown in any B&M plans I have, but I made GIMP print it 24" wide in HO.
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James
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Edited by - jbvb on 04/28/2015 07:43:13 AM |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6915 |
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Orionvp17
Fireman
   
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/28/2015 : 09:56:46 AM
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Nice sign, James. Thanks for sharing that one!
Pete in Michigan
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Country: USA
| Posts: 7585 |
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nhguy
Fireman
   

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Posted - 04/28/2015 : 2:22:20 PM
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quote: Originally posted by jbvb
Since Saturday's op session I have: - Fixed the turnout that bothered the passenger cars - Loosened the truck pivot screw on the Rapido Osgood-Bradley coach - Fixed the yard throat turnout lever - Re-switched the misrouted freight cars - Restaged passenger & freight - Organized my timetables better - Charged the radio throttles
Since I won't get the replacement PSX-1 circuit breaker till the middle of next week, I moved on to other projects:
Initially on kitforums and now on modelersforum, Tom Langford has organized a 'Traveling Freight Car' using Atlantic & Southern 3667, a loaded 55 ton hopper car. I picked it up at the Finescale Expo in Scranton and it finally made its way across the Hudson and up to Boston today:

Setting up for the photo shoot, I spent about three hours with four colors of paint on the DPM leftovers kitbash visible to the right of 4012. It's my first attempt at beige brick, using Floquil Depot Buff. It still needs mortar, when I figure out where I put my paste away.
Finally, a brief note about my 'Floquil Life Extension' technique: I dip my brush in lacquer thinner and then in the paint that collects in the Floquil lids. I keep doing this till the lid is pretty much paintless, then start taking it straight from the bottle. The model gets essentially 'free paint' which would otherwise dry in the lid, the lid goes back on clean and none of the cheap lacquer thinner gets into the liquid paint itself, so it doesn't curdle.
Have you had any problems on the OB passenger cars with the trucks hitting detail piping and derailing? I have had to trim down a few truck details (cut off)of my cars because of problems going around a 30" curve. Cutting these off helped fix the problem. Bill
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Bill Shanaman New Haven RR Hartford Division in Colorado. |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 4763 |
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