...from the 1970s. They would provide you with all the basics for a kitbash, the rest was up to you. You could even build a static 2-4-4-2 saddletank logger from one of their kits and, of course, some enterprising sprite with a lot of talent powered one, outlined in the Jan./Feb. '87 Railroad Model Craftsman magazine. My plow was a partially built one found in a box lot that I finished with whatever kibbles and bits I could muster frm the scrap bin.
I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some snow...
(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!
...the very thought of finding it on a vintage piece can stop a collector's heart. It came my way a couple weeks ago on this very nice Marklin 346/1 HO scale tinplate coach, a reminder of the first law of thermodynamics, entropy---matter tends to go from order to disorder. More on zinc pest can be found here and here.
Though these pieces were given to me, it is a constant reminder that my home and my treasure is not and should never be here.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
...again, in a better, more scenic setting. I model in HOn30, a gauge that allows for the easy adaptation of N scale mechanisms, track and running gear for modeling narrow gauge railroading. The track also allows for the posing of N scale equipment in outdoor light.
April '77
February '70
Original ads from early Model Railroader magazines.
Shortly after I got back into the hobby, I realized that where the hobby was going and what I enjoyed about it were going on wildly diverging directions. The hobby has become very polished with excellent detail, exceptional running and rolling abilities and, with the advent of digital command control and better sound modules, as close to real as you can get in the scale of your choice.
I, on the other hand, just like model trains. I do very little real train watching and am content to run my models in circles for the most part. I am as pleased to own a mint condition, whacked out Tyco fantasy offering that barely stays on the track as I am a slick, well detailed Atlas car that, 35 years ago, could have copped a blue ribbon in a modeling contest.
I've always wanted one of these so I was especially pleased to have it come my way---and only for the price of postage. The blue paint is quite striking if not somewhat over the top. Offered from 1977-87, to find one that runs as well as this one is especially hard. I have a scrapped locomotive to help with the missing hand rail parts but other than that, it is complete and ready to go.
Oh...the color?
It's there for all to see...under all the black its previous owner put on it. ...sigh...
(1) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
(2) For by it the elders obtained a good report.
(3) Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
(4) By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
(5) By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
(6) But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
(7) By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
(8) By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
(9) By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
(10) For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
(11) Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
(12) Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
(13) These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
(14) For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
(15) And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
(16) But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
---"Let us plant ourselves on the hill of Zion and invite the world to come over to us, but never under any circumstances will we go over to them. The cross is the symbol of Christianity, and the cross speaks of death and separation, never of compromise. No one ever compromised with a cross. The cross separated between the dead and the living. The timid and the fearful will cry "Extreme!" and they will be right. The cross is the essence of all that is extreme and final. The message of Christ is a call across a gulf from death to life, from sin to righteousness and from Satan to God."---A.W.Tozer, The Set of the Sail
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
...gifts from a friend. I just love European equipment of all sorts, the pizza cutter flanges are second to none and a quick reminder to rivet counters that I don't take my hobby too seriously.
One of the blessings of this hobby in the computer age is the friendships you can develop with folks from around the country.
This little combination is the work of Ray over at one of my regular online haunts. The business car is a custom build he made for me as part of a car swap we had going in the forum. It sports my online name and looks and tracks pretty sharp. The Mantua shifter was one of the first locomotives I ever owned when I really got into the hobby in 1974. It was lost to time over the years and I really wanted to find one to place in my nostalgia yard. When Ray needed a particular locomotive and I had one to send him, he asked what I would like in return. I said, "Surprise me." He did.
(1) Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
(2) Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
(3) Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
(4) For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
(5) I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
(6) And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
(7) Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
(8) Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
(9) Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
(10) But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
(11) Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
(12) These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
(13) Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
(14) And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
(15) To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
(16) These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
(17) But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
(18) How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
(19) These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
(20) But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
(21) Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
(22) And of some have compassion, making a difference:
(23) And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
(24) Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
(25) To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
...a near flawless classic from daze gone by, this is one of the earliest with a Globe open frame motor. This particular scheme came in red w/ white stripes, black w/ white stripes, yellow w/ red stripes and this silver with red stripes.
"This Train is Bound for Glory: The Story of America's Chapel Cars" is my newest book. I haven't looked forward to reading a piece of non-fiction history like this in a long time, many photos to behold as well. I may just have to build me a G scale model of the "Evangel" after this.
...any Model Railroader magazine printed before 1980. It just lost its charm after a particular modeler was pushed far beyond his welcome and just went downhill from there. When Gordon Odegard passed away in 1991, the last of the old guard was now gone and the magazine took on a sheen that I've never really warmed up to outside of the very occasional newsstand purchase.
My fondest memories include layout photo spreads that showed...gasp...Atlas turnouts with...more gasps...exposed switch machines. My favorite sport was to look for photos of equipment with derailed wheels, especially in ads and in Trade Topics. My favorite pages were those magnificent PFM ads in back...
...sigh... It is still a very good read for the beginner, especially the layout building series that they'll publish regularly. My modeling tastes have simply gone in another direction. At least I can still add to my growing collection of back issues at train shows and under the counter at the hobby shop.
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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