...in their almost as good blue and yellow scheme---a very distant "almost as good"--- Nothing quite compares to the classic "War bonnet" paint...except maybe Beano's two tone blue with gold pinstripes. Note the see-thru effect of the side grills and the flush mount windows, kudos to them for such an effort on upper low end equipment. It is also a fine and quiet runner. Yet another occupant of last weekend's flea market box lot...
...well...almost N scale. My primary MOS when I was in the reserves was POW/Corrections security. Thankfully, as RTO, I saw little floor duty.
We sponsor a prisoner I've known now for over 20 years. He's an "uncle" to my kids and it's been a joy to watch him grow in Christ over the years. Because the prison system he is in does not provide basics like underwear, shoes and toiletries and he does not have any family, we've been trusted by God to take care of his needs over the years with what He blesses us with.
We normally send him pictures that the kids have drawn for him. This time around, I put a picture together for him from my model work---"Uncle Bud goes for a bus ride". You can almost hear Axle Foley belting out "Roxanne" in the background...
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Here, there or in the air, buddy, it won't be long now.
...a four car set put out by Life-Like during the show of patriotism that swept the nation shortly after the events of 9/11.
There are so many things I could say about this set. No references to the events or victims are present anywhere on the cars...they could easily pass for a cheesy Bicentennial set from 30 years ago. The two reefers weren't even given brake wheels. Fans of Sean Hannity should like the "Let Freedom Ring" car, other than that, the only pluses I have found are that I paid less than twenty five cents a car, they're in mint condition and the doors on the box cars open.
"Well then, why did you buy them?"
I appreciate anything that makes Tyco look like high end workmanship...
To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David.O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Another fantasy paint as the car is a Reading design that never made the Santa Fe railroad roster. Another piece found in a flea market box lot this past weekend.
...a fantasy paint job as none were ever owned by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad. Only sixteen were ever built in real life, emphasizing an annoying ability on the part of model makers to pick an obscure prototype and run with it, even when others have already done it. This one was found in a flea market box lot this past weekend.
But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons...
This staring really hard thing might actually work...I couldn't get it to run at all before. Now I just stare really hard at them for three or four months with vile, threatening thoughts going through my mind and ...viola...they run like nothing ever happened...
...for those of you who, like me, have an autistic child. Written and illustrated by a young girl about her autistic little brother, this work is outstanding. Lulu's is to be commended for their service too.
...I've never showed these pictures on the blog before. They detail the construction of my layout storage area. It's done in 3/4" red oak plywood, birch and poplar and took about 30 hours to build. The layout is on 3' full extension slides, the storage drawer is on 2' slides.
It holds several hundred books and magazines, as well as my N and HO layouts. My beloved has free reign as to what the finish will be---my idea to make it look like a pallet of crates with "Not Fragile" stenciled all over it was shot down fairly quickly. I hope one day to carpet the top in a tight weave commercial grade pile so that I can use unitized track such as Kato or Bachmann EZ Track on top, changing the plan at a whim. The back gives me under layout access for maintenance.
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
...slightly modified with a marque light purchased at a train show...
I did this for my club some time back, it was fairly easy to remove the circuitry from the jewelry it came in. Once out it was simply a matter of sizing up and centering the hole and printing up a sign.
O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee. O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not. Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
>>> It is crazy weird to sit down to lunch with your beloved and the kidlets, only to have kinfolk call you up to say howdy---from the front lines half a world away.
>>> It takes the wind out of your socks to find out that said kinfolk's spouse is enjoying some extramarital activity whilst said kinfolk is away at the front lines half a world away.
>>> I plan to use an ice cream scoop to remove the heart of the next wingnut who preaches a milquetoast Gospel within my earshot to this generation.
The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD. If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts: Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate. Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it: Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves. Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast: Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
Oh, yeah...I was booted from my pastorate because I wasn't entertaining enough. You think?
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
Based on drawings of a locomotive that was never built, does that make the model a prototype?
Busy pulling 11 cars up a grade, you wouldn't think that I was trying to all but give this thing away for about 4 months. Bought with the cars in the train for $10 in a junk box lot, I cleaned and lubed it and set in on the track, where upon it buzzed gleefully for about half a lap---then stopped dead. I couldn't get another squeak out of it no matter what I did---pulled it apart 3 times---, it was stone cold dead. So it sat in a corner of my bench to be occasionally glared at really hard for four months.
One day last week I picked it up, put it on the track and off it went---no explanations or reasons---just up and went...and it's been running like a watch for dozens of laps ever since...sigh...
The blue one on the left is an early 80s issue that sold for about $1.98. The one on the right is their latest offering and retails for about $15.98---free if you hit the door prize at a local shoe like me. With see-thru roof walks, near scale grabs and magnetic knuckle couplers, one now gets what couldn't be had in expensive imported brass models not all that long ago. No wonder the younger modeler's eyes glaze over when I point out my "vintage" stuff..."Oh yeah, that's Br'er Shaygetz...[hushed tone] just smile and nod when he points out his clunky antique stuff...makes him feel important..."
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Bowser has discontinued HO steam loco, turntable, Standard gauge and O gauge replacement wheel production.
We will continued to make our HO diesel locomotives, HO freight car, N freight cars, HO trolleys, Cal Scale, Selley and Cary detail parts
We have plans for many new products but, they do not include any steam locos in any scale.
Steam loco parts are still available but when our supply is exhausted I do not plan to restock.
Thank You for all your interest over the years.
Lee English, President
It's not a right of passage or anything but there's just no element of this hobby to compare the feeling of hammering out a steam locomotive from a box of castings, rivets and screws, then watching it buzz to life like an angry cicada...sigh...
Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."---Eric Liddell, "Chariots of Fire"
For some time now a friend has been working for one less paycheck a month because he and his coworkers believed the owner was strapped and would honor his debt to them when things got better.
Yesterday they came in to find representatives from the bank in the office. They were taking over the property and informed the employees that, 1. The owner had the money all along and simply didn't pay them, owing some upwards of $2,000 or more---he used the money for his own business interests elsewhere. 2. The bank was not going to be making up those lost wages. 3. From that point on they all were working for minimum wage until a buyer could be found.
My week ended with me finding out that over $20k in medical bills were paid, leaving me with a very small amount of debt compared to the beginning of the week.
Two brothers in Christ, two very different weeks, I would be a fool to post some theological sounding verbal effluent that would have God smiting one wayward soul whilst blessing an obedient one. Truth be told, God could rain the Apocalypse right down on my own patch of real estate and be just, loving, merciful and wise in doing so, I fall that short of His standard, even now.
"Well then, why do you get to spend all this time playing with toys whilst your brethren are getting their clocks cleaned? Why don't you put that stuff down, roll up your sleeves and start cleaning some of this mess up?"
Because my brother and sister, like Eric Liddell found in his passion for running---so long as he was doing it for the Glory of God in this world as performed by one so faulty yet forgiven and devout---, I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me a modeler. And when I model, I feel His pleasure.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. And the gospel must first be published among all nations. But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house: And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.
...a birthday present to me as a result of an international postal swap. Made for the Canadian market, I'll be using it to tweek my Tyconaut brethren from the great white north who are trying to find their own example, especially in this good a condition.
---I might consider a deal if it includes taking back William Shatner and Garry Trudeau.
I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
It's no secret to my regular readers my fondness for old school model railroading, be it books, magazines or models. There is a somewhat morbid side to my interest in that I never forget that those beautiful layouts and model work of old, in all likelihood, no longer exist. With the exception of some buildings, rolling stock and locomotives, nearly all the layouts from 30 or more years ago went into the dumper upon the passing of their builders. It would not surprise me that one or two of my older pieces at one time graced the pages of a modeling magazine all those years ago, only to find its way to my collection through years of yard sales, auctions and swap meets.
Corrie ten Boom once said, "Receive all things from God with thanks, only hold them with open hands." Never forget that your hobby is a temporal thing and will matter little in the grand plan of Eternity.
...in 1955. From page 124-125 in the book "Model Railroading", written by Harry Zarchy, in the chapter "MAKING SCENERY", here's what is suggested for covering your window screen wire mountains...
"Ordinary asbestos furnace cement can also be used. Mix the powdered cement to a putty-like consistency, adding a little water at a time. Apply it to the screen with a putty knife, or your hands, modeling it at the same time as though it were clay. Do one small section at a time...Powdered asbestos is sometimes mixed with Portland cement or plaster of Paris to make a covering for wire screening."
Been a while since you could go down to your local hardware store and pick up a bag of asbestos powder...
Andy _____ uses a mixture of 20 parts asbestos powder, 2 parts plaster of paris, 1 parts paper hanger's wheat paste, 9 parts water (all by volume) to make tacky plaster that he applied to screen with wet fingers...
Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit. For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
Last night just after 10 PM I was on the computer reading messages and working on my NYC Freight Car research.
Then, my evening was turned up side down. Continental Flight 3407 from Newark to Buffalo crashed just over a mile from my home. Over 13 volunteer fire companies as well as State Police, Sheriffs and medical personnel (many of whom I know personally) responded, but there was little anyone could do. All aboard the plane perished. One person in the house on Long Street that was hit was killed. His wife and daughter escaped and were transported to a local hospital and will survive.
Our small community is in shock. We are heart broken over this tragedy. One of the workers in our hardware store lost a relative. A local widow whose husband died in the 9/11 tragedy was also on that plane. There are so many more whose lives will be broken. Our hearts and blessings go out to all the victims and their families and their friends.
I know we all spend a lot of time and effort in our hobbies and work and activities. But I will suggest to all to take extra time every day with your family and friends.
Never forget that, whatever your hobby, life is too fleeting to be so caught up in it that you miss the people standing next to you, sleeping next to you, or tugging at your shirt wanting to play.
Put the glue down and back away from the workbench...it'll wait.
As the son and brother of firefighters, I can't resist these. Boley makes a fantastic product for the money, the two red ones were purchased at Hobby Lobby for $3.99 each, an unbelievable price when compared to Busch, Wiking and Praline.
I hope to letter them for the three family fire companies eventually.
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Aye, I've succumbed to the prevailing wisdom that state sponsored vice, avarice and greed are good so long as the monies collected are used for our children's education---not.
It is a unique truck that I've never seen before, picked up for $2 at a local flea market. I'm still a sucker for cheap HO scale vehicles.
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Sorrowing I shall be in spirit, Till released from flesh and sin, Yet from what I do inherit, Here Thy praises I’ll begin; Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come; And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood; How His kindness yet pursues me Mortal tongue can never tell, Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me I cannot proclaim it well.
O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.
O that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face; Clothed then in blood washed linen How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace; Come, my Lord, no longer tarry, Take my ransomed soul away; Send thine angels now to carry Me to realms of endless day.
I tend to buy most of my figures as unpainted castings. This way I can modify them as I see fit so that there is no repetition in poses. The girl on the pier is a composite made from no less than three figures, the embracing couple is done with five. I make a plastic putty from the casting sprues by dissolving them in Testor's Plastic Glue. I apply lumps of it where I'd like to add hair or enhance features, allow it to harden about 24 hours, then carve it to shape and paint. My workbench can look like Frankenstein's lab at times...
...yes, it's modeling, I had to paint all my figures in my set...ended up painting them for the 'Skins and the Colts...well, at least as close to those teams as a 10-year-old could get.
It's gonna be a long, dry summer 'til the pigskin flies again...sigh...
“The wisdom of God appears in ordaining such contemptible and, in appearance, opposite means, to accomplish such glorious effects. The way is as wonderful as the work. That Christ dying on the cross, a reputed malefactor, should be made our everlasting righteousness; that descending to the grave, He should bring up a lost world to life and immortality, is so incredible to our narrow understandings that He saves us and astonishes us at once. In nothing is it more visible that the thoughts of God are far above our thoughts and His ways above our ways as heaven is above the earth (Isa 55:8). It is a secret in physic to compound the most noble remedies of things destructive to nature, and thereby, make one death victorious over another: but that eternal life should spring from death, glory from ignominy, blessedness from a curse, is so repugnant to human sense that to render the belief of it easy, it was foretold by many prophets, that when it came to pass, it might be looked on as the effect of God’s eternal counsels”(W. Bates, The Harmony of the Divine Attributes, 1680).
WARNING: A.W. Pink is not for the passive pew warmer.
"Except for the motor and eight helical gears, this 1:87 free-lance 4-12-12-6 locomotive was crafted entirely in 18-karat gold by R Damiano of Milan, Italy. The value of the gold alone is more than $2200; including some 3500 hours of construction, the builder values the model at $25,000. The design somewhat follows Union Pacific RR."
It's been 35 years, I wonder what ever became of it.
These ran all over the beach in the 80s where I used to live. All I did was strip the Postal markings, then open up a side service window. The loudspeakers were made from Tyco HO diesel horns. I drilled the centers for a pin to mount them, leaving a nubbin to represent the sound horn. I considered further decorations but felt they would look too cartoonish. Maybe I'll give other decorations a try later but, for now, my youngest LPBs** are happy to lap up all the ice cream they can get.
**Little Plastic Beings...yeah, I know...sad isn't it?...
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Just a Believer who happens to model trains on a very tight budget, providing a place to showcase my own model work as well as the work of others, regardless of type. Considerations for posting are always welcome. Please check out the modeling links I've put together as well...
Less than God could not have borne your sin so as to put it away; but the infinitely glorious Son of God did actually stoop to become a sin-bearer. I wonder how I can talk of it as I do.
It is a truth scarcely to be declared in words. It wants flame and blood and tears with which to tell this story of an offended God, the Heaven-Maker and the Earth-Creator, stooping from his glory that he might save the reptiles which had dared to insult his honor and to rebel against his glory; and, becoming one of them, to suffer for them, that without violation of his law he might have pity upon the offending things — things so inconsiderable that if he had stamped them all out, as men burn a nest of wasps, there had been no loss to the universe. But he had pity on them, and became one of them, and bare their sins. Oh, love ye him; adore ye him; let your souls climb up to the right hand of the majesty above, this morning, and there bow down in lowliest reverence and adoring affection, that he, the God over all, whom you had offended, should his own self bear our sins.
Though thus God over all, he became a man like unto ourselves; a body was prepared for him, and that body, mark you, not prepared alone, and made like to man but not of man. No, he was not otherwise fashioned than ourselves, he came into the world as we also come, born of a woman, a child of a mother, to hang upon a woman’s breast; not merely like to man, but man, born in the pedigree of manhood, and so bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, yet without a taint of sin. And he, in that double nature but united person, was Jesus, Son of God and Son of the Virgin; he it was who “bare our sins in his own body on the tree.”
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Death For Sin, And Death To Sin," delivered November 16, 1873.
Men, protect your daughters....
“Picture this: Some 17 year old snot nosed punk comes over to take out your daughter, and you say, 'No you aren't worthy of her.' (Immediately everyone is up in arms over your 'judgmental' and 'harsh' position, and for 'breaking your daughter’s heart.') Ok, so let's put it another way now: You have a beautiful, brand new $200,000 Ferrari Testarossa in front of your house, and a snot nosed 17 year old punk comes over to take it for a spin. Would you hand him the keys? See, what your problem is, is that you value a car more than your daughter. Men, protect your daughters!”
My sole purpose for this blog is to lift up the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified on a no nonsense, no ad platform showcasing my work and the work of other modelers, and to practice my hobby with the world behind me, the Cross before me and Kingdom of God in sight. All Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible as I have found on my own that there is none more faithful to the original languages. Unless otherwise noted, all text and photographs are mine. Old ads and product reviews are respectfully posted in good faith that any copyright privileges are not being infringed upon, with no intent to profit or disparage in any way and will be removed upon request of their respective holders.
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