Raildig

We're focused on small and micro layouts, pizzas and dioramas as they can be lots of fun. They're also a great way to introduce new users to model railroading!

[Raildig @Raildig]

A quick shot of our little lighthouse project. Only using bits I already have around in boxes, or in this case... in the yard. Part of the fun of this video was just using things I had on hand, not buying anything! Had to drill a couple of holes in what will be the lighthouse base. Got lucky as I was afraid this old piece of driftwood might split as I used the hole saw.

I've had this wood hardener around forever, unopened, so it should still be good. Lot of time on this little project but if you're going to do something, overdo it!

[Raildig @Raildig]

After a tough day at the Doc's office today, needed to finish up some relaxing work. Using this 24" monitor wired to the video camera with HDMI for a live picture while recording. It makes life a lot easier! Problem is where to place it exactly and not get screen glare from lighting and also being able to see it when a camera and a small overhead light are in your line of sight.

Had to get the monitor off to the side and sort of wrapped around a vertically mounted light pole. I "think" I finally have it right and can still have the monitor change position quickly depending on the lighting angles. Also using a great little product, Rosco Blackwrap. Sort of a flexible, thick aluminum foil with matte black coating on both sides. Great for controlling light.

As mentioned, a tough day but I wanted to get something happy accomplished!

[Raildig @Raildig]

There's always something to do like shifting the lights and galvanized pipes that hold everything: camera, external monitor and lighting to make the video making process smoother. You make these tiny changes as you go along as you see what does or doesn't work and what can be improved. Also keeping my mind a bit busy tonight to not think about a bit of a medical thing tomorrow out in Manhasset.

I know... not train stuff but it's tough to compartmentalize some of the bigger things. The little lighthouse video is coming along nicely. It really is just a little project but I don't like doing a video just to do a video, it's the details I tend to (overly?) spend time on. Ok, back to putting this stuff back together!

[Raildig @Raildig]

I'm a sucker for beautiful work, here in HOn30... my new favorite train size. N scale track, HO body size. Yes, more to it than that but good for a ballpark reference. Man, looking at this makes me happy!

And here I am... still tweaking my lighthouse video project. I did find something cool as I was looking over my LED collection. I'd actually bought a pack of lighthouse LEDs years ago, I think maybe from Evan Designs? I had completely forgotten I had these but I just wanted to use up some old existing stuff, the lighthouse for this upcoming video on our YouTube channel.

As much fun as it is to buy new trains, that rush of dopamine when you open the package is fun. Making, or like my lighthouse project, bringing something to life is pretty great too! You can't make everything by hand, and you can't buy everything new... I like a balance.

In the meantime, dig into this video and enjoy this person's work... it is pretty terrific stuff.

https://t.co/5yset9fGmU

[Raildig @Raildig]

I'm not 100% sure but I think this GiL model train company is owned by or somehow associated with
Ajin over in Korea. I find this kind of interesting, maybe you will too. If I'm wrong about the GiL / Ajin association, please post a follow-up note here!

https://t.co/i7IBTelzW9

[Raildig @Raildig]

For the little lighthouse video I'm shooting, that piece of driftwood I found as a base didn't quite work out unfortunately. Still, I did get a walk, some sun and fresh air! Also took some pics, including a horseshoe crab that didn't make it. The shore is loaded with them this time of year.

I did pick up a couple of interesting little chunks though (top of photo). I wish the rock would have been a bit bigger... but it'll make a good paperweight or I'll toss it back in the water on the next walk.

Also found an old small photo of Cold Spring Harbor, I'd guess right around 1900? CSH was a big deal in the whaling trade in the mid-1800s. Another bit of history, the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is right across the water to the left in this photo.

There's always something interesting out there!

[Raildig @Raildig]

I find this builder both incredibly talented and full of imagination. Here's one particularly small and simple layout, but he makes much larger ones. By "much" larger, I mean larger than this. I love the attention to detail and clean work in all aspects of what he does on his YouTube channel.

https://t.co/aNsp6SJH4L

[Raildig @Raildig]

COFFEE BREAK

Waiting for a bit of paint to dry and ran across this. At first glance this could be somewhere from Connecticut to Vermont... lots of others too I'm sure. It's actually in Hungary!

https://t.co/ruug7QKBiT

[Raildig @Raildig]

Went out looking for a small piece of driftwood as a base for the little lighthouse video we're shooting. I got lucky and found a piece that might work. A bit longer than I'd have liked but you don't really get to custom order driftwood on the shore.

Nice day out today and I snapped a few phone pics. This is Cold Spring Harbor just down the street from me. I should walk down here more often.

[Raildig @Raildig]

I'll be darned, a useful AI / big company story today. I've got 2 new Mac M4s and an ancient Mac Mini. Had a minor, but slightly annoying, software issue today as I'm shooting the new video. Not a massive problem... more like a tiny pebble in the shoe kind of thing. Couldn't troubleshoot with online info so I figured I'd bit the bullet and go with a paid one-time incident fee through Apple.

The AI I got connected with on the phone got me to a human accurately and quickly. It's nice when something works! Got the issue resolved in a few minutes and better still, no charge from Apple.

I know it's kind of a thing to get on big companies and their sometimes closed ecosystems. Just thought I'd share a good story for a change.

And yeah... this is a big budget video shoot :)

[Raildig @Raildig]

There are a handful of things over the years I got rid of... selling or trading, that I really regret. I won't talk abut my 1969 Roadrunner, it was the late 70s and the motor was out and needing work. Still... a 1969 ROADRUNNER!!!

Just a few other things not as grand... a 70s Ibanez lawsuit-era Les Paul, a Rickenbacker 4001... things like this. Oh, and the '62 Cadillac with a foot control radio selector. Ah, good times.

Of all the model trains I've gotten rid of, only one I really regret is the Marklin 8811, this was the 3-pole version. Not the newer 5-pole version or I believe the bell-shaped armature version, just a bog standard 3-pole. What a magnificent runner at low speed, no cogging and it made such a perfect, compact and lovely even mechanical sound.

I think the comos lined up perfectly when this loco was assembled and then run for years. Ah well, I did sell it, so no use crying over spilled milk. I'm hoping these new KATO N scale Pocket Lines come close to this sound and performance.

I'm working now on a new lighthouse kitbash video... sort of a fun "let's make something out of nothing" video, but I do have a bunch of Pocket Line trains I received from Plaza Japan and am really looking forward to testing this... opening the boxes!!!

I'm hoping they can measure up to my old Marklin 8811. Man, I miss that little bugger.

[Raildig @Raildig]

There was an episode of Star Trek, The Next Generation, where people from the past were suddenly thrust into the future and they end up on the Enterprise. They then get a tour of the future on the ship.

They get shown a classroom full of kids and how the future is wonderful. One kid has a tool that looks like a laser pointer, it's actually a carving tool. By simply thinking the right thoughts, artistic thoughts I guess, he passes the laser pointer over a piece of wood and a magnificent sculpture appears in seconds. This was to show how amazing the future was. That scene really stuck with me.

I saw this attached sculpture for the first time a few years ago, called the Veiled Virgin. Carved from a single block of marble. I completely understand the wonders of AI of course. And I don't know why it is but I am uniquely taken by work that was done by hand. For me in particular it's model train / model scenery work.

It really is the human element that resonates for me. I'm very much on the fence about a lot of this stuff as you can tell. Of course it's here, it's only going to grow... it's not going anywhere. I don't know if it's good or bad, but I don't think we'll ever have another DaVinci, another Beatles, etc. something else will take their place, and I genuinely don't know if it's good or bad.

At the moment I'm firing up DaVinci... the video editing software, that is. Taking a $1.50 kind of low quality early 3D printed filament lighthouse from my previous post, and trying to improve it and making a video of it.

The DaVinci software has a bunch of AI options in the menu.
Of course it does.

[Raildig @Raildig]

Had a tough week here... so I cleaned off the whiteboard, cleared my head a bit and thought... what should I do this weekend? I was going through some storage boxes downstairs looking for something or other, also this week, and came across a pair of old, very cheap filament printed lighthouses I bought several years back.

This will give me a good chance to do some light modeling and finally jump into the new video editing software. I've been putting it off as other things keep getting in the way, and there is definitely going to be a learning curve just starting this new software. I keep falling back to the old software as it's comfortable and like many of us... once something kind-of-works, change can be uncomfortable.

Also it'll be a challenge just using what I have on hand for this little lighthouse video project. BTW, this lighthouse was advertised as 1:200 I think. Not worrying about being too scale specific then, just diving in and looking to have some modeling fun and start to get used to the new software.

Let's have a good weekend!

[Raildig @Raildig]

@Sm0lders Ok, like a rolling road... that's what I've seen them called in the UK on train channels.

[Raildig @Raildig]

I've just uploaded a new video on our YouTube channel. In this video I show a handy little DC motor kit, complete with a chuck and a few other accessories that I use as my mini-Dremel. I bought this same kit from Amazon in 2019 and this little rotary tool has had lots of use over the past 7 years now, it's one of my favorite little tools.

It recently developed what I think is a bearing issue, so I picked up a replacement and thought I'd share the basic assembly in a video. For right around $10 for the motor and chuck kit, this is hard to beat. Enjoy the video!

https://t.co/UTlBPERZ5r

[Raildig @Raildig]

I really like these little PWMs, way more handy than I'd have ever thought. I picked up a few of the more "premium" ones too, will be testing this on KATO Pocket Line and powered chassis.

Miniature roller platform? I's probably thinking of something different after a Google image search... what is it?