Weekend Photo Fun 9-30-22-??

A few weeks ago, I reported on a generous donation of Super O set 2503 to the River City 3 Railers.

Now, I am happy to report that the set has been lovingly cleaned to running condition by modular group member GaryG

Have a great and SAFE weekend, folks!

Peter

@scott.smith posted:

I'm not having the best week. Here's a sign on the door at my local hobby shop.I started this hobby shopping at this store

Scott Smith

That stinks Scott.  Seems to reinforce the concerns in this thread.  Did they indicate why they are closing?

Opening a Train Store Thread

@MartyE posted:

That stinks Scott.  Seems to reinforce the concerns in this thread.  Did they indicate why they are closing?

Opening a Train Store Thread

He is old and is ready to retire. If I had the money I would buy the business.

Scott Smith

@scott.smith posted:

I'm not having the best week. Here's a sign on the door at my local hobby shop.I started this hobby shopping at this store

I started to redo a section of the layout at the club.

I decided to put in a row of houses along this road. This is a work in progress.

I am not sure I will be finishing this project. We are having difficulties with the owner of the property. and we may have to leave after 20 years. I guess we will find out soon.

Scott Smith

Wow, Scott....that really is lousy news all around.....I (and, I'm sure we all) feel for you.

Peter

Scott:

Sorry to hear that your hobby shop is closing. Part of the enjoyment of the hobby is browsing in a train store. There are no local stores near my home nowadays.

Photos and videos show my model of Metro-North Commuter Railroad EMD F-unit diesel locomotive #412 by K-Line (K2544-0412) pulling models of Connecticut Department of Transportation Comet II coaches Noah Webster and Fairfield County by Atlas O. The locomotive was advertised in the K-Line 2000 catalog at an MSRP of $309.95. The Comet II coaches were offered in 2008 at an MSRP of $109.95.

The Comet II coaches are scale-sized and 21 inches in length. They’re too long to look realistic on the O-54 curves of my 10’-by-5’ model railroad but they do clear all scenery and structures on the layout because I used them to set clearances. At the tunnel entrance, the clearance on the inside of the curve is just 1/8-inch (see videos).

FP10 locomotives were EMD F3 and F7 diesels that were rebuilt at Paducah, Kentucky during the 1970s. Despite the “P” in their designation, they were not extended beyond their original length.

Metro-North Commuter Railroad (MNCR) had FP10 diesels with road numbers 410 through 413 in the red-blue-silver-black livery of the model. I don’t recall ever having seen MNCR #412 but I used to see MNCR #413 when it pulled a short train of Comet II coaches on the branch line between Bridgeport and Waterbury, Connecticut around 2005. So, my model consist is nearly the same as one which actually ran on Metro-North and in which I have ridden many times. And the scenery and structures on my layout were made to look like what passengers see from a train on the Waterbury branch as it travels along the Naugatuck River and through the towns of Derby, Ansonia, Seymour, Beacon Falls and Naugatuck.

For railfans who live around New York City and in Connecticut, I recommend taking Metro-North to Bridgeport and continuing for a ride up the Waterbury branch. The trip between Bridgeport and Waterbury is 32 miles and takes about 55 minutes – an average speed of 36 miles per hour. The scenery is spectacular at any time of the year, but especially in Autumn, and the train ride along the branch is a throwback to the 1950s or maybe even before.

In the videos of my layout, the train is running at about 26 scale miles per hour.

MELGAR

A visit to Mark's basement train empire part 2

A couple of weekends ago, my club set up at the Derry Railroad Days in Derry, Westmoreland County, PA (formerly a site of a PRR yard and roundhouse, both now gone).  Here are the stills I took that day (haven't had time to put together the video I took yet):

The Menard's "Your Wife is Hot..." billboard in the first photo is always a big hit at shows.

At this festival, there was ample opportunity to watch real trains.

Andy

@scott.smith posted:

He is old and is ready to retire. If I had the money I would buy the business.

Scott Smith

Scott he tried to convince me to retire and move to Roanoke to run the store for him. I think he really does not want to close just can't keep doing it by himself all of his help is old and in bad health. At least that was what he expressed to me last time I was there and spent the day with him. I have been going there since he opened the doors in 1988 when it was two rooms in an old motel and him and Rick. He and that store will be missed. He has been and still is a very good friend for a very long time. When we moved to Roanoke in 1988 he welcomed into his home and store and we have been great friends ever since. The many trips I made to York with him and years I worked his tables there and at other Train Shows he would travel too.

Thanks Scott for getting us started today!  Here are my photos of the fun kind for this fine weekend!  

Trolley on the EL makes its' way past Lake Christopher as a short coal train trundles across the Bollman Truss Bridge.  Mt. Randolph towers in the background.

Virginian FM Train Master slows and will come to a halt as it pulls its' train into Patsburg Commuter Station.

The evening rush hour begins as a Camelback locomotive waits at the commuter station as B&O RDC arrive.  In the background a trolley trundles over the EL and a B&O train crosses the Bollman Truss Bridge off in the distance.  This day's running is an all passenger train affair!

A 2021 Christmas Layout memory

Thought I'd show my back yard this week

On many days I'll sit poolside and catch my favorite local trains rolling by:

Here are some more pix from last weekend.  A few of us from the club went to a small train show in Hermitage, PA, and then over to the RR Park in Greenville, PA, Home to the Union 0-10-2:

After that, we had lunch at the original Quaker Steak & Lube in Sharon, PA and then headed down to New Castle, PA to check out these flatcars, including a special DODX car used to transport nuclear fuel casks:

Andy

I'm almost finished with my skewed PRR stone arch bridge at Spruce Creek. On Wednesday, I performed my least favorite part of the project which is pouring the river water which I simulate with epoxy. It's always a nerve racking task, at least for me, but all went well and the finish came out nearly perfect. Here are some images showing  the reflection of the trees on the banks of the Juniata River as well as an overall view (please excuse the surrounding mess!)

All that is left at this point is to install the bridge railings which are being painted right now in the workshop, install the highway and railroad ROW signs, and a few minor touch ups. Here ya go...

More pictures this week of my larger layout that has since been downsized here in CA:

@PRRMiddleDivision posted:

I'm almost finished with my skewed PRR stone arch bridge at Spruce Creek. On Wednesday, I performed my least favorite part of the project which is pouring the river water which I simulate with epoxy. It's always a nerve racking task, at least for me, but all went well and the finish came out nearly perfect. Here are some images showing  the reflection of the trees on the banks of the Juniata River as well as an overall view (please excuse the surrounding mess!)

All that is left at this point is to install the bridge railings which are being painted right now in the workshop, install the highway and railroad ROW signs, and a few minor touch ups. Here ya go...

Neal,

Very impressive from all angles. You really know how to get some very good views of your work. I feel the same as you do about the water thing. I have more areas I have to add water to and I have been procrastinating. I guess there's nothing to it but to do it. It surely isn't going to pour itself.

Dave

I took the day off Wednesday for my birthday and to take advantage of the terrific cool fall weather we were having, drove up to Strasburg and took a ride…

One last set of pix (it has been a busy few weeks!).  One of our club members was gifted several sets of blueprints circa 1890-1910 of the Carnegie Steel (now US Steel) Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock, PA.  We must have spent an hour pouring over these prints looking at the RR infrastructure and comparing it to Google satellite images of the plant as it is today.  At the time, the plant was served by the Pennsylvania RR, B&O RR, Pittsburgh McKeesport & Youghiogheny (PMcK&Y), and Union RR.  We also found mention of a short line labelled "Braddock & Turtle Creek RR" but none of us know anything about it.  We were even trying to speculate how many miles of track were represented on these prints.  I could probably spend several more hours looking at the details on this one print alone (I didn't take any pix of the others).

Andy

@luvindemtrains posted:

Neal,

Very impressive from all angles. You really know how to get some very good views of your work. I feel the same as you do about the water thing. I have more areas I have to add water to and I have been procrastinating. I guess there's nothing to it but to do it. It surely isn't going to pour itself.

Dave

Dave,

Thank you! The cell phone camera makes all those photo angles possible. Would be tough if not impossible with the DSLR.

It's just tricky dealing with the epoxy when you have to get it to flow under a structure since its hard to be sure you have the riverbed up to the banks completely covered. You have to work fairly quickly before it starts to set up. No good way to fix if you screw it up.

I’m sad to hear that Railyard hobby shop is closing. I’ve been there many times over 25 years of visiting the Roanoke area. Sorry I won’t be able to get there before they pack up shop.

                                                              SEARS

@SIRT posted:

Sears

That’s what a Sears trailer should look like. I didn’t really care for the new MTH pups.

Mel here's a shot of another K-Line MTA F unit.  There was a hobby shop on Staten Island, Island Trains I believe, they had expanded into NJ and were doing most of their mail order out of the Jersey location.  I wasn't that enthralled with LIRR items, even though I lived and worked there but I was looking to expand my TMCC fleet and at $188, if my memory is correct, I could always try to re-paint it.  This wasn't long after they appeared in the catalog so it has survived around 20 years in original paint.

Andy I got a kick out of the Queen waving to her minions.

Charlie, very cool caboose.  I don't think I've seen onelike it before.  Who made it?

Neal, with results like this I would say you've got the hang of using epoxy for water.

Patrick, thanks for another visit to Patsburg, where the trains ar always on time and the loads are never damaged.

@PRRMiddleDivision posted:

I'm almost finished with my skewed PRR stone arch bridge at Spruce Creek. On Wednesday, I performed my least favorite part of the project which is pouring the river water which I simulate with epoxy. It's always a nerve racking task, at least for me, but all went well and the finish came out nearly perfect.

Photos show the “water” in the river-valley on my 10’-by-5’ layout.

The riverbed was prepared with Woodland Scenics Mold-A-Scene ^TM plaster, painted several shades of brown, and covered with real dirt, brown/dark brown ballast, and various sizes of talus. Water was poured using a thin (about 1/16-inch) layer of Enviro-Tex Lite® epoxy to simulate a shallow creek.

I mixed exactly equal parts of resin and hardener so that the “water” hardened properly and did not remain sticky, then poured the mixture quickly but evenly into the riverbed. I had spent a lot of time building the layout and riverbed and was quite concerned about how the “water” would turn out.

Last photo was taken from rear of layout beneath truss bridge.

MELGAR

@Dave Ripp. posted:

That’s what a Sears trailer should look like. I didn’t really care for the new MTH pups.

Right. My Mom worked there 30 years, so I bought them. Never seen the MTH one in my day.

They should have done  this ...

                                        All pup van graphics © 2022 ontraktwo

@Andy Hummell posted:

Here are some more pix from last weekend.  A few of us from the club went to a small train show in Hermitage, PA, and then over to the RR Park in Greenville, PA, Home to the Union 0-10-2:

After that, we had lunch at the original Quaker Steak & Lube in Sharon, PA and then headed down to New Castle, PA to check out these flatcars, including a special DODX car used to transport nuclear fuel casks:

Andy

Great pics, Andy, looks like you had a great time. Do you know what the mechanism on the truck is for - looks interesting.

@SIRT posted:

Right. My Mom worked there 30 years, so I bought them. Never seen the MTH one in my day.

They should have done  this ...

                                        All pup van graphics © 2022 ontraktwo

Both look great. I think the new MTH one was made up. My uncle Joe worked at our local Sears for 30 years.

Was up at the NECR Palmer rip track Thursday picking up parts. Now I’ve been at this location before and never noticed this. The box car that was turned into the car shop is a old CV car. Also the old sand tower used to be filled from a old CV covered hopper.

@Apples55 posted:

Do you know what the mechanism on the truck is for - looks interesting.

Looks to me like a pulley and belt system through which the wheel drives a generator to produce electrical power for the car...

MELGAR

@Apples55 posted:

Great pics, Andy, looks like you had a great time. Do you know what the mechanism on the truck is for - looks interesting.

I am of the same thought as MELGAR in that it is a generator.  This was on the UP caboose, in case it wasn't obvious.  The information sign on the caboose said it was designed for and used in high-speed freight service.  Interestingly, the conductor's seat inside the caboose had a seat belt.

Andy

From the archives, our refurbished Lionel 681:

@PRRMiddleDivision posted:

Neil, when I look at this picture I have to really take it in cause I can’t tell if it’s the real thing or your picture. Amazing modeling and camera work.

@romiller49 posted:

Neil, when I look at this picture I have to really take it in cause I can’t tell if it’s the real thing or your picture. Amazing modeling and camera work.

Thanks Rod. These cell phone cameras certainly allow you to et the camera down into the layout to obtain views not possible with a DSLR. I hear the iPhone 14 camera is 43 megapixels which is incredible. Anyone know if they have a decent depth of field which has been the main drawback with cellphone cameras up till now?

Here's a prototype image of the one of the other seven skewed stone arch bridges out near Spruce Creek for comparison. The arch on this is one flatter than on mine:

Thanks @MELGAR and @Andy Hummell. I was thinking along the same line, but had never seen anything like that on a car before. It does kind of remind me of the belt system that ran the alternator on my first car (a ‘73 Chevy Impala!!!).

@scott.smith posted:

I'm not having the best week. Here's a sign on the door at my local hobby shop.I started this hobby shopping at this store. . .

I am not sure I will be finishing this project. We are having difficulties with the owner of the property. and we may have to leave after 20 years. I guess we will find out soon.

Scott Smith

Gee, Scott! Sure sorry to hear about Railyard Hobby closing! I was a frequent customer back when I lived in Blacksburg. It was a bit of a haul to get to Roanoke, but usually was a pleasant and scenic drive.

Also very sorry to hear about what may happen to the club layout. Please keep me posted on this!

@PRRMiddleDivision posted:

I'm almost finished with my skewed PRR stone arch bridge at Spruce Creek. On Wednesday, I performed my least favorite part of the project which is pouring the river water which I simulate with epoxy. It's always a nerve racking task, at least for me, but all went well and the finish came out nearly perfect. Here are some images showing  the reflection of the trees on the banks of the Juniata River as well as an overall view (please excuse the surrounding mess!)

Darn fine modeling there, Neal! At first glance I thought it was the "real deal," and that is the test I apply when I am viewing blue-ribbon modeling.

Loved everyone’s pics.  Really liked the Minions.

The Quanah switcher is marked up again:

@scott.smith posted:

I'm not having the best week. Here's a sign on the door at my local hobby shop.I started this hobby shopping at this store

I started to redo a section of the layout at the club.

I decided to put in a row of houses along this road. This is a work in progress.

I am not sure I will be finishing this project. We are having difficulties with the owner of the property. and we may have to leave after 20 years. I guess we will find out soon.

Scott Smith

I am sorry to hear all this bad news Scott. It really stinks when things just seem to be going the wrong direction. We all seem to need a good luck charm lately. I hope you and your crew at the club layout find a very good one, and anything else that will help.