Be Nice to your Enviroment

Hi Folks;

We model railroaders all know that they should get more trucks off the roads and more trains on the rails . This would have many positive effects -less road maintenance required, better for the environment, etc, etc. Speaking of environment, over the years I have seen many layouts and their corresponding environment that they are housed in - right from the cold garden shed ( cant imagine having to wear a ski-doo suit and toque to run model trains in the winter) to ones that are actually housed in a purpose built building. I have to admit running trains is a whole lot more pleasant when one is in comfortable surroundings. When we moved into our current house, I did some extremely fancy negotiating and was given permission to use the rec room in the lower level of our three story house (I think the boss regrets her decision sometimes) and was lucky in that it was fully finished with carpeting etc. Besides the layout, I have put numerous railroad signs up and also a small display case ( http://www.tracksidedisplays.com/) to make the atmosphere more enjoyable. It all adds up to making time spent in the layout (cough cough I mean Rec) room more enjoyable. Till next time...

About Time

Hi Folks;

Well I have totally put off doing a post as long as humanly possible.Now that the Holidays are past and I have had a few weeks to actually do something on the layout, I can give you all an update. For the last couple of weeks, I have been working on a small industrial area just past the mouth of the yard. It has two industries - A Sherwin Williams paint factory and a flour mill.
I have added a paved parking lot, added a new structure and ballast the track and added ground foam in the area. I am anxiously awaiting the release of the new Atlas HH660 - according to the Atlas site, it will be shipping in the next week or so. My hobby shop has also told me that the new Intermoutain U-18B's are now available ( non -sound versions) and the sound versions will ship in March - I have two on order, and ordered them when the were first announced approx 4- 5 years ago. Long overdue, but sure will be nice to get them. I'm off to an operating session tomorrow on Doug's White River Southern - looking forward to it. Have a look at this posts picture to see the industrial area I have been working on. Till next time....