This is my first major modeling project after moving into the new house, a Great Lakes ore boat to be moored at the raw materials dock of my as-yet-unbuilt steel mill layout. I've made an Abracadata track plan, I know I can fit it [albeit barely] - now I only need to do the 'perspiration' part of the task! I chose to model a ficticious Cleveland-Cliffs vessel as a tribute to the once-bustling Cuyahoga industrial waterfront in Cleveland, Ohio. [An article on the Victoria's construction, titled "Build A Great Lakes Freighter in HO Scale", was published in Model Railroading, September 2002.] In march 2003, I renamed the Victoria to Marquette and added numerous additional details, such as lifeboat davits and a hatch crane. Click the links below to view images of the upgrades. Forward view Forward, starboard side closeup Forward, closeup from aft Afterhouse, view #1 Afterhouse, view #2 Afterhouse, view #3 Afterhouse, top closeup view
[ Click on any thumbnail image to see it rendered full-size. ]