Ok so for the past few years I have made static models for myself. My RR per say has always sat in storage as I do not have the room at home to build a large layout. 

So I recently noticed this TOMA movement and realized it would be much like my planned 3X5 movement. The 3X5 is like more cowbell in the band. An extra foot each way give more room for my little land of plenty.

Please enjoy and possibly participate in this thread.
Latest Post: Towan the rope

Just added a new page to my personal blog, if anyone is interested,

https://johnnybweb.wordpress.com/2017/03/12/design-now-build-later/

Got a chance to get some mockups done for the Great Western Sugar mill in Longmont done here is how the scene is working out. I hope to have a video on it later this month.

Mike

I've created a new FB page to make discussion and sharing of my modeling easier, and create a kind of permanent repository for lots of photos. I updated my own blog with some of the reasons for creating the page:

http://rgsrr.blogspot.com/2017/03/new-facebook-page.html

The new FB page is here:

https://www.facebook.com/stevesrgs

I started work on a project that's been on the back burner for a few years. Using the Walther's Superior Paper as a starting point I am constructing a large sheet metal fabricating plant. It will hide the AC return that protrudes into the layout area. There will be a tank car unloading track at the west end with multiple tanks. The east end will have two tracks that will enter that plant for delivery of raw materials and shipping of finished products. It will be about six feet long when all done and will be the largest industry on the layout.

After about a four year wait, Intermountain Railway Co. came through and delivered their GP10s. All I can say is it was worth the wait. They are beautiful!

I can’t comment on their run quality because I will be installing Loksound v4 decoders with iPhone speakers later, but I’ve already seen a YouTube video that shows them running and they look nice and smooth. 

The two units I purchased have engine specific details such as varied Horst filters, etc. Sweet stuff!

In my first blog post, I wrote about how I am only now revisiting the hobby after many years.  I am having a lot of fun and I've enjoyed seeing my ten year-old son delighted by moving a loco and a car on some test track I set up.  After  obtaining the necessary easements from family, I have been thinking a lot about the “Where, What, and When” idea of what to do for a layout.  This will likely be a shelf switching layout for the time being.

So I started researching vendors for Banana trees for the  plantation on my layout and found only two manufacturers. Pegasus Hobbies and MP scenery products. I ordered one kit of the Pegasus and 2 packs MP scenery for comparison. I was only able to find one hobby vendor that carried the MP trees in the U.S.A., and I bought the only two packs they had.

The Pegasus trees are a plastic model Kit that you assemble and the MP scenery are premade trees handmade in Vietnam. 

Pics of the Pegasus kit.

As I'm planning out my new Siskiyou Line 2, one of the great modern tech developments that I want to use is LED strip lighting.

Here's how I've been conducting my research and how I evaluate the various LED strip product offerings. More details to follow ...