Bob

A good friend of mine was Bob.  One of my earliest modeling memories was of Bob hiring my brother and I to build a tugboat for him.  When it was finished he paid us not with money, but with modeling tools.  That was a wise decision, because I'm sure that paid off more in the long run than a few bucks would have.

Over the years Bob volunteered at the Muskegon Railroad Historical Society, first with helping to build the model layouts in the early 1980's, and later as the open house greeter.  It seemed he would always be there.  But of course, one day he was not.  After almost 90 years, his time on earth was done.  But he left a wonderful legacy behind, and his service as a Merchant Marine in World World 2 will always be remembered by a grateful nation.

This week was his estate sale, which included all of his model trains that ranged from N and HO scale, to O gauge Lionel.  He did not have a layout of his own, but he did have an extensive display case full of, among other things, many refer billboard beer cars.  Yesterday I picked up a few of them (all Athearn blue box) which were in wonderful condition, They are now running on my Pere Marquette railway, reminding me of Bob every time I use them.

Also purchased were a couple of commemorative museum boxcars, a snowplow caboose, and a Great Northern EMD SDP-40 locomotive.  I'm sure Bob would be happy knowing his collection is still riding on the rails.

Happy National Train Day!

Happy National Train Day!  Here is a look at the caboose stationed outside the Amtrak station in Holland, Michigan.

Conversion Project

The next project for my railroad will be this beautiful old Chesapeake and Ohio switcher.  It's been sitting idle at the Muskegon Railroad Historical Society for years gathering dust.  I took it home a couple of months ago convinced that I would be able to get it working again.  I was able to get it to move like a champ after cleaning the wheels, oiling the motor, and adding some grease to its aging gears.  It is a standard blue box Athearn unit, so converting it to DCC will mean a hard-wire job.  Athearn makes the conversion process very simple compared to other manufacturers and I've done it to a number of them.  The decoder I selected is a TCS #1465 KAT24 with Keep Alive.  There is no sound involved, but adding large electrical components to these tiny locomotives is hard due to the limited amount of interior space.  I'll also be adding a couple of surface mount LEDs for lighting.  This switcher will look great doing yard work once it is back in tip top condition!

Crossing

Waiting for the train to pass.  In this picture you can see a manual gate and guard station, along with a train station and even ME.  That sailor with his sea bag at the station is meant to represent me on my layout, considering I did 13 years in the Navy.

The road was made from balsa wood and painted an asphalt color.  The RRX marking on the street was spray painted with a template, and the 3M double yellow line is actually a painted styrene strip.  I tend to use the plastic-like material instead of stickers because the strips hold their shape better.

- Tim

Pushing the Restart

This EMD E7 greets you as I start a new web log!  This will outline some of the problems and successes I have had will creating my model railroad called the "Pere Marquette Old & New" over the last four years.

The train setup is HO scale (1:87) and is powered by Digitrax DCC connected to a PC running JMRI for wifi control.  Its historical scenery period is primarily representative of 1950's Holland, Michigan but is also somewhat modeling the fictional town featured in the Andy Griffith Show of Mayberry.  The majority of locomotives I run are of Pere Marquette origin including C&O, CSX, and Amtrak.  I enjoy the transition period of steam and diesel.

I look forward to sharing more posts with you in the near future!

- Tim