Tolga's Railroad Repository

Last year I built an interior for a previous modular building after a Pasión del Cielo coffee shop. Having decided to abandon the building, I saved the details for a new home, and I can happily say it's finished! Comes with an upstairs fitness store and yoga studio as well.

Over the years, given the boom in technology, having access to good video recording equipment has become so simple, given that the feature is prevalent in smartphones and tablets.  Sure enough, YouTubing has followed suit, and many publishers simply use their phone to record their video. On the other hand, camcorder usage has been a staple for me.  Over time, though, I've found one way that I'd rather use a phone for documentation, and for one, that is on model subjects - model trains and LEGO trains. Perhaps it's a matter of fixing depth of field and focus with an SLR, but I find it more convenient. Not to mention, audio and visual quality has picked up so well that the difference is not very easy to notice. You can still get good SLR shots with a macro lens, and adjust the focus well on the camcorder, but why go through the hassle? Of course, my higher grade equipment isn't going anywhere, and will still be used for plenty of videos to come. Tha...

Time flies! I "eat" a McTolga's (friend-proclaimed) quarter pounder with cheese. As a YouTuber and LEGO hobbyist the Brand Ribbon was one of the highlights of my time with the site (even though the videos haven't gotten much exposure) Nine years ago on this day, August 7, 2007, I decided it was the day to finally begin networking on YouTube with fellow LEGO buffs. I had been following the site for a while, and was somewhat blown away by the just-released videos of National Model Railroader's Association National Train Show 2005 (Yes - two years late but I think it was when the Detroit show was abuzz, and those videos followed) here and here (the second video appears to have been deleted and reposted). Add to that fellow fans who were active on those videos. There was a full fledged discussion forum between fans of different ages.  brickbuilder711, a handle that I already reserved for the LEGO Message Boards, LEGO Factory, and Brickshelf, was final...

FEC ES44C4s roll by on my proto-freelance South Florida layout at Gold Coast Railroad Museum. After several months I am happy to say LEGO building on my end is expected to pick up. Keep in mind I will use only the parts I have on hand and do not plan to go out in the wild looking for parts. The following projects can be anticipated for the months leading up to the holidays, and future changeovers for my on loan display at Gold Coast Railroad Museum . (and very important contributions to the GFLUG NMRA 2017 display in Orlando, FL) List likely incomplete and subject to change. Town - all the exciting builds Pasión del Cielo Modular Building retrofit (2015) Pasión del Cielo Coffee Reboot The modular building that was built in 2013 was fitted with a PDC on the ground floor, but lost sections in the process (they went missing/dismantled). Thus, a decision was made to scrap the building altogether. The details were salvaged and belong on a standalone, which will likely sit ins...

Pictures have been widely available as of late for the South Florida Mega Route's FEC installments; but now it's time for a sound element to be added! Here's video of 109 finishing up some of its last miles into Miami.

Many people who either live in, or drive around Hialeah are perhaps aware of FEC's notoriety for tying up crossings in the area. This is because their authorized speeds are limited as follows: 10 mph up to about the end of the TOFC switch at Hialeah Yard 20 mph from there through the Okeechobee Road overpass 25mph around the curve I had the pleasure of simulating this in Trainz. And so I tested the accuracy of this operation as well as some of the railroad crossings included. The test train in question is train #210, which runs at night, so once I got the shots at the beginning of the route done, I set the clock correctly. :) The train always crawls at West 8th Ave.  A perspective of how long the train is with respect to some of the major surface roads. It's a good thing that W 21 St is grade-separated!  A neat observation is, just as is done in real life, the HUD gave the go ahead to speed up when the nose was around Palm Ave/E 4th Ave. The physics work ...

It's not uncommon for a quality Trainz route to take years to produce. Without a doubt, my South Florida Mega Route falls under that category. I have actually had the route going for four years, but only got a few key locations on the Florida East Coast (FEC) mainline mapped thus far. With the time considered, it is convenient to follow the new Brightline/All Aboard Florida track charts... and that is what I've done. The documents are available for public viewing as part as the federally governed Environmental Impact Study that was done. While they may change as track construction progresses, they have been pretty accurate thus far. Note: signal will likely be redesigned soon. Also done is the scenery for NE 2nd Ave, which is at the point where the port lead branches off from the mainline. The line to the left goes off towards Jacksonville, and the line to the right wyes down to the Port Lead. The manifest yard job nicknamed  the "Downtown Job" als...

So, FEC offers an interesting curveball by way of their use of the Norfolk Southern Geometry Train consist. When they need that research done on their main lines, they usually borrow the stock research equipment that NS has to offer, plus usually one engine, which in the past has been a 4-axle NS motor, namely GP38-2 #5647 in most cases. Except, this time, which happened just this week, the NS power that came down to Miami was two 6-axle EMD motors, SD70M-2 #2663 and SD40-2 #3279. Whereas I normally skip the Geometry Train, this one was a must have.

Holy cow, has it really been a year and a half since I last touched this blog? Time flies! I am happy to announce my triumphant return to the blogosphere. I feel this that this has always been the perfect forum to communicate my thoughts and the state of the railfanning and model railroading hobby, as I see fit. And lots more is to come as I continue to rebuild my network here and on my YouTube channel. I have done a lot of experimenting on Blogger over the years - separate Trainz and Model Train blogs, LEGO blogs, etc... but it is only appropriate that I return with a keen focus on ONE blog, and rightfully, I will choose the blog that is URLed to my online screen name, brickbuilder711. Personally, I've experienced a few changes since my last blog entry here, December 2014: New camcorder, new railroading interests, and a return to HO scale model railroading. I am back on the Trainz Simulator grind producing a renewed South Florida route and will be sharing lots of progress ...