Vigdis' train room

[Svein]

Very good work - the shed!
But I must give an important addition and correction. An old and used steam engine shed has had not one place on bottom in an other color than black! With a few differences. The black and oily dirt was laying more or less thick on the bottom. And this was extremely thick in lines parallel to the rails. And also after a "cleaning" of bottom it was black - only thinner.
I was a engine shed worker while six years (steam engines) and I never have seen a "light colored" bottom in our engine sheds.
If you will like to set a few nuances you or Vigdis should set very dark and glossy spots for fresh oil or water to a dark gray and dull black bottom.
My suggestion for more realism. And I know that this does not look very attractively. Sorry for my view to reality.

No problem, Bernhard, this is exactly the kind of constructive critisism we want! We did have a little discussion on just how "dirty" the floor should be, especially towards the end of the steam era when engine and structure maintenance were more neglected. However, when I did a pic search online, most of the results show a rather light colored concrete floor, with a few exceptions. I'm aware that many of the pics are newer and may not be representative, and the older black-and-white photos are more difficult to pick the correct colors from. Here are some links:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ygCxVeu2Ye0/T8...op_pit.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uRPzSpmpYoI/T8...e_shop.jpg
http://railtown1897.files.wordpress.com/...10-041.jpg
http://images.nikonians.org/galleries/da..._0300n.jpg
http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/data/...0249c1.jpg
http://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=11839
http://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=72022
http://images.nikonians.org/galleries/da..._0295n.jpg

This one looks a little darker, is this more what you had in mind?:
http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/data/...0261cr.jpg

If you have more pics, please share them with us, so we can have a look.

Svein

[modelsof1900]

Svein, I'm lucky that you like to read my objection with a friendly reaction.
It's right that a black color can have many facets and I think that your links show a wide range of floor colors. I think that I have in my mind more such roundhouse trucks where engines were washed and supported with all the oily dirt and mud that were come from the engines, their dismounted rods, the gear, pistons and valve gear, boiler armatures and so on. And all these parts were mounted again with many many oil and graphite for light running or next dismounting.
A typical sample was the work in the smokebox, dismounting, checking, repairing and again mounting of superheating tubes. That all was black and dirty however it was not a black color comparable to the black color of fresh polished cab or tender side walls. Ok, you are right, you should use many variants and shadings of grey with a tendency to black - and you will have a good approach to reality.
Good success - and more pictures, please!

[Svein]

Bernhard; ask and you shall receive

Here's some new pics from today, with all the walls in place and weathered, along with the foundation:





And here's the floor, a little darker this time:



And with the walls in place, I couldn't resist taking some interior shots:









Svein

[modelsof1900]

Very, very nice pictures! Looks very lovely, the loco inside of shed. Please do not forget a lightening for the shed!
Svein, you have my full acceptance!

[Charlie B]

I don't have enough thumbs so you can only have two thumbs up. I bow to the master on this one. Vigdis, you are a terrific modeler.




Charlie

[Sumpter250]

Don't know if you know any of the history of the #345, but I did find this:

"The #345 carried that "Classic" Baldwin look right up to its highly chronicled demise when she was crashed head-on into the #319 for the making of that dubious Hollywood "epic", "Rio Grande" in 1951."

I've seen a clip of that film, showing the "head-on"......being a steam fan, it's a sad thing to watch.
Not one, but two steam locomotives, sacrificed to the "Movie Gods"
Happy to see the model of #345 in the engine house, whole, and clean.
this is the one and only D&RGW C-25, in HOn3, from a Roundhouse kit...... doesn't look quite as good as your C-19
   

[Svein]

I read about that crash in the small booklet that came with the engine, apparently #345 was chosen as a stand-in for C-16 #268 and was repainted and relettered before the filming. Haven't seen the movie yet, but we will. A nice touch to include a little prototype history with each model I think, however sad it might be.

Svein

[Svein]

After a summer filled with outdoor activities it's once again time to head indoors to continue some of our smaller scale projects. A while back we ordered a lighing kit from Ngineering, put together specifically for this model, with 20 micro LEDs and both hanging lamps and wall lamps, and today Vigdis began to practice soldering the LEDs and creating the wall lamps. The practicing is done with inexpensive yellow LEDs, before she moves on to the much more expensive yellow-white LEDs that eventually will be used for the roundhouse lights.

Here are two of the LEDs, just about the smallest things I've ever seen..!:



We bought a small LED holding tool for the soldering job:



And a jig for bending the gooseneck wall lamps:



And here's her first lamp, temporary fastened to the roundhouse and hooked up with a 9V battery. The lamp shade wasn't fixed to the gooseneck as this was just a first try, so it managed to fall off the flange just when the pic was taken:



Svein

[modelsof1900]

...

Great!

[Svein]

Here are a couple of shots with the correct LED. The lamp is only taped to the top of the front beam and not centered above the track, but it does give an impression of how it will look when everything is finished. With a total of 20 lights, maybe they should be dimmed a little... :





Svein

[faraway]

The impression is impressive! That is really very good

[nachoman]

wow those LEDs are tiny!! And the overall effect is awesome!

[Puddlejumper]

That is amazing! Vigdis has awesome skills!

Dave

[Tyson Rayles]

Very nice work!

[Ralph]

Absolutely fantastic!