Geschützwagen / Panzerzug World War I

Hi everybody, as always, I hope you're doing great!

Today I used a coffee stop at the McDonald's on my way home to work out an idea I had in my head for my next project.

It will combine my love for 'O Gauge' toy trains with my fascination for old military hardware, specially of WWI vintage. During the duration of the Great War (1914-18), most -if not all-  countries involved in the conflict used armored trains to transport men and supplies to and from the front lines. These vehicles were heavily adapted locomotives and wagons with thick armor, and armed with all types of guns and cannons. 

The Germans called these awe inspiring war machines "Geschützwagens" or "Panzerzugs", which means "protected cars" and "armored trains" respectively.

My project won't be a scale recreation of one of these machines, but rather my own interpretation, inspired by them. So, basically I'm creating my own "Panzerzug"! 

In line with the 'toy train' tradition, the armored rail car will be detailed, but definitely not a replica of one of those 'unearthly' machines that rolled across Europe more than a century ago.

That's all for now, folks! As always, thanks for visiting, and please check out this blog from time to time for news and updates. Have a great one!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

A Very Special Train Track.

Last week I paid a visit to my friend Mitchell, a fellow toy train enthusiast. He recently moved to a new house, and laid out an electrical O Gauge train track which he was very eager to show to me. He also had some items for me which I needed to pick up, so I jumped into my Einser and drove to his new home.

 

I must admit that I wasn't prepared for what I saw: a big, fully functional electric track full of vintage toy trains and wagons, coaches, signs, buildings, figurines, etc, etc. In other words, a very special train track indeed!

 

I spent a few hours taking in everything I saw. The guy has done such an amazing job, and he's not even finished yet (or, as he said: a good train track is never finished!). It is truly magical to see these old trains (some are close to 100 years old) running over the tracks with their head lights on. The sounds, the smell, the sparks, the charisma they have is simply indescribable!

It was a joy to listen to him talk about these old trains, because his knowledge is truly vast, and his enthusiasm contagious. It does help that he spends time working on real steam engines (in fact he's a locomotive fireman, often to be found at the helm of these powerful metal monsters), because he knows everything about train tracks and track changes, traffic signs, etc, which helps in adding more realism to his own track.

At a certain point I asked him if I could take a few pics, which I did, and later on decided to dedicate this blog to him and his track. The pics were taken very quickly, so it wasn't like a photo shoot or anything, but I still managed to get a few 'presentable' one's, which after some working on them I'm sharing with you here.

This image and below: the engines have working head lights, which light up the track in the dark. A very special thing to watch!

Mitchell and I share one thing in common: we love vintage toy trains that really show their age. We love the rust, the dents, and the scratches that time has left on them. These give them character, a 'personality' that makes them truly unique. When we buy these items, we leave them as they are, and wouldn't in our right mind dare to even think of 'restoring' them (for example by re-painting them) because we know that it would kill the magic and charisma that they possess. That evening I felt like a child again. Thank you, Mitchell, for allowing me a front seat view of your incredible train track!

This image: Mitchell's oldest coach, dating back to the early 20th century, hence more than 100 years old.

* * *

Thanks for visiting, and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

O Gauge - Industry.

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

The arrival of 19-1101

Last Friday saw the arrival of another steam loc at the Rust and Steel Train Maintenance Facilities. This time it's an old Märklin R890 clockwork engine and tender built in Germany between 1930-1950, which was offered to me for sale at a very friendly price by my friend Mitchell Bäcker.

The engine is not in running condition, but that's OK, since it's meant for static display. In the background you can see a glimpse of a very old and beautifully rusty Märklin train station that was also offered to me by Mitchell.

Above image: close up of the rear wheels of the tender, clearly showing their age.

Above and below images: a peek inside the locomotive's cab.

Needless to say that I'm thrilled with this new arrival, which got the serial No 19-1101 assigned to it. Thanks, Mitchell, for thinking of me when you come across a gem like this one!

Thanks for visiting and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Scent

I love the scent of old cardboard boxes...

This image: Hornby Trains vintage box for platform crane, made in England by Meccano Ltd.

To toy train collectors, the packaging boxes which carry the toy trains are almost as valuable as their content. Therefore, an item sold with its original box is much more sought after than one without it. 

To me it doesn't really matter, although I have to admit that some boxes look very appealing, and when old and weathered, they smell very nice too! I photographed this one to make it look like the bow of a ship. The rusty staples could well be the holes for the anchor.... with a bit of imagination, that is.

Diana

Meet 'Diana', a 'O Gauge' clockwork black beauty with red trimmings, manufactured by Hornby of Liverpool, England. 

She's seen here pulling a coal tender as she entered the Rust & Steel Train Maintenance workshop earlier today. Welcome, Diana!

Royal Scot 6100

I've managed to acquire this deliciously aged, and rare Hornby Royal Scot 6100 'O gauge' steam loc body!! It was quite a challenge, because there were several other people trying to get their hands on her as well, but in the end it was for me!

She will remain 'as is', because no mortal can compete with the work of the great  'Master Painter' named Time. Instead, I intend to use her in a scene depicting either a derelict loc, or one in 'deep maintenance'... 

Below is a pic of how this loc would have looked like when complete and alive...

Photo credit: oliverk1373, UK (photo's 1-6), Anderson & Garland Ltd, Auctioneers, UK (photo 7)

Little station cat arrived!

The little station car finally arrived here, and has now been officially adopted! He will be of great company to the workmen of the Rust & Steel Train Maintenance Facility.

I think I'll call him Seamus, but I'm still open to suggestions, so if anyone has a great idea for a name, just forward it to me and who knows... I may change my mind! ;)

Gina

Today the Rust & Steel Train Maintenance Workshop saw the arrival of a beautifully aged, pre-war O gauge Hornby clockwork loc in the markings of the Great Western Railway (GWR). I gave her the name 'Gina'.

As reported on March 29, I acquired this lady in the UK, and now she's finally here. Welcome, Gina!!

 

Station cat!

A new addition to my O gauge toy trains collection: a vintage Hornby station cat!! Isn't he cute??! He will be making the journey from the UK to me, so I wish him a safe trip and hopefully he will arrive soon! In the meantime I must think of a name for him... :)

Photo credit: Fenwater

The Liverpool Rose

Another beauty arrived at the Rust & Steel train depot today; also from the UK. 

I call her "the Liverpool Rose", after the inscription on her side, just below the cabin window, showing the name of her manufacturer: Meccano Ltd of Liverpool.

Am very much looking forward to taking many pictures of her, but for now I just wanted to introduce her to you with these ones.

Behold the latest addition to my collection of O gauge toy trains: a pre-war, Hornby Great Western Railway (GWR) steam loc, aged to perfection!

 

This lady is very photogenic to say the least, and will for sure feature in a photoshoot or two!! Looking forward to welcome her home, as she makes her way to me from the UK.

A big thanks goes to Paul, the seller, for his kind permission to use these pictures here.

LYB logo applied

News update: the LYB logo is in place, and the tank has received some further attention, adding more layers of paint, varnish, and weathering, even to the logo itself. It's basically ready to be installed now!

Further progress on the oil tanker rail car: painting the tank

This time the tank itself got my attention.

I applied 'warm gray' color paint on top of the primer using a spray can. I sprayed in an irregular fashion, to give it that extra 'weathered' or 'dirty' look.

 

What you don't see here, is that, when I started to 'weather' the tank further, I got a bit carried away at it! The wagon looked great, but way too rusty! 

And even though I totally loved the result, the idea for this project is to represent an operational unit, hence there is only so much one can do as far as weathering goes. Otherwise the poor wagon would never pass the 'safety test' :)

So... I resprayed it a bit, smoothing out the rust, and giving it a rough, yet more 'decent' look! The extra layer of paint also gave it more structure, and now it looks like a heavy-duty wagon which has been around for a while, and has been painted many times over!

And yes, it still has some rust here and there, because otherwise it would not match with the chassis. I must say the result so far is pretty cool!

To be continued...