Nashville & Eastern railroad and the Music city star

[Janbouli]

ya , I keep the straws from the spray cans as well as the nozzles for spares . got a bundle of them tucked back somewhere .

Okay , now I get it , you see I use about a can of WD40 every 3 years

BTW , that pole looks awesome.

[bobo1160]

Okay , now I get it , you see I use about a can of WD40 every 3 years

BTW , that pole looks awesome.

hahah , if you only knew .. lots of sprays and carb cleaner have those straws with them , I do lots of machine work and mechanical repairs so I see lots of them . funny how what's commonplace for some is a rarity for others and vise versa .

[ChicagoNW]

Now you get my logic. It was last century when I bought a can with a tube that wasn’t Fix-A-Flat.

[bobo1160]

I thought everyone went through a can of wd every month , now I'm feeling like some kind of a wierdo outcast and second guessing some life decisions . hahah

[Jugtown Modeler]

I thought everyone went through a can of wd every month

My can is probably going on 25 years old. Now that is probably weird. I also use a can of silicone spray just as old. But my garage door replacement recommended spray grease. Much newer.


As for re-purposing household items...? That is a model railroading right of passage.
I am a hoarder at heart. My family has come to the realization that I'll have what they need. And as the Memphis A. Schwab General Store slogan went, "If you can't find it at Schwab's, you're better off without it."

Enjoying this modeling thread.

[bobo1160]

painting rails , ballasting , making tracks in the dirt .... I got the concrete pads finished up and glued in .

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[bobo1160]

more rail painting, should have done this first before I laid it down ... doah !! that's kind of like painting yourself into a corner isn't it . ah well , I learn from mistakes . and I learned I will NEVER do that again .

being very careful around the turnouts and working slowly around those with light coats to avoid the stickies .

meanwhile the yard Crew tries to light this trackhoe that's been sitting up for awhile, dead batteries and clogged fuel filters complicate the process but them boaz know what they doin .. unfortunately someone left the cab hatch unlatched and rain got in and Bobby had to sit in the swamp seat all day . awww sucks to be you ! ahahah. and that's how Bobby got the nickname "soggy B "

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[ChicagoNW]

Your tracks will look better if you paint all the sides that are visible.


If you paint your track before you lay it, you will have to scrape the ends, for the joiners to conduct power. Waiting until your tracks are ready for ballast also leaves the rail bare, if you need to solder leads to them.

[bobo1160]

Your tracks will look better if you paint all the sides that are visible.
https://www.nscale.net/forums/attach...3&d=1432094891

If you paint your track before you lay it, you will have to scrape the ends, for the joiners to conduct power. Waiting until your tracks are ready for ballast also leaves the rail bare, if you need to solder leads to them.

yup , got both rails already painted on the front side , working on back now..

[bobo1160]

a photo of the real thing I've been useing for reference...

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[bobo1160]

added in these what I'm guessing are concrete holding tanks or oil separators for the storm water runoff judging from the photos . also modeled in a area of soil erosion with exposed drain pipe ends . I still have more track to paint and ties to touch up before I can start going hard on the gravel lot texture.

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[bobo1160]

the area around the culverts got some rip and I started gluing in screened stove wood ash for the scattered gravel . light coats of glossy paint in the wheel ruts to simulate sticky wet mud .

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[bobo1160]

working on fabbing up a little control panel for block indication and switches as well as aux switches for lights and future things .

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[Sumner]

I take it you have a license to do that

Sumner

[bobo1160]

I take it you have a license to do that

Sumner

yes , it matches my drive to make a control panel

[bobo1160]

OK. ... cuts made , holes bored , bends.. well , bent . and test fit switches . I'm like a racoon , I like shiny things .

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[bobo1160]

I sanded the panel to give it that brushed aluminum look .
secured the panel to the board with brackets ,
made the track decal by cutting vinyl contact paper into strips and taped down .
got the switches in place with all the little locking tabs and secured.
soldered all the cathode side contacts together on the isolation indicator leds
and routed to a terminal bar I found in my junk .

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[bobo1160]

I got the indicator circuits hardwired in this morning and working . partially soldered In the leads from the switches for the track isolation which will be going to the layout via quick connect pigtail . I really need a new iron , my Weller bit the dust a long time ago and I'm just down to my cheap pencil 30w .. hard to work around things in such a small space .

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[el Gato Gordo]

Maybe I've been asleep. What do the lights indicate? Occupied track? Turnout routed to that track?

[bobo1160]

Maybe I've been asleep. What do the lights indicate? Occupied track? Turnout routed to that track?

lit led represents a isolation block on that particular track is active, switched the other way the led turns off and track power is resumed to that block . the entire track is not blocked , each one has various boundaries that I'm gonna mark on the layout prob by painting ties yellow .

in addition two tracks will get selectable power input ( control/off/3v ) so I can run lights in passenger cars sitting on those tracks independant from the control voltage .