I've been bogged down with school work (and work-work) but hope to post some recent Diecast Direct purchases some time. I didn't realize that my mail program began sending all Forum emails to my spam folder. Here I thought this thread was inactive. What fun it has been catching up with all the great posts and photos since January! 
Great job everyone!
Tomlinson Run Railroad
Busy day to today...a few new vehicles came on the scene, along with a many locals taking advantage of the newly opened transportation hub...bus and train stations! The Railway Express office opened for business to a steady flow of activity for a Sunday...take note of the spotting of two Railway Express cars placed for loading of outgoing freight
briansilvermustang posted:
Nice image with the loading ramp. IIRC from a Bowling Green plant tour, Corvettes don't ship by rail because of the low production volume.
Brian. It’s about time you post that Vette getting loaded up
Brian, looks like your ramp needs to be a little higher!
Capetrainman posted:Busy day to today...a few new vehicles came on the scene, along with a many locals taking advantage of the newly opened transportation hub...bus and train stations! The Railway Express office opened for business to a steady flow of activity for a Sunday...take note of the spotting of two Railway Express cars placed for loading of outgoing freight
Wow paul, things have certainly come to life'..your structures, and LPs look great. Nice looking scenes'.. Where did you get the figure in the red dress in front of the bus station?.. Your selection of figures and their placement have added a realistic touch'... 
Wow carpettrainman what a great downtown scene. I loved the Greyhound terminal what s great modeling job.
Briansilvermustsng. That ‘63 split window must be headed to s car show. Those are 6-7 figure cats today. Don’t scratch the paint
Don McErlean
Thanks Don
Ted, thanks for the comment...the lady in the red dress in front of the bus station is a Preiser. I believe she's a 1:45 scale...as you tell, those figures are very detailed She must be friends with the three standing by the '55 yellow Chevy at the intersection!
Don, yes, the Greyhound terminal is a nice piece from MTH. Until I hit the lights tonight, I had forgotten the "Greyhound" marquis blinks on and off....a nice feature.
Lee, I agree it's nice to see Brian's '63 silver Vette loading up...great scene, Brian! I'll be placing my '63 silver Vette on the layout pretty soon.
'63 Split Window - doesn't get any better than that !
Pic's of a couple of new additions.
Richie, very nice trucks........I have a very similar Harley van except mine doesn't have the spare tire or sun visor but does have bumpers.
That's very cool, Ray - mine also has a gold colored headlight assembly and radiator grill and, for whatever reason, it has more of a hot rod look even though it's a business van. $6 on DD and $4 for the brown Chevy stepside - couldn't pass them up.
Richie your right it has some "Rat Rod" in it, what a great deal you made.
I have 2 '63 Split window Corvettes. They are by Road Champions. They took turns at the charity car wash at McDonald's. Red and Beach Boys blue. 
Richie. What a great deal like the both I don’t have either one I really need to get that 55 Chevy thanks for posting
Ray. Yours looks good too
Gary. Great pics as always those are some nice shots
Richie C. posted:'63 Split Window - doesn't get any better than that !
Pic's of a couple of new additions.
Two sharp-looking trucks there, Buddy!
I also have one of the 1930 Chevrolet panel trucks. Mines a bank,with visor and spare tire,made by Ertl. Looks right at home in front of the Parts Department.
While waiting on my parts I thought I would start another Circus Wagon
The "Young's" panel truck I picked up is also by ERTL and says it is part of a series of 7, so that may account for the different variations.
Lee - I didn't notice it until I saw the pic I posted here, but the brown '55 Chevy stepside is two tones of brown - the cab is slightly darker brown than the bed. It appears the cab is diecast, but the bed is plastic, so that may account for the difference.
Also, picked this roadster up with side windows.
AZGARY posted:I also have one of the 1930 Chevrolet panel trucks. Mines a bank,with visor and spare tire,made by Ertl. Looks right at home in front of the Parts Department.
I like what you did with a Plastciville fire station.
I love kit bashing PV stuff.
For the "Vette" fans above, I located the '63 split window coupe to add to the layout today...the black Vette next to it is a '58...
A highly modified Plasticville Gas Station. Added a tile front, revamped the windows, added Mobil decals and lighting, added Berkshire Valley gas pumps, oil cans, air station, and water can, added bare metal foil trim, added a full garage interior (including photos of my own workbench) added an island with a light post, and did a whole lot of other things which I forgot. Figures are from MTH
The Hudson Hornet is a made from Hudson race car, which I repainted, added bare metal foil trim, added full hub caps, modified the bumpers, etc. The Ford started life as a Taxi, The Cadillac is a Neo model, and the Alfa in the garage started life as well..an Alfa. It was chosen because it fit into the O/S-sized Plasticville service bay.
The light post is bent because some inattentive customer ran into it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. But its lucky he missed the oil cans neatly stacked on their shelves. And like all my buildings, it is fully illuminated:
The big Mobilgas signs on either side of the central "sail" are made by attaching the decal to a cut styrene sheet. Illumination is provided by grain of wheat bulbs embedded in brass tubes
John thanks for posting those beautiful pics
Paul. You as well those are some great looking pics too
Thanks, Lee....great pics John! I especially like the night scene...sharp lighting...
John Sethian posted:A highly modified Plasticville Gas Stati ...
John,
This is a fabulous scene. Thanks for giving us the background on how the building and cars were created/modified. I'd like to call out the peeling concrete skim coat on the wall with the underlying brick showing through just to the right of the gas station. It really sets the tone and times. (The brick color goes well with the shades of the two store fronts as well.)
You've got a great eye for detail and the skills to bring an idea to "life".
I'm curious whether you cast the bumper for the Hudson or added touches in some other way to make it.
Tomlinson Run Railroad
Great scene and cars, John.
With the savings from the other 3 cars I picked up, I decide to splurge and got this little gem.
Thanks everyone for the kind words! I always liked the basic style of that Plasticville gas station, and while its a bit small, I managed to figure out how to fit it into the layout...stick it in the midst of a bunch of tall buildings to make them look taller!
TomlinsonRunRR posted:I'm curious whether you cast the bumper for the Hudson or added touches in some other way to make it.Tomlinson Run Railroad
All the mods were to the rear bumper..I added the tailights and bare metal foil. Since I bought that model you can now get it as a street car. So not only do you not have to get rid of the red wheels and "Fabulous Hudson Hornet" on the sides, it comes with an antenna and some more chrome trim
@Richie C. That Mack is amazing! Where did you get it?
conifers4 posted:@Richie C. That Mack is amazing! Where did you get it?
Thanks - Diecast Direct website. Also available in a white/blue paint scheme. A little more than I typically would pay for diecast for my train layout (although still reasonable), but with the money I saved on the other three cars/trucks I bought, I figured I'd splurge. Link to blue/white is below - Item # for the orange/white is IX-TR053.
Richie that’s a sharp looking Bulldog love those B models
Took a few pics around the layout this evening
Lee
I like that last photo! Good use of light coming through the windows
Capetrainman posted:For the "Vette" fans above, I located the '63 split window coupe to add to the layout today...the black Vette next to it is a '58...
Wow Paul', the community is growing rapidly '.. Where did you find that baby blue 53 Ford, and the dark green Ford parked nest to it'.. 53s are some of my favorites... Haven't seen those models before'... Nice set up with all the traffic'... Keep it up'.....😁👍🏻👌
John Sethian posted:A highly modified Plasticville Gas Station. Added a tile front, revamped the windows, added Mobil decals and lighting, added Berkshire Valley gas pumps, oil cans, air station, and water can, added bare metal foil trim, added a full garage interior (including photos of my own workbench) added an island with a light post, and did a whole lot of other things which I forgot. Figures are from MTH
The Hudson Hornet is a made from Hudson race car, which I repainted, added bare metal foil trim, added full hub caps, modified the bumpers, etc. The Ford started life as a Taxi, The Cadillac is a Neo model, and the Alfa in the garage started life as well..an Alfa. It was chosen because it fit into the O/S-sized Plasticville service bay.
The light post is bent because some inattentive customer ran into it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. But its lucky he missed the oil cans neatly stacked on their shelves. And like all my buildings, it is fully illuminated:
The big Mobilgas signs on either side of the central "sail" are made by attaching the decal to a cut styrene sheet. Illumination is provided by grain of wheat bulbs embedded in brass tubes
Beautiful work John'... Are there any mirrors involved in these shots''. Your lighting is excellent as well as the entire scenes in each shot'...
Richie C. posted:Great scene and cars, John.
With the savings from the other 3 cars I picked up, I decide to splurge and got this little gem.
Beautiful new Mack'... Richie', Just ordered one'.. I just couldn't resist' Thanks for posting'.... 😜👨🏻👍🏻👀
Quarter Gauger 48 posted:
Ted
You get the sharp eyed award for the week. There is one mirror at the far right where the sky changes color (I need to work on THAT! Along with the gas station lamp post.)
This view shows it better.
The mirror is to the right of the 3rd townhouse from the left. In other words the 4th through 6th townhouses are just a reflection. The hill was required because these are old castings and they are slightly out of square. But its a good effect, and will be better when I finish the street and glue the sidewalks down.
And here are my obligitory night shots:
In the last photo, I was trying to create the effect of steps leading to a path that passes through a city park at night. The lamp posts along the path are HO Scale. The New Lyon Bank in the background is made from 19 (nineteen) HO Scale City Classics Baum Boulevard Art Deco building fronts.
And since this IS a car thread, that 1956 Desoto Adventurer Model is made by Buby Collectors Classics. That is an Argentinia company that made several mid 50's cars. Google them if you want. They are very well detailed (as you can see), and a bit pricey. But, you got to watch them, as sometimes they are grossly out of scale in width or length.
The Thompson Dairy truck I posted many pages ago in this thread
John Sethian posted:Quarter Gauger 48 posted:
Ted
You get the sharp eyed award for the week. There is one mirror at the far right where the sky changes color (I need to work on THAT! Along with the gas station lamp post.)
This view shows it better.
The mirror is to the right of the 3rd townhouse from the left. In other words the 4th through 6th townhouses are just a reflection. The hill was required because these are old castings and they are slightly out of square. But its a good effect, and will be better when I finish the street and glue the sidewalks down.
And here are my obligitory night shots:
In the last photo, I was trying to create the effect of steps leading to a path that passes through a city park at night. The lamp posts along the path are HO Scale. The New Lyon Bank in the background is made from 19 (nineteen) HO Scale City Classics Baum Boulevard Art Deco building fronts.
And since this IS a car thread, that 1956 Desoto Adventurer Model is made by Buby Collectors Classics. That is an Argentinia company that made several mid 50's cars. Google them if you want. They are very well detailed (as you can see), and a bit pricey. But, you got to watch them, as sometimes they are grossly out of scale in width or length.
The Thompson Dairy truck I posted many pages ago in this thread
Thanks John'... I only asked that, as I remember seeing those beautiful apt buildings from along ago post when I asked you some questions about those.. I'm still working on mine'..
as I am way behind on projects'... Your work is great and I always enjoy seeing your beautiful scenes'....
Ted - sorry to have increased your train budget ! 
Lee - great pics' - love that tow truck !
Richie. Thanks it was a lot of fun to build
My Dad was a huge Chrysler fan. So much so that when I was growing up in the 50's and 60's, whenever he saw somethin he liked, or if I did something good, he would say "That's MOPAR, John"
I decaled this truck in his memory:
That is Mopar - thanks for sharing!
Great job John. I'm always touched at the many ways in which folks honor/memorialize their loved ones (both alive and deceased) on their layouts. I have a few ideas myself as to what I would do on my layout for the same.
Quarter Gauger 48 posted:Capetrainman posted:For the "Vette" fans above, I located the '63 split window coupe to add to the layout today...the black Vette next to it is a '58...
Ted, John mentioned above that the Chrysler / DeSoto was a "Buby Collector's Classic' made in Argentina, I believe, in the 80's or possibly the '90's. The Fords in my picture are the same brand, and the detail is very sharp...great colors! As was noted above, at 1/43 some of the models tend to appear to be on the larger side for the layout. The Ford's work for me size-wise, although I can see what John states about size. The cars do tend to be pricey, but from time to time some show up on the net auction sites for affordable prices. I've happy with the few in my fleet
John. Thanks for posting they look good of course any Mack looks good to me
A few additional cars added to the layout today as the newly opened bus station and diner attract new visitors
Capetrainman posted:A few additional cars added to the layout today as the newly opened bus station and diner attract new visitors
Very cool'.. customers appear to be enjoying the curb service'''...
A question for all you 1/43 car aficionados out there. Does any company make a 1955 4 door Chevy Sedan?
I am interested in a reasonably high quality model of the type that have been shown on this thread. I would prefer a 150 or 210 (but I can always convert a Bel Air) and a post sedan (but I can always add the posts to a hard top). I know there are a lot of coupes, convertibles, and a few Nomads out there. But I am looking for a few mundane 55 Chevys to populate my layout
John. Try Neo or Whitebox
Paul. Those pics look Awesome love those Buses
John Sethian posted:A question for all you 1/43 car aficionados out there. Does any company make a 1955 4 door Chevy Sedan?
I am interested in a reasonably high quality model of the type that have been shown on this thread. I would prefer a 150 or 210 (but I can always convert a Bel Air) and a post sedan (but I can always add the posts to a hard top). I know there are a lot of coupes, convertibles, and a few Nomads out there. But I am looking for a few mundane 55 Chevys to populate my layout
John, I don't recall any 4dr 55s.. there are plenty of 2dr inexpensive 55 Chevy police cars, in white and black, you could easily modify... Diecast Direct. I paid $5 bucks for them. They also have a bunch of 57 4 door Fords in police dress... Here's a I 55 Chevy I modified..
Lee,
Neither Neo or Whitebox make a 4 door 55 chevy (at least that I could find)
Ted
In addition to being a 2 door, that Road Champs model is a bit too coarse on the details and trim for what I am looking for. (PS..NICE job on the weathering and rust, really nice!!!!)
But thanks guys, I appreciate the help!
Ted, nice weathering job on the '55
Ted, as always, your work is terrific. Both, the scene and the camera work. Very well done.
I wonder if any pharmacys deliver today'... Elmore's does, and its free'..
How bout a well rode 48 Ford'.. and still going strong in 58'...
Ted
I see your well rode Ford and raise you one well rode 1941 Chevy Truck
And one over rode 1941 Chevy Truck
John Sethian posted:Ted
I see your well rode Ford and raise you one well rode 1941 Chevy Truck
And one over rode 1941 Chevy Truck
Okay John ,''' I'll see you and raise'...
Great vignette, Sidehack. THe lighting's great and the dog watching the welding is perfect.
Tomlinson Run Railroad
TomlinsonRunRR posted:Great vignette, Sidehack. THe lighting's great and the dog watching the welding is perfect.
Tomlinson Run Railroad
I must agree exactly'.... perfect'...
Quarter Gauger 48 posted:John Sethian posted:Ted
I see your well rode Ford and raise you one well rode 1941 Chevy Truck
And one over rode 1941 Chevy Truck
That motorcycle cop looks like he needs to retire lol
Guys thanks for posting some great stuff and keeping this thread alive everyday
Added a '56 Ford to the layout today, and opened the brewery...soon the beer cars will be placed at the siding for loading...
Paul I was hoping you would post those pics here thanks and I love those busses
Thanks, Lee...
German engineering...
Capetrainman posted:Added a '56 Ford to the layout today, and opened the brewery...soon the beer cars will be placed at the siding for loading...
Nice shots paul'...very nice indeed'........ Love those Fords and busses'
One of my favorite trucks I Custom built
Busses will please keep to the front …….
OK Lee,
How did you custom build that beauty? I need a 2 week project
Lionelski posted:OK Lee,
How did you custom build that beauty? I need a 2 week project
The truck is a old Speccast that I stripped off the paint then Hand painted the Red part. The Trailer is a old Berkshire Valley Craftman kit with Champ O scale decals
Lionelski posted:OK Lee,
How did you custom build that beauty? I need a 2 week project
John - I have these that I haven't been able to get to and would let each one go for a reasonable price plus shipping if you or anyone else is interested in one, two, three or all. LMK via e-mail.
I built these last winter. 1/48 scale
Dennis
How it looks next to Plastiville
Paint scheme is all my idea & initials.
I have a second log carrier I have not built yet. Logs are from a bush in my yard.
1/48 scale.
Dennis
Hartman posted:I built these last winter. 1/48 scale
Dennis
How it looks next to Plastiville
Paint scheme is all my idea & initials.
Beautiful job!!! were they a kit or did you scratch these?... Very nice'
Hartman posted:I built these last winter. 1/48 scale
Dennis
WOW, great design and paint/decal work!
Thanks Lee (p51). Those automotive pinstripes hide the paint line between red & gray very well. For plastic parts, I'm surprised how much sanding was required.
D.
Very nice trailers and trucks. Thanks for posting guys
This was my first Berkshire Valley trailer. A good friend of mine sent it to me back in 2007 and asked me if I could build it I could have it he didn’t think he wanted to try it so I did and I was hooked. I replaced the suspension with one from the Revell Mobil gas trailer as well as the wheels
Can't have enough trucks - this is a great one - thanks!
Found this 1937 Ford tractor trailer in an antique mall ...its 1/43 so a little small but for the cost (11$) it fills a space and looks OK. I am not sure I like the cartoon on the trailer, may over paint that eventually with something more consistent with the time period. Right now its backing up to my Marx freight station, picking up a load of candy for those Easter baskets !
Happy Weekend All - try and keep healthy
Don McErlean
Don. Very nice never seen this one thanks for posting. You have a great weekend as well
Here’s another pic from the layout
What was that company that made all the S scale trucks from the 1930's and up? They made a lot of attractive models l drooled over but could not use and still lament the lack of in 1/48- 1/43. I only found them regularly in that shop over the Strasburg hobby shop in years past.
Not a truck, but here's one of my Corgi 1:50 NYTA GM Fishbowls with a Hot Pursuit 1:43 NYPD 1968 Plymouth Fury.
-Duncan
FCMR Car 21 the green theme of your photo reminds me of some recent St. Patrick's Day posts :-). Great looking bus and I like your Lego buildings. Are they your own design? It appears they capture the scale well ... (and I love the subway entrance).
Tomlinson Run Railroad
TomlinsonRunRR posted:FCMR Car 21 the green theme of your photo reminds me of some recent St. Patrick's Day posts :-). Great looking bus and I like your Lego buildings. Are they your own design? It appears they capture the scale well ... (and I love the subway entrance).
Tomlinson Run Railroad
Thanks TomlinsonRunRR! The green theme was unintentional as I took this photo a couple of years back. Yes, the Lego buildings are my own design. In addition to my long-standing O-Scale hobby, I have a large Lego city/train layout that I display at public shows. The scale of my Lego skyscrapers works well with O-Scale too.
Well, it's taken a while but here is my friendly response to tnkMarx's 3/18/2020 "German Engineering" post. I call it:
MORE GERMAN ENGINEERING ...
Hey, wait a minute! That guy's not really German!
Fraternal twins separated at birth? (Super Beetles)
The red Beetle and yellow Rabbit came from a die cast company I've only used once. No boxes and they are unmarked except for being made in PRC. The black Super Beetle is a Cararama (although marked differently underneath) and came with a caravan (forum sponsor Diecast Direct):
1995 Jetta by Green Light (Diecast Direct)
The "interloper" is a Disney Store Cars 2 Mater in spy disguise model from Diecast Direct. Don't ask me what possessed me with regard to that purchase! All are 1/43, or so they say ...
Tomlinson Run Railroad
FCMR Car 21 posted:Thanks TomlinsonRunRR! The green theme was unintentional as I took this photo a couple of years back. Yes, the Lego buildings are my own design. In addition to my long-standing O-Scale hobbie, I have a large Lego city/train layout that I display at public shows. The scale of my Lego skyscrapers works well with O-Scale too.
Wow! Those skyscrapers are excellent. I've tried Lego with my carpet layout but failed terribly (as some old Team Track Tuesday posts attest to). Yours works really well. It looks like a typical city street scene! Nicely done! The fountain is a great touch, too.
TRRR
Folks, I got this 1995 Jetta because I've had about 4 Jettas in 1:1, including one in black. I put off this 1/43 purchase for quite a while because I wish model makers would stop adding spoilers and other fancy touches to the boring sedans that I drive. I just want a boring old model that looks like my cars did for my layout. ANYWAY, when I got this model I was thrown by what looks like a soccer goal net in the back seat.
My assumption is that it's leftover sprue but the screw on the underside is pretty tight and I've been unable to open the car up to investigate. Surely it's not a roll bar as that makes no sense but, as I said, mfgrs like to soup up boring sedans.
See the soccer goal in the back seat?
Nicely detailed interior otherwise. That is NOT dust on the side! (At least I sure hope it isn't :
Thoughts?
Tomlinson Run Railroad
Did you ever get the feeling that you worked on the layout most of the day without seemingly much accomplishment? The greatest accomplishment today was moving a few Ford's and Merc's around for the Ford fans here
TomlinsonRunRR posted:the screw on the underside is pretty tight and I've been unable to open the car up to investigate. Surely it's not a roll bar as that makes no sense but...........
Thoughts?
Tomlinson Run Railroad
You may recall (much much earlier in this thread) I have a used car lot of every car I have ever owned. In the proper colors. Painting requires taking the body off, which in turn requires dealing with difficult screws and/or rivets. I got pretty good at drilling them out, and then simply gluing the body back to the mounting posts. Once you get that shell off you can both remove the spoiler and build one half of your O scale soccer pitch
Capetrainman posted:Did you ever get the feeling that you worked on the layout most of the day without seemingly much accomplishment? The greatest accomplishment today was moving a few Ford's and Merc's around for the Ford fans here
Paul, keep those batteries charged up'.. by moving them around is a good thing'... I think all of us do the same thing.... Sometimes I plan on doing maintenance and just wind up spending hours re-adjusting and moving my little people around and of course their cars and trucks. The trains never get moved on those days....
In regards to Tomlinson's Jetta . I think what you have is a model of one of the VW "Cup" race series Jettas that had roll bars retro fitted to them. The ones I recall seeing were orange and diesel powered of all things! Doug
John, yes I do remember your earlier post -- with great envy, too!
That's a good suggestion about drilling out the screws and removing the spoiler -- except I couldn't even manage that task on the large rivets on railcar trucks. (The guy at my hardware store finally succeeded :-). So, I'd have to buy a backup car model before trying such a small and delicate project. Of course, that would have the advantage of supplying me with a second soccer goal :-).
Doug, interesting observation about the VW Jetta Cup racing issue, and a new one to me. Sure enough, the roll bar is in the back seat and looks somewhat similiar. The front end is different, of course, but the rest including the spoiler is close. The available Greenlight model colors fit right in with prototype racing photos I found.
Wikipedia (the source of all knowledge), says the Cup model was produced from 2008 to 2011, which is too late. Perhaps Greenlight built the 1995 around the chassis and interior from a racer? Or maybe it's just a fantasy Jetta.
Thanks, guys!
Tomlinson Run Railroad
UPDATE: And, yes, the Cup editions were TDIs (diesel). The model isn't.
Capetrainman posted:Did you ever get the feeling that you worked on the layout most of the day without seemingly much accomplishment? The greatest accomplishment today was moving a few Ford's and Merc's around for the Ford fans here
Great scene, love all those old Fords
colorado hirailer posted:What was that company that made all the S scale trucks from the 1930's and up? They made a lot of attractive models l drooled over but could not use and still lament the lack of in 1/48- 1/43. I only found them regularly in that shop over the Strasburg hobby shop in years past.
Was it Dehanes? They was a weird scale 1/53-1/55
Paul. I like that thunderchicken
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