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Southern
Railway’s Green and
Gold Pacific type
steam engines were
arguably the most
beautiful steamers
to roam the rails.
(A tie with the N&W
Bullet-nosed "J" class,
maybe.) They
are however a Royal
Pain to neatly
paint and decorate
in H.O. scale. This
custom painted unweathered
unit is ready to
go home to the customer. There
is a prototype preserved
at the Smithsonian
Museum in D.C. |
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Roundhouse
Interior: Though
a bit dark
(roundhouses
WERE dark!)
the digital
lens sneaks
a peek out
to the turntable
where a crew
is turning
an NC&StL
heavyweight
observation
car. This
4 stall house
was built of
balsa and cardstock
30 years ago
out of my imagination. In
the background
is a computer
generated building
flat of the
place where
Maxwell House
Coffee originated. Now
known as Cummins
Station in
Nashville,
the building
still stands. |
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Two
modified, but pre-lettered
for NC&StL, Bachman
4-8-2 Mountain types
are displayed in
the sun on a winter’s
day. These
engines run pretty
well and look great. I
have changed the
factory number on
one to be 550. There
are three Mountain
types on my roster,
the other being a
Bowser that I built
back in the ‘70’s
to be a class J1a,
with Delta trailing
truck and tank type
Vanderbilt tender. The
semaphore signal
was correct for early-day
NC operations, and
shows the engine
crew on the right
that they may proceed
from the side track. The
digital camera likes
bright light, so
the module was carried
outside. |
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The
pair of Bachman
Mountains came already painted
and lettered, were
not exactly right
for the NC in their
details placement. Moving
the bell from the
front and applying
a signature "capped" smoke-stack
helped correct this
and was not much
trouble. There
are other things
that are wrong, but
these two details
were key to the NC
look. The tenders
are smaller than
correct, but it’s
okay with me! I
am just glad to see
my favorite RR being
offered in current
production. |
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A
custom painted and
lettered Athearn
F-7 A-B-B-A set accompanies
the pair of Bachman
Mountains in front
of Shops. The
Mountains stand on
the Memphis mains
while the F’s are
on the outbound ready
track. Interestingly,
the Diesel A-units
(with cabs) came
equipped without
steam generators,
but the B-units were. Many
survived into the
late 80’s, serving
other RR’s such as
the Clinchfield RR. At
least one, maybe
two survive today,
thus proving the
worthiness of EMD
power to supercede
steam locomotion
(a hard thing to
admit). |
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