What did you do on your layout today?

Yesterday was productive...day before was not, with just sandpaper lightly and randomely sprayed different colors to weather as asphalt roll roofing, and then cut up and applied to this saloon. Many small details, signs, corner trim, etc. added yesterday, so the light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.  I think just the chimneys,

hitchrack, and saloon doors remain to do.  Kit came with these doors, but I think I

will cut up and enlarge some plastic ones, just to be different.

I finally was able to move furniture in our recently married daughter's old room and setup a table that will be our Christmas layout.  It will be about 4x7 with two loops of track on a snow blanket and my wife's collection of Lemax and Dept 56 buildings she inherited from her grandmother.  Our living room is too small for a layout near the Christmas tree, so this will be the first we have been able to do this for a few years.  We are looking forward to it!  I will run the 2012 Lionel Polar Express, an MTH NYC Hudson pulling Madison passenger cars, and plan to have the MTH N&W Y6b make an appearance pulling freight.    Those two faces are Mark and Kim smiling about our Christmas layout!!  I will post some photos once there is something to see besides a table.

Not done yet, on this last saloon.  Decided to fabricate a door to fit the kit opening,

as the swinging ones are kinda underwhelming, and am touching up paint, with chimneys and hitchrack still to add.

Mark 

I am glad you will be able to set up a Christmas layout and looking forward to the pics. I can understand the lack of room. Two years ago I moved the tree where I have the layout from a different room that was smaller as we wanted a train running around the tree too. So now instead of setting up a layout around the tree. The tree is set up on the layout.

Doug 

I don't have need for a huge tree. I keep a Mini-tree, and an 0-27 loop layout screwed on a small "drawing" table I got at a Big Lot store (cheap & closeouts).

If the tree was just a little smaller I could claim it as a "to scale" old growth giant. 

I quit with getting my plastic tree out of the box. My dog & cat don't appreciate it anyhow. I have a wee little pine starting in the front yard so I will put an ornament or two on it. My RR is up and running all year, did all the other Xmas stuff some years ago. Switched out a transformer on my layout yesterday. Hooked up a big Z so I can use a variable post for accessories.

Yesterday was a nice day.  I went to my LHS for his big annual sale.  I picked up two items, one I have been looking for and the other thinking about.  I picked up the 2 add on cars for the Metro North M7 set - I had been wanting this for a while.  The second item - I am a Legacy guy and have about 8 Legacy engines and 3 TMCC engines.  When we got to the LHS I saw the LionCheif+ Hudson running around the track.  Looked good and I have read/seen many videos on this forum.  But when my son saw it, he said "Dad we need a NYC Hudson"  Well needless to say I pulled the trigger and bought it.  Got it home and fired it up.  All around it is a really nice engine and I am very happy with this purchase.  My son ran it for almost 2 hrs yesterday.  Then I did some wire cleanup under the layout and spent some time figuring out what my next scenery work will be. 

I did decided to do something to the undersized Lionel wind turbines. So i picked up a 3/4 PVC pipe from hd. Cut them to about two feet in length and replaced the original pipe. They came out pretty nice IMHO. Just have to spray paint the PVC pipe white. original pipe is next to the PVC pipe.

Here's a li'l sneak-peek of what I (well, actually, it was myself, a hands-on executive of Lionel, and a dear friend who helps me with Layout Refinements' out-of-town major projects) did on my (well, actually, it was Lionel's layout,) today (well, actually, it was last night, Saturday, from 6:30pm - 1:30am). The layout @ F.A.O. Schwarz (the entire store is soooooo very cool), on Fifth Avenue, NYC, needed re-groomed, Holiday-ized/Winter-ized and perked-up , quite a bit, from much use and eager model railroaders reaching up and over the see-through plexiglass-type perimeter.

I was happy to return to the layout, which I had re-interpreted for the 2012 Holiday season, to help it regain its status as deservedly on the What's-to-see-in-trains-for-Christmas-in-New York tour around town. To see if we helped Lionel continue its rightful place in the Holiday pantheon of things to see in NYC, you'll need to see the layout @ FAO in-person.

Here, I can only offer this modest smile at you via these two photos.

FrankM.

in-progress...

...and..

...nearing completion, at 1:00am

P.S. Shoppers were very interested and interactive with us as we approached our work (store closed at 9:00pm) with a half dozen train sets selling right away. It was delightful to see so much sincere and enthusiastic interest for Lionel trains in such a huge toy store in so large a cosmopolitan city as NY. The entire experience felt wonderful.

P.P.S. I must say, the entire late-night staff, many of whom came over, for a moment or two as they carried out their assignments, to note our progress, encourage us in our efforts, and to share their childhood experiences involving model/toy trains, were consistently pleasant, friendly, reserved, and professional in their demeanor. Their positive impact added to the pleasure of being at FAO for the work mission and adventure we undertook.

To me, re-crafting that layout in time for Thanksgiving was, indeed, a point of thanksgiving for me, as I felt it to be a significant responsibility, when one considers how many folks - especially the little ones - will see that layout as part of their Holiday experience. Also, re-crafting the layout felt like quite an honor to be asked by Lionel to help them present their name in FAO Schwarz.

The upper level of our layout is progressing. Today, my son Chris and I fashioned and installed stone retaining walls. Before and after pictures are below.

Not so much as what I did, but I told my father I was thinking of building a confederate memorial on my On30 layout once I'm at that point for scenery. I realized for the 1940s it couldn't be on an original carriage as none of them would be outside by then and nobody was making reproductions for battlefields yet at that point.

So I told him and Mom that I probably would put it on a pedestal, much like the real barrels mounted on a memorial in their hometown in TN state...

SO, I get this photo yesterday, he just scaled down a 12-pounder 'Napoleon' barrel in O scale for me!

This really wasn't that big a deal for Dad, he built a full-sized civil war M1841 6-pounder field gun in the 1960s and made a more accurate carriage for it in the 80s, spoked wheels and all, hand built...

Wow...that is a nice metal turning, P51.  Made me think to wonder if there is any

Civil War reenactment of the Great Locomotive Chase, etc.?  Today, I finished my

three saloons, photographed them, and some cabooses for another thread that is

running, and will post those in the near future.  Now searching for some photos of

defunct oil company storage tanks to finish these Korber tanks.

Doug, Adriatic, Jim, 

Thanks for the replies.  Well, the tree has to come first at our house.  

Two years ago we ended up buying another artificial tree, and my wife wanted another 7 foot tree.  We did get one that is narrower, since our living room is small.  Well, on the old one, I was able to bend the top and get the angel on.  Now the only way to make it fit would be to get out the hack saw.  We used a chintzy star.    Oh well.

i put the last of my train stuff on ebay today.  after about 15 years i decided that i was done.  not a big collector, just a few sets.  i went thru several versions of my layout but i believe that i'm done.  i've sold off all my train stuff but my harry potter train which my 13 year old daughter wants me to keep.  i'll be taking a ho set that i decided i'd never do to my great nephew on thanksgiving.  

after finally cutting in an access panel I got back to work with scenery it was just to hard to climb on the layout every time I needed to do something. here is todays work.

I recently upgraded my MTH Ps-1 Crescent Limited to TMCC using ERR boards.  During the conversion, I burned the CV Board up in the locomotive and lost my lights.  I was unable to find a board that would work, so I bought 18v lamps and didn't have class lights.  I saw a thread about light boards available at Henning's and bought some.  I am not proud of my wiring job, it looks nowhere neat as some of y'alls, but it works!  I changed them to green too.  I am waiting on the wiring harness to come for the smoke unit and I'll finally be done with the upgrade.  Thinking about giving it white walls - any thoughts on that?

Yesterday I helped the kids next door with their Christmas layout.  They are both excited about trains ...... really excited!!!!   

I also had them over to see my layout, the Free State Junction Railway, for it seems to inspire them.

Today I ran some trains, 32 car freight pulled by WbB Shark demonstrators, and later a Lionel J class took over the honors.

Also relocated the gentlemens club " Bada Bing" to the other side of the tracks.

Your scenery is shaping up extremely well. It looks GREAT!

For a while, I’d been thinking of adding a scale Civil War memorial (not necessarily Confederate as East Tennessee had lot of pro-union sentiment back then) to the layout once the scenery is underway. It was great that Dad took it upon himself to make that barrel for me.

The original plan was to make a scale 'concrete' or stone pedestal for the gun, as an original field carriage wouldn't have survived to the 1940s when my layout will take place (and nobody was making reproduction carriages for parks at that point that I'm aware of). The finished result will be very similar to gun tube at the memorial in downtown Elizabethton, TN:

I'm still tempted to make it to where scale people are removing the tube from the mount for a wartime scrap drive, to illustrate all the historical items we lost in the name of WW2 scrap drives...

Got out Lynn Wescott's "Benchwork" book, and John Armstrong's book on "Realistic Operations" preparatory to figuring out what to build and how to build it.  These are great books that I hadn't looked at in 10+ years since taking a model railroad hiatus and relocating.

Neat wires in hidden locations are overrated Be proud it works!

 Paint plating?! I do like whitewalls, but love "chrome" chrome rims

Neat wires in hidden locations are overrated Be proud it works!

Oh my, thank you! Glad to see that finally posted.

Larry

Went over there to put some ground cover down, instead ended up testing out the new track cleaning cars, and running some engines around.  No work got done, but it was fun times.

Your facility has really turned out terrific Doug. Great photos!

Today I finished the Korber petroeum tank, converted into two.  Decided to paint one

dirty black and the other white, as most were white in the aerial photos I found of the

now HollyFrontier (formerly Frontier) refineries.  Got some Frontier Oil Co. signs printed and applied, and finished these.  These will go near a Walthers and another kit built walking beam oil pump.  Now trying to decide what to do or build next.

Doug,

I agree wholeheartedly with c.sam; your engine facility is tremendous.  It certainly compliments the wonderful locomotives you have!!

Cleaned wheels on engines.  Cleaned wheels on tenders. Cleaned Wheels on cars.  Cleaned Track.

Cleaned up a mountain of dirty Q-tips.

When all that was done I needed to clean me!

Yes, I'll bet you did need to clean up you!  

Put the ground cover in for the storage tracks finally. Didn't have time to glue it in so don't sneeze near by

I hooked up DCS over the weekend, in passive mode.  Very pleased with it. 

When it come to cleaning wheels, I got tired of all the piles of dirty Q-tips so now I use a soft buffing wheel on my Dremel.  I put a drop of WD-40 on it and use it to get the wheel spinning, then put my finger on the back side of the wheel to get the wheel spinning slower than the buffing wheel.   Does a great job.  Now the only thing I have to clean is the end of the finger I use to slow the wheel down.

Jim

Jim,

That's a good idea!  I would say one dirty finger to clean was well worth the time saved on what all of us would call a boring job.  

I've been working on modifying buildings to accept Miller Engineering signs. When I got to these MTH buildings, I thought the roofs looked rather blaa. So I printed some extra tar paper sheets on cardstock from one of my Clever Models downloads, cut the strips out, and glued them to the roof. I think this is a huge improvement. Below are a before/after shot, and one of the tools I used. BTW, I blackened the raw edges of the strips with a black Sharpie. Time to do the other one!

Chris

LVHR

I'm not entirely sure if this is really layout related, but I DID inflate the tires on my handtruck using a 12v car tire compressor, a bridge rectifier and my Atlas 80 watt transformer...

Oh, and I did get the new Gi-raffe Express caboose up and running, courtesy of parts from the Train Tender, as well as update a gi-raffe car with a newer type gi-raffe!  Will write up how I did that in a separate article shortly! 

Mitch

Oh, and I gave the old giraffe a lobotomy and a Mohawk (since his horns were broken off).  He, and the car behind him, are going to be receiving a zebra treatment in honor of my place of employment being acquired by Zebra Technologies, Inc...

No! Not Billy Idol.... Neil Young! ........(What's his name? Joey? Sid Not Very Vicious? You have to mosh me for GG A1lin) 

I have a PW car with a big spotted pony too. My grandfather modified it to rise only over un-coupler magnets. Done by using a heavy copper wire lug, and a screw. The trip levers hit his platforms, so he did this mod. often cutting off the lever ends. Would you like a photo of it before your done here?

CHECK IT OUT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...amp;feature=youtu.be

Christmas Train running main!

No! Not Billy Idol.... Neil Young! ........(What's his name? Joey? Sid Not Very Vicious? You have to mosh me for GG A1lin) 

LOL!

I have a PW car with a big spotted pony too. My grandfather modified it to rise only over un-coupler magnets. Done by using a heavy copper wire lug, and a screw. The trip levers hit his platforms, so he did this mod. often cutting off the lever ends. Would you like a photo of it before your done here?

Yes please! 

Mitch

I ran it for my Thanksgiving guests. All had fun!!!

I'll say it is a long, long train!  I thought it was never going to end!  That's a nice Christmas train running on your very nice layout, John!!

It only counts if it was in your trainroom  and providing Sid Vicious the giraffe also flatten the tires.

Doug

Hooked up the last of three sets of MTH Flashers with sound.  Also got the switches set up to get wired tomorrow.  I also swore alot.  I hate wiring, so I'm good for about one accessory hook-up every couple of days.  

Well, I DID inflate the tires in my train workshop.  Can't ask Sid at the moment; he's at the painter's, having his stripes applied... 

Mitch

I broke out several freight cars which have all been in boxes since long before the layout benchwork ever got started (including the only Bachmann 'shorty' coach  kept and have compared it to the AMS coach I bought and repainted recently). I also sanded off the road #s of one locomotive in anticipation of renumbering it.

Still been slowly working on  my second level highline.  Made some progress on the trestle part.  The plan is to add steel trestle detail where appropriate such as the upright beams in the second picture will have some lattice added.

You didn't ask, but let me offer you a heart-felt perspective. Are you certain you want to have Lionel 0-72 switches right inside those tunnels, especially connected directly to each other?

In my subjective experience (I had twenty 20 of them on the first iteration of my layout, all of which have been removed long ago for endless sins - theirs, not mine, I think,) they are very, very ,very fond of derailing locomotives, esp. and for example my scale Lionel Dreyfus Hudson, and esp. when backing through them on the way into a yard.

Just askin' and advisin' , if you wish.

FrankM

Got the Gold Edition PE up and running. Good stuff!!!

Oh!  And here's the link!

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...-later-type-gi-raffe

Mitch

I added a mountain, back in what had been a ugly corner.  Now its not ugly anymore - not really pretty, but acceptable.  

Here is the corner before.  You see some of the tools I was using and the open access hatch while I'm working.  It is four feet from the access hatch edge to that back corner - Ugh!  That back corner is really ugly!

Here it is after.  Looks better.

Hi Frank,

Oh no, no tunnels, that'll all be open.  The switch at the far right background will be just outside the mouth of the tunnel.  Thank you for pointing that out just in case, but I'm trying to make sure I do not obscure any of these switches.  Those two upside down U shaped "portals" will eventually be (I hope) steel girder supports for the trestle, hopefully like this...

Thanks for your kind reception of my comments, Dennis. You made that enjoyable.

FrankM

P.S. I can see, now, on second reading, that I read too quickly and misinterpreted "...upright beams" in your explanation. In my mind's eye, I "saw" tunnel portals, obviously, and did not read for your intended "girder supports" (pretty sorry for an English teacher, huh. ) Oi-vey.

You folks don't create layouts. You create wonderlands full of joy. Wow. What heartfelt creativity!

FrankM

Working on a video RR thumbnail • Using Photoshop & Illustrator. Running into chaos. it needs some improvements. I enjoy working out these issue's to keep my computer skills up to date. Technology is moving to fast.......  

Ah, the good ol' West Philly High Line.  Up until 2003, my battered ol' Mercedes could be seen at the Drexel U. parking lot in the background (across Chestnut St.)...

Mitch

It looks GREAT!!

This "work" was so much fun, I just have to share more of it here with OGR. This is more of what I did on Lionel's layout @ F.A.O. Schwarz, 5th Avenue, NYC, in time for this Thanksgiving Day holiday start-up to the Christmas season. This thread asks what we did, so, here, I am actually in the act of working on crafting and installing a Christmas tree vendor in the village. Also, you can see a shot of Scenic Express's "Matte Medium" being applied with an eye-dropper to snowfall details. (That stuff really works well !)

FrankM

I constantly had in mind the possibility of my work being seen on visits by OGR Forum members during the Holiday season, so such a consideration motivated me marvelous well to do my best, not to mention having a Lionel exec. working right next to me on the project, all enjoyable factors, truth be told.

Frank,

I really like the layout.  It is nice seeing photos of you at work.  Thank you for your effort, I really appreciate your modeling and your insight in general!

Looks mighty good, Gary!  Yes technology is moving forward too fast.  It is hard to keep up!

Thanks very much, Mark.

So many children, adults, and store employees walked up to me, during the five hours I was there, to ask questions and/or to share their experiences with having had Lionel trains that the whole event of being there to re-craft the layout became a personal joy, as well as an obvious serious responsibility. I say "serious" because, when one thinks about such a layout in such a popular store as F.A.O. Schwarz, one can see that many lives may be touched in impossible to imagine ways, in the near and distant future, by seeing such a happy play-land as a model train layout. Doing it right and keeping it well-groomed has to be done with serious personal commitment and ethic, IMHO. Touching lives is a serious matter, to me, and for those to whom trains have meaning, showing respect for their joys by modeling as best I can is an obligation. I want them to enjoy. And remember. Something fun.

FrankM.

Frank,

That is certainly a good desire to show folks something really good that will instill their interest for a long time.

I had to look up the quote, "When people are attracted to realism, they sense the emotion. A.Wyeth"

Now I realize I have seen many of Andrew Wyeth's paintings.  Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

 A true craftsman at work. Its not just the trains but the scenery as well why we as kids watch the displays until our parents or our wives drag us away..  

Doug

Doug,

How true that statement was and still is of me!

After putting up the Christmas tree, I got to work some on the Christmas layout in our recently married daughter's old bedroom.  I painted a couple of coats of white on the old foam board that I had pulled old track off in preparation to put down a Randy Harrison snow blanket.  My wife also started to dig out her grandmother's porcelain buildings from the garage closet.  I carried them upstairs.  They are mostly Dickens Collection and Lemax, with a couple Dept 56 thrown in.  I forgot how many Grandma had purchased over the years.  Wow!  I will post photos once there is something more interesting than a white table and a bunch of boxes.

Oh, also, last evening I put down my two loops of track O-31 MTH and O-36 Fastrack on the unfinished board to see how it would work.  I want to run the Polar Express 2012 on the inside loop and the MTH NYC Hudson with MTH Madison passenger cars on the outer loop.  They just don't quite pass with out hitting on curves.  I would be fine if I had the Hudson pull a freight train.  I ordered a loop of Fastrack O-48 for the outside loop.  The only problem is my board will be a couple of inches too narrow, so I will have to splice something on the back end.  Stay tuned!

Picked up an operating Marx rig, complete with platform, at the Joplin, MO train show...

Yanno, for someone who's purportedly into tinplate traction, I'm sure picking up a heckuva lot of Marx 666es... 

Mitch

They are like rabbits you know, once there are two......  Darn it, how often is there a show in Joplin?  I come through there several times a year to visit relatives in OK and SE KS.

BTW, nice looking Marx rig!

Thankee!

Yes, they ARE like rabbits, aren't they?  And now I feel obliged to pick up more scissor coupler-ed waifs... 

The Joplin show is usually twice a year, around the end of March and the end of November.  

Mitch

I Love this shot, I wanted to model this Hi-Line trestle for the longest time, However it would be a massive job to do it right. The only way I could see it being done is to have someone photo etch the cross truss braces on the supporting framework on the main girder supports.

I saw this Hi-Line every day when I went to school at Saint Francis Xavier elementary across the river and also was very lucky enough to see just about every type of Loco Pennsy owned running on it.

I had a bunch of honey do's to do today, but I did get a little bit more done on my hi-Line.  I'm doing this first version in wood so it will be both quicker (to get trains running) and also partly to see how well I can get the visual effect I desire.  Then I would like to take a shot or two at a more proper latticed girder structure.  To me it's all lost with out the lattice affect.  The other thing I am doing so i can get the track work up and running is to support the main section on tapered concrete piers.  Here's a couple of update shots showing a couple of the girder supports where the upper track crosses over the lower.  Even those these are wood, I will eventually add the lattice to the vertical girders and add the ribs to the horizontal one.

Drilled some holes and tested some sensors for the staging yard to prevent derailment when someone sends a train onto the main and forgets to throw the turnout back. Should have the testing done this week and installed next weekend.

Mitch, Here's some photos of the uncoupler operated giraffe mod. Just a tabbed wire lug screwed to the wishbone. Finding this exact lug?...Good luck! But some other cars Gramps made had copper lugs, but always steel adjusting screws. Yep, the big screw can adjusted by being raised, or lowered. The weight/slide bands, and maybe arms must be removed to achieve a balance. Steady, while running/jerking, and always in the down position. But not so much the magnet cant pull the screw to tip the balance.  

 Sid can chill till someone pounds on his favorite #90, then he's gonna stick his head out for a scowl or two, or maybe start head-banging if the music is the bullocks! (Sid would have likely been even later than me with the photos...so...ya know... NEVER MIND...)   

ROFL! Mosh pit zebra, then.  Very clever!  So the head stays down until the button's pushed and then pops out...  This is an interesting concept!  Well worth some mulling over. 

Mitch

Just trying to finish the water tower from Altoona. I think I did pretty good for my first try. Made some minor mistakes but think it cam out pretty well. Few more things to do. 

Dad and I were just discussing a new closet for me in my train room (with shelves for storage), and a work bench in the next room (a storage/circuit breaker room). That's progress, and we are hoping to start them after Christmas!

Finally got a start on the Christmas layout. Buildings and wiring nearly completed. Will have some pics next week.

 Bob

Time to end this

Hey guys. Well nothing with the trains but this Christmas things are going to be different. I put up the Christmas tree last night. This after noon I ran to Walmart picked up 2 strings of lights for the outside. And I also took some photos of the trains sitting along the tracks. I still need to decorate the tree that will happen to night or tomorrow. Then I will set something up under the tree. And I put up Lights oh the house,  So Merry Christmas Everyone.

???

I'm not sure what he's thinking either. 

This is the single most popular topic on the forum, HANDS DOWN. It has more views and more member likes than any other. It is totally democratic, and not about any one person's layout. People come here to share their progress and ideas. My guess is that even people without layouts like to follow this for inspiration and tips.

This topic is nearly 2 years old, and I hope it goes on forever. The only reason it might go away would be if it became technically unwieldy, in which case it should be locked and restarted. But, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

End what ?  Is there a reason anybody should be concerned?

Doug 

The only directional piece of my layout bench work deck  I cut upside down. Cant flip it since the homasote is attached to it already

better luck next weekend

Took a saber saw to one edge of the plywood that sticks out beyond the 1X4 and would make laying fascia almost impossible. Another section was too close to tracks for that to work, so a new wood saw blade for my dremel made easy work of it.

I also found a crazy good deal online for another sound-equipped ten-wheeler in On30 (only 121 bucks including postage), now I have ET&WNC # 14 on the way. That engine was gone from the RR by the timeframe I model, having been bought by the Army for the White Pass & Yukon, but I decided to do an alternate reality where it never left. I'm keeping it in green and gold as it was never painted back to black in ET&WNC service, but I was be weathering the heck of it as her gold lettering was almost worn off by mid 1942.

Not a bad to way to spend my 45th birthday...

Spent the last three days rewiring and adding lights to the layout. Nice thing about these lights (12) I will be able to connect them to the transformer once the tree comes down. replaced a section of track and weathered with snow.

Happy Birthday p51. What's "the main train" you run to celebrate with today?

I didn't run my On30 layout on my birthday (which was yesterday), but I did do some minor chores on it.

Hi Lee and Happy Birthday.

Great to see someone modeling the ET&WNC Ry. When we moved to Banner Elk in 1985 I started collecting the ET&WNC [and Southern] in large scale, planning to build an Garden layout. After a couple of trials at building on trestle bents and concrete roadbed between the boulders, I realized the terrain I had was too rough and the weather too hostile at 3,500' and switched to "O"[inside].

I also collected a lot of East Tennessee and Western N.C. history and "Tweetsie" prints by artists Ted Laws and Don Iverson. The stuff is headed for the Linville Depot in Newland, now a Museum. The Linville Depot had been used as living quarters but was finally moved from Linville to Newland and restored.

In 2008 I dismantled my Banner Elk 14x32, 5 track shelf layout as health issues forced a move to Greensboro. I used to shop for electricals and lumber at a building supply in your town of Elizabethon, Tennessee.  

Dewey,

It's amazing how many people know of the ET&WNC today when you consider how little coverage in the RR press it got when it was running.

My folks were born and raised in the Stoney creek area, just to the East of Elizabethton but moved away in the early 60s. All of our relatives lived in that area when I was growing up but most of them have passed away other than some cousins. I still have an uncle who lives right along the shore of the Watauga river there. We used to go up there at least once a year. I'm sure you looked at my site and saw the photos I have taken in the area. Sadly, I never got to live there and now live on the West Coast, but I always consider the Elizabethton area as a second home growing up.

I know all about the museum at Newland, I can't wait to get back there some year to finally get to see caboose 505. For the rest of you, this was the only hack the RR had after 1941. Most people thought it was scrapped when it apparently dropped off the face of the earth. Rumors abounded that 'someone' had saved it until someone confirmed it with photos that it was on someone's property. A family owned it, knew what it was, but kept the location Top Secret for decades. They recently donated it to the museum at Newland, NC to sit with the formr ET&WNC depot from Linville:

got some street lights moved and hooked up. Finished attaching feeder lines to the tracks.Still need to figure out where the Christmas Tree lot will end up.Had trains running on all three mains until a pesky box couple would free the rest of the train (only when I wasn't watching it). Sure hope Santa brings me some more lights so I can get better pics taken.

Enjoyed some time running trains tonight.  It was very nice, I was joined by my wife, dog, and one cat.  All had a good time!  My wife got to see some of my recent scenery work and the trains seemed to run very well.  

Got my MTH Chesapeake & Ohio Allegheny set from Nassau Hobbies today. Also, planted some trees and shrubs.

Wow, huge difference in grade there, almost looks like a trolley grade it's going up!

Spent some time refamiliarizing myself with Legacy now that the leap from 1.0 to 1.52 has been made.  The lousy picture is of my K-Line Torpedo which I thoroughly love in command control

Then worked some on the repaint of this Lionel switcher to Pennsy colors.  Added the real coal load plus an electro-coupler at the rear