Dick Patterson model builder

Dick Patterson was a great model builder. I had the chance to photograph three of his model railroads - HO, HOn30 and On2 - all in his cellar. 

Here's his HO waterfront layout. The backdrop is painted but the water in the foreground is real and he had rigged a system so the tide went up and down. He had to treat the water so it wouldn't get moldy and smelly - he used Listerine. The container that held the water was fiberglass and was built like a swimming pool.

This is Dick's HOn30 Dolly Varden mine layout. He used N-gauge track and the mechanism's in his locos were from N-gauge steam engines. The scenery is all made from Sacrete cement and the layout weighted a ton - really. The background pine trees are toothpicks dipped in white glue and then in scenic foam - they are only about 4" behind the tunnel entrance the forced perspective works nicely.

Lobster Cove - again

Lobster Cove - a small layout built for the folks who owned the Franklin Mint. It was going to be part of a mail order project where you could buy the layout using your American Express card. It never happened but the layout is nice.

Bob Hayden scratchbuilt the lighthouse from the plastic cores of adding machine paper rolls (he saved these from the days when people used adding machines.) The top of the lighthouse was made so we could make molds and cast more of these in resin, just in case we had to build more lighthouses. All the rocks are foam castings from Scenic Express.

Timberline's Photographer's House

About 40 years ago I built the Timberline Photographer's House for a review in RMC. As with most of these structures I only built what the camera saw - In other words the back was blank. The structure ended up, against the backdrop, on my HO Carrabasset & Dead River Ry. I lost the structure when my cellar flooded in 1984.

Last week Bob Hayden found one of the original kits in his storage closet and decided to built it. He made a few changes:

1 - The kit had a glass wall and glass roof on the addition. Bob closed these up with material from the scrap box and added the shingled roof.

2 - He added a field stone foundation from an old embossed stone sheet made by Holgate and Reynolds.     

3 - He added modified Grandt Line shutters, porch posts and railings.

4 - And last, he borrowed the lightning rods from John Mitchell's Skeeter's Fly Dope kit and added them to the roof of this structure.

All in all a nice little kit that brings back memories of the old C&DR Ry. The kit can still be found, now and then, on eBay. 

I can't keep a secret (except when it comes to lobstering or BBQ) and I want to tell everyone about all the new things the EXPO boys have in the works. One of them is this billboard (there will be more, one from each EXPO organizer and not with my name on them.) These will come as a package of kits you assemble.

The EXPO boys are coming up with all types of new stuff for the November show. I can't wait to see them all. 

A brief hiatus...

I've been gone for 30 days. 
On April 29th. I had my hip replaced. The operation went well. Not much pain or discomfort just the hassle of learning to walk, one baby step at a time. I'm now using a cane and getting around quite nicely. I still can't drive, and may not be allow to for two or three more weeks. The nice thing about the operation is that it has eliminated the hip pain that I had for a year before the surgery. 

More odds and ends...

This is the HOn30 sugar mill I scratch built for my little plantation railroad. It's made from cardboard covered with Northeastern faux corrugated metal siding. The siding is a hard paper that's been run through a die to make it corrugated. I like it a lot better than dealing with real corrugated aluminum. I used two sizes of windows to force the perspective a little - the larger ones on the lower level and the smaller windows in the clerestory. The model still needs a finish paint job to blend the look of the rust with the color of the metal.

This is Foster's Toothpick Mill in Strong, Maine. I post this photo postcard to show just what a nice kit it would make. It's got everything an old-time industry should have plus it's real. There are way too many Disney-style structures on the market today.

Years ago, on my bucket list, was a visit to Kauai Plantation in Hawaii. I stayed on the island for two of the best vacation weeks ever. 

During my visit they were in the process laying track and restoring the rolling stock. I never did ride on the little train but got a lot of nice photos.

Thatcher's Inlet

Here's a picture from the center spread of Railroad Model Craftsman in 1972. It's Thatcher's Inlet. A small waterfront layout modeled in HOn30 (HO scale using N gauge track.) This was a fun little layout to build and, according to the feedback I've received, it influenced many modelers to try HOn30 and to take a closer look at the Maine 2-footers.

With this layout Bob Hayden and I were looking to create a scene reminiscent of several waterfront villages we'd visited in Maine.