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Milepost 624
Here is one of the videos of 765 going round Horseshoe Curve that is on youtube. It may not be the best, but it certainly gives you a feel for the sights & sounds of steam on such a famous section of track.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiV1hb4PYGA
dlm
Milepost 623
A recent post on a friend's facebook page noted that ALTO tower in Altoona, Pennsylvania, was closing soon. At the time of this writing, that hadn't happened yet but it was supposed to be only "days away." I've commented here previously about our two trips to Altoona and photographing ALTO so it only seemed appropriate to mark the end of her run.
The tower controlled traffic through the busy rail area of Altoona, which is located at the foot of the mountains separating east & west Pennsylvania. Traffic leaving here went around Horseshoe Curve and through Gallitzin Tunnel on its way to Pittsburgh and all points west. At one time, a full 75% of the traffic headed west went through Altoona so you can see that ALTO tower was indeed a very busy place.
Today, modern signaling has pretty much eliminated the need for manned towers. There are fewer & fewer of them nationwide as the signaling techniques improve and large corporations seek to maintain a healthy bottom line. But still, there are some things that just seem right and a tower like ALTO is one of them. Hopefully, there are plans to move & preserve her. The Altoona area is home to a very nice railroad museum; hopefully they have a place for this venerable structure on their grounds.
UPDATE: ALTO Tower was officially closed in mid June.
dlm
Please accept my apologies for any typos that you may find in this post. The spell checking routine on the blog software isn't working correctly and it has been difficult to check for all of the errors. They still tell us that they are "working on it..."
Milepost 622
The National Train Show is a showcase of very good modeling. Sure, these folks are professionals but their work is certainly worthy of that title. A few photos should prove my point much better than I can with written words...
Any of these models would put my best work back to the beginner's skill level.
One of the companies that has really grown through the years is Bar Mills. I've posted about them in the past as they are one of the leaders in laser cut models in that fast growing segment of the hobby. As usual, they were there with a great display of their kits and finished products.
It's hard to argue with this level of work or to find fault with the level of quality in the kits they produce. But I do have one very small bone to pick with their offerings: yes, they are located in Maine, but do most all of their buildings have to have that New England flair? If they looked a little more "Middle America," I'm sure that they would sell even more of them. Visit their web site at: www.barmillsmodels.com
That about does it for this years NTS. I hope you have enjoyed the posts covering it as much as I enjoyed going. We'll get back to some more of the "normal" things that usually appear here so stay tuned. You never know what might spill from my head onto these pages! :)
dlm
Please accept my apologies for any typos that you may find in this post. The spell checking routine on the blog software isn't working correctly and it has been difficult to check for all of the errors. They still tell us that they are "working on it..."
Milepost 621
While it is most often recognized as the place for companies to announce their newest plans and products, the National Train Show is about a lot of things other than just new products.
For instance, it's about teaching. Most NMRA convention goers are advanced modelers who have spent years developing their skills but the Train Show is open to the general public so there are a lot of people there who are just beginning to discover this great hobby of ours. The companies feel a need to demonstrate and educate the public on the manny different facets of model railroading. For instance, this display at the Walthers booth shows the different scales in model railroading.
You hear so much about different scales but this rather simple display puts all of that in perspective. Trains run on tracks; that's a given but this display from Peco, a major track manufacturer, gives a similar presentation of several of the various scales and gaugesin the hobby.
Of course, there are the old stand-bys too. The folks at Woodland Scenics do a great job with their demonstrations of things like building trees, pouring realistic looking water in ponds & streams and how to go about dyeing that snow-white plaster to look more like rocks. Here, we see a WS rep conducting a "hands-on" demonstration of rock coloring at their booth.
It is this type of demonstration or display that really does create interest among show attendees, making the NTS a great way to spend an afternoon. Talking with industry representatives, doing some hands on activities, seeing new products do their thing and learning more about this great hobby are all good reasons to take the time to visit the National Train Show. Like I said earlier, mark your calendars; the next show in the area is in Cleveland in 2014!
dlm
Milepost 620
For the first time in more than 35 years, steam once again roamed the hills of Pennsylvania and appeared on the near hallowed ground of Horseshoe Curve... and I was fortunate enough to be there for the event! I've mentioned NKP 765 previously and how the Norfolk Southern Corporation has scheduled steam powered trips this year for their employees, families & retirees as part of the celebration of their 30th anniversary.
(Believe it or not but) we had scheduled a trip to Altoona & Horseshoe Curve before the trip schedule was posted. I was indeed fortunate to be there for this very special trip. If it's true that a picture is worth a thousand words, then this will be a very long post as I want to share with you some of the images that we captured of 765 as she mad her way down into Altoona. Enjoy!
Even my wife Janet got into the spirit of things as she joined me trackside and took photos of 765's trip around the Curve.
As a tribute to the various roads that make up today's NS system, 765 has been equipped with various steam whistles from locomotives that roamed the tracks where she is running. So, for the trip around Horseshoe Curve, it was only fitting that she was outfitted with a steam whistle from that classic Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive, the iconic K-4 Pacific. At the apex of the Curve, the engineer let loose with several huge blasts and once again, the sound of steam echoed through the vallley. It was a special day indeed!
dlm
Milepost 619
I have mentioned in previous posts that when it gets hot outside, I retreat inside and do some painting & decalling instead of roasting outdoors. My latest "kick" has been older style cars since the lettering corresponds to some roads that I'm interested in. Hence, the Toledo, St. Louis & Western car above, aka, The Clover Leaf. There is nothing particularly special about the model itself; it's just an older MDC-36 foot boxcar that has been painted with one of the several brown paint spray cans that I have on the shelf. The lettering is another of my "home brew" sets that I have printed myself. The photo backdrop is of a row of old building backs here in Findlay. As you may or may not know, the Clover Leaf became a part of the Nickel Plate in the late 1920s.
Car number two is a Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad car that I did only because I liked the lettering. I'm not sure but suspect that the TSL&KC must have had some relationship with the TStL&W because of the clover leaf logo. Again, the car is an old MDC 36-foot boxcar that was painted kind of a terra cotta color because I thought it would look good with the green clover leaf. Back then, car colors were anything but consitent or standardized. Paint was often purchased by the local agent from the local hardware store and "brown" has about as many different shades as chili has flavors.
The lettering created an interesting challenge since both of the top lines of text had been done along an arc. The software that I use to create decals doesn't have that capability so I had to rotate each letter then line it up by eyeballing it. Doing this on the computer monitor was much easier than messing around with individual decals. I think that the lettering turned out OK considering.
It will take a little bit of research for me to figure out what eventually happened to this line but in the meantime, the car looks pretty sharp. Next up is a car based on some old photo research.
dlm
Milepost 618
While it wasn't a "new" release, Walthers was displaying their new Pennsylvania Interlocking Tower at the NTS this year. If you have read my ramblings here for any length of time, you KNOW that one of my weaknesses is an interlocking tower of most any size and/or shape. This one certainly is a welcome addition to my collection and I'll have to be looking for one soon.
The tower has a smallish footprint of about 4x5 inches and is molded in four colors plus clear plastic. Based on past Walthers models, I'd expect this one to be easy to assemble and make a fine model when completed.
Don't shy away from this one just because you don't happen to be a Pennsy modeler. As railroads crossed each other when our nations rail system grew, the companies would negotiate control, staffing, maintenance & ownership of the crossing & tower if one needed to be there. While not always the case, "typically," when a crossing was needed, the company that wished to cross the first line would be responsible for the crossing and related expenses. Even then, there were some unique situations that had unusual arrangements.
The tower at Narlo/Maple Grove resembles the new Walther's model so it would be right at home on my NKP-themed railroad. The tower there was also interesting in that the Pennsy built it and manned it during the day shift but NKP was responsible for second & third shift staffing. Just another one of those quirky things along the right of way...
dlm
Please accept my apologies for any typos that you may find in this post. The spell checking routine on the blog software isn't working correctly and it has been difficult to check for all of the errors. They tell us that they are "working on it..."
Milepost 617
Even though it has been hot lately, that still hasn't stopped me from one of my favorite summertime (and anytime I guess) past times of watching trains. I caught this interesting photo about a month ago as a westbound intermodal train literally snakes his way into the yard at North Baltimore. I wish I could have gotten a clearer picture but I had to shoot through the security/debris fence that is on each side of the bridge over the tracks. So we made the best with what we had to work with.
In this particular photo, the train approached on the left-most track as he drew near the yard. The first move was to transfer him from the track on the left to the track on the right. He is still on the main line at this point but simply getting ready to switch onto the approach track for the yard. That is his next move as he transfers from the main to the approach track. Note that the end of the train is still on the original track though.
But his snakey moves aren't done yea as he approaches the yard, he is again switched onto one of the two outermost yard tracks. That is the point where I caught the image and he has successfully fouled four tracks because of his length. Note that he is on both mains, the approach track AND the yard track. One of these days, I'm going to get to talk to a dispatcher and ask why trains approaching the yard there aren't at least transferred to the south side main to leave at least one track in the area open.
A few hours later, this interesting situation developed as three trains tried to access only two tracks! The train in the foreground has just come in off of the main but both of the yard leads are temporarily occupied with switching. It only took the train on the right a minute or two to back up and push the cars he was switching into the yard to allow for the new arrival. But it created an interesting situation for the time being. Note also the the tail end of an eastbound tank train is almost out of the image. Perhaps this train's approach is what forced this rather unusual situation. You can also see that the signal for the right-most track is green which means that another train is coming. There was just no place to go for the arriving train. As I've always said, you just never know what you might see along the right of way.
dlm
Please accept my apologies for any typos that you may find in this post. The spell checking routine on the blog software isn't working correctly and it has been difficult to check for all of the errors. They tell us that they are "working on it..."
Milepost 616
This year's NMRA National Convention was held in Grand Rapids, Michigan during the last week of July/first week of August. As part of that convention, the NMRA also holds the National Train Show which is an opportunity for manufacturers of all sizes to get together and display their company's products & services. It is also a time when many companies make announcements of new releases and products to come.
OK, so you know I'm a Nickel Plate modeler so for me, the major announcement of the show is that Bachmann will be releasing an HO S2 switcher in NKP colors along with nine other roads. The loco will be available with DCC and also with or without sound. It is expected to ship in September of this year.
Also from Bachmann, we can expect some small hi-rail utility vehicles and some new F-units. Finally, they have dug back into their past and are planning to re-release two Plasticville kits from their Old West series. I'm not sure how many modelers there are from that era, but the buildings can be "modernized" with a few details to add an "Old West" flavor to your more modern layout. I remember many years ago that MODEL RAILROADER featured an article about one of the Old West series kits being modified into a modern day Ponderosa Restaurant.
Bachmann continues to grow in the hobby and seems to have become one of the "Big Three" in model railroading along with Walthers and Horizon Hobbies. They certainly had quite a presence at this year's show and continue to make headlines with their creative and innovative new products. Their very nice display also featured some goodies that are currently available including these fine looking steam locomotives.
In spite of their recent release of the B&O EM1, Bachmann has continued to lead the way in the release of smaller steam engines which are more at home on smaller home layouts than the big behemeths that other companies continue to release. Yes, I'm also a fan of big steam but the hobby needes these smaller locomotives since they are appropriate for most any layout and the smaller luggers far outnumbered their larger counterparts in all parts of the country and all eras of the railroad history. Bachmann fills that gap.
I was impressed by the continued growth of several areas of the hobby. It appears to be a given now that we simply won't see any new locomotives that are not equipped with DCC. New locos do have decoders that will allow them to be operated on both DC and DCC layouts but it really appears that DCC is here to stay and that manufacturers are "on board."
Laser cut kits are also continuing to grow in popularity. I'll have a little more on that in a future post but it is probably safe to say that laser cut kits far outnumbered those of conventional polystyrene models all around the show.
Finally, sound is big in new locomotives. Not only in the new ones but also in the aftermarket kits available to add sound to older locos as well. While many of the releases featured at this year's show did have sound as an option, I truly believe that it will only be a matter of tiem before sound is as common as working headlights and knuckle couplers.
If you ever have the opportunity to visit a National Train Show, don't pass it up. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet with the manufacturers in our great hobby. And they do want to hear what you have to say. This is our hobby and as such it is guided by our wants & desires. Manufacturers are keen on satisfying those wants & desires in order to keep the hobby growing and to stay in business. Mark your calendars; the 2014 National Train Show is scheduled to be in Cleveland; I'm already planning to go.
dlm
Please accept my apologies for any typos that you may find in this post. The spell checking routine on the blog software isn't working correctly and it has been difficult to check for all of the errors. They tell us that they are "working on it..."
Milepost 615
Since I've been sharing some of my decal projects with you, I thought it might be a good idea for me to discuss my technique and show you my "tools of the trade." This is my typical set-up for decal work and I have everything I need handy, right in front of me.
On the left side of the image, you see a little glass dish that holds the water to soak the decals in. Under the dish is one of those inexpensive candle warmers. This keeps the water in the dish warm as decals get more and more stubborn as the water that they are soaking in cools off. The red & blue bottles are Micro Set and Micro Sol. I can never remember which order to use them so I have a #1 on the Micro Set; it is the wetting solution that keeps the car side wet while I slide the decal into place. Micro Sol is used on the decal after it is properly set to soften the decal film and allow it to form over any irregularities in the car's surface.
The larger bottle with the black lid is Walther's Solvaset. It is similar to Micro Sol but it is much stronger. It really softens the decal film and is only used when the Micro Sol doesn't get the job done.
Scissors are used to simply trim the decal prior to applying it. I have learned that round corners seem to work better than square ones so whenever possible, I round off anything that I'm cutting. The glass is to set the decal on once it has soaked in the warm water but before it is applied to the car. The paper towels simply are used to absorb any excess water. The Q-tips do the same thing but absorb a lot less as you might guess.
Tweezers are used to hold the decal when it is being soaked then moved into position on the car. The smaller decals like to stick to your fingers if you pick them up; especially if your hands are damp. You will notice two paint brushes that I use. One, the black handled one, is just a standard hobby paint brush but the one with the tan/green handle has had its bristles cut way back. This is my stub brush and it can be effectively used to push the decal into final position once it is on the car.
So, when I apply a decal, I first grab the trimmed decal with the tweezers and dip it into the warm water for about 10-15 seconds. Different decal papers react differently so it's important to experiment a little here. Once the fifteen seconds are up, I place the decal still on its backing paper on the piece of glass then touch it very carefully with a corner of the paper towel to take away excess moisture. Once the backing paper has been soaked, you won't need the excess water.
In the meantime, I will apply a generous puddle of Micro Set to the car's side where the decal will be applied. I'll pick up the decal & carrier paper with the tweezers then place it about where I want it to be on the car and then gently slide the decal off of the carrier paper and onto the car using the handle end of the paintbrush. Discard the carrier paper then use the stub brush to gently nudge the decal into place. Once it is where you want it, very carefully touch the edges with either a corner of the paper towel or a Q-tip to blot up the extra water & Micro Set. Continue doing this very carefully and you will see the water leave the car's surface and the decal will set down where you want it to go. If it moves, simply rewet it with some water and move it back into place and start over.
If disaster strikes and the decal curls up on itself, you can sometimes save it by applying several drops of water and try to uncurl it using the paintbrush, the tweezers and any other tool that seems appropriate. Yes, sometimes you lose one and simply can't save it. In that case, you hope you have a spare. When I print my own decals, I always make three sets; one for each side of the car and one so that I have extra pieces in case of a problem.
Once the decal is in place and the excess water is blotted away, allow it to dry for several minutes. Then using the regular paint brush, apply Micro Sol around the edges of the decal. If you watch it, you will notice that it kind of shrivels up like a prune as the Micro Sol does its work. DO NOT TOUCH THE DECAL AT THIS POINT! If you do, you will no doubt end up with one glob of decal film where your lettering used to be and it can't be saved. While the Micro Sol is working, I usually move on to another decal on another car. There's no sense in running the risk of messing this one up while you are trying to apply another decal next to it.
After a couple of hours, I will re-apply the Micro Sol to the decal then carefully press it straight down with a damp cloth. This will help in snuggling the decal down into the scribes and other cast on details of the car's side. No, I can't recall ever ruining a decal at this point in the process. But still I'm careful to go straight down and not move from side to side thus minimizing possible damage to the decal. If after a couple of applications of Micro Sol, the decal refuses to settle down, then I move to the Solvaset using the same basic technique. Once you are satisfied with the results set the car aside and allow your decals to dry thoroughly... at least a couple of days.
There two final steps in the process. First, I get a small damp cloth and gently wash the side of the car. This will remove any excess glue from the decal that may be on the car's side. Once that has completely dried, I will then give the car 3-4 very light coats of a clear spray to seal the decal to the car's side. I kind of like a satin or semi flat clear paint for this step but it is strictly a matter of personal preference. Some modelers like them completely flat; not me.
So there you have it. That is my technique for decal application and tools of the trade. If you have found something that works better, please feel free to share it with the rest of us. Like so many things in model railroading, there may be "better ways" but I'm not sure that there is one "right way."
dlm
