For those of you who read my previous blog entry, the last few evenings of modeling time has been spent repairing locomotives. While initially I just wanted to see my two "gymnast" Intermountains run again, I started with a pair of stubborn Athearn units before working my way up to the Intermountains. After getting over the initial intimidation factor of tearing apart a small precision machine, I decided to take on all my old locomotives as well, documenting the process closely so hopefully anybody else with the same fear of gutting a locomotive as myself won't have to be quit
Bob's blog
Repairing a Kato SD40 - Step By Step How-To
Four Phoenixes Rising From The Ashes
As many of you read in my last blog entry, I had an unfortunate accident involving two fantastic Intermountain SD45T-2s taking a "Leap Of No Faith" off the top of my layout to the hardwood floor below. Initial visual inspection looked as though I may have avoided much damage, but after putting them back on the rails, neither decided to run.
Well, last night, they rose again. Ready to start hauling strings of ore cars around a 36x80" hollow core door. In addition, I decided two other pesky locos needed some attention as well.
Two Diesels Swan Dive From 48"
Last night, the worst thing ever happened. I watched my two DM & IR Intermountain SD45T-2 diesels swan dive off the top of my layout straight onto a hardwood floor.
Styrofoam Risers - My Swing At Them
After reading Michael's post about how to fabricate custom styrofoam risers, I officially abandoned my initial plan to do a traditional cookie cutter approach on top of a door by using nothing but foam to support my track. This past weekend I took a good crack at my benchwork (which is another post...Maybe I'm clever with how I did mine, maybe not, but stay tuned for it...) and the base of my layout, and here's my trials and tribulations with building the styrofoam risers myself.
Missabe Junction On A Door - A New Layout Is Born
Outside of a few minor changes I might make, the track plan for the Missabe Junction Railroad is taking shape.
One of the very nice features of XtrkCad (which is a fantastic program once you sort of figure out it's idiosyncrasies) is that it lets you define rolling stock and actually run trains. I found this very helpful to figure out siding lengths, switch locations, etc.
Here's the latest plan:
