Descriptions of the construction progress of my new Florida model railroad featuring the line from Lakeland to Punta Gorda. Originally a journal of RV trips throughout the United States and Canada with Patti and Bob. Also photo documentation of the progress on my Maryland model railroad, the Allegheny and Shenandoah, a mythical class one line connecting Strasburg VA. with Elkins WV.
Lots of fun on the outer banks. We stayed in Frisco, south of the lighthouse area and were treated to a wonderful show from the kiteboaders and windsurfers. If you look closely you can see the spray being created by them as they whisked by in a 20+ knot breeze. Surprisingly they were at it all day in spite of the fact that it looks absolutely exhausting.
The vintage schooner race had just ended in Norfolk and the crews were resting after the long sail down from Baltimore. This is the Portsmouth area, a popular stepping off place for snowbirds cruising to Florida for the Winter so a combination of vintage wooden boats and new fiberglass yachts are tied to the bulkheads.
The top shot is a guided missile cruiser of the Ticonderoga class and the next two are marine transport and air support ships. The bottom two ships are a Nimitz class carrier. The photos don't do it justice. The ship is as tall as a 26 story building from the keel up. Near and dear to our model railroading hearts is the last operating N&W coal pier in the complex complete with a coalier just about full.
This is a 1.5" inch scale layout on over 65 acres. At 1/8th full size the humans ride on top of the trains. There are 30 towns and 150 industry locations. 10-20 trains operate simultaneously with 2-4 man crews. Hundreds of cars are switched each day. At full tilt over 65 crew work the operation. WHAT A HOOT!!!!
This is a spectacular Cascades Mts layout with over 5000 one foot tall fir trees in one aisle alone. 4-5 foot tall bridges every few feet. Floor to ceiling wonderland!!!
Bruce has a huge 2600 sq ft basement and 5 levels to his new Sunset Valley railroad. It is SP from Dunsmuir to Seattle and all points in between. I've tried to give you an overview of the rooms with a couple of detailed shots added. He has car photos on his car cards and two CTC panels. The one shown here is the main line. Lots of structure work remains. The last photo shows some of the mock ups on the lower right and there are many other areas yet to be completed in spite of the almost 20 years since the house was finished. 40 modelers help Bruce with the work so I imagine it will go quickly in spite of the obvious high quality of the scenes.
A spectacular day on the water cruising both the Canadian and the American locks. A twenty three foot change in elevation between Superior and Huron is handled by the locks. Above the locks is a large steel mill and below is a railroad car ferry waiting to be scrapped. The locks are crossed by three railroad bridges, a swing bridge, a two span bascule bridge and a lift bridge. Also some shots from our campground of the boats in front of the RV.
