Workshop Wednesday

Discussion in 'General' started by yardmaster, Nov 15, 2017.

  1. w3hodoug (Doug Hughes RIP 03/24/2021)

    w3hodoug (Doug Hughes RIP 03/24/2021) 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    Keith, I just ordered one from M. B. Klein plus one for an ALCO RS-1 turbocharged 539. The EMD sound decoder has a spot picked out for it in my ancient Athearn SD-45 944, a great puller.
     
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  2. w3hodoug (Doug Hughes RIP 03/24/2021)

    w3hodoug (Doug Hughes RIP 03/24/2021) 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    They look great. We've been building a bunch for our club using the FastTracks jigs.
     
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  3. I love your U boats Doug.
    I am almost done with the MKT wrecker here at last. Should be this week. Which is good because I have a couple of Keiths engines here in the paint shop and he will need them for all those switches it looks like!
    About the last thing was the water cooler and holder for the fender. The cooler was an old Xacto knife and the lid and old pen cap. The holder just brass tube and styrene.
    I will have to add pics from home though tonight. (made it)
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    Last edited: Apr 18, 2018
  4. Jim James

    Jim James Staff Member Staff Member

    C816FFD5-C83A-4B1E-83DD-C1E535ED9915.jpeg Totally non- Frisco but here’s a little Nn3 water tank car I scratchbuilt. The flat car is a Showcase Miniatures kit.
     
  5. That's great Jim. That has to be tiny!!! Nice work.
     
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  6. Jim James

    Jim James Staff Member Staff Member

  7. Thanks for that shot jim!
     
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  8. gna

    gna Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Had some time around the blizzard this weekend--when I wasn't shoveling.

    I installed couplers and ladders on my Frisco caboose (from Free Frisco Stuff):
    IMG_1248.JPG

    Shaved off details and doors and sanded sides on old MDC car. I'm trying to kitbash a PRR XL car:
    IMG_1241.JPG

    I checked my drivers on the K4s . The one I thought was off was indeed off. I tried to requarter, but still has a bind. :mad:
    One of my friends gave me an old cable TV box enclosure for projects, so I took the DCC++ system I built with an Arduino Nano, high amperage shield, and transistor board, and installed it in the box:
    IMG_1235.JPG
    IMG_1236.JPG
    This freed up an Arduino Uno and shield to use for other projects, so I played around with lighting projects that were posted on MRH:
    IMG_1249.JPG
    Here's an arc welding effect:

    Finally, my wife and daughter asked me to fix this iPod speaker:
    IMG_1247.JPG

    It wouldn't hold a charge, so I had to order a new battery. It finally came, so I soldered it in. The cord near the plug seemed to have dead spots, so I cut one off an old pair of headphones and spliced it in. YOU'RE WELCOME CAN I BUY SOME DECODERS NOW?
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2018
  9. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    image.jpeg image.jpeg Here is a couple of areas I am making for Bridges
    The other end looks similar, I have a open deck bridge I am making for the area.
    I would like some suggestions for another opening I have, it will have another open deck and Tressel.
    Anyone have ideas about the ends ?
    The first photo is the one I would like ideas for the ends.
    The second photo is what will be the ends on the first area.
     
  10. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    Great stuff William!
    Did you get track and time? I see the signal post in the images. Looks like you are having a great time brother...
    Please continue showing us your photos.
    Thank you.
     
  11. geep07

    geep07 Member

    William,
    I would not be repetitious showing rock outcroppings for all bridge abutments. Use a concrete abutment, maybe a timbered wall to show a different look to the scene. Use your imagination as to what type of structure a railroad design engineer would cross a ravine or river with. Do the same on both ends. Or, use an abutment that the railroad you are modeling did for a typical situation!

    Have fun!

    John
     
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2018
  12. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    John, that's what I was looking for, I've seen so many bridges that sometimes they kinda blend togather. I see I got too much yellow on the backdrop. So I'll fix that. Their is a section on my old territory (KCS) this time called "THE EYEBROW" that has a rock ledge under the track and then nothing under the ledge. It stay's their, but no one sees how. Again on the BNSF, on my territory in Vancouver Washington, where their is a series of short tunnels probably not over 200 Ft, in the Columbia Gorge. I will model the tunnels on that area.
     
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  13. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    Tom, I just took it out of service. The Dispatcher squealed, but tough. That does remind me of a Story. Ha you all like these anyway. I had the Steel Gang down around Black Rock, Arkansas. We was given 6 hours of track time, so I told the men we would lay 4 ribbons. Well we had trouble right off the bat. My supervisor was in the area and "not to my knowledge" told my front end foreman to rip out 5 ribbons. The Burro Crane derailed on a sharp curve, I thought we could rerail it in short order, WRONG, we was 2 hours getting it up and finally we were threading rail again. We still could make it, but then the spiker went down. That was the last straw. I told the dispatcher and he said to keep him advised. Well 3 hours later the spiker was rolling again. So I went to the Dispatcher and told him we needed 4 additional hours account breakdowns. Well he went off like a rocket, cussing and all. When he finally stopped I told him, "Well if you can run-EM on one rail bring them on" Since then I was known as the only Roadmaster on the railroad to put on a "Jump Order" which told the train crew to "JUMP" ! I really got ripped over that and nearly lost my job.
     
  14. gna

    gna Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Lots of computer/electronics this week:
    IMG_1329.JPG
    Clockwise from lower left:
    Someone was throwing away old cell phones at work--they threw the whole phones in the battery recycling. I fished them out, removed the SD and sim cards, and put them with the circuit boards. A couple were just cheap trac phones, but this LG was a bit nicer. This one worked, and had wifi, so I charged it up and installed Engine Driver (free program that works with JMRI) on it. It was so old it couldn't download apps anymore, so I had to put it on the SD card and upload it. Now I have another wireless throttle.

    Arduino boards. I played around with Arduinos more this work, but I keep getting errors when I try to make changes to some programs. I'll need to learn more about coding.

    I managed to requarter the driver on my Bowser K4s kit. It took a few tries--it kept wanting to go back on the way it was installed, so i had to file and sand a little and knurl the axle. I finally got it on in quarter and the bind is gone and it's much smoother.

    Underneath, my brother gave me a Chromebook with a bad charge/battery--it only works when plugged in. My old train computer does the same thing, so I thought I could upgrade. I manged to get JMRI, Arduino, and other needed programs installed and running, but it doesn't have an ethernet port, and I need that to talk to the wireless to use old phones as throttles (see above). I tried an adaptor, but no luck yet.

    The weather finally warmed up, so probably less time in the trainroom for the next few months...
     
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  15. yardmaster

    yardmaster Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Gary, reminds me of the old song "It's what you do with what you got." I'd say you got some fun stuff at a good price, and are doing quite a bit with it.

    Workshop configuration is still going on at our house. That notwithstanding, plenty of activities to keep us busy as the school year winds down, so no free moments to pursue railroady stuff for now.

    Best Regards,
     
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  16. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Here's another of my "Workshop Wednesday" creations; a 3-way lap switch in Code 83. This one was completely scratch-built and it took a couple days' work. Getting the geometry of the frogs was the biggest challenge. The preponderance of pc ties illustrate the difficulty of keeping everything in gauge while maintaining flangeway space. The frogs are isolated in two chunks based on the possibility of rail polarity determined by route.
    IMG_2963.JPG
     
  17. Friscotony

    Friscotony Member

    Is this one "free" hand or did the track kit make it work.


    Tony
     
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  18. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    This one is truly scratch-built (no jigs). Fast Tracks does make jigs for building 3-way turnouts but I did not buy a jig since I did not anticipate building a lot of them. I do have jigs for #4.4 and #5 turnouts, and have access to #6, #8, and #10 jigs from a friend locally. Building regular turnouts with the jigs is quite easy and very fulfilling, not to mention far superior to any that are commercially made.
     
  19. Sirfoldalot

    Sirfoldalot Frisco.org Supporter Frisco.org Supporter

    Keith ... You are amazing! Beautiful work.
     
  20. Friscotony

    Friscotony Member

    I used one of the Walthers code 83 units for my Wichita yard entrance. The only turnout on the layout to give any problems with stalls as I had not wired the frogs This was only for short wheelbase Broadway limited NW-2 and SW-7. wired the frogs and all is good. I do like the way your unit looks. Very clean.

    Tony L.
     
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