Weekend Update for Nov. 10-13, 2023

[Paul S.]

Please update us what you've done on your model railroad this week/weekend. This weekly thread is intended for us to post snippets about our layout/project progress, rather than be a substitute for our layout-build or project threads. Think of this topic as a mini update on what you've accomplished during the week/weekend.
The administrators/moderators will start a new update thread each Friday.

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So fellow RMRers, what have you been up to this week?

[JerryZ]

Posted an update on my backdrop changes at this thread:

https://realisticmodelrailroading.ne...7374#post27374

Regards,
Jerry

[craigtownsend]

The old adage of saying "build it and they will come", is providing some truths. Kent Sullivan happened to be at the PNRA and saw some Maltby Turn switch lists so he scanned them real quick and passed them along to me.

Fun to see the fruits of sharing my prototype modeling come to life.

Proves a few things to me about making my own switch lists that Darigold definitely has a lot more traffic than I thought even in the mid ninety's.

I really need to schedule a day to get down to PNRA and see if I can find more goodies like this.

Here's a quick screenshot I grabbed. I'll update the thread with the full lists once I convert them to jpg.

[craigtownsend]

Supposedly T-D Feeds didn't have separate spots for each carload (at least that what I got from the former manager before he stopped talking to me) but I'm guessing they had the crews switch out cars for them. Dump pit wise, it doesn't really matter as soon as you dump the car, you can store in any of the silos.

[SamS]

For the BNFE R7s at Darigold on the second image, they show content of "146111". If this was an NP list, I'd use their commodity codes to see what the condition of the car was. Did the BN use similar commodity codes? For that matter, did the GN use something similar especially in the last few years prior to the merger?

[craigtownsend]

I haven't dug too much into commodity codes but I'm sure I could find it. I know Darigold shipped out cheese and butter from that plant.

Somewhere in my files is a note about Darigold getting 30-35 carloads a year of milk crates from Tennessee. That would be an interesting twist to the normal

[Adam H]

HO scale Mack Vision off the printer and out of paint shop this week. Freightliner to the right and a Walthers mix mixer in the background

[Alan B]

Almost relettered and operating....

[N Scale Brad]

Been upgrading my UP locomotive fleet lately. Buying all of these at an attractive price from a friend who was thinning his collection. I already had decoders for all of them and am working on installing those and am also going to paint the handrails on the ones that are not already painted. These are all Kato and will be replacing a number of Atlas SD50's and SD60's that I have never run all that well for me on my layout.

[Cody]

I finished the elevator leg for my fertilizer dealer build. The elevator leg is a Rix kit, and took some time with putty and sanding to hide the vertical seam where the pieces glue together. Now it needs the pipes down into the buildings and a few other details.

[Paul S.]

Nice, Cody. I've found those Rix elevator leg kits to be fussy.

[Michael Whiteman]

It's been years since I did mine and can't remember. Are there holes in the distributor cone for the pipes? It would make holding the tubes a lot easier for sure. Nice job on those platform railings.

[Cody]

Thanks guys. Michael Whiteman, no, there are no holes in the distributor cone. My plan is a bunch of fussy cutting and sanding to get pipes to the right length and right angle. Although, the leg isn't glued down yet (just leaning against the building for the picture), so I could go in there with a drill... I might have to experiment with the old elevator leg. Thanks for the idea.

[Allen]

Well I've managed to do absolutely nothing on the layout for the past two weeks straight.
I got started selling stuff and one thing turned into another.
It's almost as addictive as buying stuff! LOL

In the meantime while selling stuff, I ran across a couple modelers who had some Atlas undec GP7 shells that were complete and we made a trade.
They got some decorated GP7 shells that they needed and I got my undecs GP7's that I wanted (now I don't have to strip any).

I'm now waiting on some GP7 glazings for the Head & Tail lights and cab windows that Atlas said they had in stock and charged me for.
If they actually arrive, I'll have enough undec GP7's to start painting them into all the different Rock Island schemes that they wore. Another painting marathon is lining up for me.

I did finally get the Deluxe Roket Glue for the barn kit I've been waiting on, gonna try and get started on that shortly so I can move ahead and make some progress on the farm scenery near Ruston and Winnfield.

I've been seeing all the nice posts that some of the members have been posting and I'm getting the itch to get back to the scenery.

[Adam H]

After a long Covid hiatus, operations opened back up on the Memphis Central and I was in charge of the MC yard. Due to a few callouts, I was forced into local service to keep traffic moving. Here's a shot of my local power, charging its airline after collection all its pickups on the West end of the division.

[Paul S.]

A good concept for a model railroad, I'd say.

[Adam H]

Added photo of the UP yard complex

[Allen]

Nice big yard!

[Tony Hammes]

Worked the lower level in the original portion of the garage. In order first photo is Ruebens with half of the wye to LGG elevator. End of garage will have the trestle over 95 going into Cottonwood and then Cottonwood in the corner. Last shot shows a passing siding outside of Cottowood and the East end staging. Staging will be hidden by a backdrop and accessed from the other side.

[Allen]

Looks like you have your work cut out for you Tony, and another bridge build!