Recent content by Rusty Spike

Joy Someone may look back and think it was a miserable day but it was perfect - calm, "warm" (35F) and I was playing hookie!

Ralph, great shot - what was the exposure and when/how far did you move the train during the exposure? Did it take several attempts?

Shaygetz - awesome shot of that huge steam engine coming out of the shed! Trucklover - it's a Siku excavator - drilled out the pins on the bucket, used styrene for the attachments, an old paint cap for the "magnet", glued the attachments to the paint cap, wrapped it in paper from drill bit...

And the rest of the trip . . . I tracked this west bound train from the UP Mankato yard to several miles west of Mankato. It was calm, 35 and georgous.

More DME and ICE now CP We had a great wet snow last night here in the Mankato, MN area (south central where the DME and UP cross). I focused on DME as it's now CP - I wonder if they'll repaint? I model the local stuff so it means new looks - I'm excited.

Thanks Ralph. I got it from Lilipucia Mnftng.

The latest from UP and DMandE, oops, that's CP in Mankato - MN Finishing up the equipment for the scrap yard . . . I had to warn the little people about starting fires.

Looks great y'all - love that CNW grime UP. I'll be back in a second or two to post our picture of the week. Jeffrey - can you really get those Athearn engines to run like a Proto? What do you think it costs in parts dollars to do it?

Modern for me - today, in fact. I think it's because most of my railfanning has been recent and I love to model what's local. My son says it's the same for him.

Grain Terminal 2 - Overcast Day Great pics everyone - we love looking at all these great pics. I worked with my 10 y.o. son on the composition and lighting for this one. He weathered the hopper as well.

Another scrappy picture Thanks for the compliment. It means a lot as there is such fine modeling going on in the photos shared here. Just getting this corner of the layout finished - still have some excavators on the way for cutting, sorting and loading. I have a few more scrap piles...

"What are you lookin' at?" - Crusty the Scrap Yard Guy "Some of us have to work for a livin!" (I'm sorry he's so rude but he works for cheap.)

I just read some fine print - "track polarity determines which sensors are active. Hmmm. I just called Tomar and ordered the Logic Rails system they recommend. Didn't see that at Walthers.com

I purchased a Tomar HO Signal Crossing set (H-862; no gates, just lights - very nice model). I also purchased a Walthers HO Crossing Signal Controller (933-2307). It is designed for a DC layout and says don't connect it to a DCC layout. I was aware of this when I purchased it. I have a DCC...

Be aware too that people specialize in purchasing collections like the one you describe for, of course, the lowest amount they can pay as they then turn around and sell it for a profit (not a bad thing in and of itself). The convenience is great and like most liquidations, you'll not get fair...