A little write up about me in the 2015 Winter edition of the Potomac Flyer

Did a interview for the Potomac Division of the NMRA for their upcoming Potomac Flyer publication that comes out four times a year.
NMRA Potomac Division Website

On the left click on Potomac Flyer and then click on Winter 2015.  My article is on page 21.  This a good publication and has lots of good articles.

I want to thank Roger Sekera who contacted me and did a great write up.  Also wanted to thank Norm Wolf on the thoughtful quote.

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Get Ho train set up

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Layout, Track and Accessories on Pinterest

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HO TRAINS CANADIAN PACIFIC F3 A CLASSIC TRAIN SET 1029 CP TRAIN SET

Civil War 15mm / N scale train layout CHARGE! Civil War wargaming

1978-1980 Silver Streak

Activity Table w 50-Piece Train Set Blocks Indoor Kids Child Fun Toy

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Another busy week coming up and a major upgrade to the layout room!

Looking at this coming week, modeling is going to take a back seat.  It seems that I have something to do every night this week.  Between 2 football games, 2 little league ball games and practices, free time will be nonexistent.  I hoped to get back into the modeling grind this week, but this past week was also busy.  Guess I will have to get modeling in in small increments!  I have no major projects for the Midland for this winter, but I will start to figure out where scenery will begin on the lower level.  St. Just is a good starting point and I may do a tweek in the trackage there to hide the helix hole.  This will extend the run-around track and I will widen the area right above my desk.  This will give me a chance to add trees to block the "hole in the wall".

I also purchased some laminate flooring for the layout room.  The carpet in the office has ran it's course so it needs to go.  This is the same flooring my wife and I installed in our family/TV room this summer.  It holds up well and is scratch resistant.  It should not take too longer to install but the hard part will be putting it under the layout legs. I may remove them or jack them up a bit.  It should look and do well in the layout room as long as I don't have any more leaks.

Here's the hole to the garage and the helix.  No easy way to hide it from view.  The plan is to widen this area and put some trees in the foreground to hopefully hide it.

I may remove this curved turnout and extend the runaround track to the right, making it bigger.

Mainline on the right, Mine run branch on the left.  Putting the turnout down here would make this runaround track more worth while.

There is the propane turnout in the same area but this will stay in the same area.

This Traffic Master laminate flooring has done great in our family room.  I chose a lighter color for the layout room so it will match our foyer flooring.

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Chapter Ho scale train set up

Ho scale train set up

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Follow Up Friday CN 5070 Revisited

I had mentioned to my dad (Keith) that I found surprisingly few photos of CN 5070 despite my research for the Throwback Thursday a few weeks ago that featured a photo of the unit when it was brand new at GMD London in November 1968. Dad then did some further research and put together the first Follow-Up Friday for the blog with some further info on the unit. Here's Keith's second article on the blog - thanks Dad!

- Peter.

I thought it would be interesting to follow 5070 through the years to see what changes may have taken place over time. As Peter indicated, the well designed unit served the original purchaser for some thirty-one years and then went on to toil almost a decade for a second owner. As previously mentioned, the unit was subject to very little cosmetic change, mostly accessories; horns, snow plows, lights and a winterization hatch. No doubt the unit was upgraded electrically fairly early on. EMD’s initial 645 powered 3,000 HP units were known for episodes of terrible wheel slip (more so the B-B units). I believe CN had their in house R&D group help tackle the problem.

Some photos of the more noteworthy changes along the way (author’s collection).

Snow shields and replacement horn (judging by the fresh paint I would speculate that the snow shields have just been added).

Remarkably, the original paint application, albeit touched up, lasted at least a decade. Note the taller forward cooling fan atop the rear of the unit. The horn appears to be mounted on a new bracket and ditch light brackets have been added to the pilot mounted lifting lugs.

Some additional online reference material:

CN 5070

Engine in 1972    (1972)

Engine in 1982 Zebra Stripes    (1982 Zebra Stripe)

CFMG 6069

RR Picture Archives

Traingeek.ca

ASDX 6909

RR Picture Archives

- Keith

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Up off the ground

My better half  had an old school friend over today, so I was asked if I  "had some work I could do outside today?"

 Great, I sure do!
I headed straight out to the shed to see if I could finalise the fascia and frame, and get the whole layout up onto legs(well...chairs)

It took me several hours, but finally the layout was up on the 5 chair frames. They are nice and steady too.

Unforunately, the chairs can't be raised in height and are a bit low/short(the track is at stomach height), so they will only be used while I construct the layout.

I also took the opportunity to weather some of my fleet with the airbrush while I was out there and I will upload those pics next time.

Here is a shot of the join between 2 of the boards, with the chair frame underneath.

Again, just laying the track loose to get the feel for thetrackwork,  this is the crossover at the city end of the platform, Most trains arrive and depart from the lower right track over the points to the platform,top left track. The loop is top right, storage siding is lower left track.

A lone 4 car set sits at the city end of the storage siding area, not going anywhere yet (no track down). 

Close up of one of the baseboards joining the next...

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Mike Skibbe Sums it Up

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

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