Grizzled
Well-Known Member
Ahh, where to start? Maybe in the beginning, in a different world, long ago. I think I was always infatuated with trains, most especially steam-from a very early age. My first "model" train, hands on experience, was with the pastor's son and his American Flyer set that I got to play with every Sunday, probably starting in 1954. My parents were a little stingy on toy funds but a couple years later I did manage to buy an used, early Marx tin plate set for $5 from a neighbor. There was never anything of a layout with that but it sufficed for several years. I suppose typical of the late 50's, early 60's, the next step was a dive into HO and that did spawn a layout in my parent's basement. Typical of the era, the layout was initially populated with the usual off-the-shelf rolling stock, including Athearn, MDC, Varney, and Revell. All was well until the March 1962 issue of Model Railroader hit the mailbox and the piece on Little River's #126. Down the logging rabbit hole I went, never to re-emerge.
Fast forward to the present. A couple of weeks back I dug about half of my modeling accumulation out of it's 23 year slumber. It was packed away when we moved to the current residence which was no where near completion. Between working on the house and my other favorite past time (1955 Willys CJ 3B) there just wasn't enough incentive to get back into the modeling. The house, which remains more than a bit unfinished but completely comfortable, is at a point I don't plan to spend much more time on it. The CJ 3B was also completed last summer after spending 9 years in the garage, the caveat being-like a layout-it will never be truly finished.
My current plans are first to get a "shop" set up to work from and then finish several locomotive projects that were stalled with the move. Perhaps fittingly one of those is a rehab on a basket case 1962 Akane model of Little River 126. I have two of the later Gem versions and the OL version but could never bring myself to remodel those. This one will end up as the last reincarnation of 126, Deep River 7 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File
eep_River_Logging_-7_"Skookum"_as_of_March_2019.jpg)
After my 23 year hiatus, it was refreshing to see most of the products I used to indulge in are still available, maybe the exception being paint.
My brother (white shirt) and I looking at a NP pile up just east of Springdale, MT, 1957.
Fast forward to the present. A couple of weeks back I dug about half of my modeling accumulation out of it's 23 year slumber. It was packed away when we moved to the current residence which was no where near completion. Between working on the house and my other favorite past time (1955 Willys CJ 3B) there just wasn't enough incentive to get back into the modeling. The house, which remains more than a bit unfinished but completely comfortable, is at a point I don't plan to spend much more time on it. The CJ 3B was also completed last summer after spending 9 years in the garage, the caveat being-like a layout-it will never be truly finished.
My current plans are first to get a "shop" set up to work from and then finish several locomotive projects that were stalled with the move. Perhaps fittingly one of those is a rehab on a basket case 1962 Akane model of Little River 126. I have two of the later Gem versions and the OL version but could never bring myself to remodel those. This one will end up as the last reincarnation of 126, Deep River 7 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File
eep_River_Logging_-7_"Skookum"_as_of_March_2019.jpg)After my 23 year hiatus, it was refreshing to see most of the products I used to indulge in are still available, maybe the exception being paint.
My brother (white shirt) and I looking at a NP pile up just east of Springdale, MT, 1957.
