Alright Already! Sheesh!

Alright Already! Sheesh!

I've been getting comments and emails about the dry spell here, and before I show what I've been working on, I thought I'd point out the similar lack of progress on other model railroad blogs, like here, here, here and even here.

The N-Land Pacific group is getting ready for the NMRA tours in July, and we decided to build a utility module with a balloon track to turn the trains at the end of a run. Since this is strictly utility, the radius will depart from the standard and go down to just 18 inches. We should be able to turn an eight-foot train on a module that is 80" long, and 24" wide on the connection end, and 48" wide on the balloon end.

Last night I built the four legs for this module, and thought it'd be a good opportunity to post something here. I have completely given up on the idea of a leg made from a single piece of wood. There is too much warping and weight involved. These "engineered" legs are much lighter, and nearly bullet-proof. They are made of a strip of 15/32" plywood 2" wide, and another that is 1.5" wide. There are three, three-inch blocks, milled from a two-by-four with the saw still set at the 1.5" width. I mount a tee-nut with screw mounts (Rockler 68379) and use a 5/16" eye-bolt for the leveling adjustment.

I've used this leg design on several modules now, and I am convinced it is the only way to go.

Hide Your Children!

Hide Your Children!

I added a photo of a new module I started today. I named it after the mythical Mexican beast, la Chubacabra. The name fits because this thing is a monster! 17" wide and eight feet long, it is 45 pounds of fury!

Seriously, I decided to build it sturdy so that it could serve as a home base at shows and runs. There will be no scenery, just staging yard, programming track, engine/caboose storage tracks, a power strip, DCC booster, transformer, and refrigerated cup holders (just kidding about the refrigerated part).

The photo was taken before I added the endplates so that you could see the channels for storing tools, car boxes, etc. It is a couple inches under eight feet so it can be stood on end without hitting the ceiling.

The far end in the photo is ten degrees from square so that the ladder real estate is optimized. The mainline is the ladder track on the far end, and maybe the middle track on the close end.

To keep things bulletproof, I used Code 80 Peco turnouts and Atlas flex track with a transition to Code 55 at the ends. I'm going to ask Sherry to sew a large canvas sock to cover the beast when I transport it outside my truck. I'll be adding casters on one end so I can wheelbarrow the thing into shows and setups.

Everything you see in the photo was completed in about four and a half hours last night. With track, transformer, legs and wheels, this beast should end up being 50 pounds.

New Caboose

New Caboose

We just got a new caboose for the family's iron horse. After spending a great weekend car camping in a fantastic camp site, we decided it was time to upgrade from sleeping on the tent floor. I'm looking forward to some great weekend trips and maybe some longer trips too.

SoCal Railfan has GPS coordinates for most of the railfan areas around Southern Calfornia, so with a little coordination with SoCal Camping, I may find that perfect spot. Somehow I don't think my wife will be interested in camping next to the tracks, so I'll save those trips for the boys.

The Grand Experiment

The Grand Experiment

Last night I worked until three in the morning, so I skipped the office today. After waking up with the sun, I decided to play trains for a while.

Those things that look like cookies gone bad, are actually test blobs of the static grass. I put a handful of dirt in the bottom of a paper cup, made a depression in the center, and then poured in some plaster. Once it dried, I painted the plaster blobs Trail Tan and then tried different ratios of the Woodland Scenics static grass. I ended up liking the Honey Gold sprayed on and then mottling some Burned Grass over the top of it. Solid colors just looked like I took a giant hole-punch to a deer pelt.

I painted the concrete abutments, and then the canyon and other areas of the module. I'm pretty sure I will be repainting the canyon because it looks too Arizona Highways and not enough like the local scenery. Once that gets done, I will be adding lots of shrubs and some grazing cattle, barbed wire fence, creekside clutter and the usual trackside details. These elements will go a long way in making the grass look like something other than the back dash on a Caprice.

Design Improvement

Design Improvement

For those of you making your own "little-flocker" you might want to change the output pipe to this new design. With sustained use, the gap between the two barbed adapters collects flock and eventually makes a clog. This new design eliminates that problem. Just go to the electrical department of your local hardware store and get a 3" steel nipple (Westinghouse 70603) and a set of locknuts and washers (Westinghouse 70628). Use the rubber washers from the previous assembly to keep things airtight.

Mother Flocker!

Mother Flocker!

Back in December, I was trying to come up with a cheap method of making tall grasses in my scenery. I tried the auto carpet route, but as Steve told me, "The only thing that sticks to auto carpeting is dog vomit and Milk Duds." That made attaching bushes a little tough, though I enjoyed the Milk Duds, especially with a bowl of popcorn.

I remained envious of the results that Bernd had with a very expensive electrostatic flocker (click on the barn for an up-close look), but I had a hard time spending $120 or so on the device. Bernd uses a blend of three different types of electrostatic grass from German manufacturer HEKI: Sommerwiese (Heki 3360), Winterboden (Heki 3363) and Wildgras (Heki 3367). He says the fibers of the first two are about 3mm long, the Wildgras is about 5mm long.

A Google search came up with an alternative to electrostatic applicators for half that price, but I'm a tight-wad, and convinced myself that I could make something at home.

Ignoring the sickly color of my sample flock at right, my home-built device worked fantastically and it only cost $20 for the parts. I'm sure someone with a decent scrap box could cut the cost even more. Make sure you click on the photo below for a good look at the parts list.

One of the things I like about my flocker is that the cup is translucent so I can see how much static grass is left. Make sure you don't go over 25 PSI and keep the nozzle about ten to twelve inches from the surface. I would also recommend that you keep the air intake centered, and the outlet off-center, that way the fibers swirl around and ultimately line up for the trip down the tube and into the glue. Assembly should be self-explanatory, and I wouldn't bother with any teflon tape because of the low pressures. I also wouldn't skimp on the plastic cup, I liked the EZ Touch-Up Cup because it had lots of deep threads to hang on when pressurized (just cut off the brush with a hacksaw). NOTE: please see the design improvement here.

Get to work

Get to work

Apparently tired of being the primary workers at the N-Land Pacific Work Day, Jeff and I cruised while Bob and Stan did most of the work. Here Jeff has donned the BNSF Supervisor's helmet and directs Bob and Stan in the scratch-building of a hangar for Stan's new helibase module.

If you read the bucket, it says "I can't Believe it's not Butter!" and that's not a big leap. Here Stan is spreading the sanded grout we all use for soil on our modules. This new module is going to be pretty cool. There is going to be a farm house on top of the hill, with a palm-lined driveway going down to a rural road. On the other side of the tracks from the hill will be farm land and a crop-dusting helibase.

I spent the day working on some miscellaneous projects, some module legs, and fixing the broken scenery on El Gato. Another great day in the garage. Thanks guys!