Cylindrical hopper in HO scale...

...my first pic with my then new diorama and camera.

Matthew 16:1-4

(1) The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

(2) He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

(3) And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

(4) A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

POINT TO PONDER:

Are you looking for evidence or excuses?

A friend's Broadway Limited HO scale Espee Cab-Forward AC-5, #4120...

...storming out of Los Angeles yard on his massive layout. It takes just over an hour to traverse one lap in an operating session.

If you're ever invited there---DON'T TAKE THE HIGHLAND JOB!

My "ROOMS" sign is finished and wired...

...I'll take a pic under lights when it's all painted this weekend. I'm just ducky with how light and airy it came out and the effect is fantastic.

Just a progress shot...

...from my Inglenook Switching Puzzle.

Kaiser Studio 'bash in HO scale...

Now that Mike has jammed a 440 volt cattle prod into my side with his work on my pawn shop, I had to come up with a neighbor that would be up to that kind of snuff.



I started with this forlorn looking wood frame deal in yellow...





...adding a kitchen vent, roof ladder, water tank and smoke jack. I also added front and rear door lighting.

Because I wanted to have a small flophouse for my road crews, I needed a sign to beckon to them and wayward tourists as well. I started with a "ROOMS" sign from the scrap box, gluing the letters to two pieces of H channel, then cutting the bottom rail off.



Lights were added using LEDs carefully wired in with hidden buss bars. I wanted it as airy as I could get it.





I will be working on a billboard frame that will mount this on the roof next. I will also be painting the whole building and building a show box window for the front of the store.

Rivarossi HO scale GG1 in custom Brunswick Green and single stripe...

...one of their earlier "pancake" motored versions. It is a great runner and, while not professionally done, the paint scheme is an authentic portrayal of that color and numerically correct.



I know it sounds morbid but I never forget our lives truly are but a vapor. One day this was the pride of someone's workshop, possibly of a locomotive of some significance to them as a fond memory. Now it belongs to me, passed on through the years by way of an estate auction here, a yard sale there, long disconnected from it's first owner who has since gone the way of all men.

Never forget it's just a hobby...time is just too short to have your epitaph scattered to the wind. Very few who wind up with a piece of your work will give you or your family a second thought.

Isaiah 58:1-14

(1) Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

(2) Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

(3) Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

(4) Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

(5) Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?

(6) Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

(7) Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

(8) Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

(9) Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

(10) And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

(11) And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

(12) And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

(13) If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

(14) Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Two miles of freight cars...

...three locomotives, 15,000 tons, 2% grade...priceless soundtrack.

Crank it up...

Hyram and Billy Joe Ray Bob...

...inspect the newly painted pilot on my Harley Davidson F unit.

And the pilot on my Harley F unit is repaired...

Just a bit of styrene, some file work and paint and it'll be good to go.

The 2 Guyz N scale boxcar...

...toured my layout today.

Reel Rides, Hot Wheels 1/87 cars...

...that I hope Wal-Mart will continue to carry. The Hot Wheels 1/87 issues have some that are definitely larger than HO but the two shown are pretty close. The two on the left come from Reel Rides and are knockouts to behold, right down to "The Judge" printed on the side of the GTO. As you can see, my LPBs are celebrating their new rides with a little pizza party on a finished parcel on my Inglenook Switching puzzle.

1996 Harley Davidson Commemorative train set...

...a chastening rod of the Lord, I should have walked away as the price was just too good to be true. I found a missing railing on the caboose and a broken pilot on the engine and what looks to be a glue burn on the caboose side. While I've been able to make most repairs, I should have let it lie on the table in the first place. The money lost may not be great, but it could go to better places then yet another project on my "Round Tuit" list.













The set features an 8 wheel drive F unit with a matching wide vision caboose. There are four cars, each lettered for two motorcycles that Harley Davidson currently offers. There are at least two other sets that Harley has offered over the years.

Today's monster scratchbuild...

...well...actually...several, and on a scale I could not even imagine. My newest link is to the Internet Craftsmanship Museum and it is a treasure trove of model work on par with the finest masterpieces ever painted or sculpted.

This 1/8 scale 1936 John Deere Model "D" is just incredible, modeled detail for detail, replicating every facet of the real tractor. You have got to see this puppy run...





Mike Rehmus/Forrest Atkinson photos

To my brothers and sisters in Christ...

...Rejoice! For He is Risen...1 Corinthians 15:10-28

(10) But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

(11) Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

(12) Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

(13) But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

(14) And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

(15) Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

(16) For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

(17) And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

(18) Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

(19) If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

(20) But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

(21) For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

(22) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

(23) But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

(24) Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

(25) For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

(26) The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

(27) For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

(28) And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

My curbs are in...

...made from scrap sidewalk material that comes with Model Power kits, I pieced them together, then painted them tan with a wash of black paint.

Model train rule # 3...

No matter what era you model, bright red Lamborghinis and purple Firebirds from your little girl fit perfectly and are to be parked near the front for all to see.

Grade crossings and roads made easy...

...using match sticks, roofing shingles, paint pens and pastel chalks.



Glue 'em down, carve 'em to rail top level, a bit of sanding...



...stain 'em with your favorite weathered wood wash---mine varies between dirty paint thinner or thinned Nutmeg acrylic craft paint from Wal Mart---cut your shingles to width and length, then secure back side up...



...straight edge, paint pens and pastel chalks for weathering sealed with clear matte finish...



...the bolts are simulated by poking a pencil point into the soft wood...



...and your LPBs will be the envy of any road department.

The N scale Basic and Mostly Credible Railroad...

...was a surprise that came from out of the blue. A gentleman heard that I liked model trains and sent me an email offering his layout to me, free for the taking if I'd only come by and pick it up....engines, cars and all.

It wasn't long before I realized that my time constraints left me with sporadic operating times at best, made all the shorter by the necessity to clean the track and dust everything down before I could run. Since we needed a bookshelf for our exploding library of books and I own a couple of tools to boot, I designed and built this combination bookshelf cabinet for my layout.

It features storage for my HO equipment and projects and the layout, both on full extension drawer slides. Now both my model work and layout remain in a dust free environment and are ready to go at the pull of a drawer.











There is additional storage for the boxes and unassembled kits that go with the hobby in the cubby hole, an accident of design that works out well for maintenance and wiring issues that may come up.