Notes on Designing, Building, and Operating Model Railroads
A hobby adventure
I broke out an old HO scale resin freight car kit at the end of February and started building it. I think this came into my stash via a trade. The original kits were produced in the late 1980s or early 1990s by the Rensselaer Polytechnic model railroad club. It has become a nice distraction from reality since work began
Continue reading “Flattening a warp”
I picked up a drill press stand for my vintage 1970s era Dremel Moto-Tool a couple of months ago. I found one at a decent price on EBay and bought it to do a better job on the bolster holes. I had used the Dremel for this task previously in a free-hand mode, but some holes were drilled at a slight angle introducing a slight lean to completed models. I needed to do better.
I’m involved with the Dixie Model Railroad Club here in Nashville and have an assignment to build the Tennessee Egg Company structure that sat along the railroad in Chattanooga, TN. Other than a few aerial images, the main document at hand to build this structure is a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. These are very good resources of structures in communities served by railroads, many of them being commercial industries along the right of way. Click on any image here to review a larger size.
It’s going to be a few months before the garage is transformed into the new hobby space. Setting up a hobby work space in the garage makes no sense as it would need to be moved once remodeling starts. After some negotiating, I was able to use an alcove in the TV lounge above the garage for space. The lead image illustrates the appearance before some changes.
I send a big Thank You to the readers who shared comments on The Blahs post last week. I started work on a couple of box cars the next day. I also broke out some stored equipment and ran a coal train on the Salt Lake Route club layout in nearby Nolensville on Monday evening. The lead image shows the coal train en route from Ogden to Los Angeles. Continue reading “Pushing ahead”