Finger Lakes Model Railroad Club

2012-01-01T12:46:00.004-05:00

UPCOMING EVENTS

November 7th & 8th, 2009 - Central New York Train Fair
New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, NY

July 16th - 18th, 2010 - NMRA 75th Anniversary Convention - National Train Show
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Stop in to Lake City Hobby on Exchange St. in Geneva, NY - our switching layout is in the front window seasonally!

Seneca Terminal Railroad

2011-11-28T13:20:00.000-05:00

Well, it isn't that we don't play with trains anymore, it is simply that we don't need a website that costs money to renew every couple of years. I've let the domain expire for the group, and if you want to keep up with the goings on, I suggest looking at www.free-mo.org and checking the calendar.

You can also get in touch with Jered through the Seneca Terminal Railroad website, or at flmrc.org@gmail.com.

I won't be posting here anymore - so hope to see you in the other venues!

Thanks!

Back in the day...

2009-09-16T13:26:00.004-04:00

Have you ever looked back at old Model Railroader and Ralroad Model Craftsman magazines? I mean mid-80's or older. Back when kits were still made in the US by companies like Roundhouse, Front Range, and Con Cor, and when AHM was sold right alongside Athearn as a quality locomotive. Back when there was no such thing as "pre-orders", and when overseas production of models hadn't taken over our layouts.

Know what they did back then? They built it. Yes, it sounds crazy to not open the box and get a train, but they really did it. I recently saw an article in a 1984 MR where a Tyco caboose was turned into a realistic and exceptionally detailed PRR cabin car. TYCO! You know, the ones we can buy for $2 at a swap meet! In another one, a gentleman scratchbuilt a substation in HO from platsruct parts, some leftover DPM brick wall sections, 35Mm film canisters, beads, and sequins. All the better, it rivals anything you'd see in a box these days, perhaps even better.

The above car is a Berlin Mills boxcar - you guessed it, nobody makes one of these in ANY scale. They're an elusive car - many have made these up incorrectly using FMC boxcars, but the flat roof, extra rib, and different door make this a totally unique model. Yes, it took a long time to build. But this is one car that is a standout in my fleet, and I love showing it off, because I have a great sense of pride in the fact that I built it myself.

Try it out sometime - built something yourself. Even if it isn't 100% prototypical, it will still be fun, and flex the ol' modeling skills. After all, how will the next generation of model railroaders know anything about this stuff if our generation relies on a factory in China to make it for us?

Bricks

2009-07-13T11:34:00.002-04:00

Ever sat down and really looked at a brick wall? I mean REALLY looked at one? In modeling these structures, we tend to end up with nice, clean, monotone buildings with perfect mortar lines. ESPECIALLY when buying "RTR" structures. In real life though, is is just not the case.

Mortar crumbles, new mortar is added. Bricks darken, smoke, soot, and rust accumulate. Windows are removed to facilitate renovations. The plan is for the CH Scooter Company, which has already been retro-fitted into the corner of my home layout, to undergo a significant detailing process. The building has already been "un-folded" into a long, "stepped design" from a tall manufacturing facility in the back, to a single story shipping area in the front.

I'll be painting random bricks in a few various brick tones to bring out some variety, and also indicating some patched mortar here & there, along with darker powders to suggest overall wear & tear on the structure. as this is essentially a backdrop to the rest of this part of the layout, and one that will be in place for a LONG time, it needs to be done well!

GP10 In Progress

2009-07-09T13:15:00.002-04:00

Dave's got some extra time on his hands lately, so he's been diving back into some modeling projects. One of them dear to any CR fan's heart is this GP-10, which till mate up with the MT-4 slug he built a couple years ago. Dave's a stickler for detail, so he's going all out on this one - all the bells & whistles, pun totally intended.

Keep up the good work man!

Old Hack

2009-06-08T12:56:00.003-04:00

Scott's got this little gem in progress -

American Model Builders, Inc. wooden kit with tons of brass details which are all scratchbuilt except for the ladders. As of right now, it is wearing primer and the first coats of a nice rich red color you'd expect on a caboose. Sweet work!

Getting furry with it....

2009-02-24T22:06:00.009-05:00

Saw this technique in MR's January issue. Took a while to find the right stuff, but I decided to give this fabric a try. Its something that would make Liberace proud, heck he probably had a suit made from it.

The process is simple.

1. Clear your plot of land.
2. Brush on carpenters glue
3. Apply the fur face-down.
4. Wait 24 hours.
5. SLOWLY peel it back, cutting as close to the backer as possible. I found that using scissors makes for a very un-even cut, and works faster & safer than trying to hack with a razor blade. In my case, the glue pulled up the plaster here & there, but this worked to my advantage. It created a very random pattern where the fur stuck, so it doesn't look consistent or smooth.
6. Use a cat brush ( ask the cat first ) to randomly pull at the material to add texture and vary the height even more.
7. Drizzle on some fine turf of an appropriate color.
8. Spray with dullcote, aquanet, or other binding spray.
9. Repeat steps 6,7,8 as needed.
10. Enjoy a frosty beverage and admire your work.

In the photos, it looks a little fuzzier than it is. But it looks 100% better than plain ol' ground foam, has a bunch of variation in texture, and with some more fine turf for blending and some trees around it, it will look even more realistic.

Doesn't anyone work with kits anymore?

2008-10-16T12:02:00.002-04:00

There has been a huge surge in mass-production RTR ( Ready To Run ) models in the past 10 years. As with everything else in life, nobody has the time for anything outside of work, with kids soccer games, community involvement, eating, sleeping, etc taking up about 23.5 of the hours in a day. The manufacturers in our hobby have been forced to cope with this, or face declining sales, or worse yet, closing the doors for good. Many years ago, I am sure the execs at Athearn sat down in a boardroom ( when it was still in Carson, or even Compton, CA ) and said, "The Hobbyist of the 2000's will have less money and less time than before - how do we get them to use our products and enjoy them, while keeping the costs down, and making trains ready to use right from the box?" Well, you close down your domestic manufacturing facilities and send them overseas to where they can not only accomplish this, but bump up the margins as well.

The rising availability of cheap labor overseas, combined with cheap materials and less expensive molding processes in the plastics world has given Model Railroaders an unbelievable selection of models to choose from. This is what you get when there's no environmental regulations, labor paid in a day what you or I make in 30 minutes or less, and plentiful ocean freight racking up the trade deficit. And why wouldn't you enjoy this? I mean, you can get yourself a pre-assembled & painted model now, with super crisp lettering, etched metal walkways, magnetic couplers, working hatch doors, wire grab irons, metal wheels, etc for under $25. The wheels & detail parts alone to detail an existing kit would add up to more than the cost of the entire car. Its tempting for sure, and I think we'd be foolish if we tried to avoid these models. They're made very well, and generally have some high quality components. I myself am a sucker for Intermountain and Tangent's hopper cars - unbeatable, plain & simple.

But then again, what about the fact that we bring our models to train shows, and there we find 20 other people with THE EXACT SAME MODEL?! I don't know about you, but when I take a piece of rolling stock to a train show, I want it to stand out and be noticed for the work that I put into it. Not everyone has the ability to scratchbuild or kitbash, detail, paint, decal, and weather a car on their own. But there's plenty that can be done to set your model apart from the masses, for very little money or time:

1. Paint the wheels a cruddy brown tone - when was the last time you saw silver or black wheels on a freight car anyhow?

2. Get an alphabet decal set and give your car a "patch job", like this Finger Lakes Railway Car:

3. Stop by an art supply store and get some colored chalks, grind them down on sandpaper, and use an old paitbrush to gently apply them to your car for a dusty look.

4. At the very, VERY least, and/or at the end of this process, spray down your car with dullcote - nothing looks worse than a flatcar with a deck so shiny you need sunglasses.

But if you want to really have something special these days, you gotta start with a kit and make it your own. Heck - even old Athearn blue box kits are great starting points for models. The best part is, you can get them for a couple bucks at a train show and if you mess it up, no big deal. Even the heavily detailed kits are available for very little money these days. Take this model of a CP Rail 50' boxcar I am working on:

This was a kit picked up at a local shop for about $7.00. I scratch-built the door from styrene, and added some other details using brass wire. It's primed now:

And at the end of the process, this will be a 100% unique model, painted & weathered like the prototype. Perhaps this is a little advanced, perhaps there's no time in your day for doing this. If you don't have the time, and don't have the desire to try doing it yourself, then you'll have some waiting to do. While I am sure that eventually just about any car will be modeled by a major manufacturer, until then, I'd like to stop hearing people complain about small inaccuracies of production models, or lack of models altogether. :)

So adopt a kit, or several - I found a seller on ebay, River City Railroad, that seems to have a plethora of some of my FAVORITE kits - the old MDC / Roundhouse stuff. I purchased a bunch of bulkhead flats from him and I am having a blast putting them together, detailing them, and painting my undecorated models. When you take the time, effort, and pride in your modeling, you'll be rewarded - and have a special model to show off to your friends.

Keep modeling, and stop by the Annex room at the Syracuse Train Fair in a couple weeks. We'll be there - with some knockout models ( not the swimsuit kind ).

Scott's Switches - Way Cool!

2007-12-18T10:12:00.001-05:00

Scott gives us a rundown on making some very interesting power-routing switches - Because this is an image, click on it to open it up into a larger window. Enjoy!

Golden West & Light Blue

2007-12-06T12:42:00.000-05:00

Something about blue cars these days.....Maybe its just winter. But this was a fun car to make!

Something ebay, something blue....

2007-10-21T20:50:00.000-04:00

Dave came across this beauty for a helluva good deal on 'the bay. She's a Proto 2000 model, a GP38-2 ( quite possibly the coolest engines on the face of the planet ) with Digitrax & Soundtraxx installed, and man, she sounds just like the real deal. After adding a safety sill stripe, some required weathering, and grime, she'll be making her debut at Syracuse.

Home Layout

2007-10-04T19:01:00.001-04:00

Jered was granted trackage rights into the back room of the house a few weeks back. Since the room has power, finished walls & ceilings, and a beautiful wood floor, it was ready to move in, and create a layout. Working within the confines of a 9 x 10 room can be tricky though. After going over several renditions of track plans ( Thanks, Dave! ) and combing through books and the Internet, I came across a plan from an old Model Railroader magazine called the "Pike City Belt Line", done as a shelf layout with a peninsula. The peninsula creates a second location, so you don't feel like you're running your trains around a U - you can be on the other side of a divider and feel like its a different place than the rest of the layout.

Anyhow, the track plan has not been 100% firmed up, but I believe in working forward with the bench work, and then using the basic track plan as a guide. I know what will fit, how many industries, etc, but being a visual person, I want to see it in rough form, on the foam, before I decide for sure.

I picked up four 2 x 4's, a sheet of 3/4" Plywood, and a sheet of 1/8" Masonite. The studs were ripped in half and screwed into the wall as the main supports. They were cut to be taller than the backdrop, so that lighting brackets can be added later. The plywood was ripped into 3 1/2" strips, and will be more than sturdy for a small shelf layout like this.

Andy came by and helped with the assembly. Since we're not moving anytime in the next many many years, I wasn't too concerned with having to tear it down someday. Plus, given the fact that this is an old house, which is never flat, level, or square, we built the bench work in place for the most part. After the studs were attached to the wall, we attached a ledger board around the entire "L" at 48" from the floor.

Then, I used cutoffs of plywood to create small 3/4" x 2" blocking, which was screwed into the ledger board at 12" intervals. Next came the 18" long supports for the main layout, which were glued & screwed into the corner blocking and the ledger. This was followed up by the outer ledger, screwed & glued into the end of the supports. By itself, this was impressively sturdy and very rigid. But knowing that people lean on things, I added 3 supports of 2 x 2, from a ripped 2 x 4. They tie the outer ledger back to the wall studs, making things strong enough that you can sit on the bench work with out there being any give.

The peninsula was pre-built as a "domino" and screwed into place, with a pair of 2 x 2 legs & braces added underneath.

The yard are was also built as a domino, and then screwed into the wall. Since it is only 12" deep, the anchoring of the wood into the rest of the layout, and both the side & end walls, was plenty sufficient. I stopped the main layout at the window casing, so that in the event we decide to replace the window, I only have a couple of track cuts & some screws to remove.

The Masonite was ripped to size and screwed into the wall studs, which will reveal a 16" tall backdrop after the foam sheathing is installed.

The foam is now in, and some track is installed. Stay tuned!

Layout at Lake City Hobby

2007-09-09T09:54:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, Jim Greco, the owner of Lake City Hobby, moved into a new larger location down the street. He has much better visibility, and plenty of space. He had a layout constructed in O-guage in th eback of the store, and there was a table constructed for an N-guage layout to be placed in the front window of the store. After 3 months and no progress on the N-guage, he approached us about turning it into an HO scale switching layout. His idea was to have an operating layout that would be proof you didn't need to run the trians in circles, or have a large space. It also needed to be a high-quality setup, and showcase products available for sale at the shop. We were certainly up for the challenge.

We started by adding on a small wing to the existing 27" x 96" table top. Lake City Hobby has a great corner building with a window on the corner as well, so we decided to take full advantage of it. While only adding about 30" of track, it would provide greater flexibility in operating the layout. We wanted this to feature some industries of Geneva, both past & present, and have a team track for the most variety.

Dave Lederhouse spearheaded the track plan, and within a few days, we had hashed it out enough to lay the track on a Saturday afternoon. Using Atlas Code 83 track,we adhered it to the foam insulation base with Woodland Scenics glue.

We were skeptical that it would hold track in place, but were pleasantly surprised when it set quickly and dried clear. Scott soldered in the feed wires and we test-ran an engine. It worked! A couple of weeks later, Jered painted the track with a mix of acrylics from the local big-box store and 70% isopropyl alcohol. This thinned the paint out as well as helping it to dry quickly.

The following Saturday, we arrived to set the ground throws and ballast the tracks. Under each switch, we installed a small strip of 1/4" luan plywood to act as a base for the ground throws.

Andy, Dave, Jered, and Scott worked through the morning and early afternoon putting down the ballast, using the tired & true "Wet & Wet" method. We carefully applied the ballast with a spoon to small areas, then used our fingers and a 2" paintbrush to work the ballast in between the ties and build an appropriate shape to the sides. Since we're modeling railroading in Geneva, there's no need for big cork roadbeds - the tracks here in town are very close to ground level. Once the ballast was in place, we sprayed it with "wet water", which is water with a small amount of detergent added. This breaks up the surface tension of the ballast and lets the glue penetrate between each granule for the best hold. For the glue, we used Woodland Scenics Cement, and applied it with eyedroppers and medicine syringes. The syringe works great as you have better control. You can usually get one or 2 by asking your local pharmasist nicely.

Once the ballast was down, we set to work fine-tuning the landscaping of the layout. The base is 1" thick rigid foam insulation, which is easily carved using a Sureform Planer which is a small hand-held plane with a micr0grate blade. Further smoothing was done with coarse-grit sandpaper. This is really Scott's favorite part of model railroading, creating contours and lessening "The Kansas Effect" of having flat layouts. He jumped right in to the window and went to work. As you can see, its a busy intersection outside, and people stopped to check out the progress throughout the day.

At the end of the day, we had gotten quite a bit of work done. The tracks were ballasted, initial contours cut in, and the foam is cut and ready for the landscaping work. Looking across the layout, you can see where there will be an elevated line, as well as a highway bridge, in place soon.

Structures are underway at individual members' homes, and our goal is to have a functioning layout in place by Christmas. Will it be "done" by then"? By no means. This layout, like many others, will be a work in progress for some time. But the hope is that it will inspire newcomers to the hobby to advanee to the next level, and maybe show others some new techniques to use on their own.

Check back often, as well be updating this more frequently as "train season" begins again!

The Crew

A Long Hot Summer

2007-07-27T20:57:00.000-04:00

Every summer, it seems that Model Railroaders go into hiding. Lawns need to be mowed, houses need to be painted, fish need to be caught, and the kids want to go for a bike ride. Its a busy time for everyone. But through this summer, we've tried to keep the projects going.

Andy's been working on some weathering on his new Conrail units, a B23-7 and an MP15, both from Atlas.

Scott's been reading the ins and outs of DCC and becomeing more fluent in programming and such, so we don't have to bother *ahem* members of other clubs.

Dave's been working on kits here & there, along with moving into a new place.

Jered's been a weathering machine, churning out a couple models a week, primarily for sale on Ebay. While I wait for photos from the other crew members, here's a few of the models that have sold lately. By the way, if you want to check out what is up on the auction block right now, just go here and check it out!

Weathering

2007-01-11T22:06:00.000-05:00

Discovering he airbrush has been amazingly fun for me. Particularly since I have a very CLEAN collection of rolling stock & motive power that needs to be "grimed up". A couple of the first victims....Sorry for the poor focus, but you get the picture!

One hot little Hustler....

2007-01-07T16:20:00.000-05:00

Jered has an old Athearn Hustler engine he picked up at an estate auction in a box of older HO scale trains. For a few years, he's thought about getting it up and running, and with our Geneva modules making good progress, he's now decided a small dedicated industrial switcher would be a great addition to the layout.

Starting with the basic Hustler, he removed the stock motor ( with the rubberband drive! ) and used it for a paperweight. Dropping in a North West Short Line powered truck was quite easy - only had to cut away the cross-piece on the bottom of the old chassis. From there, a lot of add on grab irons, hand rails, etc. Stay tuned for paint.....

Wintertime projects

2006-12-28T09:44:00.000-05:00

Winter is the time when most model railroaders really get going with the hobby. Its too darned cold for much else, unless you're into skiing, snowboarding, or making snow angels. Wait - we need SNOW for those activities anyway. While I wait for use of a digital camera to take some photos of my projects, Dave has of course been busy making the rest of us look like slackers. After some great buys at the RIT show, here's a couple recent projects. I'm sure we'll see some of them in March at the RIT Free-mo meet.

Speaking of RIT, here's a pair of photos shot by Mike Roque at the Tiger Tracks show in December. These first 3 photos were taken on Jered's modules, refeered to as "Geneva" in combination with Scott's set of 3 mini-mo's.

NS 4806, a former Conrail B40-8, passes over Canal Street in Geneva. The second track on the bridge was removed in the mid-1990's to reduce maintenance costs, and the switch for the passing siding was cut back to the west of the span.

Conrail 1956 leads a string of empty covered hoppers past the CH Scooter Company in Geneva, on its return trip to the yard.

Western New York & Pennsylvania 421, a former Minnesota Commercial Railroad Alco C424, works Geneva's Brayton Milling Company on a cloudy October day. They'll shove a cut of hoppers into the loading area at the left of the photo before working the boxcar on the passing track into the finished good loading dock across the tracks.

Conrail 1956 shoves a cut of plastics hoppers into the Leder-Davies Plastics facility, while the owner of Strickland Propane watches. This photo was taken on Dave Lederhouse's "T-shaped" module with a tight radius industrial spur.

RIT Tiger Tracks Train Show

2006-12-13T08:12:00.000-05:00

RIT's first foray into the 2-day train show seems to have been quite successful. A good turnout, plenty of great buys, and a good time had by all.

Our group brought out every module in the arsenal one last time. The yard Jered built this past summer has proved to be too much to handle in addition to the other 2 modules he has. Rather than start dreading Free-mo setups, he's handing off 2 of the 24" x 48" plywood topped modules to Andy, our newest member. Andy has some great plans for them, and hopefully they'll be up and running by late Spring 2007. The other 2 plywood modules will be kept as a "reserve yard", for small events or as a small terminal if needed. The Mini-mo used for the East yard lead will become part of a series of modules that will comprise a functional interchange, including an overpass and grading to bring the tracks together. Stay tuned.....

Photos to come soon, but in the meantime, check out http://www.ritmrc.org/photos/v/recent/20061209_tigertrackstrainshow/

Enjoy!

Syracuse Train Fair

2006-11-09T08:27:00.000-05:00

What a show.....We had a 24' x 90' layout, which simply amazed the folks in attendance. As we set up the layout, the one thing we kept hearing was "...But it doesn't run in a circle!?" The Free-mo concept had never been seen at this train show before, and the modelers in attendance really appreciated the "honesty in operations" we displayed. Hats off to the RIT club for their participation - given that this was their first time on the road with their layout, everything went off without a hitch.

A railfan's view at Geneva Yard - Conrail 1956, a B23-7, leads a short run from Geneva over to the 2 fuel & oil facilities on the layout at the Syracuse Train Fair. This Dave's weathered Atlas Master Gold Series unit.

We're excited about our ever-continuing work - Scott is working on scenicking his set of 3 mini-modules, Dave is prepping some new rolling stock for the next show, and Jered is re-working the scenery of a 2-module set. The beauty of our hobby is that it can be in a constant state of change. Last night, as I scraped ground cover off my nearly completed modules and began adding layers of foam, I was reminded about why this hobby is so darned cool - you can make things look any way you want - and if you don't like it, change it ovr and over until you get it right.

Dave found this out after the RIT show, deciding that he wanted to try out an industrial module, which branches off the primary module forming a tight insudtrial spur. This sort of "out-of-the-box" thinking is what will continue to set the Free-mo concept apart from the norm, and show off the abilities of our club.

While we may have a small local setup in Geneva in a couple of weeks, our next full-scale setup will be the RIT Tiger Tracks Train Show in December, where we'll be set up with their crew for yet another great layout. Hope to see you there!

Dave's D&H Boxcar

2006-10-19T13:10:00.000-04:00

Dave is one of our members, and has a real knack for model railroading. He's got some fantastic models in his collection, including a beautiful Conrail MT-4 slug he built this past summer. But one thats sure to be a crowd favorite at our shows this year will be this D&H Boxcar, one of the classic "I LOVE NY" models - with a unique twist.

Kitbashed D&H Maintenance of Way Truck

2006-10-17T22:18:00.000-04:00

So, if the D&H were truly still around today, what would their MOW trucks look like? Well, based on the photos I see on sites such as The D&H Virtual Museum, I think they'd look something like this.

I started with an International Crew Cab dump truck by Boley, and removed the dump body. I started building the tool boxes, compressor, light-duty crane, hose reel, and spotlights from scraps of styrene and spare parts. A quick coat of grimy black ( I have yet to see a railroad with sparkling diamond plate tool boxes! ) finishes it off. I figure at least they keep the cabs clean. I have another of these, as well as several stakebody trucks and single cab dump trucks which will all get similar treatments in the coming months.

Oh, and a CR Ballast hopper - Fun as well!

~ Jered

What the - ?

2006-10-15T21:45:00.000-04:00

Sitting trackside in Lyons, NY with my boys train watching September 30th - tons of traffic, saw 4 trains inside 25 minutes. One of them came through quite slow, with several HD flats and regular flats with very interesting cargo in tow. No idea what it is, but sure would be cool to model.

A wet excursion

2006-10-15T21:35:00.000-04:00

Saturday found my nephew and I out at the Lehigh Valley Railroad Historical Society's Fall Foliage Excursion. It was pulled by a BEAUTIFUL freshly painted B23-7, owned by Finger Lakes Railway, painted to pay tribute to the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Those guys do a heck of a job on these engines!

The excursion was to have run from Shortsville, East on the former NYC Auburn Road line to Geneva, and then back. However, an hour into the ride, we turned around just shy of Oaks Corners and headed back. Kind of a bummer, as I had wanted to see the switching puzzle up at International Paper & Seneca Foods from the rails. Here's to hoping for the next time!

~ Jered

The site is born....

2006-10-05T13:53:00.000-04:00

We are the Finger Lakes Model Railroad Club, a small group of people in upstate New York working in the Free-mo style of modular model railroading. We operate a variety of eras and roadnames, with the common thread of working to have highly detailed and functional modules.

More will come soon, including re-direction to our own website, www.flmrc.org. Enjoy!

2000-11-09T16:46:00.000-05:00