Here are before and after shots of the outdoor tunnel.





And an overall shot of the project. Still need to do the landscaping.




Tom

Pretty nice Tom. How does the track hold up over your winter or do you take it up?
Charlie

The track itself holds up fine and stays out all winter. The ballast gets washed out somewhat, the same as it does when we have a really heavy rain. Other problems include deer wandering through the yard and heat expansion causing the rails to pop out of the tie strips. The repair is easy but time consuming. I have to remove the rail joiners, slide the tie strips off, and then slide them back on.

The brass rail, unlike the HO, is easy to clean. I have a 3M metal cleaning pad attached to a mop handle and run it around the track before each operating session. Takes about 2 minutes to do 140 feet.

About the only other maintenance involved is Roundup to kill grass and weeds in and around the track.

Tom

Have you ever tried applying a VERY little amount of ATF to the rail? I use it to clean my indoor HO rail and it is nickle silver, but I wonder what it would do for an outside application. I haven't used more than 20 small drops in 5 years. The track and wheels stay clean as a whistle. Too bad they don't make rail anchors to stop the expansion.
Charlie

I've heard of using ATF. I have used Wahl's Clipper Oil on my ns track on the HO layout and really like it. Not sure how either would hold up being exposed to rain, etc. I may give that a shot, particularly under the tree where tree sap can sometimes cause problems. I have used brass cleaner but it's v-e-r-y tedious.

Tom

PRT 148 with 4 cars leaving it 's home rails crossing the Passiac river on the NJT headed for the NS inerchange !!!! :o

The little caboose is happy. Her strong hero came to give her a ride

IMG_4988 by faraway52, on Flickr
IMG_4987 by faraway52, on Flickr

@Tom, do you have raccoons in your area? Would they be a thread to a garden railroad?

Yes we do have raccoons but they are not really a threat. Not heavy enough to damage the track and are not interested in eating it.

Tom

Waiting for the tracks to clear so we can get the high ball.[attachment=25879]

Conrail 8271 working as WPMA-40 couples up to its cars at Mannheim Yard and then will proceed to the waterfront docks to switch the pier warehouses.

Bruce

A couple of photos of the re-built MDC covered hoppers shown in last week's WPF, now back in service:





Photos of the other cars, done for GERN, can be seen HERE.

Wayne

A Bachmann B&O shell is used as base to get a B&M GP9.
The 18xx are reworked 17xx GP9 (mostly electric reliability and a minor motor (+50Hp) improvements). 1725 and 1726 had a derailment and were the first engines to be reworked in 1981. 1726 was more serious damaged and followed later. Guilford stopped the B&M reworks when they got in power immediately.
The paint scheme after the rework had still the white vertical bars at the ends and the white sill line but with the new bold "Boston & Maine" letters at the hood. The white bars and stripes got painted over some time later.

IMG_4991 by faraway52, on Flickr

Here's one of the earliest diesels in my collection.It started out as an standard Athearn GP9 before Doctor Wayne transformed it into this CNR classic.

Wow! That's a good looking loco! There are some fantastic pictures this week! Thank you!

Blue Boston and Maine Geeps are growing well this season. BM 1715 is a former PRR shell that arrived yesterday morning in the mail.
That completes my Boston&Maine, Main Central and Guilford roster so far.

IMG_4993 by faraway52, on Flickr