So Many Projects...

Well, here we are a few months later and I still haven't really done much to my layouts. I get distracted and start playing instead of working. NO BUENO! I must get my butt in gear and get some scenery down. On the plus side, I have taken up weathering again and I must say. I am quite pleased with my work. Pics to come!!

Good Lord I hate ballasting.

It is one of the most tedious and mind numbing things to do with scenery. That's why I use Kato Unitrack. However, I used standard Atlas flex for my HO scale layout and it is killing me trying to ballast this track. I am a bit of a perfectionist so this is going to take a lot longer, but in the end it is all worth it. Maybe once I get the next section finished I will upload some pics.

Tiny pieces and itty bitty holes.

So this past week I have finally decided to work on a project I have had sitting for quite a while. I put together some Micro-Trains 1015 couplers for my D&RGW old time passenger train and it was a pain in the ass. I think next time I will just buy the preassembled couplers and call it a day. On the plus side, after assembling them, the installation was easy as pie and went rather quickly. I had to drill pilot holes in the deck of the cars for the tiny screws and after that it was simply a matter of screwing them on. They look pretty damn good too. Now all I have left to do is install a decoder in the loco that goes with them.

Well, that was a failure.

Spring break has come and gone and alas, no trains. I got very little time to work on them and in the end all I accomplished was putting together some MT1015 couplers and installing them on some Roundhouse passenger cars. I did get some more scenery work done on my HO switching layout though. That was fairly nice and I also installed a decoder in my beloved Kato SD70MAC in the BNSF "Vomit Bonnet" paint. I might add an update later to include a few pics of it. Now I have that loco in two scales. Many people like to put it down, but I like that paint. Different strokes I guess. Anyway, that's enough for now.

SPRING BREAK!!! WOOOHOOO!! TIME FOR TRAINS!!!

This week I am going to be doing some work on both layouts even if it kills me! I have more than enough materials and projects that need done in three different scales to keep me busy all week. I haven't yet introduced any of my Z scale projects, but I will soon. For now I will just stick with the N and HO scale layouts. More to come this week and hopefully with pics!

Wow. It's been a while. I'm such a horrible blogger.

Oh well, I suppose the only thing to do now is to either learn from this and update more often or just give up and since I don't intend on giving up I should quit being lazy. So, there are a few different projects I have to work on this weekend and hopefully I will be able to take a road trip up to the mountains and pick up my new loco this weekend. I got my hands on a Key Imports brass Union Pacific 844 for my birthday and it is getting checked out and tuned up (oiled, cleaned, and sound decoder installed) by John Thut at DCC Hobby Supply. That will definitely be worthy of a show off video when I get it back! I have to get my butt in gear and finish my aux. water tender so I can use my Shapeways gift certificate and get one ordered as well to finish off my N scale Union Pacific excursion train. I am also going to be working on my HO layout and doing some ballasting this weekend when I'm not busy working on my German homework. Anywho, more updates and some good pics (hopefully) to come very soon!

Obligatory update.

Hello all. Due to school and family obligations I haven't really gotten much done. I have started ballasting though and I think I am really getting the hang of it. It will take some time, but be well worth it. I'm going to ballast everything between the rails, then do the scenery outside and finish ballasting once that's done so that my dirt won't cover my ballast. That might sound confusing, but I will be sure to post pics to clarify later on.

Who says big steam can't do some switching as well?

I'm sure that if the UP guys who make the budget ever saw this they would cringe, but oh well lol!

WyCo Western rural switching branch. It needs a name I think...

I'm open for suggestions, but for now here are a few pics:

 

The HO layout is home and running!

The HO scale branch of the WyCo Western Railway is home and in place! There are a few buildings on it temporarily and the scenery will start going in soon! I will be starting to ballast the main line and such tonight and will post pics later. I have decided that since HO is a LOT more forgiving when it comes to scenic mistakes, I will practice on the HO layout and then finish the N scale side.

Trackwork is complete and the wiring works well!

So tonight I will be going over to Bob's and bringing the layout home. I will be working on ballast over the next few days and then it will be on to dirt, grasses, and other such scenic improvements. This is going to be fun! Here is a pic of the completed track all nice and cleaned off.

Cork completed and trackwork 99% complete as well!

The cork has been placed and the track work is almost done! We have one more siding track to finish and then it's on to ballast and scenery! I will be going over to Bob's in a few hours to finish the track, fix up the wiring, and test it all! Here are a few pictures of the progress thus far:

I will post more updates later and hopefully with a video or at least pics of a loco operating on it!

HO Layout Progress

As promised, here are a few pics of the progress I have made on my HO scale switching layout. I had to get a few pieces of cork roadbed today to finish it due to the fact that we have added a pair of switches to lead into a few more tracks that will run along either side of a CO-OP. Bob (my neighbor who is helping me) had a few things to do this evening so we are going to be finishing up the cork and working on laying track tomorrow. With any luck, the track work will go a lot smoother than the cork went. There were a few bumps along the way, but that was due to the fact that we changed the plan a bit and the modifications were made as we went. Here are the pics:

New layout construction has begun

My neighbor and I have started work on my new HO scale layout. We are using the benchwork that was once his Union Pacific Greeley Sub and so far we have benchwork done and some cork roadbed laid. We will pick it up again tomorrow and hopefully if we can keep up the level of progress, we should have a good bit of track laid as well as the cork finished. When the track work is all done and electronics installed (at least for the track wiring), the layout will be moved to my house and set up in the train room. Instead of the "roundy round" layout I wanted, this one is purely switching. It will measure 28" x 10'7" and is a modified version of this plan:

It will have much different scenery from what is seen in this plan. I will have a CO-OP with grain elevators in the lower left corner, and some other rural industries scattered throughout the layout with a lot of the ground cover being dirt or Wyoming plains colors. I will get pics of the progress tomorrow afternoon.

Trouble already...

Ok. So that first idea for the new layout was a bit of a bust. I have decided that if I am going to run a full loop on here, I will need at least a 22" turn radius. The only problem with that is that really cuts down on how much straight mainline I can fit into this thing. If I build a layout with a complete oval, I will only be able to realistically fit a loco and up to 7 cars behind it on the line and an even shorter train on the "staging" track in back of this new design:

My only other choice for an interesting HO layout in the available room would be to do a 28"x12' shelf switching plan. I really want to have an oval, but I suppose it's not entirely required. I would just like to be able to cut my locos loose and let them run every now and then. I have been told that I can just get my kicks with continual running by going to the museum and volunteering a lot more, but I can't always do that. I suppose I will look at some switching plans and see what I can come up with. Who knows? Worst case scenario I will just have to wait and build a new layout in a few years. Oh no! Build a new layout?!?! Oh, the torture! ;) (sarcasm cannot achieve its full effect over the internet, but you get the idea lol)


If I do decide to build the layout on the plan above, this is a rough render of what my rooms layout will look like with both layouts in there:

The green box is where the HO scale layout will go, the red box represents my N scale layout, the blue is my desk, and the purple box will be my little wire shelving unit.

A new dawn on the WyCo Western....

I have recently began to volunteer at the Greeley Freight Station Museum and ran some trains on their 5,500 sq. ft. layout. It was incredible!! The experience made me hungry for more and has made me even more anxious to get back to work on my home monstrosity. So far I have only made a few changes, so no update pics or video yet. However, the big change that I feel is worth noting is that I have gotten some HO scale equipment in a trade and will be building an HO layout in my train room. This one will follow in the original N scale WyCo Western's footsteps in that it will be set in a rural Wyoming setting and will have a few rural structures and some switching possibilities as well as a continual loop track. I am concerned that it won't leave much room to move in there (only about a 2 foot alley) and am considering making the layout a 2x8 switching layout only. I am not thrilled with that, but will if I have to. Here is the track plan for my HO layout so far. I am going to be going over it very carefully and will be trying to perfect the plan before the construction phase to minimize room and maximize enjoyment.

Sticky stuff and rocks.

That's right! I finally decided to start ballasting. I also took out some bits of scenery to make things a little more believable. Instead of having a flat cut along my main street next to the tracks, I cut some of the cardboard away so I can have a slope going down and also some room to ballast that part of the track when I get there. I should have taken before pics to show the difference, but I think some of my previous pics may show what I'm talking about. If so I will post before, during, and after pics when I post more updates. We also had our first train crash here on the WyCo Western. An act of Babby knocked an Amtrak superliner train and some well cars from a BNSF double stack train off the rails. (Then my girlfriend not paying attention and leaning over the track took out some more)

Updates for the sake of updates...

I have been pretty busy with homework and job apps so I haven't done much work on the layout. I did finally glue down the lamp posts so my "zoning committee" would be happy. I also took the corner turret building off and am currently repainting it since I never really liked the pea-green color it was before. I'm also in communications with an awesome modeler and all around AWESOME human being by the name of Jason Smith (aka Superturbine), and he will be turning my Kato GS4 into an FEF-3 and numbered UP 844 to go with my UP passenger equipment and provide for one heck of a surprise for my little boy! So, other than getting a few pics of my latest kitbashing project posted, thats about all for now! I'm hoping that the next time I update I will have some pictures and maybe a video for you guys.

Roundhouse construction complete.

I have both of my three stall roundhouses built and in place as well as the track wired in and tested. Now all that's left to do is tack down the tracks. Here are a few pics of the roundhouse/turntable complete with locomotives. Our Chief of Transportation (my 4 year old) insisted that Thomas be included in the group photo as well. He is leaning a bit in the pic, but once I get the tracks all tacked down that shouldn't be an issue anymore.

Fun with the camera.

This week I spent a little time playing with the settings on my camera and randomly screwing off and I managed to get a few really cool pics. I decided it would only be polite to share them with everyone! Here for your viewing pleasure are a few of my favorites. The first two are on my layout and are of my BN coal train and everyone's favorite little tank engine. The other two were taken at the Union Pacific depot in LaSalle, CO. Enjoy!