Layout maintenance
Return to the Basin
It's been a while since we had anything worth saying about the Sudbury Division, but we can report we are still chugging away, though not with steam locos. You may recall we were having issues with electrical pickup in our last installment (Tales from the Basin Part 2), and we had to work long and hard to get that under control. Last summer we took every car off the layout and cleaned each of their wheels individually with cotton swabs and alcohol, cleaned all the locomotives and all the track from top to bottom.
Backdrops, Facias & Skirting
While this project was completed some time ago, I wanted to revist it, to show the dramatic difference a simple backdrop, facsia and some skirting can make.
Originally, the layout had none of these things:
Rather visually unappealing. Just a backdrop does make some improvement:
Even just a facsia can help:
Finishing the basement... Drywall or not??
I was reading Jason's construction blog and saw the discussion of drywalling the exterior walls of the future layout room. I'd like your thoughts on what I was planning to do.
I'm in the process of purchasing a new house with an unfinished basement. The basement is 19' x 51' and the current plan is to put the railroad all the way around the perimiter so there won't be any hidden track or steep grades, yet still allow for continuous running.
The plan for the room is this:
reversing the throw mechanism on an atls wye switch
I have an atlas wye switch that is set up for a left hand switch machine. Is it possible to reverse the throw mechansim of the switch so as to use a right hand switch machine?
Ghost River Railway
Things have been pretty busy around the layout since I got back home. I've completed my staging yard at the start of the layout and also the staging yard on the upper shelf. I've gotten the casting bug lately and have made a lot of molds and castings. Now I just have to get them installed. 
Ceiling damage not so bad
The good news is that my water damage from the washer wasn't as bad as it could have been. Thanks to the advice I received from my other MRH post I cut a hole into the drywall to help the area dry out. I also put a small fan outside of the railroad room blowing into the rafter area where the water was located. Although the water did lift the paint and some of the drywall mud, the drywall itself appears intact. The repairs should be limited to spackel, paint, and a dummy return air vent (with black cardboard inserted) to cover the cut out section. The dummy
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