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Railflyer Model Prototypes Detail Parts

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DP-6052, the $12.49 Pilot plates I ordered from Railflyer, with which I’ll be able to exactly model the pilots on BN GP38-2 2154, without any modification, measuring, cutting, speaking with the Atlas parts department or other tedious activities.

I arrived home from work last night (at midnight) to find a long awaited package from Canada sitting on the porch. With all thoughts of sleep banished from my mind, I opened the box to find most of what I need to complete my two RFMP Walkway Modules. More photo’s and descriptions are under the cut. Continue reading “Railflyer Model Prototypes Detail Parts”

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Presidents Day at Palmer

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CSX ES44DC No. 5373 at Palmer, MA on Feb. 18, 2008.

I took a break from modeling last Monday to take in the railroad scene at Palmer. The weather was terrible, and I only had 4 hours until I needed to be at work, but CSX, NECR and Amtrak made up for all that by providing plenty of eye-candy. The train above is a CSX merchandise freight switching the Palmer yard. It sat on the second main for a good hour or so waiting on Amtrak’s Westbound Lake Shore, which came through almost on time. A couple more CSX freights came through after the lake shore, and then the train above blocked the diamond for a half an hour with an NECR local and Amtrak’s Vermonter stacked up to the north. At that point I had to go to work, but found out later that once CSX finally cleared the diamond, and NECR entered the yard, the Vermonter moved onto CSX trackage only to have the lead unit die. Glad I wasn’t on board :-).

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Railflyer Model Prototypes Walkway Module Kit – 34″ Wheelbase Assembly

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My Railflyer 34″ Wheelbase frame assembled.

Well, I’ve finally reached a stage on the first of my two Railflyer walkway modules where there’s not much more I can do until the rest of my order arrives. It didn’t actually take that long, but I was working on my F unit as well. Plus getting time at the workbench is never terribly easy. Continue reading “Railflyer Model Prototypes Walkway Module Kit – 34″ Wheelbase Assembly”

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Railflyer Model Prototypes Walkway Module Kit

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My Railflyer 43′ 6″ (SD) wheelbase walkway module still in its blister pack.

Since he was going to be in Massachusetts anyway for the ARS Railroad Hobby Show (see my previous post), Christopher Howard of Railflyer Model Prototypes was kind enough to bring the walkway modules I ordered from him. What you see above is essentially what you get when you order a frame and fuel tank bundle. This one has the 43’6″ wheelbase that is correct for the SD40-2, SD38-2 and a few others. I’ll be building it up as BN 6780. I also ordered a GP frame, but I haven’t made any definite plans on what I’ll do with it yet. Continue reading “Railflyer Model Prototypes Walkway Module Kit”

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2008 Amherst Railway Society – Railroad Hobby Show

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Railflyer Model Prototypes 43′ 6″ Wheelbase frame by Brian Banna, This will be for a Canadian wide cab SD40-2.

I spent this past weekend at the Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield. I don’t usually enjoy these shows very much as there always seems to be a lot of fluff, and not a lot of good modeling, this year proved to be a little different though. Continue reading “2008 Amherst Railway Society – Railroad Hobby Show”

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Seattle & North Coast F7A #101: Update 2


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The engineers side of #101 has had the vertical ribbing installed in lieu of the standard Farr Air Grill.

After a long bout of little time and low motivation caused by the holidays, I’ve finally managed to get some work done on #101. I’ve done more than these photo’s show, but I don’t have any other photo’s on the computer yet, so this will have to do for now. Continue reading “Seattle & North Coast F7A #101: Update 2”

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Out in the Snow

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A westbound Pan Am train consisting of empty coal hoppers
waits for a crew in the hole at Lake Pleasant in Montague, MA.

Yesterday my friend Tom and I spent a day wandering around the Pioneer Valley. I started the day at Palmer, waiting for Tom to arrive from Connecticut and caught two CSX trains, eastbound and westbound autoracks (wasn’t paying enough attention to catch the train ID’s). NECR also moved some cars into the CSX yard, but I decided to head home for breakfast before they returned. Continue reading “Out in the Snow”

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Proto:87 #10 Turnout Project

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My partially assembled P:87 #10 turnout.

I recently purchased a Switch Works #10 jig from the Proto:87 Stores as well as all the trappings to create a complete turnout. In one kit you get all the necessary pre-cut ties, photo-etch tie plates, stock rail (in numerous codes), pre-machined points and a planed rail style frog. The jig correctly positions the ties and tie-plates and the tie-plates have dummy spike heads to align the rails correctly. The frets that the tie plates come on have a bolt head pattern that can be used to make joint bars. I’ve got all the tie plates down on mine, which means it’s time to start laying rail. Continue reading “Proto:87 #10 Turnout Project”