these are the helium cars that i started about 4 years ago figured its about time to finish them.
Jim

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New Haven U25B locos (Bowser Executive Line DCC ready) roll between the Golden Canning Company and O. L. King & Sons Coal Dealer.

I've been thinking about motivation to complete some scenery on my layout when "poof!" along comes a 2024 Build Challenge.  It's kismet!

I talked about this on my layout page in the past few weeks, but for purposes of establishing the state of things for the challenge ground floor - here's the situation.

I put the rough draft of a background of the city of Hazleton, PA up behind my coal breaker back around New Year's 2024.  The thing was a pretty big "bash" project and got me thinking about what I wanted to do around the breaker.  Back in it's heyday (not necessarily the period I model when all the breaker was doing was processing strip-mined coal) the breakers around cities and towns like Hazleton, Wilkes Barre, Scranton, Pottstown, Shamokin, Mt. Carmel, etc. were the lifeblood of the town - the industries employed thousands of people and pulled the railroads in to haul their product.  The towns put up with the dirt, the grit, the poor water quality.  Some of the breakers weren't far from the hustle and bustle of town, and Hazleton was a good example of that.

So, I started exploring space claims to expand my micro version of the city and added a small addition to my layout to the left and in front of the backdrop.  Right now it's foamboard with a base of 1/4" plywood and some 1x strips for extra support and aesthetics.

   

It's 32 inches wide and ranges from 16 (extreme left) to 26 inches deep, so it's not what I'd consider a "large" area - perfect though for a contest that ends in 3 months!

There's also a pie-shaped area between the breaker and backdrop that I'll scenic at the same time that's not nearly as big, and is going to take some work to squeeze myself in there to work....  

   

I'm going to freeform this area.  No exact replica stuff planned.  However, I do plan on cramming some structures (or bits of structures).  The ones closest to the breaker will be coal related or provide services for the workers.  As you get closer to town (closer to the backdrop), there could be industries, apartment buildings, stores, etc.  Things should be linked by roadways, and there should be room for parking. 

To fit with the backdrop, the terrain should run from high near the front of the layout and downward toward the backdrop, which is an added challenge.  I also need to attempt to disguise the lack of depth available and give the illusion of more space that I actually have.

I've previously built or saved some structures that I've had in mind for Hazleton, but as you can see in the picture below, they need to be supplemented to reach my vision for the space.

   

I've already purchased a few more Clever Models kits that I think suit this build including a coal and grain elevator (which I may integrate into the breaker with an elevator into the structure):

Clever Models Paper Models for the 21st Century - Catalog Pg 17X (squarespace.com)

And, the coal dealer, which has some nice accessory pieces that should work well as a coal business for the locals:

Clever Models Paper Models for the 21st Century - Catalog Pg 08X (squarespace.com)

And, Lucky's Lunch Counter - serving the breaker employees a lunchtime:

Clever Models Paper Models for the 21st Century - Catalog Pg 14X (squarespace.com)

As I said, not plan here - it's a freelance.  I'll be building structures and playing around with how I can integrate them into the space.  It's going to be a lot of trial and error.

Hope you enjoy the ride, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the other contestants are working on!

This is a kickoff to our first challenge in a while. My goal is to take the log cabins that I built a while ago and make a historical park to place them in. I have three structures that can go there, a log cabin, a log ranger station and a two-hole outhouse. I plan on having a chain link fence, a parking area and I'm not sure if I have room for much more. Going to play it by ear as I go.

Here’s what's up. We’re going to have a building challenge that we hope will suite everyone at every level of skill or modeling preferences. This one is all about building, refinishing or picking up where you left off. This will apply to anything railroad, structures, scenery, rolling stock, anything you can build new or refinish. You can only enter one category once, but you can pick as many categories as you want to enter, but each entry must be finished by the due date to qualify in the judging thread. Here are the categories:

• Scratchbuilt structure
  
• Kit build structure
  
• Kitbash structure
  
• Layout addition (structures, scenery)
  
• Diorama, (any kind but must include some track)
  
• Rolling stock kit build,
  
• Rolling stock rebuild
  
• Rolling stock scratchbuild
  
• Unfinished project (any not more than half finished)

• (your Screename) (challenge category) ’24 build challenge
  
• Document your progress in pictures. Remember, we like lots of pictures. If you’re not skilled with a camera, either give it a try or get someone else to take the pictures. Just as long as you are the one that’s doing the work, we don't care who takes the pictures.
  

• If you build a structure using Walther's modular parts and it follows one of their pre-defined plans, it is a "kit build"
  
• If you build a structure using Walther's modular parts and you dream up a unique structure, it is "kit bashing"
  
• "cosmetic changes" on kit builds can include signage changes or additions. More extensive changes such as adding roof details or lights takes it out of the realm of the intent of this challenge for kit builds, but not quite into the definition of kit bashing. I suggest these things be added after completing this challenge
  
• Scratchbuilding means that the basic or major parts of the structure is made from scratch and not kit parts. Small details such as lights, boxes, A/C units, window, door and fences to name a few can be from pre-made parts
  
• Rolling stock requirements are basically the same, a scratchbuild can be using existing parts you find around that are not originally made for whatever it is you're building
  
• Unfinished projects can be any of the other categories, but something you started and is less than half-finished.
  
• As usual, we will award certificates for those that complete their projects and for those that get a substantial portion completed. If we have enough entrants, we will run a voting poll to declare a winner in each category, otherwise, we will conduct a single voting poll for all categories combined. We will only include finished projects in the voting poll(s)

Central Railroad of New Jersey with F3A and F3B (Athearn Genesis) pulling a train past Golden Valley Canning Company and O.L. King & Sons Coal Company.

Penn Central Baldwin built AS-616 (Bowser Executive Line) pulls the scrap iron train pass the Golden Valley Canning Company and the coal dealer.

Lately I have been finding myself enjoying running what I call long trains of 25 or more cars. This is one of the primary reasons I went with a 16 foot plus layout. As everyone knows I also like to “railfan” my layout. At some point I began doing run-by photography. To me modeling is not just about the locomotives but about the whole layout and that includes the cars behind the locomotives and the scenery around them.

In the past I posted the run-bys as part of the weekly photo thread. Back then the trains were mostly under 20 cars and usually required three or four posts. Many times I felt guilty that with the number of photos and posts I could unintentionally be high jacking the thread. I will still post some teasers to the weekly photo thread but the run-by itself will be in its own thread.

I would welcome some feedback on this process as I move forward with it.

So now without further ado I present the B&O F7A and F7B 30-car run.

Baltimore & Ohio F7A number 4350 and F7B number 5475 are leading a manifest train from Elesmere Yard in Delaware to Eastside Yard in Philadelphia and eventually New Jersey. The engineer just called out to RG tower he is passing through Leiperville Union Sation.

Below is the link to the YouTube video of the Run-By
https://youtu.be/LKF3K0ff67c

L1. Baltimore & Ohio F7A number 4350 – Walthers Proto DCC Ready



L2. Baltimore & Ohio F7B number 4475 – Walthers Proto DCC Ready

It's been a while since we've had a challenge of any sort, a build challenge, scratchbuild, kitbash, or even a photo challenge. Is anyone up to get one started and if so, what would you recommend that we do????

WPMA-40's conductor having a chat with an employee at one of the warehouses in Whiskey Point.

Bruce