M Graff

I've had some thoughts about the freelance prototype when building a freelance layout as I´m doing .... When I started the construction of my layout, I envisioned it located in Maine somewhere (a bit vague ...) The name of the company came after the initials of me and my wife ;-) "M-K & E RR" = Michael & Kerstins Enskilda Järnvägar (Michael & Kerstins Private RR) Something has to give when you get to build the layout in the living room ... The "real" readout of the name I had back then was: "The Maine-Kennebunkport & Eastern RR". It was to be situated and have its route around Portland somewhere (unclear where ...). Now, I have had the opportunity to study some more maps and so on, and after some thought, and suggestions from some acquaintances in the U.S., I´ve moved my company "a little" south to Connecticut and Rhode Island! That also goes together a lot better with the kind of car-float operation that I have. This is the route as it looked in 1943: The company was first named "The Berlin and Mystic Railway" when it started in 1911. The owner, Colonel Michaels, who was a cousin of the area's greatness; Woodrow Wilson (The U.S. 28:th President and Professor of Political Economics at Wesleyan University in Middletown). The Colonel had made his fortune in manufacturing Machine parts to the shipping industry. He sold his factories to "Wilcox, Crittenden and Company" in 1903 and bought the beginning to his railway in 1905. The first investment was a railway line that went from Berlin Conn. to Saybrook Junction Conn. After a swift sale of shares, the construction of the stretch to Mystic (just before Stonington) could be initiated in 1908 . It was completed in 1911. The First World War caused a big demand for rail transportation and the profits increased significantly. Construction of the eastward route to Providence was finished shortly after New Year 1915. Thanks to a past history in the shipping industry, Col. Michaels thought that a new locomotive driven by a "Ship engine" could be of interest ... The railroad was amongst the first to purchase a diesel locomotive. In 1925 AGEIR delivered a 300 HP 60 tons Boxcab locomotive to the Port of Middletown: It was supposed to replace Shay # 5, but the increased traffic during the second world war demanded that both were run simultaneously. Which the picture below, dated 1943, shows: After 1939, they changed the railroads name to "The Middletown-Kingston & Eastern RR", as they would not advertise a German-sounding name as it could cause some bad PR..... And the fact that the Railroad had it´s headquarter in Middletown and that the track was now stretching far beyond the Mystic, had it´s influence on the name change as well.... The Second World War has increased the traffic by the double and the company has been able to make some new investments in new material. A new SW-7 for the short freight trains between Middletown and Saybrook Jct as an example: So far the story behind my Railroad The section of the route I have built is supposed to be situated just south of Middletown. And it's fun to have a little more "history" behind it all ...

As someone who has worked with artists and seen their habits up close, I can´t say that I´m surprised of her death. I have had relatives of my own with addiction problems, and one that has died of an overdose.... I don´t feel sorry for them. [Admin Edit: potentially offensive / insensitive comment removed] regardless of their fame! And in Ms Winehouse´s case, it will just make her an Icon, together with the rest of the "I don´t care about society, just drugs"-27 club! Together with some other overrated druggies..... I think we, as a society, should embrace the artists that actually can be role models!

Not all copies are good.... A friend of mine that is a service technician for a big brand of RC-transmitters, was at a trade show in Hong Kong a few years ago. The "big brand" had just released their new flagship, and it cost in the region of £1500.... After they had made a visit to some factories, they went to a hobby shop in H-K and there they had the new transmitter for sale at a 5:th of the price.... He bought one one the spot, just to try it. When they got back home he tested it in the lab, and compared it to the regular ones, he found that it had some issues..... When opening it, he found out that almost all components in it was of a cheaper quality, and as built would never be CE certifiable! The factory that makes the original, makes a version for the "Asian market" of sub-standard components...... So, even a copy made by the factory, can be a very different creature!

Hi all, I have a small problem, when programming the adress on the Switchpilot to get the switches to be controlled on the Multimaus at #1 - #4, it wont work but instead is being controlled by #5 - #8?!? I use the ESU lokprogrammer to programme it..... So I don´t understand why it wont work. I would like to have the two switchpilots I have to be controlled by #1 - #8 on the Multimaus. Any input? Thanks!

Hi all, I "finally" got a bad thing on eBay.... I bought a chassi for a Bachmann Brill streetcar, and in the photo it showed this: Clearly the newer chassi (just like the one I have and I needed a new power truck for...... Instead, he sent me an old chassi with two broken sideframes and a PANCAKEMOTOR like this!: Isn´t that fraud?!?! I thought that you had to show the item for sale in the pic...... Or at least an equal one... Then I saw this: My link Okay........ That explains a bit at least.... Obviously the seller isn´t so keen on taking pics for his ads.... The hard part is that the seller has no negative in the feedback and a 100 % score, but he won´t answer my emails..... Then I don´t know if it is something wrong with eBays mailservice or something else that´s up. I don´t know what to do really...... On one hand I think I´ve been scammed, but on the other hand it could just be a simple misunderstanding.... Tricky! And for the price I paid, I could have bought a new truck from Bachmann including shipping..... I don´t think that ebay will help either, they want me to return the item to the seller at my own expense to get a refund...... As I live in Sweden, that will cost me MORE than I paid for the chassi..... If it had been lost on the other hand, then I would have got a refund.... Too bad that I´m an honest person .

Am I glad that I live in a country with "free" healthcare..... The way that the world is working it´s way through capitalism is horrendous to me. To have privately owned companys making a profit on something that is more or less life important (read healthcare...) is not really intelligent... I refuse to accept to pay more for something, just to keep the stock holders and owners fat, and be able to afford another house in Tuscany! Just my opinion.....

Weathered O-scale SD-40 Well, this raises a few questions..... Firstly, let me say that I found that weathering totally uninspired...... Only two bidders, but they obviously WANTED it! Is this an example of that some of the O-scale crowd are hitting the pipe a bit hard, or is it that no one makes good weathered O-scale equipment for sale??? But I forgot, it had "coffe stains on the cab" and an engraved plate...... That sure makes it worth the money..... I especially like that he mentions all the factory standards, as they would be exclusive... The rest of the work is way over exclaimed as well (as is a LOT of stuff on eBay...).... I hope the buyer is satisfied.....

Here is my latest pic. It features a Ahrens-Fox Fire engine in US Navy markings.

Thanks, I added a period photo as well .

I have some favorite "hate objects" in model railroading. Among other things, in terms of cliches .... For example, I would not like to have a church on the layout, as there is one in every old track book! The same applies to fire trucks .... Scenes of burning buildings with smoke generator and fire trucks with flashing lights ..... Not for me thanks . I happened to see a kit that almost converted me! A-(nother) Jordan-kit! An Ahrens Fox fire engine!?!. I just had to buy it ..... But I couldn´t allow myself to paint it red! Since my layout is depicting a big city in New England during World War II, one can imagine that there were variations on the theme. Then I had an idea, because both the model year on the fire engine was a bit old, and it was wartime, it could be "normal" that they used older equipment as rescue vehicles. In my case, I checked around and saw a lot of references to older material which was painted and served during the war. Several used by the U.S. Navy, and painted intermediate blue! Said and done! That decided it. A U.S. Navy fire engine, stationed in the harbor as an emergency vehicles in case of bombing or other sabotage (or even an explosion in the nearby "Hughes Industries" ). This is the result: I´m satisfied B) Edit: I made a period picture of it: Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch

Hi all, I took some new pics of the SW today. It is always hard to photograph black locomotives, but outdoors with some reflector screens, it works quite nice: The rust on the sideframes with the soaked in oil is something I think worked out really great. The custom made heralds is very nice to work with, really good quality! (thanks Jack) All in all, I´m really happy with the result! I have bought some figures for the layout: It was some need for some work crews for the yard duties "Bob the brakeman", has the switch list at hand.. It looks a bit more "yard like" now I think... Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch

This is how I do my model activities this time of the year : It does improve the visibility to work in the sunshine I felt a bit inspired yesterday and began some much needed overhaul on my Broadway Limited SW-7. It had been showing some poor power pick up in the leading bogie, so I disassembled the locomotive as best as I could . I washed out as much oil as I could from the gearboxes, as it seemed to be the probable reason for the problem. While it was disassembled, I took the chance to weather it as well B) It was supposed to look used but not to death.... U.S. RR´s during WW2 usually wasn´t much into cleaning the locomotives, and not particularly Port-switchers.... It was marked for NYC, but I wanted to have it in my RR's markings: M-K & E. I erased the text with a fiberglass brush and then painted a layer of black (Vallejo Model Air) to completely remove all traces of the text. I assembled the shell and masked all the windows with Humbrol Maskol. I then mixed a color of 50-50 black and gray / black. Then I used that in order to tone down the black original color. The bogies were blasted with baking soda and primed with a dark gray paint. Radiator grilles were painted with a lighter gray color, so the dark wash would work against it. The wheels were also masked with Maskol, both the treads and bearing journals. Current consumption is via the journals, so no colour there! The wheel sides were painted black and weathered with pastel powder. The bogie sides were painted in the same way. Some decals and general weathering later, it became like this: Clearcoated with Modelmaster Dullcote B). I have also been changing a bit on the layout, the gas station that were on the front of the layout: It has been replaced by a coal merchant: And then I finally got some use for this car: (I really like that car, wish I could find some more of them....). PS, when I tried the SW after assembly, it worked perfectly! Really nice to eliminate the flaws. Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch

Thanks ! I think it´s getting there... I am now in the process of adding the details in all the scenes, it will take a LOOOONG time.

And now for something different: I found a kit at a Trainshow here in Sweden this weekend: A 1934 Ford Bus. Just what I needed for my layout! As I understand it, it was very common during WW2 that these smaller types of buses were used in major cities in the U.S., in addition to trams and Subways. Jordan/Highway Miniatures makes really nice kits I think! The amount of detail is sufficient without making it tricky to assemble. I deviated from the manual however, as the description advocated that all parts should be painted before assembly ...... I hate to glue together pre-painted parts, so I glued it together to a point where it wouldn´t obstruct the installation of the windows later. The headlights were made of solid clear plastic. That makes it very easy to make them look good.... I just masked the lamp housings and then painted them silver before I painted them with the end color. Then you get real reflectors in them! The purple you see here on the lenses is Maskol (liquid mask film from Humbrol). This is how far it could be assembled before painting. Very nice interior detail I think. Just enough detail. I painted the bus créme yellow, black fenders and rims, and a gray roof. I clear coated it with Future Kleer, and weathered it with a light wash. Here is the result: As can be seen, I have both driver and passengers in the bus A very nice acquaintance, which surely whetted the appetite! Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch

I´m game! It sure beats having to make all parts from scratch.

Yes I think I will try the 44 tonner next time . This was more of a "test" ...... Any more thoughts of making some etched kits for the boxcab, John?

I am very satisfied with it, not just about how it looks, but also how good it works for shunting! It´s funny, when you build the draft gear box yourself, THEN it works perfectly.....

I have painted it now: Not really finished yet, a few windows to finish and so on.... Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch

Thanks I am in dept to you John! I have had an urge to build a Boxcab for a long time. I think this suits my needs for now (until I build one in brass ) I was also unsure about the added length of the chassis, but it works actually quite well.... The boggies has the correct wheelbase, its the spacing between them that´s wrong (10 mm to long!). I have painted it now and I will possibly have it ready by tomorrow . I´m supposed to have it with me to a model railway meeting this weekend...

Hello in the summer heat I have always had a desire for a special locomotive for my layout. It all started when I read about the small port terminals in New York and the locomotives they were using. Central of New Jersey had an Ingersoll Rand locomotive that is one of the first commercially made diesel locomotives: A very beautiful locomotives in my opinion Then came Tim Warris with his Bronx Terminal in HO (an incredible layout). There he showed how to take a brass Boxcab and rebuild the drive to get it to run as well as it looks. The problem with just Boxcabs is that the only models that are available are either made of brass and costs a fortune, and runs like a bag of s**t. Or you may have to be be content with an old Roundhouse locomotives in plastic that is also going like muck ... Plus, you have to add the extra detailing to make it look reasonably good ..... Neither option was very good I thought it would be nice to build one myself. One problem was that it was really tricky to get hold of the drawings of the locomotive. Luckily, as I am a member on a U.S. forum, where one of the members have recently built an I-R Boxcab in brass and in S-scale. I emailed him about the drawings and he emailed me back everything he had as PDFs I had to resize it a bit before I got the printouts right for HO. After some thoughts and inquiries, I finally found a locomotive that would do as a chassis donor: (See http://www.rmweb.co....__1#entry410924) Apparently it is a bit of a difference in length. but very acceptable to me. I decided that I would build the new body in plastic, which could be a challenge. I used 1, 0.5 and 0.25 mm plasticard and some profiles. This is about everything you need for the basic construction (needle files and tweezers are not in the picture). I drew up the parts with an ink-pen and drilled the corners of the windows before I cut them out with an Xacto-knife. This is "the base wall" , made of 0.5 mm plastic On to it, the embossed outer skins of 0.25 mm plastic will be applied. That way I get good stability in the body and a "plate-like" appearance. The chassis was shortened 4 mm on one side, and the entire original decoder with lights sent into the round-archive . I made two boards to mount my LED's and resistors on. The Lenz decoder was hard wired in and mounted above the motor, but under the weight. I made a new base of 1 mm plastic. This is how it looked after I glued the walls to the base: I made the outer skins and the inner window frames of 0.25 mm plastic. The outer skins, I placed (upside down) on the drawing, and used a self-made light table to emboss all the rivets with a needle in a wooden holder. I can now reveal, that when you venture into this kind of construction, without having tested the techniques, it can REALLY go down the drains! The picture that follows shows just that: First, it did not work out with my roof, it was formed like a Banana..... Luckily I found a roof in the scrap box that could be cut to shape and be used instead. It was not the biggest problem ....... I had glued the body together and glued the window frames in place before applying the outer skins with the embossed rivets . It did not work out that way, so I started from scratch . But as I had done it once, it went rather quickly the second time ...... The Chassi beams are plasticard I-beams 2.5 mm. I had almost feared the construction of the roof mounted radiators .... Fortunately, I had a piece of corrugated patterned plasticard. I shaped a piece of 0.5 mm metal in the right curvature, then I took the plastic, forcing it to follow the shape of the plate and secured it with clamps and then dipped the whole shebang in boiling water for a few minutes. When it had cooled down I had a row of convincing cooling tubes in the right shape! So here is the build as it stands right now, just some paint and small details remain: The exhaust pipes on the roof is turned from beech in a drill stand Scratchbuilding is FUN! Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch

I have been busy building a little Blacksmith shop of parts I had in the scrap box I "needed" a blacksmith by the track, and also I had a place that was perfect for a small(ish) building. I was sorting through the drawers and found an old Athearn-boxcar shell. I searched a bit online and found some pictures showing that it was quite common to use the decommissioned cars for sheds etcc. I also found an old playing Birthday card of the simplest model, I cut the speaker off and put a red LED instead. When it "plays" it makes flickering lights on the diode instead! Cut a base out of pink foam and carved out some stones, put new end walls of "Clapboard Siding" on the wagon and made ​​an overhang to have the fireplace in, I supported it with columns of wood. I put in two windows from the scrap box as well. I made ​​the fireplace out of pink foam and covered it with alutape. A little red cellophane and coal on it to look like glow. The roof is covered with Japanese tissue paper and the chimney is a brass pipe. I painted the wall planks for themselves, and then the steel framework. It turned out pretty good actually Source: Blacksmith shop

Really interesting thread, I have made some sound projects of my own as well for my Loksound decoders. The LokSoundsExtractor program has really helped a LOT! I´ll see if I can make some vids of them and in the meantime I can show you how a BLI Paragon 2 SW-7 sounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOx_xza3sLk

I´m in!

I made a small film on how I operate on my layout: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXkCoj4aYY0 Feel free to comment and ask questions about it.