Happy New Year everyone! I wanted to take this opportunity to say a big thank you for visiting PassingLoop over the past year.
Starting a blog about railroading allowed me to get back to scratch building and share my methods. Feeling ripped off by the Trainz Classics series, I was glad that they released the 2009 version that fixed the compatibility issues between the various versions. The visits to the local train shows were entertaining and informative.
So once again, wish you a Happy and a Prosperous New Year. Hope to see you in 2009 for more scratchbuilding and Trainz 2009 projects, model railroad show tours, railroad news from around our world. Stay sober and safe!
Clare Mann, from the Telegraph, travels and reports from the Royal Scotsman.
George Pullman, who designed the British Pullman carriages in the 1920s, described them as “palaces on wheels”. Each had its own name, décor and history. Our “state cabin”, paneled in mahogany with delicate marquetry, was comfortable, if cosy.
Since this Sunday, i was having problems posting via Blogger. I was getting a timed out exception error erery time. The problem was erratic and no one knew what was happening. So, i finally decided to switch over to Wordpress thanks to an easy tutorial for my host provider.
There was no direct way to import the post from Blogger to Wordpress and so i had to manually copy and add posts into Wordpress. That was a workout! However, I could not copy the comments over.
So far, i found Wordpress to be much easier and having more features. Some minor tweaking still needs to be done but Passingloop is fully operational so lets get back to playing with trains.
Alstom Transport is currently testing its brand new “very high speed” train, the AGV (or Automotrice à Grande Vitesse) over 12 nights this month on the Eastern high-speed line, between the Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine stations.
The AGV has a series of distributed motors underneath the passenger carriages, which saves space and allows the train to carry 20% more passengers. The AGVs’ ideal speed is 224 mph. In comparison, the Acela train travels at a top speed of 150 mph.
Train Kit Simulation is a web-based simulation using train icons and a scrolling background developed by Opaku. Basic instructions are given if you want to develop one for your site.
Trainkit Hungary has a lot of trainsets (links marked “Katt!”) that uses Opaku’s kit. You can use the mouse or the keyboard but i was having issues with the mouse. Keyboard works great.
Christmas has a special meaning for us model railroaders. Many of us got our start in railroading with a model train or a Lionel set on Christmas day. Maybe you are frantically wrapping a train set for your kids. Its more fun railroading with the whole family.
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas this year! Share love and joy with family and friends this blessed holiday.
Isaiah 9: 2-6,7
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Train Director is a copy of the Train Dispatcher simulation software. With Train Director you can simulate the work of the Centralized Traffic Control (CTC). Your task is to direct trains to their final destination, by throwing switches and clearing signals. Train Director is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Oh! and its free.
The track plans currently, cover most of Europe and you can even create your own layout. I tried out some easy layouts and they were fun. The more complex ones were very challenging. Be sure to check the manual for screens and general instructions.
These cute looking trains are more for the little ones. They sure would love to push and pull these “happy face” locomotives using their 0-5-0 switcher (aka their hands!)
All the elements of the layout are printed including buildings, signals and trees. Each “layout” has three PDF’s. Click on the train icons to get them. All you need are scissors and glue. The kids can now enjoy building their layout with Dad’s help!
Now that we are in a recession and with all the bad news about people losing their jobs, i was wondering if trains stores, both physical and on the web are seeing declining sales. At the last train show i went, i did notice a smaller crowd. I also found out the Citigroup Center in New York cancelled their model train display citing “operating expenses”.
Some say that the recession is good for the hobby. People will be spending their time in their basements building things. Yes, but will they be spending $200-$300 on new craftsman structure kits or limited edition locomotives?
The reality about model railroading is that it can be as expensive or as
cheap as you want it to be. Human nature is such that in bad times, we seek comfort in doing things that make us feel good and for us, its playing with trains. We will find ways even in these times to do just that.
If you were planing to build a layout but now want to save it for a later day, check out the layout design sites and podcasts. Learning is still free.
If you were planing to purchase tracks or points for your layout, check out ebay listings. You may find a good deal.
Join a model railroad club in your neighborhood. Get your modeling fix till the job or money scene become better.
If spending $$$ on that must-have laser-cut structures seem silly now, look into scratch building. They are plenty of stuff lying around the house that
you can use. Check out my scratch building series. I have posted a few basic HO scale brick textures that you can use.
If haven’t looked into virtual railroading, try Trainz or Rail Simulator. I am a bit biased towards Trainz as its very easy to get into, quickly lay tracks and run trains. I know its not the same as real model railroading but you do get more bang for the buck with the tons of free content that’s out there.
But it seems that not all are feeling the pinch. The projection seems on schedule for Long Island, where Gscheidle, whose toy-train shop is in its 25th year,says that “We do about 90 percent of our business between November and January”. Calabrese who is not only CEO but part-owner of Lionel says “We have both gone through some really hard times, and we’re both still alive.”
So, how are you doing? Are you spending the same amount on the hobby or have you cut back?
“The GG1 electric locomotive was built by Pennsylvania Railroad (aka Pennsy) between 1934 to 1943 with a total of 139 units finished. It ran through New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Harrisburg.”
Canon has created a papercraft model of the GG1 electric locomotive that was designed by M. Kajiwara. Get the file [PDF - 23 pages] and assembly instructions [PDF - 17 pages] and make yourself a GG1.
Note: As with any papercraft models, have a sharp craft knife and go slow. The diagrams looks complicated but go slow and take plenty of breaks in between.
