Gary Knapp Night Photographer

Advertised as the steepest portion of CSX' Mountain Subs' Cranberry Grade, at 2.84%, the aptly named Graveyard Curve forms the middle of a tight horseshoe curve east of Rodamer,W.VA. The graveyard contains headstones dating to the mid 1800's, (the stones I could read) and is reported to be the burial ground for many of the Irish immigrants who died while laboring to build this railroad through the West Virginia mountains. Reading the dates on the headstones, it's obvious life was much more precarious back in the mid 1800's. While the view looking downgrade at track level is impressive, this is, after all, Graveyard Curve, so up into the graveyard I went. What a view! The only lights to be seen at night are the stars & moon. No orbs of light or ghosts drifting by, (no ghosts on the camera lcd monitor either.....thankfully). I did draw an owl in, with all the test flashes, landing overhead and suddenly "hooting". The CSX "Curved Track Gang" was working on Cranberry during the time I was here, and they had just laid new CWR and tie plates on the near main. While you hear eastbounds laboring uphill forever before they pass by, the only warning of a westbound is a whistle up in Terra Alta, then in a couple of minutes, the headlight starts to silently light up the area beyond the curve here, and the quiet running GE's come down around the curve at maybe 15 mph. The 2.84% grade is certainly evident in this view. CSX 234 was shot at 03:58 on May 24, 2007 with the 5D, and Canons' 90/2.8 t/s lens, set at f2.8 with small amount of tilt down. Photo was cropped slightly from the 90mm view. From the platform in front of Point Of Rocks Station, here is the new look in CSX paint schemes, worn by a brand new ES44DC, the 5410. What a setting for a train to pass in front of! Shot on May 26, 2007 at 00:49 with the 5D, and Canons' 100/2 lens set at f2!

I settled into the area around Brunswick, Maryland on May 25th. While at Point Of Rocks Station that evening, I saw two "Rock Runners" pass by eastbound, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to shoot one of them returning west here on the Winchester Sub at Harpers Ferry. After a four to five hour wait I was rewarded with the appearance of GP 38-2 2540. I attempted this same photo last year when visiting this location, and was not happy with the results. This is a very deceptive location to photograph a train on the trestle at night in. The tree throws a shadow across the long hood of the locomotive that you must deal with. I was much happier with the results from this visit on May 25th. See what you think. Shot with Canons' 5D and 90/2.8 t/s lens, tilted down one mark, set at f2.8, at 02:28. Flash units erased in ps that were in the alley and along the trestle. This photo was taken at Oakland, with the added enhancement of fog rolling in, I was fortunate to catch CSX 297 leading another westbound train of coal empties past the restored station. I spoke with one man when I was setting up here around 21:00, walking home with a six pack under his arm, and that was it all night. What a scene! A couple of eastbound loaded coal trains had rolled by in the intervening hours between photos, so I'm sure this westbound crew had been told of a night photo set-up here. I like this view looking through Canons' 100/2 lens. More impact. In processing, I have removed overhead wires and a flash unit on the platform just ahead of the plow of the 297. Shot on May 19, 2007 at 03:33 with Canons' great achievement, the 5D, (ISO 1600 & 1/200th). Please enjoy, comments are welcomed.

Gary

Summertime Fun?

Here's about half of my model railroad, maybe I should open a hobby shop instead!

Bill Kozel

Rob Dennis's Shelf Layout

I started a shelf layout over the winter in my apartment. It's two modular pieces, one is 21"x 72, the other is 18"x 72". I am using MRC's DCC Express to run it. The basic concept was taken from Mike Confalcone's Hardwick & Woodbury from Model Railroad Planning 2007. I have a main, a passing siding, two industries to switch, a engine house and a branch line, in this small space. I can always use this layout in a larger home layout when it is finished.

The layout concept is northern Vermont in the Fall of the late 1980's. My short line Central Terminal, interchanges with the Boston & Maine, CP Rail and Maine Central in St Johnsbury, VT.
I have D&H Alco's on lease for the branch line. They will have a nice little red engine house to call home. A lumber at one end and a planning mill at the other end. This shelf layout will be a science project of testing new products and techniques for me also. I will post updates as scenery continues.....

Updated Southern Adirondack Railroad

Brad Peterson sent recent updates on his layout for all to see, work continues and the layout grows and starts to take shape, enjoy - Rob D

North end D&H yard / west end B&M yard. The B&M yard consists of 5 tracks (from the left) where the D&H mainline then splits the yards with WY Cabin in the center of the picture. On the D&H side is 10 yard tracks total with the engine terminal and wye in the rear right. The mainline ends just beyond the 's' curve at present but will eventually go into a helix and then split at QG to go into both D&H and B&M staging.
This is the recently completed (track work) north end of the Southern Adirondack. Bottom right is my uncovered covered bridge and the future Towle & Son Sand and Gravel siding to go in to the right. The Saratoga Lake public delivery track comes off to the left. The curve will someday see a short version of the trestle that crossed the north end of Saratoga Lake. The bridge across the door is removable and connects to Saratoga yard. The SAR engine house is seen to the left.

Looking across the yards at Mechanicville, the Round Lake Paper Co. Mill 3 is seen at the south end of the SAR with Lamora Cement just across the street. R A Dennis Lumber & Supply is just beyond the double track thru truss bridge then comes my scratch built B&M prototype 'uncovered covered bridge' and the hill toward Saratoga.

This is the start of the Colonie Mainline, BK will be just to the left on the track to the rear. The tight curve was necessary so I could have a decent sized crew room and get the trains through. The scene will be of the 'big fill' in Waterford including the old barge canal at MP A11 and the overhead road bridge just to the south. Washington Ave crossing will be at the switch to Prime Mfg. seen at lower left.

Looking south on the Colonie Main, Mohawk Paper run around, stub, and industry lead. Saratoga & Spring streets will converge just as the industry lead curves toward the building (cars spotted) while including the signals that still protect the prototype crossing today. The Main curves to the left and Norlite siding will come off the main just before the tracks cross the aisle (another removable bridge) and go over the washer and dryer to reach Colonie.

New Atlas Bridge

Randy Epstein sent along a few photos of his new bridge project on his layout. These bridges are much more prototypical and detailed than the old bridges he had in there, great job Randy!

"Inspired by a prototype Northumberland, Pennsylvania, this NEW 18" Through Truss Bridge is the first truly American 18" bridge offered by Atlas. The HO Through Truss Bridge features simple, snap-together construction and specially designed bridge track. With two different colors to choose from for both Code 83 and Code 100 layouts, this bridge is perfect for any modeler." From Atlas website, comes in code 83 & 100, black and silver, retails for $24 and JP's Trains & Hobbies in Latham has them in stock.

Great looking bridges.....Randy should do Atlas ads, lol.

More Chris Rittner Pics

Chris has sent more pictures of his new soon to be N Scale empire, enjoy!
This is from the staircase looking down onto the layout.
Looks like Chris has a curious visitor!
He sees something that probably would taste good!

Comments can be posted by anyone at the bottom of the posting, please use this feature.....I have to ask what's the cat's name?

Brad's Champ

Brad Peterson's has finished his 7 1/4" Box Cab, looks nice in blue and grey!!

Chris's Riverline

Well, I've been plugging away down stairs finally. Have reassembled the existing portions of my old layout and with the addition of six new sections in a new configuration(as of today 5 out of six have been built). I painted the walls and floor, also installed two new circuits - one for lighting and another for layout and tool power. Hope to have trains running by next week. It is N scale and I'm still deciding on what Route, but I'm leaning toward the Riverline over the Mohawk.

Chris R

Inspector Squeeky

Thought you just might enjoy a photo of one of the model train projects I'm currently working on. The locomotive is G-scale, an actual steamer fueled by butane. The wood construction of the cab is a test shot from a manufacturer I'm working with (Ozark Models), and is laser cut from aircraft plywood. The model is getting modified to closely resemble a Maine narrow gauge engine, Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington #3. The little furry QA Inspector (Squeeky) frequently 'helps out' on the workbench as you can see in the photo. This was a few days ago, and the cab has now been completely assembled, stained and poly-ed, and tomorrow, with lousy weather predicted, I'll be adding some details to the side door areas and the roof. Squeeky arrived here in mid-December, one of my best Christmas presents ever. Not a bad deal for her, either, as the alternative may have been euthenasia - she was the four-year old pet of a friend at the hobby shop who passed away suddenly at the age of 56. Alex was a serious modeler, retired on disability, and spent a lot of hours at the bench in his Cohoes basement apartment. Squeeky thus knows her way around model work, tools, and, I have to admit, if she was learning from Alex, knows quality work as well...An excellent inspector, although she doesn't show me the reports ! There's another photo here, shows her after a tough day in the shop. Yes, she WANTS to be covered up like that, actually prefers to be COMPLETELY under the covers !

Bill M

Revisiting The CV

Seems like Spring is having a hard time arriving in upstate New York. But warmer is around the corner and our Thursday night meets will be coming to an end soon until next fall. So we revisit an old friend, Bill Hickey and his Central Vermont Railroad. On Thursday, April 12th the lights are back on in the basement at Bill's and the railroad which has been quiet for the winter shows it still has life left and work to be done.

We had a very good turn out for the night, some young, some familiar and some only a mother could love!

Bill spent the day cleaning the track and I'm happy to say everything ran well. Bill showed off his new Athearn Genesis units, be sure to check out Bill's layout in the video section.

A few projects need to be finished around the layout, scenery around the engine house, waterfall needs to be completed and a permanent bridge installed and finally the paper mill on the mountain division. Hopefully our visit will help inspire Bill to keep the trains running for years to come!

Thursday At Randy's

This past Thursday, March 29th, we got together with Randy Epstein. For most of the guys it was the first they had seen his layout since he is our newest member of the group. Randy really likes motive power, all makes and models and he has a lot of it.

It was nice to see a B&M freight wait for D&H freight pass at a diamond, it reminded me of something I had seen many years ago in Mechanicville.

While Randy's layout is no where near finished, it does have a finished look to it. He has buildings, tons of vehicles and figures all over the layout. He started some scenery, and ballasted a few feet of track, I'm still impressed with the overall appearance. His wiring is very neat and complex, he has a really nice control panel that would take some time to learn. His layout is not DCC, it's all block and cab control, still pretty slick to watch him run it.

So we all had a good night and Tony Bucca treated us to trackmaps of the D&H from the 30's. Hope to see Randy's layout again soon.

A Real Railroader

No it's not Alaska, it's Rouses Point, NY in the winter. A brisk -22 degrees and that's not a mountain man, but our own Kenny Olsen, D&H Conductor, prepared for the winter cold. February 19th working Train 931.

Plow Extra on the D&H

I don't get out much to railfan, but a plow extra is hard to pass up. On February 15th, the day after the great storm, I was lucky enough to catch a plow extra running with a Jordan spreader on the Colonie Main, between Mechanicville and Albany. Above the train is recovering South Main Street in Mechanicville with snow.

This is at the Albany Cemetery in Menands.

Not Chessie, but Squeeky!

Squeeky the railroad cat......Alex's cat Squeeky found a new home at Bill Michsler's house. The cat really likes trains and feels at home with Bill.

Robert Gould's Erie-Lackawanna

Construction on my HO Erie-Lackofmoney started in August of 2001. The area allocated for the layout was a small "L" shaped room in the basement equipped with recessed lights and sheet rock walls. The track plan soon found its way into the closet under the stairs since posts were going to block the right of way. After a little more planning, the middle section was conceived to be out of sight staging, under the display cases my late father-in-law built. As I began running trains, I felt that I needed a way to turn them back. This led to the invasion of the second closet and the "dog bone" style track plan.

Plywood on "L" girders, Atlas Code 100 flex track and #6 turnouts make up the bulk of the layout. All connections are soldered. It was originally wired as a 2 cab-block system. I agonized over the decision to go to DCC. At the urging of Brad Peterson and Rob Dennis I converted. This was well worth it but changed my loco fleet profoundly. When I started, I had about 60 engines from multiple manufacturers to convert. Most of those were sold and the revenues from the sales led to purchases of DCC ready units. About 15 are on line with 6 more waiting in the wings for a decoder. I strongly recommend using DCC. I use the Atlas system and have 4 spots along the layout to plug in 1 of 3 controllers. I can follow the train around with the hand controller unplugged since the system has a memory.

This layout models a fictitious division of the Dereco era (EL, D&H, N&W). The scenery is about one-fifth complete and could represent anywhere from NY to OH. Most structures are Walthers. The Cargill Mill and the Superior Paper Mill have been set up as "flats". Some of the buildings are ones my father built for me over 30 years ago. I enjoy using the Woodland Scenic's products. I recommend them but caution that there are a lot of things in their line that you may already have or can get much cheaper at a craft store. For example, a foam cutter they sell for $39.99 is also available at AC Moore for $8.99 If there is one thing I learned about working on the real D&H, it is that railroads are cheap and this one is no exception.

There are almost 250 pieces of rolling stock on line with 85 more in the display cases. I have 1 passenger train and plan to add more. Some cars are weathered but most have knuckle couplers. I agonized over that conversion some 15 years ago. I wish I had completed my backgrounds at the beginning. This is the big struggle right now using various commercial components as well as a roll of shelf paper and blue spray paint. The future will bring signals, a dispatcher desk and working interlocking levers near the towers. My eldest son Broderick has contributed to the layout a farm he made at school. My sons are just starting to show interest in the hobby so maybe I will be a Train Master down the road.

Randy Epstein's Boston & Maine

I would describe my HO Scale model railroad as a freelanced B&M based layout with D&H and other Northeastern roads well represented. It is rather large, about 2/3 of our cellar, with 2 turntables, 2 reverse loops, 2 yards, & a double track wye leading off the mostly double track main line into the larger yard. My scenery is not bad, but it could definitely be better. I enjoy operating the layout often, but I now see the limitations of the DC operating system. I was happy with it for years until I saw what DCC offers at Frank A’s layout. I moved the layout to Stillwater 6 years ago, which required major surgery including a complete rewiring of over 85 DC track blocks and 60 turnouts. As I mentioned before, I have not yet rewired my signals pending my impression of the new integrated Atlas system. I had some with Optoelectronic detection, some solenoid activated by turnout position and some that were just direct wired through on-off switches at the old house. I designed a novel method of wiring using standard telecom terminal blocks, which allows each layout module to be connectorized and provides the ability to isolate each section of every circuit if troubleshooting is ever required. I use typical Atlas control components with a few extra controls for power routing. The layout has 3 control panels and 4 MRC Power Supplies, including a hand held walk-around throttle network which is a bunch of RJ14 type modular phone jacks connected in parallel. I take a lot of pride in my trackwork too. Its code 100 and code 83 rail, and mostly flex track. It’s very reliable for smooth operations, but not a lot is ballasted.
I have always modeled the “modern” era, but having been in the hobby since the 1970’s, what was once contemporary is now nostalgic. I always loved the D&H lightning stripe so it’s well represented. I operate a lot of GRS equipment, but also NYC. I try to group era specific items together in different sections of the layout, so you won’t see E-L or D&H Centuries pulling Pan Am 50’ boxcars. I prefer Atlas locomotives and newer Athearn, but you will also find some Proto 1 & 2 K locomotives that I found interesting on the roster too.
The layout area is not a “finished” basement yet, but eventually it will be. I was the general contractor for the building of our home, so the layout was paramount in the design of the cellar. There are lots of windows to allow natural lighting and provide a good view of our woods. I feed many wild birds out there, so it’s common to see woodpeckers, turkeys, hummingbirds in summer, deer etc. from the primary operator’s control position on the layout. It’s also a walk out basement so you can go right from working on the layout to my trail network and landscaping.

D&H has a new lightning stripe?

Tony Bucca has an interesting new vehicle and many of you may have seen. It is a custom painted Ford van in lightning stripe. These are a few pics when he showed it off to the CP Christmas train crew in Saratoga. I think all the company vehicles should be painted like this! Good job Tony!

Happy New Years! 2007!

Yesterday afternoon Paul, from JP's Trains & Hobbies in Latham, had his annual New Year's Eve Party. Over 40 people attented through out the day. Plently of food and good conversation for everyone.
The spread of food was excellent!

Santa after Christmas! No, really it's the owner Paul.
Paul's Son-In-Law was doing a little cooking.

Bob, Bill and Chuck........

And of course Freddie!