Very fond of this railroad - we vacationed in eastern South Dakota back in 1995, and seeing it was one of my personal highlights.Found this nice relaxing video on YouTube of a South Dakota Short Line.
My kind of railroading - plenty of wide open spaces, big blue skies (once the sun rises!), trains not going far or fast, some Jordan track, and a Heritage train - with a "re-enactment" the likes of which you'll never, ever see on a British Preserved Line!!Enjoy....
7mm Along the lines of an U.S. O Scale loft layout... (previously 'making U.S. track & switches')
- Thread starter Dog Star
- Start date
Northroader
Western Thunderer
Thanks for the video clip, Jordan, really enjoyed it.
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
No idea!! I just enjoyed the video!!
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
Thanks to the bad influence of Big Train James and the temptations he puts my way, and the courier service offered by Scale7JB & richard carr, I am now a bit poorer financially but richer in the freight car roster I have to hand.
These two beauties, plus a spare set of trucks, have crossed The Pond safely and are now in service on my layout.
Thanks chaps!!
These two beauties, plus a spare set of trucks, have crossed The Pond safely and are now in service on my layout.
Thanks chaps!!
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
Having dabbled in British HO many years ago, I know all about plowing lonely furrows as well. The fact the rails were also the right distance apart was scant consolation for an even worse paucity of suitable locos & rolling stock.Does look nice indeed.
You can get them in a proper scale with the rails the right distance apart as well
View attachment 161826
Rob R
Western Thunderer
US S scale this side of the pond isn't that much of a lonely furrow. There are a few over here playing with it and the interweb connects to all points west for lots more inspiration and stuff to buy. The latest 3 boxcars actually came from Hattons....
Looking forward to building some "Jordan-esque" track.
Looking forward to building some "Jordan-esque" track.
Big Train James
Western Thunderer
I can't help but feel partially responsible......
The Atlas Trinity 5161cf hoppers are pretty nice, probably the nicest O scale car they produce at the moment. The coil cars are pretty nice, as are some of the tank cars. And the new autorack looks very sharp as well, although at this point I've only seen a pre-production model.
Jordan, you may need to repaint or at least remove the reporting marks lettering on the trucks. I didn't realize it was on there, but it reflects the donor car that the trucks came from rather than the car they currently reside under. Also, if you really want to worry about it, you can also remove the brake linkage rod that runs the length of the car at the bottom of the side sill. It's a vestige of early production run prototype cars, and not seen on the vast majority of 5161's. Instead at some point they routed the brake rigging along the top of the center sill, which can be seen from the right broadside perspective. Anyway, it's about the only clearly obvious compromise, and easy to remedy. Of course the bolsters are odd, due to the design of the Atlas trucks, but somehow that doesn't show up as easily.
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
I shall likely deal with that by turning the cars round so I only see the other side.
Northroader
Western Thunderer
Cut em in half and you can use the spare trucks as well.
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
Sloooooooow progress....
Making the most some warm weather, so things dry out quicker, a bit more scenic work has been done recently.
Some more ballasting on the industrial branch. A mix of various Woodland Scenics and some real brick dust for good measure, collected when doing DIY involving drilling holes in walls!!
Also a start has been made on the grade crossing at the start of the spurs. This will be 148th Street, a subtle pun name that hopefully is self-explanatory. A third, "disused" track has been added in between the two active lines to give an impression of 'history' and closed, lifted tracks.
Balsa strip has been fitted as the edge of the road, and a first fill of old tile grout put in today.
Once this is dry a second skim will smooth the surface, and fill the gaps in the two running lines.
I then have two other grade crossings to do, this time with some forced perspective to increase the impression of distance across narrow baseboards.
Making the most some warm weather, so things dry out quicker, a bit more scenic work has been done recently.
Some more ballasting on the industrial branch. A mix of various Woodland Scenics and some real brick dust for good measure, collected when doing DIY involving drilling holes in walls!!
Also a start has been made on the grade crossing at the start of the spurs. This will be 148th Street, a subtle pun name that hopefully is self-explanatory. A third, "disused" track has been added in between the two active lines to give an impression of 'history' and closed, lifted tracks.
Balsa strip has been fitted as the edge of the road, and a first fill of old tile grout put in today.
Once this is dry a second skim will smooth the surface, and fill the gaps in the two running lines.
I then have two other grade crossings to do, this time with some forced perspective to increase the impression of distance across narrow baseboards.
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
... and then it got TOO warm!!
A combination of Life, the Universe & a rather warm loft have held up progress on the Portway Terminal recently, I'm afraid.
However, a bit of Bargain Hunting has been going on, and recently I got these two beauties...
The Portway Heritage train continues to grow, now with body courtesy of ebay & trucks courtesy of Jason Dickie, for a grand sum of about £25 we have ourselves a proper coach.
Old Walthers kit, metal body, wooden roof, cast trucks. It has some basic but neat interior detail.
The corridor connection at one end is neat, and sprung.
The other end, a bit crackered though...
Second beauty....
The observant amongst you will note that this loco is neither red & white, or candy apple red, or has 'SOO LINE' on it anywhere. So what's going on???!!!
This is my attempt to depict the Portway Terminal in the modern, post-2000 Era, interchanging with a modern loco in a modern livery.
The Pedantic will be able to shoot lots of holes in the credibility of this plan. This loco was only painted like this in early 2007. Before that it was in a very tatty Santa Fe silver/red scheme. The most recent photos I've seen of it are from about 2013 IIRC, so it may not even be currently in service any more!! It seems to have spent most of it's life in California, Texas and Arizona - desert territory most unlike Minnesota!! But the BNSF does go to Minnesota these days, so maybe on the date my layout is set - June 31st (whatever the year!!) - just maybe no. 516 was paying a visit....
Anyway for me it's the most up-to-date loco I now own, and sets a fine contrast with the Portway's RS3 & motley collection of Plymouths. It is DCC Sound, and was an ebay Bargain won for a few tenners less than £200.
Gotta love US O Scale!!!
A combination of Life, the Universe & a rather warm loft have held up progress on the Portway Terminal recently, I'm afraid.
However, a bit of Bargain Hunting has been going on, and recently I got these two beauties...
The Portway Heritage train continues to grow, now with body courtesy of ebay & trucks courtesy of Jason Dickie, for a grand sum of about £25 we have ourselves a proper coach.
Old Walthers kit, metal body, wooden roof, cast trucks. It has some basic but neat interior detail.
The corridor connection at one end is neat, and sprung.
The other end, a bit crackered though...
Second beauty....
The observant amongst you will note that this loco is neither red & white, or candy apple red, or has 'SOO LINE' on it anywhere. So what's going on???!!!
This is my attempt to depict the Portway Terminal in the modern, post-2000 Era, interchanging with a modern loco in a modern livery.
The Pedantic will be able to shoot lots of holes in the credibility of this plan. This loco was only painted like this in early 2007. Before that it was in a very tatty Santa Fe silver/red scheme. The most recent photos I've seen of it are from about 2013 IIRC, so it may not even be currently in service any more!! It seems to have spent most of it's life in California, Texas and Arizona - desert territory most unlike Minnesota!! But the BNSF does go to Minnesota these days, so maybe on the date my layout is set - June 31st (whatever the year!!) - just maybe no. 516 was paying a visit....
Anyway for me it's the most up-to-date loco I now own, and sets a fine contrast with the Portway's RS3 & motley collection of Plymouths. It is DCC Sound, and was an ebay Bargain won for a few tenners less than £200.
Gotta love US O Scale!!!
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
I have a confession to make regarding the BNSF Dash-8 loco! On first try out of the box, although the sounds & lights worked, the engine wouldn't move. It was one of those sinking "Uh-oh!!" moments.
It wasn't listed as a non-runner on ebay, but the seller had said it was untested. Further communication revealed it came from a collector who didn't run his locos.
The CVs were interesting, too - CV2 read "0", CV5 read "1"! Changing CV5 to 255 had no effect. Next step was today - get the body off & check the trucks. The one motor could be spun quite easily, the other seemed very stiff. Strip down revealed the drive axle was clogged up with almost solid grease. A clean up, fresh oil & reassembly and all is good.
I went for a four-axle unit so that it can negotiate the rough track at Portway Center when exchanging trains with the Short Line.
Our resident railfan captured the first test run on film (must get him a digital camera!!)
Also worked on the Walthers coach today. The trucks were very noisy - just pinpoint axles running directly in the whitemetal cast sideframes. So today I dis-assembled them, & drilled out the holes for brass bearings. Checked the wheel back-to-backs while I was at it, and reassembled, with some oil in the bearings. The trucks are a very simple design that allow for equalising, so all wheels stay on the rails, ideal for my track! I also sourced screws & washers to fit the trucks to the body.
Kadee 805s have also been fitted, they screwed easily but firmly into the wooden floor.
I only had to do one of the trucks all over again when it caused a short on the layout!! I'd quite forgotten to ensure the wheelsets had the insulated wheel on the same side - D'oh!! 
It runs better now, but is not free-rolling by any means, so two Plymouths manage it better than just one. Here the complete Heritage train departs Portway Center.
On the rear caboose porch, Laurel & Hardy still cling on for dear life....
It wasn't listed as a non-runner on ebay, but the seller had said it was untested. Further communication revealed it came from a collector who didn't run his locos.
The CVs were interesting, too - CV2 read "0", CV5 read "1"! Changing CV5 to 255 had no effect. Next step was today - get the body off & check the trucks. The one motor could be spun quite easily, the other seemed very stiff. Strip down revealed the drive axle was clogged up with almost solid grease. A clean up, fresh oil & reassembly and all is good.
I went for a four-axle unit so that it can negotiate the rough track at Portway Center when exchanging trains with the Short Line.
Our resident railfan captured the first test run on film (must get him a digital camera!!)
Also worked on the Walthers coach today. The trucks were very noisy - just pinpoint axles running directly in the whitemetal cast sideframes. So today I dis-assembled them, & drilled out the holes for brass bearings. Checked the wheel back-to-backs while I was at it, and reassembled, with some oil in the bearings. The trucks are a very simple design that allow for equalising, so all wheels stay on the rails, ideal for my track! I also sourced screws & washers to fit the trucks to the body.
Kadee 805s have also been fitted, they screwed easily but firmly into the wooden floor.
I only had to do one of the trucks all over again
when it caused a short on the layout!! I'd quite forgotten to ensure the wheelsets had the insulated wheel on the same side - D'oh!! It runs better now, but is not free-rolling by any means, so two Plymouths manage it better than just one. Here the complete Heritage train departs Portway Center.
On the rear caboose porch, Laurel & Hardy still cling on for dear life....
Stephen
Western Thunderer
Has anyone else every had the feeling of modelling deja vu, where they look at a post and think ‘that seems familiar’, then have a rifle around a box of ‘stuff’ which you’ve almost forgotten about, and suddenly realise what you‘ve been sitting on?!?
So there I am thinking a few IM box cars are a step into the unknown, and I’ve had what I presume are Walthers O scale heavyweight coaches sat around in a random box for a few years…..
Guess the next step is, what should I do with them?
cheers,
Stephen
So there I am thinking a few IM box cars are a step into the unknown, and I’ve had what I presume are Walthers O scale heavyweight coaches sat around in a random box for a few years…..
Guess the next step is, what should I do with them?
cheers,
Stephen
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
A few quick photos to demonstrate an interchange move on the layout...
The Short Line brings a train to the Interchange.
The RS3 pulls past the yard & backs the outbound cars into the siding, leaving the Caboose on the branch, which it returns to whilst awaiting the inbound train.
The inbound Transfer arrives from BNSF's Northtown Yard in Minneapolis.
It pulls into the siding & couples to the outbound cars, which it then shoves out of the yard, pausing to uncouple from the inbounds once they are safely in the hole.
Finally the BNSF loco comes back through on the Main, & will return long hood leading to Northtown Yard.
Once the outbound train has gone all that remains is for the Portway's RS3 to fetch the inbound cars from the siding & shove them with the Caboose leading down the branch to switch them into the Shortside Industrial Park a few miles down the line.
The Short Line brings a train to the Interchange.
The RS3 pulls past the yard & backs the outbound cars into the siding, leaving the Caboose on the branch, which it returns to whilst awaiting the inbound train.
The inbound Transfer arrives from BNSF's Northtown Yard in Minneapolis.
It pulls into the siding & couples to the outbound cars, which it then shoves out of the yard, pausing to uncouple from the inbounds once they are safely in the hole.
Finally the BNSF loco comes back through on the Main, & will return long hood leading to Northtown Yard.
Once the outbound train has gone all that remains is for the Portway's RS3 to fetch the inbound cars from the siding & shove them with the Caboose leading down the branch to switch them into the Shortside Industrial Park a few miles down the line.
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
As this layout is so unfinished, there's quite a few bits of it I've not really photographed much, if at all, and new views are often thrown up. The south end of Portway Center depot is a case in point.
BNSF 516 pokes it's nose into the view at the back of the depot....
There's an old grounded boxcar there used as stores for the Short Line.
Old Abe knows he left the whatsaname he needs in it, but where??!!
BNSF 516 pokes it's nose into the view at the back of the depot....
There's an old grounded boxcar there used as stores for the Short Line.
Old Abe knows he left the whatsaname he needs in it, but where??!!
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JasonD
Western Thunderer
Good find ... everyone needs an MoW train. Or a steam-hauled tourist special, or a ....