Category: Freight and Passenger Car Modeling

I enjoy modeling 1949-1950 in both HO and O scale. This category includes posts on building models of freight and passenger cars, cabooses, and other rolling stock in both scales.

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, Hermitage Road Layouts2 Comments

No. 154: Hermitage Road Update, Feb 2021

Golden1014

Traditionally December and January are big modeling months as most guys are trapped inside for Winter. Not so here, as my family kept me busy and out of the attic train room until about mid-February. I also had a double-laptop meltdown, which precluded any work on the blog along with a whole lot of other stuff. In the last 20 days I’ve been able to get a huge amount of work done on a lot of projects, and also on the Hermitage Road layout. The layout is now at the point where all the track is laid, operational, and scenicked. … Continue reading No. 154: Hermitage Road Update, Feb 2021

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, People2 Comments

No. 148: Modeling Missouri Pacific 50-foot Auto Cars

Golden1014

Back in February 2020, just about the time people in the West started talking about something called COVID-19, I began an unusual box car rebuilding project that took eight months to complete. The project was the complete rebuilding of an old Model Die Casting shake-the-box MoPac auto car kit. The prototype photo above is from Joe Collias’ photo collection, courtesy Ed Hawkins. The photo has an interesting story which I relate a little bit later. These cars have always been among my favorites, and the introduction of a top-of-the-line decal set by Ted Culotta of Speedwitch Media, specifically made for … Continue reading No. 148: Modeling Missouri Pacific 50-foot Auto Cars

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No. 144: 75 Days

Golden1014

It’s been 75 days since my last post.  That’s 2-1/2 months!  In that time I got new job at the air base–and have been working well over 50 hours a week—and wrote two articles for another guy’s blog, and spent ten days away in Slovenia and another week hiking in Austria.  And I have managed to dodge our friend COVID.  It’s been a very busy 75 days. Back on Memorial Day, my wife led the family on an awesome hike along a cliff in the Moselle River Valley, about 30 miles south of Koblenz.  It was the best hike I’ve … Continue reading No. 144: 75 Days

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling2 Comments

No. 143: Freight Car Modeling, May, 2020

Golden1014

I hope you have all been able to keep safe through all the COVID mess.  When it all kicked off, I said to my wife “There will be a lot of blessings in this.”  For my family and I, the blessings have been 1) A LOT of close family time, and 2) Lots of work, and almost no opportunity to spend money–which has allowed us to pay off nearly our bills. I’ve also had an opportunity to get some modeling done.  I set two priorities in March and April; first was finishing layout planning–which I’ll cover in another post–and second … Continue reading No. 143: Freight Car Modeling, May, 2020

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling1 Comment

No. 142: Models by Tom Christianson

Golden1014

Several months ago my friend from Florida, Tom Christianson, sent some freight car photos to me by way of Justin May.  Tom does some really terrific modeling and I asked if I could use the photos in a blog post.  I think you’ll agree that Tom’s work is really top-shelf. Tom wrote: There are a lot of influences on my modeling.  I started prototype modeling about 25 years ago and now model the 1959-1963 years.  I grew up in Largo, Florida.  The ACL ran by my kindergarten, the SAL ran by my elementary school playground, and the ACL/SCL ran by … Continue reading No. 142: Models by Tom Christianson

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, People1 Comment

No. 141: Greg Martin

Golden1014

Last week I received the sad news that our friend and modeler Greg Martin passed away due to a short illness.  Apparently his passing was Covid-19 related. Greg was a giant in the prototype modeling field, and pioneered new standards in freight car modeling.  His articles in Mainline Modeler in the 1970s were epic.  Here is one of my snaps of Greg, above, photographing models at the 2009 Cocoa Beach RPM event.  Here’s another from that series, below.  TGreg, as I called him–a reference to his e-mail–is taking photos at my model display. Greg and I met at one of … Continue reading No. 141: Greg Martin

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling7 Comments

No. 139: Freight Car Modeling, Feb, 2020, Part 2

Golden1014

In December I sold a few models to raise money to buy things for a new layout.  During that time I met online a fellow modeler named Eric Reinert.  Eric asked me if I could finish a few models for him, and sent me a box models all the way from Illinois for some work and weathering.  Here are three of the six cars Eric sent. First is a completed Tichy NYC rebuilt box car.  Check out the real-life weathering!  The build is good but the model needs a little help.  I’m going to re-detail this car to a minor … Continue reading No. 139: Freight Car Modeling, Feb, 2020, Part 2

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No. 138: Freight Car Modeling, Feb 2020, Part 1

Golden1014

Over President’s Day weekend my wife and one of my daughters and I took a long day trip to the famous city of Colmar, in the Alsace region of France.  Colmar is famous for a lot of reasons; among them, according to tourist sites, is picturesque half-timbered houses, romantic canals, flower-laden windowsills, a labyrinth of cobblestone lanes and delicious food.   They weren’t kidding.  Colmar is amazing.  Scenes like this are around every corner.  It’s also the capital of Alsatian Wine Country and we’ve resolved to go back this summer for a weekend of wine and cheese and touring.  And … Continue reading No. 138: Freight Car Modeling, Feb 2020, Part 1

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, O Scale & Proto 48, People1 Comment

No. 128: Russell Tedder…and Progress on Proto48 Models

Golden1014

In 2008 I was bitten by the O scale bug. That summer I spent three weeks at Little Rock AFB with some Air Force ROTC cadets, and because they couldn’t drink, I didn’t either…so I spent a lot of evenings and weekends building models over in officer billeting.  It was on this trip that I met Russell Tedder, and my friendship with Russell and his crew made it a truly, truly memorable trip.  I’ll write a little more about Russell later. Anyway, one of Russell’s friends ran a great hobby shop just outside the air base, and in addition to … Continue reading No. 128: Russell Tedder…and Progress on Proto48 Models