09-11-2010, 04:18 PM
Hooray! Trains run at Pinto! Well, okay, they aren't going that far. IN fact the track beyond the first turnout isn't permanent yet but all the sidings are in place. And while it may look like the death star is only half completed, now, witness the destructive power of my fully functioning battle station, er, I mean I got trains running. And a fascia. 
I hope you can read the text on this picture:
[albumimg]2949[/albumimg]
The red lines indicate the edges of the road through town. The train, headed by a Bach. Spectrum 3-truck shay is about to leave town. Having left a box car load of hardwood lumber at the Furniture Factory and picked up a reefer full of cherries from the Produce Co-op, the crew coupled on to the combine/drovers caboose waiting at the station and is pumping up the air.
'Spots' in Pinto include (from l to r) a livestock pen on the left-most siding, a produce co-op for local growers and the Pinto Freight house on the next siding, the Pinto passenger depot located next to the drover's caboose in the photo, and pickle salting vats and a small family furniture factory on the right-most siding. I'm still undecided on the pickle vats and furniture factory, but leaning strongly that way unless something else catches my interest more than these. A feed n seed may replace the pickle vats.
Track is Micro-Engineering code 83 weathered track. I love the way it looks but am beginning to really dislike working with it...it's a pain to bend and make the rails & ties shift where you want them to go. Too stiff. I guess I'm used to Atlas. The turnouts are Atlas Custom line. I tried something new this time around and layed the track using adhesive caulk. I am very pleased with how it works and will probably pull up the staging tracks and re-lay them using that method. This fibre board doesn't hold spikes as well as homasote or other more dense material.
Up next...soldering joints and fine-tuning trackwork. Then I may work my way down hill on the next layout segment, or I may paint & weather this track. We'll see. I'm ready to get back to the Shifter project anytime and I've got some rolling stock pulled out that needs upgrading with metal wheels, kadee couplers and weathering. But my folks are coming to visit and the kids birthdays are coming up, plus the Fall schedule at work is coming online again...we'll see what happens.
Anyway, enjoy the update!
Galen
I hope you can read the text on this picture:
[albumimg]2949[/albumimg]
The red lines indicate the edges of the road through town. The train, headed by a Bach. Spectrum 3-truck shay is about to leave town. Having left a box car load of hardwood lumber at the Furniture Factory and picked up a reefer full of cherries from the Produce Co-op, the crew coupled on to the combine/drovers caboose waiting at the station and is pumping up the air.
'Spots' in Pinto include (from l to r) a livestock pen on the left-most siding, a produce co-op for local growers and the Pinto Freight house on the next siding, the Pinto passenger depot located next to the drover's caboose in the photo, and pickle salting vats and a small family furniture factory on the right-most siding. I'm still undecided on the pickle vats and furniture factory, but leaning strongly that way unless something else catches my interest more than these. A feed n seed may replace the pickle vats.
Track is Micro-Engineering code 83 weathered track. I love the way it looks but am beginning to really dislike working with it...it's a pain to bend and make the rails & ties shift where you want them to go. Too stiff. I guess I'm used to Atlas. The turnouts are Atlas Custom line. I tried something new this time around and layed the track using adhesive caulk. I am very pleased with how it works and will probably pull up the staging tracks and re-lay them using that method. This fibre board doesn't hold spikes as well as homasote or other more dense material.
Up next...soldering joints and fine-tuning trackwork. Then I may work my way down hill on the next layout segment, or I may paint & weather this track. We'll see. I'm ready to get back to the Shifter project anytime and I've got some rolling stock pulled out that needs upgrading with metal wheels, kadee couplers and weathering. But my folks are coming to visit and the kids birthdays are coming up, plus the Fall schedule at work is coming online again...we'll see what happens.
Anyway, enjoy the update!
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!