"Model Railraods Go To War"

Anyone looking to build a model railroad depicting a military or war theme needs to acquire this book by Bernie Kempinski. Bernie is known for both his modeling and his writing as he has been a contributor to Model Railroader magazine, other publications and the author of several other books on model railroading. In this, his latest book, Bernie covers the earliest uses of railroads such as the Crimea to our more contemporary era of "Rockets on Rails".

Bernie includes many period, prototype photos as wells as pictures of model railroads that are not often published because their builders are more focused on building their respective layouts. He includes many modeling tips, techniques and layout plans most of which Bernie has created, so he speaks from experience. Track plans include two of the American Civil War, one for WWI, two for WWII and two more contemporary settings. Place your order through Kalmbach Publishing. 
Although more that the American Civil War is presented, Model Railroads Go To War is another example of the possibilities for modeling this extraordinary era of our history.

Turntable Discussions, Episode 1 with DC Cebula

I have had the extraordinary good fortune to find some of the most gifted modelers and artists who have contributed to the this model railroad. More than displaying photos of their work and them, I thought to present each one in a manner that would connect viewers to what has motivated and inspired them to do what they do. The first foray was an interview on this blog last year with Brian Kammerer, our backdrop artist. Using the layout as the setting, our conversation was off-the-cuff and informal while Brian was in the act of painting. We received more comments about that posting and requests to do more interviews than any of the other blog posts. Months later I saw, and was inspired by, the MRR Video Plus Roundhouse Discussions where three MRR staff talk about a wide variety of model railroading. I found them to be very engaging, fun to watch and I learned nuances of modeling philosophy and practices. This helped shape the idea for "Turntable Interviews", using a similar format with our many modelers and historians.

DC Cebula is featured in this latest episode. He is our American Civil War Rail Roads Historical Society Yahoo group moderator. Some background, DC is from Delaware and acquired a degree in historical archeology. His vision has been to apply his passion and knowledge to the education, preservation and modeling of Civil War rail roads. If you have frequented our blog you have noticed that his work and photos are all over the place. He has been the key contributor to the ideas, planning, and construction of all aspects of this layout, plus a dear friend. Hope you enjoy the ride.

CHATTANOOGA UPDATE

Here are the latest photos of progress in Chattanooga. Our last posting of this section showed only a few maps and mock ups such as  the "Car Shed" in the background. Next is the completed Adams Express Co. across the street from the nearby hotel known as the Crutchfield House. Both structures were scratch built by Chris Comport from WI. DC added the platform. Although the platform is not shown in any diagrams that we've researched, nor is such a structure mentioned in any reading, for the purpose of a model railroad we included it for operations.

This next photo is looking south, opposite from the above shot. We are 90% complete on this section. Other details and perhaps another commercial structure could be added in the open space at left.

Chattanooga was a terminus for the W&A and Nashville & Chattanooga lines. Later the East Tennessee & Georgia RR was added. The only through line was the Memphis & Charleston R.R. Given that all these lines came into Chattanooga there are many possibilities for model railroading operations. 

The yard was filled with cars from different lines for the sake of the photo. These other rail lines are the Atlanta & West Point, Macon & Western, and the Georgia RR, all of which came into Atlanta.

These last two photos below show the scratch built Adams Express Co. and Crutchfield House by Chris Comport.

ACWRR 2015 Calendar

 

The 2015 Official Calendar of the American Civil War Rail Roads Historical Society is now available. It features many layouts and models in N, HO and O scales by various members of our yahoo group, Civil War Roads. Most photos were shot by D.C. Cebula who had one other of his photos featured in the 2015 NMRA Calendar. Please contact me by leaving a comment and email address. I will contact you ASAP.