I have settled to a great degree on the many changes I've made over the  years.  A fellow in the group has build a White River Junction Union Station which serves to anchor my layout on the Conn River line.  The layout, which I will post a diagram of now represents the Conn River line from White River Jct. to Newport Vt.  The run is approx. 250 ft. WRJ to Newport as a modelled section.  The two yards are connect also through a 40 ft.

Recently I read, on a number of sites, new people to the hobby that are dismayed at the cost or freight cars and such. They where asking for advice on getting started in the hobby without spending a lot of money.

Back in November a friend took me to Caboose Stop Hobbies in Cedar Falls, IA. It is one of those hobby shops that you can spend hours pouring over the stock as they have both new ad used equipment. Something we all wish we had in our town.

The Mill Newsletter Vol.4 Num.1 is ready for download. If anyone has any problems downloading it please contact me at don_csx@hotmail.com 

http://www.smm.stahlbahn.de/themillvol4num1.pdf

So...this is a few months late. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy. All things considered, I think I've done a pretty good job of patching the layout up in these last few months, especially considering everything that happened with mom and the move. In any event, thank-you to everyone on the forums for all your great advice and help since I joined this year. Se you in 2020!!

In a kind of strange mood today, and just wanted to check in and say hello and Happy New Year to all!

Have moved a little bit closer to moving away from the People's Republic of New York, am actively searching for a new home.  Midwest probably Kansas, Missouri Oklahoma or Arkansas.  More info when available.  Health has been solid and have been able to do more.  Finally took a subscription to Running Extra, and wait patiently for every issue. 

I will be live streaming a work session on the layout via my YouTube Page. 7:00 Central. Hope to see you then!!

A good friend of mine has a triple deck layout of the Clinchfield RR and he has some absolutely amazing realistic ballast, so of course I asked where he got it from and he said that he sifted his own from bags of paver base that he got from the home improvement store. I had also read that Mike Confalone had done the same for his Allagash RR, though I believe that he said he just uses commercial ballast now. Anyhow, for those interested here is the process and result:

What type material is anybody out there using for the rigging of Coaling Tower coal chutes? The thread supplied by Walthers for any of their Coaling Towers or any structure that requires simulated cable/chain is way to fuzzy and the holes in the parts are to small for the supplied thread.

Thanks

Richard

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.

Port Allen like it is tomorrow waiting in a big box to be open in summer

I open this blog for the on the way planning and future construction of the extension of my Maclau River in N scale.

I have already mentionned I live now in Québec; the room for my layout need big works which are not started for now,; You all know the winter is heavy here in Canada and the room is not well heated.