It has been a busy Holiday Season this year. I have had very little time to devote the the model railroad. Now that winter has come to northeastern Ohio that should change. In response to a thread on the Atlas Forum asking for a 'favorite photo' from the layout this past year, I chose one of NYC E8 passing the cow pasture on the northwest corner of the layout. Here is a link to the photograph: NYC E8 4089. There is also a link on the Railroading page.

The short video "One Minute Freight" I made a NYC freight train passing through the crossing near the Farmer's Union Grain Elevator is posted on YouTube. A link to the video can be found on the Railroading page. Just 'click' on the thumbnail of the NYC Box Car. During the summer of 2009, my grandson and I traveled to Altoona, to visit Horseshoe Curve and the Altoona Railroad Museum. Then we went on to Scranton, Pennsylvania to visit Steamtown. A short 'photo essay' of our visits to these memorable places is posted here: There is also a link on the Railroading page. The video I made of a Norfolk-Southern freight negotiating Horseshoe Curve can be accessed on the Railroading page. Just 'click' on the thumbnail of the NS locos.

My 'photo essay' on the construction of a farm scene I used to fill in an empty corner of the Black River Valley Railroad layout is on the How'd You Do That page. The essay covers building a couple of small hills with foam bead board, filling in the cracks and rounding things off with Sculptamold. The application of ground cover and the staining of a rock faced cut are also documented. Click on the thumbnail of the Holstein cows on the to view the essay.

I dropped and damaged one of my NYC E8 locos several months ago. I thought the damage was limited to a broken coupling, but after repair with parts from an A-Line Coupling Assortment, it still made some strange noises. Because this particular loco is 'well worn' I decided to purchase a new chassis for it, rather than disassemble it and hope to find the problem. Trainworld advertised an E8/9, A-B powered set for $69.99, what a deal! The PK2 E8/9 A&B units, in ACL black livery, arrived from Trainworld in two days! Unfortunately it wasn't a simple swap of chassis as I had hoped. There are a couple of pictures and an explaination of the necessary changes on the What's New page.

A photo of the Farmer's Union grain elevator and my new Atlas RS32 are on the What's New page. Updated, late 2009, photos of the BRVRR layout are on the The Layout page. The Photo Essay of our June 2008 trip to see the Great Train Story Layout at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is still on the Railroading Page.

My 'photo essays' on the conversion of standard Atlas twin-coil surface mount switch machines to under table machines, the installation of cross bucks and an infra-red control module from Berkshire Junction, my project modifying inexpensive plastic cars for use on the BRVRR, are all on the How'd You Do That Page. Just click on your choice of the thumbnail of the Switch Machine, model cars, or the RR Crossing to view the essays.

The 'photo essay' on the Tuscola & Saginaw Bay Railroad's excursion train to Petoskey, Michigan in August 2006 and out summer of 2005 visit to the Strasburg Railroad and to the Railroad Museum Of Pennsylvania are on the Railroading Page. Click on the thumbnail of the T&SBRR GP35s, my grandson or the N&W #475 steam locomotive, respectively.

You can navigate around the site using the buttons at left on the main pages and the arrows at the bottom of every page. The BRVRR Logos located at the top and bottom of every page work as my Home Page buttons and will return you to the Home Page from anywhere on the site. All of the photographs, with the exception of my picture on the Home Page, the images in the 'photo essays' and the background image, are presented as thumbnails. If you want to view a larger image, simply 'click' on the desired photo. All of the pages have content. If you have any comments or suggestions, send me and E-mail via the button located at the bottom center of each page.

A word about cameras and images for those of you interested in photography. All of the photo images on the site until March of 2006 were taken with a HP Photosmart 435, 3.1 Mega-pixel camera. In order to present better images with more detail, I took the plunge in March 2006 and purchased a HP Photosmart 415, 5.2 Mega-pixel camera. The detail in my images has significantly improved and I hope to make them even better over time. All of the images, those taken with the old camera and those taken with the new 5.2 MP camera, were/are sized for quick dial-up downloading with Adobe Photoshop. In June of 2009 I received a new Sony DCR-SX41 Video Camera as a Father's Day gift. I intend to document the progress on the layout with periodic video records. As my oldest grandson is inordinately fond of 'producing' videos of his operating sessions, I'm sure the new camera will get a workout.

Thanks for visiting the Black River Valley Model Railroad Web Site. Come back again!

Allan