Thanks, guys!

Rob: The scenery was inspired by the footage of the Perkiomen mixed train on the Pechulis Reading video. It's not a literal rendering, but I'm pretty happy with my interpretation.

Mark: The 2-8-0 is a Custom Brass model which I bought and painted in the 1980s. The caboose is a Gem model from an earlier era, but it was still on the shelves of the old Gilbert's Hobby Shop in Gettysburg in 1978. Both were painted with SC 1, which, following Scale Coat's instructions, I baked on in the oven. The I-8 was weathered with Floquil paints.

An overview from Lenape. Notice the edge of the backdrop behind the gas station.



Another view at Stover's Mill:

I did! But with a real foundation, not the printed fieldstone-on-basswood original So Pennsylvania looking.. captures that nice branchline feel. I had an I8 that was sold in kit form, around 1983 or so, but gave up when I realized it was a lot more than a Bowser kit! A rally good modeler and fiend of mine got it from me in trade in the late 80's(he is a machinist by trade)and could not get it to run very well either, even with a NWSL gearbox and re-quartering the drivers!

meanin' to ask ya.. what is the origin of the nice little farmhouse in the foreground with the porch..scratch built or kitbashed?

The farmhouse is "the Drinkwater Place" by Laserkit (AMB). It's a condensed version of their original farmhouse. Believe it or not, the barn foundation is styrene covered with high tech stone paper from Micro Mark. It has nice texture and an adhesive backing. Their brick material looks nice too, though I haven't used it yet. MM sells matching sheets of brick lintels, arches, etc. The shingles on the house are theirs too. It's a far cry from the Model Hobbies stuff of yore. Still, I love the designs of those old kits!





PS: who manufactured that I-8 kit? Lee Town maybe? Hal Carstens had Lee Town's D-3 4-4-0 built on a Mantua General mechanism and sent me a picture of it. He was a fellow Lutheran and member of a neighboring congregation. I tried to get an invitation out of him to see his camelback collection, but only got a few emailed photos.

It was NJ International/Custom Brass, at the same time the RTR version was produced. They produced a few kits of the brass locos for braver souls than I.. It was at least a million pieces, with tiny metric screws just waiting to be lost forever. Tender shell, boiler, cab and frame were soldered assemblies, and the drivers were assembled, valve gear semi-assembled. everything else to be soldered or screws in place.. nearly a scratch build...

Robin, Thanks for the link back to the original photos to bring it all together.... I kind of remember another scene of a loco sitting at a station, maybe it was back when the site held the 1 square foot contest.

Very inspiring work.