Jan 31, 2016

Another YouTube video from Weso

It's amazing how a cell phone can produce a quality video such as this one.
It is also apparent to me that the Inshome modular club here in Spokane needs
a guy to help with members modules to set a standard for the club. Too many
rough spots in the scenery it seems.  Jerry
 
Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2016 5:01 AM
Subject: another YouTube video
 
Jerry,
 
I've posted another video.
This time I put together 40+ clips taken with my cell phone.
The first 15 are from my days at INSHOME.
The rest are shot at Evergreen.
There are no special sounds effects in this one, just the sound of our models trains and members chatting it up in the background.
It's nearly 30 minutes long so grab some popcorn and you favorite beverage!
Oh yeah, share with the masses please.
 
Steve Weso
 
 
click on this here link ----->   https://youtu.be/wq1s5hdIOOY
 
 
 
 

Photo comes in over the internet.

As most of you know we have a model train club in the Spokane Valley but some of you may not know we
used to have a real railroad across Appleway Road. You can see the Greenacres Shopping Center sign on the extreme left of
the photo where our club storefront is located. I want to thank whoever sent it to me as I don't know who W. Gregor is. Photo taken 1979.
( copy below ) Milwaukee Road pulled out of the Northwest in 1980.  CDA Patrol refers to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Tracks are now a bike path.
 
H i Jerry. I thought you and your fellow modelers might enjoy this image of the Milwaukee Road CDA Patrol heading back toward Dishman.
It appears this image was taken right across E Appleway Ave and N Greenacres Rd from your club house. MP-15AC 471 is pulling a healthy
train of lumber products for 1979. ENJOY!

Forgotten model photos from long ago...as much as 3 months I think!

John Smith had his big time Southern Pacific engines riding the rails in what was their last paint scheme
before the UP/SP merger.  Merger? The UP ate the SP.
 
Eras conflict here as Milwaukee Road passenger trains with E8 power were long gone before
the BN showed up in history or anywhere else.
 
The Rio Grande still lives but only at the Evergreen Railroad as it wound up in the Southern Pacific
merger just a few years before the UP did it to SP.
 
The miniature version ( 1/87 scale ) of the real Northern Pacific North Coast Limited glides through
the Northwest. I rode it 3 times coming out west in 1963, 1966 and moved out here in 1967.
What a wonderful train ride it was as I had my nose to the vista dome glass very chance I could.
 
Gas turbines were only on the Union Pacific and they worked well when fuel was 29 cents a gallon.
When fuel cost rose in the 1.00 a gallon then they were not very efficient. There's a jet engine in there,
they made a lot of noise just to made the electricity for the traction motors. I saw one in 1969 in Ogden!
 
Finally, I didn't know Marvin worked for the Santa Fe?
I think the Los Angeles Police gave him a ticket for illegal parking.

Jan 30, 2016

Let's say you are an N scaler....with lots of time on hands.

Let's say you have a lot of model railroad spare parts that you don't know what to do with them?
 
Rod figured out he can use them in different combinations to create one of a kind models.
I think he succeeded!
 
This one even had blinking red lights!!!!  The girl must be a hobo making her way to Spokane?
 
The tail car must be for the President. It looks like one he deserves for all his good work?
 
 

Jan 29, 2016

Fw: Railfaning by drone?

 
 
 
I don't normally get this high up to get a shot of the Beaver Canyon area
where Canadian Pacific and BN locos parallel each other.
 
Different members bring the club layout up to date with modern BNSF power passing each other.
Mr. Buffet would be proud?
 
Bob Gadsby has his his own set of modern power but for Uncle Pete ( Union Pacific).
His first car shows 2 Oscar Meyer weiner cars on their way to parades and people pointing fingers at them.
Anthony Weiner would be proud?
 
Marvin's NP F units ran smoothly on Thursday this time on the Red Line which is our secondary line
on the club layout. It has 32 inch radius where the Blue main has 36 inch radius.
 
Watch out! Near disaster was averted when 2 trains showed up on the same track but going in different
directions. I guess someone shut off the sensors or this should not have happened!

Jan 20, 2016

The tale of two U Boats!

About a year ago a model manufacturer came out with a terrific model of the General Electric U25 (2500 horsepower) which had a bright yellow nose. It looks pretty good except I thought that the yellow was too yellow. Now the same manufacturer came out with a very similar version of the U28 but this time the yellow is this dark mustard yellow that by itself looked pretty good. When I put the models together the colors do not look right. What's a rivet counter to do?
 
This is what I found in my photo collection tonight of a relatively new U25 ( the number tells you that) and the color seems to be about in the middle of the 2 choices the manufacturer gave us.  Do I repaint both?
 
Going by the yellow used on F units would confuse the modeler enough that he may switch to N scale!
 
Better yet a fella could switch to Santa Fe or BN.  Say, how come the BN locos are a different green than the boxcar? Maybe I better switch to radio controlled airplanes or tanks or Barbie Dolls?
 
One of our deranged members put up these characters mooning the passenger trains and railroad crews in the back of the layout as well.  At least we got the colors right.
 
I traveled to work the other day along Trent Avenue in the hopes of seeing something out of the ordinary and the BNSF did not let me down. I have seen track inspection trucks and railcars before but this heavy duty truck was a new one on me. It is crossing Pines Road in the Valley and was headed east. It sends an electronic signal through the track and it detects cracks before they go boom!

Jan 5, 2016

Thomas makes a comeback!

No, I don't mean Ralph Thomas, although that would be nice, I mean Thomas the Tank Engine of British television fame!  This time Jim Bowden installed sound and it sounds terrific like a real live American engine.
 
Worthy of a little Photoshop, I added a little smoke to Jim's magnificent Santa Fe 4-8-4 departing the Blue Yard in search of mountains to climb and rivers to cross.
 
Jim's third train he ran on Saturday was his 3 unit Union Pacific F3 EMD set pulling his all UP freight.
 
Northern Pacific was also represented with this 2 unit GP9 set but I don't remember who locos they were?
 
Spike Gorley usually runs Canadian power but Saturday his BNSF units took the center stage.