The German LHS and online shop RD-Hobby has a collection of small and simple Motormax cars on stock. Might be of interest at least for the Europeans of us. This is the link in english language:
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I have many older pictures that I would like to share and I hope there are others here that will do like wise.  The excuse is to post photos from the same date in other years.  I hope we can enjoy this . Here are 3 from November 20, 1976 through East Palestine, Ohio             

Where I attend church we have a monthly men's meeting. Last week the gentleman who heads / leads these meetings called and asked if he could have this months meeting in my railroad building. I said sure but what if 20 guys show up? (He has been in my layout) He said we will deal with it. Tonight was when this meeting happened. No one knew what was happening it was billed as a field trip. Well 6 guys showed up. After a brief question answer session, I showed them the basics of DCC and turned them loose, we had a blast. All of theses guys were around 40 yrs old. They became kids. even had a race.

There is a Car Float connection between the PC/KP&W and the LF & NW. Coming in from West Egg, the "Robert H." is shoving Barge #3 into the apron at West Mill.



It's the seasonal grain rush and the float is full of loaded covered hoppers.


Cars are coming from all kinds of roads and locations to unload at the massive Empire Grain complex which looms right behind the Float Yard.


Among them is XTRX 76983.


"Cappy" Foster, the Floatmaster, has his work cut out for him as the Float Yard quickly fills to capacity this time of year. He's in that salvaged baggage car that serves as his office, pulling his hair out and drinking WAY too much coffee!


Fortunately he has a solid crew in the form of Yard Engineer Tommy Catone and Brakeman Wil Washburn with their venerable switcher.


More to come soon! Tommy and Will need to unload the Float pronto!

This project was started several years ago, but set aside for other tasks, both in real-life and in the modelling world. The locos are from Bachmann, while the replacement boilers are from Bowser (originally Varney).

Here's the Bachmann loco pretty-much as it comes. With slide valves and an older-style cab, it could be suitable from the late 1880s to probably the late '30s:



While I'm modelling the late '30s, my road would have either modernised such a loco or scrapped it by this time, so the first task was to equip it with piston valves and a superheater. I simply re-built the slide valves to better-resemble piston valves, and while they're not totally accurate, they'll do for my purposes:

Here's the process:











As for the superheater, well that's mostly for the imagination. However, a new boiler which might better-suit a superheated loco was available, courtesy of my good friend Mister Nutbar. It's from a Varney 10-Wheeler, and I was able to get a second one from Bowser, who had the Varney moulds. Here it is, as made:



...and one of them after "modifications":





...and installed temporarily on the Bachmann drive:



This is where worked stopped, partially because of other responsibilities, but also because I was uncertain of how to deal with the large empty space under the cab and how to attach the new cab (from a Bachmann Consolidation) to the new boiler, and how to fasten it all to the mechanism.

After finally getting back to work on these locos, I realised that the new boiler was overly heavy in the front, due mainly to the custom-cast lead weight within the smokebox. While I could have simply removed the weight, I decided to counterbalance it with a block of lead under the cab, along with some lead in the cab, too.
This necessitated a floor for the cab, and it was attached with screws to the weight inside the Bachmann cab. I realised then that the cab could be attached to the boiler in the same manner as it had been attached to the Consolidation boiler, using a screw up through the weight and into the boiler shell. The lead block under the cab was a perfect place to accept additional screws though the cab's backsheet, holding the rear part of the superstructure to the running gear, and a screw down through the stack and into the cylinder saddle accomplished the same task on the front end.






As you can see, the tender was modified, too. I first narrowed it, as it was wider than the locomotive and looked ungainly. The best way to do this is by filling the tender shell with a solid block of wood and running it through a table saw. Not owning such a saw, I opted for a handsaw, and after a few zrooba-zroobas, had two very roughly-cut halves for each tender shell.
Once the halves were re-joined using lacquer thinner as a solvent cement, there were several large gaps. These were filled by stuffing thinner-drenched bits of styrene into the gaps, then coating the area with more thinner. A couple of days later, after everything had hardened, a sharp blade was used to trim away excess material, and any remaining low spots got a smear of Squadron Green Putty.
I also decided to shorten the tenders: as-built, they looked too big for the locos, but not big enough to do their intended service without stopping for water. I prefer shorter tenders, and since a water stop would be necessary on most trips anyway, I hacked about 3' out near the rear. When it's time for paint, I'll use Archer rivet decals to replace those lost during the surgery.
Here's the front of one of the tenders. The white "V" is one of the styrene patches, and the two female connectors for the power feeds from the tender can be seen atop the scratchbuilt floor:



On the rear, I added footboards, a combination of sheet and strip styrene, along with the actual footboard taken from a Detail Associates diesel detail part set. The brass steps on the rear corners were formed from .010"x.030" brass bar, and pinned in place with .015" phosphor bronze wire:




More filler material visible here at the centre-rear of the coal bunker. I modelled only a partial bunker due to the limited space inside the tender shell for additional weight. The handrails are phosphor bronze wire, while the stanchions are formed from.010"x.018" flat brass bar (Detail Associates) soldered to the railings.




Here's a look inside the tender, with custom-cast lead weights held in place by strip and sheet styrene. With a loose coal load, the tenders weigh about 5oz. each, and I'll probably try to cram a little more lead into them. The extra weight improves power pick-up (the locos have been re-wired and will run without a tender - useful for troubleshooting and testing), and also improves tracking. These locos will likely run doubleheaded in most instances, so good performance is a priority.




I'll continue to add to this thread as construction continues. The first task is to re-build the valve chests on the second loco, then detailing can begin.

Wayne

...and there's a chance they'll take 'em both!




There's a limited choice when it comes to crew members for model locomotives, and many of the ones available don't always fit that well, especially into the cab of a steam locomotive. Of the figures below, only the guy in the foreground (in the coveralls and with no legs) and the guy leaning on the lead ingot (with his back to the camera) are intended as cab occupants, and both are from LaBelle.



The heavy-set guy at left is of unknown parentage, but I found him in a bag of undecorated figures on the "used" table at my LHS. The other fellow with no legs (and half of his bum missing, too) is from Atlas, while the remaining two are twins from Revell, with the one at right having his right arm re-positioned, and a left arm transplanted from another donor. Here's another bunch of the same figures showing how they looked originally:



...and here are the new hires at work:









Now, everybody knows that I'm not a real doctor, so don't be afraid to try these operations at home, folks.

Wayne

Hi all, below a video of our monthly modular meet in Plymouth, UK.

Thanks for Watching.

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Vintage Coke commercial
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Enjoy
Charlie

My wife and I were driving up to Santa Barbara the other day, and we got a big surprise -- a UP office car special deadheading up the Coast.

  UPP 420 Fox River.jpg (Size: 225.23 KB / Downloads: 1746)

  UPP 9004 Harriman.jpg (Size: 233.4 KB / Downloads: 1752)

  UPP 5769.jpg (Size: 233.03 KB / Downloads: 1691)

  Office Car Special North of Ventura.jpg (Size: 206.05 KB / Downloads: 1685)
It is running back down the Valley today.