"Scale Tinplate" Christmas
- Thread starter Guy64
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Guy64
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All shots from 2000 to around 2003 were taken with a Nikon CP990 digital. Before that, everything was 35mm film, most of it with a Cannon F1. Others were shot with a Canon AE-1. Lenses were a 28mm with and without a 2x extender, and a 50mm. Exposures were usually in the range of 1/2 sec to 8 sec.
A few of the film pics are scans of prints, but I have been re-scanning certain shots from the 35mm negatives or 35mm slides. With a 2400 dpi scanner, results are usually better from the transparencies than from 3x5 inch prints.
Yeah, I know, more info than requested!
A few of the film pics are scans of prints, but I have been re-scanning certain shots from the 35mm negatives or 35mm slides. With a 2400 dpi scanner, results are usually better from the transparencies than from 3x5 inch prints.
Yeah, I know, more info than requested!
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Guy64
Member
From a couple angles...
This cinema/soda fountain was painted by Di, though I did offer some input about colors. The soda fountain wraps around the corner to the left, right on the way to Bill's Christmas Trees. It doesn't compete much with the ice cream parlor on Smitty Avenue, since their menus are different. Here there is not so much ice cream, but more variety of beverages, even hot tea!
This cinema/soda fountain was painted by Di, though I did offer some input about colors. The soda fountain wraps around the corner to the left, right on the way to Bill's Christmas Trees. It doesn't compete much with the ice cream parlor on Smitty Avenue, since their menus are different. Here there is not so much ice cream, but more variety of beverages, even hot tea!
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Guy64
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Heh, well, let's put it this way: It's not supposed to be up all year! One reason we prefer to not leave it up constantly is we don't want to get accustomed to the thing. The sight of it should be a special treat, not routine. Also, the single bedroom house we left in 2003 had a small livingroom. A layout of even 4'x7' got in the way after awhile. Plus, it gets dirty when left out all the time.
Since the Summer 0f 2003, things have changed. The house we're in now has a much bigger livingroom so the layout doesn't intrude. It's been set up since November of 2003. That was unintentional, but it happened. 2003 was going to be "The Year of the Beetle", but it turned out to be "The Year of the OLD Beetle". 2004 became "The Year of the NEW Beetle".
All the pix posted so far have been from the old house. Pix at this place are still to come.
Since the Summer 0f 2003, things have changed. The house we're in now has a much bigger livingroom so the layout doesn't intrude. It's been set up since November of 2003. That was unintentional, but it happened. 2003 was going to be "The Year of the Beetle", but it turned out to be "The Year of the OLD Beetle". 2004 became "The Year of the NEW Beetle".
All the pix posted so far have been from the old house. Pix at this place are still to come.
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Guy64
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Back to railfanning...
Got a bit "Gilbert-ish" with this load. In the early '60s Gilbert offered a plastic flatcar loaded with a very cheap trailer truck loaded with very cheap cars. The truck and cars were H0 scale. (Did I mention they were cheap?)
Ironically, that flat with the complete original load is one of the most desirable flatcar/load combinations in today's collector market. (Which is another reason we don't "collect" much Gilbert anymore.) I like the concept, so I loaded this Hot Wheels transporter onto a restored AF flat. This load wasn't all that expensive either ($5), but it's much more rugged and stylish than anything available to Gilbert at the time. It even came with the '55 Chevy in the pic. Such a deal!
Got a bit "Gilbert-ish" with this load. In the early '60s Gilbert offered a plastic flatcar loaded with a very cheap trailer truck loaded with very cheap cars. The truck and cars were H0 scale. (Did I mention they were cheap?)
Ironically, that flat with the complete original load is one of the most desirable flatcar/load combinations in today's collector market. (Which is another reason we don't "collect" much Gilbert anymore.) I like the concept, so I loaded this Hot Wheels transporter onto a restored AF flat. This load wasn't all that expensive either ($5), but it's much more rugged and stylish than anything available to Gilbert at the time. It even came with the '55 Chevy in the pic. Such a deal!
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Guy64
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Delivery at the Candy Zone...
Soon after we got into this hobby, my wife discovered sheet metal rolling stock. The 716 side-dump hopper seen below is the first operating, sheet metal, link coupler car the C+D acquired. (I had made up my mind to stick with plastic car bodies and knuckle couplers exclusively. It wouldn't be the first of my policies to be jettisoned.) The car seemed to us to be a natural for serving as a candy dish. We tested it for candy compatibility. It turned out that plain M&Ms are the largest candy pieces that can pass under the car's door (M&M Minis work well too). We began thinking about how to best use the car on the floor. Couldn't come up with a safe, hygienic way of dispensing candy on the floor, so the idea was shelved.
Then Di's Dad suggested, "You know what? You should fill that car with candy and have some place to make deliveries!" With such overwhelming demand, we decided to go ahead with this permanent layout which would afford the needed sanitary conditions for safe candy handling. The Candy Dump Area has been on the layout from the start. In fact, together with Bossy the Bovine, it determined the location of almost every other thing on the base board.
The site can accommodate every dump car that Gilbert made. It was put on a spur so that the old-style pickup shoes on some cars would not be worn out by running over the trip section every lap of the main line. Having a spur also provides a bit of switching action, which never fails to fascinate young (and old) visitors.
The Marx switch tower at the left is another item that seems made for this layout. We knew it would be the best choice because of its small footprint. We didn't anticipate how agreeable our choice would be for others, though. When we displayed this layout at a local train meet in 1989, a visitor in a wheelchair pulled up to see what was going on amongst the kids bunched around us. (Ours was one of the few layouts there that was low enough for kids and seated adults to see without help.) When he saw the Marx tower, he "nearly cried". "I had one of those when I was a kid! It reminds me of all the great times I had with those trains..."
Soon after we got into this hobby, my wife discovered sheet metal rolling stock. The 716 side-dump hopper seen below is the first operating, sheet metal, link coupler car the C+D acquired. (I had made up my mind to stick with plastic car bodies and knuckle couplers exclusively. It wouldn't be the first of my policies to be jettisoned.) The car seemed to us to be a natural for serving as a candy dish. We tested it for candy compatibility. It turned out that plain M&Ms are the largest candy pieces that can pass under the car's door (M&M Minis work well too). We began thinking about how to best use the car on the floor. Couldn't come up with a safe, hygienic way of dispensing candy on the floor, so the idea was shelved.
Then Di's Dad suggested, "You know what? You should fill that car with candy and have some place to make deliveries!" With such overwhelming demand, we decided to go ahead with this permanent layout which would afford the needed sanitary conditions for safe candy handling. The Candy Dump Area has been on the layout from the start. In fact, together with Bossy the Bovine, it determined the location of almost every other thing on the base board.
The site can accommodate every dump car that Gilbert made. It was put on a spur so that the old-style pickup shoes on some cars would not be worn out by running over the trip section every lap of the main line. Having a spur also provides a bit of switching action, which never fails to fascinate young (and old) visitors.
The Marx switch tower at the left is another item that seems made for this layout. We knew it would be the best choice because of its small footprint. We didn't anticipate how agreeable our choice would be for others, though. When we displayed this layout at a local train meet in 1989, a visitor in a wheelchair pulled up to see what was going on amongst the kids bunched around us. (Ours was one of the few layouts there that was low enough for kids and seated adults to see without help.) When he saw the Marx tower, he "nearly cried". "I had one of those when I was a kid! It reminds me of all the great times I had with those trains..."
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Guy64
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CBCNSfan said:
The 3x3 window in the switch tower is backlit. There's a piece of opaque red acetate in the window. I'm guessing, but Marx may have used red to denote a general "caution" signal, opaque instead of clear to avoid revealing the empty interior of the tower. The lithography is "action packed". Not visible is the telegraph operator on the side opposite the ladder, frantically tapping away at his key. Great stuff.
The hopper is electric, with a solenoid under the hopper bay. The solenoid plunger pushes the spring loaded door open at the bottom. There's a pickup shoe under one of the trucks.
We have another 716 that I repainted in a sort of "Hiawatha" livery, minus the maroon. Another ordeal that I'm not likely to repeat...
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Guy64
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This Alco FA-2 is the 3rd loco we bought from American Models. Like many of our train acquisitions, it was funded with "birthday/Christmas money" that I had scraped together over a period of years. Technically, it's MY engine, but Di really likes it too. We avoided "train envy" by getting a matching FB-2 ("A B unit would be really different!") for DI a few months later.
A significant portion of our loco fleet is Union Pacific, mainly because it was the main western road name offered for most of the diesels AM produced until more recently. Our favorite prototype road is the Santa Fe, but they never ran Alco Fs.
A significant portion of our loco fleet is Union Pacific, mainly because it was the main western road name offered for most of the diesels AM produced until more recently. Our favorite prototype road is the Santa Fe, but they never ran Alco Fs.
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Guy64
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WHUT-ta?!?
Somebody, perhaps confused by the Lionel dump bin in front of this spur, has left a Lionel 0 gauge boxcar derailed all over the unloading track. Very ominous...
To make matters worse, it appears that the local chapter of a science fiction movie club has dispatched a few... um, "operatives" to investigate the situation. They seem to be quite "into it". They certainly have plenty of "weapons" with them.
One can't blame them for being edgy, though. There's something very odd about this car. It isn't the lithography. The proportions, maybe? Yes, the body does look a bit "squatty", but there's something more fundamentally wrong with the whole piece. What could it be...?
Somebody, perhaps confused by the Lionel dump bin in front of this spur, has left a Lionel 0 gauge boxcar derailed all over the unloading track. Very ominous...
To make matters worse, it appears that the local chapter of a science fiction movie club has dispatched a few... um, "operatives" to investigate the situation. They seem to be quite "into it". They certainly have plenty of "weapons" with them.
One can't blame them for being edgy, though. There's something very odd about this car. It isn't the lithography. The proportions, maybe? Yes, the body does look a bit "squatty", but there's something more fundamentally wrong with the whole piece. What could it be...?
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Guy64
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Ah-HA!
The C+D shop guy figured it out. All that was needed to correct the ungainly appearance of this vehicle was a change of gauge. Now, with its newly fitted S gauge trucks, what was formerly an awkward and troublesome hazard has become Di's Valentine's Day present for 2005.
"Han Solo" closes the door as "Chewbacca" raises a hydro-spanner into the air in joyous salute. (Whoever is in that furry Chewy-suit needn't worry about frostbite, even at this snowy altitude. Still, ya gotta wonder about these people.)
The C+D shop guy figured it out. All that was needed to correct the ungainly appearance of this vehicle was a change of gauge. Now, with its newly fitted S gauge trucks, what was formerly an awkward and troublesome hazard has become Di's Valentine's Day present for 2005.
"Han Solo" closes the door as "Chewbacca" raises a hydro-spanner into the air in joyous salute. (Whoever is in that furry Chewy-suit needn't worry about frostbite, even at this snowy altitude. Still, ya gotta wonder about these people.)
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Lady_Railfan
House Mother, Cheerleader
Lucky Di!!! Yeah, Hubby-of-Lady-Railfan has learned very well that he's always safe on any gift-type holiday with stuff for the F&CGR.
Guy64
Member
Once in a while, those of us who dabble in the area of model railroading known as "tinplate" may be subjected to ridicule from a few of our brethren committed to the "scale model" approach to the hobby. The less-than-finescale aspects of some tinplate equipment is sometimes the object of snickering, or even scorn levelled by some observers. "Hey! Get a clue! Real trains aren't that clean!"
Well, duh. Real trains aren't that small, either.
But, to demonstrate a different approach to prototypicality, we present the converted Marx gondola shown below.
Although, according to the official definition of "tinplate" it sure couldn't be regarded as anything but tinplate, it has several aspects of prototypic reality that few (if any) scale model gondolas have. First of all, it is running on rails of steel. Not brass, not "nickel silver", steel. Just like real rails. The gon is made of steel. Not plastic, not wood, not brass. Steel. Just like real gondolas. The rust covering the carbody is REAL rust. Not powder, not chalk, not dry-brushed paint, rust. Real, honest-to-goodness ferrous oxide. (For all I know, it continues to corrode as I type.)
Now, how prototypic is that? Pretty impressive, huh?
Well, duh. Real trains aren't that small, either.
But, to demonstrate a different approach to prototypicality, we present the converted Marx gondola shown below.
Although, according to the official definition of "tinplate" it sure couldn't be regarded as anything but tinplate, it has several aspects of prototypic reality that few (if any) scale model gondolas have. First of all, it is running on rails of steel. Not brass, not "nickel silver", steel. Just like real rails. The gon is made of steel. Not plastic, not wood, not brass. Steel. Just like real gondolas. The rust covering the carbody is REAL rust. Not powder, not chalk, not dry-brushed paint, rust. Real, honest-to-goodness ferrous oxide. (For all I know, it continues to corrode as I type.)
Now, how prototypic is that? Pretty impressive, huh?
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Don't know about tin plate, but it sure looks neat to me. Maybe tin plate had the right idea, sure would save a lot of painting. Man look at them V dubbs, can't make out the door crest on the one on the car carrier. Nice taxi, but a two door taxi?
Cheers Willis
Cheers Willis
Lady_Railfan
House Mother, Cheerleader
That's a "Shop 'til You Drop" taxi --- no room for kids or other distracting passengers!
Guy64
Member
This just in (2/12/2006)...
We're told that at one time, thousands of green/white VW taxis like the one above (only bigger) were employed in Mexico City. The front passenger seats were removed for easy access to the back seats. Problem solved!
The Bugs on the car carrier are Hot Wheels "Baja Bugs", for off-the-road use. That's why they're off the road, on a car rack.
2003/2004 were declared the "Years of the Beetle" by the Tinplate Corners chapter of the Society for the Preservation and Enjoyment of Kinda Slow (Or Not) Homely Cars. They set aside 2003 for the old Beetle and 2004 for the new Beetle, although both types were seen in town either year.
It's unusual to let one organization have the town on consecutive years. The town council will probably compensate by giving 2005 over to an SUV club or some such.
We're told that at one time, thousands of green/white VW taxis like the one above (only bigger) were employed in Mexico City. The front passenger seats were removed for easy access to the back seats. Problem solved!
The Bugs on the car carrier are Hot Wheels "Baja Bugs", for off-the-road use. That's why they're off the road, on a car rack.
2003/2004 were declared the "Years of the Beetle" by the Tinplate Corners chapter of the Society for the Preservation and Enjoyment of Kinda Slow (Or Not) Homely Cars. They set aside 2003 for the old Beetle and 2004 for the new Beetle, although both types were seen in town either year.
It's unusual to let one organization have the town on consecutive years. The town council will probably compensate by giving 2005 over to an SUV club or some such.
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Guy64
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Speaking of VWs...
It's still cold and snowy up at Tinplate Corners on the C+D System Mountain Division. The Christmas holiday festival is over, the "Years of the Beetle" are history. It seems a few Baja Bug owners have decided to go home by rail instead of driving off-road through the blizzards. Maybe it's those open roofs...
This blue Marx auto carrier is the first one the C+D fleet superintendent came across. The maroon one shown in post #7 came later. Both see frequent use. Their extra width makes them ideal for moving 4x4s, Humvees, these Hot Wheels "Baja Bugs", and anything 1/64 with oversized wheels (of which Mattel makes tons).
It's still cold and snowy up at Tinplate Corners on the C+D System Mountain Division. The Christmas holiday festival is over, the "Years of the Beetle" are history. It seems a few Baja Bug owners have decided to go home by rail instead of driving off-road through the blizzards. Maybe it's those open roofs...
This blue Marx auto carrier is the first one the C+D fleet superintendent came across. The maroon one shown in post #7 came later. Both see frequent use. Their extra width makes them ideal for moving 4x4s, Humvees, these Hot Wheels "Baja Bugs", and anything 1/64 with oversized wheels (of which Mattel makes tons).
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