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Sorry, I am bored out of my mind and I really want to be working. My tinplate layout at the club is closed, so I am going to start Weekend Photo Fun Early again.

Since the club layout is closed I am attempting to paint tin buildings for when it reopens.
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I found these sorry excuses for tin buildings on clearance at Kohls.com. What a horrible paint job.

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I can't believe they were selling these at $39.99 at Christmas.  However, they are now $10.00 and will need some work. I came up with the idea of making a set of Tinplate Townhomes. Each building will be painted using a paint scheme from a tinplate train.  I have purchased 13 of these.

The underlying metal is rough and I did use primer however the paint still didn't go on very evenly. I am hoping the brightcoate at the end will cover some of the flaws. Here are the first 4 of these before I put on a top level coating.

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We have the Ives Chrome Building, Ives Cardinal, Ives Prosperity Special and the MTH tinplate Club Buildings. I have paint already mixed for the Ives National Limited, Lionel Corporation Celebration Series, Ives Orange and Black Tiger, plus another Blue Comet Building. I also need to decide where on the layout these will go. as of right now I have many spaces open. I can set 3 or 4 building on the mountain or some on the second level in the foreground.
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I could also put them on top of the access hatch (the big green area on the lower level) or on the second level on the right side. Four of these buildings side by side take up about 22 inches in width. I just need to figure out where to put them.

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Let me get in some engine pictures in this week.

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Let's see your pictures.

Scott Smith

 

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Last edited by scott.smith
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Scott,

I'm sitting at my computer waiting for responses to changes in a document we are trying to get approved.  I saw your post come up and I have to say I'm bored too.  Need to get some training courses out of the way.

Anyway, I was looking over my freight car fleet and came across these two Weaver PRR H30 hoppers.  When I first saw them many years ago I was surprised they were gray and not in MoW service.  I checked their latest build/rebuild dates (6-37) and they would fit into my late '40s era, so I bought them.

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Well, I later found out these hoppers were not painted gray until the '50s.  Bummer.  In reality, from their build date through the 40s, H30 hoppers looked like this Weaver model:

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Part of the enjoyment of this hobby for me is to research and find items that were appropriate for the late '40s, specifically no models of prototype items built/repainted after 1949.  Therefore, those gray H30s will not do.  Question is what do I do with them?  Sell?  Maybe re-stencil for MoW (Pennsy's MoW cars were gray until the mid-50s).  Wish I had done my research before I bought the cars, not after.

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I am off for a few days starting this evening. I was supposed to be celebrating Easter with my sisters in Ft Lauderdale.

I started looking at my old layout pictures and I was looking at how my approach to scenery has changed over the years.

This picture is from my attic layout that existed from 1993 through 2003.  It was in the attic of my previous house.

404A46D1-5DEB-474F-ABAD-705813E9ED6E

This picture is probably the fall of 1996. That is my son, about 3 years old.   This August, he will be 28.
Up top you can see my attempt at a city scene.......K Line buildings and my attempt in creating a building under construction using an HO scale Kenner Girder and Panel building set.  The layout also have plenty of Plasticville buildings. 
 
Within 3 years, This seen have profoundly changed.  Why? To put it simply, I wanted a more realistic appearance.  Then I discovered buildings by: Korber, Ameriowne, Walther's, and new offerings  by Lionel.
By the year 2000, this is what the scene looked like:
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Fast forward 15 years.....a different space and layout......now Woodland Scenics and River Leaf Models enter the fray.
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Next up will be a new layout ......in about a year, in the attic of this house.....and, I have stockpiled kits from Dennis Brennan and Tranworx for the new build.
 Peter

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Last edited by Putnam Division

In the midst of this pandemic, I'm keeping pretty busy with my trains. I enjoy taking pics with my fairly new iPhone 11 as it takes great layout shots, so here are a few that I shot the past few days...

First, here's a prototypically fraudulent shot (the scene is prototypical, but there are just two tracks here today) I took on the curved arch bridge and scene that I finally finished after 20 years on March 29th and posted pictures of last week. I started to acquire some Norfolk Southern equipment back when my son got interested in trains since that's what we actually see running these days. Seemed like there was always a BNSF or a Canadian unit mixed in the consist a few years ago, so I could not resist getting this Lionel ES44AC non-powered unit to splice into the mix:

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Now here's a classic Pennsy shot of some early diesel era power from Baldwin passing on the four track mainline along the lower Juniata River between Duncannon and Port Royal:

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And finally, here is a fairly new Lionel PRR class J Texas equipped with Legacy. I have the first run equipped with Odyssey, but I think this one sounds and runs better. It's shown here entering Enola Yard with US Routes 11/15 parallelling the railroad above. That's the famed "Iron Bridge" railfan heaven to the right of the image. I actually drove over the it before it was shut down in the 1990's.  The real scene including the gas station (and actually shot from the Iron Bridge) is pictured on page 111 of "The Pennsylvania Railroad 1940's-50's" by Don Ball.  It's been a long time since I posted any photos of this area of my layout:

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Anyhow, hope I provided a bit of entertainment while we all endure this pandemic...enjoy and be safe!

 

 

 

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Last edited by PRRMiddleDivision

For some time now, I have been looking for functional power trucks from AHM O scale C-Liners.  (I haven't had much luck, so, if you have any, let me know.)  I have been offered other parts and abandoned kit-bash attempts, turnignt hem into 3-rail locos or otherwise modifying them.  Some of these forlorn projects I purchase. 

One of them was someone's attempt to turn the B + B trucked engine into the passenger B + A-1-A version.  A 3-axle truck had been constructed and powered with a HEAVY can motor, and the frame had been weighted.  Crude electric wipers had been installed on one side of the front truck for pick-up; the other side had not yet been engineered.  The ATSF shell had been painted overall yellow, and Kadee coupler pockets had been installed.

As I look for more functional power trucks, it occurred to me that a very little work and one of my NON-functional power trucks would put the engine in operation.  I stripped the dead motor out of a truck but retained the button pick-ups behind the wheels.  I soldered wires to the motor leads, and led them to connections to the terminals on the rear power truck.  Some gray paint, an Alco PA decal set, and a little black wash in the louvers and fans resulted in this functional 2-rail engine that I will probably use when I visit my buddy who has a decent-sized 2-rail, NYC layout.  (It looks high in the rear because I haven't secured the shell in place yet.)

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PRRMiddleDivision posted:

In the midst of this pandemic, I'm keeping pretty busy with my trains. I enjoy taking pics with my fairly new iPhone 11 as it takes great layout shots, so here are a few that I shot the past few days...

First, here's a prototypically fraudulent shot (the scene is prototypical, but there are just two tracks here today) I took on the curved arch bridge and scene that I finally finished after 20 years on March 29th and posted pictures of last week. I started to acquire some Norfolk Southern equipment back when my son got interested in trains since that's what we actually see running these days. Seemed like there was always a BNSF or a Canadian unit mixed in the consist a few years ago, so I could not resist getting this Lionel ES44AC non-powered unit to splice into the mix:

IMG_4689

Now here's a classic Pennsy shot of some early diesel era power from Baldwin passing on the four track mainline along the lower Juniata River between Duncannon and Port Royal:

IMG_4680

And finally, here is fairly new Lionel PRR class J Texas equipped with Legacy. I have the first run equipped with Odyssey, but I think this one sounds and runs better. It's shown here entering Enola Yard with US Routes 11/15 parallelling the railroad above. That's the famed "Iron Bridge" railfan heaven to the right of the image. I actually drove over the it before it was shut down in the 1990's.  The real scene including the gas station (and actually shot from the Iron Bridge) is pictured on page 111 of "The Pennsylvania Railroad 1940's-50's" by Don Ball.  It's been a long time since I posted any photos of this area of my layout:

IMG_4682

Anyhow, hope I provided a bit of entertainment while we all endure this pandemic...enjoy and be safe!

 

 

 

Looks like another great WPF. Some really nice entries so far. Neal I always look forward and am inspired by your posts. This one is definitely a winner. Love your examples of modern to the past. Your scenery definitely is a wonderful stage for your trains to show out. The bridge is to die for. Thanks again for posting. BTW if you decide to let your older class J Texas go...hint. 

Dave

Dave, thanks for your nice comments about my post above...I appreciate it!

Now, here is one more picture I want to post. First, look back at the image I posted above of the curved stone arch bridge with the Norfolk Southern train crossing. Then take a look at the bottom of the photo, and where you will notice the two canoes...IMG_4689

Now take a look at this photo...

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That's the prototype, and that is my son Steven kayaking almost precisely where the model canoeists are located on my layout. We actually went kayaking out on the Juniata River back in 2016 when I took this shot which inspired me to include the canoes in the scene. A few notes...This is actually Tuscarora Creek right where it flows into the Juniata. The concrete pilasters and horizontal bracing were not present in the 1950's and therefore I did not include it on the model. They were added in the 1980's by Conrail to reinforce the bridge when they rebuilt the former Middle Division. Finally, look closely, and you will see the three arches, and that the one to the left carries the railroad over low lying ground, not water, just as on the model.

Sadly, the kayak rental place right across the river closed up last year, so no more shots like this unless they open up again.

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Last edited by PRRMiddleDivision
Norm Charbonneau posted:

I am in the process of making an Insulbrick house for a new spot on my layout. It’s a work in progress right now. I started a thread on it in the scenery forum and will update it as I go along.

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Here in Northeast Pa, we call that Brick-Tex. Many many homes had this, or asbestos siding. I wish I still had the asbestos siding cutter that was in our old house. I would say you nailed it Norm, looks great!

 

Some recent Long Island Rail Road action...found myself in Greenport somewhat unexpectedly in the not too distant past. Conveniently the train came just as I got there...I haven't been in the museum in years. Hopefully this summer. 

I have a model of the JAWS III Snowplow that MTH did years ago...I overpaid but at least won the "bidding war" with some other guy at someone's table in the Blue Hall at York. I think MTH did these 10-20 years ago and they are somewhat hard to find...I think. I really like mine, I run it quite a bit! Unfortunately I didn't have it with me, I'll have to remember to bring it next trip to the summer house and go take a picture of it with the real one. IMG_0560IMG_0564IMG_0566IMG_0567IMG_0570IMG_0571IMG_0572

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Last edited by SJC

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