Merry Christmas everyone! It is pouring rain today, December 23, 2019, just as it was during the SLHRS winter show that was held the weekend of December 7 and 8. Here are some photos from the show:
This is the Depot's front porch. We are holding a train and cookie sale. Note that the porch's front steps are in the process of being replaced. This is a $4,000 project. Thirty year old rotten redwood was taken out and replaced by concrete at the bottom of the steps.
This is a Lion Chief engine pulling a Lionel Christmas car train across Norris Falls. This engine has been converted to battery power but it still uses the Lion Chief controller and electronics. We have found that Lion Chief engines are some of the best running engines for shows and for operation in the rain. The oldest Christmas car in this train dates from 1987.
We normally have elaborate snow scenes for our holiday shows. We put out ceramic buildings for this show because they will be OK in the rain.
A few hardy visitors attended the show. The kids are holding Lion Chief controllers and running trains on the children's layout.
This is a closeup of future O gauge engineers. I think that the blue controller is for Thomas and the green for Percy. The color codes are wonderful for this application.
Here is a better view of the battery powered Lion Chief Santa engine. Converting Lion Chief engines to battery power is fairly easy because you can connect the battery directly to the stock electronics and use the Lion Chief controller to operate the train.
Here are more visitors during a break between cloud bursts.
These two kids are operating a sound box on the children's display. It has buttons that blow train horns, cows mooing, dogs barking, etc.
This Lionel Lion Chief Polar Express train on the lower level of the children's display was big hit.
The display walkways were continually flooded throughout the day. The black bars on the left are the railings for the front porch. They will be reinstalled after more rotten redwood is replaced. The thirty year old wood fence is scheduled for replacement in 2020. The estimated cost to replace the 80 foot long fence is $5,000. The walkways will eventually be replaced by pavers. This is another very expensive project.
This is an older conventional Lionel Christmas Story train running in the rain.
This is an old Lionel G gauge engine that was purchased at a train show. Its motors and gearing were replaced and an Air-wire command control system with sound installed. It is now a good runner.
This is an all Lionel Christmas box car train. The engine is conventional and is from about 2003. It has a small horizontal can motor powering each truck.
All of us at the SLHRS and G&O crew wish all of our OGR Forum friends a Happy Christmas and a Wonderful New Year.
NH Joe