Ahoy There

 

I model the Maine Central in the late 1970’s time frame.  As such, I have a small waterfront scene on my L shaped switching layout and for a couple of years now, I wanted to have a fishing boat that would add to the “East Coast” feel of the layout. I looked on line at some various kits and decided on Seaport Model Works kit # H128-1    which is a small 34 foot lobster boat. It comes in a couple of different versions, one with a full hull and one with a waterline hull which is the one that I selected. Seaport Model works is a small company based out of Hampton, New Hampshire and I remember visiting their booth when I attended a Fine Scale Expo back in 2011 in Peabody, Mass. They have an excellent selection of HO Scale ( and other scales) marine items for model railroad use Home - Sea Port Model Works

The kit comes packaged in a sturdy cardboard box with a couple of pictures of the finished product on it. Opening up the kit, I found pieces made of cast Resin, various strip styrene pieces, brass rod, laser cut wood, and a couple of detail packages of metal and etched brass detail parts.  Also included was a multi page instruction booklet – additional hints and tips are available for download on the Seaport Model works home page.

All the pieces were of high quality and the main cast resin hull piece only had a couple of very small “divots” that were easily filled with Squadron modeling putty and sanded smooth. Some other kit pieces needed minor touch ups with a small file to remove some  flash which was very minimal.

I washed all the cast resin pieces with warm water and dish detergent to remove any mold residue that might interfere with the painting process.

 

I didn’t follow the instructions step by step, as they were kind of broken down into sub sections, so you could build different subsections at any time, however I concentrated on building up the boat first to the point where I could get it painted. For most of the construction, I used small amounts of Gorilla gel glue which worked great.

Once the boat was done, I painted it with a couple of light coats of light grey primer and made sure I gave it plenty of time to dry i.e. several days. It was then painted with a rattle can of flat white paint – again a couple of light coats gives better results than trying to make sure you have all the areas covered in the first pass. The trim on the boat was painted with Polly Scale Steam Power black. The window “glass” was installed last after the painting of the boat was completed. In order to not fog up the glass, I used Canopy Glue instead of an ACC type glue.

 

Once the boat was finished, I built and painted all the detail parts. The lobster traps are etched brass and all that is needed to build them is to cut them off the sprue and bend them into shape. I primed them with the same grey primer that I had used on the boat and then used a combination of Vallejo and crafts store paints to dry brush them until I got the desired look. The kit comes with a couple of the lobster traps, but I wanted some more so at the time the boat was purchased, I bought an extra package of the traps (part #PEB-12). The kit comes with a couple of resin barrels. I primed these with the grey primer and again used the aforementioned paints to weather them including using rust colored paint for the barrel straps. One of the barrels is called a “bait barrel” and is hollow inside, so once the painting was done on this, I filled it with 5 minute epoxy to give it a filled with water look.

 

 

This was a fun little kit to put together and provided several hours of enjoyment. It now sits alongside the wharf on my small harbour feature of the layout which still requires some more super detailing to get that East Coast feel just right. Till next time..

 

Maine Central Switchers

 Hi folks. Well it has been some time since I last posted and I am still in a bit of  low motivation level when it comes to model railroading. I did not attend the last 2 local shows with my On30 group, however I did do an On30 decoder install for  a member of our group ( On30 Forney - Soundtraxx TSU1100 decoder/ with keep alive) as well as participate in a friends operations sessions on his home layout twice this fall. That being said I wanted to post something , so I thought that I would post a picture of what i currently have for switchers on my MEC layout. I currently have a Proto 2000 S3 and an Atlas  Alco HH660.  They are both DCC equipped ( but not sound). I was the original owner of both of these locomotives and was lucky enough to have the friend that I sold them to, resell them back to me a couple of years ago. I have an order put in for a new Atlas S2 that was originally announced a coupe of years ago, but the release date keeps getting delayed with the latest date being Feb 2023 ( we shall see). I ordered a non DCC version , which I will install my own sound decoder in once I get it. Once I get that one, I think I will be good for switchers. Here's a look at my current small switcher fleet. Till next time....

Freight Car Friday

 Hi folks:

Well the hot humid dog days of summer are upon us and as mentioned in my last post, time for Model Railroading is limited to any days where the weather is not good ( few and far between it seems). Recently on one of those days, I put together a lumbar load kit from American Model Builders for a Proto 2000 freight car flatcar that I had acquired a few years ago. The kit was easy to put together and because it was laser cut, the only tools need were and xacto knife to separate the parts from the wooden sprues and some yellow carpenters glue. It went together in under an hour or so. The Proto flatcar is decaled for Toronto Hamilton and Buffalo ( TH&B). I bought it from a second hand dealer at a local train show ( was part of an estate) -I think I only paid 5 or 6 dollars for it. It wasn't in perfect condition, - it was missing the brake wheel and a stirrup step and coupe of handrails. Fortunately I had a few left in a TH&B gondola kit that I built and so was able to use those. I also added an American Model Builders laser cut wood deck which I stained with a couple of coats of india ink / alcohol mix. Because this car is now approx 20 -25 years old, it is not the most top of end models, but still looks nice to my eye and with the new lumbar loads, will create some visual interest when on my layout. Till next time...

New Factory and a "funk"

 Hi Folks: Well its hard to believe that its been 3.5 months ago since I last posted. For some unknown reason, I entered the dreaded "model railroad funk" earlier than usual this year - right after my last posting to be exact. Usually I take a summer hiatus during the summer months, but I guess my mind told me it was summer earlier than usual this year!! One of the last things I was working on was completing a brick factory structure ( still haven't decided name yet) for the layout. It is the well known "MiddleSex Maufactoring Company " kit made by Atlas Model Railroad company Atlas - Middlesex Manufacturing Co. - Kit - 15 x 5-1/2" 38.1 x 14cm - 150-721 (walthers.com)   I bought the kit with the understanding that I would kit bash it into a shallow relief structure and I got many ideas from other modelers who had done the same thing with the kit - lots of info available on the net. It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. Its amazing what some brick colored primer paint and a good technique for brick morter can do. I jazzed up the roof with a Walthers AC unit and added the conduit piping from a kit made by ITLA Scale Models Inc. A roof top access doorway from left over parts from a Rix grain bin and to finish, roof top gravel from Walthers. I still have another loading dock to add as well as some goose neck lights over the loading bay doors and that should do it. I recently attended a regional Model Railroad Convention, as well as helping a friend show his layout , as part of the convention layout tour menu. I must admit the convention helped in renewing my interest - when you get in a funk like I did , go visit one of your MR buddies - its a great remedy for "the funk"! Enjoy your summer everyone! Till next time...

Steam Time

 Hi folks - its been a bit since I posted, but I have been staying active and have been working on the layout and some other projects, but not at a fast pace. Last year (early 2021), a friend of mine needed sound added to a couple of HO scale Bachmann 80 ton shay models. Sound was added with a Soundtraxx TSU 1100 steam -2 decoder and ESU sugar cube speakers. They both turned out nicely and I must admit they sure did look and sound great! I went for a visit back in Dec and he ran the locos. When I got home, I went on the internet to see what was available in these models (I told myself just was going to look) - perhaps I shouldn't have LOL! Anyway to make a long story short, I am now the owner of an HO scale Bachmann 80 Ton Shay which I added the same decoder as I did for my friends. I did do a bit more to mine, as I replaced all the light bulbs with Surface mount LEDS ( golden white) including the firebox light which I can now control with a flicker effect! Doing this was by far the biggest part of the project, as the model had to be take apart extensively. Luckily I was able to find a couple of articles on the internet explaining how to do this. I worked slowly and labeled and bagged every part and screw that I had to take off the model. I was also fortunate to have a fellow NMRA member in my region who gave me advice and answered some of my questions, as he did this same project recently (Thank_you Greg!) Anyway the model is now equipped with the Soundtrax TSU 1100 Steam -2 decoder (located in the water tender) and a Soundtraxx Sugar Cube speaker located in the coal bunker. I had to scratch build a new coal load as the original one took up all the interior of the coal bunker and would not have allowed a speaker to be installed there - this was a relatively easy thing to do - I cut out a piece of .060 styrene, spray painted it flat black and glue woodland scenics coal onto the top - in place it looks just as good as the original coal load and the model sounds nice. On a final note, these Bachmann models are notorious for the cracked gear issue and so I did take a chance ordering this one - it was listed as never used, but one never knows! When I inspected the model, I did see 1 - possibly 2 gears that were cracked, but the model still ran nicely (even better after the decoder was installed and some run time ). I emailed Bachmann and the response was that replacement parts are no longer available for these models. That being said, North West Short lines do make replacement gears for these and so I took the liberty and ordered a set (they come in 6 to a set), as they were currently available( sometimes they aren't). So my plan is to keep these gears but not change them out unless the model starts to run badly in the future. This model will not be a regular locomotive on my layout, but I like it and will take it out to run once in awhile and enjoy watching all the moving parts that these models are famous for. Till next time

Bachmann 80 Ton Shay with Tsunami 2 Sound

Geepers Geeps

 Hi Folks:

In a post last March, I told the story of how I had waited a long time to acquire a locomotive that I had been after for awhile  Nottingham Sub: Dont wait....

Once I got the loco, I liked it so much that I decided that I wanted to get the other road # that was released for that particular Atlas run - only issue was that the run was from 2006 or 7. Well as explained in that post , sometimes you have to wait until one becomes available for sale. So lots of checking Ebay and various on line sites , and then finally I found one - it was a couple of days before Christmas, and I checked the same site as where I got the last one and there it was - the other road number , as well as another one of the same road number that i got back in March of 2021. I immediately ( and I meant IMMEDIATELY) ordered it as the description says it was in very good condition - they always provide great pictures of the items for sale and the picture of the underside of the trucks looked like the wheels had no wear whatsoever, so the loco although listed as used , probably cane from a collectors estate sale or something. It arrived a couple of days ago and it still had all the original packing foam and handrail protectors and totally looked brand new - I was very pleased. So now I have 5 GP7's in my fleet. I have the following:

Atlas Maine Central #565 (with Soundtraxx Econami)

Atlas Maine Central #562 (with Soundtraxx Econami)

Athearn Genesis  Maine Central #567 (with ESU Loksound v5)

Atlas Bangor and Aroostook #67 (non sound Digitrax decoder)

Atlas Bangor and Aroostook #71 (non sound Digitrax decoder)

The GP 7 Fleet

BAR # 67 and #71

MEC GP7's

Freight Car Friday

 Well folks here it is , the last day of 2021. Lets all hope that we get this pandemic finally behind us in 2022, so we can all get on with our lives - we sure all deserve it after the last 21 months dealing with this. Speaking of a long time, if I showed you todays freight car without telling you the story behind it, you would soon forget about it ( and you might still after the story!). This car is one of only a few pieces of modeling railroading items that remains from my collection from the late 70's - early 80's when I was a teenager. Most of the items were either lost when my parents moved a couple of times ( I was living on the other side of the country by then and the collection was in a couple of stored cardboard boxes at my parents place)  in the late 80's early 90's and what items I did salvage, I sold off as a lot to a guy that I worked with, as I was no longer in the hobby then. There was nothing special , some Athearn locomotives and rolling stock (Blue box type back then) and some structures that were less than ideally put together ( my modeling skills were not that great back then). However it sure was nice to have held onto a couple of mementos from back then - I am glad I did. So the boxcar is a 50 foot Southern Pacific ( which was the line I modeled back then) with the addition of Kadee Couplers and Kato trucks ( both added a few years ago). I also gave it a light coat of Floquil grime to give it a dusty look - this was done when I upgraded the couplers and trucks. Like I said nothing special, but a subtle reminder of how far back my model railroading days go. Wishing everyone a happy New Years and all the best for 2022. Till next time...

Freight Car Friday - Big and Small

 Hi Folks:

I received a new freight car (kind -of) in the mail today. While browsing the internet recently I came across pictures of a MEC O scale Caboose by Atlas and I must say I was impressed with what I saw, so I went to see what was available. As luck would have it , I found a new unused one that actually has the same road # as one of my HO scale Atlas MEC caboose (cabeese???). I pulled the trigger and ordered it. The plan is to use it simply as a shelf display unit. I was impressed with the model as it has working lights (including a rear end of train light)and a fully detailed interior. It sure has a hefty feel to it compared to the HO scale version. One thing I did notice however is that even though both the O scale and HO scale are from Atlas, the color is slightly different with the O scale version being more yellow appearing and the HO version more orange in color - at least to my eyes anyway! Here are some pictures. 

Big and small

O scale 

Flour Mill

 Hello folks - more work was recently completed on one of the 2 main industries on my revamped portion of the layout. The as yet unnamed flour mill is essentially completed except for some weathering and a few more detail parts added to the loading dock and around the facility. I added some of the Woodland Scenics Just Plug goose neck lights to the loading bay area and entry way door as well as an interior light to the recently added loading bay interior . It does indeed add an extra dimension to the look of the structure. The flour mill is a kit bashed Walthers kit - I took the kit which was meant to be put together as a four sided structure and turned it into a shallow relief version, splicing the 2 side walls together. Searching the internet, you can see that this is a very common bash of this kit. As well, I added a Walthers Surge Bin  and a Rix Grain Conveyor to join the 2 pieces. It was  a fun build and I like the look that it gives -i.e a significant sized structure that will be able to accept a couple of different car types for this part of the layout. Till next time.

The "Mill"

Parking Lot

 Hello folks - this past month, I created a new parking lot /roadway on the layout. It was built in such a way so that a new structure (brick walled factory) I am planning will be sitting on it as well - You can see the wall parts being test fit in the pictures below. The first step that I did was to remove the existing ground cover materials followed by using N scale cork roadbed to build up the area of the parking lot. Then I used balsa wood "forms" to create the outline of the parking lot area. The next step was to use premixed joint compound as the "poured cement". A couple of skim coats were needed after the initial "pour" in order to get it as smooth as possible  - I did use fine grit sanding paper to smooth it out even further. The road did have a few small cracks in it, but as it turned out , they actually enhanced the look after I painted the parking lot. For that first I used Woodland Scenics "Asphalt " stain and once this was fully dry.. I used a small sponge to apply the Woodland Scenics cement color. This was done in a manner almost like dry brushing i.e. most of the color was blotted off on paper towel before I used the sponge to blot on the color over the asphalt color - you want very little cement color left on the sponge when applying. You might have to apply multiple coats in this manner to get the effect you want. Doing this caused the initial black layer to stay in the cracks and show through the blotted on cement color - I was pleased with the results. Afterwards, I assembled Rix Products guard rails and applied them to a couple of areas of the parking lot and alongside the grade crossing. Finally Woodland Scenics "Just Plug" street lights were added in a couple of places. One last thing I want to do is to apply a small wooden person crossing from the factory area across the rail siding to the main area of the parking lot. As they say "details make the difference" Till next time....

New parking lot

Parking Lot/Grade Crossing

Freight Car Friday

 Well folks here it is October all ready - what happened to the summer! Seems like I blinked and it was gone. The first half of summer was carefree and my wife and I spent many lazy days enjoying the great summer weather on our back deck ( with the occasional adult beverage), but the second half was kind of full with family commitments and such. I have however managed to get some modeling time in when we had the occasional rainy day - updates on layout changes coming soon. Todays freight car Friday has the spotlight on paper cars. Back in the early 2000's, Life Like ( now taken over by Walthers) had a line called Proto 1000 - it was suppose to be an economy line of locomotives and freight cars with less detailing and such. Included in that line were NSC 50 foot boxcars that were models of the cars produced in the 1960's that were used to handle large rolls of newsprint that papermills shipped to their customers. The proto 1000 line were actually very good considering they were suppose to be an "economy model" - in fact the price stickers are still on some of the boxes of mine from my local hobby shop and it reads $8.99. When I insect the cars and see that price, all I can think is that in todays world what a bargain!! I have 9 of these cars in various paint schemes that would have been seen in the area that I model. All the modeler had to do was add on the ladders and door locking bars and the model was ready to go. One of cons of this model however is that once the door bars are added to these models, the modeler has to be very careful when sliding the models back into the box (once they are in there protective trays). The door bar roller assembly at the bottom of the door is very (and I mean VERY) fragile and if it even rubs on the flap of the box as you slide it in , it will break it off. Other than that , these models were ( and still are ) a very nice model for the price - however like most model railroad equipment I see them for sale on the internet with the asking price several times what the original owner would have paid for them. Atlas has recently announced that they will be producing this same model of boxcar -they bought the tooling from the now defunct True Line Trains, before True Line had a chance to produce this model for release. I ordered a CN version (yellow door) and a Canadian Pacific Pine Tree loco one. It will be interesting to do a side by side comparison of todays new release with the older Proto 1000 release from ~ 20 years ago. I have a feeling that the old boy on the block will still hold up well in comparison especially given the price I paid for them. Till next time....

Proto 1000 Newsprint Cars

Central Vermont #402706

Track Weathering

 Its now mid August and the process to get all the newly installed track weathered has been completed. I found it a bit tedious as the track was installed back in June and its seems like it has taken me a long time to get this done. I guess due to the fact that I only spent a couple of hours per week on it for the last month and a half is the reason. Summer is definitely not model railroad season for me! I used the same techniques for weathering the track as I used back when I built the layout and it had On30 track initially - after the track was painted and installed, (and here's the scary part) I used suede colored craft paint to paint every tie. Next comes "painting" the rail (again) with a color made as a slurry of Rust colored weathering power and 70% rubbing alcohol. This was applied to both sides of the rail and to the tie plates as well - at this point ( see picture below) you will look at the track and think to yourself  "What the hell have I done!!!" but bear with me. After that, go back with the suede craft paint and a square tipped brush and touch up the ties, especially around the tie plates. Let this dry for a day or 2 before proceeding.

Once the paint dries and the track looks terrible, the next step happens which really is the transforming piece of the weathering process. Take a soft brush ( use one that you don't mind destroying - as after this you probably wont use it again) and apply a liberal dusting of soot black weathering powder over the entire track. Then you want to use a sprayer that can produce a very fine mist and mist down the track with 70% alcohol and watch what happens!!!.  The weathering aspect is then complete.

Next the track can be ballasted using a normal method that I described on my blog entry back on 22 Jan titled "Sharing". As a final touch, I spray the track and ballast with a India Ink/ alcohol mix. Be sure and give your track rail heads a good cleaning afterwards to get anything off the railheads to ensure good electrical conductivity for your locos. As mentioned all these steps add up to a time consuming process, but I am happy with the way my track looks afterwards. Our track is a model too and it deserves to not have a toy like shiny appearance that distracts viewers of our model railroads. Till next time...

Track after seude painted ties and rust colored rails

Track after dusted with black weathering powder and misted with alcohol

Final appearance of ballasted track 

Change is good

 Hi folks - well as I mentioned on my last post, I wanted to share some big news for the Nottingham Subdivision - I have decided to revert back to HO scale ( from On30) for my home layout. I will continue to be a member of the On30 modular group that I have belonged to for the last 10 years or so , but have spent considerable time thinking about my direction for my home layout. Although On30 locos and rolling stock are not much bigger than HO scale, the big thing for me given my space constrains was structures. O scale structures are generally 4 times the volume of HO and so I came to the conclusion that I just don't have the space to continue down the O scale road. I have spent the last month ripping up my old On30 trackage and turnouts and they have been replaced with H scale Peco code 83 flextrack and # 5 and #6 turnouts. I liked the track configuration that I have for On30, so no changes were made there. The new track was painted Camo dark brown after it was cut to size and soldered ( remember to leave every third piece unsoldered for expansion purposes). Once that was done I used DAP clear colored sealant to fix the track to the existing N scale roadbed (this was a new method for me). Next I will be adding Caboose Industries ground throws to activate the Peco turnouts - an easier method is just using your finger to push the switch points themselves, but I didn't like the idea of pushing on those parts, as I think over time the stress on them will take a toll. Once that is done I will be further weathering the track before ballasting. In between this I have managed to be able to build one good sized structure and have just received another kit that I have ordered from Otter Valley Railroad. By this fall I hope to have the layout back to "normal" with everything being HO scale at that point. Below is a picture of what I have done so far and the first loco ( and boxcar) to ride the new rails. Till next time....

Model Railroad Organizations

 

Hi folks - due to the recent weather here in the Maritimes of Canada, my model railroading season has been extended. Although we have had a couple of nice days, it seems like rainy cool days have been more the norm this spring so far. My modeling is continuing and it seems like there has been just enough decent weather to get most of my outside jobs done so far - so yes a happy balance. Recently I decided to join the NMRA National Model Railroad Association (nmra.org)   As of 1 May 2021 , I am officially a member. I have always known about the NMRA, even when I was a young modeler in the late 70's early 80's. Back then I was a member of the TAMR - teen association of model railroading and wrote an article on my  layout for the Canadian Division  newsletter (The Intercolonial) that was published - I still have a copy of the old black and white newsletter. I found it on the archives of the TAMR website as well:
8103.pdf (teenrailmodel.org)
 I have been a member of the MFMR Maritime Federation of Model Railroaders (mfmr.ca)  since around 1998 when I got back into the hobby. When I joined that organization, the NMRA was inactive in this region of Canada, so joining the NMRA then was not something I considered. That being said, the region has been "reactivated" approx 3-4 years ago and having recently become curious about it, I decided why not. Eastern Canada Division – NMRA ~ NER (wordpress.com) I attended my first on line meeting this past week - it was the annual general meeting and I must say I was impressed with what  saw ( and heard). I am looking forward to becoming an active member and have already volunteered to do a product review for the newsletter. Stay tuned for an update on my layout work -big project! Till next time...

New DCC System Part 2

 Hi Folks. Since my last update,  I have installed the new Digitrax DCC system a couple of weeks ago and as well have found a buyer for my old Lenz system. The installation was pretty straight forward and getting it up and running didn't take much time. I must admit having wireless throttles is a cool new feature for me! That being said, as with any new DCC system, there is still a lot to learn and become proficient at. I have joined a Digitrax support group and have already been able to learn a few things from that. Along with the new Evox D system, I installed just one UP5 fascia mounted jack ( powered) so if a visitor brings an older plug in Digitrax throttle, it can still be used - also gives me an outlet if I have to synch any duplex throttles - avoiding crawling under the layout to hook up to command station. Shortly after I ordered the new system, I decided that I wanted to add wireless capability for visitors by means of adding the Digitrax LNWI module to my system. Most folks have smart phones nowadays and a lot of the model railroaders I know have a throttle app on their phones. The added benefit of this is fewer throttles to buy ( they aint cheap!!). I have a Samsung tablet that can be used as a throttle as well, so that was tested with the new LNWI Module.  Initially I kind of wondered if having both the Duplex (UR93) module and the Wireless module (LNWI) operating at the same time might cause issues. I went on the Digitrax forum and was able to see that some users of the older UR92 duplex module did indeed have issues. Part of my installation process was to load the newest firm wear updates to both the modules in hopes that Digitrax had figured out any bugs and that I would not experience any issues. Well I am happy to report , that after installing the LNWI module, and using my Samsung tablet ( with the Engine Driver App), that things worked just fine and I was able to control one loco on Duplex throttle and one on the Samsung tablet (LNWI)....Till next time - happy railroading.

Digitrax DT602D throttle (Wireless) and New UP5 Jack

New UT6D utility throttle (wireless)

New Digitrax DCS210+ Command Station

UR93 Duplex module (Left) and LNWI wireless module (Right)

Engine Driver App on Samsung Tablet

New DCC System

 Hi folks. Back about a month ago, I decided to make some major changes to my existing shelf layout. I don't want to tell all at this point, however at the top of the list was updating my DCC System. I currently have the Lenz LZV 100 command station and an LH100 and LH90 throttle. I bought these approx. 18 years ago and although the system has undergone an upgrade ( around 2008) from version 3.5 to 3.6, I felt it was time to move on. One of the reasons was that although the Lenz system is solidly built and works very well, I felt that the support was just not there - other systems continued to do upgrades and come out with new components on a regular basis but Lenz just did not keep up the pace. Recently Lenz did come out with a new command station (LZV200) and updated throttle (LH101) and as a current Lenz owner, I could have participated in their trade in program, but I opted not to and changed paths. I have decided to take the "Digitrax Road " and purchased their newest Radio (Duplex) system , along with their updated throttles . I will be putting my old Lenz up for sale and hopefully will find someone who wants a low usage system that is complete with command station, power supply, throttles (x2), fascia plug plug in connectors and all cabling. When I sell something , I have always been reasonable on what I ask, so hopefully this will be appealing for an all in system for a reasonable amount. Now to get to work hooking up my new system....till next time.

Another new Loco

 Hi folks - well we have had some enjoyable sunny warm spring days as of late - nice to see winter behind us. Recently I purchased (from Georges Trains in Toronto). a new Rapido M420 locomotive. The prototype was a Canadian made locomotive and saw service on Canadian National here in Canada up until approx 1993. In fact I remember seeing a few here in my area of Canada. Some examples went to the US ( and Mexico I believe) in very small numbers. This loco has never before been done in plastic and it was great to see Rapido come through and meet the demand to produce this locomotive. I had not pre-ordered, but after the model came out and I saw some on the internet, I decided "why not". I selected an ESU sound equipped version and I must say it is very impressive ( this is my first Rapido locomotive) and it runs very nicely. Besides the great sound, it features working class lights and truck lights as well as a lighted control stand in the cab interior ( can you get any better????). Any way , I very much like it and am glad to have picked up this iconic Canadian Locomotive. Till next time....

Freight Car Friday

 Hi folks. Well I thought winter was finished with us here in Nova Scotia for this year. The ground was bare and we have had a couple of days where it was pleasant enough to go for a walk with a lightweight spring jacket - NOT!!. Overnight / today we had approx 20 cm of snow here in my area of the province. On the bright side the temperatures are suppose to go up significantly in the next several days along with rain , so I suspect this snow will not be here for very long. Bring on spring!!. Todays Freight Car Friday spotlights 2 Kadee hopper cars. These cars where bought shortly before I switched over to On30 scale approx 10 years ago. As such , they were never used and are essentially like new. They remained as part of my small HO scale freight car collection when I sold off the vast majority of my HO equipment. I am glad I held onto them. I must admit even with the plethora of new manufacturers high quality RTR cars, these Kadee cars are still very high quality and impressive. The hatches even open on these ones (as shown in the pictures). I plan on picking up a few more in the future. Happy Friday everyone.....

Dont wait....

 Hi folks. Most of us have at some point in the hobby experienced buyers remorse and the opposite which is where we see something we like and wait or put off till tomorrow to buy and then poof -its gone.. Well I don't know about you, but as far as the latter I have experience it many tines. For some time now, I have wanted to purchase an Atlas Classic GP7 in the Bangor and Aroostook scheme. Recently there have been several releases by different manufacturers of Bangor and Aroostook GP7's , but they have all been in the Railroads newer Orange, Blue, and Grey scheme. I wanted the older Dark Blue and Grey scheme which I liked better - looks classy to me. Well to that end, Its been probably approx. 15 years since this was last done by Atlas. I saw one about a year ago that looked in "as new condition" but I hesitated  and then you know what happened - poof! So for the last year or so, I have been keeping my eyes open on eBay, and various on line second hand dealers. About 2 weeks ago , late one evening I was on the following site:

Model Train Market | Buy Model Trains Online - Railroad Accessories and Train Stuff

 and there was not one , but 4 listed. 2 were the older Atlas/ Kato variety , 1 was an Atlas classic that had a dcc (only) decoder in it ( the handrails were broken in the pictures ( I suspect this was done by the previous owner while converting to DCC as the handrails on these are fragile)) and lastly there was an Atlas Classic that was DC only and in the pictures all the handrails were still in tack. I immediately ordered the last one. I did not hesitate and I am glad I did not - I checked back the next day and both the Atlas/Kato ones were gone and a couple days later the one with the broken handrails was no longer there - poof all of them gone!!!. So yesterday the postman arrived and I immediately opened the box and did an inspection - I believe I lucked out in acting as quickly as I did - although the model came with no box (grrrrrr), when inspected there were no broken parts - the end handrails were still in the small factory sealed packet and the wheels looked to have virtually no wear. I think I got the best one of the bunch. I checked it out on a piece of flex track hooked up to my old Tech 2  2400 power pack and it ran flawlessly - yeah!. I swapped out the Accumate couplers for Kadee Scale Head # 158's. The loco will be converted in the future to sound - another sound project for my list.....so moral of the story is don't wait - if you see something appealing so are 100 other modelers.

BAR GP7

BAR GP7

BAR GP7

Another Sound Conversion

 Hi Folks -- So this particular DCC project has taken me awhile to finish. I have 2 Atlas Classic (Maine Central) GP-7s that I bought new when they were first released back around 2004. I converted them to DCC back then using a TCS 2 function decoder. They have always worked very well with excellent slow speed performance. Finally it was time to bring them up to date with sound. I decided to select Soundtraxx Econami decoders and give those a try - they are considerable cheaper than that companies Tsunami 2 decoders so this was appealing to me given the age of these 2 locos. I ordered the decoders back in early December from Yankee Dabbler - a train shop in New Jersey ( I bought some stuff from their booth last year at the Big E show in Springfield, Mass and was impressed with them and have ordered a couple of times from them now) - I highly recommend them. As luck would have it (or otherwise), I ordered when the huge pre Christmas rush was on and from the news reports, the mail systems in both the US and Canada became "grid locked" due to the season and ongoing Covid 19 pandemic. It was not until the middle of January when  I finally got the parcel. In between ordering the decoders and receiving them, I was originally going to use a Soundtraxx Sugar Cube speakers, however I was doing some research and found out about speakers from Scale Sound Systems and decided to order speakers for these two locos from them. There are lots of rave reviews on the web about them. Here is a link to the model of speaker that I ordered:

Atlas Classic GP7/9 | website (scalesoundsystems.com)

So I received these speakers around the middle of February and went to install them. What I found out was that because of the size of them, you have to modify the lighting in the loco - using Surface Mount LED's  because of the stock light pipes. I didn't have any of these LED's on hand , so another mail order was necessary. I received these about a week ago and was finally able to finish up the project. So morla of teh story is its a good thing to have multiple projects in progress, so in the event you get stalled, you can still work on your other projects. Till next time folks....