My Layout in the Summer of 1997

I posted pictures of my layout on my old website beginning when I started it in November 2002. I never posted these pictures on my old website, but am including them now for completion.

Here are some pictures of my layout that I took in the summer of 1997, probably in late July, to finish off a roll of film for developing. These pictures are terrible, but they provide a record of when I acquired some of my equipment.

This is an old Mantua 4-6-2 steam locomotive that I bought at a swap meet. My dad repainted it. It is shown here in San Miguel pulling the Union Pacific heavyweight passenger cars. My camera was too close to the subject, especially with the flash going off. It is also not framed correctly, because the camera’s viewfinder didn’t go through the lens.

This is an Athearn GP60 painted as Norfolk Southern #4610 in Southern Railway colors, with a GATX-painted GP38-2. I had probably recently bought the GP60, simply because I liked it. The GATX GP38-2 was originally a dummy unit purchased by Fred Anderson at a swap meet. He later decided he wasn’t happy with the quality of the paint job (it appears to have been painted by hand with a brush) and gave it to me. The Atlas lumberyard in the background was originally purchased by my dad for his layout, but he decided he didn’t like it, so I put it on my layout. This picture has the same problems as the previous picture.

This picture shows a Model Die Casting model of the Wisconsin Central boxcar that was specially painted for Model Railroader magazine’s 60th anniversary, and a Con-Cor tractor-trailer painted to match. This picture has the same problems as the previous pictures.

This picture shows my modern Union Pacific motive power at the time. The lead unit is an Athearn GP40-2 converted to a GP40 and custom-painted by my dad with Missouri Pacific lettering. The second unit is an Athearn U30B custom-painted to represent a U23B. The third unit is an Athearn GP50 with the factory paint job that my dad renumbered. On the right edge of the picture is an Athearn bay-window caboose in Union Pacific colors from a Special Edition set of three. This picture probably wasn’t quite framed right either, and the caboose was probably supposed to be more visible in the picture.