“Cute.” How I hated to hear that word used to describe trains, as I was growing up. Trains weren’t cute. They were big. They were grimy and smoky. They made noise. They hauled thousands of tons across the countryside. (Or, in my world, they were models that represented such things.) But I picked up a vintage Varney Dockside at the RIT show last month, and it’s… (more…)
Author: Jeff Faust
Attempting to Relax With Kit Assembly, and Succeeding
Remember me saying how kit assembly brings out the perfectionist in me? How my anxieties bubble to the surface whenever I put tools to plastic? Well, I still haven’t finished that Erie Station kit yet (let alone the Bickles project), but I have discovered model kits that bring me joy, relaxation, fulfillment, and just enough challenge. You’d never guess what.
Vintage HO scale boxcar kits! Really! (more…)
Introducing Windlenook, an HO Switching Layout
Last weekend, after teasing this project to my friends for over a year, I finally brought my new HO scale project out into the open. This is my interpretation of the classic Inglenook switching puzzle. (more…)
Freight Car Rescue
Remember my HO-scale freight car buying spree last year? That project is moving forward, so I’ve been taking some time to whip those cars into shape. I’m relieved to discover that upgrading old HO cars is no more difficult than working on N scale cars. Actually, it’s a little easier. (more…)
My American Flyer Legacy
When Mom and Dad moved out of their home of 44 years and into a senior apartment, we all knew that his trains were going to have to go. Sure, there was closet space for a few of them, but there was so much more than he could take along. Discount-store N scale from the late ’60s. O scale trolleys built from LaBelle wood kits. A smattering of HO scale items. Plasticville structures by the boxload. And lots and lots of American Flyer S gauge. American Flyer was his first love, and when I was very young, it became my first love, too.
The Despised Penn Central
The lamentations came thick and fast on Facebook’s Pennsylvania Railroad Group last night: it was the 50th anniversary of the Pennsy’s demise. Nobody wanted to mention successor Penn Central. Everybody hates the Penn Central. Well, almost everybody. (more…)
I Recognize That Kit
Progress on the Bickles Foods building for Susquehannock Industrial Park has been moving at a snail’s pace. (Actually, The whole Susquehannock project has been slow.) I’m happy to announce that I’ve reached a milestone: the roof is done. Whew. (more…)
One Last Mall Show
When I joined the club in 2003, we had space in one of the local malls, which we filled with an Ntrak modular layout, and opened up for public display at least once a week. The space had started out as a bookstore when the mall first opened, later was used by an athletic-shoe retailer, and was given to us when the mall found itself with an excess of unrented space. This particular mall had always had trouble attracting business, and it just got worse over time. For a while, there were more community groups than retailers. This was obviously unsustainable, so in 2009, mall management evicted what few tenants remained, and locked the place up. We haven’t been in a mall since, until last month. (more…)
Furniture Railroads 