Model Train Journal

Not much going on here on MTJ. Here's a couple of recently completed projects.

I picked up this little Flyer 1120 coach recently thinking I could salvage the frame, couplers, wheels and axles for another project, but despite it's battered condition, figured it could be cleaned up. Some previous owner had the idea they might put a light in it, apparently (bracket soldered in and a couple holes drilled in the floor). Gave it a good scrub with some mild soap and water, then used a bit of Squadron's Green Putty to fill a number of dents in the roof. A shot of satin black enamel and it looks presentable:



My grandfather's Flyer set featured a pair of red 1120 coaches, and I picked up a blue one at York this year. I need to find an 1120 observation, something I've only seen in photos. It's on the search list for October.

Made this church for the wife's Christmas display:



I used a few stained glass "windows" appropriated from one of Carstens' Cut-Outs projects that appeared in Toy Trains magazine back in '52 or '53. I scanned them, then printed them on vellum paper and pasted them in. Otherwise, the design is based on a classic putz piece I've seen a few photos of. A bit of hardware cloth for a gate, a bottle-brush tree, and a couple of tin bells out of the bit box. What a PITA...glad it's done.

What are folks working on?

healey36 wrote:I picked up this little Flyer 1120...A shot of satin black enamel and it looks presentable:

Indeed it does look good. You are good with the putty!
What about the side that suffered heat from soldering? Paint OK?

Another sparkle gem. You are really good at buildings.

webenda wrote:

healey36 wrote:I picked up this little Flyer 1120...A shot of satin black enamel and it looks presentable:

Indeed it does look good. You are good with the putty!
What about the side that suffered heat from soldering? Paint OK?

The lower picture is from the side where the bracket is soldered...looks better than the opposite side, lol. It's a bit scuffed up on the corners and has a few scrapes/nicks on the sides, but otherwise okay.

I have this Flyer 3195 from 1930 that I figured is about the right size for the 1120 coaches:



A York find from a number of years ago, it's been up on the shelf for as long as it's been here...hopefully it'll run without too much work required. I think this was the first steam profile loco Flyer made once they decided to start making steamers again. It looks a bit like an electrified clockwork.

webenda wrote:Another sparkle gem. You are really good at buildings.

Thanks Wayne; when I get a minute, I want to stick a light in it and see how those windows look.

These are terrific fun to build, but a God-awful mess to finish. No matter how careful one is, glitter still gets tracked through the house seemingly for weeks.

Another gem Paul! I love these structures and the stained glass is the perfect touch! I’m kicking around the idea after some years of building a Christmas PW layout with pops trains. I know, hard to think about Christmas in May but if I don’t it may never happen. Pondering what structures to use, I kind of want cheap and fast. Yours might fit the cheap but not the fast, but they look so Christmasy and whimsical I may give it a go.

What are folks working on?

Still on the quest for the perfect and fast tree and I know the two don’t exist together. I’ll post a link to a YouTube video of a beautiful snowy pine. Probably one of the best I’ve seen. I gave it a whirl on a springtime lodgepole pine using some of the techniques. Still needs some work but I think I may have resolved that nice trees are just going to take time.



https://youtu.be/lZtlmRe8Le0?si=PJtfRqmFCTw6LFYC

Thanks, Greg. Those are fun to build because the assembly process can be fairly imprecise (all the fit/finish issues get obliterated/hidden by the glitter application). Just a mess, though. Nothing like being at the grocery store a week later and the checkout clerk asks why you have shiny specks on your face

As far as trees go, I seem to recall an article, possibly in Model Railroader, where a guy made tall pine-type trees out of dowels and bits of asparagus plants (the fine foliage bits). They looked pretty realistic, especially when grouped together, but not sure they were easy/quick to make.

Paul

healey36 wrote:Thanks, Greg. Those are fun to build because the assembly process can be fairly imprecise (all the fit/finish issues get obliterated/hidden by the glitter application). Just a mess, though. Nothing like being at the grocery store a week later and the checkout clerk asks why you have shiny specks on your face

As far as trees go, I seem to recall an article, possibly in Model Railroader, where a guy made tall pine-type trees out of dowels and bits of asparagus plants (the fine foliage bits). They looked pretty realistic, especially when grouped together, but not sure they were easy/quick to make.

Paul

I think it was back in the ‘60s that Jack Work did an article in MR on making pines using asparagus fern. Similar to the ones in center of the photo. The fern was treated with a glycerin and water mix, maybe some RIT dye to help preserve them. I have always referred to them as Jack Work trees.

Correction 1958.

https://railroadtreasures.com/products/ ... n-in-ful-1

Pete

Asparagus fern, not asparagus...thanks, an important distinction! I recall being impressed by the look of these trees, even going so far as to try my hand at making a few for N-gauge (which, of course, looked a bit out-of-scale). Thanks for that, Norton...reaffirms my notion that total memory loss has not quite set in, although 1958 is quite a bit before my modeling days. Maybe someone wrote an update for the method/technique in the late 1960s or early 1970s, recasting the idea.

Edit :: Wife just reminded me that short-term memory is the first to go.

Here's a shot of my grandfather's Flyer 1102 "Suburban" set (after undergoing a bit of refurbishment), along with a scan of the 1927 Flyer catalog:



Interestingly, the 1926 catalog pictures the "Suburban" including "Seattle" 1120 coaches, while the 1927 catalog shows a more generic scheme. However, the locomotive's trim definitely matches the 1927 illustration, not that of the 1926 catalog where the trim was a bit more elaborate.

This thing had been stored in a damp basement for an unknown period of time, only to be found when the house was completely emptied a few years ago. There was quite a bit of corrosion damage, especially to the roofs of the coaches. We had to run those through the bead-blaster to get them cleaned up before a respray of satin black enamel. Other surface corrosion, especially on the lithography, was lightly sanded.

The 1096, despite quite a bit of work, remains a project in-process. For now, it will not run when AC power is applied (it will run using DC). There are no modifications to the motor that would convert it to DC-only operation. Not sure what's going on. The factory maintenance instructions warn against getting any lubricant on the commutator, but that has been thoroughly cleaned and new brushes installed. So a bit of an enigma at the moment; however, if there's one loco on the roster we definitely want to get back into good operating condition, this is it. More work to be done.

That 1108 express baggage car you jut got will really look good with this set.

You will have to post a picture of the 1108 car. It really looks sharp.

HONDO74 wrote:That 1108 express baggage car you jut got will really look good with this set.

You will have to post a picture of the 1108 car. It really looks sharp.

Hondo, you don't have to tell me twice The 1108 baggage does indeed fit in nice; the roofline is slightly different, but the frame, wheels, and color are a good match:



Now, if I can just get it to run decently...

Nice looking train!

The Suburban
Catalog No. 1162
Price, $5.75 *$6.25

I wonder what the asterisk price is about?

This KP&L car has a lot of prices.
Catalog 2005 1st Edition Price: $59.95.
Trainz price: $59.83 (May 2024.)
Ebay prices: $89.98, $109.99, and $119.95, depending on the seller.

What's inside a K-Line Meter Car?

Four 20-watt 10-ohm resistors, one 25-volt Full Scale Moving Iron Meter, three incandescent light bulbs, some wire, three Wire Clips, and one cable connector.