Photo Gallery
Here are some of my favorite models and photographs showing what can be done in N-scale. Hope you enjoy !
Chicago and North Western streamlined steam engine #4004 at the head of a passenger train leaving the big city. The steam engine was built by friend Phil Valenzo, I then custom painted and decaled the locomotive. The nose stripes posed quite a challenge.
Dakota 400 breezes along through farm country. Not only was the E8 custom detailed and painted but all the cars had to be hand build and painted as well. My first completed full passenger train modeled after a prototype train from stem to stern!
CB&Q E-units are eye catching and these Broadway Limited models are no exception. However the model was enhanced with many small details and the addition of more grab irons.
Probably my finest custom built car is this Milwaukee Road diner-lounge 'Union Grove' for use on the Pioneer Limited. It's made from Brass Car Sides on the standard passenger car core kit but features scribed roof ribbing, applied ribs to the car ends and weld seams on the car sides plus plenty of underbody detail. It's hard to tell this car is not an expensive brass import!
Custom built SDL39 was a bear to build and featured my first attempt at soldered brass handrail stanchions. Thank goodness it was a success. It was assembled from a no longer available kit consisting of a resin shell, underframe, fuel tank and truck sideframes, all on a highly modified Atlas RSD 4/5 chassis.
Milwaukee Road RPO #2160 is built from one of my first urethane castings. Since I wanted a couple of these cars, a silicon rubber mold was made from a highly detailed master model that I constructed. Urethane resin shells were then cast from the rubber molds and they duplicate all the fine details of the master model flawlessly. Most of the hard work is already done when finishing a cast shell. Paint, grab irons, decals, trucks, couplers and window glass complete the unique model. I now have a pair running on my fast mail train!