First train.....

Got my conversion of a HO Bachmann 4-4-0 to an Sn3.5 1870's 4-4-0 to a point where the loco is running.

The gondolas need new trucks and decking.

Harold

Rainy day projects

I’m not very good at this but it is good fun. On the left is a massing for a 7/8” scale brakeman and the right will be a conductor in 1:22.5 (G scale). 

A Bit of fun...

The opposite of a sink hole!

While it features no railroad specific details all the techniques I used to build the model are the same as what I would do if I was building any type of model railroad scene.

There are lots of 3D printed details on this model as well like the letter box, aerial, and all of the backyard details.

Luke - excellent!

I watched your video on this and it was very informational and entertaining - a usual.  Thanks for sharing!

Hoovertown Park

People enjoying the sunny day in Hoovertown.

Seaboard Central Caboose 90270

 SC caboose 90270 sits at the end of the old ballast pit spur at East Griffin on the Seaboard Central. This former BNSF Atlas extended range caboose was relettered and numbered for Seaboard Central and weathered using an airbrush, artist oils and weathering powders. 

Thanks Rick

Really appreciate the kind words, I love being able to share the videos and it's great that people actually enjoy watching. I just wish I could do it more regularly.

Cheers
Luke

Working on some erosion

Something I always see canoeing, and something I wanted to model.  I see this while following dry creekbeds in search of rocks and fossils and such, along the Meramec River, which I use a protoype.  This is the bank of a dry creek that gets hit by the occasional 'gully washer', but could just as easily be a running creek/river.  Once added to the layout I'll finish things off with soil and weeds and rock to hide the seam, and more trees will go in there too, away from the drop-off.  Funny thing is that it will only be viewed from the left side to the right side, as this goes behind my engine house and fueling pad, facing the wrong direction.  From where it will be seen looking down the tracks, and with this on the left, it already looks good.

Lighting

Last night, I was running more experiments with colors for night shots. I used a battery powered 'candle' light inside a flag stop. After seeing the results, when I string in lighting, I'm going to put a permanent light of this type in that structure:

​

View From The Office

The dispatcher's office is the nerve center of the North American Prototype Modelers (NAPM) club during operating sessions.

The interior and exterior of the office is designed to look like a railroad tower and it has a vista overlooking one corner of the HO layout.  The club uses automatic block signals with the dispatcher controlling the interlocking signals and giving movement authority.  NAPM uses the open source JMRI program CATS to control signal and interlocking switches, and a phone system around the layout for communication between the dispatcher, yard and tower operators, and train crews.  We typically move between 16 and 20 trains during a simulated 8-hour shift using a 3:1 fast clock.

Zephyr at Union Terminal

Polished stainless steel cars of the California Zephyr sit under the train shed at Union Terminal on the North American Prototype Modelers HO scale layout in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The train is scheduled for a 2:16 PM departure westbound to Marango, and eventually Oakland, California.

The 12-track shed is was built mainly by Dan Christiansen using scratch and super detailing parts. The CZ cars are Broadway Limited Imports models owned by the club.

Photo by Mark Mathu. This image was created using an iPhone 8 held upside down to get the lens near the ground; sixteen photos were taken at varying focus distances using the Stay Focused iPhone app and then combined using Helicon Focus software to create a fully focused image.
Visit the HO scale club on-line at http://www.napmltd.org.

Wow, awesome photos this week too

Luke that house scene looks great, just needs half a coffin sticking out of the dirt somewhere

Mark that photo in Union Terminal is spectacular

Zephyr at Union Terminal

I prefer to take photos with my SLR, but an iPhone can get to places on the layout my large camera can never get.  It was a little fortuitous timing which allowed the photo:  we removed a section of the shed for maintenance of the lights which allowed me to put my camera in a location not usually accessible.   I wish I could have panned the camera a little further up the tracks and caught the E units at the head of the train, but even an iPhone is limited in where it can fit.

This photo shows Dan Christiansen (the builder of the shed) removing the section of the train shed for the electrical maintenance, which allowed me to capture the image above.  This photo was taken by NAPM member Jim Hebner.
 

The Zephyr at Union Station

The Zephyr at Union Station photo's looks real - no two ways about it.

Very impressive!

Steve

That erosion looks fantastic! I used to spend a good bit of my youth in creeks in the Midwest. Are you planning to make a how-to, or a brief synopsis?

Steve in Iowa City

You nailed it! All superlatives apply.

Work has slowed down enough

Work has slowed down enough to allow me to actually have my full weekend back.  I had these N scale Atlas GP15-1s torn down and primed for months.  Finally was able to sit down and get them painted/decaled.  The pair are currently on lease to G&W YorkRail in York, PA.  Seen here pulling cars from PH Glatfelter's " black shed " on my CSX Hanover Subdivision layout.

A little tie project

Just replacing a few ties. HO scale mini diorama featuring some modified figures and super detailing.

Greg

That's a kick in the butt. I do have a question.......is it just the photo or are those workmen about 5' tall. They look about as tall as the track is wide 4' 8 1/2". Maybe I need new glasses.

Preiser Figures

I have noticed that there are many different heights on the Preiser figures and when compared to each other there are some pretty large discrepancies in proportions. I try to size the people in groupings of the same proportion. For this scene the guy with the spike maul is about 5’6” tall and the other two guys are closer to 6’ plus. Where it can get really funky is the sizes of the heads of figures. I have cut them off thinking I could use it on another body only to find them way too small or too large. 

".is it just the photo or are

  Nope, that's a scene from the old Erie wide gauge line.....DaveB 

What code track did you use

What code track did you use for the mini diorama? 

Code 83

This is Code 83 Micro Engineering track, figures are Preiser figures and various details from a few different companies. 

Figures...

Seem to be one of the toughest things in the smaller scales.

As mentioned: Proportion issues, mainly.

Andre