Awesome Detroit & Mackinac Photo Album on Flickr

Lately I've been on the lookout for prototype pcitures of the Detroit & Mackinac and have found some really good stuff through RailPictures.net and RRPictureArchives.net, but I have to say Flickr has become my new favorite spot. While it is not as easy to sort the pictures on there, you can find some really great stuff with the right search criteria.

The album that I stumbled upon this time is called "D&M / Lake State" from the user aclostalker. Below is an example and one of my favorites. It shows #281 along with one of the other centuries hauling a line of D&M boxcars. On top of that there is nothing but pure Michigan scenery as far as the eye can see, which makes for an amazing photo.

DM Alco C425 #281 | Image courtesy of Garland McKee (alcostalker) via Flickr

There are a lot more shots just like this one, so click here to see the entire album. There is more than just D&M stuff too if you look at all their photos. They have a ton of great pictures of other Alco's from different railroads. I really enjoyed clicking through all of them. It's kind of neat to see all the different paint jobs these types of locomotives had, although the D&M scheme is definitely my favorite.

Prototype Pic of the Day #7

BNSF SD70ACe #9275 | Image courtesy of Peter S Kinney via RRPictureArchives.net

Today's picture is another one that has somewhat of a personal connection for me. It is a nice shot of BNSF #9275 rolling through downtown Brighton, MI. The connection is that I used to live within walking distance of this particular crossing. I may have even heard this very train go through town, so that's kind of neat.

Ideas for a Freelance Model Railroad

One of the things I've been thinking about lately is what type of railroad I want to build when I decide to go big and make something larger than a 3-foot shelf layout, I'm talking at least a 4' x 8' layout in my basement. The problem I have is not knowing which prototype railroad to model. My ideal layout would be based on the Detroit & Mackinac, but there is definitely some degree of limitation that comes with a railroad like that. I want to have more freedom than just trying to replicate something in the real world. That leaves me the option of coming up with a freelance model railroad.

Doing a freelance railroad opens up all kinds of possibilities, everything from custom painted locomotives and rolling stock to unique structures and scenery. I know I'm just getting started in all of this and have a lot to learn, but I think it would be a lot more fun and enjoyable to create something of my own. I already have a lot of ideas in my head for different industries and locations that could be part of a fictional freelance model railroad. Here's some basic info:

Railroad name: Michigan Consolidated (MCON)
Location: Michigan
Era: 1980's - Present Day (Diesel Only)
Possible Industries: Automotive, Consumer Goods, Manufacturing

An example of some real life industry supported by rail in Michigan (Chrysler Assembly Plant)

That's a pretty good start at setting some parameters for my future long term layout. For the short term, I'm thinking I can work this into my office shelf layout project and come up with something along those lines. I'm planning on taking my SD40-2 project and making that my first custom locomotive for my freelance railroad. Beyond that I have an old Union Pacific SW1500 and Norfolk Southern GP50 that would make for some additional locomotive customization practice.

Before I can do anything with painting these locomotives with a custom scheme, I need to come up with said custom scheme. I'm working on some ideas now, nothing too complex, and it's coming along nicely so far. I'm hoping to have some ideas ready to post here soon. Until then, I will continue researching what I want this freelance railroad to be and hopefully get a better start on my office shelf layout with this new theme in mind. 

More Progress on the SD40-2 Rebuild

In my last update on this project I mentioned that I may end up rethinking the paint scheme. Well I did and yesterday I got that process started by beginning to remove the yellow paint I put on with the airbrush. When I first started painting this thing I went right on top of the factory paint job. It was great practice for getting the airbrush technique down, but the finish wasn't so good. The paint began to cover up a lot of the small details molded into the shell. Rather than get too far down that path, I decided I would cut my losses and start over.

To do that I brought out the isopropyl alcohol and brake fluid again. The alcohol seems to take a bit more work, so I've been using the brake fluid more on this one. Below you can see the results of about an hour of work. The front half is where I put down the yellow, so that's going to take even more work. The back half is starting to look pretty good. I'd say after a couple more hours this thing will be completely stripped and ready for some detail work then primer and paint.

Removing my first layer of airbrushed paint as well as the factory paint from my SD40-2 locomotive.

Now that I have this part of the process well under way, I need to start thinking about any detail parts I want to try and add. I know I'd like to at least do something with headlights and possibly ditch lights. Other than that it's pretty wide open. I think I am going to come up with a custom paint scheme for a fictional railroad, so anything's possible.

Repainting an Old Boxcar

Lately I've kind of been all over the place when it comes to my model railroading projects, but the one I'm focusing on today is the old San Jose Sharks boxcar I posted back in October, click here to see the original post. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this one when I got it and mentioned maybe using it to practice painting and decals. Well, that's exactly what I am doing with it now and I've been learning a lot making use of it. 

It started when I was trying out the airbrush as this boxcar served as the very first test subject. After that it became the guinea pig for testing paint removal methods. So in the last few weeks I've been working to completely remove the original green paint job. I ended up using a combination of brake fluid and isopropyl alcohol to get the job done. Turns out this thing was originally a Model Power boxcar with a GE Lamps paint scheme. Click here to see an example. 

A look at the 50' boxcar with the green paint completely stripped away.

I did the best I could to remove the green paint, but that left the factory paint somewhat intact underneath. Rather than risking damage to the plastic, I decided to leave it as is and start painting over it with the airbrush. I went with the Testors acrylic "rad red" that came with the kit. It's a pretty nice looking red and I was thinking about making this boxcar a part of the little display track I built. It will look nice behind the Santa Fe locomotive I'm working on assembling. 

Working on painting the boxcar red in my makeshift paint booth. 

I've got the first coat down and it's looking pretty good so far. There are definitely some areas that will need a few more coats to completely cover the GE Lamps paint scheme. Other than that it just needs a quick once over with my Model Master flat overcoat. Then I need to get myself a set of Santa Fe 50' boxcar decals and try that out. 

Prototype Pic of the Day #6

Canadian Pacific AC4400CW #9777 | Image Courtesy of Tim Stevens via RailPictures.net

As a final follow-up to post number four in this series, here is a picture of Allegheny and West Virginia (AWVR) #777 from the movie 'Unstoppable' after it had been repainted back to its proper Canadian Pacific paint scheme. Gotta love the rainbow in the background, it almost makes the picture look too perfect, doesn't it?

Prototype Pic of the Day #5

Canadian Pacific AC4400CW #'s 9782, 9751, 9777, 9758 | Image Courtesy of JL Scott via RailPictures.net

As a follow up to my last post in this series, here are more locomotives from the movie Unstoppable. There were actually four CP units painted in the AWVR scheme, two for #777 and two for #767. This is a neat transition shot where the real road numbers have been spray painted over the ones used in the film. Not something you see everyday, is it?