Between work, school and my various commitments to the PH&D RRHS (Port Huron and Detroit Railroad Historical Society), time for the layout has been kind of slim lately. I did manage to take some pictures last night of some of the various projects I have going both on the layout(s) and otherwise.
First, I've started working on building a couple of N scale modules. I've built 3 so far, two of which are designed to be an industrial switching area based on the South Park neighborhood in Port Huron, and the third of which is intended to be a oNe Trak module acting as an interface between the industrial area and other oNe Trak modules. The fourth module, which is currently unbuilt (although all of the wood has been cut to size), will feature a passing siding that will terminate on the third module (the interface module). I ran into a sizing problem on the switching modules (they're supposed to be 24 by 48 inches overall, I'm in the process of cutting them down from 26.5 x 49.5 inches), that has resulted in various sections of module sitting around the layout area waiting for time to complete the mini-project. What I have so far is this:
I'm noticing I need to find a LHS (local hobby shop) that sells flex track for this project, although funding is currently a bit low.
My second major project right now, and the reason my track department is under-funded, has to do with the engines and rolling stock to be run on the modules. My long-term goal is to model as much of the PH&D using N scale modules as possible. Although there are many PH&D boxcars available in just about every major scale, one of the things that stands out in most of the photos I've seen are all of the blue PH&D boxcars that were leased by the railroad. Rather than just waiting for old Roundhouse PH&D cars to turn up at the various train shows I go to, and in addition to the cars that Fox Valley is supposedly releasing this summer, I decided to build a fleet of cars using a bunch of extra Roundhouse/MDC boxcar shells in my collection. In addition to painting close to a dozen (at last count) shells a dark shade of blue, I had custom decals made up, that I am slowly applying to the fleet. Most of my decaling up to this point had been via dry transfers, so I am also learning how to apply decals properly. I have six cars completed so far:
As part of the sheets I had made up, I also have extra numbers included for renumbering factory painted cars already in my collection. I managed to find a close-enough shade of blue to patch out the old numbers, but haven't quite had the time to sit down and apply the new numbers:
In addition to the fleet of boxcars used by the PH&D, the road owned a small fleet of Alco switchers, with an S1, an S2 and an S4 in the fleet when the road was sold to CSX. Arnold made an S2 model in N scale, and I believe someone else imported brass models of the S1, S2, S3 and S4 in the 1980s. Having been unable to find a brass S-series model, and having come across a deal with several of the Arnold S2s that were affordable, I now have a fleet of two S2s.
Even though there are at least two sources of PH&D boxcar decals available (if you can find them), there are no commercially available decal sets for either the road's diesel fleet or it's two unique, offset bay window cabooses. My second (hobby)finance-consuming project has been the design and production of decals for the railroad's Alco diesel locomotives as well as the steel cabooses used by the road. I am currently waiting for the decals to arrive from the manufacturer, but am feeling quite optimistic about them. Once they arrive, several of these units will be able to be finished:
Finally, I've also been working on various vehicle projects for the layouts. One of the more interesting (to me) projects has been my attempt to build a dump truck similar to those used by the larger railroads. I've been struggling to turn it into a rotary dump body, and aside from posing the parts for the picture, the project is still waiting for additional inspiration. Also visible in this picture are two bay window cabooses I am modifying to represent the PH&D's steel caboose fleet.
As the semester winds to a close, my free time seems to be more and more consumed with finishing coursework, but I hope to have more time in a couple of weeks to finish some of these projects. I plan to share the finished products here upon completion.
Charles W.
P.S. The PH&D engine and caboose decals I mentioned will be available in both N and HO scales. If there is any interest in them, I will post more here regarding how to purchase them once the details are worked out.
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