Freight Car Rescue

Remember my HO-scale freight car buying spree last year? That project is moving forward, so I’ve been taking some time to whip those cars into shape. I’m relieved to discover that upgrading old HO cars is no more difficult than working on N scale cars. Actually, it’s a little easier. (more…)


My American Flyer Legacy

When Mom and Dad moved out of their home of 44 years and into a senior apartment, we all knew that his trains were going to have to go. Sure, there was closet space for a few of them, but there was so much more than he could take along. Discount-store N scale from the late ’60s. O scale trolleys built from LaBelle wood kits. A smattering of HO scale items. Plasticville structures by the boxload. And lots and lots of American Flyer S gauge. American Flyer was his first love, and when I was very young, it became my first love, too.


One Last Mall Show

When I joined the club in 2003, we had space in one of the local malls, which we filled with an Ntrak modular layout, and opened up for public display at least once a week. The space had started out as a bookstore when the mall first opened, later was used by an athletic-shoe retailer, and was given to us when the mall found itself with an excess of unrented space. This particular mall had always had trouble attracting business, and it just got worse over time. For a while, there were more community groups than retailers. This was obviously unsustainable, so in 2009, mall management evicted what few tenants remained, and locked the place up. We haven’t been in a mall since, until last month. (more…)

Finally, Some More Woodworking



I know people who devote time and effort to railroad history. They’re out at the museum doing unglamorous tasks, like scraping and repainting the rolling stock, or cataloging old paperwork. I am not one of those people. I like to leaf through old books on winter evenings, and read online stories of railroading’s past, and take bike rides along abandoned rights-of-way on sunny autumn afternoons. Last weekend, I spent time with people who actually work at historical things. (more…)