My wife and I have started our first layout a 4X6 HO Standard Gauge. The size and track plan was determined by various factors such as space and family members. My wife has a ten-year old special needs son who loves trains. He always has a Thomas book with him. We have taken him to several local train shows and to the annual Thomas Day at the Illinois Railroad Museum. For model railroads he likes to get down at eye level and especially loves tunnels. He simply loves seeing the trains going by, so the layout is an oval with a smaller radius oval that has a tunnel.

I haven't reported on my progress because I have not had time to work on it! I did get a chance to video some of The Little River Railroad" event last weekend. I am going to "Train Festival 2011" Thursday! WOO HOO! Should be lots of fun. I will post videos on Youtube. Here is the link to one from last week:

Sorry, the original post for this topic has been removed.

Since I'm expanding into the alcove it makes sense to complete the mountain area that has been a "skeleton" for a number of years now.  I like the idea of working on movable sections because I can work on them comfortably outside of the train room.  Below are some pictures of the section that will complete the area:

Okay, I think my original post was getting a bit long, and since I still have a lot of photos to go... let's open up a second post. I'll begin with Bowser again - I got back to them later and got some close-ups of the C-630 and C-630M locomotives, along with their new Hi-Ad and Dofasco trucks:

Work continues at a snail's pace on the back left corner as I'm working on the two structures there.  I've just about finished the log cabin which is a kit from one of MRH's sponsors RsLaserKits.

This first picture is just to show the location of the cabin on the scenery area.  Note the house trailer under construction on the left.

Saturday was busy - I spent the first part of the day shooting the photos for the Lego layout post, along with several other layouts, and then in the afternoon we did several interviews - I remember interviewing BLMA, ExactRail, the La-Ba-Ja club that won first place in the layout category (they're from Edmonton, so that got Les Halmos all excited), and Bragdon Industries. I easily may have forgotten one or two. 

As much fun as we had at Sacramento, and as much as I've posted about (more to come!), I think my efforts at photodocumenting the National Train Show (and some related stuff), totally fades in comparison to the efforts of Harry Wong.

Go see his over 450 photos of the train show, and all of the new products, at http://www.pbase.com/tracktime/nts2011pix&page=all

Normally at the National Train Show, we tend to interview/videotape various hobby manufacturers, with the occasional layout and hobby notable added in as well.

This year, we got to interview someone who doesn't fit in the above categories - although based on his skills, I think he should be notable in his own right.