"Friendly Fridays... Cheshire Branch Revisited."

On one of several recent trips to Boston to help our college graduate settle into her "second floor closet with natural sunlight" in the city's historic north end, I had the opportunity to ultimately rendezvous with Jim Dufour and check on his progress. I hadn't visited in about three years and I was long overdue.

After a fortuitous meet at a nearby grade crossing, I arrived and we got right down to business... cold beers and gossip, plus a quick check of some workbench projects. But it was the work one level below that I was most anxious to see.

I have featured many images of the Cheshire Branch, some from my original visit, but many received via email, and I was excited to see the updates in-person. Aside from the expected rave reviews, one dominant impression struck me repeatedly. Jim's mainline 'rolled,' gradually climbing and descending around the layout, meeting at its run-through staging, despite his protestations that it was level.

"At least it's supposed to be," he pleaded.

Like my New Year's trip to Sykesville, I was one pick-up truck away from perfection as a CSX local rumbled by on the former B&M Worcester-Ayer line one block from Jim's residence. Alas, I did miss the motive power hauling a real assortment of graffiti-covered cars but there were some genuine blasts-from-the-past like this yellow one...

 

... and this blue one! (BTW, great prototype photo for aging roads.)

 

Jim's handiwork is exceptional and it comes from a modest table set up in his kitchen with nice sunlight. Here, my beer dwarfs the gas tanks for a fuel facility that he will be installing. Note the naked little people on the napkin that Jim is in the process of dressing.

The undulations of the terrain and the crossing lines of the track, road and river not only convey the impression that the railroad is not flat, it creates an illusion that the track is most definitely undulating itself.

I know that land forms built above and below track grade disguise the fact of a level railroad, but Jim's somehow goes beyond that, forcing the viewer to accept that the track is either gradually ascending or descending.

I got you now! I actually used my iPhone's level app to prove that this stretch north of  Troy was climbing. It wasn't.

We ran a couple of trains and I enjoyed the perceived rolling undulations. And then it was off to a local pub for New England clam chowder and a lobster roll. What else? But even over a nice meal, Jim couldn't explain how he had created such an illusion. I wish he could because I would like to steal it!

 

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  BONUS:  JUST  ONE  MORE  THING  BEFORE  WE  GO... 

A photo may be deceptive, but it's just as deceiving in person. C'mon now, tell me that the track isn't gradually climbing as it weaves through the cuts and curls around the end of the peninsula in the foreground.

"Just what the doctor ordered... 500mg of Fukitol!"

If you read Marty McGuirk's Central Vermont Railway blog, then you already know about Randy Laframboise's Rutland Road presentation at the recent NERPM... and his reliance on 500mg of Fukitol in designing and building his very large multi-deck layout with Mike Sparks. (So, that's how they do it!)

But that was just one of the many humorous, yet insightful,  moments presented at this annual event. In that vein, Mike Rose detailed how he can delicately fine-tune benchwork with a reciprocating saw and Kip Grant showed his radio roots by imitating the sound of an RS-3 in start-up mode. And of course, there were no shortage of wife anecdotes from various presenters that gave support and comfort to a room full of basement-dwelling model railroaders.

Several hundred attendees had 3-4 clinics to choose from in each of the seven slots from early morning through late evening this past Friday and Saturday. Here Neil Schofield discusses his latest layout and some quick scenery techniques to a rapt audience.



Marty McGuirk presented a nice piece on his latest layout efforts focusing especially on fall scenery and backdrops. He recounted that several areas have been redone on multiple occasions. (Music to my ears!) Plus, I got to finally meet Marty face-to-face after several years of only  on-line communication.



Who knew there was such a story about those two nuns loitering in downtown Sonnyvale on Kip Grant's D&H branchline? In addition, he recounted a story of a modeler who had seen his GMR 2011 article and called to ask for a visit. "Hi Kip, you don't know me, but my name is Dick Elwell..." Good stuff!



Moving the meet from the senior citizen's center in Collinsville, CT to the Holiday Inn in Enfield, CT provided many advantages, not the least of which was a larger room for vendors and model displays. This photo captures about one half of the space which was filled with plenty to gawk at between clinics. Truth be told though, the lighting could have been better in this room. Or is that my age rearing it's ugly head?



A tremendous amount of motive power and rolling stock was on display illustrating various talents in building, modifying and weathering including Butch Eyler's graffiti-filled goodies. Fellow bloggers Ryan Mendall and Pierre Oliver, plus Jered Slusser, had similarly very nice displays which my terrible photos unfortunately do no justice.



This HO scale scratchbuilt structure was the unofficial fan favorite of the meet and builder Ron Poidomani's presentation explained his process from design to finishing details, including interior  LED lighting  and weathering techniques. It is breathtaking.



I regrettably missed this clinic in order to heckle Kip Grant in his, but heard that it was very well-done. Likewise, I had to attend Jersey buddy Ted Pamperin's C&O New River Division in lieu of Chris Adams' presentation on his New Haven branch line. Decisions, decisions!



And of course food was a highlight, although I did not expect braised short ribs, truffled mac and cheese and fresh asparagus washed down with some local IPAs. This certainly beat a burger and beer, four-fold, which was about the cost ratio.

A word of thanks and congratulations to Dave Owens and his crew at the NERPM. A great time and wonderful event! What I've presented is just a fraction of the weekend's events. So many other clinics and model displays could have been covered here, but I'm certain that they will be in other blogs, websites, etc. Click on the above for photo galleries.

 

And a sincere thanks to my roomie, Jim Dufour, who shared great banter and some real neat discussion about theory and philosophy in constructing his prototype. His presentation on detailing the B&M's Cheshire Branch was a highlight. The NERPM is just few miles down the road from the annual Springfield show. If you can get to this region for that, you should do the same for this event. You'll be happy that you did. Cheers!

 

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   BONUS:  JUST  ONE  MORE  THING  BEFORE  WE  GO...  

 

Although I'm not quite ready to pull a George Costanza and declare, "I'm back, baby," the NERPM was a needed shot in the arm for me and hopefully will get me going again. Just what the doctor ordered!

"One year anniversary... and the need for speed!"

Well, one full year with the blog, and my critically definitive review is, "Meh." My goal was to present well-written, entertaining and informative pieces on model railroading in an attractive format. But with an average of less than one comment per post, stagnant membership and declining viewership (except in France!), I have to be honest and acknowledge something less than success... although it was a good creative outlet and a fine way to document my missteps in attempting to build a layout. Stuff happens. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Blah, blah, blah.

I am fortunate however, that a really neat hobby shop is right here in my town specializing in slot car racing, which may be more my speed, so to speak. NJ Nostalgia Hobby is an institution in the slot car community and racing nights are not all that different from operating sessions. Just faster, friendlier and much more inclusive. The store's track is nice, but I am installing a more significant one at home, necessitating some big changes in the basement. We started this week.

The store's track is about 5' x 16'. I'm installing one that will fill my 15' x 35' 'finished' area where my lounge, office and workspace had been. They have all been moved to an empty bedroom upstairs. The current train room will remain as is, at least for the time being.



Anyone who has ever visited, knows the 6'-3" ceiling height is problematic. So to negate that and add overall resale value to our home, we are replacing the existing slab floor with one that is 14" lower. I took a day to gut the room and then had a crew come in to begin excavation. In this shot, some wall framing and the baseboard heating units sit in dust awaiting removal to the dumpster. Several neighbors will be using much of the crushed concrete for dry well's in their backyards saving me considerably in disposal costs. Nice!



It's a noisy, dusty job, so my wife and the pups visited the in-laws on eastern Long Island for a few days. I am reminded that a client of mine did this in his old Victorian to create a nice basement play area for his kids. It came out great! But the real genesis for this came from a casual comment from a buddy about an issue I had detailed in an earlier post here.



The trickiest part of the entire job is the initial chipping away of the slab that sits atop the foundation footing. Once that is done, excavating commences and a new footing is poured to undercut the original one. I am fortunate that we have a bulk head exit so all materials and debris could easily be transported, relatively speaking. The sunken 14"  area will be accessed by two 7" steps. Can't wait to frame and sheetrock the walls!

 

So, that be that. The railroad was probably a tough ask for a first-timer like me, with no right-hand man, no experienced wing man, or go-to guy to help with the myriad of questions that I had at every step. Not sure what will happen in the train room, but right now I want to race... and I definitely won't be blogging about it. Well, probably about time to hand in the ol' NMRA card and save a few bucks. RPM has a whole new meaning now. Be well everyone. It's been real.

 

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   BONUS:  JUST  ONE  MORE  THING  BEFORE  WE  GO...  

 

 

Sweeeeet, and no PanPastels needed!... BTW, look out for fools who may prank you this April day. Don't you just hate those guys? Cheers!