Time for a HO Victorian prototype Layout

Graham Fraser's wonderful HO Victorian layout.

    I had the pleasure some time back to visit Grahams layout and just had to ask if it was okay to do a video.
    The amount of detail Graham is putting into his layout is simply amazing. When you take a look at the video take note of the scale linkage that runs from the signal box along side the track and over to the signals and turnouts. Then look even harder at the scale signals themselves which are a direct copy of those seen on our Victorian Railways. The station buildings and the pedestrian crossing are just a few of the details that have all been faithfully reproduced.
   Grahams layout as you will see is far from being finished but boy is it going to be something when he gets there.

   So sit back and enjoy HO scale modeling Victorian Railways style at it's best.

Thanks once more for stopping by.
Rod.

West Coast Mining in N Scale

 Noels N Scale Pilbara Mine RR

     This video was taken way back in 2014 on Noels, West Coast Mining Model Railroad.
      Large companies like BHP and RioTinto just to name two operate some of the worlds largest iron ore mines and longest trains in the world.
     Noel has created a miniature version of what goes on in Australia's far North West iron ore mining territory in half of his double garage. The room is sealed and the air inside controlled for heating and cooling. Special lighting effects have been employed to create the look of a hot 50C degree day or that of an operating mine site at night.
     Lots of unique N Scale locomotives can be seen as a result of Vics work in helping Noel create the famous Pilbara Cab by etching them in brass along with the radiators and fuel tanks. Special paint schemes have been employed on 15 locomotives that I had the pleasure of painting way back.
     Noel has then had a logo designed with decals being made and applied to these locos.
    The unique ore cars have been kitbashed by slicing Kato and other brand cars to the length required then sanding and painting.
    The layout has the ability to load and then unload real iron ore using a scratch built loader and unload-er. Unfortunately not shown in this video.
     Special work has been done on the couplers to allow each car to rotate whilst being unloaded without the cars on either side tipping by adapting fishing swivel hooks.
    I hope you enjoy viewing this unique model railroad.

Thanks to all for watching my videos. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy putting them together.
Rod.

Another N Scale layout

Graham Meyers N Scale Empire

     Over the past several years several friends have gathered each Friday to talk, drink tea and coffee have lunch and play trains. One such layout we get to run on is Grahams KCS Mexican Division.
     Many years ago when we first met at Grahams house he asked several of us that had been modeling in N for many years what he could do to improve his layout.
     As you can imagine suggestions came from all around the round table and within minutes a new track plan was drawn on a piece of paper and the rest is history.
    Graham has put a lot of effort into his KSC Mexican Division even going to the trouble of extending his layout room, adding carpet tiles, air conditioning and a crew room.
    I have not had a chance of late to video the newer sections of his railroad however the portion I have done is included in the video below.
    So sit back and watch as we follow a couple of trains on the KCS Mexican Division.

    I trust you enjoyed the journey as much as I have of putting this video together.

Thanks for coming by.
Rod.

Peter Suttons HOn3 Model RR Part 2

Part 2 of the Los Pinos and Toltec RR

    This is part 2 of the HOn3 layout belonging to Peter Sutton. With this video we capture several train movements on this beautiful layout.

    So sit back and enjoy part 2 of the Los Pinos & Toltec RR

Thanks for watching.
Rod.

Now for a HOn3 Model RR

Part 1 of Peter Sutton's HOn3 RR

     Filming of this and the next several videos were taken back in 2014 on Peter Sutton's beautiful HOn3 model RR.
     The Los Pinos & Toltec RR is housed in its special room in Peters back yard. The room is fully lined along with vinyl flooring and air-conditioning. Most of the Locos and rolling stock are Blackstone with some brass locos lurking around. Peter creates his own rock molds by using large pieces of coal which are then in turn used to create his fantastic rock work.
     Shinohara code 70 track and hand made turnouts is used throughout. Special control panels around the layout use LED's to show the positions of trains when in staging.
     N.C.E. brand DCC is used to control the trains.     
     There will be several parts to add to my blog over coming weeks so sit back and admire Peters Los Pinos & Toltec RR.
     A great deal more work has been done to scenery since these videos were taken and we will get to see that as this series continues.

So sit back and enjoy the Los Pinos & Toltec RR

     Here is a teaser so click on the lower image pick for the video.

Trust you enjoy part 1 of this series and thanks for stopping by.

Rod.

A Rather different Video

Featuring Alan Rockett's Puffing Billy RR

     The Puffing Billy three foot Gauge Railroad is situated in the Dandenong Ranges approximately 50 kilometers East of Melbourne. The railroad was built to assist farmers and graziers who moved out of Melbourne in the 1980's move produce to and from markets in Melbourne.
     Following a landslide way back in the 50's the RR which was then owned by the Victorian Railways was shut down due to a lack of funds and desire.
     A determined group of volunteers set about to lobby the State Government and the railways and after many years were able to form a group of people willing to take the project on. Finally after many years the VR handed control over to this group and so this famous RR was once again underway. After many years of hard toil the Puffing Billy was re-opened to the public and has not looked back since.
    Today Puffing Billy is one of the biggest tourist destinations in Victoria with hundreds flocking to have a ride on this world famous Narrow Gauge Railroad each and every day.
    The model.
    Alan Rockett's Puffing Billy layout just has to be seen to be believed. Those of us that have had the good fortune to do so come away in amazement the way Alan has truthfully captured the look and feel of this iconic RR.
    All of Alan's locomotives, rolling stock, buildings along with the horse drawn coaches, horses and many many other items are all scratch built. His rendition of the iconic Australian Gum tree that grows in the hill around Belgrave and all through the Dandenongs are masterpieces.
    So sit back and watch as I have tried to capture to excellence of Alan's work.

Thanks for stopping by.
Rod.

Now for a Victorian N Scale layout

Darren French's Beautiful Cann River N Scale RR

    Modelers here in Victoria Australia suffered for years and years of not having any prototype N Scale locomotives, rolling stock or building with which to model.
    Since the Victorian N Scale Collective was formed during the second Annual N Scale Convention held in Melbourne during March of 1991 there has been a ground swell of cottage industries starting to produce really nice kits from which to build locomotives, rolling stock and structures that fit that seen on Victoria railroads.
    Lots of kit bashing and scratch building has taken place since then and you will see some of that in this video.
    Also factory produced N Scale locomotives and rolling stock came onto the market over several years to fill this need.
    It is quite a while since I did the video on Darren's Cann River Victoria N Scale railroad in fact it goes back to March 2014. We have been back a couple of times since, however the last time saw a lot more progress. Unfortunately I did not take my video camera with me on the last visit which is a pity as lots more has been completed and lots more undergoing huge changes.
    So this video will be a prelude to what is to come.

Please sit back and enjoy the Cann River.

Thanks for stopping by.
Rod.

Another view of John Faheys Santa Fe RR

This video is an on train video

     I took this video of Johns Santa Fe RR using my new small video camera a few years before the RR was dismantled.
    I hope you enjoy a trip around the Boise City Sub.

     Thanks again for stopping by.
Rod.

They are coming thick and fast

Another video added today

    Today I worked on the second part of John Faheys Santa Fe Railway Boise City sub.
This video like part 1 was created back in 2015 with the help of John at the controls of his locomotives whist cameras where rolling.

    So sit back and enjoy an Athearn F45 in Warbonnet scheme in the lead of its train as it winds its way around the SF Boise City sub.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
Rod.

New video uploaded today

John Faheys N Scale RR.

     I took this video quite a while ago on Johns now Fallen Flag Santa Fe Railroad Boise City Sub.
This is part one and there should be some additional content added over coming days or weeks. John dismantled his RR after selling his home in June 2015.
    Many great operating sessions were held over a good number of years.

   Sit back and enjoy what John has done.

Thank you for stopping by once again.
Rod.

Santa Fe Railway Southern Division Part 2

Part 2 of the SFRSD uploaded today

 Thanks again for stopping by.
Rod.

New video added to my blog

Hi all.

    Today I added the first of several videos of my Santa Fe Railway Southern Division to YouTube. This is Part 1.

     Over the next few days or weeks I will endeavor to add even more of the SFRSD along with videos of friends layouts I have had the pleasure of videoing over the past several years.

    Thanks for stopping by.
Rod.

Too long between posts

Why so long?

     Living in the unit waiting for our new house to be completed is a pain in the but. It has been just over 12 months already and I'm right in the middle of cabin fever. I have not done very much at all in planning for my next RR based on the MOPAC however have acquired a few additional cars and a new IM SD40-2 in the UP scheme with sound.
    This post is more about some further weathering I have been able to get done by using the kitchen table as a work space and waiting for the occasional warm day in which to be able to spray Dullcote onto the rolling stock.
    This is the latest 40 car I have attempted based on a pic off the web. Apologies for the poor photograph as the light was not the best when I shot them.
    This is the image taken from the web. The car to the far left with the large ICG wording is the scheme I had and tried to emulate  

    Here is the MT original in its clean state before being attacked.

   

     Here below we see that I have given it a spray with Dullcote and commenced the fading as best I could. I used an acrylic paint called Cool Grey applied with a wide flat brush and then quickly wiped almost all of it off using a small piece of paper towel.

     The roof received it's share as well.

   

      Now both sides had been given a grey coat and a spray of Dullcote to seal it for the next phase.

   

     The car has now received its first light wash of Van Dyke Brown oil paint.

  

     And here is the completed car after receiving a second wash of Van Dyke Brown. MT couplers painted flat black and a dab of Pan Pastel rust colour and new FVM 33"metal wheels one with a resistor for block detection. The wheels were painted Tamiya Red Brown, the coupler trip pin painted flat black with a dab of chrome silver on the lower tip. 

   Now she looks like she has done a heap of work at least.

That's it for now thanks for looking.

Rod.

More weathering on the new stuff

Just trying to get it right.

     As mentioned in my last post I have been slowly weathering some new freight cars that I want to add to the roster of the yet to be named Missouri Pacific RR. I also lashed out and purchased several sets of FVM metal wheels (narrow tread 33 inch to suit M/T trucks) to add to these cars. I also purchased  several packs of the same including resistors so I can run these on Johns new SFRMD RR for detection purposes and if I ever get back to signals on the new RR.
   I want these wheels to look the part so before I add them I'm painting the wheel end a rust colour using Tamiya Red Brown with a very small brush.
   The trucks are receiving a coat of Tamiya Nato Black followed by a light dusting of Pan Pastel rust looking pastels.

   This is where my good lady is allowing me to do the work on our kitchen table. There is a wide variety of paints used in my weathering, oils, acrylic and Tamiya along with pastels that do a great job also. Oh and don't forget the Dullcote it does a great job of binding all these finishes.

And here is 24 of the 36 wheels painted thus far.

Ready to be added to the trucks today.

That's it for today keep on modeling.
Rod.

A bit of variety today.

Friday group at the SFRMD.

     A group of us get together each Friday in a round robin that has now been going for 7 years. Yesterday it was time to attend Johns house and see the progress on the SFRMD.
    John was worked very hard and to our surprise we were able to run trains on the Santa Fe main for the first time. Trains had been staged in various towns some with old locos and some with new additions to the roster. Two additions caught our eyes, one a new Intermountain SD40-2 with full ESU Loksound the other a small switcher S2 if I recall with sound also.
    Boy have Intermountain upped their game. The new SD40 looks fantastic and performed as good as it looked with even better sound than any of us had heard before from our N Scale fleet with various decoders we have used in the past. The Alco switcher, well it knocked the sound out of the park. It too sounded exceptionally good and ran even better.
    No video but a couple of pics to show the new additions.

 A couple of random shots from the day.

The new Intermountain SD40-2 loco 5080 with it's nose ahead of a Kato unit

The switcher

F units waiting to get some power on the turntable.

A view we have not seen before, signals in a row looking behind the Udall elevator.

The next part of this post.
   A New RR with no name as yet.
   I have decided to build a small shelf layout once we settle down into our new home hopefully about August with any luck. This will be based on a new to me railroad the Missouri Pacific. This is so I can also run a few trains on Johns RR on his Mopac RR as interchange traffic. As a result I have started to purchase some new rolling stock and commenced weathering some to get them to look as they should.

Here is a couple of pics of the start.

Before

And after with only a light go with Pan Pastels and Dull-Cote. More to do.

    I also scrapped away any weathering and Dull-Cote from the outside of the ribs to highlight the fading of the panels

This is an old Roundhouse car. I painted the top Chrome Silver by dabbing with a stiff old small brush

.

    Then I touched up sections of the top with some Burnt Sienna followed by a dab of Burnt Umber into the middle of these spots to make the rust look a little more defined and aged.

More Pan Pastels

A mix of Pan Pastel Grey and a rust colour.

    So we are underway. I have just received just over 100 FVM 33inch metal wheels and a few sets with resistors already installed. These will be added to the cars as they get their weathering.  New trucks will be added where necessary a paint of the couplers and they should be good to go.
 Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
Rod.

Fourteen months has almost passed.

The main line is completed

     It is hard to recall that in March of 2016 work began in the upstairs section of Johns home to prepare it for the old SFRSD. If you scan back to the March 2016 post you will see John Fahey, myself and the new owner John starting to pull down walls to allow the layout to fit.
     Well last week the main line for the Santa Fe was completed. Tracks were installed between the old town of Udall and the existing piece of old mainline that used to connect Perry to Guthrie and at the other end new track to the old town of Augusta. Wiring was completed between the old Augusta and Augusta East by John F yesterday whilst at the same time work was put into the planning for a few new blocks and signals by John and Brendan.
    So here are a few pics of the track-work and wiring that has brought the RR to the point it is today.

New track added between old Udall and old single track SF mainline. The cork in the foreground is for tracks that will lead into the new Mopac Yard.

One of the large wiring connectors linking old Augusta to the CTC panel, BDL & SE8C etc

New track joining old SF main to old Augusta. The grain elevator is sitting there temporarily.

More of the new main line

Track joined and wiring completed to join old Augusta and Augusta East.

    A bit more wiring around the rear of the new roundhouse and the mainline will be completed.

    For those unsure of the track plan for the Santa Fe Railway Middle Division here it is as of now.
Little has changed from this plan except Augusta East has been rotated 180 degrees with some tracks realigned.

     One of the big bonuses is just how good the old Guthrie now Belle Plaine looks. It is if it was made to be.
Well thats it for another update.
Thanks again for dropping by.
Rod.

Another building kit pt 2

The Elevator is complete

     Yesterday I was able to get the rest of this new Walthers kit assembled. As mentioned it went together quite nicely except for some windows that are miss numbered. I did receive an email back from Walthers saying that my email had been passed on to the new product development dept so I hope they get it resolved for any additional kits that they release.

    Finished elevator.

    It has turned out looking quite good and as mentioned I am very happy with the paint I used for this, so now it is just waiting to be delivered to the Mopac

That's it for now.
Rod.

Another building kit

Building the new Walthers grain Elevator

    With the relocation of Guthrie on Johns layout (formerly the SFRSD) this town is now to be known as Belle Plain and will be served by the Missouri Pacific. The MP will be a new road added to the layout and will use the former interchange tracks in Augusta a new yard with a grain elevator etc on separate tracks around the corner and have running rights over the SF at Udall as it makes it's way to Belle Plain. There is talk about having a separate dispatcher for the MP so time will tell.
   As we are waiting to move into our new home John asked if I would like to build this new kit for him, of course I would.
   The kit arrived last Friday and below is some progress made in among normal household duties.
It is a very easy kit to assemble however there is some issues with the windows as the instructions are incorrect about which to use where. I have sent an email to Walthers telling them of the issue.
   I decided to use a different brand of paint and finally found a good grey that looks like concrete and a very flat white that looks fab once dry.
   Rust-Oleum Chalk Ultra Matt Aged Concrete was sprayed on first then Rust-Oleum Flat White Primer sprayed very lightly over the grey from a distance. The effect is just what I was looking for of an older elevator that has seen the best of times but not shabby.
   Here is a couple of snaps whilst construction is underway.

The elevator

Ditto

The head house that will sit on top of the elevator

office prior to sitting on its foundation.

    This is not going to be a large building in fact I am a little surprised how small it is compared to those I have scratched built over the years for my SFRSD. It will however make a nice addition to the new MoPac yard and add yet another industry to switch.
    Assembly should be complete later today so I might post the pics of the completed kit a bit latter on.
Thanks once again for dropping by.
Rod.

Something really different.

Time for a change of material in my post.

     When we decided to sell our house and move the layout I had already started to get involved in military modeling.
     My first attempt was to assemble and detail a M113 APC. I purchased a Tamiya kit and then a Verlinden engine and interior detail kit. I learnt a lot from building this so my next attempt was an Abrams battle tank.
     Without going into all of the construction, painting, detailing and weathering that went into the construction I thought I would just put up some of the pics I took of both units.
    So here we go.

This is the M113A3

Next is the Abrams

     I have a lot to learn about military modeling however thoroughly enjoyed the exercise of putting these together.
     There is 4 kits on the shelf just waiting for some space so I can get back into it again.

Not railroading sorry but modeling anyway.
Rod.