Model Train Journal

The two QJ's are in Iowa. Still operable, both said to be for sale. They ran with Milwaukee #261 at Rail Fest in Rock Island, IL a few years back. Best comment I heard from the line side fans as the triple-header rolled by: "I've seen better looking boilers in high school basements"... the...

or as the guys at Antiques Roadshow would say "To maintain value, don't disturb the original patina..."

Now that IS different! Maybe the covered bridge philosophy on steroids? Covered bridges used lesser woods (and paint) to protect the structural members from the weather -was probably easier & cheaper to replace siding or shingles than part of a Howe Truss. I suppose even in this situation it mig...

A question for anyone in the group who copied their LP's to CD's. Have you had any deterioration of those CD's? I was all set to begin transferring my LP's to CD's (this is back in the 90's) but never got around to setting things up. This was pre-USB and required a line-level audio feed to the audio...

A few thoughts on CD's based on 28 years as a broadcast engineer and music show host. Cleaning the playing surface of a CD is rarely necessary, as opposed to cleaning the surface of an LP as a requirement ahead of playing to limit the amount of dust, etc. that would add to the snap, crackle and pop....

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:60 types of trucks,

And what do we have available to us today?

I would think that between Rich Yoder and Bill Davis there would be at least that many types of trucks available, and add San Juan to the mix if you don't mind delrin.

...or more likely the Minister of Music at one of the mega-churches in Texas or Georgia. Most of his music was written for his long-term gig at the main church in Leipzig. Don't know about pot, but he did get into the occasional knife fight. Imagine a great deal of the time was spent fathering 22-od...

Pretty sure that's the Empire-Midland (?) import of the D&LW bobber that came with two cupolas, one for each of the window configurations the prototype had. Mine has a card in the box indicating made in 1978. Nice model for 1978. Not sure what the rational was for the C&O paint job for the o...

Reminded me of an account in Bill Fisher's "30 Years Over Donner." Bill was a signal maintainer at Emigrant Gap on the SP. He often had problems with snow depth reaching up to the wires on the crossarms and shorting out the signals, etc. on Donner Pass. Snowshoes were, of course, standard ...

Those look like Climax truck sideframes - bits of a Lobaugh kit, perhaps?

You have the option of servicing your own pig after it is scalded and dehaired or having us professionals do it for you. Sounds like the Restaurant at the End of the Universe in the recently mentioned Hitchhiker's Guide where you could have a chat with the cow that would become your steak. We do ha...

Heck, I might as well jump in on this one. I've been away from the On3 part of the hobby quite a while, so I could be "mis-remembering," but if that's a belt drive hidden in the shadows of the picture of the bottom of the firebox, isn't this the Sunset WSLCo#12 shay? I think PSC used (uses...

If you look closely at the photo of the ACL car, you will see the faded herald in the upper right panel - it is (was) a B&LE car, making the Atlas car the correct model to start with.

Speaking of the Rock Island Pacific, the friend of mine who bought the locomotive called last night to say the worm gear was DOA (several teeth missing). I offered to post to this group to see if Mr. Turner (or others) had suggestions on which direction to go - look for a replacement Lobaugh gear, i...

A question for the Python fans in the group: Do you have the same fondness for John Cleese in Fawlty Towers? Was fortunate enough to have both Monty Python and Fawlty Towers available on public TV back in the 70's. Sunday night was Monty Python's Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, and the Tom Baker Dr. W...