While I was out... and Cody too!

Hello again. The summer flew by, as always. So here’s a summary posting of the ferroequinological goodness I’ve been up to these past three months…

In June, we traveled to Illinois to visit family and trains. We visited the Illinois Railway Museum during their celebration of the Railroad Post Office (RPO). My son Wesley got to experience a real, running steam locomotive for the first time, as we were happy to see that SLSF decapod #1630 was operational that day. We also got to visit the J Neils Lumber Company shay #5 in steam shop, which was “close” to running as a refit continued (the shay should be fully operational for the 2019 season). Plus, we got to see dozens of other locomotives, rolling stock, and “railroad accessories” at the country’s largest train museum! Wesley also got his first ride on a streetcar (CTA “Red Rocket” #3142), and we got to enjoy the day with my Uncle Bill (another long-time ferroequinologist). When I was young, I was blessed to be able to go to IRM frequently, but it’s a bit harder when one lives 1200 miles away…

Speaking of Uncle Bill, we were able to stay with him and Aunt Dee in the Chicago area. And Wesley got the opportunity to see his great O Gauge layout. While visiting my wife’s relatives north of Chicago, we took a trip to the Chicago Botanical Gardens and viewed their substantial outdoor G Scale layout. I had never been there before and was delighted by the dozen trains they were running simultaneously through a landscape of American landmarks. We all had a great time experiencing the mesh of gardening and model railroading!

Back home, and after cleaning up the “wreck of the wreckers”, I switched the layout to an all-Lionel-Post-War-steam roster. The planned roster never actually ran, but here it is anyway:

Track 1: #2034 2-4-2 steam with LL searchlight, NYC gondola, LV hopper and a LL SP-style caboose

Track 2: #2037 2-6-4 steam with 6 6464-series boxcars and a LL bay window caboose

Track 3: #2035 2-6-4 steam with a set of silver O27 streamlined passenger cars

Track 4 #671 6-8-6 steam with remaining O27 Post-War freight cars and a work caboose

Right off the bat, there were a few setbacks. #2037, while a reliable runner, doesn’t have the strength to pull itself and 7 freight cars. Also, #2035 wouldn’t advance more than a couple wheel revolutions. It would reverse for a few inches, but after a bit of cleaning and troubleshooting I couldn’t get it running, so I took it out of service. Then, some tests of the turbine (#671) proved that it was in a rather cantankerous mood. First, the whistle mechanism got stuck in the “on” position. Then, it started giving me intermittent electrical problems, causing trains on other tracks to malfunction, due to their connection through the transformer. And finally, the thing looks and sounds like a fireworks display when operating, with its thunderous grinding sounds and constant under-chassis sparking. So 671 was put out of service too.

The eventual roster that actually went into service, keeping to the “spirit” of all-steam Post-War running, was:

Track 1: #2034 2-4-2 steam with LL searchlight, NYC gondola, LV hopper and a LL SP-style caboose

Track 2: #2037 2-6-4 steam with 3 6464-series boxcars and a LL bay window caboose

Track 3: modern Lionel Illinois Central 2-6-4 steam with a variety of O27 Post-War rolling stock and a work caboose

Track 4 Union Pacific #2023 FA diesel and the other 3 6464-series boxcars and a LL SP-style caboose

This roster ran well for a few months, and then I encountered more steam trouble. Both #2034 and the IC steamer went offline. Diesel 2023 moved to Track 1 and the MTH NP 0-6-0 steamer took over Track 4 (note that the NP still does not output any sounds).

Back in the real world, I got a picture of a freight train at sunset in Big Timber, MT, with the Crazy Mountains in the background.

And, since it’s been so long since the last update, I’ve changed the roster a second time! The current roster, through the end of October 2018, is “Passenger trains”:

Track 1: Trolley

Track 2: CSS Interurbans

Track 3: RI E7A and partial Rocky Mountain Rocket

Track 4 CBQ E8AA and the Bozeman Zephyr

This setup is far less problematic than the previous one. The major issue is that running 18” cars (and really long locomotives) on Track 3 is always a poor idea, as they end up bumping into trains on both Track 2 and Track 4. So, the short Rocky Mountain Rocket only got to run when Track 2 and Track 4 trains were parked in safe places.

Oh yes, we had another baby too. He decided to come a little early. At home. With just my wife and I in attendance. So guess who got to deliver Cody? The ferroequinologist, that’s who. Everybody is healthy and the 4 of us are adjusting to each other, and Cody enjoys watching the trains run J Special addition!

We've kept our tradition of giving our boys middle names that are also steam locomotive classes. Wesley Hudson, and now Cody Selkirk. Selkirk is a Canadian 2-10-4. Why Canadian? Well, my bride and I were married in Canada, and Cody happened to arrive on our anniversary! Plus, "Cody" means "helper", and thus his name can be translated "helper locomotive".

Take care and keep those rails shiny til next time!

Wesley and the 1630

Happy day at IRM

Wesley and Uncle Bill detrain the Red Rocket

Two Hudsons: CBQ 3007 and Wesley

Wesley and Shay #5, both asleep

Wesley and I marvel at Uncle Bill's train layout

At the botanical gardens, a Santa Fe loco meanders between Old Faithful and Old Faithful Inn

The botanical garden layout is impressive; I could easily spend a few hours there!

Back in MT, we have the Post-War consists

Big Timber sunset on Sept 7th, 2018

Night time passenger trains

Myself and my boy, Cody Selkirk

Wesley, Cody and I watching trains downstairs

Cody and his boxcar

So blessed to have these two unique cars in my collection

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

Winter Additions

Welcome back for more ferroequinological fun! No advancements were made this week in the Train Room per se, but great progress was made in the downstairs hall. Once the southern part of the downstairs hall is complete, the majority of the hallway items in the Train Room can move back to their rightful place, and then work can progress in the Train Room again. In the hall, I painted the ceiling white, and painted the walls brown (using more free paint from the Restore!) I also place boxcar wood baseboards along the southern walls and into the stairway. My wife helped us come up with some really nifty decor ideas for the north wall of the hallway - it will take a bit, but it will look really cool. (Of course, pictures will come when completed.) While working on the hallway, I got to watch/listen to some really neat steam locomotive DVDs playing from the Train Room. Also this week, arrangements for the visiting HO train collection were finalized - I'll have more on that in the next update, but I think it is a great scenario that will help promote the fun of model railroading to a new generation! 

So, this week I'll talk about 6 new additions to the O-Scale fleet in January 2014. These were all purchased through on-line auctions via eBay or Trainz. 

American View

For some time, I've been looking for an O-Scale Union Pacific vista dome passenger car from the City of Los Angeles passenger train. Now, why would such a pro-C&NW anti-UP fellow like me want to do that? Well, in 1956, my mother and my uncle took a trip with my grandfather on the City of Los Angeles from California to Illinois. My Mom recalled the fun she had on the train, especially in the vista dome car. My Mom has been very encouraging to my railroading hobby, and her help was a great boon to the first scenic'd train set I developed in Illinois. (She was the Scenery Engineer of the SDCR&GC RR.) She also enjoys the wonders of the rails, although probably not to the same extent as me! My uncle is a fellow O-Scale model railroader, gifting my first Lionel train when I was 3, nominating me to join the TCA later on, and continually inspiring me with the massive layout he built in Illinois. (My father has always, and continues to enjoy the railroading hobby as well - he just wasn't on the City of Los Angeles, so I'll have to find something else to commemorate him with in a future entry!) ANYway... this model is a fancy aluminum 20" car made by Weaver Models. It is in like-new condition, but is boxless. Now in real-life, American View was never part of the City of Los Angeles. Actually, it never was a vista dome either. It was actually a sleeper car on the Union Pacific Butte Special, which ran between Denver, CO and Butte, MT (pictured at the top of today's blog entry.) So, this car also gets to commemorate the home city of our friends Darren and Patti: Butte, MT. Darren enjoys railroading as well, and we've even gone on a ferroequinological-archeological adventure in Forsyth, MT, but that is a tale for another time... Anyway, back to the American View - I also acquired it because it has a nifty patriotic name, and although I am not a fan of the UP, I really look forward to running this car on the layout. Since it is a bit of a conglomeration, the car could technically be based out of Chicago, Denver, Butte, AND Los Angeles, which opens up a variety of fun match-ups. It would be right at home amongst the C&NW passenger cars on The Challenger, since that train was a joint operation between the C&NW and UP. It would also work on the NP North Coast Vista Dome Limited, which connected with Butte. It would be a fun guest on the RI Rocky Mountain Rocket too, which connected Chicago and Denver. So, lots of fun is ahead for the American View, not just because of new opportunities, but also because of the journey it memorializes. On another happy note, a real-life "American View" car still survives today. There are some conflicting reports as to it's original heritage, but there is an "American View" dining car on display at the museum in little ole' Mendota, IL. 

Another new addition this month is a boxless Dubuque Packing Company reefer made by Canadian Model Trains (CMT). This is the only CMT car in the collection thus far. This past Fall, my sister got married and now lives in Dubuque, IA. There are not many O-Scale cars dealing with Iowa, let alone Dubuque! Another neat connection is that my sister's husband works for a meat processing/preparation company, so this car has some fun meaning to me! 

The rest of the entries are great new members of the fleet, but most likely lack the commemorative-ness of the first two! Next is a sleekly painted boxless Weaver Models Great Northern storage mail express car. This car will proudly ride behind the head-end of the yet-to-be acquired Empire Builder passenger train. Also joining the collection is an MTH/Railking Milwaukee Road gondola. This is from MTH's early days, when the Railking logo was purple with yellow accents. Although Railking is not necessarily O-Scale, I've found from experience that this particular gondola is (or really really close).A red O-Scale Texaco two-dome tank car from K-line joined the roster, and a smaller K-line single-dome Milwaukee Road tank joined as well. I'm not quite sure about the scale-ness of this one, but the detailing looks very good, and I recently acquired another O-Scale tank car that was smaller, but authentic. Tank cars seem to have been built in a range of sizes in real-life, so I'm hoping this one fits right in on the O-Scale layout of the future!

Until next time, enjoy the food, commercials, and football on Sunday (but mostly the food), and keep your rails shiny ~ 

UP "American View" Vista Dome

Great Northern storage mail express car

Dubuque Packing Company reefer

Milwaukee Road tank car, Texaco tank car, and Milwaukee Road gondola