A New Look!

Interacting with Miniature Railroading has a new look. So, what do you think of it? Let me know!

 

 

What Scale do you most enjoy reading articles about?

 

What types of Articles do you enjoy reading ?

The Western Railway Museum 7/10/09

On Friday 7/10/09 I visited the Western Railway Museum, which is located between Susuin City, and Rio Vista, CA. The Western Railway Museum is home to the Bay Area Electric Railway Accosiation, which is dedicated to preserving California’s traction and interurban railroading history. Almost all of their collecton is operational, and the restoration jobs are absolutely beautiful. The museum mainly focuses on Sacramento Northern, the Key System, and Central California Traction. They have 3 steam locomotives, and they are all hidden off in a shed. There were a lot of trolleys inside Barn #1, which is where most of the operational equipment is stored. 5 of the trolleys you can walk into, look at, and sit in. One of them you can ring both the conductor and motorman’s bells. There was one trolley running, the museum always gives rides, and on weekends the operate several trolleys, but since it was a weekday they were only operating one. The trolley was Peninsular Railway 52, and it was built in 1903. The Peninsular Railway was an electric railroad that operated in San Jose and the surrounding areas. The ride takes you from the museum at Rio Vista Junction, to the station at Garfield and back. The ride is 10 miles round-trip and is about 45min – an hour long. You travel on the original Sacramento Northern right-of-way and the operations are almost exactly like the Sacramento Northern’s were.

It was a great day at a fantastic museum, and I hope to become a volunteer there.

Visit a Prototype Modeler’s Meet.

There’s one facet of the hobby that’s surprisingly fun and definately informative and impressive. It’s your local prototype modeler’s meet. Here you’ll find beautifully detailed models in a casual, friendly atomsphere where you can really appreciate and enjoy them. You’ll often find the true “master modelers” at these conventions, often people you might be familar with through the Model Railroad press.

To check one of these out for Interacting with Miniature Railroading, I brought some of my weathered and kitbashed models to the event to see what reaction I’d get and also to see how easy or difficult it is to fit into these events.

I visited the Bay Area Prototype Modeler’s Meet in Richmond, Calif. (BAPM for short) last saturday and was extremely impressed. Tucked away in the cafeteria of a Catholic School in Richmond Heights, the well lit room lent itself to really being able to see the models in natural light.

FOR A FULL GALLERY OF PHOTOGRAPHS COVERING EVERY MODEL IN THE EVENT, CLICK ON THIS PBASE GALLERY BY HARRY WONG.

When I arrived at 11:45 a DCC clinic featuring the new SPROG II computer-to-track programmer (which runs on JMRI) was just wrapping up. I paid $10 to get in the door, which wasn’t any problem for me, considering what and who I’d find inside. I also bought 2 Raffle tickets.

The room was mostly filled up, three rows of tables down a 75X30 foot cafeteria, with more than 100 models on display. About 90% of the models were HO, the rest were various narrow gauge scales, including my On30 2-6-0. It is no wonder why HO was represented so heavily as the sheer amount of aftermarket detail parts available is staggering. I asked where to set up, and a friendly member just told me to set up on any empty table, which I found quite refreshing in comparison to handling the insanity of getting a table at a train show.

I was met with pleasant remarks after setting up, and it felt good to finally have a group of modelers that are supportive instead of arrogant, close minded, overly eccentric individuals I often see at train shows. The prototype modeler group is not only nice, but extremely intelligent and informed on their particular area of intrest.

It was time to explore the rest of the tables during the lunch hour. I wasn’t disappointed.

The really neat thing about these prototype modeler’s meets is not only do you see the ‘finished’ models but you also get to enjoy the models in progress as well. Elizabeth Allen’s impressive model of a Southern Pacific SDP45 has been impressing people for the couple of years she’s been constructing it, and just look at the attention to detail!

All the gray parts on the locomotive are from the well-known modeling detail parts supplier Cannon & Company. The current owner was out to display his equally spectacular freight car models and talk with the prototype modelers to get ideas for his next products.

Next to the “in-progress” models all the tables were of course the fleet of beautifully painted and detailed complete models. This Southern Pacific “torpedo boat” GP9 is an excellent example. (The nickname torpedo boat comes from the airtanks on the roof, which are usually behind the fuel tank under the frame, but the fuel tank was enlarged to extend the locomotive’s range, and they had to go somewhere.)

Not only were there plenty of Western US power, there was an excellent display of Brazilian meter and standard gauge equipment by Edson Yamazaki. All of these models were heavily kitbashed and superdetailed.

The most impressive model I saw was a Brazilian DDM45 which is an SD45 built to run on Meter (3′6″ gauge) rails and has 8 axles featuring the classic DD40AX sideframes.

In addition to the Freight Cars& Diesels, there was a good turnout of steam era equipment and passenger cars, all nicely detailed.

You should find and attend the next prototype modeler’s meet in your area, there should be at least one annual event in your NMRA region (although it’s not affiliated with the NMRA in any way) check with other local modelers to find out about these exquisite events! For those willing to travel the Western Prototype Modeler’s meet is in San Bernardino’s beautiful mission-revival style AT&SF depot in Septemer.

Interacting with Miniature Railroading Turns 1!

Well, it’s been 365 days from the first post on “Interacting with Miniature Railroading.” Last year was an astounding success!

Where it came from:

Originally I developed Interacting with Miniature Railroading as a way to document the railroading action at Tilden Park’s Redwood Valley 15″ gauge 5″ scale live steam operation, mostly in photographs. However when I thought about expanding to other railroad topics I knew I needed a dedicated website for this, and on April 21, 2008 the website was launched. Since then the site has stirred up discussion on a wide variety of topics, everything from modern railfanning to early steam modeling. The top 3 most talked about posts last year were about:
1. Are Bachmann Spectrum Locomotives and Good? Which was written mainly so I wouldn’t have to encounter the endless quandary new modelers have about their products, there used to be a forum thread opened every week about this question, and I hoped dispel the rumors and stigma that used to surround Bachmann.

2. My Water modeling series has proved very popular, I hope to see the results of my article in future model railroad layouts, and hopefully a shift from blue to a muted green as the ideal river and shallow water color (as it should be) and have people pay more attention to what their riverbeds look like.

3. It seems my “Modeling Gaffe” series has stirred up a lot of interesting forum discussion, with more than one forum running discussions close to 10 pages in length, and more on other forums.

Ever wonder what kind of traffic this site gets? Here it is!

Nearly 120,000 visits by interested modelers, I’m VERY pleasantly surprised. Traffic started to take off in July and has remained pretty steady since, of which I’m glad.

197 posts isn’t too bad for an average blogger, which comes to about one post every two days and most of those were tutorials or historical information as opposed to just normal commentary that you’d find on other blogs.

Look at those averages! I never thought it would become this popular, but it has and it continues to grow today, I wonder what next year’s numbers will tell us?

Cheers to a year well done, I’ll see you down the mainline for our next year! Just wait to see what articles I have in store for you!

Interacting with Miniature Railroading has a NEW look!

I’m pleased to announce the new colorscheme for Interacting with Miniature Railroading! (No, it’s not based on a railroad’s color scheme for those curious minds)

Check out the new banner, a time-lapse photo I look on my model railroad, and you’ll find a few other improvements.

I’m beginning to re-write some of my articles that were a good idea in theory..but weren’t as helpful as you might have wished. The first article that has been throughroly re-vamped is “Micro Layouts are a Blast!”

Next will probably be updated tutorials on how to do stuff, and you’ll see them in the next few weeks among the other new material.

I have made many promises in the past for articles that I never got around to writing, the list is below, and will be a guide to what you’ll be reading on this site in the next few weeks as I tie up these loose ends.

 

If YOU have any suggestions, please leave a comment.

List of future articles:

-Building a Photo Diorama for you model Trains (re-write, new photos)

-Modeling 4 lane concrete roadways (re-write, new photos)

-We build a Pizza-Style Micro Layout (New)

-How to weather: Tank Cars. Livestock cars, Hoppers, Gondolas, Steel boxcars, trussrod boxcars, old passenger cars, streamlined passenger cars, flatcars, Covered hoppers (both grain and cement), cabeese, diesels, and electric locomotives.

-How to weather steam locomotives (a mulit-part series)

-How to model an orange grove using new techniques

-How to detail and scratchbuild a citrus packing house from photographs of the real thing

-More building and structure plans

- N scale structure articles

-A review of the new Bachmann HO GE-45 tonner (with siderods!)

-and more!

Happy Holidays from Us!

Merry Christmas

Happy Hanukkah

From all of us at Interacting with Miniature Railroading!

Please enjoy this holiday slide show of the Gorre& Daphetid presented by the G&D reminiscence project.

http://www.gdlines.com/G&D_card.html

Join the Fun! Micro Layouts are a Blast!

Micro Layouts are probably the most beneficial section of the hobby due to the fact that they, in the definition given by Micro Layout compiler and modeler Carl Arendt: “Micro layouts are small model railroads, usually less than three or four square feet in area, that nonetheless have a clear purpose and excellent operating capability. “

FOUR MAIN TYPES OF LAYOUTS

There are four main types of micro layouts, and about 80% of micro layouts are based on these concepts:

 

1. The Pizza Layout is a classic. Originally devised for HO or N scale, the pizza layout is a circle of track, usually scenicked. Rarely are these layouts build with any other trackwork like spurs, but there are notable exceptions. The term originated from either the pizza like look of the loop of track or the fact that some Pizza layouts were built in pizza boxes!

2. The Ingelnook Switching Puzzle dates back to 1978 and is the brainchild of Allen Wright, according to this source. The ingenious 5/3/3 ratio of 5 cars on the main and capacities for 3 cars on both sidings has been lauded as the “perfect” switching ratio. This type of layout is very portable and mentally challenging to shunt or switch cars around with. The Inglenook puzzle exists in real life on some railroads all around the world, like Italy and the US.

3. The Traverser is another very popular method of switching in even less space then the Inglenook. The problem is that a transfer table, a rather unusual piece of railroad equipment that is rarely found outside of railroad backshops, is the hallmark of this plan. This eliminates the need for switches, but realistically limits the modeling subject to a handful of prototype locations. Some variations on this layout can be found on Carl’s site.

4. Ridiculously small micro layouts like the curious “dime layout” that uses a US 10 cent piece as the inner portion of track in what one could term a “bite sized doughnut” layout. (In keeping with the food theme presented by the pizza layout. ) The coin conducts electricity and the outer rail is bent to an improbable radius. Here’s photos of one in action!

5. (Not Illustrated) would have to be the sector plate layouts. I really don’t like sector plates, because they’re not very realistic, and none exist in real life unlike turntables and transfer tables. They do add flexibility through the ability to move an entire train from one track to another, which is interesting.

These are certainly not all of the types of micro layouts out there. Some base their switching maneuvers around a turntable, some are actually small “traditional” loop layouts that feature sidings and the like, somewhat similar to MR 4X8 foot project layouts, but squeezed down to less than 4 square feet. Others offer unorthodox track-work or very complex track age with tight curves and clearances and lots of #4 switches.

THEMES

There are infinite stories a model railroad can tell, and micro layouts push the boundaries of the traditional railroad themes. Some of the more traditional layout themes, like Anthracite coal mining, or modern intermodal terminals would be an impractical. The interesting part of micro layouts is that you can create small portions of large industries and use the micro layout as a small vignette to portray that specific industry.

Some of the more popular themes include:

1. Railroad back shops. Rebuilding cars and locomotives required a lot of specialized switching maneuvers and is one of the few prototypical places for turntables and transfer tables.

2. Wharves and seaside scenes are always popular. From the dock to a point of interchange, or from a mine to the dock. Some layouts even incorporate ”live loads” of coal, ore or soil that dump from the railroad cars into the awaiting vessel. Car float operations are also another interesting facet of this theme. A good number of micro layouts feature lighthouses.

3. Urban Traction is a great space saving theme to explore. It’s one of the few places in which railroading can be accomplished with ultra-sharp curves and overhead wire. The scratch-built trolley cars, street cars and MOW motor flats whizzing around a small layout make for great fun.

4. Mining and Logging operations are popular subjects for micro layouts, although It seems silly to have a lumber mill 5 inches from the stand of trees being harvested..the same goes for most mining layouts.

5.  Using unusual gauges narrow gauge railroads are popular. Examples like Gn15, (1:29 scale using 1:87 HO gauge track, which scales to 15″ industrial gauge in G.) or On3 (1:48 O scale using scale 36″ gauge track) On30 (O scale on HO gauge track representing 30″ narrow gauge) Sn3 (1:64 S scale on their 36″ gauge track, which is almost HO gauge track)   HOn3 (HO 36″ narrow gauge) or HOn30 (HO scale on N 1:160 gauge track)  some crazy modelers even use Nn3 (N scale on Z gauge track)  are the backbone of the Narrow Gauge Movement.

6. Food related industries are popular. Winery layouts, Brewery operations, pickle factories and even a maple syrup factory are all represented among the  cadre of micro layouts.  

7. Brick works, Lime kilns, Railroad Tie creosoting plants and other realistic narrow gauge industrial railroads are very popular modeling subjects, this is another portion of micro layouts in which you can make a realistic layout in a small space.

8. The last main theme is dictated by the package it comes in. I’m building a shoebox layout, which when completed will be a small mining operation in HOn3 (The photo shows the plan in full HO gauge.) The packages can range from an orange crate, to a wine box to a shoe box, or even smaller, like a CD case. The business card layout is by far some of the most entertaining modeling I’ve seen. These unusual puzzle layouts can be excellently designed.

 

 

 

A small mining operation in HO scale is the theme, still a lot to be decided upon. Here are some photos utilizing my shoebox.

The Hopper will go from the mine (above track) out onto the Ore Trestle, where it will be dumped into a barge or equivalent.

For More inspiration, please visit his site, which features HUNDREDS of fantastic layouts that can be built on a shelf, in a briefcase, inside a pizza box or a shoebox, as a traditional diorama, or even as small as a CD case.

http://carendt.com/

NEW Weathering Man Site Launched!

My Custom Modeling Business “The Weathering Man” Now has a completetely New website! Check it out!

www.weatheringman.com

Surprisingly Realistic – Walt Disney’s Depiction of Casey Jones.

Although the ending was modified for humorous effect, you have to respect the realism that’s imbedded in this work of animation.

Of course there are plenty of tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek moments, there is an underlying extensive knoweledge of railroading patently visible to the trained observer, which is quite satisfying considering most of America thinks of a steam locomotive like this nowadays:  

Instead, the disney crew goes the extra route-mile as it were and procedes to create this gem of a short film.

Sit back and enjoy.

<img src=”” alt=”casey jones” />

First of all, notice how every detail is carefully drawn. While they don’t directly draw Casey’s famous Illinois Central 4-6-0, this well-porportioned 4-4-0 does the trick.

Notable details would include:
-The surprisingly detailed and realistic backhead on the 4-4-0 depitcted
-The Correctly colorful 1880’s era locomotive
-The Interlocking tower with the levers is a masterpiece of animation, and pretty accurate.
-The details, fixtures and domes on the 4-4-0 are all pretty well drawn and realistic.
-Notice the scene with the double-headed 4-8-0’s and take a close look at the 1900 era wooden boxcars and the details they have, from individual planks to grabirons.
-The Depots are very nicely depicted and it all together captures the railroady feel that is all too often lost in any future depictions of railroading, except for perhaps one episode of the “Angry Beavers”.

The only unfortunate detail left out is John “Casey” Luther Jones’ fireman Sim Webb, who was with Casey, but intellegently followed Casey’s direction to “join the birds” (jump off the doomed train) seconds before impact with the stopped train ahead of him.

Impressive Commercial for the Frugal Model Railroader

You ave to check out this awesome bit of stop-motion animation. It’s for a Norweigan budget grocery store, but it’s certianly model-railroad related!

http://creativity-online.com/work/view?seed=b51cb77c