Interurban Era

I know a few of you were wondering about what happened to the Santa Fe F7A I did in the most popular video on my channel, and I'm pleased to report it runs better than ever. I recently replaced the original decoder I stuffed in it with a Tsunami, and added an iPhone speaker to it, so now it has sound! The next project will be upgrading it with correct ATSF Mars/Gyralites in the nose and other small improvements I got from Scale sound systems. I also plan to renumber it back to the number it wore in 1968, which was 46C. (It currently has the 1972 renumbering to 300C)

Here it is on the Richmond club layout today (June 25, 2023) zooming along with an accurate 1968 "Super C" consist with new Rapido & Walthers trailers atop an Athearn Genesis F89 flatcar with a Ce-1 caboose.

A YT commenter says: "You are very talented and crafty. But I think all the work just to convert a F7 back to realism cost more than it's worth."

I responded:

"Look at it another way: the joy of this hobby IS the act of making, not just the finished result. It was really fun to spend time upgrading a model that holds a lot of sentimental value for Jay, as it was his first ever excellent running locomotive. It's also a low risk upgrade since it already runs spectacularly well, and TBH, it's not more work than I usually put into my locomotives, as you'll see in upcoming videos.

I threw in some extra flourishes to make it truly nice, and it didn't "cost" me much time or effort, and was very fun and enjoyable to do. A lot of model railroaders need to learn from plastic tank/airplane modelers and lean into the BUILD, not the result.

Us train modelers are often impatient to have it done as quickly as possible because building the miniature world requires so much time, but then we're robbed of the experience of taking our time to lavish some extra effort on things that matter in pursuit of the unattainable goal of a "finished" layout. So why try to rush to some place few if any have ever achieved, ignoring the little joys in the process?

It's a provocative thought to mull over."

Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJGiW4-y3x4

A couple of years ago, I wrote about "shopping" for used locomotives for my 1968 era Alta California railway using historical documentation showing off when real locomotives were vacated from various railroads. Using this and other data, I built a realistic roster with a blend of old and new diesel locomotives.

*Link is set to PUBLIC, so despite the link preview, you'll be able to read it.