Bill and Tom's EXCELLENT ADVENTURE in Logging and Mining

[Bill Nelson]

Jackson street street trackage

I gave been working on Jackson street.

I got more Rix 1930 overpass railings, which allowed me to finish the railings.


The railing's bas stuck up a little from the styrene street, and I wanted that to be close to flush, and I wanted to bring the street level up to close to the level of the code 83 rails on the peco flex used for the trolley tracks. I had found some midwest foam from hobby lobby I had on hand. I glued it down, after carefully cutting sections to size, with Leech f -26 , a contact glue in a tube. I had to spread it thin, and let it get most of the way dry before I applied the foam or the foam would melt a little. I have a section of the pavement that is cut out, where the Union Station can fit in


I have started to fill in between the pavement and the outside of the rail, using vinyl spackling ( note to self, mask the railings before getting out the vinyl spackling ) . I'm going to try to use plastic brick sheeting between the rails. I'll have to see if that works, and try something else if it doesn't

 

[Bill Nelson]

wore work on J street

I got the acrylic spackling to fill the gap between the street surface, Styrofoam, and the rail, and have the road surface painted. next to cut plastic embossed brick material to fill in between the rails, leaving flange ways.

 

[Bill Nelson]

So much fun with the tracks in the street.

have been having so much fun with the tracks in the street. I have some plastic sheet with a brick pattern on it I got at Hobby Lobby. I took my calipers and measured the flangeway guide on the NMRA standards gauge, and cut strips of the brick material in strips of that width.

Those strips wouldn't lie flat on the peco code 83 flex track, due to the spikes, so I cut a strip of the material that would fit between the spikes, and glued it to the ties, then I painted the brick strips flat black, and after that dried painted them with red auto body primer, which makes a pretty good brick color.


Then I glued the brick strips to the plastic filler strip on the ties. I really like the affect, although I need to make some india ink stain to run down the flangeways and darken them up, as in some places the white acrylic spackling compound shoes through. I just need to draw some expansion cracks on to the street, and some other cracks, using pens and pencils, and I will be ready to try to start wiring the street level, so it has connections for the light buss, and for the lighting for Union station; and the stay. I have some feeder wires to the trolley tracks soldered onto the rails and fed out below street level, before I did the paving, so I don't have to mess up the street powering the rails.

 

[Bill Nelson]

another side project

the street level is close enough to right to be left at the club, so I will be back at the stone work on the Union Station soon, but I have two side projects going on right now.


Tom had an MDc 2-8-0 with factory sound. the sound was provided by MRC, and sounded bad as compared to other steam sound decoders at the club. Tom donated the locomotive to me, and I have repainted it, and am putting a Micro Tsunami in it . The micro Tsunami sounds great, but the locomotive does not perform well, so is being disassembled to add the optional capacitor.

I had made a order from Walther's, and picked up two data only hoppers to letter for the J E P C & L Co. I had two accurail undecorated hopper cars Dave asked me to paint up for him, so I painted and hand lettered them as well. I also test lettered one of my six tichy train group hoppers ( the rusty one) that still has a lot of fine detail to add to it. the Tichey train group cars are true plastic craftsman kits, with way more detail than most cars. It would be a huge amount of work to put it all on one car , and I have six to do. some of these cars will remain on my home layout, I don't know how many yet, as I'm in the planning process of a RR rebuild that could drastically increase certain kinds of traffic on my RR .

I'm hand lettering with a white pencil from the art store, made to do charcoal drawings. not perfect, but allows more control than I have gotten with paint, while allowing me to work fast. I like the look of dry transfers better, but have so many cars to do that would bring in time and material constraints. I'm holding up on lettering until I have made another visit to the train club, where I can do an inventory of existing numbers to keep the numbers in the same range, and avoid duplicates. I have some white decal sheets, and I want to experiment with printing a cars background color around a transparent lettering layer to get white letters, but that is going to take a considerable learning curve.



Bill Nelson

 

[gbwdude]

Eh Hole's is good to go

Gents,

I even managed to finish off a project today with all the chaos that has been going on lately. I was supposed to go to the train show and layout tours in Nashville with some of the other club members but my daughter caught pink eye so we brought her in today.

Eh Hole's Pub is a new establishment in whatever Jesse's part of town is called. I found the abandoned structure in one of the bash boxes as it had a good reason to be in there, it was cast yellow with green windows. That was the first thing to change, as I busted out the brown spray paint and hosed it down. Using the roof as an risky experiment, instead of black paint and tissue paper to simulate tar paper, I used the existing pattern on the roof coated with rubberized undercoating to see how it'd turn out. Turns out I like the effect, maybe not exactly HO scale sized lumps, but it works. I then tried my hand at weathering with a wash of weathered white, as a wood sided building would have probably turned colors. I don't like how it turned out but I figured someone can probably do better. (HINT HINT JESSE!) The windows that originally came with the building were the thick almost clear stuff that usually came with the cheaper kits, so I replaced them with the clear plastic that is found in my award presentation thing cut to the right size. It looks really good as a glass substitute in my opinion. For the signs, they're ones that I made a while ago when I had a few buildings at the house and I was fiddling with. They're just cut off the sheet of paper and glued on with craft glue. All in all I'm pretty proud of this little guy and hopefully I'll be able to bring it in on Monday night assuming nothing crazy happens between now and then.

Tyler

 

[Bill Nelson]

more work for the J E P C & L Co

I got Toms old MDC 2-8-0 fixed up some, with a micro tsunami . Pictured here with two undecorated acurail hoppers I painted up for Dave. I just need to do an inventory of hopper #s before I number them. once thy are numbered thy will get a shot f dulcote that will protect the bad lettering, and tone down the shine. I was going to make them rusty but my last can of red auto body primer clogger up, so they are shiny fresh out of the shops.


Bill Nelson

 

[Bill Nelson]

Gents,

I
Eh Hole's Pub is a new establishment in whatever Jesse's part of town is called. I
Tyler

Tyler,

Jesse is working in Cumberland Furnace (unless he elects to re name it, which would be his right, with all the massive improvements, operationally and scenically he has been working there)


So we have a canadian themed pup in Cumberland furnace ! I'm familiar with the 5 hole ( a hockey phrase for in between the goalies legs) what is the Eh hole?; or is that an explanation that can't be made on a family site?



Nelson

 

[gbwdude]

Bill,

It's more of a play on words, but to keep myself safe I'll explain tonight at the club.

Tyler

 

[Bill Nelson]

more hopper cars done

I did a survey of car numbers, and found I only had 3 J E P C & L Co hopper cars at the club, and only one on my home railroad. I swear I made more than that, perhaps I have given some away . in any case I have some more numbered and ready to go. One thing I found out is the white charcoal crayon (I know it's not charcoal, but it is sold with the charcoal pencils at Hobby lobby) writes much better on a flat surface, so in the future if I go to try to hand letter with one of these pencils I will give the car a shot of dulcoate first to get the pencil to write more smoothly, and then give it another shot of Dulcoate to seal in the white. pencil.


Bill Nelson

 

[gbwdude]

Bill,

Are the J.E. Patterson cars all in the 100 series? I might add one to my roster some time down the road.

Tyler

 

[Bill Nelson]

series

so far they are with 30 ft cars at the lower end, and 40 foot cars at the upper end.


I found three cars at the club, and only one on my home layout, and I thought I had made more. I have just completed another four for the club, and have a tichy 6 pack in the works, that will be broken up between my home RR and the club. If I do my rebuild Montgomery furnace will get a lot more traffic, and it will take a lot of hoppers to fill those coke ovens. I would like to have a lot of JEPC&LCo hoppers at the club too. I miss $4.00 shake the box kits!



Bill nelson

 

[gbwdude]

I miss $4.00 shake the box kits!

Bill,

I think I'll speak for everyone who's been in this hobby for longer than 5-10 years or who has ever assembled a MDC or Athearn car misses those kits. Ready to Run is great for kids with dads who have fat wallets, but I see it as a way for Horizon Hobby (the guys who bought both previously mentioned companies) to squeeze money out of the public since they are generally easy to build cars. Yes they now come with grab irons that are scale size and metal wheelsets and knuckle couplers (usually Bachmann or Accumate, only on my '35 Hiawatha have Kadee's been standard equipment). Like myself and others, we like to tinker and modify instead of having the same carbon copy model that everyone else has. If Athearn or MDC came back to shake the box, I have a feeling that they would gain some business back. I don't know facts, but I'd say that Accurail sells more kits than RTR cars mostly due to the lower cost for the same product.

Now if you want MDC cars that are undecorated, look for the eBay seller river_city_railroad. He usually sells assorted undecorated car kits in quantities of five or more for reasonable prices. The first time I was in Korea I bought five open door boxcars for $10. They usually sell for $15 now.

Tyler

 

[Bill Nelson]

fond memories of $3.50 shake the box kits ignore inflation.

I fondly remember the $3.50 shake the box kits, when I could get two pairs of KDs for $1.75 . I switched to KD's when I got # 15 my first Shay, back in 1968, and could not bear to put horn hooks on it. it was a PFM 25 ton Hillcrest Shay I bought new mail order from Gilbert's Hobby Shop , in Gettysburg PA for $68.00. At that time my allowance was $2.00 a week, I could get another $2.00 for mowing the lawn, or washing a car. A neighbor had given my dad a huge white oak tree that had been cut up into firewood lengths, and dad offered me 15 bucks a chord to split it up. That Summer Champion International, my Dad's employer was putting a new pulp mill in in Alaska, and my Dad was the lead Forester on the project, and Dad was out there on business trips more than he was home ( we lived in Southern Ohio at that time). When dad finally got home and had enough time to measure the woodpile and pay up, I had $45, an unheard of sum, and one that put a brass shay in reach, so I split more wood washed more cars and mowed lawns to get the cash for # 15. after I got # 15 it took about a year to get all my cars converted to KDs.

Buying that shay pushed my modeling focus from the old west to logging. That was a great strategic move, since my dad was a train nut, and a Forester, and had worked on steam logging operations in Louisiana while in Yale Graduate school of Forestry; His logging books where what gave me the initial push, but after I stated modeling logging operations, my dad started subsidizing my efforts considerably, he bought some of my old brass for me outright, and bought all the lumber , plaster ect for the layout I built when in High school.

a couple years ago I bought a Hon3 version of that same PFM 25 ton shay for $350.00 I got a deal, because it didn't run the going rate for an operating model was closer to $450.

if we take that as the inflation standard those $3.50 shake the box kits would cost $23.00 now, ok those ready to run things are not so bad a deal, but I'm a cheap old ****, and can use senility as an excuse to forget about inflation, but I hate paying top dollar for something I'g going to take apart, cut to pieces resemble and repaint; why pay some Chinese guy to do something that just makes my plans more difficult. The new standards of detail are impressive, but if my buildings, bridges, locomotives , and scenery are up to my usual standard No one is going to be looking at the cars close enough to see if the brake rigging is right. When my kids were little they broke brake wheels off faster than I could replace them. #1 son is in graduate school (chemical engineering like his Mom's Dad ), and # 2 son went to his heavenly reward over ten years ago, nobody notices the missing brake wheels.


Here is a picture of DG CC & W RR #15, and it's narrow gauge cousin - a State Line Railroad locomotive, as yet un-numbered in front of the Union Station (DG CC & W , M & NG, & State Line railroad) in State Line Georgia.

Old # 15 has had a hard life 22 hard years in road service, followed by 18 years as the primary mill switcher, and four years as a switch engine at the log camp @ Terrapin, TN. and the reload operation in Ridgemont , TN.

The narrow gauge version spent most of that time in a box. it did not run when I bought it, but a little tuner cleaner on the commutator got it running in 15 minutes.


Bill Nelson

also enclosed is a photo I took from my front porch the other day showing the RJ Corman RR operating on a vestigial remnant of the L&N's old Memphis line.

 

[Bill Nelson]

J. E. P. Coal and Lumber Co coaches

I had three coaches and a combine, made by Mantua, that were, I believe, a part of my second HO train set, that would mean that my folks got them for me for Christmas in 1966 or 1967. They were in service on my home RR until about ten or eleven years ago, when I did some upgrade work to them, and took them to the club to serve the J. E. Pattterson Coal and Lumber Co.



I have been getting pretty good results hand lettering with a white art pencil from Hobby Lobby, so I brought them home for lettering and numbering. I shot the cars with a clear dull finish, to give the finnish more tooth, so the art pencil would leave a more consistent line. Then I put a masking tape reference line under the number board to help me keep the bottom of the letters in a straight line. I also marked the center line, and made an underline on the masking tape under where the letters would go to help me get the spacing right. using the same tape on each car helped keep the lettering consistent from car to car ( the letterboard for the combine was shorter due to the combine door, so Patterson was not spelled out on the combine.


After lettering the cars, they got another shot of clear dull finish to seal the lettering. I used Krylon clear dull ,purchased at Lowes, In the past I have used dulcoate, but the Krylon can in much larger, which probably makes it cheaper, and it has a finer spray pattern, giving beTter results. These cars are ready to go back to the club!


I numbered the cars 69-73 J E P C & L CO # 68 is a caboose, so I though these will fit in that series. The company probably needs more cabooses, they will be numbered 67 down.


I'm having a lot of fun with the white are pencil much faster and cheaper than using dry transfers or decals , and neater and faster than my attempts at hand lettering with paint.



Bill Nelson

 

[Bill Nelson]

lots of progress at the club.

We have had lots of progress at the club. The Jackson Street yard has been rebuilt twice, we have completely rebuilt the high line (eastern Division); and the troublesome helix on the far wall has been removed, and repaced with two return loops, so the top deck and lower deck are no longer linked operably. this will allow us to make the lower deck Westbound, and the upper deck eastbound; removing a big loop that made no sence operationally, and was of limited use in continuous running, due to the steep grades on the high line.



I have been making some very slow progress on the Union Station on Jackson St.. It has been looking empty and forlorn since Tyler was sent to Korea, and his Hiawatha left the station. I bought a Southern Crecent baggage car that the two tone color is close to Tom's Southern passenger cars; he has an opservation car a coach and a rpo/combine, so adding a baggage car whill be a big help. I have back ordered two Southern Harriman coaches and an observation car, and I have a heavy weight baggage car to go with them when they arrive. that will help fill the void, as I'm making progress on my home RR , and soon my 5 car Southern open platform train will be going home to Harlow Tn.


Tom had a Southern RR Green and Gold 4-8-2, with a Vanderbilt tender (unlike any SR passenger locomotive I'm aware of- but I'm a sucker Green and Gold). It had been used hard and put up wet, and had several mechanical issues. I made a couple repairs, and pulled out the DigiCR** decoder, and repalced it with a Heavy steam Tsunami. It has been out of operation for a couple years; but now it has a new lease on life, and thanks to the Tsunami, it sounds great! In front of it is a piece of station platform I'm working on to extend the passenger platform at Union station. I had a roof for a european platform, and I had some concterte bases for atlass platforms, where I had rebuilt them with wood platforms. I used plastitruct I beams to build new legs for the platform, and heated up straight pins with a torch, and melted them into the I beams. I have drilled holes in the concrete platform to acepped the ends of the pins, so they will add stenght to what would outherwise be way too weak.


we are digging the layout out of the debris oof several massive rebuild projects, hopefully we will be rolling soon.

 

[Bill Nelson]

at the club today I did some bridge rehabiliatation on a bridge over the Lake at Cumberland Furnace . there was a nasty kink at the end of the bridge as well as some verical curve issues at each end of the bridge.


My making a wood bridge deck, which will give the track deck better suppoet, and splicing some flex track to it, I can get a better looking bridgedeck, with close fitting gaurd rails , and having flex track extensions so the rail joints won't be close to the bridge, making for a smoother transition onto and off the bridge.

My river port on my home RR has been removed for redisign and replacement, so the Harlow Steam Navagation Co.'s Daisy is without a home port, and is working Cumberlans furnace for the time being, untill it;s home port at Harlow TN. on my home RR is rebuilt.