A snip of time

Memorial Day 2009. A little snip of time on the layout. Preettttyy busy even without the trains!

Marc

PS The lady having a seizure in the lower left is due to the direct inhalation of exhaust fumes from a prewar bus and Scrooge McDucks roadster (all at once). Perhaps one of the Manoil soldiers will perform CPR. Stay tuned.

Day 5 on the Layout

I think I skipped Day 4. The Prosperity Special is one of the most unusual trains from any era. My layout will be getting a Monorail shortly.

Marc

Olson Displays

Olson Displays has updated their website with some new items. I have to tell you, these folks are ARTISTS! I have an Olson tunnel and a custom Olson Tunnel that is so huge I am modifying my layout to accomodate it. These folks are the most decent, above board people you will ever deal with in the toy train world, bar none. Go out and look at the new items they have up for sale and put in some orders. You won't be disappointed.

Marc

PS Horses and beer and trains can be mixed...

But not all at the same time....

This is real...

I took this picture last year.  Ok, so it is in Amsterdam.  It was still real (and really neat).  Any ideas on something like this for a standard gauge layout in tinplate?

Marc

Disney Train Tour

Ok, I know you are all used to me having great pictures. I don't have them yet... But I will!

Disney is releasing a new movie/take on a Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol. Apparently they are doing a train promotion to kick it off doing stops all over the United States. The Amtrak train is specially painted just for the event. Can there be a Lionel flavor far behind?

Judging from the website this looks like one heck of a neat promotion. The train looks really cool as well; the paintjob is something I have to see in person.

Click on the link above or click here for the press release.

Marc

Oh no you don't!

I always hear high rail people telling the tale of how Standard Gauge and prewar didn't exactly reflect prototypes.  I was thinking about it over the weekend and I remembered this shot I took of a work car at the Transit Museum in Brooklyn. 

That yellow looks pretty bright to me on that REAL train!  I've been thinking alot lately about train museums and trolley museums.  I want to go to at least 2 if not 3 this summer (Steamtown included).  I drove by Scranton a couple of weeks ago and I felt my car pulling towards the exit...

If anyone captures some great summer pics of trains that they want me to publish.... I am going to film another day (day 5) of my layout this week.

Marc

Sorry for the post formatting...

I know, the posts below look a little strange. There are 4 major browsers out there on everyone's computers and none of them seem to display the blog or Youtube the same way. Very frustrating.

On the upside, I was out at Coney Island yesterday and I grabbed this wonderful picture of this amazing standard gauge street lamp. Ok, it's a real lamp; it is nice to see the prototype for many wonderful street lamps we have on our layouts...

Marc

PS for those of you not on the East Coast, Coney Island is not dead, is not dangerous and is really nice. It has one of the most gorgeous stretches of beaches and boardwalks you'll ever see and there are some great foods (Nathans) and sites (the Amusement part, Freakshows/Oddities, etc). I highly recommend it. Easy to get to from NYC (the Q train).

The Magic of Youtube....

Arno Baars has put up some very unusual and rare items on Youtube and I would highly, highly recommend seeing these very rare items in action.

First up, a Delker Helix. I don't want to go into the history of this product, it's existence is well known among the collectors of standard gauge esoterica. Outside circles of collectors may not have seen one. This is something to aspire to.




Next up is a General Train Streamliner, a Voltamp Interurban (Pridelines) and a Restored Voltmamp #220. Very cool stuff.



Last but not least are some great shots of the General Train Streamliner. Again this is one of those rare standard gauge items not many folks know about. It's why we need to encourage manufacturers to do some out of box thinking. Nope, it isn't a 400e or 202 Trolley however it is really unique. Just the sound alone on that two rail track has a pitch and sound that can't be replicated. PS I would recommend switching to HQ quality for this video.


Marc

PS Check this quick little vid of a C&F 42 running on an elevated track.