How fast do you model?  How consistently do you work on your layout?

I look at the progress modelers like Michael Rose makes with amazement. He accomplishes more in a day then I do in a month!

Thoughts about when you do most of your modeling?

My layout lives in the uncooled third floor of my home, so it can be brutally hot during high summer.  However, I do have A/C in other areas, where I can work on structures or rolling stock.  So I tend to work on the layout itself during the cooler months, and structure and rolling stock projects during the warmer ones.

Nick

Sometimes too much research is a bad thing.  After acquiring a copy of Trackside Around the Pennsylvania Cement District, I now feel the need to redesign the cement mill portion of my layout for increased operation.  Oh well, at least nothing's actually built yet, so there's no loss.  But looking over things, I may need to increase my covered hopper fleet.

My original design only included outbound loads.  Further investigation revealed inbound loads of additives to react with the limestone, as well as, coal to fuel the kilns.

One of the benefits of maintaining mostly the same theme, is I can reuse nearly all my large buildings.  Some of them need altered somewhere to fit the their new locations.  Luckily I cataloged their construction, so I could match the paint. Also because some of them are sizable, I'm placing them as I lay track so that everything meshes properly.  Added bonus...they come off the storage shelves...allowing me to put other stuff on the shelves.

One of my recent Morning Sun acquisitions, Dereco in Color by Arthur J. Erdman, has slightly altered my Penn Lake 8 history.

The 1970s was an interesting time in railroading.  One of the "big" pitfalls is applying 600 ACI tags to my car and caboose fleet and 300 or so wheel inspection dots!

Nick Brodar

Penn Lake's Bourbon River Sub crosses numerous water courses, on a diverse collection of bridges. Follow along as I chronicle the construction of them.

  Crossing a mill pond on a scratchbuilt concrete arch bridge, Penn Lake 7

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Updates:
11/10/18 - Mainline paint and ballast
11/11/17 - Paint and ballast begin
11/11/16 - Replacement ties
5/28/16 - Middle loop completed.
3/29/16 - Pennsy Crossing
1/1/16 - Crossovers for CA Tower & Continuous Run cut off
11/12/15 - Engine Terminal
11/7/15 - Helix 1 complete, middle level begins
10/30/15 - Helix turn 2 and 3
10/22/15 - Helix turn 1 is in
10/21/15 - Lampson Yard Complete
10/20/15 - running tracks & Lampson Yard
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Updates
11/18/17 - Circuit breaker installation, and wiring reorganization
12/17/16 - Throttle bus and jacks
12/4/15 - SF Tower wiring continues
12/1/15 - Wiring for SF Tower
10/21/15 - DCC installed, and Lampson Yard wired
10/18/15 - DCC installation begins
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Working on some wiring today...it's a lot easy to pull the wire before the plywood is down.

I like cabooses almost as much as I like locomotives.  Here's a look at my caboose fleet.

Feel free to share your own!