I am a big Phil Collins fan.  I have been since I first heard Genesis so many years ago.  If you are waiting for a new album you could be waiting for a while. He’s started working on a model railroad in his basement and has put his new album on hold, indefinitely.

Click here for the story…

Scott

I did nothing that most people would consider directly related to model railroading (other than operating last evening that is). However, as I took advantage of the brief bit of nice weather we had over the weekend to rebuild the fence/view block around part of our patio, all I could think of was that this was getting me one step closer to starting work on my G-scale empire.

I kept looking longingly at the area in our back yard where the layout (or at least phase 1 of the layout) will be located. I had visions of what it would look like and how I could add certain features. And then, BAM! The hammer hit my thumb instead of the nail as I was rudely brought back to reality.

The fence is almost complete. A few fine evenings should finish it up. Then it will have to be stained, the deck and steps need cleaning and re-staining, and perhaps a few other odd jobs around the yard, and then I’ll be free to start the garden layout. Well, I’ll be free to start it as long as nothing else finds it’s way to my, or Kim’s, to do list.

In the meantime, I’ll be looking at the area for the layout and dreaming of what I’ll do there for a few more weeks. My thumb will heal eventually, as long as I stay away from the hammer!

Scott

During the banquet at the last Convention in Truro I happened to be sitting next to two of the organizers of this years Convention. I foolishly mentioned that it might be nice to have a clinic about layout building and scenery. STUPID ME! Before I knew it I was planning a clinic.

Last weekend we had the 2008 Maritime Federation of Model Railroaders Convention and Saturday was D-Day. In my case that meant “Demonstration Day”.

I scaled my demonstration back a bit since I would be the only one presenting, and made it just about doing scenery. As I mentioned in a previous post, I built 4 18″ square dioramas. I used 1/2″ plywood cut into 1-1/2″ strips for the frame and filled the inside with 1-1/2″ foam insulation. With all the talking I only managed to get scenery on 2 of the diorama’s.

This is what it was like through most of the day. There seemed to always be 2 or 3 people around the table asking questions or just watching. Some people even brought their friends back to give their own scenery course. I had a blast!

I brought a few trees to add to the scenes and bring them to life. They looked quite good, if I do say o myself.

Scott

I picked up another Alco S4 over the weekend, but there’s something wrong.

If you haven’t figured it out yet maybe this photo will help…

That’s the loco that I picked up from Dara over the weekend (the big one, not the little one).

I’m getting anxious to get the garden layout started.  I have a few outdoor projects to do before I can start it – and it rained today so I couldn’t start them.  I know if I start working on the G-scale layout before getting the other things done they never will get done.

Later!

Scott

Well, as you may know I am doing a workshop/demonstration at the Maritime Federation of Model Railroaders Convention in Amherst, N.S. this weekend. I had intended to take pictures of the dioramas I am making for this, but one thing lead to another and I don’t have pictures. Sorry.

So, in place of pictures I’ll use 1000 words for each one I intended to post, to describe what I’ve done.

Hmmm…. I guess that’s not such a good idea, eh? I’ll keep it to a few short paragraphs.

Anyway, I’ve made 4 18″ square bases of foam with plywood frame for the dioramas. I’ve painted them (foam top and rails) – three with an airbrush and one by hand to demonstrate the differences in the two methods. I’ve also applied my new favorite road and building base material (1/8″ foam). My original intention was to have each diorama in a different stage of completion. Then I realized that later in the day as I work on each one I will not have anything to demonstrate the earlier stages. So I’ve saved myself some homework and left them all at this basic starting point.

I’ll do some basic scenery during the demonstration which will include ballasting, grass and shrubs, and building placement. I’ll also have other products on the table that I’ll be able to show folks what else is available and describe how I’ve used them.

This evening I’ll pack up my scenery supplies. Since Derwin and I will be suppplying the control system for the UMG layout I’ll have to pack up my Lenz gear as well. We won’t be bringing any modules for the layout because with everything else we have to bring I don’t think I can get anything else in the car. Hopefully the G-scale stuff I’m buying from Dara will fit for the return trip.

So, Derwin and I will be in Amherst, Nova Scotia tomorrow afternoon for a fun filled weekend of meeting new friends, chatting with old friends, attending and presenting clinics, and other model railroad related activities! I promise to take lots of pictures and will post them next week.

Have a great holiday weekend! It is the Victoria Day weekend in Canada, or the May Run weekend as we call it around here. That name has a lot to do with being young, camping, and consuming way to many alcoholic beverages. (Yes Will Ayerst, that’s how we celebrate the Sovereignty over here! HA!)

Later!

Scott

If you haven’t been a regular listener to the podcasts at Model Rail Cast now is the time to start.  Episode 12 includes an interview with yours truly!

We’ve been trying to schedule an interview since March.  But with making modules for the Moncton show and my trips to Montreal we were not in sync.  The planets finally aligned for an interview on Saturday so I put preparations for my demonstration at the MFMR Convention this weekend on hold for an hour.

It will be full steam ahead this week getting some dioramas ready for my scenery demonstration at the Convention.  I’ll have 4 dioramas in various stages of completion that will hopefully allow me to demonstrate various aspects of doing scenery on a model railroad, from ballasting to grass, bushes, and structure placement.

My next couple of posts will show the progress on these dioramas.

Scott

I feel bad that it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything. I’ve had a very hectic schedule recently and it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up for a couple weeks, at least. As you know I was in Quebec last week, Montreal and Quebec City to be precise.

On Friday I’m heading to Halifax for the weekend to watch my son, and his school band of course, perform at the Atlantic Band Festival. We’ve been attending the festival for almost 8 years, since my daughter first joined band in grade 7. Since John is our youngest, and in grade 12, this will be the last year we will attend the festival. An operating session on Friday evening has become part of the Festival tradition, for me anyway. I will be operating on Doug Whitman’s White River Southern again this year (yippee!).

We will return from Halifax on Sunday, just in time for our regular round-robin operating session with the guys. The Bayside and Tidewater is on the schedule this week. Since summer is fast approaching it may be the last operating session on the BS&Twith a full crew until next fall. I’ll try to get lots of photos.

Then, on Monday (May 5th) it’s off to good ol’ Quebec again. This time to St. Hyacinthe for a Metro vendor’s trade show. We’ll return late on Thursday (May 8th). I’ll have about a week to get my demonstration prepared for the Maritime Federation of Model Railroaders Annual Convention on May 16th – 17th in Amherst, Nova Scotia. I’ll be doing a demo of track laying and scenery on foam. From soldering rail and feeders to adding ballast, grass, bushes, and structure placement. That’s my plan, at least, as long as I can all the prep work done. HA!

After the Convention I’ll be able to relax a bit and work on the yard to get it ready for the G-Scale stuff I’ll be picking up at the Convention.

So, to make a long story short, I’ll likely not be making regular postings here for a few weeks. I’ll post updates when I can.

Later!

Scott

Yup, I am in Quebec City again. If you are a regular reader you may remember that I was here in December on business. I arrived here from Montreal a few hours ago and since the hotel has wired internet I can update you on what I’ve been up to. My laptop is quite old, without built-in wireless, and neither my USB nor PCMCIA ports work.

The last time I was in Montreal I visited Hobby Junction on Cardinal Ave. This time I decided to check out Udisco Hobbies at 4660 Decarie Blvd. Derwin mentioned it a few times in the past and it sounded like a pretty good spot.

My purpose for traveling to Quebec is to check on our potato units in Metro stores in the province. It just so happens that one of those stores is only about a 10 minute walk from Udisco. So, after finishing up at that store I took a little time to visit Udisco.

When I first walked in it looked like a small little place. I walked to the back, which opened to a relatively large warehouse like space. I walked the aisles for a few minutes and all I saw was plastic car models. I asked where the train stuff was. They told me to “follow the yellow line to the 2nd floor”. I followed the line, which wove around several aisles, to the stairs. Thank goodness for the yellow line because it was a bit of a maze. The second floor turned out to be about 3/4 model railway stuff in N, HO, and G scales with several long aisles of HO. I was very impressed.

I browsed for a while, was tempted by the sound equipped locos that I managed not to buy, and chatted with one of the sales people. He was very knowledgeable about the products and showed me around. Unlike the impression you get in some stores, he did not mind spending time with a customer. I ended up only spending a little bit of money, taking away only a couple Athearn ore cars, some Walthers Modulars Columns and Cornices, and some dullcoat. But I will probable be ordering on-line from them in the future!

I’ll be home and back to work on the Bayside and Tidewater on Saturday! I likely won’t stop at any train stores here, but my co-worker wants to visit IKEA. I wonder what havoc that will wreak?

BTW – I’ll be back near Montreal in a couple weeks for a Metro Vendor’s Trade Show. I might try to get back to Hobby Junction then.

Scott

If you haven’t discovered it yet, you should check out the podcasts on Model Rail Cast.  Host and creator Ryan Anderson and co-host Will Ayerst (of Black River Subdivision) put on a great show!  They talk about many different model and prototype subjects in lots of detail.  In the precess they introduce us to to lots of great web sites and provide tons of valuable information.

And I am not just saying this because they mentioned me and my blog in Episode 6!  Ha!

Scott