Travels with my camera

My job takes me far and wide, usually all over Europe but occasionally I travel to Canada and the USA. I have been informed that I will probably have to make another trip to Tucson Arizona again next year. It is three years since my last visit and I remember that I took a couple of pictures while making the drive from Tucson to Flagstaff and onward to the Grand Canyon. Flagstaff was an interesting little town with plenty of railroad crossings and trains rumbling through which makes you realise why the hotels have packets of earplugs in each room for you because, by law, trains have to sound their horn at every crossing regardless of the time of day or night. And there are lots of crossings and dozens of trains each day!

The first four photo's were taken at the Grand Canyon and the rest on the road out of Tucson. The trains are immense - some I passed were quintuple headed. Others were top and tailed and some with a loco halfway along the train length. I clocked a stationary train at more than one mile long!

Tucson has a compact little model railway shop lodged in the Ace Hardware store on East 22nd Street. I bought an AC 4400 from there and a DCC chip. The shop staff couldn't fit the chip for me but suggested I visit the local Model Railway Club as one of their friends was quite well informed on the subject. Not only did I get a warm welcome but they fitted and programmed the chip for me on their club layout.

So I just got back from a two and a half week trip to the USA taking in Kentucky, North Carolina and Tucson Arizona. I had a great view of Tucson on the approach from my window seat on the plane. Tucson is a vast city with Davis-Monthan AFB right in the centre of town with its massive aircraft storage facility featuring hundreds if not thousands of stored aircraft from F-4 Phantoms, F-16's, B707's to dozens of C-130 Hercules and Starlifters.

I digress; also visible from the air was the massive Union Pacific freight yard also in the centre of town. This place has to be seen to be believed with trains being marshalled into mile long consists. Further north along the I-10 Interstate highway the line runs alongside the road with plenty of crossings and roadside access from the service road which is where the latest photo's were taken from.

Pre-Christmas shopping

I went Christmas shopping today in Liverpool fell onto a bus and ended up on Smithdown Road. So seeing as I was there I visited Hattons and bought yet another Class 37, in Railfreight Metal livery, and the three pack of Hornby Trout hoppers. I will have to feign surprise when I unwrap them on Sunday.

They will all be another addition to the weathering workshop when I get home.

Thank you to all who have visited my blog this year.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Ricky's stock gets a run out

Time has been against me these last few weeks with lots of travel away from home, college study and of course family life. Although I have been doing the odd bit of modelling here and there I just haven't had time to photograph and blog about it.
However, I took some photo's of my stock running on New Barton, the AMRC OO gauge layout, at their annual show in September. It was really pleasing to see a whole load of my weathered stock running on a layout and hear the favourable and kind comments from visitors and Club members.
Take a look and see what you think.