Nelson Moyer returns with another installment on his layout developments.
With a substantial part of the benchwork in place, I turned my attention to the right of way. I want bulletproof track. I’ve operated on layouts where derailments are common, and I find that they steal my joy. I want quiet track, so that I can hear decoder sounds at reasonable levels without blowing out my operator’s hearing aids.
Continue reading Roadbed and Track – Layout Design with Nelson Moyer, part 3
Bob Hanmer sent details covering a special operating session on his HO scale Great Northern and Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range layout that serves the mining region. We think you will enjoy this.
Taconite is a hard rock found across the northern parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. It contains about 30% iron, so for most of the 20th century it was considered waste. That is until the war efforts of World War II and the Korean conflict severely depleted the existing reserves of high quality iron that could be fed directly (or with a little beneficiation) into a blast furnace.
Lester Breuer sent tips on detail additions for the HO scale CB&Q resin gondola kits. We also get a peek at his paint booth. Here’s Lester with more.
After taking a break from building resin models I returned to build two CB&Q gondolas, a class GS-7, number 75709, and a class GS-8, number 79784. The gondolas are RH Models resin kits produced by Jerry Hamsmith and Ed Rethwisch . The kit instructions are very well done and easy to follow. The prototype data and table listing each of the GS series and truck types can be found in Nelson Moyer’s RCW blog post. Therefore, I will only discuss several changes I made and the paint and decal process I used to complete my gondolas.
Nelson Moyer returns with another installment on his layout developments.
My inaugural post provided a capsule history of how I arrived at the decision to build a model railroad, and it described the evolution of the track plan. While the track plan captured my dream with surprising fidelity to the prototype, I have only 312 square feet to model a mile long yard in Burlington and the 53 mile branch line to Washington. The full realization of what this would entail hit me when I counted the number of rooms that the railroad must occupy, and the engineering marvels that would be required to make it happen. It’s easy to draw your ideal track plan, but quite another thing to actually design and build the benchwork. This month, we’ll look at overcoming some of the impediments my house presented to the fulfillment of my dream. Sometimes you just have to play the hand you’re dealt.
Continue reading Overcoming Adversity – Layout Design with Nelson Moyer, part 2
