# Oh, what a feelin' there's choo-choos on the ceilin



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

But they ain't Lionel, or even Richie for that matter









I started this project in May. May? MAY!?!?!? This is only June now, right?

Anyway, I finally got my butt off dead center and put the rest of this up. It needs finished, and the shelf parts painted to match, but at least the train can go roundy round now.

I had to put a dogleg in to clear the front door..... The door misses the tracks by about 1/8" maybe a little less









Shelves along the side walls support the tracks. I'm thinking about painting up some building flats. and maybe adding some small foreground stuff.









Old reliable #6 was pressed into service to check clearances and continuity. About this point the dogs went nuts because the train belongs OUTside! They eventually settled down and simply watched it go around for about an hour.









The section across the end window will eventually be a suspension bridge, once I figure out the easiest way to do that.









I made a corner shelf for Sara's little station and water tower. The real trick will be making crappy OSB look less like crappy OSB.


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

you are no "belt 'n braces" type, are you? 
i would have done at least double the number of hangers... every two foot more or less. 

but i envy you. you got it running. i'm stuck with the work to make our sales-room bigger. nearly no time for trains.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

The 'open' part between the livingroom and kitchen has the hangers closer together.... about 18" apart. Each held up by two 1/4" lag screws. This part will also get wooden 'guard rails' of some sort to keep the trains from trying to jump into the aquarium. Each side shelf has at least 4 steel brackets supporting it. or about every 30". The track support for the suspension bridge section is upside down 3" thinwall (sheetmetal) channel from a Craftsman workbench kit. The section by the door and over the entry to the kitchen is supported by poplar 1x4s, and I'll put music wire there for guard rails


All of it should easily support twice the weight I'm asking it to. (run the numbers if you don't believe me) Should the line start hauling lead ore, or we get a big fat monkey that likes to swing from the track hangers....then I may have to reconsider. I do still have 2 wood hangers and 3 metal shelf brackets just in case.


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks good, Allen.

I like the paint scheme of your passenger cars, too.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By markoles on 11 Nov 2010 06:44 AM 
Looks good, Allen.

I like the paint scheme of your passenger cars, too. 
Thanks!
The coach paint started a 'discussion' with a rail historian friend in Cali. He said NO railroad had such a scheme and none would have after the 1870s because it was too costly to maintain. When I replied that they were Kim's and SHE liked it. He responded, "Well then you might as well paint them pink and purple and put unicorns in the seats and Barbies on the roof!" Then wondered why he got a nasty in return. 

Soooooo, I 'justified' it by saying they were leased for an MGM musical, and the RR was loathe to waste money on a repaint and simply relettered them again..... THAT he had no snarky response for.


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

They remind me of B&O coaches. Didn't the B&O and others paint their passenger cars in different schemes?


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Posted By Mik on 11 Nov 2010 08:59 AM 
Posted By markoles on 11 Nov 2010 06:44 AM 
Looks good, Allen.

I like the paint scheme of your passenger cars, too. 
Thanks!
The coach paint started a 'discussion' with a rail historian friend in Cali. He said NO railroad had such a scheme and none would have after the 1870s because it was too costly to maintain. When I replied that they were Kim's and SHE liked it. He responded, "Well then you might as well paint them pink and purple and put unicorns in the seats and Barbies on the roof!" Then wondered why he got a nasty in return. 

Soooooo, I 'justified' it by saying they were leased for an MGM musical, and the RR was loathe to waste money on a repaint and simply relettered them again..... THAT he had no snarky response for. 




No railroad ever ran on OSB either, or hung from a ceiling. Does that mean you can't do it? It's your railroad and hobby. Isn't the idea to have fun?


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## ORD23 (Jan 2, 2010)

They look good to me and you can run them when it's freezing cold outside with 5 ft of snow on the ground and in the pitch black of night with rattle snakes slithering around on toboggans and, and....................... 

Ed


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Believe it or not, this is Kim's layout. She insisted upon it, and started planning it even before we moved in. I'm just chief gandy dancer and all around flunky on this project! 

I started a covered bridge tonight... only one side is done. Need to get some more 1/8 x 6 wood. We also decided to face the shelves with 1x2s for looks and added strength -- plus to make a short ledge to catch any derailments. 









#6 pulls a freight 









Kim's #3.... the only AV locomotive with sound.... The speaker in the tender floor sure is a LOT louder when it's overhead. This will probably be the primary motive power on the loop.


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## kwschin (Dec 24, 2010)

My wife and I are building a free standing sun room and plan to run a G-scale around the perimeter above the windows and door. This forum was suggested and I found your post. Awesome! My wife and I really like it, even if the coaches aren't painted right! ;-) As some have said, it's your railroad, so go with what you want and like. May I ask what brand and model your train is? I have no knowledge of any of this, as I've been an avid car and airplane person and this is new to me. 

Keith in Texas


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

Wow, I wonder what your friend would say about the way the D&RGW painted the 268 "bumble-bee!" Or the green boilered steam locomotives in the 30's, or even the yellow coaches on the Durango & Silverton? 

Robert


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Kieth, my stuff is a mixture of brands. The coaches are Kalamazoo, the 4 wheel freight cars are Lehmann Toytrain (LGB budget line), #6 is a reworked LGB 2017D and power tender -- IMO you can't beat the old Stainz variants for reliability and durability. http://www.the-ashpit.com/mik/StainzBash.html



#3 is an Aristo 0-4-0 with a different cab and a pony truck. It may be going to England soon.


Robert, His people skills are why he's still single at 30. So, since those bring their own punishments, I just laugh when he gets too pedantic. On the up side my buddy Andrew has searched out and made available on the net actual un-faded old RR paint cards, real Planished/Russia iron samples, several prototype paint schemes, and maintains two narrow gauge discussion forums and a pretty big photo database.......


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

It is an interesting world, my daughter asked my why they painted every freight car on the D&RGW brown except - stock cars. And why were they painted black? Instead of brown? At first, I thought, what a strange question, but OTOH, why DID they paint stock cars black instead of just plain old boxcar red? 

Robert


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## kwschin (Dec 24, 2010)

Thanks for the info! Sounds like you can do a lot with different brands. Really like the loco.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By kwschin on 27 Dec 2010 06:00 PM 
Thanks for the info! Sounds like you can do a lot with different brands. Really like the loco. 
Thanks, that loco was a lot of work, but worth it. You can still get the Delton parts on fleabay to do your own (less the plow). The LGB American style 2-4-0 isn't quite as rugged, but it looks good on tight curves too. 

Short engines and cars can make a small layout look larger... or at least keep from dwarfing it.-- they also usually get 'cute' points from swmbo

Good engine choices for an overhead layout are any of the LGB Stainz variants, as I mentioned. Also almost any H-L-W unit, their Mack switcher is the cheapest. Basically, you want as simple, durable, and rugged as you can get. Especially if you have to get a ladder to take it down to do maintenance -- You'll put it off.


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