Cadillac Time

I recently purchased a pair of Railpower Products SD90mac shells with the idea that I could convert them into ex Conrail SD80's in Norfolk Southern livery.  The detail parts for them are tricky to get hold of, especially the trucks, but I've continued to collect parts as and when they pop up on eBay.

In the meantime I had the chance to pick up a dismantled Kato SD90mac from one of the chaps at the club, a beautifully detailed locomotive which I had thought I could also convert into an SD80.  The frame for this locomotive also comes pre-milled ready for a speaker.

However when I looked at the Kato model I realised that the rear dynamic brake section on the Kato shell was a seperate piece.   I started investigating the availability of a replacement part for that section, which would be easier than attempting to alter such a detailed part.

Kato don't do the dynamic brake section as a seperate part, so I would need to spend $40 on an undecorated shell just for the part, but after a few online 'wanted' ads I was lucky enough to find a forum poster with not just a dynamic brake, but an entire SD80 shell going spare.

It arrived today and it is even better than I expected, the shell is a Conrail version and it is pretty much mint condition, complete with detail bag of handrails and other parts.  So all I need to do is get a Sound decoder and then put it all back together and my first SD80 will be hitting the rails.

Close up view showing the Conrail high numberboard cab and the attractive white stripe paint Conrail Quality paint scheme.

The rear of the shell with the dynmaic brake and sanding box that caused all the problems.  Having one of these will also make it much easier to kitbash my two Railpower SD90 shells into SD80's.

Erith Show - January 2012

Today I attended the Erith show, which was the first show I visited last year (see my post on that exhibition here: Erith Show 2011)

Last years show was held in a primary school which was a cramped but fun venue, with lots to explore and find.  This years show was held in the Bexley Business Academy, a sixth form college and a very modern venue.  Unfortunately it was still a very cramped venue, perhaps the Erith club are slightly agoraphobic!

There was certainly plenty to see, and a good selection of trade stands, including both Signal Box and Penguin.  Unfortunately Signal Box only had a small selection of US outline, and it was all hidden away behind their main table so difficult to browse.

US Layouts were represented by a selection of different layouts, with the largest being the Erith Society's own 'Riversdale' layout depicting 1940's California.

The second hand selection was thin on bargains, with many of the US stock being distinctly overpriced, old white box Atlas engines at £50 anyone?  I did find a nice Athearn F59PH for £30, but without owning any coaches it would only be a white elephant for me.

I stocked up on slaters plasticard and girders, to use as part of my upcoming bridge project, as well as some small profile 'U' channel shapes to use for guttering on my current structure projects.  I plan to add guttering to the Rix bungalows I will have at the front of my module.

I also picked up a couple of old but unused plastic trees, a very sorry looking Faller outbuilding and a great selection of American magazines which will keep me in reading materials for a while!

I'd never heard of Mainline or Prototype Modeller, but the amount of information in these magazines is really outstanding, and they were priced very keenly.  I would have bought more but I had to carry them home!

Here are a few pictures of the various layouts.

Riversdale - HO - Erith Model Railway Society
The largest US layout at the show, and a very nicely put together scene.  The only thing that let this layout down was a lack of weathering on the stock and buildings, and that many of the buildings seemed to be plain plastic rather than painted.  It was certainly a great advert for Walthers kits as most, if not all, of the structures on the layout were Cornerstone kits. 

Whistling Woods - HO - Ian Waredraper
This was an interesting layout, with a bias towards trackage rather than realism, it reminded me of the kinds of layouts you used to see in the windows of train shops, with several trains running at the same time across the different levels of track.

Deyton Heights - HO - Andrew Smith
This layout was a very small switching board, really more of a diorama than a layout.  The scenery has been detailed to simulate a night scene, with plenty of small lights and an enclosure to keep the daylight out.  One downside of the design was that the layout was very difficult to view past the shoulders of the operator and more than one onlooker. 

Most of the other layouts were British outline, although several of them were very nicely detailed including these examples which caught my eye.

Ottosschwande und Schweighousen Shiefer Steinbruch - N Gauge - Iris Guscott
This layout had a very effective slate effect using real slate bedded into the landscape, overall the layout was perhaps a little grey as the entire thing was the quarry with no other landscape visible.  I think if there had been a little more countryside to this layout then the overall effect would have been much more balanced.

Aldford Brewery- OO Gauge - Mark Hedgecock
I really liked this compact layout, which featured a canal lock and warehouse district.  The hidden staging on either side and the L-shaped track plan made for some very interesting viewing and the detail on the scenery was simply superb.

Nant-Y-Glow Mine - 16.5mm Gauge - Nick Wright
This compact mining layout was absolutely packed with detail, including some great use of old Corgi toy cars, and the scenery had a superb muddy, mucky feel, it really looked like the kind of run-down old mine you would expect to see in a backwater mining operation.  A fantastic layout and one of my favourites from the show.

Ashdown Junction - 00 Gauge - John Papworth
This layout featured some nice scenes, including a bustling locomotive restoration yard, complete with 9F being transported away on two low-loader trucks.  There was also one of those weird looking new Freightliner 'Powerhaul' Class 70 diesels.  Really odd looking locomotives. 

So, aside from the navigation problems and the cramped venue, the actual content of the show was very good indeed.  I would have preferred some lower prices at the second-hand trade stands, but seeing as I really shouldn't be buying any more rolling stock that was probably a good thing(!)

Structures for the freemo module

I spent some time working on the buildings for my module today, and both of the Rix bungalow kits are assembled and ready for painting.  I will be painting one of them blue and the other pale yellow, to add a touch of colour to the front of the module.

I've glued the roofs in place but kept the porches seperate for now to make painting easier.  A small section of evergreen profile styrene has been added to reinforce the porch when it is attached.

Both bungalows ready for painting.  The chimneys have been capped with leftover pieces of the plastic sections from the wall tops and I may add chimney pots from sections of styrene tubing.

The third building is another Rix kit 'Johns Place Corner Store'.  This kit is similar to a regular DPM building, but the quality of the moulding is much better and the kit fits together with less cleanup.

I added a plasticard step to the entrance where the pillar meets the ground, and filled the area above the porch to prevent light leaks.

I used squadron putty to fill the moulding holes along the back of the main side wall, then sanded smooth ready for painting.

Here is a shot of the main components after assembly, the roof is yet to be detailed, but I will be adding roof hatches, air vents and a chimney before I paint the building.

I plan to detail this building as a camera store, with suitable signage and detailing to serve any time period from the sixties up to the late eighties.



The Superior Bakery arrives at last

Here's a look at another recent ebay bargain, a vintage Revell/ConCor/Heljan HO structure kit #9037 'The Superior Bakery' a classic kit and the basis for many kitbashing articles.

I first saw this kit in an old 1985 Model Railroader article on creating the "Hardly Abel Manufacturing Co." by Art Curran, but there have been many other articles over the years showing how to kitbash different industries and buildings utilising this kit.

The original kit was released in the 1950's by Revell and is in itself actually a kind of factory produced kitbash, as the main structure is built reusing the components of the Revell #9028 two stall engine house.

You can see how the walls and roof are shared between the two kits, along with many of the detailing parts.  The bakery includes a section of sidewalk, trash bin and lightpole, as well as various vents and chimneys not included with the engine shed version.

I bought this kit very cheaply on ebay, it was advertised as being complete but opened, so that meant I was bale to get it a lot cheaper than the 'collectors' price that sealed versions are going for.  I have seen this same kit go as high as £30 ($45usd) which is a bit beyond the level I would feel comfortable bidding to.  I only paid £7 ($10usd) for this one which means it is not too expensive to actually build.

Parts-wise, the kit includes pieces cast in a variety of colours, and printed glazing material with green window bars, plus a set of vintage posters and a colourful decal sheet.

So a pretty good deal for such a rare kit.  Problem is... to make the "Hardly Abel Manufacturing Co." I need two of them...!

Wrong side of the tracks?

I took the bargain buildings I picked up at Benson to try them on my freemo module, specifically to test what the small town area would look like with more buildings.  I was only planning to use the DPM brick buildings on one side of the railroad crossing, with an open gravel area on the other.

Having tested the space with more buildings I'm now undecided, the street does look good with buildings on both sides, but having more symmetry on the board reduces the potential gains from flipping it around as there would be less variety.  If I stick with the current plan then the module should have more versatility.  Decisions decisions.

I also tested my Rix bungalow in position, this time with it's brick porch attached, the two houses are going to work well in position, and should give a nice 'Sears home' feel to the edge of the town.

There was a good turnout at the space tonight, and lots of work going on with the modules, including the first train running as my SD60M took a few trips back and forward along the station modules.  A landmark event, and good progress towards the goal of getting the entire circuit up and running.

Lots of work going on across all the modules, including the wiring for the station area and some discussion about the scenery for the outer sections of the city.

The wye crossing boards were also being fitted with connection bracing to connect them securely and allow track laying to begin properly.

Here is a short video of the first train running.  This is my SD60M running with a random collection of cars that were available around the club space.