Good Day All,

A while back I purchased a Scale Structures Limited kit at a swap meet. I have finally gotten around to building the kit and, you guessd it, several parts ar missing from the box. To make thing even more confusing, there are two companies with similar names. The is Scale Structures in Kansas. I talked with them thismorning only to find out that there is a second company with a similar name in Kentucky. That is the good news. The bad news is no one seems to know the address, phone number of the other SS company. It is a nice kit and I would like to finish it. I need the base and a few other components. Anyone know the name, phone number and location of the other company that manufactures and sells this kit. your help is greatly appreciated.

Frank / Erieman 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo3YpdPgWNs&t=341s&ab_channel=ToyManTelevision

This is a link to a video update on my layout. Dale and his wife Karyn started Toy Man Television ten years ago. About nin years ago Dale took some video of my layout and posted it on his forum. This video opens with a portion of the layout back then. Recently Dale asked if i could send him some updated video. So here is about 14 minute of old and new, very new video of the layout. Currently i am working on installing LED lighting to many of the structures, especially in the major city. The video starts with scenes nine years go, then new video and then a final flashback to the old. 

Enjoy.

Frank / Erieman

i have decided to start a new thread on my railroad. This portion will cover the large city area at the end of the layout. The cities are is located where the layout starts and ends. The layout is a double dogbone at one end. I'll post a pic of the layout design that appeared in 2019 Great Model Railroads issue. More to follow over the next several months or more.


The city are consists of many large structures constructed from kits from City Classics, DPM and others. Several are being re arranges to fit the location, many need window glazing, fire escapes ,etc to complete the structures. Many of these builds were build several years ago without consideration to a formal location on the layout. Now they may be modified to fit a specific location.


So follow along on the continuation of my layout journey.


Frank / Erieman

Good Morning All,


I thought i would switch gears temporarily and play with a new tank car. I don't remember how I got this car, but it is beautiful. It is a Tangent Scale models 8,000 gallon tank car with Warren markings. Beautiful car. So this car has been sitting on the layout for some time in its pristine, untouched look. You may remember that I tried using water mixable oil colors on a couple of bridges on my railroad - Morristown & Erie / Western Division. Getting a bit antsy, i decided to change my routine for a day or two and paint the tank car. There is nothing worse  that a clean , unweathered car on the layout. I have many and will ( over time) be changing that. I have been looking for a technique  that would allow me to "create" an interesting weathering solution to my cars. I have tried airbrushing, but find it somewhat limiting in visual detail. No offense, but using this pigment technique allows you the greatest freedom I have found. You are basically adding layers of pigment to lighten or darken the details on each car. Multiple colors add to the color execution. This is time consuming ,but the end result is the best technique I have found. A friend here in town introduced me to it about a year ago. Allan has done several cars, engines and vehicles using this technique and I really like what I see.


The only initial drawback is that the pigment is slow drying. This  is both good and bad. Bad because you must handle the model with car. Good because you can use, add and subtract pigment as you are painting. It works like oil color mixing, but you are using water, and very little of it. You can mix colors "on the fly" as you proceed. A bit of water and you can remove or blend. This is really simple to use and the end result is pretty damn good.


No more unweathered cars for me. It will take some time to weather the fleet of cars I have, but the end result is nice, very nice. The investment is small. The only  time consuming factor is TIME. This is a very slow process and you have to be patient. Otherwise, go but a rattle can!


Hope you enjoy the pics. I am not done with this car, but wanted to share the technique and initial results. I am also working on an Accurail outside braced box car. Nice results there also. Will post pics of that car soon.


Here is the tank car before and almost completed on one side.


Frank / Erieman
 

Good Morning All,


I have had this passenger car for many years. It was built by Rivarossi, manufacture date unknown. The measures about 72 scale feet long. I would like to know more about this and any other cars like this that Rivarossi made. Like did they make baggage car, combination, sleeper or any other types of passenger cars during this period. I would like to find a few more like this or others. I like the look. They remind somewhat of the ERIE Stillman cars which, we probably not made in mass production. I have looked at many swap meets here in Arizona to no avail. I have not looked in ebay, which still might be a choice.


Frank / Erieman

I've had several of the cast vent hoods, but cannot remember where, when or who makes / made the part. Any ideas? It is 7/16 inches in dia. I only need one to finish the model for Tom / ACL1504 , but probably should probably get more for future buildings


Frank / Erieman

Good evening everyone,


This is the beginning of two models. A clue: I have already made them. Wait a minute, this is too easy, especially for those that have either been to my layout or followed my thread. S-o-o, the answer is Yakima Apples I, Yakima Apples will follow.
I have learned that on many scratch built structures, you have to be concerned about warping, hence the note on the inside of the base "interior braces". The base is the most important part in maintaining squareness in all three planes. The cardstock base is 5 ply and the stone walls for the building are from New England Brownstone. They are glued with Elmers yellow glue and hot glue to the base and each other. All the walls have been rough cut. Final cuts and window openings and back bracing will follow. I scrounged thru my window and door box and have found most, but not all. The balance of the doors and windows have been ordered.


So this is the beginning of Yakima Apples I. Follow along and enjoy. And when this is done, I will start on Yakima Apples II


Frank / Erieman

As I continue along this journey of detailing my layout, I continue to find things in my stash of items that I can no longer find in stores or remember where I purchased them. Case in point: these fire hydrants. They are cast metal, a bit smaller than 1/16" in diameter and 3/4" long. There are three hose connections. They were unpainted and my guess is that there were 6 or 8 in a bag. I don't recall who made them or where I purchased them, but I have had them for quite some time. They make a nice detail on any scene, so if anyone knows where or by whom they were made or might have some they would considering selling, please let me know.


Frank / Erieman

Okay boys and girls, here is one of three videos of George Sellios Franklin & South Manchester railroad shot from the trackside perspective while attending the recent 2016 EXPO in Danvers, Ma. I used a Mobius, HD Wide screen 1080P video camera mounted a flat car. The first video is with the camera in front of the engine. Video two will be the view from the rear of a train. special Thanks to George Sellios for letting me shoot his awesome layout and to Thom Driggers for doing all the video editing.  http://www.thomscustomtrains.com/videos.html     or    https://youtu.be/ioU1ANL9rJA  and https://youtu.be/_x_tirYQb1k
Frank / Erieman

    LIME COMPANY MINE - Now that the East End Market is almost complete, I have started another structure. Several years ago I purchased "The Lime Company" from Sheepscot Scale Products. It has been dormant in one for or another for  several years. I started it many years ago, painting all the strip lumber with three coats of stain and pigment. They then resided below the layout for many more years. I did take time to build a white model of the structure that resides on the layout. I'll post a picture on tomorrow. In the meantime, I decided to start this project based on some of the knowledge gained from East End Market. Like the market, I started with a inner core. This made a very strong and straight structure. A difference with this project will be gluing the individual boards to the inner core instead of constructing large panels and adhering them to the inner structure.
   So stay tuned for my next project - Lime Company Mine.

Frank / Erieman

About an hour and a half drive North from Phoenix, nestled in a wine growing country of northern Arizona, is the small town of Cornville. Just off the main drag of Highway 30, just behind the Family dollar Store, are three buildings owned by Verryl Fosnight.  Verryl is a retired physicist, restaurant owner and operator, real estate investor and most importantly, a model railroader. As you might guess, Verryl is not your average model railroader. He had a Lionel train set as a youngster in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He had a HO layout with his two boys when they were in grade school in California. Once a model railroader, always a model railroader. After 30 years, Verryl retired to Sedona and took up the hobby. For the past three, almost four years, Verryl and his team have been building a model railroad. Building one is a 1100 sq. ft. shop.  Recently a 600 sq. ft. structure has been added for a conference room. The  railroad is housed in a 4000 sq. ft building. and what a railroad it is. The Wyoming division models the Union Pacific from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Ogden, Utah, 475 miles with a two level true mushroom steel framework that will have about 750 feet of double main line track in HO, era 1957. This is the beginning of Verryl's dream.

Last month, I took John Siekirk and Wayne Olson up to see "The Layout" The attachments give you an idea of the size and scope of the railroad. John and I both took photos of the layout and will be posting photos of Verryl's accomplishment of date. I hope you enjoy the tour and experience.

Frank / Erieman

  Good Morning All and welcome to the New Year.

  About a year ago or so, Raymo posted a picture of a building in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Actually, I think he posted it on the other forum. Well, I really fell in love with that structure and have had it in the back of my mind for quite a while. Earlier in week, I sent Dan an email inquiring if he still had photos on the building. Boy, Dan came thru in spades. (more in a minute). While I don't know any history behind the building, it exemplifies some of the characteristics that we see in the buildings from Bob Van Gelder of SRMW. And many of you know how much I like the buildings from SRMW! In a conversation with Dan yesterday, He told me that the East End Market is actually very close to SRMW's Hooker structure which is the Reed Supply company in St. Johnsbury. In looking at the building, it clearly has gone thru many additions from the original structure. And this is a long building.

  Dan sent me a boatload of photographs of the building along with a dimensional drawing of the building footprint. That being said, I am ready to go. Well almost. Yesterday I cut out a piece of foamboard to see the actual size. I am now looking at two towns on my layout to see if I can incorporate it into one of them. There will be a lot of design issues, materials, etc. that need to be defined before the building is actually constructed. I will probably build a couple of cardstock models to evaluate size and footprint issues. The building might be built as its originally design, prior to the other additions, or not. Lots of considerations with this project. So, that being said, Here are some of the photos that Raymo sent me. Thanks again Dan. I hope you enjoy the project.

Frank / Erieman

Good Morning everyone,

      I have decided to scratchbuild another station. This one is more complex than the last one. The Whitman Station was on the Old Colony Railroad in Whitman. Massachusetts. Eventually the NYNH&H took over the line. The station no longer exists, having been destroyed by a fire in the early 70's. Finding any data on the station has been even more of a challenge. I have been getting some help from Chip Stevens and John Grosner in the New England area. If anyone has any photo's of the interior or exterior, that would be greatly appreciated. Architectural drawings are not to be found as of yet. That being said, I am construction the station based on "SWG"- silly wildass guessing or something like that.
   
     Years ago i purchased a book by Randulph Bye. He was a watercolorist and had made wonderful paintings of railroad structures, mostly along the East coast. I have build two buildings based on paintings in that book. "Chester station" and "Ft. Edwards Station" were from that book. You might remember that I actually have built two of those stations. One for me and another for Robert Seckler. Another building was the "West Orange Tower" that represented a tower in Illinois. These have been a lot of fun and a real challenge.

    Now the REAL challenge. As the photos below depict, Randulph Bye painted the Whitman Station after the fire. WOW, what a novel idea. I have taken this on as a challenge. I am going to build two stations - One before the fire and the second after the fire. The before model will be totally detailed inside and outside. Much of the inside will be based on a typical station interior because I have not found any documentation of the actual station. The real challenge will be the burned station. This will not another ACL1504 re-enactment. If you look at burned wood, there is typically a charring effect. I am going to experiment to see how to duplicate this. The interior will appear burned. the roof, clock tower will be built and burned to show it in its final resting place after the fire. A lot of this will be guess work because I am only using the paintings as a reference. Perhaps a local newspaper would have some photos of the burned building. Chip is checking on this.

Because I am also working on my layout, this thread will be rather slow in development, so bear with me. I would like to complete both buildings and take them to the NMRA National Convention in Orlando in 2017. Maybe Tom aka ACL1504 can lend some of his burning building knowledge!

Thank you for stopping by. I have started preliminary drawings and a white model to evaluate the first design. Pictures later. In the meantime, here are the two paintings produced by Randulph Bye of the station.

Enjoy,

Frank / Erieman

I was over visiting another railroad recently and came across this building. Quite nice actually, but he did not know who the manufacturer was / is. I thought perhaps Magnuson, but have not been ably to confirm this. Anyone have an idea?

Frank / Erieman

I guess it is about time to really get into this forum. While there are many followers of another fourm, i notice that this forum has many new faces. That being said, I'll start my story of my railroad.

The Morristown & Erie railroad existed in my hometown in New Jersey. It seemed logical that when i moved to Arizona that the name of my layout should be the Morristown & Erie Railroad - Western Division. Rather than bore everyone with pictures of prior posts, I will be posting progress photos of the layout.

  This past year has been a year of change. Not like my esteemed friend, Tom Langford's project, but change, non the less. The early reversing system installed on my layout was non DCC and consisted of a bunch of solenoids. Time changes everything and DCC auto reversers were installed this year. Lots of wire was removed from under the layout. The auto reversers were added and perform flawlessly, but not without some head scratching. I have 9 auto reversers, some in series.

Another item that needed attention was the switch machines. I had purchased the first generation of slow motion machines from PFM / Fulgarex. they were a very nice machine, but like anything else, time was not kind to the operation of the layout. So-o-o, they too are being replaced. A little over half the layout is complete. Since the switch machine replacement, running trains showed another issue. The control panels were outdated. The schematics were old and wrong and many toggle switches were not functioning properly. The lights were incandescent, not LED's. That too is being changed.

All this has been going on while building structures! Needless to say, the railroad is getting better. I'll take some pictures in the next day or two and post them on this threat so you can see the progress. Hope you enjoy the journey.

Frank / Erieman

Robert and Doug, aka the administrators,

Had a senior moment and I would like to suggest that your forum viewers submit photos of models, etc. that you could include in the Expo ad that is on the right side of the page.  Robert and Doug could be the judge and every week a new photo would be on that page. Any thoughts? This would be incentive to show your model. don't get carried away with to many rules though. Remember, we like pictures and what a better way to promote the Expo. Thoughts from the modelers in the group.

Frank / Erieman