Summer Trip to Micro-Trains

[ryan_wilkerson]

24 years ago when I was first introduced to N scale in Denver Colorado, I explored Caboose Hobbies and all the goodies it holds. Near the front door in the N scale section was a wall completely covered in Micro-Trains. Over the years, I've bought many cars and discovered some of the older pieces that fit my prototype. Being 1000+ miles from Talent Oregon, the home of Micro-Trains, I didn't think much about where all these jewel-boxed railcars originated.
Fast forward to the beginning of this summer, my wife, two sons and I talked about some of the things we would like to do or accomplish. Since we were in Dunsmuir California, less than 90 miles from Talent, a trip to Micro-Trains was high on the list. I had met Joe (@Shipsure) once and he invited us and another friend from Dunsmuir for a tour.
It was great seeing the full process of design, artwork, 3D CAD drawing, prototyping, testing, painting, die cutting, weathering, packaging and everything in between. Here are a few photos of our tour.
A big thanks to Joe and Micro-Trains for a great time!

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ryan_wilkerson]

Great things are on the way...at Micro-Trains of course!
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Loads of loads...
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
The weathering center
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Bruce and my sons learning about the masking process.
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Resin Busters!
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Key train status...lots of tanks.
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Well someone has to put them together.
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
My young N scalers.
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[John]

Thats awesome ... what a great photo essay .. and the smiles on the boys faces is priceless

[tom mann]

Awesome, good for @Shipsure for giving you a nice tour.  Railwire photo analysts are enhancing those photos to look for any signs of upcoming product.

Who is the woman doing weathering? Does she have a copy of my book?

[ryan_wilkerson]

Awesome, good for @Shipsure for giving you a nice tour.  Railwire photo analysts are enhancing those photos to look for any signs of upcoming product.

Who is the woman doing weathering? Does she have a copy of my book?

Joe has so many cool tools to make trains...it's like the Disneyland of model railroading.

I would have to get permission to post some of the photos I have on the hard drive

Can you imagine if she had your book at her workstation?! Hahaha...you should send one to Shipsure to pass along

[ryan_wilkerson]

Thats awesome ... what a great photo essay .. and the smiles on the boys faces is priceless

Thanks John, the 2 hour tour went by very quickly...and my wife enjoyed it too. She said "Now I see why your trains cost so much".

The boys were lovin it. My oldest loves big tank cars and when he saw all the flats filled with dozens of black 56' modern tanks, he was like "whoaaaa"

[Hamaker]

I've lived in various locations within an forty five minutes of Talent, Oregon for a total of twenty years.......and have never been there.  My son and grandson live 650 miles away and just recently visited Micro Trains.  Go figure..........  I just received my three car runner pack of the 56' tank cars today.  They've already put in quite a few 'miles' on my big layout.  Love 'em !

[ryan_wilkerson]

I've lived in various locations within an forty five minutes of Talent, Oregon for a total of twenty years.......and have never been there.  My son and grandson live 650 miles away and just recently visited Micro Trains.  Go figure..........  I just received my three car runner pack of the 56' tank cars today.  They've already put in quite a few 'miles' on my big layout.  Love 'em !

If you're still within range, you should check it out. It's an impressive operation....and you get to see stuff a month or more away from announcement

[SandyEggoJake]

Not two hours, but you can have your own virtual 16 min microtrains tour here:

/>
(No affiliation here w/ MTL, other than being a fan.)

[Gozer the Gozerian]

Yes she does  

Awesome, good for @Shipsure for giving you a nice tour.  Railwire photo analysts are enhancing those photos to look for any signs of upcoming product.

Who is the woman doing weathering? Does she have a copy of my book?

[Philip H]

I want to know about the boats in this photo:

Because I don't ever recall them being issued as MTL loads . . . .

[ryan_wilkerson]

How many lashes with a wet noodle will I receive for divulging top secret resin castings?
 I think I see 4 boats plus a barge.
Also, I don't remember seeing the centerbeam load that looks like stacks of some kind of thin plywood-like sheeting. Has that been released before? I've seen quite a few of these run through Dunsmuir and being stacked at the Roseberg mill at Weed, CA.

[Chris333]

Don't forget many of those resin parts are Z scale.

[Hamaker]

Ryan.....are you saying you're lucky enough to live in or near Dunsmuir ?  It's one of my favorite places on earth !

[ryan_wilkerson]

Yes, I am lucky enough to be able to spend a lot of time in Dunsmuir (about 10 weeks/year).
I agree, it is one of the best places on earth!

Ryan.....are you saying you're lucky enough to live in or near Dunsmuir ?  It's one of my favorite places on earth !