May Recap

Sometimes even the best intentions of publishing a blog post monthly does not go as planned. The month of May was by far the busiest for me in terms of traveling in 2017 for both work and pleasure. June is well underway and with that will come great content on the layout and MAC Rail but this post we are going to recap the on-goings during the month of May. 

Grays Lake Update
One goal I had for the layout was taking my time and really building character into each scene. My current focus is the Town of Grays Lake. The middle of May ended up being the largest push to "Pave" the scene and "Bring Light" to things.... Sorry for the puns, could not resist. Well the answer is in the words, as I ended up getting the pavement, pavement markings, and lighting added into the scene.

 Looking east down First Ave. 

 Overhead view of First's parking spots, sidewalks, lights, and weathering

Looking north on Main St.

So far in downtown Grays Lake I have installed 9 street lights with an additional 5 of this ornate design required. Additionally a few wooden lamp posts will be installed at the fertilizer plant, track access road, and side street. The Woodland Scenics Just Plug system makes this process very easy to install and just takes minute to connect and lighting. I believe you would agree with the following photos that the finished result is amazing.

 Overview of entire modeled downtown

 Corner of Main and First. 

View north on Main St. 

Additional work on Grays Lake included the addition of Railroad St. which runs between First and Second Avenues. The road runs parallel to the Michigan Interstate St. Clair Sub mainline. Along Railroad St. is Dean's Garage which is a small town auto repair shop. Pretty sure the scene will have the owner Dean sitting out front with cold suds watching trains versus fixing autos...

Deans Garage located beside Railroad St. The shop will actually be located on Second Ave.(Cork).

In the month of June you can expect to see further progress on Second Avenue and getting scenery such as shrubs and trees more permanently in place. Additional lighting will be added as purchased. I will cover the entire install and wiring process for these lights in a future summer post.

Quick word on the streets and sidewalks - they are styrene and created following Lance Mindheim's Road How To on his blog. Basically rustoleum gray for the aged asphalt and india ink / alcohol airbrushed following his technique. Prior to weathering I did use Summit Custom Cuts road marking decals which I must say were easy to use and turned out great. Lastly the sidewalks are laser cut wood from Minuteman Scale Models. They offer different angles and the detail is perfect for further detailing and weathering. 

Travels - East

Early in the month of May our family traveled to Walt Disney World. Anyone who has followed my blog for sometime knows I try to provide a few pictures and recap on the love of railroading that Walt Disney had. To this day trains play a large part in the parks. Here are a few photos. 

 Main Street Station at The Magic Kingdom

 Garden Railroad at Epcot's Germany Pavilion - versus the past they had trains running with mutliple car consists. This is a nice change to just seeing a engine running light. 

Great view of creek, tunnels, and multiple loops on setup. There are four loops with two in the foreground, one in the upper right background, and another in upper left corner beyond the bridges. 

Travels - West

The back end of May require me to be in Southern California for a work conference so while traveling on my off time I did have a chance to stop in a Railmaster Hobbies in Bellflower, CA. and Arnie's Model Trains in Westminster, CA. My first reaction to both of these stores is wow what great staff, great customer service, and great selection to the modeler. Both stores had items that we do not always see in Texas. Lets take a look at both stores and run by what I picked up. 

Railmaster Hobbies - Bellflower, California

I prefer using Railmaster Speakers for my DCC sound installs and no better place to get them then the source! I picked up 2 of the DS1240-Box speakers, 4 DS1425-8 speakers, the American Model Builders Wind Blade 3 Pack, BLMA detail parts, and Athearn Genesis 89' flat. Funny story I actually bought everything and I got to talking with Dave at the store so i accidently left my detail parts behind. A week later after tearing apart my suitcase thinking I had misplaced them I gave em a call and they had set the 2 parts aside. Soon enough the parts were in the mail heading to Texas. 

Arnie's Model Trains - Westminster, CA

I had been to California back in 2012 and visited Milepost 38 ToyTrains when they were still in Anaheim Hills. Since then Milepost 38 and Arnie's have co-located side by side in the same shopping center. If you are looking for HO and N then you go into Arnie's. Looking for O and G scale step next door to Milepost 38. 

Great store, great staff, great selection. The modelers in Southern California are very fortunate to have two great stores that support the hobby and if one doesnt have the item you are looking for they suggest to check the other. Nothing against ordering from Walthers or OEM direct, but it is always nice to support local model train stores. Beings I spent quite a bit at Railmaster Hobbies, I opted to keep this trip light and picked up one of the new Athearn R-T-R 60' Gunderson TTX repaints in the TOBX marks. Additionally this car comes faded with patchwork. Thanks to James working that day for pointing this out. I saw the re-stenciled reporting marks but was unaware of the factory pre-fade. 

If you are in the Southern California area make time on your trip to stop by both of these shops, you will not be disappointed. Make sure to make room to bring home items in your checked bag as well. 

Wrapping up the trip was a quick trip to Disneyland. I couldn't miss out on having both Main Street Stations in the same post. 

Main Street Station at Disneyland Park

That wraps up my May recap. Pretty busy month of traveling but as you saw I got a little more done on the Grays Lake scene. Stayed tuned in June for two updates once showcasing the purchases from my California trip and MAC Rail projects. Later in the month we will head back to the layout to see progress at Grays Lake.

Have a great week.

GM 

Mid December Update

Well it has been a "few" weeks since my last post. No doubt this time of the year 

is the busiest with the holidays and when you add in a vacation, time speeds up 

very quickly. Getting the layout prepared for the operating weekend can take a toll 

on you, especially when there is a big project in progress that requires completion 

for the session. Case in point the ABS Signal system install which began planning in June and ultimately wrapped up the week prior to the Interchange. It is always good to take a break, step back from your work, celebrate the accomplishments, and refocus for the next project. There is no need to get burned out on something that is a hobby... 

Anyways my break is over and I want to share some inspiring photos from my vacation and show what I have been up to the past few weeks with the St. Clair Sub. 

VACATION INSPIRATION

One of the most enjoyable things about Walt Disney World besides the fantastic 

family time is how the Disney Company has done a great job capturing Walt Disney's love of trains and how it is reflected around the property. Any modeler who needs inspiration should have no trouble getting a jolt from visiting the Parks and Resorts. 

Magic Kingdom:

Main Street USA Station @ The Magic Kingdom in full Christmas decor

Roger E. Broggie @ Fantasyland Station (Daytime)

Roger E. Broggie @ Fantasyland Station (Nighttime)

Roy O. Disney @ Fantasyland Station (Nighttime)

Absolutely the best themed bathrooms on property are in Fantasyland adjacent to the Station. They are themed like a three stall roundhouse in reference to the Casey Jr. train from Dumbo. 

Epcot:

My little boy absolutely loves the G scale garden railroad at the Germany Pavilion. 

I have posted many photos of this setup before, but it never gets old as there is 

always change / updates happening to the trains running, scenery, and structures. 

Hollywood Studios:

While there is not alot of railroad or train related items at Hollywood Studios I did want to focus on inspiration and ways to help immerse our visitors and operators more into the scenes we strive so hard to create. Case in point this photo of a large soundstage at this years Jingle Bell - Jingle Bam celebration. 

What I want you to notice is projections being cast onto the building.... It is falling snow that occasionally will blow around when the wind blows in live person. Additionally you can see the snow is beginning to pile up on building ledges. Remember this is a projection, but Disney does a great job immersing us and tricks our senses to think it is snowing in Central Florida. Obviously they have a large budget and cutting edge technology but this makes me think about the new Lightning / Thunder effect system released by Broadway Limited. Another example was while we rode "Living With The Land" boat ride at Epcot's The Land Pavilion. During the ride there is a scene with lighting and thunder. I told my wife - "yea we can do that on the layout" and it really peaked her interest. Immersing our guests / operators even deeper in the scene whether it be night operations with blue rope lights or lightning/thunder effects is another layer to our story. I believe we have just dipped our toe into deeper scene immersion. Not to mention the projector technology used for Christmas lights on homes and the show at Hollywood Studios could usher in really neat concepts like stars, fireworks, or weather effects on our backdrops and even trees / buildings in the scene. 

Just some thoughts from a guy re-inspired..... Anyone with me on this?

GRAYSTONE CEMENT 

Working with Kevin Klettke (Washington Northern Railroad - www.wnrr.net) and Dean Ferris we resurrected the logo of Graystone Cement out of Grays Harbor, WA. In doing so a new backstory was created for the company. Long story short Kevin did a fantastic job creating the logo and printing on adhesive film for use on buildings, equipment, and railcars. While it is not water slide decal thin, the setup is perfect for intended uses. 

Graystone recently established a terminal at Bay City for water/rail/truck operations. This terminal will allow the company to expand their footprint in the Great Lakes region. For this growth, new Trinity 3281 cubic hoppers were setup on lease from GE Capital. MAC Rail Services recently installed the newly printed logo plates onsite at Bay City. Decals for the NRLX marks are still on order at time of press.  

TCS WOWSOUND KIT

Over the weekend I completed install of a TCS WOW121 kit in a friends Atlas GP40.

Replacing the factory board with the motherboard and soldering all wires to it really makes sound install a snap. If only all of the manufacturers created their 21 pin decoders and boards to allow interchangeability.... Along with using all TCS sound products I also gave their SME LED's a try with good success. 

Photo above shows the motherboard installed in place of the factory board. Once the 

power pickup, motor, speaker, and lights are soldered to this board it is a matter or re-assembly and testing. TCS has a very well done website with install photos step by step and information/support for their products. Not to mention that for $129.95 MSRP getting a motherboard/keep-alive, decoder, and speaker as a kit is a very good deal. One vendor I use often for DCC supplies (Mountain SubdivisonHobbies), offered the kit fior $98.95, so even more savings for you the modeler. Shop around with competition in the sound market we have great choices and competitive prices.

AGGREGATE HOPPERS

Had a railfan send me photos of MCIS ortner and greenville hoppers on the Virginia Midland Railroad. 

This set of cars had been shopped at VMS for the upcoming aggregate season. We expect 2017 to be a big year for rock trains on the MCIS and we are preparing the fleet to meet our customers demand. Not only will webe handling rock for construction projects, but also handling rock for new power plant emission scrubbers. The cars got new doors, grab irons, FRA reflectors, and re-patched markings as necessary. Great work by the VMS team! The cars should be on home rails to make a nice homecoming in the Late December Update. 

The ortner fleet (100 cars) is mostly second hand with just a small fraction of the 

fleet actually in MCIS paint. Most of the cars are patched up from their 

former owners Wisconsin Central, CSXT, and Florida East Coast. 

Our greenville fleet (50 cars) is roughly half new builds in MCIS grey and half 

secondhand purchased from Wisconsin Central.

So as you can see a little vacation from the layout was needed and now back in the 

modeling groove.  On my list to Santa I had asked for the Tsunami2 PNP EMD Diesel 

decoder for my SD45-2 repower to SD40-3 installs. We will have to see if I get my wish or a lump of coal.... But even if its coal, I can crush it up for hopper loads.

I hope everyone has the opportunity to spend time with family and friends this holiday season. Don't forget to spend some time at the workbench or on the layout. 

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! 

GM

Early September Update

The layout has been a flurry of activity this past month with my signal installation project. In addition to the detection circuits and signals, there have been a few other things happening on the layout,  so let's take a look.

A preview of items in this post... all of th right here. If you look closely you can see all four signal blocks displaying "Approach" after being powered up.

UPPER HURON BACKDROPS

One side effect of this signal project is getting certain scenes scenic'd or "scene ready" while installing the signals. A project like this helps you solve those scenery road blocks quickly.

Mocking up the two backdrop sets before install. Love those toys in the picture.

Using SceniKing backdrops that I had amassed over the last year, I got off my butt and decided it was time to install them at Upper Huron prior to signals going in. Unfortunately SceniKing products are now out of production, but you can probably still find their kits or Rollouts online or at certain hobby shops.  Using scissors and a hole punch I cut out the sky and installed using a extra strength glue stick. The results speak for themselves, and once partnered with scenery the scenes will look even better!

Backdrop representing town of Upper Huron. A road crossing blending with foreground and backdrop will be located here.

Transition between town and soybean field to the right of the grade crossing scene. A few more overhead lights are needed here, not a big issue to add.

Grade crossing head on view. Backdrops really are a great scene multiplier.

FLEET ADDITIONS

The past month saw six Athearn cars get added to the overall fleet. 

30,000 gallon ethanol tank courtesy of R. Duncan Rail Corp. (RDLX)

Two 60' FMC DD Plate F boxcars stenciled for Coe Rail. We will see high cube 60s as modern fleets are trending this way. Got these in a buy/sell model railroad group on Facebook.

Three Trinity 5161 cubic hoppers lettered for US BORAX soon to be re-stenciled to Michigan Interstate marks. M.B. Kleins had a great Athearn sale recently, fleet management capitalized on that opportunity.

The new car additions help create better the modern era that I strive to model. Us modern era Modelers in my opinion are pretty fortunate with the products offered currently. For that matter the variety and types of equipment for all scales and eras seems to be a golden age for our hobby. I do need to get more on the "pre-order" band wagon, but sometimes it is the thrill of the chase finding equipment. Be sure to keep an eye out for them on the railroad.

GOPRO MEETS LAYOUT

Anyone familiar with my blog knows that video posts are very few and far between up until recently with demonstration videos of the signal system. I hope to begin changing that and add more consistent content quarterly via video on Facebook, blogger, and Youtube. 

MCIS 9901 - Engineering Survey railcar.

Recently a good friend let me borrow his GoPro Hero3 to test out taking video on the layout. From a clearance perspective the camera sits nicely on wellcar MCIS 9901 to provide a great shot as if the camera is mounted on the locomotive nose. A few more tests and I hope to publish a video tour from train perspective later this month.

VEHICLE SETS THE SCENE

Some time ago I found a HO scale Meijer grocery truck, but never had a chance to pick one up. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when there was large sale of Trucks N Stuff sets on a model railroad Facebook group. In short order it was on its way.

Meijer Freightliner Cascadia day cab pulling a 53' refrigerated trailer in current scheme.

Growing up in Michigan, Meijers was and still is a very prominent store. It is only fitting with Meijer stores around the area serviced by MCIS that we have one of their trucks on layout. The modern paint scheme and Freighliner Cascadia help further plant the timeline to current day. Take some time to find vehicles for your era and give it a whirl, you will be amazed how this detail sets the scene.

DISNEY TRAVELS

This past weekend we travelled to Walt Disney World for a long weekend trip. I would be wrong if I didn't share a few photos of locomotives that carry guests daily on a "Grand Circle Tour" of the Magic Kingdom.

WDWRR #4 Roy O. Disney leaving Fantasyland station. You could cut the Florida humidity with a knife!

WDWRR #3 Roger E. Broggie awaiting passengers at Fantasyland station as twilight sets in.

As you can see quite a few items here and there to help continue bringing the layout together. Remember layout progress comes in many forms, be sure to enjoy them all.... Even wiring.

Thanks for stopping by, have a safe month! Be sure to check back for signal project posts later this month.

GM

Late May Update

Well it has been quite a few weeks since my last update post for your the reader. The month of May has been busy to say the least with items such as vacation, work travel, and being the parent of two children. After all it is a hobby, but in the last few weeks there have been a few happenings on the St. Clair Sub so let's take a look.

Trains and Walt Disney World

I have talked about Walt Disney and Walt Disney World numerous times on this blog, but it would be wrong to not show a photo or two from our trip there. There are more items to do with trains than most folks would expect.

Main Street USA station at The Magic Kingdom. 

   Train approaching Main Street station.

Neat artwork recently added to the queue on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at The Magic Kingdom.

Photos above and below of the large LGB garden railroad at the Germany Pavilion at Epcot. Intersting fact: This layout was originally intended to be temporary, but garnered so much interest that it has become a permanent exhibit.

Sound Decoder Installs

The month of May saw me complete decoder installs into three Intermountain ES44 engines. When it comes to installs the engine can be a hit or miss on the ease to add a sound decoder / speaker, luckily the Intermountain engines are dead on for making a simple, efficient, and effective install. For the ES44s I used the specific Soundtraxx IM-1000 GEVO sound decoder which is a direct designed replacement of the factory board. Two of the engines required lengthening the motor wires since they were produced post Soundtraxx-Intermountain partnership, but that was not a big deal compared to a full hard wire. Speaker wise I used the Railmaster 28mm on two engines and the TCS 28mm speaker for the third. Intermountain hit the mark on these installing a speaker baffle / housing in the radiators which made speaker install go very smooth. Both speakers have great sound and when partnered with the Seven band equalizer on the Tsunami, the results were fantastic. It is a good time to be in the hobby, quality choices available to us modelers are endless. You may be asking... GEVO, but the MCIS is all EMD. You are correct, the motors completed were a BNSF and UP for a good friend and the third was a CN motor which roams the St. Clair Sub on the CN overhead trains. Included are a few photos post install. One day I will get my Youtube channel where it needs to be showcasing the great sound results from the install.

BNSF 5803 leading M-BAPH-18. After work complete at Mac Rail, the motors were tested out and back from Port Huron.

        Heading east out of Bay Yard

  Operating via passing track at Grays siding while a business car train holds down the main with a customers appreciation trip. 

With the IM-1000 decoder being directly compatible with original board, I was able to program ditch lights to flash with grade crossing logic when the horn is used. The ease of JMRI DecoderPro making all of the programming work graphical on a screen is one of the best enhancements to DCC in my opinion. 

Soundtraxx Announcement

Being a fan of Soundtraxx Tsunami and Econami products, I am very excited about the Tsunami2 announcement coming out in two days. Be sure to checkout Soundtraxxs website and Facebook page on May 25th.

Grays Lake (Grays Siding) Scenery

After beginning the scenery and ballastinf process at Grays Siding we are now really seeing results. With corn field and soybean fields are installed and complete, we could now begin the gluing process for the terrain and track. Over the weekend around five square feet of layout was glued down. This process included the base dirt layer and ballast for the mainline, passing siding, and local siding. While i use white glue and a white glue / water mix on scenery, I prefer Scenic Cement for the ballast due to the consistency and pre-mixed nature. While there is a cost, the time savings is appreciated when working in 45-60 work sessions. 

      Ballast complete from the bridge through curve. Ready to glue.

That's not rain, it's isopropyl alcohol wetting the scene prior to scenic cement.

The gluing begins with pipette from back to front. The home made dirt mixture and real ballast colors come to life when they are wet down.

Tools of the trade - bowls for the alcohol, cement, and water to rinse the pipette.

Moving right along with the work - you can see a good saturation with the scenic cement showing through the granules. Real dirt and ballast are very easy to work with and don't float.

       Complete and not complete

  Overall work scene completed in a 45 minutes session. Figure this week another 1.5-2 hours will be needed to complete the initial scenery securement.

With everything dry, the roadmaster drives along reviewing the work complete. There a few areas that will require ballast touch up but that happens.

With ballast and initial scenic layer installed, we will be moving into the more lush materials next week to bring this area to life tying the railroad, crops, and overall mid-Michigan scenery together.

Thanks for stopping by!

GM