GEC's Layout Progress

[cnw1961]

GEC, I love the engine in your first pic. The catenary sure looks like a lot of work, but it was time well spent, great job .

[Green_Elite_Cab]

GEC, I love the engine in your first pic. The catenary sure looks like a lot of work, but it was time well spent, great job .

Yeah, that E44 is one of my favorites, I just need to do a little more work on it to get it spick and span!


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Well, a couple days ago i had pictures of where i left off, and so here are NEW pictures of whats going on right now! I just took them today, and so they should cover anything i've mentioned recently that has any progress worth photographing (some locomotives i've upgraded with a decoder and headlights, like my E60MA, but outwardly its the same).

Lets take a look at the the line up of new locomotives i have recieved since the beginning of december...

From left to right is a PRR J1 2-10-4, CSX AC6000CW, and a Trackmobile. All came with decoders and sound, except for the trackmobile (for obvious reasons).

I recall challenging trucklover to a horsepower race. I hope my side rods instill fear in the heart of those SD90s! (nah i'm just joking!)



More on these units in a minute, for now I want to show some of the actual layout progress. Its one thing to build locomotives all the time, but its good to get some other work done to!

Here is an old picture of what used to be in the back right corner of my layout just over two years ago. It may get cut off, but you can view the whole image at this link- <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/7818/newpictures112606013crozn2.jpg">http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/7818 ... crozn2.jpg</a><!-- m -->

OLD



A lot of that oil stuff not only didn't look good by itself out there, but also crowded the area. There was no space in American Hardware Supply for trucks to get in, and so i removed the truck loading dock as well, and the guard shack that was there. I had left the tank in place until this summer, when i finally decided to replace it. After lots of searching, i found what i think its the perfect scene for this corner of the layout-

NEW



It just about fills in the space, and it doesn't look to over crowed or stuffed in place. A chainlink fence or some bushes should be good enough to keep people off the tracks.

I did quite a bit of digging to find this woodland scenics set of basketball players, and i finally found it buried under some stuff in my favorite Hobby shop (Sattlers in Haddonfield, NJ for the win!).

Looks like the defense is going to half to work harder next time!





Only the green siding, the roof, frong porch, and the chimney are actually painted. The rest of the Atlas kit i sprayed with flat clear paint, or put a wash of grimy black onit. That seams to have done the trick. the sidewalk and driveway are Rix products, and the rest is all woodland scenics stuff (except for the BMW, which i don't know where it came from. Apparently these folks live on the right side of the tracks though!)

I'm thinking about adding more dirt ground foam around the basement doors and side doors, ase well as the corners between the sidewal to the house and the driveway. I imagine these would be worn down by foot traffic.



The AC6000CW is a BLI Blue-line product that i have recieved for my birthday. It has prooven to be a good runner, and it only needs a few decoder tweaks to run more prototypically. The only real complaints i have is that the sound doesn't always soung so great (but its still very good), and the horn sometimes goes into its "doppler mode" way to easily unless you space out the blowing of the horn. It also has a white LED for lights, which don't flatter the model ( i might pick up some incandescant-style LEDs to replace them with).



I also got a free trackmobile (except for the decoder) with that AC6000CW, so that really made my day. As long as the wheels are clean, and the track is good, this thing will do an excellent job switching my industrial park. Its just about replaced my 44 tonner (but don't worry, its not retired yet), since its smaller, and can still handle the care loads going in and out of the industrial park. Best of all, it makes more sense than having a switcher like a 44 tonner sitting around all the time, and its a little more modern (maybe to modern for my time period, but who cares?). The trackmobile can park itself by the plastic pellet transfer silos and be out of the way rather than always parked right next to a public parking lot.



#4850 starts out its day at work



It positions itself over the rails



And it sets itself down, ready to get to work hauling cars and setting them up for the Conrail local.



It turns itself around, and rolls back to pick up a Pan-AM boxcar (this is my newest boxcar and also one of my favorites.





4850 pulls the boxcar up into the track lead.







4850 shifts the boxcar onto a spur by the loading track momentarily.



Last but definitely not Least, my Pennsylvania Railroad J1 2-10-4. This is my second HO steam locomotive, and i'm very pleased with it. It is so big that it was hard to get any good pictures of it. I'm told that on straight and level track it could pull nearly 200 freight cars, making it one of the most powerful HO locomotives, and one of the few capable of pulling a prototype train by itself.



For reference, look at the size of this HO conductor compared to this thing. It is a monster, the biggest non articulated PRR steam locomotive.



The tender with coal load, train-phone antenna, and "Dog house".



Here is an N5C i picked up. It might not be in PRR paint, but it is PRR in heritage. The portholes are a dead give away (they also match the portholes on the dog house.



Short of my challenger, #6170 is the longest engine i own, and has the longest rigid wheel base as well. It barely squeezes into the 22" curves.



Also, this is NS 5287. I've had it for a while, but i'm not sure if it ever showed up in a photo, so here it is!



But don't worry, with all the CSX and Norfolk Southern, i'm not modeling the Conrail split just yet. The big blue still lives on the rails of my layout!



More pictures of some of my unfinished projects later.

[Trucklover]

WOW Chris!!!! Thanks for all the pics and updates!! I loved all the pics, and the pics of the trackmobile hard at work are SWEET!!

Seeing the pics of your CSX AC6000 really makes me want to go out and buy one, or 4 right now Unfortunately i dont have the money right now but they are on the list, the UP, CSX, and SP ones will all be part of my roster one day hopefully soon :mrgreen:

I like the scene with the house and the basket ball players, thats a neat idea and you did it very well

Look forward to seeing some more pics and progress, good work, keep it up :mrgreen:

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Its kinda scary how fast you responded, i just posted!

[Trucklover]

Its kinda scary how fast you responded, i just posted!

Guess it was good timing, i had just come back from the hour wait at the post office LOL

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Its kinda scary how fast you responded, i just posted!

Guess it was good timing, i had just come back from the hour wait at the post office LOL

That sucks! I hate getting stuck places.

Anyways, if i were you, i'd wait for the Paragon 2 series AC6000CWs. It will make your life easier! the blue lines can be finicky. Mine is working alright now, but you have to be careful when programming consists and things. You have to program the sound decoder in the locomotive (which only does sound) and the regular mobile decoder to be the same, but you may have to program them seperately! Also, you'll need a tiny decoder for the Blue Line, since the decoder space in in the radiator, and its not a large area. the decoder i have barely fits and it pushes the radiator up, so get an N-scale decoder if you get a blue line!

Might want to pick up a trackmobile for those free-mo modules as well, they look like they'd fit your plan!

[Trucklover]

Anyways, if i were you, i'd wait for the Paragon 2 series AC6000CWs. It will make your life easier! the blue lines can be finicky. Mine is working alright now, but you have to be careful when programming consists and things. You have to program the sound decoder in the locomotive (which only does sound) and the regular mobile decoder to be the same, but you may have to program them seperately! Also, you'll need a tiny decoder for the Blue Line, since the decoder space in in the radiator, and its not a large area. the decoder i have barely fits and it pushes the radiator up, so get an N-scale decoder if you get a blue line!

Might want to pick up a trackmobile for those free-mo modules as well, they look like they'd fit your plan!

Thanks for the tips Chris

For my Bluelines, i wasnt planning on getting them with sound, i was just going to get the non-sound ones. I found a place (Factory Direct Trains) where i can get them for about $150 WITH a decoder for it. havnt decided which decoder to get with them tho lol. They have the NCE N14IP, Lenz Silver MP, Digtrax DZ125PS, Digitax DZ143PS, and a Train Control Systems MC2P-SH.....

Whats the Paragon Series? Ive never heard of that, guess i better look it up LOL

I would liek to get a Trackmobile too, those are really neat and i didnt know that they could drive on roads and rails, that is the coolest thing ever!!

**EDIT** Just found the Paragon 2 Series, i know what they are now

[Green_Elite_Cab]

They still sell stealth BLI models? I'd get them sound equipped anyway, because if you ever want sound in the future, you'll have to tear apart the locomotive to install it. If I can get it with sound, i'll usually save up for it. Thats why you haven't seen any Conrail C40-8Ws on my layout. Its a standard conrail road unit, but i'm waiting for a good Atlas gold model. I know from my expiriences with my U34CH that installing sound is hard (and i'm going to try again with sound in my C32-8, which is also pretty close to being finished).

That said, if you don't need sound. you're set.

As far as decoders go, I'd stick to NCE or TCS. I think TCS might even be better than NCE, but they don't seem to be as wide spread. They (TCS) are really user friendly though. If your DCC system has the option, you can set the long adress right in (after programming CV29 of course) instead of having to manually program CV17 and CV18 like usual. They've got good customer support to.

[Dan85]

Great Photos GEC - Keep them coming!

- Dan

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Well, here is what i'm working on right now. Just to show that i have to much stuff on my plate. Not pictured is an E60C (single ended freight version of the E60s i run), F40PH, U34CH, Arrow III maried pair, ALP46, and PL42AC, which also need to get finished (I'm thinking the PL42AC might be ready soon since a frame is out for it. At the very least a motor will be in it).

My Arrow III single car is coming along, but it might need another coat of Stainless steel metalizer (and this time i better seal it!). I haven't yet worked on the underbody since i plan to power this car, and I want to wait until i have a powered truck for it.



I've got a couple GP15-1 locomotives to build. I'm inching along, but here is the first painted shell. I need to work on the frame some more, and get the right decals. It is a smokey valley kit with Cannon & Co noses, cabs, ends, and some other details. I have another smokey valley frame, and a Walthers GP15-1 frame that i'll probably steal for the third Conrail unit(although i might get a railflyer frame if i can). The shell on the walthers one has the "Farr" air filters, and so i will probably make this a BNSF unit if i'm ever bored.







My C32-8 is doing "OK". the paint and decals have pretty much bombed me. THe paint was good initially, but the decals and the dullcote messed it up. Its a combination of trying to put decals on a flat surface (You should really gloss cote a model before installing decals, even a dirty locomotive like the C32-8), and then getting the dullcote contaminated in my airbrush with some dark paint that must have still been in there. It doesn't bother me so much that its faded the paint, but to many decals have since cracked and peeled, so the unit needs to get redone. Besides, i noticed some inconsistencies on the large black "conrail quality" side lettering.

Otherwise, the model is fine. Almost all the details are in place, and I'm sure if the shell were stripped it would look beautiful. So just ignore the missing decals, as well as the handrail or two that are missing. (also need to intall sand fillers, windows and class lights, but thats later).



Full pilot detail. the ditchlights will be lighted.



The rear was a bit more sparse.



The other side. because the dull cote had some gray paint in it, it REALLY faded out the lettering. I'm going to replace it, since even on their dieing days, the C32-8s had dark lettering.



Here are new couple pockets supports i made so that the couplers would be the right height with the opening in the shell and the rails. I used a tap to screw in some styrene. The styrene will also be reinforced with more styrene later, and also some two par epoxy to hold it in place. Its a tight spot, but the Kade #38 couplers will fit in that area and it will be clear even on 18" curves, so i'm set.



This is to be Amtrak E60MA #604 when i get around to it. This is a later Walthers E60 kit, but except for some slight details, is essentially the same as my other American GK models (technically walthers bought them out)



Finally the model of the CNJ caboose 91291 i rebuilt in real life for my eagle project is moving along. The main difference is that this one has all of it's parts, lol! The thing looks like something nibbled off the steps and the ends of the platforms... THe model still has a long way to go, but thats because i only work at it little by little.



thats about it for now!

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Well, My J1 is performance is Stellar! It looks like even though its tough to run on my layout, it does brilliantly on My club's layout, and so it will be pulling a fast freight like one would expect to see it pulling. Its actually a 34 car train, the longest train on our layout pulled by a single locomotive. Everything else requires double heading.

I also Double Headed a pair of my Amtrak Phase III AEM7s, which perform amazingling together. By themselves, they can hardly handle more than 5 cars, but together, a 12-13 car train is within the realm of possiblity. Best of all, its fast, and i think the only train faster on the layout is the ICE train.

as always, everyone loves the trackmobile. I'm going to have to keep it up front and switch the yards there.

One day i'll get new pictures and video of my train on our club's layout.

Back on the Home front, i've found that my Silverliner II EMUs can fit on 18" radius curves going one way. Technically, its a little over 18 inches. I can creep them through the cross over onto the inner oval, and then onto the passing track. If they stay on the outer track, they can squeeze through the curves and stop at the other side of the station (i usually only use the side faceing the outer oval). This could add some interesting operations. Its definitely a good push-pull route, and only the EMUs would be able to do it.

[Green_Elite_Cab]

As usual, i've begun cycling through my modeling projects again ( I think this is healthy since i have enough stuff to let the paint on the previous project dry before i get back to it!), and so yesterday i did some work on my PL42AC. I still haven't managed to find all the decals i need, but i'm pretty close. I think i have enough white striping for it, and right now, the only decals that are giving me a rough time is the disco-band stripe, and this round insiginia found behind the cab windows. I can account for everything else.

In fact, i have just about all the parts i need to get this thing rolling under power as well. The only thing i don't have is the frame, but it is available, and i'll be picking it up soon.

I'm also looking at repainting my Arrow IIIs with Alclad II chrome on the corrugates sections, since in real life this area has a mirror finish. Right now its tough finding the supplies for it, but its out there.

Pictures soon.

[Green_Elite_Cab]

AS far as news go, i'm about three cars short of an Amtrak Silver Crescent (i need 1700 series baggage car and 1-2 Viewliners). I'll also be installing trees for the first time soon.

I added the grills and some other details to the New Jersey Transit PL42AC. This model doesn't really have much to it. I added the brass grills, vents, fans, and horn, but most of it is smooth, or in the pilot detail (which i'll get to eventually). I've touched up more of the paint, and it looks like any remaining rough edges (although its a lot cleaner cut than it was before) will be covered by decal stripes, so i'm not to worried. I painted the MU plugs, HEP plugs, headlight housings, some roof details, and i used tamiya transparent red over silver paint to make the red markers temporarily (eventually i plan to use metal tubes and LEDs/Fiber Optics to light the headlights, ditch lights and markers.

The frame for this locomotive is already out, and i'm told that decals will be availble very shortly by the highest authorities at Island Model Works, the maker of this shell, and so i'm thinking this model has some potential to be finished "early". I had ordered a loksound decoder for my C32-8, but because that project is again being held back, its very likely my PL42AC will be running around with sound (I have a good number of the needed sounds).







On top of a new camera, I also got this wacky flexible tripod. This is quite possibly the most awesome thing ever. It allows me to easily set my camera up anywhere on the layout and have it be held steady. Most of you know the best pictures are made without the flash. One such problem using a camera without a flash is that the apperture needs to stay open longer, and as a result, the camera has to be held steady, or the photo will be blurry. Before now, I either had to lay the camera on the layout, hold it on a soda can, or my personal favorite, a pile of styrofoam packing (worst case scenario i just had to hold my breath and shoot. This thing removes the hassle, i don't even need to hold the camera steady on it. It lets me get so many new angles, so i'm hoping my shots are no longer the same old boring scenes. I'm hoping to mix things up again.



The following photos would have been impossible (or at the very least, very difficult) without the tripod. For many of them, the tripod held the camera steady and allowed me to zoom in from across the layout, giving new angles. For example, two shots of my yard like these would have been impossible with the methods i was using.








So yeah, i'm pretty pleased this christmas. I got most of what i wanted. Sadly, because of my sister's puppy (that she adopted the day i set up the tracks around the tree), I haven't been able to run my lionel train around the christmas tree like i usually do, but i still have a whole layout to run.

[LynnB]

Not to take away from any of the other pics but your 2-10-4 is one nice piece of machinery.

[Ralph]

When the pictures were loading up and I was scrolling down to the last post I caught a quick glimpse of your tripod. At first I thought you were modeling a scene from War of the Worlds! That's a clever gadget!
Ralph