The "Oregon Coast Railroad" by Roger Rasmussen
This is my somewhat generalized / fictitious representation of my observations of railroading along the Oregon coast. The salt air and geologically unstable mountains play havoc with existing and now defunct rail lines. On the north coast, the Port of Tillamook Bay line (now the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad), which is old SP, is the primary inspiration. However, as I reside on the south part of the coastline, you will also see elements of the Coos Bay Rail Line, which is also old SP route. For right now, these photos are just loose assemblies of projects I have going on. I love to share information and techniques, so please email me with any questions (or concerns!). -Rog
4/11/21: Returned New machine, bought this one wholesale...saved a lot $$
Nothing wrong with it either. It works fine. OK..it leaks a little oil. OK...maybe a lot of oil. So what. Quit your bitchin, load that gon and get it out of here. -rr
4/1/21: The Blues Are Out
101, sold by POTB at a discount to Rust Brothers Metal Recyclers, has been stamped and put to use. I'd be nice to see her a little shined up, but not much chance of that happening.
"Dispatch, we have a problem".... I'm confident you can spot the issue. What's the most probable cause? Worse, what's the solution? This is the sort of thing that lands you in the penalty box for the whole session!
Yes, guilty as charged, I ran backwards through the misaligned switch. I was distracted by a flashing rear loco light, the cause of which is currently unknown, possibly has to do with cramming too many wires into to little space. Note on the top photo the rear part of the shell has separated. So I have some work to do here. Just as well...I have to go back in there anyway to add a washer around one of the Ernst Gear axles. The ditch lights work. It is tricky business getting that shell on. This is battery-op Stanton S-CAB.
I use the letter "U" to identify where the uncoupling magnets are. I use 1/3 magnets. They are challenging targets indeed. I should have used 1/2 magnets. Full length magnets do seem to cause spontaneous uncoupling issues in the places where I have them.
The blue signal (actually supposed to be a derail but here used to identify a derailed car) is just a wire soldered to an upside down cut rail joiner.
Yes, guilty as charged, I ran backwards through the misaligned switch. I was distracted by a flashing rear loco light, the cause of which is currently unknown, possibly has to do with cramming too many wires into to little space. Note on the top photo the rear part of the shell has separated. So I have some work to do here. Just as well...I have to go back in there anyway to add a washer around one of the Ernst Gear axles. The ditch lights work. It is tricky business getting that shell on. This is battery-op Stanton S-CAB.
I use the letter "U" to identify where the uncoupling magnets are. I use 1/3 magnets. They are challenging targets indeed. I should have used 1/2 magnets. Full length magnets do seem to cause spontaneous uncoupling issues in the places where I have them.
The blue signal (actually supposed to be a derail but here used to identify a derailed car) is just a wire soldered to an upside down cut rail joiner.
3/1/21: "Citrus" has a new machine!
Yesterday I visited Highway Auto Wrecking just south of town. I was looking for fenders for a '55 Merc and I heard this fellow just got a new Cat and was going to bust up one. I met up with him and when I said I had a buddy who wanted one of those fenders in good shape he gave me a nod. But the next day I showed up to pick it up and here he's got everything in the pen! Yikes!
Working on developing some barbed-wire fencing here.
The main fence posts are just (24ga?)galvanized wire that I straighten by tugging on it while holding one end in a vice. For the barbed wire retainers (name?) I just tapped on short segments of the wire to flatten on one end. I soldered this without tinning first, but I did use liquid flux. Standard 60/40 electrical solder, Kester. For the barbwire, his is 38 ga (0.1mm) copper magnet wire, which had an "enamel" coating. Very difficult to remove the polyurethane coating. Once done, it can be tinned and tiny "dots" of solder become the "barbs". Fence fabric: Grey tulle. Attachment: canopy cement. The first few fences were brass wired completely tinned out. I believe I learned that CA does not stick to solder well. That's when I learned it is possible to easily solder galvanized wire. I'd like to find some thin 0.05" galvanized sheeting! I'm pretty sure CA will stick to the galvanized wire. Canopy works well though. I learned that on Tony Thompson's site.
A few photos we took to make a Father's Day card.
IMaking corrugated metal siding in order to model these Brock grain bins as seen I what I now presume is the pelleting operation in Tillamook. There are plenty of cows in Tillamook working hard for the dairy industry there. On a (now historic) siding, I found this operation that was once served by rail. Using FreeCAD, I developed a jig to help me emboss aluminum sheet I obtain from pie tins ($1.50 for two at Dollar General). The jig consists of a roller and a track with corrugations that interstice. A later development, the tray or well (seen on the left) holds the flat portion of the tool (right) and helps to guide the roller. I've been printing this with PLA which is the most basic printing material (essentially corn starch) and is not very durable, but when it wears out I just print another one. I can get about 30-40 pieces of 7" x 3/4" material corrugated before the tool is shot. I have a TON of work yet to do on this (time consuming) structure! So many details on this one....
There are many estuaries along the Oregon Coast. Both the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad and the Coos Bay Rail Line have tracks right along the edges of the sloughs. Here I made some artificial "mud" which I poured for this (currently somewhat dry) estuary scene. The little strips of paper are just there to help me plan what is going where; trees, structures, etc. Just add water? This is the muddy business of railroading on the coast!
That's it for now. I'll try to get a few pictures more up later!
