Author: Golden1014

I'm an American, living in Germany.
Prototype Topics, Railfanning & Museums1 Comment

No. 122: Cité du Train – The French National Railway Museum

Golden1014

Two weekends ago I made the long drive down to Mulhouse, France to visit Cité du Train, the French National Railway Museum.  This museum presents the history and technological achievements of the French railway network, particularly the SNCF–the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer–which, since 1938, is France’s national state-owned railway company. Don’t laugh.  I had read a lot about the museum and understood it was one of the very best in the world.  I expected it to be good, but I didn’t expect it to be that good. The museum occupies a huge area on the south side of … Continue reading No. 122: Cité du Train – The French National Railway Museum

Ackley, Iowa Layouts1 Comment

No. 121: John Barry Visit…and Rebuilding the Marshall Canning Co.

Golden1014

Last week my friend John Barry was visiting Europe and he spent a couple of nights at nearby Ramstein Air Base.  John is a well-known Santa Fe modeler and historian, and he maintains an interesting blog.  We met a few years ago at the Virginia RPM meet and have kept in touch ever since. John and I had dinner last Friday evening at one of my favorite local restaurants, Berndt’s Blockhouse–up on the hill in Weilerbach–where we enjoyed a couple hours of dinner, beers and conversation.  John is a former C-130 pilot and instead of talking about trains we spent … Continue reading No. 121: John Barry Visit…and Rebuilding the Marshall Canning Co.

Ackley, Iowa Layouts1 Comment

No. 120: The Ackley Layout – Coal Bins on Carstens Siding

Golden1014

It’s been over a month since my last post.  I’ve been very, very busy with work and family stuff, and whatever time I had left went to planning St. Louis RPM.  We also, during that time, took an eight day trip to the Canary Islands.  We visited Lanzerote and Fuertaventura and we had a wonderful time.  We went for the sun, seafood and beaches and it didn’t disappoint. Below. Here’s a pano of the area around one of our favorite towns, El Golfo, in the Timanfayo National Park.  Spectacular black sand beaches are a favorite spot on this side of … Continue reading No. 120: The Ackley Layout – Coal Bins on Carstens Siding

Prototype Topics, Railfanning & Museums6 Comments

No. 119: Railfan Day on the Rhine

Golden1014

Back in the early 1990s I was a young Air Force navigator flying C-141s out of Charleston AFB.  One of our usual runs was to Rhine-Main AB in Frankfurt, Germany.  I flew there often.  Sometimes we’d get a day off between missions so we’d go downtown and see the sights.  We would often rent a car and drive up the Rhine River valley between Rudesheim and Koblenz to visit the little towns, and shop, and see all the castles, and experience the very best of Germany.  We always stopped in Rudesheim as a joke, because Rudesheim was where we would have to hold if Frankfurt/Rhine-Main couldn’t get us … Continue reading No. 119: Railfan Day on the Rhine

Ackley, Iowa Layouts4 Comments

No. 118: The Ackley Layout – North Side Scenery Refresh

Golden1014

Last time I explained that I took apart the layout and moved it to the other side of the room.  While the layout is still in pieces, I’m refreshing scenery and backdrops and fixing other problems so when the layout is reassembled it’ll be better than ever. Above.  I started with what I call the “north side” of the layout–which, when viewing the layout–is the right half of the 16-foot layout.  To begin the refresh I removed the backdrop and then removed all the buildings, trees and details, and then made a plan to remove scenery. Below, here’s the north side with everything … Continue reading No. 118: The Ackley Layout – North Side Scenery Refresh

Ackley, Iowa Layouts1 Comment

No. 117: Moving Ackley

Golden1014

We went to the Netherlands last weekend for our kids’ last swim meet of the year, and on the way we took a short side-trip through Belgium to make a beer run.  We stopped at a Delhaize grocery store in Houthalen on the way to Eindhoven and stocked up.  Here’s my son Jacob, below, with a cart-full of the good stuff plus a whole lot of stroop waffles.  If you’ve never had Belgian beer and stroop waffles, you need to come and visit.  They’re life-changers. Unbeknownst to me, Houthalen is in a mining area.  On the way to the grocery store we drove by this thing … Continue reading No. 117: Moving Ackley

Ackley, Iowa Layouts3 Comments

No. 116: Rebuilding the Bump Out onthe Ackle Layout, Part 2

Golden1014

This post will be more boring than usual.  It will serve as a record-keeping function for me. The last time the bump-out was seen, in Post 112, Rebuilding the Bump Out, Part 1, it looked like this.  The original bump-out was removed so the track could be re-aligned to accommodate two freight customers.  At this stage I had completed the new benchwork, laid roadbed and track, and completed landforms.  Ballasting was underway. Here’s another view with everything cleaned up. I wanted this track to be buried in mud and debris and grass.  I applied matte medium with an eyedropper between the … Continue reading No. 116: Rebuilding the Bump Out onthe Ackle Layout, Part 2

Ackley, Iowa Layouts, Freight and Passenger Car Modeling1 Comment

No. 115: Completing the Yarmouth Models ACL O-16B Auto Car

Golden1014

I was fortunate to have an article posted on the Resin Car Works blog recently.  I completed a C&IM USRA-type gondola and wrote about it at http://blog.resincarworks.com/building-a-chicago-illinois-midland-usra-type-coal-gondola/#more-2062. Frank Hodina supplied most of the information and photos and a few parts for the project, and Eric Hansmann did the editing.  Our St. Louis RPM friend and C&IM expert Ryan Crawford also helped with editing and prototype information.  My thanks to them for all the help. I started this project in January 2018.  I finished the build in a few weeks but the project stalled while I was rebuilding my sandblaster.  It took … Continue reading No. 115: Completing the Yarmouth Models ACL O-16B Auto Car

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, O Scale & Proto 48Leave a comment

No. 114: Proto48 Freight Car Update

Golden1014

Here’s the view out of my third floor train room window.  It is not fit for man nor beast out.  It’s a good time to get some modeling done instead. We had a big conversation last week on the Groups IO Proto48 list–moderated by master builder Gene Deimling–about the P48 models are people building this winter.  I’ve been working very slowly on a few models with the goal of fully completing four or five models a year.  Here’s an update. Wabash Auto Car This is an essential freight car–the Wabash single-sheathed double door auto car.  I bought this model a couple of years ago from Rails Unlimited at … Continue reading No. 114: Proto48 Freight Car Update

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling2 Comments

No. 113: Salt Weathering

Golden1014

The boys on the Proto-Layouts list on IO were asking about salt weathering, so I thought I’d whip up a quick post on using the technique to weather freight car roofs. I’ve used the technique successfully on a few models.  Here’s one example: The model above is a Sunshine Models 80-series kit of the Missouri Pacific 90000-series single sheathed box car.  Here’s a link to the Sunshine Models flyer on Jim Hayes’ Sunshine Models website: http://sunshinekits.com/sunimages/sun80.pdf.  Man, I wish I had a couple of those Sunshine Frisco cars right about now… I recently applied salt weathering on a Sunshine Milwaukee … Continue reading No. 113: Salt Weathering