Workshop Wednesday

Phenomenal work there, Mr. H! I wish you had given us a shot of those 300 bore holes?

Incredible, MIKE, that little café has simply awesome detail.

 

Neat stuff guys. Tom that will look great I’m sure. Got more in detail parts than the original engine yet?

Mike that is a great little structure. Well done.

 

As of a few minutes ago, I was able to declare my Ph2 F3A "sort of" finished. (I'm still pondering the fate of the battery box covers.) However, all the plastic work and wire work is FINIS. SO, it now joins my other two F's that are ready for the frames to be milled.



Already onto the work space for its plastic work is the last F I have on hand (for now). This is a Ph2 F7A that will represent one of the F's the KC&G purchased for dual service and will get steam generator details installed so it can look appropriate for psgr service. I have already selected the horn that I want to use and have drilled out the mount hole and installed it. I've also chiseled off the 48" dynamic brake fan and already have the basic plug in place and the cement is drying. The plastic work takes a while, for I change a LOT of things about a Kato F shell in order to make it look better to my eyes.


SO... I'm not letting the grass grow as I make a concerted effort to get DCC/Sound equipped engines onto the layout.

OH... and the Stewart/Kato AS16 and the P2K GP7 are on their way back from The Whiz! Once they've arrived, the AS16 will replace the F7 psgr engine as far as "priority" and I'll finish up its details and get it into service, as well as the P2K GP7. It will be after the first of the month before I send my next pair of engines to the The Whiz.

All fer now!

 

Got both of these finished up. Here is some outdoor shots. It was snowing so much here is was tough to do. Some of what could have been the better shots had snowflakes or water drops. Oh well. Enjoy, Steve

 

Here is the Frisco car. I figured since these were the last Frisco rolling stock the Frisco ordered I would use 3100. the last locomotive, to pull them. Sad days for the SL-SF.

The models don't look to bad for cheap old cars and almost no details added.

Thanks for checking them out.

 

Like I said over at MRH: When you get right down to it, to make a convincing model, paint/weathering is all it takes!

The hard part is learning the needed skill sets to accomplish such results!

 

Keith:

When I get ready to start the frame milling on the Kato F's, I'll rethink how to accomplish the milling. I'll also make sure I'm understanding what you're requesting by sending you a pic of a frame illustrating my proposed mill points.

 

Thanks Andre. Glad you liked these old plastic geezers. Cheap but fun.

 

Just snagged these:



Got the pair for $88 plus shipping. ($44 per Kato powered F. Not bad.)

The A unit will probably become a leased/loaner unit. However, lots of work to do on it before that happens. On the A unit, I will be removing the weird looking "FRISCO" off the side and replacing it with Microscale as well as using the Microscale set to add a 4-digit number on the side and number boards. Also need to do all the plastic and wire mods I perform on my Stewart/Kato F's. Thus... it'll be a while before my leased/loaner Frisco F3 is ready for service on the Ozark Sub of the KC&G.

The B unit is going to donate its power chassis to an undec F3A Ph1 shell that's been waiting for a power chassis for a long time. Of course, the undec Ph1 F will become a KC&G F3.

All fer now!

 

Awesome Andre,

I have an old SP unit (no road number) if needed badly (F3 or F7?).

-Bob T.

 

Hi Rob!

Thanks for the offer!

At this point, I don't know what types/phases I need for the final 3 KC&G F's. I need to sit down and take a good look at what models/phases I have on hand (7 units) and then compared them to my paper roster of 27 KC&G EMD F types. My goal is to mode 10 KC&G F types... but I want the model/phase mix to somewhat reflect the ratios found on my paper roster. Seeing as the above Frisco F3A will be a leased/loaner unit, it isn't a part of that "10 F unit" figure I mentioned.

So I need to figure out where I'm at with my current crop of F's and see what models/phases I need for the final 3 models I will eventually acquire to completet my representation of the KC&G F unit roster.

Of F's n' Geeps...

FWIW: There will be 10 GP7 models to represent the 27 GP7's on the KC&G paper roster. I already have all of those on hand. 4 are in service, 1 is being fitted for service, three are waiting their turn to go to The Whiz, and two I just recently acquired are still in the box.

All fer now!

 

Friends,

I missed last week for some reason, so the projects have been piling up.....

Scanning eBay for fixer-uppers, I found this $9 Accurail car (KCS USRA Boxcar). It was a mess with the most rust on a car weight that I had ever seen, and most detail parts missing. I had a stash of parts to draw on, cleaned it up and added a few details. Will get the misc wire details painted and weather with the next batch of cars.



Another mini project while on coffee breaks (work-from-home office = garage, as the oldest is still home from Rice U. -- Sorry @Iantha_Branch , I could not get him to go to our beloved Pittsburg State). These oil tanks will be used on the layout at various spots, and I need to weather them and hide the molding marks.



The scratch-built coal bin was modified a bit after I looked through the YouTube video that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. I shortened the vertical poles and added some bracing. Still need to find some coal to put in there.



The major project over the past weekend was to get the staging yard sections constructed. We finally had some nice weekend weather and my back is feeling better, so after several good days of progress, we have a pair of 12 x 40 inch sections, semi-permanently attached. They are built in the waffle (torsion box) style. This is a narrow set, which needs to be connected to the layout for stability, and not fall over. It is narrow to fit the space I have next to the Lightning Creek Mine modules.



This is going to give two or three tracks with capacity of 6-7 car tracks. Here it is shown connected to the MoPac interchange, where it can be connected to run the half-layout of the Weir Branch Line (shown in background). It is sitting out the middle of the garage, as the car is in the other side and in the way to connect to the Brush Creek section. Also, it looks like the legs are about 1/2 inch too short and will need modification. The other place will be parallel to the Lightning Creek mine, bringing trains from the south into Cherokee on the Afton Sub. I am debating on whether to add a third track, as I was hoping to put a view block when this is used adjacent to the coal mine.





I will post a few more construction photos on the layout build thread later.

Take Care All and Stay Safe,

-Bob T.

 

I’m not much on self promotion but I thought Tom would enjoy knowing “we” won our monthly NMRA divisions photo contest. We still can’t do in person model contest so we are doing photo contest with models and prototypes competing against each other. Enjoy, Steve

 

Congrats Steve. I am sure you are missing the RPMs.

-Bob T.

 

Hip, hip, HOORAY! For Steve!

 

Thanks guys.


Yes more than anyone can imagine Bob. I sure hope they are back soon.

 

Nice. Are the details accurate for Frisco? Do they have dynamic brakes?

I was stuck in motel rooms the past few weeks, so I brought some projects along:

Accurail boxcars. Will be 120XXX series. They have the same number, but the colors are different..

Accurail 36' boxcars:


I like these Accurail 36' cars. Can't wait for the Frisco one to come out.