Baseball & Trains

Love it. I'm planning a small baseball/softball field. Hard finding women softball players that would represent my daughter's college team. Love your Stadium, especially the monuments. Thanks for the photos.

Arnold,

   Now that is way cool, where did you get all those cool Base Ball figures, did you make the stadium field?  Love to have the Yankees and Pirates game 7 at Forbes Field recreated in my Train Room.   

What a great idea!

PCRR/Dave 

Mine is almost complete.  I need some bleachers and grass around the outside.  And maybe a scoreboard. 

Alentown posted:

Love it. I'm planning a small baseball/softball field. Hard finding women softball players that would represent my daughter's college team. Love your Stadium, especially the monuments. Thanks for the photos.

Monuments were made from Popsicle Sticks and got the faces of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins (manager) off the Internet.

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Arnold,

   Now that is way cool, where did you get all those cool Base Ball figures, did you make the stadium field?  Love to have the Yankees and Pirates game 7 at Forbes Field recreated in my Train Room.   

What a great idea!

PCRR/Dave 

Dave, I bought the metal baseball figures from the Choo Choo Barn (in York or Strasburg, PA) around 1995 for $150. They came in a pretty box with a red ribbon on it.

The baseball field is made with scenery materials (Woodland Scenics fine green and spray glue), scoreboard is made from cardboard painted with acrylic paint, and bleachers are obviously made from Popsicle sticks glued together and painted blue (great project to do with a child or children because it is so simple and relatively easy). I made the bleachers with my son and daughter when they were little. Also, we glued together and painted many of the little people sitting in the stands. It was cheaper to buy the plastic bodies and arms and heads of these little figures and unpainted, and my kids and I had fun gluing them together and painting them.

I'm sure that you, as a Pirates fan, can have a great time creating a ballpark reminiscent of Forbes Field in game 7 of the 1960 World Series. Make sure you include Yogi Berra in left field watching the Mazeroski home run go over the tall, ivy covered left field wall!

Panther97 posted:

Mine is almost complete.  I need some bleachers and grass around the outside.  And maybe a scoreboard. 

 

Looks great. Very realistic. Thanks for the pictures.

Where did you get your baseball figures? I am particularly interested in your right hand pitcher.

Alrhough I chose the 1956 World Series perfect game in Yankee Stadium, I came close to doing a Field of Dreams scene. That could be a great scene to model with the corn field past the outfield fence, the farmhouse where Ray Kinsella and his wife and daughter live, the light towers, etc.

Another idea would be to model other ballparks, especially the historic ones like Fenway Park and Wrigley Field.

I too would love to find 0 scale baseball figures.

I just Googled O Scale Baseball Figures, and found some that might be good. 

Some are plastic and inexpensive. The metal or pewter figures are more expensive. The ones that looked the best were metal and offered by TrainZ, but unfortunately they were out of stock. I think they were made by Kramer.

Artista has a lot of cool figures, but I could not find baseball players among the little people they were offering for sale on the Internet.

Forbes Field at the Carnegie is something else. She modeled a specific game, but not the Series.

Now I'm thinking an all-time Pirate all-stars lineup...but which uniforms, which park and who goes where? Second base, shortstop, left and right field aren't as hard, but...

Try www.kramerproducts.com

I think that they are still in business here in the Pittsburgh area.

Norm

Scenery Express has O Scale baseball figures.

On a related noted, I've been looking for a figure of someone in the act of throwing a ball or a rock *without* a baseball glove on his non-throwing hand.  Has anyone seen anything like this?

Steven J. Serenska

You might also want to look into sportsclix on ebay. Similar to the heroclix super hero figures, they are perfect for O Scale and come in a variety of poses. They didn't find the success that heroclix did, but they did make major league players several years back and they are relatively affordable for a fairly well detailed plastic figure. To field an entire team in the same uniform you might need to do a little repainting, but that might not be too challenging, since a uniform is predominantly just one color. 

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Looks great. Very realistic. Thanks for the pictures.Where did you get your baseball figures? I am particularly interested in your right hand pitcher.

Thanks, Arnold.  The baseball figures are from a game called SportsClix.   There was a thread on baseball fields last year and a forum member pointed them out.  I really wanted a scene with the pitcher stare.   They are not exactly O-scale to be honest.  They are slightly smaller. 

DohertyNJ posted:

Fabulous pictures. I particularly like the top one. Very nice field, fence, buildings in background and ball players.

nkp4me posted:

You might also want to look into sportsclix on ebay. Similar to the heroclix super hero figures, they are perfect for O Scale and come in a variety of poses. They didn't find the success that heroclix did, but they did make major league players several years back and they are relatively affordable for a fairly well detailed plastic figure. To field an entire team in the same uniform you might need to do a little repainting, but that might not be too challenging, since a uniform is predominantly just one color. 

You must have posted this as I was typing my response!  LOL.   I purchased a huge lot on ebay of 100+ figures for about $20 at the time I built this field.  I'm not very good at hand painting figures!

Arnold, did you build your bleachers?

Here is my Field of Dreams diamond. That is suppose to be Shoeless Joe Jackson emerging from the cornfield. And thanks for the heads-up on the Sportsclix. I just ordered some to round out the team. I think they will work. I also added a few shots of how Shady Hollow decorates for the season.

Rick

I'd love to build Yankee Stadium, but I don't even have room for a backyard ballfield, haha.  This is great stuff, guys.

My son bought me this.  It's on my Yankee wall in the pool room.  Sorry for the flash.  We have looked at this for 5 years.  Clearly the first pitch to Gilliam, but, no Mantle, no McDougald (Rizzuto was released), no Cary.  This summer, another sharp-eyed guest noticed McDougald's dark right baseball sleeve over Yogi's left shoulder.  We always thought it was Yogi's glove.  Mantle must be blocked by Berra and Pinelli.

Arnold, I love that Yankee field with the scoreboard, monuments, fascade, and depth signs.  I got these Yankee fascade pieces from a guy in Florida.  He can make you any size you need.  I can't remember the toy and puzzle company name, but his email is DJ51@aol.com, for anyone who is interested.

If you haven't already, it's the "chooholigans" page in "figures" at Scenic Express.  Not cheap, but lots of ballplayers that look like they can be easily painted to resemble the team you want.

Jerry   

Becky, Tom & Gabe Morgan posted:

Forbes Field at the Carnegie is something else. She modeled a specific game, but not the Series.

Now I'm thinking an all-time Pirate all-stars lineup...but which uniforms, which park and who goes where? Second base, shortstop, left and right field aren't as hard, but..

Panther97 posted:

nkp4me posted:

You might also want to look into sportsclix on ebay. Similar to the heroclix super hero figures, they are perfect for O Scale and come in a variety of poses. They didn't find the success that heroclix did, but they did make major league players several years back and they are relatively affordable for a fairly well detailed plastic figure. To field an entire team in the same uniform you might need to do a little repainting, but that might not be too challenging, since a uniform is predominantly just one color. 

You must have posted this as I was typing my response!  LOL.   I purchased a huge lot on ebay of 100+ figures for about $20 at the time I built this field.  I'm not very good at hand painting figures!

Arnold, did you build your bleachers?

Yes, the bleachers are made of Popsicle Sticks glued together and painted blue, and then attached to a piece of wood painted blue.,  I have a box of a thousand Popsicle Sticks. I think arts and crafts stores sell them. 

Ranger Rick posted:

Here is my Field of Dreams diamond. That is suppose to be Shoeless Joe Jackson emerging from the cornfield. And thanks for the heads-up on the Sportsclix. I just ordered some to round out the team. I think they will work. I also added a few shots of how Shady Hollow decorates for the season.

Rick

Rick, in my humble opinion, I think your creation of the Field of Dreams baseball field with the cornfield is the best thing I have ever seen on a train layout. I absolutely love it! Bravo!

Ranger Rick posted:

Here is my Field of Dreams diamond. That is suppose to be Shoeless Joe Jackson emerging from the cornfield. And thanks for the heads-up on the Sportsclix. I just ordered some to round out the team. I think they will work. I also added a few shots of how Shady Hollow decorates for the season.

Rick

Go the distance!

JerryG posted:

I'd love to build Yankee Stadium, but I don't even have room for a backyard ballfield, haha.  This is great stuff, guys.

My son bought me this.  It's on my Yankee wall in the pool room.  Sorry for the flash.  We have looked at this for 5 years.  Clearly the first pitch to Gilliam, but, no Mantle, no McDougald (Rizzuto was released), no Cary.  This summer, another sharp-eyed guest noticed McDougald's dark right baseball sleeve over Yogi's left shoulder.  We always thought it was Yogi's glove.  Mantle must be blocked by Berra and Pinelli.

Arnold, I love that Yankee field with the scoreboard, monuments, fascade, and depth signs.  I got these Yankee fascade pieces from a guy in Florida.  He can make you any size you need.  I can't remember the toy and puzzle company name, but his email is DJ51@aol.com, for anyone who is interested.

If you haven't already, it's the "chooholigans" page in "figures" at Scenic Express.  Not cheap, but lots of ballplayers that look like they can be easily painted to resemble the team you want.

Jerry   

Very nice, Jerry, thanks for sharing your Yankee pictures.

i guess "the grass is always greener." I will explain in a few minutes in a separate reply.

Becky, Tom & Gabe Morgan posted:

Forbes Field at the Carnegie is something else. She modeled a specific game, but not the Series.

Now I'm thinking an all-time Pirate all-stars lineup...but which uniforms, which park and who goes where? Second base, shortstop, left and right field aren't as hard, but..

Panther97 posted:

nkp4me posted:

You might also want to look into sportsclix on ebay. Similar to the heroclix super hero figures, they are perfect for O Scale and come in a variety of poses. They didn't find the success that heroclix did, but they did make major league players several years back and they are relatively affordable for a fairly well detailed plastic figure. To field an entire team in the same uniform you might need to do a little repainting, but that might not be too challenging, since a uniform is predominantly just one color. 

You must have posted this as I was typing my response!  LOL.   I purchased a huge lot on ebay of 100+ figures for about $20 at the time I built this field.  I'm not very good at hand painting figures!

Arnold, did you build your bleachers?

Yes, the bleachers are made of Popsicle Sticks glued together and painted blue, and then attached to a piece of wood painted blue.,  I have a box of a thousand Popsicle Sticks. I think arts and crafts stores sell them. 

Panther97 posted:

Ranger Rick posted:

Here is my Field of Dreams diamond. That is suppose to be Shoeless Joe Jackson emerging from the cornfield. And thanks for the heads-up on the Sportsclix. I just ordered some to round out the team. I think they will work. I also added a few shots of how Shady Hollow decorates for the season.

Rick

Go the distance!

I have a problem that I just solved. I love my Yankee stadium scene. However, at the moment, after seeing Rick's Field of Dreams scene with Shoeless Joe coming out of the cornfield, I love that even more.

One solution is tear up Yankee Stadium and replace it with Field of Dreams. But doing that will rip a piece of my heart out. I can't do it.

Is there a better solution? Here's a clue: Go the Distance! Ease his Pain! If you build it, he will come!

The perfect solution: 2 Baseball Fields!

I have a great new project to work on. On another table on my layout, where there is currently the Lionel Post War Rocket Launcher, I will build a Field of Dreams baseball field with a cornfield, light towers, and I will have Shoeless Joe returning to the cornfield, and Ray Kinsella and his Dad (as a young man when Ray was not even a glint in his Dad's eye), having a catch while hundreds of cars are driving to the ball park! I am so inspired to do this!

As a high school baseball coach for most of my career (over 30 years), I had to have some type of baseball reference on my layout. Between the farm and the field though, it takes up quite a bit of real estate. I posted this elsewhere, but I am having an open house next Saturday and I had this poster made up with a photo from the layout. Thank you all for your comments! This poster hangs above the basement stairs on the way down to the layout.

Ranger Rick posted:

As a high school baseball coach for most of my career (over 30 years), I had to have some type of baseball reference on my layout. Between the farm and the field though, it takes up quite a bit of real estate. I posted this elsewhere, but I am having an open house next Saturday and I had this poster made up with a photo from the layout. Thank you all for your comments! This poster hangs above the basement stairs on the way down to the layout.

Beautiful poster.

Rick, how do you do the cornfield? Did you buy little corn plants from some scenery company and, if so, from what company and approximately how much did it cost? Did you scratch build the cornfield and, if so, what materials did you use to create it?

Panther97 posted:

nkp4me posted:

You might also want to look into sportsclix on ebay. Similar to the heroclix super hero figures, they are perfect for O Scale and come in a variety of poses. They didn't find the success that heroclix did, but they did make major league players several years back and they are relatively affordable for a fairly well detailed plastic figure. To field an entire team in the same uniform you might need to do a little repainting, but that might not be too challenging, since a uniform is predominantly just one color. 

You must have posted this as I was typing my response!  LOL.   I purchased a huge lot on ebay of 100+ figures for about $20 at the time I built this field.  I'm not very good at hand painting figures!

Arnold, did you build your bleachers?

Great timing eh? I don't know if I will have enough space on my layout for a whole baseball field, but my idea currently is to use a corner, where the tracks curve, put up a fence, place an outfielder, and maybe have some kids standing on crates outside looking over the fence at the game action or something.

Arnold, I was going to try to make my own corn stalks, but they did not turn out as well as I liked, so I broke down and bought pre-made ones from Scenic Express. http://www.sceneryexpress.com/...productinfo/JT95553/

It was a pain putting these in. I first tried hot glue, but many stalks would not remain erect. I took my Dremel and drilled a hole for each corn stalk. My dirt is oven-dried used coffee grounds. I have read where folks balk at using this, but I have built two layouts and have had no problem with mold or critters ruining the effect. 

Rick

nkp4me posted:

Panther97 posted:

nkp4me posted:

You might also want to look into sportsclix on ebay. Similar to the heroclix super hero figures, they are perfect for O Scale and come in a variety of poses. They didn't find the success that heroclix did, but they did make major league players several years back and they are relatively affordable for a fairly well detailed plastic figure. To field an entire team in the same uniform you might need to do a little repainting, but that might not be too challenging, since a uniform is predominantly just one color. 

You must have posted this as I was typing my response!  LOL.   I purchased a huge lot on ebay of 100+ figures for about $20 at the time I built this field.  I'm not very good at hand painting figures!

Arnold, did you build your bleachers?

Great timing eh? I don't know if I will have enough space on my layout for a whole baseball field, but my idea currently is to use a corner, where the tracks curve, put up a fence, place an outfielder, and maybe have some kids standing on crates outside looking over the fence at the game action or something.

 

 

That sounds like an excellent plan, Scott. The idea is to create a scene that entertains you primarily, and if it entertains others, that's a bonus. Having kids standing on crates watching the game without buying tickets will put smiles on people's faces.

nkp4me posted:

Panther97 posted:

nkp4me posted:

You might also want to look into sportsclix on ebay. Similar to the heroclix super hero figures, they are perfect for O Scale and come in a variety of poses. They didn't find the success that heroclix did, but they did make major league players several years back and they are relatively affordable for a fairly well detailed plastic figure. To field an entire team in the same uniform you might need to do a little repainting, but that might not be too challenging, since a uniform is predominantly just one color. 

You must have posted this as I was typing my response!  LOL.   I purchased a huge lot on ebay of 100+ figures for about $20 at the time I built this field.  I'm not very good at hand painting figures!

Arnold, did you build your bleachers?

Great timing eh? I don't know if I will have enough space on my layout for a whole baseball field, but my idea currently is to use a corner, where the tracks curve, put up a fence, place an outfielder, and maybe have some kids standing on crates outside looking over the fence at the game action or something.

 

 

That sounds like an excellent plan, Scott. The idea is to create a scene that entertains you primarily, and if it entertains others, that's a bonus. Having kids standing on crates watching the game without buying tickets will put smiles on people's faces.

In reply to Rick's comments, I plan to "grow my cornfield" the same way Rick did. Why bother reinventing the wheel. 

I'm very excited about creating a Field of Dreams as a 2nd baseball field on my layout. The cool thing about it is that I will be turning the laundery room in my house into an O Gauge baseball and train paradise. As you enter the laundery room, people will first see the trains run by Yankee Stadium, pass the oil tank, and then take a bridge behind the washer dryer onto another table where the Field of Dreams baseball field will be. I'm not going to rush it. This will be a project I will plan, meditate on, and build over a period of at least a month or two.

The Field of Dreams will replace the rocket launcher scene below. I wonder if Lionel ever got sued because of the rocket launcher. A little kid could put an eye out because the spring is very strong that launches the rocket.

I thought it might be fun during the World Series to resurrect this Baseball & Trains thread.

Although I'm a lifelong Yankee fan, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Redsox defeat the Dodgers in the last 2 World Series games.

I was hoping to find an O Scale model of Fenway Park and its Green Monster, but so far have not found any.

My favorite photos above are those of Field of Dreams with its corn field behind the fence.

Would love to see photos of baseball fields on train layouts.

Arnold

Arnold,

As a Yankee fan, you must be a good sport to have enjoyed watching the Red Sox take a two-game lead in the Series...

MELGAR

Williams PennCentral F3s that look and pull great, hauling a boxcar unit train past the ballpark:

I'm curious, do any of you folks like watching baseball games on TV while reading this Forum and contributing to it? 

I sure do.

I'm genetically loaded to love baseball and Lionel trains, and I find it to be so fun and relaxing to watch baseball and be on this Forum. Arnold

I'm reading and watching as I type this. Although my team resides in Queens. I have a flat screen down in my Crappy Basement area which is always on any game when I'm down there. I remember in League of their Own there is a Lionel billboard ad on the outfield wall of one of the shots.

I remember my Dad taking me to softball games at "Went" field in Bridgeport on the north side of the raised 4 track NH now Metro North lines. I would count freight cars during the softball games up to 40-50 cars . one of my childhood memories of the 60s.

Arnold your scene is great reminder of those games. 

Just an imagined "park" in any local town. Bunch of boys playing ball till it's time to go home.

Arnold, I to am a die hard Yankee fan but I could never root for the Red Sox’s to beat any team, especially a historic Brooklyn team. That said I too enjoy watching a game, with a love o Lionel trains and being on the forum at the same time. I cant  tell you how many times my wife will say your not even watching the game your on that iPad again. 

Your laundry room plans sound awesome and I cant wait to see it develop leading to a 28th World Series win.....GO YANKEES and Lionel.

I have the banner and logos printed out for my next project.