Just a quick mock up for a back corner as a placeholder until managing to get on the new forum:

Construction is under way on a background building for the SMR.  It comes from a long out of production kit picked up at a sale years and years ago.  One problem is that there a gaps in just about every seam where the white columns meet:

In case you missed it, the photo was also posted to the "Aerials' topic.  It partially shows the Keith Lane shops and tower area.

From the left bottom upwards, the tracks are for the City Yard (black ballast), the up and down mains (grey ballast), and the yard lead (black ballast).  At the right bottom, the tracks are a runaround, the single main track branching into two main tracks passing the station, the freight A/D track, and the yard lead.

Sometime about 4-5 months ago I posted about this sprayer:

The SMR has gone without a permanent paint booth for many decades.  That has changed since my wife and I have started cleaning out the stuff we've accumulated over the past many years.  That will save our heirs from just having to dump things.  More pertinent to the SMR, it has opened up space for a permanent temporary paint booth.

As Alfred Tennyson said, “The old order changeth yielding place to new ..."

And so, as our forum changes, the Branch Turn leaves town:

Hope to see you at the other end of the tunnel,

Don Mitchell's Blog Index

Alco power on the SMR
https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/27108#comment-250721

FM Power on the SMR (part 1)
https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/27108#comment-251295

These Bluetooth remotes were obtained from Amazon.  They are great for eliminating vibrations when clicking the shutter on tripod mounted smartphones:

The Southern Mountain Railroad is an enhanced switching layout utilizing a mix of Alco and Fairbanks Morse motive power.  Here Extra 736 North threads KL interlocking as it departs Cielo Vista behind a normal freight consist of 3 Alco F units.