Category Archives: Sites of interest

Involving specific sites mentioned in daily posts

1. Small, Exhibition, Inglenook, Layout Design, Layouts, Liked off site, OO Scale (4mm:Foot), Scenery, Site Updates, Sites of interest, Switching, Web

Site seeing: August 31 – Winter is going (at least down here)

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Winter is over, although where we live in Ballarat at 420m (1370 feet) above sea level, you’d be hard pressed to tell that change of season has arrived. Our mornings are still cold, the winds are still lazy (they go through and not around you), and the weather is not shiny or happy. However, my seasonal allergies have kicked in, and the Wattle has been in full bloom for about 3 weeks now. I’m sniffling, my eyes are streaming and I look like I’ve gone five rounds with the late, great Muhammad Ali. My allergies and the weather are not the reason for today’s end of Winter post…

Site 1: Croft on the ScaleFour society’s website

Built as a shunting puzzle (Inglenook) and based loosely upon the real Croft goods (Darlington, NER, not Leicestershire LNWR), Croft is a magnificent example of simple effective display and operation. The image below courtesy of RMWeb and Steve Taylor.

I could go on at length about this layout, or I can let you soak up the atmosphere of this image and then follow the ScaleFour link above.

Site 2: RMWeb’s Croft Gallery

Go, look, mind blown.

Hope that this gets your creative juices flowing. Looking forward to the Southern Spring.

Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site seeing: August 29 – trouble reaching http://www.tichytraingroup.com

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I’m putting out a call for help to all of you today.

I’m having the biggest issue when trying to get to the Tichy Trains website. I’m wondering if others may be having similar issues. I keep getting connection errors and I’m wondering whether others outside of the continental USA may be seeing the same errors?

Here are the errors (occurring across all browsers)

This site can’t be reached. The connection was reset.
Try: Checking the connection - Checking the proxy and the firewall
ERR_CONNECTION_RESET

Just so you know I am in Australia and am not blocking or otherwise filtering content out through my firewall. I used to be able to reach the site. It is only recently that I’ve had issues reaching the site.

I’m wondering if anyone else has found this issue and found a solution for it.

Layouts, Liked off site, S Scale, Sites of interest, This Site

Site seeing – August 28 – 1980 Frisco S Scale layout “Cheltenham”

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Tom and I have been out of contact for some time but recently reconnected on the Railway Modellers surprising best friend – “Facebook”. I’ve known Tom Potthast since my early days in Austin, Texas, since around late 1997 or early 1998, when I met him at King’s Hobby. Tom has been an S scale modeller since before I met him and pitched hard for me to choose that scale. Originally from St Louis he lives in Virginia. As I’ve noted in the title of the post he’s working on a 1980 era Frisco S scale layout. He’s not advised of a website or other online location so I’ll be posting and sharing photos of his layout here.

Site 1: Information on Tom’s layout “Cheltenham”

cheltenham_missouri

Tom told me that Cheltenham was a commuter stop, within the city limits of St Louis. The structure in the image above survived into the 1980s. The area Tom’s modeling is located between Hampton Ave. and Kingshighway. It is just a short piece of the railroad yet has plenty of switching potential.

St Louis Terminal - Zone 3 - Cheltenham Area

There is no official track plan. It was planned out using a full size mock-up before final construction began using a PDF of the area as a guide. I’ve added a section of that track diagram to show the area he’s modelling above.

Tom says that “… one day when I get my two-car-garage-like space it will include Lindenwood yard and a great deal of interchange with other roads such as the N&W (Wabash) TRRA, Manufactures Railway (Anheuser Busch), BN and Mopac.”

Site 2: Some of Tom’s S scale weathered cars

What inspired Tom to write me was the Martin Wellberg’s German Gmhs 53 weathered wagon. He supplied a few photos for me to share and promised more in the near future. RPCX 227 is the first photo showing a car that is lightly weathered.

RPCX-227_Weathered

Below is a car from the same series RPCX #101-#240. Built by Evans USRE (Blue Island, IL) in Lot 1169A of Nov 1973. Stenciled: Return to PC Sharonville, OH. These were eventually to become a part of the CNW fleet (series 540300-540436 cars) after Purina gave up the RPCX reporting mark in 1989. Image below courtesy of Steve Vincent and Railcar Photos.

The second photo shows Tom’s CO 2206. A covered hopper in CO series 2300-2374 built by General American Transportation Co. during Aug-63. I could not find a prototype photo of this car.

CO-2206_Weathered

The next photo shows DRGW 15045 a 3-bay rib-sided covered hopper in the DRGW series 15000-15149 built by Pullman-Standard, Lot 8923, in 64.

DRGW-15045_Weathered

I found a close match in DRGW 15006 in the same series on the Railcar Photos website. This photo is by Kent Charles.

Finally I’ve got a slightly wider shot showing two more covered hoppers and some of the layout and scenery.

ATSF-304227_UP-21753_Weathered

Thanks to Tom for allowing me to post his photos. Looking forward to seeing more of the layout and rolling stock and locomotives Tom. Thanks for sharing.

1:32 (Gauge 1), Acrylics, Oils, Pastel Powder, Powders, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Weathering

Site seeing – August 26 – Weathered and downright dirty

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If you’ve followed the blog for any length of time, or know me personally, you’ll know that I don’t like clean things (my personal hygiene excepted). Every model I touch ends up weathered to one degree or another. And so onto todays sites of interest.

Site 1: Dirty stuff by Martin Wellberg – A German Gmhs 53 Boxcar in scale 1 (1:32nd scale)

This is part 1 of Martin’s so far 3 part treatise on weathering this large railcar. Wait till you see the photos. That’s all I’m saying on the matter.

Site 2: This is part 2 of the weathering of said German boxcar

In part 2 there is a little more of what Martin has been up to. Drool people, just drool.

Site 3: Part 3 from above

More train eye candy as Martin gets on with the weathering on the Gmhs 53 boxcar.

Site 4: Freerails Forum posts by Martin on other large-scale rail subjects

You should not need to be a member to view the posts. Definitely to post or reply though. Lots more pictures in what is now a 6 page post by Martin and those of us following him. Not to be missed.

Here’s a taste of the work Martin is creating:

I hope you enjoy Martin’s work.

1. Small, HO Scale, Layout Design, Layouts, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site Seeing – August 23 – Wetterau Food Services

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August is the month where year 12 high school focuses on getting elder children ready to complete their schooling and head off to life or to University. This month we’ve toured possible University campuses to see what is on offer and where she can look on planning to attend next year.

Last weekend was an out-of-town visit (120km away) next weekend there’s another University visit on (only 3km away this time). All too soon she’ll be moving out and living on Campus (but don’t tell her that). Finally I’ll get my half of the train room! Anyhow – on to today’s sites of interest.

Site 1:  Wetterau Food Services

Tom Conboy’s layout’s shown in all it’s glory on the Model Railroad Hobbyist site. Tom writes on the first page: “The Wetterau Food Services Micro Layout was completed in February of 2016.  Layout planning and construction began in 2014.  I am enjoying operations on the layout, and wanted to share the steps I followed in building this micro layout here on MRH.   I  have learned quite a bit in building it, and hope you will find it informative.”

Head over and take a look through his shared build log. It is very interesting and a great looking layout. What’s not to like – a 70 tonner runs through it.

Site 2: Tom’s Model Railroad Scrapbook

This is the second of Tom’s sites where he’s shared the building of the layout.

Site 3: The Micro Model Railroad Cartel

The third site providing more information on the build of the layout in nine parts.

All great sites full of information for those interested in building a small layout and for those interested building a layout using Fome-Cor.

Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web, YouTube

Site seeing – June 19, 2016 – The big city edition

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Today’s site is a masterpiece. No more hyperbole, so let’s get straight to it.

Site 1: Industrial switching layout – City Limits

While the site is in French, using Google translate allowed me to get a better understanding of the content. Visually I find this layout a stunning, well thought out and executed ISL. I hope that you enjoy it too.

Site 2: YouTube – City Limits

Site 3: YouTube – City Limits 2

Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site Seeing – June 17, 2016 – The Tutorials edition

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My son Ewan got into Warhammer 40K 3 years ago, and while he has been slow to pick the game up we’ve worked together to complete the models and getting them ready for paint.

Among the things I’ve noticed is that gamers are great scratchbuilders. So today I have four outstanding tutorials for you to look at – all from the same site.

Site 1: Rob Hawkins’ Hobby Blog – Making Crates

A highly creative way to make light and sturdy crates of just about any size, using pink foam (or any foam you can get your hands on). A great tutorial on how to and why to make crates Rob’s way.

Site 2: Rob Hawkins’ Hobby Blog – Pipes

It is amazing what Rob can come up with. I’d not thought to use this technique to model the pipes so often associated with our model railroads. Another great tutorial  and relatively cheap to boot compared to some of the pipe kits I’ve seen available.

Site 3: Rob Hawkins’ Hobby Blog – Stairs

Another simple to do, but hard to imagine (at least for me) tutorial on how to make stairs. With a full step by step style Rob takes you through a start to finish on how to custom make and fit the stairs for the model.

Site 4: Rob Hawkins’ Hobby Blog – Flagstone Street

An innovative use for what normally I’d struggle to use, thick cardboard. What a great idea it turns out to be. I’m looking forward to using this on some new dioramas I have in mind and for a new layout idea I have in mind.

Site 5: Rob Hawkins’ Hobby Blog – Cornfield

This tutorial is a two-for, that is you get to learn how to make stone walls and assorted stone wall pieces and you get to model the corn field. Once again some really interesting techniques and outcomes. Highly useful for those of us modelling anywhere in the midwest, or even Texas.

Liked off site, Site seeing, Site Updates, Sites of interest, Web

Site seeing – Tueday 14 June 2016

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As you tool around the web you come across some interesting and useful sites. I’ve found it hard to have a simple to find and use repository since the end of basic HTML coding. I’ve bookmarked and so on but I wanted to have a better place to go.

So today I’ve added a new section for these resources.  I’ll add site links when I find them; adding information about the sites so that you decide their value before you visit them.

Visit the following two pages:

Enjoy

Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web, YouTube

Site Seeing – May 22 (the I needed some steam therapy post)

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I woke up this morning after dreaming about driving steam trains all night. Don’t know why, but there it is. So over a breakfast of toast and jam, and a cup of tea I got in some serious steam therapy and wanted to share my sense of serenity with you.

If you are in need of some steam therapy, consider the therapist ‘in’. Sit back, crank up the sound and enjoy.

Therapy session 1 – UP Challenger #3985 + 143 Freight Cars

While I understand why steam is no longer the king of the rails, doesn’t it make you wonder ‘what if’?

Therapy Session 2 – Steam Locomotives At Speed

While not as imposing as the UP Challenger, there is something cathartic and invigorating about seeing express locomotives ‘expressing’ themselves at high-speed; enjoy!

Therapy Session 3 – Steam trains at speed

I want to make sure that you are as revitalised as I am. So here is a little more therapy for a bleak, cool and windy Sunday (at least in Ballarat). Go get a coffee, or tea, or frothy beverage of choice, and relax into 45 minutes of enjoyment.

I hope that you got some value from our therapy session this morning. I think that we should see one another again soon. Let’s schedule another session in … well leave a comment, or like this post, and we’ll see when we can fit one another in eh?

HO Scale, Large, Layout Design, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site Seeing – May 14 (the All American Model Railroad show issue)

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Thanks to Neil Cowie, a friend and former fellow member of the Essendon Model Railway club in Glenroy – Melbourne, I got invited down to his new club’s show today.

Site 1: US Model Railroad Club of Australia

The US Model Railroad Club of Australia are all US modellers (obviously) and model a variety of US prototype. You can find the club’s web presence on Facebook. Their show was open today, Saturday 14 May, and will be again tomorrow from 09:30 – 16:00 hours at 27 Talmage Street, Albion, Victoria. For locals it is Melways ref: 26 – F10.

The club has only been going for a relatively short time (a couple of years) but they’ve secured club rooms in an iconic (some might say landmark) building in suburban Melbourne and have made a solid start on a large HO scale club layout.

Based in the former Albion railway sub-station, one of several built around the Melbourne metropolitan railway system in the 1910s which housed large rotary converters to transform the 20,000V AC electric current supplied by the Victorian Railway’s Newport Power Station to 1500V DC to power Melbourne’s electric trains. Luckily that very building now allows them plenty of floor space.

If you get  chance tomorrow drop by and visit with Neil. Tell him that Andrew sent you. He’ll get a kick out of that I’m sure. Below is a work in progress shot of the layout.