Update

I threw out the old hood roof master and spent a couple days making a new one.  I was never really satisfied with the old one and when I wrote that I was going to have to" splice in a piece " to finish up the "B" unit it was just enough to push me over the edge. The new one is much better with a much better contour.  It is long enough to cover the "B" unit hood in one piece and all I have to do is cut one to fit the cab unit. All the roof details will be added after  casting so I can vary them.  All in all a much better approach. The roof was made with two laminations of styrene and then filled with Squadron Green and White alternately to get the final contour. The Green was applied then filed to shape.  The low spots were filled with White and filed to final shape. The contrasting colors help to determine where and how much to shape the piece. You might notice small gaps in the fit.  There is a slight warp in the piece which will be taken out when I glue it to its backer plate prior to casting the resin pieces.  The styrene tends to warp when worked or glued with solvent adhesives both of which happened in this case.

The drive train components have arrived minus the motor's.  Back ordered, but the flywheels, couplings, driveshafts and u-joints are now on hand. The last thing to aquire is the worm assemblies from Athearn and that should happen within the week.  Really cool, something that runs!!!

Anote about the link to the Layout Design and Construction Page.  There is nothing there yet except an old travel log my wife wrote years ago.  While fun to us you might not find it very interesting or think you got shunted off into cyberspace.  NOT.  There will be stuff as advertised shortly, I'm working on it complete with photo's, it'll just take some time. So hang in there and keep checking back and maybe next time our daughters Seattle trip will be missing and the Oregon Coast Railroad will be in its place.

The pictures show that the models have aquired a fuel tank/battery box combo and the jack pads are attached to the "B" unit.  The cab unit has had a lot of contour work and clean up done to the cab roof and the jack pads are assembled and ready to install. All the pilots are now installed with the coupler pockets but much detailing still remains to be done there.

New House of Cards

A quick note to let you know I have not been sitting idle. This is another "construct", At least the "B" unit hood is actually "together". Note the pilots are installed also. The hood end is the first one I did and is a throw away, just propped there for the "visual". Note also that the roof is too short for the "B" unit and I'll have to splice an additional piece in there to finish it up.  The door on this end of the "B" unit hood, where the cab would normally be, is an access for a hostler's stand. The unit is almost entirely styrene save for two brass plates that mount the trucks and tie the underframe together. The radiator air intakes are also brass channel and screening. There is much to be done, especially in the area of detailing but little by little it gets there.

OOPS !!!!!

My Bachmann 10 wheeler arrived right on time via UPS. I opened the box and to my horror it was "G" scale !! EEE Gads those things are huge.  I goofed while in a bidding frenzy on Ebay and ended up with a really nice model I can't use.  All those nights researching whaleback tenders have not gone for naught as it is back on the block. You have a couple days to grab a nice bargain........at dummies expense.

Layout Sketch

This is a preliminary sketch of the joint standard/narrow gauge yard at Bridge, Oregon. This is where most of the tonnage on the railroad originates and where a great deal of the switching occurs. It is also where a possible continuous run connection might be located. I think a change is already in the works as no human can squeeze between the leaning post and the benchwork so I think I'll just connect it to the post and create a little more real estate.  I really don't like using hatches but in this case I don't see much of an alternative.  Without it, there is no access to the far reaches of the layout.  If I move the track further in I waste much valuable space.  Space I fought hard for as it overhangs a retaining wall and it took much effort and expense to take back from the "dungeon". You can see now how I am going to carve away at the benchwork shown in the photo in order to create "operator " space.  Also note that there is a "test track" branching off of the lead that will be dual gauge.  It punches through the wall and emerges in the workshop ending up right next to my workbench. Not bad for an amateur.  Now, to see if it will actually work!!!

More layout stuff

This is the Chief Train Dispatchers Office.  It is also my workshop.  There is a built in workbench behind the window.  I put this stuff here by framing these walls because there are heating ducts hanging down very low inside that can't really be moved and the space isn't much good for anything else, layout wise.  There will be a door where the sheetrock t-square is hanging. The railroads name above the window and a fancy chalkboard to the left.  Should look pretty cool when everything is trimmed out.

Crooked Post Junction

Yes the post is crooked, but it has been there for 85 years and has not failed yet.  I chose not to mess with it. This is the joint standard gauge/narrow gauge yard at the black sand mine loading facility.  This benchwork will be cut and added to .  The yard itself will bend around into the alcove where the plywood walls are and the lead will continue clear around 180 degrees to the town of Bridge. More of the yard will extend out to about where the picture was taken. Reference the drawing.

Layout progress

The basement is undergoing transformation, albeit slowly.  Sheetrock is nasty slow work when you are basically alone. No thing that looks like a functioning layout is yet in place though I can see it in my minds eye. I have included some photo's and a small sketch of the proposed track plan for the area shown.  The master drawing that I started with has already undergone it's own transformation and you will have to wait for a really good clean up to understand what's going on.

Basically I have changed from the desert scenery to mountainous forested Oregon but still retaining the original concept of a non railroad corporate entity owning the operation.  This time instead of salt the commodity is black sand, a material full of heavy metals and common in this area.  It follows that former logging lines might be the venue to haul this stuff to the ocean to exploit overseas markets. It will be much easier for me to reference scenery work out my back door than to try to remember what Tucson looked like. And there are local American Indian tribes here who are involved in the community economy in a major way.  It lays the foundation for a similar scenario to the original Tucson and Baja Northern story.
The time frame is now, always moving forward.  However, I would like to use a minimum of structures and vehicles so that I can change era's by simply taking the diesels and rolling stock off the layout and running my Shay's and Ten wheelers.  Maybe a K-27 with a whaleback tender.  I'm an old Espee guy, remember, and if I can find a way to tick off the purist's out there.....I will. LOL.  You got to have fun with this stuff.

The angled compartment aft of the cab houses the air compressor...I think.

The pilot is still just propped in place

The missing door will be displayed open on the finished model

Firemans Side View

U6b's and Layout's "Progress"

Time cures most anything and I've finally been able to get back to the models.  They unpacked with no damage what so ever. Unfortunately I discovered a few (?) errors that had been made and had to fix them before I went forward. Little things. Crooked things, sloppy things, ugly things. Much better now though the relentless pursuit of perfectness is always relentless because I am a long way from perfect.
The first one is really beginning to look like something though.  The photo's reveal that there is a lot of work still to be done, much trimming and adding of mountains of detail not to mention roofs and, oh yes, power train, sound system ad infinitum it seems at this point but I am much bouyed by the progress.
Have still not quite figured out how to secure the trucks to the underframe. It will require only a small amount of friction, something like a circlip.  The problem is it will be located between the frame members and difficult to get at when it comes time to remove them. Something will come along to solve it I'm sure but it is frustrating.
I also have a "fit" problem between the cab, which is now assembled as a unit, and the long hood. Something went awry and I didn't get a perfectly vertical joint on the rear cab wall.  Thankfully GE used a closure trim piece in that exact place to seal those two components together.  I'm counting on that to solve my problem. The styrene floor of the underframe may even be to blame.....
You've probably noticed the brass overlay on the cab front.....Here's the scenario.  Some dope in the roundhouse swung the portable crane around with excess aplomb and knocked a "chunk" out of the engineer's side of the cab with the compressor he was dangling at the end of the chain.  Had to replace the windshield and that piece of sheetmetal that is now welded into the place that was crunched. You can't see the welds yet, but you will when the model is done. (Actually I screwed up the plastic there after it warped a little and I tried to straighten it out. Didn't work very well.  I like the solution though)