Weekend Update 5-25-2009

[John]

Better late than never ..

For me, not much .. some electrical work on the layout .. also .. found a box of nscale in my daughters attic while installing a fan

[up1950s]

BLCO 300-311

[Puddington]

After finishing the communications car I was too tired to look at the bench so I just ran trains....

[wm3798]

I took my steam era equipment down to the Delmarva Model Railroad Club to give it a little work out.







Aside from getting hung up on some atrocious track work, it was pretty fun.  Also shot a little video for your viewing pleasure...

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Then Sunday, a few of us gathered around the warm glow of a smoldering pile of decoders to enjoy some switchin' and bitchin'...


Yes, it was another fun day of trains and suds on the WM.  Thanks to Tim, Bryan, Ed and Brian for aiding and abetting.  That's Tim's new Heavy Mountain by Bachmann.  I kinda liked the looks of that one! 


Tim also provided some rare passenger service with his freshly painted B&O RDC, which toted around the Laurel Valley's business car, and this B&O executive car.



Your pictures turned out great, Ed!

I couldn't resist.



Lee

[atsf_arizona]

It's OK, better late than never.    Great pictures above!

Just as well, as today the USA celebrates Memorial Day on today, May 25.  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last
Monday of May (May 25 in 2009). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it
commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service.
First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is
celebrated near the day of reunification after the civil war), it was
expanded after World War I to include USA casualties of any war
or military action.

In the USA, many people observe this holiday by visiting cemeteries and memorials.
A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. local time. Another
tradition is to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff from dawn
until noon local time. Volunteers often place American flags on each
gravesite at National Cemeteries.

In their memory, I include this photo, in which USA flags were painted on many
USA locomotives during the Persian Gulf War, late 1990-early 1991:



P.S.  In addition to remembrance, Memorial Day is also used as a time for picnics,
barbecues, family gatherings, and sporting events.  Some Americans view
Memorial Day as the unofficial beginning of summer in USA, and Labor Day
(first Monday in September) as the unofficial end of summer.

P.P.S.  (Yes, I know the locomotive number is wrong for the era
in which the flags where painted.  Model was a gift to me, and
for purposes of Memorial Day, good enough!).

[eric220]

My wife apparently suffered a bout of insanity and gifted me a restart of an old hobby.  Namely, a Nikon D60 digital SLR camera.  No new modeling for me this week, 'cause I was busy with my other hobby.  Here are the results:

The 12 St. car shops. (Guess why that boxcar is in the car shops.)


GG-1 4935 (now re-numbered 4929, the one modeling accomplishment for the week) pulls a string of boxcars out of the Altoona yard.


GG-2 7277 takes a spin on the turntable.

[Catt]

 More Z from me this week.This is a Rob Ray kit that I just had to modify.Next project is going to be body mounting the couplers.This thing sets so high my MTL cars are jealous.(the couplers just barely clear the car body )



 The planned load is going to be I beams probly stacked 3 tiers high.

[Bruce Bird]

Not much in trains, but I was able to celebrate Memorial Day with a little track time!




For an interesting read concerning the Indy 500 and how the P&E/NYC got fans to the track I recommend Eric Powell's article in the most recent Classic Trains magazine.

Bruce

[Bob Bufkin]

Managed to get some permanent track glued down.  Replaced about a dozen couplers on some cars.  Got rid of old Crapedos.  Did some railfanning Saturday morning at St Denis again (it's fast becoming my favority train watching spot).  A train of ethinol tanks ran west on the old main.  Notice the spacer car behind the locos.  Also notice the tank on the end.  Marked water.  It this normal for these trains?

[dclyde]

We were in Florida attending my mother's funeral so we didn't get any train stuff accomplished.  However, here are a couple videos of BANTRAK at last weekends Brunswick, MD train show:

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtPvXB88tUs

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEDADAx-Ksc

There wasn't much of a crowd but hey, any time you have a chance to play with trains makes it all worth it.

Dave

[John]

We were in Florida attending my mother's funeral so we didn't get any train stuff accomplished. 

Dave .. please accept our condolences on the passing of your mother ..

[wm3798]

Dave,
Sorry to hear about your loss.

With the long weekend, I have another report to file!

I started cleaning out the garage Monday, and found another big sheet of styrene I had laying around, so last night I started laying out my next adventure...


I'm building it so it will be able to plug in with two wires, and can be removed from the layout including the track, sort of like the Walther's kit.  I'm going to include inspection pits, and as much interior detail as I can muster.  There will be large banks of windows along the right side (facing the aisle) and the rear, and I plan to have the roof removable for maintenance purposes.

Here's the proposed appearance...




I had started the building previously, but it ended up on the shelf while I worked out the kinks of building the floor and working out the installation.  Dave Foxx gave me a stack of NSR's, one which included an article on building the Walther's roundhouse.  That article gave me the inspiration I needed.  Now I just have to root through the box of Evergreen to make sure I have enough stuff to make all 8 stalls.

Lee

[ebmonon36]

I chased a steam locomotive out of Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, IN.  The locomotive belongs to Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society and was restored a year or two ago.  NKP#765 is a 2-8-4.  The trackage is former C&O.
[img width= height=]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_CycsG7c1kRI/Shtr8DW964I/AAAAAAAAAOc/LLW2T6z0Vpo/s800/IMG_0466.JPG[/img]



More pictures and a few videos can be seen here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ebmonon36/NKP765#

[Guilford Guy]

I went to a friends layout saturday (big big big HO) and was fired for texting while operating. Not fired per say, but banished to the snack bar while the wreck crew made its way over...

I also finished up 4 White River Southern Units (GP30, SDP35, U23B, and another GP7) prior to going over, and they found service as helpers, moving eastbound train 402 over Mascoma Hill, while enroute to White River Jct.

[Iain]

Mike and Megan after marriage (I'm on the right).  They met during a play, Our Town, where they were Mr. and Mrs. Webb.