2-6-0 Pulling power

So today I had a chance to bring the weathered Bachmann CN 2-6-0 loco from my previous post to the clubhouse and run it on a big continuous  loop layout instead of my small 6ft shunting layout. I wanted to see how many 40-50ft. HO railroad cars it could pull. This loco has no traction tires btw.
End result....it easily pulled 12 cars with just a bit of wheel-slip at the start...but the layout is flat so no grades. I think it might have trouble pulling 12 up a grade but on the flat it was fine...I wouldn't do it too long for fear of over-heating the decoder. I then ran a 9-car train for a good half hour,forwards and backwards with no problem at all.
Here are a couple of pics.

 It has been almost a year since I last posted here...and almost a year since I did any modelling. Well last week I stopped at the hobby shop and on impulse,  bought the new Bachmann Alco 2-6-0 Mogul with Dcc Sound on Board...its great. The price was just too good for a factory sound equipped loco. Well I was really pleased when I got it out of the box...I'm not a stickler for accuracy but it looks right to my eye...it's probably very light on detail and I doubt its close for a CN 2-6-0 but it looks good and sounds great straight out of the box. All I did was add crew,real coal and some weathering. Here are some before and after pics.

In relation to my new GP9 loco in CN green/gold/black livery I was recommended to check-out this oil-paint dry-brushing technique to sun-fade the paint: http://tws-rustbucket.com/index.cgi?board=bucket&action=display&thread=90  at the RustBucket.com site....sorry but you have to register for this site if you want to see it.

I decided to give it a try on some boxcars so I bought some brushes and a tube of paint and went at it.  The pics on the left of the page are before and the ones on the right are after.

Bachmann DCC-onboard GP-9

Here are a few pics of my latest acquisition... the Bachmann USA EMD GP9 with DCC on board.
I model both UK GWR and Canadian 1950-60s so when I saw this on the shelf for $69.00 I couldn't resist.. The CN green/black/gold livery of this period is one of my favourites.  The loco runs very well, nice and slow, smooth and quite quiet for a Bachy....so I'll be doing a small blog-thing about the weathering. For a start here are some pics of it straight out of the box.

Cheers,
Gene

More Windows

In my last post I said I'd give a more detailed explanation on how to make clear windows using the MicroScale Kristel Klear.

Actually it's quite easy. Just give the bottle a very good shake and then using a toothpick dipped in the Kristel Klear just swirl it along the edges of the window frame,drawing it across the open space until the frame is filled in by the white "goop".  Let it dry for a few hours until clear and voila! Window!

Now there are issues...the biggest one being the size of opening this stuff will fill without failing...as this pic shows the 2 smaller windows were not a problem but I just couldn't get it to work in the larger window

 I wasn't worried about being neat when I did these as once the white goop dries its clear and not obvious....if I was doing this on one of my working models I'd be much neater and more careful  :o)


So what I did was glue a piece of sprue into the frame to divide it up into 2 window spaces...this pic ---->

shows the same window with the the divider in it and the left-hand frame has the goop applied and the right hand side is just getting the start of it.

Now this stuff is dead-easy to use but it is limited in the size of windows it'll make....and too give you a bit of perspective this loco-cab is off of the Bachmann HO Spectrum 0-6-0 saddle-tank--> loco.







So what do I think about this product??  I like it...it's easy to use, it does what it's supposed to do and I'm sure that it'll come in very handy...especially when trying to glaze windows in tight or confined areas.

Any comments or questions just post them and I'll answer them.
Cheers
Gene

It's all clear

Well as is very obvious I haven't posted anything for months and haven't done any modelling for even longer. So I'll try to make up for the omission over the next few months.
Here is a first quickie....a few days ago I was having a quick look around one of the local model shops when I saw a bottle of Microscales' Micro Kristal Klear.

 This is a flexible clear liquid used as a glue and/or a model window forming material.
 I've heard good things about it so I bought the bottle to give it a try and so far it seems to    work as advertised....I've only used it on the smaller windows on a the HO loco in these 2 pics.....I'll give it a try on the bigger window opening visible in the pic to the right.

















I'll do a more thorough article on the application method this weekend but suffice to say that all that is required is the toothpick in the pic above.

Sunny Day

Just a couple of pics to ease the end-of-winter blues.   :o)

A Giant is Leaveing

Sad news about a giant in the model railroading community.
Carl Arendt who was one of the first very public proponents of small and micro-layouts is terminally ill and in hospice care.
My buddy Jack"Shortliner" Trollope has this from Carls' wife 2 days ago..."Carl is under hospice care and is not expected to live very long. "


Carl ran a great web-site about small layouts and he wrote 3 books about building small layouts. it was my habit to stop by his site at least twice a month to view the latest updates and ideas.
Carl....you'll be sorely missed.


In his honour, and for your own benefit I think you'd find it very enjoyable and informative to visit his site at: 
http://www.carendt.us/


The scrapbook pages have tons of info and photos.