About a month or so ago I was invited to join an operating session at a home in my new hometown.  I was excited to have an opportunity to operate on another Modeler's layout as most of my experience seeing other Modelers works in-person has been through small, modular displays at various train shows.

Just for kicks, I went on Google Maps the other day to check out the Pend Oreille Valley area where I'd be placing my proto-freelance line and was delighted to find that Google had updated their aerial views with new higher resolution photography.

Over the years I've often read in model railroad magazines harrowing tales and wild adventures of moving model railroads from one basement to another.  Often these stories would speak of circular saws and crowbars and garbage cans full of broken plaster and ground foam. Usually the modeler would end their story with a solemn warning: "It's just not worth the effort."

Hey gang! I haven't been around for a few years. I've been spending my time in other areas, but I recently bought a giant, finished basement (and a house to go over it) and so it's time to move my little layout to it's new home and start thinking about expanding it!

I spent the weekend laying down grass on a large portion of the layout.  I wanted very nice looking grass and I knew that ground foam was not going to cut it, yet I did not want to spend a ton of money on an expensive static grass applicator. Luckily I discovered a product from Scenic Express called "TuftGRASS".

Sorry for the title, but sometimes I can't help but love a bad pun.  Anyway,  PROGRESS!

I made a lot of great progress on my layout over the weekend. As I mentioned before, I wanted to get all of the exposed pink and floral foam covered in an initial base coat of scenery and I was able to get that accomplished!

I made a 20-minute-long video showing a technique for touching up a painted backdrop.This technique is a bit unique in that I use matte medium to blend progressively darker layers of color together on the backdrop itself. It can be a bit messy, but mistakes become your friend with this technique. I'm pretty pleased with the results!

As production began to ramp up at Lehigh Cement, the MFTR found themselves in need of additional pulling power to handle the increase in rail traffic. That power has arrived on the railroad as a lovely blue and white GP38-2 leased from EMD Leasing.

Something had been bugging me lately as I operated my layout and that is the rather short length of my lead track.  I use this lead to move cars from the mainline to the yard, as well as to and from the cement factory. This track was only long enough to accommodate approximately 4 cars plus a locomotive which meant that a lot of running back and forth was needed to complete even the simplest maneuvers. (see track plan for clarification) All of this back and forth artificially lengthened the operating sessions but not in a good way.

The Steamboat METALINE navigates the nearly impassable rapids at Box Canyon near Ione Washington. This photo was captured circa the 1890s. Soon, the railroad would arrive, making such a dangerous journey unnecessary.

Although I am creating a freelanced railroad and I am thoroughly enjoying the freedom and the lack of constraints that freelancing offers, I wanted to evoke that sense of historic authenticity usually reserved the prototype modelers.