Old Posts

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

More Photos

I have more photos added to my photo gallery.  Yesterday I went down to the area west of Crawford, NE.  The double min line there is the BNSF main line to Gillette, WY.  Many coal trains travel this route (approx.  1 every 15 minutes)  and hauls 1 ton of coal half way across the continent on 4 gallons of diesel fuel.  I think I did a good job, what do you think!  Just go onto the Rail Fanning page and scroll down to the bottom section.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Update on My Train Layout

Well, it has definatly been awhile since I last posted about my HO scale Rock Springs CNW layout.  A lot has happened over those few months:

  • The gravel plant has got a lot more gravel in it.
  • The other River scene is finished
  • I have added Woodland Scenic's commercial trees.
  • I have installed successfully a push rod for a switch, later it will be replaced with a pen.
  • More of my rolling stock has been converted to knuckle couplers.
  • Almost completed the fascia along the front.
Anyways, here are some photos and a video of my progress:

Click to play:


 Here is my 0-6-0 puling a train into the gravel plant.  In the background, there is a large ramp for tractors and excavators to load railroad cars.
 In the gravel plant I also have an old maintenance caboose serving as a freight loading dock, and there is an old Soo Line reefer for storage in the background.
 Here is a set of two hoppers getting ready to be loaded by the gravel loader above the tracks.
 One final shot of the Gravel plant, this time with the cars out of the way.
 Next to the gravel plant, is a river.  Later I plan to add people, maybe a couple canoes to the stream.
 Surrounded by trees, the river gently flows by as the train goes past.


 On the other side of the layout, the SW1 is coupling to a Milwaukee Road boxcar filled with grain.
And here is the SW1 stopping at the Atlas CTC/ switching tower for permission to continue on its way down the line.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Christmas Train Layouts!!!

One of the few times where we can display our trains and look 'normal'  is at Christmas.  The lights, the tree, and the trains all play a part of our holiday celebration.  Ever since the invention of the practical toy train by Lionel Trains  in the early 1900's, the Christmas train has been a traditional addition to the American Christmas.  in the early days, these trains were also a display of middle class wealth, being expensive compared to today's standard.  These trains would cost about as much as a major appliance, or even a car in some cases.

O scale trains are classic, while G scale trains look more modern; but for me, On30 illustrates the holiday train layout perfectly.  Bachmann Trains designed several sets over the last couple decades to go along with the porcelain buildings by Department 56 and Lemax.  One of which is the trolley set, which comes with a few pieces of track to go back, and forth.  The price isn't cheap, but you get pre-wired track so that the automated back and forth operation is possible.

My set has had plenty of use over the years, so this year I decided to make a loop of track instead, as the operation would be better (the original track would only allow a few minutes of operation then it would quit).  So here is my Christmas layout:

 Looks fast don't it!!!  Well, it is only going a couple miles an hour, as seen in the photo below.

 My oldest building in my little collection is Skip's Burgers and Fries by either Lemax, or Department 56.
 My newest addition is Springfield lanes by Lemax.  As you can see, there are a lot of lights!
 The cat enjoys Christmas too!!!  Elliot likes to chase and knock over the trolley, but Bachmann made this one pretty indestructible!  Not a piece has fallen off yet.  Starting from the foreground to the background,  Lemax Gazebo from about 2005, Harley's Antiques form the same year by Lemax, and a Harley Davidson water Tower from 2008.
Finally, I've got a tree house By Lemax from 2005-06 to the left of the cat, you can't see it all that well though.

Enjoy the Holidays everyone!!!  And I hope you too have a Christmas display to share to the world too!

By James Willmus

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Storage





In the model railroading world, it seems that there are three things are always in a shortage; desk space, train shows, and storage.  I never get to have a clean, flat space to work on, I never get to go to enough shows, and I never have enough space for everything, and I am sure most railroaders can relate.  Few modelers are magicians with space, or have a large enough room for them to fit everything.  But for the rest of us, we can only try to compact what we got so that it isn't an eye sore to the layout, room, and house.  Below is my attempt at storing everything I got into a tiny space. WARNING! The following photos are of a modeler attempting an impossible feat, cleaning!


Here is the desk area.  Notice that out of about 12 square
feet, I only have about 2 that is usable.
Here we have a classic example  of the little things which
have no home in the filing cabinet, taking up space.
One way I did increase storage of my train LAYOUT
collection was by having shelves big enough to fit a layout.
Oh yeah, don't forget the bathroom!
Also, I have a whole corner dedicated to nothing but track!

I hope that you can find ways out of any storage problem you may have.  As you can see, I've got a long way to go, but I get around to solving my problems eventually!



Friday, December 2, 2011

November

Well, November is officially a new record month and a milestone for this blog.  I have found that 117 viewers have found this site in this month alone.  I truly hope more and more find this site.