I WISH my layout could be on the tour!!! The past several weekends have been challenging with normal fall/house activities, and we've had a fair number of "social" engagements taking up the weekends, so I haven't been able to get out into the barn to continue working on benchwork. As an alternative, I've been working on a few small craftsman kits in order to be doing SOMETHING model-railroad-related. (I know, I know, I should be updating the website...)

Hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks I'll be able to resume progress on benchwork, etc. Maybe next year I will have something substantial to show to the "public!"

Tom

you have until late September-early October for the RRRMMEET-III !!LOL!

The "Friends of the Reading" Facebook page is worth a look today for 3 nice color slide scans including one of "The Crusader." Is the shade of blue fairly correct on "The Crusader" locomotive trim? It seems very dark (and just right!).

Here is one of the Iron Horse Hobbies exclusive Accurail XMs box cars right out of the box. I did not put the vertical brake post/wheel on nor did I weather the trucks/frame. These cars are not in my era, but I am stretching several realities by maintaining a healthy steam program into the seventies so what is an errant XMs along side a Mallet, Crusader and a GP40-2 - get over it..lol.... I want to do some research to see if Taylor Trucks or a more modern brake wheel might be able to find a way onto it. Anyway they are in stock but I had to ask for them, they were not on the shelves yet. The boxes haven't been labeled. He did say the are selling steadily. I do not know what quantity they are in. I think they look pretty good, lettering might be a little light and the line of one of the fours seems to have hit the space between boards and is lost. I like them....

Hello Group,

Last night my wife and I attend the annual wine and cheese funder raiser event that’s typically held around this time of year. Much to my delight, one of the engineer from the BM&R, Mike, was also was there.

Right off the bat I told him what a hit the GP30s in Reading's final solid green scheme were with folks on this board. He told me they were also very popular with railfans in the area and that they have been getting calls asking where they are on the system. He also said the units were all solid performers with freshly rebuilt prime movers, however they don’t like wet rail. On the paint scheme, he said they painters they hired did the work outside and really “slopped” the paint on with rollers and brushes. I told him they looked great, but he said you can see lots of runs up close and that they even painted over the lenses of the ditchlights!

We also talked about the overall traffic level on the route – which is very good as traffic seems to be picking up in response to the economic turnaround and low gas prices. Mike did comment that Norfolk Southern is in a bit of a shambles right now as they installed a new traffic flow computer system that has everything backed up. Some trains have been sitting for up to three days waiting for clearance. This is hurting the BM&R as they are depending on the NS for interchange service.

Now, the big news: Some employees have been seriously pushing Andy Muller to get the 2012 back to running condition. However, there is a lot of work to be done as the locomotive wasn’t in the best shape when it was place in storage. The running gear needs work as does the tender which has very thin metal in places. It may take as much as $2 million to get the 2012 back on the road. So, it’s an exciting proposition, but the high price tag might make it a very long shot.
That’s all for now,

Hope to see some of you at the Oaks train meet in mid-December.

Thanks, Mark

On another forum its been mentioned that Bowser is planning to reintroduce their RS3 in all three phases.Was wondering if anyone has heard any news on this subject.
This would be a welcomed addition to their line of motive power.I'm very pleased with their 628's,630's and 430's and a proper RDG rs would be great.
Wishful thinking...A phase I c424 added to their line of motive power.