Post by brianchapman on Mar 26, 2018 9:29:09 GMT -5
to have found this site. OK, I lied, I'm not a boy but rather an old(er) guy. But, I do feel like a giddy kid to join up here.
I've lived in northeast Iowa most of my life. Grew up close to the Chicago Great Western's Highland yard in Waterloo, so the Great Weedy is buried fondly within my heart. Cut my railroading teeth on those CGW 9,000 hp lashups of A-B-B-B-B-A F-units. Those caught the attention of a pre-teen boy who loved to climb the park trees lining the 7-track yard and watch the action, let me tell you.
But today, I'm modeling the Dubuque area in N scale, great scenery, loads of railroad action - CGW, IC, CB&Q (and Milwaukee).
Got a thing for colonial and early American history, so the gorgeous geography of the Northeast is a powerful lure, too. The B&A in the Conrail era, B&M and CV in the 1950s-'60s have given me much reading pleasure.
I'm semi-retired and directing much of my time these days to setting up a one-man shop to create TT scale (1:120) items for fun and for sale using my tabletop CNC mill and lathe, a homebuilt SLA 3D printer (from Instructables plans), and casting equipment (vulcanizer and spin-caster, heat controlled pressure pots). I'm working on a 10-ton injection molding press to be operated either by Arduino or PC. Tying it all together is Fusion 360 software (CAD, CAM, 3DPrinting and more all in one package). Really, too much for one person, but I don't seem to be able to stop. . . .
So, I'm here because my intention is to build a TT scale SD40 from the railhead up (if successful, I'll change my N scale layout - in the benchwork phase - to TT scale). I need all the advice I can get as I move along, so I'm hoping some one or two or three here will take pity on my efforts and shove me along the correct path as I stumble along.
Thanks much,
Brian Chapman
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
I've lived in northeast Iowa most of my life. Grew up close to the Chicago Great Western's Highland yard in Waterloo, so the Great Weedy is buried fondly within my heart. Cut my railroading teeth on those CGW 9,000 hp lashups of A-B-B-B-B-A F-units. Those caught the attention of a pre-teen boy who loved to climb the park trees lining the 7-track yard and watch the action, let me tell you.
But today, I'm modeling the Dubuque area in N scale, great scenery, loads of railroad action - CGW, IC, CB&Q (and Milwaukee).
Got a thing for colonial and early American history, so the gorgeous geography of the Northeast is a powerful lure, too. The B&A in the Conrail era, B&M and CV in the 1950s-'60s have given me much reading pleasure.
I'm semi-retired and directing much of my time these days to setting up a one-man shop to create TT scale (1:120) items for fun and for sale using my tabletop CNC mill and lathe, a homebuilt SLA 3D printer (from Instructables plans), and casting equipment (vulcanizer and spin-caster, heat controlled pressure pots). I'm working on a 10-ton injection molding press to be operated either by Arduino or PC. Tying it all together is Fusion 360 software (CAD, CAM, 3DPrinting and more all in one package). Really, too much for one person, but I don't seem to be able to stop. . . .
So, I'm here because my intention is to build a TT scale SD40 from the railhead up (if successful, I'll change my N scale layout - in the benchwork phase - to TT scale). I need all the advice I can get as I move along, so I'm hoping some one or two or three here will take pity on my efforts and shove me along the correct path as I stumble along.
Thanks much,
Brian Chapman
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
