Category Archives: Publishing

E-Book, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site seeing – February 15

Introduction

Today’s site seeing adventure is for those of you interested in railroad operation, in this case dispatching. Today’s link came across the wire thanks to the ‘Ry-ops-industrialSIG’ SIG group on Yahoo! Groups.

Site 1 – Train Dispatching

Today’s link points to Train Dispatching by J. G. Lachaussee. It has two separate sources of the same article (one from Scribd – the other directly on the site.) The article is as published in ‘The Sandhouse’ – A Publication of the Mississippi Great Southern Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.

I’ve had a quick read of it and found it to be really interesting to see the information presented by a long time dispatcher himself. You can read more of the article here: <Offsite Link>

The article is by J. G. Lachaussee; published in the November 2011 issue of The Sandhouse.

Site 2 – Scribd

A while back I began a short history of the 40’ Hi-Cube Boxcars that rode the rails for a short period from the late 1960s through to the 1980s. So far I’ve only completed the SP and SSW part of the document and have not yet completed the other owners or operators or the modelling section for the final eBook.

There seems to be an inordinate amount of modelling interest in these very specifically operated cars; the model manufacturers have made a lot of them over the years. In fact there are more models available than those produced by the car makers themselves.

They’ve lived in model form for longer than they ever did during their prototype railroad days. If you’d like to take a look at the first part of the eBook please go to: https://www.scribd.com/doc/103033209/A-Very-Short-History-of-the-40-Foot-Hi-Cube-Boxcars

Now it is time to go model with my 10-year-old son.

1:43.5 (7mm Scale), Australia, O Scale, Site seeing

Site seeing – February 14 – with a difference

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Site seeing with a difference this St Valentines Day. The family headed for the ocean today to Geelong Victoria. While we were down that way I took the opportunity to visit K & L Model Railways Hobbies & Model Construction Supplies of 81 Ryrie St, Geelong VIC 3220.

All I have to say is – what a surprise. The shop is small, but what it lacks in floor space it more than makes up for in stock. They have a great range of O scale parts, kits and so on.

Had a chat to the owner to the owner this morning and I’ll be back there again once I have a bit more disposable income.

With K & L’s assistance I’ll be building a rake of O scale (7mm:Foot) NSWGR 4 wheel RU Grain wagons (see a photo here: Offsite Photo).

These cars have been on my build list for some times but not being able to find a local source of Brass ‘W’ irons and sprung axle blocks has meant that I’ve had to hold off on the build.

With K & L’s owner assuring me that he can get me everything I need the RU planning process can begin. I expect to build the first body out of styrene, then I’ll cast the remaining bodies before tackling the chassis out of brass section. This will make mounting and securing the ‘W’ irons much easier.

All the best on a lovely ‘cool’ summer Saturday in Ballarat.

Diesel Rail Cars, RDC, Site seeing, Sites of interest

Site seeing – February 13

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There are some who believe in Friday the 13th as a bad omen. I like to think of Friday the 13th as a good time to get things done while everyone else is cowering under their beds, waiting for the sky to fall.

Site 1 – Clear Iron (YouTube)

I just got through posting about the new Rapido RDC-1. If you are unfamiliar with this little cracker of a design enjoy this video from 1952 about the RDCs.

Site 2 – Trinity Railway Express (YouTube)

When we lived in Austin Texas we’d head on up to Dallas and Fort Worth every now and then so I could indulge my railfanning needs, which to be honest I never could really meet in Austin.

Of interest is the ex- B&M 6110 RDC-1 heading the consist of 3 RDC’s. TRE #2005, TRE #2006, and TRE#2007

Site 3 – US Budds (again from YouTube)

This much longer but just as interesting video takes a look at the US operators of RDC-1s including:

  • Belfast & Moosehead Lake,
  • Connecticut DOT/Amtrak (SPV2000’s),
  • Metro North,
  • Bellefonte Historical RR,
  • North Shore Scenic RR (Duluth),
  • Trinity Rail Express (Dallas area),
  • Reading & Northern, and
  • Cape May Seashore Line

Enjoyed a massive storm through Ballarat tonight, and now the temperature is dropping away. Hope the day has been great where you are.

1. Small, Inglenook, Layouts, Operations, Personal Layouts, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Switching, Web

Site seeing – February07

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There are some sites that I find myself returning to time after time. Vibrant sites with lots of new ideas and a great wealth of modellers, who love to share.  My favourite message board is to be on and partake in is RMWeb.

There is always a project or layout build under way that has something to give you. Today I’d like to point out two projects on RMWeb that I find really interesting for a number of reasons.

Site 1 – Down Ampney

Built in 7mm scale as a basic garage-garden-garage line; the garden section is in effect just a single track with a couple of sidings and scenery provided by mother nature. Control is planned to be a mixture of DCC and RC.

The Scenic modelled section is to be situated within the garage with a cassette fiddle yard on the other side. The garden will include a viaduct but be fairly basic for the sake of ease of building and getting something up and running quickly and to reduce maintenance.

Site 2 – Draycott (Camp) Halt Sidings

The model depicts a small corrugated Goods Shed and two sidings, with the tail-end of the Head-Shunt also represented, the Loop being ‘off stage’ so to speak. This is a classic Inglenook type ‘shunting plank’ and will give somewhere to have some fun with ‘shunting puzzles’ and to test new stock whilst Down Ampney is being built.

Conclusion

While both are 7mm O scale layouts, the standard of modelling is very high, while the area and layout being modelled is small and simple. Lots of working potential too.

Well its a very warm day in Ballarat, and my son and I are off to the local pool. Hope you’re having a great day where you are too.

Site seeing

Site Seeing February 02

Introduction

Often I wonder how I can fit the layout I’d like to have in the space I have available.

Then there are the brave souls who decide to build an industrial switching layout in 1:29 G scale.

Losco yard

Losco yard is Hugh Flynn’s switching layout in 1:29 scale. I found this today while looking for something else entirely. But I like the design and the bulk of the models so much I thought it deserved to be brought to a wider audience.

Link number 1 is an older link from 2008 but shows a lot of photos and a track plan, along with some thoughts from the RMWeb community as to what could be done to make the operational value better.

Link number 2 is a newer version of the layout and some other work in progress. According to the owner, the layout has since been sold on.

Link number 3 below is a link to a video taken by a punter at one of the UK shows of said layout. Only 480P but it gives you an idea of the size of the models when you take a look at the video and realise that there are massive models. Note that the audio track is quite loud, so turning down your sound at work might be advisable.

The video runs from the start through to the 2:20 mark. Nice one Hugh.

Resources

There are some other nice photos on the modelrailroadforums page here:

http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?9761-Weekend-Photo-Fun-10-3/page3 – look at the 5 photos starting just below the top of the post.

There is also a whole heap of track plans by Hugh here if you are interested.

Site seeing, Sites of interest, Tramways, Web

Site Seeing – February 01

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I live very close to Melbourne in Victoria – home of the worlds largest urban tramway network in the world. The entire network covers 250 kilometres of track; has 493 trams, 25 routes, and 1,763 tram stops. Melbourne’s tram network is larger than the largest networks in Europe (admittedly not by much) such as those in St. Petersburg (240 km), Berlin (190 km), Moscow (181 km) and Vienna (172 km). What does all of this have to do with today’s site seeing post? Funny you should ask that question.

Site 1: Victoria Park

The first site I wanted to mention is Victoria Street (Link here). This great tramway layout has visited several of the model shows in my region and is a well thought out and small layout. Somewhere in my large collection of digital photos I have some of the layout. When I can find them I’ll post them up.

Site 2: Proto: 87 stores

If you’ve decided to model a tramway, you can use the track and switch components found on this page (Link Here) to make all that lovely street trackage. Now this is not just for tramways, any street railway can be modelled using these components. Very nice stuff.

Overcast and cool in Ballarat today. Hope you are having a great day where you are.

Layouts, Site seeing

Site seeing

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Hard to believe that we are at the end of January already; 1/12th of the year has already sped by.

While tooling around the web I found the following sites of great interest, and hope that you will find them useful and informative too:

Brian Fayle’s website (http://www.brifayle.ca/2abaseshadows.html) – I’ve followed Brian’s website since late 2003. I especially enjoyed his unique approach to figure painting. He starts from black and builds colour up layer upon layer, ensuring that shadows are a part of the painting process. Follow the link and enjoy a really good read. While you are there, take a look around at his range of layouts built over the years.

A new layout found on BigBlue Train forums: Bushwick Terminal (http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=6560). Some really great ideas on layout design and the layout itself is going to be really good to watch come to life.

All the best on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Andrew

 

Credit, Publishing

40 foot Hi-Cube article has been quoted in Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine

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Originally published on the old HVL blog November 07, 2012

An article I wrote on the Shorty Hi-Cubes has been quoted by Joe Fugate in the most recent Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine, available for free here.

I love these cars, as they are modern era cars, but short enough to fit onto all model railroads. They’re available in O scale too.

There will be a much longer article available shortly that will be posted here with more information on kit-bashing the cars, and industry options for you to use on your layout. They are not the most common of cars but they really stand out and while they are not in use now, they were in use during the period from the mid 1960s through to the early 2000s.

Have a great day.
Andrew

Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site Seeing – 2

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Originally posted on the Old DasBlog – Monday, April 15, 2013

Every now and then I run across some sites that I find really interesting, for one reason or another.

This week I found the following sites that might be of interest to you too:

  1. Ever wondered what moved the stuff your railcars delivered?
  2. With an English bent here is another site I found with lots of descriptions of industries on the UK’s side of the pond:

On the modelling side of the house:

  1. I found a new product called “ELECTRIC AVENUE”. Touted as “THE WORLD’S FINEST STREET TRACK SYSTEM FOR MODEL TROLLEYS AND TRAMS”. Their CAPS not mine, but in looking at the webpage it does look really nice and maybe something for a future small exhibition layout that I am looking at, for 2014 with some street running

There is one last link I want to share:

The Columbia Industrial park, in Vancouver WA, USA. Take a look around there is a lot of cool stuff in here. CHeck for the Centre cab and the Plymouth that you’ll find on Bing.

Well, that’s about it for today.
Hope you enjoy the links
Regards
Andrew

Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site Seeing – 1

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Originally published on the old Das Blog – Monday, April 15, 2013

Every now and then I run across some sites that I find really interesting, for one reason or another.

This week I found the following sites that might be of interest to you too:

  1. Ever wondered what moved the stuff your railcars delivered?
  2. With an English bent here is another site I found with lots of descriptions of industries on the UK’s side of the pond:

Regards

Andrew