Pilot details for #622

Like most Canada Atlantic locomotives, #622’s pilot was decorated with three hoses. Sure one is for brakes, but I have no idea what the others were for. Even some (but not all) of the switchers had at least one extra hose. More modern locomotives might have a signal and a steam line; usually the signal […]

Honouring the research

In a thought-provoking essay about his prototypical waybills, Tony Thompson asks, “is it merely visual?” He likens the typical approach to model railroad paperwork to operating our railroads with freight cars made of blocks of wood decorated with post-it note reporting marks. If we are happy with representational paperwork, we should also be happy with […]

Steam chest details

For some reason, when I was drawing the steam chest and saddle, I left off some tiny details. So, I had an opportunity to make them. What fun!

Rear end details for 622

It may look like #622 is all but finished, but I just put together a to-do list with 28 items on it before the engine is ready for paint. Many of those items need to be fabricated, which means each will take at least an evening. Here are the first three from the list.

Happy Father’s Day to Me!

For years I told people I would rather use Shapeways than get my own 3D printer. The technology was changing too rapidly, and I didn’t want the resin in my home. However, the newer resin printers are producing such excellent results, and the cost of shipping from Shapeways is getting so userous, that I finally […]

Sketches for Pembroke 1.0

I was looking through some sketchbooks for a kid’s school work earlier this week, and found some sketches I made back when I was still working on the first incarnation of Pembroke. I don’t recall making them, but I know it was during the Pembroke 1.0 era because there’s a track plan for that layout […]

Mud drum for 622

Somehow my fixation on mud drums feels a little deviant. Like “foot fetish” or “nasophilia,” “mud drum” is the sort of thing you Google for only after double-checking that your Safe Search filter is on. That the one group I wrote to when researching mud drums during the design phase never wrote back only cements […]

622’s air pump and the end of detail castings

It strikes me that 622’s air pump will likely be one of the last detail castings I ever buy. Certainly, it will be the last brass air pump I buy. The next one will be printed, likely here at home. It’s worth pausing here to enjoy the skill that went into the pattern for this […]

Display shots for 622

I finally decided to shoot the photos for the Railway Modellers’ Meet virtual display room this week. I’ll be presenting it during the Meet the Modeller evening this Thursday. If you haven’t already, you should register and submit a model to join in. We’ve never taken this approach before, but I’m hoping it will be […]

More chassis details for 622

The weather this weekend was definitely conducive to model railroading. This was fortunate because the Virtual Display Room at the Railway Modellers’ Meet is already starting to fill up. I’m planning to get 622 assembled for some photos so I can present her next Thursday. The major engineering and electrical work is hopefully complete, and […]