Recently my wife and I visited South Carolina on a visit to her dads house.  While we were there I got the opportunity to visit the local railroad museum, located in the Spartanburg, SC depot.

This picture shows a hole punch that was made at the local shop, which repaired a wide variety of equipment.

A display, including a REA sign, showing the importance of peaches to the local economy, and how they were carried by the railroads.

A tool box and other artifacts from the local railroad shop.

Notice the early copy machine (the blue drum in the center of the picture) and the telegraph key with the prince albert can, used as an amplifier.

A very rare artifact, the template used for painting the logo onto cabooses at the shop.

A very early telegraph switch-board.  By inserting pins it was possible to connect to several different telegraph lines.

Above the telephone is a later model switch board for the telegraph.

We really enjoyed our visit to this wonderful collection, showing a portion of the history of the Southern railroad and its impact on the local economy.

I took quite a few pictures while I was at Traintown in Jamestown, CA.

Here is another view of the roundhouse and turntable, showing two of their diesel switchers.

A view of the other end of the turntable, unfortunately the weather conditions were very bright.

Another view of the turntable.

Model A railcar used for VIP’s and rail inspection.

Small diesel tractor used for shifting locomotives around the roundhouse.

Here was an interesting tool that was in the shop attached to the roundhouse.  It is used to heat up the metal tire for a locomotive so it would fit onto the wheel.  After it cooled it would be held tight as the metal contracted.

I took quite a few pictures while I was at Traintown in Jamestown, CA.

Here is a picture of the motor for the turntable at their roundhouse.

In the background you can see one of the diesel switchers.

 Here is one of the track inspection cars, is moved by pulling the handle back and forth like the children’s car.

 The cylinders on one of the three truck Shays.

 Closeup of the linkage between the trucks on a Shay.

 The gears on a Shay, notice the amount of grease.

 Inspection pit inside the roundhouse.

One of my recent kits was the Erie Power Shovel from Rio Grande Models Ltd.

I weathered it by dry-brushing with a couple of colors, starting with brown and ending with rust.  I then used my India ink and alcohol wash to color the wood and darken the rest of the model.

I have spent quite a bit of time lately working on a module, building the backdrop.  I used luan plywood for it, though in hindsight I think I should have used masonite instead.  The major reason is how flexible the tempered hard board (Masonite) is compared to the plywood.  I primed it and then painted it blue.

I hot glued the two tunnel portals to the backdrop and the roadbed.  The circuit board in the middle of the picture is the reversing unit.