New Large Scale Train Show Coming

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The same people who bring us the Railroad Hobby Show is going to give us another BIG train show. If you have ever been to this show at the Big-E, it is something you will never forget. Three large buildings house awesome layouts, great vendors where you can get those things on your list, talk with your favorite hobby suppliers and have great fellowship with other model railroaders. If you haven’t yet experienced this great event, put it in your calendar for next year. I have gone several years and never regret it. The only backside is, I leave exhausted from trying to see everything and everyone I want to see. It is very enjoyable. But now, they are up to it again.

The Amherst Railway Society presents the Northeast Large Scale Train Show. The event occupies 55,000 square feet in the Young building on the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds. The show covers all facets of large scale railroading – model railroads, railroad art and photography, railroad history and preservation, tourist railroads, railroad artifacts, and railroad books and videos. The Amherst Railway Society defines :”Large Scale” as any of the following: S-scale, O-scale, G-scale, F-scale, 7.25 gauge, 7.5 gauge (1.5″ to the foot) and larger.

Northeast Large Scale Train Show
April 28 – 29, 2023
Eastern States Exposition – The Young Building
West Springfield, MA

For more information and to register visit the Northeast Large Scale Train Show.

Merry Christmas

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May the Incarnation of the 2nd Person of theMost Blessed Trinity, Our Lord Jesus Christ fill you with faith, hope and love as we celebrate the Feast of His nativity.

God bless you,
Fr. Jay Finelli

Engine House Roof

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I finally got a project finished that has been waiting for over a year. The roof on my engine house was beginning to grow moss and some of the shingles were starting to fall off. Last year when Dave and I replaced the roof on the covered bridge I purchased enough materials to do the engine house also. So a few weeks ago, I figured I’d get to it before the snow falls. Next spring, I need to give it a new coat of paint.

New Cylinder Drains

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I’ve been wanting to make new cylinder drain cocks because I was never really happy with the ones on my Consolidation. My last run solidified my decision when I derailed and shared my tubing. Just finished four new ones. I made them for another locomotive and they always worked flawlessly.

Love Me Tender…

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A really important part of a steam locomotive is a clean tender. Last year I was having a problem with my injector. I finally pulled the top off my tender and low and behold, it was loaded with rust. After 12 years of running, it was time to do a deep cleaning. The rubber coating failed and rust was everywhere. I cleaned off as much of the rubber I could and used a rust removing solution called Evapo-Rust. The product did a great job, but there were areas I couldn’t get to the rust and rubber. I finally made the decision to build a new tender our of pvc sheet. I build one for my 1″ scale Atlantic and it really worked well. I decided that I didn’t want to go through this again in another 10 to 12 years. I finished my project today, in time for our annual meet at Waushakum this coming weekend. Only one mistake. I screwed on the top with my flashlight inside. Tomorrow my decals will arrive and be installed.

Original steel tender
PVC for the new tender
Drilling for simulated rivets
Figuring where the baffles will sit
Glueing begun
Glueing front water legs
Inserting 468 4-40 SS button head screws
Gluing tank to base
Top secured
Reopened tender to fish out flash light
Tender complete with trucks reinstalled

New logo and update

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I have continued laying stone on the Blueberry Pass Extension, however I did have a setback due to kidney stones. Leaving that aside, I’ll post some pics next week. Along with work on the extension, I’ve also done work on the tender for my Consolidation. Last summer I had difficulties with water intake. When I took a look in the tender there was a whole bunch of rust and crud on the bottom. I began working on rust removal but came up with I think is a better solution. I’ll finish it up on Monday, just in time for our annual Meet weekend at Waushakum. I do have some great pics of my progress. I also wanted to update my railroad’s logo for the side of my tender. Just finished that up last night. I’m having vinyl stickers made, but I don’t think they will arrive in time for the meet. Here is a picture of my new logo below. I removed the locomotive and replaced it with a slice of rail. I also changed the font to Times New Roman. It’s much cleared to read. I really like it. Look at the logos side-by-side. What do you think?

Updated links, email, etc…?

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If your clubs has a new website address or email, please let me know. And if you see an outdated link anywhere on this website or you know of a site not listed (regarding live steam), please let me know. your input is always appreciated!

Happy Steaming!

Blueberry Pass Extension – update 5

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The extension is completely connected. Next week I’ll get ballast. Once this is finished, Mountain Division goes into high gear planning. Many ideas are swirling around in my head. Come spring, it’s time to begin building a 250′ trestle. Looking forward to laying track on that extension. I’m going to use AccuTie Rail System. I can probably lay at least 100′ a day. Anyway, here is a video (a bit shaky because I did it walking with my iPhone.). Once the ballast is down and track is leveled, I’ll record a new video.