I noticed an ugly curve in my trackwork the other day and made a mental note to improve it at some point. I was surprised that I would have put it in that way, but my memory isn’t very good and perhaps I was rushing it. 

Then yesterday I was looking for a photo to illustrate student activity on the model railroad and happened across one that I took last year, indicating that the track originally had a more reasonable curve that had apparently moved considerably. 

And just like that, it’s October! Let’s see your latest workbench, benchwork, and model progress as we roll through another month.

Eric

Dear MRHers,

Having found myself (unexpectedly) faced with a small fleet of DCC locos,
with a variety of decoders from the major US-manufs,
(and a couple of oddballs, not to mention any "visiting units" that need help)

I'm seriously considering building a custom DCC test/programming rescue toolbox ("throw-pack").

There has been lots of discussions on "Finger Flicking" of turnouts as an Alternative to other methods.

Personally I dislike this method but I would like to get others opinions.

From my experience I have come up with a a list of Pros and Cons. 

PROS

Cheap

Simple

Low Maintenace (no wiring etc)

Clean Fascia/No Control Panels

CONS

Unrealistic

Damage to Scenery/Details by clumsy people

Broken switch blades