G.E.C's layout pictures

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
I dig that Conrail SD60I :cool: Great work on the additions for the layout

yes, one day i will build it. One day soon, it seems....

SWEET!! What road did you get it in? How much did you get it for?

CSX, i think its #631. I probably payed close to top dollar for it, but i got a free trackmobile, which in my opinion, balances it all out.

I got the trackmobile in.... trackmobile. Didn't feel like limiting myself to a specific railroad.
 

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
Someone needs to take my money and hold it so that i don't buy expensive BLI Steam engines at top dollar.

I love the PRR J-1, but i'm telling you, its probably the most expensive thing i own. The best part is that it doesn't even fit on my layout's curves.

Can you say buyer's remorse? that money could have been several commuter trains i'd like to model.... but i'm not returning it, lol.

Atleast between this beast and my UP challenger, I out-steam the guys at the club by a small margin. They all have pennsy T1, K4s, or M-1A/Bs, a cab forward, and an ATSF 4-8-4, and another challenger, but they are dispersed amongst the crowd.

and its something different than my usual NJ transit and Conrail.
 

ac_catenary

ac_catenary
I have photo shop and can make that disco band. it is simular to the new septa stripe and I have made those decals of my computer. The photoshop program has a feature that can dupilcate the blending of colors. Tell me what size you would need for that locomotive. and I will send it to you
 

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
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!)

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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- http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/7818/newpictures112606013crozn2.jpg
OLD

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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

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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!

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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.

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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).

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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.

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#4850 starts out its day at work

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It positions itself over the rails

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

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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.

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4850 pulls the boxcar up into the track lead.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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More pictures of some of my unfinished projects later.
 

tomustang

Has Entered.
Whoa, that 2-10-4 is huge!

I'm with you on the merger, unfortunately I did buy a CSX and NS loco too.

I would rather just stick with the conrail as the main line system and think they made it past both of those two companys
 

green_elite_cab

Keep It Moving!
You can get the tripod at Best By, but be careful, they break easily where the legs meet the body :( I already have to get a new one. I just need to not bend it so much next time i guess :lolol:
I will be posting some videos in a few minutes of my trains at my local model railroad club, the Burlington County Model Railroad Club. If you live near philadelphia, its a good idea go come check us out this weekend and next weekend.
We are located in the basement level of the Burlington County Footlighters Playhouse, 900 Pomona Rd, Cinnaminson, NJ 08077, and we are open 12-5PM. Its $3 for an adult to get in, kids under 12 are free.
I'm hoping to have a nearly full Amtrak Silver Crescent/meteor/star in time for the show. I just need to fix some coupler height issues.
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I think all i've done today was work on my Electric Multiple Unit Commuter trains.
In other news, i've gotten quite a bit of stuff done. I've experimented with the Alclad Chrome metalizing paint. This is superior to the stuff i was using before because you had to buff it, and even then, you didn't geth the mirror finish. The Alclad is absolutely rediculous though. The chrome is a perfect match for my Metroliners, Amfleets and Arrow III EMUs. I first tested the Alclad chrome on a junked (its more busted up than it appears, but i do a good job fixing it, so you can hardly tell even with the crazy shiny paint) Metroliner shell. I was going to make it into a cab car, but i realized after painting it that there were some major details i needed to fix. Anyways, it is perfect, especially when you compare it to the finish on most other amfleets. I've also used int on my Arrow IIIs, and i think i'll have to get more Alclad for the rest of my fleet. I might even try the stainless steel Alclad on portions where i need a duller stainless steel look than the chrome, but brighter than what i get with testor's stainless steel (you'll see what i mean in the photos).
that silver that most companies use is all wrong!
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A prototype picture- my metroliner shell might be dusty, but which of the above finishes do you think best matches the real thing, the standard walthers/bachmann, or Alclad? keep in mind my metroliner is in-doors, so its going to reflect differently. It looks just like that outside (but its to cold to go out there, lol)
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I've also begun using it on my "single" Arrow III EMU. I might need to touch up the old metalizer portions.
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compared with before-
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I also got my Metroliner EMU train working. That was a pain, and it still is noisy, but it works on DCC and seems like it will pull it's own weight. I bolted in the wires to the parts of the frame where things were connected originally to get the track power, but otherwise it works. There was an issue when i drilled through the frame and used a metal screw (causing a short), but i replaced it with a plastic screw, and it works fine. I had to reshape the motor area with a dremel tool, and used model airplane fuel line to replace the old connectors, which would not fit with the new motor. This set up is pretty loud, but it works when it is properly shimmed and lubricated (speaking of which, this 30 year old model can probably use a good cleaning in it's gears!). Because i hadn't expected to find such a quick and easy solution to making it run, i had left it in storage for a while and i haven't really fine tuned any part of it, only occaisionally pulling it out. If i can make it quieter, i'd like to make it a more common train on my layout.
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I had to modify the frame a little
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Old motor and parts with the new. note the fuel line. This works pretty well, it doesn't twist up under normal operation (if the locomotive is so bad the wheels stop moving, the fuel line weill twist off, saving the motor. I've seen this happen)
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Here you can see the decoder and the drive in detail. The drive here is very loud and unique, so there does not seem to be any way to replace it. I'm trying to figure out how to make it quieter.
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I have a 1700 Series baggage car i'm also working on, and i'll post pictures of it soon!
 
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