This past week I completed the last of the hard shell scenery on the layout. I have worked my way around the layout in a somewhat hap-hazard fashion until all that was left to do was small portion of hard shell where the Wilson Bridge Branch leaves the room and heads to staging. The photo below shows the area with first pieces of cardboard webbing in place and the tunnel portal prior to weathering.

Over the past few weeks I have added some finishing touches to several areas of the layout. I installed some black skirting at the bottom of the fascia from just east of Big Chimney, WV around the isle to Logan, WV. The material was purchased at Banasch's Fabrics and is held in place with wooden clothes pins. I used a hot glue gun to fasten the clothes pins to the back of the fascia and the bottoms of the control panel and bill box support boards.

The Chesapeake, Wheeling and Erie Railroad held its second operating session this past Saturday. A few new trains were added to the schedule and the gremlins were held at bay for the most part. But most importantly, everyone had a good time. We dispatched using track warrants, which are a little too new for my era of the mid-1970's but work really well for the current set-up. We use car card and waybills as shown in the photos below.

After some helpful comments from Joe about my previous post regarding article submissions to MRH, I thought I would redo the post to make it a little easier to read and more informative. So here goes.

Given the current discussions on the forum regarding article submissions, I thought it might be helpful to see the process from the perspective of someone who recently put together an article. This was my first attempt at writing an article for publication in anything, and I had very little experience at taking digital photographs.

Thought I would provide an update on what's been happening around the layout over the last month or so. I have been working on a small, truck load tipple that will be located at Big Chimney, West Virginia. Below are several photos of progress to date.

Thought I’d start a blog to document the completion of the scenery at SJ Cabin on my Chesapeake, Wheeling and Erie Railroad. Perhaps there will be a few techniques that readers on the MRH Forum will find helpful.

Thought I'd start a thread and see if we can get some forum members to post pictures of truck dumps, tipples and preparation plants that they have constructed. So here goes.

While taking a break from working on several structures, I decided to finish several freight cars that have been in the works for a while. PC 885248 is an Atlas car with cut levers added and weathering based upon a photo I found at George Elwood's Fallen Flags website. Here's a link to the photo of the prototype: http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/pc/pc885122bkg.jpg.

I recently completed several company houses and thought I would post a few pics. The structures are scratch-built using Evergreen sheet and strip styrene, Grandt Line windows and doors and Central Valley steps. The design is based upon a drawing that was in the C&O Historical Society magazine many years ago and observations I've made of company homes in West Virginia and Kentucky.