Greg Bueltmann

June 2022 Update

26 June 2022 – Photos from March 20, 2022 to June 23, 2022 I have given a couple of update presentations on the Thursday Zoom calls we do with the Michiana Division of NMRA, but haven’t updated the blog in awhile, so here goes. The last post was on the Ore Dock and that gotContinue reading “June 2022 Update”

Rebuilding the Ore Dock – Part Four

December 31, 2021 to March 12, 2022 Having a week off of school to work on the railroad, really helps the progress! I try to spend an hour a day on the layout when I’m working, but I don’t always make it. All that to say that progress has slowed on the ore dock, butContinue reading “Rebuilding the Ore Dock – Part Four”

Rebuilding the Ore Dock – Part Three

June 28 to December 31, 2021 Fixing the alignment problem (see last installment) was a big deal. This got me going on the dock again (I had built several other models in the meantime). On September 16, 2021 members of the Michiana Division of the NMRA visited my layout. Among them was Tom Stathis whoContinue reading “Rebuilding the Ore Dock – Part Three”

Rebuilding the Ore Dock – Part Two

February 6 thru June 28, 2021 Problems with alignment on the ore dock prompted me to take it apart and rebuild it. The first thing to do was to shore up the foundation. This was done by adding additional bracing and then building a larger foundation to attach to the benchwork eventually. Gluing in additionalContinue reading “Rebuilding the Ore Dock – Part Two”

Rebuilding the Ore Dock – Part One

April 25, 2019 to February 6, 2021 – This post will probably be done in several installments, but I thought it would be prudent to document the work done this year since some progress on the ore dock has been made. It is a long way from completion. On April 25, 2019 I acquired myContinue reading “Rebuilding the Ore Dock – Part One”

Designing Ore Operations on the Layout

July 2, 2021 – Uncle Heavy’s Ore Lines is a model railroad located in Gary, Indiana. It is set in 1963 (the year taconite pellets began shipping from the Groveland Mine) in Dickinson County, Michigan. The model features ore and freight operations on the Chicago and North Western (CNW) and the Milwaukee Road (MILW). SinceContinue reading “Designing Ore Operations on the Layout”

Stayin’ Alive!

Installing a SoundTraxx Current Keeper II on a 2014 Athearn Genesis GP7 Locomotive Pictures from June 9 thru June 28, 2021 I was inspired by a discussion on the Proto-Layouts Group.io site regarding the addition of a keep alive circuit on DCC equipped locomotives. The track work at the Niagara paper mill on my layoutContinue reading “Stayin’ Alive!”

Traversing the Water Heater

Photos from January 16 and 17, 2021 This project actually happened concurrently with the construction of the ore yard. The most difficult benchwork of the entire layout was required in order to allow four tracks to pass around the back of the water heater and on to points east and south on the railroad. TheContinue reading “Traversing the Water Heater”

Building the Ore Yard

Photos from November 25, 2020 to January 15, 2021 With the platform for the ore dock complete, it was time to address the benchwork and track that would connect the ore line at Felch Jct. to the dock itself. This trackage would need to traverse the hidden areas behind the water heater (more on thatContinue reading “Building the Ore Yard”

Building the Ore Dock Benchwork

Photos from November 21-25, 2020 Now that the walls were complete around the heater and water heater, it was time to figure out how the ore dock would relate to the rest of the railroad and to the room. When the layout is complete, the ore dock will be the focal point when guests enterContinue reading “Building the Ore Dock Benchwork”