It's 1943 and the country is at war. Allied victories are turning the tide of the war and America's industries and the country's railroads, big and small, are doing their part. The Maryland & Pennsylvania RR (Affectionately known as The Ma & Pa) might not have been as busy as the big RRs, still played its part in contributing to the eventual Allied victory.
Come and see this all relived again as I build an HO scale version of The Ma & Pa, 1943.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water. Carl Reiner
2+ feet of snow here in NJ. Where's Heat Miser when you need him. Well when you are snowed in what do you do? Write a long overdue blog post that's what you do! So here is a few shots of various projects happening on the Ma & Pa:
Progress on my kitbash of Mitzel Bros. Coal in York. Some detail work, weathering, plus another small building (warehouse on the siding) needs completing.
Work is progressing slowly on number 61. Finally found some brass mesh material to represent the radiator screen.
Inspired by my friend Dick Bradley's work appearing in RMC I'm working on my versions of 2003, 2005, and 2006. 2006 is a brass PRR ND cabin and will be painted to represent the Ma & Pa version.
Now this winter public service announcement from Fran Zappa:
Welcome back, Ted. Hope you can get the area thawed by the RPM meet in March. I plan to go. Good to see the modeling progress on several projects. What was the basis for the Mitzel Bros. building? After hacking up several Bachmann bobbers I seriously suggest scratch building as a more efficient way to make Ma & Pa cabins. Dick Bradley
Glad o hear you're going to the Valley Forge RPM. I'm giving a clinic with updates on the current layout and a talk about a what if layout based on whether or not we downsize in the next five years. I'll be talking about a layout built in a smaller space based on the Dallastown Branch.
The Mitzel building was kitbashed from two A.W. Enterprises Small Town Cycle Repair kits. I had one that was built up the I had aquired from someone who dismantled their layout. The back of the building looked like it was a good candidate for Mitzel, it just needed one more floor. I purchased another kit from The Model Railraod Shop and bashed it. It's not exact but close. The cabooses I used some metal caboose end parts that my friend Tom Callan of Shortline Hobbies had on hand when I was helping him at the NMRA Convention Train Show. I've been working on them on and off, the hardest part seems to be getting the sides cleaned up of all the molded on details.
Its about time for an update Ted. No snow here in sunny and warm Colorado. Just snow where it belongs in Leadville.
ReplyDeleteKeith Hayes
Hi Keith,
DeleteLooks like NJ has traded climate with Colorado! LOL I thought we'd need a rotary plow to clear the tracks here if it got any deeper. ;)
Welcome back, Ted. Hope you can get the area thawed by the RPM meet in March. I plan to go. Good to see the modeling progress on several projects. What was the basis for the Mitzel Bros. building? After hacking up several Bachmann bobbers I seriously suggest scratch building as a more efficient way to make Ma & Pa cabins. Dick Bradley
ReplyDeleteHi Dick,
DeleteGlad o hear you're going to the Valley Forge RPM. I'm giving a clinic with updates on the current layout and a talk about a what if layout based on whether or not we downsize in the next five years. I'll be talking about a layout built in a smaller space based on the Dallastown Branch.
The Mitzel building was kitbashed from two A.W. Enterprises Small Town Cycle Repair kits. I had one that was built up the I had aquired from someone who dismantled their layout. The back of the building looked like it was a good candidate for Mitzel, it just needed one more floor. I purchased another kit from The Model Railraod Shop and bashed it. It's not exact but close. The cabooses I used some metal caboose end parts that my friend Tom Callan of Shortline Hobbies had on hand when I was helping him at the NMRA Convention Train Show. I've been working on them on and off, the hardest part seems to be getting the sides cleaned up of all the molded on details.
Ted