Summer is a great time to take up Model Rocketry. Who wouldn't want to see something get 'blown-up'.*
Flame resistant recovery wadding protects the recovery system and is necessary to launch model rockets. Although it looks like toilet paper or thin paper towel, it is NOT the same! Wadding is specially treated to protect your parachute and rocket from melting or exploding so you get the maximum enjoyment out of your model rocket.
#3556 - Pro Series II™ Recovery Wadding
Flame resistant recovery wadding is necessary for launching model rockets. It prevents melting and destruction of your rocket and parachute.
Enough wadding for 10-12 Pro Series II launches.
Can also be used with any Estes rockets!
#2274 - Recovery Wadding
The flame resistant wadding is required in most Estes rockets unless they are tumble recovery.
Contains 75 sheets, enough for about 18-25 flights and is absolutely necessary to launch model rockets.
Come on down to Chinook & Hobby West - It's Where The Fun Begins! http://www.chinookandhobbywest.com/
hobbywest@shaw.ca
1-403-243-1997
If you're in Calgary, AB or area here is a great site with a calendar so you can see rockets of all sizes being launched. They also have the info on the by-laws you need to stick with so you don't get a ticket launching those rockets Calgary Rocketry Association --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* please be careful when using any rocketry supplies or engines. You can get seriously injured if you do not follow the instructions. Chinook & Hobby West is not responsible for loss, injury or death that may be caused by using any products we may or may not feature.
Yes, the title says it all. I was totally done with ALL my track work. Done on both the upper and lower levels, feeder wires, the whole thing. But, I was not too happy with the sand loading facility trackage and the double diamond, so I ripped it all out.
So I got some changes:
No more diamonds or city junction
The VA Midland receives another industry: the elevator at Mid-Atlantic Feeds.
The sand facility will have more trackage with 2 spurs
With the elimination of the diamond, there will only be 2 signals in this area.
I really wanted to keep the diamond, but it only makes sense and what I had was very unprototypical.
Here's what I am doing. This all makes more sense and will be a better operation. It s a quick fix and the only hard part is redoing the feeder wires. Moving the sand unloader will be no fun either.
No, it's not a wiring nightmare, I'm installing some LED lighting on the upper level.
Got these light poles about a year ago. I installed them around the layout, but never hooked them up. Here's an example of one. Got them off Ebay from China cheap.
They definitely put out the light! Almost too much.
Overall view of the area. There are a total of 7 lights.
A little night photography? All I am missing is the flashing red lights from the RR crossing apparatus.
I find it quite amazing how fast things sometimes come together. I’ve been working on this project for just under 3 years, and even though it’s a ways from being complete, it’s definitely now past the 90% mark. While building a project like this, you constantly wonder what the final result will be. You meticulously plan everything out, trying to achieve a certain look and feel, and even though you have a good idea of the direction you’re heading, you never quite know exactly how everything is going to come together in the end. This is especially true if it’s your first go at building a layout.
Then it happens; that most exhilarating part of model railroading that so many modelers talk about – the part when everything all of a sudden comes together. And what a grand and epic moment it is. After all of those long evenings planning, painting, plastering, sanding, nailing, wiring, cutting, and gluing, you finally get to see the results of your efforts. I reached this point with my layout just last week.
I had previously posted about completing my main-street town scene which took up almost one full half of my layout, so here I will cover the second half of the layout, which includes the turn table and represents more of an industrial setting. The first steps I took here were to prepare my layout for the building structures. I used plaster to build a parking lot behind the turn table which my Cutting Scissor’s Co. and scratch-built garage buildings would sit on. After sanding and leveling the plaster, I painted it with the same coloured paint I used on my roads.
My Pioneer Press (Northern Light & Power Kit) is to sit upon a gravel lot, so I used sifted sand and applied it directly to the plywood base using diluted white glue. At the same time, I also started the process of adding the same sifted sand to the turn table area and track. I ended up having to lay the sand down quite thick in this area to make it almost level with the tracks. I used a pipette to first wet the sand with isopropyl alcohol, then used a second to apply diluted white glue. After drying over night, I noticed that some large cracks had developed in the sand. This required reapplying more sand to fill in the cracks and sealing with white glue.
Before positioning the structures on the layout, I drilled holes through the benchwork for the power leads to pass through for lighting. At the same time I also drilled holes and installed the remainder of the street lights along the roadways. I then carefully positioned each building onto its intended position. The leads to both the buildings and street lights were then wired to the rest of the electrical system beneath the benchwork.
Fencing was added next. I used a section of fence from an Atlas White Picket Fence kit that I painted brown in front of the Pioneer Press building. For the turntable yard, I surrounded it with custom built chain link fencing (explained in my Layout Scenery Part III - Downtown post). The rest of my structures were added at this point, including the signal tower, water tower, freight station, and 2 small shed structures made from spare pieces.
The switch machine controlling the turnout into my turntable has been an eyesore since it was first installed. I wasn’t able to install an under-table machine here like I did on my other turnouts, so now I had to find a way to cover the mechanism. To do this, I built a small platform out of styrene, which I then painted and weathered to look like concrete. I then added small railings made of brass rod. The platform then sits on top of the switch machine, conveniently hiding it from view. Now you might ask, “What exactly this platform is for?” Well, I’m not exactly sure. But one thing I can tell you is that it looks a whole lot more believable then that big black ugly switch machine! It blends in well with the rest of the scenery and goes mostly unnoticed anyways.
Vegetation and greenery where added next. This included adding ground cover, bushes, shrubs, and trees to the remainder if the layout and to blend separate scenes into the surrounding terrain as needed. I still have a few small places to touch up and a few foliage elements to add, such as little grass tuffs, but overall the main scenery elements are complete.
Ballasting the remainder of my track was the last major step. I didn’t have much left to ballast at this point, as I ballasted most of my track section by section over the last year. I did however have to take some extra time and precaution when ballasting all of the turnouts at the front of my layout. I had to make sure that I didn’t get any glue onto the turnout’s moving parts, so I used a fine paintbrush to apply small amounts of glue around the ties. After carefully adding the ballast, I vacuumed up the excess and ensured the turnouts moved smoothly. I finished the track by weathering it with black powder pastels.
Currently I am working on completing some nighttime lighting effects that represent a moonlit sky, which I should have complete in the next few days. I am also currently on the hunt for vehicles, figures, and other scenic details needed to complete the finer details of my layout. Street signs are also on my current to-do list.
Seven-month old CP ES44AC #8734 leads #249 east on the CN Oakville Sub at Bayview Jct on May 28, 2006. Bill McArthur photo, author's collection.
Good Evening All,
Like a lot of modelers, other hobbies and pastimes have displaced some of my ‘train room time’ over the summer, but now that the fall is upon us with the short days and cold weather probably not far off, its back to indoor activities for me, which includes updating this blog on a more regular basis.
Anyway, that brings me to tonight’s Throwback Thursday – back to 2006. The image is not as old as the others that I’ve discussed in other TT’s, but it is ten years ago (!). Who’d have thought it was already ten years since Gevo’s were the latest thing on the motive power scene, Bayview had only two tracks, and “Tier 4” was a phrase no one cared about at the time. Well, funny how time flies, eh?
Here we see a Bill McArthur photo of CP #249 heading east on CN’s Oakville sub at Bayview, using decades-old trackage rights to get to Canpa, near Mimico, and back to home rails instead of climbing the steep grade up to Guelph Jct. The train is passing the work zone that is adding a third track for expanded GO Transit service to Hamilton. This meant widening the fill next to Sunfish pond, and more importantly for railfans, removal of trees that obstructed the photo angles from the Laking Gardens bridge (I’m sure to the chagrin of a lot of environmentalists).
Ten years later, it’s funny how history repeats itself – current GO Transit expansion to West Harbour station in Hamilton has again meant installation of a third track from Bayview to Bay street in Hamilton (previous third track terminated at Bayview). The current phase has the extra complexity of bridging the Desjardins canal, a feat that is nearing completion. Expanded GO service to West Harbour in the future, along with GO’s new layover yard at McNeally road in Winona will be sure to add even more trains to the already-busy Bayview area (granted, they are “window trains”). Unfortunately though, CP trains no longer use CN’s Oakville sub after trackage rights expired in 2008. The Gevo’s now aren’t the latest thing on the motive power scene, replaced by Tier-4 units (on CN, at least), and in another ten years will probably just as dull as they are now. But at least they were interesting when they were new…
From a thread on Trainboard about new Z scale boxcars, Mike Skibbe summed up my feelings about many manufacturer shortcomings. Check this out.
There is a misnomer that "Prototype Modelers" and "Rivet Counters" take things too seriously and arn't having fun. Things couldn't be further from the truth. We have tons of fun doing what we do too. The fun just comes in different ways. This is similar to the on-going debates about Tony Koester/Bill Darnaby hard core operators vs roundy-round runners. Many people say, "Oh, too many rules and it's too much like real work, that would never be fun for me." And they are probably correct, maybe they never would enjoy it. But for those that are really into operations, it's fun to follow the rules! It's fun to treat running trains like it was a real job. It doesn't make either camp wrong, and it certainly doesn't mean either group is "eternally frustrated."
He continues, emphasis mine.
First, the NP geeps MTL just released. I read a review (Model Train News?) that said MTL used a number series on the NP that didn't have dynamic brakes, yet the model does have dynamics. The kicker is, that NP did own geeps with dynamic brakes! MTL just didn't use the right numbers. You say, "We can split hairs on what's "prototypical" or obvious structural differences, or we can strive to do the best we can with what we have and offer Road Names that help folks realize their dream layouts." Would it have cost any more to use the right number series on the NP geeps? Was using the wrong number really "striving to do the best with what's available"?
The N and Z scale RI 40' boxcars in pullman green are another example. MTL put a non-Pullman Standard built number series on their PS1 boxcar body. Yet RI also had a number series that is almost a perfect match for the PS1, with the exact same paint scheme. Doing it right satisfies both the everyday modeler and the prototype modeler. Doing it wrong only satisfies the every day modeler. Why leave out a portion of the customer base, when doing it right doesn't cost any more?
From http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=89706&page=2
I have always been interested in rare or different looking locomotives. My personal favorite locomotive is the unique CF7. Another odd and ugly looking locomotive is the BQ23-7. The BQ23-7 would actually set the standard for wide cab locomotives that we see today. The Q stood for quarters which could comfortably house the crew of the train without a caboose. As we know, the caboose's days were numbered. It was mainly a different cab for a standard B23-7. The SCL ordered 10 of the BQ23-7's in the late 1970's. They went to CSX through the merger in the mid 1980's and remained with CSX until the late 1990's. As you might know, the BQ23-7 did not catch on and were actually considered dangerous by CSX. They were rated to only trail position, reclassified as B units and even had their windows plated over.
The 10 BQ23-7's were all in FLS paint and were originally numbered 5130-5139 (Photo by Raymond Stewart RRpicturesarchives.net)
Windows plated over and rated as a B unit. (Photo by Ken Roble RRpicturesarchives.net)
CSX paint. (Photo by Sam Beck RRpicturesarchives.net)
#3001B (Photo by Richard Gorddard Beck RRpicturesarchives.net)
To model this locomotive, you have a few choices: a expensive OMI brass one (did see one for $300 one time) or the terrible Bachmann one from the 1990's. They even painted one Chessie! Enter Shapeways. Shapeways is the a 3D printing company that's been around for a few years. I accidentally stumbled on a N scale BQ23-7 cab while browsing the Shapeways offerings. Of course this did not help me. I emailed the producer and asked if he planning on making a HO one. He promptly emailed me back that he was. I finally could produce a quality BQ23-7 without a complete scratchbuild or breaking the bank. Atlas produces the B23-7 now so one could be easily made. Shapeways has many different things for the HO modeler like complete freight cars, vehicles and tiny detail parts. Make sure you check out their model trains page. You just might find what your looking for!
