a picture a day....

               thanks for all your photos Lew !!!

For today: " Coming home for the holidays."

A Winter Sun pic from yesterday afternoon. It came sneaking through the train-room window for just a couple minutes but I was right on it:

For today: "It's the most wonderful time of the year!"

Wow Patrick what super mountain scenery. Looks like you made the truss bridge as well. What a great job. Thanks for sharing 

Don 

Missed a few days...   :-)

Winter Sun:

For today: " Another load of fresh Christmas trees has arrived on the team track.  It won't be long before each of these trees are standing in living rooms throughout Patsburg with toy trains orbiting them.  "

Don McErlean posted:

Wow Patrick what super mountain scenery. Looks like you made the truss bridge as well. What a great job. Thanks for sharing 

Don 

Thanks Don!  I had great fun creating/building that mountain which I named Mt. Randolph in honor of my  good friend Randy Harrison who was a tremendous help to me when I was building my layout.  Actually I still have some tweaking to do on the mountain ... so it's not quite completed.

I can't take credit for building the truss bridge.   I bought that bridge at York's Orange Hall  from custom layout builder Vernon Peachy.    The prototype bridge is about a quarter mile from my house.  Designed by Wendel Bollman, it's the first type of iron truss bridge used by a US railroad ( B&O ).  The B&O had about 100 of these bridges throughout it's system at one time.  The bridge that stands near my house is the last remaining bridge of this kind and is a national civil engineering landmark.  

Here is a photo of the plaque and the prototype bridge.

Vintage trains circa 1990 on my brother's now defunct layout. Back in the day you made what was not available. The Reading F3 was an old Lionel engine re-painted with Microscale decals. The K-Line 027 caboose had the extra windows put in it along with hand made brass end railings and Microscale Reading decals. The brakeman in the cupola was a Bowser figure. The FAs were Weaver. They are long gone. 

trumptrain posted:

Don McErlean posted:

Wow Patrick what super mountain scenery. Looks like you made the truss bridge as well. What a great job. Thanks for sharing 

Don 

Thanks Don!  I had great fun creating/building that mountain which I named Mt. Randolph in honor of my  good friend Randy Harrison who was a tremendous help to me when I was building my layout.  Actually I still have some tweaking to do on the mountain ... so it's not quite completed.

I can't take credit for building the truss bridge.   I bought that bridge at York's Orange Hall  from custom layout builder Vernon Peachy.    The prototype bridge is about a quarter mile from my house.  Designed by Wendel Bollman, it's the first type of iron truss bridge used by a US railroad ( B&O ).  The B&O had about 100 of these bridges throughout it's system at one time.  The bridge that stands near my house is the last remaining bridge of this kind and is a national civil engineering landmark.  

Here is a photo of the plaque and the prototype bridge.

Thanks, Patrick! I know I'm not the only person here who has looked at your pics and wondered about that really odd&different looking bridge and now we all know.

Look Ma, no control panel:

I've been working on eliminating the customary CTC-style control panel and localizing controls. With today's tweak it's all done:

Under that mountain is the track switch that diverges and heads for Interchange in the next room. 

Now the Plywood Empire Route is entirely a walk-around style Pike (actually roll-around with an office chair 

With the day's switching work done and tomorrow morning's consist for Interchange out of the way the crew has the Dinner train pulled in front of the old Station ready for the first-call-to-dinner:

This signed painting of UP Challenger #3959 hangs on our living room wall. Our friends bought it for a buck at a garage sale in Cheyenne. A wintry scene:

My photo of original artwork that I own. It is a familiar scene somehow and if it weren't for the brush-strokes I'd think it was a print.

   NYS&W dome/inspection car #509, former U.P. #9002, at Little Ferry, NJ- Sept.87.'  

                                                               MY PHOTOS

Sunset today on the Plywood Empire Route:

I belong to Pennsylvania Railroad-The Standard of the World, group on Facebook.  Mainly because I am a fan of the Pennsy and also because the rest of the matter on Facebook isn't worth my time.....LOL   Anyway, one of the members posted a photo of GG1 4835.  While 4835 may not be a star among it's brothers, this photo shows it with gold leaf pinstripes and lettering.  

I knew the Pennsy used gold leaf on it's GG1s early on, but you know how some of these notable facts seem to fade into the surrounding din of facts we try to keep in our heads.  Even in this photo you can see how the gold leaf stands out.  Anyway here's the photo.

My Little Town:

Riding my bike past the gates of the factory:

Paul Simon

Just kidding, Arnold

EVEN WHEN THE GATE GOES DOWN, THE BOY ON THE BIKE CAN GO RIGHT AHEAD.....LOL

Typical day at the tower

For today: " REA workers are busy this time of year." 

Yesterday's switching job rolling into town:

Nine cars. That kept the crew busy. Every day is a little different on the Plywood Empire Route.

1990 pictures from my brother's layout. I painted the these post war Lionel NYC F3s into CNJ. Accupaint and CDS dry transfer lettering. 

                                                                  MY PHOTOS 

Fill it up

The last operating semaphore signals:

Somewhere between Raton and Las Vegas, NM c. '62-'65. Those signals are still in use today due to a quirk. This was once Santa Fe's busy Transcon Mainline but now has one train a day each way, Amtrak's Southwest Chief. BNSF isn't about to spend capital to Darth Vader this line.

Rio Grande alco pa 2 aspen paint scheme 1949-1951

For today: " Switching the yard."

Patrick:  WOW! A western Md BL-2 where did you get that or did you make it?  Looks super!!

Don

Day at REMCO Pump Co.

    awesome photo SIDEHACK  !!    more shots around your layout please !

Don McErlean posted:

Patrick:  WOW! A western Md BL-2 where did you get that or did you make it?  Looks super!!

Don

The  Western Maryland BL-2 is a MTH Premier model.