Re: Where would you retire?
After dragging my wife to Vermont and upstate NY for work and
business opportunities, we retired to the SW corner of Maine, she
always vacationed there when single so when the time came it was
her decision. I don't regret it, winter doesn't bother me being a
native of Buffalo(Go Bills).
Rich D
On 3/18/2025 4:32 PM, Pieter Roos via
groups.io wrote:
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Got to be a little careful, if you live in a city they probably
require sidewalks to be shoveled. Other than that…
Lots of people in New England see to retire to Maine, where
the winters are worse than further south. Then again, I lived in
Florida and have no desire to go back.
Pieter Roos
On
Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 3:14 PM, Charles Kinzer
<ckinzer@...> wrote:
Just remember that in a place like
Chicago, when you are retired, in the winter you do
NOT have to brave the cold and roads every day to go
to work.? You don't have to constantly shoveling your
car out of snow, or whatever.? That's when you just
stay indoors and do modeling work.? And only go out
occasionally.
And on the Earl Scheib things, it was,
originally, "I'll paint any car, any color for
$29.95.? No Ups!? No Extras!"? I guess it was probably
at $39.95 at some point.? But he had to drop the "any
car any color" due to a "truth in advertising" problem
because he charged more for some colors, like
metallics.
Charles E. "Chuck" Kinzer
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I have one and it's a smooth runner.
Rich D
On 3/19/2025 1:15 PM, Tom Lennon via
groups.io wrote:
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Everyone on this list is aware that, in 1985, one
of the first brass steam locomotives imported in 1/64th was a
Mopac 2-8-0, yes?
Tommy
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Re: Where would you retire?
Living near the former "toy town" Nuremberg, in Fürth, one should think it's a paradise for model railroaders. But also in Germany we meanwhile suffer the loss of many shops. In Nuremberg, there are just three left (of ten or so 20 years ago) - a bigger one and two small ones that are more or less one-room-shops. American stuff is a hard-to-get in Germany so we have to mailorder almost everything, especially for S scale, but also for US-O-gauge. Four or five years ago I bought an O-scale, 2 rail GP-35 in the bigger shop - the owner was delighted getting rid of it because no one wanted that Southern Pacific machine except me.
Regarding 1:1 railroading, there is more. We have a big railroad museum; the roundhouse with many unique steam and Diesel locos sadly burnt down completely a few years ago. But we also have two private heritage lines, one in Nuremberg, one in Ebermannstadt (Upper Franconia) where you may find steam trains in running condition. In summer we shall have a bunch of events at the weekends between June and September and maybe also a few X-mas specials. German rolling stock of course, the biggest machine is a 52 from the last days of WWII (2-10-0). Not sure if German authorities would allow me to run American locos or cars on German rails...
Regarding the quality of living: Americans will find anything relatively expensive, loans and everyday groceries eat up two thirds of my income. In Bavaria we are one of Germany's boom regions so we have to pay the price for that. Other German regions are less expensive but also the income is not that big there. After all: Kind invitation to one of the most beautiful parts of Germany. Old houses, many museums and a railroad system worthy to see...
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Greetings from the middle of Franconia in the spring, Hans
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Jace mentioned K-Val hobbies in Buffalo, owned by a real nice guy, Bob Schuh. At one time he accommodated us three local S scalers by stocking some Kinsman kits.? ? ? ?K-Val actually began as an HO craftsman kit manufacturer producing a NYC 19000 series caboose and ?NYC Wood milk car. I don’t remember any other kits. One of the other partners in that K-Val venture was Otto Westermayer. Perhaps the old timers on the list might recall Otto’s 4 part article in the S Gauge Herald back in the sixties on converting the Am Flyer 0-8-0 to scale. ? ? ?That locomotive also resided in the shop display case for a long?time. I don’t know who purchased it or where it might be now. ? ? ? Bud Rindfleisch
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Re: Where would you retire?
I know the area: my first congregation was in Burlington while I was working on a PhD in Iowa City; every week I would drive through Mt Pleasant between the two.??
Some of the members of my congregation had come from the old Congregational and Universalist churches in Mt Pleasant (before my time).? Until it closed, I'm sure Iowa Wesleyan College provided a pleasant cultural dimension to the town.? I like small towns rather
better than large urban areas, as that is where my roots are.? I used to drive to Henry's Hobby Shop in Des Moines 2-3 times a year; that was where I first saw any Sn3.? All of that going on sixty years ago.
But in your case you were, effectively, already there.? In my case, in a position to be able to retire anywhere and starting from southeastern MN (from which I drove through Mt Pleasant again every time I went to visit the grandchildren in St Louis), the weather
was a major disincentive.??
Everyone in the midwest should rejoice that Merlyn Lauber still has a really good train shop in Cedar Falls; in fact, my second S scale locomotive—a Miller Alco with Cascade drive in marginal condition—was found there on a return trip from St Louis.? Sadly,
he and his wife are no spring chickens, so it is likely only a matter of time before the Caboose Stop is also gone.
While I never had a chance to meet Bob Nicholson of Ft Madison, others speak highly of his dedication to the scale.
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We were already retired when we decided to move one last time to a small town in SE Iowa that was less than ten miles from our previous house.? Because of inheritance, we were able to build one last house on 4 acres in the corner of town on a deadend street.?
There are no sidewalks, but our driveway is half a block long when it snows.? The house has two rooms upstairs and there is nothing to indicate there are trains in the house.? Open the basement door and you know you are in a different world.? The stairwell
is a museum on both sides and there is a chairlift for when I need it.
?
One of the best parts is the train set outside.? We border the BNSF Chicago to Denver main and there is even a passing siding where they frequently park trains.? When they do that, I walk along the fence and take a photo of every freight car in view.?
I sure miss 40' boxcars.? This is the line that the Pioneer Zephyr made its high speed run on in 1934 and its last trip in 1960.? The last operating steam loco that went by was Frisco 1522 in 1995.? Behind us to the west is a farm field, so it is like country
living with city services.
?
I used to be a volunteer trolley conductor on the Midwest Electric in Mount Pleasant.? That will be my closest experience to real railroading.? I don't think I could frequently go up and down the car steps anymore.? Locally, our museum has a depot brought
in from another town.? The Eastern Iowa Division, NMRA, will have its quarterly meeting there in April.? Every scale is represented in the division.? Best part is that I joined the museum board and have a key.
?
The closest train store was in Mount Pleasant and it closed in 1998.? I owned it.? Shipping isn't cheap for mail order, so I usually go to a train show in Washington, Iowa twice a year and also Davenport, Iowa and Galesburg, Illinois.? The best closest
hobby shop is now Caboose Stop in Cedar Falls, Iowa, a two hour drive.? They are also on YouTube every Monday and Wednesday night.? The place is amazing to visit.
?
Ken Vandevoort
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Not only beautiful scratchbuilt MP steamers but an awesome layout too! Kudos Mike! ? ? ?Bud.Rindfleisch
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Re: Where would you retire?
We were already retired when we decided to move one last time to a small town in SE Iowa that was less than ten miles from our previous house.? Because of inheritance, we were able to build one last house on 4 acres in the corner of town on a deadend street.? There are no sidewalks, but our driveway is half a block long when it snows.? The house has two rooms upstairs and there is nothing to indicate there are trains in the house.? Open the basement door and you know you are in a different world.? The stairwell is a museum on both sides and there is a chairlift for when I need it.
?
One of the best parts is the train set outside.? We border the BNSF Chicago to Denver main and there is even a passing siding where they frequently park trains.? When they do that, I walk along the fence and take a photo of every freight car in view.? I sure miss 40' boxcars.? This is the line that the Pioneer Zephyr made its high speed run on in 1934 and its last trip in 1960.? The last operating steam loco that went by was Frisco 1522 in 1995.? Behind us to the west is a farm field, so it is like country living with city services.
?
I used to be a volunteer trolley conductor on the Midwest Electric in Mount Pleasant.? That will be my closest experience to real railroading.? I don't think I could frequently go up and down the car steps anymore.? Locally, our museum has a depot brought in from another town.? The Eastern Iowa Division, NMRA, will have its quarterly meeting there in April.? Every scale is represented in the division.? Best part is that I joined the museum board and have a key.
?
The closest train store was in Mount Pleasant and it closed in 1998.? I owned it.? Shipping isn't cheap for mail order, so I usually go to a train show in Washington, Iowa twice a year and also Davenport, Iowa and Galesburg, Illinois.? The best closest hobby shop is now Caboose Stop in Cedar Falls, Iowa, a two hour drive.? They are also on YouTube every Monday and Wednesday night.? The place is amazing to visit.
?
Ken Vandevoort
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Re: Seeking AM plug door photo
So far, my search hasn't turned up the S scale car. In case it helps jog someone's memory, I assume this is the color scheme that you're looking for. Stan Stokrocki
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Start of a project from Duluth, MN. Are these drivers simply modified AF, or something else?? Anyone interested in acquiring this loco? Tommy
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My point in an earlier post.? The other pioneer Omnicon was the Erie 4-6-0.? I saw both of them in the display case at K-Val in Buffalo in the 1980's and vaguely thought about them.? The list price wasn't bad—somewhat more than a comparable HO brass import,
about the same as a similar O scale small steamer.? Just as?
I noticed with appreciation some Oriental brass EMD switchers at a north Texas train show ca. 2004 but didn't act on that itch for another ten years or so.
I still maintain that Charles Sandisfield didn't choose a really good prototype for the 4-6-0; my problem is not that it was Erie, but that it was not a very common Erie prototype, used mostly in commuter service, and all scrapped relatively early.? There are
LOTS of more attractive and typical 4-6-0's from which to choose.? If not the V&T Baldwins (which PFM sold many runs of in HO), probably their A&LM more modern one would have been my suggestions.? While I would not have necessarily picked the MP for the 2-8-0,
it is a more characteristic mid-size representation.? At least he started with smaller locomotives, which tend not to be made commercially as often as the big road engines.? Some considerable discussion of the situation in the magazines a generation or two
ago: consensus seemed to be that buyers want more locomotive for expensive purchases, but it costs almost as much in design and labor to make a small locomotive as an eight-coupled or articulated—just that there is an understandable mental resistance to paying
nearly as much for a small locomotive as a big one.
The matter is a pipe-dream now, as it is unlikely we shall ever see any more commercial brass steam in S scale.
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I have four of them. Sweet runners.?
Mike Swederska?
On Mar 19, 2025, at 12:15?PM, Tom Lennon via groups.io <milepost169@...> wrote:
?
Everyone on this list is aware that, in 1985, one of the first brass steam locomotives imported in 1/64th was a Mopac 2-8-0, yes?
Tommy
--
Mike Swederska
Meramec Valley Lines
Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16
https://www.youtube.com/@mikesscale3149
Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun!
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Wanted CN CDS dry transfers
Wanted:
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S-52 CNR flat cars
S-279 CN 40' insulated boxcar
S-269 CPR CPR International of Maine 40' PS-1 boxcar.?
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Thanks for your attention.?
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Re: Paint for airbrushing
On airbrush choices, there are many good ones.? Years ago, I started with a Wold A2 which is a side feed.? (Olaus Wold had worked for Thayer & Chandler and was responsible for a lot of the design we still see in airbrushes today.? He left T&C and started his own company.)
Now, I use an Iwata Eclipse HB-SBS which is a side feed.? You can use conventional color cups.? But they also have a gravity feed cup (what I usually use, and it holds a lot of paint) or a siphon feed (which I usually do NOT use because at low pressures drawing the paint up is not reliable).? Also, you can use the side feed on either the left or the right.? It is a very versatile internal mix double action airbrush
I do NOT like designs with a color cup on top because that interferes with my view of exactly what I want to see.
I believe this model is now discontinued, but you can find them (like on eBay).? They were sold in two kits and the only difference was the accessory cups and bottles provided.? One was called the "Autographics" kit.? But you can buy all the various color cups, gravity feed cups, and siphon bottles separately to get whatever you want.? The airbrush in both kits was the same.
You don't have to buy a fancy "airbrush" compressor.? WAY back in the day I used one of those little Miller table top piston air compressors with a pressure relief valve to set pressure.? Today, I just use a cheap "pancake" compressor from Home Depot but have added a moisture trap and good pressure regulator from Micro-Mark.
A scuba tank with a good regulator is a nice air source and certainly quiet.? The commercial artist who gave me the Wold A2 as payment for some work I did on a brass engine used one.
Charles E. "Chuck" Kinzer
On Wednesday, March 19, 2025 at 12:27:08 PM PDT, Matt Hogan via groups.io <matthew.hogan1804@...> wrote:
Group,
After reading the very informative Mission Models paints website, I purchased a few bottles for airbrushing and brush painting.? Plan to try them shortly.
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Another informative airbrush website =>
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Thank you,
Matt Hogan
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Both CB&Q flat car kits are spoken for.
Jim King
(828) 777-5619
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-- Jim King
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Smoky Mtn flat car kits fire sale
I'm clearing out the last 2 flat car kits in inventory at a reduced price.? Was $70 each, now $50 each, plus postage.? Both are CB&Q 50-footers and include decals, Kadees, all detail parts, and instructions on mini-CD.? No trucks.
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The (3) SAL flat car kits have been sold.
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Visit my page here: ? to see an image of the "Q" car.
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Contact me off-list to order.
Jim King
(828) 777-5619
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-- Jim King
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Re: Paint for airbrushing
Group,
After reading the very informative Mission Models paints website, I purchased a few bottles for airbrushing and brush painting.? Plan to try them shortly.
?
Another informative airbrush website =>
?
Thank you,
Matt Hogan
|
I have four of them. Sweet runners.? Mike Swederska?
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On Mar 19, 2025, at 12:15?PM, Tom Lennon via groups.io <milepost169@...> wrote:
? Everyone on this list is aware that, in 1985, one of the first brass steam locomotives imported in 1/64th was a Mopac 2-8-0, yes? Tommy
-- Mike Swederska
Meramec Valley Lines
Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16
https://www.youtube.com/@mikesscale3149
Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun!
|
Everyone on this list is aware that, in 1985, one of the first brass steam locomotives imported in 1/64th was a Mopac 2-8-0, yes? Tommy
|
--
Mike Swederska
Meramec Valley Lines
Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16
https://www.youtube.com/@mikesscale3149
Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun!
|
Tom,?
That was funny.?
--
Mike Swederska
Meramec Valley Lines
Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16
https://www.youtube.com/@mikesscale3149
Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun!
|
Ken Vandevoort
Tom Lennon
