CHRISTMAS UPDATE

Happy Holidays to all.   I'd like to report that I spent plenty of cold nights and days down in the basement working on the layout, but alas, I continue to be trying to get through my work backlog.  Christmas Day was the second day off for me this fall (Thanksgiving was the other).  I actually almost worked as I spent the day down at the shore with my family and we have had an ongoing job at a Stone Harbor beach house - The job being only 5 minutes away, I'd planned on slipping out for an hour or two to work on some punch list items, but came to my senses, and relaxed a bit.   Lots of good presents, but on the railroad side - a Stewart AS-616 and a 1/35 scale model of a German WWII Locomotive - pictured above.    The AS-616 is the second that I've gotten in the past month - I plan on converting one into a B-unit 616 (there were a few, and since my railroad is fictional, we have one)    I will paint and decal them in our Amboy Terminal scheme and the two unit lash up will serve as transfer power, especially for drags up the hill from the lower works.     Recently, there was a period of a few weeks,  which was probably the longest time in recent history that I hadn't gone down to the basement to work.   When I did finally get down one night around Christmas, I found myself with modelers block of sorts - feeling overwhelmed and out of touch with trains I guess.  I watched some tv and straightened up a bit, but no productive modeling.   Since then, my second train present, the 1/35 locomotive, has been getting me back on track I think.   It's a straight plastic model, training wheels for hopefully some more productive scratchbuilding in the near future.  This kit is massive - 710 parts.

This is about two long nights progress.  You start with building the frame.    I didn't know much about this steam engine, or any European steam engines at all, prior to this kit.  This locomotive, German Class 52, was manufactured during WWII.  It was a redesign of an earlier locomotive, the Class 50.   It was sort of the Liberty Ship of trains for the Germans.  Designed to be manufactured quickly and with a minimum of raw materials.  The majority of these engines ended up on the eastern front, and ultimately over 7000 were built.    For you military historians you probably will realize the contradiction between Nazi Germany's production of Tanks and Aircraft, which were anything but focused on standardized designs.    The kit itself is by Trumpeter.  Trumpeter and also Dragon Models have issued a good number of 1/35 wartime railroad models in the past 10 years or so.    The railroad subject matter, and the unique modifications necessitated by partisan attacks has interested me enough to pick up a few of these kits, and probably more in the future.   The kits are a pleasure to assemble compared to the crap Walthers and other model railroad suppliers put out.   I will try to keep up with a few updates on this build.

 

This is what the inside of the box looks like