Railfanning the JGL, 6/30/64

cn nutbar

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hi gary---great thread,I wish I was there for the railfanning---beautiful scenes and all those steam locomotives---what more could you ask for aussie
 
N

nachoman

Gary, you need about 374 LPBs to line up in a "photo line" where they are all getting the exact same photo and a few complaining because someone else walked in their way :D If I saw that on a model railroad, I would 1) be impressed that someone bought that many LPBs just for that scene, 2) Be laughing for days!! :D :D

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Kevin
 

Gary Pfeil

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Thanks for the kind words everyone, sorry it took so long for me to get nack to you. It took me about an hour Friday to type the story and attach photos, and my wife got really upset with me, one of those times when all you can do is shake your head and deal with it, ya know? We were waiting for our sons to come over to go out to dinner together, so I figured I wasn't holding up anything. But she wanted to talk about something at work, and of course didn't bother saying so, I guess I should be psychic! Somtimes these things happen, all's well now!

Charlie, I had a few packages of railbars on hand from back in the 70's (I'm a bit of a packrat!) I din not have enough and had my lhs order me some Details West code 70 ones, their # is RB933. In the meantime I had Smooth-on rubber mold and plastic casting compounds on hand so made a casting of the sprues I had, I can not remember whose they were, but think Grandt Line perhaps. The Details West ones look better, but are thicker and I found it was necassary to rub them on sandpaper to thin them so they don't stick out too much. Also, they fit code 83 web very nicely, but for code 70 I aldo lightly sanded top and bottom to get them to fit inside the web. In the pics, the mainline is code 83, the yard is 70.

I had asked a couple friends to come over for an operating/shooting session upon completion of the scene, I was so thrilled to have 12' of relatively complete railroad. Of course, there are always possibilities to super detail, like 374 railfans :) but that can come later, I'm working on a turntable now, who knows, by Christmas maybe another thread showing steam in an engine facility. Here's one more for the Doc

P1040409a.JPG
 

Gary Pfeil

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Thanks Miles. Yes, it is me, Gary. A month or so ago when the Gauge had some problem, the link in my favorites started bringing me to the site as a guest, I couldn't log in and 4 messages to the admins went unanswerd so I have to assume thaey did not receive them. So I have rejoined as jglfan.

Don't know what type of car you want, but Kadee offers there 50' box painted unlettered. I bought one but have done nothing with it yet.
 

sumpter250

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Gary,
I have to admit that I don't get to this forum too often, and just found this! Great shots!, and a great theme. It's been too long since visiting you, but life, work, and the current price of gas has made major travel a bit hard to accomplish.
Thanks for the fan trip! Wish I could have been there!
Pete
 

steamhead

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Wow...!!!! Fantastic work...All those scenes plus some awesome power really made my day..!!! Love that Mike..!! :thumb:

I had to take a break from looking...had to go get the drool bucket....:mrgreen:
 

Gary Pfeil

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Hi Pete, thanks. I often wonder if another family function (hopefully something like a wedding!) might bring you back this way and you'd be able to stop by again. I had hoped for lots of operating sessions, grown in scope since you were here, but as it has turned out I rarely have as many as 3 people here at a time, so haven't really been able to tke advantage of the whole railroad simutaneously. Would love to do so! Hopefully I could get Blake and Jim back over if you were to visit. But yeah, you're right about gas!

Thanks Gus, Josh. Gus, not sure which Mike you mean but think you're talking C&O. I have several shots of that I've posted over the years, I'll see about getting a few posted here.
 

steamhead

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Sure enough...#2341...!!! What a brute...!!

I've got a Mike kit that I've been meaning to build someday...I think that engine might be just the kick in the pants that I need to get going....:thumb:
 

steamhead

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WoW....Beautiful (??) engine...!!! I presume you did all the super-detailing yourself. What was the "stock" model you started with..??
Can't say it enough...This engine, together with Dr. Wayne's, are the best steam models I've ever seen...:thumb:

P.D...Do you have any more views (right side, rear, tender...)...I'd sure like to see them so I can steal your work, fair and square....:mrgreen:
 

Gary Pfeil

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Heh, I'd like to take credit for the detailing, but in reality it is a brass model and no additional details were added. Just added/balanced the weight and painted. It runs beautifully. And hauls well too. Sorry!

Regarding additional photos, I have none in my files, but will try to take some over the weekend.
 

steamhead

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Yes..It had ocurred to me that it might be a brass model...Doesn't take anything away from your efforts at "bringing" to life...Love it..!!
I also associated pilot-mounted headlights with articulateds, but this baby looks just great..!! Does it follow a particular prototype..? More..More..!!:thumb:

P.D. - I guess it's obvious now why my "handle" is Steamhead....:mrgreen:
 

Gary Pfeil

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Gus it is a K3a. I t was the first brass loco I bought, back around 1979 or so. PFM used to place ads on the rear cover of Model Railroader back then, and when I saw the photo of this loco I just had to have it. I hadn't chosen a prototype road to model, and wasn't particularly interested in the C&O, but they sure did have nice looking steam. Those dual pumps mounted high with the narrow smoke box door between and the low mounted headlight were standard for some time and really scream C&O. And yes, it was quite large and powerful for a 2-8-2. I believe much more powerful than the NYC H10, tho it is impressive too. A couple shots of it that show it much better than the ones in the thread did:

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