This is an independent review of an accessory lighting controller for layout structure LED lighting; the unit provides automatic current matching without resistors, supports up to 64 LEDs, supports any of 100 different lighting effects on each of 16 ports, and can be programmed from a front panel or using a DCC throttle.

Heritage Type Co. of Berlin, Germany, www.heritagetype.com, recently released a bundle of digital vintage-appearing type fonts that have many possibilities for use in creating scale structure signs, station signs, advertisements and more, appropriate for many past eras. This is a review of that product.

The Mediterranean cypress of the columnar fastigiate cultivar, commonly termed Italian cypress in the American West, is a signature ornamental tree in the California landscape. Like golden aspens on a Colorado narrow gauge layout, the Italian cypress helps the visitor place the layout in the correct geography. These posts explain how I modeled this species in HO scale using common materials. For details on the prototype, read the Wikipedia article here.

Pacific Coast Region of National Model Railroad Association, an MRH advertiser, was pleased to co-sponsor Bay Area Prototype Modelers 2019 yesterday. This is an annual event usually held in Richmond, California.

This describes and shows a build of an HO scale model of a depot at Hermosa Beach, California constructed by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in 1927. The depot was in service until the 1960s. The model is a kit offered by Microtech Scale Models in 2006 and available in HO scale and S scale. It is no longer made but occasionally turns up on eBay or at train shows.

Mid-century modern architecture is rarely seen on transition-era layouts representing Western US railroads, even though it was widespread in places like Los Angeles, northern California, Arizona and New Mexico. Few kit structures are available, and almost none for industries. On my workbench this month is a kitbash of one of the few kits in mass production, Walthers' "Modern Brick Santa Fe Station," based on a Hutchinson, Kansas prototype; it's becoming a California aircraft parts factory.