With extra time on my hands I've been making progress on my railroad.  With my engine house progressing and my new lights installed I wanted to experiment with building flats and forced perspective.  I spent a couple of hours playing around with this today and I have to say it's the hardest aspect of the hobby I've encountered so far. 

I'm 90% of the way through my 1st structure for my layout and thought I would share some pictures.  With my engine house I'm looking to capture all of the "beauty" that was New York in the mid 70's. 

I hosted my first op session this week and learned quite a bit.  In my excitement I neglected to take any pictures so I can't write about my experiences there however one thing that worked VERY well in my estimation was my car card and waybill system. 

 Probably not the sexiest post about a model railroad but yesterday was a GREAT train day for me.  With the long weekend coming I had a slow workday and was able to get my fascia almost entirely installed!  The table saw made quick work of the masonite sheets (I got it for my birthday in October and I'm embarrassed to say this is the first time I got around to using it!) and it was attached with 18 ga. 5/8" brads so filling holes will be a breeze! 

My layout is nearly ready for some scenery so in preparation I've started experimenting with different painting and weathering techniques on my structures to try and achieve realistic results.  My current side project is coming up with a repeatable technique to create the look of an old, weather beaten brick factory that are common to the New York City area that I'm modeling.  The image below gives a decent idea of the look I'm after (which is ironically in Oslo; used with permission of the site host): 

It's been quite a while since I've posted an update on my layout progess but there was a good reason:  I haven't made much of any progress in a long while! I won't lie, I get jealous when I see this guy and this guy make such great progress when things have been basically unchanged in my basement for the balance of a year.  Inspiring work that I only wish I could emulate!   

I've been experimenting with weathering trucks on my rolling stock and wanted to share methods I've hit upon that are easy and produce what I consider to be reasonably realistic results.  Here is my step by step for those interested in trying the technique:

I'm in the home stretch with my first structure but there are a few problems I'm facing and would appreciate suggestions/pointers.  My building is a kitbash of 3 Walthers Commissary buildings  which required trimming the foundations down to fit the buildings together.  Despite my best efforts I've discovered my cuts weren't totally square.  Here is a quick shot with my loading dock test fit in place: