Projects and Adventures 2026
Casting Supplies
April 12I haven't done much model work the last two months. I need to cast some missing parts from several models, one being the steam dome on an AHM 4-4-0. I am using Legos for the mold boxes.
HO Truck Comparisons
February 3I have found myself needing HO archbar trucks but have not found simple ones at low prices.
I bought a box Tichey Train Group archbar truck kits (gray truck in the middle) thinking this may have been an answer. These are all plastic and need to be built. Wheelsets are plastic, but roll well.
Left is the MDC/Roundhouse truck, with plastic wheels and a metal axle. Right is the Tahoe Model Works truck with metal wheels and plastic axles.
What I discovered is that the Tichey trucks are wider than the single piece truck frame/bolster casting of the other two. I had one car I could not install the Tichey trucks on.
I like the detail and construction of the Tahoe trucks and will probably use them for my archbar truck staple.
The Walk of Shame
January 16"The Walk of Shame" was what someone said in a blog about returning power tools to Harbor Freight, as the tool would only last one or two uses and then would be broken or worn out.
So I bought three of these storage containers and here is what I found when I opened the first one. The other two remained in their packaging.
This was a container I bought several years previously and it is just fine.
Here I am in the parking lot getting ready for my walk!
A Goldie but a Goodie
January 2
This is a bottle of Testors Gold paint from the early 1970's. That was when you could read the label and tell what color you were buying, unlike today when a magnifying glass is needed.
Yes the paint is still good! The green labels says "Skaggs" and this was the name of a drugstore on 24th and Monroe Street in Ogden, Utah. Skaggs was on the north and a Safeway store sat next to it on the south.
Here is the site per the date above. Changes happen but the place is not the old neighborhood as it was when I lived there.