Weekend Photos - February 2023

[healey36]

I've been trying to figure out why the images I've been attaching were appearing in a small format. It turns out that when Flickr revised their site a few years back, they added sizing for the image you’re trying to attach. It used to be that it automatically linked it to it's original size, but now it was defaulting to a smaller format. I've now changed the setting back to original, and the attached image now appears quite a bit bigger,

This test photo montage is the most recent image I've added to Flickr, unrelated to model railroading specifically:



The model is rather generic, a diecast 1/72-scale StuG-IV manufactured by Dragon of China. They make nice stuff, although this isn't one of their best. More to the point is the base it's sitting on. I purchased this for a couple bucks some ten years ago at IPMS Nationals. It was just a raw resin casting intended to be painted and used as a display for 1/72-scale armor models. I specifically bought it to see if I could paint the brick street surface and have it actually look like brick. I found it the other day and decided to give it a try. I used a bunch of acrylic paints (some being just cheap craft paint from Michael's), ink washes, and a couple over-sprays of satin and clear matte lacquer. It seems to have turned out halfway decent.

At least I got the photo-link-sizing issue sorted out.

[Mitch]

It looks like they'd have to drive the tank specifically to aim the gun. Don't look like there's any way that the turret can rotate. Nice paint job, though.
Well, looking closer, the gun itself may turn X degrees left and right, and can elevate and depress. My bad!

[webenda]

The whole display looks really nice to me, Healey.

The artillery piece mounted in the StuG III and IV could traverse 10 degrees
left or right from the centreline and elevate up to 20 degrees. Apparently,
the StuG was very accurate... by the spring of 1944, StuGs were credited with
the destruction of some 20,000 Soviet tanks.

--Victor Desjardins

https://groups.google.com/g/soc.history ... 6Imc?pli=1

[webenda]

That is a really nice display, Healey.

[healey36]

The Sturmgeshutz translates roughly to “assault gun”. No turret, just a large gun inside a heavily armored front/facia. The gun elevates and has very limited side-to-side traverse. They built them on existing tank chassis. My understanding is they were cheaper and simpler to build compared to a tank with a turret, so when things got desperate in the last couple years, they made a bunch of them. They made a few of them early in the war as well, a way to put a large gun on a chassis that couldn’t be accommodated by any tank with a turret.

Thanks for your comments re: the display base. It still looks just a bit shiny to me, so I might hit it one more time with the clear matte. Otherwise, I’m going to leave it alone before I muck it up.

Got a line on a 226E at a local auction house. I’m hopeful that comes in. It has been something I’ve been chasing for awhile.

[healey36]

The auction bid came in, so I finally have the coveted 226E I've been chasing for awhile:



It's got a few cosmetic issues, a broken-off marker light and a missing whistle casting, not to mention it's absolutely filthy. Haven't had it on the test track yet. A previous owner put postwar six-wheel trucks on the tender (they look like the ones on the 2671W that came with the early turbines); that's unfortunate, and I'll be working to restore it to its original prewar six-wheel/box-coupler configuration. All in all, not too bad for not too much money.

[healey36]

The standard-gauge American Flyer "Shasta" recreated using Lego:



By Erik on Flickr.

An actual Flyer Shasta:



As seen on the Liveauctioneers site.

[healey36]

I was up to Sarge's place this past weekend for an operating session on his pike. I hadn't been up there to run stuff for quite awhile, and it was fun seeing everyone again. It was the first session since he'd scenic'd the whole thing, and despite his concerns that there might be glitches, everything ran flawlessly.

This session centered on operations of the RW&O (Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg) and it was busy. I spent most of my time in Oswego breaking down a train, then picking up cars for the return run. I was fortunate to have been teamed with a good engineer that had a handle on how to get everything back in the proper order (as prescribed in the train orders) before heading back. He also exhibited extreme competence in operating the "curiosity" switch, something that's still substantially a mystery to me.

Here's a pic of engine #208, an RW&O Alco C-420, idling on the trimmer track waiting for its next assignment:



This was the first high-hood version of a C-420 I'd seen. Sarge tells me this design accommodated a steam-generator for passenger car heat (not unlike the RS-3 “Hammerheads” I recall seeing on the Western Maryland, although years after passenger service had ended). It's a lovely, smooth-running model, one that Sarge has quite a bit of history with.

Quite the contrast to the three-rail tinplate world I live in.

[healey36]

Balance has returned to the galaxy...the 226E's tender chassis has been restored to prewar configuration:



Now clean-up, test, and eventually a few cosmetic repairs (new front casting for the smokebox replacing the broken marker light, replace the missing whistle casting, two new front steps for the tender, straighten up the grabs, and a hook for the box-coupler).

[v8vega]

How much did you have to pay for the 226e? They're one of Lionels best runners

[healey36]

How much did you have to pay for the 226e? They're one of Lionels best runners

Picked it up from a big on-line estate sale. Got the 226E, a 623, and a half-dozen 6436 hopper cars for a hundred bucks (including the house commission). Then I spent another hundred on guts for the 2226W tender to get it back to its prewar configuration.

Here's another shot from the operating session at Sarge's last weekend:



The crew starts breaking down an incoming train from Oswego, prior to shoving it over to the classification yard.

[G3750]

Healey, I think you did a great job on the brick.

Does Sarge still have the destroyer?

George

[healey36]

Hey, George, thanks!

Nope, Sarge sold the DD when he rebuilt the layout into it’s new configuration. It was a lovely thing, but now he has a lot more storage space and room for a workbench, not to mention a neat layout with a lot of variability for operations and equipment.

I do miss looking at that destroyer, though

[G3750]

Hey, George, thanks!

Nope, Sarge sold the DD when he rebuilt the layout into it’s new configuration. It was a lovely thing, but now he has a lot more storage space and room for a workbench, not to mention a neat layout with a lot of variability for operations and equipment.

I do miss looking at that destroyer, though

That's a shame. I mean, shoot. That DD would allow him to lay down a smokescreen that would blanket the layout.

George

[healey36]

Spent a couple hours today getting the 623 back in running shape:



Gave it a mild cosmetic cleaning (not much more than a good dusting), then a lubrication as prescribed by the instruction sheet. Had to chisel some old dry grease out of the gears, then re-greased (minimal) and some light machine oil on the axle bearings. Both of the lights work, E-unit cycles properly, dirty but not too beat-up given it's been sitting up on someone's shelf for thirty years (my estimate).