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

Hermitage Road Layouts5 Comments

No. 140: New Turnouts for a New Layout

Golden1014

I spent all last week in Mezraya, Djerba Island, Tunisia, leading U.S. participation in a small international airshow.  Djerba is a sleepy resort island in southwest Tunisia near the border with Libya.  It was a great experience and as always the Tunisian people were friendly, happy and grateful.  It was a long week—many 12+-hour work days. The photo above shows a few of the jets we brought down.  In the foreground is Air Force KC-135, at center is an Air Force C-130J, and farthest away—with the number 426—is a new Navy P-8.  The team and I flew down on the … Continue reading No. 140: New Turnouts for a New Layout

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

Freight and Passenger Car ModelingLeave a comment

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

Prototype Topics, Railfanning & MuseumsLeave a comment

No. 137: Trolleys of Prague, Czech Repulic

Golden1014

Over Christmas week I took the family skiing in Slovakia.  It was a 13-hour drive from Germany to the Tatras National Park in Slovakia, so we stopped halfway–in Prague, Czech Republic–to enjoy a nice evening at the Prague Christmas markets. My son has been to Prague several times and told me all about the trolleys there.  I’m not much of a trolley fan but I was pleasantly surprised.  We stayed in a cool Air B&B on the east side of the river, overlooking the Charles Bridge, and on the morning of the 24th I got up early and walked to … Continue reading No. 137: Trolleys of Prague, Czech Repulic

Prototype Topics, Railfanning & Museums1 Comment

No. 136: More Modeling Considerations – The West Belt Line

Golden1014

Over Christmas 2019, I took my family skiing in the Tatras National Park in Slovakia.  We usually ski in Austria but this year we wanted to try something different.  We stopped halfway for a nice night in Prague, enjoying the Christmas markets there, and on the way back we spent two days in Poland.  It was a great trip—very different.  By the way, the skiing in Slovakia was good! Of course there were trains everywhere, and I was able to break away from the family one morning and spent an hour chasing trolleys in downtown Prague.  Driving east through the … Continue reading No. 136: More Modeling Considerations – The West Belt Line

Ackley, Iowa Layouts2 Comments

No. 135: Almost Perfect – Modeling the Milwaukee Road in Albert Lea

Golden1014

I was on the way back from a work trip to the U.S. Embassy in Rabat, Morocco a few weeks ago when I wrote this post. The travel day back home to Germany was an epic adventure and not in a good way. I expected a 10-hour travel day but got a 22-hour travel ordeal instead. Lufthansa gave me an extra present at the end of it all by losing my luggage. Anyway the extra nine hours I spent in the airport in Rabat, sitting and waiting for a flight, were used to write this post and a couple more. … Continue reading No. 135: Almost Perfect – Modeling the Milwaukee Road in Albert Lea

Hermitage Road Layouts1 Comment

No. 134: New Layout Considerations – The Milwaukee Road’s Mason City Freight House

Golden1014

In my quest to find a great place to model, I’m refining my focusing on an area I consider to be “home”.  Home is the area between the south end of Minneapolis and the north end of Mason City.  I never lived there but I spent a month up in Chanhassen, Minnesota visiting relatives each summer.  I learned very quickly to love life there. The Milwaukee Road terminal through Mason City was cool.  The Milwaukee had all the basics in Mason City, some of which can be seen in the map excerpt below.  In addition to the small yard and … Continue reading No. 134: New Layout Considerations – The Milwaukee Road’s Mason City Freight House