Quick Update...

I know content has been a bit lax here as I focus (too much time) on the Valley Local Facebook Group, and it's also my busiest time of year at the day job. . . But there are some exciting new developments coming up and I'm planning on sharing them here too, so your continued patience is appreciated!

In the meantime, in addition to helping Pete out with his layout . . .

 . . . I've also been working at the north end of Middletown - specifically, the "floodplain" area at the Middletown/Cromwell town line. . .

. . . and I finally finalized the backdrop in this area (so those sheets of paper you see above will be replaced soon), but I haven't had a chance to install it yet . . .

. . . and the main reason for that (other than the aforementioned dayjob schedule), is because I focuesd on finishing up New Haven Railroad DEY-4 #0806 . . .

I custom painted/lettered an undec Rapido 44-tonner and weathered it with a combination of airbrushed acrylics, oil paints, and PanPastels. I also installed MV lenses as well as a cab-filling Scale Sound Systems speaker which really rattles the windows. Only downside is that I had to sacrifice the cool cab interior. But I think it's worth it. You can have a listen in the video below . . .

The video also shows some of the other progress being made in Middletown - specifically a new "concrete" pad for the bulk track.

More to come, so thanks much for your patience and stay tuned!

Wordless Wednesday #495

 

Wordless Wednesday #494 - Current Projects

 

(the story)

Wordless Wednesday #493 - Latest Article! (RMC April 2025)

 

Wordless Wednesday #492: NE-4 Caboose in Old Saybrook

 

Railfanning the Androscoggin & Western Maine Railroad

Last fall, I had the honor of participating in an op session on Mike Confalone's beautiful Allagash Rwy (featured on the cover of the January and March issues of Railroad Model Craftsman). I should have done a full-on post about my experience, but was frankly a little overwhelmed. All I could manage was an image dump for a Wordless Wednesday (cuz I truly had no words...). You can see those images here.

Little did I know then that that would be the last time the Allagash would operate(!) Just a month or so later, I learned that Mike was going to move his railroad ten years into the future (from the early '80s to the early '90s) and it would become the new Androscoggin & Western Maine RR. Gone would be the cabooses, and arriving would be patched-out former Guilford power.

And by a quirk of fate, I was on the first crew to operate on the new railroad. Nice little bookend there - and another great honor.

While I "wait for the film to come back" of all the photos I shot during my railfan trip, I was at least able to get the videos out of my Hi-8 camcorder... So in the meantime, you can at least enjoy these videos (captions included with each one).

Rapido 44-tonner Sound Check - Dirty Little Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap

Sincere apologies that I've been posting more to The Valley Local Facebook Group than posting here - and given the current zeitgeist I should probably wean myself off FB (as many of you have, if you were ever on it) and post here more. A quick review of this here blog reveals mostly a photo album. My last substantive post was literally last year. New Year's Eve, but still 2024.

But there is LOTS to post and I sincerely hope to get to work on those posts soon. In the meantime, and as you may have guessed from yesterday's Wordless Wednesday, I've recently acquired a Rapido 44-tonner. A full review will need to wait, but suffice it to say it will be effusive - this model is one of the best locomotives I've come across in a while. The way it runs so quiet and smooth reminded me of the first time I saw an Atlas RS-3 running back in the day - which is to say, like a Swiss watch. But the details (as well as how I went about weathering it and reprogramming it for my ProtoThrottle) will have to wait another day.

This post is about how it sounds - specifically trying to answer the question of "what the heck is Sound Slot 30 supposed to represent?!"

Check out the video below and let me know your thoughts in the comments...

Wordless Wednesday #491 - Rapido 44-tonner (new & weathered (& crewed))

 

Wordless Wednesday #490 - Mike Rose Op Session

 

Wordless Wednesday #489 - Switching East Berlin

 

Wordless Wednesday #488 - Springfield/Amherst Big Model Railroad Show