What a great night tonight! I love going to the Piedmont Division NMRA meetings. Where else can you get 100 guys together and talk trains for hours?
Peter Youngblood (about to be MMR) is a fantastic clinician! Probably the most entertaining I've heard in years and so talented!
Come join us on the second Tuesday of every month!
http://www.piedmont-div.org/
Showing posts with label NCI Group. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCI Group. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Fascianating Evening at Keith's House
We had a great time over at Concrete Keith's house tonight! Its the first Train Night I've been able to go to in a while so it was nice to get out in the ice and snow. Almost everyone was there!
Concrete Keith
Coalfinger Ken
Popsicle Rick
Packrat Paul
Glue Bob
Steve-bay
Ken - yet to be nicknamed
Gator Scott
If you didn't make it, why not see a video from that evening! Oh, we have all the cool tools!
http://richlawnrailroad.blogspot.com/2010/01/operations-at-keiths-1-8-10.html
My first project was to analyze the the placement of the gravel company. Originally it was over in another corner but the building has very interesting lines and the location was making the fun parts of the building out of site. So I grabbed it and stuck it in another corner that has a "dead" spot.
When pitched at the correct angle the structure comes to life! The corner we later decided will become the lime mine and there will be a while excavation in the corner. Perfect!
It will look good from all sides and especially when you walk down the long back aisle.
I'll take these four photos, fade them out and print them full size. Then I'll take some color pencils and sketch in the rest of the picture and send them to Keith.
WOW. Did I say that? Oh yes. This is an AMAZING piece of work for someone who is not inclined to scenic stuff. The rockwork is fantastic.
This is looking down the waterfall. Keith is going to come work with me on some other water pours to get ready for this rather tricky waterfall. This is looking straight down the fall to see where the water will hit.
The top basin and the fantastic rock point will look fantastic.
Man we had a crowd tonight. We were all working in the West Buffalo terminal. Glue Bob (shown with glue though we weren't letting him use it) is on the right. Keith (orange shirt) is making sure he keeps the lid on tight. No glue on the fascia!
Using 1/8" Masonite and some 2" x 2" wood we carefully bent and mounted the Masonite using 1 5/8" drywall screws.
It bends nicely around the turntable area. Speaking of turntables Keith (who is a highly experienced and talented modeler) gave me som great pointers on building one from scratch. Thanks Concrete!
Do you smell smoke? Wow! Bob, your drill is on fire! Once you let the smoke out it doesn't work anymore. We're still not sure how it happened but the burned out drill is no more.
Done! Wow....very nice! Some spackle, a coat of paint and some very nice electronics panels and it is good to go!
We finished the entire work load in about an hour, so nothing left to do but run trains. So I took one Westbound. Here we are passing the rolling mill. The layout is based around steel making, but the feed industries aren't set yet. So I've volunteered to make an industry map for Keith and I have a list of his available kits.
Another deep gorge and river!
Nice bridges adorn the layout.
The run time on this long layout is amazing. Almost 30 minutes to go from staging to finish.
!@$!#@$ foamers!
You just have to love a train on a bridge like this!
And so much more scenery to go!
What a great night. Keith is a fantastic host, modeler and friend. It is always good to go visit.
Next week at Paul's!
Concrete Keith
Coalfinger Ken
Popsicle Rick
Packrat Paul
Glue Bob
Steve-bay
Ken - yet to be nicknamed
Gator Scott
If you didn't make it, why not see a video from that evening! Oh, we have all the cool tools!
http://richlawnrailroad.blogspot.com/2010/01/operations-at-keiths-1-8-10.html
My first project was to analyze the the placement of the gravel company. Originally it was over in another corner but the building has very interesting lines and the location was making the fun parts of the building out of site. So I grabbed it and stuck it in another corner that has a "dead" spot.
When pitched at the correct angle the structure comes to life! The corner we later decided will become the lime mine and there will be a while excavation in the corner. Perfect!
It will look good from all sides and especially when you walk down the long back aisle.
I'll take these four photos, fade them out and print them full size. Then I'll take some color pencils and sketch in the rest of the picture and send them to Keith.
WOW. Did I say that? Oh yes. This is an AMAZING piece of work for someone who is not inclined to scenic stuff. The rockwork is fantastic.
This is looking down the waterfall. Keith is going to come work with me on some other water pours to get ready for this rather tricky waterfall. This is looking straight down the fall to see where the water will hit.
The top basin and the fantastic rock point will look fantastic.
Man we had a crowd tonight. We were all working in the West Buffalo terminal. Glue Bob (shown with glue though we weren't letting him use it) is on the right. Keith (orange shirt) is making sure he keeps the lid on tight. No glue on the fascia!
Our team job tonight was getting the fascia on the layout in West Buffalo.
Using 1/8" Masonite and some 2" x 2" wood we carefully bent and mounted the Masonite using 1 5/8" drywall screws.
Done! Wow....very nice! Some spackle, a coat of paint and some very nice electronics panels and it is good to go!
We finished the entire work load in about an hour, so nothing left to do but run trains. So I took one Westbound. Here we are passing the rolling mill. The layout is based around steel making, but the feed industries aren't set yet. So I've volunteered to make an industry map for Keith and I have a list of his available kits.
Another deep gorge and river!
Nice bridges adorn the layout.
The run time on this long layout is amazing. Almost 30 minutes to go from staging to finish.
!@$!#@$ foamers!
You just have to love a train on a bridge like this!
And so much more scenery to go!
What a great night. Keith is a fantastic host, modeler and friend. It is always good to go visit.
Next week at Paul's!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Working on Coalfinger's Layout
I forgot to bring my camera. Somehow I've got to get a spare and leave it in the car. We worked on Coalfinger Ken's layout tonight. Concrete Keith and I showed up to eat his cookies and play with N scale track. Keith did most of the work while Ken and I talked about the L&N.
Its a nice layout, currently in two pieces for ease of assembly. We laid the yard siding and the lead to the yard.
What fun!
Its a nice layout, currently in two pieces for ease of assembly. We laid the yard siding and the lead to the yard.
What fun!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Let There Be Light - Now at Scott's House
We had a hard time getting started tonight. I had a hard time getting started. Suffering from jet lag from a week long trip to California and working 16 hours a day or more kills you. Really, I'm starting to hate doing this on Friday nights. It's the worst night of the week.
Thanks Rick for the photos...it really makes the blog!!!
Tonight's fun club is Glue Bob, Steve-bay, Coalfinger Ken, Popsicle Rick and Gator. We started off the evening with Ken assembling the rolling draw units I bought a month ago for scenery materials. Then he and Steve sanded and painted the benchwork with $2 reject paint from Home Depot. It is now a yucky gold color, but that will all be covered up. Its just to seal the wood.
Steve is taking the belt sander and leveling the spackle for a nice, smooth surface.
Bob, Rick and myself attacked the lights. I'm installing five sets of 4-bulb florescent in the room. This should light up everything.
Bob did the wiring, but we had to redo some of what Scott had done previously as the pigtails were not long enough.
Not sure who told Steve he could crawl all over the benchwork, but he was doing so well that we left him alone.
It is hard to take pictures of guys installing lights when there is no light. Where's the flash, Rick?
Ken had the roller and was making quick work of the painting. Inspection of "Coalfinger's" fingers showed no paint at all!
Rollin' rollin' rollin'...
The plugs didn't fit through the conduit so Scott had to take them apart and re-install them.
Bob is good for high level electrical work!
Please don't hit the watermain!
One by one the lights are installed...
Paint continues to flow...all the time the group chatter is brutal and divisive. Even Rick lost his speaking privileges!
We'll like it better when the big lights are in!
Bob rewires the pigtails...
The island is in the way! Time for it to float out to the main room.
Ken gives it a coat of paint while its out there.
It rolled back into place later...just perfectly!
This has become a very handy system for getting some layout out of the way.
Scott fell off the ladder. This time lapse photo shows him about to collide with the concrete. Rick mopped up the floor. Thanks Rick!
Painting was completed over half the layout, which is great! We will need more $2 paint.
Scott tried his hand at wiring. Good thing it wasn't hot like Kevin's wires last week.
The photos ran out here as Rick had to leave, but we were able to get all five banks of lights installed, discussed the backdrop, painted the benchwork and everything else in one evening. Thanks guys! I'll wire up the lights next week.
Thanks Rick for the photos...it really makes the blog!!!
Tonight's fun club is Glue Bob, Steve-bay, Coalfinger Ken, Popsicle Rick and Gator. We started off the evening with Ken assembling the rolling draw units I bought a month ago for scenery materials. Then he and Steve sanded and painted the benchwork with $2 reject paint from Home Depot. It is now a yucky gold color, but that will all be covered up. Its just to seal the wood.
Steve is taking the belt sander and leveling the spackle for a nice, smooth surface.
Bob, Rick and myself attacked the lights. I'm installing five sets of 4-bulb florescent in the room. This should light up everything.
Bob did the wiring, but we had to redo some of what Scott had done previously as the pigtails were not long enough.
Not sure who told Steve he could crawl all over the benchwork, but he was doing so well that we left him alone.
It is hard to take pictures of guys installing lights when there is no light. Where's the flash, Rick?
Ken had the roller and was making quick work of the painting. Inspection of "Coalfinger's" fingers showed no paint at all!
Rollin' rollin' rollin'...
The plugs didn't fit through the conduit so Scott had to take them apart and re-install them.
Bob is good for high level electrical work!
Please don't hit the watermain!
One by one the lights are installed...
Paint continues to flow...all the time the group chatter is brutal and divisive. Even Rick lost his speaking privileges!
We'll like it better when the big lights are in!
Bob rewires the pigtails...
The island is in the way! Time for it to float out to the main room.
Ken gives it a coat of paint while its out there.
It rolled back into place later...just perfectly!
This has become a very handy system for getting some layout out of the way.
Scott fell off the ladder. This time lapse photo shows him about to collide with the concrete. Rick mopped up the floor. Thanks Rick!
Painting was completed over half the layout, which is great! We will need more $2 paint.
Scott tried his hand at wiring. Good thing it wasn't hot like Kevin's wires last week.
The photos ran out here as Rick had to leave, but we were able to get all five banks of lights installed, discussed the backdrop, painted the benchwork and everything else in one evening. Thanks guys! I'll wire up the lights next week.
Rainy Days...
Are good for going shopping! Marie needed some new sanding sponges, which means Harbor Freight! I went looking for this...
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=66182
But they didn't have it. So I ordered it on line. We'll let you know how it works. You never know with Harbor Freight...sometimes great, sometimes not.
Here is a neat program that Glue Bob sent to me. Its a bridge building software "game" that let's you design a bridge. Could be handy for figuring out if you have the right type of bridge.
http://faculty.philau.edu/oakleyd/Structures_2/West_Point_Bridge_Designer/west_point_bridge_designer.htm
My buddy Steve is ready to go for the season. He owns the company Model Train Seller at http://modeltrainseller.com/ and sells used collections of trains. He's picky about what he sells, and often has some really great stuff. He's picking up a new collection today so watch for him on ebay at modeltrainseller.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=66182
But they didn't have it. So I ordered it on line. We'll let you know how it works. You never know with Harbor Freight...sometimes great, sometimes not.
Here is a neat program that Glue Bob sent to me. Its a bridge building software "game" that let's you design a bridge. Could be handy for figuring out if you have the right type of bridge.
http://faculty.philau.edu/oakleyd/Structures_2/West_Point_Bridge_Designer/west_point_bridge_designer.htm
My buddy Steve is ready to go for the season. He owns the company Model Train Seller at http://modeltrainseller.com/ and sells used collections of trains. He's picky about what he sells, and often has some really great stuff. He's picking up a new collection today so watch for him on ebay at modeltrainseller.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Wheeler's Back In Town
The men of the NCIOG gathered again on Friday like we do every week. This time we were glad to see our friend Glue Bob return from Canada! So we raided his house.
In attendance: Glue Bob, Popsicle Rick, Coalfinger Ken, Packrat Paul, Steve-bay, Concrete Keith and Gator.
The first order of business was to check out Bob's homework. His job was to take non-train pictures of his home town in Canada so that we can use them for scenery. He did a great job but I did see a locomotive or two represented.
Gator carefully studies the photos and asks Bob if he wants to model the graffitti on the rocks or not.
Concrete Keith is in from Chicago! Always good to see him. A top notch modeler even if he is scenery-phobic.
The night continued as we shed some light on the subject. The back corner of the layout has been dark and the scenery team (Scott & Rick) have been complaining about not being able to see the colors in the dark. So Bob got some lighting for us.
Keith is a whiz with electricity. He's so good he took off the light without turning of the 120 volts circulating through the copper. Smooth! I stayed in the background with my cell phone ready to call 911.
Bob made a hole and shoved the wire up into the attic.
Scott begs Keith to turn off the power....nothing doing!
Terrified of the ensuing accident, Scott goes over to help Steve who is laying track in the yard. Scott helps by coating the bottoms of the rails with Pliobond and letting them dry.
Steve is quite handy when it comes to track! He's working on straight sections here and then will build in the turnouts.
Ken gets some supplies and helps Steve by staining all the ties from the yard to Swas Junction. They look great when he's done and his fingers are clean!
Paul says Ken missed a spot. This is the last known picture of Paul in existence. The widow Donna says send donations.
Here is Bob's rail jig designed to hold the rails while the Pliobond dries.
Steve works really fast under the bright light with the very hot soldering iron.
Logistics become a problem with seven men in the room and the air conditioning has to run full blast.
Steve heats up a rail to move it into position.
Bob and Keith make quick work of the wiring. Bob shoves it in and Keith is pulling on the other end.
"Hey, what's this? A whistle" ....NO, it's the wire with electricity on it!!!!
Bob moves in to relieve Paul from holding the wire as his arm is turning pail and his face is turing red.
Keith is working the yard on the upper deck. Nice, white shoes!
Scott is drowning in scenery...the guys will paint the backdrop later tonight!
Why is it not working? Oops...ALL the wires have to be connected.
I have a $10 spot saying he falls off the ladder...
What! No paint! Crap! Rick and Scott get in the car and go to Wally Mart. Apple Barrel paints are great for scenery! We buy $7.00 worth.
While Rick and Scott are gone, the rest of the guys paint the backdrop.
One color...that's easy!
Oops....add some white.
We're back with the paints. Rick blends the colors while Scott paints the rock facings. Messiness counts.
A blotch here, a blotch there and then some ink wash to blend them together. Perfect!
Just a light mist...two or three drops of india ink in alcohol.
A picture of Rick doing nothing. Thanks Rick for all these great photos! I'll remember my camera one day!
Bob's list of projects is really getting done tonight!
Check...check...check....we're done!
Here is Rick and Scott's rock work. Not quite right. Bob's photos show more yellow, so we'll let the dry and play with it some more next trip.
Removable scenery is a nifty idea. We may do more with this in the future.
Ken staining the last of the ties.
The trick is not to get it on the floor. Or your shirt. Or your hands. Ken has it down pat.
A rock cut with a little iron ore.
Another area of the rock outcropping. Bob is excited. Me too!
There goes another great night on the railroad!
In attendance: Glue Bob, Popsicle Rick, Coalfinger Ken, Packrat Paul, Steve-bay, Concrete Keith and Gator.
The first order of business was to check out Bob's homework. His job was to take non-train pictures of his home town in Canada so that we can use them for scenery. He did a great job but I did see a locomotive or two represented.
Gator carefully studies the photos and asks Bob if he wants to model the graffitti on the rocks or not.
Concrete Keith is in from Chicago! Always good to see him. A top notch modeler even if he is scenery-phobic.
The night continued as we shed some light on the subject. The back corner of the layout has been dark and the scenery team (Scott & Rick) have been complaining about not being able to see the colors in the dark. So Bob got some lighting for us.
Keith is a whiz with electricity. He's so good he took off the light without turning of the 120 volts circulating through the copper. Smooth! I stayed in the background with my cell phone ready to call 911.
Bob made a hole and shoved the wire up into the attic.
Scott begs Keith to turn off the power....nothing doing!
Terrified of the ensuing accident, Scott goes over to help Steve who is laying track in the yard. Scott helps by coating the bottoms of the rails with Pliobond and letting them dry.
Steve is quite handy when it comes to track! He's working on straight sections here and then will build in the turnouts.
Ken gets some supplies and helps Steve by staining all the ties from the yard to Swas Junction. They look great when he's done and his fingers are clean!
Paul says Ken missed a spot. This is the last known picture of Paul in existence. The widow Donna says send donations.
Here is Bob's rail jig designed to hold the rails while the Pliobond dries.
Steve works really fast under the bright light with the very hot soldering iron.
Logistics become a problem with seven men in the room and the air conditioning has to run full blast.
Steve heats up a rail to move it into position.
Bob and Keith make quick work of the wiring. Bob shoves it in and Keith is pulling on the other end.
"Hey, what's this? A whistle" ....NO, it's the wire with electricity on it!!!!
Bob moves in to relieve Paul from holding the wire as his arm is turning pail and his face is turing red.
Keith is working the yard on the upper deck. Nice, white shoes!
Scott is drowning in scenery...the guys will paint the backdrop later tonight!
Why is it not working? Oops...ALL the wires have to be connected.
I have a $10 spot saying he falls off the ladder...
What! No paint! Crap! Rick and Scott get in the car and go to Wally Mart. Apple Barrel paints are great for scenery! We buy $7.00 worth.
While Rick and Scott are gone, the rest of the guys paint the backdrop.
One color...that's easy!
Oops....add some white.
We're back with the paints. Rick blends the colors while Scott paints the rock facings. Messiness counts.
A blotch here, a blotch there and then some ink wash to blend them together. Perfect!
Just a light mist...two or three drops of india ink in alcohol.
A picture of Rick doing nothing. Thanks Rick for all these great photos! I'll remember my camera one day!
Bob's list of projects is really getting done tonight!
Check...check...check....we're done!
Here is Rick and Scott's rock work. Not quite right. Bob's photos show more yellow, so we'll let the dry and play with it some more next trip.
Removable scenery is a nifty idea. We may do more with this in the future.
Ken staining the last of the ties.
The trick is not to get it on the floor. Or your shirt. Or your hands. Ken has it down pat.
A rock cut with a little iron ore.
Another area of the rock outcropping. Bob is excited. Me too! There goes another great night on the railroad!
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