The dangers of owning and operating a diorama...

...enough said...sigh...



NOTE TO SELF: Working cross bucks are really cool. Really, they are very cool. Just not 1" from the edge of the diorama.

Isaiah 43:1-21

(1) But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

(2) When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

(3) For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

(4) Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

(5) Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

(6) I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;

(7) Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

(8) Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.

(9) Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.

(10) Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

(11) I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

(12) I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.

(13) Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?

(14) Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

(15) I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.

(16) Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;

(17) Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

(18) Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

(19) Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

(20) The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.

(21) This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.

Athearn HO scale Southern Pacific "'84 LA Games" SD40-2 dummy

I got the handrails installed while watching ESU send VT packing. I like Athearn handrails alot for their durability but, they can be a bit difficult to install. If they are not a good snug fit, I do one of two things.

---For overly loose parts, I use a bit of Loc-tite Super Glue Gel Control in the end of the part before I insert it.

---For tight fits, rather than force it, I use a heated 25w pencil soldering iron to heat up the end and slowly push it into the plastic. This has the added advantage of a firm grip after the plastic cools. The great disadvantage is that you can slip and ding the body shell with the hot point. Yes, I have done it and no, it is not a pretty sight seeing a 48 year old man go fetal and start sucking his thumb.

Once finished, I brush a drop of regular Crazy Glue to the end of each stantian to keep them perpendicular to the rails and footboards. No, mine are not all straight. Yes, I ran out of glue after I started this project.

Atlas N scale SW1500 in GM Demonstrator colors...

This one was part of a box lot and is one of the early 70s models with the mechanism built by Rivarossi.

I usually don't hesitate to purchase locomotives that don't run as 99 times out of one hundred, I'm able to rescue them. Burned out motors are actually rare. More often they are simply gummed up from age and use and are easily made to run again. This one however, was packed in a granular styrofoam powder that resembled laundry soap. It left an even finer dust that got everywhere in the mechanism, essentially ruining it and the motor of another locomotive that came with it.

After a thorough cleaning, I did my usual bench running to test it. It ran fine, then stopped dead. It will not run until I put a full 12 volt jolt to it. Once placed on the track, it sits there mocking me like some mechanical school yard punk. In short, it has successfully lined itself up as the next candidate for any moon shots I can put together.

Original ad: Cox HO scale model trains...

...from the September 1972 Model Railroader magazine.



I found out that the reason they could speak so well of their equipment is because most of it was being manufactured for them by Athearn at the time.

Athearn HO scale Southern Pacific "'84 LA Olympic Games" SD40-2 dummy

This act of kindness came to me today from the UK. Ken posted a picture of his on the Tyco forum just about the time the Olympics were getting started. I had made a comment about how nice it was and that it really belonged over here stateside, but not thinking anything of it beyond that. Shortly thereafter he PMed me, offering me another one that he had, a dummy, for the price of shipping, it simply had a damaged rear step. I eagerly jumped at the opportunity, and kited him the necessary postal funds. That my middle little sister recently moved to LA made getting it all the more special.

---The beast is flawless save for one bell on the horn, none of the steps were broken (still tryin' to figure out how that happened 'tween here and England, knowing the USPS's record)[ and I now have one of the prettiest Espee lokies outside of the Black Widow paint scheme that they had. Just got to place the railings, something that will be done this weekend whilst watching some college ball.

I am truly humbled and blessed to be in this hobby with folks like Ken and others I've met over the years and hope to live up to that in my dealings.

Wednesday's Word...

From a visitor in the past...

"Nice modeling but, I find the overt Christian message somewhat offensive."

Who art thou?...What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

Enough said...

Original ads: NorthWest Short Line

Model Railroader magazine; September 1972



Those familiar with my HOn30 Climax locomotive build can clearly see the inspiration for it in this ad and others like it.

Undecorated Bachmann HO scale N&W auxillary water tender...

...used both with their Class "J" streamlined 4-8-4s and their 2-8-8-2 Y6bs. Bachmann went all out on these with see-thru roof walks, scale hand rails and coupler lift bars. They also put pizza cutter flanges on it that would make Alessandro Rossi proud. Quite a piece of work for $8.99 back in the late 80s.

Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum...

Atlas HO scale Cotton Belt GP40...

...another product of a "good old boy" trade. Because DD40s were too big to go into a yard, the Espee would run locomotives like these with them to go in and pull out their train.



Yes, I know the Espee ran DD35s AND that the Athearn DD40s more closely resemble said DD35s---but---it's my road, not Tony Koester's.

Psalms 50

(1)---A Psalm of Asaph.--- The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.

(2) Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

(3) Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

(4) He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

(5) Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

(6) And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

(7) Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.

(8) I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.

(9) I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.

(10) For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

(11) I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.

(12) If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

(13) Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

(14) Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

(15) And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

(16) But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?

(17) Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.

(18) When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.

(19) Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.

(20) Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.

(21) These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

(22) Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

(23) Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

"CSI-Model Railroading"

Got a nice boxlot of locomotives and a box car in a "good ol' boy" type trade that included this HO scale Bachmann Santa Fe 4-8-4 "Northern". At first glance it appeared the only thing missing was the bell on the front of the smoke box...


...but on closer examination, I noticed that the feed water pump detail had been gnawed away in a previous life. It was done to make room for details cast onto the cylinders that aren't found on a Northern locomotive normally. The other side revealed a valve detail that was bent down by the running boards. Hmmmmmm...


....ahhhh...another clue...the trailing truck sports wheels that are almost half the size of a Northern's truck. Not only that, the truck is metal whereas the truck on the Northern model is plastic---AND---it's too far forward by about 18 scale inches.

The red brakeman's lanterns were really flashing in my inner rivet counter's eye's until I sought refuge in HO Seeker's excellent online archive of locomotive models and deduced that it was a Northern shell applied to a UP Overland model drive unit. This was later confirmed by its previous owner and with that, my alter ego Sternly Hardcase, a.k.a. "Rivet Counter Man", was driven back into his dark lair, before he got a glimpse of my Tyco locomotive collection.

UPDATE: My CSI work apparently didn't extend to noticing the missing eccentric rod on the other side...sigh...guess my fall project will be melding my other Northern with this one. It'll work...honest...pics to come...

Athearn HO scale CSX C44-9W...

Oh, but to be realistic...


...you gotta have two at least.

Purchased at a flea market, they sport numbers 9023 and 9003. They were often seen at train shows, I never found enough cars to slow them down. Now decoder free, they spend their daze wandering aimlessly around the test loop or sunning themselves on my diorama, daydreaming of days gone by when a consist of 45 cars was a day off.

HO scale helium cars...

One of the more unique cars one could have on your roster, mine also show the sharing of car body molds over the years. The green New York Central unit is an AHM issue from the late 60s, early 70s. The red Southern Pacific unit is a recent acquisition, one of your classic "good ol' boy" trades, and is a Roco from about 20 years later.





Still got my eyes peeled for a couple of other paint variations...

Wednesday's Word...

Isaiah 6:1-8

(1) In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

(2) Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

(3) And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

(4) And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

(5) Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

(6) Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

(7) And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

(8) Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

I have to be honest...I quietly steer clear of many newcomers to the hobby. It's not that I don't like them or that I don't like sharing what I know. I actually enjoy showing someone the ropes to scenery, maintenance and such. But, experience has taught me that a sizable number of these folks will end up with a dust covered "Plywood Pacific R.R." pining away in the corner of a garage, basement or attic in less than a year, the reality of the diverse skills, time and money involved smacking them upside the head pretty hard. If they stick with it that first year or so, then I know I have a fellow hobbiest who truly enjoys the hobby for what it can do for you rather than what it appears to be on the surface.

Alas, the same can be said for far too many of those I've met over the years in church. The initial "Rah rahs" have given way to the hard reality that there is more to the real faith than what meets the eyes. So many don't see the LORD as King of all Creation so much as they see a debt counselor, medicine man, cosmic life ring or celestial panic button. When the true price of believing rears its head, their starry visions, plans and dreams get set aside for the tyranny of the here and now, thus allowing the dust to gather on any faith they might have had at the beginning.

Tears must be shed, pain must be endured, losses must come, that which appears good must be set aside for the better---we must see ourselves and our desires for the absolute wretches that we and they are apart from Him. That He must redeem, He must sanctify, He must deliver and He must call. Once you see yourself for who you really are and He does the necessary work of redemption and sanctification, if you are still willing, then and only then can He send you out as one of His own.

AHM HO scale SD40-2 custom Western Maryland paint scheme...

...received this from a modeler up in Canada. Whoever painted it knew their road's roster. I've always enjoyed having a bit of someone else's work in my fleet so I was really pleased to pick up this one though, at the time, I didn't know that it was a custom paint job I was buying. The postal services made sure I would keep them high on my B list, the front and rear railings were all but destroyed en route. A little bit of Ambroid's Pro-Weld kept me from going down to the post office and biting someone on the ankle.

An amazing collection of vintage model airplane engines...

Bear with it in the beginning, it is a tour of the whole shop.

IHC HO scale Fairbanks Morse C Liner...

..."Corky's Carnival Caravan"

Like those Tyco GG1s, I could not imagine wanting one of these things 25 years ago...but, alas, the nostalgia bug bit and I was able to pick the set up for an exceptional price at a local swap meet. Because of the pastel colors of the roofs on the boxcars, my son calls it the "birthday train".



Come on, you know you want one...besides, they run great AND they are easily converted to DCC.

Genesis 13

(1) And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

(2) And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

(3) And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;

(4) Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

(5) And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

(6) And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

(7) And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

(8) And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

(9) Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

(10) And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

(11) Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

(12) Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

(13) But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

(14) And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

(15) For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

(16) And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

(17) Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

(18) Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.