Cricut Print and Score and Cut Experiments

It’s time to conclude my Cricut printed car sides experiments. In the end, I’ve not been able to replicate the beaded siding that graced most Canada Atlantic house cars. However, the single-score method might be good enough to represent passenger car siding. In photographs, the freight car siding looks like alternating deep and shallow grooves. […]

So Long Skin Tags!

The other day, I happened to open this site in an incognito browser, and was shocked by how prevalent the ads have become on this platform! Not only were they so loud they overshadowed the blog posts, but they were all depressingly related to the health effects of aging: hair loss remedies, skin tag solutions […]

Butchering 1120

The first step in back-dating the Spectrum Modern 4-4-0 to an 1890 Brooks product is getting rid of all the bits that don’t look Brooks-y. There are numerous modern details and appliances that are not appropriate for my 1905 timeframe. In fact, all the boiler fittings came off, with the exception of the stack and […]

Unusual consist at Pembroke

Today’s number 46, the in-bound mixed train, brought with it caboose #2, sandwiched between the combine and the locomotive to provide a little extra relief from the noise, smoke and cinders. The caboose will enable 1120 to run an extra train to Ottawa tomorrow, where it will be taken off the layout for its cosmetic […]

XTool Learning Curve

It’s been six weeks since the XTool came into the house, but I’ve had little time to play with it. Until this evening, the maple leaf remained the only product. I can only use one basswood maple leaf around the house. What I really want are cores for rolling stock and buildings. This means ironing […]

Pembroke Southern Narrowly avoids Service Interruption

My friends Brian Rudko and Jamie Neilson were scheduled to stop by on the Thursday of what turned out to be a very busy week at work and in my various volunteer organizations. I’d hoped to have 1120 on the layout by the time they came, but work had other plans. However, 2543 had run […]

Christmas 2022

I have a few minutes to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. I hope you have all found some time away from your modelling benches and with your family or friends in this dark month (dark for most people). My family happens to celebrate Christmas, with a tree and gifts and turkey and everything. I […]

To lock or not to lock

When it comes to turnout controls, one of the questions that has impeded progress is whether or not they should be locked. There were really two questions at play: are switches in yards locked, and if so, when did the practice start? Secretly, I was hoping that like headlights in daytime, this was one of […]

Percy and the Split Axles

We’re coming to the home stretch of Percy’s story. After months of experiments, I have finally landed on a plan for Percy’s wheels that should work more permanently than the plans I had for #622 or #10. It was time to put it to the test, and so, I turned up some tyres, assembled some […]

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!