Here are some model photos from the 2017 St. Louis RPM Meet last week.  More complete coverage of models is being assembled on our new Flickr site at https://www.flickr.com/photos/35369592@N06/albums.

Our official photographer mark Lewis also took a lot of photos and I’ll get them soon and post a Part 3.  The photos below are models that I liked.

First, a few photos of the model tables.  We had 56 eight-foot tables set aside for models and they were almost full.

I take a lot of crap from people about not extending the tables up to eye-level.  We resist that, believing that most guys don’t have a problem sitting down comfortably and talking about models for a while.  Another thing to take into consideration is high tables required a skirt or else they look ugly.  Our convention center is nice enough to offer skirts, but at $25 each.  $25 x 56 tables = a whole lot of extra money.  These photos offer some proof that guys don’t mind walking or sitting.

Below: Clark Propst’s entire locomotive fleet–all five engines, led by his almost right-out-of-the-box Bachmann 2-6-0.

A beautiful, nicely detailed lead mine display.  I didn’t record who brought it, but it must’ve been a lot of work to get it out here.

Below.  Here’s a cool model of a rare prototype, brought by Craig Lattery.

Below.  Here’s another neat, not-often-seen prototype model brought by master-builder Lester Brewer.

Below.  This neat L&N display was brought by Lee Singletary, who also manned the L&N Historical Society table.  I asked him if played linebacker for the Giants.  He said no, but he did play for the Bears under the name Mike.

Below.  A neat model of a local favorite, this one brought by Doug Forbes.  His brother David is the driving force behind the C&EI HS.  They’re great guys and look A LOT alike.

Below.  Tony Thompson wrote a post on St. Louis RPM last week in his great blog, and include comments on Don Schnurpfeil’s outstanding weathering.  Here are a few more of Don’s cars.  All are weathered differently which is quite an accomplishment.

Below.  This neat display of a plastic/resin pre-kitbashed model was brought by Geroge Thoman.

Three-pocket hoppers modified with roofs like this model are some of my favorite late-steam-era cars.  This model was brought by Clark Cooper and I love it.  His work rebuilding the Accurail hopper alone is worthy of praise.

Below.  This is a Brian Strom Proto48 model.  Brian did a lot of work and made a really neat, rare model.  Double-sided castings are NOT easy to do.  This is what RPM is all about.

Love this model below of the landing craft load.  I recorded the model as built by Brian Flynn, although I am very familiar with Brian’s work and this doesn’t look like something of his.  I could be wrong and probably am.  Let me know if I got this one right.

And my favorite models is…

…this one, brought by the boys from Iowa Scaled Engineering and prominently displayed on their Proto-Throttle test layout.  We’ve been going back-and-forth on e-mail discussing how to set up the electronics for my forthcoming interlocking system on my layout.  Michael poked me in the eye one day and said my layout looked like something from LEGOLAND, and that started a long thread with us giving each other a ration of $h!t.  They got me good with this rendition of my prototype modeling.

I think the guy in the red hat is a prototype model of me.  Thanks to jet-lag I felt like a Lego most of the time I was home.

And while I was away at St. Louis…

…my family went to Radolvkia, Slovenia for swim team camp.  They had a fantastic time, swimming hard in the morning and the evening and having an “adventure” every afternoon.  They went canyoning, rafting, caving and did other exotic things, and on the last day my son–in addition to swimming 3,500-4,500 meters a day–also ran a local 10K.  Here is the fam, above, on their last afternoon.  My two daughters are up front, my wife is in the middle, and my son is second-to-last.  Our friend from Stuttgart, the lovely Tricia Huebschmann, was playing the role of Dad and bringing up the caboose.  What a backdrop!

Here’s another cool view–almost as cool as model photos from RPM (required content).  That’s my daughter Kirsten flying down an Alpine Slide towards Lake Bled.  Looks like a ton of fun!

Hope you enjoyed the model photos and I’ll get more from Mark posted real soon.  – John