March 6, 2013

It's been a few months since I posted anything new, but we've been busy here at Bluejeans Place.  The major thing eating up my time has been a course for work that's taken almost 14 months to complete.  Next Monday I take my final test and get my completion certificate.  That'll be an evening for a long, tall bourbon and coke!  Once I get past that, I'll have more time to post articles to the web site.

In other news, we have a new addition to the crew at Bluejeans Place.  Please stop by the Dalmatian Rescue -- Meet Shiloh! page to read all about it.  And that news led to an update on the About Us page, so be sure to stop by there, too!

September 26, 2012

On the evening of September 11, 2012, I photographed Norfolk Southern's locomotive # 1066 in "New York Central" heritage paint while it was parked in the Moraine, Ohio railroad yard.  Click here to see how that night photo came out for me.

Every so often I wonder if anyone bothers to stop by Bluejeans Place anymore.  After all, we've been up on the Internet for more than 12 years, first launching on July 8, 2000.  I just checked Google Analytics and noticed 1,412 pages of Bluejeans Place were viewed between August 26 and September 25, 2012.  That's not too bad considering we don't do any paid advertising. 

August 18, 2012

Most of my time right now is tied up between work and a course I have to complete for work by January, so I haven't had a lot of time to post new web pages.  I had a few minutes to spare tonight, so I wrote up a page about my May 29, 2012 railfanning trip to the Union Pacific Rail Road yard in Dupo Illinois.  Check out the photos I took that day!

July 14, 2012

I learned today that the location where I was assigned to TUSLOG Detachment 150, a mountaintop radio site in Turkey, in the early 1980s is now home to a aeronautical navigational aid.  It was kind of neat to learn that a location that support air power for so many years is now providing navigational aid services to aviators.  Stop by the Why TUSLOG Det 150's Mission Ended page to read this interesting news update.

June 21, 2012

I added a few photos from my recent railfanning trip to Effingham Illinois.  Check them out when you have some time.

May 17, 2012

I haven't made any updates to the web site lately as I'm still recovering from a broken ankle as well as taking a year-long course for work.  This photo was taken a few weeks ago when we took a therapy walk in Taylorsville Metro Park.  It hurt like hell, but I walked a couple of hundred feet from the car to this spot and back.   

For those who are thinking "this place looks familiar", you're right.  About one-third of a mile behind me in this photo is where we took the photos years ago that appear on our "Trains Thru Taylorsville MetroPark" page .  Stay tuned for more cool content on Bluejeans Place!

March 28, 2012

In her first debut on Bluejeans Place, Sylvia posted some of her photos taken with a twist and even some comedic photographic art!  Stop by the "Black and White Photo Art" page to see her photographic art.

March 4, 2012

I posted another cheap-o project story, my second published article, on creating a Milk Duds flatcar from a beat-up flatcar found at a train meet.  Stop by the Milk Duds Flatcar page to read about this quick and fun project to increase your layout's rolling stock collection. 

Some people think you can't kit bash in toy trains.  For the uninitiated, according to Wikipedia, "Kitbashing or model bashing is a practice whereby a new scale model is created by taking pieces out of commercial kits."   I beg to differ with the idea you can't kitbash in toy trains--take a look at my first kitbash project of a historical aircraft being shipped on a flatcar.

February 21, 2012

I posted a new article today on my restoration of a Plasticville Chapel.  Check out how I gave this old staple of the toy train world a new and unique look.

February 8, 2012

More than a few model railroaders asked about the illuminated rocker panels on our train layout, so we wrote a page explaining how we obtained and installed them.  Please stop by the Wiring Illuminated Control Panel Rocker Switches page to read more.

February 7, 2012

We just finished sorting through about four dozen or more Kodak and Walgreens photo envelopes, marking on the back of each photo with identifying information and dividing them into keep and give away stacks.  Over the next few months we'll add some of them to the site, probably after I finish recovering from a broken ankle.  (Sylvia will probably need some time to recover from taking care of me during that recovery, too!)

(After sorting through all those photos, all I could think was, "How could Kodak go bankrupt when they were developing so many photos for me?)

February 6, 2012

Please visit the new Ballasting Track page to see how we achieved a realistic look when we installed our toy train layout's track.  While some people might think this is a pretty simple technique covered in dozens of model railroading scenery books, we thought it might be of interest to those who are trying to decrease the appearance of the center rail and obtain a slight amount of super-elevation on a layout's sweeping curves.  

February 4, 2012

I updated the Executive PM Challenge page to note no senior executive of any organization or company took us up on our challenge.  Please stop by to see our current observation on this challenge and its purpose.

After I finished that page, I also updated the Middle Manager's PM Challenge with a similar note that no middle manager ever responded to our offer.  Stop by and check out our observations on that issue where we identify yet another urban legend.

January 30, 2012

As I heal from breaking an ankle, I'm adding and updating content to the web site.  Check out the page in the toy train layout section that I wrote today on how we created the missile railcar base scene.

January 2, 2012

Happy New Year! 

I posted a new article today about a visit to the Marx Toy Museum and the former Marx Toy Factory site in Moundsville, WV.  If you're a Baby Boomer, you'll want to check out this road trip story.

August 1, 2011

The new site is up! Enjoy!