Tolga's Railroad Repository

June 25, 2009 (per Flickr) - likely running as Y322 in summer morning light the job crosses N River Drive heading railroad north. Tom K photo   Tom Klimoski, a famous model railroader in northeast Georgia and forever-member of ECHOES, was very kind to share pictures of the CSX Downtown Spur in its last heyday before the downturn following the 2008 economic recession took a toll on much of the line's business. He has allowed me permission to share them on this blog and by doing so there are plenty of takeaways from the camera roll. To add to the latest discussion of the Downtown Spur operations. I had the honor of being able to finally visit Lance Mindheim's layout after quite a few years; he's done so much to the Downtown Spur setup since the May 2019 visit. Probably one of the most comprehensive operation sessions was conducted impromptu as well, where a lot of the recent railfanning experiences were reenacted and a couple blasts from the past were sprinkled in. But as I ...

  My friend Anthony R., who some railfans may know on YouTube under the handle TrainHunters1 or TrainHuntersFans, affectionately likes to pinpoint "movie scenes" in events that take place in various hip and hot Miami venues. I have been fortunate to join him in some of these adventures as of late, and look forward to many more in 2023. They are as he describes, "movie scenes" -- settings one can only imagine seeing behind a screen of one's choice, perhaps too overwhelming to be even deemed a believable enough scene in person... but they are. Model railroaders take to capturing scenes alright -- some that can be reproduced today and some that are blasts from the pasts that can only be reimagined through film and other works. But Miami in all its glitz, glamour, and vice, possesses scenes that can only be associated with the Magic City. Regardless of the era, some beg to be modeled. Some make it to video games like Driver (1,3, etc.) and GTA. The James Bond movie ...