Two Projects

I discovered an HO size building front on the web that pretty clearly suggested it was to be cut out and mounted in some suitable way. (Click on the image for a full size version.)

I printed this out on regular printer paper, made up a box from foam core to fit the dimensions, and glued the image to the box with diluted Elmer's glue. I gave the sides and top a wash of craft paint, but I can add brick paper from several possible sources to the sides if I decide I need to:

This was a quick and simple project that I can move around to various spots on the layout to decide which one suits me best.

The building in the background is from the now defunct King Mill. I'm always looking for equivalent possibilities.

I also began serious work on the portals for my Little Hell Gate T-Trak corner module. I'm using 1/32 basswood sheet braced with used fireplace matches:

I had to do a lot of research to find out if there were doors in the portals at track level. This detail from a larger photo shows that there were:

However, more recent YouTube images show that they're pretty heavily tagged over.

Looking At A Die Cast New York Subway Model

Back in 2012, I ordered this die cast New York MTA subway car off the internet:

I never had too clear an idea what to do with it. It was advertised as being 1:100 scale, and offhand, it seemed a little small to go with 1:87 models, so I set it aside fairly quickly as an interesting excursion and not a waste of money, but not really an active project.

But periodically, my interest in subjects like subway models rekindles, and yesterday I pulled this model out again to take a closer look. There's no shortage of subway fanatics on the web, and via Wikipedia and other searches, I found quite a bit about the prototype. It turns out this is a model of an R142A car, built by Kawasaki between 1999 and 2002. It is used on the A Division, which is the former IRT system that uses numbered routes.

Here's an NYMTA data sheet on this class:

So with the dimensions now available, I measured the model at 6-3/8 inches long.

Dividing that into the approximate prototype length of 51 feet, which translates to 612 inches, I get an even 96, which means the model is actually 1:96, or 1/8" to the foot, and not the advertised 1:100. This brings it a little closer to HO -- in fact, back in high school and junior high, when I was building models out of shirt cardboard, this is what I used for HO scale, since I didn't have a scale rule at the time.

So I started to think again, there must be something I can do with this, and maybe a few more like it. When I first got it, I thought about doing a dummy El structure with models like these on it, but I never quite figured out where to put it. But now I've started to think about the West Egg street background, and I put the model on top of a low-relief building flat to see how things fit:

Well, especially if I can rough out some sort of El structure, this might actually work! And I remember a guy posting many years ago on a forum that transit models, no matter how interesting they may be, basically just go back and forth. So I wouldn't be losing a whole lot if I simply used these as static models.

Here are some more photos of the model.

Here's a prototype shot off the web:

The possibilities would include lighting the interior with JustPlug LEDs and improvements to the model paint and detail. In particular, detail of the model below floor level is very crude, but it ought to be possible to add some additional boxes and so forth from styrene, since the chassis is plastic under the die cast body. The prototype window frames are silver, not black, and not all cars have the American flags and red fade stripes. I think HO NYMTA subway decals from Island Model Works could be used with any cars I repaint.

The wheels are roughly HO gauge. I think with some trimming and fitting, I can replace the model wheels with HO plastic freight car wheels and get the car to fit on HO track on the dummy El structure.

These are available in the $15-20 range including postage off the web. I'm thinking about how I can incorporate some already completed building flats into a dummy El structure for the West Egg street background.

A Few Amtrak N Newbies

F40s are some of my favorite locos, and I've probably ridden behind more F40s than any other, on Amtrak and METRA. I've extended my Amtrak timeline back as far as Phase III F40s on my N T-Trak modules. Here's a Kato Amtrak 330 that I recently picked up:

Here are a few shots of prototypes I found while railfanning back in the day:

I got one of the new Kato Viewliner II baggage cars. I normally don't install lighting in baggage cars, but I noticed on some YouTubes that these cars seem to have their lights normally lit, so I installed a lighting kit in this one. I may need to rethink this on other Amtrak baggage cars:

To match my F40s' era, I got some Kato Phase III Amfleet IIs. At this point, I can mix Phase III Amfleet IIs with Phase IVb Amfleet Is and get at least one credible c 1995 train, Amtrak 42-43, the Pennsylvanian. With a Phase III baggage, I can also mix a 448-449, the Boston Lake Shore.

I really like lighting effects in both N and HO and am doing more with them on both layouts.

Little Hell Gate Progress

A few months ago, I introduced my project of building a T-Trak corner module that would be based on the Little Hell Gate bridge portals on the Bronx side of the Northeast Corridor Hell Gate route. It's taken me longer than I expected to get into the project, partly because I had to spend some time figuring how I was going to kitbash Kato N viaduct track with more North American style piers, and I wasn't completely sure how things would work out. Since this part of the Hell Gate approach runs over a city park, a lot of the scenery would involve a grass mat and some parklike trees.

I ordered a Masterpiece Modules corner module with recessed deck, assembled it, and figured out how to create recesses in the ends to incorporate the Kato viaduct sections while keeping the Unitrack at deck level for compatibility with other modules. Here's the current status:

The underside shows my current practice with modules that could potentially be used with others at a T-Trak meet, as opposed to those I build intended only for my own home layout use. My main interest here is to use the Unitrack joiners as the primary DCC bus connector, and to connect both tracks on each module electrically to minimize current interruption due to glitches connecting modules. However, the T-Trak standard involves BWWB wiring (using the Kato Unitrack wiring color code), with the parallel tracks wired for opposite polarity.

I prefer BWBW wiring so I can use crossovers between tracks. But without a way to switch to the T-Trak standard, I can't incorporate any of my modules with the two tracks electrically connected BWBW at a meet. So I've wired in a DPDT toggle that allows the module to be switched from BWBW, my home standard, to BWWB, the T-Trak standard, should I ever take one of my modules to a meet. (This is not a sure thing, though. However, the DPDT toggles and terminal strips have been salvaged from the old DC block wiring on my HO layout, now DCC, so the hardware costs me nothing even if I never take my modules to a meet.)

The pigtail at the bottom is for installation of an NCE Illuminator that allows me to use Woodland Scenics Just Plug lighting components run off the DCC bus. This also eliminates the need for electrical connections between modules other than the Unitrack joiners.

The object of this module, again, is to feature the strange portals that Gustav Lindenthal designed for the Little Hell Gate bridge:

Following the practice I found useful with my Amtrak Springfield, MA station module, I worked from photos and estimated basic dimensions, and then I made mockups from scrap material to see how things would work out. Here's an overall view of the module with mockups mounted to get a first picture of how things fit:

On one hand, this is reassuring, since it's plan that the portals will be the main feature of the module. Then I worked some more to see how the mockups matched models and known dimensions:

Well, the ACS64 doesn't seem too far off, and the wheel off the track doesn't take away from the overall size estimate. However, I then took a photo of the mockups against known dimensions, the nominal NEC catenary height of 22 feel, and the clearance of overhead structure standard of 25 feet:

So it lloks like I'll need to add about 5 scale feet to the height of the basic portals below the strange pediments. I'll also need to give them a wider stance. The next step will be to create a final drawing and build the actual models, which will be from 1/32 basswood, with the upper shapes formed with spackle and sanded to final shape, topped with wooden craft beads. But at least I'm feeling more confident about the project than I did a few months ago!