discussion Old Packard in the Weeds

[Guest]

No one knows (or admits knowing) how this old Packard got stuck in Antonelli's Pond but it has been there for years. 


I stuck the rear half of a Jordan white metal 1930 Packard kit into the "mud" on a bit of rail road that used to be on the Monterey & Salinas Valley RR modular club layout. I sort of inherited this 4 foot long section. I used to haul this bit to shows at the Cow Palace in the backseat of my Nissan Sunny (Sentra) saloon. (Had to remove rear door to get it in and out). The photos of the module show a re-enactment of what might have happened to the Packard. See the old blue car straddling the old mining track? Ha ha, kids.....


I did NOT build that lovely 2 1/2 foot narrow gage track or trestle or the mountain or the module itself. I only built the dirt road in front, the culvert that runs under the 3 track HO main line, the old Ford stuck in the mud scene, and the details in the pond, including the Packard. I remember the module had a 2 track main line and then a bunch of us added a third line to our modules which is when I tore out the front (it was just grass) and put in the dirt road. You see the third track closest to the mountain is a little more overgrown; it's just a siding. 


When we had enough show space, we had enough modules owned by the club and by individual members to make a 40 foot square layout (a mile long main line in HO {1/87} scale). Sometimes I had a HOn2 1/2 (aka HOn30) engine to run on the narrow gage loop above the mainline. And maybe some hoppers full of toothpicks. And maybe once the little train derailed and dumped its load onto the mainline below as the "big" train approacheth and there was great consternation ensuing. 


Yeah maybe I might build an HO scale rail road and maybe I might call it the Diablo Pacific RR and maybe it's based on the idea that the mercury and asbestos deposits 100 or so miles south of San Francisco Bay might have warranted a rail road owned by the mines (if, say, WWI raged on another decade or something). I am not committing myself.

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[monica]

very nice,do real like the stone work,and the vegetarian looks great also,well done


with the rear end of the car looks good ,

 

[Guest]

looks good mate, also looks to be a decent size


the cliffs and grass gives the whole landscape a nice tone

 

[Ian M]

It looks very good but I am confused. Is this an actual railway layout or a diorama with a train theme...

 

[Guest]

It looks very good but I am confused. Is this an actual railway layout or a diorama with a train theme...

That is a great question. I guess right now it is both. The 2 1/2 foot narrow gage track (with the wooden trestle bridge) is a complete loop of track which goes through a tunnel in the mountainside. I could hook up a power pack and run trains on it if I had any. The straight lengths of standard HO track that go nowhere did used to connect to a much larger portable club layout and maybe, I hope, I will build a new layout someday which incorporates it.