Monday, August 22, 2011

Railfanning in Maine

Maine Scenes

Red's Eats in Wiscasset - Legendary for its lobster rolls
Typical Maine lobster shack...
Pemaquid Lighthouse
A tiny House
A bridge to nowhere - Rt 1 in Wiscasset
Waiting for the 9am to Brunswick at Wiscasset on the Maine Eastern Railroad
Maine Eastern FL9 number 488


Boothbay Railway Village, Boothbay, Maine
See also my report on the steamcourse I took in 2003, returning in 2004 to fire for two days. Both experiences were on #6.


Freeport (Maine) Station

Henschel (#6) Stettin

 









Highspeed Rail
Highspeed Rail and the Percival House





Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Currywurst, in Syracuse?

Anyone who is a regular visitor to my webpages will likely have noticed my affinity for the industrial haze of Germany's Ruhrgebiet, in particular the ubiquitous kiosks that are everywhere serving up news, sweets, other essentials, but most importantly things like currywurst mit pommes (fries) and mayo. Anyhow, before I digress too far while going for my haircut today I noticed a trailer with Walking Taco on the top and Currywurst below. I knew I just had to stop and try one, nevermind the pouring rain.  Ordered in German, the owner didn't skip a beat and it was delicious. No pommes (fries) and mayo though. :-( Will definitely be back, either there in Manlius next to Sno Top or at their other location in Paradise Market. The trailer is definitely the more authentic venue...

Walking Taco's Currywurst truck in Manlius, NY, next to Sno Top in the parking lot.
Eine glückliche Kundin!
The currywurst is said to originate in one of three places, the Ruhr, Hamburg, or Berlin. Franz Rogmans Walking Taco's is modeled on the Berlin variety  and served with a good roll even though he grew up next to the Ruhr. It is even namesake to a fair movie based on the novelle by Uwe Timm. Most famous of all is Herbert Grönemeyer's song of the same title. For those non-German speakers, the New York Times had a good article.

Our first batch with curryketchup made from scratch. Yes that's mayo on those fries!


Other links:

Anyway, I love this kind of food and ambiance, and have modeled at least one such kiosk on my layout in the form of Bochum's Bergbau-Grill (original and model below). Those that want their own should visit the page just linked to.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Beautiful Day in Finse


A beautiful day in Finse, Norway with lots of people milling about and mountain bikers coming and going...

Monday, June 27, 2011

West End Trains

An hour along the tracks in East Syracuse watching trains... Came through slower than usual and seemed to be backed up... Saw a manifest freight, an endless ethanol train, and some others... Very relaxing on a hot and hazy afternoon...


Sunday, June 19, 2011

Baltimore Streetcar Museum

Visited my hometown of Baltimore, MD again this past weekend and took the opportunity to drive by the Baltimore Streetcar Museum to see what there was. The last time I was there as about 30+ years ago so really had no memories of the place. Was a lot of fun to see the stock out in their yard and some of the other trackside structures. The trackage is on the old Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad right-of-way, and the roundhouse and a freightshed still exist. See their website for more information about individual pieces of traction stock.












Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad Roundhouse.
Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad Roundhouse.
Now used for City of Baltimore road salt storage...


Citroen 2CV van on Roland Avenue.
A nice bonus to see this iconic car in such beautiful restored condition.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Christmas in June!

Received my package of laser cut kits from Joswood and Moebo that I mentioned in Posten 210 - My first lasercut kit. First up the stellwerk "Baruth" and a Kiosk. You can never have enough of those for a proper German Ruhrpott layout.

Danke Dirk und Jörg für die Schmuckstücke. Freue mich aufs zusammen bauen und weiteren Modellen.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

(Almost) Land of the Midnight Sun

Finse on June 8 at 11 pm Norwegian time... Almost midnight sun.


And here this one on June 10 at 1:30 am Norwegian time.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Posten 210 - My first lasercut kit

Received my first lasercut kit as a gift from a friend of mine in Germany recently... It's a small utilitarian streckenposten that stood alongside a grade level crossing at kilometer post 210 on Westmünsterlandbahn between Rheine and Emden, Germany. The structure stood in Rheine.

From Drehscheibe Online - Image from 1972 by Harald Pfeiler
From Drehscheibe Online - Image from 2000 by Wilhelm aus dem Münsterland
The kit is manufactured by Joswood and was a great introduction to building these kinds of kits. I've done a lot of scratchbuilding in card using photographic images, but this was quite different. The detail is amazing, especially the railings. Assembly was also quite straightforward. Definitely ready for more of these and look forward to a larger order of kits from Joswood and Moebo.





More pictures when I have it weathered, done, and placed on the layout.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

BR 221 at Bw Oberhausen Osterfeld Süd

Was surfing through the Revier (Ruhr region of Germany) thanks to Google Maps and saw that the image of the Bw Oberhausen Osterfeld Süd had been updated. What did I find but a BR 221 amid all the 232s, 21xs, 29xs, and 36xs and whatever else was parked around there. Most likely 221 116 (V200 116) of the Dampflok-Tradition Oberhausen. More pictures of 221 116 (V200 116) here. Fun.



And here via Bing. If you follow this link and search around the yard some (image can be rotated for bird's eye from other side) you might even spot a BR 103 in Cream/Burgundy...

Friday, May 27, 2011

Bergwerk Hugo II in Gelsenkirchen

Tour around Bergwerk Hugo II in Gelsenkirchen, the town I called home for two years (1985-1987). Nice descriptive narration in typical Ruhrpott dialect -Wonderful!


And here's what's left now via Google Maps. A whole lot of nothing...