New Cabooses

There's actually been a bunch of excitement in Sturgeon Falls lately.  A couple of weeks ago, I got a new table.  This one is solid, so there isn't a spot in the middle where the track is lifted slightly.  This helps greatly in the running of the trains.  I moved it around so that I could expand it a little bit if I wanted to.  And I'm seriously looking at doing just that.

 Today, I decided to get a couple of new cars.  Even though you don't see them all that often, I do like cabooses, so I bought a pair of them to add to my CSX engine.  One of them is from the Chessie System which is the predecessor of sorts for CSX.

 Granted, this doesn't look like a real train but it still looks pretty cool.

 My other caboose.  It also is a CSX caboose but it is in Operation Lifesaver Regalia.  Operation Lifesaver is a rail safety advocacy group.  It was founded by Union Pacific in 1972 and it's main purpose is to educate people about rail safety.   If they see activities that may not be safe they will call out film makers or photographers on that.  Granted much of it is common sense but  given the rash of rail incidents lately...maybe it's not all that common.

 A shot of the Amtrak from the front.

 I was messing with different settings on the camera.  I think this gives even more subdued lightly and is something that I will have to explore.

 The other side of the caboose.

 The CSX engine coming around the bend.

A shot of my yard.  This probably also doesn't reflect reality but I can't pick one railroad.

The Coal Train Rumbles by Sturgeon Falls

One of the things to think about trains is that modern society probably wouldn't have happened without them.  They are a fairly efficient means of shipping goods long distance over a vast land mass.  I realize that ships are more efficient, but it is kind of difficult to get a ship from say Kansas to California.

The next time you see a train, think of all the stuff that is carrying for either the production of other goods or manufactured goods for sale. 

 In this case, we have the CSX engine and it would be carrying coal.  The real version would likely be carrying this coal from West Virginia to one of the steel mills that dot the Midwest.  Given where I think Sturgeon Falls would be, this is likely a train carrying from West Virginia to Gary, Indiana.  Although in reality, that train would be a little further south in Northern Indiana. 

 This could also potentially be carrying coal to one of the inland power plants.  Even though many of Michigan's power plants are serviced by ships, there are a few that can't be serviced by ships or get supplemented by train shipments.

 Typically one of these trains would have more cars than shown here but I don't have the space for that, so I'll be content to pretend.

 Just a closeup of the engine from my favorite angle.

 And since I had the camera out and the train was relatively accessible, I took pictures of my Union Pacific engines.  In this case, they would be loading grain from the silo I don't have yet.

 So the train sits in the yard waiting. 

And a shot from my favorite angle.  I'm tempted to get brave and start weathering these so they look more realistic.  I mean, you never see an engine this pristine in the field.  I'm also going to add a little more terrain.  And the grain elevator will be in progress at some point.

Sturgeon Falls Starts to get a Makeover

As I said in one my last posts, I decided to start redoing my buildings in styrene.  I sarted with the train station and have started to do some of the other buildings.  I'm really liking the way they are turning out.  With a little more patience and practice, I think I can get them to look more realistic.

 I'm still going to keep the names of the buildings the same though.  As it currently stands, the Railway Arms is still the tallest building in town.  I decided to add a mural to the side of the building because I think that is something they would do.  The Railway Arms was also still built in 1895.

 The other two buildings have shrunk down to two stories but they are still the same names.

 I ended up adding a Coke machine to the train station.  For some reason, I would think it would be there especially if travelers want some refreshment.

 The Amtrak waiting at the station.

 Another view of the station itself.

 Then I decided to take some pictures of my trains, even though I'm going to be taking some pictures of real trains later.  My Norfolk-Southern engine.

 I really like this angle of it.

 I would not recommend getting this angle with a real train.

 This is probably my favorite car of the bunch. 

 My Union Pacific engine.

 My BNSF engine.

 The Union Pacific from a different angle.

And I leave you with the Amtrak engine.