The Carolina Sandhills Lines in HO Scale

[davefoxx]

Finished.  Well, actually, I ran the skirting around the layout in one piece, and I haven’t cut off the roll at the end of the A&R’s shelf.  Since this will likely have to come down when I finish painting the fascia, I don’t want to risk somehow coming up short when I would rehang it. 



DFF

[Pomperaugrr]

I think the black skirting is very effective.  It is a standard theatrical trick to make the background elements disappear.

[GaryHinshaw]

Look good.  I've been planning to use the same lanscape cloth for my skirt.  Now I might have to steal your clothespin trick as well!

[Lemosteam]

DGLE on the fascia.  5 parts black, one part straight green.

And I am not just saying this because I am a SPF.

[davefoxx]

I needed motive power for the three Seaboard Air Line Budd cars made by Rapido that I received for Christmas.  These guys:



I had a discussion with the folks at Rapido when they originally announced their E8, and they confirmed that they would someday release a Seaboard version.  But, as of this date, nothing has been formally announced.  So, I bought an old Life-Like Proto2000 Seaboard Air Line E6A on eBay and replaced the guts with a Decoder Buddy Mini and an ESU V5.0 decoder.  In addition to DCC and sound, it also received an LED headlight.  I may tinker further with the headlight as the Life-Like design makes for a dim headlight, even with a bright LED.  We’ll see.  The whole purpose of this locomotive is to merely provide temporary power for my SAL Silver Star until the Rapido E8 comes along.

DFF

[davefoxx]

My first legitimate piece of railroad memorabilia, and now the first thing you see as you enter my train room.  This is the builder’s plate for Atlantic Coast Line GP7 No. 152 (later Seaboard Coast Line No. 740), built in March 1951 as EMD serial number 13937.  Those serial number/road numbers jive with data in my ACL book collection.



No. 152 in Fort Myers, Florida, in the 1950s in its purple and silver dress:



Post-SCL merger as No. 740 in 1968.  This picture is meaningful to me, because the Geep is in RF&P’s Acca Yard in Richmond, Virginia, which would become my stomping grounds twenty years later when I attended the University of Richmond:





DFF

[davefoxx]

Well, that dim headlight in the Life-Like E6 bothered me enough that I cut out the LED that I put in.  Life-Like’s design leaves the headlight bulb about 1/2” too low, and light barely comes out of the nose headlight.  There’s plenty of light in the cab and under the pilot, though.   So, I replaced the LED.  This time I cut out a portion of the clear plastic that’s supposed to direct light out of the nose headlight, to make room for a piece of styrene tubing.  The LED slip fits inside the tubing, and this MFer will blind you now!  Here's a pic with all of the room lights out. 



You could read by this thing now.  And, no obvious light leaks as before- in the cab or under the pilot.  Big improvement.  Here is the E6 in the daylight.



You may notice the Pennsy car in the consist.  Florida trains from the Northeast often included PRR cars.  This one is the Catalpa Falls, the prototype of which is near and dear to our friend, @seusscaboose.  Hopefully, someday, I’ll ride on the prototype.  Here’s how: https://www.catalpafallsgroup.com/

DFF

[davefoxx]

@Ed Kapuscinski gave me a few decals for the “SirLee Salt Company,” and I knew I had just the perfect spot for one: the former WM Commissary Building that I obtained from @wm3798 about ten years ago.

First, I had to scratchbuild a sign, knowing that I didn’t want to damage or permanently alter the structure.  So, I scratchbuilt a rooftop sign out of sheet and strip styrene:



Here’s where it will reside, and I’ll use Woodland Scenics’ Scenics Accents Glue to hold it in place.  That way, there’s no permanent bond that could cause damage.



A little paint, at which point I decided that the corporate color of SirLee Salt matches Rustoleum Satin Slate Blue (at least during the multiple eras that can be seen on my layout from the 1960s through the early 1990s- right now it’s 1967 on the layout).



And, here’s the lettered sign.  Thanks for the decals, Ed!



Dedicated to our surly Sir Leland Weldon.   

DFF

[wm3798]

I don't like it...



I love it!
Lee

[davefoxx]

I brought the era forward to the Seaboard System years (1983-86), but I already miss the 1967 Seaboard Air Line era that I had been running for several weeks.  Might go back, although it’s a bit of a chore to swap the rolling stock and motive power out.

Because what I haven’t shown on this thread is the SAL SDP35 that I added DCC, sound, and LED lights to:



I’m enjoying that ‘67 era enough with the SAL E-6 and the SDP35 that I went and bought a Proto2000 SAL GP30 that will need to be gutted electronically.  I’m enjoying bringing these older classics up to today’s DCC/sound standards, though.  And, it’s a GP30.  Who doesn’t love a GP30?  Sure, they were slippery, but . . . well, they were cool looking.

DFF

[wm3798]

A little Retro Modeling never hurt anyone...

When are you getting one of those cast iron Mantua Pacifics?

Capt. OldSchool

[Point353]

I brought the era forward to the Seaboard System years (1983-86), but I already miss the 1967 Seaboard Air Line era that I had been running for several weeks.

Because what I haven’t shown on this thread is the SAL SDP35 that I added DCC, sound, and LED lights to:



I’m enjoying that ‘67 era enough with the SAL E-6 and the SDP35 that I went and bought a Proto2000 SAL GP30 that will need to be gutted electronically.  I’m enjoying bringing these older classics up to today’s DCC/sound standards, though.  And, it’s a GP30.  Who doesn’t love a GP30?  Sure, they were slippery, but . . . well, they were cool looking.

DFF

Make that two GP30s.

[davefoxx]

Make that two GP30s.

Haha!  I saw a similar picture this morning that had an SDP35, a GP30, and a first generation Geep.  That’s what made me pull the trigger on the GP30, which I’m looking forward to adding to the fleet.  In the meantime, I’m running the SDP35 and a GP9. 😃



DFF

[davefoxx]

A little Retro Modeling never hurt anyone...

When are you getting one of those cast iron Mantua Pacifics?

Capt. OldSchool

Agreed, so I exchanged the 1980s rolling stock for the late-1960s equipment this evening.  As for the Mantua Pacific, I’m good on boat anchors and paperweights.

DFF

[Point353]

Haha!  I saw a similar picture this morning that had an SDP35, a GP30, and a first generation Geep.  That’s what made me pull the trigger on the GP30, which I’m looking forward to adding to the fleet.  In the meantime, I’m running the SDP35 and a GP9. 😃

DFF

Or, perhaps, an E7, two SDP35s and a GP30?
https://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=302021