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...in progress, just haven't felt like painting. My LPBs are itching to get off to a weekend in Hatteras once finished though...
Apparently AHM had Penn Line for a bit before Bowser picked them up in '63. First made by Varney in the '50s, then Penn Line, they were released under the Life-Like "Scene Masters" series in the 1980s. Very little had changed on them over the years. Life-Like did retool the truck molds and cast them in Delrin plastic.
These were $2 for the pair at a swap meet. They came with their original boxes though one was missing its trucks and couplers. There was also one complete original lighting kit included. It appears that it was part of the kit and not an aftermarket item. I installed a pair of Central Valley trucks in place of the missing set and body mounted Kadee #5 couplers. Now they will join my Life-Like variations that wear NYC and Pennsy colors.
IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
(17) Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
(18) Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
(19) The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.
Worship: God's Awesomeness
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
--Romans 11:33
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary lists 550,000 words. And it is a
solemn and beautiful thought that in our worship of God there
sometimes rush up from the depths of our souls feelings that all
this wealth of words is not sufficient to express. To be articulate
at certain times we are compelled to fall back upon "Oh!" or "O!"--a
primitive exclamatory sound that is hardly a word at all and that
scarcely admits of a definition.
Vocabularies are formed by many minds over long periods and are
capable of expressing whatever the mind is capable of entertaining.
But when the heart, on its knees, moves into the awesome Presence
and hears with fear and wonder things not lawful to utter, then the
mind falls flat, and words, previously its faithful servants,
become weak and totally incapable of telling what the heart hears
and sees. In that awful moment the worshiper can only cry "Oh!" And
that simple exclamation becomes more eloquent than learned speech
and, I have no doubt, is dearer to God than any oratory.---Born
After Midnight, 84-85.
When I was a member of a club, I ran Thomas often at train shows and open houses, to the delight of children and their parents. I well remember the squeals of a little girl as she came into one of our open houses. When her eyes fell on Thomas across the layout, she called out, "Thomas, Thomas, look Mama...", as she ran across the room. Just as she got up to him, Thomas' eyes moved towards her and she squealed, "Mama, Mama, he looked at me, Thomas is real, he's real!!" Moments like that made him worth every penny and there were plenty of those moments to cherish.
Then there was a meeting. Apparently one of the members had objected to Thomas running through their expensive and hard built scenery and so a vote had to be brought up. Though they were never named, it was clear from the agitated stance who it was, a modeler whose work I liked and looked to for inspiration. Not wanting a war to break out over something I thought trivial, I offered not to run the locomotive any longer. But, the die was cast, the issue had to be properly resolved and, by an overwhelming majority, Thomas was voted to stay.
Sadly, the friendship I had with the modeler involved, did not survive the debate. They chose to carry the resentment on, even though I never ran Thomas again. When I heard news of his death a few months later, I was deeply saddened at the thought of carrying such a chip on one's shoulder into eternity over something so utterly pointless. Now more than ever I remember that this is just a hobby, a mindless platform that God has blessed me with and to use to reach others. One day it will all burn, a thousand years from now it will be a distant, fading memory of a temporal life, as we live forever in His presence---or apart from it. Never forget that.
...my "Rod of Correction". You would think that, with less than $60 invested in the previous two articulateds, that I would simply trust the Lord to bring one of these Big Boys along---if He so desired---and at a price comparable to what I've paid before. Nope. $125, a nasty banging around in the box it was shipped it, the revelation that it was parted together from several different models over the years and a year and a half of part hunting had me place the "Lord" back into the Lord Jesus once and for all in this hobby.
This is not to say that doling out $25 Big Boys is a demand we can place on God nor is it to say that fulfilling my hobby desires are at His beck and call. The verse goes..."If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Yes, it turned out beautifully but, my goal is to be conformed to His Image...that He allows me to piddle with some of the toys of this world shouldn't even move the needle on my priority meter.
...from the December '66 Model Railroader magazine ad.
I purchased it at a swap meet for $25 because it "had a hitch in it" that the original owner couldn't resolve. I brought it home to find that its boiler weight was warped from zinc pest. I broke the weight into 3 pieces, then glued them back straight with JB Weld. After some filing and fitting, I installed DCC and added weight over the drivers. It regularly pulls about 25 cars up a 1.75% grade very well.
(1) (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.
(2) 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.
(3) When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
(4) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
(5) For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
(6) Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
(7) All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
(8) The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
(9) O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
I made it to third base in my hunt for all 4 articulated locomotives produced by AHM/Rivarossi with this purchase of a Norfolk and Western Y6b mallet. It was picked up for $30 at the same swap meet as the plow.
This was given to me by one of the sellers at a swap meet today. He seemed pleased that I appreciated his workmanship and old school models and was glad to know it was going to a home where it was going to be enjoyed.
UPDATE: Thanks to Larry at HO Seeker, my thought that this was an old Ambroid kit appears to be true. From a 1964 ad, the B&M original snowplow, third down on the right...
The caboose in the previous shots was found in the dust and rubble of a large HO layout that was built in a shed. The original owner passed away 6 years previously, and friends and family helped his wife part out and sell down most of the layout. They left several boxes of buildings and old cars that had little value, where they remained as the shed fell down around them. I managed to pick this and two other cars out of the dust and spider webs, to reveal a unique weathering job placed there by time, rodents and rain---just like the real ones. I only added lettering for my road, blending it in with the weathering already present, then sealing it with clear flat.
...stretching its legs on my newly scenicked shunting puzzle.
(1) Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
(2) Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
(3) For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
(4) Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
(5) For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
(6) For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
(7) For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
(8) In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
(9) For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
(10) For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
(11) O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
(12) And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
(13) And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
(14) In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
(15) Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
(16) Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
(17) No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
