Workshop Wednesday

Keith:

What a treasure he is! I would love to read, or better yet hear from the man himself, some of his experiences. Retired Old Heads are priceless. Especially those that spent their entire working careers in railroading. Makes my memories/experiences pale by comparison!

 

Foreman J.L. "Hardnose" Hensen listens to one of his hands exclaiming how bad the track shot off toward the ditch once they started pulling spikes while another hand looks at all the work ahead of them to get this one straightened back up. However, when they're done, the last of the Slow Orders that's been plaguing the KC&G of late will be annulled and the maximum allowable track speed from MP 248.4 Mountain Springs to MP 265.0 Ozarka will once again be the order of the day.

( Mom always said I had a vivid imagination! )

EDIT: Forgot to mention that Hardnose is the one in the brown jacket. Duh.

 

Where did you get that coffee mug?

 

Slick, ain't it?

Eat yer heart out, John!



Seriously: I saw that on a table full of coffee mugs a vendor was offering at a train meet (remember those?) in Jacksonville, AR. I snapped it up. Out of reach, I also spied another mug with an excellent scene of a Mop FA1 thereon. As I moved toward it, a chap picked it up and handed it to the vendor to hold it for him while he browsed some more. Darn. After the fellow was busy with something else, I asked the vendor if he had anymore of those Mop FA mugs. He had one more. Elated, I took it and... hm... the image wasn't near as vibrant as the one I missed out on. The vendor explained that the printing process sometimes varied. I thanked him for his effort, but compared to the vibrant color on the mug I missed. I was going to purchase both this Frisco mug and the Mop FA mug, I wasn't interested in the drab Mop FA mug that was left.

I don't have a clue what the name of the vendor was or if a website exists, etc. Sorry.

 

Here is some from the past week here. Because I like being John Henry VS the machine. I try to take pics and model without being too hi-tek. I dont own a 3D printer and still scratchbuild from plastic and wood. I also like trying to take pictures that show action without adding graphics artificially. (photshop). This week I was trying to get what would look like snow dust blowing up off the rails as a train passing another waiting on a passing track. I had my son blow smoke through straws across the base. The idea worked but it was way too windy to get the effect I really wanted. But you get the idea, fun attempt anyway. I wanted the headlights on 827 on but in those old Stewart U25s the light is so bright it looked like the crew had a bum fire burning in the cab. HA

 

Also finished a couple for my usual customer. Another 86' auto parts car and a pretty mild gondola. Both from Tangent so nice models.

 

Here is the proto photo I found to more less base the model on and the model.

 

No Workshop for me this week. Texas is a calamity. We finally had a few solid hours of power today. Mostly keeping the house together and trying not to freeze. .

 

It was -3 here when I left for work today. We have about a foot of snow. February has been rough here so far.

Stay safe all. Bob hope the lights stay on there!!

 

Nice set of photos there, STEVE!

BOB - Try and stay warm and dry. I have lots of kin around Beaumont, Houston, and Austin ... you guys have had it rough!
Rest of clan is scattered in Louisiana and Arkansas - all are cold!

 

Thanks Sherrell

 

We got 8 inches of snow and below freezing temperatures for 11 days, the lowest was -7 with wind chill -15. So far power has not been a problem but Tulsa has major water line breaks all over the city and has 40 crews working on repairs.

Joe

 

Hey Chris,

I am almost there with progress on the diorama to put those fishplates in. This has been a bad week for modeling due to the winter storm. I should be far enough along soon to try them out and will post the results.

Late last week, I did get some scale wood stained up for the trestle on the diorama and made progress on the deck.





The deck is a bit wide because there will be a curve in the track that is crossing. I ordered some NBW detail parts on eBay (due to arrive on the 17th), but we were 4 days with no mail, and who knows where those packages have gone off to. I was starting the jig for the trestle legs when the weather got bad.

It was nice again here today, but I had to run the older boy over to Houston to start back at Rice. Hopefully, I will have something to show by next weekend. If the weather holds, I will be able to run the airbrush and paint the track here and on the new staging yard, which did get power finished up. I am losing track of the last thing that I posted....

Hope all are well and staying warm!

-Bob T.

 

Kinda missed Wednesday. Got these finished up for my dad this week.

 

Dang Steve, I am going to have to change modelling era if you keep that up (or don't start weathering some steam).

I have been working tonight to finish up my "Long Bell Lumber" that will be a customer in Weir City. Will post some more notes on the layout build thread, but here is where it stands tonight.



Posed on a diorama, and featuring models from across the Frisco Nation.

Edit: A couple of notes. The structure is the "Aspen Lumber Co." from BEST Models, and the roofing comes from KC's Workshop. Cars from Jim James and Loco from Tom Holley.

Take Care All,

-Bob T.

 

Great scene Bob. Thats a nice looking building.

 

Missed Wednesday, but here is what I’ve been doing the last few nights. I know there are a lot of “modern” diesel fans here that will enjoy it.

(insert eye roll). Ha




The model is from MTH. Nice for the price. 9771 wore the CNW paint a long time. One of if not the last repainted to yellow.

thanks for lookin, Steve

 

Nice Job! Steve, Your model really is life-like! Bravo!