Skip to main content

Hey gang:

We at the Hamlet Depot Museum embarked on a major undertaking a few years back. We're bringing Seaboard Air Line's flagship passenger train, the Silver Meteor, back to Hamlet -- in O-scale 2-rail, at least. Maybe ya'll will enjoy following along on this journey; hence the motivation for starting this topic. 

We were inspired by the fine work of PRRTRAINGUY, who built a fabulous 12-car version of the Silver Meteor, or the  "Meter" as we often refer to it. Our first thought was to scratch-build the train ourselves, relying heavily on the talents of our master modeler, Sam Hill (yeah, as in "Who in the Sam Hill is that?").

We were knee-deep into our first car, Seaboard's sun lounge Hollywood Beach, when much to our delight, Scott Mann announced his intention to offer the Meteor with an E8A in Seaboard mint livery to boot. Huge thanks to Scott for this, as well as Bob Delbridge for his role in making this dream of ours into a reality.

Without a penny in fundraising to our name, we jumped in on faith alone and are making huge strides every month. Best of all, we're having a blast and making friends as we go.

Our idea is to create a permanent static display at the Hamlet Depot Museum that features the Silver Meteor as it might have appeared in the mid-1950s. Fueled by the excitement of our donors and well-wishers, our project has expanded to not only honor the "Meter" but also one of our Depot Board members as well, plus a beautiful Art Deco Hamlet landmark -- a Seaboard bridge that still stands today. 

Hope you all enjoy the posts that will follow to document this special undertaking. Chime in with ideas, tips and your stories about the "Meter." And come see us in Hamlet.

Thanks,

Bill Matheson

 Bring the Meteor back to Hamlet poster

Attachments

Images (1)
  • Bring the Meteor back to Hamlet poster
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Here is our idea for the display cabinet base that will house the Silver Meteor diorama. It pays tribute to the graceful art deco Seaboard bridge that spans Hwy. 38 just down the street from the Hamlet Depot. Some pictures of that bridge are included. Remaining bridges of this nature should be preserved. Maybe some of you know of similar bridges out there. Post some pictures if you've got 'em.

Attachments

Images (3)
  • Seaboard bridge 1: Seaboard bridge over NC Hwy. 38 - Hamlet NC
  • Seaboard bridge 2: Sign points to Amtrak station at the Hamlet Depot
  • Seaboard bridge 3: CSX continues to use the bridge on the east-west track from Wilmington, NC that crosses at the Depot.
Files (1)
Front elevation of diorama to house Silver Meteor

The CNC finished running the program, and we now have all the various parts cut out for the Seaboard bridge that will form the diorama base. Kevin "The Pig" Pigford, who was our project superintendent on the restoration of the Hamlet Depot and who is an extremely talented builder, is building the diorama base according to our design. It's a great thing to have someone who can bring your designs to life.

Attached are pictures of progress as of this week. You can begin to get a feel for how the display will all lay out. The abutment structures are largely complete and are starting to get detailing applied. The arched span panel with engraved “SEABOARD" lettering will attach to the abutments once the stacked, broken arch pieces are applied to the span panel. 
 
The slots in the backdrop area are for ventilation of the display area. We routed the back side of the slots to accommodate filter fabric over the slots to minimize dust landing on the models in the viewing area. We’ll also work in some top slots for convection. The slots will be concealed behind the landscape area, and we’ll need to create a well in the landscaping to hold the scenery off the backdrop by 1/2” or so in order to not block the ventilation openings. 
 
We flattened out the front arches to allow the stacked keystones to wrap under the arches without a lot of grief, so that’s why the curve looks funny right now.
 
I’m considering making the parapets about 3/4” - 1” taller. Not sure if it’s worth the effort. We’ll see how it looks once they are complete to their full 3” thick, and we’ll make a judgement call on whether to extend the height at that time. 

Attachments

Images (7)
  • Bridge 1: Kevin Pigford assembles abutment arch with track for slider door to access electronics for display.
  • Bridge 2: Arched span panel with "SEABOARD" lettering.
  • Bridge 3: "The Pig" assembling an abutment that will form the base for the "Meter."
  • Bridge 4: Closeup of bridge arch panel engraving.
  • Bridge 5: Abutment assembly progressing.
  • Bridge 6: Both abutments assembled, ready for detailing.
  • Bridge 7: Back side of arched opening, with track for slider panel to access electronics in base.

Add Reply

Post

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×