Mike's Railroad Blog

Just taking a bit of time off...

2013-02-07T20:31:00.000-06:00

Hello fellow train nuts, I have had a ton of things come up that are paramount over my hobbies and decided to put down the Exacto knife, and trim back my hobby time. A hobby is just a hobby, and family comes first. I will be back soon. Thanks for coming by and I will talk to you all soon. In the mean while, the 2013 LSR NMRA convention is coming up, I am running the clinics and we will have a boat load of excellent clinicians. I hope you can make it!

http://lonestarexpress2013.com/content/2013-lsr-convention-may-29th-thru-june-2nd

From My Workbench

2012-06-19T07:24:00.000-05:00

Here is a video of my latest diorama I entered in Houston last week. I am pretty happy with the final product hope you enjoy it. It took 1st place Dioramas, 1st place Automation at the convention.

Convention coming up!

2012-05-27T12:40:00.000-05:00

Well I have been cramming to get a model ready for the up and coming NMRA Lone Star Region convention being held in Houston Texas from June 6th through 10th. As with every year, I wait until the last minute to get it ready for judging. I will say however that it is coming along well. Just have some finishing touches I am working on to take it to the next level. I have been inspired by Laurie McLean MMR from Australia regarding his work with automation (thanks Laurie your work is incredible) and will try a couple of things he has done on my scene as well as one I dont think has been done before. Anyway if you get a chance check out his youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/scoopmmr

Well back to the workbench and hope to see you in Houston!... here is the link for the convention....

http://sanjac.leoslair.com/LSR/

Image of the Month

2012-05-07T23:40:00.001-05:00

Another Edison Movie showing a SP double header reefer train with a helper unit, probably somewhere in the Sierras in 1898. Enjoy...

Research makes for a great layout

2012-04-22T16:02:00.003-05:00

Its a lazy Sunday afternoon and I was doing some fundamental research for my layout. As you may or may not know, I model from 1940 to 1945. This era is interesting to me due to my father being in the 101st Airborne and my Mom the bride awaiting his return during WWII, they were married on Dec 7th 1941 (sound familiar?). Moreover I, like most guys, are fascinated by the War and its affects worldwide. It was when the railroads were in their zenith and the home front was geared up and a well oiled (and lean) machine. But there are a ton of things you have to realize when locking yourself into a certain era to model. Certain sacrifices need to be made such as eliminating models that did not appear in that era. This include automobiles, rolling stock, and locomotives. (Gone is that nice shiny 57 chevy and GP 35's in my collection). If the box car is over 40 feet in length you better question what type it was and what year it was produced. Only early 1st generation diesels are allowed and of course the good part of this equation is lots and lots of steam, well worn, weathered and beaten up steam. Making things nice and clean with fresh paint was not a priority during these years but rather how much equipment, troops, and supplies they could move was the theme of the day for railroads.

So to keep truly honest with myself when I model, and since I did not live in that era, I have to research a great deal on how it was to live in the good ole USA during the war. The sacrifices that were made and the things that would seem alien in today's world that were readily acceptable during this time frame. Its one of those situations where I wished I would have asked mom and dad about these things when they were alive but such is life. But I guess deep inside me, I model this era as a tribute to them and the "greatest generation".

With that said, you really have to determine what works when planning, the automobiles is easy, if it was made after 1945 then it goes on Ebay. Actually due to the war private automobile production ceased, even Lionel stopped production of trains and retooled to make compasses used by the Navy and other shipboard devices.

War bond posters went everywhere so I make it a point to place these on fences, buildings, and interiors...

Gas ration tags were placed on automobile windshields as well because everyone was classified by the amount of gas they needed for personal use and were restricted to that amount. Another way to tell your story is the price of gas that would be on the station sign was in the 19 cent range in 1941 and 21 cent range at the end of the war. Longing for these days now?

Rubber, metal, even butter was in short supply and rationed so your layout should not have a gas station full of new tires. I am reminded of the movie "A Christmas Story" when they get a flat tire during their Christmas tree shopping trip and father takes pride in the time it takes to change one bald flat tire for the full bald spare.

Other facets of life you might not consider are mail boxes were painted green not the red white and blue we are use too. Stop signs were Yellow and Black not red and white as they are now.
There was no such thing as a yield sign, there were not introduced until 1950.

Simple things like the way the roads were marked where different. Until 1971 the center line was white rather than the yellow that is around today. Due to the lack of technology with reflective signs, most signs were not reflective as a whole but rather they contained "cats eyes" which were small reflectors that were used to spell out the sign such as this railroad cross buck.

I guess my thrust behind this post is to influence you to do your homework if you choose to take the route that I have in modeling a particular era in railroading. You know 95% of the people that will see my work may never notice these minor details, but to me its important to do it right for that 5% that may have lived during that time in history. It is really a tribute to them and the sacrifices they made makes it worth the effort.

War War II Bond Poster Resource

2012-04-08T09:36:00.002-05:00

Since Lackland Airforce Base website shut down their WWII poster resource site, I have been searching for a good source of posters to be miniaturized and used on my models. I have been searching around for a single location for these but to no avail. So to the folks who have been asking me the only recommendation I can give is on Google Images. Simply search on "World War II Bond Posters" and it will give you literally hundreds of hits.

Disclaimer, as with all internet content,before you use these images make sure the owner of the content is ok with it.

I will continue to search for that golden website and let you know what I come up with....

From My Workbench

2012-04-08T09:13:00.001-05:00

I have been conducting a series of basic Clinics for my NMRA division meetings here in Dallas. The subject this time is Introduction to Scratch-Building Structures. In it we have been building a small basic shack, it can be a news stand, a fireworks stand, fruit stand or whatever you want. My selection was a supply shack for logging. I hope that several of the clinic attendees will bring their versions in.

I am working on finishing up the base this week, it was a fun build, but it its a bit funny, it seems the smaller the build the harder the model. Until next time...

Image of the Month

2012-03-14T14:11:00.002-05:00

Birth of a Locomotive - Proof positive that they don't make them like they use too....

Fascinating video of the construction of a steam locomotive...

From My Workbench

2012-02-27T12:07:00.002-06:00

this is a set of Photo's that of a FSM Kit I completed a few years back, I wanted to get some daylight shots of it for some time now. this diorama will be located in the urban location of my layout. the layout room is coming along, I had a sheetrock guy come out for a estimate the other day, but I have to pull up half of the floor to level it out. Anyway, here are the shots...

Image of the Month

2012-02-06T10:13:00.002-06:00

Since this is the first Image of the Month for the year, I wanted to do something special. If you are a Southern Pacific Daylight Fan, this one is for you...

Released by the Southern Pacific RR CO in 1937 to promote the Daylight Lines on the Pacific Coast. One interesting thing I noted on the very last scene where the daylight in heading off to the sunset, notice the car diaphragm flapping in the wind, I am sure SP officials blushed over that shot...

From My Workbench

2012-01-18T13:06:00.003-06:00

Well it is a new year, and I thought I would share my latest creation, the sawmill complex. This one took about 8 months to complete. it comprises of several BTS kits and the master creations sawmill I had earlier in this blog. It is now installed at the RR club I am a member of.

Shot of the rear of the sawmill and fire tower

The mill pond, note the water lilies and cat tails in front of the pump house.

The plaster cloth is being used to rebuild the area that I demo'ed to introduce this module.

Just some night shots because they look cool...

Well off to the workbench to see what I can come up with on convention in June in Houston....

Need a sign?

2011-12-29T08:04:00.002-06:00

DO you need a sign for your layout, help yourself, just save these images to your computer and print them in color...

The secret to placing these on walls so they look like they were painted on is to sand the back of the printed sign so that it is almost transparent. Place the sign on the wall using a diluted white glue and using a stipple paint brush, gently push the sign into the bricks or surface of the wall. Then using a diluted paint color identical to the wall color "wash" the sign so that it blends in enough not to lose what the sign shows but makes it look like the wall surface is coming through the sign... Have fun...

Product Review - Troels Kirk DVD - Realistic color for Model Railroading

2011-12-08T12:42:00.001-06:00

Greetings,
I just received Troels Kirk's new DVD on realistic color for Model Railroading.

I really enjoyed this video because it takes a different approach towards modeling in that Troels uses broad area painting techniques and an artist approach, which includes the use of basic colors to mimic weathering and realistic modeling. These techniques produce fantastic results.

For those who do not know Troels, he is a danish artist painter, living in southern Sweden. in my opinion, Troels has one of the finest model Railroads on the planet. To view this spectacular work of art go here...

Coast Line Railroad

If you want To view the trailer for his DVD....

You can order this DVD from his website.

For the quality of the DVD, his techniques, and overall fresh approach towards modeling I give this product 5 lanterns, great job Troels!

Image of the Month

2011-10-17T14:35:00.002-05:00

As I continue to work on my layout room, (I will post pictures shortly) my modeling is at a standstill. So I post this video regarding railroad safety from the 50's. It is kind of Hokey but if you are a Southern Pacific Fan you are in for a treat. Among others there are shots of Daylight PA units, CabForwards, Black Widow F units, Halloween S units, Even a reefer string and a wigwag.... (lol only SP railroad fans would have the slightest inkling of what I am talking about) Enjoy...

Image of the Month

2011-09-30T22:22:00.002-05:00

I thought it would be cool to post a 1903 film called "the Great Train Robbery"

Of particular interest is the way they transposed the train film onto the windows in the film sets, very clever for the age. Enjoy...

Busy Times

2011-09-28T09:55:00.001-05:00

Its has been a while since the last posting, I have been neck deep into working on my layout room. Being that I live in a victorian home, nothing is easy. One major problem I have encountered is having to demo a 117 year old brick fireplace chimney. And it was massive but unfortunately it could not be saved due to cracks and such. so that is done, insulation, sheet rock, vapor barrier, and electrical (major overhaul). I will be painting this one room (of two) this weekend and then I am off to Houston for the great texas train show. Hope to see you there.

From My Workbench

2011-08-13T11:56:00.002-05:00

I am working on my Locomotive AP and thought about taking a old blue box Athearn locomotive and super detailing it. I had 3 SD-45 units, one dummy and two power units and started with them. This first one will be the dummy unit. Thus far there are a total of 133 details.

Thanks to Cannon and Company for his help in part selection...

A lot of details west and detail associates parts

This will be a Cotton Belt unit, the other two will be Southern Pacific units with elephant ears.

This is the "practice" unit, learned a lot from this one...

I will post updates as I go along.. until then..

Image of the Month

2011-07-29T10:25:00.002-05:00

This really bizarre locomotive is a Chesapeake & Ohio M-1 steam turbine. Proof that reality is stranger than fiction some times.

Lionel Collectors Club of America National Convention

2011-07-27T10:57:00.001-05:00

I was asked to give a clinic at the LCCA convention this week, it was really nice meeting the folks from all over the country and from other facet of the hobby. There were some really beautiful trains there as well as Lionel's traveling layout and set up.

The Lionel layouts were quite impressive.

In addition, I was invited to run some pre-war standard (reproduction) gauge trains, I had a blast, I can see the appeal of these trains were back in the early part of the last century.

I have been really busy of late with the clinics, working on my locomotive AP as well. Super detailing a couple of SD-45's has proven to be quite a challenge. I will post pictures once they are complete... until then....

3 Down 4 to Go

2011-06-18T21:21:00.003-05:00

I just received two more National Model Railroad Association Achievement Program certificates towards my Master Model Railroader Certification.

The Master Builder Structures certificate is for building 12 structures, 6 have to be scratch built, the others super details, oh, also a bridge or trestle has to be one of the structures. 6 of the 12 have to merit during judging.

The second, Association Volunteer reflects over 2 years worth of volunteer time I put into the NMRA. To date the most difficult to obtain.

Above is my MMR matrix for those remotely interested lol... Like I said, I have 4 more certificates to go. The next 2 certifications for 2011 will be NMRA Author and Master Builder Locomotives.

My goal is be have my MMR by 2012...

Thanks for all that support and continued help in my now 3 year quest. As of this date there have been only 455 Master Model Railroaders awarded worldwide been since 1961.

Back from the convention

2011-06-17T11:04:00.004-05:00

Many thanks to the folks in Lubbock for a very successful convention.
The layout tours were wonderful, clinics, food and fun for all...

I gave a set of clinics on Scratch building and learned far more than I brought to the table. At one point in the evening for drinks and social hour, I was surrounded by no less than 6 Master Model Railroaders. I am not quite sure but I believe we are up to over 37 MMR's in the Lone star Region.

With that said, and learning from the very best in the hobby, I fared pretty good this year in the contest room,

1 First place On Line Structures
1 First place Off Line Structures
1 Model was voted Most Popular by the convention attendees & finally,

1 Model won Best of Show...

I look forward to Houston in 2012!

Image of the Month

2011-05-31T22:19:00.002-05:00

With 2011 being the 150th anniversary of the Civil War I wanted to show you this strange looking figure. If you click on the image can you guess what it is? It is railroad related that is certain.

Give up? Scroll down...

It is a Sherman Necktie. If you look very closely you can see this is a railroad rail that is wrapped tightly around a tree.

from Wiki....

Sherman's neckties were a phenomenon of the American Civil War. Named after Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army, Sherman's neckties were railway rails destroyed by heating them until they were malleable and twisting them into loops resembling neckties, often around trees. Since the Confederacy had limited supplies of iron, and few foundries to roll the rails, this destruction was very difficult to repair. They were also called Sherman's bow ties, Sherman's hairpins or Jeff Davis hairpins.

From My Workbench

2011-05-25T09:34:00.005-05:00

This is the first posting I have had in a while, I have been totally slammed with building models for my RR club, we had a Narrow Gauge Mini Meet here in Dallas that was a total blast, and lastly prepping for the LSR convention next month. I will be giving a clinic on "Intro to scratch building structures". If anyone is interested in a pdf version of this please post a request with your email.

Anyway...I have been partnering with Bart at my railroad club to overall the lumber mill area of the layout. Bart is working the scenery aspect and I am tackling the structures.

The first was a Master Creations Lumber Mill. If you have ever built a Master Creations kit, your up for a challenge. The kits that they produced were innovative, complex, and were limited. the challenge is the instructions are little hard to follow, and from a personal viewpoint, laser cut work from the perspective of its use in siding a structure, although looks great, I prefer to use board on board. With that said, 80% of this mill is scratch built. I used the framing, details and windows from the kit however replaced just about everything else.

So if your up for a real challenge, try a Master Creations kit, you will have an unique structure.

The second structure is a BTS log dump, if your familiar with logging operations you know that these were used to remove the logs from the railroad car and dump them into a log pond. These ponds were staging areas for log to be fed into the mill using the log flume you see above.

BTS kits are really great, actually BTS is the same company as Master Creations. There kits are some of the best on the market today and reasonably priced as well. This was a fun kit and took about a weekend.

Well I am off to finish up my contest models for the convention. After that I will start with more logging "stuff".

Here is the BTS Website if your interested in some really cool and innovative product.

5000 hits

2011-04-13T16:49:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that visits my corner of the web, I have met some really nice people out there in cyberland.

5000 hits is really appreciated.

I am still prepping for this years Lone Star Region Convention in Lubbock and look forward to seeing some of you there... here is the link...

LSR NMRA CAPROCK EXPRESS CONVENTION
June 9th - 12th 2011

Image of the Month

2011-03-24T15:03:00.005-05:00

Its been a long month, and I have been on the workbench building a sawmill for the club layout. However in celebration of my wife taking me to the circus tonight, I offer a rather interesting photograph from a forgotten era when the circus' traveled by train. Yes, Ringling still does, but it is not the spectacle it once was. Just admire the artwork on the side of the baggage car...

I will be back next month with more interesting tidbits and railroad stuff...