Hey guys, just a quick update. Last Saturday FRISCO 4500 was put into the roundhouse for some minor repairs. It appears she had a bent leftside valve gear problem which was causing her to jerk which in the real world would really upset passengers. So anyway she is out of service at the roundhouse (Dibbles Hobbyshop) being repaired. she is also being fitted with a shorter, more prototypical drawbar, so the fireman dont have to make a running jump back and forth from the cab to the tender. Mike assured me she will run like a clock when I pick her up on Wednesday. I also aquired 2 roundhouses, 3 passenger stations and several buildings in an auction on ebay. In the auction where I won the roundhouses, the guy actually sent me more than what was actually listed. Now I have a 130' turntable bridge but have to build or find a pit to fit it. Now one thing I recieved wassome sort foa curcuit board with places to plug in 3 walk around throttles. I dont have any use for it but it was recieved anyway. So once I get enough switches to build the yard leads on both ends I will be operational. This evening, I added some more tables so my yard and service facitlity will work with my track plan. I have one large city, one small town, a 4 foot long river with a single, and a double track bridge, waterfall over the dam, and industry for switching. I have worked it out where 3 to 5 people can operate at the same time. I am concidering DCC or something like it to where more than one locomotive can operate in different directions on the same track. If i can figure out the wiring part of it, the lights will go on and all will be right with the world. |-||-||-|
Will, Sounds like you are making a lot of progress. Post some progress photos when you are able. Regarding the DCC, it is actually easier to wire for DCC than it is for block control. You will be amazed. . . . . . Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
FRISCO 4500 has taken longer than expected to come out of the repair shop but, I got word today that she was test run and is running like a clock again. She was fitted with new valve gears and a shorter drawbar for a more prototypical look. Mike is gonna lube her up and told me she will be ready for pickup on Saturday. As far as the layout I did some reconfiguring of my track plan to make a very unique style of yard and Engine facility. I have a double main with a homemade double crossover right by the location where one of the 3 passenger stations will go. I won a few simafore signals on ebay and will be placing them in protypical locations on the layout as well. In the yard I have a 5 track yard with all #6 shinohara turnouts so that the 4500 can pass through if needed. I also have 4 storage tracks and a stump track which last night I ballasted, weathered, and placed snow on. I was quite happy with the result because it turned out to look as if snow was actually blowing across the old delapidated tracks. I have not made a complete connection of the tracks to complete the loop around but I am getting close. I have yet to start laying the track for my industry area, but I am getting close to time to be able to work on that. As soon as I make the connection with the inside mainline to the yard lead, I will start laying the track which will connect from the yard, come out on to the main and back into the industrial park. One other thing I am planning is to have the industrial park on both sides of the River so I will have switching taking place over the river bridges. I will be submitting some pictures in the next few days to show our progress. The roundhouse which is 6 stalls was placed between the yard and the mainline in order to capture a really neat scenario of the heart of the railroad being right within the view of the heart of the passenger service, this way I can place a couple of curiously amazed little boys looking out the windows of the passenger coach watching with anitcipation the goings on of the yard switcher, watering tower, coaling tower, sanding tower and the turntable. I thought this would be a pretty neat scene for a kodak moment or 3. We have one corner of the layout complete where we have a little rural passenger depot and freight station, nestled at the bottom of a hill covered with snow and a mother deer and her fawn are hunkered down together trying to stay warm in the freezing conditions using a small blind of pine trees to sheild from the cold winds. My wife did this scene following step by step instructions from Woodland Scenics and it came out looking extremely nice. If we place a desk lamp next to it with a 100 watt bulb it actually looks like the sun is shining down on the scene early in the morning casting the right shadows onto the ground. I am really happy with the way my wife and I are doing the scenery and the results we are getting. Will|-||-||-|
