Jimmy Hobbs plays marbles
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Dean Smith
Outside the Hampton Depot, Jimmy Hobbs and his buddies risk getting in trouble for playing marbles with the ball bearings the railroad uses to weigh down the tickets in the ticket cabinet, as per a story Jim told at an ET&WNC Historical Society convention many years ago. If his dad, Clarence Hobbs, the railroad's superintendent, catches them, there will be H-E-Double Hockey Sticks to pay.
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Mark Lewis
Dean,
Great scene....well done!! (BTW...I really enjoyed your clinic on your outstanding ET&WNC layout, during the 40th NNGC ZOOM meeting last Saturday.) Mark Lewis Narrow gauge modeling in N.C.
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Steve Austin <sea110947@...>
Me too! Re: the on line clinic. Visited John Waite's layout twice during NNGCs. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message -------- From: Mark Lewis <narrowrails12@...> Date: 8/24/20 5:16 PM (GMT-05:00) To: ETWNC@groups.io Subject: Re: [ETWNC] Jimmy Hobbs plays marbles Great scene....well done!! (BTW...I really enjoyed your clinic on your outstanding ET&WNC layout, during the 40th NNGC ZOOM meeting last Saturday.) Mark Lewis Narrow gauge modeling in N.C.
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Michael Hardin
Dean,
I own the ticket cabinet from the ET&WNC depot in Elizabethton with the tickets to each point on the line. Each row of tickets has a large clay marble that holds them down, not a ball bearing. I have a Clinchfield ticket cabinet too and it has
the clay marbles. So your scene (which is very cool) is probably accurate without steel ball bearings.
Mike
On Aug 24, 2020, at 4:25 PM, Dean Smith <smithfive@...> wrote:
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A really cute scene! Keep up the good work Dean!
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Dean Smith
Mark,
Thanks!
Dean
From: Mark Lewis
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2020 4:16 PM
To: ETWNC@groups.io
Subject: Re: [ETWNC] Jimmy Hobbs plays marbles Dean, Great scene....well done!! (BTW...I really enjoyed your clinic on your outstanding ET&WNC layout, during the 40th NNGC ZOOM meeting last Saturday.) Mark Lewis Narrow gauge modeling in N.C.
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Dean Smith
Steve,
Thanks! Yes, John had a great layout. He is greatly
missed by so many of us.
Dean
From: Steve Austin
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2020 4:28 PM
To: ETWNC@groups.io
Subject: Re: [ETWNC] Jimmy Hobbs plays marbles Me too! Re: the on line clinic.
Visited John Waite's layout twice during NNGCs.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy
smartphone. -------- Original message --------
From: Mark Lewis <narrowrails12@...>
Date: 8/24/20 5:16 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: ETWNC@groups.io
Subject: Re: [ETWNC] Jimmy Hobbs plays marbles
Great scene....well done!! (BTW...I really enjoyed your clinic on your outstanding ET&WNC layout, during the 40th NNGC ZOOM meeting last Saturday.) Mark Lewis Narrow gauge modeling in N.C.
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Dean Smith
Mike,
Thanks for the information. I don’t suppose you could
post a photo of the ticket cabinet. I’d love to see it. Thanks!
Dean
From: Michael Hardin
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2020 4:38 PM
To: ETWNC@groups.io
Subject: Re: [ETWNC] Jimmy Hobbs plays marbles Dean,
I own the ticket cabinet from the ET&WNC depot in Elizabethton
with the tickets to each point on the line. Each row of tickets has a large clay
marble that holds them down, not a ball bearing. I have a Clinchfield ticket
cabinet too and it has the clay marbles. So your scene (which is very cool) is
probably accurate without steel ball bearings.
Mike
On Aug 24, 2020, at 4:25 PM, Dean Smith <smithfive@...> wrote:
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Dean Smith
Thanks! I pretty much avoided scenery for many years, and I’m really
enjoying delving into it.
Dean
From: Tweetsie12
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2020 4:39 PM
To: ETWNC@groups.io
Subject: Re: [ETWNC] Jimmy Hobbs plays marbles A
really cute scene! Keep up the good work Dean!
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Tom Grabenstein
Great scene with HO marbles (Ball Bearings???) at that!!! I have no idea how you made those little things. Doc Tom
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
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Dean Smith
I first tried to use HO scale apples painted gray. They ended up
looking like, well, gray apples and were way too big. I then tried using
Woodland Scenics white flower material. After scratching out the marble circle,
I wetted the area with scenic cement and sprinkled on individual flakes of
flowers. I shaped them to be as round as possible. When everything
dried, I scrubbed the area around the marbles with a bit of fine dirt so it
matched the rest of the ground. To highlight the area, I made that area of
the parking area a shade lighter than the rest of it. The marbles are not
perfect, but I think they look pretty good, especially in person. There are some
advantages to aging eyes. At the same convention that Jim Hobbs told me about
playing marbles, he also recommended switching from HO scale to G scale.
He told me that by the time I was his age at the time, I wouldn’t be able to see
the HO models anyway. A true gentleman!
Dean
From: Tom Grabenstein
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2020 7:33 PM
To: ETWNC@groups.io
Subject: Re: [ETWNC] Jimmy Hobbs plays marbles Great
scene with HO marbles (Ball Bearings???) at that!!! I have no idea how you made
those little things. Doc Tom
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Tom Grabenstein
Very cool and creative modeling. And no you have not lost your marbles in working in a small scale with older eyes. Doc Tom
On Mon, Aug 24, 2020 at 8:07 PM Dean Smith <smithfive@...> wrote:
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Michael Hardin
Here is the ticket cabinet that came from the Elizabethton depot. It is a roll top locking cabinet with tickets from Elizabethton to other stops on the line. It is sitting on the table from the same depot with the cash/coin drawer. I have included
a photo of a ticket with the clay marble. The marble is about 1” in diameter. They are all colored differently. The marble was placed behind the tickets to keep them in place.
Also notice the ticket cutter. The larger tickets were placed in the cutter and the pointer was moved to the destination station and then ripped. Leaving only a piece for the customer showing the station he had paid to be dropped off at.
Mike
On Aug 24, 2020, at 7:33 PM, Dean Smith <smithfive@...> wrote:
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Dean Smith
Mike,
Thanks for sharing these. It really brings the story Jim
told to life.
Dean
From: Michael Hardin
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2020 6:25 PM
To: ETWNC@groups.io
Subject: Re: [ETWNC] Jimmy Hobbs plays marbles Here is the ticket cabinet that came from the Elizabethton depot.
It is a roll top locking cabinet with tickets from Elizabethton to other stops
on the line. It is sitting on the table from the same depot with the cash/coin
drawer. I have included a photo of a ticket with the clay marble. The marble is
about 1” in diameter. They are all colored differently. The marble was placed
behind the tickets to keep them in place.
Also notice the ticket cutter. The larger tickets were placed in
the cutter and the pointer was moved to the destination station and then ripped.
Leaving only a piece for the customer showing the station he had paid to be
dropped off at.
Mike
On Aug 24, 2020, at 7:33 PM, Dean Smith <smithfive@...> wrote:
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Leaping lizards, those are all original tickets in there, too?
Man, what I'd give for one of those sycamore shoals ones... -- Lee Bishop Owner, Stoney Creek branch of the ET&WNC in On30 gauge
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Al Spainhour
Mike, This is a treasure and I am so glad that so many pieces of ET history are in your good hands.
I see the the tickets to Pardee Point…..and I have seen fares posted to Pardee Point as well ….. Do you know if passengers actually embarked/disembarked there? It’s a bit of a hike in either direction
Regards, Al Spainhour
From: ETWNC@groups.io
[mailto:ETWNC@groups.io] On Behalf Of Michael Hardin
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2020 7:25 PM To: ETWNC@groups.io Subject: Re: [ETWNC] Jimmy Hobbs plays marbles
Here is the ticket cabinet that came from the Elizabethton depot. It is a roll top locking cabinet with tickets from Elizabethton to other stops on the line. It is sitting on the table from the same depot with the cash/coin drawer. I have included a photo of a ticket with the clay marble. The marble is about 1” in diameter. They are all colored differently. The marble was placed behind the tickets to keep them in place.
Also notice the ticket cutter. The larger tickets were placed in the cutter and the pointer was moved to the destination station and then ripped. Leaving only a piece for the customer showing the station he had paid to be dropped off at. Mike
On Aug 24, 2020, at 7:33 PM, Dean Smith <smithfive@...> wrote:
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Michael Hardin
That is a great point. I can’t imagine anyone buying a ticket to end up there. I know the excursion trains stoped there for everyone to take in the views but there is no where to go from there unless you waited for a return trip.
On Aug 26, 2020, at 11:57 AM, Al Spainhour <al@...> wrote:
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Michael Hardin
I thought y’all might like seeing my collection of ET&WNC locks and keys. The banjo locks are the newest type they used. The hole for the keys for this type was a backwards number nine.
The oldest one I have is in the bottom right of the picture and I bought it from John Waite who wasn’t sure if it was real or not. I found the worn key above it that fit his lock which confirmed its authenticity.
The top right key is from the ET railway. Which is also a backwards nine. Keith Holley gave me that one years ago.
Let me know if anyone is interested in seeing more of my collection.
On Aug 26, 2020, at 11:57 AM, Al Spainhour <al@...> wrote:
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Dean Smith
Mike,
I’m guessing I’m speaking for everyone when I say that I would love to see
your other ET&WNC treasures. Thanks!
Dean
P.S. What would the size of one of those locks be in HO? There’s a
challenge!
From: Michael Hardin
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 11:47 AM
To: Al Spainhour
Cc: ETWNC@groups.io
Subject: Re: [ETWNC] Jimmy Hobbs plays marbles I thought y’all might like seeing my collection of ET&WNC locks
and keys. The banjo locks are the newest type they used. The hole for the keys
for this type was a backwards number nine.
The oldest one I have is in the bottom right of the picture and I
bought it from John Waite who wasn’t sure if it was real or not. I found the
worn key above it that fit his lock which confirmed its authenticity.
The top right key is from the ET railway. Which is also a backwards
nine. Keith Holley gave me that one years ago.
Let me know if anyone is interested in seeing more of my
collection.
On Aug 26, 2020, at 11:57 AM, Al Spainhour <al@...> wrote:
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Dean is dead-on right. I wanna see more!
I knew you had some stuff, but the scope of your collection staggers my imagination. I never realized any one person had so much original ET&WNC stuff! You need to get these shots into a ET&WNC group magazine someday! -- Lee Bishop Owner, Stoney Creek branch of the ET&WNC in On30 gauge
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