That is one impressive Steam locomotive! I love your layout.

JGL:

I am so sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. Sad news, anytime, but especially at this time of year. Our deepest sympathy to you and your family. God bless you with His peace and comfort.

Thanks for the thoughts about my mother in law. We had a very special Christmas Eve gathering last night, 28 people crowded into our kitchen/living room. All our family, and several friends who changed their plans to be here. Although the topic of her cancer was never brought up, the special attention she received showed the love and affection she has earned over the years.

Kurt, my ground cover is mostly dirt from the backyard. I also use infield clay from the nearby school field. Getting dirt from other areas, particularly dirt from the area you model, is great too. However, once you glue down the dirt it is always darker than it was before, so it is a good idea to find a lighter colored dirt if possible. The balance of my ground cover is just Woodland Scenics foam, used rather sparingly, and in as many shades as possible.

And, I got the station! I feel like my battery has been recharged and I should find time over the weekend to start on it.

It is Christmas morning, have a good one everybody!

Hello Everyone---Seeing is believing---since the beginning of this thread,we've all been treated to Gary's impressive modelling skills in creating some very realistic scenes,but did you know that Gary also has an outstanding collection of motive power and rolling stock.I was lucky to have visited Gary's layout with Doctor Wayne this past summer and was able to take some photos of a few of his extensive collection---Gary,I hope you don't mind if I add a few shots of your beautiful steam engines







May God bless your mother in law during these difficult times

Those locos are just too cool for words!!!! I had to look very closely to be sure they weren't "the real thing!!"

I know this is a dumb question, but...
I have an MRC II 2400 contoller. There are two DC terminals on the back: Fixed DC and Variable DC. I noticed this afternoon, while trying to isolate an electrical problem, that one is higher voaltage out put than the other. Which one should I hook up to my track? And if I hook up the incorrect one, will it fry my locos?

Variable DC is what will allow you to control the speed of your locos. It is variable from 0-12 volts. The other terminals are 12 volts constant for running things like lamps in buildings, and other accessories.

sgtcarl1 Wrote:I know this is a dumb question, but...
I have an MRC II 2400 contoller. There are two DC terminals on the back: Fixed DC and Variable DC. I noticed this afternoon, while trying to isolate an electrical problem, that one is higher voaltage out put than the other. Which one should I hook up to my track? And if I hook up the incorrect one, will it fry my locos?

The variable one gets connected to the track. If you connect the fixed voltage to the track, it won't fry the locos, but they'll run at top speed, with no way to control them.

Wayne

Thanks, Dave and Wayne!! I really appreciate the quick replies, and encouraging words!! I apologize for hijacking this thread. my bad.
Now I still have to solve the electrical problem!

gtcarl, just to continue the hijack for one more post, why don't you start a thread in the "Engineer's Technical Workshop" about your electrical problems with as much information as you can supply. Maybe some of us can help you out with the troubleshooting.

Hello everyone, time for an update. Thanks for posting those shots Ed, I certainly don't mind, but think sometimes I post pics of those locos too often.

I've been working on the passenger station kit and really enjoying it. Till now, that is, as applying the roofing shingles has been tedious. Doing the main roofs with the strips of shingles wasn't too bad, but took hours. It is cutting and fitting around the dormers and the dormers themselves that get tedious. I am glad that I did not follow the instructions which called for assembling the roof pieces, adding the dormers and gluing to the model prior to shingling. Instead I am working on each of the main roof sections flat on my workbench, and will only have to apply the one by one shingles needed for the ridge lines between sections on to the assembled model. Also, after roofing the first section using the supplied "spacers" I decided to draw lines in between the spacers on the next section, to make it easier to follow the line and stay straight.

Here is a pic of the station as it is so far, sitting approximately where it will go. I had shingled that lower roof (still needs the individual shingles applied to ridge lines) in place and that is why I did the upper roof piece you see in the photo on my workbench instead.
[attachment=3927]

Here is a shot of the two long main roof sections, the one was taped to the model in the prior photo, you see how I drew the lines for applying the shingles on the other. The slots are for the chimneys and cupola. I am not going to use the cupola, instead I'd like to find a large weathervane to put there. If anyone knows of a nice one, please let me know.
[attachment=3926]

And here is a closeup of the dormer with shingles. I am concerned about the long time ability of these peel and stick shingles to stay adhered to the roof, as my basement is very dry now, in heating season. But it gets very damp in the summer, even running a dehumidifier. Can anyone suggest a way to use additional glue to "seal" the shingles in place? Either a clear flat spray perhaps, or a wash of some kind? I was thinking dull cote may work but perhaps someone has a better idea.
[attachment=3925]

The loco photos are I M P R E S S I V E to say the least. WOW! I agree with sgtcarl1 that the realism is fantastic. Especially the third photo.

I used laser cut paper shingles from North Eastern and used double sided carpenter tape to stick them on. I used Dullcote on them too to help seal it ...i guess... however it created a white haze on them when applied cause my green shingles to turn greyish green. So I don't know if Dullcote is what you want to use here.

This photo is of the display model I did for GCLaser, the shingles are laser cut strips, glued on with carpenters yellow glue (titebond, Elmers, etc.).
Yes, the fitting around dormers, chimneys, etc., is tedious, because not only do the strips have to fit, but the shingle overlap has to be maintained.
[attachment=3928]

I'm about to build one of these for myself, and I intend to "Cedar" shingle the whole thing, roof, and siding. I will be using individual cut paper shingles, and will do as you did, mark the courses, and apply the majority of the shingles before assembling the model. With individual shingles, the "around things" tedium will be less, but will be made up for in the overall tedium of "one at a time". It's kind of like doing the whole thing in "ridge caps", which, by the way, you did very nicely!

Thanks for the heads up on the Dulcote Tetters! I'll test on some leftover shingles after I finish.

Thanks for the kind words Pete. I don't envy you the job ahead! But it should look great.

It seems you both use laser cut paper, which is what I have I would guess. I don't know whose product it is, pic is below. I assume Bollinger buys commercially available shingles to put in their kit. They are peel and stick, it sounds like the ones you've used are not? I am not concerned with adhesive quality on the rows of shingles, but rather with the ridge cap pieces. After removing the backing for each square, I fold it in half over the back of my knife before putting in place on the model. Still, the bend in the shingle makes for less than full contact so the adhesive seems inadaquate for long term reliability. I also think they appear too heavy and wondered if cutting some from paper might be better. But then I'd need to color them to match, as I like the color of the shingles. So I went with the ones supplied, and just need to apply something to help prevent shingles falling off.

Perhaps when the model is complete and I weather it, I can wet the shingles so they are absorbent and apply a thinned black wash with glue along each side of the ridge caps. The tops of the ridge caps would get only the bit of color the shingle absorbs and draws in, so they will be lighter as they ought to be, the black creates a bit of shadow at shingle edge, and the thinned glue should help. What do you think?
[attachment=3929]