Fleet Friday: Rapido MR&T Well Car

A surprise package showed up on my door step a few weeks ago.  Firecrown Media (formerly Kalmbach) mailed me the Rapido well car in the MR&T paint scheme that I preordered several months ago.  I ordered it because I thought it would be something a little different for the layout.

I had preordered it long before the announcement that Kalmbach had sold Model Railroader to Firecrown Media and as a result would sell the building that was home to all of Kalmbach's publications.  In turn, MR's in-house layout, the MR&T would have to be destroyed since it wasn't built to move.

I've known the MR&T from reading about it in MR and having the chance to visit the layout back in 2016.  Throughout the summer I watched the live layout camera on the Trains.com Video.  The dismantling started off slowly, 

and then suddenly...

the layout was gone!

As a result, this well car has a little more meaning to it than first anticipated.

Trackside Photo #3

Concord Train Show

    Last weekend decided to venture to New Hampshire for the Concord Model Railroad Club's annual train show.  

I had never been to this show and didn't know what to expect.   Turns out, it's a pretty good show.  There were plenty of vendors and some great finds.  

I picked up an Intermountain Government of Canada grain car.  One can never have enough grain cars on a Canada mainline.  

There was also a camper calling my name for only a few dollars.  It's now on the layout waiting at the grade crossing in Brockville.

A rare Athearn Blue Box of Saint Lawrence and Atlantic 166 was sitting on a vendor's table.  I never knew Athearn made SLR box cars.  This apparently was a special run for a club in Maine once upon a time.  The only downside to this purchase is that the kit is missing one of the doors.  I didn't know this until I was getting ready to put the kit together the next day.  I'm sure I can find a $5 box car at the next train show I go to and remedy this small mishap.

My biggest find was a Rapido LRC coach in a number that I didn't already have! 

Although I have more than enough of LRC cars, I couldn't pass it up when I looked at the price tag. 

Finding something like this LRC is why I love to go to train shows.  You never know what you'll find.  Sometimes I walk away empty handed and other times, I end up with amazing treasures.  Concord was a bountiful show.  I look forward to returning to the 39th show in 2025.

Workbench Wednesday: ScaleTrains 2725 - The Original One (Part 2)

     With the old printing removed, it was time to put a new number on my ScaleTrains C44-9W.  I decided to go with 2681.  In a situation like this, I like to do a little online research.  I look for photographs of the locomotive to see if it has run between Toronto and Montreal between 2006 and now.  There are several photographs showing CN 2681 traveling through Ontario during this time frame, so I went with CN 2681.

    After the decals were put into place and allowed to dry, I did a quick Dullcoat spray (covering windows and lights) and the renumbered locomotive was good to go.  The last step was to reprogram the decoder to match the new locomotive number and update the information in JMRI.  I think it turned out okay. Thank you ScaleTrains!

On the Layout - Hard Rock Cafe Interior

     Just like Union Station, Hard Rock Cafe's building comes with large windows.  I wanted to add an interior to the restaurant.  I made a shadow box scene with a few tables, painted figures, and Just Plug lighting.  

I covered a piece of styrene with some wood patterned contact paper for the floor.  

    The seated figures were unpainted, they are the same ones I used for the CN Tower's restaurant.  I had some plates that I wanted for the tables, but I misplaced them and hope to find them soon.  

    The view blocker that makes the shadow box is just a piece of black cardstock.  

I've ordered a Just Plug Port Sharing box so I can get the building connected to the Just Plug system.  It should arrive in the next few days.  I'm still on the lookout for my HO Scale plates!

Fleet Friday - Rapido Ballast Hoppers

    I've had eBay on the lookout for any postings with the key words "CN Ballast Hopper" for many many years.  Walthers produced a set of CN orange ballast hoppers once upon a time, but when they show up on eBay the price is outrageous.  I waited for a good deal, but it never came and I wasn't able to find an old set at my hobby shop or a train show (not even Springfield).

Rapido finally decided to make the cars I've been looking for.  Thank you, Rapido! My order arrived in the mail at the end of July.  These cars look and run great.  I replaced the couplers to match my other Kadee couplers.  I'd like to make the ballast loads look a little more real, that'll be a project for another day.

To make sure I don't run out of cars, I bought a set of six in this run.  Fun fact, I decided to go with the branchline set because I liked the Government of Canada Branchline logo on the side of the cars.  

Workbench Wednesday: ScaleTrains 2725 - The First One (Part 1)

     In an earlier Fleet Friday post, I wrote about how ScaleTrains sent a replacement locomotive to make up for the errors they made with the first run.  I'm now tasked with changing the locomotive number on the original locomotive.  The first step was to remove the printed numbers and IC marking on the locomotive.  To do this, I brushed Micro Scale's Micro Sol onto the numbers and let the solution sit on the surface, I kept reapplying the Micro Sol as it kept drying up.  The goal was to always keep the numbers covered with Micro Sol.  I ended up putting a piece of paper towel over the numbers to contain the Micro Sol and keep them moist.  After five minutes, I dried the surface and put a piece of Scotch Tape over the numbers and the ripped the tape off.  Hopefully, it took the numbers with it.  I had to repeat this a process a few times to get everything off the first side of the locomotive.  NSModeler24 made a video of this process if you're interested.  I've also seen other modelers use it, too.

    The other side of the locomotive proved to be a little more of a challenge.  I repeated the same process but after several attempts, nothing was coming off the locomotive.  My first attempt at troubleshooting was to see if I could just cover the printing using one of the patch decals that ScaleTrains supplied with the replacement locomotive.  It didn't look the best.  I could see the printed numbers through the decal. 

 In continuing to find a solution that I liked, I got a new bottle of Micro Sol and tried that on the printing.  That did the trick!  The printing began to come right off.

Out with the old and in with the new.

    The numbers on the back needed to make a slight adjustment to my method.  I knew the tape wouldn't work as well on the angled back.  I also knew getting a decal around the grab iron would be a problem.  I decided to leave the 2 on the locomotive.  To remove the other digits, I soaked them a little longer and used a pointed cotton swab to rub off the printing once it has softened enough.  This ended up leaving a little more residue, but I will work on cleaning it up when I return to this project.