Weekend Update 12/21/25

[up1950s]

https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/human-interest/2023/11/15/new-york-botanical-garden-s-holiday-train-show-returning-for-32nd-year

https://www.beacontechnology.com/industrial-ramps/yard-ramps/railcar-loading-ramp/

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https://www.google.com/search?q=railroad+ugly&newwindow=1&sca_esv=3e234f75c88b970c&udm=2&biw=1920&bih=911&ei=xngZadKlM5mj5NoPoZfgyAU&ved=0ahUKEwjSoKDZjvaQAxWZEVkFHaELGFkQ4dUDCBI&oq=railroad+ugly&gs_lp=Egtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZyINcmFpbHJvYWQgdWdseTIEEAAYHkj3YFDzGVjmSnABeACQAQCYAUmgAeMEqgECMTC4AQzIAQD4AQGYAgugArkFwgIGEAAYCBgewgIIEAAYCBgKGB7CAgUQABiABMICBhAAGAUYHsICBxAAGIAEGArCAggQABiABBixA8ICCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBwgIJEAAYBRjHAxgemAMAiAYBkgcCMTGgB7YrsgcCMTC4B64FwgcHMC4yLjguMcgHPw&sclient=gws-wiz-img#vhid=CFyCPzkiwYRzxM&vssid=mosaic

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http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/lirrwrecks/PoopWreckharryglueck.htm

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[jpwisc]

Just wrapped up my CNW AS-16. This was a CMR cab (the rest of the shell was unusable), an Altas GP9 long hood, brass handrails, and a bunch of other details. Still need to fix the fuel tank…
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[SAH]

While I was waiting for the crew at Spencer Equity Exchange to load my feed order onto the truck I caught a AC&Y westbound crossing OH Rt 301.  It appears the PRR rebuilt some gondolas.  The "new car shine" is gone and a little bit of road grime is starting to appear but she looks great!

[chessie system fan]

I did more framing on my friend's new HO CofG layout.  This area will be the yard.

[arx nakanishi]

Let me share with you another cut from my N-scale Cisco, Utah diorama.

This is the recently closed McCoy's Service at Cisco, named after Ernest Eugene McCoy(1923 - 1989). The history of the gas station goes back to the 1910s when the Midland Trail, the first highway within Grand County, was completed. McCoy bought the business in 1963, but it shut down in 1969. The structure was built in 1956 but was burnt to the ground in 1979.

The bottom pic above shows what's left of the McCoy's today.

Thanks for watching!

Hiroshi Nakanishi/Boxcar Red Collection
https://riogrande.blog.jp/

[BCR 570]

Another week of decent progress for me.  Track painting at Septimus continues with application of a black wash over the ties:






And for my three scratchbuilt track projects, I attached feeder wires to the track sections, and got them all glued down:






The gaps have since been filled in with ties sanded down to fit underneath the rail joiners.  Wiring is next.


Tim

[Sumner]

.... McCoy bought the business in 1963, but it shut down in 1969. .......

I have a feeling that about '69 I70 was maybe finished from the Colorado state line to the east to possibly Green Riiver and that left Cisco cutoff from the traffic heading east-west a mile or more to the north with no exit right there to Cisco.

I think you are really capturing Cisco and how 'bleak' it is.  Pretty depressing place yet there is still something about it that if I'm headed to Grand Junction or on to Denver I'll take the river road out of Moab so I can go past there.

Sumner

[nickelplate759]

Just wrapped up my CNW AS-16. This was a CMR cab (the rest of the shell was unusable), an Altas GP9 long hood, brass handrails, and a bunch of other details. Still need to fix the fuel tank…
(Attachment Link)
(Attachment Link)

@jpwisc  Can you say more about the usability of the CMR shell? Printing issues, or the wrong prototype?
I considered their NKP AS-16 rebuild shells, but was put off by the fact that the short hood is the wrong height.

[Jesse6669]

On the layout, some decent progress was made. I did more track painting (the lead from the B&O Midland Sub at GK to the yard) and work on the Wesley Ave overpass (V2).  I made a nice image (with the help of Gemini AI) from Google Maps for the Norwood backdrop.  And I came up with a decent concrete color (equal parts Vallejo Deck Tan, White, and Tamiya XF19 Sky Gray) I can work with.

I also printed out this Z scale B&O "Class A" Combination Station (originally it was in T scale).  The window inserts are tests printed in gray resin, to be printed in clear resin.  They give a nice flush fit.

[Cory Rothlisberger]

My wife had shoulder surgery this week, so I'm a bit busy playing nurse. So a nice glass of whiskey and some AI fooling last night came up with this. Seemed fitting for the kind of weather we had this past week in Jersey...

[NtheBasement]

Re-worked some track over a month, mostly waiting for turnouts and then joiners from the online sales.  In the prior configuration the "old way" loco did a runaround and reversed direction using the "new way" dumper's balloon loop. The problem with this is the route was blocked if a new way train was anywhere in the loop or its approach. I decided to change it up so the loco would reverse in a turntable that I added a while back by adding two turnouts to run around using the adjacent kickback yard track. Fifteen hoppers just barely fit. Pics show the before, the initial track and turnouts, and the final product including fixing the Godzilla damage on the foreground kickback. Testing worked great. Cutting out the old track and inserting the turnouts into the break turns out to be way more difficult than laying new track! [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[randgust]

"Merry Christmas to Me" has been finally getting my 1980's era Model Power RSD15's replaced with the BLI models - all four of them.

And like I described in the Alco RSD15 thread, I'm anal enough to repaint them in the 'right' Santa Fe Blue and redecal them with Micro-Scale.   You can see that the BLI model is 'bluer' that what I use as my standard - Floquil Santa Fe Blue.

The central air intake to the dynamic brake blister that ATSF did in 1964 wasn't hard to add, along with the radio antennas.  And the right color handrails.

The BLI model is pretty darn good, but I'm pretty fanatic about getting my 1972 ATSF diesel fleet right, which includes the 9800's, not the 800's.



Link:  http://www.randgust.com/RSD1501%20comp1.jpg

[ATSF_Ron]

Randy, very nice work on that RSD15.  I'm also a fan of the pre-1972 paint scheme.  I've got a few Geeps and F45s in that scheme.  Great memories from my childhood in SoCal!

[tehachapifan]

Amazing stuff this week!

Hiroshi, you continue to amaze with your ability to capture the look and mood of a desolate desert area.

Cory, that shot is amazing!

[jpwisc]

@jpwisc  Can you say more about the usability of the CMR shell? Printing issues, or the wrong prototype?
I considered their NKP AS-16 rebuild shells, but was put off by the fact that the short hood is the wrong height.

Yes and yes. They sent me the wrong shell 4 times. I finally chopped them up to get the correct details I needed. The long hoods had massive print lines. I don’t mind a little sanding, but these were unfixable. I’ve seen other prints of theirs that were better.