Dried Flower Supplier For Tree Stock

Boone Morrison kindly shared his source for asparagus fern...and possibly my new source for Plumosa Fern that I use for cypress trees.

http://www.woodcreekdrieds.com/drieds.html

Another good dried plant to use is Ming Fern. It works great for evergreens.

http://weddingflowersofamerica.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=168

http://www.freshrosepetals.com/ming_fern_46_prd1.htm

These vendors are selling FRESH greenery, so you have to preserve it in a glycerin/water solution. Better to buy it dried.

More O Scale Parts

Gator's Bait Shack is going to take a lot of details. My first stop will probably be my buddy Pat Turner at Turner Model Works. He usually has everything I need.

http://www.tmwshop.com/

My next stop is Keith Wiseman at Wiseman Model Services:

http://www.locopainter.com/store/

I love O scale because there are a lot of parts available, but if what you need should not be available, then it is large enough you could produce it yourself. Most likely I will make my own pole boats, alligators and other native Okefenokee parts. Drums, barrells, chairs, and your normal everyday items will come from the parts dealers.

Got a favorite O scale parts house? I love to have the link!

The Backshop - Link and Pin Couplers

I'm excited to find that the Backshop, a model train supply company that focuses on O scale, has really nice link and pin couplers.

http://home.onemain.com/~thebackshop/link.htm

They have a horrible website. Hard to navigate and rough on the eyes. Says they have been in business for 50 years.

http://home.onemain.com/~thebackshop/

They do have one very handy service: they take plastic parts and turn them into brass!

http://home.onemain.com/~thebackshop/plastics.htm

My biggest complaint...they don't have a catalog of parts available on the website! In this day and age, to pay $4.00 to snail mail a catalog is crazy. Why not put a PDF on the site. Probably be a long time before I order any parts here.

THE BACK SHOP

PO Box 15285,

Sacramento, CA 95851-0285 USA

Email: dbraun@jps.net

Homepage: http://home.onemain.com/~thebackshop

Bayou Bell

I love to get mail. I really love unexpected mail. But when a package comes to me with my railroad's name on it, I just can't wait to open it. What will it be?

It's a set of bells in O Scale! It seems my good friend and most admired train nut Pat Turner of Turner Model Works read the story about the bell that was lost in the swamp and sent us a replacement! Actually, it will be buried in the water below the church ruins for you to find when you visit.

Pat is a great fellow and I love the stuff his company sells. They have kits and detail parts of every kind. What really gets me is that Pat is just a great guy and a super friend and would do anything in the world to help you. That kind of person will do well in this hobby.

Thanks for the cool bells, Pat!