Shelf Layout Update - Simplifying the Simple

Car Mover Winch

Realistic Steel Cable for Car-Moving Winch

Modeling the Fickle Fortunes of Grainger Shortlines

Grain Truck Modeling

Thought there might be some folks out there interested in an update from Alco-land. 

I know small and simple layouts aren't everyone's cup of tea, but it's how I enjoy our fun hobby...especially now that my current free time is VERY limited. Details and pics to follow below...

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about replicating stranded steel cable. All great ideas. Greg Amer pointed me to the 'Beadalon' bead-stringing wire from Michaels. It worked perfectly Greg!

The prototype:

Need some advice. I'm modeling a winch system used to move railcars and need to simulate the steel cable.

The area is front and center on my layout, so I'd like to use something that looks realistic. This will be nonfunctional, lying on the ground along the track, and also wrapped tight around the winch drum.

I thought about small diameter wire or thread. What do you folks use? Maybe logging or crane modelers have a trick or two you can share?  

Thanks!

Jack

During the late 70's and early 80's, granger shortlines came and went with shifts in grain prices, closing of local elevators, and evaporating state subsidies. So it was with the Erie Western and it's successor Chicago & Indiana. Blink and you missed them.

Happily, modeling gives us an opportunity to go back and enjoy those times again. Witness Erie Western 1602 and, just a few months later, Chicago & Indiana's ex CR RS11 7647. ERES' paint scheme was splashy and bold. CINR's was frugal, but creative in its own way.

I'm a 1970's/1980's era grain truck junkie. I'd love to see folks' models or prototype pics, as they are always an inspiration.

Here are my two kitbashed trucks used at a fertilizer transload operation. The first is an Athearn Ford 850, to which I grafted a tandem-axle Kenworth chassis for a heavier duty straight-truck.  

Hello friends,

It's been awhile between updates, but I've been making slow progress on my Erie Western / Chicago & Indiana circa 1979.

More details and pics to follow...

Kind folks have asked about operations on my initial Chicago & Indiana module. Below I'll describe switching the fertilizer dealer near Berne, Indiana.

Just a simple chronicle of my latest modeling project: operational scenes along a granger shortline, which recall fond memories from childhood and my experiences as a railroader.