Hi folks,

I'm actually in the process of detailing a pair of HO Bachmann GP9. It should be a relatively straighforward process

My goal is to paint and detail them as if they were among those few engines that survived in their old original paint scheme. The only issue about Bachmann paint job is that they used GP7 as model. It means "Canadian National" is centered on the carbody. GP9 hves the markings not centered. I could bother erasing and decalling new names but I feel it would make more harm than good.

I checked up a few historical pictures, but have some problem locating some details.

1) Horn. Where are located horn on those model (when they were still wearing the yellow & green scheme)?

2) Are stanchions black? Skirts seem to be black too with front pilot.

Thank you!

Matt

The plunge has been taken and we (myself and my girlfriend) are buying house in the near future (with any luck), so that means a space in which to build a layout (space in UK terms that is).

So what else is there to do but speculate and plan!

Scale will be HO
Period is last 10 years
Theme - secondary line in Northern Maine owned by a as yet to be determined free lanced short line

I am really trying to stick to the less is more approach for this layout.

Hello all

I want to present 3 Christmas layout proposals created in SCARM with Lionel Fastrack pieces. Here are the overall 3D images:







You can download the SCARM track plans and edit the layouts on your computers from here:

Christmas Track Plans (O gauge)

I hope that you will like these examples

Mixy

I'm guessing most of us got our first model trains this time of year, so I thought it would be fun to start a thread about our very first model trains, and the ultimate fate of those trains.

I know I had some push-toy trains as a toddler, but my first model train was an HO Life-Like work caboose in Santa Fe blue with working spotlight given to me by my grandparents on Christmas eve when I was probably 6. The next day, Santa gave me my first locomotive, a Soo Line F-7 which I am sure I destroyed within a few months I ran both of them on my brother's 4x8 HO layout in the basement.

The first model train I bought with my own money was a few years later when I bought one of those Life-Like F7 and caboose combos (Burlington Northern) at an after Christmas sale at a craft store. I probably used birthday money, and I think with the after Christmas sale it was something like 7.99.

Both F-7s are long gone. The cabooses, however, live on! The "caboose" part of the work caboose was kitbashed into an HOn3 caboose, and the Burlington Northern caboose has been given a veneer of wood siding and additional details and is now one of my standard gauge cabooses.

What were your first model trains, and do you still have them?

Merry Christmas from the Madison County Historical Society, Inc. in Anderson Indiana and from me as well.

I have been getting a lot of pop-ups for ads on this site for about the last 4 days now. I'm not getting these on other sites. I get them in IE and Firefox and Chrome ?????

Some of you may already know this, but for those that don't it may be useful.

Here is some photo interpretation basics for converting a photo into usable dimensions for scratch building. This technique was used when I was working in Naval Intelligence and interpreting aerial photography of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Stereoscopic imagery was normally used, but for our use, single photos are sufficient.

It is really simple but involves a little math. To find the dimension for any height or width of a structure taken from a photograph, first find an object in the photograph that you know the actual 1:1 dimension of. The easiest is a door, which is normally 80” high. Now measure the actual dimension of the door on the photo (this can be done right from your monitor). With these 2 dimensions you can now come up with a scale factor. Let’s say that the photo dimension of the door is ¼”.

Scale factor then = Photo dimension / Actual dimension or: SF = PD / AD or .25 / 80 = .003125

This scale factor can now be used to find the actual (real life) dimension of ANYTHING in that particular photo.
Actual dimension then is: AD = PD / SF

If you want to find the length of the wall that the door is in, measure the length in the photo. Let’s say it measures 7/8”.
Actual dimension is then: .875” / .003125 = 280”

All that’s left is converting to your chosen scale by dividing by your scale ratio. For N its 160. (280” / 160 = 1.75”) So the wall, in N scale, should measure 1 ¾”. For HO its 87.(280" / 87 = 3.218").

The most common error when converting dimensions is mixing feet and inches. Keep all your dimensions in inches to make it easier.

Also, a scale factor can only be used on one photo. For another photo you must find another scale factor.

Another trick, if you have nothing to compare, is to place a yardstick in your proposed photo.

Some of you may already know this, but for those that don't it may be useful.

Here is some photo interpretation basics for converting a photo into usable dimensions for scratch building. This technique was used when I was working in Naval Intelligence and interpreting aerial photography of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Stereoscopic imagery was normally used, but for our use, single photos are sufficient.

It is really simple but involves a little math. To find the dimension for any height or width of a structure taken from a photograph, first find an object in the photograph that you know the actual 1:1 dimension of. The easiest is a door, which is normally 80” high. Now measure the actual dimension of the door on the photo (this can be done right from your monitor). With these 2 dimensions you can now come up with a scale factor. Let’s say that the photo dimension of the door is ¼”.

Scale factor then = Photo dimension / Actual dimension or: SF = PD / AD or .25 / 80 = .003125

This scale factor can now be used to find the actual (real life) dimension of ANYTHING in that particular photo.
Actual dimension then is: AD = PD / SF

If you want to find the length of the wall that the door is in, measure the length in the photo. Let’s say it measures 7/8”.
Actual dimension is then: .875” / .003125 = 280”

All that’s left is converting to your chosen scale by dividing by your scale ratio. For N its 160. (280” / 160 = 1.75”) So the wall, in N scale, should measure 1 ¾”. For HO its 87.(280" / 87 = 3.218").

The most common error when converting dimensions is mixing feet and inches. Keep all your dimensions in inches to make it easier.

Also, a scale factor can only be used on one photo. For another photo you must find another scale factor.

Another trick, if you have nothing to compare, is to place a yardstick in your proposed photo.

This thread didn't seem to fit in the description of the "Shutterbug" forum.

Hmmm...apparently no one om this forum even remembered that December 7th was Pearl Harbor Day, or the many military personnel who tragically lost their lives.