N1GY- The simple Approach to Ham Radio

and My Model Railroad Hobby

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The latest addition to the roster, A 2 truck Shay logging locomotive. This one does not yet have DCC or sound

  I had to change out the caboose in my carry case for one that had less fragile details on it. The old one is now back on the layout and the new one, a bobber style caboose is in the case. I also fabricated a hook to keep the cover open when I have the case open. Just a paper clip suitably bent into the right shape.

Here is the latest aquisition. A PRR B-1 electric loco. These were ordered at first in pairs, semi-permantently coupled together. On the next order they were ordered as single units and the original 6 pairs were separated into single units

The next three pictures are of my purchases at the Real Rail Train Show today. Above is a nice set of Budd cars, the combo car is powered the coach is a dummy. Very nice and only $30.

This is a Sperry Rail Service detector car, self powered which will shortly be receiving a DCC decoder with sound.

Here is another type of crane car with a caboose like structure sharing space on the flat car. It does need a bit of repair to reattach the hook and cable to the end of the boom, but at $5 I thought it was worth it to get a cart I spent the day searching for. I will be back at the train show tomorrow, working as I did most of today, but there may be some super deals as the dealers are packing up and want to make that last bit of sales before they go home.  I also picked up an HO scale forklift to add to the detail around one of the industries on the layout.

The latest rolling stock addition is pictured above. A 7 car log hauling train (including the caboose) which eventually will be pulled by a geared locomotive like a Shay or a Heisler. The Heisler I have is in the shop to have it's couplers properly mounted at the correct height so for now one of my NW-2's takes the point.

This is a light duty crane and a flat car carrying rails and assorted stuff. I think it was about $10.

The view above is the final one of that display case. 17 locomotives fills it to my definition of capacity. If I add any more brass models it will be quite a way off and will require a new display case. This case holds 17 locos and the four lower shelves each hold one diesel, one electric and two steam engines. 

Here is a view of the LED strip lighting that illuminates the long narrow shelf.

This is the latest and most likely final display cabinet in my railroad room. It is stocked with all the rest of my locomotives from the layout including the one that was on display by the local station. My Son-in-law, Gabe, came over today to assemble the case and I mounted the track and roadbed on each shelf as it was assembled. I had already painted all of the lumber so that only minor touchups would be necessary once it was ready to be hung. Gabe did a magnificent job on the display case and after I took him to lunch it was up to me to load all of the locomotives into the case. THe only loco left on the layout is a HOn3 Shay that actually resides on a low boy trailer to simulate a locomotive being transported to a different railroad museum. In the distant future I am thinking of having mirror panels made to fit behind each shelf to make the models more visible. That is an idea that may or may not come to fruition. Now as I take each loco down I will be able to determine whether it is DC powered or DCC equipped. My layout has the capability to do both but I have long since forgotten which locos are which. My next job will be to clean all of the track on the layout and make sure that the layout operates as intended. 

       I have a particular fancy for "transfer cabooses with their many railings. I just think they look neat as anything, so I bought another one to go with the other two I own, one of which was homebrewed and the other came from the same company as this one. I n addition, I am awaiting the too long delayed 3-D printed one I purchased on Ebay. It has now been over a month and all the vendor could say was "OOPS we mislaid that order, sorry. I doubt very much that I will purchase from them again. Eventually they cancelled the  order and refunded the money as " they could not fill the order on my terms." That is the last time I will deal with that company.

       On a happier note, I managed  to create a 10 foot long shelf with a single run of track on it. Tomorrow I will get some help to mount it just above the backdrop of the original layout. It is painted the same dark brown as the rest of the displays and it will be anchored securely to the wall. Among other things, the logging train will go on there with either the Heisler or the Shay in the lead position. I do plan to add bumpers at each end to keep the trains from falling off the end of the shelf. If it proves to take too much light off the layout I will add an LED strip on the underside of the shelf. 

This is a picture of a unit that sadly, had to be sent back to the seller because it was DOA. The good news is that I was able to get another one from a different vendor that  even has DCC built right in from the factory. It should get here in about a week and then we will see if it is as advertised. These little "Trackmobile" units are generally seen in industrial environments shifting one or two freight cars around. Fast Forward a week or so-The new one has tested fine on the test track at the club and has now taken up residence on my layout.

Here is a good example of a Doodlebug self powered passenger car. Many railroads used them where passenger traffic could not justify an entire train. 

MY MODEL RAILROAD PAGE 25 

This is my new carrying case so that I can take my trains to the club layout and get them tested and do a little running time as the HO layout at the club is almost ready for simple operations. The case is almost finished, I just replaced the top two pictures to show the improvements I made today Sunday Oct 30. I added foam blocks between the cars and around the locomotive and the Trackmobile. I also added a 2" x 2" x 10" foam block on top of the cover to keep the lid securely down on the rolling stock to keep them from bouncing around inside the case. By the way, the cars are now stored upside down on the advice of a more experienced modeler. I also added a couple of small tool kits. and replaced the sloppy job I did on the trim alound the paperwork storage sleeve and the cover for the car storage slots. I think it looks much better now.

This is the latest aquisition to the roster.This NW-2 will be used mostly on the club layout as opposed to my home layout. It is painted for a local (at one time) Florida Railroad upon which our club layout is loosely based.

Here is the shelf mounted and ready for its load of railcars and locomotives.