I was contemplating what I wanted to do for the next two days prior to leaving for Texas.  Tomorrow is Independence Day.  I model the summer of 1976, and last year I bought a pair of CNW 40-ft trailers to place on my 96-ft flat cars to simulate TOFC trains.  They are Walters units decorated for the Bicentennial and they are absolutely PRISTINE!  

   

It made me think.  Were these trailers brand new in 1976, or were the trailers just repainted?  Personally, I'm trying to weather most of my rolling stock to reflect the era - 1976 was NOT a good time for railroads, and I model early Conrail when stuff was held together with bubble gum and a prayer. I really wanted to find some grimy trailer examples.  Time for a web search...  Found this one....

   

So, the one on the trailer looks like the bicentennial paint was applied after years of trailer use, which was really what I was hoping for.  The prototype also has corrugated sides versus the flat sides on the Walters version.  I think I'll just ignore that difference. I figure that I'll tape off the red, white and blue stripes and other markings and apply most of the weathering treatments to each trailer and then give the stripes a dusting...  More photos of the process coming.

Occasionally a Kadee coupler will lose it's spring.  You're left with a coupler that at random points lets go of the car ahead of it and if you aren't paying attention, you have a train to reconnect.

I have spare springs, but either I mess them up trying to get them to seat on the coupler spring posts, or they go flying off into Never-Never land.  They are small and are like wet fish on the end of a hook.  Has to be a tool for insertion, but I haven't seen one.  Any luck?

Trying to keep cool on this hot day in Leetown

P1470251 by Ed Creechan, on Flickr

as mentioned on the campfire started another bash from an orphan that was given me with a bunch of some one's junk. this started out as a revel maintenance shed that had seen better days got rid of what was left of the tie pile took out the speeder tracks and made an oil change pit kept the drum storage rack added a waste oil barrel and made a tire changer spindle also added a burn barrel that will have a 1.5 mm light amber led at bottom. the paint i wanted to reflect age, like the owner old and kind of well used the pit will have a grid cover the one in photo is too heavy will find lighter one.

Jim
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Found this site a few weeks ago and thought I'd try joining.

I'm 55 and have been modeling in HO since my boyhood.  It's been fits and starts until around 2006 when I decided to devote some of my basement office into a model railroad.  Still a lot of fits and starts, but some progress has been made.  The website in my signoff line is devoted to the creation and ongoing efforts.

I model the "Rainbow Years" of Conrail in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - former bankrupt railroads amalgamated by the U.S. Gov't.  All diesel, nothing under wire, no diesels newer than 1975. 
Who would have thought that eventually this monstrosity could turn a profit and get sold off to CSX and NS?  

My formative years were spent in the Poconos of Pennsylvania where I regularly saw the mainline of the Erie Lackawanna and could travel south and see the Lehigh Valley, the Reading and the Penn Central.  I could travel west and find the Delaware and Hudson.  Then (eventually) came Big Blue and many changes in rail lines near my home.

Track is laid and I've been running trains for more than 10 years while I add scenery bit by bit and do things like weather my fleet.

I like to share techniques and learn from mistakes - thought joining this site might be useful for both!

WPMA-40 makes a shove down Packer Ave.

Bruce

   

WPMA- 29 passes through Lubbers Run, while the transfer run from Camden, WPMA-61, makes it's way to the Mannheim Yard.

Bruce

   

Caught the Oisin Sand Cat car mover shoving two cars down to the interchange with Conrail.


Bruce

   

The Leetown Division recently celebrated a historical event to recognize the retirement of the road's most senior employee---engineer John Ramsay.John was born in Stirling Scotland, joined the Royal Navy during WW2 and after the war worked as a fireman on the steam locomotives of the London Midlands and Scotland RR. until he immigrated to Canada and settled in Leetown where he quickly found employment on the CNR Leetown Division.It wasn't long before he qualified as a locomotive engineer and never missed a day in his 55 years of dedicated service.Reluctantly and with regrets John decided it was time to pack in his beloved career so he can spend time with his extended family.
Management on the Division wanted to do something special to mark this occasion and when they learned that there was a special tour of British locomotives in Canada to celebrate Canada's connection to the British Empire arrangements were made to have these locomotives visit Leetown at the same time as John's retirement.John's last runs were at the controls of the famous "Flying Scotsman" and LMS #5112 which he actually fired back in Britain.

P1470091 by Ed Creechan, on Flickr

P1470095 by Ed Creechan, on Flickr

I'll get started early this week and I am hoping for more pictures this week.  Here is a PRR passenger train overtaking a livestock train near the summit.      Charlie