Prototype Topics, Railfanning & Museums2 Comments

No. 133: Brunswick, Maine Track Study

Golden1014

A few weeks ago I traveled to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to get my son to get his driver’s license.  Driving age here in Germany is 18, so we had it timed just right to arrive in Portsmouth and get his license on his 18th birthday. We stayed with our in-laws on the trip.  We spent some time with them, did a little shopping, and also went up to Brunswick, Maine for a few hours to visit Bowdoin College. The photo above is on the departure out of Frankfurt around 7:00 a.m. Frankfurt was levelled during the war by the British … Continue reading No. 133: Brunswick, Maine Track Study

Ackley, Iowa LayoutsLeave a comment

No. 132: Ackley Layout – Last M&StL Ops Session

Golden1014

In October I moved from our big, old house in Albersbach to a smaller, newer, more efficient house in Ramstein-Miesenbach. I took an entire week off from work, rented a large moving van and moved almost everything myself.  I hired a moving company to move the big stuff.  Then I had to completely clean the old house, to include patching holes, painting, and doing other routine maintenance I had put off over the years  The process took 12-14 hours a day for nine straight days, but I got it done.  Whew! Here’s the crew from the moving company, having a … Continue reading No. 132: Ackley Layout – Last M&StL Ops Session

Ackley, Iowa Layouts, Hermitage Road LayoutsLeave a comment

No. 130: Moving to Ramstein, and Maybe to a New Layout Too…

Golden1014

Labor Day In my last post I whined about how hard my summer has been.  It was, but today I’m happy to report I’ve still got all my fingers and toes, and the rebuilt shoulder is better than ever.  I played soccer the other day for the first time in 5-6 months and came away unscathed.  The family is doing great.  What is there to complain about! Trip to Dwingeloo To accelerate some relaxing, last month, over Labor Day weekend, I got away with my kids to the northwest corner of the Netherlands near a place called Dwingeloo National Park.  … Continue reading No. 130: Moving to Ramstein, and Maybe to a New Layout Too…

Ackley, Iowa Layouts3 Comments

No. 129: Three New Engines for the Fleet

Golden1014

I had an unusually tough summer, but despite all the challenges I managed to get some good modeling done. At the end of March I had some unexpected trouble with St. Louis RPM planning, and after a lot of praying I resigned from that whole thing.  That hurt, and I was bitter for a while, but it was the right thing to do for a lot of reasons. In April I broke my shoulder playing soccer, and that caused a whole basket-full of problems.  The worst problem was that I couldn’t sleep, so I walked around like a zombie for … Continue reading No. 129: Three New Engines for the Fleet

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

Ackley, Iowa Layouts7 Comments

No. 127: Ackley Layout Ops Session (Seaboard Air Line)

Golden1014

Hi Friends!  I hope you’re all doing well and are enjoying a nice back-to-school weekend. In April or May I ran an ops session on my Ackley, Iowa layout using New York Central equipment.  I joked to one of my friends online that I should run a Seaboard session, and then thought “Hey, that’d be a cool idea!”  So a few weeks ago I pulled out all the Seaboard equipment I had left, and all my southeastern freight cars, and ran a “Montgomery Line” ops session.  It was a lot of fun. The SAL Montgomery Line—sometimes called The SAM (the … Continue reading No. 127: Ackley Layout Ops Session (Seaboard Air Line)

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, Prototype Topics, Railfanning & MuseumsLeave a comment

No. 126: Railfanning at Lesce-Bled, Slovenia…and Finishing a Few Freight Cars

Golden1014

In June I took my family to Slovenia and Croatia for a little get-away after school ended.  We spent a week in Radovljica, Slovenia and then spent a couple of days at a seaside resort in Pula, Croatia. Radovljica (pronounced Rad-ol-ska) is one of the most beautiful, pleasant places on the Earth.  We love life there.  The people are wonderful, the cost of living is low, and the scenery there–near the magnificent, unspoiled Triglev National Park–is breathtaking.  If I could move there and retire, I think I would. One morning during our week I went to a nearby mainline railway … Continue reading No. 126: Railfanning at Lesce-Bled, Slovenia…and Finishing a Few Freight Cars

People3 Comments

No. 125: Al Buchan

Golden1014

On June 5th I received word that one of my longtime friends in the hobby, and in life, has passed on.  That friend was Al Buchan, who was one of my first model railroad mentors.  I first read the news on the IO Groups PRR Modeling site.  Al’s son Bob was kind enough to follow up with a personal message the following day: This is Al’s son, Bob Buchan.  Just writing to inform you of my dad’s passing.  He had been struggling with health issues the past couple years and now his suffering is over.  He is now with his … Continue reading No. 125: Al Buchan

Ackley, Iowa Layouts6 Comments

No. 124: Ackley Layout Ops Session (New York Central)

Golden1014

Last week I got the layout plugged in and running again, and after cleaning track and polishing up a few wheelsets, and testing operation of all the switch machines and points, I ran a little ops session.   While I was at it I took a few photos with my son’s iPhone 10.   I ran this session with New York Central equipment.  Power was provided by a single Kato RS-2 with Loksound and DCC installed by my friend Mike Christianson in Albert Lea.  And old Alco Models NYC caboose was on the back end carrying the markers.  The engine … Continue reading No. 124: Ackley Layout Ops Session (New York Central)