Stupid Guest Tricks

Okay...well...I'm pretty confident that this thread won't garner a whole lot of response, but this is a hobby I have. I work on model trains. I've been doing this on and off since 2006 or so. I have a lot of plans. I want to do a scale loop of Knott's Berry Farm's "Ghost Town & Calico Railroad" with a 1/48th scale Knott's Berry Farm Ghost Town and other attractions such as the Calico Mine Ride and Timber Mountain Log Ride. I'm using On30 for the train scales.

So, over the years I've picked up some cool things that I used to work on when I worked @ Knott's, and also customized some trains for the layout.


Before I quit, Knott's Berry Farm had a train delivered to us from Cedar Point. It was a 2-4-4 Forney locomotive. In the end, it never ran @ Knott's, nor did it look like the one I customized...but this is my representation of that same locomotive if it would have stayed at the park and started operating. Ghost Town & Calico Railroad #7:





I also managed to find a Galloping Goose model in On30 as well. The Galloping Goose is a real neat thing I used to work on. Part bus, part train, this kind of railbus was used on the Rio Grande Southern line. They had 7 of them actually. Number 3 actually resides @ Knott's.






I wanted a locomotive to represent the C-19 locomotives that are at the park as well. Sadly, the brass models that have been produced are hard to come by, and can cost up to $500. I had to settle on a smaller C-16 locomotive instead. Very similar though. (And a fraction of the price) Not terribly fond of the "Bumble Bee" paint scheme, but at least 41 at one time used a similar Bumble Bee paint scheme as seen above...




Now, another thing I want to do is add things like the Calico Mine Ride to the loop as well. Even though it's a separate attraction, I have custom painted locomotives to represent the trains on Mine Ride. Currently I have Train 5 on display, which was my first custom paint job in 2006.

While not entirely accurate, my representation of locomotive 5 is pretty close:





I also have a custom geared locomotive (Shay) that I weathered. I plan to place it near the Timber Mountain Log Ride part of the loop.



Well, like I said I'm not expecting a big response from this thread, but I thought I'd still share them. Enjoy!

Very cool!

Nice! I wish I could find some of those (particularly the Goose) in Nn3 (I live in a one bedroom apartment, so N works better for me.) And why not repaint the C16? I did that to a UP MoW Crane set (to ATSF MoW, since I prefer ATSF stock on my layout.)

And you might be a bit surprised about the response, Freak. I think Zazu's a Model Railroader as well. Oh, and are you going to be able to be at the Model Railroad Show coming up on the 22 and 23rd?

The Goose and the C-16 are my two "prize" pieces. Both are well detailed and have built-in sound. Almost all of my equipment is Bachmann. I wish I could remember who even made the Goose...I know Broadway Limited made my Bumblebee. I have some G scale Narrow Gauge as well, but it'll never run. Too big. On30 is big even, since it uses O scaling for everything else. I think On30 is as big as I'd ever go. If I didn't have as much invested in it as I do, Nn3 wouldn't have been a bad choice, of even HOn3!

I just got back into doing this, so I didn't know there was a show coming up! Honestly I've kept to myself with my trains since my focus is so niche and specific. I'm going to see if I can go...work may hinder my ability to be there. I made my first trip to Milepost 38 today to pick up some track for display purposes and got some other goodies while I was there.

As for repainting the Bumblebee...I may. I'm sorta torn. It's a real roadnumbered C-16 and all...and the paintjob is starting to grow on me. Though it's not 100% accurate as is right now...(268 is currently sporting a yellow diamond stack and white/gray drivers)...so I may repaint it. If I do, I think I'll model it after #41 in that picture.


I played around with #7 a little bit. I wanted it to at least have the red headlamp like the locomotive I modeled it after had. I ended up adding some little bits of red here and there...I think it looks better than it did before:


I also cleaned up Mine Ride #5 a bit. Blacked out some of the areas where the white bled over. I've been meaning to do it for years.

Number 7 looks great, and I can't wait to see the touched up Mine Ride #5. I wish I could post pics of my stock and locos, but the camera's not working at the moment.

My layout will (when completed) represent a fictional stretch of the ATSF right of way east of Barstow in the mid 1950s, near the end of the transition from steam. My motive power and rolling stock is a mixture of Bachmann, Kato, and Atlas, with my pride and joy being almost a full consist Super Chief (all I need is to get a second F7A/B consist.) Hopefully I'll be able to post photos of locos and stock soon. I probably won't run the full Chief on my home layout, but I will have it for when I do finally get off my fat ass and get involved with a club.

Awesome trains. I really like the Galloping Goose model. I have never seen that in model train form.
My family used to run a LGB train around the Christmas tree every year. I miss that.
:locomotiv

Absolutely Beautiful :)

I forgot to take pictures of #5, but I'll do it tomorrow. I'm actually doing more touching up on it. #7 may get a new smokestack as well. I'm looking into a diamond stack like the one that was used on the Knott's Berry Farm 2-4-4.

....I've also forgot about the other locos and rolling stock. Right now I have 4 other Mine Ride Porters and 1 Colorado & Southern 2-6-0 w/ coaches in storage right now. I must free them soon! I've all but forgotten about them. I'll be using a mix of Denver Rio Grande and Colorado & Southern equipment in my layout. My layout does have a story...its very fictional. :p:

The Goose seems to be rather rare in On30 form. #3 is probably the hardest to find out of the 7. I was excited when I acquired it.

Here's another photo of that Forney @ Knott's. Even though it never "ran" at the park, it was refurbished up to the point where it could steam up, as shown in this photo:

By the way, this is the "original" Ward Kimball locomotive. It proved too big for Disneyland and was sent to WDW where it proved too weak to pull grades. It was eventually traded to Cedar Point for a locomotive that is currently the Ward Kimball Locomotive we know now. That locomotive was known as the Maud L. When the old Ward Kimball arrived @ Knott's, we just called it the Davenport, since that was the manufacturer of it.
Here's the "Maud L" or "Ward Kimball" as it was and as it is now:
Then:

Now:


I'll post some more pictures of Mine Ride #5 tomorrow.

Pretty cool, Freak. I've always loved model railroads, and dreamed of building one myself. Never had the time. Or money. Or space. Or patience. (Which is why I admire those who do!)

Awesome pics!

BRWombat wrote:Never had the time. Or money. Or space. Or patience. (Which is why I admire those who do!)

I refer to your summer project a couple years back with Trainz and their Model Monorail. :D:

Freak, I am thoroughly enjoying your work here. In fact, if I could be so bold, I would love to see your railroad live sometime when I am in So Cal.