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Category: <span>Hobby</span>

Category: Hobby

Hobby projects including cars, photography, woodworking, restoration, and many other things of interest.

Reliving the 8-Track Life

Remember the good old 8-track tapes? I had a bunch. Remember Columbia House?  The young ‘uns out there might not remember those guys.  What a scheme, what a setup! The way it worked was that you would get an offer in the mail or see one in a publication. Maybe …

That’s One Big Stack of Legos!

Washington Monument made from Legos at the Crossgates Mall
Washington Monument made from Legos at the Crossgates Mall

A few months ago, as I mentioned some time back, the Lego people brought their historic Roadshow to the local mall.  This is a rather spectacular example of their work. I snapped this photo from the second floor of the mall. Wow!

 

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Ol’ Number 31

Here's old #31 on the Strasburg Rail Road. Built in 1908, this was built in 1908 by Baldwin in Philadelphia.
Here’s old #31 on the Strasburg Rail Road. Built in 1908, this was built in 1908 by Baldwin in Philadelphia.

This is a photograph of locomotive #31, a Baldwin, on the Strasburg Rail Road in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The locomotive was built in Philadelphia in 1908.

This photo was snapped along the “Road to Paradise”, which is Strasburg’s line from the Strasburg station to Paradise along Route 30 in Lancaster County. The filmstock was Kodak Kodacolor Gold 35mm.  I recently scanned it from the original negative. This image has been mildly touched up in Photoshop to correct color shift and aging.

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Building Blocks

The Capital Building of the United States as constructed by the Lego Master Builders
The Capital Building of the United States as constructed by the Lego Master Creators

A few months ago we had occasion to visit the mall while the Lego Americana Roadshow was in attendance for a few weeks. If you have not seen what Lego Master Creators can do, you have really missed something amazing. The Roadshow has 10 models, and the US Capital building is one of the most amazing. According to the accompanying sign, eight people worked for 1700 hours to make this astonishing model. As I recall, the structure is about 26 feet wide and about 10 feet high. The display base adds another 3 feet or so to that height figure.

Seriously, if you get the chance to see the Lego Americana Roadshow, be sure to take it.  Keep an eye out for it to appear in your area.

 

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The Buckeye

This is a Buckeye engine, according to the name plate on the bottom frame. Note that it is equipped with a radiator and steel wheels.
This is a Buckeye engine, according to the name plate on the bottom frame. Note that it is equipped with a radiator and steel wheels.
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Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie
At a certain time of the year there’s nothing better than a classic pumpkin pie!
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Biscuits!

These are buttermilk biscuits using my favorite Betty Crocker recipe. I make them recently, and they came out rather nicely, if I do say so myself. But, there’s an interesting story here. I made the same recipe (sort of ) back around Thanksgiving. I made an error. The standard recipe …

The Train Is In the Yard!

In the previous posts I described the train I was building for holiday decor. This is it completed. You can see the Santa train to the left.  This train is inspired by the electric ride-on railroad in the toy department of the Rhodes Department Store in Tacoma in the ’50s …