Modeling "The General"

[Stourbridge Lion]

It's the real deal Rich... 

[JohnReid]

Thank you Harvey,glad you are enjoying it.

[JohnReid]

See now if I hadn't posted all this you would have never known !

[richhotrain]

So is that the actual The General locomotive in the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw Georgia?

We drive down to Fort Myers from the Chicago area once a year and pass through both Chattanooga and Atlanta.  That would be worth a stop in Kennesaw.

Rich

[Stourbridge Lion]

Looking at the real thing and the model I think John is doing a very nice job and I have enjoying reading the efforts it takes to do this type of project.

Photo By:  Harvey Henkelmann

[mobilman44]

Hi!

Oh my, I loved that Disney movie - The Great Locomotive Chase - and saw it at the local theatre when I was about 12 or so - making that in the mid-late '50s.   Yup, admission was 12 cents at the Avaloe Theatre, located on Diversey near the California avenue cross street in Chicago.

Fess Parker was the northern "spy", and was just sooo cool.   He was almost up there with John Wayne.  Of course this movie is on Kalmbachs list of 100 best train films (I have the DVD).  

Fess Parker also starred in the three Disney TV movies / serials of Davey Crockett.......   I think one was about Congress, one about river pirates and of course one about the Alamo.  Obviously, Colonel Crockett is a Texas Heroe!

But, I digress...........The trains of the mid 1800s were often colorful and well taken care of cosmetically - by those RRs that could afford to do so of course.   I suspect there was an awful lot more of locos/cars that were just plain Jane and allowed to deteriorate with the weather.

MR had some Civil War era layouts in its pages over the last few years, and as I recall they were pretty interesting.   Of course there are some models out there for the cars and locos, and while there aren't that many structures there are some that could be kitbashed to put them in that era.

Still, it was a sad and horrible time in American history, and I would personally not want to model it.

ENJOY !!!!!

 

[richhotrain]

OK, it looks like this thread is never going to go away what with our daily update dose of The General - - LOL.

What the heck is The General anyway? 

I had no idea, so I decided to research it a little. 

According to Wikipedia, The General is a 4-4-0 steam locomotive that was built in 1855 to provide passenger and freight service on the Western and Atlantic Railroad (W&A RR) between Atlanta Georgia and Chattanooga Tennessee.

During the Civil War, a military raid occurred on April 12, 1862 in northern Georgia.  Volunteers from the Union army commandeered a train powered by The General locomotive and took it northwards toward Chattanooga doing as much damage as possible to the W&A RR as they went pursued by Confederate soldiers in other locomotives.  The raiders were eventually captured and executed as spies.  Some of the Union raiders became the first recipients of the Medal of Honor.

This raid and subsequent pursuit by the Confederates on other locomotives became known as The Great Locomotive Chase.  In 1926, Buster Keaton starred in a silent movie coemdy film titled The General.  The movie was inspired by The Great Locomotive Chase.  Disney remade the film in 1956.

The General locomotive is preserved in the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw Georgia, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

I am a history buff, particularly military history, and I find the Civil War totally fascinating.

Do any of you have a Civil War era layout?   Some photos would be interesting.

Rich

[JohnReid]

Imagine seeing this roll into your local station !

[JohnReid]

You know I can't help but marvel at what a wonderful bit of engineering this model represents.They must have been wondrous sites in their time.These locomotives seemed as if they were alive and were well named by our native peoples as "The Iron Horse."

[JohnReid]

Gettin' there slow but sure !

[blownout cylinder]

You raise an interesting question here. I am in the process of doing another N scale Olsen's Feeds and Larsons Implements kit from DPM and I have gotten so  used to odd instructions that I am to the point of just blunderbussing my way through the building process. 

Mind, I'm also reading a manual for Sonar X1, which is a digital audio workstation...all 1,500 pages of it.   

[JohnReid]

You know this is actually a great little kit but it did test my patience at times.Most of the problems are with the instructions and the hard to read identification  #'s of the parts on their sprues.In a kit of this size and complexity I wonder how many ever actually got finished.I know mine had been started years ago by someone else and I picked it up for the price of the postage.If the manufacturers had put a little more money into the actual kit and less in marketing a nice box ,it would have been money well spent.It makes me wonder how many potential modelers have lost their interest in building due to this problem.I know that if I hadn't of had lots of prior experience mine would probably be still in the box in the cupboard too.

[JohnReid]

thanks for the heads up !

[jeffrey-wimberly]

JohnReid

I was wondering has anyone here had a problem with allergies and super glue ?

Yes. It aggravates my asthma if I use a lot of it. I try to keep it to the point of one item to be glued, one drop.

[JohnReid]

Still hangin in there TA ! more pics soon.

[JohnReid]

Thank you !

[blownout cylinder]

mmmm...you might want to get that checked out by a doctor as well...

As far as ca alternatives go...UHU All-Purpose is supposed to be a good alternative...pdf MSDS seems fairly innocuous...http://www.saunders-usa.com/uhu/msds/twistglue_msds.pdf

Another alternative that I have used myself is http://www.filla-glu.com/...it is a form of superglue that has no odor and does not bloom either...

[JohnReid]

I was wondering has anyone here had a problem with allergies and super glue ? I have had some problems in the past with the fumes but lately it seems to be getting worse.I am very careful about exiting the fumes outdoors but just handling the stuff now seems to be a problem and of course there is always some fume residue lurking around.I have been using it for years but lately the symptoms seem to be getting more troublesome with even some skin reactions involved.Filters and masks don't work either.

I love my hobby but  I don't want to croak because of it.

Is there a good substitute for ca ? something that sets up quickly but is not too toxic ?

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Hi Robert .Glad you like my stuff,this model will be static display.

[robert sylvester]

John:

I do appreciate your effort and it sounds like a worth while project. I have always felt that all scales are a part of model railroading. I have seen articles in MR concerning each and every scale we work on, each has its own distinct importance.

In fact I model HO, N, O, as well as G scale with an outdoor railroad as well. To me it is all apart of what we do, so I thank you for sharing.

Will this be a static model or will you power this model. On my G guage I run vintage steamers as well as more up to date road power and I love them all.

Keep us posted, modeling tips are always welcome.

Robert Sylvester, WTRR

 

[JohnReid]

Such a simple solution I don't know why I never thought of it before.A RR station has been built over a coach sitting on a sideline track (spur line?)using whatever materials happened to be at hand.Why ? who knows !, but that is not what is important to our story.
To say the least the station is very crudely built of old weathered siding with RR ties for a platform.It could have been built on one of Hollywood's backlots expressly for this purpose or it could have been just a found location.

[blownout cylinder]

We have an old waterfall style chest that my wife and I are currently considering on turning into a permanent winter/christmas display set up. I've got a few 1/24 scale cars that I've been thinking of mounting in there as if people are waiting at a train station for loved ones to come home .....

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Thank you TA, glad you like the idea  Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Here is what I am planning so far.

[dknelson]

Motley

Maybe you would be better off, posting in the Classic Toy Train Forums.

http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/95.aspx

But that is a scale model, yeah unpowered, but scale, and not a toy train. 

Powering would be an interesting challenge but the British have been doing quite a bit with long lasting battery powered trains on their outdoor railroads. 

 

Dave Nelson

[JohnReid]

This layout will be contained in a box,yes a locked cedar box and will be displayed only at Christmas or other special family occasions.It will be my gift to my family past,present and future.

Why so special ? Well it has been my experience that no matter how nice a layout/diorama is after a while it just becomes part of the furniture.Nobody really sees it anymore except guests or visitors.However, on the other hand ,only seeing something every once in a while will help bring fresh( if not new eyes) to an old piece.Also I don't want to encase it in a tomb like structure, even of glass, but I wish to have it open to natural light, but without the dust, for those who may want to take pictures.

As public as my other stuff will be this will be only for private family or personal viewing.Why do it this way ? Simply I would like something that I made survive for a while after I am gone to the "Happy Hunting Ground" as a gift to my children and the young at heart.I have heard to many stories about how Grandpa Fred's or Uncle Phil's layout ended up in the garbage shortly after his death.Too big,no room,tired of looking at it sit there gathering dust etc..etc..

I know you say nothing survives forever ! No one knows that better than I and besides when I am gone who really gives a *** ? I surely won't ! but you know somehow I do and I don't mind admitting it.Ego you say ?well artists usually do  have some of that it is true,Why else would we do what we do ?

[JohnReid]

Here is approximately where I am with "The General" so far.