How do you determine the next project?

Asked no one....ever. But I am going to answer it anyway. It's my blog!
There are several triggers that can happen - I find something at a train show or hobby shop that fits an idea, I have a number of car kits or structures waiting to be built, or I get an idea from someone else in a magazine or one of the Facebook groups. Usually, I just have a pile growing on the desk and I decided its time to clear the desk. Here's what the desk looked like last weekend.

My work desk is usually cluttered.

In the photo, you can see I am adding pins to some figures for mounting on the layout and I recently added a light inside the Irwin Tower and am adding the wood trim on the outside. What you don't see is the other projects around the cutting board.

• Isaly's roof needing repairs
• 6 freight cars needing tune up (plus 4 more on the RIP track)
• fence for the barnyard
• additional parts for the barn
• additional parts for 4 structures
• jib crane for Irwin Yard
• 3 pick up kits needed paint and assembly
• papers and notes on waybill and car card (WB&CC) operations
• N scale building for the corning next to East McKeesport
• 6 terminal strips I pre-wired for structure lighting
• collection of scene details that need paint and some assembly - milk cartons, skids, sacks, and figures 

And these are just the ACTIVE projects! Almost all of the structures need additional details, interiors, and lights (some need replaced since they are cardboard mockups). Ballast needs touched up in areas, backgrounds need painted (as soon as Bruce is available!). There are trees to plant and the corner scene with hills and a stream are patiently waiting.

So....sometimes its easy to come to the train room and do a little work on a project. Sometimes, it can be daunting. I must be making progress, though, since my brother-in-law, Pat was over recently and walked through the train room saying, "Are you done building this now?"

October Update

Things have been going rather slow, as you can tell from the few posts I've made to the blog over the summer and early fall. Trains are still running well, even when it's a couple of weeks between operating them. That's encouraging. A couple of weeks ago, I drove to Pittsburgh to visit my father and sister, stopping at T & K Hobby on the way home. I did not really have much of a shopping list but just wanted to browse a bit. I found the elusive wire I need for running a separate circuit for building lights. Every where else I looked, it was black or red, but now Iblue and yellow so I can easily trace and isolate issues. I picked up some farm animals for the barn scene and an N scale wood building for the corner between Herminie and East McKeesport, which hopefully will add to the illusion of distance.
But the bug find was a background mural to place behind the buildings in East McKeesport. Although a little taller than the scene block, it really adds depth to the scene.

New background for East McKeesport

Over the weekend, I ordered additional supplies from Model Train Stuff including terminal strips for the under layout building lights wiring and several scene details - figures, wood crates, and an HO scale fence for around the barn scene. I also installed the first building light in the Irwin Tower which is important to me because  there is so much interior detail. I still need to add the trim, porch, steps and utility building to finish this kit before installing them on the layout.

Irwin Tower is the first lighted building

Both Bruce and I have been doing a lot of traveling for work and my high schoolers busy schedule have prevented us getting together lately. I have a list though of things to work on until we manage a free weekend.

• Finish the rough in hills in the Herminie / East McKeesport corner
• Carve in the Youghogeny Creek in the same corner. 
• Install the wiring bus for the building lights
• Add lights to G.G.S. Cabinets and the barn 
• Finish the barn scene with bushes, trees, fence and figures
• Finish the brick streets in Uniontown
• Finish the Irwin Tower structures
• Clear the RIP track
• Build the collection of freight car kits I have

Plenty to keep me busy for a little while at least.

That crazy Bruce!

It's been a crazy summer and while I've had more time that usual to work on the train, I've been putting things off. Recently, Bruce and I exchanged some emails and set "a train play date" as Lisa calls them and I suddenly had some motivation - I mean he can't come over and see NO progress, right?
I managed to get enough of the new barn built to place it on the layout and I put in a new fence between Isaly's and the East Yard and glued down some brick roads and sidewalks in Uniontown. That, plus the base I built for LAS Fabrics would have to do.

Isly's Deli with a border fence, brick road and sidewalk

It's always great catching up with Bruce and we talked about our summer, upcoming travels and then focused on the layout. Like the email exchange, it was inspiring getting his perspective and thoughts on what we could do for some of the scenes and I was pleased that the trains ran fairly smoothly while we were talking.
Then he dropped the bomb.

Purchased backdrop for Herminie

We were discussing backdrops and I like the one I purchased for Uniontown. I talked about what I wanted to find for behind the mine in Hermine, a backdrop for the city scene in East McKeesport, and the corner of the layout between the two.

Same backdrop in the corner

"What do you think about painting a backdrop?" he innocently suggested.
I may have sputtered the beer I was sipping, not sure. My artistic skills are limited to black and white...as in I think I can cover a white space with black paint. But, he talked me into it. We parted with him planning to pull the 1947 MR article that he thinks is the best How To on the topic and me focused on pulling sample photos from my PRR books for inspiration.
This should be interesting!

Next!

Sometimes, the nice weather, chance to go camping and kids activities conspire to suck the motivation right out of me. I've visited the train room a few times but have not been motivated to do much other than run a couple of trains around the track. I have several activities planned but they generally fall in one of two categories.

Intimidating

These are the plans that either stretch my skills or represent a "no turning back" situation.

• Hills between tunnel and East McKeesport
• Creek and pond
• Mounting the Uniontown backdrop

Backdrop looks good in Uniontown but scared to mount it

Lazy

These are the tasks that are not particularly hard, I am just too lazy to work on them.

• Clearing the RIP track which includes the 4 or 5 cars that didn't fit
• Cleaning up the ballast around the layout
• A new base for LAS Fabrics so cars fit on the siding
• Ground cover in East McKeesport
• Brick roads in Uniontown
• Finish the Irwin tower including interior lighting
• Wire the programming track switch
• Better storage for cars and locos not on the layout

Will they run?

Well, the St Helen's Festival, Boys Scout summer camp and Lisa's an my trip to Las Vegas are behind us. The house is settling back to normal, just waiting for the master bath remodeling to complete this week. Yeah, things have been a bit busy the past few weeks since my last post. Time to focus some effort on the train layout.
I did some cursory cleaning around the room, it gets rather dusty in the room behind the garage with both doors open and various bugs wandering in. I had to laugh when I pondered the tree stump in the corner that I did not remember placing there. Turned out to be a single moth wing. How does that happen?
Tentatively, I powered up the layout, curious how the trains would run after being idle for about 2 months. Amazingly, after a few jerky runs on the two mainlines, and only a spot clean or two of the track, they were running smoothly over the layout - even in the 3 hidden track sections in the tunnel, behind Untiontown & Herminie and behind East McKeesport. Not bad and rather inspiring to continue my work.
On the short list is to finish a barn for the corner between Irwin and Uniontown, just need to figure out I want to cut it for the illusion of more depth, then I can finish the surrounding area with a split rail fence, some cows and horse that I have...then get some chickens. I have plans to add floors, furniture, walls and lights to the interior of LAS Fabrics, making it the first interior lit structure - G. G. S. Cabinets was the first structure with people and machines visible through the window but no lighting yet. Then I should probably turn my attention to the corner between Herminie and East McKeesport and finish the cut hillside and creek Bruce and I talked about the last time he came over.
Finally, I have several friends from Boy Scouts and St Helen's that are interested in seeing the layout, so I need to get the layout ready for a few open houses.
Should be a fun and busy summer!

And into summer...

Been very busy the last few weeks, but not in the train room. Our annual church festival at St Helen, which Lisa and I are heavily involved, took evenings and weekends away from the trains. Frankly., too hot to be motivated to build the structures and work on scenery. Actually, I use just about any excuse to avoid scenery. Sure it turns out OK when I am done but still intimidates me when I tackle a new area.
For Father's Day, the kids gave me a flat screen TV so I could watch football games in the fall and play train videos and DVDs as background to the operating sessions.

V over the train perfect for playing videos during operating sessions.

Moving Along

With the strange spring we've had - sunburns one day, frostbite the next - I have not been too motivated to be in the train room. If it's a nice day, I want to be outside. If it's cold and wet outside, the train room is uncomfortable. Still, I have been able to get a few things done.
First, I stopped at Smitty's one afternoon after an appointment in Oakwood and bought a piece of flextrack to repair the kink in the rail of the passing siding from the outer main to the west end of East McKeesport. I also found a Walthers barn kit that I think I can use for the farmstead between Irwin and Uniontown.

Arrows points to a kink in the track that needs replaced

I did manage to get this track replaced and now have no problems running trains from to to the outer main. I just need to add ballast and it will be complete. I also spent some time creating a base for LAS Fabrics so the building will be high enough that the boxcars can easily move into the loading dock. I need to add some styrene to simulate the rails being placed in cement and then some grass, details and vehicles (which I don't have yet).
Last night I started a project to further detail LAS Fabrics. The kit is assembled but it's a hollow building with large windows and does not even have a back wall.I have a piece of sheet styrene painted black for the back and plan to add some floors, desks, factory machines, tables, offices, lights and people to really bring the place alive.
There are a few more evening projects like wiring the programming track (Track 1 in the East yard), finishing the exterior of the switching tower, gluing the brick streets and sidewalks in Uniontown and attaching the backdrop there as well. There are some 10 cars on the RIP track or my desk awaiting minor repairs plus about 20 car kits that need assembled. I could do one or two of those every evening and clear the backlog but then I would need more storage space for the built cars. The one project I keep stalling on is the hillside in the photo above because I just am not sure it will come out right. I know I just need to tackle it and make changes later to improve it.
The good news is now that the weather is a little warmer day to day, the trains run pretty well every time I go out there. Of course, I have been moving trains without using the car cards so everything is messed up. Hope Bruce does not drop by expecting an operating session anytime soon! Seriously, it only takes 15 minutes or so to square up the cards so no real problem.
Once I get a few of these projects knocked out, I will get some current photos and show the world.

Catch Up

I have not gotten much done on the layout lately. The weather was pretty cold and the train room was not as inviting but, really, I was just being lazy. I did complete the apartment and I really like how it looks. I envision little in the way of an interior - may a person or two - but most of the shades will be pulled on the windows. Some light and maybe some forced shadows.

Complete apartment building in East McKeesport

Bruce came over last weekend and we talked about several projects we have been bouncing around. The corner left (west) of East McKeesport, past the trestle bridge, has been an area of major conversation and deliberating. He came up with the idea of a couple of hills - one in the corner and another in front of the mainline coming from hidden staging for the major elements in this section of the layout. I had bought a different Woodland Scenics rock mold a few weeks ago and made some castings that I laid against the stacks of insulation pieces to give us a visual representation. We talked about the area to the trestle and a tunnel for the trains on the trestle to disappear into. I decided we needed to add a sluggish pond or creek in front of the new hill sides (there are no bodies of water on my layout) and he thought that would work.
Although we did not get much work done, we did discuss a lot of ideas and have some plans for the next working train session. We also pretty well proved his theory that the oil in the electric motors is thickening up in the winter and that's why they take so long before they run smoothly. We cleaned several sections of the track which improved performance but was not the culprit.
Another interesting point this week was reconnecting with my friend, Vic. For those who have been following my blog, Vic's Bait & Tackle was the first completed scene on that last layout and this layout. It's named after a co-worker who lives in the Boston area and loves fishing. Doubt he would be terribly excited by the fishing in Keystone Lake which is where his mythical store is located. None the less, it was great catching up.

Vic's Bait & Tackle, named after a co-worker I had a chance to see this week

A Near Perfect 10

Engine 7046 was idling next to Clancy's Tavern, waiting for engine 9205 leading the east bound UN-2 Uniontown Trick. The traction motors of 9502, a sleek F3A, were digging into the slight grade out of East McKeesport. When it reached the crossover, instead of heading straight as it should, it suddenly lurched into the curve....someone had left the switch open! The men standing around Vic's Bait & Tackle Shop were witness to the most spectacular sight as the nose of the F3 drove straight into the broadside of the Heinz 73 pickle car. The force sheared the couplers off the adorning cars and sent the pickle car into a death spiral down the steep raven.
But wait...all was not lost. The spectators, now Olympic judges, were amazed as, in those final moments before complete obliteration, they witness Heinz 73, the ungainly and awkward pickle tank car, execute a near perfect 360 with half twisted, pulling out as it was reduced to the individual nuts and bolts that created it.
It only took a few minutes of discussion before the witnesses scored a unanimous 9.9!

More Hills

In my last post, I talked about how Bruce and I were collaborating and bouncing ideas off each other. In particular, we were focusing on the far right corner of the layout that is relatively bare and I had no idea how to scenic. Bruce later emailed some thoughts:

• Use a different color of ballast on the farthest track to make it look like a separate right of way (like track from a different RR company or a branch line). 
• Extend the E. McKeesport backdrop to curve around the corner in front of the farthest track, with the scene changing from city to country - may require removing the elevated track on the bridge
• Shape a piece of foam about 2" high to fit between the two rearmost tracks and also between the farthest track and the corner (as you did on the opposite corner of the layout) and scenic to simulate a cut & fill. 
• Put a road in front of the farthest track and use a series of closely-spaced Burma-Shave billboards to hide the rear track (Maybe this idea is a little goofy).
• Build an embankment or a hill in front of the rear track about 6" high; tall enough to hide the trains. Leave the top open for access.

I thought all the ideas were rather creative. I did not want to remove the bridge (I love the trestle bridge there) and since the track is curved with hand throws at either end I did not want to cover it in a tunnel or below an access hatch. So the 3rd bullet, the track hidden in a cut really appealed.

Initial mockup to hide the corner

I cut some of the remaining insulation foam that I had lying around and ended up with hills 3" high in front and behind the "cut in the hill" next to the bridge. In fact, I think there will be a lower cut in front of the closest hill to add more shape to the scene. I placed the only background scene I own behind this and really liked how its starting to look - although I want the background to show cut rock faces.

Stepping back (to Uniontown) to take in the scene

Looks like Bruce will be other this weekend so I expect this scene to really get fleshed out.

Compromise or Collaboration

Since the holiday break, I did not get much done on the layout, just a few little odds and ends like creating a couple of coal loads for the hopper cars and touching up a couple sections of scenery. There was some serious activity over the Jan 9-10 weekend though. First, I made a trip to Pittsburgh to see my Dad which meant I needed to stop at TK Hobby Shop in Bridgeport OH. I love this store and while I don't find everything I was looking for, I always find a few things I can use at great prices. Since this trip was an out-and-back (round trip 520 miles in one day), I was only going to stop in for 15-20 minutes. I had a list of what I wanted that I checked against their website inventory. I walked into the store at 10:10 AM...and called my Dad at 11 when I realized what time it was! And yes, I walked out with some new stuff for the train including a test background scene and Parkview Terrace building for East McKeesport.

The new background temporarily placed

I was only about 15 minutes later than planned (I padded my estimate, I was not speeding!), so I still managed to spend a few hours with him before heading back home.
The other thing that weekend was Bruce coming over Sunday afternoon. Last time we got together was before Christmas and we ran an operating session to see how it worked. Lots of fun and seemed appropriate for the session - play with trains rather than building. This time we had a working session. We always start by catching up on family and work activities, then talk about any changes I've done and bounce around some ideas. This time, I was able to show Bruce the new stuff from TK - background, apartment building kit, and a couple of '54 pickups. On the layout, I had rough in some initial scenery in the corner between the Irwin Yard and Untiontown as well as the section between Herminie and East McKeesport.

Future farm in the corner, brick streets in Uniontown

 I spent the session trimming some brick paper for the streets in Uniontown that go around the city park next to Isley's and then disappears into the background (above). Bruce added ground foam to the area next to Herminie (below).

Set Bruce up with a variety of "grasses" for the Herminie/E McKeesport scene break.

 We had a good time and while the changes we made were small, it's an incremental step to a complete layout. Afterwards, I was thinking about how different this time is from my day job. During the week, I spend much of my time finding an acceptable compromise between two people or two groups. Yes, there is some collaboration but seems like there is more compromise. Out in the train room, when Bruce comes over to brainstorm ideas and offer suggestions - now THAT is collaboration!

Creating coal loads

Here are the results of my first efforts to create removal coal loads for my hopper cars. As I've said, I only need to create about 5 since most of the fleet were kits that came with prefabricated plastic molds. I created 3 bases using bass wood with some random pieces stacked on them to simulate some depth to the coal pile. Then I glued a steel washer on the bottom so I can use a magnet to more easily remove the loads for cars that are supposed to me empty (written as -MTY- on the waybills). I painted these a flat black and once dry, painted on a thick layer of white glue. I had 3 different types of "coal" - scale coal from Woodland Scenics (I think, got it a long time ago) and 2 sand art materials from Michael's Arts & Crafts. One of these was rather fine and the other more coarse.

Three experiments creating coal loads

I covered one based with the fine and the second with the coarse material. The third I first sprinkled the coarse material then dusted it with some of the fine to fill in the gaps. These are in the photo above - but right to left so the fine one is on the right. Once they dried, I tapped the loose material off and decided that the two with the coarse material are pretty good but the fine material is too fine - you can see the layers of basswood. Maybe another couple coats of the material to hid the sharp corners of the stacking material.

Plastic, my homemade and purchases homemade coal loads

In the next photo, three cars are showing the coal loads I have - left is the modeled plastic that came with this hopper car, the middle is the better example I created, and the right is a model I picked up at a show with a homemade coal load. Based on this, I think my experiment went pretty well.