Weekend Photos - January 2023

[healey36]

With the holidays over, I'm finally back to cleaning up both the office/library and the basement. Just a mountain of stuff to wade through; one of many things that floated to the top was this S-gauge K-Line 511-011 MoPac Eagle Service boxcar:



I picked this up from Lorne Strickler's shop in Hanover, Pa., back in the 1990s during the waning days of my interest in S-gauge. It's basically a Marx 3/16-gauge boxcar that MDK manufactured/marketed for their O/O-27 line. They slapped a nice pair of sprung S-gauge die-cast trucks under it, resulting in something that looks okay, certainly better than much of Gilbert's last-gasp production. I have a few of these short K-Line boxcars, but most with O-gauge die-cast trucks underneath. They are roughly the same size as Lionel's postwar 6014-series of short boxcars, of which I also have a few.

I was up to Sarge's this past week to, amongst other things, take a look at the newly scenic'd pike. Despite his protests that he hates doing scenery and is incompetent in its production, the results, to my eye, have proved outstanding. While we were sitting around jaw-boning, I grabbed a shot of this interesting part of the layout:



One is looking down the mainline toward the dreaded "curiosity" switch, then carries on to the partition between this and the adjacent section of the layout. A tinplater with little-to-no concept of prototypical layout operation, I thought it was neat that one could look through the portal and see the adjacent section. Of course, this mortified Sarge, as the partition is supposed to represent a hard separation between the sections, i.e. trains exit one section through the "portal", entering the next section after completing some virtual distance between. You're not supposed to look through the "portal" and see the adjacent section, but I thought it was a neat visual and took the shot.

We made a quick run up to Mainline Hobby Supply to have a look around. I picked up some sheet brass for a tinplate project I started before Christmas, and a tube of .010 phosphor bronze wire which I think I can use for detailing the 1/2400-scale ship models. Sarge grabbed a big bag of stuff, primarily a reload of ground-foam, but he mentioned some other fun stuff like a pack of Arttista crow castings. He'll need to do a figure-painting tutorial on those when he gets to them.

A big naval wargame going down starting in mid-January, so the train stuff will take a backseat for awhile. What's everyone else got going on?

[webenda]

I was up to Sarge's this past week to, amongst other things, take a look at the newly scenic'd pike

Sarge does scenery? What a marvelous scene! What a great photo. Tremendous depth of field. The other side of the portal, so mysterious. It looks like it is outdoors.

I wonder if Sarge's Military Surplus would be interested in buying my wife's Type 99 Last Ditch Rifle? She tried to sell it at the gun show in 2021. Lots of interest but no offers. Some of the dealers gave a history lesson on the rifle as they looked at it.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I was up to Sarge's this past week to, amongst other things, take a look at the newly scenic'd pike. Despite his protests that he hates doing scenery and is incompetent in its production, the results, to my eye, have proved outstanding.

He may hate doing scenery, but is far from incompetent in its production.

[healey36]

The Type 99 is a brute. I fired one belonging to a friend of mine a couple times at a range and, despite the weight of the gun, it had an impressive recoil. It felt quite a bit heavier than the M1 (although my friend tells me it's only slightly heavier, and a bit longer), at least to me. Maybe even heavier late in the war when they started churning the 99 out with crummier components.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The Type 99 is a brute. I fired one belonging to a friend of mine a couple times at a range and, despite the weight of the gun, it had an impressive recoil.

It's also not well suited for doing scenery work on the layout.

[healey36]

Not too handy...it didn’t even make a nice round hole in the target's corrugated cardboard (something I proved pretty inept at trying to do).

[healey36]

Picked up this building at Michael's during a post-holiday sale, probably ten years ago. With a base measuring 6-1/2" x 15", it's a pretty unusual piece:



Saw-mill? Foundry? Not sure. Headed to the paint shop once I figure out how best to paint/mask it. My success using conventional masking tape, or even the blue tape stuff, is mixed. Always seem to have some bleed along the edges. Any recommendations?

[HONDO74]

Is that building made out of metal or wood. Or maybe a combination of both

[healey36]

All metal (thin steel). I wish they'd make a bunch of these type buildings, but this appears to have been a one-off. It is not rusty...for some reason the manufacturer applied some faux-rust paint on the edges. MSRP was $70, but I think I got it for a bit less than thirty.

That opening with the three horizontal "bars" must represent a door. If I can get this thing apart without destroying it, might solder a piece behind that to make it look a bit better.

[healey36]

A shot of turntable action at the East Broad Top in 1986:



Photo by Jack Boucher for HAER PA,31-ROCFN,1B--12, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

I wonder how restoration of the EBT is progressing...

[robert.]

Returned to Miami for our annual business trip. This year we staid in Delray. One of our clients owns half the town. She gave us a nice little place to stay. Driving from Delray to Miami beach is a nightmare. 51 miles takes 2 hours. F*&king crashes everywhere. People changing lanes left right and back to the left bam. Anyway a few picks from the trip. watched a Florida train go by one day. Wish i could snapped a quick photo. between the first and second locomotives was a flatcar with a tank on it. What would that be? A special load or a storage tank for air pressure?
Photos of the house a street festival, artist and a lucid air for sale.

[J. S. Bach]

...snip...between the first and second locomotives was a flatcar with a tank on it. What would that be? A special load or a storage tank for air pressure?

On the FEC? Probably a fuel tender; straight through MIA>JAX non-stop, at least for fueling. Or maybe JAX>MIA>JAX.

[healey36]

Nice little old-school Florida bungalow...looks like a McMansion behind it.

[robert.]

Found it on google. They run on liquid natural gas. It's a purpose built tender to hold LNG.

[robert.]

Nice little old-school Florida bungalow...looks like a McMansion behind it.

She owns 4 of those bungalows plus the house in the background along with the rest of the street. That one bungalow sits on a parcel with 3 others. $1.8 million for 4 of them.