Man, it’s surprisingly bittersweet to realize that our dudes—who’ve started school together since what seems like the dawn of time—have just had their last joint FDOS (First Day Of School).
With the Finnster starting his senior year (!) and Hen being a junior, this marks what’ll almost certainly be their last joint starting day (well, unless Hen follows in Finn’s footsteps to a school to be named later!). Sigh… the days are long but the years are short, always.
As you know, our man Henry is a huge railroad enthusiast – whether it’s actual real-life railroads, garden railroads, model railroads, or movies about or including railroads. This summer, he took his love of all things railroad to the bank!
Walthers, a model railroading company who makes and sells all things train and train-adjacent, sponsors the Walthers National Model Railroad Build-off every year. There are several categories for adults and kids. This year, Henry entered the Adult: Silver Screens category. The object was to build a railroad-related movie scene using Walthers scenemaster products (trees, grass, telephone poles, tracks, etc.).
Henry picked a scene from one of his all-time favorite movies, the classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He chose a scene where Butch and the Kid have just blown up the train car holding a safe full of money. He hand-built the landscape, and the exploding railcar and associated shrapnel flying out through the cloud of smoke. He painted the smoke orange and lit it from within using a battery-powered LED filament. He custom-ordered 3-D printed tiny human figures which he then painstakingly painted and expertly positioned being blown back by the explosion.
As you can see from the pictures, he did an absolutely incredible job. My rough guess is that he put at least 40 hours into the scene, and it could be quite a bit more. He submitted his entry in June, and we’ve been waiting with bated breath to see if he won a prize…and he DID! Walthers emailed him on Monday to let him know he’d won 2nd place in his category, and will be receiving a $500 prize check!
From Walthers: “Your Butch Cassidy entry was outstanding in every way and brought back so many wonderful memories to all of us.” We should be seeing his model on the Walthers website and in their physical catalog soon!
The whooping and hollering from 983 Delmas must’ve been audible for miles as John and I celebrated his win. We are so excited for him, and he is so deserving of the prize! Way to go, Henry – we knew you built a winner!!
We’ve long been intrigued by Donner Pass—named after the ill-fated (as in, cannibal) expedition that became stuck there, and which the transcontinental railroad was able to surmount through immense skill, effort, & will.
Hen’s buddy Peter had previously hiked the 3-mille trail that now runs where the original rails once lay, and on Saturday the three of us made the long drive (nearly all the way to Lake Tahoe!) to hike it ourselves.
As you can see in our gallery, we enjoyed the immense tunnels & snow sheds, popping out perodically to enjoy some spectacular views en route to the current railroad—which we caught in action!
Yes, we’re terribly behind on updating the ol’ Micronaxx—but in our defense, as soon as Hen turned 16 (technically earlier, even), we skipped the continent! 🙂
Here’s a quick gallery of El Segundo celebrating in Leadville with the fam, including cousin Kristen visiting from Illinois:
And, making up for a bit of lost time, here are a couple of galleries that gather shots Hen & I took on the Fourth of July—first at the parade, and afterwards at the airport BBQ.
