Weekend Update 4/27/25

[jpwisc]

Since when did you start modeling in O scale? Stunning work. Impressive!

Thank you! Be warned… I do have another O Scale project coming up!

[Scottl]

A bit late but getting some test prints of the 53' Thrall 3-unit cars.  Here are the A and B units to test dimensions and operation. These models require printing some of the walkways as the Gold Medal Models parts are not long enough along the outside sill of the car.  I'm happy with how the walkways turned out and how they will look overall.  Just a bit of fine tuning of the supports and ride height.  Given how well the walkways print, I can envision progressing now to NSC prototypes, especially the 40' cars that are sorely needed in N scale.

[CR4100]

I ran trains at the Egg Harbor 4-H show over the weekend.

Conrail GP40 with a block of Canadian cars:


Short-nose GP38 leading a long freight:

[craigolio1]

A few more pics from the combined T-TRAK layout at Pensacola Railfest this weekend.
T-TRAKers from Middle Georgia, Tallahassee, Pensacola, and Alabama came together to set up and run trains.

Wow that trestle is amazing!!

Craig

[John]

A few more pics from the combined T-TRAK layout at Pensacola Railfest this weekend.
T-TRAKers from Middle Georgia, Tallahassee, Pensacola, and Alabama came together to set up and run trains.

I really like that many of these modules have a unifying theme that creates a bigger scene - rather than some setups I've seen that are random scenes stuck together into a layout .. good work ..

[packers#1]

Last week and weekend were busy, so forgive the Monday update post. I was in Iowa all last week visiting the Deere plants for work; Monday was the travel day into Waterloo/Cedar Falls, so after catching up a few emails I went to Caboose Stop Hobbies in downtown Cedar Falls and it was like stepping back in time; amongst the shelves I found a couple great freight cars as well as this used RS3 for $62; should be a fun little project!



However, my wife picked me up from the airport and I had zero time for trains this weekend because I finally got to go to my first NASCAR race, and if it wasn’t going to be my home state track Darlington it had to be the biggest spectacle, Talladega!! Our seats were in row 17, and they had the MRN/track announcers and a LED screen to show the whole race, but let me tell you, you don’t just hear the cars going by, you feel it in your chest that close!

[eja]

Go Fast, Turn Left .....Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

YMMV

[chessie system fan]

I hate that I had to miss the Pensacola show.  I'm really diggin' that T-TRAK corner module that looks like an O scale (?) back patio where the trains look like outdoor G gauge.  I like outside the box creativity like that.

[bman]

Drove from Ohio to Egg Harbor to run some trains only to wind up getting sick. At least my gf had a good visit with nearby family who puts us up for the weekend. Guess I have to wait for the crowd from the area to come to my club’s event in May to hang out.  Now back to finishing bench work.

[wm3798]

No modeling for me, (what's new?) but I got a wonderful birthday treat from my daughter Amy in California with a visit to the Roaring Camp and Tall Trees near Santa Cruz.

The Shay dates to 1912, and was rescued from the weeds in the early 1960s from a coal mine in Virginia, where it had lain idle for many years.  They call her "Dixiana" due to her heritage.


I had heard of this before, but always figured it was a revived logging run.  It's actually a 1960s era tourist line that was built in one of the few old growth redwood stands in California.  It twists and turns up an 8% grade, then hits a 10% switchback before it mounts the top of Bear Mountain, where a balloon track sends you back down the way you came.  The trees there are as much as 3,000 years old...  Astonishing.




While we were there, the Santa Cruz Beach Train made an appearance, pulled by a classic CF7


It was a long day of airports each way, but totally worth it!  Highly recommended!
Lee

[R L Smith]

I went to the N Scale Gathering on Saturday - very impressive stuff! I've posted lots of photos in the N Scale Gathering thread in the Upcoming Events section. 

Definitely motivated to get some scenery done on the Styrofoam & Western now...

Ron

[nkalanaga]

For those who've never heard of it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Camp_&_Big_Trees_Narrow_Gauge_Railroad

Some of the locomotives are from the West Side Lumber Co, including the last steam locomotive used in commercial logging in the area:
"Locomotive #2: Built in 1899 for the Hetch Hetchy Valley and Yosemite Railroad for use at the sawmill of West Side Flume and Lumber Company near Tuolumne City. First named Thomas S. Bullock after the first general manager of the West Side Flume and Lumber Company, the locomotive was purchased for Roaring Camp in 1962 for $7,000. It is the last steam engine used in the commercial lumber business in Tuolumne, California,[2][11] and the oldest Heisler still in operation."

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I went to the N Scale Gathering on Saturday - very impressive stuff! I've posted lots of photos in the N Scale Gathering thread in the Upcoming Events section. 

Definitely motivated to get some scenery done on the Styrofoam & Western now...

Ron

It was great running into you! I hadn't realized you were going to be there.

I hope you didn't see the horrible thing I had done to that EL SD45 I had running around.

[John]

Go Fast, Turn Left .....Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

YMMV

and get pelted by tire rubber

[TiogaTracks]

I had time for a quick freight car rehab Sunday morning, so this 1:32 MDC coal hopper got lower ride height, a new brake wheel, and Kadees.  But I wanted a more personal touch… so being a 1944 car, I gave it a bit of 1940s carman’s graffiti, referencing the Erie’s line to the Blossburg, PA coal mines.