CrippleBush Rubber Rocks For The Backdrop Behind the 24 Stall Roundhouse and 130' Turntable

Cripplebush Rubber Rocks For The Backdrop Behind the 24 Stall Roundhouse and 130' Turntable

For a number of months, I had a difficult time deciding what backdrop to use behind the 24 stall Roundhouse and 130' turntable in the turnaround area on the Switching Yard side of the "new" JJJ&E. I then decided to use Cripplebush Rubber Rocks for the backdrop area. This part of the turnaround area is 50"x50", so I needed a large section of Rubber Rocks for this backdrop.

The first thing I did was to paint two pieces of foam the blue sky color I used on the rest of the layout. I then took a hot glue gun and hot glued the two foam pieces to the bench work. I had to gently bend the foam to fit the curvature of the bench work n the turnaround area. When this was completed, I had a nice backdrop behind the 24 stall Roundhouse and 130' turntable. I then painted the back of the foam, with the same glossy black color that I used to paint the back drop.

I then went to the Cripplebush website and decided on a rock mold for the backdrop. We must first understand what a Rubber Rock mold is.

From the Cripplebush website:

"Lets start with what they are not. Rubber Rocks are not molds. They are textured, natural rubber castings that are ready to paint and install. The castings are stiff enough so they require minimal support, but flexible enough to bend around curves. Because the castings are flexible, the details bounce back when touched and don't break. A fine level of detail is reproduced that cannot be produced in plaster or other commonly used brittle materials. Sizes range from 3x5 inches to 36x14 inches. Rubber Rocks can easily be trimmed with heavy scissors to fit any required space. Anything trimmed off can generally be used elsewhere on the layout. so there's little or no waste."

This is the ideal product I wanted to use for this part of the layout. I didn't want to spend the time making individual rock castings with plaster/hydrocal, as this technique is messy to say the least, and I would need an enormous supply of individual rock castings to fill the backdrop behind the Roundhouse. The weight of the plaster castings would be too much for the foam backdrop that I just created.

With this in mind I had to find Rubber Rocks approximately 50 inches long and about 12 inches high. I would probably have to buy two pieces of Rubber Rocks to fit this space and join them together with hot glue. I also had to consider how much room I had from the edge of the foam backdrop  to the edge of the track in the turnaround area. The Rubber Rocks couldn't protrude too much from the backdrop. I decided to use the Rounded Bed Rubber Rocks. This piece of rock measures 32"x8" and doesn't protrude too much from the backdrop. I needed two pieces of the Rounded Bed Rubber Rocks to fit the curved area behind the turntable.

This piece of Rounded Bed Rubber Rock resembles the red sand-stones of the desert southwest. Since the "new" JJJ&E is a layout in the western United States, This was ideal for the layout backdrop. I ordered two pieces of the Rounded Bed Rubber Rock and then pieced them together to fit the curved area behind the Roundhouse, I then took a hot glue gun and hot glued the Rounded Bed Rubber Rock to the painted foam backdrop. The backdrop of the Rounded Bed Rubber Rocks looked fantastic. I now spent several months painting the Rubber Rocks with Earth tone colors to get the effect I wanted to create for this part of the layout. When I was satisfied with the final effect of the coloring of the rock formations, I started to apply foliage  to the rock formations which took several months as I wanted to create the right effect for this back drop.

Below are photo's of the finished backdrop.

Rapido Ogood Bradley Lightweight Passenger Coaches ------------------------------ A Quick Review By Peteski

One of the members of THE Rail Wire Forum (Peteski) published this review of the Rapido Osgood Bradley Lightweight Passenger Coaches in July 2016. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, after several years of waiting (I reserved them long time ago), my B&M cars have materialized. Here are my comments and observations. This is my first ever purchase of Rapido N scale passenger equipment, and only the second ever purchase of any of Rapido's N scale rolling stock. The first one was their meat reefer, which was rather disappointing. That was not unexpected - I knew ahead of time how I would feel about that model (after it was extensively described here), but I still wanted to get one so I can personally compare it to wood reefers from other manufacturers. These cars come in a nice jewel box and are well protected from shipping damage. Additionally, there is a cardboard sleeve slipped over the jewel box. The car itself sits in a 2-piece cradle and the car is also wrapped in a thin clear polyethylene sheet. Several manufacturers use this type of packaging. Also in the package are two button cells to power the interior Easy-Peasy lights and a magnetic wand to turn the lights on or off. Lifting the bottom car cradle reveals a small bag with couple of small parts, instruction sheet with info about the Easy-Peasy lighting system, exploded diagram of the car, and an advertisement for other Rapido cars. The parts in that bag are steam connectors to be installed on the car's ends. The instructions ans parts diagram can ve viewed online at http://rapidotrains.com/n-osgood-bradley-coaches-support/

Here's the car - I bought 5 of them. Unlike the meat reefer, this car is impressive! Very well done! It was well-worth the long wait for this first-ever N scale model of this unique car.

Getting into more details, here is the comparison of the rivet details on this car compared to a Micro-Trains heavyweight car. Why? Because to me the MT car is the go-to reference model featuring very subtle rivet engraving, which even though a bit oversize, it has the "right" look to it. The rivets are also pronounced just enough not disappear under the coat of paint, but yet they do not look like giant bumps often modeled by other manufacturers. Rapido car's rivet and panel details are still quite subtle and (even if quite a bit more pronounced than MT ones) they still look ok to me. This delicate engraving is a major departure from the Rapido's meat reefers which had unrealistically wide and deeply engraved gaps between the boards. This photo also shows that the paint layer is much thicker on the Rapido car than on the MT car, and the engraving on the Rapido car is not quite as sharp or crisp as on the MT car. Of course, this is all only visible under magnification, but that is what I do when evaluating a new model.

Closeup of the windows. They are well done. The "aluminum" frames and the center dividers are molded raised on the clear window "glass", then the silver and black areas are printed with paint (no hot foil stamping like some manufacturers use). What is odd is that the small window on either end has a silver-printed frame, but the molding is not raised. I'm not sure why those were done that way, but it is not something noticeable during normal viewing. Same goes for the corrugations on the restroom windows - the pattern is molded on the outside of the "glass" while the white paint is done on the inside. Again, not really noticeable under normal viewing conditions. Another detail which impressed me was the engraving on the step's risers. Looking at the diaphragm in the photos above shows 2 fairly large holes in its side. Those are needed to retain a very fine photoetched gate across the diaphragm opening. While not realistic, I think that those holes are a small price to pay for including that gate. Those holes could easily be filled and touched up with paint if someone wants to bother. Those 2 photos above also show the handrails at the doors. They are add-on painted metal parts and while they look a bit thick, they aren't bad for an N scale mass-produced item.

One small detail that bothers me is the way the windows in the doors were molded. All the windows are designed to be flush with the car's outside surface. That is commendable. But that also resulted in a very visible border around the window in the doors. It has an appearance of looking at a bottom of a bottle. The other windows also have that border but it is neatly hidden by the silver frames. This is something that other manufacturers have solved. Many Kato or other (usually German) manufactures make models which have flush-mounted windows without that visible border showing. This photo shows a comparison of a flush-mounted door window on a Kato Orient Express car and this Rapiodo car. Kato car doesn't have that large clear border. Speaking of windows, where some manufacturers use snap-in window inserts, Rapido's inserts are glued in (at the ends). This photo shows that. This might make repainting the car more difficult (of someone wants to tackle that).

The ends of the car are very well done. Notice the diaphragm supports, and that fine photoetched gate across the diaphragm opening. That looks great! The grab irons at the bottom of the car end are molded-on, a departure from the separate ones at the doors. But to me that looks fine. Also visible (but a bit blurry) is the uncoupling lever on the left side of the car's end.

The under frame is very nicely detailed. Lots of molded-in lines, and several added-on details like air tanks and drains. Very impressive.

This photo shows the factory-installed steam line rising off the floor near the coupler. To that piece you can glue the steam coupling parts which came in a little bag in the bottom of the jewel box.

The trucks are well done, including the full perimeter frame. The wheels are also very nice with low profile flanges. The wheel faces are not quite as nice as on the FVM wheels, but the wheel faces are mostly hidden behind the sideframes anyway. The axle ends are 1mm diameter while the axle between the wheels is 1.5mm in diameter. The wheels are gauged properly!

Compared to a random passenger Kato truck I had handy, the Rapido trucks aren't as crisply molded (especially the coil springs). But one of the things Rapido trucks have going for them is that they are painted (where Kato are bare shiny plastic). I also suspect that the fairly thick paint is obscuring some of the crispiness of the molded part. If the Rapido truck was unpainted it would probably be closer in quality to Kato. Oc course the Rapido wheels are much finer than Kato wheels.

Here is a clever piece of engineering: The truck kingpin is keyed! So the only way to install the truck is with the brake cylinders facing the correct direction. That is cool!

Moving onto the interior, it is also cleverly engineered. The outside end walls are painted maroon and have door detail molded on them. That's what is visible through the opening in the diaphragm. The door "glass" is glued in from the inside of the wall and it is also functions as the retainer for the lighting circuit board. Since the circuit board is held by the interior (which is then snapped into the under frame), modifying it to use track power will be quite easy. The interior color is not quite right in that photo - viewed in-person it is quite a bit darker brown color.

The restroom details are nicely done, but that is something which will never be seen. However, those areas are perfect hiding place for anti-flicker capacitors. I also noticed the very thick layer of paint. But I guess that is not a real problem since nobody will be be looking at it that closely.

For several reasons I do not like battery-powered illumination in my N scale cars. For me, track power is the only way to go. But several years ago I did buy one Easy-Peasy lighting unit, just to see how it was made. Back then the feature touted was that it had a correct color depicting the fluorescent lights in many passenger cars. The lighting unit had 2two flat 5mm LEDs on each end shining into a clear plastic diffuser. Sort of like most other contemporary lighting units from other manufacturers, even going back to the early days of N scale. I was not impressed. As far as the color of the light goes, it was produced by white LEDs with a fairly strong green tint. I have never seen any fluorescent lights that color. Maybe the real cars had greenish light shades over the tubes, or maybe that was the color showing through green-tinted windows of many passenger cars from the '50s? I don't know, but it didn't look very realistic to me.

Well, it looks like Rapido has revamped their Easy-Peasy lights. The current one uses 5 tiny (SMD 0603 size) LEDs. They are fairly bright and have a pleasant warmish-white color. Much improved from the original units. Looks like I'll be keeping the circuit board, but eliminate the battery power. Once I draw up a schematic and a parts list I'll post that info in another thread. My design will also feature the anti-flicker circuit.

Here is a closeup of the electronics on the light board. Most of this stuff will be discarded on the track-powered version.

This is what the lighting looks like. Like Bryan Bussey mentioned, the light is fairly evenly distributed, and not too bright. EDIT: Since Bryan B. mentioned it: kudos to Rapido for using Micro-Trains couplers and for providing 2 mounting locations for it (close-coupled or extended for tight curves). Overall, in my opinion this car is not quite of Kato-like quality (things like the thickness of paint, mold design, and the overall parts engineering), but I am very happy with my purchase and I would not hesitate to recommend these models to others. Yes, this car has lots of extra fiddly-bits added on, it is not a Kato. I'm a big fan of Kato and Micro-Trains models and not afraid to say it. And if me comparing this or other models to Kato or MT annoys anybody, I'm sorry, but that is what I like to do.

MTL True-Scale Coupler System

Below is a video of: How To Install MTL True Couplers on freight cars. This video is very informative and installing this coupler on freight and passenger cars as well as Diesels is easy to accomplish.

There are several caveats that must be discussed if you decide to use this new MTL coupler system. The MTL True couplers cannot be used with any other N scale or Z scale coupler. They won't mate.

You cannot use magnetic uncoupling with these couplers. A small pick is needed to uncouple cars.

MTL True couplers are best used used for diesel units that won't be uncoupled as well as long strings of cars that will always remain coupled or passenger car strings.

If you use Unimate couplers on diesels, you can replace the Unimate couplers with  MTL True couplers.

MTL True Couplers are more proto-typical and will also work on the rear of tender bodies.

All MTL True couplers must be body mounted. The MTL True couplers come in two sizes as of this date; short shanked and medium shanked couplers.

I plan to try the MTL True short shanked coupler on my diesels ("F" units) that have been outfitted with the Unimate #51060 coupler. The MTL True coupler provides more proto-typical close coupling.

The MTL True couplers are being shipped to dealers on October 1, 2016.

Have fun with this system. It's worth a try in very select cases.

Building A Retaining Wall In The Corner Of Your Layout On Your Work Bench

Building A Retaining Wall In The Corner Of Your Layout On Your Work Bench


In the corner of one part of my layout, I decided to build a retaining wall. Since my bench work is 30 inches wide on each side of the corner of the "new" JJJ&E, reaching into the corner required standing on a small step stool and reach across to that area which was a 46 inch reach to say the least.

Then I had a brain storm. Build the retaining wall on my work bench, completely scenick the top of the retaining wall area and then cement the finished wall to the place in the far left corner of the layout.

What I did first was to cut out a quarter section of one inch pink foam and shape it to fit the corner of the layout room. Once I tested the fit of the foam and was satisfied with the results, I proceeded to build the retain wall with Woodland Scenics N scale stone plaster retaining wall sections. I cemented these plaster retaining wall sections to the foam shape that I cut for the top of the wall. I used Ailene's Sticky white glue to hold the plaster retaining wall sections to the foam support. To this date the glue has held in place (almost eight years). I then fitted the retaining wall and foam support in place in the left corner of the layout.

Now, it was time to color the retaining wall sections with earth coloring. I first used ochre, some very diluted grimy black and burnt sienna and burnt umber to color the random stones of the retaining wall. I then placed some finished oil wheel kits, shrubbery, trees and figures to complete the scene.

Below are some finished photo's of the retaining wall in place on the left corner of the layout behind the Marino.

diesel service yard and adjacent to the mainline tracks entering the Switching Yard from San

This retaining wall is easy to build on your work bench, than trying to build it in place in a far corner of a layout.  Have fun with it.

 

How To Make River Beds, Streams And Lakes Using Future's Floor Wax And Modge Podge

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Making River beds, streams and lakes with Futures Floor Wax is an easy procedure. You can get Future's Floor Wax at any supermarket or Home Goods store such as Home Depot or Lowe's. The cost is nominal compared to the cost of Realistic Water by Woodland Scenics. Also to be noted, the Futures Floor Wax won't shrink or change dimension after it is poured and set up.

On the "new" JJJ&E, I used four inches of pink foam on top of a 3/4" plywood base. I cut out a river/stream bed and lined the riverbed/stream bed with Hydrocal. I mixed the hydrocal and removed any air bubbles in the mix, by tapping the mixing bowel on a firm surface such as a work bench. Any air bubbles in the hydrocal mix will rise to the surface. This is the technique I learned in Dentistry as I practiced Prosthetic Dentistry for over 30 years and used all kinds of hydrocal/plaster every day. The resultant hydrocal mix which was firm, was poured into the River bed and allowed to set up overnight.

Once the river bed was set up I used two colors for the River bed. An earth color around the periphery and grimy black for the rest of the River bed. I don't use the color blue or green at all. Again, I let this dry overnight. After the paint has I dried I paint the Futures Floor Was into the River bed. I let this first pour of the Futures Floor Wax completely dry overnight. I again paint Future's Floor Wax on the River bed two or three times, letting it dry completely after each pour. Before the final pour I add gravel stones along the river bank as well as some fallen branches into the River bed.

Then I make the final pour. Instead of painting in the final pour, I pour in small amounts of the Futures Floor Wax into the Riverbed, so the Futures Floor Wax wets the gravel and stones on the edge of the Riverbed.

I let this set up for at least another 24-36 hours. At this point I take some Modge Podge and paint some on the rivers surface in a swirl like manner (almost half moon) in the direction you want the river/stream/lake to flow. Let this completely dry, approximately another 18-24 hours. You then can assess the way the river/stream/lake looks and can always add more Modge Podge.

Here are the results of this technique. The Fish Pier was built over 13 years ago and was used on the "original" JJJ&E. It was the signature building on that layout.

The Monterrey River In The Monterrey River Valley A panoramic view of the Boat House, Monterrey River with San Marino in the background. An overview of the Boat House and the Monterrey River. There is plenty of activity at the Boat House. This part of the Monterrey River feeds into the river under the Fish Pier. A close overhead view of the Boat House & Monterrey River in the Monterrey Mountains. The Boat House and Monterrey River is nestled in the Monterrey River Valley.

Replacing The Pit Electronics In A Walthers 130' Turntable

Replacing The Pit Electronics In A Walthers 130' Turntable

Turn the new pit upside down and loosen the four screws at the center of the pit.

Make sure the plastic channel is free to move. The channel runs along the bottom of the pit and holds the wires that connect to the sensor.

Turn the pit right side up and push the sensor housing out of the wall in the pit.

Turn the pit upside down and remove the round plastic housing that holds the fingers.

Be careful not to pull the wires off of the sensor or fingers when handling the sensor.

When installing the new electronics in the old pit, hold the round plastic housing in place and tighten the screws half way.

Insert the plastic channel under the round housing. Make sure it can move freely.

Next, push the sensor housing into the opening in the wall of the pit. There’s a ledge on the front of the sensor housing. Sometimes it is a tight fit so take your time.

After reinserting the new sensor make sure the housing is flush with the inside wall and the bottom of the pit.

Tighten the screws.

BLI PA1's, The New Haven RR And Rapido New Haven RR Osgood Bradley LightWeight Passenger Coaches

Recently I purchased six Osgood Bradley New Haven Hunter Green Lightweight Passenger Coaches and six Osgood Bradley New Haven Pullman Green Passenger Coaches for the "new" JJJ&E. Although I don't model the New Haven Railroad, these cars were a "must buy" because I ran these cars on my Large HO scale railroad many years ago and I was always infatuated with the appearance of these lightweight coaches and how well then ran on my HO scale layout. "In 1934 Pullman-Standard's Osgood Bradley plant in Worcester, Massachusetts began construction of one of the first true lightweight coaches for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. These iconic cars were used on both long distance and local trains and served well into the 1970s." Features Never before available in N Full underbody detail End diaphragms with etched metal end gates New 41-E trucks with metal wheelsets Full interior detail Partial or non-skirted versions "Easy-Peasy" battery-operated interior lighting Metal side grab irons Accurate paint and lettering _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ New Haven Osgood Bradley Hunter Green Lightweight Coach

New Haven Osgood Bradley Pullman Green Lightweight Coach

These Osgood Bradley Lightweight Coaches were also available in the New Haven Osgood Bradley ten window coach.

Other road names include the Long Island Railroad Osgood Bradley Coaches

Bangor And Aroostock Osgood Bradley Coaches

Boston & Maine Osgood Bradley Coaches

Undecorated Osgood Bradley Coaches

Since I model the steam-transition era until the mid 1960's, I decided to head these Osgood Bradley New Haven lightweight passenger coaches with two BLI New Haven PA1's which ran high speed passenger trains until the early 1970's when the PA1's were replaced by the New Haven FL9. "The American Locomotive Company introduced the PA1 locomotive in 1946 to compete with EMD's successful "E" Series passenger diesels. The first PA1 celebrated Alco's 75,000th loco to roll out of the erecting shop. This attractive 2000HP loco was their high-speed passenger diesel. Having more horsepower than their leading competitor, Alco felt that they had a fleet-ready competitive product. PA1's were sleek, stylish, powerful, and were very well suited for America's passenger and fast freight trains. Additionally, their 65' 8" bodies became excellent billboard advertising for the railroads that they served with pride." The features of this sleek diesel include: Paragon2 Sound and Control System Integral DCC Decoder with Back EMF for Industry Best Slow Speed Operation in DC and DCC Precision Drive Mechanism engineered for continuous heavy load towing and smooth slow speed operation Motor Type: 5-Pole Can with Skewed Armature and Dual Fly Wheels Premium Caliber Painting with Authentic Paint Schemes Prototypical Light Operation with Golden White LED Headlight Beautifully Detailed, Accurately Modeled Locomotive Separately Applied Details such as grab irons, steps, and ladders Operating Sprung Diaphragms Constant Intensity Directional Lighting Traction Tire-Equipped for Maximum Traction Locomotive Composition: ABS with Die Cast Chassis A-Unit Length: 5.1" B-Unit Length: 4.9" A-Unit Weight (Powered): 4 oz Couplers: (2) Micro Trains #1015 Recommended Minimum Radius: 9.75" Industry-Leading SOUND Features: Operates in DC and DCC (use DCMaster for DC Sound) Record and Play Operation - Records and plays back sounds and movements once or repeatedly for automatic operation 16-bit Sample Rate for exceptional high frequency sound clarity Playback Whistle for multiple whistle lengths and patterns Choice of 3 selectable Whistles/Horns Alternate Whistle/Horn where applicable for locomotive with air horn and steam whistle - both the main whistle and alternate can be easily played Adjustable bell ringing interval for faster or slower bell Numerous user-mappable functions with available keys Johnson Bar Sound at Direction Change (Steam Only) Passenger Station Ambient Sounds - Controlled with Function Key Freight Yard related radio chatter - Controlled with Function Key Lumber Yard Ambient Sounds - Controlled with Function Key Farm related radio chatter - Controlled with Function Key Crew Radio Communications - Controlled with Function Key Maintenance Yard related radio chatter - Controlled with Function Key Demo Mode for display and demonstrations Grade Crossing Automatic Signal 8 Diesel Motor Revs (Diesel Only) Simple Programming with Integral DCC Decoder Automatic Forward/Reverse Signal - When activated, stopping triggers a stop horn toot. When moving forward from a stopped position, toots twice. When moving in reverse, toots three times. Engine sound intensity varies with load Individually adjustable sound volumes for each effect EZ Reset Button for quick return to factory default settings

Moving A Fully Restored UP "Big Boy" #4018 To The Museum Of The American Railroad To Frisco Texas

Being a resident of Frisco Texas has its rewards. It is the fastest growing city in the United States with a population of over 220, 000 people.

Now for a little bit of history of Frisco Texas. Frisco is located where the Chisolm Trail started in Texas in the 1860's. Cattle drives originated from this point on to rail heads in Kansas and Missouri in the late 1860's. A great motion picture to see about this part of the country is Red River starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift (1948). It is often seen on cable TV.

 In the last two or three years The Museum Of  The American Railroad was built and now resides in the center of Frisco Texas. They do have one of the last remaining Big Boys  #4018 that has been fully restored. It traveled from Lake Park Texas to Frisco in the past 18 months on BNSF tracks where it is on display. It is a magnificent piece of equipment and is fully restored.