I'm not going to lie.  I had decided 8 years ago or so to switch from N scale to HO scale.  I loved what you could do in a given space with N scale but my vision and dexterity were making N scale a real challenge for me.  So I sold off all my N scale stuff and went to HO.  Even before the switch, I had purchased the HO Scale Canadian Rapido released and did an unboxing of it at the time.  I love passenger trains and that is really what has drawn me to model trains over the years.

• A (Scary) Side Project - Rebuilding a P2K Loco

• A couple Central American Railroads

• A New Beginning - A Work In Progress

• Custom Weathering

• Rapido RDC

I got a pretty good deal on a P2K VIA E8 unit some time ago and figured it would eventually be a project to learn more about re-motoring and detailing locos.  I've never really done all this before, so this will be a great learning experience for me and hopefully will get some tips and assistance from the group here.  After assembling some parts, pieces and decals (from Bill at pdc.ca), I dove in today.  I'm already asking myself what I'm doing.  Here is what I started with after cutting wires and stripping the weight off (it's going to get milled down to

Finally getting around to this.  We took a cruise through the new Agua Clara locks of the Panama canal (on the Caribbean Princess) a couple weeks back.  I was able to observe a train in Panama as we came out of the locks back into the Caribbean Sea.  While in Costa Rica, we also took a ride on the Banana Train - a railroad with a very interesting history.  Didn't take a lot of pictures, but I've got a few.

As we all know, life has a way of changing plans quickly.  I'm almost 5 years into my switch to HO and I'm pretty much where I was after 18 months - with a 2x10 modular switching layout.  Along the way, I've tried various ideas, did a modeling contest and got some great ideas, then negotiated a change to my space.  And then negotiated more.  And another time.  I think my space is finally settled.  Time to get to work.

I've often considered having someone weather my more expensive models.  I've hummed and hawed about it for years.  There are a few things that stopped me in the past - 1) I should be able to learn it on my own and develop a new skill, 2) it can be quite costly and I'd rather spend my hobby dollars on other things, 3) who do I trust to do it and how long will it take, and 4) what if the job ends up being no better than what I could do and I'd paid for it?

Haven't noticed anyone showing off their new Rapido RDCs on here, so I thought I might show a few pics as my first two arrived today:

My son had a school project on world religions to complete.  You could pretty much do anything on any religion, just be creative and make it applicable to some aspect of some religion.  He chose Shinto but didn't know what to do for it.  I suggested he do a diorama related to something in Shinto, possibly a shrine.  However, he didn't have enough time to build a significant structure (with the complex roofs and such of typical Japanese architecture), so he built a simple, natural shrine.

I took some time this past week to try out some of the different weathering techniques shown on Trainmasters over the last year.  Here are some of my attempts with varying levels of success.

After receiving my NMRA bulletin this morning and reading president Charlie Getz's discussion of Caboose Hobbies closing, I felt compelled to write a response.  First, here is a summary of what Mr. Getz wrote: