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.
Here's a quick update on the damaged Athearn Genesis SD60M I recieved last week. The BNSF shell is a write-off so it has gone into the parts box, luckily I had a spare Union Pacific SD60M shell which I bought cheaply on ebay a few months ago, so I have been able to use it to get the damaged engine back into use.
I don't model Union Pacific, but it makes for a pretty good looking locomotive, even if the silver sideframes are not correct :)
At some point I will either strip the shell and repaint for Norfolk Southern or paint the sideframes grey and sell the engine on.
My most recent ebay bargain turned up in the post this week, or rather it turned up in pieces.
This was an Athearn Genesis SD60M in BNSF livery, which I picked up very cheaply as it had some handrail damage. That shouldn't have been a problem because I have several replacement SD60 handrails in my parts box.
Unfortunately although the seller had very carefully packaged the Athearn box in a larger outer shipping carton with plenty of polystyrene beads, he hadn't actually secured the locomotive within it's own box. The SD60M was originally supplied in packaging which includes a block of wood which the locomotive is screwed onto. Unless it is screwed back onto the block of wood the locomotive will move around in the box (I found that out the hard way with my Norfolk Southern SD60M which suffered bent handrails in storage).
So this particular BNSF SD60M was loose inside the packaging, sliding back and forth, and obviously encountered some rough handing in the postal system too... it was not a pretty sight when I opened the package to find all manner of broken and loose parts rattling around.
The shell is really badly scratched and most of the detail parts have been snapped off, including the ditch lights (which were actually embedded in the box insert - suggesting a very heavy impact indeed) the brass horn is bent and snapped, the plow is crushed and broken, the handrails are destroyed, the paint is scraped and even the couplers are snapped.
A real mess, and very dissapointing, especially as the post office hit me with a £12 fee for vat on top of everything.
Fortunately the seller was willing to give me a partial refund, so the outcome was not as bad as it might have been, but this locomotive goes on the rebuild backlog instead of into service. I do have a Union Pacific SD60M shell in the parts box, so I may simply fit that for now.
The remains of the BNSF shell will go towards my parts collection as I don't think this shell is really going to be salvageable.
