Streamlined K4s

 moving into position for a power swap to take an incoming train to it's next destination. 

Arcata & Mad River RR

The A & MR RR  pulls in the reload at Blue Lake to do some switching. Kevin 

Mahoning Valley Sand & Gravel

A couple of pictures from my friend Jerry Jordak's PC based railroad. This facility is serviced by the MVS&G job or otherwise locally known as "Alphabet Sand" < grin>

Both open and covered hoppers are loaded here.

Since the loading point is so close to Moravia yard, several jobs are called in an ops session.

Thanks to the host of this layout, Jerry Jordak, for letting me share these pictures!

Tim Moran

Love the trees, have you

Love the trees, have you posted any how-tos on the site?  Is that real dirt? very realistic

Trees

Thank you David. The Redwoods are made from real Redwood, I picked up some trim ends when I worked in the mill and carved them to shape. Asparagus fern for the branches. Scenic Express armatures for the other trees and real dirt from the back yard. Kevin

Working on weathering my

Working on weathering my quarry building. First stage of weathering done. Next will add streaking effects 

Phil

my dirt has the right

my dirt has the right "lighter color" when I apply it but after a 50:50 elmers app after alcohol mist, it always gets dark and stays so.  How do you apply the dirt?

Open All Night

It's a quiet evening in Weir City, KS. We catch the Frisco crew turning at the wye and grabbing some chili at the Owl Restaurant . Don't worry about the time, they're open all night....

Odd Couple Working a Heavy Log train

On a normal work day a steam and diesel double-header wouldn't happen on this small Pacific Northwest narrow gauge line, but on this day in 1950, motive power breakdowns and an extra heavy log train facing an uphill grade set the stage for the unusual event. Fortunately both engine crews know the road, their power, and each other so well the unusual pairing is pulled off without a hitch.  And I managed to scramble up the hill from a nearby road to find a spot for a decent shot in evening light, just as the head of the train was about to top  the ruling grade. 

Freelanced HOn30 models and diorama.  Baldwin No. 5 is a very old project of mine, with a scratch-built superstructure on an unusually fine-running N scale Bachmann Docksider mechanism.  No. 15, fresh off the workbench this week, represents an 8 ton Plymouth, rebuilt from a 6 ton FL-class mine locomotive with added weight on the frame to increase tractive effort, and the original cab lifted for improved visibility.  I made it by melding a highly modified cast resin body by Kennebunk Models to a custom coreless motor mechanism and chassis by eBay seller “out-of-the-box-models."  There are  lots of added details, of course, including the cast "PLYMOUTH" on the sideframes applied using Archer Surface Details relief lettering for armored vehicles.  Shot on my Iron Mountain Mining diorama in natural evening sunlight. 

The steam, smoke and diesel exhaust are photoshopped in, but everything else is as you see it. 

SW7 pulling an empty from RSG

SW7 pulling an empty from RSG forest industries depot

Big mess for a little gain

I'm still slugging away on the TMTV video set (yup....still here Joe) and I'm deep in the last video that deals with the smaller details that breathe some life into the building. The other day when I got up from my desk I was pretty amazed at the total mess my workspace had become as I was figuring out how to start on the fenced ramp area of the old warehouse. I like experimenting on everything from materials  to structural concerns all the way to color and I'm not so good about cleaning up when the heat of the battle is upon me. Being so impressed with my ability to make such a mess (actually only about 50% of the ramp area is completed) for such a little gain I snapped some photos of what I've been up to.  hey, it's a mess but it's fun. Big fun!

 .                                       

Downtown Fort Smith, Arkansas

Downtown Fort Smith, Arkansas scene coming along.  The store front is a completed Walther’s kit from PJs Train Shack.  The building in the background is a Downtown Deco Kit I completed.  To save time I have opted to go with a mixture of completed structures and one’s I build for my layout.

Joe

From my previous N scale layout....

Hurry up Rick.

Great content from everyone. I am looking forward to see how Rick makes these creative scenes with the Cricut. 

Rick’s inspiring post sure

Rick’s inspiring post sure validates my own experience—probably an axiom— that creating all that eye-pleasing order that is packed into a fine scale model is only possible by unleashing vast amounts of entropy among tools and materials. 

Got the 2-8-2 out for a run

Got the 2-8-2 out for a run before it gets its numbers on the cab.

The lost railroad

It was time to find the remains of the garden railroad. Gone are the glory days of live steam in the garden. 
 

Oh my! What happened?

Oh my! What happened?

What happened

Too many reasons. I should start a new blog about my adventures. The latest issues to be addressed are now in progress. Once I get a fence up to keep out the horses, then figuring out a chicken repellant, I’ll be back in business. 

Neil

Holey Moley Neil!

 So that's what happens when your outdoor railroad turns into Jurassic Park......pretty darned amazing. I also was interested to see an area where there has been rain. At least I think it's called rain..........I just got back from the San Joaquin and it looks like California is drying up like a raisin in the sun. 

 take care and hope you'll turn Jurassic back into Train Town again.

Rick

240” one year

Yeah, we had twenty feet of rain the year Hurricane Lane passed thru. Crazy. Little bu little I am creating the roadbed and getting ready to lay track again. 
 

The chickens are a problem though. No idea except to do a Bob Snow job with aluminum mesh covered in concrete. 
 

The railroad was to be the S&NE for my wife and I or the South & North East Railway. I’ve become enamored with the Dolly Varden line and have started laying out a mine. The other end would be the bunker over the barge. Planning, Dreaming, and having fun in the garden again. 

Goats!

Goats can be a problem, too!

We have chickens, too, but since a fox began picking them off a few years ago we keep them fenced in now. Using chicken grit as ballast might not have been such a great idea?

I have a bunch of Garden Railroad equipment, some of it, such as a USA Trains Hudson, has never turned a wheel! Gotta get to it — one of these days!

Regards, Ed

Hahaha!

Glad it’s not just me Ed. Good luck with the goats.