Weekend Photo Fun begins late?
I have continued to work on the new tinplate buildings and I am starting to add lights.
Let's see your pictures.
Scott Smith
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Here's my fun photos for this fine weekend! Be safe and well everyone! 
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A Wooden Push Train • A Photo Album from Michigan
My train crew are managing a passenger train over a crossover on the main line.
The conductor is ordering the engineer to slow down.
Our 4 month old sister wants to run a train. She prefers a MTH DCS loco over a push locomotive.
“Oh no”, I need help standing.
Wow - those trains sure look cool at my eye level.
Good night and thanks for taking a look at our push trains & have a great weekend. 🚂
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have a great weekend everyone !!
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MTH Premier Great Northern W-1 electric locomotive #5019 (with PS-2) is a heavy, die-cast model, 26-inches in length. Shown on one of the 36-inch truss bridges on my 12’-by-8’ layout. I built the bridges from kits by Miami Valley Products more than twenty years ago.
MELGAR
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It's been rainy here all week. And, there is a big stack of building kits in the train room. So, why not build some more kits?
This one is probably S scale. It will either end up on the 6x11 club layout, or somewhere in the background.
7 paint colors. This sure makes things a lot more interesting than just a couple of molded in colors.
A simple 8 piece snap-together Lionel kit. All glued now. I used 5 colors on this. This is headed to the engine service area on my layout.
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I (finally) got a new camera. Its a Nikon D3500 DSLR which replaces my aged Coolpix. Among other things the Coolpix decided it was done taking focussed photos. Not to mention getting the color balance right. (It used to, just not any more).
I am pretty amazed at the photos I can take. This is an old concrete pad that used to be the base of a signal bridge:
For references, those are 1.4 mm (.056") screws. You can easily make out the threads! In another test, that shows the camera's capability for depth of field, here are a couple of O1s stopping at Princeton Junction on my layout
The tilt in the rear cars is because the train is coming off a super elevated curve, just like the real thing. All the trees are Super Sage on a variety of armatures, including Lemax Christmas Birch trees, Sharp eyed viewers can see the catenary over the track leading through the trees to the town of Princeton. (Look under the lead units front pantograph.) And REALLY sharp eyed viewers will see the top of Princeton Junction Station. While prototypically accurate, it's just a temporary cardboard mock up for now
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Last week, I posted photos of the farm valleys of central Pennsylvania that inspired me to model the Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. My first visit was in June of 1975, 45 years ago this month. This week, as promised, I’m posting some photos of my early days of railfanning in the years that followed and how I modeled what I saw on that initial visits and on my annual visits thereafter.
First is an early Conrail shot I took at Duncannon:
Just railroad east of the above image is View Interlocking. Image to the left is the prototype in the early days of Conrail, and that to the right is my layout taken from the same spot:
Next is an image of the interlocking at Mifflin. I was too dumb to realize it at the time, but I was basically looking at the Pennsylvania Railroad. About all that had changed was the color of the tower, which was now painted in Conrail gray. The second image is of the same scene on my layout today. The major difference is that I had to curve the tracks in the distance to the right rather than to the left. With just one other exception, all of the curves on my layout turn in the same direction as the prototype. That was just not possible in this scene. Within a few years, one of the tracks, the tower, and line poles would all be gone:
This pair of images is the well-known bridge at Duncannon, showing the reinforcing installed by the Pennsy to keep the spandrels (outer walls) from bowing out and collapsing:
Here is a real Pennsylvania barn and a model I created using the same architectural features of such barns:
Next are images from an NMRA clinic I give about my layout showing prototype and model photographs of Anderson Road a few miles west of Lewistown... Always one of my favorite comparison shots:
Now here is a photo model of a cast No Trespassing sign I posted a few weeks ago. It is at the western end of the stone arch bridge at Port Royal. The prototype was taken last summer at the exact same spot on the prototype and shows the current sheet metal sign installed by Norfolk Southern. Today, the line poles are gone and the pole line right of way it totally overgrown, so the scenery in the distance is totally obscured. Note the original PRR pipe railing still in place on the prototype and the model of it on the layout:
This pair shows the Route 75 concrete arch bridge at Port Royal which is now 110 years old and the model which is about six months old! The prototype is a signature item of the Middle Division. Sadly, it is near the end of its life, and PENNDOT is planning a replacement. The model is less heavily weathered than the prototype since it is supposed to be 1957 and the prototype image was taken in 2019. The weathering on the model matches photos taken in that era:
Here is a much more modern bridge which crossed the tracks. The photo shows my kids on a trip back in 2012 that we took so I could do some research before modeling the scene. The first image is PA 17 going over the former Middle Division at Millerstown. The second is the PA 35 bridge at Mifflin, and is modeled on the layout. (It was torn down the next year in 2013 and you can see the new bridge under construction right behind my daughter.) The third image (admittedly not very good) shows me in model form with my two kids standing on the model of the bridge as it appeared in the 1960’s (no, the kids weren't around then and I was their age at the time!). Note the model bridge railing 3D printed by my son Steven which is a perfect match for that used by the Pennsylvania Department of highways back in the 1960's:
Finally, here is my personal favorite taken between Thompsontown and Tuscarora from that same trip in 2012. Here my kids are watching a train pass. My son (a contributor to the forum as many of you know) is totally enthralled with the train. My daughter obviously is not. She’s holding her ears and was like “Dad, get me out of here!” Sorry, no model scene of this!
Anyhow, I could post hundreds more images, but I think you can appreciate how that trip back in 1975 profoundly affected my direction in the hobby and motivated me to model the Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. To me, it will always be the most beautiful place on earth!
Hope that you enjoyed this post and part 1 last week. I'll go back to short posts of work in progress next week.
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A 2019 Christmas layout memory 
Continue this week with images of the zoo/nature park.
- walt
The snake pit:
Some new arrivals being unloaded:
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Wow! Best model concrete I've ever seen John. Tell us how you did it.
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@PRRMiddleDivision posted:
Wow! Best model concrete I've ever seen John. Tell us how you did it.
Thanks Neal, but everything I learned about making concrete came from SIRT! 3/16" gator board, coat with Dry Dex spackle, let dry, sand (but leave pits!), paint with 50:50 water/Linen paint (Craft Store paint), add india ink alcohol wash, wipe off randomly, lightly chip in a few places, lighly gouge, slice off thin slivers of Silfor Grass tufts and glue them in the gouges. I used a mask to drill holes for the screws. Screws (with heads cut off) are "rusted" after inserting in place.
John
Great pics everyone!! Neal: Fantastic how you captured not only each scene, but the "feel" of each one!! Taking me away from the present mess to a great simpler time!! John S: great camera and amazing scenery!! trainbob: really nice garden RR! lovin' the waterfall!!!
It is 1949 and a year old ES10 is busy shifting cars at some local industries. While Pennsy's first ES10 was purchased in 1941, it wasn't until 1948 that the majority of ES10s, 26 of the 32 total, were purchased. These 1,000 hp EMD diesels proved very dependable.
The E(EMD)S(Shifter)10(1000hp) is a Lionel Legacy NW2. The covered hopper is Weaver, the rest of the cars are Atlas.
The Lionel is a model of a NW2 Ph 5 engine, while the Pennsy never owned a Ph 5. The 1948 buy was all Ph 4. I plan to do a topic on how to modify this to make it a Ph 4.
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Last week NS moved NW Y6A 2156 from Roanoke to the National Transportation Museum in St. Louis. I decided to chase it a bit up the Pokey in WV. I had this shot in mind the whole time as 'THE' shot I wanted. It's seen popping out of the Welch Tunnel & crossing the Tug Fork River in Welch, WV - I'm sure it had traveled these rails under it's own power many times back in the NW days. I did a composite of 2 photos to take out the lead NS engine & passenger car. Everything from the left of the engine is a different shot, taken a minute after the train had passed.
@PRRMiddleDivision posted:Last week, I posted photos of the farm valleys of central Pennsylvania that inspired me to model the Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. My first visit was in June of 1975, 45 years ago this month. This week, as promised, I’m posting some photos of my early days of railfanning in the years that followed and how I modeled what I saw on that initial visits and on my annual visits thereafter.
First is an early Conrail shot I took at Duncannon:
Just railroad east of the above image is View Interlocking. Image to the left is the prototype in the early days of Conrail, and that to the right is my layout taken from the same spot:
This pair of images is the well-known bridge at Duncannon, showing the reinforcing installed by the Pennsy to keep the spandrels (outer walls) from bowing out and collapsing:
Looks perfect to me
Sirt,
What's up with the Kadee's on the boxcar?
Dave
Christopher,
What a great shot! I thought the Y6A was rented or temporarily exchanged for another unit at the museum. It was my understanding that it was in the process of being returned to Roanoke. Has it already been returned and now being rented again or was it a completely different Y6 I'm thinking about?
Dave
Dave,
This is the one and only surviving Y6a. There is also Y3a 2050. They are the sole survivors of the N&W Y Class. The 2156 is on its way back to St Louis. I am glad I got to see and photograph it in Roanoke.
Great picture Christopher!
@luvindemtrains posted:Sirt,
What's up with the Kadee's on the boxcar?
Dave
Customer car.
Ellison Engine Terminal...always the same. Nickel Plate Berkshire, S-3 No. 779 comes, Nickel Plate Berkshire, S-2 No. 759 goes, in this case with eastbound CB-2. Something is always happening.
Nickel Plate Road's eastbound "New Yorker," clears Georges Creek Junction.
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@luvindemtrains posted:Christopher,
What a great shot! I thought the Y6A was rented or temporarily exchanged for another unit at the museum. It was my understanding that it was in the process of being returned to Roanoke. Has it already been returned and now being rented again or was it a completely different Y6 I'm thinking about?
Dave
The Y6A was on a 5 year loan to VMT. Would be nice to see the J, Y & A together in Roanoke, but I guess that's not in the cards
@Gilly@N&W posted:Dave,
This is the one and only surviving Y6a. There is also Y3a 2050. They are the sole survivors of the N&W Y Class. The 2156 is on its way back to St Louis. I am glad I got to see and photograph it in Roanoke.
Great picture Christopher!
What is "home" to the Y3A?
Dave
Christopher,
What is the VMT? It seems like the unit is getting a workout with all the loaning out. I know the Roanoke visitors are not excited.
Dave
The 1967 to 1972 era ILLINOIS CENTRAL freight cars used to be common on the Grand Trunk Western. Since they fit the time period of the freight trains I am operating, I bought several ILLINOIS CENTRAL cars. Here are three of them.
A PS-2-CD covered hopper from Weaver Models.
A P-S 60' box car from LIONEL.
A plug-door 40' box car from M.T.H.
Andrew
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@luvindemtrains posted:What is "home" to the Y3A?
Dave
N&W Y3a #2050 is at the Illinois Railway Museum.
Christopher,
Thanks for the prototype shots of Duncannon. You obviously know the area!
Here's your photo of the westbound signal bridge there, and my model of the same scene:
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Finally finished my maintenance shed.
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Awesome modeling and photos!
John, That concrete work is fantastic.
Neal, I missed last week. I bet it was equal to this week. I'm amazed that you have this archive of photos and your ability to create the subjects in O scale is amazing.
Chris, your photography and photo shopping is great! I wouldn't have know that picture was altered.
SIRT, Is that overpass laser cut. I can't imagine the work to get the spacing so exact.
@pennsyfan posted:Awesome modeling and photos!
SIRT, Is that overpass laser cut. I can't imagine the work to get the spacing so exact.
No, RESIN.
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@luvindemtrains posted:Christopher,
What is the VMT? It seems like the unit is getting a workout with all the loaning out. I know the Roanoke visitors are not excited.
Dave
Dave,
VMT is the Virginia Transportation Museum in Roanoke.
When we went to Savannah 2 years ago to visit my Father in Law; there was an advertisement in the hotel for an eatery "Barracuda Bobs". I took pictures of the advertisement and of course we had to go there to eat. It was right on the river. I picked up a shirt with the logo; but I was glad that I took the picture of the advertisement; because the sign was not on the building.
I decided that my town needed a restaurant more than a bootery, so off came the boot. I had trouble with the sign because to have it two sided the head would be 180 degrees out. Getting no where fast; I asked my son Eric about it. He said to send the file to him and he would take care of it. I got two pictures back a day later! The restaurant's website has a picture of their bar which is beautiful. I copied it and printed it on "Modeler's Inkjet Transparency" available from Evan Design.
Around sometime in 2010 we met Eric at a bookstore on Front St in Brooklyn. It's almost directly under the Manhattan bridge (DUMBO). It's Berl's Poetry Book Store. It's the only book store in NY that is totally poetry books. I expressed the thought that I would put the store on my layout. Berl had some post cards with a great picture of the sign. We moved in 2014 and the store never happened. I just recently got the urge again, but was running out of real estate. I decided to renovate Bob's and put the book store on the second floor.
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Great pics all. Sorry I didn't get in here earlier, was a good weekend for me unfortunately. I love the WPA overpass.
