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Useful Website: The Intermodal Container Web Page a.k.a Matt’s Place

I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me before to give this website a bit of well-deserved publicity; especially as I’m often visiting to browse the galleries for inspiration or to collect data to help create 3D models of a container or swap body.

Perhaps it’s because it’s such a great resource I’d assumed everyone already knows about it but if you don’t and you have an interest in:

Then I definitely recommend checking out the galleries on the Intermodal Container Web Page run by Matt Hannes.

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Zwijndrecht & Dordrecht, The Netherlands

Following on from my post about a bridge over the Savannah River in Georgia, USA, this week I thought I’d take a look at the area another bridge; this time the giant lift-bridge between the towns of Zwijndrecht and Dordrecht in the Netherlands.

“Grote Kerk Dordrecht” by bertknot is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

In case you haven’t guessed, it’s that white, futuristic looking structure towards the rear of the picture 🙂

I’ve probably said this already in previous posts but I’m not entirely sure I’m a fan of modern Netherlands architecture, however… it’s definitely a bridge that makes a statement, it’d be a very interesting scratchbuilding project and it’s shear size means it would make it an eye-catching model on an exhibition layout.

So let’s find out a bit more about the Zwijndrecht, Dordrecht and the bridge itself…

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Bridge Over The Savannah River (Savannah, Georgia)

I first spotted this interesting bridge a few years back when Google Map exploring the railroads and industrial spurs around Savannah, Georgia.

Something about the control tower and massive counter-weight structure appealed to me and I have always thought it would make an excellent North American river crossing module and scratchbuilding project.

I’ve also wanted to do a post about it for ages…

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Grain Silos & Feed Mills In Mount Joy, Pennsylvania

The town of Mount Joy in Pennsylvania, USA has been on my must research list ever since I found this photograph of the Wenger Feed Mill:

Wenger Feed Mill by Jim Epler – Own work, CC BY 2.0, View Image

You might think that’s strange because a closer look at the picture reveals there isn’t actually any track in the picture. While that observation is true, it’s still a very interesting and attractive jumble of buildings which would make a very nice scratch-building or kit-bashing project.

I don’t have a photo to show it but the facility is still rail served, it’s just that railcars are currently loaded/unloaded on the other (north) side of the facility. However there’s no reason why we couldn’t apply a little modellers license, add some track and create the option to model tracks on both sides of the facility.

There’s also something else not visible in the photo above that makes this location somewhat rare and interesting, at least in terms of US operations…

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Inspirational Modelling #3 (Boulder Creek Railroad)

Luke Towan & Boulder Creek Railroad

Over the last couple of months I’ve presented a lot of locations that could be recreated as modules but I haven’t done a lot of module building myself.

I’ve started a Stadtbahn module on a Gatorboard T-Trak baseboard but it’s still very early days. So I thought it might be useful to show just what can be achieved in a small space by highlighting the amazing dioramas of Luke Towan…

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Inspirational Modelling #2 (Adam Savage)

I’ll admit that I often get so focused on making super-accurate, perfectly-finished models that after starting a project I get paralysed and end up not finishing or even worse, I won’t even start a project at all.

Whether you suffer from what I call ‘model-makers paralysis’ or not the YouTube videos and forum threads I’ll be highlighting in this post are definitely worth taking a look at as they are full of useful tips and inspirational modelling…

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Annacis Island Rail Barge/Car Float Slip

It’s been much too long since I last wrote about Annacis Island.

So in this post I’ll be taking a look at the Annacis Island barge slip and the car float service that operates between Annacis Island and Nanamio on Vancouver Island.

Annacis Marine Terminal (AMT) ~ Delta by Chris City – All rights reserved
Used with permission, View Image

The barge slip is a fairly simple facility but it has the potential to add some interesting operations to a model of the Annacis Island railroad…

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Inspirational Modelling #1 (Shunting Tractors)

While researching rail-served industries in the United States and Europe I’ve often seen pictures that include interesting looking rail-car movers or shunting tractors like this Mercedes Road Rail UniMog:

Unimog U-400 As Two-Way-Vehicle by LosHawlos – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, View Image

For a while I dabbled with the idea of creating a 3D model of one of these units but put the idea on the back-burner because I’d assumed it would be impossible to motorise something as small as a shunting tractor in N scale.

Then I saw this amazing bit of modelling posted on the East Surrey N Gauge blog: It’s shunting Jim, but not as we know it….

A fully-working, ‘free-range’ shunting tractor in N scale!

After taking a look at the video I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s an amazing piece of engineering and very inspirational.

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Line 24 (Part 1): The Remersdaal Viaduct, Belgium

The Remersdaal or Remersdael (German spelling) viaduct is a rather utilitarian concrete structure located in the attractive rolling countryside of north-east Belgium.

NMBS 2372 on the Remersdaal Viaduct by Jan Derk Remmers – Own work,
CC BY-SA 4.0, View Image

As you can see from the picture, the viaduct is nicely framed by the surrounding hills and trees and has the potential to make a very interesting feature…

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Grain Silos: Useful Reference Photos

Grain silos are a common sight alongside railroads in agricultural areas and seaports in the United States and Canada.

Nebraska Grain Silo RAAM 2015 by D Ramey Logan – Own work, CC BY 4.0, View Image

Many of these silo complexes have evolved and expanded over time resulting in an interesting combination of different building materials and styles. As such they have the potential to make a fascinating scratch-building projects.

You’ll often find photographs of the whole complex but sometimes photographs of small details can provide inspiration for a project so I thought I’d share a few interesting photographs that I’ve discovered on the Internet…

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