I'm back! I've finally got that laptop I've been needing. My absence was caused by computer problems which hopefully won't recur.

I am now in the process of moving everything model railroading related to the laptop so I won't infect anything business related since the laptop won't have anything to do with the other computers on my network.

Anyway I haven't had much time for railroading due to various problems which have cropped up ovef the last few weeks.

Ever since reading John Armstrong's Track Planning for Realistic Operations I've been intrigued by his drawing of a "shoofly" (page 123, 3rd ed.). It's a simple scene of track diverted over a fill while a crew repaired / rebuilt a bridge over a small stream, yet contained the possibility of multiple "stories" within the scene (not only the work on the rails, but the land just outside of railroad property: orchards, farms, roads, forests, etc.)

So I designed a 2'x6' "Shoofly" module:

Ran across this video on Youtube:

Rick

When I saw the MRH article on Zip Texturing in Sept 2010, I ordered a quantity of tempera powder.  Of course, I didn't have anything to texture at that point in time, so the unopened box has been languishing under the layout since then.

Well, yesterday I felt the need to texture so I opened the box.  Brown, yellow and white pigment??? I thought I ordered black but the order clearly showed white.