“ROUTE OF THE SHORTYS”

[Northroader]

Mr. Robotron, sir, whilst I was doing another job this morning, I stumbled over my stock of remaining bits and bobs of resin casting, and on the basis of a picture being worth a thousand words, I did a shot of moulds with front and back of the corresponding castings. Probably I've skimped on the mould rubber. Doors and ends, the roof stuff has been ditched!

You might think I'll can do that (better), let's order some; or you might run away screaming, board over the Englefield site, and try and forget you ever found it!

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[Robatron86]

Thank you for that. At the moment it's a bit of both, curious to try, but a little bit hesitant. But that is half the fun hey?

[Northroader]

Just a couple more comments on resin casting, I'm sorry, it's the speed my brain works at. The first one is common sense, really, if patterns and moulds are face up, any air bubbles in the mix will drift away from the working face, rather than towards it. Then the resin mix does go off quite quickly, it pours in translucent, then cloudy threads start to form, and the mix goes opaque. Just about then it has crusted over sufficiently for you to ease back the mould edges and pop the casting out. It is still sufficiently soft for you to check for any distortion with a straight edge and bend it flat between your thumb and fingers, after which you can leave it to finish curing and go rock hard while you push on with your next cast. I'll be watching out for Tilley yard, or the new car float operation to see how it goes, good luck!

[Northroader]

Just out of the paint shop, and the weathering shop as well, is the Weaver Alco roadswitcher, last seen new out of the box RTR in navy blue and yellow, with Mr. Blobby "Santa Fe" on the side. This paint job is a bit after my timescale, and I've nothing against the ATSF (honest, rob!) but after talking things over she decided she'd look sexier in Espee "Black Widow" livery.

 

There were two versions of the RSD 5 on the Southern Pacific, long nose forward for yard switchers and branches, and short nose forward for road freight and helpers. The difference is mainly that the driver sat on the RH side of the cab looking forward, so the controls had to be placed accordingly. The first batch were long nose forward in the black and orange tiger stripe switcher scheme. Some also were disfigured by a plug ugly spark arrestor, like a socking great oval dustbin placed around the exhaust stack. The rest appeared in the road freight black widow job, but of course this also varied with which end led. Long noses just had a silver nose with two orange stripes under, this couldn't go further because of the radiator panel. The short noses had the panel and stripes extended round the sides of the nose with wrap round wings, which I think looks really good, so 5446 has left her pals in the gang (they usually worked in sets of four up Tehachapi or the Donner) to come and work on Englefield.

Now, to finish her off, I need a horn cluster, 2 forward, 2 back, on the cab roof to replace the single one on the long nose. Any ideas, please, where I go to get one? I've done searches on the web, but can't be putting the right phrase in.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[F-UnitMad]

Weaver Alco..? Looks like the Atlas Trainman version (like what I got )

 

Sorry, pedant mode/off. It's a great repaint, & sublime weathering!!

[Northroader]

Sorry, I dropped one there, haven't I? What a t*t! Thanks for the comments.

[Robatron86]

Such sacrilege!

 

No it is a cracking repaint. Well done.

 

Thank you for the good luck wishes. I'm still experimenting with ideas for the carfloat, and other, larger scale ideas.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Robatron86

[Colin Stewart]

Nice repaint, for the horn cluster. Try Bill Davies, American Scale Models who stocks various brass detail parts, you might need to email to see what he has.

 

Or P&D or Des Plaines

 

Hope that helps

 

Colin

[Northroader]

Colin, thanks for your suggestion. I like the look of the P & D hobby shop site, (new to me) any number of tempting bits and bobs there. They are also a good source of decals, having hand lettered the RSD5 and the next one! (I did do a search some time ago but not what I wanted, so I assumed that with Uncle Pete grabbing the copyright on most of America, so you'd have to go to head office in Omaha and ask nicely. Glad to find it ain't so!.)

Edited July 30, 2016 by Northroader

[Zomboid]

That's one good looking Alco. Always liked the RS series, and I'm not sure anyone painted one better than the black widow scheme.

[F-UnitMad]

Pat of P&D Hobbies is very helpful, quick email responses. I struggle sometimes with the parts lists as there are no pictures, so sometimes you have to know precisely what you want, or what the component's actual name is.

[Northroader]

While it's very nice sticking old brass diesel kits together, I'm aware that if you start a train out of the fiddle yard, there's a yawning crevasse waiting at the far end of the Englefield depot, and shunting is, as a result, restricted. Recently I've been spending time putting up a small baseboard at this end. 2"x 1" frame, hardboard top, and ply fences round the sides and far end with new paint finish. This is now bolted in, and I've cut the 12mm ply bases for three cassettes, ready to take a short steam loco, or a single unit diesel, or a coach, maybe a doodlebug, or even the odd freight car. The cassette can act as a shunting neck, turning facility, or just ace in the hole storage. Dimensions are 21.25" long x 12.5" wide.(540mm x 320mm) It's now waiting track, I've got the rail, but no sleeper strip. (Plastic sleepered rail is too thick to mate up with the main board). Ah well, see those nice folks from Marcway at Telford GOG show in a months time. When it's in the overall length of run for the layout will be 11' 4" (3,455mm), and of this just 5'7" (1,700mm) will be scenic section to look at, just under half of the total. This is leading to some soul searching, could I have got more of a scenic length in? Thinking it through, probably not. I want to have a representative selection of class 1 railroad items, even if in trains of a silly length. There's only so much point work can be allowed for, and it ends up with just the single depot, I feel. Looking at the picture, you'll see there's still a lot of ground texturing and grass growing to do at this end of the station. A building will go in the space to help hide the short yard entrance.

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[Northroader]

I've had another go and managed to paste in a useful link I was going on about a few posts back. It gives a selection of representative freight cars for any 1950s American model layout: http://mrhpub.com/2013-04-apr/land/files/mobile/tablet.html#33

Edited August 6, 2016 by Northroader

[mervyn]

Are those outside framed boxcars still available? I know stuff is done in limited runs these days and just restarting out in American 0 gauge  from H0  my knowledge is limited,also are there any traders in the UK that sell american 0 gauge models.  

[Northroader]

Welcome, and what a sensible person you obviously must be. I'd say Atlas are about the best place to start with (they do the USRA one, like my Ann Arbor one in a recent post), generally I pick them up at model show dealers, but I'm sure the regulars on this site will come up with their favourite ports of call. Tennants near Brum, fr'instance, Jordan?

Edited August 7, 2016 by Northroader

[Colin Stewart]

Chris at Invertrains has some second hand stock which might be of interest. Drop him at email for the list

 

Colin

Edited August 7, 2016 by Colin Stewart

[mervyn]

Thanks for the info wouldn't say sensible applies to me tho, just got to two sound fitted locos from flea bay and wondering what I have got myself into !!!! still onwards and upwards ......

[Northroader]

Thinking it through, Mervyn, if you're coming from American HO, you might find some culture shock in the way American O is done, namely the way there's a split between three rail and two. If you get any stock, always pick it up and look underneath at the wheels. Three rail O is big over there, the super structures make impressive models, if somewhat more klunky for rough handling, but downstairs the running gear is a big turnoff. I ought to be diplomatic, there are collectors over here and you can see a highly impressive circuit at the Winchester show (15th October this year) but the wheels / track standards are badly oversize, even if giving bomb- proof running. Lionel are the leading make for 3rail, and then Bachmann/Williams. MTH, and Atlas Trainman cater for both 3 and 2 rail, so it can get very confusing just what you're looking for or at. To add to the confusion, MTH also do a line called Railking, which is 3rail running on O track, but under scale bodies.

Of course, if you a see a box saying Intermountain, Red Caboose, or Weaver, grab it.

Edited August 7, 2016 by Northroader

[mervyn]

Thanks for the heads up I have 3 rail Ace/Darstaed in my shed (love to run them) will watch out I don't get some 3 rail  American stuff by mistake tho!  at my age anything is possible , in the meantime will have to put down a test track to run the 2 rail stuff when it arrives......

[Northroader]

The next job has now emerged from the paint shop, the CLW Alco PA. This is the old kit which I bought with a partly done body and unstarted chassis, and left sitting in a box on the shelf for years. I got it out in April, reporting progress to you, and now it's done.

 

The paint took nearly a month, with the body off the chassis, and fitting a floor in the cab for the crew. Having done it, I put it all together, and give it a run up and down the line. It went with the same performance for the same controller settings, but it was now very noisy, the transmission grinding away. Funny?, why??

Pause for reflection... Quite a lot of my working life was in workshops where the favourite way of sticking things together was by hot rivetting (don't try this at home) Recently my doctor sent me to the hospital where a very gifted person decided my hearing was shot, something my family has been saying for some time. About three weeks ago I was fitted out with new hearing aids, and now I've realised the PA has always been noisy since I finished it. Ah well, some more running in, and suppose I can switch them off before a running session.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[Robatron86]

I know the feeling. It's why I think DCC sound would be totally wasted on me as I am partially deaf in my right ear (15+ years stood to the left of very enthusiastic drummers).

 

It looks cracking though!   Still not helping me stay away from the temptations of O scale!

[Northroader]

 

"Hey, Northroader, now ya got us here, what about making this dump look like California?"

"Patience, ladies, it's on my 'to do' list"

"Yeah, sure, patience, he says, Lauren, hell will freeze over first!"

"You betcha, Lurline, coming for a smoke?"

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[Northroader]

Another long drawn out job I've started a week ago is tidying up the slotted metal angle base the layout sits on. The continental line which shares the base needs to be freestanding, as well as the storage shelves underneath, and the trestles need to have any projections trimmed off, and connecting bolts eased and greased. It's not the kind of stuff which makes for good webbing, so I'll tell you about my latest eBay excursion instead.

There's the Espee freight train which has been "topped" and also needs a "tail". About a month ago a bay window caboose with the correct paint job appeared on the auction. Asking price $32, I bid up to $40, but it went for $65. More recently another appeared (Atlas Trainman 2rail in new wrapper) and it was mine for $30. I'd think I was a hell of a fellow but for the p&p doubling the cost. Still, back to something we've said before, where would you get a decent British bogie freight vehicle in O for around £45?

It's worth buying this one rather than scratch building, I think, it's got a pressed steel "waffle" roof, the walkways are all perforated sheet type, the body sides are rivetted, and it has the proper bogies with leaf, rather coil springs, so I'm all for the easy way out. You'll see I need to do a repaint, which doesn't worry me. CSXT, who they?, - not in my "bible"- ("the handbook of American Railroads", 1951 edition)! So brain picking time, anyone got a good paint stripper technique, please? My favoured way was using hydraulic brake fluid, but it isn't economical for me these days, I got some Revell model paint stripper for the RSD5, but I found it just softens paint into a sludge, and this then has to be got off.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[Northroader]

A fortnight ago I got back from the GOG Telford with some packs of 6mm copper clad fibre glass sleeper strip from Marcway, and have since made up the three short track panels at the right hand end of the layout. This finishes off the track, although I must add the carrying handles, and I can go on to debugging the running.

Mrs. NR doing a tour of inspection suggested that the recess in front would be the place to put the controller, currently on a tray suspended in front of the line, not a bad idea at all! The two spare storage panels have the top priority work on them, which must be done next. One is turning the old Walthers car into a CNR combination car, and then there's the mogul to push on with.

I must leave the Alco PAs alone for a bit, and also NO work on shorty's yet! "what's shorty's,"you ask? Then I'm doing a full rebuild on my other line, Washbourne. Busy, busy, busy!

Edited July 3, 2023 by Northroader

[Northroader]

Yeah, well, ok, - I know I said no shorty's for now, but I just got to show you what came into Englefield this week;