March 4th, 2008

I had this page pretty much finished. I had rambled on about my childhood train sets and how I started in model railroading. Unfortunately I just learned that hitting the "refresh" while you are editing a web page means "Poof" (everything goes away with no UNDO). So now I'm retyping this and it'll probably be much shorter on this go-around

This page covers a modeling "frenzy" that I've been experiencing over the past week

Most of the items are projects I've wanted to do since I was nine, but money, talent, life and a host of other obstacles got in the way. This "Bulldog" Mack with its characteristic hood and chain drive has haunted me ever since Alan Armitage described how he built it from styrene in a 1961 issue of Model Railroader. I haven't decided how to texture it yet, but I have sent copies to Tim Muir and Wayne Campbell. It should be interesting to see what they make out of it.

Then there is this model of Milwaukee Road's 1935 Hiawatha. I started it years ago, and actually finished its A class 4-4-2 to some degree. I even uploaded it to the Train-Sim file library. It was no gem, however, and I thought I might spruce it up. The loco needed some seam straightening and there were all these gaps to close in the shell. Well, I got the seams fixed, re-applied the textures (actually color renderings from a Model Railroad magazine) and the next thing I know I'm finishing the curve on the "beavertail" observation car. The train set still needs a pile of work, but it's light years beyond what I started with.

Other items I've wanted to were actually started and then put on hold for one reason or another. This rendition of the "Pioneer Zephyr", for one, has been on the back burner in one version or another for years. I was able to pull the general shape of the entire train set in a matter of hours. Surprised the hell outa me, if you'll pardon the expression. I think something in my shape building technique clicked and it pretty much fell together on its own. It's the first of a series (aren't they all) that will include the Mark Twain, Flying Yankee, The Twin Zephyrs and with a bit of rework, the General Pershing.

There are other Zephyrs I could add, but the later "EA" shovelnose isn't quite as attractive as the first generation. The later version will have to wait until the E-5 is completed. There's a little bit more about that further down the page.

Another shape that fell together was this Gulf, Mobile & Northern's 1935 "Rebel". As you can see from the picture I squished the nose a bit too much. I plan to revise this, but the squished unit looks too much like Illinois Terminal equipment to waste. The "Rebel" is still a long way from finished (like most of the models shown here) but it shouldn't be too long before it's released. More on that later.

One of the first models I started for MSTS was, believe it or not, this Erie class P-1 "Triplex". Anyone with a brain would have seen I was over my head and this model has floundered since 2002. I recently discovered that an older unfinished (but more complete) version had been uploaded to the Train-Sim library. I downloaded the older TSM file and thanks to Allen Norton was able to throw on three sets of drivers, Walshaerts valve gear and all. The drivers were the main reason this particular model was never finished....

Occasionally, models disappear. This usually happens because something goes wrong and there are no backups. The articulated "Camelback", an Erie class L1, you see here was one such model. It was lost in a hard drive crash years ago. Finding the Triplex turned out to be serendipity in more ways then one. The original L1 was built from the Triplex parts. I was able to recreate this version the same way. By massaging and rescaling the various pieces, including the Allen Norton's driver assemblies I was able to bring this rarely modeled locomotive back to life.

I did manage to create one locomotive complete with Walschaerts gear on my own, but because this model is a 4-6-0, it didn't seem like it translate properly to the big articulateds. This Jersey Central "Camelback" is #754, the last of her breed to survive in revenue service. I think at one point I even got the animation working before getting distracted by mundane stuff like earning a living. This one has been sitting, just as you see it here in the depths of my project folder.

Somewhere around here there was also a Reading Camelback, my first 3D Canvas model. God only knows where it went. Probably erased when I moved to a bigger hard drive.

Another hybrid using Allen Norton's parts. I took the 4-6-0 drive from his Southern Pacific engine and grafted on an modified A-Class shell to create a fair representation of the "North Woods Hiawatha" that Milwaukee built in their own shops. Still needs a tender (and perhaps a trainset), but it came together pretty well.

One other project currently coming together is this

model of the Rock Island "Rocket" as it appeared in 1937. Powered by EMC's TA diesel it was the first of that famous line of passenger trains.

The sloped nose of this TA will be used as a basis for the new version of the E-5 and the EA cab units.

There more ahead so stay tuned. I hope to make all these models available some time relatively soon. Look for them to appear in the new "Tinplate" section of the download area.

That's about it for now, thanks for listening.