New Display Shelves Installed

After five or six half days of cutting, sanding and painting shelves, on Saturday morning, I got started right away on installing these new shelves.  

I started installing at the top shelf and worked my way down the wall installing one shelf at a time.  I had to refine the shape of a couple of the shelves with the belt sander so they fit the wonky wall perfectly but, other than that, this job went relatively quickly.  The only casualty is a long drill bit that ended up bent at sharp angles in two places.  (Hmmm...  I'm not sure I ordered a new set of long drill bits yet...)  

Now, when you enter this room, there are display shelves on both sides of the door.  These new shelves can be hidden safely behind the open door to the room.  I might even add a latch to keep that door secured to the shelves when I don't want curious little fingers and hands near my fragile trains.  The new shelves can be seen in the photo below.  

After completing these shelves, I spent an entire afternoon cleaning all my trains and then properly displaying them on these shelves.  (They definitely needed cleaning and a few of them could still use some more cleaning!)  Then I shot a bunch of photos which can be seen below.

Most of the trains on these shelves are O scale trains and his next photo shows some narrow gauge O scale trains.  This is a little Porter steam locomotive and a flat car.  For those unfamiliar with trains and scales and the terminology, as a familiar comparison, the old Lionel trains are O scale size trains.  I don't have any trains made specifically by Lionel but everyone seems to be familiar with the size of Lionel trains so that is a good reference.  

As the name asserts, narrow gauge trains run on track that is narrower than standard gauge track.  These narrow gauge railroads were meant for places were you needed tighter turns and, consequently, smaller trains like mountainous lumber railroads, seaports, mining facilities and industrial railroads. In this case, I am modeling trains that would be on track with rails only 30 inches apart rather than the standard 56-1/2 inches.

These two passenger cars, below, are also narrow gauge O scale models.  One of these cars has been dropped (by me) so no longer illuminates and some of the windows have popped out so it is in need of some repairs.

This next photo shows one of my favorite locomotives that I currently own.  It is another narrow gauge O scale steam locomotive.  This is a relatively big and very heavy model.  It runs very smoothly and sounds great!

I have a few Mogul steam locomotives.  This one is also a narrow gauge O scale model...

This diesel locomotive, below, is a big and heavy locomotive for moving different types of freight.  This one is a standard gauge O scale model that runs very well, sounds great and even has realistic diesel smoke.

The next two photos show some of my standard gauge O scale F9 diesel locomotives.  I picked up these locomotives at virtually no cost (around $25 each?) and I plan to add digital decoders to them with sound.  They also run very well as is alas with no sound.  They could use a few more detail parts too.  

Below is a narrow gauge O scale railcar.  This sort of train was used for moving lumber workers from site to site.  Some railroads even used similar cars for suburban passenger service.  Even the Mount Mansfield Electric Railroad had similar cars shuttling passengers between the Waterbury train station and the resort town of Stowe village from the late 1800s to the 1930s.  This railroad between Waterbury and Stowe also ran steam locomotives (I think from the Green Mountain Railway) as well as gas/diesel-powered trains such as this model.

Below is a photo of some of my Plymouth diesel switcher locomotive fleet.  I have quite a few of these... some run well, others are on hand to use for spare parts.  I picked up each of these little but powerful locomotives on the used market at virtually no cost (again, in the $25 range) which is one of the reasons why I have a "fleet" of them!  These locomotives were workhorses on small railroads too and I plan to model a small fictitious railroad with a small seaport and a city scene with some tight areas.  These particular Plymouth switchers are standard gauge O scale models and, although small, they do have some heft to them...

I have quite a collection of O scale cars and trucks too!  Shown, below, are just two of them.  I think I plan to model in a fictitious era of the transition from steam to diesel in the 1940s.  I'm not a fan of modern trains nor am I a fan of the railroads of the wild west.  I prefer the east coast transition period so I am collecting trains, automobiles and trucks that would have been seen during this era.

This next photo is kind of cool.  This depicts over one hundred years of railroads from the steam Moguls introduced in the 1860s to the F3 diesels introduced in the 1940s and to the current Amtrak high speed Acela locomotive.  Actually, that spans about one hundred and sixty years!  These models are HO scale models (some of Lukey's trains) which are approximately half the size of O scale...  H (half) O (O scale) hence HO scale...

This next photo is a classic representation of the transition period from steam to diesel.  In this case, we have the New York Central's transition period from their streamlined Dreyfuss Hudson steam locomotive (front) and their F3 diesel (behind).  It is in this period that my fictitious railroad will reside.  These models are HO scale models and happen to be a part of my own very small HO scale train collection.  I purchased these models to run on Lukey's little model railroad and to put together a nice display on a shelf...

This photo, below, is my largest model.  This is a narrow gauge F scale model.  Generally speaking, G scale (garden trains) is approximately double the size of O scale (the old Lionel train size).  F scale is the next scale larger beyond G scale!  

I just restored this steam locomotive to running condition a few months ago and it is now running very well.  I picked up this huge steam locomotive along with the rest of the set it originally shipped with when new at a train show in Rutland for just $40.  At the time, it wasn't running at all.  I intend to repaint this model and add a bunch of details to it someday.  

My intention has always been to have this huge scale train set as a display rather than creating a running model railroad.  A model railroad in this huge scale requires a lot of room...  room we do not have.  It is also a scale that is well beyond my finances!   I'd like to make this bargain purchase a nice looking display model though and if it runs too, that is even better.

This 4-6-0 steam locomotive on my shelf is pulling my "Gramps" tank car which reminds me of my own Gramps who got me hooked on model trains, photography, boating and waterfront homes not to mention being the best grandfather I could be!  I have a few more F scale cars not shown here as well as a recently purchased and rebuilt used trolley.

I purchased this standard gauge O scale crane car, below, solely because I needed a small freight crane for a transfer freight station I plan to have on my fictitious railroad.  The crane will help to move freight cargo between the standard gauge railroad and the narrow gauge railroad.  I plan to disassemble this crane car so I can use only the crane part on the loading dock of the freight station.  This car was also a used purchase at a bargain price...

Below is a custom-made flat car in standard gauge O scale.  I intend to make a few more of these flat cars in standard gauge and narrow gauge O scale.  I still need to make some stakes for this car but, still, it is a nice looking flat car.

This is another one of my standard gauge O scale Plymouth diesel switchers from my fleet of Plymouth switchers pulling a few box cars and a small caboose.

I'm in the process of building about eight gondola cars in narrow gauge O scale which is proving to be far more tedious than I anticipated.  I started this little project a few years ago but progress has been slow.  I do a little work on them and then need to find and purchase more supplies so the project gets put on hold.  Then I do a little more work on them a year later, etc...  They are coming along though.  

My biggest obstacle in modeling is finding building supplies especially since the start of the pandemic.  I'm also in the process of building a couple of tank cars in narrow gauge O scale.  I have a good number of gondolas in standard gauge O scale that need some new couplers (also bargain used purchases).  All of these gondolas are to be used for transporting coal on my fictitious railroad.  

I have some additional O scale trains displayed on our mantle in the living room too.  The main display there is a big ole heavy New York Central Hudson steam locomotive and some highly detailed illuminated passenger cars.

I'm really looking forward to building this fictitious railroad.  I can see it in my mind and I've drawn some rough sketches which is nice but it will be really nice to see it and hear it filling this room though!

In the meantime, I'm really happy and relieved to have finished these display shelves though.  I really like the way they came out!