UP SD40-2's NEW Layout
Size doesn't matter Deano!   Goldth
Steve
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(04-15-2020, 10:33 PM)Steve Wrote: Size doesn't matter Deano!   Goldth

Eek Icon_e_surprised Icon_redface Misngth Icon_cool Icon_lol Icon_e_biggrin
[Image: sig2.jpg]-Deano
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THIS WEEKS RAMBLINGS, PICS & STUFF...

Still contemplating on exactly what and how I am going to do the left side of the layout, thought I had a great plan, but as I see things and think about stuff, not 100% on just what I am doing now, LOL!

I fixed the GERN sign on my GERN plant, it really needed to be fixed. Put up some more trees on the layout, moved some buildings around and thought about putting another road through a tricky spot. I also ended up running a few engines I havent ran in a few years. luckily all but one of them really ran well! 
I have a CNW "push/pull" set, F7 and 3 commuters, looks Fantastic and ran just as good as it looked....
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Anyone like Alco's? ....THIS GUY DOES! C420 & RS27....
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A few other engines I ran this week...
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I bought this Y3 undecorated, it was shiny plastic black, so painted it and lettered it myself. During WW2 UP bought a few of these Y3's from N&W to help with freight service during the war, sadly, these engines did not last long as they were not fast enough for UP's needs, sure they were strong, they could pull a lot of cars, but were not fast for UP's freight. None the less, UP had them for awhile and I wanted one, so I remade UP's #3673. This engine was bar none, the best running steamer and the BEST sounding steamer I have, I put a TSUNAMI sound decoder in it. What stinks is the sound still works, but it hasnt run since Dads last layout, I stored it, moved twice, brought it out to run on my new layout here and no go, it just wont run. I took it apart but did not find any loose wires...aaaarrrggh, I have to go through the whole darn thing, I just have to get it running again. ANYWAYS, here's the pics of it...
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Till next time...
[Image: sig2.jpg]-Deano
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Looking forward to next time Deano---great roster but I think you can guess which is my favourite---steam rules !!!
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Those are some nice shots!
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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I love that zephyr!!!!
The Y3 is impressive as well. Love the weathering. That beauty must run again!!!!!
Steve
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Continuing with some thoughts mentioned in my last post, and addressing comments posted....

Ed, you know I do like steamers  Thumbsup . 

In my last post I mentioned that my Y3 WAS my best running/best sounding steamer, sure my Challengers, Big Boy and AC12 run great(well, my AC12 is a dog Icon_mad ) and sound good, but honestly my second best sounding steamer is the Milwaukee Road 2-8-2 I took possession of after my Dad passed away. That was the best steamer he had and honestly, it sounds Awesome. That engine was made by BLI, and it has QSI sound decoder in it. I havent bought any BLI engines in years, but IN MY OPINION, QSI is by far the very best sound decoders I have ever heard...well, TSUNAMI made sound decoders just as good, but I dont even know if they are still around. 
 I have several BLI diesels, all with QSI and they sound PHENOMENAL. My Lionel HO scale Veranda Turbine also has QSI in it.
Anyways, heres the Steamer, no weathering, I'm not going to touch this one, it will stay just as it is...
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Just a note to end the whole sound thing, I do love sound in my engines, but lately I have been running train vids on my computer I have at my layout, you just cant beat the loud thundering deep bass sound of a running Diesel. YouTube has vids of diesel engines running, or I play a lot of  https://www.youtube.com/user/HighIronofWisconsin vids while I run trains. I hope the link works for you guys, TONS of great run by's, no talking, great engine sounds to run trains by. If you like WSOR, UP, CP, CN and IC&E, you will LOVE this channel, your welcome Icon_e_biggrin . I have a 32'' TV hooked up to my computer and that channel shows up on it a lot.

Steve, Thanks for the comments Icon_e_biggrin . The Y3 will run again, and yes, I too Like my Pioneer Zephyr, its the ONLY BN item I have Misngth . 
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Mike, Thanks so much! Icon_e_biggrin I dont always succeed, but I try to get nice shots, the problem is I dont have a lot of areas that are close enough to done to get good shots Misngth  .

RANDOM SHOT, CNW H10-44 with a local...
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SO, I have decided to NOT put another RR crossing on the layout, but instead put different signals up on an existing crossing. I was contemplating on going a little different route on the left side of my layout, but I think I am going back to the original plan. The whole reason I was going to change it up was to be able to put a set of wig wags up that I so fondly remember growing up with. I grew up 3 blocks from CNW's main line that went through town, and at that crossing was a set of wig wags almost exactly like these:  https://youtu.be/Wp78h72We3E?list=WL  I am going to have to scratch build them, but I think I have the materials to do it. I have been wanting to do this for years, and I think its about time I get to it.

Thats all for now..
[Image: sig2.jpg]-Deano
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(04-19-2020, 06:53 PM)UP SD40-2 Wrote: ...I was going to change it up was to be able to put a set of wig wags up that I so fondly remember growing up with. I grew up 3 blocks from CNW's main line that went through town, and at that crossing was a set of wig wags almost exactly like these:  https://youtu.be/Wp78h72We3E?list=WL  I am going to have to scratch build them, but I think I have the materials to do it. I have been wanting to do this for years, and I think its about time I get to it.

Deano, American Limited offers a nicely-detailed kit for two wig-wag crossing signals.  While they're non-powered, you can build them so the signals can be moveable, and posed as if they were swinging when the photo is taken....

This older photo doesn't show them all that well....

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...but here's a couple taken just a few minutes ago...

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I'm not really interested in working ones, but perhaps there's a how-to somewhere out there on the ol' interweb.

Wayne
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Deano, is that a Rivarossi Y3? if so check the brush springs. Mine hung up and would not run. I looked at everything.  A friend stopped by and knew exactly what to look for and all it took was a little nudge to free it up. 
Your layout is looking great.  Glad to have you active again. 
Charlie
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Deano---I can't think of a better way of keeping your Father's memory alive than sharing his and your passion for model railroading---I'm sure his steam locomotives rekindle fond memories.My collection is also a tribute to my late Father who was a locomotive engineer on the CNR and actually worked on some of the locomotives on the Leetown Division.
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Wayne, I have the same exact set of wig wags as you have there, Thanks for the Idea, I'm going to use them for most of the parts I need. I am the same as you, I dont need them to be working, they are just for looks Icon_e_wink Icon_e_smile

Charlie, Thanks so much! Glad to be back and active again Icon_e_biggrin . As for the Y3, naw, its a Proto 2000, real nice, brass quaility really. I am just going to have to take it all apart and try and figure it out.

Ed, I read somewhere else on here about your Dad working on the CNR, that is so cool Icon_e_biggrin . 
 As for my Dads engines, he had a few, but ended up selling everything except a couple of freight cars, a dummy CNW RS3, and the Milwaukee steamer I now have, everything else is gone Icon_cry . OH, when I moved back here from living in Florida for 18yrs, my Dad gave me his Athearn blue box DD40, that really looks just like a DD35, I still have it Icon_e_smile .
[Image: sig2.jpg]-Deano
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So I had Thursday and Friday off this week, got to run some trains and think about what projects I was going to do next, the list is a mile long. I ended up deciding to start two projects, the first thing I did was to gather all the parts for my first project, here they are all pictured below, can anyone guess what I am am scratch building? one more hint, its going in the same spot the parts are pictured in Icon_e_wink ....
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Then...I decided to make my "dunk under" an EASY folding piece so I dont have to dunk under the small area to get inside the layout. When I first built the layout it wasnt that big of a deal, but now I'm starting to get older...its becoming a big deal. If I would have been smart I would have forseen this problem early on and took care of it then, but hey, I wasnt so smart on that then, so now i pay the price. 
 the dunk under was a lift out, not to bad, but ya had to pull 4 pins out and move back all the rail joiners, then you could lift it out, not really hard, but kind of a pain in the butt to do. 

I bought some hinges and installed them(here comes the "HOLD MY COFFEE BOYS, AND WATCH THIS" part) , so I pulled the four pins, moved back the rail joiners, and took out the wood stop, THEN i proceeded to move the board down. As I tried to move the board down it seemed kinda stuck, so I pushed down with some force and RIPPPP....one of the dog gone rail joiners must not have been moved fully back and it tore up about 6'' of track, OHHH CRIPES!!! Eek  , now, my head hangs low, and I have come to a crossroads, do I fix the "bridge" I already have here, or just make three separate narrow lift up "bridges" , regardless, bottom line is I need 3 pieces of flex track now and the hobby shops are not open....cripes. On the bright side, I can still run point to point for now Icon_redface .... 
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WELL, before my mishap, I did run quite a few trains and took a bunch of pics, I'll post some here and the rest in my next post Icon_cool  .

How about an ALCO RSD15, this is a BLI engine, like all my BLI's it runs very smooth and the QSI sound in it is SLAP AWESOME...
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All my Dads layouts were of an older era then I always modeled, so I always ended up buying engines to fit on his layouts, below are a few of them(BTW, luckily, they ALL still run and sound GREAT!) 
SD24, GP20 and GP9...
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SD7, GP7 and GP9
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Well, that was just a few that I bought to run at Dads when I went there. I really love these engines as I usually went for the not so common ones, they looked so awesome, I mean how about the GP20's, and the SD24's with the air tanks on the roof, those engines were just downright cool.

OK, more in my next post, tonight or perhaps tomorrow...
[Image: sig2.jpg]-Deano
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Deano---call me old (I really am) but I really like those early generation diesels,almost as much as your steam power.I also get a laugh from your stories that go along with all your great pictures---we're lucky at BigBlue to have you back.
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Outstanding work, and yeah, we are indeed glad to see you back... Worship Worship
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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Thanks so much! , ED & Don Icon_e_biggrin , for your VERY KIND words, it really means a lot to me. It is nice to be back, though only a couple of us post on this thread, I see by the hits there are more then post that actually read it, thats nice since I am really a loner except for my wife and dog, and lets face it, they really dont give a...hoot...about trains Misngth  . At least I can talk with you folks, its nice, really, Thank you!  Icon_e_smile 

So a couple posts back I posted some shots of my CNW DL109, and mentioned I had seen pics of the CNW DL109 here in WI, and wondered if it had ran through Beloit. I did a lot of searching over the last week and sadly did not find anything on the DL109 running through Beloit, HOWEVER, I did find a train schedule that contained the trains that actually DID run through Beloit! 

The Milwaukee Road & CNW BOTH had stations and mainlines that ran right through Beloit here, the CNW on the West side of town(where I grew up) , and the Milwaukee on the East side(where I now reside) . I remember the Milwaukee Station, I think it was tore down around the time I was 7? , but the CNW was tore down not long before/after I was born. Anyways, the schedule I found does not give a year as to when it was, all I knew for sure until I happened across this schedule was that in 1962 the CNW Twin Cities 400 stopped in beloit daily at 12:26pm . 
I am posting the schedule just because I thought it was neat....
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On another note, my layout is loosely based on UP here in WI during/after the UP mergers, with WSOR(they really came to be in 1980) as the local road. I have 4 WSOR engines, 3 SD40-2's and 1 GP38. I ran them this week, nothing special, I run them often, but here's some shots over this last week...
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A random shot I posted in Side Shot Saturday of my GP20...
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This last one is for Charlie, Its my Aerotrain made by ConCor. The ConCor version is nice, runs very smooth, it has headlights and interior lights in the engine and all cars, but does not have tail lights. Charlie, I like the headlights you did and the tail lights WAY BETTER then ConCor had done them. I ended up finding my Bowser set, honestly I think the lettering is better on the Bowser set then it is on the ConCor set also.
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Thats all for now, till next time...
[Image: sig2.jpg]-Deano
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