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| B&M 2-10-2 #2901 hauls a drag freight through Webb. |
One more look at the Cheshire Branch
After chasing the Cheshire along the Cheshire Branch I thought I would do another post with various scenes around Jim's layout. Jim's layout depicts typical railroading in New England in the late 1940's. No glitter or show, just the way it would have looked if we could step back in time and watch the B&M trains that traversed this line. For me, Jim's work has inspired me to raise the bar on my own layout. I have looked at photos of Jim's layout many times when planning a scene and tried to adapt some of his techniques in my modelling. I hope you will able to take something away from these two posts that will help you also.
I must admit the quality of some of the photos is not that good due to taking them at Jim's open house where lots of people were enjoying the layout. I didn't want to get in their way with a cumbersome tripod so had to shoot hand held with high ISO and aperture wide open. Jim has installed overhead LED lighting balanced for daylight and this makes picture taking a breeze as far as getting a correct white balance. Jim says they are a little pricey but well worth the investment and I agree.
So, enjoy the tour. I am heading to Arizona on Sat. for a couple of months and will be shooting trains on the BNSF (formerly the Santa Fe trans continental route) and the UP on the old Sunset Route through Arizona. Hopefully I can do a post with some of those trains when I get home.
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| Here is a closer look at the Feldspar load-out at Swanzey, NH. |
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| Another view of 2901 at Webb. The truck in the foreground is an asphalt truck that Jim kitbashed. |
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| 2901 holds the main at Troy while 2-8-0 2717 simmers in the siding waiting to follow. |
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| Troy is home to a small oil and coal dealer which is located on the siding next to the freight house. All of the structures are faithfully modeled after the prototype. |
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| Here at Fitzwilliam the 2901 is blowing for the crossing |
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| This is Jim's model of the J.M Parker feed mill located at Fitzwilliam. There is a very nice assortment of period vehicles parked around the structure. |
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| A view from the other end of the feed mill. I love Jim's scenery work around the mill, so simple and natural looking. |
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| There are several of these prototypically accurate B&M semaphore signals on the layout. Although not lit Jim says they can be once he takes the time to wire them. These beautifully detailed signals were built by the late Terry Wegmann |
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| This is a very nicely detailed scene of the portable coal unloading convetor located on the siding at Webb. |
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| Jim Dufour |
I never tire of seeing Jim's layout and your photos (in this post as well as your previous post) really capture it. Exceptional photos of exceptional modeling - thank for taking the time to share them and enjoy your trip out west!
ReplyDeleteNice layout Jim.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, those semaphores aren't truly B&M prototype as the B&M used a 70 degree lower quadrant, 3 aperture continuous light spectacles fitted with 42" blades. These use the standard (R.S.A.) US&S Co. type.
Although T.J. Wegmann assembled these "N&G Railway Signal Company" "Style 'B'" products, they're not his creation.
Also, these were always lit from when they were first created some forty years ago (1980). They were designed to use the then smallest pigtail lead incandescent bulb then available.
That said, instead of scale and optically "plain" colored roundels, Terry's own injection molded lenses do not prototypically light nor look correct when unlit. The lens should actually be in the lamp housing itself as was in this product's original design and production, just as found with the original semaphore signals themselves.