layout progress & engine pics

[UP SD40-2]

Just a tiny bit further along...

Well, real life is REALLY interfering with my modeling:curse:, i was hoping to be completed with Tri-Star Industries by now, but have been to busy, so it just hasn't happened. all i have been able to do is get a little further on it. i could have worked on it for about a half hour today, but ran a little insteadops:tooth1. heres a couple recent pics of it, and 3 more engines on my UP roster i haven't posted yet. AC44OO(2 of 2, i think 1 of two is on page 2 of this thread), SD24, and one of my UPY's SD38-2 #833 :thumb: View attachment 27288 View attachment 27289 View attachment 27290 View attachment 27291 View attachment 27292more...

 

[UP SD40-2]

View attachment 27293 View attachment 27294 View attachment 27295 View attachment 27296 View attachment 27297 Thanks!:d

 

[wsor4050]

fantastic buddy

 

[MilesWestern]

What's UPY? I've seen these on numerous locos around here, primarily in yards is it Radio-controlled? Union Pacific Yard?


WOW!!! is that truck athearn? THATS COOOL!

 

[UP SD40-2]

What's UPY? Union Pacific Yard?


WOW!!! is that truck athearn? THATS COOOL!

Miles, you are correct!:thumb: UPY means Union Pacific Yard engine. most are like this one i have modeled, #511. they are USUALLY engines that have been taken out of road service, but still run well enough not to scrap:thumb:. i made #511 as one of the UPY's that run through Beloit here, NOT a looker, but runs well. not all UPY's look like they are on there last leg though, check the bottom pic out:thumb:. BTW, the truck IS an Athearn. **wsor4050, cripes Chris, i thought you fell off the face of the earth!!! GLAD YOUR BACK MAN!!!:thumb: THANKS GUYS! View attachment 27310 View attachment 27311 View attachment 27312 View attachment 27313

 

[UP SD40-2]

3,026 views...WOW!!!...I'M HOME!!!

Just thought i would pop in tonight to see what was up. then i seen this thread was at 3,026 views, and at 124 posts!!! OUTSTANDING!!!:thumb: THANKS GUYS!!! you ALL have made me feel VERY welcome here, and for that, i say announce1 THANK YOU!:thumb:...I AM HOME!tooth1 you all know me as UP SD40-2, my real name is Dean, friends call me Deano(thats to you guys:thumb:.) i have decided tonight, i will post my "trademark" engine, ALL 4 of THEM! thats right folks, count em, 4 UP SD40-2's!!!:thumb: i have doubles of some of the engines in my UP collection(different #s of course), but ONLY 4 of one kind, the SD40-2(2 early & 2 late model). **AGAIN, THANKS GUYS!!!...and till next time, stay on track!:thumb: -Deano View attachment 27335 View attachment 27336 View attachment 27337

 

[UP SD40-2]

UP SD40-2's ON PARADE!

View attachment 27338 View attachment 27339 View attachment 27340 View attachment 27341 View attachment 27342

 

[UP SD40-2]

My thoughts on sound decoders...

i have been reading some posts about people wanting to get into sound decoders. i think its GREAT!:thumb: but i warn you, BE CAREFUL, its like a drug, well it is to metooth1. after the first install, i had to have sound in ALL(over 50) my engines(except my AHM C-liner). my BEST ADVICE for beginners is on your first install, go with the easiest two brands to put sound in, Kato and P2K. believe me folks, it will take you more time to take the shells off these, then to install the sound decoder. Atlas are not two hard to put decoders in. novices, announce1 DO NOT attempt to start out putting sound in those old Bachmann's or Athearn blue boxes, get a few installs under your belt before attempting these! fully understand how they work, and what you are doing before you try isolating motors, and "hot wiring" decoders in. with ALL the decoders i have installed, if you break it down, its really simple, from the decoder: yellow- to headlight, white- to taillight, blue- common for the lights, black- to one side of the trucks, red- to the other side of the trucks, orange- to the red wire on the motor, gray- to the black wire on the motor, and both the brown wires to the speaker/s. that is where the "basic" wires in the decoder pins are going. for lighting effects(mars light, etc.), that is what the green and violet wires are for. there are GREAT sound decoders out there right now, Loksound, Tsunami, Brillance, Digitrax, etc. each has there advantages & disadvantages. sound decoders i have put in are: Loksound, Digitrax, Brillance, MRC's cheap AD370 and the Soundtraxx LCD line.(sorry guys, no Tsunami's, no reason why, just dont have any)if you talk to one person, they will say Tsunami is the best, another will say some other brand. my advice is to listen to a friends, or at a hobby shop, and choose what YOU like best . DON'T let sound decoders intimadate you, its really NOT that hard(and DON'T make it harder then it really is). again, start out easy, Kato & P2K. and ALWAYS, READ the sound decoder manual FIRST, NOT LAST!tooth1 **KEEP IN MIND, I AM NOT AN EXPERT!tooth1 sure i have installed alot of different sound decoders, but "Tony's" is NOT knocking on my door to hire metooth1. **BOTTOM LINE, start out easy, and before you know it, you'll be able to install ANY sound decoder in ANY engine with your eyes closed...till next time, stay on track!:thumb: View attachment 27349

 

[MilesWestern]

Nothin' like those SD40-2 "snoots" !

oh, and maybe a tutorial, perhaps?

 

[steamhead]

Hi,

You're lucky you didn't get hit by that truck, considering that the driver got off at the last gas stop & the truck went off without him!!! Serioulsy, though, how many of those pictures (the prototype ones...) are your own, and how many are "archives"? Great collection!!

Gus (LC&P).

 

[UP SD40-2]

Nothin' like those SD40-2 "snoots" !

oh, and maybe a tutorial, perhaps?

HI Miles! and THANKS! i like ALL the SD40-2's, but yes, i think the "snoots" are my favorites:thumb: ...a tutorial eh? sure, why not! when i was in my sound decoder "testing" stage, i tried a few of them to see what ones i really liked, in doing that i bought 2 cheap MRC AD370 sound decoders. i hate them and want to change them out. i ran across a sale on MRC Brillance decoders a while back and picked up a few, i have one left and will do a tutorial on installing a Brillance decoder:thumb: in one of those 2 engines. look for the tutorial this weekend. i would put it in a new bought engine, but my next 3 purchases will all come with sound. i have put reservations on these 3: BLI- UP AC6000, Tower55- UP SD70ACE, and an Athearn Big Boy. **steamhead, THANK YOU!, and to answer your question, some of the prototype pics are mine that i have posted, but most are pics of stuff i have collected off the internet over the last couple years. i find GREAT enjoyment in doing research on engines, thus, i have a TON of prototype pics in a folder, "my archives". THANKS!

 

[UP SD40-2]

SORRY!, i hit the save button twice.

 

[MilesWestern]

s'alright! Is the Athearn BigBoy ( WOW!!! ) really out already??

 

[UP SD40-2]

...i would put it in a new bought engine, but my next 3 purchases will all come with sound. i have put reservations on these 3: BLI- UP AC6000, Tower55- UP SD70ACE, and an Athearn Big Boy.

Miles, NO, the Athearn Big Boy is NOT out yet, sure wish it was! i have an old Rivarossi Big Boy right now i bought used at a show almost two years ago. looks NICE, but oddly i have been plagued with MANY problems with it, seems like a lemon. what is odd is i have a(bought new) Rivarossi F-E-F, and it runs GREAT!!!:thumb:. i have an Athearn "challenger", man it runs GREAT!, i am so happy with it i put on RESERVE one of their Big Boys, this way i will be one of the first to get one when they come out in the end of July:thumb:.

 

[UP SD40-2]

From the Engine Shop...

HI GUYS! its no secret to those of you that follow this thread that i am...AN ENGINE NUT! a few of you have commented on the prototypical pics i have. one of the reasons i have so many is i am ALWAYS searching for pics of the actual engines i have models of. i like to make what i have as close to the real thing as i can get it, without going to overboardtooth1...well, last night, while searching on the net i found a pic of an engine i have a model of. its an SD40-2 UP#3401, i have the Kato model of this(with Loksound):thumb:. after looking at the proto, then at my model, i noticed they had some differences that could be EASILY fixed with 4 decals and a little paint work. i keep a good selection of decals on hand just for this reason. the second pic shows the model pretty much how i bought it, just a few details added on by me. the third pic shows how it ended up after i had seen the prototype pic, some minor paint work and 4 decals(per side) added. the last pic shows the prototype. does ANYONE else do this type of thing or am i alone on this? **ANYWAYS, this is one of the aspects of this hobby i find VERY ENJOYABLE:thumb:. THANKS!,&...stay on track! View attachment 27384 View attachment 27385 View attachment 27386 View attachment 27387

 

[XavierJ123]

After seeing your first pic on this thread I noticed your yard backs up against a wall and I thought that would be a great opportunity to place a mirror there to double the size. It's an old John Allen trick that I love. You can see how's it done in the book, "Model Railroading with John Allen".

 

[UP SD40-2]

After seeing your first pic on this thread I noticed your yard backs up against a wall and I thought that would be a great opportunity to place a mirror there to double the size. It's an old John Allen trick that I love. You can see how's it done in the book, "Model Railroading with John Allen".

XavierJ123, THANK YOU, for the advice:thumb:. i have used mirrors on previous layouts, and it really worked out great. on this switching layout, its pretty small, so the effect would be nice:thumb:. the only drawback is on small layouts when you take pics, you limit yourself with a mirror because of lighting and reflection(who would want to see mesign1). for some shots though, it would work to my advantage. though i wouldn't put a mirror up for permanent, i might try a couple shots using one:thumb:, THANKS!

 

[UP SD40-2]

Tutorial: Easy sound decoder install

OK, in this post, i will show how to do a very basic, easy sound decoder install:thumb:. i am using an Athearn DCC ready Dash-9 for this only because with this engine there are three ways to do it:thumb:. i will show the most basic install. honestly, on the Athearn DCC ready engines I DO NOT recommend this type of install, why you ask? because the 8 pin socket holes on Athearn DCC engines ARE VERY SLOPPY. HOWEVER, on on ALL other DCC ready brands with an 8pin socket, this install i am showing would be 100% correct:thumb:. i am doing this install to show just how EASY it is to put in an 8 pin sound decoder(most ALL sound decoders come with an 8pin plug JUST like the one i am using:thumb. Kato, P2K, Rivarossi, Bachmann and some Atlas DCC ready engines ALL would install THE WAY I AM SHOWING YOU:thumb:. OK, first you need a DCC ready engine, keep in mind, DCC ready means it has the socket for a decoder or sound decoder, but DOES NOT HAVE ONE IN IT! View attachment 27399 **OK, the ONLY things we need to install the sound decoder are a screwdriver, hot glue gun, and the sound decoder. View attachment 27400 FIRST: locate the 8 pin plug on the sound decoder. View attachment 27401 SECOND: take the shell off the engine, and locate the 8 pin socket. View attachment 27402 THIRD: place the 8 pin plug in the 8 pin socket View attachment 27403 **NOTE: at this time i pick up the shell and decoder and turn the power on to make sure the engine is going forward, if it is NOT, turn the power OFF, and pull the plug out of the socket, turn the plug around and place it back in the socket. once the plug was in the correct way push it FIRMLY into the socket. **NEXT POST: STEP 4 OF THE INSTALL...

 

[Art67]

UP SD40-2,

Great tutorial you have there, thanks for sharing. BTW, there is a special feature on SD-40-2's in the June issue of Locomotive by Trains magazine. Thought you might be interested. Keep up the good work!

Stuart

 

[UP SD40-2]

A Commercial Break...

Art67, THANKS!, problem is...i wasn't done with the tutorial!:cryI'll explain in a min.) also THANK YOU, for the info on the SD40-2's:thumb:. **OK, HERES WHAT HAPPENED. i had just finished the first part of the tutorial, there was a storm going on here and as i was writing the second part(the last part of it), my phone line went out!:curse: what an ordeal!:curse: i spent all day Sunday hoping they would have it fixed, didn't happen till around 11:00am today:curse:. well now that i am back online, my next post will be the finish to the tutorial:thumb:. for any of you that was following the tutorial, I AM SORRY, BUT rest assured, after this post i will be doing the finish of the tutorial:thumb:. AND NOW, BACK TO THE TUTORIAL...