Testing Sheldon

Just posted the third (and final) video capturing the changes that I've made on Sheldon. Nice to play with a 12 foot run, even if it is only a 1 spur fork!

Part 2 is here..

Progress on two fronts

A couple of days off work and I've felt like cracking on with stuff. As well as setting up Brett on it's exhibition framework to check some stuff.. I've also built a couple of plastic kits for Sheldon and been busy in the garage with bits of wood..

This is the 4 foot extension for Sheldon.. it's a foot wide, rather than the standard 18", as we found in our group that as long as the compatibility was there at board ends, the difference in width for these joining pieces wasn't too much of an issue. Although I ordered brackets and feet for this, they turned up today and the 50mm feet aren't going to cut it, so I've pinched the 100mm feet from my short end 

It's just going to be a straight signle track run of 4 ft, providing a switch lead for the spur at Sheldon, and a bridge to the next module. If necessary, I might make up small triangle bits to match up the ends with 18" boards. 

Scenically it's going to be pretty plain - fields, possibly with some fencing etc.

I've also been giving some thought to the room layout, the replacement for Brett. Pete over on RMWeb, made some good suggestions on my first draft, and I've incorporated them here.. still not the final version - that will be whatever gets actually built, but some good ideas so far.

Freemo overhaul

Our Midlands freemo group has 'paused' for a few months, the next meet won't be until the autumn as it stands at the moment. However, after our last meeting, I decided to make some changes to the existing modules. Sheldon and Cooper seemed a little small, with the benefit of experiencing the operations we've been able to run, I decided to;

1. Scrap Cooper. For now.. longer term I may well come back to version 2 later.
2. Use the 'Cooper' board to extend Sheldon.

The modules have taken up residence in my garage for the last few weeks as I've spent the odd evening or Sunday morning doing a bit. 

I've made a point of capturing progress on video, and I'll be uploading part 2 today. They.. or I guess I should now say 'it' isn't finished yet.. but I'm quite pleased with how it's come together so far.. feels a lot more plausible.

Part 1

I realise that all this has done is to extend the elevator spur by a few feet, probably allowing another three spots for switching, and also lost two further 'industries', but I think the feel of it and look of it is as important for me, and I think the pay-off is worth it.

By the way..As a means of research, I've spent time browsing Google Maps and Streetview. The little town of Fairland in Indiana has been a goldmine for me. (although the houses in my Sheldon are looking a little more run down)

Another Youtube Freemo clip - Cab Ride!!

At the last meeting of the Midland Belt Freemo group, I brought along a newly acquired little cheap micro DV camera. I had no idea if it would work, but we blutacked it onto one of Dan's flat cars and pushed it around the layout.. and waddyaknow ?!?

January 2016 Freemo meet

On Sunday we had the first Freemo meet of the year at Armitage. 'We' being the fairly new Midland Belt Freemo group.

When I look back at our first meeting in March last year, it's quite something to see how far we've come. We ran around 120 feet of 'mainline' with trains operating in at least four directions, along with passenger runs and specials.

Operation was all organised by Chris Gilbert, using the Mac 'switchlist' program I use for Brett, as an alternative to JMRI. Chris also provided much of his Florida fleet, supplemented by a couple of Midland Belt RR locos.

The layout was something like this..

I put together  a video of the pictures and short videos I managed to take on the day..

Also, Dan has posted a video of his own here..

New Premises for Wolowitz & Hofstadter

I quite enjoyed building and painting the brick building for 'Wolowitz & Hofstadter'.. the industry on my Freemo module 'Cooper'. However.. I've felt from the outset that it looks a little out of place. It's the kind of building I imagine to see in perhaps a more built-up area and the Freemo modules do have a rather more 'out of town' feel to them generally.

I decided to act on this nag and to modernise the premises for W&H.

The original building

New building starts to take shape

Despite initial worries about the ubiquitous Pikestuff kits all looking the same, Google Street view at least does seem to suggest that these buildings are indeed all over the place and quite often look exactly like the kits - colours and all!

I picked the 'Diamond Tool and Engineering' kit but knew that it would probably need some surgery in order to fit the space on the module.

In fact, I ended up halving the width of the building.. which lead to a slightly long and thin looking shed, but I think it looks plausible enough. I also cut a couple of extra doors, so that railside would have some loading facility.. I intend to relay the concrete/asphalt area around the industry so care will be needed to ensure the height is right.

Although it's unlikely to be seen, I've added a very basic interior to the building where the two story windows are to suggest an office above a reception area.

It would be quite nice to add a couple of security lights to the walls, I'll have to see if I can bodge something.

the front

Railside

Once the glue has dried thoroughly, I'll paint the concrete base and perhaps add some very light weathering before adding signage, then it's to the module to get it set in position.

Midland Belt Railroad first loco

Well, the big Freemo event has been and gone. And it lived up the anticipation.. absolutely brilliant weekend.. I'm aware that I haven't posted here but I don't think that there actually that many people who read my blog anyway, and lately I've been using Youtube a little more.. I posted a slideshow here..

Our 'local' Midland based Freemo group has taken on the name of the Midland Belt Freemo group. We've decided to run our own shortline too - the Midland Belt Railroad.

Although we haven't really fleshed out the detail, Chris Gilbert has sorted out some decals in a similar style to his Florida Central locos, so we hope to get a few locos re-painted and patched for the joint RR, that way there is a sense of consistency when we run our trains at our Freemo get-togethers.

Although we are probably going to 'allow' some other plain colours - the consensus is that the ideal livery will be black with the yellow branding and striping of the MBRR.

I recently picked up an Atlas HO "Trainman' RS36 from eBay and this week managed to get the loco fitted wth  a Soundtraxx chip as well as getting the decal job started.. as the loco was already black with a red band, I decided to paint out the 'Iowa Central' and replace with the Midland logo. I also added the yellow line to the footplate.

Looking at it now, I think that I may replace the numbers too, I may stick with 900 but use the decals for a more consistent look.

Hopefully once it's done, a light weathering will help to tie it all in together.

A short video showing how I bodged the speaker here..

September.. Revving up for Freemo

Not been posting regular updates on this blog, I know. However, I do try to occasionally post on Youtube too.

I recently uploaded one to show my two latest loco purchases..

At the moment the focus is mostly on getting ready for next weekend - Big Freemo meet in Armitage, home of the TVNAM show.

Here's a plan for the meet.. Sheldon and Cooper are both there on different branch lines..

Hopefully will have lots of pictures and some video to post after then :-)

Cooper gets greened

I decided to concentrate on one Freemo module before I move on to the other. Over the last week or so I've been scattering grass material, drenching in PVA, cursing, making buildings, painting, sanding, filling, cursing, and nearly giving up..all over "Cooper"

My intention originally was to hold back, keep things fairly sparse, as that seems to work best in the Freemo environment overall. I've been spending a lot of time in Google street view around the midwest - noting the lack of fences and number of trees around the lines I was following. However, as I was bathing Cooper in a shower of green material..I was worried that the module was all getting too busy, with the trees and different textures, but today I'm fairly relaxed about it. 

I certainly don't intend to do too much more.. it's just a case of finishing off the ground colouring in the areas of hard-standing, and a few small bits like a bit of clutter around the warehouse, signage etc. Then clean up and test the track again before putting it away and starting on "Sheldon".

Cooper is supposed to be on the edge of town. One spur feeds a team track, from which I removed the ramp as it just didn't look right. On the other side is Wollowitz and Hoffstetter, I hope to get a semi or trailer to park in the yard, along with a few dumpsters. Next door to W&H is a small house with it's lawned yard and swimming pool.

A few pictures of progress so far..

overall view

Wollowitz and Hoffstetter

Along the module - team track to the left

Approaching Cooper

Too many trees?

The team track

TVNAM 2015

Yesterday I was at 'the' show for American railroad modellers, held each year at Armitage, TVNAM.

I've been to the show a few times and always enjoyed not only the modelling, but the almost social club aspect.. as Nick, the organiser put it, it's a show for enthusiasts, by enthusiasts.. not really one to compare with your typical club model railway exhibitions, run in scout halls and sports halls up and down the country every weekend.

The main room

Midland, Ohio. Nick's O Scale layout

Midland, Ohio. Nick's O Scale layout

Midland, Ohio. Nick's O Scale layout

Florida Springs and Hacienda Avenue

29th Street Wharf

29th Street Wharf

29th Street Wharf

West Allen Street, micro layout

I didn't get many pictures of the great layouts on show I'm afraid, I don't tend to bother too much these days as my camera skills aren't really up to it. Much better pictures will be up on RMWeb and other blogs today, I suspect.

Woodsville

Woodsville

Anyway - this year, our little newly formed loose band of "Freemo' enthusiasts arranged to display in the large side room. In the week leading up to the day there was a series of emails and rough plans drawn up, trying to work out how to best arrange the various modules that we now knew would be there in the room, to give us some kind of running and be accessible to the paying public.

We starting setting up around 8 o'clock, an element of shuffling and seeing how things fitted came into play. By the time that the doors opened at 10, we had the modules up. It took a little longer to fully work out some electrical issues (one of the modules was built to a different standard and a bit of electrical tinkering was required), but we were running trains and answering questions all day.

The Freemo Room!

Very tiring, but good fun. Hopefully may have sparked the interest of one or two visitors.

Personally it was a relief to know that my modules worked ok, although it also highlighted a couple of minor things for me to adapt (checking the rail ends height on Cooper and perhaps arranging to bolt the legs in place rather than relying on the push fit.)

I put together a short video here:

Freemo modules get 'tested'

Actually, this was a genuine testing session, rather than just an excuse to play trains!

TVNAM is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I want to make sure that the modules are working okay - track clean, no electrical foibles.. that they join up alright etc. 

I did need to re-solder one of the track ends. (Which involved nipping out to buy a new soldering iron!) Why I chose to solder to screws I don't know.. never done it before and eventually I'll replace these with copper clad instead.

Anyway - clearly a lot more to do as regards scenics.. and I'm not 100% about using the brick building for Wolfowitz and Hoffstetter, but for now they are working and that's what matters most.

No pictures today - just a video..

Freemo Modules progress

I've spent a few hours in the garage today (feet are killing me!) I could see a milestone in sight and wanted to crack on and get there. 

Track laid and wiring completed. I've just run my first test train across my two modules. It was DC, a quick hook up, and the little tank engine wasn't too happy with the Peco insulfrogs, but I have used them on Brett and I hope that the American stuff should be fine. Otherwise, not too bad.. everything works as it should.

Obviously a lot to do yet - mostly scenics, but the next step is to decide on / acquire the point controls. I am fairly certain that I'll be using Caboose Industries Ground Throws. (I've drilled holes under the tie bars in case I change my mind).

As you can see, the plan, such as it is, is simple.. but this isn't a layout, there are two separate modules here. The closest one will have an elevator on the spur, and a factory over to the right with some disused track. The further module will have a generic warehouse on one spur and a team track on the other. Obviously quite short, only two or three cars each, but it's all about getting something built!

First-time Freemo fun!

As I mentioned in my last post, I drove over to Armitage to join up with the newly formed Midlands Freemo group for our first 'meet'

(Armitage Village Hall is also the home of TVNAM, a cracking little show which focusses on North American rail modelling)

Considering this was the first go at this, the weekend went very well - it was a two day affair, although I could only make the Saturday. Most of the morning was taken up with physically erecting and connecting the modules. Colin stepped up to sorting out the electrical and control stuff. We used NCE, although there were Digitrax and Lenz panels in use and some small issues around compatibility to get around.

We hadn't got any formal 'ops' planned, so the afternoon was spent pretty much making it up and playing with trains. I spent much of the time working Nick's Foxley yard with my new Baldwin switcher, although I did make a point of taking a train out once at least, to get the experience of moving around the modules.

Not knowing what to expect, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was interesting to me to see how this compared to wargaming, where there is inherently quite a degree of interaction with your fellow hobbyist. It probably helped that this particular group turned out to be a decent bunch of blokes and very easy to get on with!

Anyway, the bug has bit (!) and I've been cracking on with my two modules. I shall post something on that some time soon.

For now, a selection of photos from the day, and a video on youtube..

Freemo, BL2s and Baldwins..

There has been a fair bit of progress lately. (including a new video uploaded to Youtube).

The Freemo modules I described in the last post are pretty much built - adjustable feet were installed yesterday. I'm going along to a Freemo meet at Armitage tomorrow of the 'Midlands' group to see what it's all about. Never done anything like this before, so quite keen to find out. There will be handful of modules as it's a new and small group, but there will pictures to follow! I'm taking one of the boards to make sure I'm building properly, and I'll take a few bits of stock and my controller. Hopefully by the next meet I can actually add a module of my own to the set-up.

It occurred to me that I have never 'played trains' with anyone. Although I have made some friends through the hobby, and share lots of online and 'real' conversation, I've never actually operated a layout with anyone else. So far, that part of the hobby has been a very solitary activity. I have been offered the controller at one or two layouts at exhibitions before and always declined - mostly through fear of mucking up or driving someone else's trains off the table!

I've really enjoyed getting back in to my other hobby lately, and the social aspect of wargaming has re-vitalised that for me, so I am riding that wave for now!

As far as track plans go - I am applying the KISS principle and I aim to produce two stand-alone modules. I'll do a separate post on that once track-laying starts.. for now, bits of foamcore and felt pens have helped me to plan..

As well as the Freemo modules - I got stuck in with the BL2. I found a cheap decoder (probably Hornby or Bachmann) which I managed to get hooked up, along with a couple of LEDs and the loco has been put to service on it's first run to Brett this evening.

#36 switching a long string out of Northwest Lumber

I'll get some BL2 video posted soon. I really do like this loco and can see me looking for another BL2 at some point.

Speaking of new locos - I sold a bunch of stuff on eBay lately and treated myself to  a new sound-equipped loco.. I love the thereby old diesel sound of this, and the fact that it's a little different.. the model is a Bowser - Baldwin DS4-4-1000 switcher..

The Baldwin

Phew! I think that's enough for one post!