It Looks Like A Busted Water Hose, Delmar.

[highrailjon]

I picked this REA stakebed truck up from Santana's Miniatures for 12.95. I sprayed it with Dullcote and then some tan paint for road dirt.

(click on pix to enlarge)

[spankybird]

very nice Jon

[FJ and G]

that's great; I love these little scenes made from kitbashing or scratchbuilding; this is what the hobby means most to me!

[highrailjon]

Thanks, Tom and David!! I'll drink to that!!!

[dougdagrump]

That looks like Otis staggering around, if it is Barney must not be far away.

[cnw1995]

jon, the dullcoate and weathering really make this scene. I continue to enjoy your 'eye' for photography.

[Jumijo]

John has one of the nicest layouts I've seen. Always enjoy his photo postings. I also thought of Otis when I saw the drunk.

As much detail as there is in this photo, there's something missing. Where's the hoochie mama du jor that is usually seen in your photos? Not the same without a hoochie mama!

Nice job, John.

Jim

[highrailjon]

Thanks Fella's!!! With the help of Dennis Brennan and a vat of Young's India Pale Ale, I'll get it together eventually!!!

  Jim, I'm not exactly sure of the moderators position on showing some of my scantily clad ladies on my layout over here. 

[highrailjon]

Any C&NW fans here?

[dougdagrump]

That engine is a work of art.

[csxt30]

WOW !! What a layout !! I wonder if I missed your layout in any of the magazines ? Always a pleasure to see your work !!

Thanks, John

[highrailjon]

WOW !! What a layout !! I wonder if I missed your layout in any of the magazines ? Always a pleasure to see your work !!

Thanks, John

That's a nice compliment, but I don't think I could keep the girls dressed long enough for a photo shoot!!!!!

[FJ and G]

Jon,

I'll second the motion to do an article. If you are within 100 miles, I'd volunteer myself to do the photos and write-up as it is a guaranteed publishable article; and among the best.

[highrailjon]

WOW, David!! You sure made my night!! But living down here in central Mississippi puts me at just a bit out of the hundred mile radius!! Plus I've got a couple more months of ballasting, tree planting and backround airbrushing to complete. The good news is I should be attending an Army school in Oct. at Ft. Eustis, Va. If you're nearby and I get a day off maybe you, the beagle, and myself can share a cold beer!!
Cheers!!

[FJ and G]

Jon,

deal!

[csxt30]

Jon : when you go to Fort Eustis, they had a museum there when I was there & also had trains, they had a steam engine & cattle cars we called them ! I took turbine eng. training, but they had schools for Frogmen & engineers & conductors too back them in the late 60s, anyway. Maybe you can take some pictures of the museum & let us know what's all there now !!

Thanks again,

John    

[highrailjon]

John, Thanks for letting me know about the museum!! I'll do It!!

[FJ and G]

yeah, that museum is pretty cool. I'll definitely take a trip down.

Also, nearby is Pete Vollmer, the guy I did the main feature on in CTT in 2004. He's building a new layout. Also nearby, but a bit further away in Virginia Beach is a garden RR guy who welds his own bridgework (he's got a motorcycle shop) and fires rockets from flatcars. He's crazy like that.

BTW, broke waterhose? Not to fear.

The wrecking crew is enroute:

[cnw1995]

I'm a longtime fan of the C&NW, John. And that's certainly a great unit - my favorite Internet moniker is cnw1995 - the year of the demise or assimilation - though I do like the recently painted Heritage unit. Do you light the area when you take your photos in any special way - they come out very clearly.  I just read an ancient Trains article on that museum at Ft. Eustis. It reviewed what was there.

[highrailjon]

David, Sounds interesting!! I hope I can get a weekend off to get out!! I recall some great times at Virginia Beach while I was at a school in Oceana,Va. during my stint in the Marines!!!

Doug, I have no special lighting in my layout as of yet. I can't make up my mind on going with track lighting or flourescent lighting, any tips would be appreciated, especially you professional photographers out there!! Concerning my camera settings its really all hit and miss with trials of different aperature settings. My wife is finally getting around to purchasing a nicer camera with a white balance which mine does'nt have and that should be a great improvement in picture quality.

Speaking of trucks- I think old Porch Babe's truck is gonna need more then a radiator hose to get it runnin' again!!

 

 

[cnw1995]

Well, it certainly works, John. I have only a few overhead curli-cue flourescents - that power-saving bulbs that fit a standard socket. My layout is pretty dark - permanently dusk or dawn.

[highrailjon]

Doug, I feel your pain!! In order to cut some costs on building my train house before the birth of my son, I purchased some inexpensive incandescent lighting fixtures from Home Depot and have regretted it ever since!!! It's on my fix-up list though!!!

[Dr. John]

Jon,

Outstanding modeling! I always enjoy the little "wrong side of the tracks" scenes you put together.

By the way, whereabouts in Mississippi do you live? Most of my family came from Leflore county (Greenwood and Itta Bena) and I still have an aunt living outside of Jackson. An  uncle used to be mayor of Winona (back in the 50's) and also worked for the Columbus & Greenville RY.

[highrailjon]

Thanks, Dr. John. I live deep in the woods just south of Jackson!! I've made many a road trip to the delta and I'm amazed at how times or the land has'nt changed much in the last couple hundred years.

[Anonymous]

Great stuff, John!  I definitely agree with the comments that your layout is certainly magazine-worthy!  Could we by chance have a photo with an overall view of your layout to get a perspective of what you have in terms of size?

[Jumijo]

I'll second that request, Sask. We've seen a good many detail shots of Jon's layout, but I don't think we've ever seen a photo that shows all or a large part of it at once. How bout it, Jon?

Jim

[highrailjon]

That's a good request!! I've never figured out how to do a panaramic scene with my camera without standinng on the layout!! Here's a couple shots that might help. The overall layout is 14' by 14 ' with 3 main loops and 4 sidings. Here's a shot of the Northside:

Here's a shot of the southwest side:

[FJ and G]

Cool.

Appears to be partially around the wall with a donut. Do you have a liftout to get inside the donut or duckunder?

[highrailjon]

It goes around all four walls with the dreaded duckunder!!!!

[dgraham]

Seeing highrailjons nifty little scene with the old truck prompted me to get off my duff and try to do my first pictures with my new digital camera and my first post to this (or any) forum of photos.  Bear with me while I see if I can make this work.       [img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6d628b3127cce8bed00de96bf00000016100AaMWbNu3csmNg[/img]