Weekend Photo Fun 11-10-23-??

My continuation of my Century Club 1 rolling stock acquisitions.

The 726 Berk "add-on" that were cataloged as a suggested add-on to the Century Club 1 Berkshire.

2 Flats with trailers, a boxcar, and bay window caboose.

I worked the tent for the museum last weekend.

Scott Smith

1st week for construction - pretty productive.  Got the 2 command control (DCS) lines built, wired, and tested.   Conventional stuff still needs done.

walt

@walt rapp posted:

1st week for construction - pretty productive.  Got the 2 command control (DCS) lines built, wired, and tested.   Conventional stuff still needs done.

walt

It's officially beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Now we just need @SantaFe158 to start posting the Redford Theater Layout progress!

I am preparing an article about my layout.  This photo ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor:

Something different this week...

I' sure most of you do not know that I often build scenery and terrain in my workshop, not right on the layout. When finished, I then move it onto the layout, fasten it in place, and seal the and finish the joints. Here is a cliff/ roadway cut  I I am working on now. The core is built of laminated pink insulating foam, rough cut with a hot wire foam tool, then final shaping is due with a Stanley Surform rasp.  I then cast the rock directly on it using a rubber mold and hydrocal plater. It is stained to match a piece of rock from the actual site, vegetation is applied (wooden skewers painted black in the next to last images are to hold puffball trees in place) , and next it will be moved to the layout room for installation. The photos below illustrate the process:

Finally, finished last evening and ready for installation today...

Hope you liked this post. That's it for today! Enjoy!

Lots of train stuff this week!

!st, the new Acela's parked at 30th St in Philly

Zoo Tower, an iconic site on the Pennsylvania RR.....

In DC, up close with an Amtrak electric....

Posted earlier this week, the Modular Gorup building the raffle layout for our upcoming exhibits.....

Testing a new club-owned Conrail GP-20 LionChief 2.0 engine....

The passengers on the New Haven passenger train are due for a real treat!

Have a great and safe weekend, folks!

Peter

Spent some time at the B&O museum in Baltimore last week.

@MartyE posted:

It's officially beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Now we just need @SantaFe158 to start posting the Redford Theater Layout progress!

Just started working on it last night.  Stay tuned!

@PRRMiddleDivision posted:

On my drive to York on the PA turnpike, central PA as I recall, there's rock formations sloped exactly like that.

walt

This past weekend, my club set up at the Monroeville, PA Greenberg Train Show.  This time, at 28' x 52', it was one of the largest layouts outside of Kennywood that we've done in a long time:

Here is a video of some of the trains we were running, plus some "train ride views":

Speaking of Kennywood, at this show, we did our final planning session for our annual Kennywood Holiday Lights setup:

See THIS THREAD to follow our Kennywood progress.  Train season is in high gear now... or should I say that we have the highball signal!

Andy

Lionel Cotton Belt GP20

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A collaboration between several Detroit 3 Railers members resulted in these.

I am back. Happy Weekend.

@John Sethian posted:

I am preparing an article about my layout.  This photo ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor:

John, I have never seen a bad picture of your layout.  Thanks for sharing.

Art

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

I am back. Happy Weekend.

BAR GP7 #63,

The backdrop work and blending is flawless.

Dave

@c.sam posted:

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Looks like a very nice layout. Any more photos of the bridge in the background? Kinda looks like the P&LE bridge from a distance.

Dave

@walt rapp posted:

On my drive to York on the PA turnpike, central PA as I recall, there's rock formations sloped exactly like that.

walt

Walt, you are correct. That band of reddish/brown rock stretches north to south in that part of Pennsylvania, and you can see such rock from the PA Turnpike as well. there's a lot along US 30 east of Everett  as well.

@luvindemtrains posted:

BAR GP7 #63,

The backdrop work and blending is flawless.

Dave

Dave,

Thank you very much.

Johan

This afternoon, I was working on the section of the layout with the rock cut in my post above. It is right across the aisleway from downtown Altoona with the diesel servicing area in the foreground, and this view caught my eye, so I grabbed a shot of it with my cell phone...you may want to click on it to enlarge it since it is heavily cropped.

Thanks Scott for getting us rolling for this fine weekend!   Here are my photos of the fun kind.  Have a terrific weekend everyone!!

Here is a coal load I made earlier this week.   This is a Weaver 100 ton hopper.  I used a black cardboard base with modeling clay for the mounds.  Once the clay was formed I spray painted it flat black ... waited for the paint to dry,  brushed on scenic cement, and then sprinkled on some black stone that I purchased at Michaels Crafts.  

The layover.  Pennsy conductor Floyd Evans chats it up with B&O conductor Jinx Lemitch.   " I understand the boys in the N&W caboose have some homemade hootch.  Think we better go over and knock on their door."

@trumpettrain posted:

Pennsy conductor Floyd Evans chats it up with B&O conductor Jinx Lemitch.   " I understand the boys in the N&W caboose have some homemade hootch.  Think we better go over and knock on their door."

Patrick, this is such a cool picture with perfect lighting of the 3 caboose, and the caption says it all!

Gene

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

I am back. Happy Weekend.

So good to have you back!  We missed your contributions and your layout.  I see you've made progress on the city part of the layout.

Just a few quick photos of some new (old) passenger car acquisitions that will be getting some new paint schemes at some point in the future.

First a close up of a GGD Empire State Express baggage-lounge.  Slated to be re-lettered for Penn Central when my "Sleepercoaches" arrive.  I have similar plans for several other cars from K-Line, GGD, and Lionel for a pre–Amtrak Broadway Limited circa 1970ish.

Next future project is to re-letter this one for Burlington in lieu of the CZ lettering.  I'll also blank out the CB&Q in the small letterboards on the ends.  This is a chair car so it will sit ahead of my diner in my extremely fictious CBQ train.  I have a D&RGW CZ lounge-dome-dorm coming that will go behind the diner that will get a similar treatment.  By the end of the month, I expect my CBQ Slumbercoach will arrive to add another sleeper.  The other sleepers are GGD heavyweight PS 12-1s and a 3 bdr open end observation.  If I ever get back to run at my club, this train is currently at 13 cars to go behind my 3rd Rail E5s and is a mixture of heavyweight and streamlined cars.  Going a similar route for the consist behind my 3rd Rail ATSF E1s, but photos of that another time.

@Genemed posted:

Patrick, this is such a cool picture with perfect lighting of the 3 caboose, and the caption says it all!

Gene

Thanks so much Gene!  I'm happy you like the photo and the caption

Here are a few new random pictures around the layout this evening:

@coach joe posted:

So good to have you back!  We missed your contributions and your layout.  I see you've made progress on the city part of the layout.

Joe,

Thank you. It's nice to be back. The summer was very busy with the museum railway, but now I have time again until spring to build my layout. The city section is not large in size, but since it comes on two levels, it has its own challenges.

The picture shows the area where the landscape changes. The lower level where the trains run is starting to be ready, but above it will be a bridge, residential buildings, the street level of the factory, etc. There are still hundreds of parts to be installed, but I'm moving forward calmly.

Johan

@scott.smith posted

I want models of these cars:

Scott Smith

Expect to spend at least $350-$400 per car,if you can find them. The only smooth sided bilevel commuter cars were made by K Line in aluminum. Then you'll need to repaint them since I've only seen pics of them in CNW colors. In the tiny gauges they're more prevalent.

Scott how many cars does the museum own and where do they store them all while not running excursions?

@coach joe posted:

Scott how many cars does the museum own and where do they store them all while not running excursions?

We had a couple sitting on the museum grounds. I didn't know these even existed until I got to Goshen last week.

New member of the Bellevue and Schenectady RR roster an Alco S3 built here in Schenectady for the Milwaukee RR has returned home. It's former owner was Marty Fitzhenry 

I picked up this special run switcher this weekend and I think it’s a beauty. Thanks to CT McCormick Trains for taking on this project!

Unfortunately I don’t have a scale model of the J&L Aliquippa works on my layout to make this switcher look at home, but I can at least use it to switch some P&LE cars.  😀

The late Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips Petrolium, has a world-class museum and nature preserve located in the middle-of-nowhere near Bartlesville, OK.  Primarily it contains western art and artifacts but it also features an operating O gauge setup. If I were the curator it would be running Frisco and Katy trains instead.

@Rob Leese posted:

The late Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips Petrolium, has a world-class museum and nature preserve located in the middle-of-nowhere near Bartlesville, OK.  Primarily it contains western art and artifacts but it also features an operating O gauge setup. If I were the curator it would be running Frisco and Katy trains instead.

It been many years since I have been to Woolarco. My dad is a retired Phillips 66 executive.

Scott Smith

A new acquisition yesterday to add to my one ATSF Dash 8. 

Found these while attending a conference for work in Little Rock last week.

Running tinplate O Gauge and Standard Gauge trains with the National Capital Trackers at the Lion’s Club fundraiser in Rockville, Maryland this past weekend…