It has been a while since I shot new pictures of my layout. I shot a few the other day as I was experimenting with settings on my new camera. Here are a few of the ones I consider to be better of the bunch:
The top two pictures show the "Holy Grail" for New Haven modelers as these are the first ever plastic models of the New Haven's unique FL9 locomotive. It took over 50 years for a company to finally make them.
A freight car spotted on industrial tracks in Pittsfield, MA.
A guy in Arizona modeled the wrecked car being hauled on a flat car. Since it is a box car from the New Haven, and a wonderful modeling job, I had to get it. Certainly is a conversation piece on my layout during open houses.
Three New Haven Alco RS3 locomotives waiting for the call for their once daily train north from Danbury, CT to Pittsfield, MA.
Amazing! How big is your layout? You really did a great job on those New Haven trains, and I especially like the way you placed trees and foliage. And of course the wrecked car is a nice touch. In fact, weathering and other sign of damage (natural or manmade) creates a great deal of interest.
The layout is in a two car garage. It is built with an outer shelf of 18 feet square (with varying widths), and a central peninsula that is 5 feet x 11 feet.
Looking good and no doubt a lot of hard work. But where is the graffiti on the wagons, nothing goes through our rail line without some, and usually a lot, of spray painted cars.
Bit like the cars in American movies, just driven 500 miles through dusty terrain, storms, floods etc and you can still see your reflection on the bodywork.
Please keep us posted on the layout as it progresses, maybe a video when it's all running.
My layout is fully functional, and has been operating as a real railroad since 1993. I have figured out that in the 23 years of operations, there have been almost 10,000 trains that have run on it.
I model the year 1968, so graffiti wasn't that much of a problem then.
I have been a member of the New Haven Historical Association for over 30 years. I obtained much information and help from the publications and the members. The members who were employed by the New Haven and who worked on the line that I model saw pictures many years ago. The biggest compliment I ever got on my layout is when they told me that I had caught the spirit of the railroad in my modeling. One even said it looked alot like the actual locations where he used to work.
A question on your hobby. Please note: this is me being unusually serious so no jokes or insults intended...
Is this about the toys (for the lack of a better word to the uninitiated) or train/railroading culture? And how does this fit into stamp collecting as a related theme (or are they totally separate)? For example, I've seen someone's post about collecting postmarks from stops on his model's route - sounds like a cool idea! And a train-theme in stamps sounds interesting.
Would you also collect and tie in other memorabilia? My family has a long and significant career in railroading - my grandfather's Great-great-etc Grandfather was the engineer on Canada's first train "The Dorchester" followed by 5 generations with his father being the last in the line as my grandfather went into manufacturing. If it's of interest to model railroaders I might be able to track down some stuff related to it (although I'm not sure how much is remaining or where it is - probably somewhere under HOARD #1 and HOARD #2).
On the 150th anniversary (1986) Canada Post issued a commemorative stamp and VIA Rail (the Canadian passenger service) issued a commemorative card. I donated some stuff I got from my dad and in return was given a special pass to travel by VIA-1 (the first class service) anywhere in Canada for 6 months. Unfortunately, I was FLYING on a heavy speaking tour and hardly got to use it!
Anyway, I'm interested in this and the tie-in with stamps. From The Montreal Gazette, September 1936:
Cheers on a dreary (perfect stamp collecting) Sunday! Dave.
Thanks for sharing pictures and information. I never understood model railroading before others posted here. It looks like a lot of fun. Now if only all the room I had wasn't taken up by stamps.
There are so many facets of the hobby. One can do one or all, but mostly hobbyists do what they like best as regards to modelling and how to portray the prototype or a fantasy railroad.
One thing that model railroaders and stamp collectors have in common is that ever since both hobbies began, the respective hobbyists have complained about the imminent demise of both hobbies due to lack of new people coming into it.
Several years ago I took a very short video of a train running on my layout. I thought I had lost it, but I was doing a little cleaning of my computer desk and I found the disc with it. I uploaded it to You Tube. Why not? It's a bit grainy, so please forgive me for that.
There is a company that makes a special railroad car that holds an I-phone. You put it in front of or behind the locomotive, and you get a view as if you were on the train. I would like to get one of these some day, but the cars are out of production at this time.
Take a common product, put the name of a hobby on the tag, and watch the price skyrocket.
I just saw a package of 5 small spray bottles, that were called on the package label, "Atomizers for Model Railroad Construction" selling for $25.95! These five little spray bottles can be bought in a drug store, and even Hobby Lobby, for 99 cents each, 60 cents if you use the 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby!
"Take a common product, put the name of a hobby on the tag, and watch the price skyrocket."
Take an ordinary bottle of water, change the label to "Model Railroad Scale Water - G Scale" for use in dioramas and layouts. Why not do it for a few different scales while at it?
On the last portion of my layout that has no scenery on it I have two towns. If you look at that section of the layout you might think (and many have) that the two towns are just one. It has long been on the planning board to separate the two towns.
To separate the two towns requires me to retro-fit a view block across this section of the layout so that only one town can be viewed at a time. How to do that after the track has been laid and a mountain built offers problems as is the case when one retro-fits just about anything.
What to do...Well, I am taking a non-orthodox approach to this. I got a piece of 1/4" thick plywood and cut it so that it is 12" high by 94" long. This will be the view block. Now the problem of how to mount the view block to the top of the benchwork. Convention says to use bracing to attach it. However, bracing will get in the way of the scenery.
The top of the benchwork in this section is a 1/2" piece of plywood. What I have done is cut a 1/4" wide by 1/4" deep channel roughly down the middle of the benchwork. I will insert the viewblock into the channel and secure it with carpenters glue. I have experimented with this concept, and I think it will work.
Before I can attach the viewblock to the benchwork, I need to put a background on both sides of the viewblock. I'm working on that now, and think this will look pretty good when completed. I will have a tree covered eastern USA-style mountain/hilly scene. This will be on each side of the viewblock, but mirrored images of each. That way, when walking around from one side of the viewblock to the other, it will appear that one is walking around the mountain/hill.
Here are a few pictures of what I am working on. The backgrounds in the pictures will not be the ones that I will use. I am getting something specially made for this.
And here is the draft artwork for the actual background:
I do intend to extend the mountain to that end of the viewblock. I had to cut the mountain back so the viewblock will fit. I also will be extending the road so that it will curve and look as if it is going between the 3-D mountain and the viewblock mountain. There will be some extra bracing there too. On the city side, you can't see it in the first group of pictures that I posted, the viewblock will rest on a retaining wall from a tunnel portal. That is also on the mountain side. Here is how that looks:
The viewblock is not installed yet. I have the bracing there to prop it up so I can see how it'll look.
I hadn't thought of using vertical molding as bracing at the track end of the viewblock. I was going to do something different, but your suggestion is much better. I will be installing a few building flats against the city side of the viewblock. Maybe I can also use some of the left-over molding at that location if I have room to help support the viewblock midway along the benchwork. Thanks!
Not just elbows get in the way of things...More good points. I'll take your advice into consideration.
Here is what the backdrop on the city side of the view block will look like. The backdrop includes the field and trees superimposed over the mountains. I think it'll give a needed perception of depth.
I looked at several commercial backdrop designers. I decided to use Train Junkies in Utah both for available designs (that can be modified and blended) and price.
William is very responsive, and was quick with putting together the scenes as I wanted. I sent him photos of both sides of the viewblock. He then created drafts of the two backdrops to my specifications, and super-imposed the draft designs onto my photos.
He can create continuous design backdrops up to 120 feet long, and in different scales too. I prefer that, because I don't care for the seams like I would have had if I decided to use the backdrops that I already had, and are shown (wrapped in plastic) in my "before" photos. I may use a couple of them on my layout, as there is an area where a long, continuous backdrop will be difficult to install. The rest I will sell at a train show in April. I have many, and they'll pay for a good portion of what the new backdrops cost.
Later this year, I'm going to get back with him, for backdrops for the rest of the layout. Some will be 18 feet long each. Infinitely better than what I have now. I'll have to think how I want it to look, but I know the end result will be very nice.
Ah heck Michael, I can only wish we had a theater. The town I live closest to has 2 houses and 3 buildings. The store/post office, a church and a diner that was converted to a community building. None of those are much bigger then the boxcars in your town. But the hills and pastures are right! Just throw in a big lake and you'd have a postcard of this area.
I would like to respond to the Dave (Lemaven) and his post on 15th May 2016, where he was questioning, very respectfully, how stamp collecting meets with model railroads. A good question Dave. I love stamp collecting and postal history and I've recently been getting interested in model railroading. I think the connection is a love for detail, a love for history and a love for design. We stamp collectors often love creating our own album pages and I know I love investigating the history behind a cover. If you can find the story behind what was happening with the person sending the letter and the person receiving the letter and write that up, it is so much fun. I can see the same fun in creating a scene where the model looks just like the real life situation, just as Michael has shared in his photos of his model train layout (thank you Michael for sharing). I think there is a historical collectors thread running here that I'm happy to share between stamp collecting and model railroading, or other interests if that works for you and other people who enjoy stamp collecting also also enjoy your other interest.
I have a question about model RR photography. There is always such a shallow depth of field with close up pictures. Is there any improvement with a small aperture and long shutter speed with a tripod mounted camera? I know that won't work if there is movement, but I assume all photos are still shots. The first few photos in your initial batch seem to have a longer depth of field that the last few. Was that what you were experimenting with?
Lars
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"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."
Lars, the pictures I took of the backdrop were regular snaps. I took them that way because the guy who designed the backdrops for me needed that type of a picture. He super-imposed his design onto my pictures.
On the pictures at the beginning of this thread, I put the camera on the tracks and took the shot in the close-up (flower) setting. I cropped the pictures to get rid of surplus stuff in the original picture. I took those with a new camera to see how it worked.
My understanding is that a pin hole lens will give you in-focus field of depth. I haven't tried this yet, but the manual for the new camera says that the camera has a setting that is supposed to mimic a pin hole lens.
I think that when taking a picture of anything close-up (like stamps), a tripod or resting the camera on a solid surface, in other words do not hold the camera, is mandatory to get a clear picture.
I read the article that Chris referred to. The photographs were stunning with that technique.
The basic idea, as I understand it, is that a smaller aperture (larger number) provides a better depth of field but requires a slower shutter speed (hence the tripod and need for a static subject). Lighting is also a factor. You used to pick the film to suit the lighting. Now you adjust the lighting to fit the camera!
Lars
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"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."
WB, not sure but it looks the right size for a carpenters pencil. Came up on my Facebook page today, thought it was kinda neat. The engine and rails appear to be carved from the lead in one piece.
There are many videos of huge model layouts that are like museums that are located in Europe. Finally, there is a similar model (the size of an American Football field) that has just opened in New York City. It is called, "Gulliver's Gate", and is a work in progress. It is open to the public, located in Times Square.
Here is one of the first videos from this worldwide model. Note that the trains are just a part of what's going on in the display. watch it and take an 18 minute journey around the world.
In my local newspaper this morning: a Czech company is going to open a restaurant in Chicago based on two that have been successful in the Czech Republic. Apparently you can order your drink (beer, orange juice, whatever), and it will be delivered to your table via model railroad. You just have to be quick enough to remove it before the train leaves. The paper says it is very popular.
Not trying to hijack this thread but what are your preferred scales? Gotta love the classic Lionel O but the proliferation of HO has taken over the hobby. I'm super intrigued by N scale just because space seems to ALWAYS be a factor but I wonder if it's just too dang small. Would love to get your thoughts.
My father had a HUGE S-gauge layout in an outbuilding that was about 12 x 30: 12 x 20 for the layout (3 levels) and a 12 x 10 bar area with control panels, etc. The whole thing was powered by a gang of about 8-10 12V truck batteries (he was a Mack Truck dealer) and the switches were powered by compressed air. That was circa 1965. The whole thing burned down because of a lightning strike. The fire department saved the structure, which was little more than a barn, but not before the heat melted all the engines and rolling stock where they were on the tracks. The biggest loss was the water damage to the old copies of Model Railroader.
I have personally only done HO, and only a little, but I like the balance HO provides. You can go as small as an under-tree loop for Christmas, but the cars aren't so small that it's hard to customize, if you wish. It really depends on your goals.
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"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."
The pictures in this series of posts are incredible. The sample of the shopping cart just before this post is one of the most amazing things I have seen. Of course, the locomotive carved from a pencil represents an attention to detail and craftsmanship that is awe inspiring even if it does make my hands cramp just to think about it.
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nlroberts1961 12,8 cm Kanone 43 L/55 in blueprints only 09 Oct 2017 01:20:13pm
re: Model Railroading II
Great layout and interesting material on some of the add ons. Those shopping carts are very swish.
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"Euros think a 100 miles is a long way, Americans think a 100 yrs is a long time..."
I'm back from the model railroad show in New Braunfels, TX.
The show's coordinator told me that there was a record turnout of visitors. In addition, there were 87 vendors with around 300 tables, and many layouts on display. I attend this twice a year show as a vendor.
At this show, I have never before seen such a large number of young children and teenagers at a regional show. The number of women attending was also large. I did not hear anyone complaining (vendors, coordinators and attendees). My sales were an all-time high, surpassing by 1/3 my previous all-time high from October 2017. Who says the model railroading hobby is dying?
Attendance at the several local flea markets is dwindling, and attendance at the regional stamp shows is non-existent (hard to attract collectors when the shows only offer four or five sellers).
Stamp dealers ought to take a lesson, but then the ones around here who put on the regional shows are just old farts who prefer to grumble that they're losing money, and the hobby is dying. Adapt or go extinct is what I told them.
They dropped one of the regional shows due to lack of attendance. Great, stamp dealers! That's the way to adapt! Speed up one's extinction. Well, that's their problem, not mine. I'm doing quite well with model railroading sales. Stamp sales don't even come anywhere close, and model railroaders are much more friendlier than many stamp dealers and collectors. (SOR company excepted)
Not a train, but think of it as G Scale. I build model cars and thought I'd share my latest completion with the board...
I found this in a bag of model parts I bought at a show. It's a 1962 vintage body, and all I found was the body, interior and engine. I liked the way some kid chopped the top, but he never finished! So some 55 years later I had to finish it for him. I dunno, I like restoring old stuff.
I like to save as much of the old build as I can so I matched the paint. Yes, the same hobby paints and some of the same kits have been in production all this time. I built this in the "traditional rod" style, some call them "rat rods". I like to do the weathering and rust. It's much harder to do in a convincing manner than fresh shiny paint.
I built this in the "traditional rod" style, some call them "rat rods". I like to do the weathering and rust. It's much harder to do in a convincing manner than fresh shiny paint.
And here with a friend, I built the pickup from another old wrecked model a few years ago. They are now shelf mates.
I find model building creative and relaxing. It takes all of my focus so I am not thinking of life's problems when I'm at my bench. A lot like stamp collecting, but with paint and rust!
We car modelers do share a lot of technique and supplies with the model railroaders. I taught a co-worker how to weather box cars many years ago.
I'm closing on a house November 13th. I told my wife I am going to immediately start decorating for Christmas. That always means busting out the Lionel. Cant wait
Thanks guys! The model car community is a lot like the stamp community. I have friends around the world and we communicate via message boards and get together a few times a year. I really liked the wheel covers I used but I only had two and needed six. So I put it out on a board and two guys each cane up with two. One was a friend from California who I see at shows. The other guy was someone I had never heard of before who liked my project and just wanted to see it done! In these cases, nobody will take any money but I’ll be sure to help the next guy!
I was sitting in a physical therapy office waiting room north of Indianapolis yesterday. On the table next to me was the current issue of a local magazine. I've already forgotten the title, but the magazine included an article about nearby Atlanta, Indiana. Atlanta is at the northern fringe of suburban Indianapolis and the article included photos and a couple of paragraphs about Mr. Muffin's Trains in Atlanta. While I very much appreciate and enjoy seeing the layouts here at SoR and elsewhere online, I'm not a model railroader and had never heard of Mr. Muffin. So I was surprised to read that Atlanta, Indiana was home to the third largest O gauge layout in the country that is open to the public. I want to go see this!
Here is an article about Mr. Muffin's Trains I found online just now and one of the Youtube videos.
This is the first time that I have ever taken a video of my entire HO Scale New Haven Railroad layout. (If you go to YouTube, please click on the Like button - I always wanted to be able to say that!). Enjoy.
I really enjoyed your video Micheal. Your train set is incredible, how big an area are we looking at,you obviously control it from a centre isle which appears to be "L" shaped, am I correct.
My layout is a ring that goes around the walls of my garage. The "ring" is 18 feet x 18 feet. There is a roughly 5 foot x 9 foot peninsula that juts out off of one side of the main layout. There are three control panels with four throttles used to operate the layout, although three throttles being used in an operating session is the norm.
I really enjoyed your video Micheal. Your train set is incredible, how big an area are we looking at,you obviously control it from a centre isle which appears to be "L" shaped, am I correct.