I had some vacation to use by the end of January or I would lose it.  What to do with that free time? I was anxious to see what progress Michael Rose has made on his Georgetown & Allen Mountain Railroad and since I now live in Florida I arranged a visit. This was my third visit to see Michael and as before I had a great time - not just seeing the railroad, but talking to Michael.  You see, Michael is a very interesting guy who has been a model railroader in various parts of the world.

I spied a wire sticking up through a turnout and asked Michael if it was a Tortoise and he said no, he was using a German servo which is shown below.  Michael has talked about these before in his postings and somehow I missed it.  They run about $9.00 each, are low profile and since I may be using 2" foam on the top of my layout I could mount these above my wood benchwork.  Michael even gave me this one as a gift - thanks, Michael!

Michael recently switched from N scale to HO and he even change the direction of the benchwork besides reworking all of the sub roadbed.  Notice the ladder platform (available through MicroMark) to the right which is necessary to reach some of the layout during construction.

This is a BIG layout! There are structures and locos / rolling stock here and there to help visualize the future.

Michael has a large number of structures which he has sprinkled here and there.

This is a matt board bridge kit that Michael assembled.  He wasn't sure how it would turn out but it looks great!

Nice detail and weathering!  The rock piers were hand carved and colored by Michael.  He is an expert at making roads, walls, piers, and tunnel portals from foam board.

Michael has decided to model German railroads and has some neat locos and rolling stock.

The two hours I spend with Michael was a great time.  I can't wait to see his progress on my next visit!