Weekend Photo Fun 9-9-22-??

Beautiful, Scott! Thanks again for starting this up this week.....

It has been a busy week as I've been involved it lots of little projects.

First, this is a great Lionel kit.....but the spout is fragile and not made to "go back and forth" to train shows........I decided that it needs something "sturdier".

Wooden stirrers and super glue gel.....the kit basher's friend!

One suggestion to others (and myself) if and when I do this again......the pitch up of the spout is 45 degrees.....maybe do it about 70 degrees next time.

Have a great and safe weekend, folks!

Peter

Next topic.......what do you do with an engine whose "vision was WAY AHEAD of the technology" available at the time? Well, you run it as a goodlooking, reliable dual can motored engine.

I'm talking about RailScope. I got it for Christmas when it 1st came out (89or90). I set it up a few times, but it was such a pain, that it just sat on the shelf for many years. Now, the technology has moved way beyond it........I use it as a no frills can motored "runner".

Here it is last week at the Chesterfield County Fair.....despite the 90ish degree outdoor heat in a metal building, it runs very cool......

The matching caboose is nice, too.....Lionel did a great job with the color scheme.......and, I am in no way faulting them for the engine......unfortunately, its idea was too far ahead of the technology that was around at the time to make it practical to use.....it drained C bastteries like an open sink drain and the B&W picture looked like a raging snow storm.....

Peter

On the Bellevue and Schenectady RR real is my deal. So when on vacation, in Wildwood at Holly Beach Depot I discovered an undecorated Lionchief steam engine. I thought can we take it to the next level? So with a few details and weathering my RR has an old new number 99 for switching duty. Thanks goes to Harry Heike for the ideas!

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

Early Sunday morning.

Early morning at Danlilu siding on the Mountain Division. The trolley.

MOW crews get ready for another hard day of work.

This next project has taken a few weeks to plan and complete. I wanted to update my modules on the group layout. I paved the dirt roads. I moved some buildings around and got rid of others. I defined the spaces with foliage.

I was left with this commercial area which I thought was stale (built in 2010). How could I fix it? I didn't want to completely redo the scene. I thought that if I changed out the one story brick building with the red trim and replaced it with another building taller than the others, it would "change the look". I decided to use one of one of the Woodland Scenics "built ups", JW Cobbler.

Before:

The solution:

After:

It really changes the look.....I'll come back to it and do a little more tweaking.  I am pleased.

Have a great and safe weekend, folks!

Peter

Tuesday September13th is the 25th anniversary of the start of construction on my layout. So to celebrate, this week I'm posting some of my all time favorite pictures of the layout!

First here's a shot of an Erie-Built hauling a freight through Altoona:

Now here's an image of the classic PRR stone arch bridge at Duncannon as seen through Jacks Narrows:

Next is an image of the Pennsylvania Glass Sand Plant at Mapleton PA:

This is my favorite black and white image of the tower controlling the yard lead at Altoona:

Here's one of my favorite scratch built structure on the layout, a classic Pennsylvania Barn...roughly 500 individually stained boards in this model:

And here is one of a quartet of early PC engines hauling an eastbound over the curved stone arch bridge over Tuscarora Creek:

Last but not least, my all time favorite of the station at Port Royal...not a train in sight, but a very moody picture:

As I write this, the layout is now about 90% completed, and I'm hoping to have it all finished within 2 1/2 years. Everybody askes me, "What are you going to do then?"  The answer is weather motive power and rolling stock as long as I'm on this earth! I have plenty to do!

That's it for this week...enjoy!

I seem to always get stuck following a super post, like this week!

A 2021 Christmas Layout memory

- walt

Super heroes visit the drive-in's playground to the delight of the children.

For perspective purposes:

Busy week and not much time for the layout.

I did finally paint the white bell my Soo switcher that was annoying me and grabbed a Weaver reefer that was a good deal..

Took my 3rd Rail Virginian AE 2-10-10-2 to the club layout for the first time with five battleship gondolas and a scratchbuilt caboose by our own Brother Love. .

Ken

Great photos everyone. It's been a while since I posted.  A good day to run some EJ&E engines.  The caboose is  Brother Love special. 

Awesome photos, seems like they just keep getting better and better each week.  Peter, I really liked your water tank, nice weathering on the tank, is that an Atlas kit, I think I have the same one ready to start to add to my above the doorway shelf layout.  I'm still trying to decide if and what types of scenery I'm going to put on it.  I have the Legacy portion up and running but have to figure out how to add in the MTH DCS so I can run the few MTH locomotives that I have.  Only a couple have been run and that was down at the Lone Star High Railers Club in Grapevine, TX which happens to be in a baggage car.  Very fitting for a model railroad layout.(Quick Plug for the Club Layout )  If any forum members are ever going to be in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and would like to come visit, drop me an email and I'll be glad to meet you there and show you the layout.  It is normally open on Saturday's and Sundays in the afternoon, it closes from the end of December until the beginning of March for maintenance but I'll be glad to show the layout at any time.  As soon as I do a little house cleaning upstairs, I'll make up a short train and take a short video to post.

Thanks Scott for starting the thread each week, I always look forward to seeing it and thanks to rest of you guys for posting such great pics and stuff.   Have a wonderful weekend and if you happen to like football, my favorite team is "any team that whips the daylights out of the Cowboys."

@t8afao posted:

A good day to run some EJ&E engines.  The caboose is  Brother Love special. 

Great layout, great photos!  Your Brother Love caboose's sister is on my "layout", coupled to the same locomotive.  I keep hoping that MTH will make another run of their EJ&E "transfer locomotive" in the iconic green and orange scheme; I stupidly passed on the first run...

@Rapid Transit Holmes posted:

Great layout, great photos!  Your Brother Love caboose's sister is on my "layout", coupled to the same locomotive.  I keep hoping that MTH will make another run of their EJ&E "transfer locomotive" in the iconic green and orange scheme; I stupidly passed on the first run...

I to passed on the transfer loco. I kick myself for doing that. Not sure if Atlas got those molds or not but I'm sure it will be a long time for another rus of those. Unless MUFFINS trains makes a special order. This is where I picked up these engines.  Definitely happy with the caboose to. He did a beautiful job on these.

@J. Motts posted:

Awesome photos, seems like they just keep getting better and better each week.  Peter, I really liked your water tank, nice weathering on the tank, is that an Atlas kit, I think I have the same one ready to start to add to my above the doorway shelf layout.  I'm still trying to decide if and what types of scenery I'm going to put on it.  I have the Legacy portion up and running but have to figure out how to add in the MTH DCS so I can run the few MTH locomotives that I have.  Only a couple have been run and that was down at the Lone Star High Railers Club in Grapevine, TX which happens to be in a baggage car.  Very fitting for a model railroad layout.(Quick Plug for the Club Layout )  If any forum members are ever going to be in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and would like to come visit, drop me an email and I'll be glad to meet you there and show you the layout.  It is normally open on Saturday's and Sundays in the afternoon, it closes from the end of December until the beginning of March for maintenance but I'll be glad to show the layout at any time.  As soon as I do a little house cleaning upstairs, I'll make up a short train and take a short video to post.

Thanks Scott for starting the thread each week, I always look forward to seeing it and thanks to rest of you guys for posting such great pics and stuff.   Have a wonderful weekend and if you happen to like football, my favorite team is "any team that whips the daylights out of the Cowboys."

Thank you......and it's a Lionel kit.

Peter

Time to get busy with the plaster cloth. Been like this for well over a year.

@t8afao posted:

I to passed on the transfer loco. I kick myself for doing that. Not sure if Atlas got those molds or not but I'm sure it will be a long time for another rus of those. Unless MUFFINS trains makes a special order. This is where I picked up these engines.  Definitely happy with the caboose to. He did a beautiful job on these.

Brother Love is both an artist and a genius! I shop Muffin, too, but got bumped off the two-tone Geep list. Nuts!

I finally started weathering some of my engines. I’ve been weathering my freight & passenger cars for ever! Mess up a $50 freight car, no problem. Chalk it up to a learning experience. Mess up a $1400.00 engine, ****! I tested the waters on a Railking 2-8-0. That was a good experience.

I reached out a few weeks back, on the forum, for some guidance, technique & paints. I was aware of a gentleman named Jerry Zeman, who is very talented, weathering engines. I really didn’t receive any valuable info on him, or anything else.

For years I’ve been following Norm Charbonneau, & I also reached out to him. He’s clearly one of the best, if not the best in the hobby! He weathers everything & his attitude is, “l’m not afraid to experiment”. We’ll, that’s the lead I’ll follow, it’s  how you learn & get more proficient. Norm’s videos & some suggestions got me started.

The GS-2 below is a weathering work in progress & honestly, I couldn’t wait to see it off the workbench & on the layout.

I think you've hit on the right amount of weathering on that one.  Check out SIRT's posts for some great weathering.

@romiller49 posted:

Time to get busy with the plaster cloth. Been like this for well over a year.

Love that shed!

Thanks coach Joe!

Here are a few pictures from my first large layout in PA about 18 years ago:

Hard to believe I had these giant control panels when now I have none on my current layout! Spaghetti anyone?

Nice layout Stang.

Yesterday, with the National Capital Trackers at the Kensington, MD. train show.

The show is open today from 11-5. In the Kensington Armory/City Hall 3710 Mitchell St.