Howdy folks,

I've been using Affinity Designer for several years after switching from Adobe Illustrator.  Today, Affinity announced that the designer suite, including vector, photo, and publishing components, is available for free.  Just create an account at Canva.com and download the software at https://www.affinity.studio/ . This is heavy weight software that is easy to use and fully replaces Illustrator.

I've used Affinity Designer for Parish Livery and Drayage, Quitaque US Post Office, and other scratch-built structures. 

Good luck and have fun,
mike

Howdy folks,

Is anyone using the old Digitrax PM4 on their layout?  I'm interested in your experiences with it, if you have.

I have a new in-the-box Digitrax PM4 from 20 years ago and would like to use it. I'd like to connect the old PM4 to an Acculite PM42 breakout board, but I don't know if the PM4 is compatible with the Acculite board.  The Digitrax PM4 upgrade kit is not available, so I am stuck with the PM4 original.  Have folks who used or are using the PM4 had problems with them?

Have fun,
mike

Howdy folks,

Many early, i.e., truss rod freight cars had wood frames.  I'm curious what color the railroads would have painted them, black or body color.  I'm sure railroads were different, but I'm trying to understand the color I want to use on flat cars. 

Your thoughts?

Have fun,
mike

Howdy folks,

I am building an early 1900s wooden box car and want to use the Grandt Line door hardware set.  Sadly, I do not know what the parts are or where they go.

Can anyone help me identify the parts?  I've numbered them to make it easier to reply.

Here is Grandt Line's photo:



Have fun,
mike

Howdy folks,

This topic will display locomotive and rolling stock builds for the Buffalo Canyon Mining Company (BCMC).  I began the build in 2022.

Builds
Caboose - On30IMA OSB Caboose
Box Car - On30IMA box car kit
Flat Car - On30IMA Flat car kit
Industrial Flat Car - Morgan Hill Models
Tank Car kit - Morgan Hill Models
Stock Car kit - On30IMA
Scrap Car - Morgan Hill Models
Gondola - On30IM Flat car gondola
Stock car on flat - Morgan Hill Models
Shorty Combine - Mount Blue Models

Have fun,
mike

Howdy folks,

The purpose of this topic is to chronicle the construction of the On30 Buffalo Canyon Mining Company layout and its structures. I will update the location of various structures and equipment posts here as I begin them.

These links may help readers to skip parts they are not interested in. I am old and slow, but I hope you enjoy the trip. The chronicle includes the following areas.  It will take a while to populate the topics.

On30 Buffalo Canyon Mining Company layout and its structures

• Background - Buffalo Canyon Mining Company
• Depot - Forks Creek Depot
• Firehouse - Rich White's Engine house
• Fire Truck - Wisemans Model T Fire truck
• Bell Tower - Scratchbuilt Fire Department bell tower
• Palitti Tannery - Morgan Hill Models Stone Factory
• Morris Mining Co. - Little Creek Mining Co. by Banta Model Works
• Homer's Place Saloon - 3 Brothers by Rich White
• Cowles General Store - Kitbashed
• Parish Livery and Drayage - Scratchbuilt freelance design
• Nowlin's Gas Station - Thomas A Yorke gas station kit
• Maintenance shed - Inter-Action Hobbies
• Bridge abutments and 86' Wooden Howe Truss Bridge by Hunterline
• Water Tank - scratchbuilt

• Scenery - Sculptamold and plaster cloth
• Masonic Lodge -  IOOF Hall by Rich White
• Oil Derrick - Stoney Creek Designs

Buffalo Canyon Railroad Locos and Equipment

Have fun,
mike