1943 model train layout

[HankII]

Why is it called Carsiding?

Car siding is wood paneling scored with a V-shaped groove. Its original use dates to the heyday of the railroads in the mid-19th century, when this treatment was used to line the insides of boxcars, particularly those that hauled produce.

[Lee Bishop]

Last night, I finally mounted original pieces of ET&WNC caboose 505 and boxcar 434 into a shadow box frame. I attached them to the back board with short wood screws screwed in from behind. I then printed out photos of each car onto cardstock and glued them in place with rubber cement. I took down some stuff that was hanging above my chalkboard and placed the finished frame there. You'd see them upon walking down the hall headed into the room.

I still have that 19” long piece of the 434, so I think I’m going to run a wire behind that to hang on the wall over the original spike I also have framed.

[Lee Bishop]

Been taking more photos this weekend, and most of you know how I like recreating period photos…
Train time at the ET&WNC's grade crossing for Stoney Creek Road at Sadie, Tennessee on a sweltering August in 1943 as number 12 brings in a coal train:

[Lee Bishop]

Just finished this yesterday, a water tank made from a Bachmann On30 2-6-0 tender shell and a water plug set with some other detail parts.





The nozzle for the locomotives on the far side, facing away from the people looking at the layout.

[chibobber]

Lee,
Your detail pieces and weathering are excellent. As they say, "It's in the details."
Hope all is well,
Bob

[Lee Bishop]

Thanks, Bob!

A couple days ago, a good friend of mine got a huge batch of letters from railroads from a guy in the 40s who wrote to railroads all over the country asking for timetables. Among them was a 1942-dated letter from the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina. Better still, it says enclosed was timetable number 119 from 1940. in an amazing coincidence, I HAVE one of those! So once Robert gave me to the letter, I had to place them side-by-side:

[Lee Bishop]

I just made this for those who have seen my layout on video:

https://youtu.be/jJDCkd0Sc3M

[Lee Bishop]

Everything has a history.  Take this water tower for example:

The Stoney Creek Southern, the company which owned this line before the Tweetsie bought it out, had a few aging 4-4-0s. When the ET&WNC brought in their ten-wheelers, out came the torches. 
Here we are, in the late summer of 1943. 
When the men of the 796th Railway Operating Battalion (a fictional unit, I wrote the history of that, too), they found number 3 sitting rusting away, where it'd last been used as a backup. The soldier/railroaders hoped to get it running again but found the flues and cylinders in terrible shape, along with a collapsed dry pipe. Once word came that three former WW1 'trench' engines would be regauged at the shops in Johnson City, out came the torches.
There's a low gondola filled with the rods, a few drivers and other parts. There are some wheels and axles still sitting in the weeds from #s 2 and 3, waiting to be lifted onto a car once a crane shows ups. In this timeframe, there are very few metal items rusting away, as everything has gone off to wartime scrap drives. There are even rumors that the civil war cannon barrel at the war memorial nearby will be melted down for shell casings.
The tender for #3 was in halfway decent shape and the soldiers needed a water tank.  They badly wanted the water car hauled on a platform, but the ET&WNC still had use for it. So, some metal patches were riveted in place along with a metal plate to cover the top. 
They had no paint and little time, so they used the remains of a water column and quickly erected a platform from materials left over from a bridge they had just completed near Carter, TN. It worked just fine for Army # 5069.
The only other remains of the SCS's 4-4-0s is the former tender from #2, which was turned into a water tank in 1936, after the locomotive was involved in a nasty grade-crossing accident near Speedwell. It was one of the last pieces of equipment that was lettered for the SCS.

[Lee Bishop]

I was taking some shots for an article for the NMRA magazine and decided to go for a cover shot. Neither of these were useable, but I played around with them so I could post them instead:

[Lee Bishop]

Just got this in the mail today:

I had no idea this was coming. This was one of two proposed cover shots I'd sent them last year with an article on my layout. The editor chose what I agreed was the best of the two but said he liked this one as well and would use it later.
This issue has no layout article, so it makes sense and I'm glad it wasn't used instead of someone's layout photo from the inside of the issue!
I'm going to get another copy, chop the cover off it and hang it on the wall with some of my other magazine appearances.

[chibobber]

Love the way the headlight light plays off the tracks.Great shot.

Bob

[Tim Shanteler]

Congrats! You have a great attention to detail. Ditto on the light comment.

[Lee Bishop]

Thanks, guys!
Over the weekend, I put up the original builder's plate for an Army ALCO S2 locomotive on the wall of the layout room, which fits in with the layout's timeframe:

Then, I cut the cover off a copy of O Scale trains with my newest cover, and added it to the 'wall of fame':

[Lee Bishop]

The NMRA 4th region convention was last week. It was a nice event, I gave a presentation on military railroad operations for model railroads.

I also won third place overall for the photo contest. They combined the real and model photos and mine was the only model photo to place.
This is the original photo:

[Ed Roberts]

Congratulations Lee. Love your work, and you're #1 in my book.
Keep 'em Rollin' Smokin' Huffin' and Chuffin' !
Best, Eddie