Chops

British Rail: We're Getting There Eventually Inspired by this brilliant British Rail advertisement:

Nostalgia and Henley Musings upon the nature of model railroading.

Nessie Rail Tours II More travelogue satire.

Coals to New Castle A parody of British instructional films of the 1950's.

Are You Stuck in the Horse and Buggy Age? A parody of the "centuries of progress" type documentary.

Electric Holiday In sharp contrast to North American model rail, Britains frequently have a propensity of passenger serve. This is rather charming, and reflects the closer relationship many British enjoy with passenger service. A parody of travelogues, the pantograph would normally be down in the third rail locomotive, but I like pantographs.

The Shrouds of Henley For a long time I tended to rely on used, and vintage, OO. This summer I got a little pay boost and splurged a bit on some top shelf British items. Shrouding is a rather curious concept. With the tram locomotive, by Rapido, it was done perhaps, as the prototype paralleled country lanes, and the idea was to avoid frightening livestock. With the Dapol DMU the idea was to prevent curious onlookers, like myself, from falling into the wheels. Nessie appears in the finale, with a Worry Doll in her mouth; Covid is never far from my mind.

The Shrouds of Henley For a long time I tended to rely on used, and vintage, OO. This summer I got a little pay boost and splurged a bit on some top shelf British items. Shrouding is a rather curious concept. With the tram locomotive, by Rapido, it was done perhaps, as the prototype paralleled country lanes, and the idea was to avoid frightening livestock. With the Dapol DMU the idea was to prevent curious onlookers, like myself, from falling into the wheels. Nessie appears in the finale, with a Worry Doll in her mouth; Covid is never far from my mind.

Steel Wheel on Steel Track (er...sometimes). A spoof on documentaries concerning centuries of progress in American rail.

Things to Do in Henley In this one I was spoofing travelogues. Covid not really on my mind, on a lighter note. Also, I wanted to see how close I could do close ups with a smart phone. Better than my old digital camera and video camera. Queasy Rider A spoof on documentaries celebrating the advances of British rail over the centuries.

Nessie's Worst Fear Nessie, often used as a metaphor for Covid, is outmatched by something worse: the Delta variant, which is demonstrated here as a larger Nessie.

Modern Trains to Henley Fun with new vintage Electra.

In Search of Nessie: Then and Now Railways come, and railways go, but the LNM lasts forever.

In Memory of Major William Hart What does it mean to be of service to the country? It means being on call 24/7, 365 days a year. It means taking or giving fire in atrocious conditions followed by endless monotony. It means you are expendable to a government that will micromanage your affairs, and God help you if you don't comply. Major Bill, as we called him, was a thirty year veteran of many campaigns. His duties did not permit him to do much model railroading, which he loved, so he collected a few pieces here and there, which related to his experience, along the way. Finally, after retiring, he put together a little affair in his garage. His health was failing- he gave that up in his service, too, and I helped him with a little wiring to get it going.

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

Snow Bird Roll By Having access to a large club layout invites longer and longer trains. And as the Tyco stuff was typically a buck a whack, sometimes 2 for a dollar, it wasn't hard to assemble this 35 car mostly Tyco consist. The Athearn ABA consist are all powered, and it took all their torque to move this rake. Snow Bird and Tyco Billboard Roll By

In Search of Nessie: Then and Now Railways come, and railways go, but the LNM lasts forever.

How to Spot the Loch Ness Monster Just frivolity here, pre-Covid. Some Electrotren pieces and an open air tourist coach of Chops's Loch Ness Monster Tours, somewhat like a land based whale watching excursion. Alcohol induced Nessie sightings is parodied, here.

Jimmy Jame's Working on the Railroad The people you meet. Dr. Jimmy James was a most pleasant fellow with an eclectic interest in model trains. Jimmy had had a mild stroke, in the past, and was unable to do much of the work himself. So, he directed, and I laid the track for him. His layout consisted of 4 4x8's upon saw horses. Anyone who has built a model railroad knows that any reach beyond 2 1/2 feet in any direction is the limit. So, the maximum depth being 8 feet in any direction was very, very challenging. I tried to have him consider a smaller, more easily accessed 4 x 16, but at the end of the day it's his dream, his railroad, so I did my best to accommodate.

Ladies in Search of Nessie Pre-Covid, the inspiration was taken from the pseudo-documentary series with Leonard Nimoy. I was using the bug, here, as an alternative photo bomb to Nessie. Again, however, the relationship between Nessie sightings and alcohol consumption, is underscored by the Poxy Blaggards cover of an old drinking tune: "New York Girls." A couple of old Airfix coaches are pressed into service. The couplers, as installed, derailed constantly, so using a bit of chain, as in the prototype, fixed the issue. I always like the image of a tiny British locomotive contrasted with the hulking coaches.

Ranch to Plate: Railroads at Work In search of inspiration, I turned to vintage promo trailers promoting railroads, and satirized them. Better Living Through Chemistry Trains Rule, Cars Drool Satirizing America's obsession for automobiles. Me, I obsess about trains.

Rollin', E60 Style on the Rock I've always gotten a kick out of fantasy electrics. This Bachmann piece had its lousy Power Torque motor, and would shed pinion gears any old time. Finally, I chopped an Athearn BB chassis in half and wedged it in the shell to make a reliable unit.

Long Time Gone One of the things about model railroading is the people you meet. James Howard, and I, had much fun setting up his Southern Crescent. A Southern man, he connected to the nostalgia of Southern railroading.

Electrifying Developments in Olive Oil Distribution A vintage Hornby Electra leads a rake of vintage parcel vans, whilst a Lima Italian Electric hauls Electrotren wagons. For decades I vainly searched for the original Electrotren Olive Oil Amphorae Wagons, so I was forced to concoct my own, using ceramic beads instead. Then, in rapid succession I located two of the original wagons I feverishly sought! The Lima piece was purchased from some Chinese for of Amazon outfit called Ali Baba, or something, after I saw it featured on Sam's Trains. For 30 BPS it was a bargain. It is really well put together, and is a delight to run. I am aware that pantographs are typically only used with the rear unit deployed, but I like them. Also, BTW, the Pennsylvania Railroad would raise both in icy weather, the lead unit acting as an ice scraper. I've thought about installing catenary, at no small expense, but what holds me back is that it will make track cleaning very troublesome, and it will cramp my style if I wish to run pre-1930's non-electrification. So, air catenary remains, for now.

Whistling in the Dark As a medical guy, I am baffled by the resistance to the Covid vaccine. It isn't a magic bullet, but it is a whole lot better than nothing, Thus, the expression, "whistling in the dark," comes to mind. The ostrich-like hope that by ignoring the problem, nothing bad will happen. The train derailment at the end was not planned, but made a suitable finale.