I'm digging up an old project I have on the back burner and I ran back over this little gem in the rough, my Marion Model 60 effort.  Does anybody have a reference to published plans for the Marion Model 60?  I have some very good photos and I'm this close from drawing a set of plans up, except I'm not familiar with the programs one would use to draw up a model railroad plan in this day and age.  So if I found them already done, that woul dbe a uge leap forward to finishing my project!!

The artist that is painting my backdrop continues to make great progress and paints in "layers" adding details on to already painted areas.  It's really starting to take shape and below are pictures taken today.

I love the way that the mural draws in your eye - away from the narrow benchwork and sparse foreground scenery.

IKEA mini LED's came to my rescue! Since I did not have the money nor luxury of creating a higher ceiling and lights with valence without excessive cost and labor, I resorted to the next best thing. Taking an idea from pictures of a modular layout right here on this site, I searched for and and found some mini LED's that were both affordable ($15 on sale) and practical. With the normal lighting turned off, the new lights provide overall even lighting without glare and a very realistic look.

I'm trying to get as much scenery base down as possible instead of super detailing each section.  My latest work is in the back right of the alcove area and as usual I build the sections as separate units so that I can work on them in comfort at my table.  Notice the very nice work my artist is doing on the mural, which is still a work in process.

Great article in this month's issue on scrap gons and weathering. It has me scrambling for something I put away for a "rainy day" - an article on using a soldering iron to help "customize" cars to show the usual wear and tear they go through while in service. I'll try to find it; copy; paste; and pass it along. If I remember correctly, the only caution was the heat transfer time and "rust weathering" of affected areas that may have paint issues. It should help me in detailing the scrap yard which will be part of my layout.

My drill-spun, floral-wire & ground foam pines are anything but groundbreaking (I even use a T-pin in the foam for planting), but I thought I'd share my "pining away" process anyway.

After a much longer return trip than planned, we arrived back in the Middle East, with a bag full of model railroad goodies thanks to Walthers, CMT, and a local Vermont hobby shop.

contact wipers, a couple of new Accurail Rutland car kits, light bulbs, scenery accessories....

I am beginning another conversion of an old Tyco Mantua 4-6-2 Pacific.  These locomotives are very good runners and very common at the big auction site, in unbuilt kit form (I've bought two for less than $30.00), built kit form, or factory-assembled form.  They are based on northern US prototypes, so a good deal of modifications are necessary to convert them to my "not-totally-prototype" Southern US layout's standards.

Looking for help in setting the Walters 90' turntable back to factory defaults. In other words getting rid of the programmed stops that I have in it presently