Thanks guys!
Roman - I can always count on you to be the first to post each month. Now that's loyalty!
Mike - Yeah, the BN has always been my favorite. Maybe part of the reason is I was born in May, and emerald is my birth stone. But as you can see, I'll buy anything with a local connection. The Montana Rail Link was a bit of a stretch, but I have seen them running through the Cities, so they're fair game. When I made the static grass applicator, I was all worried about choosing the right strainer. That turned out to not be a problem because the static charge was so good, it just pulls even the long fibers right through. The Noch actually came with 3 different mesh screens. Whatever.
Bob - I'm slowly building back up to longer sessions in the train room, which is an indication that my post convention funk is wearing off. Lionel does make some beauties. I just pick them to match my railroad motif.
Ray - The knee is barking a bit this morning after I pushed it yesterday. I think the solution is going to be having a pad around to help with the transition from standing to sitting on the floor. That's something I'm going to need to be doing a fair amount of to fix those switches. I want to say they went bad when I was ballasting over at Hoffman, and some glue dripped down on the relays. Tey only want to throw one direction. The debugging process will take me all the way over to the dispatcher's desk and the hidden yard control panel. The next place to test is at the relay panel under Red Wing. If the signal is OK there, then it's back to the panel back at Hoffman. I don't have a phone, but there is an old iPad floating around somewhere that I could use. The BT is really for the guests though it could really come in handy if a train gets stuck in the helix. iPad to the rescue. Yeah, I picked up the cords right after I snapped that picture.
John - It's no real secret, I buy most of my stuff from Charlie Ro. All my Lionel and most MTH comes from them. I do a little business with Mr Muffin and Caboose Stop Hobbies, mostly Atlas with them. I guess you could say I jumped into this BT thing with both feet, no dipping of toes. 
I have four more on order from volume 2, and I think there may be another four in the new 2019 catalog.
George - Two things for that bald spot, use some kind of more permanent glue than Elmers, and they have some decent blond shades. I doubt green is your color. 
As I said to John above, all of this stuff came from Charlie, been doing business with them for over a quarter century. I just look at the catalog, write my list on a piece of paper, call and usually talk to Butch, and read him my list. Then I wait patiently, and trains land on my doorstep. They have my credit card on file. I'm not looking forward to this month's bill, but I expected it when I ordered. It could have happened a little earlier or later though. It nailed me right in health insurance deductible season, when the pharmacy is pounding me. Oh well, perfect storm, but it won't sink the ship. Hopefully this is more of a one time splurge. 2019 is looking more like half this amount. Thank God!
Mark - I stepped over those cords 100 times prior, but it only took once. I'm slowly learning that I'm not as tough as I was even ten years ago. Neuropathy sucks, and it has been the underlying cause of all my injuries, toe, finger burns, and the knee. I just didn't feel the cord wrap around my ankle soon enough, like a normal person. With the neuropathy in my hands, it's a bit of a challenge to unpack all those engines. They were all in a large outer box, and it's hard to grab them and pull them out. Then they all had their brown outer shippers. I open one end cutting the tape and tip the box, letting the inner box slowly slide out to the floor. I struggle to get the tab out of the slot on the orange box. Once I manage that, I do the tip and slide with the styrofoam. I can't lift the engine with the blue ribbons, too slippery, and have to flip and catch it in my right hand, always worrying about dropping it because of the plastic wrap. I carefully pull the plastic away, and set the engine on the desk. The next trick is to remove all the foam bits protecting the handrails. I found a great tool for this step. A pencil! I use the eraser end to work it out, until I can grab it. Finally there's the cardboard pieces between the trucks and the frame. I forgot to do this on the SW7 because I didn't see it, then tried to run it. It sounded like a playing card in bicycle spokes as the worm rubbed against it. Scared me for a minute. I have nine Cab-1's for guests to use, but BT and the app add the option for these new engines.
Jim - I meant to shoot a video of the newly combined Empire Builder. It's kind of impressive, but I put it back in the yard then forgot and ripped apart the electrical box. I'll try it tomorrow when I get the power back on.
Art - The little bit that we tried the BT it was great. We did have a spot over at Hiawatha where it dropped a couple times, but over the mainline it was solid. We'll do more testing, but it's not easy to get my wife to come downstairs and do it. The first engine that I ever saw with the tanks on the roof was an HO Atlas SD24 in Santa Fe blue and yellow. I fell in love. So when I saw the GP9's in local roads, done deal. That's part of the reason my order got so huge. The Milwaukee may be assigned permanently to Hiawatha. The C&NW may be assigned to Western Avenue, or possibly East Minneapolis.
Paul - You don't get a lot of exposure to BNSF where you are. Welcome to the dark side as it were.
I'm going to have to get that oil train too, and all the new tank cars. Oil trains are a common sight around here. It's not just any Canadian roads that I like, it's the ones that come to the Twin Cities that interest me. I steer pretty well clear of engines from roads east of Chicago. I have a few from CSX, NS, and even Conrail, but thanks to pool power, they do pass through. That's part of the realism factor in my world. Maybe after I get these few things repaired, I can get back to work on some ballast and scenery, or maybe my uncoupler magnets.
Pete - Thanks, but I can take no credit for that. I just watched a YouTube video, and cobbled it together from the instructions. You do make it sound very impressive when you say it that way though.
Finally to all, thanks for getting me through almost an entire dialysis run. Doing this makes the time go a lot quicker. 
