New Year's Resolutions (Sort Of)

Hello,

      for 2017 I have started a new website, partially about the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in the Civil War, but also with many trackplans (one of my favorite parts of the hobby) and layout ideas. I also will try to post more often in conjunction with the progress of my layout this upcoming year and update my website. Thank you for reading and Happy New Year!

WWI Revisited

Hello,
      sorry about not posting in a while. I have been quite busy and as such have not had that much time for working on the layout not to mention the blog. Today I began a WWI diorama 
and I also have been building a cannery. 

The WWI Diorama

      The diorama was made with three layers of 1" foam insulation board as a base, had the crater holes and artillery hollows carved out, then painted a dark reddish-brown, and finally had mulch (as shattered trees) and other scenery materials applied. As I mentioned before, I find that typical garden mulch, the dry wood stuff not the black kind, makes great shattered trees and is available cheap right out of your garden. You can also buy 15 pound bags of the stuff and you'll have enough to last you a lifetime.
      The diorama is not complete, however, the light rail tracks have to go in still and the road is yet to be laid. The artillery and troopers also need to be ordered. 
      The fish cannery will have its own post as soon as I complete it and I will also describe the project that is for. The O & A layout still needs to be painted but once that is done I can proceed with that project.
      Until next time, Happy Railroading!

Happy 100th Birthday Tank!

       Happy 100th Birthday Tank! Yes, today, September 15, 2016, is the 100th birthday of this revolutionary war machine. The tank was rushed into battle at what would come to be called Flers-Courcelette which was part of the Somme campaign. If you want to know more about this amazing machine here's a link http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-37302722. See you soon.

I'm baaack........

Hello,
      I'm back from vacation and have discovered some new projects. One of which is a Jordan Mack 15 Ton Switcher Kit that I most likely will motorize once I find a mechanism. Also as I mentioned in my previous post I visited the Colorado Railroad Museum and was inspired to construct a diorama of small, narrow gauge railroad locomotive maintenance facility and will have a post on that soon. I also saw the RTD system in Denver (their light and commuter rail as well as bus system) and thought that I might be able to model a new extension to the system that they are working on. You may be wondering how I know about this extension, my uncle is project director of it. That would go on the other side of the Civil War Layout but who knows my mind is ever changing. Anyway that's all for this post See ya Later.

Vacation

Hello,
      I am writing this post because I will be gone on a trip to Colorado until the 23rd so I probably will not be posting. I will be going to the Georgetown Loop Railroad and the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado so you can expect lots of pictures and a review of both of these places. So until the the 23rd, Happy Railroad!

The "Tin Turtle"

Hello,

      I've recently stumbled across something that is potentially my next project. I am seriously considering scratch-building a 009 gauge Simplex 40 Horsepower protected version trench light railway locomotive nicknamed the "Tin Turtle". It was used to haul supplies to supply depots just behind the front lines of WWI, it was greatly preferred over steam locomotives whose smoke made them easy targets for artillery, and was powered by a "petrol-electric" engine. The version I am considering making is a protected type which (as the name states) protected the engine assembly as well as the radiator and the fuel tank and the driver. The plans are from www.wdlr.org.uk and the drawings/plans were drawn by David H Smith. The prototype ran on 60 cm gauge track. (A tip for 009 modelers scale the drawing when you print it to 27% and you will have a 1/76 scale set of plans. At 100% they are about 1/20 scale). Well that's all for now,
      Happy Modeling

The New Track Plan

Hello again

O&A R.R.  Alexandria to Manassas Junction

      as I mentioned before (or maybe I didn't) I was rethinking the track plan. Well, here it is ten by two feet of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad March to July 1862. The very basic operation and run of the railroad is USMRR trains depart Alexandria (right) and head to what might become Union Mills to the supply depot at Manassas Junction then turn around and head back to Alexandria with the empties. The middle section as I said might become Union Mills or any of the other stations in between Alexandria and Manassas Junction. The brown box in Alexandria is the railroad's headquarters and offices which I will scratch build. Just wanted to give you all a look at one of my ever changing track plans which has the potential to become my main layout. Until next time happy modeling! 



(Oh yeah I said this was two by ten feet when in my original plan I had four by ten feet. The other side is going to be something modern era maybe the Louisville and Indiana Railroad Company hmmmmm.........)

The Track Mobile

Hello,
      In this post I will be reviewing a Track Mobile I bought at the National Train Show in Indianapolis, Indiana last week and giving my opinion on the show in general.

The Track Mobile

I'll start with the Track Mobile. I purchased it from Broadway Limited Imports for 60 dollars (the dcc equipped version) I was impressed with the detail and weight of it but was slightly disappointed when I discovered that it only had one operating coupler, nevertheless it was a nice scale knuckle coupler. Its operation is good but sometimes will need a little prodding to get it started and once it has started it can manage 2 modern freight cars but when the front end of the first car its pulling is placed on top of the dummy coupler apparatus on the front of the Track Mobile it can pull 5 freight cars and a bay window caboose. Over.all I am happy with BLI's Track Mobile.



The show was a very memorable experience for me and was a lot of fun to attend. Some other i items I purchased at the show were a Woodland Scenics Scenery Kit, Workshop Tips and Projects for Model Railroaders by Cody Grivno (I also got it signed by him), and I signed up to be a NMRA member. I have begun to rethink my civil war layout and its track plan so there will be a separate post on that coming up as well as a series on how to build an inexpensive diorama. Well that's all for now and until next time happy modeling!

Re-thinking the Micro

Hi again,
I've decided to rethink the Civil War micro layout described in the last post. Instead of the waterfront scene I talked about last time, I have decided on a coal mining scene centered around a small steam switcher, two Tichy Train Group 22' hoppers and possibly one flatcar. The micro layout -because of the different elevations- will have to have a remove-able cassette for staging and moving the trains from the mine at the very back and highest elevation, to the 
center level (in placement and in height) and mill, and to the lowest level where various supplies and machinery are brought in and taken out for use at the mill and the mine. The year is 1906 in eastern Kentucky. Also in addition to the projects before mentioned I will have at least two brand new kits that I will show the construction of. This past weekend I assembled the Fokker D VII and all it needs now are decals, there will be a separate post about that this upcoming week. Thanks for reading!

Bold lines are track, Lighter lines show elevation

The Tale of Two Micros

Hello,

Sorry that I have not posted in about a month. I have been very busy lately so I have not had time for my blog. But anyway lets get down to buisiness, I have an upcoming series on how to build a civil war era carfloat, another series on how to build a simple diorama, two micro layouts, and a future shelf layout.

      In this post I will discuss the two micro layouts. The first micro layout is another civil war era layout depicting a waterfront industrial area. It has an inglenook type track plan and will have a separate staging cassette. The white and red areas show where the water will be. There will be a large industrial building next to the waterfront, a coal 

Civil War Micro Layout

Coal Derrick

Dock

scow, an artillery battery, a coal yard, and a dock. The coal yard has a derrick for extracting the coal from the scow. There also is a dock.

     The other micro layout is smaller and I am unsure as to what it should be about. That is why I am going to let the viewers of this blog decide, please put in the comments box what theme/ railroad to model. The layouts dimensions are 8 1/4 " by 23". Thank you for reading!

Spoiler of upcoming projects

Hello,
Sorry about not posting for a while but I have been very busy lately, but I will tell you some topics that will be discussed soon.There will be step by step posts on how to build an ACW era carfloat, a new modular layout, and many other things. Posts will begin again shortly. Thanks for reading!

Biplanes and Air Force Tractors

Hi again,
      As you all know by now I am working on a Fokker D VII kit but as I started this blog most of the way through the painting process I did not document it. However I can give you a brief summary of what I did, I did not prime the white plastic kit but just started painting the final colors. I did about three to four coats with my paintbrush making sure to not leave very big brush marks with Model Master acrylic paints. I have not painted the undersides of the wings yet but will post about it when I do.On Monday I got around to painting Oblt. Rudolph Berthold after a trip to the hobby shop on Sunday.

Oblt. Rudolph Berthold

M2 High Speed Tractor (Painted for combat use)

       I also painted a M2 High Speed Tractor that was used
By the United States Army Air Corps in World War 2. I painted it in a more combat themed paint scheme and added the machine gun on the lower right side to suggest that it was near a combat zone or was used in combat by a squad that was not very well equipped.
       Thanks for reading!

What shall it contain...

Hi,
       Welcome to the next post of my blog. As promised in the first installment, today I will tell you some of the features of my freelanced representation of the USMRR. The layout is set in Virginia in no specific year between 1862 and 1865, and contains car-float operations, a military encampment, a small town, a freight house, large mountains with two tunnels, and a roundhouse. The size is 4 x 10 with a base of 1 inch foam insulation board on top of 3/4 inch plywood. The track plan is a reverse loop with a three track yard and a spur to a secondary connecting railroad named the Potomac Railroad and Canal Company. Also off the yard is another spur to the turntable and three stall roundhouse. Here's a picture of some visual planing on the plywood.

        Also as mentioned in the first post I am working on some other projects as well. One of which is a Fokker D VII biplane kit in 1:72 scale and on hold is a M1A1 tank kit in 1:35 scale.
       Thank you for reading the second installment of my blog and,
                        Happy Railroading!

Post 1

Hello, welcome to the first post of my new blog. As the name states this is about my model building and model railroading hobbies. I model the USMRR in a very freelanced way, meaning that there are some prototypical places but most are spin-offs of areas and buildings that actually existed. This blog will follow my construction of the layout and other various kits.

Here are some ground rules for the comments section and on the blog in general:

1.No offensive language, swearing, or being in any other way rude.

2. Only constructive criticism allowed. This is my very first layout so tips and suggestions are welcomed.

3.This is my very first blog as well. Again, suggestions on how to improve it are welcomed.

4.Be patient. I will try to answer your questions as quickly as possible.

5.My name, age, and any other personal information will not be mentioned so please do not ask about it.

I will probably post new articles once or twice a week depending on if there is anything new to show or talk about.

In my next blog I will describe the layout and the projects that I’m currently working on, some of which relate to the layout others may not.

Happy modeling!