HO Sierrawest Loco Service Shop

[darrylhuffman]

I was looking at photos of Karl Allison's excellent build of the Sierrawest Loco Service Shop.  One of the finest models ever built.

So I purchased a copy from Brett Gallant and started work.

Two years ago I almost died and spent 6 weeks in the hospital in recovery.

I was paralyzed from the waist down just like I was when I had polio in 1948.

They let me out of the hospital when I convinced them I could walk from my recliner to the bathroom without assistance, using only a walker for support.

I use a walker at all times and slowly I am gaining strength.

I have always been a dedicated model builder who has never gone through the doldrums or slack periods.

But I was not able to build anything for a full year.

This model is the first I have built after a year in recovery.

In addition to the excellent castings which came in the kit, I added a lot that I had leftover from other kits.

I decided to leave off the roof so the interior is visible.

[darrylhuffman]

More photos.

[darrylhuffman]

More photos

[Ray Dunakin]

Excellent!
I'm glad you're feeling well enough to model again, and wish you continued progress.

[finescalerr]

Nobody would think you had paused modeling for a year. Please continue to recover and improve. Your excellent work should serve as inspiration for everyone. -- Russ

[shropshire lad]

Hi Darryl,

   It is good to hear that you are on the road to recovery and back at your workbench building models again . It is rather a coincident that you have started with one of Brett's kit, namely the Loco and Service Shop , as I have recently bought one of those kits after a 15 year hiatus of modelling in HO scale . The reason for buying it is that I have decided to extend my 6'x2' HO/HOn3 show logging layout to give it a bit more operating possibilities.

   I am familiar with Karl's version of the model , though I think it is a scratch built O Scale version . For me the best version is the one built by Ken Karns.

  By the way , I still have the yellow T-shirt I wore at the St.Louis NG Convention in 2010. It no longer fits me, as my wife shrunk it in the wash !

  Nick

[shropshire lad]

Two more views of Ken's Best in Show model .

[TRAINS1941]

Glad to hear you have recovered Darryl and have made it back to the bench.
Your work is up to your usual standards very well done.

Jerry

[finescalerr]

Assuming he's still active, Ken Karns should be on our forum. Nick, your job is to drag him here and, if he resists, force him to stand in the corner. -- Russ

[darrylhuffman]

My old friend, Nick.

[darrylhuffman]

A few more photos.