| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| vamodeler |
Posted - 04/01/2009 : 4:42:58 PM
I thought I'd post some of the layout progress that's occured during the last few months.
Here's the boarding house at Laurel, almost done, just need to finish the roof and set the porch in place. Its based on the boarding house originally located at Fontana, NC when R.E. Wood was running a sawmill and logging railroad there.
Download Attachment:  Boarding House.jpg
67.78 KB
Here's a picture of the original. The model is condensed but gives the overall feel.
Download Attachment: Fontana Hotel.jpg
51.77 KB
Here's Climax # 1 comming down grade with a load of logs. Its nice to have the trackwork done!
Download Attachment: Climax #1.jpg
106.05 KB
I tore out the gorge and re-did it. I think its closer to what I had envisioned. Hoping to get the rock coloring done this weekend.
Download Attachment: DC Gorge 2.jpg
56.04 KB |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| vamodeler |
Posted - 04/30/2013 : 12:42:55 PM
The crew from train 3 pose with their "Snodgrass Remover". Notice the smiles on the crew. Red, holding the hammer, still can't figure out how Snodgrass got into the cab of the locomotive
|
| quarryman |
Posted - 02/16/2013 : 11:11:36 AM
quote:
Originally posted by vamodeler
Ah, the Prof. Snodgrass visit to the Deer Creek, a day not easily forgotten.
Amazing how fanciful a story can become when it is passed on unconstrained by factual qualification.
One aspect of the account is very true … Collins is an isolated coal camp in the middle of untracked wilderness. Young Caty Sage may well have been the last outsider to pass through Collins before I arrived on the scene. Trying to strike up a conversation with the natives, I was met with the slack jawed stares of an insolent train crew, the conductor quoting verses from the book of Revelation and insisting I keep my distance.
If indeed the snake was deemed "dead" when tossed into the cab, it's collision with the floor was sufficient to revive it from it's soporific, ecclesiastically induced state. The head end crew were still so captivated by my presence among them that they hardly noticed. Fortunately, keener responses prevailed, and I was able to fend off what could well have been a dreadful turn of events.
The welcome sight of dual gauge track in the outpost of Laurel offered hope of escape from the primeval boondocks, and directly I was on a Norfolk & Western accommodation headed east. The fact that I was able to foil the bad intentions of the hapless denizens of that backwater was no great feat, I assure you.
Prof Snodgrass
Dept of Historic Untenability
E I of EIO |
| vamodeler |
Posted - 02/15/2013 : 09:19:40 AM
Ah, the Prof. Snodgrass visit to the Deer Creek, a day not easily forgotten.
The crew of Train 3 was taken by surprise at Collins (a coal town in the middle of NO-WHERE) when an elderly gentleman appeared in the cab. No one really knew how he got there as the train departed. (Tales were later told of how the conductor, sick of the mans constant bantering pushed him into the cab of the locomotive as he ran for the crummy.) By the time the train rolled into Deer Creek for a water stop Red Haney (the engineer) and Fireman Fred Thompson, were sick of hearing about how the section crew of this part of the line had NO idea how to lay a tangent section of track. This older fellow told wild stories of how even a little quarry operation on the other side of the hills had significantly better easements than this so-called common carrier. He then when into great detail of how one could do this better.
The conductor meanwhile, pulled out one of his favorite Sunday helpers that had passed on during the previous service. (He was known as a preacher on Sunday at the local snake handling church, trains don;t run on Sunday here.) The poor rattler had passed on in the middle of the service. He knew that given the right timing he could get rid of that old-know-it-all in the locomotive and save his crew from great peril. He waited till Deer Creek Gorge and threw it in the cab. Much to the crews dismay, the old geezer grabbed the shovel out of the fireman's hands and out went the snake. No one could believe their eyes, it happened so FAST!
The old guy literally disappeared in Laurel while the crew was doing switching maneuvers. It's a small town but no one claims to have seen him leave. There was talk in the sawmill that some guy was trying to tell the head sawyer how to getter grade saw a hardwood log..........
Red pondered for WEEKS afterward, trying to figure out how that old geezer had gotten him to stop for a photo on the Laurel bridge. Heck, Red wouldn't stop a train for ANYONE!
Brian
quote:
Originally posted by quarryman
quote:
Originally posted by Tom Sullivan
Brian....I chatted with Prof. Snodgrass about a Mann's Creek trip couple of years ago, but we never pulled it off. (something about snakes [:-bigeyes])
Shades Of Death Creek Gorge ... a timber rattler slid off an overhang and landed right on the deckplate. Quick thinking and a handy coal scoop are the only reason I am here today!
Dr. Cyrus P. Snodgrass
Professor Emeritus
|
| Tom Sullivan |
Posted - 02/13/2013 : 11:10:12 PM
That he did!.....and you know what they say......it tasted just like chicken! |
| LandNnut |
Posted - 02/13/2013 : 1:46:49 PM
So did he throw the snake in the fire box with the shovel? |
| quarryman |
Posted - 02/13/2013 : 11:08:31 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Tom Sullivan
Brian....I chatted with Prof. Snodgrass about a Mann's Creek trip couple of years ago, but we never pulled it off. (something about snakes [:-bigeyes])
Shades Of Death Creek Gorge ... a timber rattler slid off an overhang and landed right on the deckplate. Quick thinking and a handy coal scoop are the only reason I am here today!
Dr. Cyrus P. Snodgrass
Professor Emeritus
|
| Bill Uffelman |
Posted - 02/09/2013 : 08:42:50 AM
No ops sessions for me this year because of legislative session and business travel but next year when I retire -- woo hoo!
Bill Uffelman
Ocean View DE until Tuesday |
| Tom Sullivan |
Posted - 02/08/2013 : 7:52:27 PM
Brian....I chatted with Prof. Snodgrass about a Mann's Creek trip couple of years ago, but we never pulled it off. (something about snakes [:-bigeyes])
I've got some heavy duty hiking boots so count me in.....when I took the Cardinal several years ago (in the early spring) we went by Sewell on the return trip......plenty of "ruins" to explore. Just need to get down to the river from the park roads.
Would be neat to explore behind the general store at Clifftop and see if we could pick out the general layout of the trackage and where the loaders were.
tom |
| vamodeler |
Posted - 02/08/2013 : 11:39:03 AM
Bill,
Plan on coming down for the next operations session???
Jeff,
Looking forward to seeing that video....
All,
Hmm, sounds like we should plan a Mann's Creek get together in WV for 2014. Spring or Fall?
Brian |
| Coaltrain |
Posted - 02/05/2013 : 10:27:10 AM
That sounds like a fun plan!
I was going to make a video on painting my hopper cars, maybe I will get it done and get it posted |
| Bill Uffelman |
Posted - 02/05/2013 : 10:21:14 AM
Sign me up for 2014 please!
Bill Uffelman
Headed to Ocean View DE and Washington DC on Friday |
| vamodeler |
Posted - 02/05/2013 : 09:32:32 AM
Coaltrain,
Ok, lets make it a big visit in 2014, we'll pull a crew together, have an op's session, talk Mann's Creek and then go see the real thing!
I'm anxious to try your painting techniques, especially after seeing it first hand. I just so happen to have three cars waiting for the paint shop. Painting is something I can really procrastinate about.......
 |
| Coaltrain |
Posted - 02/05/2013 : 07:47:15 AM
I can't wait to get building mine, but it is on the bottom of a long list, well above it is that PSC shay kit.
The layout looks great, I hope to come see it some day, not this year but I hope 2014 will be the magic year.
I see you have been working on those MC hopper cars. I painted my last one last week and I found that I favor the Floqil base paint, then two washes of AI (Black) and then a wash of acrylic burnt unber and black mix. I am going to paint that Buck Jimmy (maybe this week) and follow the above procedure and see if it works out again. |
| vamodeler |
Posted - 02/04/2013 : 09:13:27 AM
Coaltrain,
Yes, that is the 18-ton side tank version of the Grandtline porter. Its over 20 years old and runs better today than it did then. Lets just say its been rebuilt a few times. I have its on DCC now and contemplating sound.
Brian
|
| Coaltrain |
Posted - 02/04/2013 : 09:00:13 AM
Is that a Grandt Line locomotive? |
Boarding House.jpg
Fontana Hotel.jpg
Climax #1.jpg
DC Gorge 2.jpg