Chops

Heislers Another career Army guy who never had time for a layout. He purchased these fine scale brass Heislers, and Shays, while stationed in Japan. When he joined the Club, he took them out of storage and found them to be corroded into brass door stops. My friend, "Moose," a professional model railroader, took them completely disassembled them into their myriad parts, cleaned them up, even the green crusted motors, and reassembled them. From junk to treasure. Russ, the owner, died a year or two later. Don't postpone your dreams too long. R

Jello on the Move Who knew you could have so much fun with Jello? Jello: an iconic hospital food.

The New Mexico Northern I corresponded with this modeler for a long time, and he never got the chance to come to El Paso, I ran his beautiful trains on the layout and shot a video for him, and then mailed them back. The locomotives are his work, I supplied some cars.

Rock Island Line: A Mighty Fine Line The fantasy E60 was bashed by throwing the rubbish Bachmann chassis in the dust bin, and replacing it with an Athearn FP 40 chassis, cut in half and filed to width to make a reliable and smooth performer.

Union Pacific Week 1 This from an open house, I recollect. The Club has HO, N, and O layouts. At the time, I was working hard to attract a grant from the Union Pacific Foundation, which, eventually, was successful. A key ingredient in selling is to speak to the other man's interest. Wasn't hard, we all have a great appreciation for the Union Pacific's contribution to the El Paso economy, and, well, trains are beautiful, no matter how you slice it.

El Paso Model Railroad Association Open House Week 2 Located less than a mile from the Mexican border, we enjoyed our Juarez friends and their amazing trains. Mexican rail, in its entirety, is an astonishing array of narrow gauge, catenary, steam, shop built diesels, ultra modern EMD's, canyons, sea coast, even some European designs. Much of it's been modernized now, reflected here.

Dutch Maid to the Rescue Another spoof on railroad promo films. The club layout provided a large canvas.

Ca Place Por Moi The place for me. Getting my kicks with Plastic Bertrand and vintage Electra and the new Hornby Rocket.

If I may say, brilliant work.

Dam's Train Review In purchasing British range from overseas, the main peril is getting stuck with junk. Hate to say it, but quality control ranges from superb to rubbish across the British range, a noticeable exception being Rapido, which only turns out the best of the best. Having been stung a number of times, I now rely upon Sam's Train Review on YouTube. Some do not care for him, as he runs his trains upon carpet, or some other things, but my experience is that his analysis (he is never gifted anything, he spends his own money) of model trains, primarily British, a smattering of American, is just about as close to infallible as I would ever hope to find. I only buy model trains, now, after seeing what Sam has to say about it. This video, shot after a long night shift, rang up over 8,000 views within four months, much to my surprise. I had been up all night on a night shift, and the whole thing was cobbled together hastily. Here's to you, Sam!

Neither Snow Nor Rain...

In the Gallery From time to time, people ask why I post these annoying sound tracks with the videos. Couple of reasons, one is that I love folk music, and so much of it never gets a broader audience because it doesn't fit "in the gallery" of repertoire dictated by those who pull the strings. This remarkable song is from the B side of a Dire Straights album, and it reflects on that loss. Additionally, before the age of digital communications, and forums like RMWeb, model railroaders were often a fairly isolated lot. Getting published in a glossy is next to impossible, and in the one time that I did get an article published in one, about micro layouts, it was plagiarized!

Her Majesty's Council Upon the Consideration of Railway Safety and the Motoring Public A spoof on British docu-trailers from the early age of film. The grainy sound of the audio from the Hot Wheels Video Cam is perfect; sounds like an old gramophone.

Her Majesty's Council Upon the Consideration of Railway Safety A spoof on British promo-trailers.

Night Mail Using a British docu-trailer for inspiration.

Night Mail Using a British docu-trailer for inspiration. Or some good old Celtic street music: There's an imbedded pun in here, but I'd rather not go into it on a public forum. PM if curious.

Developments in Nessie Watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l691cFQJyGE

Hornby T9 and Peckett Come to Henley So, recently got a small bump in pay, and using Sam's Trains Review as my guide, I picked up these two Hornby pieces. They exceed expectation. BTW, Hornby ships free to the USA for orders over $70.

Goods Day in Henley This was fun.

Bamburgh Steam Days Diamond crossings make for interesting travels.

Bamburgh Steam Days Diamond crossings make for some lively operations.

Green Machine A hobo's view from atop a box car.

Bamburgh Steam Days I really enjoy this old Playcraft. The use of diamond crossings makes for lively operations.

Worry Dolls and How to Use Them Covid anxieties swept away. No worries, dude.

A Farewell to Steam