Along the Right of Way ...

Why We Do What We Do...

Milepost 918

In a recent roundtable discussion (via email), the Pirates ware talking about a variety of subjects.  One of the Pirates, Kyle, shared a couple of pictures of some Archbar trucks that he had printed with a 5'2" wheelbase.  They looked pretty good but he mentioned that the material that he had them printed with was rather fragile; he broke some while installing the wheelsets.

The discussion went on about the difference in the ones he had drawn & had printed and the ones that were readily available in most any well-stocked hobby shop.  The commercially available ones have a 5'0" wheelbase, a difference of two inches.  At this point, I opened my big mouth (again, via email) and asked why he would go to the trouble (and expense) of drawing then printing trucks when there was only a two scale inch difference.  Mind you, two scale inches in HO scale equates to .0229 inches.  Or, by rounding, 23 thousandths of an inch!  For those of you who use them, that's right around the diameter of a #74 drill bit.  Or... somewhere about half way between a 1/32nd and a 1/64th inch.  In other words, not a lot of difference between the wheelbase of the two trucks.

Here is his response and I think it says a lot.  It is well worth a read...

Dan you make a good argument and the question is fair one.  Why would I take the time and energy to create something that is close enough that no one will notice, more durable, and cost less than the one that is commercially available?  From a practical stand point you are correct.  My simple answer is that I try to model the Big Four railroad as accurately as I can, whether anyone notices or not, with the tools that I have, and many times working from general to specific like a sculptor does, working and testing on different fronts, trying to pick my battles as I go, exploring what is possible, how far I can go, and in the end what is worth it.  How is that for a simple answer? 

Fair warning I am going to wax on…
Not all battles are worth it and the arch bar truck experiment is probably one of them, but that doesn’t mean that it was a waste of time, money or energy.  Why do modelers concern themselves with foobies, the correct ends for a gondola or boxcar, deal with underbody details, build resin kits or look for the correct trucks when most people don’t know what is correct or not unless they have done some research themselves; and this is especially apt if you are concerned mostly about operation.  I don’t model what people will or will not notice and I would submit that many modelers don’t either.  I would venture that 99% of modelers, and that is being generous, don’t know what is correct for an 1897 Big Four boxcar or gondola and yet I press on trying to get the details correct.  If they don’t notice should I?  I am being slightly facetious here, but I wanted to make the point.  And I am not trying to pick on the comment of “no one will notice” I understand the practicality of your overarching question.  If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it…

Let’s do a thought experiment.  If you were modeling the Big Four and Tahoe built a 5-2 truck (the correct one for the Big Four and time period) along with their 5-0 truck but the 5-2 truck cost a dollar more.  Would you spend the extra dollar for the correct one?  I don’t know what your answer would be, but I would want it to be correct.  The point is that I am trying to model a long gone time.  If I know that a detail is wrong and it is practical to correct it I want to.  Devil is in the details?  I think an under lying theme of your question is, “what battle in the quest to get the details right is worth it?”  Where does the madness end?  I guess if the detail is easy to do why not?  Is 3D technology the answer?  In this case, probably not. 

I want to slightly pivot here and talk a little about 3D print technology, which will tie in to the broad question, I promise, at least I hope it will, I guess I better not promise.  I know that there are detractors and doubters of 3D technology, but mark my words, it is here.  It will get cheaper and better.  We currently live in a time when it is possible to build full size anything that we want, take out our magic ray gun and shrink it down to what ever size we want.  Think about that.  It is just as easy to put in the correct details on a 3D car as it is to put the wrong generic details on, so why not do it correctly.  All of my print cars are essentially a full sized car shrunk down with few compromises.  We are at a time when we as modeler, for the most part, are no longer dependant on manufacturers for anything that we want.  Now the models might not be as cheap or durable, but we can have them, which is better than what we had before this technology was available.  And yes many things you can scratch build, but I would submit that for the most part print technology allows for much greater control, finer details, and saves time.  (I am talking in somewhat general terms about print technology here so for the sake of this argument, let’s not rehash the short comings of print technology right now.)  I have scratch built several cars and because of cost I am in the middle of scratch building a flat car and coal car currently.  While I want accurate cars, I can also live with generics. 

The only way to get a hold of this new technology, this new medium, is to work with it.  Every print project that I do has a purpose beyond creating a model that I want.  My first boxcar was to see how prototype measurements would print, my first caboose was to see how well stairs print and how well a floor would fit in a body, the second caboose was to see if I could print a working journal and if I could make a better way to fit the floor to the body (dovetails), the gondola was to see if I could get the small bolts to print and if I could print a brake ratchet with a hole for a brake rod, the second gondola was to refine the details and continue to get small bolts to print, and finally the trucks were to see how well a delicate print, would come through the print process, and if it would be viable.  Every failure that I have had, and every model so far has had some kind of failure, has been a learning process.

It's like I am trying to tree my point like a hound dog, but I guess here is the take away, I build models that represent the Big Four with all of the short comings that modeling miniatures comes with.  Some of my models are broad stroke representations (scratch built) and some of them are detailed studies (print cars).  While for me, personally, I would like all of my car to be the detailed study kind; I must pick my battles.

Some very good comments from a real modeler and some interesting things to think about why we do what we do...

dlm

The Nickel Plate Almost Made it to the Modern Era...

Milepost 917

 

When I think of the Nickel Plate Road, I really don't think of the modern era of railroading.  "Back then," there were no Hi-cubes, no double-stacked container cars and really, not much in the way of unit trains unless you were in a certain geographic area like the coalfields of Eastern Ohio.  But when I saw this photo, I thought the the NKP almost made it into railroading of today.

Pictured here is one of three tri-level auto racks that the Nickel Plate owned.  They were of the modern variety, 89 feet in length.  While I use the term ownership to describe the cars, that is not totally correct.  Trailer Train actually owned the "cars," while the NKP owned the auto racks which were dedicated to the cars.

The story goes that the Nickel Plate was part of a pool of railroads that provided transportation services to one of the major auto makers.  To fulfill their very small obligation to the poolk the Nickel Plate had three auto racks.  I'm guessing that this assignemnt was based on the percentage of business provided by the individual railroad to the auto maker in proportion to that of the pool.  I really don't know for sure.

But the prototype picture provides another modeling opportunity for me.  Accurail already makes a tri-level auto rack car in the Trailer Train markings.  this car has individual sign boards for the racks themselves.  It "should" be a simple task to assemble the car as per the manufacture's instructions then paint the sign boards blue as per the picture.  Finally, I'll need to add some Nickel Plate Road decals on the sign boards and I should be done.

Right now, I don't know what I'm going to use for the autos themselves.  While there are some companies like Matchbox that make vintage Mustangs, they ask a very modern price... I've seen them in the $12-$15 range.  But since I need 15 of them to fill the car, that is cost prohibitive.  Right now, I'm thinking in terms of using something like foil to shape a covering for each car then paint them all either tan or green.  The idea here would be that the cars were covered for shipping.  We will see how that goes as time goes by.

Stay tuned...

dlm

Point Of Rocks, Maryland

Milepost 916

Like a lot of model railroaders, I'm a member of various Yahoo groups that feature news & other goodies about other railroads.  One of the more active groups is the Baltimore & Ohio group and that group is the source of today's ramblings.

I initially joined the B&O group when I was looking for information about the station in Leipsic, Ohio.  It was jointly owned by the B&O and the NKP.  I was also interested in "big steam" and the B&O rostered one of my favorites, the EM-1.  I may have shared this previously, but the EM-1s lived out their final days in the coalfields of Eastern Ohio, not far from where I grew up.  But that's a topic for another post on another day.

For regulars here, you may recall that I was able to locate through the B&O Historical Society, photos of the Leipsic station from all four sides.  Someday, that may be a subject of another post as it would be an ideal depot to scratchbuild.  But when I downsize my layout, I'll have less room for such models so that remains to be seen.

A recent post on the B&O group showed two nice photos of the interlocking tower at Point Of Rocks, Maryland.  Interlocking towers... here we go again!  Of course, I traced the thumbnails back to the original images posted in the photos section of their group.  Unfortunately, there were no photo credits so I'm not sure who actually did the modeling but they did an admirable job.

The model appears to be a kitbash of the old AHM/Tyco/IHC Interlocking Tower model that had been around for years.  I think it is currently out of production today but still pops up on a very regular basis on Ebay.  The model was raised, the "porch" was added along with a brick structure at the back.  All in all, a very nice model indeed.

Along with the post of the model, there was reference to a message on the group.  Following that link, I found this video that was done by Model Train Stuff.  MTS is a rather large Internet model railroad dealer but I didn't realize that they also did some video work for their site.  I'll have to check that out someday soon to see what other goodies might be hiding there.  Anyway, the video shot at Point Of Rocks can be seen here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlbYrGdiZY0&feature=player_embedded

It has been quite some time since we have been to the Washington, D.C. area but with an NKP friend with a very nice layout located there and this nice looking railfanning spot, it looks like a trip back there just might be in order sometime soon.

Anyway, enjoy the model and the video.  If I make it over there some day, you can be sure that you will hear about it here.

dlm

Plans for the Arcadia Tower are Coming Along...

Milepost 915

 

Back at Milepost 911, I shared with you a couple of photos from a friend that showed the old wooden interlocking tower in Arcadia, Ohio.  Well, you know me & interlocking towers... besides, this one looks like an easy one so as of now, i'm planning on scratchbuilding one with a little help from my friends at Tichy Train Group and Evergreen Styrene. 

A little knowledge is dangerous.  Someone measured the tower foundation and said it was approximately 11' x 11'.  Well, I pulled up the old photos and using my Paint Shop Pro program on my computer, I measured the width of the base in pixels.  Figuring that the photo was far enough away as to not have major distortions, I used that to create a base measurement.  From there, I measured the distance to the roof line, again in pixels to "guesstimate" the tower's height.  I plotted these measurements as one side.

Since the foundation was measured square, I think it is safe to assume that all four sides will be the same.

Next came the windows... they appear to be rather tall & thin so I looked at the Tichy offerings to see if there was something that looked similar.  I also had to keep in mind that the windows had to be rather narrow since there were three to a side.  One of their offerings fit the bill so I created a pattern for it and placed three windows on my side that I had drawn earlier.

I guessed that the door shown in one of the photos was probably a wider, 36" door since equipment may have to be moved through it.  Again, Tichy had a four-panel door that was 36x80; I added that onto the drawing.  The other visible side didn't have a window but again, I guessed that the side opposite the door would have a window... if for nothing else than to allow some light into the mechanism area.

I copied the side then duplicated it three times to have all four sides.  I went back and removed the window from the two sides that I'm guessing didn't have them and was seriously making some progress.  (Had I been thinking, I would have duplicated the sides "after" I added the three windows at the top THEN added the door & wondow at the bottom on their respective sides... DUH!)

OK, I now have three sides done; all three of them have three windows at the top then one has a door at the base, another has a window and the third one has nothing at the base.  Side number four is problematic since we don't have a view of it.  But in one of the photos, there appears to be a small covered, closed in "porch" sturcture on the back side.  Here's where modelers' licens comes into play.  Again, I wanted to use the wider door thinking that equipment might come in and out of there.  That would take up more than the space for one of the three windows so I erased two of them and drew a box where the porch will attach to the main structure.  I also decided that the stairs were outside stairs and would go down the side with the window.

The roof will be relatively easy to do; I'm not sure that I'll have any trouble making a pattern for each of the panels; they will all be the same since the sides are the same.  The next step is to gather some materials then get to work.  Unfortunately, I don't have the Tichy window OR the door that I need so I'll have to order them and wait.  But the project is moving along nicely as far as the planning is concerned and I don't really see any problem in finishing it once I get the windows & doors.

Stay tuned...

dlm

A Little More on Older Railroads of Hancock County

Milepost 914

Back at Milepost 902 (December 13), I had posted a sketch of Hancock County and some of the old railroads that traveled through the area.  I got a nice note from a reader with some additional details about some of the places that were mentioned there.

                Chase (CH&D):  This was at the intersection of CR 95 and TR 139.  The tracks actually went right through the middle of the intersection!  If you look behind the house in the SE quadrant of the intersection, there is the remnants of a trestle.  BTW: The CH&D Findlay passenger depot is now located at the intersection of Walnut and Crystal.  It was moved there many years ago.  The freight house was at the corner of High and Cory.

                Langon: This location is where I-75 crosses the ROW (old AC&Y) near Bluffton.  I couldn’t find the origin of the name.

                El Rose: Located where state route 235 crosses the ROW.  Again, I can’t find an origin of the name, but I suspect it was someone’s wife or daughter.

                Cordelia: This wasn’t on the map, but it was ~2 miles east of El Rose.  It was named after the daughter of one of the men of platted the village.

                Pratt’s: This was NE of Mt. Blanchard near an intersection called 5 Points.  There are many Pratt families in this area, so my guess is that is the origin of the name.  There is an abandoned brick house there today, which was originally a stage coach inn on the road from Kenton to Carey.  It served as a depot for the narrow gauge.

Thanks John for sharing...

In addition, my mother-in-law used to live in the Arlington area and told me that at one time, there were a few houses, a general store and even a post office at Beagle.  Of course, the train stopped there as well.

Fun stuff to know about the area that some of us live in.

dlm

More Weathering Examples

Milepost 913

As I have shared so many times in the past, it is really great to have a small circle of modeling friends to mutually share work with.  From time to time, I've talked about the Pirates, a group of about a dozen guys that have a loose common interest of modeling in the early 1900s.  That's not my cup of tea but for one reason or another, they tolerate me so I guess this is a good thing.

These photos are from one of the Pirates, Richard.  They demonstrate some really nice weathering on some older wooden cars using PanPastels for coloring.  I believe that all three cars are old 36' wooden boxcars from Roundhouse/Model Die Casting.  It was his intention to weather them in a way that made them look really old, like they had been out in the sun, rain, dirt & grime of the day for quite a while.  I think he did a really nice job with them.

He described his technique as follows...  Attached are images of each one once they were back on their trucks and the car cards readied. I'll be giving them a coat of clear to fix them as soon as I send this out. The D&H and the C&O cars are painted that same "boxcar red" from a rattle can I wrote about a few weeks ago. My first step is to cover the car in a similar but differently toned color pastel to give it a look of faded paint. The entire car was covered with an even coat for this step. This helps blend the car color together and helps give the white logos and lettering a bit of a faded look too. After that I take a stiffer brush and using firm downward strokes, remove most of the power. Once I'm satisfied with the appearance of the sides and ends, I start adding different colors, grays, yellows, browns, and black to the mix. The darkest colors were added "upside down" and given a bit of a scrub along the grabs and door tracks, and then brushed downward to simulate coal dust collecting on the undersides of these devices and then being washed down the sides by rain.

I still need to work on the frames, and the trucks in particular to complete the weathering...

Note that his cars all have several chalk marks on them which were very common on older cars.  Given his results using the PanPastels, I think they deserve some additional investigation.  Great job, Richard... thanks for sharing with all of us.

dlm

Really Cool Office Digs

Milepost 912

OK, let's face it; it has happened to all of us at one time or another.  Your well-meaning & lovely Aunt Myrtle just "had" to get you something for your layout but it flat-out doesn't "fit" with what you are modeling.  Maybe it's a cute 4-4-0 that won't look "just perfect" on your 1950s layout or perhaps it is a double-stack container car that wasn't even dreamed of in the 1900s that you are modeling.

Well, one could possibly "repurpose" the car if it is an older piece.  That 4-4-0 could become a fenced in display at a park or even preserved inside a small bu8ilding by the station with plenty of windows to see it.  OR... it could become a super cool office just like this car. 

New York Central observation car No. 66 is (or was) parked on a siding in Los Angeles and serves as an office for some lucky local executive.  The car also has a dining area, a lounge area and a small conference room.  I happened onthis article when I was browsing through some older magazines a while ago.  It wouldn't take much to make this conversion... a piece of track, sidewalks, some landscaping and I'd think  you would be pretty much "good to go."  Besides, how could anyone be offended when you gave their gift such a prominent location on your layout??!?

dlm

Ya' Never Know What's Lurking in the Background...

Milepost 911

Quite some time ago in one of my posts, I mentioned the things that are in photos that are not the main subject matter.  I shared a photo of an NKP caboose with no cupola that was caught in the background of a steam engine shot and I've seen one of the only known images of a Nickel Plate reefer in the background of another photo.  So when one looks for something, they may just find it in the most unusual places.

The two photos above show the wooden interlocking tower in Arcadia, Ohio.  The picture on the right is a small portion of an old family photo of a friend of mine's family.  The photo on the left was taken of the crossover of the NKP & LE&W in Arcadia before the track was realigned and the curve was lessened. 

These two photos, the dimensions of the old foundation and some common sense will probably give me enough "data" to scratchbuild a model of the Arcadia tower.  That's another story for another time but it just goes to illustrate how unusual things will pop up in unusual places.  Keep an eye on those backgrounds; you never know what they might hold.

dlm

Fuel Deliveries on the Third Sub-division

Milepost 910

Back at Milepost 898, I told about doing some research into what Marathon (Ohio Oil back then) delivery trucks looked like back in the 1950s.  After completing the truck, I sent it to my NKPHTS acquaintance Tony Koester for use on his NKP layout of the Third Sub-division in Indiana.  The layout is set in the 1950s and Tony's pretty close to prototype so I had to get it "pretty close."

Just a few days ago, I got an email from one of the Pirates who gets the chance to operate on the "Third Sub" every so often.  He knew the story of the truck so took pictures of it for me.  I wanted to share them with you.

It is pretty cool to think that I now have a presence on one of the most famous model railroads in the country... even though it is a very small presence.

dlm

A Christmas Present for a Friend

Milepost 909

(Click on image to see animation.)

While it is always fun to receive presents during the Christmas season, I have also found that I really enjoy giving things to people that I think they will like but for one reason or another, wouldn't get them for themselves.  Thus the origin of this gift for one of my train friends...

Back in November, I was at the Dayton Train Show assisting with the NKPHTS booth.  Right next door to us was a company that specialized in layout lighting and they had TONS of the Miller Engineering animated signs.  I had been wanting to get one of the Breyer's Ice Cream signs for a while but couldn't quite pull the trigger on it because of the price.  But this vendor had a very good price in the first place PLUS a show special which mad it even more attractive.  So on the last day before everyone closed up shop and went home, I got the Breyer sign.

It sat on my workbench for quite a while since I have been crazy busy with other things but I decided about a week before Christmas that if I was going to get it to my friend as I planned, I needed to get cracking.  So I dug into my stash of buildings and found one of the most versatile kits I think has ever been made.  The base walls of this kit have appeared as at least five different building kits and I've personally bashed them into maybe a half dozen more different structures.  But there was to be no bashing on this one so I knocked it out in a couple of hours & was ready to install the lighting circuit.

The sign can be mounted as either a rooftop sign or a billboard type sign mounted on the side of a building.  I chose the second option so cut a small slit in the front of the building to pass the leads into the circuit board on the inside.  Next, I glued the sign to the building using Walther's Goo.  This was a disappointment as the sign seemed to slide some.  But once the glue was set, I really didn't want to try to move it.  It will have to be as it is.  I popped the batteries into the battery holder and hit the switch.  I was treated to something like 46 different animations/variations of lighting displays/effects.  Way too cool!  I packaged it up and in the mail it went.  I hope he enjoys it as much as I enjoyed getting it and putting the kit together for it.

I guess it just goes to show that the true joy of Christmas is in the giving...

dlm