Based on feedback from LKandO, and my own dissatisfaction with the original design (especially the proximity of the yard throat to the mountain at the bottom-right), I've completely reworked the arrangement of the yard. Compare to plan in previous blog post. Key changes:

 Well, 

here is the current plan for my n scale layout based on the Siskiyou line in N scale cira 1990

the room messures a little over 9'x11' plus a closet (the top, mushroom looking thingy)    Door to the room swings in and is located to the left of  Rice Hill.

you maybe confused at first but let me explain the design.   This is  the lower deck of a double deck layout.

Here is the track plan of the HO-scale layout I'm starting to build. I'm calling it the Esquimalt & Marshall Hill. Prototype is purely freelanced, but based on the geographic concept of linking Vancouver Island to the British Columbia interior (and beyond).

Well folks, things have been busy around the Ghost River these last few months and I figured it was time for an update. Lighting is much imnproved, but not perfect and scenes are coming together. Lots of rolling stock has been purchased as well as severl engines. No trains are running as it's difficult to manage them and the camera at the same time.

Still tons of work to do and decisions to be made. Hope you enjoy.

Roy

Moderator edit - made image clickable so it plays the video.

At first my Penn Lake Railway, didn't have locomotives of it's own, using it's parents' power.   At the time, I didn't want to piece the lettering together from alphabet sets, or go throught the cost of custom decals.   Then, I stumbled onto Champ's (moment of silence please ) private name sets, which allowed me to easily create Penn Lake lettering.

While it's true, I don't really have tracks to run a train on, one of the things I enjoy about this hobby is the wide variety of activities it includes.

In that spirit, while waiting for the glue to dry on some ballast on the first module of the Barre Branch, I decided to grab a car kit, and get started building the fleet. I'm going to try and keep my car builds contained within this thread, we'll see how well that goes!

Well,

After many starts, Im working on a tester,, diaorma,  module.. what ever you want to call it, its 12"x36"

On a recent trip to California, I found myself staying in a condo near the Richmond Marina on San Francisco Bay.  The area is the former site of the Kaiser Shipyards which were fantastically productive building Liberty ships during WWII.  They were more or less abandoned after the war ended.

Just sitting here e-thumbing through the latest MRH while listening to the podcast of "The Model Railway Show"...can't help but think these are great times to be a modeler...

Amazingly, I see that my thoughts on what scale I would like to persue as I slowly got back into the hobby was a posting I made nearly two years ago. Since that post I have welcomed the arrival of a grandson into my life. He has a brother on the way due around Thanksgiving. I have come to accept the fact that in my current economic circumstance and work schedule I can get the most pleasure from the hobby by creating something for my grandson to enjoy and not necessarily starting the dream layout. I have put my desire to go in the direction of N scale on hold for now.