A friend, artist Garth Herrick, was tasked to create something for a New York restaurant display made only out of food offered at the restaurant. So here it is, the great Monterrey Jack Cheese Steam Engine, pretty cool.
Monterrey Jack Engine
Front view
Not easy to work with sculpture medium
Thanks Garth for permission to use these images
At the recent end of October GSMTS in Timonium MD, couldn’t resist adding this item
Bob’s Hot Dog Cart from Oxford die casting. My Namesake
Great day visiting the Vermont Rail yards at Burlington, right on the shores of Lake Champlain.
Vermont Rail System 50th Anniversary GP40-2LW Number 311
Will post more from that day in other posts
Walnut Lane bridge over the Wissahickon creek
The Walnut lane bridge was certainly most of my wanting to reproduce something similar in HO scale. Although the Walnut lane bridge is a roadway bridge with cantilevered sidewalks, the main structural elements for a railroad bridge would be similar, and I did not try to reproduce an exact copy this bridge, which is right in my neighborhood.
Walnut Lane bridge from creek walking path
The bridge was built in 1908 and at that time was the longest masonry arch span in the world, just now finishing a restoration.
Rapids not quite finished. but moving along, flowing off the front of the layout.
Moving on from two posts ago, working with the water
Adding more water layers
showing a detail of tree branch in the water
Tree branch caught in the rapids
Adding more layers including highlights and foam
Rapids with foam
After the second pour was cast and fully cured, I started to detail and assemble the bridge.
Adding stone seam lines stage 1
Then enlarging the grooves with a file, and then a steel rod of the right diameter.
Filing the stone lines
Steel rod in the 3rd stage of scribing the stone lines
I also filed bevels on the vertical edges of the small arches
Filing relief angle on small arches
I then painted the inside walls of the bridge with aged concrete
Testing assembled bridge ( no exterior paint or weathering)
In a future post I’ll talk about painting, weathering and installing the bridge in the layout
About to attend the GSMTS at the MD state fairgrounds this weekend. Always a good show, especially in October and February. Especially looking at Touch toggles for switch machines.
The Extreme Model Railroad and Contemporary Architecture museum in North Adams Mass. 83,000 square feet with 40 foot ceilings to accommodate 35 foot tall Empire State Building.
The article can be accessed here Extreme Model Railroad and Architecture Museum
COOL
Starting to set up various areas of my layout in different weather and time of day scenarios. will in the future try to photograph the same scene in different looks.
Here an Intermountain Box car with some lashing rain
Intermountain plywood panel box car
After leaving Greely, I went with my friends to Buena Vista CO, a very beautiful area, looking out from their house at 14,000 ft peaks.
Buena Vista view of Collegiate Peaks
Another surprise, was that in the Chafee county courthouse housing the Buena Vista Heritage Museum had a model train exhibit, begun in 1984, all about the railroads and mining in the upper Arkansas River Valley.
Buena Vista Model Railroad Society entrance
Area of model around Leadville CO.
An old photograph showing some of the early building of the model railroad
Old building photo