Click pictures to enlarge	Add your content here
BLI NYC L-4a Mohawk #3101 NYC Emergency caboose kitbash (Prototype) NYC AAR 41' Steel gondola City Classics Company house	July 4, 2009 Wow!  Guess it's been a while since I've added something, huh?   First off, I received my 2nd BLI NYC 4-8-2 L-4 Mohawk in the mail yesterday.  The first one I received back in May had some major running issues.  I'm guessing that BLI deemed it "unfixable" and sent me a brand new one.  This one looks and runs like a champ.   I'm still tweaking the CVs to get it to run more smoothly.  I'm not sure whether I'll ever get it to run quite as smoothly as my Trix Mikes.  I'll give it go though.   The NYC Emergency caboose is a kit bash of a MDC/Roundhouse NKP 40' wood boxcar.  The prototypes were used during WW1 and WW2 when supplies for building additional cabooses and other rolling stock were scarce because steel was needed for the war effort.   The white "patches" on the side and ends were made with Evergreen 3-1/4" Car siding styrene sheeting.  The trim is 1 x 8 and 1 x 10 dimensional styrene.  The windows and doors were cannibalized from a Walthers NYC 17000-series caboose.   This is just the prototype.  The side stairs and grab irons still need to be added, as well as the entire caboose repainted.  However, I plan on building a "new and improved" version so I may just hold off on the extra detailing.   Since this was a learning project, I've already got ideas about how I want to tackle the next version and in what order I want to do things.  I'm really getting into and enjoying kitbashing and scratchbuilding.   I picked up a 3-pack kit of the new Accurail NYC AAR 41' Steel gondolas a couple of weeks ago and put them together.  I have to say that Accurail did a very fine job on these gondolas.  The quality of the detaling is very, very good.   The weight is cleverly hidden under the gondola flooring, which is pushed into place and essentially needs no gluing - although I did use a small amount of silicone adhesive to fix mine in place.  I'm quite pleased with them.   Lastly, I've been working on a City Classics Company house since late March.  What a nice and fun kit this has turned out to be.  The house itself is pretty much completed.  What I've been spending most of my time on is detailing the inside/outside - e.g. flooring, lighting, removable roofs, etc.   The trickiest part for me has been figuring out how exactly I want to light the interior and exterior.  One thought is to use a stationary decoder so that I can turn individual lights on and off.  (That would allow for a variety of "looks" to the house.)  The other is to use interconnect (IC) connector/plug strips so that bulbs can be changed more easily and wiring minimalized.  The disadvantage to this would be that the lights would either ALL be on or ALL be off.
Pictures coming soon...	09/08/2008 I've added preliminary asphalt roads using 1/16" thick cork sheeting cut to various widths.  The curved section on the main drag turned out to be the most challenging.    The voids in the cork sheeting will be filled with 2-3 coats of vinyl spackling and lightly sanded smooth between coats.  I'll finish the asphalt roads by painting them with Floquil or Pollyscale Grimy Black.  The cork is soft enough to make weathering (i.e. cracking, pot holes) fairly easy to mimick with even a fingernail.   On first appearance, the cork seems to work well on flat surfaces.  However, I'm not sure how well it will work or look at the grade crossings.  I will be adding timber boards at each crossing, which may help.  The challenge will be that all but one of the crossings need to be curved.   Blair Line does make laser-cut 2-laned curved grade crossing for R18" and R22" curves for $6/2 sets.  I may be able to fabricate my own from styrene sheeting and dimensional wood.  It's worth a try.   [Edit: 6 x 6 dimensional wood works quite well and sits slightly below the top of the rail height.]
Pictures coming soon...	08/27/2008 For the past couple of weeks I've been spending time on rewiring my layout.  In those two weeks I've: Replaced the Atlas #4 "insulated" turnouts on the mainline with Fast Track "live" #5's Installed Caboose Industries 220S ground throws for moving the points Solder 20ga wires on the bottom side of the turnouts and installed them on the layout Electrically connected the terminal strips to the track bus (14ga) with IDCs (insulation displacment connectors - aka suitcase connectors) and 18ga wire Electrically connected the turnout and ground throw wiring to the terminal strips Spent 2 full evenings running down shorts The latter was due to the fact that this is my very first time "legitimately" wiring a layout.  I made some sophomoric mistakes along the way but at least I eventually figured it out. I also superelevated the mainline.  This was done by gluing 1 x 8 and 2 x 8 dimensional styrene underneath the outside rail.  It's amazing just how much a small change can add to the look of a layout.
New passing/yard siding - East end New passing/yard siding - West end	01/12/08 - UPDATE Well, it's been over a month now since I posted the message below about the promised pics. I still haven't tidied up but here are a couple of pics anyhow. I'm still in the process of redesigning the layout. The new passing/yard siding seems like it will work well, although I do lose some trackage and temporary storage capability with the changes. I haven't been totally enamored with the replacement Atlas #4 turnouts for my Atlas Snap turnouts because of shorting problems with my steamers. And the transition through the points and frog with the #4s - although less of an angle than the Snap turnouts - is more abrupt visually. I've recently purchased and am waiting for delivery on some #4.5 & #5 Fast Track turnouts, in hopes that it will fix the problem. The #5s will be used for the turnouts coming off the mainline into the siding and the #4.5s into the yard. The yard will have no roadbed; therefore it will slope downward slightly off the siding. I will probably have to readjust the roadbed again to accommodate the different frog angles of the Fast Track turnouts. Since I used DAP Latex caulk to adhere the roadbed to the foam top, this shouldn't be much of a problem. I also am/will be modifying the secondary track area (where my ball signal is located), as well as the servicing track to the fueling facility. Although I am presently thinking it through, I really can't do much until the Fast Track turnouts arrive and are installed. Sometimes small changes REALLY do have large implications. 12/09/07 Just before Thanksgiving, I laid down roadbed for my track. As soon as I can tidy up the disaster area, I'll post a few pictures.
NYC Freight depot - Rear view NYC Freight depot - Trackside view NYC Freight station - Interior view	06/24/07 Spent 2 solid evenings planning and wiring my NYC Freight depot for interior and exterior lighting. The wires are routed through 1/8" OD painted brass tubing (see interior view) to make them look like venting stacks and to give the interior a much cleaner view through the sliding doors from the outside. I used 1.7mm 12V incandescent bulbs for lighting the station. They are a bit oversized but they will last 5x as long as the smaller 1.2mm 1.5V bulbs that I have used on other projects. I have them running at 9V with an MRC 1370 Rail Command power pack so that they will last even longer.
NYC 0-8-0 switcher NYC Freight station Ball signal shanty	02/16/07 Newest addition to the NYC roster: A New York Central 0-8-0 switcher #7743 (Proto 2000). It's non-sound and outfitted with a Digitrax DH163L0 mobile decoder. Wow! Does it know how to crawl! Finally finished laying down the remaining flooring for my large NYC Freight station. I've also added Rustic rail figurines and details. I have since painted (and weathered) the ones pictured at left. I added a scratch-built shanty for my ball signal.
2-Ball/2-Light Ball signal Backside Closeup	01/25/07 Prototype #2 - I took some of the things that I learned from the first ball signal and applied it to this one. I know that I can make some refinements to the design but I'm pretty pleased with how this one came out. The lights were originally clear but I "tinted" them with a red indelible marker.
"High ball"	01/13/07 Prototype #1 - I finished up my prototype ball signal project this evening. I replaced the original 32-1/2" ball (below) with two smaller 27-1/4" balls. I think they look better. The only thing missing is the watchman's shanty.
Ball signal (prototype) Ball signal (in place)	01/10/07 This is a project that I've been wanting to do for a long, long time now. This is a prototype of a ball signal that is based on the last remaining ball signal in operation - located at the old B&M and MEC crossing in Whitefield, NH. Even though it's not an exact replica of the original, it's fairly close and I'm pleased with how it came out. I haven't been able to find out for sure if and where the NYC had any ball signals on their line. Even so, I'm excited to include one of the earliest of train signals on my NYC layout.
Pole lines and roads Service station @ Dill's Market	11/07/06 I've recently added a pre-40s gas service area to Dill's Market, road templates (temporary) and Rix telephone poles. It's amazing how just these three things alone have transformed the look of the layout. It's going to be really scary when I finally get around to ballasting.
Painted layout - Full-size West end East end	10/19/2006 Except for a few minor areas of touch-up, I've finished painting the layout. Although the beige darkens the reflected light from the overhead fluorescent and exterior light fixtures on the layout, I'm generally pleased with the overall look. As you can see, the painted surfaces really accentuate the bare areas on the layout. I'll definitely be seriously looking into starting some scenicking at some point. You may also notice that I haven't painted underneath the mainline. I will eventually be laying down roadbed and ballasting that so I didn't bother pulling the track up to paint underneath it.
Painted foam	10/13/2006 I'm about 1/2 way through now. It's taken me a lot longer than I originally thought. I wish I had done then BEFORE putting down track.

Enter supporting content here