# The B&G RR Gets a New Fireman - UH - TROLL!



## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi All;

I am currently working on a freight train for my mythical Brandywine & Gondor Railroad, the Mainline of Middle Earth. The two private owner boxcars are finished, Longbottom Leaf and Prancing Pony Ale. The primitive tank car (Kalamazoo gondola with two wooden vats) will be lettered for Fangorn Forest Water (It makes things GROW!). I also have to finish lettering the Kalamazoo caboose and the LGB 0-4-0 with the Vandy tender.

This locomotive is dwarf-built, so the engineer is a dwarf. I could not find a suitable LOTR dwarf to serve as the engineer (those figures are fairly scarce at present). SO my dwarf signal got a promotion. He's one of the original Snow White Seven, but I'm not sure of his name. Anyway, his beard will get a coat of tan paint to "youthen" him to a meer lad of 150 years.

Then I needed a fireman. Papo make a delightful troll. I reasoned that a few of the trolls could be domesticated. After all, firing a locomotive is a much better than the work they had in Mordor! His stone axe and forked staff were traded for a shovel and a slash bar, and he's ready to raise steam.



















I imagine that this fellow could have kept the big Wooten fireboxes with the two firedoors that graced the Reading RR camelback 2-8-0s from about 100 years ago stoked all by himself.

Have fun,
David Meashey


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

He's terriffic!

With all the bridges at the Botanic, I've wondered if I should make a troll.


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Love the troll! 

Best, 
TJ


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## cjwalas (Jan 2, 2008)

As always, Dave, it's great to see you combining Tolkien and Trains!







Keep up the good work down there in Middle Earth!
Chris


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## Les (Feb 11, 2008)

Really glad to see the pixes, Dave. Whenever I'm feelin' low, I go to the Whimsical forum and look around. There's also a site on the Web that has a couple of layouts, one of which must have a thousand m/hrs in scenery and details. I lost it on my last computer glitch, though.

Les


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

As I recollect, Trolls in middle earth had this 'sunlight' problem...it turned them to stone! However, the tought Mordor models could apparently tolorate a bit of sun now and again. So...your troll must be working mostly the night shift... 

That said...I could have sworn that warhammer or TSR had some appropriately sized (scale) dwarfs...might take a real close look at the racks on your next swing by the local hobby shop.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

I love his expression and attempt at a trollish smile. A bit of a Shrek expression there. 

(I still want to make a Narnian train.)


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

"As I recollect, Trolls in middle earth had this 'sunlight' problem...it turned them to stone! However, the tought Mordor models could apparently tolorate a bit of sun now and again. So...your troll must be working mostly the night shift... "

Thinker T (Sorry, I couldn't find your real name);

Uh-Oh! He's already too stiff to move.









Seriously (Or NOT, I kind of feel like I'm debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.), this troll would be one of the Mordor lot. They were made or bred to tolerate daylight, as noted during the siege of Minas Tirith and the Battle before the Black Gate. Of course I took the photographs without the locomotive coupled to the tender. Normal working conditions will have him under the rear canopy of the cab roof, so no significant amounts of direct sunlight, and little need to work the night shift.









Now, how about a debate on pitting Klingons against Uruk Hai to see who would win. (My bet is on the Klingons!)

Have fun,
David Meashey


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Warhammer models are "giant" 28mm scale. TSR miniatures are are standard 28mm scale. I think that works out to like 1/50ish or something like that. 

I think the klingons would win too. 

Terry


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Not to knit pick, but is that loin clothe OSHA approved? 
Also, Mordor had Orces not trolls that did NOT tollerate the Sunlight. 
The Urukai (I think is the name) were a sort of hybrid goblin/orce create in Isengard by Sauraman the x-white wizard they had absolutely no problem with sunlight. 
There were different types of trolls just as there were different types of orces and goblins, some had no problem with Sun Light others turned to stone or died in agony. 
Only two trolls I can recall turning to stone appeared in the novel "There And Back Again" (or the Hobbit) not in Lord of the Rings trilogy.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Richard;

I must confess that sometimes I get details from the movies confused with details from the books. In the movies, trolls were used to move the siege towers and load the catapults. And a rather nasty one singled out Aragorn at the battle in front of the Black Gates of Mordor.

So after I finished mowing the yard tonight, I checked The Return of the King to refresh my memory. Trolls are not mentioned much during the siege of Minas Tirith, but a troop of fairly nasty trolls are mentioned in the battle in front of the Black Gate. Actually, I'm more concerned about my memory than how accurate some things are on the Brandywine and Gondor Railroad. It's really just a fantasy railroad, and just for fun.


Heck, the Nazgul perished with Sauron when the Ring was destroyed, but I have a "homeless Nazgul" perched atop a carload of mithril ore on the B&G RR.










It is a form of wry irony. Kind of like having an impoverished figure of Adolph Hitler begging for Toaster Strudle on some seedy street corner in Berlin. Mostly the railroad is fantasy and fun, but just accurate enough so folks recognize the characters from the novels

Oh, and OSHA in Middle Earth? C'mon, I'd be always walking in circles if I allowed my leg to be pulled like that!









Have fun,
David Meashey


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Hmmmm...given that he was tough enough to somehow survive the demise of his boss, and given all the vets of Mordors big army...and all the empty wilderness out there...mayhap your homeless Nazgul should be leading a gang of train robbers? Say, a few dozen orcs and maybe a troll or three? 

Also, as I recollect, the 'Mouth of Sauron' was unaccounted for after the battle of the black gate as well...given his alleged diplomatic skills, maybe he's the not so secret master of some town or other along the line?


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

The troll in the mordor tom battle was a cave troll. I believe the ones who were at the black gate were of the same variety. 

Terry


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

David, 
Sauron and the Nazgul didn't really die,,, they were just ejected from Middle Earth and wound up on the Brandy Wine and Gondor. 
The Movie was great on following the book fairly closely but they did take a few liberties that I found annoying. Why kill Saurman and Worm tounge? just to skip over 'The scouring of the Shire! Pippin, Sam, Meri and Frodo returning to a place that is totally at peace and undisturbed despite all that went down on Middle Earth makes no sense. 
They could of spent a few more minutes on telling that Chapter and less time on those Hobbit Hall Mark Moments like the reuniting of Sam and Frodo with the rest of the Fellowship and the WAY TOO LONG, way too emotional parting on the Gray ships with Bilbo Good bye. There was more estrogen in the Hobbits of Peter Jackson than the Hobbits of Tolkien in my opinion  
But I did like the inclusion of the Love Triangle between Aragon, the horse princess and the Elf princess (forget their names, Eoin, Aroin?) that wasn't in the book but was in the Simirilian. (Pardon the spelling) Tolkien only hinted at it in the Fellowship of the Ring and it was almost totally ignored in the Two Towers and Return of the King till the very end. 
You picked a great story for your fantasy railroad, that is certain. But if I can offer one suggestion I would say you may want to rethink your engine crew. Remember the line,,, I think it was in the Movie too, "Saurman's mind is full of cogs and wheels, he has no interest for growing things"(Sorry if the quote not exact). So having orces and goblins stoke the fire and Saruman at the brake and throttle would be more appropriate than Dwarfs. Dwarfs should be working in the coal mines and men, welll we know Saurans regard for and the Orces taste for men


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## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

Papo make a delightful troll. 

They are cheap to keep. don´t they say, "Never feed a Troll" ? 

Have Fun 

Fritz / Juergen


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## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

Hi, 

Are there any pictures or even homepages about Middle Earth Railways? 

I sometimes have a smaller fellow working on my Balmforth loco 










His name is Alberich and he used to be a black smith for profession. 

Have fun 

Fritz / Juergen


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Richard;

I agree that the Scouring of the Shire was a big omission. That is when Merry and Pippin "grew up." I'm sorry to be so late in answering, but my computer would not connect to the Internet on Thursday night, and then I was out of town for four days.

Fritz;

I know there is another gentleman who built a Middle Earth railroad with a name something like "Laketown and Shire." He is a university professor in the Raleigh, NC area I believe, but I cannot remember his name at present.

Your blacksmith reminds me of the Norse god Thor.

Yours,
David Meashey


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