Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
*DC or DCC?*
I am about halfway through my project to convert an empty GP7 shell into a dummy locomotive. (Watch for the video to be released in late April or early May.) Part of that project is to add front and rear headlamps and marker lights, controlled through DCC. But as I learned from the comments to my video "Add an End-of-Train Light to Your Caboose", some (many?) of my viewers do not have DCC systems. So I decided to take this poll. Please select the statement that best describes your situation, and feel free to add a comment to elaborate on your selection. Thanks!
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My most recent video - Scratchbuild an HO Scale Passenger Station - has been divided into two videos in an effort to keep the video length shorter. In the future, would you prefer to see videos of this type covered in a single long video, or in two or three shorter videos? Please add any additional comments below. Thanks!
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For several years now, I have been painting the faces of my metal wheelsets using a rust red color because I felt it was more pleasing. Several of my viewers have noted - correctly - that the journal bearings used on older freight cars leaked oil badly, and this leaked oil ended up as a dirty, oily coating on the wheel faces. So for my latest freight car conversion project (that video should be published in a few hours) I painted the wheel faces using Grimy Black instead of Rust. I'd like to know what you think. Please vote for your preference below.
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Here are âbeforeâ and âafterâ photos showing my latest cheap freight car rebuild. The original car was a Tyco stock car, painted and lettered in the letâs-make-an-eyecatching-toy scheme. There are no new techniques or tricks involved, so this project did not merit its own video. Here is what I did for this project:
CAR BODY:
â Cut off the cast-on stirrup steps using a #19 blade and sanding sticks
â Added side-mount stirrup steps by Tichy (#3038)
â Painted using Tru-Color Box Car Red (TCP4020). I screwed up here: shouldâve primed first â it took two coats of paint to cover the original bright colors.
â Lettered using Champ DRGW Roadname set (HN-4) and Champ Box Car Data set (HD-2). I like the Champ Roadname set because it includes multiple sizes of heralds, D&RGW letters and road number numerals, allowing me to fit the reporting marks on the cast-on body panels.
UNDERFRAME:
â Removed and discarded the truck/coupler assemblies
â Fabricated new truck bolster/kingpins using styrene tubing (see âStill Breathingâ 3:15)
â Painted underframe flat black and highlighted the brake details using a rust color
â Added HO scale 1x8 planks to the car floor (see âBuilding a Flat Carâ 10:09)
â Attached new trucks (Accurail side frames + Intermountain 33â wheels sets) (see âPainting and Weathering Freight Car Tricksâ)
â Attached new couplers (Kadee #148 in #242 gear boxes) â donât forget the centering spring âshimâ! (see âStill Breathingâ 10:05)
You can see the results. I should note that after about 1939, all D&RGW standard gauge stock cars were painted black, but hey! Itâs MY railroad! I wanted a stock car which would contrast with the rest of my D&RGW stock cars, which are all Accurail (painted the prototypical black) and look depressingly similar. Since this car was repainted in Alamosa (ALA 9-57), and since Alamosa worked on both standard gauge and narrow gauge freight cars, it is easy for me to imagine some car shop worker applying the wrong paint color, either in error or because they were running low on black paint...
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Anyone interested in videos covering how I built and programmed my crossing flashers, and a second video on how to build and activate a sound system, vote yes below.
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I'd like your feedback on videos you'd like to see in the future. Listed below are some videos I have ideas about, please vote for your favorite. Thanks!
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I just received notification that I have two new subscribers, bringing my current total to 43. I am gratified that so many of you have enough interest in my videos to hit that subscribe button.
Today I am uploading a new video: "Breathe New Life Into Old Freight Cars." I hope you enjoy it. If you have any suggestions for future videos, either reply to this post or add a comment to one of my videos.
Thanks to all of you. In the meantime, please help me plan future videos by telling me which of my videos you like best
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"Model Railroading is not an outcome - it is a journey."
In early 2021, I discovered a video on YouTube which helped me achieve a great look for the shingled roof on the station at the town of Del Norte, Colorado on my layout. That video was by Jason Jensen (search for him!) Since then, I have benefited from hundreds of videos by dozens of YouTube contributors. So I decided to begin sharing some of my work, some of my methods, and some of my experience. I hope these videos will inspire other modelers.
My philosophy is easily expressed:
(1) Model railroading should be fun. If it isn't fun, it's not a hobby - it's a job.
(2) Model railroading need not cost an arm and a leg. Use the least expensive materials and tools to achieve the results you want.
(3) Models do not need to be faithful to a prototype, but they should look as though they could be.