hobby inspiration – Page 7 – Notes on Designing, Building, and Operating Model Railroads

What’s in the Yard? – 2

The DL&W Freight House in Orange, NJ, December 1920

DL&W company photo, Steamtown NPS, Image #X1689.

Ray Breyer is back with another detailed look at the freight cars in a period image. This time, Ray has three images to use from the same facility and were taken on the same day. Click on any image here to view a larger size.

As an early rail modeler I’m constantly on the lookout for high-quality photos of period railroading, whether it’s my favorite prototype’s infrastructure, rolling stock or engines. I’m also looking for good images in context, showing why things may look the way they do, especially the area surrounding a given image’s viewpoint. Finally, just about any halfway decent period is fair game, since it can highlight rare freight equipment or ‘general atmosphere’ which may prove to be useful when working on my owl layout’s scenery.

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The End of 2016

Part of the model display room at the 2016 RPM Valley Forge meet.

Another year comes to a close and it’s always interesting to look back on the completed tasks and those that remain uncompleted. But there’s more to review than just a bunch of items on a to-do list. I was able to attend a pair of fine RPM events; Valley Forge and Chicago. The opportunity to renew acquaintances and meet new modelers is as important to me as the hundreds of displayed models and the many outstanding presentations. If you haven’t attended a railroad prototype modeler (RPM) meet, check out the event calendar and attend one near you.

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2017 RPM events

After adding updates to the RPM Event Calendar page, I realized the first half of 2017 is pretty busy! First up is the Prototype Rails event in Cocoa Beach, Florida. This early January meet comes at a great time for those with Polar Vortex experience to trek to warmer weather. The presentation schedule has been posted, so check out the details. It’s never too late to make plans to attend.

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Masking Tape as a Weathering Tool

201610_frtcrs_wtape — Masking tape has been applied to portions of the lettering on these freight cars before the weathering processes begin.

Several freight cars recently went through the weathering factory and each of them had some masking tape applied to protect part of the original paint coat or lettering. Model railroaders typically use masking tape in the process of applying large stripes or fancy paint schemes to locomotives or rolling stock. For these recent freight cars, the tape was applied to hint at changes made to the car. The tape became another tool in the weathering arsenal.

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Why model 1926?

Image from the Cleveland Memory Project of the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University. (LINK: http://library.csuohio.edu/speccoll/ ) — Wheeling & Lake Erie East 93rd Street depot, 1927. Image from the Cleveland Memory Project of the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University.

As a railroad modeler, I answer many questions about this hobby. A regular question from other modelers has been, why model 1926? This sounds simple, doesn’t it? Just explain why I model a specific year. Oddly, I’ve been trying to write this for three weeks and it comes up a little different with each new version. I think I finally like how this has turned out so I better post it before I change my mind, again. Besides, I have models to build!

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