Catching up with rolling stock, layout and more

Much of what you read in this post is a condensed version of what I posted over on Trainboard.com. I've decided to move things over here from there, since I'm less in the discussion phase and more in the narrative phase of the project.

June 2018

Dropped $70 on an Atlas PRR 1610 from eBay. Not sure how I managed to find that one, but it's a steal and I'm super happy about it. I also ordered an Atlas Gen. Haupt from Streamlined Backshop with a DCC install that looks great. One hangup on that one, though... I don't have a DCC layout. But figured I'd get it installed now. I just can't really use it on the layout. The final item in this batch is a set of four Bachmann W&ARR boxcars. The boys were naturally excited about those since they're "from the movie."

The Arnold Coaches episode was a short one, but a learning experience. In need of passenger cars, I saw a set of old W&ARR coaches on eBay. I got them for something like $75. It felt like a bit much, but it was early in my education about all this and I was getting anxious. After some testing, I figured out why they weren't worth the time, effort, or money. 

From the time: 

There was a bit of trouble, I think due to the plastic wheels. But I haven’t investigated thoroughly yet. They don’t spin as freely as I’d like. Would love to replace them with new ones. But they are attached using pins that are molded into the bed, not the normal kingpins I’m used to. Hmm... 
Otherwise they’re in great condition. Almost no visible wear. And they’re *heavy*, which I was a little worried about. But both the Bachmann’s pulled all three with only minor slipping. 

Fast forward a few days... 

I'm returning the Arnold passenger cars. Too much work to retrofit them. Will look into Bachmann or another maker for passenger cars. There are many on eBay. 

Mid-month, I ran out of money, so I started messing around with layout software for what I imagined to be my "dream layout":

Work on the actual locomotives has been slow, as I only have about an hour at night available.

I cleaned up the wheels of the Gen. Haupt, and its pickup is already improved. But I think much of the pickup issues has to do with the track being 20+ yrs old. Some of the track is actually 30-40 yrs old. Still, considering, I've had only one or two stalls during a complete runaround of the 3'x3' layout I'm using right now. I also didn't solder anything or take any of the care I'm supposed to while laying track. I used fine sandpaper on top of the rails and cleaned them with alcohol, which cleared up 80% of the issues. I'm going to add more weight to them in the cabs and front of the tenders. I'll need to cover up the decoder anyway, so it should work out nicely.   

In the meantime, I got antsy and way ahead of myself, so I did a draft layout for the room I'm going to use. It'll be a shelf layout and the room structure already accommodates that. You'll see when I get photos posted. But for now, here's what will eventually become a Civil War single-track railroad, loosely based on the W&ARR. I plan to use Peco C55, which I know is a little expensive, but I want to be able to run my old pizza cutters on it, too. Plus, I read the switches are better. I'm going to build this in DCC, so I'll also need the auto-reversers for the reverse loops. All of this is months, if not a year away, so I don't expect to update anything about the layout for a good long while. 

Yeah, it'll be more than a year away. No chance that I'll get something like that done by this June.

Finally got smart and tracked down some Micro-Trains Civil War era cars. Added five more freight cars. Found them cheap. To be honest, I was shocked to find them at all. But one thing I still can’t seem to find more of is the regular boxcar. The converted house cars will do just fine for now.  

I also wanted to see how well the Atlas engines pulled. 

So I coupled up an 11-car train, which included the four heavier Bachmann W&ARR boxcars. And aside from a little hesitation for a moment, the two Atlas had no problems.

Here's the PRR No. 1510 pulling 11 freight cars. I blame the moment of hesitation on bad track/pickup. This engine was running on pulse setting using a Throttlepack 501 N, but I hope the Tech 7 I ordered will help with the slow speed control. The U.S.M.R.R. Gen. Haupt (which has a decoder installed, the PRR doesn't) doesn't react to the pulse setting at all, which is bothersome since the Atlas engines on the full setting start moving at about 40 mph. Not realistic at all. The Bachmann engines, surprisingly, have much better slow speed reaction with the 501. Not sure if that's a motor thing. 

I got an order of MTL wood frame trucks and the simulated link-and-pin couplers. The plan was to convert all the Bachmann CWE cars, with enough leftover trucks/couplers in case I ever need more. 

I recall seeing the trucks and couplers advertised as being compatible with the Bachmann cars, but maybe I misread it. When I tried to simply swap out the trucks, they didn't fit over the existing frame. 

Instead of drilling out the MTL trucks--which would thin them out and harm the structural integrity--I took a hand file to shave down the screw holes on one of my old cars as a test. I went all the way down to the base, but as you can see in the second photo, it still wasn't enough! The car still rides high compared to the stock Bachmann car and the MTL car. 

Before I proceed with a dremel tool to get these down to the right height, let me ask: Is there another way? Or is this normal kind of stuff when adapting stock items to my needs?  
The first pic is of the old Bachmann frame that I filed (top) and the stock/new Bachmann frame (bottom) to compare. 

July 2018

So I guess by the end of June it was too much to just keep running trains on the wood table. I needed something more. Here's the update with a few photos. It was *really* hot out during the days I was building this thing. I had to do it outside because the boys wanted to be outside in the sprinkler and pool. 

Couple updates. While I’m not nearly ready to build the big one, I’ve been antsy to get something done that can run trains. So I got some foam boards, plaster cloth, cork, and a small wood kit depot the other day, and started a 3x3 layout. Nothing specific. Rural overall and generic era so we can run both the 19th and 20th century trains. 
Please don’t have too much fun at my expense. I’m aware of all the mistakes I made. The gap between rails in the last two pics is pretty glaring. 

But even with the poor pickup on those engines, the gaps didn’t cause a problem. I cleaned up all the old track—30-yr old code 80–and bought new rail joiners. It’s surprisingly solid. I actually forgot to take a wide pic of the whole thing as it stands now. Will do that later. I just need to start working on the landscaping and a few more buildings. The reason I went with the large rolls of cork is because I don’t want the track raised too high above the surrounding terrain. I want that “old track” look.  

   

Late-July 2018

Once my 3-year-old moved into the same room as the 7-year-old, it freed us to move out of the basement bedroom. 

That means we have a play/rec room down there now. 

Moved around some rooms in the house, meaning I finally have a room for the layout!  

So I got paint and scenery, and went to work. I’m further along than the final photo shows, but I’ll have another update soon. I tell ya, seeing the ground cover going down really boosts the morale. 

I also picked up a bunch of 1860 passenger cars and another engine for super cheap. 

They need some work, and I ordered all new trucks from shapeways. Getting them fitted with the new trucks and link and pin will look great.

 

The ballast didn’t turn out how I wanted. I’m going to make the rest of it look more like a dirt/ballast mix, as ballasting back then isn’t what we think of now. 

August 2018

Update and video time! 

The Atlas 4-4-0 P.R.R. 1610 pulling a load of 13 freight cars, a mix of U.S. Military R.R., Manassas Gap R.R., and Pennsylvania R.R. (latest editions! Should have a Georgia R.R. arriving today). The key to a smoother run is weight. I recently added about 1.5 oz of tungsten putty to places like the pilot truck, cab, and tender under the wood load. There's only one or two spots it hesitates, but that's probably because I didn't clean the track in over a week. The layout is progressing along nicely, albeit slowly. I'm only showing the parts of the layout that have (at least some) scenery, and all of it will be improving on a continuous basis. This accounts for about 3 months of work.

October 2018

Geez, time really got away from me. School and football started up and suddenly it’s October. Anyway, here’s a quick landscape update. One more corner done. A little grove and a bunch of ground cover. Need more trees though. Pines would be good. 

And I managed to get my hands on eight (!) of those undecorated MTL boxcars. I painted four so far w a rust color. Hand painting, not spraying. I figure the real things weren’t sprayed so this would work out. The first coat looks so good I may not do a second. Will need to order decals. 

Also, I’m debating what color to do the second set of four. I think the slate gray is generic enough for this period that it could work with almost any line.


The blue-gray color looks pretty nice on the boxcars. Adds some needed variety to the roster. The rust color on the other boxcars almost looks like the iron boxcars used by the B&O during this era. Now I just need to find some stock cars or other kind of ventilated boxcars. I haven't ordered decals yet, so they remain plain. I forgot to paint and install the brake wheels to each of the new boxcars. Have to get around to that, too. 

But the biggest news on the scenery front is that I finally got around to the water. It was scary going in, since I've never done anything like this before. But now I'm really happy with how it turned out. Used rocks from the back yard to make the banks and shore line. Once I finally break down and buy some dam trees (they really add up $$) the whole center of the layout will be pretty impressive. 

Now the story continues on the main feed of this blog. Thanks for reading...