Visiting with a Master

 I have a lot of respect for masters of their craft.  That can take many forms, of course, but in the hobby of modeling railroading there are a handful of people that clearly have become a master of their place in the hobby.  Tony Koester is one of them.  

Thanks to the great fortune of having been born in New Jersey, I early on had exposure to reasons to return here after college, and of course this state is also the one where Tony settled many years ago as well.  His career took different turns but he remains a resident of the state, and to add to my fortunate location, his home is about 35 miles from mine.  I am grateful to count Tony as a friend and as someone who has come to operate on the Onondaga Cutoff.  I am a regular member of his crew on his Nickel Plate Road, too.  

A few years ago, Tony was inspired to create a few of his popular and well-regarded 'Trains of Thought' columns that featured my two sons and their youthful exuberance about model railroads.  In each of the December 2021 and April 2022 columns, Tony used a photo of the boys and offered thoughtful reflection on how the hobby is growing - and how to keep staying both grateful and excited for that.  I thought it would be fun for the boys to have Tony sign the columns for them to take with them as life goes on.  The boys had yet to see his railroad, and it was time to change that.  

So,  I asked if we could make a visit.  Tony accepted and welcomed us, giving the boys a full tour of his fabulous masterpiece - the Nickel Plate Road 'Cloverleaf', the 3rd Sub, his HO scale railroad.  

Always a gracious host, Tony showed the boys different parts of the railroad and reminisced on stories he had from people he knew in the towns.  

Before leaving the boys were curious about the stairs and the 'secret passageway' as they called it to Charleston Yard.  Tony invited them up and an iconic image presented itself.  I call this one 'Looking up':

After the tour, Tony sat in the kitchen to sign the magazines, with the boys appreciating the moment and the opportunity that it was to be there.  

It will be a day they remember, and now we have a little token of printed and signed articles to carry along for the ride to come.  There are masters out there, and any time you can spend time with a master you can find ways to learn, to appreciate, and to grow.  I am excited for what the hobby is becoming - and especially excited that the boys enjoy it with me.  

Little here, Little there

 The heat and humidity found us as soon as July did this year, and it has been well timed with the onset of summer activities.  We had a more busy June than normal, with Susie's promotion to the new school for her upcoming 7th grade year along with the school play and family vacations.  As we get past Independence Day and settle into July, there is time here and there for some smaller layout projects that help to keep momentum on progress.  

I am happy to report that the two CP intermodal flats we started last month are finished and have turned out great.  Rapido really filled a niche in the HO market with these.  

Check out the details here!  What I remember most seeing these in the 90's was the faded CP 'Action Red' paint and the open grating in areas where there were unlikely to be tires.  This saved considerable weight but kept the car safe for personnel and mechanical workers.  It is awesome to see these in HO scale!

 Meanwhile the guys at ScaleTrains continue to impress, with two recent offerings really just continuing to set an extremely high bar for the hobby going forward.  Each of these two are stunning models.

These are stock offerings, all I did was add weathering to these.  They are so beautifully rendered that I had to take some outdoor shots too.

 

Utterly amazing details - look at the lettering on this medallion!  As you can see this unit ended up very clean looking even after weathering, and that is because it is: the Onondaga Cutoff is set in 1994, and this unit was delivered in springtime 1994.   The D&RGW GP30, on the other hand, is more than 30 years old by that point, and is showing more age.

We have discussed that principle here before, but it is a major reason I enjoy weathering so much (especially as the hobby advances and delivers better and better models out of the box) - weathering customizes each model to fit an era and location.  It is part of modeling and is one that as time passes we can get better and better at.  

Speaking of that, too, the 3D printing world is getting to the point where it is hard to believe our fortune.  A well-known Conrail fan purchased an old Conrail hi-rail truck at auction, then had it 3D scanned and now it is available as a kit from a seller on Facebook.  Mine got some paint last night.

Modeling maintenance of way has a lot to do with railroading, and things are so good these days we even have perfect scale model kits of maintenance trucks!  

Can't go wrong these days, everyone.  There is a lot to enjoy now and more to look forward to.

A lucky photo

 Sometimes we just get lucky.  Today I came across a photo that ended up in a scroll on the Facebook page, and realized something familiar about the image.  It was another Conrail unit from a location in Harrington, Delaware, a spot with lots of Conrail activity back in the day.  

Wait - I know that number!  That's what is so familiar.  Athearn about 10 years ago did a nice looking release of EMD SD40 locomotives, a model on the prototype that was the predecessor to the famous SD40-2.  Conrail had a number of SD40s that were handed down after the consolidation merger and 6286 was one of them, a former CNJ nee-B&O locomotive, and Athearn chose this one to be part of that release.  

This photo, by Ken Carden and posted on a Conrail photos group, went from just another Conrail image to one that shows important details.  First, it was taken in August of 1994, which is exactly my era.  Conrail SD40s were rare by then but this one was still out working.  It also has nice clean paint and black-on-white numberboards, without the white frame stripe, which makes this one a 1989 or early 1990 repaint.  I will need to do new numberboards as Athearn's are the original white-on-black, but besides that my version is ready to go.

What this shows is the importance of keeping our eyes open as modelers, all the time.  You never know when you'll find a helpful photo or text that suddenly verifies what you're doing, or gives you new information so you can better do what you do.  Progress comes in many forms!

It's getting better

 It is a common theme here on the Onondaga Cutoff blog, but it is worth reading again that this hobby is getter better and better.  Month by month there are new products coming out that help us to replicate our favorite equipment across nearly all eras.  

The new Rapido Trains CP and CN rebuilt intermodal flatcars are some of the latest to arrive.  These are the cars that were once boxcars and flatcars and were rebuilt from the frame up to handle piggyback trailers, and later, containers.  Open deck grating was included to cut weight as possible and the cars had a very distinctive look.  Some of them on CP lasted until the late 1990's, and they showed up on not only CP trains but also D&H and Conrail.  

Even just a quick look like this shows the specific prototype detail possible now in a new car.  Weathering is underway and once the car is added to the fleet, I will include a few more photos for you.  Stuff like this really adds some flavor to any intermodal train, and it will be nice to include some variety on the OC in piggyback operations!  

While any of these could certainly have been kitbashed, the availability of them commercially allows modelers to assemble a fleet of them, and also enables all of us to have more time for the railroad and for weathering as opposed to having to kitbash these cars.  From my view it is a win-win to have cars like this available to us all - and another sign that the hobby is healthy and getting better.  

On Family and Hobby - The Balance

Tonight is the local school play - and somehow it is already my daughter Susie's last school play in this school, as she's bound next year for middle school.  Susie since she was in preschool has loved the play and loved the performance, and now here she is 8 years later - and even more memorable, she has earned the lead role this year.  What an opportunity!

Naturally this event has had a tremendous amount of lead up, and we are very proud of the work Susie has put in.  And also it gives me pause.  Now and again we find a photograph that is timely and my wife Kristen found this one, of Susie back in first grade. Her smile, curly blonde hair and confidence are so tangible here while she is seen climbing one of the trees at the local park.  Her mom took the photo, itself a blessing, and while it was taken just five years ago it seems in some ways a lifetime.  

And so it goes!  This is a success story, and what anyone would have hoped for, and here we are.  Kids grow quickly and it was a growing exercise for me to learn how critical my time around them is.  This is why it is important to put time into the balance between things in life.  Yes work is important, and yes I love the hobby that railroading has always been for me.  But there are a lot of things that depend on me, not just what I want to do in any given moment. Family is the foundation for those things, I am responsible for my family and therefore time with family must get the top spot.  What a wonderful stretch to be able to be there tonight for this show with our family and friends so close that they are like family, too.

More trains coming soon!  All part of the balance of life.  

A Special Guest

In the 80's and right through the 90's and 2000's, you didn't mention the hobby to railroad co-workers.  If you were a railroader you kept the hobby to yourself: much easier to answer for yourself if you weren't a 'buff'.  In a way it was almost silly: who would want to go to work if they didn't like what their work was?  

It turns out many of us that are railroaders love what we do, and many make it a hobby as well.  On this past fall's NJ TRANSIT 40th Anniversary Express trip, I had the opportunity to sit with many people that helped make the experience possible, and during a conversation with President and CEO Kevin Corbett, he asked about the model railroad.  I invited him, he smiled and said he'd enjoy it.  Then discussion continued on.  Well, months later, his assistant reached out and asked if we were still on for a session in May - "Kevin would like to attend."  

And so on May 11, 2024, Kevin Corbett, President and CEO of NJ TRANSIT Corporation visited the OC for a session.  And it was great.  Thanks to Heath Hofmeister for the photos!

Friendly and affable, Kevin made everyone feel at ease from the safety briefing - the start of every session - through the operation itself.  He came to NJT at a dark time, and his energy and optimism immediately allowed the railroad to start to get more done than it had before his arrival.  There remain major challenges, yes - but progress is progress.  

Thanks again for making the time and the trip, Kevin!  This is the latest example that the walls between hobby and profession changing.  The railroad industry will only grow and thrive because of railroaders passionately running a railroad for the benefit of customers and the public at large.  The new movement of financial raiders running Class 1 railroads is one that is not sustainable for the economy nor the public, and perhaps those that love railroading can work together to reverse the damage the financiers have created in the name of profit.  

Kevin took photos and shared them with friends and his family - even asked if he could return sometime.  It is a neat opportunity when we have the chance to have someone with Kevin's experience, rank, and ability visit us and watch the OC go to work.  Kevin's support has been indispensable for the creation of the NJT Heritage Locomotive Fleet - and now he can see where some of the passion that helped to create it lives, too.  

Springtime doesn't slow down

 April in the last few years has become a very busy month.  It is amazing that we are almost to May, and as would be expected there were a lot of moving parts in the last few weeks.  

But what a few weeks - a total eclipse of the sun from Deshler, OH, street running in LaGrange, KY, along with a trip to Massachusetts for the Boston Marathon, all followed by a trip to operate trains on a variety of model railroads around San Francisco, California.  

Some amazing experiences.  The eclipse was outstanding - what a surreal and ethereal experience to be in the 100% shadow - and for CSX to run trains and display different aspects for it was amazing luck.  Then the other railfan sights only to be topped by the incredible model railroads of the Bay Area of California.  Wow!

I also did some work to help some fellow modelers out as I could fit it in, and progress has brought us nearly to completion at CP 294, with some exciting final photos coming soon there.

Still:  Ten states in 3 weeks - too much for my taste! The theme is a constant one - so much to do, too many great things to be part of - and so we must push to do as much as we possibly can.  Perhaps there is a time coming where there is less to do, but I feel it is more likely that there will always be an amazing list of things to do.  Maybe, just maybe, there will be an era when there is more time to do those things.  In the mean time, it's a great ride!