Author: Golden1014

I'm an American, living in Germany.
Freight and Passenger Car Modeling1 Comment

No. 166: Modeling Rock Island Steel Box Cars

Golden1014

In August, during the “16 Days” work campaign, I began a project to rebuild and repaint a dozen or more freight car models. Two of those models were Rock Island favorites. The first was an Intermountain 1937 Modified AAR car that needed to be stripped and repainted because I did a poor job of decaling and finishing the first time around. The second was a Sunshine Models USRA rebuild that I finished 15 years ago or so, which needed updating. I just finished those models last week Here’s the report, with a little history. RI 146309 Rock Island rostered over … Continue reading No. 166: Modeling Rock Island Steel Box Cars

Hermitage Road Layouts6 Comments

No. 165: Modeling the Hermitage Coal Company

Golden1014

Since August I’ve been working on freight cars and finishing the traverse table for the layout.  I’m still working on some of the unfinished freight car projects, but I’m devoting October to getting the layout back in operation and completing layout structures. One of the more visually interesting customers on the layout is the Hermitage Coal Co. As you can see below, Hermitage Coal was a small dealer with a fenced property on a shared siding. There are no know photos of Hermitage Coal Co. Here’s the look I’m after, below–a local coal dealer with piles of different grades of … Continue reading No. 165: Modeling the Hermitage Coal Company

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No. 164: Musée du Train, Brussels

Golden1014

Last Saturday I went to the Musée du Train–also known as Train World–in Brussels, Belgium. Here’s a short report. Train World is Belgium’s brand new national railway museum. It’s headquartered in a large, retired, 1887-built station on the north side of Brussels at Schaarbeek. Above. This former passenger station now serves as the main entrance for the museum. Train World opened just a few years ago. It has a very-French National Railway Museum feel. It is very theatrical, with exhibits lit dramatically. There are video displays everywhere, and collections of equipment and paraphernalia all over. Unlike the French museum though, … Continue reading No. 164: Musée du Train, Brussels

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, Hermitage Road Layouts1 Comment

No. 163: 16 Days, Pt. 4

Golden1014

The 16 Days program ended last Monday when my wife and daughters returned from their U.S. trip. In those 16 days I was able to complete major work on several structures for the layout, rebuild and repaint a dozen freight cars, complete construction on one new freight car, and paint the traverse table for the layout. I also sold five models on eBay and in other places, and I also spent a considerable amount of time writing on this blog. I normally try to keep the layout and workbench very clean and organized, but during the 16 Days I allowed … Continue reading No. 163: 16 Days, Pt. 4

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, Hermitage Road Layouts1 Comment

No. 162: 16 Days, Pt. 3

Golden1014

Work on the railroad continues as the family is traveling in the U.S. for two weeks. One of the industries I built this week for my Hermitage Road switching layout as a “grocery warehouse”. In the area of Richmond, Virginia, where my layout is set, there were quite a few grocery warehouses, and I wanted to include one on the layout so I could use refrigerator cars. There are no known photographs of the grocery warehouses in the Hermitage Yard area so I was forced to proto-freelance something. On my old Ackley, Iowa layout I built a large cannery as … Continue reading No. 162: 16 Days, Pt. 3

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, Hermitage Road Layouts1 Comment

No. 161: 16 Days, Part 2

Golden1014

Work continues while the family is away! When I last showed the Richmond Cinder Block Company, it needed windows. The windows I used, seen below, are from Tichy. I painted them with a Tamiya Metal Gray and then added clear styrene sheet windows and fixed them with canopy glue. Once the glue was dry I then sprayed the whole assembly front and back with full strength Dullcote. I painted in a few window panes white to simulate broken glass repair. Next I added the windows to the structure, gluing them in place from behind with Tamiya extra thick liquid solvent. … Continue reading No. 161: 16 Days, Part 2

Hermitage Road LayoutsLeave a comment

No. 160: 16 Days, Part 1

Golden1014

At the beginning of August, my family traveled away and left me at home alone for a while. After a very busy and very social summer, and a summer full of travel, I have the first 16 days of August to myself to catch up on some modeling work. This is the first of hopefully several posts on what’s happening during these 16 days. Below. Last week I took my son to Radovljica, near Lake Bled, and spent three days with him hiking and swimming. We hiked to this mountain hut at the foot of Mt. Triglev, which is seen … Continue reading No. 160: 16 Days, Part 1

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No. 159: 12:30 to Zermatt

Golden1014

Over the recent fourth of July weekend I took my family to Grachen, Switzerland for a week of Alpine hiking. Grachen is a mountain-top village a few miles away from the highest peak in the Swiss Alps, the Matterhorn.  Incredible vistas are everywhere, but you’ve gotta earn them by hiking to the top. Above. One of my daughters a thousand feet above Randa, Switzerland, which we’ll visit later. Below, the fam and I are taking a break from a hard hike up the mountain before crossing the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world, about 7,700 feet above Randa. The … Continue reading No. 159: 12:30 to Zermatt

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, O Scale & Proto 481 Comment

No. 158: O Scale Work, and Central of Georgia Auto Car

Golden1014

I took a few days off of work before Memorial Day and went on three day-trips with the family over a five-day period. The most interesting was a road trip to Belgium and Luxembourg with my son to buy beer. My son and I went to a neat place in Arlon, Belgium called Mi Ougemi Houblon to buy a variety of craft beers.  It was a cool store and a lot of fun, and the guy working there was very friendly.  We drove to a Del Hayes grocery next to buy a stroop waffles and more beer–this time the easy-to-get stuff from … Continue reading No. 158: O Scale Work, and Central of Georgia Auto Car

Hermitage Road Layouts2 Comments

No. 157: A British Post (Modelu and Traversers)

Golden1014

Here’s a post with a decidedly British flavor. Modelu A few weeks ago I ordered figures from a vendor in Bristol named Modelu (pronounced Model You). The box arrived at the nearby Deutsche Post office, and my half-German wife dutifully went over there, paid the import tax, and brought the box home. Here’s what was in the box: How exciting! Modelu is a British vendor that makes finescale 3D-printed figures. A few guys on the Proto-Layouts list discovered Modelu online, and I offered to make a large order to try and save everyone some import tax. Six of us combined … Continue reading No. 157: A British Post (Modelu and Traversers)