Making the Switch to DCC

I finally did it. I bought myself a DCC starter system for my basement layout. I'm excited to get started, but at the same time I've never used DCC before so I don't really know what I'm getting into. I bought one of the lower end starter systems, but that seemed like it was the best option for me as a beginner. 

I now have the E-Z Command system from Bachmann. I did a lot of research before deciding on this particular system. It fit within my current budget and the deciding factor was that it came with a DCC equipped locomotive. I know it's not the highest quality system or locomotive for that matter, but it's just to get started and the price was right at $150.

My new EZ Command system from Bachmann.

I haven't used it yet, but plan on getting it hooked up here soon just so I can get things running. Its been over 15 years since I had any running trains. I still don't have enough track to complete my plan, but enough to put together a simple loop. Hopefully it is as simple as some of the reviews made it seem to be.

More Progress on the SD40-2 Rebuild

In my last update on this project I mentioned that I may end up rethinking the paint scheme. Well I did and yesterday I got that process started by beginning to remove the yellow paint I put on with the airbrush. When I first started painting this thing I went right on top of the factory paint job. It was great practice for getting the airbrush technique down, but the finish wasn't so good. The paint began to cover up a lot of the small details molded into the shell. Rather than get too far down that path, I decided I would cut my losses and start over.

To do that I brought out the isopropyl alcohol and brake fluid again. The alcohol seems to take a bit more work, so I've been using the brake fluid more on this one. Below you can see the results of about an hour of work. The front half is where I put down the yellow, so that's going to take even more work. The back half is starting to look pretty good. I'd say after a couple more hours this thing will be completely stripped and ready for some detail work then primer and paint.

Removing my first layer of airbrushed paint as well as the factory paint from my SD40-2 locomotive.

Now that I have this part of the process well under way, I need to start thinking about any detail parts I want to try and add. I know I'd like to at least do something with headlights and possibly ditch lights. Other than that it's pretty wide open. I think I am going to come up with a custom paint scheme for a fictional railroad, so anything's possible.

New Locomotives: More from My Childhood Collection

I was visiting my parents house again the other day and my dad said he found another box of train stuff from back when I was as a kid, which means it is probably 15 years old by now. I wasn't sure what could even be in there because its been so long since I had seen any of that stuff

Four new locomotives for my growing collection. 

Of the four, the Santa Fe C44-9W on the left is my favorite. I remember buying that Athearn blue box at a train show and thinking it was the coolest thing. When I opened the box, there were a ton of parts floating around since I never finished putting it together as a kid. I think I will add that to my list of things to do now so I can use it as a nice display piece until I get a working layout built. Once I get the rest of the detail parts added, I will try to take and post some better pictures.

The next one over is a Pennsylvania Railroad dummy locomotive and is actually in pretty good shape. All of the hand rails are intact and there doesn't appear to be any other parts missing. That could be another good one for some kind of display model. 

The last two are pretty similar other than the paint schemes. The Rock Island is powered and the Northern Packfic is a dummy. The Rock Island is in rough shape with the whole lower front end missing along with the coupler. The Northern Pacific is in much better condition.

More Progress Repainting the SD40-2

After clearing some space in the basement, I was able to find some time to get back at repainting my Soo Line SD40-2 as part of my new side project. Right now I am just trying out the airbrush and chose the yellow because it was the brightest and boldest of the colors that came with the kit. I may or may not keep this color, it all depends on how I think it looks when I'm done with it. So far it's looking like I will have to change things up, you'll see what I mean.

Here are some pictures of where I am at now:

A look at the SD-40 after several coats of paint from the airbrush.

A look at the right side after removing the blue painters tape.

A look at the left side after removing the tape.

A closeup look at the seam left by the painters tape.

That last pictures is what I was referring to. There is a pretty nasty looking transition from the new paint to the old and I'm not sure how to fix it right now. I may just leave it for now and move onto the next color and see what happens. 

Right now I have blue, red, orange, and black to pick from until I decide to go out and get any other colors from Hobby Lobby. I think something with the red and/or orange with some black added to it would look great. I'll have to work up some ideas for how I want the overall paint scheme to look. 

New Side Project: SD40-2 Rebuild / Customization

Now that I've had some time to mess around with my new airbrush, it's got me wanting to do a bit more than just practice on the Soo Line SD40-2 that I have as my current test subject. I've been see a lot of custom locomotives online and thought it might be fun to try and do one myself.

My Soo Line SD40-2 in its factory form before I started painting.

I know it will not be as nice as the ones I've seen, but you have to start somewhere, right? At this point, I think I will try to come up with a fictional railroad with a corresponding paint scheme and attempt to completely repaint the shell. Beyond that I would like to get the pieces I am missing right now, which include the following:

     - Handrails and grab irons

     - Number boards

     - Knuckle couplers

     - Ditch lights

As far as ideas for what I could do with the paint scheme, I did some searching online and found some great examples of different schemes just within the state of Michigan. I don't necessarily want to copy anything that's already out there, but would maybe use these as kind of a starting point.

A few example SD40-2's from various Michigan railroads.

So I'm not sure where this project is going to take me. All I hope to get out of it is some practice using an airbrush and just a better understanding of what it takes to work on model locomotives. I'm definitely open to any tips or suggestions that anyone has for this type of project. 

Testors Amazing Air Airbrush Paint Set

After going through all the hand painting for the structures on my nursery wall layout, I thought it would be a good idea to try out some airbrushing. I didn't want to get too involved in it without trying it out first, so I asked for and received a Testors Amazing Air airbrush beginner kit for my birthday a few months back. Here is a look at what the kit included:

Testors Amazing Air airbrush paint set

It's a pretty basic system with a plastic air sprayer that connects to a canister of propellant. The paint is fed in through a small plastic tube and cap right to the end of the sprayer. I don't really know anything about airbrushing, at least not yet, but this doesn't seem so bad to me. I'm sure there will be a learning curve, but that's half the fun of learning something new like this, especially something I can use for all kinds of things when it comes to model railroading.

So far I've been doing a bit of playing around with it and I like the results so far. I have an old Athearn Soo Line SD40-2 that's pretty beat up and missing a few parts, so I thought it would make a good candidate for my first loco repaint. Here's what it looked like before doing any airbrushing to it. 

An old Athearn Soo Line SD40-2 as my test locomotive

Before I started any painting I made myself a quick paint booth out of an old cardboard box. It didn't need to be fancy, just something to keep paint from getting everywhere. In the next picture you'll be able to see this and some of the yellow I tried out on the SD40-2. I even threw some blue painters tape on there to see how it would work. If I'm going to try and customize my own locos someday, I'll have to find a good way to use multiple colors and this seemed like a good place to start. 

My simple cardboard paint booth and some trial painting

You can also see an orange box car in the above picture. That is actually the old San Jose Sharks boxcar I showed off on the blog a while back. It didn't come out as well as the loco, but I think that's just because I was still trying to figure out what the heck I was doing with this whole process. 

Not sure what else I will try to do with the SD40-2, maybe throw on some of the remaining red and blue paint that came with the set. After all, this is basically a throw away locomotive so I will get as much use out of it as I can as a test subject.

Nursery Wall Layout Update: End of the Line

It's a few weeks later than I originally had planned on, but now I can say I finally have the layout done and on the wall in the nursery. I'll admit I was kind of worried that it would not turn out like I wanted, but in the end it was perfect. It's nice to sit back and admire all the work that went into it now. Sure there are a few things I would do differently if I had the chance, but all that matters is what's done and what's done is pretty nice if you ask me.

This post will just be a lot of pictures of the layout. Up first are a few looks at the entire layout.

A look at the final layout mounted on the wall in our nursery

A straight on look at the full layout

One of the best parts has to be the repaints I did on the houses and church. I had never done any kind of model painting before so this was definitely a learning experience. It was a ton of fun though and the results were exactly what I was looking for. Here are some pictures of the two houses.

I love how the new paint makes this one standout from the background.

The yellow on this one came out looking spectacular.

A look at the small fenced in horse area.

One last look at the two houses together.

When it came to scenery for this one, trees were the easiest thing I could come up with. While I would've liked to have sunk all of them into the baseboard, it was just easier to glue most of them down. The only ones I did sink in were the Woodland Scenics trees I bought at the train show.

One of the pre-made trees I glued down to the grass mat

One of the Woodland Scenics trees I made from the kit I bought

The only structure I didn't do anything with was the station, although I did need to super glue a few pieces back together after dropping it on the table top. Besides, I liked the way the red goes with the yellow and blue of the two houses, so I saw no reason to change it.

A look at the passenger station and platform

Another look at the station and platform

The other structure on the layout, the church, is one that came out surprisingly nice. I wasn't sure on the paint scheme at first, but after getting into it the simple black and white was definitely the way to go. It looks classic and simple, exactly what we were going for with this project.

A nice view of the church sitting nicely on the hill I created.

A closeup look at the tunnel on the right end of the layout.

A closeup look at the tunnel on the left end of the layout.

The only thing left to take a closer look at is the train itself, the real centerpiece of the layout. It definitely fits the overall look we were going for with this layout. I really like the bright colors of the cars and the caboose I repainted.

A closer look at the train sitting in front of the church.

A closer look at the front of UP #4441.

One last look at the center piece of the layout.

So that's it. I had a lot of fun with this project and it's got me hooked on model railroading once again. Now I just need to decide what my next project is going to be. I'm leaning towards another static shelf layout like this due to time and space restrictions. I think a full table layout may still be a ways out for me, but you never know. 

Nursery Wall Layout Update: Making Some Progress

As I showed in my last post, I picked up a few things for the nursery wall layout. I really wanted to pickup some structures and definitely managed to do that between two different dealers at the show. I ended up with two houses, a church, and a train station with platform. 

Here is a look at the first house. It's a bit beat up and looks pretty weathered, which made us think we should try to clean it up and repaint it, so I went out and bought some paint and brushes at Hobby Lobby. I'll try to get some before and after pictures posted once I have made some progress.

One of the Pre-Assembled Houses I Bought at the Gibraltar Show

The next house is in a bit better shape and doesn't need as much work, maybe some touch up paint on the one shutter on the left side. Depending on how repainting the other one goes, I may think about doing the same for this one. Maybe a nice green or yellow or something.

Another Pre-Assembled House from the Gibraltar Show

Up next we have a simple church. It looks like the roof has been weathered to show some rust, so I may try to undo that and even repaint if I have to. We want to go with a fresh look on this layout since it will be just a display piece in the nursery.

Pre-Assembled Church from the Gibraltar Show

The last of the structures was this passenger station and platform. It's in pretty good shape and I don't plan on changing anything about it. I just need to do some work on the platform because one of the supports is longer than the other so it sits kind of crooked.

Pre-Assembled Station and Platform from the Gibraltar Show

Moving onto rolling stock, I also got the passenger cars and caboose that I was looking for. I saw them all sitting together marked $2 each, so I offered $6 for all four and got them no problem. They were a little banged up and some of the wheels were not positioned properly, but after some tinkering they roll down the tracks just fine.

Bachmann Union Pacifc Old Time Passenger  Coach #7 (1st One)

Bachmann Union Pacifc Old Time Passenger Coach #7 (2nd One)

Bachmann Union Pacifc Old Time Passenger Coach #9

Bachmann Central Pacific 4-Wheel Caboose

After the show I stopped by my parents house again and picked up the locomotive that I am borrowing from my dad for this layout. It's a Union Pacific 0-6-0 steam locomotive numbered 4441. Not sure who makes it or how old it is, but it works well with the theme we wanted for this project.

Union Pacific 0-6-0 Steam Locomotive

I also got a start on building the shelf that will support this layout. After some shopping around at Home Depot, I decided to buy some of the pre-finished shelves that Rubbermaid makes. To make a six-foot span, I bought four sections that were 36" long, two for the base and two for the backboard. To hold the shelf up, I bought three of the steel support brackets designed for these shelves. 

The Beginning of the Assembly Process for this Shelf Layout

Definitely some decent progress if you ask me. That being said, I still want to get this finished by the end of the month, so I have some work ahead of me. At least I don't need to mess with any wiring or the issues that can come with it. The next step is determining how I want to do the scenery.

New Locomotives and Rolling Stock: A Bunch of Free Stuff from My Dad's Basement

Well, I finally got my first locomotives and pieces of rolling stock since deciding to get back into model railroading just a few months ago. I was at my parents house the other day and my dad had come across some of his old HO stuff in the basement and said I could have it. Gotta love free stuff, right? 

Here's a look at all the stuff together:

Locomotives and Rolling Stock from My Dad's Basement

Of the eight locomotives on the top, all but one are powered. The UP switcher closest to the right is actually a dummy model. I don't know yet if they all work, but most appear to be in pretty good shape. The UP furthest to the left is probably the worst of the bunch with one of the trucks completely hanging off the bottom and most of the handrails broken in some way.

The Athearn blue boxes in the lower left are for the three UP units on the right and there was one empty box full of random parts. The other two boxes were a for one Mantua flat car and a Cox Ontario Northland locomotive that's looks like it had never been used. The one Bachmann box is for the Tootsie Roll boxcar shown in the upper right corner.

So all together not a bad haul. Some of these may or may not end up on my layout whenever I get to building it. The other idea I has was to use some of these to practice painting and decals.

Layout Ideas: Detroit & Mackinac (Locomotives)

When I first decided to get back into model railroading, I really wanted to come up with a layout based on the Detroit & Mackinac Railway. One of the reasons was the fact that I kind of grew up around this railroad at my family's lakefront cottage in northern Michigan, right along the D&M branch between Tawas and Alpena. I remember always looking forward to seeing the trains come through town and at the rural crossings closer to the cottage. It was one of the things that really helped get me interested in trains in the first place. 

While doing some research over the summer, I came across some HO scale models of D&M locomotives and rolling stock, which brought back a lot of good memories from my childhood. My first thought was I need to have these for any layout that I put together. I mean how neat would it be to base a layout on an area that I actually visited frequently when I was younger? 

Well, that was the plan until I discovered that it was virtually impossible to find any of the D&M locomotives for sale. I did find plenty of pictures of them and links to other people who had them, but none that were available. At first I figured it was no big deal and I would just keep looking. Well, fast forward a few months and there was still nothing to be found. 

There were however several pieces of rolling stock available, but it wouldn't feel right to just have a few boxcars with the D&M paint scheme. I wanted to have the actual replicas of the trains I saw in-person as a kid. Since it appeared I wouldn't find what I was looking for any time soon, it was at that point I decided to put the idea of a D&M themed layout on the back burner. Who know's, maybe a few of these will surface someday and I can get back to what I originally wanted. 

Until that happens, I thought I would put together a kind of wish list post showing everything that I have found so far featuring the D&M name. Let's start with the locomotives.

The first one is D&M #381, an Alco C425. Here is a look at the prototype. It's an amazing looking piece of equipment if you ask me. I love the black and gold paint scheme, especially the little bit of red trim along the center stripe. The striped nose is pretty neat too, definitely hard to miss.

Alco C425, Detroit & Mackinac #381

Now here is a look at the model I found from Atlas. It actually looks a lot like the prototype. The overall look is there, its just missing some of the minor details. These are things like the small American flag log above the front steps as well as the snow plow on the front end.

Atlas Master Line Alco C425, Detroit & Mackinac #381

Up next is D&M #181, another Alco C425. This one is pretty much the same as #381 other than the obvious difference in road number and the lack of red trim along the center stripe.

Alco C425, Detroit & Mackinac #181

Here is a look at the corresponding model from Atlas. It appears to be identical to the #381 model other than the road number. It actually even has the red trim that is not shown on the prototype. I wonder what the reason was for the difference there.

Atlas Master Line Alco C425, Detroit & Mackinac #181

There are actually two other C425's out there, but I cannot find pictures of the models, so here is a look at the prototypes for D&M #281 and #1280. These both look just like #381 with the red trim along the center stripe. Overall, these four make for a great looking set of locomotives.

Alco C425, Detroit & Mackinac #281

Alco C425, Detroit & Mackinac #1280

That's it as far as HO scale locomotives that have been produced in the Detroit & Mackinac paint scheme. Any information on where to buy any of these would be greatly appreciated. I think I will leave the rolling stock for another day, at least there is more there and some of it is readily available.

Layout Ideas: Locomotives

Part of the planning stage for my layout will be deciding which locomotives I want to add to my roster. Since I am not focusing on any one railroad in particular, there will be plenty to choose from. That being said, I thought I would put together a quick list of some that have caught my eye recently.

While the road numbers are not exact, these all match pictures taken of prototype locomotives that have passed through the state of Michigan at some point. Ideally I would like to get some of these and renumber them to match what I can find on the RRPictureArchives.net website.

The first one is an Athearn GE AC4400CW in a Canadian Pacific paint scheme. Aside from the red and white striped band around the platform and the position of the ditch lights, this one looks pretty similar to the prototype. Of course there are some smaller details missing like the wiper blades and the hoses on the front end, but overall its a pretty nice looking locomotive.

Athearn GE AC4400CW, Canadian Pacific Railway #9502

The next one I came across was an Athearn Genesis EMD GP38-2 in a Norfolk Southern paint scheme. This one appears to be much closer to the prototype than the one above. The only detail that sticks out right away is the blacked out circles underneath the number boards on the front end. In the model they appear to be white.

Athearn Genesis EMD GP38-2, Norfolk Southern #5029

The third one is this MTH EMD SD70ACe in CSX's "dark future" paint scheme. From what I can see in the pictures, this one also looks pretty close to the prototype. I was even lucky enough to find one only six numbers off for the road number.

MTH EMD SD70ACe, CSX #4847

The last one I have for now is an Atlas EMD GP38-2 in a Grand Trunk Western paint scheme. This one is quite a bit different than the prototype in the picture. A few things I noticed include the lack of ditch lights, wiper blades, and the yellow stripe along the side on the model. Overall it's not a bad looking model, unless you want it to be 100% accurate, but for $49.99 that can't be expected. 

Atlas Trainman EMD GP38-2, Grand Trunk Western #5812

I hope to have a few more posts like this in the future before I get to buying locomotives for my layout. For now these are all just ideas and they may or may not end up as a part of my future layout.

Layout Ideas: Choosing a Theme

Now that I am fully moved into my new house, I can start thinking more about what theme I want my future HO scale layout to have. While I still don't have the time to start actually building anything just yet, it definitely can't hurt to have some ideas in place beforehand. Plus, I really don't want to just blindly start building something then get halfway through just to change my mind anyway.

Originally I thought about doing something solely based on the Detroit and Mackinac railway, but several weeks of finding little to nothing in terms of locomotives or rolling stock for sale has made change my mind a bit. Rather than focus on one small railroad, I thought I would come up with a layout based on Michigan railroads, which opens up all kinds of possibilities. 

Here are some of the criteria I've been thinking of going with:

Scale

I've stated this above and in my first post, but just to be thorough here, I am going with HO. This will not be changing since I've always been an HO scale modeler and there is just so much out there in terms of locomotives, rolling stock, scenery, supplies, etc.

A typical HO scale locomotive from ModelTrainStuff.com

Time Period

The era of choice would most likely be anything from the 1980's through present day. This allows a lot of flexibility as far as choices of railroads as well as types of locomotives, rolling stock and scenery. Plus, I grew up fascinated with trains in the early to mid 90's, so this kind of works out perfectly.

Pictures of various trains in Michigan from RRPictureArchives.net

Location
When I say location, I mean the real life areas I would like to model after. For me this means the state of Michigan. I don't plan on modeling any specific city or anything, but I would like to maintain the look and feel of my home state. This will likely mean a small town feel along with some industry and metropolitan areas. Other than that I would just like to get some nice wooded areas.

Layout Size

In the space I have set aside for myself, I can really do anything from a simple 4' x 8' rectangle to a complete around-the-room style layout. I am kind of leaning toward doing a small starter layout, this way I can get a feel for what I'm doing before going all in with a big layout.