Emptied and Refilled

Hello all - during this rather snowy week, I managed to clear the Train Room, and vacuumed and mopped the floor. Unfortunately my mop had TSP residue on it left over from the major floor project a few months back, so the floor will require additional scrubbing (with different equipment). Regardless, between battles with the snow, I measured, cut, and moved all of the pieces for a home-made shelving unit into the Train Room for prep work. This shelving will be stained and then assembled in the Craft Room upstairs, which is undergoing its own refit (my wife had to deal with similar blue-colored walls in that room too). Continuing on the hallway project, I cut more discs of silver poplar wood for a decoration. Today I purchased some paint at the Restore, which will be used on the train table tops. While walking to the store on my lunch-break, I snapped the above snowy Santa Fe photo.

Also this week, I received and displayed a Railroad Crossing sign my bride got me for my birthday. It is a non-traditional crossing sign, but it provides a great picture of the type of iron horses that will be frequently roaming about the Train Room! :) It now graces the door to the room.

This coming weekend looks like it will involve a lot more snow, and hopefully some railroading progress too! Until next time, keep your rails shiny ~

Cleared out and mopped clean

Filled with the next projects

Stop, look, listen

Cabin Complete

Welcome back to another MarksMTRR blog entry ~

This week my valentine and I went for a brief trip down to Cody and Worland, WY. We enjoyed staying and dining at the historic Irma Hotel, and listened to the country band play late into the night. They finished up with the classic "Ghost Riders in the Sky", ending a uniquely western-themed evening. The following day we viewed the Artrain exhibit "Infinite Mirror" in Worland, WY at the Washakie Museum. The exhibit travels around the country in specially designed train cars, which brings art to the people, rather than people having to come to it. It is a really neat concept, and we enjoyed the exhibit together. After viewing the art at the museum, we tried in vain to find the train cars that transported the art. 

But, that's ok! While having lunch in downtown Billings, I snapped a shot of a train headed (and tailed) by some CitiRail ES44AC's. I've never seen these engines around here, so it was a treat - they are biiiig locomotives.

Also, while out and about for our weekend getaway, we drove past the Montana Limestone Company locomotives, just north of the Wyoming border on route 310. Just some out-of-the-ordinary trains to share with y'all...

On the Train Room quest, great progress was made in the hallway this week, as pictured above. The "cabin" is complete! There are still a few things to work on overtime, but the project is done. It actually turned out pretty neat looking. Stick several pieces of 100-year old boxcar wood on the wall in relatively straight lines, and you'll have a spiffy-looking room :)

The Gray's were in town and got to take a peek at the progress this past week. 

Now that the hall is done, the Train Room can once again be emptied, cleaned, and prepped for the next step, which I'm very happy to say is the train layout framework! 

Until next time, keep your rails shiny ~ 

The Irma's historic cherry-wood bar, dressed up for Valentine's Day

 

CitiRail visitors passing through Billings

MLC locomotives just north of the WY border

For the Ferroequinologist on the Run

 This week brought an unexpected addition to the model railroad fleet! My associate Michael is aware of my fondness of railroading, and graciously donated a modern Lionel O-27 starter set: the 2008 Pennsylvania Flyer. It includes a die-cast 2-4-2 steam locomotive, a boxcar, a flatcar and a caboose. A transformer, set of track, bridge, and telephone poles are also included. This is an amazing gift! It comes in an easy-to-carry case, with that annoying Styrofoam-based really tight packing material that makes it hard to get in and out – but that is alright! As I thought about it, I realized this provides an interesting ability for me. Now, when needed or called upon, I can swiftly grab the entire set and head into any situation that requires a model railroad! Many are not aware of it, but there could be frequent micro-ferrequinological emergencies occurring all throughout the Yellowstone Valley area, and now I can stand in the gap by providing rapid, vigilante-style railroadanic goodness to the woeful masses who lack trains at their events and celebrations of meaningful life-milestones! Anyway, I greatly appreciated the donation and will take great care of the new set for years to come. Many will be able to enjoy this train and I know it will bring smiles to a lot of faces!

The Pennsylvania Flyer in a handy carrying case

The contents of the set, ready for any ferroequinological emergency!

 I continued making progress in the hallway refurbish. I believe a few more hours of work will have it completed, and the hallway furniture will be moved out of the Train Room.

Future Passenger train discussion Number Eleven: this time we go south on The City of New Orleans. This was the Illinois Central Railroad's flagship passenger train, running from Chicago to New Orleans, from 1947 to 1971. Under Illinois Central administration, it made the run in 16 hours; the current Amtrak version does it in 19 hours. It traveled through the crop fields of Illinois, clipped the tip of Kentucky, and made its way to Memphis, before running through the Mississippi River Valley down to Jackson, and finally through the bayous to New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. This was also the first passenger train on our home layout back in Illinois. Lionel made a 6-car set (later expanded to 8 cars) using the same moldings they created for the popular O-27 streamlined sets of the late 1940's and 50's. I always get a warm feeling when I think of it. It was a small version of Uncle Bill's big O-Scale version. It is colored in deep chocolate brown, with orange and yellow highlights. Maybe that’s why I like Reese's Peanut Butter cup wrappers so much (or vice versa). The green diamond logo on the front of the locomotive, used from 1936 - 1967 really sets it off well. As a youngster, I remember going down to the Wheaton, Illinois train show and bringing back these 6 Lionel cars and the 2 matching K-Line Alco diesel locomotives. Setting them up that night in the family room on some track in front of the television will always be a happy and vivid memory for me. Later we added a motor to the "dummy" locomotive from the set to increase pulling power. This was our only passenger set for some time, and it was always a special and magical moment when we would dim the lights in the room and watch the train zip by, each car with its illuminated interior and silhouettes of passengers inside. I have plans for an O-Scale City of New Orleans on the train layout of the future. It will feature E or F-unit locomotives and tackle more mountainous terrain than its real-life namesake. Have a great week, enjoy your Valentine, and keep your rails shiny ~

A view of the O-27 Illinois Central set, (with a matching Pacific-type steamer) under the Christmas tree at the Poynter's house in Illinois

Scouts and Swap

Thomas Moran's Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

This week, the HO train collection was donated to the Boy Scouts. Matt, a fellow train enthusiast and Railroad Merit Badge Counselor for his Scout Troop advertised his interest in Model Railroading back in December on Craigslist. After viewing the ad I had a discussion with him via email, and eventually it led to this week's donation. Cool stuff! The party that is donating the trains will get a tax deduction next year, and a Scout Troop will get the opportunity to work on a real model railroad, and I get some space back! Winners all around :) Matt and his Troop leader Ben came on a snowy night, and while Ben got to deal with lots of tax paperwork, Matt and I loaded up the trains. Thank you to Matt and Ben, and here's wishing you great fun in encouraging the joy of model railroading to a new generation.

Matt is quite the Union Pacific fan - I will forgive him for that though. Actually he has a family history of working with the UP, and many fond memories. For those of you who don't know, my "distaste" for the UP is pretty much limited to the fact that they gobbled up the C&NW in 1995. I'm actually thrilled that they are working to restore Big Boy 4014. It is great to think that future generations, or maybe even myself, will be able to experience a real 4-8-8-4 in action again!

While a great step in the right direction, the donation of the HO trains is the only progress update for the train room this week. Several hours were spent removing snow from our driveway, street, and sidewalks this past week. However, I still managed to make some nice progress in the hallway, cutting and hanging additional boxcar wood boards. One in particular was rather tricky to fit, but I think it came out alright.

This week, the BNSF sent me a snappy-looking 2014 calendar, sporting a picture of Thomas Moran's painting of Yellowstone's Grand Canyon. Moran was on the Yellowstone survey team which was partially funded by the Northern Pacific. Living in south-central Montana, I've seen this painting a lot, but now I have a copy of my own to grace the walls of the train room (and the top of today's blog.)

Also this week, I received Lionel #19067 Pullman "Willow River", to add to the heavyweight train consist. I've also come to my senses and will swallow my pride and correct a mistake I've made. My loyal blog readers will no-doubt remember my discussions about future passenger trains. Well, I talked about an ATSF train called "The Northern Range" which sports a predominantly black paint scheme, with yellow and red accents. I also talked about "The Night Fire" - my scale-length heavyweight consist. Well, here's the problem: after looking at these trains and the names I chose for them, I concluded that the names should be swapped. Egad, the paint scheme of the Santa Fe train actually LOOKS like a "night fire!" So, from this point forward, the black ATSF train is "The Night Fire", and the heavyweight train, of which "Willow River" is now a member, will be called "The Northern Range". I hope y'all can forgive my lack of judgment and we can carry on without too much collateral damage.

There! I admitted I was wrong about something... the planet still seems to be spinning... the Battle of Armageddon didn't immediately start... things seem to be normal. Although, I've noted that today Billings had the special honor of being the coldest place in the continental US, with a wind-chill of -45 for several hours this morning.

Until next time, keep your rails shiny (and warm) ~

Ben, Matt, and the empty shelves! Enjoy the trains Scouts!

 

UP 4-8-8-4 #4014 is coming back!

"Willow River" is joining The Northern Range