What did you do on your layout today? (N scale)

[Pauljag900]

Wow! That's what you call modelling,well done mate

[Drunkenclam]

More wiring, cutting, joining, clipping and cable tie-ing.

 

My switches stuck in customs for a week :(

[the_weird_one]

Spent the weekend learning to solder so I could wire droppers to each piece of my track without melting the sleepers

[Khaul]

Yesterday and this morning I did some retrofitting and upgrading of models I made in the 1970s and 80s. All of these models have since been superseded by more modern offerings, but I wanted get these running again as momentos of what we early N scalers had to do "back in the day" to get decent running models.

 

The models are Lone Star rubber band drive and Ibertren 3-rail models that I repowered with Minitrix mechanisms, which were some of the best running and pulling locos of the day. However, over time, the bushings on the motor shafts began to slip, so I removed these and squared off the shafts. I fitted square brass tubing over these to seat into the shaft connector to the trucks. This prohibits any slippage and the locos all run great again.

 

In the process, I also replaced some of the worn motor brushes, cleaned up all the electrical contacts, relubricated everything and touched up some paint.

 

Attached are photos of the locos involved: First: two British Lone Star models: Type 2 D5100 Class 24 Bo-Bo and Type 2 D5900 Class Bo-Bo.

Second: Ibertren RENFE (Spanish) 2100 Class ALCO and Ibertren New South Wales 44 Class ALCO "World".

Finally, my A-B-A Canadian Pacific set. All units are powered, drawbarred and interwired for reliability. Canadian modelers: I now know about the roof stripe - which I didn't back in the 1970s, so no "rivet counting", please!

 

- Paul Ingraham, AsiaN (and other) Rail

Holy cow! My cousin had a 3 rail ibertren set. I loved to play with those trains! Did you repaint a RENFE 1600 in the NSWGR colours? Great work!

[Railtunes]

G-day, Khaul!

 

Yes, the NSW 44 class is a complete redetailing, repainting and repowering of the Ibertren RENFE ALCO 1600. When I built the model in 1981 I was fortunate to have Aussie friends who supplied the photos, plans and decals for the project - no internet back then!

 

I also wrote up the project for the Australian Model Railway Magazine who published it in issue 111, Vol. 10, No. 6, December 1981. You may have that issue or can access it fairly easily, since it's your local publication. If not, I have a scan of the article I can send you if you contact me directly: < pei @ sonic.net > [minus the spaces, of course].

 

I am currently anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new 44 class model from Phil Badger (Gopher Models) - along with the 36 class 4-6-0 and some other bits. Last week I got a parcel of freight stock from Aust-N-Rail and, a few months ago, I found some other Aussie N scale bits in a local NMRA auction, so I'm finally making good on the stated intention that I made in the 1981 article to do some Aussie modelling.

 

Paul Ingraham, AsiaNRail

Edited June 20, 2017 by Railtunes

[IST]

Started to learn how to make a tree from wires (another club member showed us the steps):

 

     

 

This is my result after 30 minutes of twisting:

 

 

Painted the styrene sheet on a T-trak modul with a Tamiya road paint:

 

 

Added some bushes to another modul:

 

[cteno4]

Love the twisted wire technique it makes really realistic branching and tapering and also with some thick craft paint the trunks and bigger limbs get some nice texture. Plus easy to bend the tree to the shape that looks best when planted on the layout.

 

Jeff

[Rmsinsd]

This post could fit in here, track systems, and b-train threads! A piece of info for those contemplating a mini or micro layout: I just received some Kato 20-176 track, 117mm (4 5/8") radius curved track pieces. Now that's tight!

 

Anyhow, my first concern was whether B-Trains could negotiate these turns.....and they did, even at a scale speed that would throw passengers against the outside windows from centrifugal force!

 

Edited June 24, 2017 by Rmsinsd

[Pauljag900]

This post could fit in here, track systems, and b-train threads! A piece of info for those contemplating a mini or micro layout: I just received some Kato 20-176 track, 117mm (4 5/8") radius curved track pieces. Now that's tight!

Anyhow, my first concern was whether B-Trains could negotiate these turns.....and they did, even at a scale speed that would throw passengers against the outside windows from centrifugal force!

IMG_1436.JPG

Wait till you try them on 103mm rad,i used 103 on the tram line on my previous layout and they worked just fine,not sure they looked quite right tho ha ha

Paul

Edited June 24, 2017 by Pauljag900

[Pauljag900]

With the main layout almost complete except for a bit of detailing it s time to make a start planning the tram layout which will be built as a seperate module and will sit on a table at the same height as the main layout down the LH side opposite the mountain module

I m going to use foam board for the top and bottom of the baseboard with polystyrene strips to strengthen it this will also give me a void for hiding the wires.i intend to lay the track out on a table , measure it and construct the baseboard to suit,I m guessing it will be about 170x65cm.I ll lay the track and use 6mm foam underlay to bring the rest of the base up to track height.The track I need is ordered and I ll order the baseboard materials next week,hopefully it ll take about a month to get the baseboard made and trams running then the fun will start.

Any thoughts,ideas or sugestions always welcome,

Paul

[railsquid]

Not exactly on my layout, but finally got round to replacing the lighting in my Kato Yamanote and Saikyo 205 series trains (both of which are at least 20 years old) with the LED replacements from Nariichi, and generally cleaning them up (including removing some strands of fibre wrapped around one axle). Makes a big difference, especially at realistic commuter unit speeds, and while I'm not a fan of oiling mechanisms just because, all the older Kato units I've acquired run much quieter with dabs of Unioil.

[Rmsinsd]

People!

 

I started "planting" people on my layout. These are all Tomytecs, which seem to have a lot of variety. Schoolgirls at a tram stop, for instance!

[ianlaw]

Spent any spare time over the weekend cutting off rapido couplings and replacing them with TN couplings. I discovered that some Tomix carriages now have a breakline on the coupling to simplify this operation. Also started applying transfers and detail items.

[marknewton]

Yesterday and this morning I did some retrofitting and upgrading of models I made in the 1970s and 80s. All of these models have since been superseded by more modern offerings, but I wanted to get these running again as momentos of what we early N scalers had to do "back in the day" to get decent running models.

 

Second: Ibertren RENFE (Spanish) 2100 Class ALCO and Ibertren New South Wales (Australian) 44 Class ALCO "World".

 

- Paul Ingraham, AsiaN (and other) Rail

Nice work on all your locos Paul, but I particularly like the 44. I have a long association with those old girls! :)

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[railsquid]

Today I made a low bridge...

low-bridge by Rail Squid, on Flickr

[cteno4]

Excellent squid!

 

Jeff

[nah00]

Something that always bothered me since the earliest iteration of my JASDF base was how the track stood out. I don't mind it looking like this in a container yard but it was cutting the base in half and I couldn't figure out a way to make it look better using Unitrack so I switched to Finetrack for this bit. I plan to fill in the rest of the base with foam coreboard to make it even with the flight line and fueling track. Now I just have to put together my control tower (only had it for 2 years...) and it'll start to look better. Also going to cut off the 'dirt' along the edges of the storage tanks and paint the retaining wall grey and fill the inside bit with gravel. 

 

I think the before and after shows it made a big difference. 

[brill27mcb]

With the main layout almost complete except for a bit of detailing it s time to make a start planning the tram layout which will be built as a seperate module and will sit on a table at the same height as the main layout down the LH side opposite the mountain module

[attachment=26575:IMG_1818.JPG

The layout will have three blocks of buildings which I m going to split into three countries,Japan,Germany and America.The reason for this is purely because I like the buildings in each of these countries plus most come as a kit which need to be made so will take longer to make,if will also include a small working fairground in the middle.I ve made a rough plan of how I want it but as we all know things never quite go according to plan so we ll see.

IMG_1844.JPG

I m going to use foam board for the top and bottom of the baseboard with polystyrene strips to strengthen it this will also give me a void for hiding the wires.i intend to lay the track out on a table , measure it and construct the baseboard to suit,I m guessing it will be about 170x65cm.I ll lay the track and use 6mm foam underlay to bring the rest of the base up to track height.The track I need is ordered and I ll order the baseboard materials next week,hopefully it ll take about a month to get the baseboard made and trams running then the fun will start.

Any thoughts,ideas or sugestions always welcome,

Paul

 

Four parallel tracks seems like a lot, but since the center is a German plaza it can make sense.

 

Be aware that some Tomytec buildings now come with thick bases that put them at the right height, so a sub-base may not be necessary for them.

 

Lastly, the Tomytec 3-track old-fashioned brick engine house, raised a bit on a wall base, would make a great carbarn/depot for your plan.

 

Rich K.

[Pauljag900]

Hi Rich,
Thanks for the comments here buddy.I m hoping there ll be just enough space between the two double tracks to put a few trees In To break it up a little.the sub base I m going to use is a high density foam underlay used to put under laminate wood flooring,it's very easy to cut and peels away from the baseboard very easily so for the buildings with the higher bases such as the Tomytec ones I can just cut around the building base.I ve been looking for a three lane shed but I can t find out the track center measurements.So I opted for plan B. The actual siding straight pieces,the 140 and 70 mm straights are tram track,so basically it will be a bit like a bus station with low platforms like the greenmax ones in their sets,so I want to put like a glass roof over the whole area,something like this Kilbri kit,

http://www.viessmann-modell.com/shop/product_info.php?info=p1621_N-Bahnsteighalle-grau--.html

 

I m hoping I can remove the platforms and mount the posts into the tram track edges.
I m also trying to modify the plan slightly to make it slightly smaller so it can be moved around.
This is the plan,but we all know they go out of the window once building starts

Edited June 29, 2017 by Densha
Deleted copyrighted image.

[IST]

Nothing much, just painted the tracks on 2 T-trak moduls (at last, I should have done before making the scenery, but totally forgot it):

 

So I think I fininshed one of the moduls, at this moment I do not want to add more details:

 

  

 

And made a little correction on the roadside plus repainted the road.

 

[serotta1972]

Come on IST, you need to etch some names on the tombstones then it's finished.  :)

[IST]

Come on IST, you need to etch some names on the tombstones then it's finished.  :)

 

:laughing4:

I tried to convince some tiny imps and goblins to do that instead of me, but all of them went for vacation. :)

[Pauljag900]

Having done some more accurate measuring I ve decided to reduce the size of the tram baseboard,two reasons,not quite enough space and easier to carry around so tried to keep it as near to 4x2 as possible,it's just over at 4'4" x 2'4". Not a lot diferent really except I ve removed the two center rows of buildings.

Should have enough tram track to get it up and running in the next week or so.

[keiichi77]

Something that always bothered me since the earliest iteration of my JASDF base was how the track stood out. I don't mind it looking like this in a container yard but it was cutting the base in half and I couldn't figure out a way to make it look better using Unitrack so I switched to Finetrack for this bit. I plan to fill in the rest of the base with foam coreboard to make it even with the flight line and fueling track. Now I just have to put together my control tower (only had it for 2 years...) and it'll start to look better. Also going to cut off the 'dirt' along the edges of the storage tanks and paint the retaining wall grey and fill the inside bit with gravel. 

 

I think the before and after shows it made a big difference.

Glad to see I am not the only one that is planning to mix VF-1 Valkryie(s) into my airfield scene. :)

[nah00]

Glad to see I am not the only one that is planning to mix VF-1 Valkryie(s) into my airfield scene. :)

 

I want to put a Mave or Super Sylph in there from Yukikaze but I'm not confident enough in my painting ability and they have a pretty complicated paint scheme not to mention a ton of tiny decals.