Hi this is MRL/Man in West valley city, Utah, I liked your video. You,ve been doing a great job on the layout. Well I got my electric problem resolved in my train yard,bad switch for the digitrax. I was told red to the back and black to the front will on track 7 and 8 it was switched. But on track 8 it had power to both sides. A friend came over to help fix that Now works. You have a great week. From Neil schwerdt 😊
Lookin good! I make my tie loads with paint stirrers too. They’re just the right width. I use square matches cut to the correct length for my ties. Super cheap.
tim... great work and tips as usual !!! it is SO nice to be able to just barely hear the engines yet your discussion is readily heard !!! keep the videos coming please !!!
Tim, I have been watching your videos since the beginning of the year, and you have been a wealth of information on operations, talking about many parts of railroading I had never been aware of before. I also enjoy these updates as well, seeing all the progress you make each month. Thanks for all the inspiration as I prepare to start my own modern freelanced railroad, the Ohio & Pennsylvania, and keep up the good work!
Thanks! Always glad to help. Hope you enjoy some of my earlier videos too. There’s a lot on the channel with a lot of content of the original SC layout.
Hey, Tim! Another good video! I like those two new units, the SD38 and SD39. Santa Fe had a few of them, 20, I think. They had over a hundred of the GP version, GP39-2. I got to hear a lot of those! You’re right about that GBFX CH. It does look authentic! Actually, there probably is a GBRX, that’s close! Thanks for sharing!
Hey Tim…awesome progress on the layout. I’ve found that using a wire brush or file to clean the coating off the ME rail where you solder your joints will help the solder stick and look better. Keep up the good work!
You’re really going all out on the motive power type representation, aren’t you Tim? Everything from antique GP30’s to B40-8’s to SD39’s now. I’d hate to be the clerk in charge of keeping up with parts for all of them! Haha
This is true. But you know, since the SC is a regional carrier, it gets what the class ones don’t want when they cast off the odd balls. Next month I plan on doing a series on the SC locomotive roster. Stay tuned.
If you want to add some more complex graffiti, check out the decals from Blair Line. Very thin backing that fits down nicely onto ribs or other protrusions. Virtually all my boxcars and reefers are so "decorated", plus some other types of cars. Despite soldering rails together, I highly recommend a drop lead from the bus to every piece of rail. #20 works well with code 83.
I’ve tried graffiti decals in the past and never really had good success. Luckily not every car needs them so I’m pretty happy with what I have. I do drop a lot of feeders and I will have them going to the helix but probably not quite as many as I normally do. I normally use #18 for feeders and #14 for bus.
Tim: What a wonderful job you have done of replicating how punks deface a railroad car. They say "Art imitates life." If so, then I say your layout is art. Thanks for another great video.
Thanks! I am not a fan of graffiti but it is a fact of life and since I model 2015 it is on a lot of equipment. Of I were to ever pick another era I’d probably pick 1996 which was the year I started on the RR. It wasn’t as bad as it is now. Mostly gang scribble now which is horrible.
Nice video, looks like some great progress! Definitely more than I made this month. Are those new SDs going to be primarily yard power? I know that recently my local railroad retired an SD7 that had switched in their main yard for about 20 years (part of the G&W emissions stuff), and I heard that they may have been considering an SD38 to replace it.
Oh, I love this update. Tim, who makes the helix that you are using? It looks light weight and strong. Is it a custom built helix for the SC? It looks a lot easier to move, than building one from 2x4 and plywood and cutting it to shape. Looking forward to the next SC update video.
Thanks! Sometimes it is going over the frogs on the turnouts. Other places I have actually found debris in the flangeways that I’ve had to clean out. The videos are a great way to identify those spots for sure. Good example was when the engines came out of the shop I noticed them jumping in the video. I went back after and found that the flange way was obstructed in the crossing.
I love the sounds of these locos, engine air, breaks ... What did you get them sounds. I hope you did it not big foot, I can't Afford those prices, joe
Thanks! These are LokSound V5 decoders with built in current keepers. They are designed to fit into an Athearn unit pretty easy. I program them myself with a LokProgrammer to get the sounds that I want.
Another great update!! What's your thoughts on the helix? I'm tossing around the idea of that one or making one out of ply. Those boxcars came out great! Two great albums.
Thanks! I went the easy way with the kit from Trackside Scenery. It’s pretty cool to see the train going up it but I can say they take up a massive amount of track.
cool update tim... and yes the peco tracksetta gauges work REALLY nice... gives you a perfect curve every time... a little extra tip, i would also buy a straight gauge as well... reason why is on my layout i laid what i thought was straight tracks on my mainline and in my yard... it "looked" straight as i sighted down the flex track but it ain't straight... now there are parts of my track where cars couplings are off just enough to NOT couple... so for next time i'm definitely gonna use the straight gauge for my straight track sections... also got a question about your ops... do you have any run-through traffic or does all the traffic terminate at your yard?
Thanks! Yes I have three straight sections that I use as well. I have a couple of NS haulage rights trains that run from staging to staging. They aren’t running now because the layout still has a long ways to go but I ran them on my previous layout and you can go back and see them on my videos prior to 2022.
I have a Question I was making plans on making Heritage Units for my Railroad and I was wondering of painting a engine to Seaboard Central Colors is allowed?
