Hobo Jungle

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Rufus, I'd love to hear what kind of a setting you would feel was appropriate - optimum - for such a train to travel through and/or service.

I should imagine that if you were to craft one of those cars for a client the number of hours invested would, ostensibly, make the price out of the reach of many people. However, I'll bet having such a train would be attractive to many of us. Even if such a consist didn't go anywhere, it would be spectacular just sitting on a siding - in the right setting - posing in all its glory.

Anything else you'd care to show would be a treat, I am certain.

[The Dirt]

Geezuz. Rufus, those cars are beautiful, nothing short of stunning!

Murph is right. What a tableau they would make. My hat's off to you.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Rufus, I'd love to hear what kind of a setting you would feel was appropriate - optimum - for such a train to travel through and/or service.

My small layout focuses on a very rural setting -- Franklin County, PA branch line so the shop built look fits in there as well as the era - very late 19th - early 20th century. Just picture a small to medium steam engine trundling through the farmland and forest from Kaufmann's Station up to Richmond Furnace to a connection with the Tuscarora Valley RR (which never did get connected...).

I should imagine that if you were to craft one of those cars for a client the number of hours invested would, ostensibly, make the price out of the reach of many people. However, I'll bet having such a train would be attractive to many of us. Even if such a consist didn't go anywhere, it would be spectacular just sitting on a siding - in the right setting - posing in all its glory.

Last 3 that I built were wooden tank cars that I sold for real bargain prices and I'll not do that again, but then not many folks are going to be buying a wood car at brass prices too often. The materials costs were probably under $20 per car including trucks, couplers, dry transfers, and the detail parts --> I never ran a clock on that exercise, but even building them in parallel probably took a good number of hours.

Anything else you'd care to show would be a treat, I am certain.

Looking at the weather forecast for Tues/Wed indicates that I'm not going anywhere this week, so I guess anything is possible,

Geezuz. Rufus, those cars are beautiful, nothing short of stunning!

Murph is right. What a tableau they would make. My hat's off to you.

And, thank you very much for your kind words!

[MurphOnMillerAve]

.... thank you very much for your kind words!

One of the nice aspects of being in this hobby of ours is that many voices among us have an appreciation for quality. We look for it all the time, and we like value. Your work satisfies both those standards. We value its quality, its authenticity, and its hand-crafted dimension. You have much of which to be proud. Indeed.

[2railjon]

Rufus!! Your work is nothing short of stunning and so inspiring!!!!!! WOW!!!!! On the basic flatcar structure, did you work off of any O scale blueprints?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Rufus!! Your work is nothing short of stunning and so inspiring!!!!!! WOW!!!!! On the basic flatcar structure, did you work off of any O scale blueprints?

Actually...............no,

It's just a cumulative generic truss rod wooden flatcar that provides a base for just about anything. I created the kit to use as a teaching tool - we sit down at conventiuons and build stuff for 3 hours of fun to teach "how to" and to also get folks over their fears of kit building.

BTW, I've seen that same kit built in under an hour, kitbashed into a specific On3 prototype car by a completely frantic MMR at a convention a few years ago.

Best I've ever done was to build 6 in one day that all went on to become several of those pictured in the other thread.

[2railjon]

Rufus, Are your flatcar kits still available?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Yes, you too can acquire a box of sticks and a bag of detail parts with instructions that should only contribute mildly to one's deteriorating mental state, for a mere $20 + shipping. Although right now with the snow coming tomorrow evening I doubt I could get out of my neighborhood until next week unless I manage to make some snowshoes.

But, you should know that the one pictured is just a little dressed up with a good number of added detail parts and I also added most of teh brake plumbing since I'm overly compuslive about stuff that no one can see, For example, those cut levers for one are all custom to that specific car and the stake pockets were added, but I think I could find you some in my shop. Of course, trucks and couplers are yours to supply, but if you are interested just shoot me a PM and we can discuss.

Sad to say that these are the only kits left in my line of kits - I should get around to bringing them all back into production some day....

[Tramp]

Is there any hobo who wouldn't want to try some of this? Talk about a hard traveler's drink.


This Scotch has been on the rocks for a century.

Five crates of Scotch whisky and two of brandy have been recovered by a team restoring an Antarctic hut used more than 100 years ago by famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.

Ice cracked some of the bottles that had been left there in 1909, but the restorers said Friday they are confident the five crates contain intact bottles "given liquid can be heard when the crates are moved."

New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust team leader Al Fastier said the team thought there were two crates and were amazed to find five.

Current distillery owner, drinks group Whyte & Mackay, launched the bid to recover the Scotch whisky for samples to test and decide whether to relaunch the defunct spirit made by distiller McKinlay and Co.

Fastier said restoration workers found the crates under the hut's floorboards in 2006, but they were too deeply embedded in ice to be dislodged.

The New Zealanders agreed to drill the ice to try to retrieve some bottles, although the rest must stay under conservation guidelines agreed to by 12 Antarctic Treaty nations.

"The unexpected find of the brandy crates, one labelled Chas. Mackinlay & Co and the other labelled The Hunter Valley Distillery Limited Allandale (Australia), are a real bonus," said Fastier.

Ice has cracked some of the crates and formed inside them. Fastier said in a statement that would make extracting the contents delicate, but the trust would decide how to do so in coming weeks.

Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte and Mackay, whose company supplied the Mackinlay's whisky for Shackleton, described the find as "a gift from the heavens for whisky lovers.

"If the contents can be confirmed, safely extracted and analyzed, the original blend may be able to be replicated. Given the original recipe no longer exists, this may open a door into history," he said in a statement.

Shackleton's expedition ran short of supplies on its long ski trek to the South Pole from the northern Antarctic coast in 1907-1909 and turned back about 160 kilometres short of its goal.

The expedition sailed away in 1909 as winter ice formed, leaving behind supplies, including the whisky and brandy.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010 ... z0fKryg3p2

[2railjon]

Tramp, I got a friend who lives in Colorado who distills his own scotch. Every once in a while passing through he'll leave me a jug. I'm not a scotch expert by any means but the stuff tastes as good as any scotch I've ever drank that came in a fancy bottle. It's amazing the flavor (and effects) that's produced from nothing more then barley and water. Kinda the same process as our corn squeezins down south. It's always amazed me at the ingenuity of mankind between raising a family, gathering crops, hunting, and killin' each other in war someone gave some thought to boiling up some grains, fermenting them and draining off the alcohol!

[Del Mar]

Tramp,

A wonderful Scotch saga. What would you give for just a taste of one of those?

I know it is pretty serious everywhere else, but tequila and lime weather here. Louie licked the condensation from my Pacificos and is just plain tuckered out tonight. Lazy dog.

San

[MurphOnMillerAve]

.... It's always amazed me at the ingenuity of mankind between raising a family, gathering crops, hunting, and killin' each other in war someone gave some thought to boiling up some grains, fermenting them and draining off the alcohol!

Not to intrude on your conversation, but it has always amazed me that somebody, somewhere, at some time, walked up to a goat, no less, and grabbed an udder and said, "Hey man, lemmee have a squirt o' dat right here in my cup." Then, some other dude or gal suggest they leave some of it out in the nice warm daylight to congeal into a revolting mass that stunk like vomit (ever come into a room and smell real provolone? ) and spread some of that concoction onto a cracker.

We are amazing, in so many ways.

Oh, did I mention that an ideal meal (allowed once a year) for me is: white Italian bread; Genoa salami; black olives, and the provolone, of course; brushetta composed of chopped-up tomatoes; onions; garlic; oregano; virgin olive oil, all washed down w/ red wine, backed-up by a Jack Daniels-&-coke. Eh? An angio-plasty follows, as an optional course of action.

[Tramp]

Jon, as you know, the Pilgrims were headed for Virginia when they ran out of beer. Stopped at the rock to brew more. Odd name Pilgrim. Combines "pill" and "grim" which aren't that uplifting, are they?

What kind of barrels does your friend age his Scotch in? It's the casks that give the color and flavor.

San, I'm just hoping they distill the original recipe again. Whisky does not improve in the bottle, it only loses alcohol over time. I'd still love to try a dram of that stuff. I found some very old (as in not sold) Scotch in liquor store down South once. The labels were even molded. I bought every one they had. It was Haig and Haig before they became Pinch. In pints no less. Original price. The store was delighted to get rid of the dusty things.

[2railjon]

What kind of barrels does your friend age his Scotch in? It's the casks that give the color and flavor.

Tramp, Dan uses these:
http://www.thebarrelsource.com/
Although when he passes through, my scotch doesn't arrive in a finely crafted charred custom keg. It appears in the bottle of an ex-water jug. But hey, who's complaining!!!

While Scotch whisky benefits from being stored in barrels that have been previously used the Bourbon industry requires that only new barrels are used for this purpose. The second hand bourbon barrels are therefore purchased by Scotch whisky distillers. Sherry, Rum and Port casks are also used. All of these impart their own, unique characteristics into the final product.

[2railjon]

The day they lay poor Poncho low, Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go, there ain't nobody know".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxzJAF1BxP4

I wonder who Lefty was? A real person or just a fictional character.