Notes on Designing, Building, and Operating Model Railroads
A hobby adventure
Not much has been happening with the Wheeling Freight Terminal since the new lights were installed. A Labor Day weekend away was followed by a wicked head cold that kept me down for a few days. My wife and I have been looking at homes to purchase, which is very exciting but it doesn’t inspire work on the current layout. I’ve got the “hobby blahs” at the moment. Continue reading “The Blahs”
The last blog post reviewed the new layout lighting that has improved the general room environment. Back in April, the workbench lighting was upgraded and I just didn’t get around to posting the details. Since it ties in well with last week, let’s take a look at the workbench lighting.
Good lighting is a key to enjoying our hobby. We create scenes, add details, and expect crew members to read car numbers. Without decent lighting our efforts suffer. The El Paso layout room had a ceiling fan with five light fixtures as a central light source. This was augmented with a couple of clamp-type shop lamps on temporary poles for operating. The light was just above average. The new Tennessee hobby room has poor lighting in comparison. I’ve set out to improve the situation in this rental home. Click on any image here to review a larger size.
One of a recent batch of photos on the Railfan.net ‘erielack’ E-Mail List Photo Archive caught my eye as it featured a string of Pennsy hoppers. As per a Bob Bahrs comment on the related discussion list, this image was taken at the Jersey City-Lackawanna overhead crossing of PRR, Erie, and NYS&W tracks between Marion and Croxton at West End. Click on the image above to review a larger size.
After working through the layout adjustments noted in the last blog post, additional issues have turned up. There are two locations on the Wheeling Freight Terminal where curved track crosses layout sections at an angle, as can be seen in the lead image. One or two tracks have been problematic but now the problems have increased after setting up the layout in a new home. Click on any image here to review larger size.