Thanks! I've written several how-to article for Garden Railways magazine and Model Railroad Hobbyist.

 I recently finished adding some interior details and lighting to the Mineral Ridge Mill, on my 1/24th scale In-ko-pah Railroad. Here are a few pics:









A view of the sorting house interior with the newly added lights:









As darkness falls, the lights bring the mill to life:































Looking through some of the windows:













Looking up the street towards the ore bin, sorting house, and trestles:









Enjoy!

Thanks Terry!

https://youtu.be/iHXdhL85-r0

On September 15, my In-ko-pah Railroad was host to several visitors, as part of a regional layout tour held by the San Diego Division of the National Model Railroad Association. I shot the event using time-lapse photography.

Music by Eric Matyas
www.soundimage.org



Enjoy!

I haven't had a lot of time for modeling so far this year, and what time I did have, has mostly been spent refurbishing older models. The newest structure is a through, plate girder bridge. Until now I've just had a crude temporary bridge made of wood, which has become badly warped:






I built a permanent replacement for it. My previous plate girder bridges were all made using a structural fiberglass material called G10. This time, I wanted to try making it out of Sintra. I used 6mm Sintra for the deck and sides. The interior braces were made from 1mm Sintra. The rest of the details are styrene.  I got a bit lazy on this bridge and decided to leave off the rivets -- where it's located, no one can get very close to it anyway. The underside of the bridge is strengthened with three lengths of 1/2" square acrylic tube, plus three sections of extruded aluminum angle for good measure.










I sprayed it with red primer followed by gloss black. Then I weathered it with a thin, alcohol wash of gray acrylic paint. Then I used RustAll to create reddish rusty streaks. Next I used Sophisticated Finishes' "Iron" and "Rust Solution".









Two of my earliest structures on the layout were really starting to show their age. The paint was faded and worn (beyond the intentional weathering). The clear plastic used in some of the windows had yellowed, fogged, and warped. Slide cover glass used in a few places had broken or fallen out. A couple signs were faded, and both structures had minor damage caused by a raccoon. One of the buildings still had incandescent "grain of rice" bulbs, which I wanted to replace with LEDs. Here are the "before" photos:












Here are the "after" photos:
















Enjoy!

Thanks guys!

Great shot, and a really beautiful loco!

I've just finished posting the full report on my 2016 Nevada/Mojave ghost town trip, starting here:

http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/Nevada_Trip_2016_Part_One.html

Lots of great reference photos!

These are the places I visited on the trip:

Jasper Queen Mine, CA
Corona Mine, CA
Minnietta-Keystone Mine, CA
Lookout Mine, NV
Black Butte Mine, NV
Nevada Rand Mine, NV
Nevada Scheelite Mine, NV
Red Top Mine, NV
Nevada Quicksilver Mine, NV
Pershing Mine, NV
Beacon Hill Mine, NV
Boyer Ranch, NV
Chalk Mountain Mines, NV
Westgate Mill, NV
Ellsworth, NV
Vindicator Mine, NV
Ames Camp, NV
Cloverdale, NV
Goldfield, NV
Gold Point, NV
Minnietta, CA
Lead (aka Hughes) Mine, CA
Lookout City, CA
Ballarat, CA
Goler Canyon and Newman's Cabin, CA
Lotus Mine, CA

In Goldfield, they now have a vintage train on display. It's an 0-6-0 tank engine (missing cab and other parts) and two wooden box cars.

In addition to all these historic places, I also photographed some wildlife including hawks, antelope, burros, and a Great Basin rattlesnake (got some video of the snake).

Enjoy!

First, very nice job on kit bashing those locos!

Second, thanks for the info about the differences between the two types of locos. Very interesting and informative!

Nice work. Some day I want to try making some short cars for my layout.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post your progress, Bill! Looks good so far. I agree with you on the advantages of modeling indoors! If I had room for it, I'd have an indoor layout. On the other hand there are some things that are easier done outdoors, and you can't beat natural sunlight for photographing the layout.

Very interesting!

I remember back in the late '70s, early '80s, people were adding simple "chuff" circuits to some of their steam locos. It was pretty crude, but better than nothing.

The layout is looking great so far! Very interested in following your progress.

Good luck with the surgery!

Happy New Year to you as well, Mr. Bach-Man!

My Dos Manos depot isn't finished yet but it's getting there. Here are a couple pics of how it looks so far:





I still have to make the doors and windows, the Spanish tile for the roof, and then paint it. I'll also be adding lighting and interior details.