Boomer Operator #5 – A local layout

An eastbound local crosses Main Street in Birchmont, Ohio, on the Kingston Southern HO scale model railroad.
An eastbound local crosses Main Street in Birchmont, Ohio on the Kingston Southern HO scale model railroad.

I moved to El Paso, Texas, in the summer of 2012 and began to seek out local model railroaders. I attended a local NMRA meeting and met Mike who was building an HO scale home layout in nearby Las Cruces, NM. His layout had progressed well and he hoped to begin operating soon. I offered to assist with any tasks to keep the progress rolling and ended up visiting a couple of times a month. Over the next year, the mainline was completed, a yard was installed, an industrial branch was installed, and operating sessions were set up. Mike now hosts once a month sessions on his layout and a few local model railroaders participate. Click on any image here to review a large size.

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Resin Freight Car kit builds, part 5

Yarmouth Model Works HO scale Northern Pacific double-sheathed box car
Yarmouth Model Works HO scale Northern Pacific double-sheathed box car

It has been about a year since I described the last resin freight car kit builds. A number of other layout tasks have commanded my attention, including a recent operating session. But there have been a few kit completions in the last few months, including a wonderful resin box car kit that includes etched metal and laser cut wood detail parts. Yarmouth Model Work introduced this kit earlier in 2014 and I scooped one up as it fits my 1926 era. Era appropriate decals even came with the kit! The completed model can be seen in the image above. Click on any image here to review a larger size.

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The first op session for the Wheeling Freight Terminal

The quiet before the storm of the first op session.
The quiet before the storm of the first op session.

My B&O Wheeling Freight Terminal layout has reached the point where I can hold an operating session. All of the track switch controls have been installed and adjusted to proper working order and a few track gauge issues have been corrected. It was time to make the leap of faith. My friend Mike committed to the initial shake down session so I was now locked in and needed to prep. This will be the first op session on a layout in my home since the summer of 2001. Where have the years gone?

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UP opens the Santa Teresa Intermodal Ramp

Santa Theresa Intermodal Ramp commemorative coin
Santa Teresa Intermodal Ramp commemorative coin

Regular readers know my rail interests are focused on a point almost one hundred years ago, but the other day I witnessed a ceremony opening a modern rail facility. I drove about ten miles west of El Paso to the far western edge of Santa Teresa, New Mexico on May 28th. What was once a bare spot in the desert is now the $400 million dollar Santa Teresa Intermodal Ramp rail facility. Click on any image here to review a large size.

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Catching up from winter

RPMVF_salotti_cnj_gb
An HO scale CNJ gondola on Steve Salotti’s model railroad. Seeing this at an operating session reminds me of one I’ve built and not painted yet.

We all experience ebbs and flows in our hobby activities. We can make furious progress on several tasks over the course of a few weeks then two months may slip by with hardly any activity. Tasks from beyond our hobby world can dominate the spare time, especially with spring weather blowing away the grit and cold of winter. I’ve been working on several different tasks, but few are far enough along or very photogenic to share here. The death of a friend has also weighed heavily on my mind. Less busy days are coming back around for the hobby tasks and I hope to share updates soon. Let’s recap a few model railroad events from the last couple of months. Click on any image here to review a larger version.

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