Indoor Projects
I do multiple hobbies on the side that I try to tie into photographic work or other activities.
Here are the main 3 of the 2 groups I put these "projects" in. They do criss cross with each other and some of the tabs on this website.
Model Railroading O - Gauge
While I don’t always have the resources to work on model railroading projects, I make the most of it when I do. My focus is on painting railcars or locomotives, and I strive for precision, ensuring every detail—no matter how small—is as accurate as possible. Recently, I’ve even started designing and printing my own decals for O scale trains, which has taken my projects to the next level. My latest accomplishments include completing two trains: one received a detailed paint job, while the other was built from the ground up using parts I sourced online. I’ve also been working on minor touch-ups for railcars. Please note, these models are not for sale.
- Completed painting work on Conemaugh and Black Lick 2000, inspired by an NW-2 locomotive that was dismantled on February 12, 2025.
- Finished Conemaugh and Black Lick 111, an SW-7 switcher that Phoenix Rail sold to the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.
- Painted multiple gondolas intended for use as model scrap cars.
Google Earth Scrolling
Google Earth has been an indispensable tool for many of my outdoor activities, including hiking, biking, and mapping trails. Without it, these tasks would often feel overwhelming. It allows me to study the terrain of places I frequent, helping me identify features I might otherwise miss on foot—features like mining sites, abandoned rail beds, and hidden paths. In some cases, I’d even need a drone to spot these details, but Google Earth eliminates that need. One of its standout features is the historical imagery function, which provides views from the past decade in remarkably clear resolution. This functionality adds another layer of depth to my exploration and planning. I also rely on its path tool to create trail maps for the "Trails to Rails" project. Instead of mapping everything on the ground in real time, the app allows me to retrace my routes and plot them with precision. It's a game-changer for anyone passionate about outdoor exploration and mapping.
Mine Map Sourcing
Preserving and honoring the railroad and industrial history of the United States is crucial. In Pennsylvania, countless individuals—ranging from adults to children—dedicated their lives to the mining industry, extracting "black diamonds" (coal) that powered the world. Tragically, many of them either endured unimaginable hardships, lost their lives, or had their health ruined in the process, both above and underground. Today, only fragments of their lives and legacies remain. The once-thriving mines are abandoned and collapsing, the towns have largely disappeared, and the grim accidents that claimed nearly 100,000 lives between the 1800s and the 1920s are often forgotten. Many of these fatalities likely went unreported unless they involved large-scale disasters.
Some of the worst bituminous coal mining tragedies occurred in the Pittsburgh-Fairmont region. Notable disasters include the Darr Mine in Van Meter, Pennsylvania, located along the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trail, and the Monongah Mines in Monongah, West Virginia, now marked by a rail bed-turned-side street. These sites serve as somber reminders of the sacrifices made by miners of the time and the role they played in our history.
I enjoy collecting old maps of areas I explore, comparing them to what remains today. It’s a meaningful way to connect with history and remind others of how these structures came to be and the immense hardships endured by those who built them. Reflecting on these stories also serves as a stark reminder of how much better conditions are today compared to the struggles of the past.
The image above showcases a section of a mine map from the Youghiogheny Valley, a region marked by numerous recorded mining disasters and untold hardships that may have unfolded over time.
Outdoor Projects
I do multiple hobbies on the side that I try to tie into photographic work or other activities.
Path Cleaning
As seen on the Trails tab, I take pride in cleaning up after people and removing weeds on trails that are situated far from the reach of local communities, ensuring these areas remain accessible and enjoyable. Horse Shoe Curve west face trail.
Exploring New Places
I'm always looking for hike new to me for an overlook or an old mine...
When I go looking for new places to spot trains I keep an eye out for abandoned railroad tracks, rail beds, slate dumps, bridges to nowhere, mine runoff, coal everywhere, indicative road names, and mine portals. When it comes to abandoned rail bed looking places, If it looks like one, it was one at one point. These all will help me put together a place's past and shoot more photos.
Extreme Weather Railfanning
Does anybody else go far off of the beaten path climbing mountains in near zero degrees temperatures, climb rocks, or wade into moving water just to get train pictures? NO? WDYM? Surely, I can’t be the only one! (I only ever do this in areas I know like the back of my hand, of course.) I call these excursions my projects, as they require careful planning, bringing along all the necessary gear and protective equipment, and knowing far more about the area than the average individual simply passing through. It’s not just a simple outing, but a whole process that combines preparation, knowledge, and a sense of adventure.
Coming Sooner or Later... More Project Files & Project Examples
O Scale Conemaugh and Black Lick Railroad 111 & 2000
Handcrafted and meticulously painted, each model features my own custom decals in O scale. One is an SW-7 and the other, an NW-2 locomotive. Both are powered units, designed with intricate attention to detail that showcases the limits of my printer and craftsmanship. I took these two models to the 2025 Railfest at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and the C&BL shops, capturing them in photographs at the locations where the original locomotives once operated.
Hometown Neighborhood Abandoned Coal Mine
Located in Jefferson Hills, Pa under the neighborhood where I grew up lays a long abandoned long forgotten coal mine that I am pretty sure few residents even know of nowadays and why would they, it is pretty well hidden.
Crescent Coal Co. Number 2 Mine abandoned in 1919 was always revealing small hints to its buried portals, manways and the tipple sites while I played around in the woods below the exterior of the neighborhood. There are a few give aways I can point to with photos where anything is visible.
Key Give Aways:
- Constant watershed year round with occasional orange water.
- Concrete pylons sticking out of the dirt.
- Slate dumps
- Good sized to large pieces of bituminous coal all over near stream outlets.
- Concrete archways that the borough attempts to hide or have buried.
- Suspicious piles of rocks leading into darkness as well the spaces between the rocks carries a strong air current and slight drainage.
- Old photos of wooden structures at these sites from befor the development was built which I have mostly lost. They may have been from a local fb group.
All these line up to the map of the mine and the areas that I have explored on foot many a time for many years.
On the other sides of the valleys from which I lived there were 4 more examples of completely separate long abandoned mines with similar types of give aways, some even more obvious than this one.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern 2003 Rebuild
In 2020 I had decided to go on a road trip to North East Pa to go to Steamtown NHS and get my senior pictures with RMBN locomotives. I bought an o scale powered Lionel train ( RMBN 2000) to take with me and use it as a prop in my pictures. In the months leading up to the trip I kept the train up high on a shelf paired with another o gauge train, so high up I thought it was safely kept away from our family's cats.
It sat there for 3 moths uneventfully until spring where one day came back from school or work and found the 2 trains on the floor with one of them of course the one I needed for the photos had its body shell completely demolished and the other missing it's windows, a ditch light and a horn.
I knew which cat did it, my cat. One of our cats could not yet jump, one doesn't like being up high as it is likely afraid of heights and my personally owned cat, a is every sense of the word, he had never cared about counter surfing much less up high up. generally he does nothing but slump around all day exempt for when the automatic feeder goes off.
My cat stares at me while I am working on 2000s replacement. I know he sits quietly knowing darn well that I know that he knows that I know that he is the cat who destroyed a pristine model train and nearly stopped me from going on a road trip and there is nothing I can do about it.
