An old boat: the Marin
When I was younger I used to go climb and play on this little ship. Many years later (around 1982) I got a picture of it. Unfortunately, I only had a cheapo camera and the boat has since collapsed. I...
View ArticleSan Francisco wharf details
Waterfronts have always been interesting to me since they are often funky and usually have lots of history visible. I live just across the bay from San Francisco and a couple weeks ago I took the ferry...
View ArticleNeat BNSF HY Rail Truck
I work in Point Richmond, California and we have a big BNSF yard (formerly Santa Fe) nearby. I have always loved trucks that have been heavily customized for their work and this of course includes...
View ArticleMore Hy Rail trucks
Or is it Hi Rail? Seen in Point Richmond, Ca. See also this previous post.
View ArticleSketching and drawing as a tool in model building
Sketching is a really important part of model building and design. Some of my best ideas come to me while killing time in meetings or classes that are not keeping or needing my attention. Sad but true....
View ArticleBNSF autorack loading yard in Point Richmond, California
I try to go for a walk every day at lunch and I usually climb this big hill behind the office where I work. From the top of this hill I can look down on a mini-yard which is dedicated to loading and...
View ArticleStill more road-rail trucks
This nice Ford road-rail truck caught while the driver was picking up his lunch in Point Richmond, California. The track of the truck’s wheels always looks narrow on these road-railers since they need...
View ArticleLazy weathering?
Ok, I’m still not getting to my trains. I had this pre-painted 1:25 scale AMT 1962 Pontiac Catalina model that I had started and I needed to get it off my workbench. I had started it thinking...
View ArticleModeling Northwestern Pacific locomotives part 1: NWP 4-4-0s in the 1920s
Small, nimble on the rails and with beautiful proportions, the classic 4-4-0 “American” has always been one of my favorite engine types. As I mentioned in my last post, the Northwestern Pacific...
View ArticleModeling Northwestern Pacific locomotives part 2: Modeling NWP 8
I’ve always loved NWP number 8 as shown in this 1915 view below. I’d like to try to use this IHC 4-4-0 Old Time American as a starting point to model NWP 8. These models have been around since the...
View ArticleCool African narrow gauge railroad
Interacting with Miniature Railroading posted a link to this great one-hour long video of a railroad in Eritrea. Eritrea: Rebirth of a Railway and Steam Trains Play full size in new browser window
View ArticleA model ship building workshop
I work hard at being a member of too many model groups. Probably as a means of making sure I never get anything done. One of my favorite groups that I don’t have time for is the Hyde Street Model...
View ArticleSmall self-propelled crane
My son and I were walking around Sausalito one bright winter morning on a “photo walk.” I was teaching my son about taking pictures and turned back and saw he was taking a picture in a parking lot....
View ArticleHow’d I get Ted Wurm’s book?
I recently mentioned to my wife that one of the books that got me interested in small railroads as a child was Dorothy Newell Deane’s 1960 book Sierra Railway, which I found in my grandparents’ library...
View ArticleThe Corte Madera Creek Bridges
Corte Madera Creek trestle. Facing east, north is to the left. One of the clearest remaining artifacts of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad in southern Marin County is the Corte Madera Creek trestle...
View ArticleWhat’s on the workbench?
I haven’t written much lately but I’ve been building a LOT. As I mentioned in July, We moved to a new house with a workshop . The plan was to use the shop space for the layout (of course) and a...
View ArticleJust horsing around
There has been a wave of Warhammer 40K modeling and game playing sweeping my place of employment lately. A common scale is what is called “25 mm” and is taken as 1:72 scale. I think the methods routine...
View ArticleGreat decal application tutorial
David Lyman a.k.a. Dan D. Sparks posts a great description of how he makes and applies home-made decals to his Birney car project. Really nice work. Photo by David Lyman, Dan D. Sparks
View ArticleThe Walt Disney Family Museum
Walt Disney was a model railroader. Indeed, his idea of Disneyland was as a huge walk-in, live-in complete model railroad. Recently the Walt Disney Family Museum opened in San Francisco. We just went...
View ArticleCalifornia Railroad Museum
Last week we took the Amtrak Capital Corridor train from Emeryville to Sacramento and walked over to the California State Railroad Museum. I had never been there before and it is really a great place....
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