Solido Diecast VW Coca-Cola Combi 1/43 Scale

Well, I started pullin' vehicles to photograph and get rid of. Here's a nice Solido VW Combi decked out in as a Coca-Cola delivery truck. It measures 3 3/4" (9.52cm) L x 1 1/2" (3.81cm) W x 1 5/8" (4.12cm). Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma BettinaH

TRAIN TIME: American Flyer Pre-war Streamlined Hiawatha Set on The Edge of Town Layout

Well, I got a few hours of 'me' time this weekend and decided to play with trains. A few weeks ago I had the good fortune of being able to acquire an American Flyer Pre-war Hiawatha passenger set with streamlined cars. As you look at the photos sets like this are colloquilly called 'snake trains' by us toy train guys. American Flyer made several different sets using the Milwaukee Road Hiawatha engine. There was a different style tender and there were very non-Hiawatha looking passenger cars, a freight train and a wind-up set as well. 

When these toys were made back in the '30s the Milwaukee Road Hiawatha was one of the nation's premier passenger trains along with the New York Central's 20th Century Limited, the B&O's Royal Blue, and others. They were all beautiful examples of industrial visual styling but by 1951-52 most were out fo service after becoming uneconomical to operate. All the Hiawatha engines were scrapped by 1951 although some restored cars remain. This American Flyer set sports the Beavertail observation car at the end which was in service on the Hiawatha from 1935 - 1948 when they were replaced by the Skytop Lounge. I put together a short video of the train running on the recently re-named Edge of Town (EoT) layout and set up a little police action scene to liven things up a tad. The set proved to be cranky - kinda like me! It either doesn't like O-27 curves or the trackwork on the layout isn't smooth enough (probably a combination of the two). Perhaps on the next layout it'll run better as I intend to have wider radius track on it. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Hill Street Blues on The Edge of Town

Ravensblight Ghost House - Pt 8 Conclusion FINALLY!

I finally finished the Ghost House by Ravensblight.com and even with a few builder's flaws am pretty satisifed with it. It's an impressive structure with lots of detail and if I decide to 'correct' my goof-ups sometime in the future I can do that at my leisure. The base measures 8 1/2" (21.59cm) W x 7 3/8" (18.73cm) D and it's 9 3/4" (24.76cm) H from the bottom of the base to the very tippy-top peaked roof! Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina