Weekend Photo Fun 8-21-15-??

Great shot, Scott. 

Steve,  I am most impressed with every picture and video I see of your magnificent layout.  LOVE those unit trains.

Has OGR ever visited and made a video of your layout?

If so, what is the title?  If not... WHY NOT???

A Malcolm Byrd scratch-built L&N doodlebug.

Neal Jeter

This weekend we rode the Red Car down in San Pedro.  Pretty neat ride, impressive reproduction cars, and a real shame that it's shutting down forever on 27 Sep.

The weekend before, I finally finished a dual-sided, lighted "Dinoco" sign for my service station.  Still need to add some gas pumps and whatnot... but the signage is a big step forward.  It's essentially hollowed-out foam board with LEDs inside, supported by a 1/4" brass tube.

-Dustin

Nice bunch of pics this week. 

And Thanks very much (!) to the following forumites who sent me "Likes" for my layout views:

Bill T; Brother Love; Chugman;trumptrain; TRK; Steamer; Dr. Jack; BradF; Andrew Gallousis; joeyA; Roger Wasson ; Joe B; Doug N; Allegheny; trainroomgary; johnstrains; chessie1971; Lionel Grandpa; Putnam Division; brwebster; L.I.TRAIN; Rustykamel; Laidoffsick; Pingman; 56f100; Spence; Mike McCutcheon; Alibatwomble; laz157; paul\matt; GEF; cocoloco; kjstrains; rail; trainman713; Rixster; PassengerTrainCollector; BAR GP7#63; Dave C; C.Chancey; FrankRazz; dk122trains; Pat Kn; tr18; CAPPilot; Mike CT; Number90.

Wow! Thank you, all!!!

FrankM. Moon Township

Frank; you are the scenery master. Just amazing.

Frank it's all in your amazing detail, keep the pictures coming.

Jack 

Shutting down?  Do you know the story behind the shutdown?

Well, I certainly have plenty of excellent company in that regard, Spence, guys whose work we see on OGR that inspires me and becomes an ideal I reach for.

It's very nice to hear you say that, Spence. Trying to add attractive scenery to my layout just developed through time. At first, I had the sometimes-typical "spaghetti-bowl" of track, with trains zipping everywhere and little else to see.

Then, as my wife joined me in the hobby, taking a keen interest in the layout itself, she suggested we share the trains with family and friends. Well, once we invited guests into the trainroom, we quickly came to understand that running numerous and myriad trains was, perhaps, interesting to me, but not especially interesting to non-hobby guests.

So, I began scrutinizing train magazines and learned by seeing. I decided that a handsome layout, with plenty to see in addition to the trains, enhanced the experience for many folks, including us. We enjoyed the hobby more with the trains and the scenery working together to compliment each other, resulting in a whole statement that said something beyond "these are my toys."

Additionally, I found myself scrutinizing the world around me, sometimes drifting, as I drove around, onto those "rumble strips" at the edges of highways, esp. Rt. 380 and Rt.11 in Pennsylvania and New York, as I enjoyed seeing what was around me and tried to learn how things on a layout could look if wanted to make the effort.

The hobby itself sustained my interest in trains, toy and real, but evolved markedly into my enjoying them with others, via scenery that embellished what the good looking and exciting trains were doing, via socializing on forums like OGR's, and through crafting for others who wanted to have my work on their layouts.

A big factor in my growth became all the wonderful products steadily available through Jim Elster's Scenic Express. Every time Jim had something new he had imported, he made sure I saw it and became aware of its possibilities. The products themselves became part of my education, and I learned as I crafted.

I am glad you like what I have made, Spence. The many "Likes" you have sent me add to my enjoyment of posting photos on this forum. Thank you.

FrankM.

Thank you, Dr. Jack. It gives me a lot of pleasure to observe the world around me and to try to make it flow from my fingers onto the layout. I am glad for your approval. Thank you sincerely.

FrankM.

Long story short, the Port is realigning Sampson Way (the road the Red Car runs along) as part of a greater project to refresh/revitalize the Ports O' Call area here in San Pedro.  This realignment will require removal of Red Car track, right in the middle-ish of the line (and it's a pretty short line already).  If rebuilt, the track would run right along the realigned roadway.  California would then require use of a street-level entry, non-top heavy car that meets modern safety requirements - not the historically accurate replicas currently in use.  So a new "Red Car" could return years from now at great expense, but it would not be the Red Car in use today.

This work is slated to start in 2017, but there is no Red Car funding allocated for FY16, so operations will cease at the end of September.

-Dustin