Brad Peterson- K&SA Tunnel Project

These are a progression of construction of the tunnel on my Kayaderosseras & Southern Adirondack Railway. The first photo shows the deck as the end of track.

 Second photo just after excavation and the first two 4X4's installed for the portal.

Five wall panels complete with many more to go.

Looking in from the backside....

The latest shot with track started and the retaining wall finished. Some backfilling has been done and stone fill between the track and tunnel walls.
Brad

Dean J. Splittgerber - Same Train

Fall Foliage this year was hit and miss. Usually it seems the Swampy areas are the first to turn with dramatic colors. They are also the first trees to lose there foliage too as is seen in these two images. When these two images were taken most of are area was just starting to turn. Now everything is just about gone except for the trees around my house which I wish would drop so I can do a final clean up. Anyways here are two pics. One was taken on a Saturday October 2nd With Steve and Mike and the other was on Sunday the 3rd With Bill and Mike.


Dean J. Splittgerber

Willsboro In Autumn

Last night was something else! FIVE photos in one night! WHile it's not unusual on my travels along CSX, up here in the North Country I don't usually get that many chances during one night out, LOL! HEading out from the compound with the intent of capturing a shot of Ethanol train 642, which spent the better part of the day sitting up in Rouses Point, due to a late delivery from Montreal and a track block in Saratoga, I drove north up I89. During the hour and a half drive, 252 and 930 arrived in Rouses Point as well! I went through town with all three trains still waiting for U.S. crews to appear. With breakfast in the car with me in the form of a thermos filled with soup, alongside the usual thermos of tea, I made a quick stop at a 24 hr. grocery store for a bite to eat, then headed for Plattsburgh. I was well aware how the night was shaping up.......the soup might not get consumed until later. While I shot some new angles around the Plattsburgh station, the best shot of the night came after 642 passed by. Learning via the car scanner the trailing unit SOO 6060 was low on water, they picked up a unit off 253 which met 642 at Rockland. WHile they were performing the moves to pick up the third engine, I drove south from Plattsburgh around 642, arriving at Willsboro. Driving in down the dirt road leading to the old station and newer modular M.O.W. headquarters, I took one look, and knew I had made a good choice visiting Willsboro! The background trees foliage was glowing in the dark! This is the elusive "peak" foliage trackside! Quickly setting up the lights, I apparently drew the attention of a neighbor across the tracks, who came out with a flashlight, then figuring out what I was up to, went back inside to watch. A test of the lights revealed the grand colors! After some fine tuning of the setup, 642 was heard blowing for a nearby crossing north of me, coming off the scenic trackage above Lake Champlains Willsboro Bay we have visited before! Then it became time to enjoy the scene. The crew, after spotting my awareness flash as they approached, must have gotten a chuckle out of the situation, having been photographed by me earlier up at Plattsburgh, Ha,ha,ha! Amid the great sound effects of locomotives accelerating the heavy ethanol loads past me came the flash! The final photo of the night became the best! We will visit Plattsburgh later, (where I will give evidence in answer to the always pressing question: When are NS locomotives most attractive?) but I wanted to send out this shot first. I really like the contrast here between the unkempt old station, used as a storage area by M.O.W., and the peak foliage with white house across the tracks, with 9732 splitting the two extremes! Special thanks to veteran D&H engineer Marty Shapiro who brought 642 past the camera. SHot in Willsboro, NY on OCtober 20, 2010 at 04:58 with the 5D and Nikkor 14 - 24/2.8 lens set at 19mm and f2.8. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.


All The Best In 2010;
Gary

Lee Schamberger - Update

The repair work from the plumbing disaster is coming along nicely.The two part liftout section is now in the Final foliage phase.The mountain from the bottom of the tunnel portal up is one section and the other is the river area under the mountain just to the left edge of the portal.Track will soon connect Hadley to the junction with the Adirondack branch at the tower.

Hope you enjoy the pics - Lee

Rainy Day - Jim Lafayette

I love a rainy day, I had 2 soccer games (grand kids) scheduled for 4:15, both are cancelled. I have a perfect excuse to sneak into the play room and enjoy my hobby.No matter how hard it rains out, it always dry on the Skene Valley Railroad.
Colonie Shop used to be where big things happened, now it's Skenesborough. (the Frazier is in the middle bay, she always gets a good cleaning and resupply after visiting other roads, so like her name sake, she is always ready for a road trip.) The (ex Reading) 302 is in the south bay while a pair of PAs sit on the north side. The 4078, still in VTR colors, sits on the Turntable lead.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town....

SVX-2 has backed the 4071, still in P&W colors, back over East Street while the crew sneaks across the street to the Silver Diner after having spotted some logs at the K-Mill. They sent the headman to Puck Catone's News Rooms to pick up the latest copy of Model Railroader, to see a little bit of Kip Grant's layout on page 80.

Fueling at the shop. the 7402 is in Reading garb.


Life is good.
Jim

Robert Gould- Layout Update

One benefit of summer modeling and having your layout in your basement is the cool temperature there. In a quest to keep as much of my rolling stock as possible on-line I decided I needed more staging and dodge some heat. As some of you know, my layout is the tradional "dog-bone" design. Simply opening up the outer track would allow for access to new staging. Keeping the inside track of the dog-bone uncut allows for continuous running. (see photo 1).

Photo 2 show the completed new staging yard. The 4 tracks on the left are Jersey City and the three on the right are Chicago.

Finally the photo 3 shows the end of the dogbone and its original penetration into the laundry room.

Keep your sanity, have a hobby,

ROBERT GOULD

Mooers Station - Gary Knapp

Please enjoy the attached photo. Here is another view of the restored ex-Rutland station in Mooers, NY. This view looks westward. The D&H crossed the Rutland here right behind the building. Owner-restorer Larry Marnes poses in the photo as operator! Great job on the building Larry! Shot in Mooers, NY on September 5, 2010 at 03:01 with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 35/2 (Nikon) lens set at f2.

A proud restorer, Larry Marnes, (with assistance from Chris Trombley) poses in front of his accomplishment, the restored ex-Rutland Station in Mooers, NY! Put this spot on your list of places to visit folks! Congratulations to Larry for doing such a magnificent job! Shot on September 5, 2010 at 03:20 with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 35/2 (Nikon) lens set at f2. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best In 2010;

Gary

Wilkes-Barre Trolley- Wayne Sittner

I know most of you won't have a particular interest in this project, either because it's so interest specific as to the prototype or because you're (damn you) too young to have a memory of these trolley's when they were running, I only have the barest memory of them myself.

It took a few days longer than the two weeks I anticipated to finish the model and while I made a few consession to 100% total accuracy (doors too narrow, one window too many per side, are you a rivet counter?) I'm quite satisfied with the outcome.

I sent a couple shots of the early beginnings of the project, photos of sister cars on the Wilkes-Barre to Larksville route and shots of the finished model on my layout. I've since found B&W's of 752 on the Larksville route by the Loree colliery and on the Grove & Brown, my old growing up neighborhood in Wilkes-Barre. I hope this latest strikes a chord with some of you.

Comments and sharing with others is, as always, welcomed.

Wayne

Summer 2010 Is Over...

The sights and sounds of Summer 2010 are gone, here's a sample of what you missed. From Dean a CP Inspection train crosses the Mohawk River in Cohoes, NY

SNY brings loaded auto racks from Delanson to the park.

I had time to snap this pic, the B&M will never die in our hearts.

Wayne Sittner sent a few from his travels, local CSX as Amtrak passes.

Alco RS-3

Poughkeepsie from above...

John Camerota sent a few...... 414 heading north through CPF 467, grading for the new "shoo-fly" has started....

414 passes the new Mechanicville yard work....

ALS Fall meet....

Rising Star

As long as I can remember there's been discussion about the well being of the hobby of model railroading. The anxiety of "Are we getting young people into the hobby?"

If you don't already know Scott Lupia or his modelbuilding, writing and photography ability, let me make the introduction. Scott's modeling preference, as far as scale, is N but, as this scene attests, his HO work is incredible as well. Detail like the Geep getting new bulbs in the class lights, mid morning light streaming in the windows and hightlighted by the dust in the air, equipment showing use but not abuse....
As you might be able to tell from my enthusiasm, this is one of the best photographed and modeled scenes I've ever witnessed.
"The attached a photo I am working on for RMC. This shot is inside the enginehouse I built. I am working at getting the lighting just right. The engines are Lackawanna Terminal power which is my friend Steve's railroad. I am getting him into the transitional scheme. I am building power for his road that is just quick stencil jobs. Hence the L&HR patch job as well as the PC geep on the left. I really like the feel of the lighting here.

I have been really busy the last week or two between trying to get the cover shot done for October, the MT Pullman review and work. I hope to be a little more responsive on the e-mail soon. The deadline will be behind me early this week. Hopefully.",  Scott


Enjoy,

Wayne Sittner

D&H OCS

Last week CP ran an OCS over the D&H, Paying visits to Binghamton, Albany and Rouses Point. CP’s VP and COO along with other officials were reported to be riding the train which Consisted of two Geeps and borrowed Vermont Rail Systems, vintage observation car “Macintyre”. Once arriving in Albany at Kenwood Yard the Macintyre had to be turned so the observation end would face the opposite way for the run north to Rouses Point from Albany, necessitating a deadhead run to the “Magic Triangle” a term coined by fellow Railfan Bill Kozel which is the trackage between CPF 478, CPC 24 and CPF 480 which when joined together at there respective control points form an “Unofficial Wye”. The train is seen crossing the Mohawk River between Waterford and Cohoes as it returns back to Kenwood Yard.


Dean J. Splittgerber

While waiting for the D&H/CP Rail to produce the encore performance to train 666s appearance here at West Chazy, it became apparent I had lots of time to consider other options regarding the view. So I moved back and included less of the station and more of the train this time, while staying with the 100mm angle. Almost two hours after 666 passed by the scanner came to life with the night dispatcher giving 930 the light to proceed south out of Rouses Point. Basking in the shadow of the West Chazy tower, the scanner picks up everything going out over the air on 161.100. The attractive BNSF power, found everywhere out west, is a rare sight for us to see up along the Canadian border in New York. Thirty minutes or more after departing from Hayford Road up in Rouses Point, train 930 enables the D&H and CP Rail to come alive again before my camera in West Chazy! Given all this time to consider changing views for this shot, in my cleverness, I almost messed up by looking into the headlights too directly! The Zeiss 100mm macro lens handles the headlights admirably though, whew! What a lens to compliment a great paint scheme. What an encore! Shot at West Chazy, NY on August 15, 2010 at 02:10 with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 100/2 (Nikon) lens set at f2. 

Thought you would enjoy seeing West Chazy Station earlier in its life. The postcard view looks the other way from my recent photos, but what a difference in the landscape! The attached photos are courtesy of Larry Marnes, thanks Larry! Please enjoy!

All The Best In 2010;

Gary

Caboose At King's

  Post Star Article August 12, 2010 on the King's Caboose

Thanks,
Tony Bucca

Wayne Sittner CR (exLV) cabooses

About a year ago I got back into a Conrail state of mind (for a while) and ended up doing a group of different classes of cabooses. These included ex EL, RDG, PC and LV. At the time I modeled the CR versions (I think) I did them quite accurately. All were based on prototype photos. The original LV's I didn't finish at that time. I was somewhat intimidated by the work I perceived as necessary to do the job right. This situation was corrected this week. It's cool in the workroom and nasty hot outside!!! I don't know if you have an interest in this but, the changes were really just a bit time consuming. My CR (ex LV) was from a prototype that was shopped at Juniata. They added a Pennsy smoke stack and some changes to the ends but other than that it stayed pretty much LV with only a poor paint job It was showing major rust after only three or four years. Reading (under CR) reshopped a lot of cabooses too, by the way. I used the Walthers Proto 2000 as a basis on these, it's head and sholders above any previous model of "Northeast caboose" It was a perfect Reading but not LV. I added the third step to each corner, proper end detail as from the LV shopping of the early 60's, proper height smoke stack and some other small stuff.

I don't know of many other modelers that are doing much Conrail and only a few doing really serious LV. If you think anyone else would be interested in this information or are doing anything with the Walthers model feel free to forward.

Later,
Wayne Sittner

North Stratford Keeper

We are at the east end of the renovated North Stratford station tonight, as SLR 394 comes down off Bloomfield Hill into the curve near the town square with headlights dimmed. I have tried and tried for "a long time" to see a way to include the attractive Post Office and North Stratford Market in a photo with 394 here. Tonight I partially succeeded! The Post Office is lit up in a very satisfying capture! The best lens I have ever used, the Zeiss 100/2 Macro lens shows off again here, outresolving the 5D sensor, (sending more information to it than can be recorded) capturing the scene. 394 tonight is another money maker for the SLR, with sixty two cars. The normal car count lately has been in the upper thirties to forties. As the consist passed me, from atop the stepladder I heard voices hollering maybe forty cars into the train, I looked across the tracks in between passing cars and saw no one. It was pitch dark on my side, the train blocking any ambient light. I heard more voices hollering to each other and I'm watching the cars come by and I see a form come by hanging onto the handrails of a car running along the ballast! I could'nt believe my eyes. Then here comes another form of a person doing the same thing. 394 was only doing about ten mph through town, but I could not believe what I was seeing! As the rear end came by, I walked down that way but did not spot anyone standing around. I concluded they were hobos, and I wondered wether the SLR has "an ice cream stand" (Vacus x-ray scanner and building) up at the border as the D&H and NECR have. After loading the lights into the Civic, on Cloud Nine, I called the SLR dispatcher to tell him what I saw, then went over to Groveton and poked around looking for new angles around the station to catch 393 returning that morning. As I turn the Civic around in a dirt lot trackside, the headlights light up a pickup track in passing and I stop......did I see a person sitting there? I back up to light up the pickup again and yup....sure enough, there is a man inside.......and Universe deals him his card.......the unknown! As if on cue, he opens the door and hops out, plastic bag in hand with food. Universe deals Gary his card.......the known....... I have seen someone get picked up here during past nights. He comes toward me at a slow jog, not recognizing the "unknown" card Universe has dealt him. I turn on the inside light so he can see me. All the doors are unlocked as I have been in and out of the car while looking around and I'm wearing an LED headlamp on my head, you would think.........but he thinks I'm his ride! LOL! Up to the passenger side he runs opening the door to jump in! A man in his fifties of slender build. Now, in my car, (as Richard Wingler found out one afternoon) you don't just....."hop in" on the passenger side, there are all sorts of gizmos, gadgets, flashlights and items related to night photography on the seat ready to be used! The man sees this collection of "stuff"...... pauses, and Universe smiles! He recognizes the card he has been dealt. This is a strangers car. Leaning in slightly to really look at a smiling Gary wearing a headlamp strapped around his head, he says, "I don't know you"! I reply, you are right! Staring at me now, he says "Who the hell are you!" You don't know, was my reply. I'm NOT your ride, I added. LOL! He started to laugh and apologizing walked back to the pickup! And I swung out of the parking lot to continue looking around, enjoying being on the "known" side as Universe dealt for a change. Maybe the Perseid Meteor Shower, which was in full swing that night, had something to do with people behaving oddly, but it was another night to remember trackside! SHot in North Stratford, NH on August 11, 2010 at 22:14 with the Zeiss ZF 100/2 (Nikon) lens set at f2. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.




All The Best In 2010;

Gary

Final Chapter MOW

As most of you know I went right from the 1953 L&WV 401 freight motor to this 1983 MOW kick. Aged 30 years in the blink of an eye. I've actually been at this thread for a month. The four central pieces, the track equipment, are from the old Durango Press 4 in 1 kit. This, in itself, was based on Jim Slaughter's "Timber Gang" series from RMC that he spread out over a few years in the early 80"s. Because the DP instructions were minimal and Jim's articles were a bit sketchy I based all my work on slides I took in '73 and again in the early '80's of equipment I found here in Kingston and up in Selkirk. All my models, including the bus and trucks were from the late PC and early CR era. I sent slide scans of my prototypes out to some but not all. The quality of my scans isn't too good and I know some of you aren't exactly fans of early Conrail. I hope the modeling suits your fancy. I built all the models except the CR Chevy pick-up. That's RTR from Trident Models.

Have a great weekend. 

Wayne