Trainsgiving

The main part of the Train Room floor is complete! What remains is a 3x11 foot section, which contains two closets. The consistency of that section of the floor is rather odd. The surface ranges from yellowish to greyish to blackish. Scraping it is a challenge, because it is quite difficult to tell when you have reached the bottom layer of material. The main part of the room, while difficult, was very easy to tell when the raw floor was reached through scraping. I will attack this new section the same as the other, but it provides different challenges.

Today is Thanksgiving, and we are hosting the Gamsbys and Seemans. We have decorated for the event, which includes many autumny harvesty things, and a train!

This part of the floor is done!

This part of the floor is weird and in progress

Thanksgiving kitchen decor

Bring a Model Train to Work Day 2013

Hello all - a bonus post due to today being a special holiday ~
Bring a Model Train to Work Day occurs on an undetermined Friday in November every year! Here you can see my Lionel Frisco Mikado (a 2-8-2 steam locomotive) sharing my workspace for the day. Many coworkers stopped by to take a look.
Have a nice weekend, and keep your rails shiny ~

Locomotives Unlimited

Scraping Fest

I have a much better progress report this week - the main part of the room is now 80% scraped. Once I figured out a good rhythm I was able to progress through several rows of scruffy tile glue. The vacuum does suck up the debris, but since it isn't working properly, it is adding a layer of finer dust to the entire room every time I run it. Thus, I'll have the added step of wiping off all of the surfaces and items in the room when the scraping is complete. But, I feel it will be done soon :)

The seventh entry in this series of future passenger trains is the "Night Fire". This is a heavyweight train populated by Pullman-made passenger cars. The reason I wanted to create this train is because Pullman cars can prototypically be pulled by just about any locomotive. I see Pullman cars as kind of "generic" in that they aren't necessary visibly tied to a particular railroad. This can allow for some neat motive power match-ups. I originally purchased four of Lionel's O-Scale heavyweight cars from a dealer at the monthly train show in Wheaton, IL (at the DuPage County Fairgrounds). As of this blog, the train show continues to occur, and is called the Great Midwest Train Show. Anyway... I think these four cars were designed for Lionel's Commodore Vanderbilt locomotive from the 1990's. Although the locomotive was New York Central, the cars do not show NYC markings. Later on, I added a front-end freight car, which matches the Pullman-green color-scheme nicely.  Later still, I added the K-Line made Santa Fe "Granite Canyon" to the consist. It is painted in Pullman-brown, but it fits in well with the style of the train, and is probably prototypical anyway - I've seen many historical photographs of trains where every passenger car wasn't the same style, color, or road-name! On the train layout of the future, this train set would be pulled by big steam - a CB&Q Hudson, the C&NW E-4, a C&NW H-1 or MR 4-8-4, the GN Mikado, an NP A-4, the RI Northern or the Frisco Mikado. The "Night Fire" will take passengers to all points on the layout, hailing from Liberty Station. Run some heavyweights down the track and keep those rails shiny ~

Here's the Train Room as of last night. Just 45 squares of glue remain in the main area.

The Inglehome is a Pullman lounge car that now safely resides at the Illinois Railway Museum.

Just Two

Hello there - this week's work included disassembling and cleaning the shop vac, but it is still not running properly. I also had time to scrape two squares of the floor, but that's not a lot of progress!

The sixth in this series of future passenger train talks is the "Minnesota and Black Hills Express". This is a fictional five-car Chicago & North Western heavyweight passenger car train that heads northwest from Chicago to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and then traces the present route of Interstate 90 to Rapid City in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This route is special because it is the way we take when we visit Illinois. Highlights include the cheese stores of south-central Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Dells area, "Alice" of La Crosse, the Jolly Green Giant of Albert Lea, Goo's RV of Sioux Falls, the Corn Palace of Mitchell, the Bad Lands of south-western South Dakota, Wall Drug of Wall, and the limitless attractions and scenic views of the Black Hills themselves. The five-car heavyweight set was made by Custom Trains/Frank's Roundhouse, which was the first set of this type I purchased. "Heavyweight" refers to a type of passenger car manufactured with riveted steel. These cars started showing up in the 1910's and were generally more luxurious than their wooden predecessors, and offered a smoother ride because they were heavier. They are sometimes called "Pullmans", "Heavyweights", or just "passenger cars". My Minnesota and Black Hills Express would look well behind the same locomotives I've suggested for the "Fence Lake 400": O-Scale F7 diesel's, a 4-6-0, 4-6-2, or a big 4-8-4 steamer. Thanks for reading, and keep your rails shiny ~

A June 2008 sunset on Stockade Lake in Custer, SD (in the Black Hills). I waited amongst the mosquitoes for a while to get this shot...

A real C&NW heavyweight observation car

One of the cars on the Minnesota and Black Hills Express

Edgar Harrison

This posting is named in honor of my nephew Edgar Harrison Seeman who was born this past Tuesday evening. He and mother are doing well, and I believe the three Seemans will head home from the hospital in the next day or so. We were with the new grandparents in the waiting room when Edgar arrived. It was an amazing and wonderful event, and Amber and I will do our best to provide love, support, and trains to our nephew.

This week I progressed to the 40% mark on floor scraping. The main part of the room was originally 15 tiles square, so that means I've completed the equivalent of 90 tiles. I tested the entry part of the room, and whatever is pasted to the concrete there is of a different consistency. It may require a different type of scraping technique, but it will probably demand the same amount of elbow grease. Special thanks to Bill Gamsby, who lent me his shop vac for this project. Before I continue my next swath of scraping, it sounds like the vacuum will need a little maintenance, so I'll try to get that done tonight.

The fifth in the series of future passenger train talks is the "Fence Lake 400". The Chicago & North Western railroad provided a passenger train which ran from Chicago to Saint Paul, a distance of 400 miles, which was designed to arrive in 400 minutes. Thus, the train was named the "400". The name proved popular, and several other C&NW trains were given the "400" suffix, even though they traveled farther and took longer than 400 minutes. One of these trains was the "Peninsula 400", which traveled from Chicago to Ishpeming in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. For many summers while I was growing up, my father, sister and I would go on a weekend fishing trip with some church members to Fence Lake in Michigan. Fence Lake is about 30 miles west of Ishpeming. I have many fond memories of fishing, camping, exploring, and rope-swinging in and around the lake, and will be recreating portions of the terrain on the train layout of the future. There will even be a small resort town called Fence Lake. My "Fence Lake 400" will take passengers from Silver Falls through the farmlands to the north-woods destination of Fence Lake , where they can enjoy a relaxing time in and by the water. The train consists of four custom-painted streamlined aluminum passenger cars made by Williams. These represent 60', rather than 72' passenger cars, so they appear relatively short next to other O-Scale models. But that's ok! For motive power, there are a few choices. I have an F7 ABA C&NW set of diesel locomotives from Williams, with the shiny paint scheme that matches this passenger train nicely. There are also 3 O-Scale steam locomotives (none of which have been purchased yet) which would look spiffy with this set: a C&NW 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler, the "Yellow Jacket": a covered/shrouded 4-6-2 C&NW Pacific locomotive, or the gigantic C&NW 4-8-4 class H-1 Northern locomotive. Thanks for reading, and remember to keep your rails shiny ~

Fence Lake in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Eagle Island is on the left.

The real-life C&NW Business Train looks very similar to my model Fence Lake 400 consist. This photo was taken by James House in Elmhurst, IL in 1989.

And here's the C&NW Business Train along the eastern shore of Devil's Lake, south of Baraboo, WI. My family and I camped here numerous times, and I may attempt to re-create this scene on the train layout of the future.

Back On Track

My wife and I recently returned from a trip to attend my sister's wedding in Illinois (explaining the lack of progress in the Train Room last week.)

The "forgotten turntable" picture from last week was taken along the northern edge of Freeport, IL, down the hill near Don's Oasis Restaurant.

It was good to see lots of family and friends in Illinois, and also help out at the wedding. A bonus of driving there and back meant that I was able to bring many more model trains back with me. Amber safely puzzled them into our backseat and trunk, and they all arrived in one piece.

I also purchased two more freight cars on the Trainz Auction since the last blog update. The cars are pictured further below.

I did make a wee bit of progress on the Train Room floor last night. The main part of the room is now 28% done.

The fourth in this series of future passenger train talks is the "Challenger". The real-life train ran between Chicago and Los Angeles, beginning service in 1936. It was a joint venture between the Chicago & North Western and Union Pacific railroads, and thus a variety of equipment was used. My "Challenger" is an all-C&NW train, and is pulled by an E-4 class hudson steam locomotive. The real-life E-4 was a huge, streamlined engine that weighed nearly 400 tons and sported driving wheels that were 7 feet tall. According to Montgomery Scott, this locomotive weighs as much as two adult humpback whales and their surrounding water. Nine of these locomotives were built, but sadly none of them have survived. Fortunately, a bit of their memory can live on through my train sets. The Challenger is a 7-car, streamlined passenger set pulled by a matching E-4 hudson. A hudson steam locomotive has a 4-6-4 wheel arrangement, and were designed for a lot of power at high speeds. At the time I purchased this train set, it was the most expensive single item I had ever acquired on my own. The entire set was built by MTH Electric Trains, and was the first set I obtained with an advanced sound system. The locomotive is able to play a few tricks thanks to the onboard computer. Currently, the Challenger is waiting for its turn in the roundhouse, where it will require a bit of repair work. The engine sat unused and if the battery is left inside of it, it leads to a condition that requires a special re-set. I believe this can be fixed by purchasing a MTH ProtoSounds reset kit, but that is to be determined. Hopefully I can get it up and running quickly, so that visitors can experience the sound and light show it provides on track. On the train layout of the future, the Challenger will be one of the premiere long-distance passenger trains, taking vacationers to all corners of the layout. Keep your rails shiny ~

Two new additions to the rolling stock fleet: A semi-scale Lionel C&NW Reefer, and a scale K-Line Pure Oil Tank car

I'm packing up a few more trains for the trip to Montana

A rear-view of my C&NW hudson locomotive (on the outer-most track)

A real C&NW hudson

A painting of a C&NW hudson by Mark Karvon

Twenty Percent

Being rather busy with other events this week, I've been unable to work in the Train Room. However, I've now scraped 20% of the tiles in the main part of the room, so if I can put a few more hours in then I should be just about ready for painting...

I was able to get away and do a brief bit of railroad archeology this week - does anyone know where this picture was taken?

A forgotten turntable