Next project?

I'm debating between two cars...

The DSP&P's first couple passenger cars...the Auraria and the Denver...
Or the DSP&P's Bower, Dure & Co cars...#16, 17, 22-25...

All eight cars were very similar. All had similar roofs and had classic mid-early narrow gauge features. The biggest difference was that the BD&Co cars were wider. Either option produces both combines and coaches. Another difference is that the Denver, coach #2, burned in 1880.

Combine #1, Auraria, shows up in this photo from the Ted Kierscey Collection. The coach behind it is one of the Barney & Smith cars that I'm already building.
http://narrowgauge.org/images/tkcok/m0048.jpg

This next view shows one of the BD&Co cars at Nathrop...
http://narrowgauge.org/ngc/graphics/tkierscey/dspp/dspp0012.jpg
And another view with two of them in a row...
http://narrowgauge.org/ngc/graphics/tkierscey/dspp/dspp006.jpg

And another view which could be the Denver or a BD&Co car...along with my baggage car...
http://narrowgauge.org/images/tkcok/m00422.jpg

I've never met Ted, but I'll thank him for sharing is wonderful collection whenever we do meet!

I'm inclined to create a resin kit out of the one I select. If you would be interested in one or the other...leave a comment...to help me decide which to do. I'd probably offer the BD&Co with either the original or a modern roof.

I'm going to make a mold for my baggage car and B&S car roofs. I've decided that I'd like to do so in case I make more of either...as there was a second baggage car identical to the one I'm building and a number of additional B&S coaches in California/Nevada...particularly on my two favorite California NG roads...the Nevada County Narrow Gauge and the Carson & Colorado/SPng.

Train Festival 2009

We had a great time at Train Festival.

Our weekend started with a drive up to visit my family on Thursday. My Grandmother was in the hospital (she's now out) and so we took the Liam in to see her. Once we got to my parents' house, I began ripping up all of the old HO yards and much of the old main...leaving just the branch line, coal mine, and an oval for continuous running below the branch.



All of the trackage I removed. Flex track on the right, turnouts on the left.

I also found the On3 switching layout I started back in high school...On3 in a 2'x4' space!


We then headed on to stay with them at the other house...two blocks from the Nickel Plate's Minster branch. The rail was dated 1913...so it actually predated the NKP's take over of the LE&W. My dad suggested that it is probably around 80# rail (it wasn't stamped, but I thought it was lighter than 90# rail).


We headed up and caught the Daylight at Alma, MI.


And I figured out where the photo run-bys were, and caught all three...



And then caught it once more after the run-bys...


I'd love to see the interior of this car:


And ride in this:


The following morning, dad and I caught the 765 before she departed Owosso...as she was covering for the ill 1225:


Based on the 1225 crew's response to their trouble, it sounds bad...as did what I've heard. Hopefully, once they've been able to get at the problem, it will be fixed in time for the rest of their season. Their website has been silent about it, which implies to me that they aren't confident enough to assert that she'll be ready, but they have enough hope not to cancel anything.

After the 765's departure, we caught the Little River pacific as her excursion passengers loaded...


Once inside the festival, we went straight to the back to see the Leviathan...a brand new replica of an 1868 4-4-0.


Nearby was the former Gettysburg RR 2-8-0.

Her fellow GRR 4-6-2 was the engine that had the boiler explosion (NOT a catastrophic explosion) which prompted new FRA boiler rules and sidelined many perfectly good locomotives. It is worth noting that the rules wouldn't have done anything to prevent the gross operator error that caused the Gettysburg incident. I saw both this 2-8-0 as well as that 4-6-2 a few years ago near the Ohio Central's Morgan Run shops.

There was a Weaver NKP hudson on one of the display layouts...

I drooled over those when they came out. I love them.


And then the family arrived...


And we made a B-line to the 1/8th scale trains for a ride...



My brother's family

One of the live steam 1:32 railroads had an SP GS-4 operating near the real SP GS-4...


But the ultimate model at the show was this Southern PS-4...

It's whistle sounded incredible unlike most 1.5" scale locomotives.


Three generations of railfans...






And my nephew enjoyed himself...


That Little River 4-6-2's tender carries 10 tons of coal and 4500 gallons of water...while the 765 is 22 tons and 22,000 gallons. So I'd guess that the 4-6-2 has a coal range of around 350 miles and a water range of less than 50 miles.

Sunday was an interesting day. We chased the 765 in the morning...


Then broke off the chase to ride the Huckleberry Railroad...



My brother's family rode the trip before us...



Liam loved it








That's ex-D&RGW coach #308 at their shops

And a Mexican 2-8-0...


Their primary power is the ex-D&RGW #464 (which has been immortalized by many models) and an Alaskan 4-6-0 #152. They also have a Quincy and Torch Lake 2-6-0 sitting behind their shops.

I had a wonderful time with the crew...it is an incredibly well run railroad...and loaded with excellent equipment. Their best piece (historically) is definitely their ex-NPC coach #8 which was built by Kimball in 1875...an extremely rare bird...and they do not use it for its protection. Their hospitality delayed our departure by an hour...but it was thoroughly worth it!

The delay caused us to reach Lima at dinner time...so we stopped at the Kewpee. Being so close to the NKP 779's home in Lincoln Park, we headed on over.


Much to my horror, I discovered a hole had been cut in the fence.


My father is one of the caretakers, and so I immediately had a park ranger dispatched and notified a caretaker whom brought over his keys. We then went in and found no damage or missing items. Suddenly, the delay which made us late to Huckleberry and the excellent time with the crew there made me very glad. The Lincoln Park event added another hour delay...but I couldn't leave until it was taken care of. The result was that Liam had a melt down for the last 45 minutes of our drive home...but I'm glad that the strange day happened as it did.

So, I saw 8 locomotives at Train Festival, 4 at Huckleberry, 1 at Durand, but the only locomotive I climbed into the cab of was the 779...which was under lock and key!

Painting cars and test runs

I painted two of my passenger cars Chocolate Brown. I also touched up the paint on my pay car...which I haven't touched in 9 months. Since the real cars were finished with a gloss varnish, I'm going to violate one of my rules of modeling...a gloss finish on my passenger cars. The initial test looks great. Here's a picture of some of the painted car parts:


I've also been working on prepping more link & pin couplers. I have too many cars that need them...so I'm getting them ready. Unfortunately, my bag of links, pins, springs, and microscopic bits has gone missing in the past couple of days. I'll chemically blacken every part (and possibly paint them) before assembly.



And for the first time in a year...service has been restored to my entire mainline...

The approach tracks are temporary.

This is the view which greats visitors...

I just might have to remove that unnecessary guard rail...

My next entry will probably be of the 8 locomotives at Train Festival 2009, plus the 4-6-2 at Durand, MI, and the 4-5 locomotives at the Huckleberry Railroad. If I'm really lucky, I'll also see the 4-6-2 at Jackson, MI. Unfortunately, my 82 year old grandmother is once again in the hospital, so if things are really bad, I might not be in Michigan...