Tag: hobby inspiration

RPM addendum

I enjoyed another RPM Chicagoland meet recently. A number of Pre-Depression Era modelers (the Pirates) attended, as seen in the lead image. That’s me, down in front. Two Pirates were missing at the time of the photo shoot. It was great to catch up with this group in face-to-face conversations and enjoy meals and drinks together. It’s been nine years since a couple of us began corresponding about railroads and industries of the 1900-1930 decades. We’ve learned a great deal from our collective and advanced our individual modeling skills.

Continue reading “RPM addendum”

B&O freight houses

I’ve been reviewing many amazing images on the Historic Pittsburgh digital archive as research and planning continue for the next layout project. I stumbled into some studies that were done in the 1920s to improve road and rail traffic. A few photo and map gems were found while paging through “Railroads of the Pittsburgh district: a part of the Pittsburgh plan”.

Continue reading “B&O freight houses”

Early Trackplans – 2


A couple of blog posts ago, I shared vintage personal trackplans that were discovered when clearing old files. I had drawn these in the late 1970s during my high school years. Shortly after the post appeared, I found a thin notebook with a few versions of the last layout plan featured on that post. In addition to the trackplans, there were numerous small structure drawings such as the one that leads this post. I had completely forgotten about these details.

Continue reading “Early Trackplans – 2”

Summer

I’ve been lax in blog posts for awhile. Summer chores and heat have sapped my hobby energy. This hobby lull has also slowed my work with the Resin Car Works blog. I’m headed to the St Louis RPM this weekend and hope the event recharges my energy. There are a few things on file that I need to wrap up before sharing with you. We’ll see what comes up in the next few weeks.

I visit other blogs to keep my inspiration alive. Please visit the blogs listed in the right column on the main page. The work shared on Gene Deimling’s blog is just amazing.

I’ve been doodling ideas for the next layout project. The garage renovations have not progressed well but layout planning moves forward. I received the latest Layout Design Journal recently and found lots of enjoyment in the issue. This is the publication of the Layout Design Special Interest Group and well worth the membership. Check out their website for details. Issue #61 features three very nice manageable switching layouts with lots of ideas.

That’s it for this post. I’ll snap some photos in St. Louis and share them soon.

Early trackplans

It’s amazing how much stuff there is to sort through after moving. I’ve done this before and after each move and I still find forgotten treasure. While cleaning out a file cabinet I found some old trackplans. The plan above was drawn 43 years ago, when I was 14. Holy cow. Please, do not build this railroad. Those track switch angles are freehand.

Continue reading “Early trackplans”