A journal following the history, design, construction and operation of Bernard Kempinski's O Scale model railroad depicting the U. S. Military Railroad (USMRR) Aquia-Falmouth line in 1863, and other model railroad projects.
©Bernard Kempinski All text and images, except as noted, on this blog are copyrighted by the author and may not be used without permission.
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February 25, 2011

And now for your entertainment pleasure, our daughter Francine will play ...

110th Pennsylvannia at Falmouth
I am heading out for a weekend of rail fanning the PRR Horseshoe Curve. I know NS runs it now, but it is still PRR to me. Don't worry, I won't be coming home to tear out the layout and build an N Scale horseshoe curve layout. I am bringing some ACW miniature figures to paint at night. I ordered a bunch of 28 mm Renegade Miniatures.

The photo of the 110th Pennsylvannia at Falmouth is the type of scene I'd like to show in the background of my Stoneman's Station where the scenery is deep and forced perspective will work with 28mm figures.

A graphic from the Gettysburg Visitor Center 
showing how many soldiers actually 
make up a regiment, brigade and division.

Note the string of box cars in the background of the 6th Maine photo. I believe this is the only photo I have found that shows railroad activity at Falmouth. There are many photos showing scenes from Falmouth, but none showing the railroad.

Also note the single tree. I have built an oak for this spot but the more I look at this tree, the more it looks like a pine. So I guess I'll move the oak to some other place and put a pine in this spot. The tall tree is an important compositional element as it helps frame my Falmouth scene.



Eventually I'd like to portray a full regiment, or even brigade, in formation somewhere on the layout. The graphic from the Gettysburg Visitor's Center shows an example of what I'd like to do. Usually in wargaming and in modeling  the number of figures used in the display is some fraction of the actual number engaged, usually a ratio of 10 or 20 to 1. Thus a 400 man regiment might be portrayed by 20-40 figures. Showing a full regiment at 1 figure per real soldier might be illuminating to people used to seeing the selectively compressed number of soldiers usually depicted on a gaming table.

One time I was mass painting GHQ 10mm figures for a Johnny Reb Game. I had painted about 200 Union soldiers and before basing them on individual gaming stands, I arranged them in a single regimental formation. It was interesting to examine and compare. Talk about a thin blue line. Then consider a full strength regiment was about 1,000 men. That's a lot of people power.




Renegade Miniatures makes a nice line of soldiers marching, standing at attention, and at ease,


















I understand that Renegade is closing out the ACW line, so order them now. The Renegade figures are a bit taller and beefier than the Perry miniatures.

PS: Does anyone get the title reference?



5 comments:

  1. Nice figure and good point on the number of soldiers per regiment. Gives some understanding of the troubles in command and control. Of course, units weren't always full strength.

    Wish the Renegades were O Scale.

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  2. Had to Google it and not sure I get it still. But maybe Francine will play the recorder.
    RoboRob

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  3. You got it. During the interlude from layout building Francine will entertain you. It's an old SNL skit called "Alsation Restaurant" One of my favorites.

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  4. But remember that Civil Regiments were very rarely at full strength.

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  5. FWIW, I believe that the image in question is actually "C" company, 110th PA, from a series of images taken of them and their regiment. If memory serves me correctly, they are all available online through the Library of Congress website.

    As always, I admire your work and skills.

    Respects,

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