blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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 | | 02/15/2008 6:23 PM |
| The Harley Cycle Shop:
Although I have had this converted model for quite some time now, it never had a suitable home until now.
This one will have a good home on the Cicely layout.
The trooper car is one of two that I have which are actually Alaska Trooper cruisers.
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/15/2008 7:17 PM |
| Uncle Nicolai's Shop:
Originally intended for other purposes, the main function of the shop these days is to store much of the Phase II project, including all the excess rolling stock and the larger model structures.
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/15/2008 7:18 PM |
| Inside Uncle Nicolai's Shop:
Some of the model structures sit on two wide, rolling shelf units (designed for commercial kitchens)
There were a great number of kits I had purchased over time just for this model. These will all be completed by late March so we can resume the scratch-building part of the project. Each of one these models is altered in some way from the original. Some are aged or repainted. Most all get new lettering or other graphics that are specific to the Cicely, Alaska theme.
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/15/2008 7:34 PM |
| One 20-foot wall contains two rows of rolling stock all the way to the ceiling:
I am almost out of available space for more shelving in here, although I do have my eye on one more area . . . I could sure use it. Even after this model is completed, the rolling stock has to be stored during the long winter months. This is the only available space, but it works out well. I do keep an 8-foot step ladder on hadn inside the shop.
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flatracker
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Dunlap, TN
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| | 02/16/2008 6:25 AM |
| First off..I'm impressed with all the models you have. I know once you start placing them on the layout, it seems there are never enough. It sure takes a lot of them to put a dent into what you want things to look like.
Now you know I have to ask this...what is the "Original Bug Shirt" all about?? And..are there any "Native Arts and Crafts" there, or they elsewhere in the area?
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Bob Martin | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/16/2008 1:21 PM |
| Posted By flatracker on 02/16/2008 6:25 AM
...what is the "Original Bug Shirt" all about?? And..are there any "Native Arts and Crafts" there, or they elsewhere in the area?
The Original Bug Shirt is a brand name for a prduct that seems to be the ultimate answer for those in the outdoors where there aer massive amounts of mosquitos--mainly along waterways and tundra areas where there is a lot of standing water.
It is a netted, hooded piece of lightweight apparel. I sell these mainly to fishermen. Can be worn over hats.
This one is displayed with the matching pants that are, of course, banded at the ankles to keep mosquitos out.
Beads, beads and more beads. I have been trying to get one of our local Native women to work on beads here so the tourists could see the work in progress. So far, no such luck, but I am still trying. Meanwhile, every year I pick up a few more of these locally-made chokers and other items of interest to tourists. Those pieces using real bone are getting pricey, but they are all unique and not to be found in most Alaska gift shops. Looks like I may be picking up the inventory of a local Native gift shop going out of business this year. If so, Uncle Nic's will be packed full of a wide variety of Native crafts and other Alaskan items.
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/16/2008 1:41 PM |
| Posted By flatracker on 02/16/2008 6:25 AM
First off..I'm impressed with all the models you have. I know once you start placing them on the layout, it seems there are never enough. It sure takes a lot of them to put a dent into what you want things to look like.
Here's an interesting one: The Christmas season 2006 I stopped by Tammie's Hobbies in Beaverton, Oregon and found this gem--a model of a piledriver. This is one of those pieces I could not resist. After all, the CRNW used them extensively with all those trestles they had on their line. This one, however, will probably become a part of the Phase II Cicely model.
Great little piece, is it not? (click for larger image)
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flatracker
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Dunlap, TN
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| | 02/17/2008 5:16 AM |
| The pile driver is a neat piece of work. It looks to be built from scratch, though these days it is hard to tell, due to the excellent weathering and painting some of the fellows do. The steam engine looks somewhat like Ozark's, but again hard to tell.
I would also have been tempted to buy it, as it is unique, and would certainly fit well into the time period you are modeling. Nice find!
Whoops, just about forgot...thanks for the explanation on the "bug shirt". I sure could have used one of those the many years I went fishing down in the Everglades. I learned to go in the winter, when the mosquitoes were less bothersome, but they were still a pain if you got too close to the mangroves, when there was no breeze. I guess the ones you have up there would have been a little too warm though.
The chokers and beads are quite attractive, and I know how much hand work goes into things like that. Most people don't appreciate the time spent finding the raw materials and then the delicate work it takes to turn them into something as interesting as those. Also, most don't have a hint as to what different ones stand for, in a spiritual or tribal way either, and the designs that have been handed down through the generations. I can see how difficult it would be to get the genuine article.
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Bob Martin | |
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Torby
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North Chicago 'burbs.
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| | 02/17/2008 6:53 AM |
| That's a cool piece!
Watch for the bridges. | |
 "If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about."-- C. S. Lewis | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/18/2008 11:21 PM |
| I just pulled a round-trip to Anchorage ~10 am to 8:30 pm by the time I got back after picking up my shipped items and doing some resupplying. Among other items, I had two identical Bachmann 1:20.3 2-8-0s to pick up at an air forwarding office (one of them for the Phase III project).
If a shipper insists on using UPS or FEDEX I have them ship to a stateside address in Washington to an outfit called Ship-to-Alaska--far less expensive then shipping directly too Alaska by either of these services. The service then forwards the items to Anchorage (there were other non-train-related items in tha shipment as well--might as well combine, you know) . It is almost always cheaper--sometimes considerably so-- that way then sending it direct to me in Copper Center, even if I have to make a special trip to Anchorage (205 road miles one way) to pick up the shipment. If shippers would just use the USPS, I wouldn't have that problem, but some insist on utillizing either UPS or FEDEX exclusively. This is par for the course living in Alaska.
Because the weather was good both ways (no precipitation, miminal wind) , I made it a round trip since snow and even rain (Anchorage side) keep appearing in the forecast. It is always better to avoid that if possible. Indeed, in places there was considerable slush, including in Anchorage itself. The roads were icy in many places, including through the mountains, but I'm used to that, too.
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ThinkerT
Alaska
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| | 02/19/2008 12:35 AM |
| I once had somebody ship me something I'd won off EBAY via UPS: the cost was extortionate (about four times what it would have been USPS) - and they delivered it to my neighbor one street over.
Another outfit I dealt with for some reason regards FedEx as 'normal' shipping; both times those bills were...outlandish. But at least they found me. I am very leery about ordering from them again precisely because of the FedEx thing - they just don't seem to use USPS at all.
I greatly prefer USPS. | | | |
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SteveC
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| | 02/19/2008 5:53 AM |
| Posted By blackburn49 on 02/18/2008 11:21 PM
«snip...» I wouldn't have that problem, but some insist on utilizing either UPS or FEDEX exclusively. This is par for the course living in Alaska. «snip...»
Usually the shipper is driven in carrier choice by the fact that each carrier wants to lock each of their shipping customers into exclusivity, the carriers accomplish this by offering the shipper significant discounts off of published tariffs. Depending on a shipper's volume and negotiation skill, that can be in the range of 50-60% discount.
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/19/2008 10:09 AM |
| Posted By SteveC on 02/19/2008 5:53 AM Posted By blackburn49 on 02/18/2008 11:21 PM
«snip...» I wouldn't have that problem, but some insist on utilizing either UPS or FEDEX exclusively. This is par for the course living in Alaska. «snip...»
Usually the shipper is driven in carrier choice by the fact that each carrier wants to lock each of their shipping customers into exclusivity, the carriers accomplish this by offering the shipper significant discounts off of published tariffs. Depending on a shipper's volume and negotiation skill, that can be in the range of 50-60% discount.
A good point that I had not considered. Unfortunately, it sure makes shipping almost prohibitively expensive for us here in Alaska (and Hawaii too). | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/19/2008 10:15 AM |
| Posted By ThinkerT on 02/19/2008 12:35 AM
I once had somebody ship me something I'd won off EBAY via UPS: the cost was extortionate (about four times what it would have been USPS) - and they delivered it to my neighbor one street over.
Another outfit I dealt with for some reason regards FedEx as 'normal' shipping; both times those bills were...outlandish. But at least they found me. I am very leery about ordering from them again precisely because of the FedEx thing - they just don't seem to use USPS at all.
I greatly prefer USPS.
For the vast majority of items going to Alaska, that is definitely the preferred way to ship as long as it is parcel post and not air. Air mail in the larger sizes and heavier weights has also become exorbitant. In most cases I am able to convince shippers to use this option, but not always. Those are the shippers I only use once !
It also explains the need for the Ship-to-Alaska business for some of us. At least now I have an Anchorage destination to ship to so I can go pick up the item. Currently the cost per pound for air shipments from Sea-Tac to Anchorage via Ship-to-Alaska is $1.29 (in addition to an annual membership fee). | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/19/2008 12:15 PM |
| Most of the Simpson Oil Esso brand tank farm has been completed for the NX Cicely model:
All that remains is the industrial fence (I have it but it is not completed) and the trucks (have them too, awaiting logos)
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/19/2008 12:23 PM |
| No tank farm appeared in the NX series, however, they are commonplace in small communities througout Alaska.
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/19/2008 12:28 PM |
|
Logos have been a large part of my latest project--maybe even a hallmark of it.
I have tried to combine well-known logos with made-up ones that are specific to the Cicely project.
Simpson Oil, of course, utilizes my own last name.
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ThinkerT
Alaska
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| | 02/19/2008 2:25 PM |
| | I could swear I've seen that indian head logo somewhere... | | | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 02/19/2008 2:32 PM |
| Posted By ThinkerT on 02/19/2008 2:25 PM
I could swear I've seen that Indian head logo somewhere...
Probably have--or one very similar. I told my graphics man I wanted a very-recognizable Plains Indian head to represent Simpson Oil Company. He chose something out of his file. I also had one for my old company--the real one that once existed under the name Yukon Amusement. | |
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