95 replies to this topic

[montegofreak1369]

I guess I'm a fan.. BTW, I painted that Rivarosi back in '92. . 

 

DSC_0155 by John Mortensen, on Flickr

[Dave Crevie]

Nicely weathered, John. That is how they really looked in service. I also have a couple of those Rivarossi's, but I

don't do HO anymore. I just kept them for nostalgic reasons. Most of my HO locos were brass, but I did a few

plastics up with Cal-Scale brass details just to show it could be done. I made up some lathe collets so I could

turn the wheel flanges down to RP-25 profiles. In brass I had most of the big articulateds, but used them for

trading fodder when I switched to O-Scale.(not Lionel)   

[SpeedyNH]

my wife has some O scale but we haven't set it up. I have lots of O gauge (even a Pennsy T-1!), two tracks all around the living room with some passing/storage tracks for Christmas.

[Dave Crevie]

O-scale or O-guage Lionel? Lionel is real popular with the toy collectors, and can be worth some bucks. I prefer true to scale O-scale. I like my models to look like real trains, like in the picture below.

 

 

Milwaukee Road S-3 number 261. I worked on the real one, so I had to have a model of it.

[SpeedyNH]

nice.

if you mean me, both 2- and 3-rail, in my case.

[Dave Crevie]

There are several manufacturers making scale equipment to run on 3-rail track. K-Line and Weaver Models are the most popular. 

Most of that stuff requires O-72 track due to the scale proportions. I have seen a lot of beautiful 3-rail layouts, even featured a few

in the magazine I once published with some model railroad friends. It really is how the layout is presented with scenery and

structures that makes it special.

[SpeedyNH]

ha!  mine's not well presented, in those terms: my 3-rail layout sets up on the big living room carpet for the holidays! "for the kids" LOL (good excuse).  so our scenery mainly consists of the Christmas tree, a few signals and crossing gates, and the couches it runs behind.  it's still a big hit and a lot of fun to run. sometimes I catch some flak when I run too much smoke fluid.

I do have some 'scale-sized' o gauge engines and rolling stock. no place yet for a full-sized layout, although my next 32 slot track will have some trains on it, as did a previous HO one many years ago.

[Dave Crevie]

Nothing wrong with a "Christmas tree layout", especially when kids are involved. You may be surprised when one of them

grows up to be a model railroader or toy train collector. You can rest easy knowing that you did that, and extended the

hobby for another generation.

[SpeedyNH]

thanks Dave

[Dave Crevie]

The Big Boy in snow, with a string of centerflows tack on behind. First video I have seen where she is actually working, and you

can hear the exhaust beats and see black smoke from the stack. Interesting that they still haven't fixed the leaking piston rod packing 

on the fireman's side front engine.

[gotboostedvr6]

[gotboostedvr6]

[gotboostedvr6]

[gotboostedvr6]

[Dave Crevie]

Excellent! Someone was able to download the video, and a few more. Thanks. They show 4014 is more than just a pretty face, it

still can do some heavy hauling.

[Dave Crevie]

The 4014 will be making a swing through the south-central states over the next month. 

 

 

You can get more info at;

 

https://www.up.com/h...edule/index.htm

 

Also, Santa Fe 4-8-4 3751 is nearing completion of it's major overhaul ans may be running again. This is another biggie, well worth checking out.

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

Found this cab ride video of the 4014 on tour last year. Because the 4014 was converted to burn oil, the cab is much less cluttered than the 4017. The brass handle that the guy on the left side of the cab is working is the oil flow control valve. I replaces a bunch of valves and levers on the back of the boiler. Also, the fire door is different. What looks like a computer screen on the right side of the cab is part of the radio communications. 

 

[Vay Jonynas]

The Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy is also very popular with model railroad enthusiasts. Here's a video devoted to the massive 1/32 scale MTH Union Pacific Big Boy which retails for $1499.95 and runs on G-gauge a.k.a. #1 gauge track:

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

Large scale garden railroading is cool, but not in my area. We only have 3 months we could run trains. Just the same, I built some 7/8thsN3 models some years ago, just to get the experience of building in a larger scale. Some I traded for O-scale, some I still have. I haven't seen the 1/32nd version, but the 1/4 inch O-scale version is very nice for the price. I have several MTH locos in my collection. A new release brass version would be in the $5000 to $7000 price range, but you can still find older US Hobbies and Max Grey versions for under $2000.

 

 

Williams and 3RD Rail offer versions much cheaper, but they lack the detail and don't run as nice. My Kohs USRA Mikado is an amazing model.

 

 

[Vay Jonynas]

Large scale garden railroading is cool, but not in my area. We only have 3 months we could run trains.

 

Three months! Where do you live? Anchorage, Fairbanks, Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Churchill? Northern Finland?

 

Snow isn't a problem anyway.Snow plows are available for Aristo-Craft and other G-gauge engines:

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

But the temp is way too cold for me. 

[Vay Jonynas]

Me I just change over to my winter coat:

 

 

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

The 4014 will be making another tour like the one they did in 2019. The schedule has not been chisled in stone yet, but it will most likely hit the same stops it did back then. That unfortunately means it will only get as far east as Chicago. I will post any details as soon as I get them.

 

Even if you don't like trains, if you have never been up close to this monster, you have never had the chance to experience what a magnificent machine it is. If it is going to pass anywhere close to where you are, make an effort to watch it as it passes by. 

[Phil Hackett]

Fun fact: the railroad crews call the rail fans that line the rails "foamers".

[Dave Crevie]

 

The term was started by railroad crews as a derogatory descriptive of people who watch trains. But there is something they forget. There is actually a large contingent of railfans who ride the trains for no other reason than to just ride the train. And with the railroads holding on by the skin of their teeth, every dollar coming in is lifeblood. Take those people away, and the railroad industry could loose 10 per cent of their income. Especially if those people decide to find some other way to ship their goods. A 1 per cent drop alone is devastating. The choice becomes to raise taxes to support the industry, or let it fail and rely on trucking to ship our goods. That could double the cost of shipping. 

 

Call me a foamer if you want, but I had a lot of fun restoring old trains. And they are still around because foamers continue to lust after seeing them.