Weekend Update for May 9-12, 2025

[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.

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

[BillyJoeBob]

While this opening looks more cave entrance than railroad tunnel and appears bit out of the ordinary, I like it – it amuses me. Add the three way meet and is it a natural tunnel or a natural bridge? The first time I saw three trains rolling here, I was a tad giddy. Besides, who among us during railfanning wouldn’t like to be standing on cliff’s edge watching this playout. The sights the sounds the smells, oh my!

This is the first cut at plastering this scene. Some touch-up, add the ballast and then it’s to the other end/side of the tunnel/bridge. …hmmm… “Tunnel-Bridge: the 8.1^th Wonder of the World”

Tunnel-Bridge State Park. An outing location of the Jersey Regional Manufacturers Railway Museum operation out of Blueberry Yard. Rail Fan Special – a single unit, a diner (providing picnic fare) and a coach parked in the shade on the passing track. Picnicking while watching a train roll by once in a while – I should plant a tree or two. (Pssst… hearsay has it that the JRMRy has been known to schedule a train or two during picknick outings.)
Reminds me of the…

Suspension of Disbelief - The Pop-Up Party Place - Realistic Model Railroading

BJB

[john_plsn]

A trickle of a water running along those tracks out from the tunnel would set it off even more. Think about catching a photo with the reflection of the trains in the water. So cool.

[JerryZ]

Converted over phone types from a scissors mounted cradle style phone to a traditional phone handset on the Minneapolis and St. Croix. While vintage, and beautiful, at the three locations where we are changing, they were in an area with a lot of aisle congestion. These will get re-purposed. Considering using two on my railroad, but I opted for now to use a modern headset that plugs into MRCS control boards for my operator and dispatcher.





I have since added wire ties to the blue wire and cradle switch hook wiring for strain relief and to clean up the external wiring. The cradles are the same that I 3D printed for the Spokane Southern.

Regards,
Jerry

[craigtownsend]

I finally got my track almost reconnected in Redmond. Almost because I have 1 last 6"-12" section of ladder roadbed to connect. Once that's done, I have one more section along the fenceline that just needs a quick reconnecting as well. I have a turnout I eventually want to cut in on the fence section but for now I think I'm going to run it without. Of course in my typical fashion I had to mock up the buildings. Track is about under arm height right at the silos.

[Paul S.]

Nice to be running trains soon, I bet.

[craigtownsend]

I hope so soon. Unfortunately I think I'm going to need to replace a well worn NiCad battery first. But I'm thinking about switching to LiOn and making the battery removable for charging and then maybe I can swap the battery between locomotives. We'll see what happens but I want to get the railroad done and operational before I spend time and money on batteries. And that includes finishing the conversion of the last few cars/locomotives to Kader couplers. Baby steps I keep telling myself.