Merry Christmas

 Hope Santa treats you well!

Where in the World is Bernie?

Machu Picchu, Peru

You may have noticed that I have not posted on the blog for several weeks. Don't worry, I am still alive and doing well. It is just that I was on a long stretch of consecutive trips to various locations. The trips started right after MARPM.

MARPM 2024

MARPM 2024 was a success with 30 clinics, 14 layout tours and several vendors. Financially, we lost a bit of money, but not enough to break the bank. We plan to do it again in 2025. So mark your calendars for the weekend of September 13-14. 2025. 

LAKE ERIE, OHIO TRIP

Put-in Bay, Ohio

Next Alicia and I drove out to Sandusky, Ohio to play a round of golf at Sawmill Creek Resort. Then we boarded a ferry to spend a week at Put-in-Bay, Ohio and other islands in Lake Erie. This was a Road Scholar Trip focused on bird watching, but we also did general touring of four of the islands in Lake Erie including a visit to the Battle of Lake Erie Memorial.  I particularly enjoyed the large diorama of the naval battle at the visitors center.  

We also saw a great number of birds, especially migrating warblers. We even got to participate in bird banding at two different banding sites. The Road Scholar guides were great, We plan to do more Road Scholar trips in the future. 

KENTUCKY TRIP

We returned home and had a few days to recover before heading out to Kentucky to escort Alicia's mom to visit her sister in Pikeville. 

We had some time in Cincinnati, so we took in the Science and History Museum in the Cincinnati Union Station. This is a great museum with a fantastic model railroad exhibit. We also like the full scale diorama of the waterfront in the basement of the museum.  

In Kentucky, we had the chance to play golf on two beautiful courses built on reclaimed coal mines that used the mountain top removal technique. 

Beautiful mountains of south east Kentucky and western Virginia near Pound Gap

We had a chance to visit Elkhorn City, KY.
Alas, it is a shadow of its former railroad self. The railroad museum was closed, but it didn't look like it was well maintained. 

After that, we managed a quick visit to see our son and his family in Lexington, KY. 

SOUTH AMERICA TRIP

Ecuador

(L-R) I, Samia (Local Quito Bonsai Artist), Terry and Rob 

After a brief rest at home, I flew down to Quito, Ecuador with my brother Rob and his wife Terry. Rob was invited by the Quito Bonsai Club to do presentations and workshops, While he did that, Terry and I toured Quito seeing old churches, museums of local culture, and the fantastic botanical garden.We did get to ride the brand new Metro system in Quito. We also got to visit the Mitad de Monde memorial on the equator. 

I did a full day of bird watching with a local guide in the Tandayapa Valley. It was a fun adventure that reminded me of some Army exercises I have been on. It started with a pre-dawn hike on steep trails in the cloud forest and extended across the beautiful  Andes west of Quito. I saw an incredible number of birds including the Andean Cock of the Rock, rare antpitas, and dozens of types hummingbirds.  

Peru

The passenger station in Machu Picchu

Trackside scene on the way to Machu Picchu

We departed Quito and flew to Cusco, Peru via Lima, Peru. The next day we boarded the Perurail narrow gauge railroad to Machu Picchu Pueblo. Machu Picchu can only be reached by rail or walking. There are no vehicular roads to the town.  The railroad takes at least 6 switchbacks and several horseshoe curves to climb over the hills northwest of the city to reach Machu Picchu.  I can probably do a post just about the Perurail train ride. 

We stayed at the fantastic Inkatrra Hotel that is situated on many acres of their own private nature preserve. We toured the ruins at Machu Picchu.  It is an impressive site, especially when you consider it was a private city for Incan royalty with several religious structures. Amazingly, it only was in service for about 80 years, before the Spanish Conquistadors forced it to be abandoned. 

 I also did 3 guided tours of the Inkaterra nature preserve with guides from the Inkaterra Hotel. The hotel is a unique 5-star property with guests staying in private casitas among the jungle. It reminded me of the Jurassic Park Movie. It was probably the nicest hotel in which I ever stayed. 

Again, We saw an amazing variety of birds. I was especially pleased to see torrent ducks, a type of duck that only lives in fast moving streams in the Andes. Perhaps my favorite bird that we saw was the Andean Motmot, which we saw several times and up close. 

I was really pleased with the photo of the Gould's Inca on the left as it was quite dark when I took the photo. 

I took over a thousand images on the trip and lots of video of the train ride. 

Andean Motmot

We had one last morning in Cusco before we flew home. We got to tour the famous Plaza de Armas in beautiful weather. 

Plaza de Armas

We ate a lot of good food on the trip including some unusual things such as goat, Kuy (guinea pig), sea food empanadas, and mate de coca. The latter is a tea made from the same leaves that are used to make cocaine. It allegedly helps with altitude sickness. I found that it was too much of a stimulant for me, so I only tried it once. Luckily, I did not have trouble with the altitude, though Rob and Terry did.

Fernando and Terry at the Galleria Latina in Quito.

We met a lot of wonderful people on this trip, especially in Quito. We hired a friend of one of the bonsai club members, to drive us around. Fernando was a wonderful person who took us to see museums, shopping, and cafes. He introduced us to several interesting people that gave us a good insight into Ecuadoran culture, history, and politics. He even gave me a gift of a book on local hummingbirds.  

One of the bonsai club members introduced us to his brilliant daughter who aspires to be an astronaut. She plans to go to MIT or Caltech next year.  She gave me a small gift of a small hummingbird since she learned I like birds. 

The Quito Bonsai folks  want to invite Rob back to do more bonsai workshops and I plan to go too, but this time I plan to visit the Amazon. 

ALABAMA TRIP

I arrived home on Saturday after a brutal 8-hour layover in Lima prior to an overnight flight, but there was little time to rest. On Monday, Alicia and I flew to Alabama to babysit our granddaughter Merritt while her mom was on business to New Orleans. While we were there, we rode the little narrow-gauge railroad at the Zoo. That is Merritt's favorite part of going to the zoo. 

That was great fun. Alas, we caught a nasty cold from our little one. It has taken we all this week to recover.  

Wedged in between all those trips were two trips to take down the D-Day exhibit in Gettysburg and them set it up in Woodstock, VA and then another trip to the French Embassy in DC to disassemble it. I was out of country, so I did not participate in the set up at the Embassy.

Whew, I get tried just thinking about all of it. I am looking forward to catching up on projects and doing some work on the layout. 

Dr. Brunnell The Embalmer

Several months ago, Doug Tagsold and I had a discussion about his great grandfather, Harvey Parker. Harvey Parker was a member of the 4th Michigan Infantry Regiment in the US Army of the Potomac. The Army of the Potomac is the Army that was supported by the USMRR Aquia Line, the line that I model in O Scale. Doug told me that Harvey would later be captured, survive Andersonville prison, and return home to father a family with 5 generations, three of which were embalmers and funeral directors.  Doug’s family donated Harvey’s letters to an archive at the University of Michigan. Alas, they are not available on line and Doug did not pay much attention to them when he was younger. So we didn’t have much to go on.

I was aware that there was an embalmer named Dr Brunnell in Fredericksburg in 1862. I assume that he moved his establishment to Aquia Landing when the US Army left Fredericksburg in late 1862. Doug and I speculated that his great grandfather may have been inspired to become an embalmer by seeing him and  other embalmers while serving in the Army. Wikipedia says, 

"Embalming became more common in the United States during the American Civil War, when servicemen often died far from home. The wish of families for their remains to be returned home for local burial and lengthy transport from the battlefield meant it became common in the United States.

The period from about 1861 is sometimes known as the funeral period of embalming and is marked by a separation of the fields of embalming by undertakers and embalming (anatomical wetting) for medical and scientific purposes.  Dr Thomas Holmes received a commission from the Army Medical Corps to embalm the corpses of dead Union officers to return to their families. Military authorities also permitted private embalmers to work in military-controlled areas. The passage of Abraham Lincoln's body home for burial was made possible by embalming, and it brought wider public attention to the possibilities and potential of embalming.”

I used the prototype photo of Dr Brunnell's facility in Fredericksburg, VA as inspiration for the model. I didn't have room for the whole width of the structure, so I just built the gable section using laser-cut wood. I used parchment paper to simulate the canvas sides. I made the signs on my computer using the prototype photos as a guide.

The doctor and the man with the shovel are figures by Knuckleduster that I painted. The Harvey Parker figure is from Sash and Saber to which I added a kepi-wearing Zouave head, also by Sash and Saber.  There was a Lieutenant Parker in the 4th Michigan, but Doug does not think Harvey Parker was an officer. That is why I depicted him wearing an enlisted uniform. 

The 4th Michigan was a zouave infantry regiment. They wore dark blue uniforms with either blue fez with red tassel or blue kepi. The prototype photo of the soldiers in the 4th Michigan is a colorized image from the National Archives showing the Zouave uniforms.

A little more research revealed that the Lieutenant Parker mentioned in the captions of some of  the photos of the 4th Michigan was actually Sewell Parker, thereby confirming that Harvey Parker was not an officer. 

Here is a photo of Doug pointing at the figure of his great grandfather on my layout. 

To complete the scene I  started building a Berkshire Valley model of an O Scale wagon used by a photographer. This is a very fine kit. I have not finished the kit as you can see the unpainted model in the photos. My plan is to show a scene where the photographer is taking a photo of the embalmer’s facility.

I also added a small vignette to the Primmer Farm. This shows Mrs. Primmer milking their family cow while a soldier looks on. The cow and woman were 40mm figures from Triguard Miniatures.

In Memoriam: Paul Dolkos

On August 10, 2024, Paul Dolkos passed away while in hospice care in Alexandria, VA. He was 85. Paul's family asked to post this news to the model railroad community.  They are planning a celebration of his life in the future. I will post the time and location as it becomes available. 

Working on my Soldier Summit layout

I don't remember exactly when we met for the first time.  I know it was sometime in the mid 1990's. Paul lived in Alexandria a few miles from where I lived. He took me under his wing. He helped me with my model railroad projects and introduced me to many of the model railroad publishers and operating groups. This photo is the earliest I have of him from 2001 when he was helping me build a N scale project layout for Model Railroader magazine in my old house.

As our relationship developed and my skills improved, I was honored to be asked to contribute work on his layout. I became Paul's custom decal printer. He would frequently visit my house and supervise me as I generated many custom decals for his layout using Photoshop on my computer.  Everything had to be just right for him. One day I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had created a vignette on his railroad of two men putting up a sign. Their truck was called "Kempinski and Son, Sign Painters."

"Ship Model?"

When he started his Baltimore Harbor Layout, I was excited to help build the pier side warehouse. Once it was built, I said to Paul," Now all you need is a nice ship model."

He looked at me with a slight smirk and said, "I'm a model railroader, not a ship modeler." 

Paul also contributed a lot of work on my various layouts. If you scan through this blog you will find dozens of examples.  I once said to Alicia that when Paul does work on my layout, there is no need to check it. You know it was done right. I would frequently ask his advice on various design or artistic questions. In just about every case, I did what he suggested. 

Paul taking background photos while on a
 road trip to Maryland

We shared a lot of other mutual interests especially photography. In addition, he and my wife Alicia would discuss finances and local Alexandria news when he visited. Speaking of Alicia, my all-time favorite Paul Dolkos story is when I took her to see his former B&M Layout. Alicia walked down the stairs, took a brief look around and blurted out, "Oh, so this is what they are supposed to look like."

Indeed. 

Paul's photo of Edna Mine

Paul was truly a train enthusiast.  He started rail-fanning as a young man and kept it up for seven decades. His slide collection was a gold mine of fantastic images. Whenever I started a new article or project, I first contacted Paul to see what images he might have. He did not disappoint. This photo of the Edna Mine in Colorado from the 1980s is a good case in point.  

One amusing anecdote I remember was when Paul got his first vehicle with GPS navigation.  He was so excited to learn that the navigation screens displayed the railroad tracks and not just the normal roads. 

At an ops session in NJ

I recall another time when Paul brought over his new digital camera, and we did a side-by-side comparison of his and my camera's capabilities. 

For some reason, he never wanted to buy a new computer. And he tried to run Photoshop Elements on the aging machine. So, over the past the last few years I made many trips to his house to act as tech support. Once I happened to be riding my bike and he called for tech support. I was two blocks from his  house. So, I said, "if you don't mind a sweaty biker coming in your house, I can be right over." 

Paul getting in the Porsche for fun ride in the snow

We made many road trips together to rail fan and operate on layouts. One thing about those trips, if Paul was with you, you were not going to eat at cheap fast-food joints. One time when we got caught in an early snowstorm in New Jersey in my Porsche with summer tires, and we were gingerly driving around. I was shocked when Paul said, "Let's stop at McDonalds to get breakfast." It should be noted that Paul once owned a Porsche too.

Paul had written multiple scores of articles for the model railroad press. He delivered dozens of clinics to local NMRA and RPM meets. Those inspired and instructed many model railroads. But he also was very generous with his time and advice for dozens of modelers. It is a wonderful tribute to him that many call him their mentor.

Paul's last year was tough on him and his family. I tried to visit him at his retirement home, hospital, and rehab as often as possible. I could see his health sliding downhill. Still, he enjoyed talking about trains and reading magazines that I brought him. He was a gentleman until the end. Rest in peace my friend. 

Happier times, Paul and his wife Linda (far right) are in this photo. 

Road Trip to IPMS National Convention 2024

Former C&O Caboose and Freight depot in Ashland, KY

We are in the middle of our road trip to the Midwest to attend the IPMS National Convention 2024 and to visit family. We started the trip on Monday with a stop at Blackwater Falls State Park in WV. We spent the first night at Ashland, KY.  I visited the location of the former AK Steel mill, which I featured on the cover of my book on Modeling Steel. The AK mill was torn down in 2021. Almost nothing is left of the mill except for some piles of materials and some bits of foundations.

Blackwater Falls State Park

Next stop was golf at Eagle Trace Golf Course in Morehead, KY. Alicia and I played 18 holes. It was a nice course. Then we met my son, Chase and his daughter, Ruka, at their new farm near Owensville, KY. They bought the farm as a weekend camping spot and to eventually develop it.

 

Chase and Ruka survey their
 farm

It is a beautiful piece of land along the Slate Creek with woods, a ridge with nice view, and 20 acres for growing hay. That evening we met Dan Pierce, Rob and Terry Kempinski at Chase's house in Lexington, KY. Mizuki had prepared a wonderful dinner. Alas, we couldn't stay long as we continued on to Columbus, IN so that our drive to Madison the next day would get us there around noon. 

Doug and Alicia at the Blue Gray SIG
display at the Tiger Meet

We arrived in Madison, WI and got checked into the convention. All went smoothly. The location was in the Monona Convention Center. It was an excellent facility and a great place for the convention.  I set up models in the contest area and at the Tiger Meet. The latter was an area set aside for models that would be exhibited, but not in the contest. Doug Hamilton coordinated the Blue and Gray Special Interest Group exhibit. I had 3 models on display there.

We stayed at a house about 30 miles from downtown Madison. It was a very nice house surrounded by woods and hills. It was very relaxing. The bridge in front of the house was home to a flock of Cliff Swallows that we saw every morning and evening.

10th hole Osks at Cottage Grove

The next morning Alicia, Dan, Rob and I played golf at The Oaks at Cottage Grove. It as a beautiful course in excellent shape. We played a scramble, which gave me time to do some bird watching. I spotted a Baltimore Oriole, a lifer for me. I also made a clutch 25-foot putt for a birdie. We finished 3 under for the round as everyone contributed some shots to the score. 

Back at the Convention, over 1,000 people registered with 2,950 models in the contest and another 700 or so in the Tiger Meet. I contracted a head cold (see comment at end of this post,) so I didn't judge models this year. But the contest went well. Our group did quite well. The Train Busters Group Build Diorama received first place. My dictator mortar received second place in the figure vignettes category.  Rob's Sherman tank-based yarder got first place in Construction Equipment, his St-Chamond tank got third place in Basic Kit Build Armor. And the big surprise was his "I'll Buy You a Beer in Berlin" vignette got the D-Day Theme Award.  

Greg Chilar's winning Vignette

 We also received a lot of peer recognition. Many groups award challenge coins, poker chips or other items to models that they think deserved it. We did it too. I made a batch of about 50 laser cut medallions for the Tailgate Modelers. We distributed them to models that we liked. For example, I awarded a medallion to this vignette of a mounted knight and dismounted warrior. That vignette went on to win first place in figure vignettes and Best Diorama overall. I later learned it was painted by well-known figure painter, Greg Chilar.  I also made a special effort to award our medallions to junior modelers. 

The Tank Busters diorama received three coins/chips, while my Medusa and diablo busts received one each. Rob's St-Chamond and Yarder also received some coins/chips.

I repainted my Diablo 3 bust to incorporate object source lighting. In this case, the source of the light was the glow from inside the character. The Diablo character is actually a drab looking figure. The internal glow and the OSL made the figure more colorful and appealing. 

My Medusa bust received a peer recognition medallion. In addition, the folks at Fine Scale Modeler photographed it for their show gallery. I don't know when they will post that.

The Dictator with a Second Place Award

I entered a model of the Dictator Mortar in the figure vignette category. It got second place, behind Greg Chilar's vignette. I actually built this model about 18 years ago. I used a Verlinden 13-inch mortar kit. I scratch built the carriage using wood and resin parts. I made the master road wheel and pillow blocks in styrene, then made resin copies. I sculpted the figure to match a prototype photo using a head by Shenandoah Models. I refreshed the scenery on the diorama using some of the newer static grass and leaf flock materials. 

Airplanes are the most popular category of models at the Nationals. But this year I thought the ship models had a lot of really fine entries including two scratch-built admiralty models. There was also a gigantic, large scale model of a US Navy LCM with full interior.  You can see the admiralty models behind the giant LCM in the photo at the left. I believe the LCM received the best ship award

Two great crested flycatchers 

I managed to sneak in some bird watching at the rental house and a trip to the Cave of the Mounds (well worth a visit). Alicia, Terry and I also visited with Alicia's friend to see the new house they are building on Lake Monona across from the convention center. It is spectacular. 

I didn't spend much time in the vendor area. But I did buy a couple items for future projects. The ICM company from Ukraine was there. They gave a fantastic presentation on Saturday about what it is like to run a model business in war-time Kiev. They deserve our support. I bought one of their kits.

FSM Craftsman Structure on Phil's layout

On Thursday evening we had a chance to visit two nice model railroads by Bill Clancy and Phil Hottman. Bill is a retired orthopedic surgeon that invented ACL repair surgery. Phil was an engineer at Sub Zero and holds several patents. Thanks to Ken Hojnacki for setting up the layout visits. 

Our road trip continued as we went to Minnesota to visit Alicia's family. We return later this week.

Notes on catching a cold. I came down with cold like symptoms on Friday, sniffles, sore throat, and congestion, but no fever. My wife and I took two at home covid tests and were negative. When we arrived in Minnesota I went to the Mayo Clinic Express and had a PCR COVID test that was also negative. The doctor said I had some kind of viral common cold but not COVID or flu. I felt pretty well but isolated myself and wore a mask. Apparently several other people reported contracting COVID at the convention.  I’m feeling almost fully better as I write this 

A Video Look at Behind the Scenes

Train Busters Diorama

 

We have completed the Train Busters diorama. Mark delivered the truck today with 3 soldiers.  We set them up to depict the truck as if it was abandoned by the crew after being strafed.  One soldier carries his wounded buddy to safety, but another soldier, Hans, decided, perhaps foolishly, to fight back. One MP-42 SMG versus a flight of P-47's each with eight 0.50 caliber MGs. 

Hans, don't be a hero!

I added the flaming smoke. I used an LED tea candle for the light with poly-fiber painted black and orange for the smoke.

As a final touch I added a cutout to the backdrop of a photo of a P-47 looping around to make a second pass on the train and bridge