Model Railroading on the Cheap

   Here at the Hillton Freight Station end ramp it appears the supervisor has arrived in his pickup truck to watch his men unload those new John Deere tractors. These plastic tractors were cheap enough to get several for flatcar loads and supporting scenery. It sure is exciting when many small detail items fall into place. This scene was inspired by my personal memories of un-loading a shipment of new tractors. I am pleased to be able to capture in miniature a replication of that event from over 60 years ago, in the summer of 1956. 

   My several plastic John Deere tractors, originally intended as Christmas tree ornaments with a loop of string to hang them by, were lightweight for several to a flat car-load, but had a hole in the top where a brass loop for the mounting string had been.  After puzzling how to close this unsightly hole, filling it with putty would require matching the green paint, I decided to use a short length of green insulated wire glued into the hole for a quick and easy fix. It looks like an extra stack but not many folks can tell. I wish the shade of green were a better color match. Maybe I should have used black wire.

   Here is a camera shot from a different point of view.  Those workmen kneeling on the flat car are removing tie-down wires, blocking and shipping materials. That stuff will be hauled away in a pick-up truck.

   Also in this view is a Roadway Express freight truck in the old 1950s paint colors (Classic Mini Metals).  It is backed up to the freight dock at Hillton station. In the background is the Wallbridge Oil tank car (a reworked HObbyline car from the early days of HO) decorated with red decal stripes and individual letter decals that I am proud of. Things like streets and parking lots tend to become smaller as operating details expand on a small layout.

   When the layout gets as crowded as this, it is hard to get a photo of one industry without getting parts of another in the frame. I don’t let that fact bother me. It just raises the challenge another notch to try to blend and balance all the elements of a small but busy layout.