# Yard art - train wreck frozen in time



## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

I added an unused trestle and covered bridge to my front yard as "yard art" . It look pretty forlorn so I took a broken Scientific Toys engine as some scrap cars and created a wreck about to happen, frozen in time.










As always comments, and/or suggestions welcome.

Best,
TJ Lee


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## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

How about a little engineer and fireman figure leaping from the train?


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

riderdan said:


> How about a little engineer and fireman figure leaping from the train?


Great idea!


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

And perhaps a movie crew filming the wreck?

Looks great.

Best,
David Meashey


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

That's great TJ, and clever employment of the ST product! 

Might even be easy to put some (outdoor Christmas?) lights in, and / or a couple of small low-V colored floods for some night time drama.


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

Looks like the huge lizard may have eaten some of the bridge?


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

In view of that lizard, you could further liven up the "why" of the wreck. For example, one of these fine garden products:










or...









or, my fave, zombie gnomes:


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## astrayelmgod (Jan 2, 2008)

Great idea, TJ. What is the building behind the tree?


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

astrayelmgod said:


> Great idea, TJ. What is the building behind the tree?


Gary,

My house? Not sure what you mean. I've not put any scale buildings out yet. That's my front door (blue) in the background.

Best,
TJ


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Cliff,

Love the zombie gnomes!!

Best,
TJ


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

tj-lee said:


> Cliff,
> 
> Love the zombie gnomes!!
> 
> ...


Indeed! If you do a google image search for "zombie garden gnomes," it's amazing what turns up....! Like, a flamingo having a VERY bad day...


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

TJ, That's pretty cool, I like it!


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## pete (Jan 2, 2008)

TJ you can never have to much yard art. It keeps the folks busy looking around.Pete


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

As suggested by Dan, I've added an engineer and fireman leaping from the doomed Soggy Bottom Express...










The fireman caught the top of the trestle but the engineer has taken the big leap!










Now I need some running figures to put on top of the passenger car. Have not had any luck so far in finding them.

Best,
TJ


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## pete (Jan 2, 2008)

Now that looks good. pete


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

"but the engineer has taken the big leap!"

Still might be preferred to being in the cab when the crown sheet ruptures.

It just keeps getting better, TJ.

Best,
David Meashey


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## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

How much detail do you want to add? What about a little sign (back before the covered section) that says "bridge out" with a smashed barricade. Or some timbers (what's left of the "missing" section) on the ground by the rock? What would be really funny would be to somehow make a crater and debris to imply that that big rock in the foreground was a meteor that took out the rest of the trestle.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

||
+------------------------+
Next phase of
trestle construction
to begin
Sept 21, 2020 
+------------------------+
||
||
||
||
||
||​


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

You know, I am a bit surprised that nobody has noted that they ran out of track before they even got to that trestle.  How did they ever negotiate those curves? 

Have fun,
David Meashey


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Dave Meashey said:


> You know, I am a bit surprised that nobody has noted that they ran out of track before they even got to that trestle.  How did they ever negotiate those curves?
> 
> Have fun,
> David Meashey


Dave,

Yeah, I elected not to sacrifice any brass to a static piece of yard art. No one walking by has questioned the lack of track.

I suppose I could put some Bachmann hollow track on it but it would rust out pretty fast and it would not match up to the trestles which are made so that Aristo 10 foot curve sections will fit and drop in between the wooden ties with a 1 foot Aristo straight in the covered bridge.

Thanks!
TJ Lee


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

riderdan said:


> How much detail do you want to add? What about a little sign (back before the covered section) that says "bridge out" with a smashed barricade. Or some timbers (what's left of the "missing" section) on the ground by the rock? What would be really funny would be to somehow make a crater and debris to imply that that big rock in the foreground was a meteor that took out the rest of the trestle.


Dan,

Great idea. I'm thinking of one more bent that is burned about halfway down. What do you think?

Best,
TJ


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Added more "frozen" animation showing a crashed barrier...










Best,
TJ


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

||
--------------------------
ON STRIKE!
Bridge and Trestle
Builders Union
Local #405
--------------------------
||
||
||
||
||​


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

semper vaporo said:


> ||​
> 
> --------------------------
> on strike!
> ...


hahahahaha :d!!!!


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## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

*That's really neat*

I am loving the "frozen in time" wreck (It's not old 97 is it?) It will be a conversation piece for visitors for sure.

I hope you can find (or make) some running figures for the top of the train...


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

The addition of the sign was very smart. Really helps tell the story.


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

riderdan said:


> I am loving the "frozen in time" wreck (It's not old 97 is it?) It will be a conversation piece for visitors for sure.
> 
> I hope you can find (or make) some running figures for the top of the train...


Dan,

Thanks! It's not the old 97, I'm calling it the impending doom of the Soggy Bottom Express.

As for the figures, I've looked a bit and think I'm going to go for the 4 figure version of the B-Movie Victims. I don't really need 8 figures so I think I'll get the 4 character pack.










Best,
TJ


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Robert said:


> The addition of the sign was very smart. Really helps tell the story.


Robert,

Thanks! I'm still playing around with debris. I may add some more.

Best,
TJ


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## overlandflyer (Jul 25, 2011)

i cannot say i don't find it a bit disturbing seeing a passenger coach in this consist seemingly relegated to a couple morons trying to save their own asses.


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## Bill C. (Jan 2, 2008)

Been watchin' way too many movies...


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,

How can there EVER be too many monster movies? Go go Godzilla!

Best,
TJ


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

I decided to go ahead and get the 4-pack of the B-Movie Horror Victims...










So the wreck of the Soggy Bottom Express has it's panicked passengers trying to jump ship, er, train. Now I need to come up with an ominous cargo for the gondola car. 










Best,
TJ


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

This is so cooool!!
It is really growing on us all...
and it as a scene may grow more itself.....
So ...scene stealer...

Dirk


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## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

TJ, I'm thinking for your cargo, barrels labeled with either nuclear or biohazard warning labels. That or crates labeled dynamite  

If it were a boxcar, I'd say it should be painted red with black Chinese characters and labeled "Sum Ting Wong Fireworks, Inc"


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Don't forget about Nitroglycerin. Seen some old westerns with that stuff in crates.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

If it were a boxcar, I'd say it should be painted red with black Chinese characters and labeled "Sum Ting Wong Fireworks, Inc" 

OR

You could just letter the gondola "K. A. Boom & Sons - Purveyors of mining equipment" And have if full of dynamite and nitroglycerin crates. ;>) I intend to use this business for an exploding boxcar I hope to finish "someday."

(Personally, I think the exploding locomotive boiler will be far worse than the other stuff.)

Have fun,
David Meashey


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Dave, 

> "Sum Ting Wong Fireworks, Inc" 

Very good!
Best,
TJ


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## stevedenver (Jan 6, 2008)

this thread remind me of the Emperors new clothes...............





....


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

TJ;

"Sum Ting Wong Fireworks, Inc" is from riderdan. I can't take credit for that. Sumting wen wong, and the quotes did not show up in my post.

My plan for the exploding boxcar is a real Rube Goldberg affair. It involves a pendulum and a mousetrap. Give the car rough handling or run out the slack too fast, and just like it says "KA-BOOM!" I already have all the parts (sawed up a Bachmann boxcar). I just have to get time to put it together.

Have fun,
David Meashey


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Dave Meashey said:


> TJ;
> 
> "Sum Ting Wong Fireworks, Inc" is from riderdan. I can't take credit for that. Sumting wen wong, and the quotes did not show up in my post.
> 
> ...


Dave,
Duly noted, a tip of the hat to riderdan for that bit of humor.

I have one of the LGB exploding dynamite cars. Loads of fun. Yours sounds like an improvement. Can't wait to see it 

Best,
TJ


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

stevedenver said:


> this thread remind me of the Emperors new clothes...............
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Steve,

Emporers New Clothes? No I think if we are going with a fairy tale analogy I'd say this is more like Stone Soup. Everyone, well almost everyone, enthusiastically contributing good ideas.

The idea for the "Bridge Out" sign, the smashed barricade, the engineer and fireman jumping from the cab, the panicked passengers, all came out of this thread. 

The track (Bachmann indoor track) I just added also came from the observation that it needed rails. I had doubts about the hollow track rusting away but saw in another thread that while it will rust it should work for this application.

I'll post some pictures of the rails once I work out the TNT and other explosives load for the gondola. Just need to find a suitably sized figure of Wile E. Coyote holding a placard saying "Yipe!".

Best,
TJ


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Hey again TJ,

While you're at it, you might also want to keep Halloween in the back of your mind, and special effects... a motion sensor, triggering some sounds of crashes and screams? Some flash-bang? Fog? 

Lookin great, I think a lot of us now want a little vignette at the front door. 'Cause after all, and speaking for myself, nothing says "Welcome to our home" like a good ol train wreck! 

Cliff


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Your not playing with trains in the basement are you Cliffy?? A little explosive....booom boom.

The Addams Family comes to mind...Gomez and his train wrecks...
How could we forget...

Add a mail box to the front door list...
...one looking like a train...

Dirk


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

CliffyJ said:


> Hey again TJ,
> 
> While you're at it, you might also want to keep Halloween in the back of your mind, and special effects... a motion sensor, triggering some sounds of crashes and screams? Some flash-bang? Fog?
> 
> ...


 Cliff,

Halloween is a great idea!

I have thought of sound effects, I tried with an audio clip from True Lies with Arnold and Jamie screaming "the bridge is out" back and forth. But the helicopter sounds washed it out. 

Yeah, a good train wreck just says "Howdy!". If I had Gomez' money I'd be all Addams Family all the time.

Best regards,
TJ


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Track added. Going with Bachmann indoor (silver hollow) track, which should rust to a nice brown before long. Hardest part was cutting ties and bending the 4 foot diameter curves to fit the AC 10 foot curves of the trestle.










Best,
TJ


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

This reminds me of the movie "Back to the Future 3." At the end of the movie when they push the Delorean down the track with a steam engine. 

Wonder if you could suspend a Delorean model in the air with flames coming out the rear???


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Art imitates reality!

Nancy and I were in Monti's, a steak house, in Tempe, Arizona today for lunch. In the lobby they have a lot of pictures of the history of Tempe.

There are two pictures of a train wreck in 1891, where an engine and a couple of head end cars ran off the end of a washed out bridge (?). 

It reminded me of your yard art.









A second picture shows the engine on the ground (river bed) in front of the cars in this picture.


Chuck


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

I made some progress with the gondola car on the wreck of the Soggy Bottom Express. I found a Wile E. Coyote figure and with some repainting he worked out pretty well.

Here you can see an early fitting for size and position...










The barrels are the cheapies from Michaels and just took a quick coat of paint and some work with a sharpie. 

To get the right height, I mounted everything on wood them to keep the wood from any water accumulating in the gondola (which has drain holes) I put the blocks up on metal Snapple caps.










The larger crates are just pieces of 2x4 painted and trimmed with coffee stir sticks.

I added a sign and the gondola was complete.










Everything is either screwed or glued to the blocks which in turn are wired to the gondola.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Best,

TJ


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

TJ;

It's looking great. If you ever find a roadrunner figure, he could be perched atop the bridge saying "Beep! Beep!"

Best,
David Meashey


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

TJ-

Looks great. As I was scrolling through the pictures and saw Wile E. Coyote I started laughing. Then I thought where's the yikes sign. As I kept scrolling down it showed up. Got a good laugh out of it.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Outstanding!


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Here's a couple of hitchhiker candidates:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Looney-Ma...950&sr=8-13&keywords=roadrunner+action+figure










and...
http://www.amazon.com/Looney-Tunes-...r=8-2-fkmr2&keywords=roadrunner+action+figure










Lookin' great, TJ!


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

CliffyJ,
The roadrunner/coyote set you show there is the same one I have. As suggested I may put the RR on top of the covered bridge (once I repair the roof).

I had to repaint Wile's eyes to get the expression I wanted. Here's a crude before and after...








Best,
TJ


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