Ch ch ch ch Changes!

Hey everybody!

Its been along time since I've posted and we've had a couple of changes of here at the Mascoutin Valley.  Big Changes!  I was going to provide a tutorial on creating cheap and easy method for pulpwood log loads but I figured I'd catch everyone up to speed as to why I haven't posted much lately.

New Engineer in Training

Welcome Henry Aaron Dorsch!  He's the newest edition to the Mascoutin Valley Railroad.  Born August 9th, 2016.  He has been a wonderful addition to the family!  He is a healthy baby boy who is already learning the basics about model railroading!  ;-)


Henry (3 Months) and his best buddy Barnaby.

Layout Update

Trackwork Complete at the Mine

Track is complete and switch machines operational.  I've run a couple of trains over the tracks to test operation theory and the quality of the track work.  No derailments!  I still need to do more testing with different types of rolling stock.  But for now it looks like all my locomotives will run right through the mine!

So here is a picture of Iron Ore Pellet Plant Module with bullfrogs installed.

Fascia Painted with Bullfrogs installed.

First Ore Jenny

I've started creating my Mascoutin Valley Ore Jenny Fleet.  I stripped down some old MDC/Roundhouse Jennies and repainted them in "ugly green."  They don't have to be pretty, they are going to get weathered pretty heavily. 

Here's a picture of the production line for the jennies. 

Stripped down and repainted Jennies.

Here's a finished one - Weathered up.



MVRR 102 - First Road Specific Ore Jenny

Next Steps

Start scenery and structures for mine!  Look at this sweet mock-up I made with cardboard!  This mock-up may result in being the skeleton for the structure of the mine.  I saw a technique recently that used cardboard as the walls and then styrene was a "laminate" over the cardboard.  This could save me tons of time!

Iron Ore Pellet Plant - Styrofoam Stock Pile and a 12-pack represents the Pellet Plant

At some point I should post a revised track plan.  I'm pretty good with the one I have now, just need to finish it in Adobe Illustrator and make an electronic file to upload.

I want to thank everyone for reading and following along.  Its going to be interesting how Henry fits into the railroad!

Be sure to check out my facebook page!  Winter is coming so that means its "back to the basement!" Work on the layout and equipment will be at an awesome rate! I am posting updates multiple times per week so check it out and please provide feedback!

You can find my Facebook Page here.  Make Sure to give it a 'like' to keep up with my progress!

https://m.facebook.com/MascoutinValleyRR/

Please post question and comments!  I will get back to you!

Thanks for reading!  Until next time keep 'er in Notch 8!

Locomotive Breath - Part 4

Its been 6 months!  Six Months to make one locomotive model.  I'm sure that this is extremely slow, but this hobby is not my full time job.  Though some days I wish it was!  Locomotive Breath - Part 4 is finally here!  We put the finishing touches on Mascoutin Valley GP7 #217 and get it on the layout. Without further ado lets get to it!

Pictures for Parts Placement

For the final detail parts I had to reference the pictures of the prototype (real thing) to get the location correct.  I will admit this is not a 100% replica of CNW 4133, but it gets us in the ball park.  After all I'm sure the crew at the Mascoutin Valley engine shops added their personal touch to this GP7 to make it special just to the MVRR.

Around the Horn

The horn on CNW 4133 was located in the center of the nose right in front of the cab.  The manufacturer of the model would have you put the horn in the left center of the nose.  Well that didn't work for me!  I have a picture of Wisconsin Central 4133 (ex CNW 4133).  She looks rough.  Notice the placement of the horn on top of the nose, in front of the cab.

WC 4133 (ex CNW 4133) with Horn Location Identified

Below I'm going to show where the model manufacturer puts the horn.  Subsequent pictures below show how and where I attach the horn.  Please note the super expensive clamp holding the horn in as the cyanoacrylate (CA) dries.  Hint: its a wooden railroad tie!  I had thoughts of leaving it in there.  The Mascoutin Valley couldn't have one of its star players on the bench.  Especially if it had a broken horn due to smacking it into a low hanging tree limb!  Put some lumber in there and prop it up!

Where the Manufacturer Suggests where the horn goes.

Drilling new Horn Mount Location

MVRR #217 Horn Assembly featuring the fancy prop to hold it up while the CA dries.

Hell's Bells

One of the other features of CNW 4133 I wanted to capture was the bell location.  You can see it in the photo of WC 4133 by the front of the fuel tank.  I took a fine drill bit and put a hole in the shell.  Then I mounted the bell in the location with CA.  Take a look at the picture below notice the bell in front of the tank.

MVRR #217 Engineer's Side.

Final Product

With a little bit of touch up paint and a final dusting of weathering MVRR #217 is ready for service!
Here are a few more shots of the finished product.

MVRR #217 Bill of Material

Manufacturer	Item #	Description	QTY
Life Like P2K	N/A	GP7 Undecorated W/O Dynamic Brakes	1
SoundTraxx	827101	Tsunami EMD 567	1
Unknown	N/A	C0603 Surface Mount LEDs	5
Details West	RB-126	Rotary Beacon Western Cullen Type	1
Details West	BC-244	Axle Bearing Caps	4
Details West	SA-124	Spark Arrestor "Super" Non-Lifting Non Turbo C&NW	2
Detail Associates	1101	Lift Rings 3 1/2"	12
Details West	PL-155	Snow Plow C&NW	1
Details West	SR-284	Speed Recorder	1
Kadee	#158	Realistic Head Whisker Coupler (Pair)	1

Next Time

So what's up next?  Here is a little video that will give a hint as to what the next post is about!

I want to thank everyone for reading and following along.

Be sure to check out my facebook page!  As the dog days of summer kick in, work on the layout and equipment continues! I am posting updates multiple times per week so check it out and please provide feedback!

You can find my Facebook Page here.  Make Sure to give it a 'like' to keep up with my progress!

https://m.facebook.com/MascoutinValleyRR/

Thanks for reading!  Until next time keep 'er in Notch 8!

Let the Good Times Roll

I know this isn't 'Locomotive Breath Part 4' but I had to post about a major milestone on the Mascoutin Valley Railroad.  We have trains rolling over layout for the first time!!  Once the track was laid down on the first module it was time to get it wired up!

Wire Used

I used two types of wire.  14 AWG solid wire and 22 AWG stranded.  The 22 AWG was stuff from the old layout I used to have when I was a teenager back in 1995! The 14 AWG wire was my 'Bus' wire.  For those who don't know (and until recently I was one of these people) a 'Bus' wire is a main heavy duty wire that carries electrical current to all the little 'feeder' wires that connect to it.  I like the analogy the 'Bus' is the spinal cord of the train layout.  It connects to the Command Station or Brain and feeds impulses to the track through feeder wires which can be thought of as 'nerves'.  I used two colors, black and red.  I always keep the black wire closes to the aisle.  Its important that the black wire always goes to the inside rail and the red wire always goes to the outside rail.  If they get mixed up you will create a short in the circuit where the polarity of the electricity is fighting itself.  To prevent confusion my feeder wires are also red and black.  To connect the feeder wires to the bus wires I used suitcase connectors.  See the illustrations below to see what I'm talking about.

Showing the 'Bus' wires connected to the feeder wires.

Simple Tap Splice Connectors that I got at Ace Hardware.

A feeder wire soldered to the rail, bent to mimic a 'Rail Spike.

'

Finished Product

Here's a little video of the track powered and wired up for DCC!  Enjoy!

 
Next time we'll finish off Mascoutin Valley GP7 #217 in my fourth installment of Locomotive Breath.

Be sure to check out my facebook page!  Even though its summer time I'm taking baby steps in completing the first module. I am posting updates multiple times per week.  Also get a preview of the materials for the next blog.

You can find my Facebook Page here.  Make Sure to give it a 'like' to keep up with my progress!

https://m.facebook.com/MascoutinValleyRR/

Thanks for reading!  Until next time keep 'er in Notch 8!

Locomotive Breath - Part 3

I hope everybody is enjoying the spring weather!  I'd like to apologize to everybody for the delay in posts.  I have been model railroading during the blog drought however, just working on a buddy's locomotives.  Back to my project, Mascoutin Valley Railroad GP7 #217. Now we're on post 3, the DCC install and lighting affects.

Lights, Beacons, Numberboards!

Lights!  The lights I am using in all my locomotives is the 0630 Size Surface Mount LEDs.  I bought 20 of them pre-wired on eBay.  These suckers are small but they put out a ton of light!  Look at the picture below.  That's a toothpick tip and the little yellow thing is the Surface Mount LED.  They are tiny!  That is why I got them pre-wired.  Imagine having to solder those wires on the LED?  Nuts to that!

Surface Mount LEDs are Tiny!

I choose to put the SM LED right in the sockets for the lights.  I then put the lenses over the LEDs on the exterior of the sockets.  A lot of patience is required to get the tiny LEDs in the sockets.  This is by far the hardest part of the whole project.  Persistence is key!  These things look sharp when they are installed and the heartache and pain is totally worth it.

Holding the LEDs in place while the glue dries.  Good thing A ModelersLife was on to pass the time!

The Rotary Beacon is a Details West "Western Cullen" Rotary Beacon.  I looked at pictures of a real locomotive to get the placement on the roof for the beacon.  I referenced CNW 4133 again.  The picture had the beacon smack dab in the middle of the cab roof.  So I drilled out a hole large enough to fit the beacon base into the cab and then threaded the SM LED through the hole I created and glued it to the the lens.  Note: I used Testors Clear Parts Cement so it would not fog up the LED or the beacon lens.

Drilling Out Beacon Mounting in Center of Cab.

 Below is a picture of the beacon on the cab.  This will be a cool lighting effect I can't wait to see it rolling down the track with the beacon on full blast!

Finished Beacon with Surface Mount LED inside beacon lens.

Since I put the LEDs in the sockets for the forward and reverse lights, I had to do a custom job to get the numberboards done.  You may ask what do numberboards have to do with the DCC install?  Not much, but I don't want to go tearing off the shell after the DCC install just to put in numberboards.  I'll be patient and put them in prior to installation so I don't have to go back in there and re do everything or damage what I've done.

So we're sawing!  I used a razor saw to cut the numberboards off their molded on lighting piece they came on in the kit.  Once the boards were off, I painted them white.  Takes some patience here as well.  As many of you may know white paint never goes on in one coat.  It took 3 or 4 coats to get to my liking so the number decals will stick properly and look good on the loco.

Good enough!

Time for Tune Up

Before installing the SoundTraxx Decoder we want the locomotive to be running good.  So I give it my own personal tune up before installing the decoder.  I learned this tune-up technique when I was 13 and it still works to this day!

The cleanliness of your commutator is often over looked.  It is important that this is clean of carbon so your motor runs efficiently and smoothly.  Also dirty commutators can increase unwanted noise.  It should be the goal of every model railroader to have silent motors in their locomotives!  I clean the commutator first with 400 grit sandpaper.  I just hold it on the commutator and rotate the flywheels.  I don't push too hard.  Don't want to leave grooves in the metal.  After I get the heavy gunk off, I hit it with q-tip dipped liquid track cleaner of all things.  Or 91% rubbing alcohol works too.  Or Acetone.  Same method, just hold it against the commutator and rotate the flywheel.  You want the cleaner to evaporate quickly and not leave any liquid or residue.  Once dry hit the commutator one more time with a dry paper towel or q-tip.  Note:  Do not run your engine until the commutator has dried!!!  Liquid may be BAD for your electric motor.

Sounds Chips - no Frito Lays here

What is a decoder?  A decoder is a microchip that deciphers signals from a DCC command station that is being put in my locomotive to make it go forwards and backwards, light up and play sounds!  There are hundreds of decoders out there that do all sorts of things.  I chose the Soundtraxx Sound Decoder for EMD 567 Prime Mover.  The sound file that is installed on this decoder matches the motor that was in EMD GP7s.  There are two types of decoders/chips you can get from Soundtraxx that have sound effects - Hard Wired or Drop in chip.  I chose a hard wired option.  Never again! I'll explain why later.

First thing you have to do is isolate the motor from the frame.  The frame is this big piece of grounding strip that if your electrical power contacts hit it will fry your decoder! Next I had
solder hard wires to electrical pickups inside the trucks.  I solder wires directly to the pickups on the wheels so I get good conductivity from the track to the decoder.  I  used red on the right side and black on the left side of the locomotive.  These wires will be hooked up directly to the wires on decoder.  Red to red, black to black.  I match all the colors on my decoder to the NMRA DCC decoder wiring standard.  That way if someone else had to repair my locomotive other than me they could look inside and know what wire does what function.  Take a look at the wiring diagram below or follow this link to Mr. DCC University for a more detailed description:

http://mrdccu.com/curriculum/soundtraxx/tsunami.htmlhttp://mrdccu.com/curriculum/soundtraxx/tsunami.html

Starting to Get the wiring done on the decoder install

Its important to plan a little bit and know how to route your wires inside the shell so you don't have spaghetti junction.  That's why I'll never do a hard wire decoder again...too many wires!  Wire Routing is a fine art and it takes patience and trial and error to get it right.  If you get frustrated...like I tend to do...walk away and go listen to 'A Modelers Life' Podcast.

Here's a little video with a 'Run By' of MVRR #217.  Still needs details and sideframes :-P

That's it for this time! Part IV we'll add the rest of the parts and details to the locomotive.  And with any luck it will be a completed model!

Be sure to check out my facebook page!  I am posting updates multiple times per week.  Also get a preview of the materials for the next blog.

You can find my Facebook Page here.  Make Sure to give it a 'like' to keep up with my progress

https://m.facebook.com/MascoutinValleyRR/

Thanks for reading!  Until next time keep 'er in Notch 8!

Locomotive Breath - Part 2

Locomotive Breath - Part 2

The second post of this 4 post blog series.  The name of this Blog Post is 'stolen' from the title of a Jethro Tull song!  The title also deals with me making the first locomotive for the Mascoutin Valley Railroad!

Paint

 

I envisioned the Paint Scheme for the Mascoutin Valley locomotive fleet to be Green, White, and Gray.  I chose Badger Flex C&NW Green for the main paint for this locomotive.  I used a Binks Wren A airbrush to apply the paint to the model.  This airbrush is about as old as I am.  I did not dilute the paint and ran it through the Airbrush @ 25 PSI.  The airbrush gummed up a little bit because the Badger Flex paint is an acrylic paint that was getting blown through the gun with out being thinned.  I "de-gummed" the airbrush with a microbrush and kept painting.

Pictured: Binks airbrush, and Green painted Locomotive Parts

Decals

 

Once the paint dried it was time to to put on some decals.  I made the custom decals for the Mascoutin Valley using Adobe Illustrator.  It took me about a week to settle on a decal design.  I ended up making a newer or more modern decal and I also made a classic or "Old School" Mascoutin Valley Logo.  Once I settled on a design I needed to find someone to make the decals for me.  I used Precision Design Company http://pdc.ca/rr/custom_decals/

Just a quick note about Precision Desgin Company.  They had incredible customer service.  Top notch quality.  And quick turnaround.  I highly recommend them.

I also used some striping and basic lettering from Microscale sheets.  I applied the decals using MicroSet (Blue Bottle) soulution to keep the decal wet when I was attaching it.  Once the decal dried.  I used many coats of MicroSol (Red Bottle) to get the decals to soften and adhere to irregular surfaces.  Patience is the trick here, multiple coats will get the decal to do what you need.

Adding Decals, MicroSet still wet on the model.

Detail Parts

 

Exhaust Stacks

The original exhaust stacks were replaced with Spark Arrestors from Details west.

Details West

SA-124

Spark Arrestor "Super" Non-Lifting Non Turbo C&NW

I removed the existing stacks with an Xacto #17 blade.  Not removing too much material I went slowly and sanded the remaining material down with fine sand paper. I removed the Spark Arrestor from the sprue and left a little "nub" on it for mounting it to the roof.  I drilled a hole in the middle where the spark arrestors need to go and used the "nub" as a guide to attach the spark arrestor to the roof.  I put a little CA in the hole and plopped it in there making sure it sat flush and perpendicular on the roof.  The next series of pics shows the method of attaching. 

Existing Stacks removed and guide hole drilled.

Spark Arrestor with a "nub" left as a guide.

Spark Arrestors installed!

Snow Plow

 The Snow Plow was pretty easy.  I did, however, have to make a bit of a modification to the front of the sill/frame.  I used an Xacto #17 blade and chiseled off the front details of the sill so the Snow Plow would seat correctly.

Details West

PL-155

Snow Plow C&NW

I drilled a couple of holes in the face so the pegs on the back of the plow would align and seat properly.  I have a youtube video that better illustrates how I attach the snow plow to the frame.  I talk more about my YouTube Video below.

The Sill now ready to accept the Snow Plow.

New Media

 

YouTube

We're through step two and the model is starting to come together.  To be more descriptive and to add content to the blog I've created a two videos and stuck them on YouTube.  I've got two videos out there and a review of a boxcar I recently purchased.  Now remember I'm just starting out on YouTube and I am learning.  You can find my YouTube Videos here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5HJGpVqCS9pnSsLyz2jecA

Facebook

Posting updates multiple times per week.  Also get a preview of the materials for the next blog.  
You can find my Facebook Page here.  Make Sure to give it a 'like' to keep up with my progress

https://m.facebook.com/MascoutinValleyRR/

The next post we'll look at Doing Digital Command Control (DCC) Decoder Install.  The installation will focus on hard wiring in a microchip and adding cool lighting affects.

Thank you for reading!  We've hit over 300 reads!

Till next time, keep 'er in notch 8!

Mascoutin Valley Railroad (1 - Product Review: 001)

Locomotive Breath

This post is Loco

Every model railroad needs a locomotive.  Over the next month or two I'm going to do a four part blog series on creating my railroads first locomotive.  Here's a look at how I'm going to outline the next four blogs.

1. PART I – Acquiring the Loco
  a. Picking a Loco/Prototype
  b. Getting Pictures
  c. Creating a Bill of Material

2. PART II – Assembling the Loco
  a. Paint Shop/Decals
  b. Adding Super Detail Parts
  c. Shell assembly

3. PART III – Doing Decoder Install
  a. Choosing the right decoder
  b. Things to watch out for on a non-dcc loco
  c. Final Install – include lighting

4. PART IV – Weathering the Loco
  a. Fading
  b. Washing
  c. Specific places to weather

PART I – Acquiring the Loco

The first part of this whole process is determining what level of detail you want to go into.  Do you want to buy a model locomotive off the shelf that is ready to put on your layout and run?  Do you want to build a project?  Customize a model?  There is no wrong answer here.  I'm choosing to buy an older locomotive, paint it up myself and do an Digital Command Control (DCC) decoder install.

Next I have to determine if I want to follow a prototype locomotive that my railroad has "acquired" or something that is a little more free style.  I'm going full crazy.  Modeling an actual prototype from pictures I found on the Internet.

Picking a Prototype

I wanted a locomotive that fit my railroad.  Factors I considered was what actually was around central and northern Wisconsin in the late 1970's and early 1980's.  Did my locomotive get bought from another railroad or 3rd party supplier?  New Locomotive or Used?  Since the Mascoutin Valley connected to the Chicago and Northwestern and bought some of its trackage from them, I thought it would be logical to buy an EMD GP7 from them.  Side note: The CNW had an expansive GP7 roster and actually sold some aging units to local short lines in the 1980's.  I chose CNW GP7 4133.

Finding Pictures of CNW 4133.

When in doubt google.  I performed a simple google search and came up with quite a few pictures of CNW 4133.  While looking for pictures of CNW 4133, I found that it had an interesting history.  This locomotive in "real life" was built as for Chicago Rock Island and Pacific (Rock Island) in 1951.  Then it was purchased by the Chicago & Northwestern in 1981 as a GP7R (the R stands for Rebuild).  Sold to the Fox River Valley Railroad (FRVR) in 1988.  Wisconsin Central absorbed the FRVR it also acquired 4133. 4133 lived the rest of its days with the WC before it succumbed to the scrappers torch.

That being said, the Mascoutin Valley bought this engine before the FRVR could get its grimy paws on it and changed history.

I like to use the images that I find on google.  It often redirects me to an archive site or someones personal photo stache that they post online.  **Note: When referencing pictures or documentation that isn't your be sure to make sure you site or give credit to the site/author!**  So with out further ado lets look at some pictures of the ol' gal.

C&NW 4133

Author:  Alan Gaines via http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locopicture.aspx?id=37214

FRVR 4133

Author:  Marc Malnekoff http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1036601

I'm going to try and emulate and model the FRVR version of this locomotive.  The reason is its probably a little closer to what would be lumbering around the Mascoutin Valley.  Notice the neat details that you wouldn't find on every GP7.  Its has Spark Arrestors over the exhaust stacks, a pretty beefy snow plow, square style bearing caps on the trucks/wheels an "all weather window" on the engineer's side and a beacon light on top just to name a few. I analyzed these pictures and tried to come up with a bill of materials that I'm going to need to make a model of this locomotive.  I'm also going to refer back to pictures of CNW/FRVR 4133 for weathering and finish detailing.  I've been given some very good advice recently-  "When all else fails, find a picture of the prototype to use as a guide." Thanks Ralph Renzetti!

Bill of Material

 

Mascoutin Valley GP7 Project
Manufacturer	Part Number	Description	Quantity
Life Like P2K		HO Scale GP7 Ph. II Kit	1
Details West	RB-126	Rotary Beacon Western Cullen Type	1
Details West	J-288	Diesel Loco Truck Journal Square	5
Cannon & Company	TD-2156	EMD Fuel Tank Details	1
Details West	SA-124	Spark Arrestor "Super" Non-Lifting Non Turbo C&NW	1 pr.
Kadee	158	#158 Couplers	1 pr.
Details West	PL-155	Snow Plow C&NW	1

So I'd say we have a pretty good start here on developing a locomotive project.  The Bill of material is not totally finished.  We'll add some finer details like speed recorders and other things as we get into this project but I think we're headed in the right direction.  

The next post we'll look at painting the model and some preliminary assembly. As always thank you for reading. Check out my Facebook page for more frequent updates!

https://m.facebook.com/MascoutinValleyRR/

Till next time, keep 'er in notch 8!

 

Turnout for what?

Hand laid turnouts 

One of the Druthers (Reference the G's & D's Blog Post) I talk about in creating my model railroad is trying to hand lay all of my track.  This means even the turnouts ("Switches" for non-model railroaders).  I knew making the turnouts was going to be a challenge. I have never done this before.  I wasn't sure how to do it.  And I didn't know if I could do it or not.  So what do you do when you don't know the answer to something...use the "Google Machine." I found videos, blogs and even entire websites dedicated to making hand laid turnouts.  As I got into the research there appeared to be one sound, efficient and economical way to hand lay turnouts...Use Fast Tracks!

Using Fast Tracks Tools & Jigs 

 

The tools and jigs are very robust.  They are made of some good stuff.  The instructions and tools are very easy to use.  With a little time and persistence I made the guard rails, the frog points, stock rails, and the switch points.  It should be noted that knowing the anatomy of the turnout is very important when using the Fast Tracks jigs and tools.  The NMRA has nice presentation going over the ins and outs of what a turnout consists of.  Click the the following link to view the presentation: Engineering Analysis and Geometric Design of Model Railroad Turnouts

Here is a picture of the tools

Fast Tracks has a full list of tutorials on their website and detailed explanations of their tools and processes.  When I built my first turnout I had the Fast Tracks videos queued right up on the laptop which was sitting right next to me on the work bench.  As I constructed the turnout I had the video playing at the same time so I could reference and mimic the process they suggested to get the optimal results.

My First Attempt

 

Here's a picture of my first turnout.  I didn't put the gaps in for the frog I do this later after its painted.  I had to perform surgery on this turnout to cut down on the stock rails some more.   My original attempt I cut the foot of the stock rails using a bench vise.   The switch points weren't completely closing properly.  I ordered the Stock Aid tool from fast tracks.  Using the tool I got the stock rails cut properly and the switch points closed perfectly.  Now it was time to paint. 
I used the same camouflage paint that I painted the rails with.

First Attempt at a turnout.

Here's a couple of pictures of me installing it.

That's pretty much it for this post.  Next time we'll look at what I got for my birthday!  And the first locomotive on the Mascoutin Valley.  EMD GP7 #217!

Till Next time keep 'er in notch 8.

Time for Track on the Mascoutin Valley

Steps

1. Paint the Track.
2. Spike the Track.
3. After Spiking 3 feet of track, run rolling stock back and forth on the track for two hours and imagine trains running on your railroad.
4. Over analyze the size of the spikes.
5. Trim the spikes.
6. Spike more track.

Paint the track

I needed to paint the rails before I spiked them down.  I had this big idea of hand painting the rails.  So the first thing I tried was painting Model Master Rail Tie Brown on shiny, new Micro Engineering Code 70 Rail.  It didn't stick.  Next I tried good ol' craft store paint!  Burnt Sienna.  That worked OK but after a half an hour I only had 4 rails painted...at that rate I'd have my railroad done by 2047.  So I needed to switch to another paint...a spray paint.  So I chose this, Krylon Camouflage Brown Ultra Flat.  You can see the rail against the red Krylon Logo.  I also painted 16 rails in about 20 seconds.  One last thing about the rail.  I do intend on touching it up with Pan Pastels and other weathering techniques.

I really like this color.  Looks like real rail in the north woods.

Spiking down the Rail

Easy, right?  Kind of.  First the tools.  Two Code 70 Triangle gauges, one NMRA standards gauge and a good pair of needle nose pliers.  I took the rail stood it up on the ties, put my two triangle gauges on top of the rails in the area I wanted to work.  Next I grabbed a spike (Micro Engineering Medium Spikes) and put over half of the spike in the pliers before I pushed it into the railroad tie.  I made sure to spike straight up and down.  Its important to "choke down" on the spikes and go straight up and down if you don't, you will bend the spikes and start swearing! And I only spiked in every 6 ties or so.  I got the first 3 feet of rail done and this is what it looked like.

Spike heads are a little bigger than expected.  Not too bad though.  I like the contrast of rail to tie color!

Trimming the Spike Heads

Since I thought my spike heads were a bit big, I took to crowd sourcing (model rail radio facebook page) to get some advice on what to do with my over sized spikes.  Matt Newman (a facebook buddy - check out his blog!) and a couple other model rail radio chums chimed and mentioned to give them a trim.  So I took a side cutters and started trimming the spike heads.  This wasn't a precise process.  Put the spike head in the side cutters and snip.  The heads go flying if you don't shoot them into something so put your hand behind the cutter head to prevent them from flying everywhere. So WATCH OUT!  Here's my technique.  Its not the most exciting thing to do so I put on a podcast, A Modelers Life is a good podcast to listen to while doing this side project.  Just be sure not to stick your finger in the side cutter!

The Rail closest to the camera has the trimmed spikes.  Nice to have rolling stock on the rails!

Next time I'll be showing you how I create a turnout (switch) using Fast Tracks tools.

I want to thank everyone for reading! If you're on Facebook be sure to check out the Mascoutin Valley Railroad Page.  I put pictures on there and have discussions with anyone who posts!

Post any you comments or questions you have!

Till next time keep 'er in Notch 8!

"Tie"ing up 2015

I'd like to take a bit and review my model railroading hobby for 2015 and I'd like to show more progress on the layout!

Review of 2015

2015 was a big year for me in terms of model railroading.  I learned so much about this hobby its hard to describe it all.  I'll just hit a few high points.

Model Building

I hadn't built anything in 15+ years.  I had no idea what my skill level was.  So I took a Freight House kit that I built for my club module.  It had a really bad paint job and was barely weathered.  So I took it apart and started over.  And I repainted it.  I repainted everything.  Windows, Doors, trip, roof siding, and platform.  It went from an off colored orange monstrosity into a nicely weathered freight house that from a distance might mistake for a craftsman kit.  I must admit I did not finish it 100%.  I got it about 90% done.  The only thing that remains for me to complete is the interior and the lighting.  But other than that take a look and see what an ol' Tyco Kit looks like when you put a little elbow grease into it.

This is a nice head on shot of the Freight House.

DCC

In 2015 I learned what Digital Command Control (DCC) was.  Before I started back into the hobby I had no exposure to DCC.  All I knew about it was that you could control a locomotive with a magic hand held device.  I read a few books, watched a video or two and I caught on to it pretty quickly.  In no time I learned how to apply it.  I got so comfortable with DCC I started hard wiring DCC decoders into non DCC locomotives.  DCC is one of those things that just clicked.  I learned how decoders work and understood how a command center sends information packets to a decoder wired into a locomotive through wires then rails  Check out the link to a DCC decoder install video I uploaded on my Facebook Page for the Mascoutin Valley Railroad!

DCC Decoder Video

2016 and Beyond

I'm not sure what the future will hold but I'm pretty excited.  I feel I have a good grasp of todays model railroading fundamentals.  I am eager to start hand laying my own track and developing a model railroad that can be running trains in the next few months.

Ties, Ties, Everywhere the Ties...

 We've got the track plan transferred to the homasote roadbed and that means its time to start laying ties.  I took the approach of a madman when it came to laying ties.  I took 3/32" square basswood strips and cut them to 8'6" scale foot boards.  Before you call the loony bin, I had help I used a Northwest Shortline "Chopper" with the length set to 8'6" and made railroad ties as I watched TV.

Once I got all of them cut, I loaded up a "Tie Jig" that I made.  Then I took some frog tape (green painters tape) and ripped it into a thin strip.  I then took the tape and laid it on top of the ties in the jig.  It gave me a "string of ties" that I could lay down.  I laid some glue down on the lines from the track plan, spread it out with my finger and laid the ties down on the glue.  Below is a picture of me laying ties down.  I used yellow wood glue to glue down my ties.

Notice the Frog Tape on the strips of ties.

Once I got all the ties down I stained them.  This is pretty self explanatory.  See the picture below.

 
Once the ties were stained I needed to start weathering them.  I wanted to give the impression that these ties were old, worn out and sun-baked ties.  I took an incremental approach to this.  Add the gray wash first then come in with white highlights when the wash dried.  I made a wash of cheap craft store gray acrylic paint and water.  See the effect it creates in the picture below.

Gray wash applied to a few ties on the lower siding.

After I added the wash I dry brushed some white acrylic paint on the ties.  See the effect achieved in the picture below.

White Dry Brush applied to achieve the UV damage.

Rinse and Repeat to apply it to the entire taconite plant!  I will continue to weather the ties, but this is good enough for now to get some rail laid.

Next time I'll be showing you how I prep the rail and get it ready to spike down and with a little luck we'll get a few feet spiked down.

I want to thank everyone for reading and be sure to check out my facebook page where I post pictures and videos specific to the Mascoutin Valley Model Railroad.  Facebook Page Link.  Post any you comments or questions you have!

Till next time keep 'er in Notch 8!