johnf's blog

So like trees there must be a thousand ways to do ballast. So to add too all that is out there I present the way ballast is done on the J&J. Why?  Well a fellow club member up here in Maple Ridge BC asked me to to demonstrate how I use a particular product, which he now is stocking in his shop, to glue ballast. The product is Acrilex matt medium an artists product that happens to do a fine job on ballast. I did not invent this method it was recommended by the owner of another Model shop that is now gone.

Hello all at Nscale.net  After not posting a message in months I finally feel I have something to contribute. This last few months I have been slowly working away at the next section of my pike. This section includes a high level viaduct, 2 water falls, a river, 2 coal mines and the connection to the third and final helix in the plan a 5.5 turn monster stacked over one of the lower helixs.

I've been continuing to have fun working with rolling stock this last week, with the run up to Christmas and all the parties and extra activities I've not had a chance to do too much but I have tackled a project I have wanted to try for a while.

Hello...

It's been a while since the last blog installment but as I mentioned I wanted to have something to write about, and I think I do.

After the big push and tour I have enjoyed the last three weeks running trains and tweaking my rolling stock collection for better operation. That could conceivably become a full time job as you all probably know. So to add challenge to the mix I've decide to step up my rolling stock collection with some hand tooled cars.

So Last night was the night of the Trains Layout tour and after a huge final push that took all of my free time and a day off work I was happy with what I had ready to present and still got the room cleaned up for the viewers.

Ok, with just 10 days to go I'm facing the now rapidly approaching tour with a new heightened sense of urgency on one front and satisfaction on the other.

Phew!  The rains came to the pacific northwest this weekend thanks to the remnants of tropical storm Lu Lu. Great name huh?

So, ever go to a train show?  Up here in our neck of the woods I get to just about all the local train shows and my club derives some of our operating funds through the commissioned sales of peoples collections, we do this a about 4 shows a year. So when I went this weekend to the Mount Cheam Lions show in Chilliwack BC this last weekend I had a lot of time to see what was on everybody else's tables as well.  One table had on it a fine looking little doodlebug all painted up CP and well, you know, I bought it.

In Canada today is Thanksgiving. So what's a model railroader to due on a holiday? If your me get more work done on the layout. Today by any bonus if you know the BC climate was also sunny! So the order of the day was making trees. My daughter the other J in J&J decided that she would take a photo essay of the tree making process and I could add that to my blog.  So what follows is is a mostly pictorial look at a tree technique I have learnt from my fellow club members.

We all run trains on our layouts, that's obvious really. But what about operation? And by that I mean operating where some other equally keen as yourself person and maybe a few others come over and they run you trains on your track and try to make it all work, sometimes even working to a planned list of trains!

That's the acid test, when others run your track they find the things you though were ok and weren't.  To date I have not mustered up the true grit to do that and I think it's been a mistake. Here is why...