Yes I am dale they even gave me a railroad radio to communicate with the crews when I get there to pick them up or drop them off
While working on the Frisco hopper I had inspiration on the Hughes Lumber/Dock Area, so all stop and get out the scenery supplies. The area has been bugging me for quite a while on how I wanted to scenic it out. So here we go, progress one foot at a time! Thanks for stopping by!
I gotta try and do some detailing like that Dale. That load ramp for the boxcar door reminds me of a cool old story from a trainmaster (TM) I have known for many years. We call him Frank, to protect the guilty. Frank was working a brakemans job In Pueblo early in his career, a couple old DRGW SD9's for power. Anyways he was told to go pull a cut of cars out of an industry one very dark night, there were 6-8 cars in the cut to be pulled. He said there was so much banding and trash laying around, they usually just made the joint, pulled them all out on the lead then aired them all up. Well Frank made the joint, the cars had handbrakes tied so they were a little hard to get moving but those old SD's didnt know when to quit, they pulled them right out, laced them all up knocked the brakes off and went over to the yard shoved into a track and tied up and went home. He then heard a someone banging on his door 3AM, Frank got up sleepy eyed, and answered the door, it was a very irate TM. He was told to get in the travel all and was driven to a a building that was partially knocked down. Now bear in mind Frank was like most RR's, and had a side gig for when he was cut off, in this case a contractor. Well the TM asked Frank how much he thought it would cost the RR to fix this building. Frank said hell, I dont know, but I can put in a bid if you want. He said the TM blew a gasket and told Frank that a few of the boxcars still had those ramps in the doors when they were pulled, and he tore all heck out the building they were pulled from, darn near tore the whole building down. Frank said he didnt even look at that side of the cars, so back into the travel all they went, the TM drove Frank over to the cut of cars and yep some of those ramps were still stuck in the boxcar doors, and the cars had sustained major damage too. Frank said it wasnt too much longer after that they promoted him to a TM. He always joked the RR couldnt afford to keep him as a trainman.
Don't forget to have a Pontiac grand prix with an oil trail leading up to where the motor seized Heavy oil leading to the car and getting thinner as it gets closer has to run out sometime
Tom, I ALWAYS love your stories! A while back I saw a video on how to make homemade static grass clumps with a plastic tub and plastic sheets. I take a plastic sheet and run lines of tacky glue on it. I then place the sheet in the tube and sprinkle in some grass, put the lid on and gently shake the tub My grass doesn’t quite stand up but makes a convincing fringe to put around the base of things. Working out how to put some trash like cups and things now. I always wonder though, just how close you are to these stories! Vince, there will be oil stains in various places for sure. But I have my eye on that old Ford Taurus parked by the little house. I’m thinking that guy needs some of that clear coat cancer cars of that era all seem to suffer from. My 2000 ford ranger beater truck is a prime example. Looks like crap, but it starts every time……
A good friend in the hobby gifted me with some surplus Santa Fe hoppers from his layout. We seem to be trading things we have and can’t use. These have been weathered and patched to the Kansas and Oklahoma. I see KO hoppers coming down from Kansas on a regular basis to the Port. So these ex-ATSF hoppers have joined the fleet. Some are sand cars, some still haul grain, these are still in grain service. Thanks for stopping by! Dale
@dalebaker, the hoppers look like they were well used. Do you know what the status is for Frisco website, I haven't been able to log on for about a week. Joe
Hi Joe, Not to hi-jack this thread. The Frisco.org is having DNS issues, you are not alone in your problems logging on. I have had hit and miss login issues. I am told it is being worked on, but I see no progress.
Dale, those short line RR's and their patch/re-stencils, sure lend to a modelers dream or license for modifications dont they. Great modeling!