Model Railroading > Free-mo in Sandy (SLC) UT Nov 10, 11

Last weekend there was a swap meet in Sandy and the Mountain States Free-mo had a nice set up of modules. I brought my pair of Primrose modules down so the set up and wiring connections could be checked out with operating modules. I can report all worked well though I did need to shorten my top adjustable pipe legs when I got home. I erred on the side of being long rather than short and ended up without the -1" adjustment.

Scenery was just pink sand represented by bare foam and I took some ribbing about that. I bought some Florida cell phone towers in the form of palm trees from a vendor to add a 3rd dimension to the scenery but I don't think that idea is going to fly in Utah or Wyoming scenery. Even the idea of buying more palms and creating the Nelson National Forest seemed DOA.

The first train I ran was a Hyak ski train with one baggage for equipment, 5 coaches for riders and a solarium on the rear for extra fare riders. The Bipolar is MTH and the cars are a mix of Walthers and Atlas.

Next there was a more contemporary freight with Athearn RTR SD40-2 power. Freight cars are a wide variety of commercial kits and RTR offerings.

It is always a good time working with the Mountain States group. We operated modules from Utah, Colorado, California and Montana. Free-mo standards support this idea of traveling with modules to interact with others rather than being part of just a local group which always sets up in the same way every time.

Now I need to work on scenery and trying for a set up in Calgary in April.

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Thumbs up!

I am medicare age and just too old to be spending time on the floor adjusting module height with the Free-mo.org standard of height adjustment at the bottom of the legs. I designed a leg where the height adjustment is at the top. There is a pocket underside for each leg which accepts a drilled out 4x4 which has a pipe flange on the bottom side. I had about 3" of thread cut into the top of a 1" steel pipe to go into the flange to give me + or - 1" adjustment. The flange has a standard tapered thread so the pipe thread needs to be cut very deeply so it will pass through. I have nothing but good things to say about the plumbing folks at Home Depot who have spent hours cutting and threading all these parts at no additional charge except for the price of the pipe.

The connectors lower on the legs allow me to change leg length for 50" or 42" set ups.

Another Mountain States member is building lighter pipe legs with threaded rods in the top for adjustment which seems a workable solution.

On the modules next to mine you can see 1 1/4" PVC pipe legs on the left and 1x2 hinged and folding legs to the right.

My next set of legs will be built out of wood. There are $63 hand tools to cut wood threads in 1 1/2" dowels. I can use a router with a 3/4" round over bit to make the dowel from square stock with tools at home. I will try oak, poplar and ash.

My knees sure feel better after set up these days.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/17 12:05 by fbe.

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I took a few more photos from the weekend of my trains.

I like to take a short local out onto the mainline to pull and spot some of the industries online. There is no real double track on the set up so it works well if your train can get in the clear in a short siding or industry track. This is an Atlas switcher and there is a Walthers rib side caboose marking the rear. The Rio Grande modelers in the group do know how to make their tunnel motors look real.

The MILW freight was trying to fight it's way around the return loop while meeting other trains from both directions. Ducking into the coal loadout was the easiest solution. MILW SD40-2 locomotives were not strangers to coal silos in other locations so they do not look out of place.

Some more views of the leafy cell phone towers and native pink sand ground cover to keep a look out for. A Glidden solution awaits.

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I really like your idea for the legs. Excellent work.

Can you do a thread with more construction details for us?

Rick

Rich,

I am glad you like the leg idea. Let me build a couple of the wooden ones and I will put together a detailed posting.

Alan

Alan,

You know running a manifest train through the coal loader loop is a taboo in the Mountain States Free-mo world.

Dave Dane

Posted from iPhone

The Mountain States dispatcher was away from his desk so a rookie trainmaster was barking orders out. It was just easier for the 3 crews to go along so there was a hope of getting home before midnight. Perhaps if another siding had traveled west with the Coors warehouse module this coal kerfluffel would not have happened.