2023 Year in Review and Looking Ahead to 2024

 

The New Year brings and opportunity to look back on the old year and reflect on how things have gone, and perhaps, learn some lessons that can help improve things going forward.  Though you would not know it by reading this blog, I have had a really fun and productive year with the model railroad hobby.  Let's take a closer look at some key aspects of the hobby and what I have been up to this year.

Guest Operator

I am a regular operator on my friend Rick's layout as well as my friend David's layout.  I get in one or two sessions per quarter on each of their layouts and I really enjoy it!  It is a chance to experience the hobby at a size and grandeur I am unlikely to ever duplicate on my personal layout.  It is also a great chance to meet and socialize with folks that share the same interests, and while I am not the most social person I still value this.  I had a lot of fun with operations this year and I think I am getting pretty good at it.

Adding to the Collection

Like many hobbyists, I love acquiring new stuff for my collection.  I had a couple of really good local swap meets this year.  I also bought a few items from eBay and a few items from online hobby retailers.  The only train shop left in the Pheonix area got their share too.  Below is a selection of my prizes.

First up are the new items for my Mexican train project.

I also made some good progress on my intermodal train project.  This is all second-hand stuff from the local train shows.

I so add a couple of new locomotives to the collection as well as a few new cars of various types.  I actually bough quite a bit of new stuff this year.

Modular Club

I have been a member of a local modular club (loose association of like-minded individuals) for a couple of years.  It has really not been very active at all but we did manage to get our first setup in over a year in November.  It was not a public setup but it was still a great experience and helped inspire me to work on the modules.

I got a good start on rebuilding a 6' module that a friend in the club gave me.  It was originally more than 8 feet long and had been roughcut down to nearly 6 feet.  I had to do quite a bit of surgery to get it to the right length and get it on its own legs.

I addition to building the basic 6 foot modules, I also did lots of work on my portion of the club's yard.  I did lots of track cut downs, repairs, and starting on the scenery.

The straight sections also got some attention, some minor repairs and fresh brown paint.

I also built some storage and transport brackets to help make moving these modules easier.  It is working great so far.

The AZMR modular club I belong to had a setup in December.  This was the first large setup we have had in more than a year.  One of the members was able to get space at the family business and it looks like we will be able to use this space 2-3 times a year.  This is really great news as it has been very tough to find opportunities for public setups.

2023 was a really good year for the modular club aspect of the hobby!

Locomotives and Rollingstock

I worked on a few DCC upgrade projects in 2023, as well as some assembly of freight cars and some weathering projects.  I failed to do much in the way of documentation of these projects.

SD45T-2 DCC/Sound upgrade

This project started with and older Athearn RTR SD45T-2 model that I bought from a friend a couple of years ago.  After sitting in the queue for a long time I decided I needed to add this iconic engine to my roster. This is the only tunnel motor I own.

Upon removing it from the box I noticed the horn was missing and the snow plows were tiny.  I already had the Details West plows so no problem there but I had to order a horn. I went with the brass Athearn replacements but I got the ones without the mounting bracket so I have to fabricate that. The model also needed the MU hoses.

Originally, I wanted to go LokSound 5 for this model but my local supplier did not have the correct item in stock, so I went with the Tsunami 2.  I added dual speakers and a keep alive as well.

The install really went well and this thing really cranks out the sound.  It will be great for the modular setups as most locomotives are too quiet in that setting.

When this was all said and done, I have invested about $300 in this locomotive. I could have just bought a really nice ScaleTrains and had beer money left over.  Oh well, I am still very happy with this model. She's a keeper!

GP38-2 Upgrades

I had a couple of GP38-2 that needed some work.  The first was a Proto 2000 unit that needed sound added.  I had already done the DCC upgrade a while back but now I needed to ad the Sound Bug.  I had done this exact conversion on another locomotive and things were a tight fit so this time I decided to cut down the weight to give myself some additional room.  This turned into quite the project.

The second GP38-2 I worked on was my Athearn Genisis Santa Fe unit.  This is one of my favorite locomotives but for months it had a problem with stalling.  I suspected the usual dirty track and all that sort of thing.  Nothing I did made a difference.  The problem was really strange in that when it stalled the sound did not cutout.  Finally I decided, based on advice from a friend, to install wipers to the wheels to aid in electrical pick-up.

That was a tone of work, and it made no difference at all!  Next I installed a keep alive...still no difference.  It turned out the problem was caused by having the locomotive number select on my base station and on my throttle at the same time.  I don't use the base station to control trains, and with Digitrax you shouldn't be able to when the loconet is installed.  Changed the number on the base station and it runs perfect!

Home Layout

Most of 2023 did not see much progress on my home layout, Freeport Center Industrial Park.  Did lots of operations but the modeling and other technical work was sadly neglected for most of the year.  I did make some modeling progress in December which should help motivate me going forward.

Blog

Everything on this post so far should have been on the blog a long time ago.  I really did a crap job utilizing this tool again on 2023.  Blogging, in general, has really falling by the wayside for me and I don't really know why.

Tell Me About 2024!

With the New Year there are new opportunities for improvement.  The first area I want to get better at this year is using this blog to help inspire other modelers. That was the original intent and have really not gone a good job.  It will get better!

I see good things in 2024 for the modular club.  I have already made huge progress on my modules and we have our first setup of 2024 in the planning stage.  Lots more to come in this area.

I have been getting in some good work on the home layout recently and that momentum will help me get a lot done this year.  I will get the last of the power feeds done this year and the first scene will be done.  From there it is just scenery projects util it is done.

I have several rolling stock kits left to build and I am working to get more through the weathering stage.  This will be an ongoing effort but it is one I really enjoy.  I have a few more locomotives to upgrade to DCC but I will NEVER buy another locomotive that is not already DCC/Sound equipped.  It is just not worth the money and effort to upgrade these older models.

Guest operations will continue and I hope to get in some new opportunities this year.  Desert Ops in later this year and it is a great change to operate on railroad that I otherwise would never have a chance too.