The LDSIG Tour at NMRA 2024 Long Beach

 As I have done for the past few years, I did the LDSig tour at the NMRA National Convention.

I took a bunch of pictures, and encourage you to look at the full gallery on richmond-terminal.org, but here is a sampling of what you will see:

That rail is STEEL, by the way.. Handlaid decades ago.

Love some Heritage style units!

The gallery has over 100 pictures - don't miss it!

More HBRX Cars, Part II

I had put a post together 2 years ago about my work on a run of custom painted 57' Mechanical reefers, painted for Hood Brothers Packing.

Initial Post

The one shortcoming on the pilot model, was the lack of the lube plate decal to add the final detail to 5800.

I bought a decal sheet of only the lube plate detail and it has been sitting around for over 18 months. I finally decided it was time to get some additional cars completed.

Number 5801 and 5802 have been added to the roster!

Op Session Recap - December 2024

The year's final session was held on December 8th.

A full crew enjoyed a wonderful lunch, and ran the schedule.

Many issues identified in November had been resolved, so only a few issues were found during this session.

The priority on the layout for the next couple of months is to install and implement control of the signals to enter Acca yard from the north, and start moving in the direction of having a dispatcher sometime in 2025.

I didn't get a chance to snap as many pictures as I wanted, so I will just include one on this post.

More pictures can be found on richmond-terminal.org

Op Session Recap - November 2024

Starting this fall, I moved to having operating sessions on the 2nd Sunday of the month. That seems to ease the conflicts that happen on Saturdays.

A full crew joined me and we ran the majority of the schedule. A few issues were found, which were added to the list.

Here are a couple of shots:

More photos can be see on the gallery at richmond-terminal.org

Operating Session Recap October 2024

The October session is in the books.

I was able to get Doswell operating, so this session saw the first train returning to that area of the layout since March. Crew was a bit light this session, so your humble Super ended up running a train. No union complaints were filed, as the crews were much too busy.

Some issues were identified, and will be worked for remediation.

Somebody did NOT walk with their train...

More photos at richmond-terminal.org

Santa Susanna Model Railroad Club in Pictures - NMRA 2024 Long Beach

 I attended the NMRA National Convention in Long Beach, CA, in August 2024.

As in some years past, I did the LDSig layout tour. One of the layouts on the tour this year was the Santa Susanna Model Railroad Club. The Club is housed in the former Southern Pacific Santa Susanna Station.

What follows is a sampling of photos that I found interesting. If you find yourself in the Los Angeles area, this is worth the ~60 minute drive up into the foothills.

We were able to get a nice depot tour and presentation from one of the historical society docents that was at the depot that day. His presentation was outstanding and engaging. He was able to take my group upstairs in the depot, which is the living space for the station agent. In Santa Susanna's case, the Agents were a husband and wife team.

Upstairs in the depot is the living area for the station agent - couldn't resist a cat on chair picture.

More shots on the gallery at richmond-terminal.org. If you are interested in more information about the club, you can check out the Club website for the depot. The Museum website here.

Please Handle and Couple Cars Carefully - An Example of Why

 During my pre-session briefing, I ask all operators to handle cars carefully, and couple with care.

HO scale frieght cars are beautifully detailed these days, but all those great looking details are fragile, and subject to damage.

I show you an example of what happens when cars aren't treated gently.