Weekend Photos - December 2022

[healey36]

Thanks, Jim! Got a bit of run-time on the display this evening; the Bing got a chance to stretch his legs:



To those that thought I'd built the tunnel too narrow, yeah, I'll now agree it should have been at least another half-inch to an inch wider. The Bing, with its wide-profile cylinders, bangs and scrapes the tunnel liner in a few spots. Chalk it up to lessons learned. If it was a straight shot, no problem.

Hondo, this is one of the lamps you sent me. I replaced the bulb with a 3V LED and wired it to a two-AA-cell battery pack. Looks good, despite my initial thought that it might be too big.

The signal tower is the one I built a couple months back. The small house on the left is an ornament I cut down (it has an internal LED light that changes color). The tell-tale is a Marx I picked up at the Westminster meet the weekend before Thanksgiving; I made a new hanging bit for it, as the one that was there was pretty well shot. Trees are from Walmart. The Bing set was found at York three Octobers ago.

[webenda]

...the Bing got a chance to stretch his legs:

What a great photo--what a great scene! Your plan has come together in a marvelous way.

[healey36]

Thanks, Wayne; it was a fun project. We'll probably leave it up for the rest of this week, than take it down after New Years. I want to take a few more pics just to document the set-up for the future. I'm already thinking of a redo of the tunnel/tree-stand bit.

A bit of maintenance on the clockworks is in order, as they are just not running great. Probably limited to a simple cleaning and lubrication; they are a bit stiff in running, especially on the curves. I'm wondering if the cold is having an effect (we keep the thermostat at 65). Brrr...

[gregj410]

Three houses from Howard Lamey's collection which he sent me when he got wind we were working on this display for 2022:



Each of these he hand-crafted in the tradition of the dime-store cardboard houses from 75 years ago, a slightly different finish on each. I'm trying to learn a few things from them. They look great illuminated.

I don’t need another modeling variant but the nostalgia and whimsical magic of those houses could easily lure me in. Any chance we’ll see those illuminated?

[gregj410]

Creeping along on the mill. I find I have to force myself to this build, which takes all the fun out of it. Every aspect of it is tedious and time consuming and parts of it require a machinists mind and skills, neither of which I have. The instructions bounce from, build this component and set it aside to build this component and set it aside. Frustrating for me. Here is the roller assembly completed.

[healey36]

I can’t recall, is this a lumber mill? Pretty interesting details, assembling what looks to be a functional roller. If the rest of the model is as detailed, it’ll be something.

[gregj410]

I can’t recall, is this a lumber mill? Pretty interesting details, assembling what looks to be a functional roller. If the rest of the model is as detailed, it’ll be something.

Whoops just realized this is in the wrong thread! Yes it is a KMP models saw mill kit that’s taking me forever and a day to build

[healey36]

I've been taking a few pics to document the 2022 display/set-up before I dismantle it. Here's a montage of the four clockworks I have, top-to-bottom is Bing, Hornby, Marklin, and Hafner:



The Bing was a York acquisition, from a lovely older couple I met in 2019 shortly before everything went to hell in a hand-basket. They were paring down the collection and had this old Bing three-piece set. I've since added a 3rd-class coach and a baggage car.

The second is the Hornby postwar set I got from Ray Ellen down at Vienna Station. This one just turned up on one of his lists and I snapped it up. It's in great shape except for a slight crease in the side of one of the coaches. Runs great. This loco was also made during the years leading up to the war, but I'm confident this is the version reintroduced in the late-1940s/early-1950s.

The third from the top is three Marklin pieces I run together. The loco was an under-table find at the Westminster meet, the incorrect tender a York find, and the coach an eBay purchase. The correct tender would be a much smaller red/black piece that would match the loco. The coach just looked like it would work with this loco. Still searchin'. The loco was not running when I got it, but a bit of careful cleaning and lubricating and it runs great now.

The Hafner is the Overland Flyer, probably from the early-1930s. The loco was found at an estate sale a couple years ago, the tender from Ray Ellen, and the Marx Joy Line coach was found in a box in my grandparents' place when we cleaned out the basement. The loco is a shelf-queen for now, it's spring broken somewhere internally. I picked up a book recently on how to repair them...looks to be a challenge. It's on the project list.

[robert.]

How far do they run on a winding?

[robert.]

22 feet of track and it has to run jump the rails behind our tree.

[healey36]

How far do they run on a winding?

It varies, but generally five or six laps of the oval. I’m not fully winding them for fear of over-winding, so they could likely run further/longer. If I use all three passenger cars I have for the Bing, maybe three or four laps for it. In my limited experience, the European wind-ups run further, their mechanisms somewhat more sophisticated. The Marx I had when I was a kid would do three, maybe four laps, tops, and ran forward only. I suspect that if/when I get the Hafner sorted, it will run similar to the Marx I had.

[healey36]

If one uses battery-powered lighting, you need to find a way to hide all of the ugly battery packs. I used a 12-light string to illuminate the putz houses, and made this little tree-lot to hide the pack under:



The fact that so many of the putz scenic pieces are built on something with a profile akin to a shoebox lid can come in handy. Never made snow-fence before, but a bit of matt board cut into strips, some string, a few dabs of wood-glue, then a quick spray of barn-red enamel seemed to work. Trees and faux light string are from the wife's Christmas craft box.

[healey36]

Last shot before it comes down:



Some neighbors swinging by tonight for New Year's, then next week the bits go into storage and the table reverts to being my desk. I'm almost looking forward to it.

Happy New Year everyone!

Healey

[gregj410]

Last shot before it comes down:



Some neighbors swinging by tonight for New Year's, then next week the bits go into storage and the table reverts to being my desk. I'm almost looking forward to it.

Happy New Year everyone!

Healey

Christmas will be here again before you know it. Happy New Year!

[robert.]

It's funny. All the hype, smell of warm cookies. Flashing lights. Trains humming around. Then the frantic rushing, is everything where it should be? . "We did it" It all comes together. It's that sigh of relief. Things go by smoothly. Everybody is happy for a few days. Then some firecrackers and a hangover. Now it's time to put all this crap away.