900 switching, sounding off..

I'll hopefully post an update on progress on the Baldwin AS16 soon. In the meantime, spent some time tweaking the Cvs on the Tsunami chip I installed into the Atlas RS36 and I'm enjoying how it sounds.. I took it for the latest train on Brett and posted a video here..

testing the 'look'

I've been trying to decide what to do with the various locos of my small fleet.. Originally my plan was to re-patch everything for the Yellow Pine, but the advent of the Midland Belt RR, and fear of cocking up, have delayed me.

So - I have decals for another Midland Belt loco and was trying to decide which one to pick for the new livery. (900 being almost ready).

My instinct was the recently purchased Bowser AS16 just wouldn't look right with the very modern style of the MBRR logo, and started to think about perhaps either applying something more vintage in style.. or stick to Yellow Pine.. but last night I thought it might be worth printing off some mocked up stripes to mimic the decals and see how they actually look.

The B&O AS-16 with mock up decal and stripes

As far as an exercise goes, it has been really useful.. I was surprised how actually the AS16 might look quite well.. it also confirmed for me that my little Baldwin switcher (which I love, especially with the Loksound noises) is probably not a contender..likewise the Bachmann S4. (Which does need a repaint  but I think will stay Yellow Pine)

Nope...

I am undecided about the SF C30-7. It would really need taking apart, stripping and repainting, and I'm not sure that I'm keen enough on the loco to do all that really.

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.

Brett from a different viewpoint

Well, a couple of different viewpoints actually..

A view along the layout, as the local arrives

From the left hand side

Although it highlights the code 100 track, I like this angle

Boxcar ready for collection at Smith & Hogg

Getting the order ready in Northwest Lumber

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