About to install a 51 foot length of blue rope leds, which is just about right to do a single trace around the whole layout in from the front of the aisle.
Starting to see how I will install lights
Will use the blue lights and perhaps a string of Warm white dimmable rope lights, so I can adjust the balance between the blue and white.
Town in blue night light only
Addition of the white Dimmable light should give a night effect, but still be better able to see.
Forrest being added to multiple parts of the layout, with modified commercial trees in the background and Supertrees and self made evergreens in the foreground.
Modified various trees populating the hills
Will still be modified a little more by subtle grey-blue toning, more as we approach the background
Holiday display in the large gallery space on the second floor of the Museum
O scale yard at the museum
Plenty of details and lights
switch tower
lots of lights
Just returned from Scotland and and traveling to many wonderful sites, but the first one was something I have long admired and always wanted to see, the Firth of Forth Railway Bridge.
Forth Rail Bridge at sunrise
The bridge was everything I thought it would be and more.
View of one area of the massive structure, taken from a boat in the river.
The scale and complexity of the structure is impressive, and built in the 1880s!
Connections of the 12 foot diameter main tubes to baseplates sitting on 70 foot diameter stone piers.
And the suspended section from two cantilever arms.
suspended bridge section
Built in the 1880s but still having busy mainline traffic on both of its double tracks about every 12 to 15 minutes.
passenger train on the bridge.
Just an incredible structure.
The Firth of Forth Railway Bridge
Setting up a few scenarios to photograph for a new mailer.
Setup for a back cover, with a Covered Hopper
Will be doing some Steam Engine and other subjects for the mailer, but here is this first shot
Milwaukee covered hopper
Been coloring these Motrack stone wall castings made of Hydrocal.
Stack of stone wall castings
These are colored, or really stained with many layers of sprayed dilute india ink and dilute woodland scenics burnt umber scenery color. They will be put up end to end with concrete buttresses at the joints of the separate pieces. Actual length of wall about 44 inches long total
Another post about designers and railroads. A few posts back, talking about Raymond Loewy’s design for the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Famous GG1. Here we have the iconic Logo for the New Haven Railway.
New Haven Railroad Logo
Herbert Matter’s NH Logo. This a page from my Type book studying Graphic Design in college.
In 1954 Patrick McGinnis took over the financially strapped New Haven Railroad. His wife Lucille convinced him to come up with a new visual look, to compete with Car and Air travel. Herbert Matter’s fresh clean and modern designs are still seen in some stations and occasionally on a metro-north locomotive as a tribute to the great design. It still lives on even as the New Haven was absorbed into Penn Central about 50 years ago.
Just returned from W. Springfield MA from the biggest model train show in the nation. Quite an experience. Over 400,000 square ft of dealers, manufacturers, modular layouts, etc.
Car in the parking lot right where I pulled in. No doubt I was in train land!
The show is in 4 buildings. this is the entrance to one of the four (Mallary Complex)
Mallary Complex
They have some canvas covered walkways between buildings
covered walkway
This is inside showing less than half of the largest building (Better Living Center)
Partial BLC Hall photo
Some of the manufacturers show a model in progress-undecorated.This is a Rapido Pre-production model at their booth
Pre-Production Alco RS11
They also have some special things like this Real 1895 Baldwin steam engine, built for SD Warren Paper Co, that has been restored to full steam operation.
SD Warren-No-2-2Ft gauge
All in all , a very enjoyable weekend
Switching crew getting an early start on the days work
Switching crew passing the tower on the yard lead-in
Just have to shoot a new engine in its iconic Raymond Loewy 1930s style.
Photo setup
Bachmann GG1 Brunswick Green “Blackjack”