Tolga's Railroad Repository

Some may remember that in 2011 I've acquired tables to do what was to be the O717 corridor in HO Scale (CSX Miami Sub from Ft. Lauderdale-Deerfield Beach). I was off to a good start, having finished top sections in 2012. But college happened, and I lost track of progress, plus that was when my LEGO interests really kicked into high gear (as if they hadn't already). Fast forward to 2016, which was my first HO ops session on David DiMassimo's layout at Gold Coast Railroad Museum. Granted, I've fudged around, operated trains with Rudy and other railfans as I had acquired my CITX locomotive and actually had power to run. It was at this point my interests in HO scale model railroading were totally rekindled and, perhaps the first nudge towards future LEGO dark ages. Since I decided to stay local for graduate school, I won't be going anywhere anytime soon, so I am, as availability dictates, going to maintain a layout. I just purchased table legs for one of the 8ftx2...

My first all inclusive Power Functions locomotives, which are CSX General Electric ES44AHs are in the process of being rebuilt to adapt to numerous design improvements made and tested with my Florida East Coast Models. One of two of them has been completed and here are pictures. Over the old design, the improvements include the following: Reduction of height profile by one plate Reduction of Flame Yellowish Orange sil to one plate instead of two. A layer of black plate lines the bottom of the base. New handrail design. This uses cut up hose elements acquired from Bricklink. Granted it wasn't cheap, but these locomotives come with some of my heaviest investments. Easier Power Functions operations. For one, the battery box is now better connected to the locomotive. Also, I don't have to remove half of the locomotive to power it on or off. Just the section with the horn and exhaust stack has to be pulled out to access the battery box. This makes the engine sturdie...

It was a Saturday afternoon, and I finished an ops session at Gold Coast Models. It was then that, unexpectedly, I received an email from Lance Mindheim saying he was going to come down to Miami! As some may know, Lance is a talented model railroader responsible for very efficient shelf model layouts. In fact, he runs a business called the Shelf Layouts Company, and does commissions for customers. On the side, he has done three very awesome layouts, the Downtown Spur, East Rail, and the new Los Angeles Junction. His visit to Miami was set for a Wednesday afternoon, which for the first time ever worked for me. The purpose was much like past trips, a day trip from DC to do recon and railfanning of the local rails. The last time he came down here I was still in high school; that was back in 2013. Taking a day off was practically out of the question. Two things just so happened to fall beautifully into place. One was that Anthony Reyes, known by some as "Train Hunters" (t...