Author Archives: garygraves

Getting started with Archistories

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Your first Archistories building kit has arrived: each comes in a small box or heavy cardboard envelope with an instruction booklet and multiple laser cut sheets of various colors. Some kits even come with electric motors. This kit is the Sanders water tower which can be used for both American and European prototypes, it features timber construction and open fret framework.

A special note about these kits: I have never found a typo or mistake in any of the construction booklets and the step-by-step instructions if followed in order will provide the very best results.

Assembly time varies from kit to kit: rough estimate 3-8 hours depending on building. But when the building is assembled it is done because the beautiful coloration has already been dyed into the laser cut sheets. I plan to experiment with adding weathering to these buildings stay tuned for those results.

An assembled Archistories building is like a Marklin train, you will end up holding it in your hand turning it around and admiring it for its beauty and detail, and your significant other will have a new found appreciation for your skills.

Visit Archistories and Z Scale Monster Trains websites

Excellent photographs of each building currently available depicted in stunning layout vignettes:

http://archistories.com/

Each building is now currently available in the USA from Anthony at Z Scale Monster. A feature of this website shows difficulty level on a scale up to 5 stars being most difficult. A good kit to start with would of course be a 3 star kit. I have first hand experience with these kits, and I will be posting what I hope will be helpful pointers.

http://www.zscalemonster.com/

Introduction to Archistories building kits

I will be devoting a number of posts to an essential Z scale manufacturer from Germany: Archistories. Why? Because they are thoughtfully designed, fun to assemble and look like real buildings. And detail rich Z scale locos and cars are fully complemented by the equally detail rich buildings, gantry crane, and windmills produced by Archistories. Buy one kit and you will be hooked as I was several years ago. Now they are easy to buy from Z Scale Monster Train.

I have purchased all of the Archistories building kits, and I have built each of them sometimes in multiples. Getting started is easy, and the tools required are more than likely already in your toolbox.

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Here is my list of tools:

1. freezer paper: I cover my workspace with this material available at any grocery store, the shiny side up surface is impervious to glue and allows the materials to be moved around easily

2. nail file: available also in the cosmetics aisle of any grocery store (mildly abrasive for smoothing rough edges on the card board super structure)

3. tweezers of various sizes: I use straight and angled tweezers you will understand why as you proceed with more intricate kits, plus choose tweezers that are comfortable: some have a stiff spring that I don’t think are well suited to holding fine parts. And a pair with rubber coated prongs will help keep parts from being damaged although good finesse will negate the need for these which can be hard to find on a good day

4. Xacto knife or other cutting tool:  I use razor blades that are conventionally used in paint scrapers, carpet knife and mat knife for thicker material, and sometimes a small pair of scissors available again in the cosmetics section of your local grocery store

5. heavy cutting mat: self healing cutting mat is highly recommended and is available at sewing, craft and art stores

6. glue for buildings: the manufacturer recommends wood glue, but I prefer PVA glue which is available at art supply stores (I bought mine from Dick Blick), it is a glue that is described as an archival neutral ph glue, but I like it because it sets up fast and dries fast. I have used glues like this for many years, and I would only recommend it after personal experimentation: it may not be to everyone’s taste or comfort zone.

7. glue for glazing: two options for gluing glazing to windows: 1. rough up the surface of the acetate that you will be applying white glue to, this technique gives more surface area for the glue to adhere to on a microscopic level otherwise the acetate will eventually fall off  2. UHU Kraft (I bought mine on Amazon) which is a flexible and super sticky glue that sets-up fast (working with this glue gets easier over time). I prefer the latter because the bond seems more permanent.

8. glue applicators: sewing pins and toothpicks for most detail work (apply little dots of glue when applying sills or other small details, a small brush for small panels and moving glue around openings, medium flat brush for roofing material, and syringe with very small diameter for filling gaps (I only used this once for each of the station kits where the platforms meet up with the building). *Note: a little glue goes a long way and keeping glue away from edges is the best resolve, although these glues are water soluble you will end of with staining on the paper if you try to remove spillage. And keep hands clean from glue and grease

9. magnifying goggles: extremely important (always wear: preparing parts  to assembly!!!!!)

10. light: a good even bright overhead light (natural light does not work for this task: a shadow could throw off leveling a small sill)

 

 

Archistories ZTrack Magazine Article

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I recently wrote an article for ZTrack Magazine whose purpose was to introduce  Archistories of Hannover, Germany to Z enthusiasts in the United States.

This article appears in the July/August 2015 issue of ZTrack Magazine:

Several years ago Marklin released 89796 and 89797: two building construction kits of the theme “The Plant.” Anyone who purchased these sets including myself may have longed for more of these high quality buildings for their layout. Nearly five years later more are available for collectors in the United States at Zscale Monster Trains. Archistories of Hannover, Germany produced the 5 industrial manufacturing buildings for Marklin’s two sets comprising “The Plant” which also included two heavy duty flat cars with cast truck loads. Archistories worked with Marklin’s budget to produce these high quality detail rich buildings, which contrast nicely with the architecture of those now available from this company in the United States. Most Archistories buildings are modeled on late 19th and early 20th century Prussian architecture including two versions of a train station, train sheds, water towers, expandable roundhouse, railway house, gantry crane and 4 Swedish design cottages. Plus an exciting newly released operating windmill complete with drive mechanism. Archistories kits feature excellent step by step instructions which should be carefully examined before assembly, superb quality laser cut card stock yielding the very best available surface texture and detail using professional architect software ArchiCad. The tools required to build these kits are more than likely already in the tool kit of most z scalers: headband magnifier, tweezers, hobby knife, scissors, glue applicators: brushes and toothpicks, nail file, and glue. Having experience with these kits, I have become increasingly impressed with the consistent personality of them: each kit basically follows the same procedure of building out from a heavy cardboard superstructure whose pieces snap together precisely, the outer layer of stucco, brick, and roofing are glued onto this superstructure, and finally details are applied including sills and architectural ornaments. Another highlight of these kits is the attention to detail including interior partition walls and trusses installed realistically in the locomotive sheds, the Torrnstein signal tower even includes hand throw levers on the 2nd floor. The partition walls allow for realistic placement of interior lights thereby lighting specific rooms in a house for example. Plus some of the kits allow for variation in construction thereby allowing multiple versions of buildings. Intelligently designed architecture for z scale, Archistories offers another choice for the z scale modeler.

-Gary Graves

William H. Rau – Photographer

Any photographer working today or during the turn of the last century would envy the career of the photographer William H. Rau. Today many examples of his photographs of world sites can be found as stereoviews for tourists in many antique shops throughout the United States, but his railroad photographs taken with a large format camera yielding 20 x 24 inch glass negatives are the technical and aesthetic highlight of his vast output. In 1895 Rau was the Lehigh Valley Railroad’s official photographer and during the 1890’s he also worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Pennsylvania Railroad provided Mr. Rau with his own train and coach equipped with darkroom facilities for Rau to capture scenic views along the many routes of the PRR, he also captured views of outlying industries such as the Westinghouse Air Brake factory in Wilmerding, PA which provided for the first time safe braking of trains, interior design shots of the well appointed Pullman cars of the 1890’s, rural and city stations, tracks, semaphores and the long gone track pans. Any photographer interested in trains could not help but wish they could have had the experiences on the rails as William H. Rau had. I had a rare opportunity to view up close a collection of Rau’s Lehigh Valley Railroad prints; they were stunning, each albumen print captured views with unsurpassed sharpness and graphic quality. Don’t miss a chance to view an exhibition of Mr. Rau’s work, it will fill you with joy. This is a short introduction for this important photographer who will be featured in many posts over the coming years: stay tuned!

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Train assigned to William H. Rau for his photographic excursions along the PRR lines.

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William H. Rau in the studio and in the field along the Conemaugh River near Torrance, PA. Rau required two assistants to manage his very large and heavy camera, but getting the camera to the vantage point was just part of the process, prior to taking the picture a light sensitive plate had to be prepared and loaded in holders inside the darkroom of his train car. This light sensitive plate was manufactured of glass and in a very few cases it broke: some original prints exist today made from broken glass plates . The process for making prints involved placing the glass negative in contact with light sensitive paper, the flatness of the glass produced a level of sharpness yielding exquisite detail throughout the print.

 

About this blog’s home image!

The opening image for this blog includes my first Marklin Z loco: 8856, and logos representing various European railroads represented in my collection which will be featured in future posts. From left to right:

OBB: Osterreichische Bundesbahnen – Austrian Federal Railways

DB: Deutsche Bahn AG – German Railroad, Inc.

SBB CFF FFS (represented by two bold arrows flanking the Swiss flag): Schweizerische Bundesbahnen  Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses  Ferrovie federali svizzere – Swiss Federal Railways

NSB: Norges Statsbaner AS – Norwegian State Railways

DSB: Danske Statsbaner – Danish State Railways

*Please note: logos used in this blog are strictly for the purpose of education and research.

 

The durable history of trains in my life.

I spent my childhood growing up in three important railroad towns that was because my Father was a trainman, and we moved as several train systems consolidated over the course of his career. My Father’s name was Roscoe A. Graves, he was born and raised on a farm in Shongo alongside the Graves Road which is still unpaved in the Southern Tier region of New York State. As a young man he was a bit of a legend on the diamond, his prowess in the field included the ability to switch from right to left at bat, plus he was an ace 1st baseman. Upon returning from the South Pacific he met and married my Mother Betty L. Graves also from good farm stock. They left the farming way of life to brothers and sisters dedicated their lives to the railroad and raising their two daughters and me plus several beloved cats and dogs along the way. 1st stop was the East Rochester car-shops of the New York Central, my Father’s position was safety manager. Those buildings looked old and well worn, by the 1960’s New York Central had been in East Rochester since 1897. As safety manager he was charged with enforcing safety procedures and accident investigation, there was one particular machinist who seemed to lose a finger once a year, I remember going with my dad to the car-shops following one such accident; it was a day off, but the safety manager was always on call it seemed. The East Rochester car-shops were accessed by way of a tunnel under the mainline, I was there several years ago for a visit, the tunnel and most of the old buildings are long gone. When New York Central was consolidated into Penn Central we moved to Hollidaysburg, PA close to the former Pennsylvania Railroad terminus, my Father worked in Altoona not far from Hollidaysburg, his employment included working in materials management at Penn Central within the hollowed walls of the original PRR Juniata car-shops in Altoona which was and still is the largest of its kind in the world. Trains were not out of sight/out of mind in Altoona quite the contrary, they were everywhere and always moving through town, just to the west of Hollidaysburg is the famous Horseshoe Curve. The third and final stop in my dad’s railroad days was Reading, PA following the Penn Central consolidation with Conrail. In Reading, my Father was material manager, he oversaw the construction of cabooses and vip cars; he saved the railroad millions on overpriced fixtures. During the 70’s and 80’s the Reading car-shops were very small by comparison to Altoona with less vital railroad functions performed there, some buildings were not even being used (stay tuned for vintage pictures of these buildings), and today those buildings have since been used by retailers and other small businesses. Along the way as with many sons who want to be like their father, I quickly became fascinated with trains and train culture, an early gift from my parents was a book that featured trains of the world: “By Rail to the Ends of the Earth”, Kenneth Westcott-Jones, published 1967, A.S. Barnes & Company. This book now well worn inspired me with its pictures and text about the trains of the world, and it planted the seed that would later manifest itself into collecting Marklin Z. I dedicate this blog to my Father and my Mother who inspired me to look at the rails and travel by them most memorably from Rochester to Grand Central Station with a snack upon arrival at New York’s famous Horn and Hardart Automat.