MTL Loco Shed done, Sibley Tents, new Balloon Stacks

The Micro-Trains Line Civil War Era Loco Shed is finally
built and weathered. The Sibley tents are actually more
weathered than they looked when I took this photo.

After what feels like months of it sitting on the shelf, half-built, I've finally finished the engine shed. It looks nice, considering I wasn't entirely sure how to make it look like "new, but worn" wood construction.

The funny thing is... I have nowhere to put it on the layout! I'd have to rip up some of the existing track and make room for a few switches and the sidings going into the shed. But honestly, I'm not sold on doing that any time soon. This layout was never going to be my dream layout, and putting "rip up track" effort into it is not going to happen.

Whenever I do use the engine shed, it'll be a really necessary piece of the layout. I'm still debating where and when my dream layout will be--Alexandria 1862, City Point 1864, either of those two, but a different year? I have time. But what I do know is that finding this building and the Sibley tents was pure luck on my part, and I couldn't be happier.

The wood piles are coming along, too. They may require another round of painting.

New Balloon Stacks

Bonnet Stack from Kaloon Creek Models.

I've been in contact with Eric Cox about his Civil War era smokestacks. And he did adjust the size a bit and reduced the height they sit on top of the engine boiler. But I haven't ordered any of the remodeled stacks from him yet because he's also working on updating his other stock items, which I plan to order in one big batch.

In the meantime, I tried out these balloon stacks from the Kaloon Creek Models shop on Shapeways. They look very good. They're closer to the smokestacks found on the William Mason. I'll definitely use these on at least one of my four engines. The only issue is that the hole for the engine's mounting peg is too big, as you can see from how it sits a bit cockeyed here. I'd have to use something to either make the fit more snug, or glue.

You'll also notice two things about the engine. First is that the handrail on the far side is broken. Need to get fresh super glue for that. The old stuff didn't hold. Second is I tried to shade in between the wheel spokes. Eh, I'll work on it.

Weekend trip to Washington D.C.

Back in June, my wife attended the ALA conference in Washington, D.C. I figured it would be nice to get away for a weekend, so I tagged along. Plus, I love a good train ride. Much of my exploring was done solo since she was busy with events much of the time. But we did manage to go to the National Portrait Gallery together one evening before dinner. I highly recommend going. The presidential portraits were as good as expected, along with the thousands of other works in the American art collections.

"Grant and His Generals" Painted 1865 by Ole Peter Hansen Balling

Union Station

We stayed right downtown, which was great, but there were no breakfast places open before 9 a.m. except for Starbucks. All I wanted was an egg, ham and cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee around 8 a.m. But then I remembered it was a summer Saturday in D.C. It's like a ghost town until brunch.

Anyway, here are a few photos I finally took off the phone. I'd say my favorite single work of art was the somewhat small sculpture "Wounded to the Rear / One More Shot". It's the last photo below.

Ford's Theater

Major General James B. McPherson, by Louis Rebisso, 1876

Abraham Lincoln Life Masks by Clark Mills, 1865

"Wounded to the Rear / One More Shot", 1864 by John Rogers; cast 1865