Welcome to FAKE MODEL RAILROAD NEWS!

With all the fake news going around, I thought that I should get in the mood of bringing you fake model railroading news. Wait, I do that often? Well here's some

more. The guys called me over to this spot and said here's a photo op for you. So we faked 4 trains coming together like it was a random circumstance. What a

marvelous idea? Why didn't I think of that before?

 

This time I asked the guys to stop their trains so I can get a sharp photo of the scene back in the

port district. By the way that's a fake highway.

 

Will Windom had his P&W diesel working the Bakersville industries bringing them fake but clean

wheelsets to some starving industry that doesn't need them.

 

Well there's that fake fisherman fishing for fake fish in our fake water off our bridge scene.

 

The two trains catch each other in the front of the layout as well but my money is on the green one

as nobody can catch John Schwarze when he's running. Fake trees anyone?

 

Janice had her fake electric engine that looks like a steam engine pulling an unusual collection of cars.

At least she doesn't have fake rock in our ore car?  Too much honesty perhaps?

Trains run on Tuesday afterboons at the Evergreen.

 

It says BNSF on the cab but us railfans and modelers know that is a BN color scheme called the executive colors with the new guy adding his name

to the side of the loco.

 

Young John Schwarze added steam engines to his roster with his little #36 doing the honors today.

 

My Alco C-363 locos take a lunch break at the local beanery in the Bakersville depot. The Wishram was

one of the last of the railroad beanerys in the Northwest located in the middle of the SP&S railroad.

 

Young Robert Case took his brand new BN locos for a spin on Tuesday. They haven't seen the inside of a

paint shop since they were created?

 

Greg Mercier now has 5 NP GP 7s & GP9s on his roster as they pass the Bakersville depot but what

is wrong with this picture? I would say the edge of the earth is apparent but what can be done about it?

 

I could remove the edge with Photoshop and make it look more realistic but what do you think about

such an environmently damaging action?  Where's the EPA when you need them? The edge of the earth

people are now gathering in front my home!

 

 

 

 

Fw: BN Green goes on the Green branch line

 

 

 

How do you test a wood bridge to see if will hold the weight of 2 of its heavest locos back in the 1950s? Why run them up the line and see if they hold.?

 

That's what Tom Frank decided to do today with his 2 SD9s with a newer set of BN locos doing the

honors on the more substantial Blue main with heaver rail, newer ties and steel bridges running in

parallel to the branch line.

Greg Mercier is the owner of the new stuff in the foreground while the old SD9s keep slugging forward.

 

Reaching the top of Mount Whitney the 2 SD9s find another wood trestle that threaten the viability

of keeping the line open to the few customers that remain. It suffers from the branch line blues.

 

One final super sized bridge built by a guy that was never a member but wanted to help us out when we

needed all the help we could get back in the good, old days. It's the famous Chuck Heimerdinger.

 

Sure we have plenty of trestles but we have as many tunnels to deal with as well. All tunnels have rerailers

installed in them to keep derailments to a minimun. That's the end of fake news for today!

Jim's new toys

You don't need to be a Great Northern fan to enjoy these new treats that showed up at the

train club today. You don't even need to be a modeler to be entreated to the detail and sounds

that Jim Bowden's new models showed us today. They even work as well as they look!

 

I added Photoshop smoke to give them some speed on their way around the layout today with the lead engine doing most of the work. Or so it seems. They had their

own smoke coming out of the stack!

 

Jim gives them the close scrutiny in the back of the layout to make sure they are behaving well.

And they did as far as I could tell.

 

Other members were running their diesels with Greg having his NP passenger train and Marvin having

his new NP freight units making their maiden run.

 

John Schwarze had his Western Pacific stuff making the rounds but the caboose with the two fancy

Roadway trailers really caught my eye.

 

New member Butch Tupper is getting back into the hobby and has become member 34. Butch is the

one who made that fancy pen I showed last week. We expect good things from Butch!

Welcome to FAKE MODEL RAILROAD NEWS!

With all the fake news going around, I thought that I should get in the mood of bringing you fake model railroading news. Wait, I do that often? Well here's some

more. The guys called me over to this spot and said here's a photo op for you. So we faked 4 trains coming together like it was a random circumstance. What a

marvelous idea? Why didn't I think of that before?

 

This time I asked the guys to stop their trains so I can get a sharp photo of the scene back in the

port district. By the way that's a fake highway.

 

Will Windom had his P&W diesel working the Bakersville industries bringing them fake but clean

wheelsets to some starving industry that doesn't need them.

 

Well there's that fake fisherman fishing for fake fish in our fake water off our bridge scene.

 

The two trains catch each other in the front of the layout as well but my money is on the green one

as nobody can catch John Schwarze when he's running. Fake trees anyone?

 

Janice had her fake electric engine that looks like a steam engine pulling an unusual collection of cars.

At least she doesn't have fake rock in our ore car?  Too much honesty perhaps?

Strange happenings at the Evergreen Railroad

I could not believe my eyes when I captured on film Steve Weso trying to commit suicide by model

railroad. However we are happy to report that there were no major injuries to Steve as the train was

going slow enough to bounce off his head. Block watch is being formed to keep an eye on him especially

at Gonzaga basketball games where he goes frequently.

 

When I came back from dinner tonight I caught this strange man working up on TV Mountain.  Wait, that's not a strange man that's our member Rod Huffman!

Then again I repeat myself. But what is he doing? Planting a plane it looks like as some beginner pilot did not see the mountain in time to avoid the crash but bailed

out to catch the local train back to town.  Rumor has it that he was an ex-Air Force pilot!

 

Maybe it was poor maintenance by some retired Air Force guy that forgot to add oil and gas to the airplane.

Maybe the Minon got it on film with his one eye telephoto lens. Therapy is being offered to the club members

who might find this too stressful.

 

BBQ anyone. Recent diggings  revealed these dinosaur bones where found in the Huffman Tar Pits just outside

Davenport, Washington. It proves dog, deer and raccoons walked these lands before the white man arrived.

 

Mainstreeter add-ons in the works. Marvin wanted me to help him with additional baggage cars to add

to his NP passenger train so here is the result. They were Amtrak or Santa Fe cars that got the ribs

removed and sanded off for me to start the process of making them look NP.

 

We got another new member to the train club today but I don't have a photo of him but I did take a

photo of his pen. Butch Tupper is his name and he is talented enough to build the bullet pen with

rifle mechanism to extend the point!  It's one of the neatest pens I ever saw!  Wow!

Cub Scout troop invades the Evergreen Railroad.

Upon a special request we opened up the train club tonight to run trains for a bunch of cubbies that

never seen anything like it before. Most of them think in terms of 4 x 8 plywood empire but not a

25 x 60 room room filled with so much scenery and stuff.

 

I brought out my Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy pulling a work train while Jack Pappas had his little

engine pulling a short way freight.

 

Don Carnegie had Burt's little 4-4-0 up on the Green industrial branch so they could see a steamer

running over the big wood bridges on the layout.

 

Finally new member Jack took his modern diesels up to the Green Branch to see if clearances would

handle his train

 

Usually we have had little steamers or 4 axle diesels up here but these guys seem to be pushing their luck.

 

Kind of a dramatic angle for this shot looking down the Red main under the bridge and the Blue main

to the right. This spot is the first thing people will see when they come in the door. Not too shabby!

 

Looking the other direction we see the 2 main lines clearly to show separation and challenge for members

run different routes on the layout.  The main thing we try is to have fun with this marvelous hobby.

Back east railroading....gone but not forgotten!

 

On the other side of Bergen Hill is this junction where Jersey Transit train forgot to stop at the Hoboken station last year. But this shot goes back at least 40 years when it was run

by the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. These are commuter trains on these tracks where the tracks straight out go the the Jersey Meadows and the tracks to the right go to my

old neck of the woods near Passaic, Rutterford, Elmwood and Westwood neighborhoods for all those suburban folks that work in New York. They are electrics.

 

The loco is a GG1 and it was an icon in modern electric locomotion by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Then Penn Central painted them black, then Amtrak did this to them, then Conrail added a medium blue

but they never received a better paint job than the original 5 stripe Pennsy scheme.

 

The Erie Lackawanna ran about one mile from my house in Rochelle Park so it was one of my

favorites when I lived back there. This shot has another attraction for me and they are the famous

Alco FA1 locos that is shown here

 

Not a back east railroad but a Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 steam engine residing at Scranton, Pennsylvania

at the Steamtown museum. This is the 4012 but the brother of this engine, the 4014 is being restored

for operation by the UP as we speak. I hope to live long enough to see that!

 

West Penn trolley system survived long enough for a friend to take color photos of it before the

buses took over. The center door is sure unique for a trolley.

 

How many cites can claim an elevated subway to move people? Not many but New York does.

The date is June 1963 in the Bronx.

 

Lionel made models of this engine that received the electricity for the third rail near the wheels that

could cause burn out feeling if someone decided to touch it and the ground at the same time. More

commuter stuff from Grand Central station to Harmon, NY, along the Hudson River.

 

This rare shot is one of the rare shots of early diesels back in 1946 called a Baby face Baldwin for

the Jersey Central Lines. They were mechanical monsters. These photos come from my photo CD

collections that are available to anyone. Let me know if you are interested. Jerry