What did you do on your layout today?

Yesterday I finished the descending loop of track around the future engine service facility. Today I begin the outer, ascending loop.

Double Daz,

   Dave thanks much for your life time of service to our Cuntry, pass along my thanks to your Son in-law also.  Was with the 2nd Group Military Intelligence Special Forces out of Ft Devens, Mass during the Viet Nam era, then CID after that.  Have great respect for the military men and ladies, did everything I could to make sure bad people could not take advantage of them, as they protected our country and way of life. You asked about the pistol, the long hand gun with the 12" rifle barrell, is an old H&R .22 Mag mountain pistol, my father bought it for me.  Loved to hunt Squirrels with it when I was a boy.  Thanks for the heads up about accessing my pictures, it's not suppose to happen in this manner, will need to check on it.

PCRR/Dave

Dave,

I kind of thought you might not have known that the photo link let us access your other photos too. I guess I could have sent you an email, but I didn't think of that and I was interested in the pistol. I seem to remember a TV cowboy who used a long barrel pistol. Must have been quite the thing back when you were a boy.

As for my service, thanks. I did a tour at Da Nang in '71-'72 and have now been retired for 20 years as of Oct 1. I was a computer operator at the time, so spent much of my time in air-conditioned rooms.

Oh, and I wasn't snooping. I just clicked on the photo and saw the arrows before I realized it was showing more photos than you uploaded. Of course, then I couldn't resist checking the grouse hunting shots, etc. Hope that was okay.

today the area for the Christmas layout was cleared and the base bought out..a little black touch up painting around the base and on some lift blocks of rate base…a new riser for  the tree is under construction and the layout goes up this Friday…try traditional for me…just as when I was a boy…only updated additions are some Lemax buildings I have been buying for the wife…sticking with the Lionel 3rail PW look of the 50's…

jz

I purchased the lumber and hardware for the Christmas layout for under the tree today...all mostly cull lumber too! Going to start building it tomorrow!!!

Repaired the broken throw bars on 7 old Right of Way switches. Still have some old Ross ones left to fix. Getting ready for the big track laying push in 2014.

Did some more straightening up and trash can filling. Lots left to do on that front.

I learned that I'm going to have to make some modifications to the layout in order to accommodate 89' flats and autoracks. The problem is the layout was designed before before any of those cars existed. It's either that or operate with restrictions.

i have a section of raised track that i put power to today.  also found out my new lionel silver bells engine doesn't run.  tomorrow, i have to take it to the repair shop...thanks lionel.  i believe that's about the LAST starter set i ever buy.  tomorrow, i'm starting on 8' of "brick wall" to go under my raised track.  i love vacation when you can't go outside and work!!

Getting closer to finishing our winter scene on the JKL Railroad. Kay's mountain is looking good. We're making lots of fir trees, all sizes, from bumpy chenille.  Figure between now and Christmas we'll have several hundred more to dot the mountainside. But working on wiring for animating animals, polishing the track and running trains will occupy us through Thanksgiving.  There are whimsical critters playing in the snow are just down the track! MTH's KCS Business train thunders through a tunnel above the human area of the winter scene.  Happy Thanksgiving!

I finished building a Christmass tree platform for under the tree...it is only 48" x 39" but will fit an oval of O gauge track, and a small village around the tree....

here it is!

today i ran my new lionel silver bells engine to the local lionel repair shop.  i cut the foam for my "under the track" wall.  i decided to go with a print-out of a brick wall since my intent is that it will be mainly blocked by trees and/or city.  i glued the sheets to the foam.  tomorrow i'll flip the foam over and secure the sheets around the foam.  i also got my tunnels ready to go.  i'll "stagger" the wall a couple inches out from the raised track and fill the area in between with plaster cloth and then put on the ground cover.  in my mind, it'll work out great!  jeff 

I cleaned the track again and this time cleaned all 78 wheels, 12 per on the passenger cars as well as those on the engine/tender. Boy, my hands sure got dirty.

Car Show Season is over for another year.   Another long, cold, lousy Northeast Ohio Winter is settling in. The good news is, I will finally be getting back to work on my train layout!! I have lots of scenery to do. Last weekend I picked up where I left off this past April constructing a mountain. I hope to get a lot more done on my layout this Winter than last Winter.

Bob.

Worked on setting up the Christmas layout today.  Still have some additional accessories to put out.  Looking forward to making bigger and better with each passing year.

Since I'm "grounded" until this weekend, I finalized a switching layout design I'm going to build over the wife's objections. Worked on a couple of locomotives and switched some Weaver cars over to Kadees and scale wheels.

Matt....there can be no objections.  You should be able to get a doctor's note stating that switching is "good therapy" for you.  All joking aside we all know that every aspect of this hobby is good therapy

(except, in my case, the constant teardown and rebuild phases I tend to repeat perpetually).  Hope you are feeling better.  Please share your design when you can.

Thanks,

Rick

Glad your back. 

Nice to see you posting, again.

Full recovery pal.

George

I'm always amazed at the work that gets done and displayed on this thread.

I'll tell ya, this working for a living really interferes with model railroading progress.   

George

Well, I do not feel quite as bad. I ordered the Silver Bells set for my wife and she wanted it put on the track so we did last night and it runs but no smoke at all. We are thankful that it runs and sounds but bummed on the other. I did some cleaning and moving some trees/buildings/people around. My wife is going to call the repair person and switch off the smoke so she can at least use it through Christmas.

Just tore into benchwork with a SawzAll to make room for an Atlas Pratt bridge.

Unloaded turkeys from a Milwaukee refer. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Don

Completing a new siding. Not that big but it runs next to the wall racks of trains and can be isolated from the rest of the layout. Very handy as I can use it to make up/shake up  trains without having to reach very far. It forms an extension of one of my loops and can be used as a run-around track as well.

Interestingly, I used manual throw switches. I kinda like getting up and walking around to perform "brakeman" duties - throwing switches, coupling cars, etc. 

We made MAJOR progress today!!! My son is home for Thanksgiving. Chris and I finished building and installing the elevation piers and ramps for the top level of our layout and actually ran trains on all three levels using MTH DCS. Prior to this, the upper two levels wer conventionally controlled. We are using two transformeres put through one TIU. Our postwar ZW runs the two main loops on the bottm through the variable ports of the TIU. Our MTH Z-4000 runs the top two loops through the fixed ports of the same TIU. It seems to work well.

Purchases! 50"x100" Woodland scenic spring grass mat 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby, and pack o med. green, med. ground cover to top off the green foam I laid over the table layout, along with pack o lichen to hide a gap atop a stone tunnel entrance on the ceiling layout. Off to the Dollar Tree, found brick mat, garden walls, firemen, potted shrubs, and 2 trees off of the Christmas Village type end cap for a whopping $6 total. Then went and bought back an old Marx Commador Vanderbuilt full set I traded last year, then regretted it (thanks for holding on to it Rob, you were right!) and picked up a second chrome/red Rock Island & Peoria 4-4-0 "General"(American). My plan is to modify one pilot truck, and double head them. The few extra cars I want to add cause wheel slip with only one engine. So all in all a good train day.    

I finally got up the courage to disassemble my layout to incorporate a new track plan.  I have put this off for years, and couldn't bring myself to pull the plug and take the trains off, but my inspiration finally arrived today.  It was tough to remove those screws and cut the wires and start taking up the cork road bed, but I have been working on a track design for over a year, so I think I've given it alot of thought.  Of course, as soon as I start laying track, I know there will be last minute changes, but that's okay.  I will be anxious to get it back in shape so that I can enjoy my trains again.

Mike

I have been working on my layout's scenery a little at a time. I learned a tough lesson on my new layout. I built the table strong enough to support my weight, unfortunately it does not support my age, 56. Having had knee surgery this past April makes it difficult for me to climb up on my layout and crawl around. Kneeling on hard plywood and track is not a very pleasant feeling for my knee. Besides that the section I am working on is just over 6 feet deep. Lesson learned, nothing over arm's reach! I had no problem laying track 4 years ago, scenery is another matter. But, all in all, it still beats a good day at work!!!

Cobrabob.

Believe it or not, but I had my first accident on a 6x8 oval the other day. I fashioned a stand for the last passenger car to set my phone on to take a video. That part worked fine, but as the train was backing up taking the video, I went to open my makeshift tunnel entrance. I lifted up the white batting to make way for the phone and forgot the 1x3 hangs down right behind it. So, the phone hit, stopped the train dead in its tracks and the train pushed some cars off at the curve. They plowed over my little old time photographer's camera and I've been gluing the tripod legs back together. They had already been broken before I got it, but I sure felt stupid, again.  

Cobrabob: Working out track issues after replacing tubular track with Gargraves. Gargraves is not as forgiving as tubular track!  I feel for you having the same issue after had both knees replaced in 2012. I was told that I am not permitted to get on my knees making it even harder to work on the layout. Had a over the top creeper but it was an old style that did not fold up and could not move it around very well. Limited space thinking about the new one from Micro Mark as it folds up. My layout is 8 feet deep, Let me know how it works out for you maybe we can trade tips!

Ran trains: steam and diesel.   Cleaned a small section of track to see how dirty it is.  OK for now.

ChToday i put together a Railway Express train.... all RR Exp cars, box, reffers, and 60 foot reffers.  First it was pulled by a Reading Train Master ( Williams ) then an MTH Y6b ( Railking ) This was on my permanent home layout .... The Free State Junction Railway.

This week I have been building a a whimsical Christmas layout at the Damon Foreman Music Academy in Glenwood, Md.  I teach trumpet their one day a week and thought it would be cool to set up a 4x8 layout in the waiting room adjacent to the front window.

I invited one of my younger students ( who loves trains ) and his friend to help out.

It was all great fun!

I glued some musical instruments, from Christmas tree ornaments,  onto some old Lionel flatcars.  Please see the photos.  Two loops of tracks, one hosts a K Line GG1in Brunswick Green pulling the cop and hobo chase car plus a K line search rotating search light car and caboose.  The outer loop hosts a Williams J class 4-8-4 dressed in Blue for the Cincinnatian.  ( B&O used pacifics dressed in blue shrouding for this task prototypically ) This engine pulls the musical instrument flat cars and an MTH seasons greeting boxcar with a caboose.  I can also alternate freight with a 2 - 3 car passenger.

trains.  I still have some touch up to do when I go back in this Tuesday.  Big fun!!!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday!

Whoops forgot to attach the photos of the Christmas layout at the Music Academy.  Here they are.  Enjoy!

trumptrain, what did you use for the landscaping snow simulation? It looks good!

A few finishing touches and limestone quarry will be done.

Set up my son's N Gauge set around the tree to be used as a Train ride for kids in my layout world. Construction crews are finishing the work under the tree after laying the track, while the local Train club has been testing the train to insure safe operation. Ok I am losing it.

I got my 2002 Etrl Collectibles, Keebler Horse Drawn Cart for my old Western town theme park scene. Will weather it and dulcoat it to.

Finished project begun a couple of years ago by installing and testing the bridge on the 132' Ross turntable.  Load tested it with the NP Z-8 ... worked great.

Been a while since I posted here, which is not to say that I haven't been working on the layout. Now that I have a workbench, it is much easier to have tinkering time when Patrick isn't here.

When Patrick is here we get the heavier work done. He was over on Monday, and then again today.

We added this 061 curve coming off the helix. When complete, this will form a wye.

Then it was on to the final peninsula. We roughed in all of the lighting from the corner on the left almost all the way to the end.


We added the plywood decking and trimmed it to a nice smooth curve.


Then extended the decking another 24'.


Picking up where we left off Monday, Patrick ran wire through all the conduit, and made up sockets and more boxes, while I cut and bent pipe to extend the lighting down the opposite side of the peninsula. Then we added the section that goes down between the backdrops at the center of the photo.


The plan is to turn this area into a hump yard.


We came up just a little short on time today. There are just a couple more connections left to make before the first lights come on on the south half of the room.


I'll probably finish this off before Patrick comes back Monday.

I replaced some track with Gargraves flex to get a better curve going to the car ferry.  I also am cleaning out a ton of stuff under the layout and posting it for sale on the forum.  

Installed the new D56 Chrysler Building. This is a spectacular rendition of this NYC landmark and a quality addition to the layout.

Finished those connections and did some cleaning. The cleaning effort isn't so obvious, but the lights are.

MOSTLY JUST INFO reference ballast fastrack

I'm in my rebuild mode and even though I'm using fastrack and I'm more toy like I wanted to play with weathering the track and ballast. I picked up the roofing granules I ordered the other day from a local roofing company. Much less expensive than some of the other products  I have looked at. I purchased Slate, black and gray. So just for information to other members I'm posting some pictures of it. Also two samples of woodland coarse ballast. I can not see any difference at all in the two products with the exception that the roof granules weigh slightly more than woodland ballast when put in the same size container.

I spent a lot of time fighting with my DCS, on the Christmas layout, but ultimately, I came with a number of improvements for next year and I have all 4 trains on the track. 3 are moving now. Can't waste to post some pics. On the mishapen figure 8, I'm pulling 17 cars without enough room to add a scale car or a bobber caboose, without hitting itself. I want ore space for Christamas, for Christmas.

What did I do on my layout today (well, yesterday)...something really stupid

I decided to run a passenger train so I put my 3rd Rail E7 on the track and a couple of passenger cars behind it.  It didn't make it 3 feet before cars started uncoupling

So I removed all but 1 car, same thing.  I could see a dip in the track work, never noticed it before and of all places it's on my drop-down "bridge" section where I enter the room.  I figured either the piece is starting to warp or I bumped into it and cause a misalignment.

So I spend the next 3 hours raising the roadbed, adding shims, drilling holes for cable ties, etc. nothing seemed to be working.

THEN it hit me, it wasn't so much the "quality" track work I had put in, but just about each car has a coupler (all Kadees) that was not at the correct height.  The Kadee on the E7 is also suspect.

So I had to undo all the "fixes" and put the track back where it originally was (I did add screws to the ends of the track on the drop-down so they would stay in place).  Now I have to work on getting the Kadees at the correct height, I'll probably buy some of the offset shank couplers to keep the shims as thin as possible.

None of my freight cars are giving me problems, but most of them are 40 footers too.

Lesson learned, check the obvious first!

I'll be replacing the down-down section with a bridge in the upcoming year, hopefully I can make it so it doesn't warp.

took the Train Board to the TCS show

in Solvey, NY on sunday. spent a good

amount of time fixing track as I have done

for the past 4 shows.

because of transporting and the board is

over 20yrs old. I think it has seen its last show.

Im spending the winter making a new board

and upgrading things.

Very early stages of subway station 3.  This will be the biggest of the 3 stops.

Always use a height gauge with installing Kadees!  I have also learned the hard way!

Ran trains for two days. Four scale size trains, nine diesel locomotives, 72 pcs.of rolling  stock, on 1 track about 3 scale miles long and a 2.3% grade. Then combined it to two trains on sunday evening. The RS11 with twelve box cars, all old Atlas (Pola). The rest a mixture of all brands with Kadee and claw couplers, with 8 power units, five leading and three pushing. 

Clem

The mountain is getting there. I know it's rather small. So is my layout at 8'6" x13'10".

Bob.

been trying to get the road name off a weaver passenger car all day.  Been using ELO easy off but it has barely faded the lettering.  I am desperately trying to avoid a full repaint.  I just want to remove just the road name and add my own custom decal and herald too it.   Might have to get some very fine sand paper and very carefully work it to avoid removing the rivet details.  

Building my benchwork. Finished installing all the girders today. Still need to install all the center peninsula joists and decking. It's coming along.

Added a new building to the layout.  The very nicely built bar from Menards.   I then moved a few other buildings around.  

I also purchased my 1st building kit.  It is a western scenics cobbler building.  I already have the built up version of this building.  I plan to have them side by side. I will make this one a bicycle shop.   Hope to do it over Christmas vacation. 

Three days of painting mountains with a brush inside the train room due to it being so cold to spray out side. Finally today was able to spray outside the larger section. What a PITA, But still having fun. On to more mountain building.

Yikes! That looks like clay or plaster or foam slabs! Maybe you should look into “hard-shell” mountain making like most have been using for the last fifty years... quicker, less expensive, much lighter weight than plaster or clay, more adaptable and much easy to modify later on ; ) Either way, kudos for your neat effort in getting your empire built!

~Andy

My wife bought me a GoPro camera, so of course the first place it had to go was on a ride around the layout. I grabbed an old flat car and a railroad spike, duct taped the spike to the car for added weight, and stuck the camera on.

Now before you look at the new video, take a look at one that was taken a year and a half ago. I apologize in advance for the poor quality, but try to take note of what the layout looks like.



The route of the train has not changed! It is still doing the exact same 500' loop, only now the layout looks a lot different. It doesn't hurt that the picture quality is far superior.



Patrick has been coming over to help almost every week for almost a year now, and it shows!

Wow. I feel dizzy! LOL!

That was fun : )

~Andy

Not on it, but over it.  I put in 16 feet of track for lighting.  Will do more tomorrow.  

George

Cleaned the track.

Fixed an electrical problem on my outer loop.

Peter

I have finalized the design of the second layout.  It is 9 x 34.  I am sure I will need to make adjustments when I actually lay track but I really like the track plan.  I still have two concerns.  If this were a toy train layout it would be easy to build but as a hi-rail it is a bit daunting and I wonder if it is too big.  The other concern is that the room will be crowded.  If I were smart I would take down my tinplate layout and build in that space.  But no one ever accused me of being smart and I love the Prewar stuff. Since I am down in Florida for the winter I can't get started until May building in NJ.  I gave my wife a list of Ameritowne buildings to get me for Christmas.  I can build them down here and have them ready when I go North.

Ironbound

I got a smile out of that. It's just 2" Extruded Polystyrofoam, chopped up with a cat's paw then the grinder puts the lines in it . The paint color is just a latex base coat so the other colors and ground covers ie grass dirt ect will have something to adhere to. It's really not complicated and it's very light in weight. I'm actually trying to copy as best I can PatrickH method of how he made them.

Larry

I fixed the Culvert unloader. A pin broke on the motor housing.

Recovering from knee replacement  but today I posted a help notice for future work. The train will run this year, as will I

This has turned into a Great Post!!

I think the only way Im gonna get done,

what I want to get done, is rip into it.

I need to take the old board I take to shows

apart and build a new one. The old one is 20 something,

owes me nothing and was originaly made from scarp

lumber.

I think if I take all the track OFF, that will get me started.

I spent four hours under the layout, on my knees with my head stuck up inside a "mountain" building an O-27 tinplate track loop that "turns around" 'Streets vehicles on my mainstreet when they get to the end of downtown.

I decided to do a little woodworking on my layout.  I finished up my turntable section by making a magnetic door to conceal the underneath portion of the layout.  It gets rid of the unsightly open space and gives me hidden storage room.

BEFORE

AFTER

Nice work Pete

All the cleaning that Patrick and I did last Monday paid off today, when my wife and I hosted the entire family (6 adults and 4 kids). The train covered nearly a third of a real mile, doing 3 flawless laps of the loop. Some had not seen the layout in over two years, others only 6 months. I think the adults were even more impressed than the kids.

I did manage to complete a small project that will come in handy going forward. I built a small extension cord that has an outlet controlled by a dimmer switch. Specifically, this is for my single speed Dremel. Now I have to try it out with the little circular saw blades. I plan to use it to cut Gargraves ties so I can install uncouplers. I'll share that process with everyone when I get going on it again.

I made a monumental decision today, after stewing over it for the better part of a year. I ordered a dozen Tortoise switch machines. It's time to make this layout start living up to its potential!

Appreciate the compliment, Ironbound.   The panel is birch plywood that I stained.  i was happy with the way the birch took the stain.  I applied polyurethane to bring out the highlights.

Pete

I just played trains with the polar express set around the tree today!

Worked on a road through my city scene and built a few pallets for the dairy.  Hope to get all the roads put into place by the end of the week.

We had Vintage Day at the club open house today. All postwar or prewar trains on the layout. I ran a 1503WS set for awhile until the E-unit or something on the 2055 shorted out. Great thing is I know it will be an easy fix. The older folks comment on how they had this train or that when they were a kid. The kids always have a fun time running the coal loader, milk car, or ice station. There is also a gantry crane though it is too high up for the younger kids to run.

Two new flat cars loaded!

I installed a remote control switch in my second level. Now the track connection between the second and third levels can be made.

Elliott:

Your layout videos are GREAT!!! Keep up the good work and keep us posted as to your progress.

Ok, I'll be the laugh of the day. It was very nice here today in NE TN with snow on the surrounding mountains and the valley so sunny. I decided to fire up the Weber grill and turn on the sixties oldie Goldie's music and GRILL about 8 pounds of dirt for my layout that I dug up and sifted in early summer. I know , go ahead a take you best shot hee hee.... Oh and yes, at the end I opened a top on a nice cold Coors Light.

Still having fun!.

How long did you cook it? I'd like to do the same thing with desert sand eventually.

I reworked my grade up the mountain - I had previously reworked my mountain, raising it about 3/4 inches.   Took a while to get back to the grade.   The new mountain is foam, and supports an On30 oval.  I am using Woodland Scenics inclines and risers.   Works great.

Dave

I probably did about 30 to 40 minute plus on each batch until in was very very dry. Dry is what I was trying to accomplish. Even though I dried it when sifted in the sun 6 months ago, it was no comparison to heating it like this. You could see the moisture from steam and dark color (wet) when I started.

And, it's been in a climate controlled room since I did that last summer over 6 months ago???

Wow, that's interesting, I would have expected it to be dry. Thanks for the reply.

Years ago when i was building my railroad, i used washed sand (available in various grades/colors) from my local gravel company. i dried it in small batches in a 250+ deg. oven for over an hour for each batch. Used those cheap throw away roasting pans to cook it in, and stirred it while "cooking". You would be surprised what can live in that stuff for months without any apparent food or water. While we all strive for realism and a life like appearance on our model R.R.'s, i don't think we want them that life like.

jackson

Got another road put into place and ordered some pinstriping tape to create striping on the roads.  I also got one of the building in my city scene wire.  This is the third day this week I've gotten to work on the layout, it's been a while since I been able to get this much time to work on it.

Thanks Randy, with Patrick's help things have been moving right along. Matt will be back in a couple weeks then we'll really make some progress.

Patrick was over Friday, and we worked on a few projects. I turned him loose to work on the backdrops, where he filled holes, sanded and primed, in preparation for paint.

While he was doing that, I cut and assembled this series of pipes into a rack to hold materials like piano wire and dowels.


Then he helped me install the rack.

When that was done we started to install an 8' light fixture under one section of the layout. We didn't quite finish that, so we'll get it done Monday.

Did some mountain painting and getting a little closer to playing with ballast, dirt, grass and trees. One tiny step at a time.

Took a few pictures.

ol' 999 rattlin' the diamond just days before Christmas...

Sometimes, cars breakdown during the holiday rush...

Busy day Got all subway level lights done.  Cut wood and attached for 2nd level. Cut foam for 2nd level and started laying out track for 2 outside main lines.

Over the past few days I have been running 0 gauge live steam.  I have seven methylated spirits fired locomotives, ranging from a 1926 Bing to a 1968 Auld.  there is something special about locos that are powered by real steam.   Not just a matter of turning  a switch, but preparation is needed.  Lubrication of moving parts with steam oil,  checking that wicks are in good condition, putting the right amount of hot water in the boiler, lighting the wicks, raising steam and away it goes!  These are simple oscillating cylinder locos, sometimes called `piddlers` because they might deposit drops of water here and there, but not enough to matter!    Good fun!

A little Christmas present to myself, I picked up this Weaver hopper for $12 shipped on eBay (perhaps the low price due to the mismatched truck?  I'll fix that later):

So after getting home from work I spent a few hours weathering it, then about another hour using pliers to break small pieces of real anthracite coal into slightly smaller pieces of real anthracite coal to make the load.  My great grandfather was a real coalcracker, I don't think this quite qualifies!

I'd just leave the two different trucks ... have seen that before on a car ... be pretty cool, a "different" car ...

I ran my latest aquisition, a Lionel Pennsy Hudson 626. The engine runs great and the sound effects are so real!

I haven't done any real work on the layout lately but that will all change after tomorrow.  I am waiting on my Christmas gift from the wife, a sliding miter saw.  I will be using it to make a facia around the front of the layout then installing skirting.  It will give the layout a much more finished look and less of a construction zone!

Ran trains, then dug up some old photographs of railroads in Michigan iron range, early 1900's. found really neat picture of a seven train meet at Durand Michigan station. Guess I better get some frames.

Clem

I would love to see those photos!

I, also, would love to see those photos. Can you scan them and post them?

Happy Holidays!!!

This week I began planning a new wiring diagram for the inner loop of the Free State Junction Railway.  Ran my new set of Lionel B&O RDCs ( from the Fun Dementia Era :-) 

Ran trains on the Mountain Division of the FSJRR.  My plans are to really get some work done on the layout in the next week and a half since I'm off during that time.

Thanksgiving weekend I built/created a layout at The Damon Foreman Music Academy in Glenwood, Md.  It is a 4 by 8 ft layout with 2 loops of track.  I mentioned this in a recent post.  Folks have really enjoyed seeing this layout in action.  It is located in the waiting room next to a picture window and it is a crowd stopper when the trains are running.  Folks on the sidewalk, young and old, stop and guack as the train run. Quite a few folks come in and look at the layout up close to check out details.  

Attached is a brief movie clip and some photos. Enjoy!  PS I bought the snow blanket from Harrison Trains LLC in White Marsh Maryland ( They are on the web... great folks to deal with too ) I also used Woodland Scenics snow on the roads.

I will have more to report as this week unfolds.  Until then MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Cheers!

I like to share, but don't have a scanner or printer. Randy wants to see them also.

Clem

If you have a cellphone with a camera or just a digital camera, why not take pictures and post those?

The Pinstriping tape I order last we showed up yesterday, so while my wife was out shopping with the 5 year old and the 2 year old was napping I was able to start lining one of the streets.  I hope to have the streets line by this weekend and I will post some pictures at that time.

James