Sunshine, Palm Trees and a Food Industry...

Yesterday I paid a visit to the Epping Model Railway Club's market day. The club mostly models New South Wales railways, so I was thinking I won't find too much that would suit my layout.

I trawled the tables multiple times, in between catching up with members of Platform 1 (SMR Chris, hartleymartin) and other modellers I have known for some time. Yes, there were a few items of interest, but I had to weigh up whether it falls into the needs or wants category... Want's can be dangerous !

Well, after my third or fourth circuit of the traders tables, I came across a nice looking locomotive. The locomotive, a General Electric Dash 8-40B (dcc fitted) was in original packaging and looked in reasonable condition, although a little dusty and the end platform handrails hadn't been applied. These were still taped to the bottom of the foam cradle !
Anyhow, I asked the seller what he wanted for it...? On the box there were a few prices, the original of $299.00 and another Sale price of $160.00...

The seller said I could have it for $50.00 ! Hmm..., I thought to myself 'Wonder whats wrong with it?' To be honest, the seller (Ian) is a respectable chap in the hobby who produces his own models for the Australian HO scale modellers (IDR Models), so I knew he wouldn't be pulling the wool over my eyes...

A digital transaction was made, and I walked away without even testing the locomotive. You could say I had a good hunch about this model !!

So, here are a few pics of this great looking road switcher all pretty in Norfolk Southern black and white...

I got home and pulled it from it's box, put it on the layout and hey presto, she is a smoother operator !

In the new year I will be purchasing a decoder for this loco and also for another FEC GP40-2 I have in my stash.

Cheers, Gary.

 

My latest video update about backscenes and layout lighting...

Enjoy.



Cheers, Gary.

 

My last video for 2023... Enjoy.



Cheers, Gary.

 

My latest project has been weathering. As seen in the video above, I showed off some of what I have been doing and what I'm in the process of.

I have two box cars and three reefers (refrigerated vans) which were sitting in boxes all pristine and clean. I had to do something about that !

So the first thing I done was the research, finding photos of reefer (Tropicana) and also the box cars. The reefers I have are fairly generic, so even though these photos of the prototype below are not the same car, it clearly shows where they do weather with rust and grime.

I did find this photo online of a very well weathered Tropicana reefer and it looks awesome !

The two boxcars I did manage to find a couple of images and one of those is in similar red and white livery as the models...

This FEC boxcar is what they call a waffle boxcar. It has great road grime on the lower sides of the car.

and finally a different style what they call a FMC combination door box car... This I admit is pretty pristine !

So armed with these photographs, I started on the Tropicana reefers. This is what my cars look like...

I set myself up and started with the fiber glass pen scratching away some of the logo and lettering on the car side.

I then dulled down the car sides with some Winsor & Newton Zinc White oil paint. This was applied in small dabs with a brushed then fanned out with a soft round brush. Being oil, his needed to cure for a couple of days. The result was a faded car side.

The next step was to apply some weathering around the panel lines (rivets) and doors/door frames. Here I used a solution of black weathering powders and a little IPA (isopropyl alcohol) mixed to create a wash. It was put on with a fine tip #000 brush, and allowed to run into the recesses.

After allowing this to cure, the next stage was adding more oils, this time Burnt Umber, artists oils. Small amounts of oil was applied in strategic places, following the prototype photos above. Each car is treated in different stages of rust weathering. Subtle streaking of the burnt sienna gives the effect of the rust being washed down the side of the car from the rain and in the lower corners between the panels, shows where the staining gathers

In this photo above, you can see I have a few bottles of airbrush paint and weathering powders. I will get onto these in the next post.

The same procedures were applied to the two FEC box cars, remove/scratch lettering and logo, apply a dulling down of white, add panel line and slight rust.


Cheers, Gary.

 

Well, I have completed my house move and I am pretty much settled in. I just now need to sort the layout out.. Maybe this will happen when the rain stops as I will need to pull everything out of the garage and set the layout up.
The layout will under go a few fundamental changes, so stay tuned for that!

Current state of the layout....

Cheers, Gary.

 

A good solid 8 hours was spent in the garage today sorting out the layout. I managed to clear things up, put certain things away so I could concentrate on the layout and decide on my plans for the alterations that are needed to suit the new space.

I have an idea and I'll share that at a later date, but right now, here are a few pics of my progress so far...

Getting there...

Cheers, Gary.

 

Thanks Phil. I am quite happy in my new home. You could say it is a fresh new start ! I'm looking forward to getting back into the layout again.

Cheers, Gary.

 

Latest update on the Down Town Spur... The reason why building in a modular layout design is the way to go....



Cheers, Gary.

 

I have been playing around with Anyrail lately and came up with a track plan for the new modules.

Rather than show a diagram, I decided to pin down some flex track and points to give an idea of how the new boards will look in the future, well in regards to the track layout.

Below. This is the board that is replacing the former corner module. I still wish to use the Ferous Processing shed on this module. This is why there is a S bend in the main line. The track running off the edge of the board, will be shortened and another building placed on the front edge of the layout.

The new corner module and extension along the rear wall. Note that the hatched section will be removed in the future. I am keeping the run around, although this time it will finish on a curve section that feeds the end module. The former spur that ran to Salco will be replaced with a shorter spur and industry whilst the dead end curved track that comes off it will be for chemical cars.

This weekend I may just get the baseboards built. Fingers crossed !

Cheers, Gary.

 

Baseboard construction has been a little slow over the last few days. I have managed to put two modules together, albeit without the 30mm of insulation foam on top. I guess slow progress is better than no progress at all !

This module is the replacement for the former corner module...

The new corner module all framed up except for the end timbers and the 30mm insulation foam...

Today I will complete the last module which will be 60" x 12" in size. This will connect to the corner module and run along the back wall. More as it happens.

Cheers, Gary.

 

I have completed all three modules, including adding the timber ends and insulation foam inserts.

Above and below. Without foam and with foam. The timber ends give me a place to mount the track securely using PCB and soldered rail/track.

Below. The end of the layout. I didn't add a length of pine under the edge of the layout as I was contemplating rounding off the corner. Hence the ceramic pizza tray and jigsaw on the baseboard.

Below. After marking out the curve, the board was cut...

Below. Small pieces of pine were screwed to the bottom of the baseboard. This will enable me to screw the fascia to these to keep it all consistent with the curve.

Below. The addition of insulation foam to the baseboards...

Below. The corner module with foam added

All the foam has been weighted down. I'll wait a good 24 hours for the glue to cure before proceeding with track work.

Cheers, Gary.