On The Road

Last weekend, I had the chance to visit a local modelers layout. I had visited in the past, but its a nice big layout, and the return visit was very pleasant with lots to see. Dave has done a great job on his layout and the layout room itself offers lots of memorabilia and aircraft models ( Dave's other hobby) to look at. I took along my two D&H RS36's to give them a run ( see photos this post) - we attached a train and let them run around the layout for a good hour or more. All in all a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Thanks Dave.Till next time....

Wheels, Wheels, Wheels

Well there sure is a vast array of scale vehicles available for HO scale models these days, with many of them very well done. I like to keep the vehicles on my layout, believeable. Becaue I model late 60/early 70's, it would not be out of the question to see a 50's pickup in that time frame. That being said, it would certainly be more beliveable if it had a tired worn-out look to it. One or two of these on a layout set in my era woud be acceptable, but the majority of vehicles should reflect the period. I have an Accurail open type auto carrier that I someday hope to build, and I envision it being loaded with nice new vehicles of that time period. A quick look through the vehicles section of the latest Walthers catalogue, shows that this can easily be achieved. However vehicles are not limited to cars or trucks, and now agriculture equipment and construction equipment is available in that time period. Example would be the flatcar I have that came with two John Deere 4020 tractors. These tractors were built between 1963 - 72, and as such fit perfectly in my era. When I finshed my coal mine, I wanted to put a wheel loader in the scene, but the only one I had was the newer Caterpillar model that Norscot sells. I added it, but it looked just too modern. This leads me up to my latest vehicle acqusition which is the newly released (by First Gear) International Harvestor 560 Payloader model. I remember seeing these when I was a youngester and I must say this model is impressive, but not cheap. Have a look at this postings picture as the loader gets ready to move a pile of coal. Till next time.......

New Grade Crossing

Well now that my coal mine has recently been completed, I had to install an access road to the mine. The only place that I could easily install a road, was over a curved section of track. Blair Line recently released a series of laser cut grade crossing for curves. They come in several different radi. I installed one of their 24" models to allow access to the mine. The road is dirt, so it was easy to build up to allow a smooth transition over the crossing. I weathered the crossing with A West "Weather It" aging solution, which gives the crossing a nice aged look. The picture shows Maine Central GP38 #258 about to go over the crossing. Till next time....