I've been workin on the railroad...

This is the first tine that I have tried blogging – I’m always behind the technology curve! I suppose as an Episcopal priest I should blog on things far more serious, but perhaps maybe beginning with my hobby is easier and the first toe in the water. As I said in my first blog entry my model road layout (hobby) began with a cheap HO Scale Life-Like “Shop Rite” train set I bought for my son as a Christmas present in 2004. I thought that model railroading might be a good father/son activity. At first my son was interested and we had fun together. But as these things go he interests led elsewhere (comic books, action figures, Dungeons and Dragons, and of course the computer and internet) and I found myself enjoying the hobby alone.  The choice of modeling the Union Pacific R.R. was that of my son. I asked him what railroad our layout should be based on. He decided on the UP (mistakenly thinking that it was the one modeled by Walt Disney in his back yard- a slightly longer story behind this). So, beginning in the spring of 2004 I built the layout table (4’x8’) out of wood and pink insulation board (trying to keep it light to move!). Early on I subscribed to Model Railroader magazine and found sites on the Internet (i.e. Railroad line forms, Atlas forum [now defunct!], and others) and it was from these sources that I learned about the hobby. I wish I had started with a little more knowledge as I would NOT have used steel Life-Like Power lock track! I would have use nickel-silver Atlas track (or some other good brand!). I have had a lot of live and learn experiences over the years in the hobby. It has been eight years that I have been working on this layout and I am still not finished. It has inspired me to someday have a much larger HO layout based on the Erie Railroad. Along the way I have also begun to work on projects for my future Erie layout (set in the 1950’s). In the mean time I am going to finish the UP Layout. In some ways I am basing it on a photo I saw in the spring 2008 issue of Classic Trains magazine. It is a 1956 photo of a 2-8-0 steam engine pulling a short-line mixed consist of 6 cars. It was taken on the Columbus-Spalding branch of the UP in Nebraska. Besides the Baldwin engine there are three cattle cars, a Warren tank car, a UP boxcar and a combine Harriman coach. I wish I could post the photo but it is copyrighted. It was from this I decided that my layout would be a UP short-line set in Western Nebraska. I will now start posting photos of work I have done on it over time. I will also share photos of work I am doing on the future Erie R.R. layout.