“ROUTE OF THE SHORTYS”

[Northroader]

I've started the rebuild by taking out the point at the far end of the loop. This is being replaced by two plain parallel tracks ending on the short fiddle yard, disappearing out of view behind the feed mill. By doing this, I've got a better length of loop line. (Should have done this before) One track is made and in, but my soldering iron has given up. I do try to look after it, but it does corrode away with use and becomes shorter. Once it gets really short, it overheats and is unusable. There are replacement bits for this and my other big iron on order, currently in the post, so I've been amusing myself with another job, looking at what I've got on wheels.

The stock for the line has been built up over a long time, new, second hand, and homemade, and I've been assessing how each item is going to fit in overall in future, including whether some half done jobs are necessary, and what to do with such items as a Fairbanks Morse war bonnet which was going cheap. Once the layout rebuild is finished, I know the siding accommodation, train lengths, and any spare room, and so just what is needed to work the layout to represent one particular system. Starting with the CNR, I've got a plan for what this will be, and what's surplus to transfer to another plan. Then each item needs a storage box, something basic that's stackable and will protect it from knocks and dust. Some of the stock hasn't got anything, and one or two boxes are too bulky, but then most are ok, so I've been making up some from cardboard or greyboard. A colour label goes on the end, mid green for the CNR, and an address label with what's inside, reporting mark and number, and maker. Then each box gets a number in sequence for the plan. There's a red sticker added if work is needed to complete the unit. You'll appreciate this is going to be quite an ongoing job.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[Northroader]

The soldering iron bits have come and I've got stuck into the track. After each session I'm following the wiseacres advice and cleaning the tip with a wet sponge, hoping it won't corrode away so quickly. The track is finished up that end now, with both tracks running off into cassettes, giving me a runaround and a bit extra length in the loop. While I was at it the road crossing has come out, it looked nice, but not very realistic, particularly now its more across the loop than before. Then the "boardwalk" platform has been extended which will help with a longer passenger train. Now it's time to turn my attention to the runoff to the fiddle yard. You'll notice in the shot one of the new gon's has been painted, though it looks too clean for a gon.

 

I haven't done an issue of the Beep Bashers Digest since last November, when we had a comparison of an Atlas Plymouth and the new Beep. As I recently remarked, if I want a session shoving a few cars around, Ive become quite fond of the Beep, and so..

Way back, I dug a brass hood out of the Quince Valley lucky dip tub for a £1, well, just for a quid, even if you don't know what you will do with it. Looking at it recently and comparing it with drawings, I decided it was intended to be part of a GP7 kit, it's got nice etched catches and hinges, but no louvres. As a result, its become the basis of a brass Beep, but no lost wax castings with this one. I cut out a nickel silver deck using the dimensions of the RMT model, and trimmed the hood to fit along the door lines. It will fit over the Atlas chassis nicely without any grinding off for the ballast weight. Here's what it's shaped into so far.

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[mikjd]

Looks like a Gilmaur U boat hood ....................

[Northroader]

Yeah, see what you mean, that could account for the lack of louvres. I never went into the second generation stuff. Oh well, it's going to end up a Beep.

[mikjd]

I have a few spare U-boat castings and etched bits somewhere if you're interested - unfortunately I'm just off to Le Mans for the week (bit of a race at the weekend ), but let me know if you're interested.

[Northroader]

Thanks for the offer - driving or watching? (Either pretty knackering, I would think) TBH, the only cast bits would be the fans which are coming off a surplus plastic F9 bodyshell. Everything downstairs will be different, otherwise only the horns, which I get from a helpful young man at the Winchester show.

[jasond]

Don't hack another F9 shell just yet.  Exits to garage.

[Northroader]

I'm using the chassis of the Atlas F9 for a GP7 superstructure kit I bought off you some time back, so the bodyshell is spare, anyway. Talking of the garage, what we need to know is what's happening layout wise. How are you doing?

[Northroader]

I have managed to get some rolling stock done, starting with the two Atlas gondolas I got on eBay recently. Change the wheel sets and the couplers, then take off the lettering, which was done as white letters straight on to the plastic. Then brush paint using Phoenix paints red oxide for the NYC, BR late bauxite for the MKT. Hand lettering in white with a mapping pen, I know, transfers would be better. Then a light wash and wipe in black, followed by some pastel chalk treatment. I must try and find some of this typewriter correction paper and do Jackys way of chalk marks just to finish off. The one good thing I'm glad about is that with this era you didn't have dimwits with paint spray cans wandering around the sidings. I must find some loads too, a loaded open always looks more interesting. Some guys will go a bit further with gons, using heat to distort the top rail and bulge the sides, me, I'm a coward like that.

Some time ago, I posted a picture of another eBay job, a bay window caboose belonging to CSXT, whatever that is. This needed more work on getting the paint off. Time was you could put some stripper on, the paint skin would blister and damn near fall off, and you could use brake fluid instead of stripper. Well, brake fluid is dearer, and paint formulation has changed, it would seem. I've tried Revell paint stripper and Phoenix superstrip, with much the same result. It combines with the paint into a soft gooey, clingy sludge. If you leave it, it just dries and you're back to where you were, so you have to get rid of the sludge. I do this with white spirit and a rag, but it does need several applications to shift it all. The caboose was good for what I wanted, but it would seem there variations with each build on which window was blanked off, I did one to match the photos. While I was at it, I scraped off the handrails, which were represented by a moulded ridge, and fitted some brass rod. A piece of wood went inside for a bit of weight. I took the glazing out while I painted it, more red oxide with red ends - later on SP went to orange. New clear plastic glazing, and weathering as before.

I also paired it up with my black widow Alco for a caboose hop. Since you last saw her, she's gained a full set of horns, from our Jason at the Winchester show last year. Now isn't that a sight for sore eyes?

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[JAMO]

That's nice!

[Northroader]

The layout rebuild is starting to take shape, now I've moved on from the runoff into the Englefield end short cassettes. The old fiddle yard, formed on a cutdown door which made a big heavy lump, has been taken out. Englefield depot is made up of two boards,and the one the depot itself stands on has been kept. The other, shorter, one has also gone, and the trackwork on it lifted. It's been replaced by a new 4' board which is shared between the two depots. Another old 4' board has been resurfaced with new ply and paired up with it. Here's a couple of shots which I hope will make clear what's going on.

 

You'll see I've made up a point assembly shared between the two depots, and this is ready to be laid on new cork underlay. The woodworking plant has moved on to the second depot, and I've just roughed out a board for a short cassette yard at this end. Next step is marry up the tracks on the Englefield depot board.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[JAMO]

That's interesting!

[DanielB]

Very cool - like a pair of micro layouts fused together.

[Northroader]

Well, the way I figure it is that you need a fiddle yard with a small terminus, so you might as well replace it with another terminus, which will look more interesting. Shunting in the one terminus will spill over into the other, which might upset some folks, but doesn't bother me. Then each of the outer ends of the layout has a short cassette yard, which is a convenient way to get a shortened run round facility, but in addition can be used for limited storage, and also used to swap cars between the roads, so there's a form of shunting possible at the outer end of each depot as well. Then again, I'm not a fan of shunting, if I can run trains from A to B I'll be happy.

[Northroader]

I'm working away from base most of the time this month, as its school holidays and I'm looking after my top link crew. Best thing I can do for now is remind everyone to maintain their lines safety record:

 

[Northroader]

Still nothing much happening, with the ongoing school holidays, so I thought I'd show a job I did a while ago. It's a 40' steel gondola by Pola Maxi, which was one of three I got thrown in with a diesel to make the value up. It's got new couplers, but kept the old bogies. It doesn't look anything much, although I do like a the rivetted joins, done by a German(?) toolmaker far better than anything I could do. To give it a bit more interest, I've made it into a GS (general service) type. It appears these are more of a feature of Western lines, having bottom doors hinged from the centre sill, and allowing loads to be discharged trackside along the length of the wagon. The outer edge of the doors were linked to chains passing round a rotating shaft along the bottom edge of the wagon, so they could be closed after discharge. I just added downward extensions to the stanchions along the sides, and a rod with extra short tubes passing through the extensions. My toolmaker would have done the tubes as bobbins with tiny chains round them, my work is a very barebones bodge. I've put an extra sketchy representation on the outer corner of the ends where the shaft ends in a ratchet mechanism. A big lever went into here to turn the shaft and close the doors.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[unklian]

Being nosey, I would like to know where the " Ouest 1900 passenger sets"  come in all this  ??

[Northroader]

Ah yes, you spotted some storage boxes under the line. Well, I've got two threads on the go, 1950s North American,(this one), and British pre-group on the other thread, at present LBSC 1880, but it don't stop there. Then there's another two lines half way to something, one is 1900s French, which is where those boxes come in, and again that could go further, and also a sort of On16.5 whimsical job. Taking a realistic view, I'm trying to do too much, but it's fun, ain't it? Hopefully a few more months work, and another two threads can go in on the signature. Don't hold your breath, though, I'm coming up eighty.

[Northroader]

Just to round off the Pola Maxi gondola conversions to the GS type, here's another two I've done. First there is a SP job which has been done the same way as the NP one.

The other one has had a bit more work, with diagonal side bracing added. This is plastic sheet with rivets embossed and a centre rib placed on top. It's supposed to represent a WW2 composite build, with a metal frame and side panels done in wood planks to minimise the amount of steel needed for the job. After the war the sides were re-panelled in steel to make them more durable. Remember the Rock!

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[jasond]

Nice work.  Adding details and separate handrails/ladders with a particular prototype in mind transforms the AHM/Pola-Maxi cars.  The old Atlas/Roco cars respond too. 

 

Way back before AtlasO got me wasting time(!?) importing, I was cutting up these cars to make 50ft-ers for D&H trains.  However, 40ft and shorter cars make it easier to put O-scale on layouts that have to fit in British spare rooms/lofts, so I shouldn't have started.  Anyway, it means I still have a boxful of parts - ends, roofs, doors, etc to do something with.  Well I should just bring the box to Winchester on October 14, see if anyone's 'interested'.

Jason

[JAMO]

Nice work.  Adding details and separate handrails/ladders with a particular prototype in mind transforms the AHM/Pola-Maxi cars.  The old Atlas/Roco cars respond too. 

 

Way back before AtlasO got me wasting time(!?) importing, I was cutting up these cars to make 50ft-ers for D&H trains.  However, 40ft and shorter cars make it easier to put O-scale on layouts that have to fit in British spare rooms/lofts, so I shouldn't have started.  Anyway, it means I still have a boxful of parts - ends, roofs, doors, etc to do something with.  Well I should just bring the box to Winchester on October 14, see if anyone's 'interested'.

Jason

 

Jason, I'm interested by your parts. I've sent to you a PM.

 

Jacky

Just to round off the Pola Maxi gondola conversions to the GS type, here's another two I've done. First there is a SP job which has been done the same way as the NP one.IMG_1227.JPG

The other one has had a bit more work, with diagonal side bracing added. This is plastic sheet with rivets embossed and a centre rib placed on top. It's supposed to represent a WW2 composite build, with a metal frame and side panels done in wood planks to minimise the amount of steel needed for the job. After the war the sides were re-panelled in steel to make them more durable. Remember the Rock!

IMG_1226.JPG

 

Nice work and result!

[Northroader]

School summer holidays over and back to the layout. While the tracks were lifted at Englefield I thought I'd sort out the train order board. This was operated by vertical plungers under the baseboard, not very well. There's now two lengths of rail laid in a groove in the cork underlay, going from two horizontal levers tucked down behind the front fascia to the base of the signal. This made from a length of brass rod which plugs into a socket in the baseboard. There are upward facing forks on the rails, which pass either side of the socket. Bell cranks mounted on the post have a rod which engages with the forks, and the crank is linked to the signal arm. Doing it like this means that the signal can just be unplugged and lifted out. The operation is much better, but I've only got 45 degree movement instead of 90 degrees. Still, it does look nice.

Perhaps I ought to explain that it looks like a signal, but is representing a train order board. (Some places did have signals looking like this which did act as a block signals, as in British usage) Generally train operation in America was dictated by a working timetable, which identified each train, and where it crossed with the other trains on the single line. The passing loop/ siding points were operated by the train crews. Obviously late running, extra trains, and trains running with additional sections needed to have changes made to the timetable working. This was done by an official in charge of each division known as a dispatcher. His messages to each train crew involved in the changes were sent out, originally by telegraphed morse code, then by telephone. The messages went to the agent at each station/ depot. He wrote them down on an order form, usually copies for driver and conductor, and handed them up to the train passing through. He could operate the train order board to advise the crew if they had a clear run, if orders were to be collected, or to stop for orders. At the era I'm modelling, early 1950s, this was how things happened. However, technology was moving on. WW2 saw big improvements in radio communication, and personal reminiscing, late 1940s the scout troop I was with bummed the loan of some "walkie talkie"sets off the local territorial army unit. It was a two man job, one having a back pack with big batteries in, with jumper leads to the transmitter unit, full of glowing glass valves in another heavy back pack and a 5' whip aerial sticking out of the top, then out communicating to each other in the woods behind the scout hut, with a range of around two miles. Great fun, but returning to America, trains were getting the same treatment. Probably the PRR was the most obvious, with what looked like fences on top of locos and cabeese. Communicating ranges improved, and eventually a dispatcher could talk direct to the train crew. This did away wth the need for station agents and train order boards, so they were very much of that time.

You might notice a pile of copper clad sleepers in the picture ready for track laying to start. I picked the strip up for these from Marcway at the Telford guildex show last weekend. (Sorry I missed the coffee time get together, Jason, I was still plodding up through Kidderminster about then)

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[robertc]

I came across your thread by accident due to a post by you in the O gauge folder.

That is where I would have expected to find this.

You have done some very nice scratchbuilds and your job on finishing the PA was first class.

I thought I was going to see a CP layout evolve but you seen to have created a very mixed collection over time. Seems like me, you can't resist a bargain  :>)

Keep up the good work, I will come back and see some more now I know this exists.

regards

 Bob Comerford

Australia

[Northroader]

Thanks for that, Bob, glad you got here in the end. (most of the American modellers on RMweb use this folder, irrespective of gauge) yes, you're right, I'm trying to get a CNR line finished, there's some more to do once I've completed the track rebuild, and then there'll be more systems, as you've gathered from my collection, always assuming old age don't get to me first. You get a flavour of how I'm trying to organise this back in post 226. Thanks for your interest.

[Northroader]

There's a shaft of October sunshine lighting up the line to show some progress. The Englefield depot end of the layout has now got track laid and wired up. You'll see there's slider switches laid close to the fascia, with linkage to the tiebar, and concurrently changing the crossing polarity. Now there's plenty of scenic work and ballasting needed, I'm thinking of a road crossing and some simple buildings, and I can progress with tracklaying on the fiddle yard replacement end.

 

Doing the honours with road testing is the first O gauge diesel I had, so I'm quite fond of it. It's a Rivarrossi Fairbanks Morse C-liner, performs well and good looking. They had a common body, but the ability to be adapted to three different engine sizes, also the rear end could have a sixwheel bogie if a trainheat boiler with extra weight was fitted, although this would obviously create problems doing the model, and not many roads had them, anyway. I've just done one simple modification, the lowest power ones were 1600hp, and just needed three cooler fans, so I've put a blanking off panel over the engine room door, then smoothed off the fan above that position with some filling. While I was at it I changed the exhaust pipes to some brass tube. There's another one I've got which will get the same attention (at present it's in Santa Fe warbonnet paint!)

 

Just posting a link for a reminder that it's the GOG Am & Con show at Winchester in a week's time, which is one I always enjoy going to, and must make the effort this year. I started this thread coming up,two years ago after going to Winchester and seeing Georgetown and doing a rebuild. Now I'm halfway along my second rebuild to lose the fiddle yard. Just hope I don't get any more bright ideas at Winchester, that's the trouble with going to shows!http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/calendar/event/1873-winchester-0-gauge-continental-american-meet/

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader