I've been working on various projects and don't have anything completed to show you, but I'll give you an update and share some photos.
I started working on an Intermountain box car Saturday. I have a pair of CB&Q boxes I had picked up at a show for pretty cheap. I thought I had put together Intermountain stuff before, but this one seemed like it was a whole new ballgame. First of all, the box was pretty warped.
The roof was also pretty warped, so I could tell this was going to be a bear. I had all kinds of trouble with the brake rigging underneath, breaking it in several places. The coupler box design is just plain dumb. You have to basically put the coupler centering mechanism (the little copper thing with the tabs on it) in upside down, then glue the coupler box shut, then glue the box to the floor of the boxcar. As I did this, I was hoping the coupler was perfect in height and never needed adjusting or replacing because I would have to tear the car apart to fix it.
Anyway, by the time I started putting the fragile plastic ladders and grabs on, I was pretty much done with the model. The grabs were breaking, they weren't clearly labeled and I was ready to throw the thing out the window. I've put together P2K, Red Caboose and other makes of "detailed" box cars, but I've never run into so much trouble. I figured with the warped box, things were only going to get worse and packed it in. Both of the Intermountain cars will go on ebay at some point -- one mint in box, one for parts. What a waste of time. I will not be buying any more Intermountain cars, I know that.
In other news: I started installing the decoder in my PRR SW9. Lifelike would be doing the train world a great favor if they started using 12 volt bulbs instead of those 1.5 volt jobbers. I hate having to tear half the engine apart just to replace the bulbs so I can use DCC. I've got the engine apart and will paint the figures in the cab while I'm at it, but until that's done, I'll wait to install the new bulbs.
I've also started work on the next building for the downtown scene. It's going to be a "modern" office building for a utility. I've been taking pictures and will share the whole process when I'm done.
I also found a little time to work the Cleveland yard job. Here are some pictures:
I started working on an Intermountain box car Saturday. I have a pair of CB&Q boxes I had picked up at a show for pretty cheap. I thought I had put together Intermountain stuff before, but this one seemed like it was a whole new ballgame. First of all, the box was pretty warped.
The roof was also pretty warped, so I could tell this was going to be a bear. I had all kinds of trouble with the brake rigging underneath, breaking it in several places. The coupler box design is just plain dumb. You have to basically put the coupler centering mechanism (the little copper thing with the tabs on it) in upside down, then glue the coupler box shut, then glue the box to the floor of the boxcar. As I did this, I was hoping the coupler was perfect in height and never needed adjusting or replacing because I would have to tear the car apart to fix it.
Anyway, by the time I started putting the fragile plastic ladders and grabs on, I was pretty much done with the model. The grabs were breaking, they weren't clearly labeled and I was ready to throw the thing out the window. I've put together P2K, Red Caboose and other makes of "detailed" box cars, but I've never run into so much trouble. I figured with the warped box, things were only going to get worse and packed it in. Both of the Intermountain cars will go on ebay at some point -- one mint in box, one for parts. What a waste of time. I will not be buying any more Intermountain cars, I know that.
In other news: I started installing the decoder in my PRR SW9. Lifelike would be doing the train world a great favor if they started using 12 volt bulbs instead of those 1.5 volt jobbers. I hate having to tear half the engine apart just to replace the bulbs so I can use DCC. I've got the engine apart and will paint the figures in the cab while I'm at it, but until that's done, I'll wait to install the new bulbs.
I've also started work on the next building for the downtown scene. It's going to be a "modern" office building for a utility. I've been taking pictures and will share the whole process when I'm done.
I also found a little time to work the Cleveland yard job. Here are some pictures:
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